"I'm baaaaack!"

Far from the tight, bustling streets of Domino, a similarly busy workshop came to life— blinders fluttering, candles lighting, and a dozen animated objects scurrying about as someone approached. And just like that, that someone appeared.

Pushing her hat up, the Dark Magician Girl giggled to herself.

"My, my, my. It's been so long since I've been summoned," she said to no one in particular as she walked through her workshop, sorting through and tinkering with magical trinkets as she went. She was looking for something, though she wasn't in much of a rush it seemed. She'd stumble upon her target soon enough. "Aha! There you are!"

With a hop and a skip, the Dark Magician Girl swiped up the item in question— A bright green liquid stored in a thin flask.

"Now I can—" Unfortunately for the Dark Magician Girl, there was nothing she could do with what came next. All at once, the whole room began shaking— No, the whole world began shaking. The Dominion of the Beasts shuddered under the Dark Magician Girl's feet, as the potion she held moments ago shattered across the floor. "Oh, darn it!"

Pausing for a moment to let the quake pass, she sighed.

"I've been working on that for a week," she grumbled under her breath. Reaching for her wand, she cast a spell on a nearby mop and broom, animating them to life to come and clean the mess at her feet. And while those two did their work, she stepped away, walking off to the balcony in a huff. "Stupid earthquakes…"

Tight and intimate workshop walls gave away to a wide-open balcony, overlooking miles of deep green forest and ripe golden farmland. And over all of it, greeting her pouting face, was a rich deep blue sky.

...And a bluer streak running through it?

It took her a moment, but a memory over a decade old soon played in the Dark Magician Girl's head.

"Oh of course the ground is shaking," she said aloud, hopping onto the balcony railing and swinging her legs over the edge. "Yugi just summoned a god. I'm surprised a building hasn't collapsed."

A laugh escaped her lips as she leaned back, watching the white clouds pass.

And then, a thought came to her.

"Wait, then what about the shakes from last—" She couldn't finish that thought, as her wand began to ring in her hand. She didn't even have the chance to answer it before the connection was established. Thankfully, she already knew who was on the other end.

"Mahad? Master Mahad!" she greeted with a cheery smile, turning and hopping off the railing. "How has your trip to the lands of Dogmatika been—"

"My student, you must come at once!" The ethereal voice of the Dark Magician cracked through her wand, making her jump in surprise and pause. "We must call upon—"

Static.

"—Knights, immediately!"

"Wait, what's going—" Today wasn't the day for the Dark Magician Girl to finish a sentence, it seemed, as the ground at her feet began to shake once again. Whipping her head around, she looked for the sign of another god being summoned. However, none came. "Master, what's going on?!"

"I don't—"

The connection went dead as the Dark Magician Girl turned, looking to the opposite horizon, the direction her master was in. Her eyes went wide as the ground rumbled again— Weaker now, but lasting for longer.

Something was coming—

No.

Something was here.

A storm of beings began thundering over the horizon, a chaotic mob of monsters frantically pouring away from something further in the distance. They were too varied and ran too fast for the Dark Magician Girl to discern the identity of even one of them. The only thing that unified the field of monsters was the direction they were running—

It was away from something.

And moments later, that something followed them.

A storm, a literal one, towered above the panicked hoard, dark violet clouds firing out streaks of black lightning. And in the center of it all was the eye of the storm, a literal eye, pure white with a slit pupil and a bright green ring surrounding it. The Dark Magician Girl was struck with memories from many years ago.

But then, from beyond the horizon, a beam of white light shot out! It struck the storm, piercing through layers of dark cloud and pinning it in place. It had stopped it! At that, her wand shook, glowing with a purple aura that keyed her in that this was her master's doing. Looking up at the storm that was lashing out in anger, she knew she had only one choice.

She raised her wand up into the air.

"I put my faith in you, Master Mahad!"

And with a flash, the Dark Magician Girl disappeared, leaving the Dominion of the Beasts silent as the oncoming storm thundered down on it.

The streets of Domino swelled with excitement, the loose chatter of its inhabitants even looser than usual. Word on the street was that all the big-time professional duelists were laying low the first few days of the tournament, waiting for the rabble to sort itself out. It was better than losing a game of attrition against the scores of lesser duelists looking to make it big.

But, oh, how wrong the word on the street was.

"Nyehehe, watch out world. Joey Wheelahs coming through!" Of all the city's chatter, Joey's was the loosest. "It's time to show you how a champ does it."

Joey turned a corner into a busy alley, an old shortcut he knew, as he reached into his pocket and pulled out something that put a grin on his face— A shiny cobalt blue locator card.

"Nyeh, ah can only imagine how angry rich-boy must've been givin' me dis," he said aloud, mugging to himself with a stupid look on his face. "Now all I gotsta do is win two more of these bad boys, and I'll be on my way to the top!"

People in the alley parted as they saw Joey approach, hushed whispers between them growing as he walked idly by. He was the Duke of Dueling, after all, they had to pay their respects.

And usually, Joey would be one to hang around and chat, get the people comfortable with speaking directly to him. Joey wasn't like Yugi or Kaiba. He knew what his position meant, what it inspired.

