Right, y'all can answer me again on what the rating of this thing should be after this chapter, okay?

Chapter 13: A Shattered Soul

"I'm sorry…!"

Soul as a young boy sat on his knees among the wreckage of what used to be his home, a girl around the same age in his arms, a hole in her chest.

He was covered in blood… HER blood…

"I-I didn't…!" he started to say as tears fell from his eyes, his right eye glowed with a golden light.

In his mind, he stopped seeing the wreckage, and he was suddenly sitting in a deep black void, with the girl in his arms.

The silhouette of a large, bipedal dragon stood in front of him, its eyes glowing green.

Young-Soul looked up at it, tears in his eyes.

"GET AWAY!" He screamed, "THIS IS YOUR FAULT!" He screamed at the top of his lungs, his voice echoing in the void around him.

The dragon continued to stare at him, looking almost… disappointed.

"Don't… don't look at me like that!" Soul screamed, "Because of you… BECAUSE OF YOU…!" He started to yell, choking on his own words.

The dragon growled softly, saying something that Soul seemed to understand.

Soul's breath hitched.

"You're right… this is my fault…!" Soul choked, "You're my power…! A power I couldn't control!" He screamed as he hugged the corpse in his arms.

He screamed at the top of his lungs, eventually passing out.

Soul now stood in front of Syrup, their first round in the tournament is about to start.

"Damn… why did I have to remember that shitty time…" Soul groaned as he rubbed his head.

He felt a small roar emanate inside him, causing him to grit his teeth.

"No… you're going to stay down there and behave…" he mumbled to himself.

"Allow us to explain the rules!" Melissa yelled as both teams walked to the center of the stadium, "The goal of this part of the tournament is to destroy a certain target!" She explained as the Real Solid Vision system powered up, a large white crystal appearing in the middle of the stadium.

"Your crystal's durability depends on how many team members you have!" Melissa explained, "The team with fewer members, in this case, team Soul/Syrup!" Melissa explained.

Nico took over, "The crystal's durability rises depending on the difference in members, and that's not all!" Nico continued, "The team with fewer members gets to move first, the duration of movement also being increased depending on the difference in members!" He explained.

"Soul, that means that we get a head start…" Syrup whispered, "We should take advantage of that and overwhelm them from the start…" she suggested.

Soul shook his head, "I'm a little wary of the members though… something about them is making me uneasy…" he muttered.

The leader of the team suddenly walked up to them, he looked like your classic punk with a mohawk, the other two behind him looking more like lackeys.

He sneered at them, but extended a hand, "Let's have a fair match…" the punk said with a sneer.

Soul stared back at him, concerned about the contradiction between his facial expressions and his actions.

Regardless, Soul took the hand.

Suddenly, Soul felt himself get yanked right up to the punk's face.

"You don't look too strong…" the punk said with his face too close to Soul's for comfort, "We're going to destroy you!" He declared loudly.

Soul simply stared back at him with his usual straight expression.

The lack of a reaction unnerved the punk, so he quickly let Soul go and went back to his team.

"What a jerk!" Syrup said as Soul returned to her side.

"He was measuring me up…" Soul said calmly, "Be wary of him…" he said to Syrup.

"The team with the least members will decide the stage!" Melissa declared, a small screen suddenly appearing in front of Soul.

"Hm… I don't know enough about these stages…" Soul muttered as Syrup looked over his shoulder, "I'll just pick this one…" he said as he tapped the screen.

"With that, the stage has been decided!" Melissa declared as the screen vanished from Soul's hands.

The stadium began to rumble and glow as the Real Solid Vision fired up, "Action Field: ON!" A robotic voice announced, "Field: Graveyard of Souls" it announced.

Both teams found themselves moved to opposite sides of the stadium, and the floor changed from clean and smooth to arid and dry.

"You picked a desert?" Syrup asked.

"I picked a battlefield…" Soul replied.

Suddenly, countless Real Solid-Vision swords fell from the sky, landing and sinking into the ground.

"It's a graveyard for the souls of a warrior… their blades…" Soul explained.

The field had become a large and arid plain, countless rusty and broken weapons lying around the area, strewn about wildly.

A large white crystal floated behind them, another one floating behind the enemy team.

"You stay back and defend the crystal… I'll handle offense," Soul said as he stretched his arms.

"Now, without further ado!" Melissa and Nico yelled at the same time, "Three! Two! One! DUEL!" They both announced, starting the duel.

A barrier appeared around the enemy team, keeping them in place, but no such thing appeared on Soul and Syrup's side.

"We're allowed to move first!" Syrup yelled.

Soul had already taken off running, "What a pain…!" Soul said as he dashed through the field.

He had made it halfway across the field when the barrier around the enemy team went down, allowing two out of three to dash to meet Soul, one being left behind to guard the crystal.

"We did our research!" The leader yelled as he ran forward, "You use a level monster! Those require time to really get going!" He yelled as he and his lackey began to glow and transform.

The leader glowed a brilliant white as he transformed, "Doomkaiser Dragon!" He yelled as he changed into a large undead dragon.

The lackey grasped an orange card, as did the lackey still at the crystal, "Come! Despair from the Dark!" They both yelled.

With that, the field was now filled with an undead dragon and two towering shadow-monsters.

"You lack imagination…" Soul said as he stopped running and held an orange card in his hand, "If you really know how to use level monsters, you don't have to wait at all…!" He said as he crushed the card in his hand.

"Armed Dragon, LEVEL 10!" Soul yelled as he transformed into a large armored dragon, almost dwarfing the other monsters on the field.

Meanwhile from the spectator seats…

"Huh!? Why doesn't he do that all the time then!?" Yugo yelled.

"Because it drains the user much more than simply waiting…" Yuto replied, "do you EVER listen in class?" He asked.

"Soul looks fine though…" Yuya pointed out.

Back on the battlefield, Soul was now charging up a large fireball in his mouth as Armed Dragon, aiming straight at the crystal on the other side of the stadium.

"I got the chance to get closer… making it easier to aim…" Soul thought as the two monsters charging at him tried to stop him from attacking.

"ARMED FIREBALL!" Soul yelled as he let loose the attack, sending a powerful ball of fire past the two monsters in front of him, and straight for the crystal.

The Despair from the Dark at the crystal immediately jumped in front of the attack, taking the full force of the fireball onto itself.

The monster staggered but ultimately managed to survive the attack.

"Then… how about another…" Soul started to say before suddenly, the Doomkaiser Dragon was latched onto his face.

"You may be big, but you're damn slow!" The dragon yelled as Soul fumbled around to try and remove the monster, "You surprised me with the sudden level 10… but you've just made our job easier!" He yelled.

The second Despair from the Dark wrapped its arms around Soul, "Grgh…!" Soul grunted as he found himself being overwhelmed.

The doomkaiser dragon placed its claws on Soul's head, while Despair from the Dark did the same with its large arms.

"Soul!" Syrup yelled as suddenly, all three monsters began to glow.

"Combo-move!" The two enemies yelled, "Doomkaiser Despair!" They both yelled.

Purple light suddenly covered the entire stadium, and a large explosion was heard.

When the light dissipated, Soul as Armed Dragon level 10 laid on the ground near Syrup, while Doomkaiser Dragon and Despair from the Dark stood where he once stood, gasping for air.

"Soul! Are you okay!?" Syrup yelled.

"Hey, what just happened?" Yuya asked.

"Ooh! Ooh! I know! I paid attention to this part in class!" Yugo suddenly exclaimed, "It's a combo move, basically two duelists use two monsters that are compatible with each other, and use this really awesome power right?" He said with a grin.

"Close, and also very vague," Rin replied, "It also requires both duelists to be at around the same strength, and it's incredibly complicated to use…" Rin explained.

"The fact they can use something like that means that they shouldn't be underestimated…" Yuto said as he stared at the battlefield, "Still, what did it do?" He asked.

Syrup watched as Soul suddenly reverted back to normal, yet he laid limp on the ground, and his eyes glowed a sinister purple.

"Soul?" Syrup asked as she tried to shake him awake, "Soul, this isn't the time to be sleeping!" Syrup said as she tried to get him up.

"It's no use!" The leader of the enemy team said as he slowly drew closer, "He's stuck in a world of despair now…" he said as he gave off a sinister grin, even in his monster form.

"What the hell is this…?" Soul asked as he looked at his surroundings.

He wasn't in the stadium anymore, he was in a place that shouldn't exist anymore.

"This is… home!" Soul exclaimed as he found himself wide awake at the sight of the large Japanese-style mansion.

"But that's impossible…!" Soul said as he placed a hand to his forehead, "This place was destroyed!" He yelled.

"Ready or not… here I come!"

Soul whipped his head around to face a voice that was all too familiar.

Behind him, stood his younger self.

"The hell!?" Soul yelled, "Hey, who are you!?" Soul yelled as his emotions got the better of him.

Yet when he reached out to grab the kid's arm, his arm merely passed through the boy.

Soul recoiled, "The hell… what the hell…!" Soul started to yell.

The boy didn't seem to hear him even as he yelled.

Soul stared at the boy, he looked exactly like Soul when he was just a kid.

His hair was shorter, though he still had bangs that were beginning to reach down to his right eye, though both of his eyes were still clearly visible.

His eyes were also both red, whereas Soul himself knew his right eye was gold-colored.

"So this is before… that time…" Soul murmured, "Have I died and gone back in time or something? Wait… that doesn't make sense though…" He spoke to himself.

"Found you!"

Soul whipped his head around to face Younger-Soul again, and his eyes widened at who he was now with.

"I'm in hell… aren't I?" He asked himself as he stared at his younger self, who now stood with a young girl with black hair.

"Dang it! How do you keep finding me?" The girl pouted as Younger-Soul helped her out of a bush she was hiding in.

"Cahya, you hide in the same place every time!" Young-Soul said cheerfully.

"Sis…!" Soul gasped.

He remembered this time… a time before he started trying to sleep away the memories, when-surprise surprise, he was actually pretty energetic.

He also remembered this day perfectly, this was the day he…

"GET ME OUT OF HERE!" Soul suddenly screamed, "Today is…! Today is…!" Soul started to scream, "My… thirteenth birthday… the day she died…!" He choked.

He wanted to go to sleep, but he couldn't.

For the first time in a long time, he was wide-awake.

And he hated it.

He stared at the black-haired girl, her hair done up in twin pigtails, her red-eyes matching Younger-Soul's own eyes.

Soul's body suddenly screamed, startling everyone in the stadium.