But today wasn't the day to make people comfortable with him as the champ. Today was the day to prove he was the champ.

Taking another turn, Joey entered a thinner alley, a sparser one. Out of earshot of any pedestrian, he buried his hands into his pocket and closed his eyes.

"Five whole years since Yug last dueled, rich-boy's been gone even longer," he said to himself, psyching himself up. "In five years, I'm the only one of the old guard who's kept up. My records, my win streak. It's unmatched."

Coming to a stop, Joey pulled a hand from his pocket and raised three fingers.

"Most wins in one year. Most duels in one year. Most duels of all time," he counted out to no one but himself. "I may be a champ, but I ain't the champ. And until I face Yug and prove it to the world, all I'll ever be is the Duke of Dueling."

Joey opened his eyes, a frown stark on his face.

"No more paper crowns," he declared, contemptuous of the whole thing. "When dis tournament is over, I'll be the King of Games!"

And with that mighty declaration, Joey forged onwards into the barren alley, towards his final destination: Kami Game Shop. Before anything else, he had something to return to Yugi.

"Ah jeeze, I still gotta figure out who I'm facin' first," Joey said to himself then, rubbing his neck as he saw the end of the alley coming up. Pulling out his deck, Joey took a moment to consider who he'd be ready to face today. "Challenging Yug or Kaiba would be pretty bone-headed, even for me."

There was no advantage to it. They all had Obelisk Blue locator cards, so he'd risk being eliminated from the beginning for nothing. Nah, he needed someone who was small-time, someone to whet his appetite on.

"Ayy, I know exactly who I'ma take down first!" he called out, the realization striking him as he put his deck away. "Dat kid who destroyed the duel arena!"

Joey began marching forward again, annoyance building in his veins as he continued onwards.

"The Slifah Slacker!" Stepping out from the alleyway, Joey had his declaration ring out into the street, attracting a few stray eyes from onlookers.

One of those sets of eyes, however, kept looking. Stepping out from the crowd, covered in the ragged remains of a black overcoat and dirtied hood, a lone stranger stumbled forward.

"You're— You're—" they stammered over themselves, rushing Joey's side. "You're Joey Wheeler! You can help!"

"Hey, hey, hey! What's the big idea, pal!" Joey was mobbed by the vagrant stranger, who gripped onto his jacket with a desperate look in his eye. "Who the heck are you!"

"It's coming. He's coming!" they said, shaking their head. All at once, their hood fell away, revealing black spikey hair and grey eyes, full of despair. Joey paused at that, before tightening up and pulling away.

"What're you talking about!" he demanded to know. And for a moment, it seemed like the stranger would get a hold of himself, a moment of calm reaching his eyes. But it was just a moment, washed over in the next second.

"Pariah is coming!"

Jaden gave Yugi one last nod before stepping away and beelining it for an alleyway. Gotta get out of the open before any more people show up. He was still on the run from the law after all.

"So, where to next?" he said aloud, pulling his bent and creased Yugi wig from his bag and strapping it on. After a moment, the spirits of Yubel and Banner appeared.

"You're awfully relaxed," Banner commented first, crossing his arms as Jaden rested his hands behind his head. "I would've thought you'd be more excited after all that."

"Heh, what can I say? Meet your heroes enough and you stop getting as starstruck," he explained, a line of laughter underneath it all.

"That was you not getting starstruck?" Yubel commented next.

"Getting as starstruck." Pausing as he reached the boundary of the alley and another main street, Jaden took a look around for any cops before continuing. "Knowing Yugi though, he's gonna start surprising me again real soon. I can't wait to see what he's got in store."

Frowning, Yubel felt her face tighten.

"You honestly think he's going to change before getting eliminated? He barely won that game, and that required a god to intervene."

"If there's anything I can count on, it's Yugi finding a way," Jaden defended, burrowing his hands into his jacket and slipping into a crowd of pedestrians. Don't swing your head around on the lookout. Rookie mistake. "He knows he's behind the curve, and that's just the kick in the pants he'll need to catch up!"

"If you say so," Yubel huffed to herself, crossing her arms as Jaden went on his way. "So, where to—"

Yubel froze, a sharp feeling going through her chest as she clutched her heart.

"Yubel?" Realizing something was wrong, Jaden paused and turned, his arms dropping to his side as worry tinged his voice. "What's—"

Jaden felt it next. Yubel's pain was his pain after all.

"What's wrong?!" Banner cried.

The two of them seized up for a few moments before it passed, leaving them with labored breath.

"What, was that," Jaden asked, pulling away from the middle of the sidewalk and laying his back against the wall of a building. A moment after he asked, an answer came. Popping out of his deck box, Winged Kuriboh appeared, loudly chirping in distress. They butted heads with Jaden, pulling from him a strained chuckle. "Alright, alright, I hear ya, buddy. What's the matt—"

Jaden paused as Winged Kuriboh pressed against his head.

Pressed against his head.

"Uh, guys. Why can I touch Winged Kuriboh?"

End of Chapter 14