"Soul!" Syrup exclaimed with a smile, "You're alright...!" she started to say, before noticing his eyes.

They still glowed a sinister purple.

Soul stood up, breathing heavily.

"The hell… why is he moving!?" The enemy leader yelled.

"How should I know!?" The lackey yelled back.

"Everyone in this room…" Soul muttered as six orange cards suddenly appeared in a circle around him.

"Will DIE!" Soul screamed as he crushed one of the cards, orange light suddenly enveloping the entire arena.

The ground trembled, and a powerful gust of wind caused some of the rusted weapons in the ground to fly into the air.

"Burning Blade-Messiah, CLYDE!" Soul yelled as a pillar of flame erupted around him, revealing his form as a human with spiky red hair and red and yellow armor, holding a matching greatsword in one hand.

"Blade-Messiah!?" Syrup exclaimed.

"I've never heard of a monster called something like that…" Yuri muttered, "he said he could only use Armed Dragon… was he lying?" Yuri wondered out loud.

"But why would he lie about that?" Serena asked, "I can feel it from here, that monster has some crazy power!" She said with a grin.

"Then… why is he using it now?" Yuzu asked.

"Maybe he just awakened to those monsters now?" Yuya suggested.

"I saw six cards around him…" Sora cut into the conversation, "For someone to awaken to six monsters at the same time… not only is it unheard of, but it would place too great of a strain on his body to take on that much power so suddenly…" he explained.

"That means he already had this power…" said Yuto.

"Who cares! He looks badass!" Yugo exclaimed.

Before Syrup could say anything, Soul had suddenly blasted away, causing the ground where he once stood to shatter beneath him.

In a single instant, he was at the other end of the stadium, in front of the lackey guarding the crystal.

"What-" the lackey began to say.

He didn't get to finish the sentence.

In a single instant, Soul's weapon was engulfed in flames as it cleaved straight through the middle of the giant monster.

The lackey screamed as he was engulfed in flames, before being blown back to the wall of the stadium, transforming back into his human form. His clothes were singed, and a large cut was engraved on his chest.

He slumped over, unconscious.

"W-Would you look at that!" Melissa began to commentate, "Early in the match, we already have a duelist down and out for the count!" She declared excitedly.

"Did… anybody see him move?" Ruri asked.

"J-Just barely…" Yuto replied.

"And with that, Soul is right next to Team The Feared's unguarded crystal!" Nico declared, "Has the first match ended already-" he started to speak.

A glowing orange card appeared in front of Soul, "Strike them down, Thundering Blade-Messiah, VOLTA!" Soul yelled as he slashed the card in half.

Lightning struck Soul as he glowed a powerful orange, changing forms into a yellow-haired boy wearing yellow armor, and holding a long yellow katana.

"Another one!?" Syrup exclaimed.

In a flash of lightning, Soul was now back at the center of the stadium, behind the second lackey.

"Hey, look out!" The leader yelled.

It didn't help, in the span of a second, Soul had slashed the monster at every point, electrocuting the lackey at the same time.

The monster fell to the ground as he reverted back to normal, unconscious and severely cut.

"W-What the!?" Nico exclaimed, "Rather than destroy the crystal, Duelist Soul Messoran has returned to the center of the stage, and has annihilated yet another opponent!" Nico exclaimed.

"Soul! What are you doing!?" Syrup exclaimed, "This isn't like him… he's not the type of guy to take the long and hard way!" Syrup thought frantically.

"Actually… is that even Soul?" Syrup thought worriedly.

Soul slashed yet another orange card in half, "Drown my enemies, Water Blade-Messiah, AQUA!" Soul yelled.

In a flash of light, Soul now took the form of a female with long light-blue hair.

"WAIT, HE CAN TRANSFORM INTO A GIRL!?" Yugo suddenly yelled, "THAT'S SO UNFAIR, IMAGINE THE KIND OF STUFF I COULD DO IF I COULD-" Yugo began to yell without thinking.

Suddenly, Rin was:

Behind him

Twisting his arm harshly behind his back

"AAAGH, MERCY! UNCLE!" Yugo screamed as Rin caused pain to shoot through his arm.

Yugo-Being-A-Perv Counter: 4

"Are you an idiot?" Yuya, Yuto, Yuri, Sora, and Gongenzaka each thought simultaneously.

Soul's form was a slender female wearing a blue one-piece swimsuit, with silver armor adorning his-or rather, her shoulders and knees, along with silver armor boots that reached halfway to her knees, and silver armor gloves that almost went up to her elbows. To top it all off, blue fins extended from her arms through a hole in her gloves.

Soul spun a large blue trident in his hands as he jumped into the air, landing on the leader and thrusting the trident into the undead dragon's back.

The leader roared in pain as he tried to buck Soul off of him, only for water to suddenly burst from the ground, covering him completely except for his head, and then freezing solid.

"What's this? In a single action, Soul has completely frozen the team leader's body solid!" Melissa commentated.

Soul spun the trident before thrusting it into the air, piercing another orange card.

"Crush my enemies to dust, Earthly Blade-Messiah, TSUCHI!" Soul yelled as orange light covered him once again.

The ground cracked underneath him as he transformed into a large and muscular man, similar to Gongenzaka in size. He had long and spiky brown hair and wielded a large double-sided naginata.

Soul spun the naginata in hand rapidly, glowing bright orange as the ground around the enemy leader began to change shape, three large fists suddenly rising from the ground.

"CRUSH HIM!" Soul screamed as he swung the naginata down to the ground, causing all three fists to come crashing down on the frozen duelist.

A scream of pain came from the stadium.

Syrup was silent, her jaw hanging open.

"I knew he was hiding some sort of crazy power… but this is…" she started to say.

"Insane…!" Yuya muttered.

Soul turned to face Syrup, "You're next…!" Soul said as another orange card appeared in front of him, his eyes still glowing purple.

"H-Huh…!?" Syrup exclaimed.

Soul slashed the card in half, causing a tornado to appear around him as he glowed orange once more.

"Slice them to pieces! Tempest Blade-Messiah, EKU!" Soul screamed as his ferocity seemed to increase.

In his place stood a green-robed woman with a dark-green mask over her mouth and nose, along with long and spiky green hair and a dark-green headband.

To be frank, she looked like a ninja.

She held two dark-green twin daggers, and Soul charged at Syrup almost immediately.

Syrup gasped as the wind suddenly picked up around her, threatening to lift her into the air.

"This is bad…!" Syrup exclaimed, "Help me! Naturia Beast!" Syrup yelled as she crushed a white card in her hand, transforming into the green tiger.

"Pointless!" Soul yelled as he slashed at Syrup, before turning around and slashing her again, and again, and again…

"Agh…!" Syrup screamed in pain.

"What a surprise! It seems that Soul has gone berserk, and is now attacking his teammate!" Nico exclaimed, "Is this because of the combo-move!?" He commentated rapidly.

"Damn… just what did that move do!?" Yuto said through gritted teeth.

Another orange card appeared in front of Soul, and it was promptly slashed in half.

"GIVE MY ENEMIES DESPAIR, SHADOW BLADE-MESSIAH, REAPER!" Soul screamed as the sky darkened while he glowed a bright orange color.

The wind vanished, and Syrup fell to the ground as she reverted to normal, gasping for air.

A black-haired man wearing black armor and a black mask, along with a large black scythe on his back now stood as Soul's new form.

"Something is wrong…!" Syrup gasped as she stood back up, "What do I do…?" She asked herself.

She suddenly remembered her other monster, Apprentice Illusion Magician.

"Wait… I have something that might work…!" Syrup whispered to herself as an orange card appeared in front of her.

She promptly crushed it and transformed into the dark-skinned female spellcaster, "I have one spell that might work… though it's an emphasis on the might part…" she muttered to herself.

"Are you ready to die?" Soul asked calmly as his eyes flashed purple, "Then DIE!" He yelled as he ran forward as he spun the scythe around him.

Syrup raised her staff, which glowed a bright pink as Soul slashed her in half.

Everyone in the stadium gasped.

Suddenly, Syrup vanished, and the form of Apprentice Illusion Magician was behind Soul.

"Illusion copy!" Syrup yelled as she ditched her staff and placed both hands on Soul's head.

Syrup had used her monster's magic to create an illusion of herself that Soul had attacked, giving her the opening she needed.

"Please work…!" Syrup exclaimed as her hands glowed yellow, "MIND CRUSH!" She yelled.

Atem raised an eyebrow, "Hm?" He muttered.

A large yellow light erupted from the stadium, causing everyone to cover their eyes to shield themselves from the brightness.

Soul was screaming, as was Syrup.

Then, everything went black.

Syrup woke up with a start.

"Where am I? What happened?" She exclaimed as she sat up and looked at her surroundings.

She was… outside?

She wasn't in the stadium anymore, she was sitting at a gateway… which lead to a large Japanese-style mansion.

"Where… what…?" Syrup said as she held her head, "What did that spell do…?" She asked out loud.

"Ready or not! Here I come!"

Syrup turned around to see a little boy with red eyes and a wide smile on his face, his hair was short, but beginning to grow a little longer, as his bangs were slowly beginning to cover his right eye.

"Who… are you?" Syrup asked.

He seemed so familiar… yet when he didn't seem to hear her.

"Um, excuse me?" Syrup said as she tried to tap him on the shoulder.

Her finger simply went through him.

"Huh!?" Syrup jumped backward, "Am I a ghost!?" She yelled.

"Wait, but when did I die!?" She exclaimed.

"Found you!"

Syrup looked at the boy again, he was looking behind a bush, where a small girl who looked a lot like him.

"Dang it! How do you keep finding me?" The girl pouted as the boy helped her out from behind the bush as she brushed leaves away from her hair.

"Cahya, you hide in the same place every time!" The boy said with a small grin.

"Cahya… so your name is Cahya…" Syrup said out loud as she examined the young girl.

"Oh, that's right! I almost forgot!" Cahya exclaimed, "Happy birthday, Soul!" Cahya said with a smile.

"Soul!?" Syrup exclaimed as she looked at the young boy. He was completely different from the boy she knew, at least in terms of personality… this boy definitely bore a resemblance to Soul, but he was clearly filled to the brim with nearly limitless energy, and he seemed to be constantly smiling.

It was… kind of adorable, actually.

Soul grinned, "Thanks! It is my thirteenth birthday after all!" He said with a grin.

Cahya suddenly frowned, "Soul, are you sure?" She asked, "Most people would only undergo this ritual at fifteen…" she said with a look of worry.

"Yeah, but I can already transform!" Soul said confidently, "Apparently I've surpassed all expectations, apparently I'm a 'prodigy' whatever that is…" he said with slight confusion.

Syrup couldn't help but think that Young-Soul was adorable.

"Did Mind-Crush put me inside Soul's memories…?" She wondered out loud.

She didn't know exactly what the spell she had used was supposed to do, it had a very vague description: "Purges the mind of darkness"

What was "Darkness" and what did it mean by purging? Did she even do it right?

The world suddenly spun around her, and she found her surroundings change from an outdoor area to an indoor area in an instant.

The room was dark, except for a single hole in the ceiling which let sunlight through to form a circle of light in the middle of the altar.

Young-Soul stood with an old man, a person Syrup recognized from the other day, though he did look a little younger.

A group of people watched from a podium nearby, murmuring amongst themselves.

It was mostly dark, but Syrup recognized Cahya, the girl Soul had been with earlier.

Syrup was only now noticing, but everybody there bore a strong resemblance to Soul.

An adult placed a hand on Cahya's shoulder, "Don't worry, your big brother will be fine…" the adult said soothingly.

"Big brother!?" Syrup exclaimed.

Was this… Soul's family?

The old man gave a look of concern to Soul, "Soul… are you sure you want this?" He asked.

"Relax, gramps! I can handle it!" Soul said confidently.

"Incredible… Soul might just be the youngest Messoran to ever receive the power of the Messiah…" One of the adults spoke.

"Are we sure about this?" A female voice replied, "He's only just turned thirteen… what if something goes wrong?" She asked.

"Well, I don't think anything like that will happen…" another voice spoke, "I mean, he hasn't even had proper duelist training, but he can already transform, AND he's almost as strong as me!" He claimed.

Syrup turned around to see Soul walking up to the altar in the center of the room, standing in the middle of the single circle of light.

He wore white robes, and he sat down on his knees and closed his eyes.

Suddenly, six torches, three on each side, lit up with differently-colored flames.

Red, Yellow, Blue, Green, Brown, and Purple. Each torch had one of these colors as a flame.

"We will now perform the Blade-Messiah's Ritual on Soul Messoran…" The old man spoke, "Let the blessings of the Messiah help guide him in his life…" he chanted.

The writing on the altar began to glow, and a beam of light descended from the sky, enveloping Soul for a brief moment before vanishing.

"Hngh…!" Soul grunted as he nearly fell over.

Syrup looked worried as she saw the boy hunched over, but nobody else seemed as concerned as her, other than Cahya.

"Is… is Soul okay!?" Cahya exclaimed.

"The ritual is going normally so far…" a man answered.

"Tch… I'm fine…!" Soul grunted.

The old man sighed, "Very well, let us continue!" He declared.

The writing on the altar glowed even brighter, and Soul's body began to glow a deep blue.

"It's happening…" a man said, "He's about to receive the power of the Messiah…!" He exclaimed.

Syrup gazed at the ritual in awe, the light emanating off of Soul was… beautiful.

But the beauty didn't last.

"A-AAAAGH!" Soul suddenly clutched his right eye and screamed in pain.

"Soul!" Cahya yelled.

The scenery around Syrup suddenly looked distorted, red light flashing everywhere even though nothing was flashing red.

"Is… is this what Soul remembers from this time!?" Syrup exclaimed.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAGH!" Soul screamed into the sky as he took his hand away from his face, revealing that the color of his right eye had changed from red to gold, and it was glowing brightly.

"Stop! Stop the ritual!" The old man yelled.

"O-Oh crap, what's happening!?" A man yelled.

"It's a backlash!" A woman yelled back.

"But how!?" The man yelled back, "The Messiah only gives a power that the user can handle! How can there be a backlash!?" He exclaimed.

"I knew it, he was too young!" Another person yelled.

"SOUL!" Cahya screamed.

Suddenly, a flash of light came down on Soul, and the roof practically vanished.

The glowing-blue silhouette of a large, bipedal dragon now stood behind Soul, it had no natural wings, instead, what seemed like countless swords floated behind its back in a wing fashion. Its eyes glowed a fierce green, and it roared in sync with Soul's screams.

"T-This is impossible…!" The old man gasped, "This is not the power of the Messiah… this IS the Messiah…!" The old man exclaimed.

"GRAMPS!" One of Soul's family members yelled as he ran over and grabbed him, "We have to run! We need to call for more duelists!" He exclaimed.

The old man didn't hear him, "It's… It's really him!" He gasped, "The Blade-Messiah Dragon…!" He gasped.

Soul screamed, and the dragon roared.

And suddenly, the world around Syrup literally turned red.

Syrup heard screams and the sound of battle, and the sound of Soul's screams filled her ears.

She tried to cover her ears, but the sound seemed to go through her hands and continued to ring in her eardrums.

"S-Soul…!" She gasped.

The screaming suddenly stopped, and the scenery changed from red to back to normal.

The room was gone, the roof, the walls, the entire building, gone.

There was just wreckage.

"Cah… ya?"

Syrup turned around to see Soul holding the body of his little sister in his arms.

A large sword, bigger than anything any human could naturally wield, had pierced through her small frame.

Dark-red blood stained the front of Soul's robes as he tried desperately to stop the bleeding.

But even Syrup knew… a wound that big, there was no coming back from that.

His facial expression made it clear that Soul's mind hadn't processed what was going on yet.

Of course, it didn't last long.

"Cahya… CAHYA!" Soul screamed as tears began to gush from his eyes, his right-eye still glowing bright gold.

"S… Soul…?"

Cahya weakly wheezed those words, they seemed to quiet for someone at Syrup's distance to hear, but for some reason, they echoed in her ears.

"Cahya!" Soul exclaimed, "D-Don't worry! Everything is gonna be fine! Somebody is gonna come and heal you… you're gonna be fine…!" Soul sputtered through the tears.

Cahya smiled weakly, "I'm… sorry…!" She gasped, "I couldn't… save you… in time…!" She wheezed.

The large golden blade in her chest began to glow and disappear, and Cahya slowly began to go limp.

"W-Wait…! Hang on!" He cried out.

"Big bro… it hurts…" She said weakly, "Stay… with me…" she wheezed.

"Yeah…!" Soul cried.

Her body finally fell limp, the life inside it vanishing.

"I'm sorry…!"

Soul sat on his knees among the wreckage of what used to be his home, Cahya in his arms.

He was covered in blood… HER blood…

"I-I didn't…!" he started to say as tears fell from his eyes, his right eye glowed with a golden light.

He suddenly screamed.

It was a scream of despair, and it filled Syrup's ears.

Tears ran down Syrup's cheeks as she stared at the two, "Did this… happen to Soul… in the past?" She asked herself.

She tried to go to him, tried to comfort him… but she remained unable to touch him.

"How did you get here?"

Syrup whipped around to see Soul, the real Soul, the fully-grown Soul that she knew.

He leaned against some of the wreckage, his facial expression blank, and his eyes dark and lifeless.

"Soul!" Syrup exclaimed, "Are… are you?" She asked.

"Yes, I'm actually real, not a memory like what you just watched…" Soul said coldly.

"Wait, so this is…?" Syrup gasped.

"Yup," Soul replied, "This is a loop of the worst memory of my life…" he said coldly.

"A… loop?" Syrup said as she stared at Soul with worry in her eyes.

"I've had this memory repeat again, and again, and again…" Soul spat, "So, what are you doing here?" He asked.

"I… I came to get you out!" Syrup exclaimed, "Your body on the outside… it's going berserk!" She exclaimed.

Soul sighed, "And how do you plan to do that?" He asked.

Syrup's face deadpanned, she hadn't thought of that.

Suddenly, a large glowing door appeared behind them.

"Huh… an exit…" Soul muttered.

"Huh? How do you know?" Syrup asked.

"I can just… tell…" he replied as he stood up, his face still stuck with its dead look.

"Wait!" Syrup exclaimed as she ran over and grabbed his arm, "Do… do you want to talk…?" She asked nervously.

Soul glanced at her, "About what?" He asked, "About how I killed my sister?" He said bluntly.

"I…" Syrup tried to respond.

"Don't bother, we're leaving and ending this shitty match…" he said coldly as he brushed her off and walked towards the door.

Soul placed a hand on the handle and looked back at his younger self.

Syrup noticed his hands trembling, but despite how much she wanted to help him…

How?

Soul twisted the handle and pulled the door open, a blinding light coming out as he walked through, Syrup followed him sheepishly.

"Don't tell anyone…" Soul shot at her as their visions faded to white.

Syrup woke up with a start, looking around frantically at her surroundings.

She was in a hospital bed, Yuzu and her sisters sitting in a circle around her.

"Oh! You're awake!" Ruri exclaimed with a smile.

"What the… what happened…?" Syrup thought.

She suddenly gasped, "The match!" She exclaimed as she tried to get out of bed.

She felt herself being gently pushed back down by Yuzu, "You won," she said quickly, "After you did… whatever you did, you passed out while Soul woke up from his trance," she explained.

"Then he turned around, destroyed the crystal, and walked off!" Serena said with a look of annoyance, "He didn't even say anything! He just left you lying on the ground!" She said angrily.

Syrup rubbed her head, "So that's what happened…" she muttered.

Rin began to explain what had happened, "Apparently, that move that the other team did was supposed to put whoever gets hit by it in a trance where they experience their worst nightmare…" Rin said as Syrup laid on the bed, "But for some reason, Soul went crazy instead of just going into a trance…" she said.

"Whatever you did, it knocked Soul back to his senses," Serena took over, "He looked pretty pissed as well, destroyed the other crystal and stormed off, and we haven't seen him since…" she said exasperatedly.

"Wait, how long have I been out?" Syrup asked.

"Just a few hours," Yuzu said as she stood up, "You should be good to leave soon, so we'll be waiting down in the lobby with the boys!" She said as her she and her sisters began to leave.

"Get well soon!" Rin said happily, the other girls nodding as the room became empty.

Syrup continued smiling until they left, before looking at the floor and frowning.

"Soul…" Syrup muttered.

If what she saw was really something that happened in the past, she could only imagine the kind of pain Soul was going through, especially after an experience that almost certainly re-opened some scars.

But how do you help someone like that?

Her mind came up empty when she thought about it, which was incredibly discouraging.

She sighed and allowed her eyelids to close once more, she was still tired, and racking her brain for a way to help her friend was… tiring.

Voices.

He had heard them in his head almost constantly after his thirteenth birthday.

Soul sat in an alleyway, away from the people who probably wanted to question him or interview him.

He could partially remember what had happened while his body was going berserk, but it was still fuzzy, and he hated it nonetheless.

But let's get back to the voices, shall we?

There were three different voices in his head, was it because of trauma? Who knows, he hated all of them either way.

"Well, now somebody knows, maybe we should just end it?"

The first voice sounded just like his own voice, and was really depressing and constantly trying to get him to take his own life. He had considered it, but in the end, he decided against it because of another voice.

"It's just Syrup, and no! Don't waste the life that Cahya gave you!"

A female voice that sounded WAY too much like Cahya, and was supportive and trying to make him feel better. If it didn't sound like his sister, he would've liked this voice, but unfortunately, he hated it because of what it sounded like.

"Why don't we just let go and go crazy…?"

The final voice was deeper than his own voice, but still similar to his own voice. It seemed to be constantly angry, and it wants Soul to just release the seal he had placed on his power and let loose.

He was insane… wasn't he?

Well, he WAS sane enough to recognize that hearing voices technically made him certifiably insane.

He figured he needed a name for the voices, and gave them the names Depression, Supportive, and Rage respectively.

On the bright side, if he goes to sleep, the voices stop.

Actually… that might be why he started sleeping so much.

"Just kill me already…" Soul groaned.

"See, He agrees…" Depression said gloomily.

"He's obviously exaggerating…" Rage spat.

"Guys! Stop!" Supportive exclaimed.

"Shut up, already…" Soul groaned as he closed his eyes.

"He's sleeping again…" Depression said gloomily.

The other voices sighed, and Soul smiled as his mind drifted into unconsciousness.

Yugo stared at Yuri intently, poker cards in each of their hands.

Yugo looked confident, and Yuri looked smug.

"Full House!" Yugo declared as he threw down his hand, revealing his hand to be a full hand.

Yuri laughed, "Impressive… but not impressive enough!" Yuri yelled as he threw down his own hand, revealing an Ace, King, Queen, Jack, and a 10.

A royal flush.

"WHAT!" Yugo yelled as he slammed his fists on the table, "YOU'RE CHEATING! I KNOW YOU ARE!" He yelled.

"Oh, don't be such a sore loser, Fusion!" Yuri laughed smugly, "Just pay up already!" He said as he flashed the most evil-looking face possible.

"My name is YUGO! Not FUSION!" Yugo yelled.

"How did you do that!?" Yuya exclaimed.

"Well, you see it's a little something I like to call skill, and believing in the heart of the cards…" Yuri said smugly as he sneakily adjusted the extra cards he had hidden in his sleeves.

"Damn it…" Yugo cursed as he pulled out his wallet and shoved a stack of money into Yuri's arms.

"Yuri, you should really stop cheating…" Yuto whispered into Yuri's ear.

Yuri simply grinned, "Why, I have no idea what you're talking about!" He said with a smile that was too pure to be anything genuine from Yuri.

Yuya smiled, hoping that times like these could continue.

Bonus Scene! (This will be a tradition now, these scenarios DO happen unless otherwise specified, but they may not happen during the same time-frame as the chapter it is in. Take this scene, for example, this is taking place before everybody arrived at the island.)

Bonus Scene 1

"Sorry… I don't think I can get out of bed today…!"

Yuto groaned as he lay in bed, an ice-pack laid across his forehead.

Just when they get a four-day weekend, Yuto ends up sick and stuck in bed.

"Damn, it must suck to be you!" Yuri taunted.

"Wait, if Yuto can't get out of bed… who's gonna feed us!?" Yugo exclaimed.

"Of course, the first thing on your mind is food…" Rin groaned.

"He has a point, though…" Serena muttered, "I'd rather not pay for every meal this entire weekend, but do any of us know how to cook?" She asked.

"Everything Yuri cooks somehow ends up poisonous…" Yugo pointed out, "I'll probably break everything in the kitchen, and Yuya only knows how to make pancakes…" Yugo listed the brother's cooking talents off.

"Well then, I suppose us girls will have to provide!" Yuzu said pridefully.

Yugo's eyes widened, "Seriously!? Homemade food from the girls for the whole weekend…!" Yugo whispered to Yuri.

"Well, I'm sure you ladies are more than capable!" Yuya said with a smile, "We'll leave dinner to you!"

Later…

"All right, dinner is ready!" Ruri called throughout the dorm.

"Great! I could eat a-" Yugo started to say before he froze at the sight on the table.

"Yugo? What's wrong-" Yuri began to ask before he too, froze up.

"Guys? What's-" Yuya continued before ALSO freezing in place.

"What the hell is that…?" They all thought simultaneously.

"We all worked together to make this!" Ruri said with a smile that radiated purity, "It's the Kurosaki-Family-Style Curry!" She explained.

"Oh… yay…" Yugo gulped.

What was on the table, did NOT resemble curry. It was actually a mystery as to WHAT it resembled at all.

"Does it have a face…?" Yuri whispered.

It did indeed look like it had a face. It even looked like it was in excruciating pain.

"Why is it… purple…?" Yuya whispered back.

The sauce was indeed a deep and sickly purple, it even had a few bubbles.

"Why is the rice… green?" Yugo whispered.

The rice was a sickly green, and it radiated an incredibly awful smell.

"Well? Dig in!" Rin said happily, "We worked really hard on this!" She added.

Yuya swore he heard a silent scream come from the curry.

"In my room, I have a small garden of carnivorous and poisonous plants…" Yuri whispered, "But they seem like dandelions compared to this…!" He hissed.

"What's wrong?" Yuzu asked.

"Excuse me, but that's completely inedible-" Yuri began to speak before both Yuya and Yugo grabbed him and covered his mouth, "N-Nothing!" They both said frantically, "Just let us talk for a second…!" They said before dragging Yuri into another room.

"What the hell! You can't seriously think it's a good idea to eat that!" Yuri hissed.

"Of course it isn't!" Yugo hissed back, "But I'm pretty sure eating it is a fate better than making any of them angry!" He choked out.

"You heard them! They worked hard on this!" Yuya hissed, "If we tell them it's horrible, at least one of them will cry, which will infuriate them even more!" He pointed out.

"Hm, it seems like we made a little more than we intended to…" Serena's voice echoed from the kitchen, "Maybe we should give some to Yuto?" She asked.

The boys gulped, "Yuto is already sick! We can't let him eat that!" Yuya said frantically.

"Suck up your pride, and pray that you survive!" Yuri said with a face of regret.

"God, I hope I don't die because of CURRY of all things…!" Yugo hissed.

Yuya, Yugo, and Yuri each walked into the room.

"What's wrong? You guys look so pale!" Yuzu said as they sat down.

"N-Nothing…!" Yuya stammered.

"Well, we made sure to think of each of you while we made this," Serena said as she gave each of them a plate, "Since Yuya likes sweets, we put chocolate in, and since Yugo likes spicy food, we put ghost peppers in!" She said cheerfully.

Both Yuya and Yugo looked like they were about to faint, "A-And… me?" Yuri hesitatingly asked.

"Well, we weren't sure what you liked, so we nabbed one of your plants and tossed it in…" Rin replied.

"YOU COOKED ONE OF MY MY BABIES-" Yuri started to scream before Yugo slapped a hand over his mouth.

Yuya gulped, he had seen Yuri's plants, and they all seemed too dangerous to go even remotely near, mostly because of the strange look, smell, and chances of being eaten alive by the plant.

Suddenly, the wrath of all of the girls at once seemed much more favorable compared to whatever was in front of them.

It seemed like there was on escape… unless…

"Well? Why don't you try it first?" Yuri said to Yugo.

"Huh!?" Yugo exclaimed before suddenly realizing what was happening.

"O-Oh! Nah, I'm fine…" Yugo said back, "I think you should try it, it is made from one of your plants after all…" Yugo said with a hidden glare.

"No, please… I insist…" Yuri shot back at him.

"No, please… go ahead!" Yugo said with fake-kindness.

Yuri's eyebrow twitched, "Well, I'm sure it's been one of your lifelong dreams to eat home-cooked meals from a girl…" Yuri said passive-aggressively.

"I think you're mistaken, Yuri…!" Yugo said as his voice began to get louder.

The nice-facade suddenly vanished, and Yuri and Yugo were suddenly glaring at each other so intensely that it looked like something was about to explode.

"Well, I believe there's only one way to settle this…!" Yuri said angrily.

Immediately, both of them were on the floor in the arm-wrestling position, each of them yelling dramatically as they clashed.

"Well, since those two are being idiots, why don't you try it?" Yuzu asked Yuya with a kind smile.

"Huh!? Me!?" Yuya exclaimed as the color drained from his face.

Yuya stared at the food-no, Yuya stared at the CHEMICAL WEAPON that sat in front of him.

"It's fine… it's not actually alive and going to kill me…" Yuya gulped.

"kIlL mE…!"

Yuya ignored the rasping voice that seemed to beg for death that came from the mass of death in front of him.

Yuya shakily took a spoon and picked up a portion of the curry.

The girls were all staring at him hopefully.

He had no options!

Yuri and Yugo looked up to see Yuya with the spoon in hand, realizing what they had just doomed the younger-brother to do.

"WAIT NO-" They both yelled.

It was too late, the spoon was in his mouth.

Yuri and Yugo gasped as Yuya's face remained completely still.

"Y-Yuya…?" Yugo whispered.

Foam started to drip out of Yuya's mouth as his face turned blue.

"OH GOD!"

"WHAT DID YOU PUT IN HERE!?"

"HOSPITAL! CALL 911!"

Meanwhile…

"Why do I have a headache…?" Yuto grumbled from his bed.

A bit of Soul's power was (unwillingly) put on display today, as well as a memory of Soul's past.

I figured that I wanted Soul's true power to be something unique, so he has his own monsters that came directly from my own head. Behold, The Blade-Messiah archetype of monsters. He currently has one for each attribute, with the exception of DIVINE, giving him Armed Dragon, six Blade-Messiah's, and his mysterious ace.

There wasn't much action with the main cast of Arc-V, I hope you all can forgive me for that! Until next time!

(Bonus Scenes are gonna become a norm here, so you'll usually get to experience a form of comedy at the end of every chapter. Today, it was the introduction of Yuzu and the girl's cooking skills when working together).

(Oh, and thoughts on the rating of this story?)