Welcome to the last chapter of Arc 3! It's soon time to head back to the main game. I want to say a quick thank you to everyone who has contributed with their ideas to the story. I haven't been able to use all of them, but I'm saving some for the future chapters. I still accept ideas and suggestions, so don't feel shy to write me a PM.

Special thanks to grapejuice101 for giving me some ideas for the fanfic. I've added one of them in this chapter.

Some parts of the chapter are inspired by the webtoons "Honey, Don't Run Away" from Chapter 31 to Chapter 33. You can find the webtoons on manganelo dot com.

Disclaimer: I do not own any Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's characters! I only own my OCs!

Chapter 47: Foreboding Events

It was a peaceful early January afternoon. I sat by the coffee table in my bedroom and had afternoon tea, enjoying the silence. The last few months had been busy and slightly hectic, but I had enjoyed it, especially Goodwin's birthday party, the Christmas Eve, and celebrating the New Year with Zora and the Signers. It felt a bit surreal that so much had happened in such a short time. Things like these never happened back in my world.

My right hand that held the teacup froze when these thoughts came flowing into my mind. I bit my lower lip softly as I placed down the cup on the coffee table. My hands rested on my lap as I lowered my head, my bangs covering my eyes.

Due to everything that had happened around me ever since the Crimson Dragon brought me to this dimension, I had nearly forgotten about my original dimension and my family. Now that I thought about it, I felt ashamed for forgetting my own flesh and blood.

Were my parents and big brother worried about me? Were they still looking for me? Or was there a time difference between the two worlds? What if my world's time moved faster than here? What if my parents were already…

I removed my glasses as I felt wetness forming in my eyes. I put down the glasses next to the teacup and picked up a tissue from the pocket of my pants to wipe the tears. It didn't really help as the tears slowly started pouring down my cheeks the more I thought about my biological family.

I wished I could somehow contact and tell them I was safe, but the Crimson Dragon told me that he had used up too much of his energy to create a wormhole to bring me to his dimension. This meant he needed time to restore all that energy to create a new wormhole, but a much smaller one so I could send a letter to my parents.

Even so, I missed my family, especially my mother. She was the biggest support in my life, both as a child and adult. I missed talking to her and share my thoughts and have our deep conversations. Dad was a good father, but I had a slight difficult time to connect to him because he had his own difficulties with his special needs.

I bit my lower lip to stop myself from sobbing, which somehow helped, but it wasn't the right medicine. I needed to talk to someone about my feelings. I couldn't keep them bottled up anymore. I had to let it out.

I wiped the tears off my cheeks and took a few deep breathes to calm down enough to leave the room and go talk to Goodwin. He was at the mansion since it was Sunday, so I hoped this was perfect timing, unless he was too busy.

I got up from the couch and walked toward the door. I was just about to open it when a knock echoed from the other side. "Estelle? It's me", Goodwin called. "May I come in?"

"S-Sure…", I replied.

Was Goodwin a psychic or what? Just as I wanted to see him, he actually came to me.

The door opened as Goodwin stepped inside my bedroom. He raised an eyebrow when he saw I was only inches away from the door, or so I thought.

"Estelle… Were you crying?" he asked, his voice sounding a bit concerned.

"Yes…", I nodded slowly. "But…how did you know?"

"Your eyes are red and I can see unshed tears on them", Goodwin replied. "Now, come."

He gently wrapped an arm around my shoulders and led me back to the couch. We sat down and remained silent a couple of seconds as my adoptive father removed his arm.

"Tell me, what were you upset about?" he asked softly.

I looked down on my lap and found my fingers being more interesting than looking up and expose my sad face. "My family… I miss them a lot, especially my mother. Sometimes… I wish to give her a hug or even a little kiss on the top of her head as I've always done. I miss her warm hugs… Her scent… Her giving me comfort when I need it…"

The tears returned as I spoke about my mother. I removed my glasses and tried wiping the tears, but it was useless. I had no control over my tears now. The dam had been overflowed. Even though I was often composed and kept myself in check, I had to let it out now. I was human too; things would be too much for me to handle at some point.

I felt Goodwin's arms wrap around me as he brought me into a warm hug. I leant my face against his shoulder and sobbed onto him. I was afraid to ask a hug from him, but he did it before I could say a word.

I cried for a few minutes until I felt like the dam was empty. I moved away from Goodwin, feeling a bit exhausted, and wiped my wet cheeks with my hands and wiped them on my pants.

"Are you okay?" Goodwin asked softly.

"A little…", I nodded tiredly. "I'm sorry… I really needed this."

"I understand", Goodwin replied as he gently patted me on my shoulder. "I cannot speak for your parents, but I'm certain they know you are alive and safe, and they will be waiting for you. Although… I admit, when the time comes for you to return to your dimension, I'm going to miss you."

"I'm going to miss you and everyone else too", I smiled tiredly. "But… I don't know if I want to go back or stay here. I received so much in this world that filled the empty gaps in my heart and soul."

"I'm sure, in due time, you will make the final decision. Speaking of, there was a reason why I came to you."

"Hm?" I hummed confusedly.

"I've been keeping this a secret, but I believe it's time you learn about it. Short after you officially became my daughter, I've received multiple letters from rich families about your marriage proposals."

"Marriage proposals?!" I exclaimed in disbelief, suddenly feeling energized again. "You mean, arranged marriage?"

"Yes", Goodwin nodded. "Mothers and fathers want to introduce their sons and-"

"No", I said straight away. "I don't want any arranged marriage. If I want to get married, I want to marry the man I love. Period."

Goodwin chuckled, "I suspected that, so I've already declined the proposals. However, some families are a bit persistent, so I'm afraid you have to personally write a reply to decline them."

"I will", I nodded. "Besides this, I don't want to settle down until I'm certain what is going to happen to me once my duty in your world is over."

"A wise decision."

XXXXXXXXXX

The first two weeks of January were relatively calm. The Signers, Carly, and I celebrated Jack's birthday at the garage. I bought him a coffee machine and coffee cartridges, so he could make his own coffee and not spend thousands of yen at the café across the plaza. Misty, Aki, and I helped Carly to come up with a great gift a week before the party. The reporter wanted to give herself to him, all tied up in an amethyst ribbon and wait for him in her apartment, but the rest of us told her to dump the "dirty" gift. Instead, Carly made twelve coupons to Jack that he could redeem one once a month for a personal fortune telling with real tarot cards, which she got from Misty after a trip abroad.

However, the peace broke when unexpected things began happening…

XXXXXXXXXX

It had been a couple of days since Goodwin and I had our big talk. I drove to Sector Security on my Duel Runner this particular morning. Goodwin had to leave early because of an issue at HQ, so the limousine wasn't available for me when I had to go to work.

I wore my office outfit, but I had added a pair of black wool stockings to keep my legs warm, and a long dark gray trench coat. Once I got to the garage of Sector Security and secured my Duel Runner, I removed the trench coat and carried it on my left arm as I held my briefcase in my right hand. I walked toward the elevators, hoping whatever issue was happening had been solved.

The office seemed calm when I stepped out of the elevator, but I noticed there was some of tension in the air. I ignored it and walked straight to my desk to begin my work. I hung up my coat on a coat rack on the wall behind me, switched the computer on, and unpacked the documents from my briefcase. Most of my work nowadays was about the upcoming WRGP, especially with the security, keep tracks on the teams that had registered so far and make sure to provide them personal security once the foreign teams would arrive to Japan in five months, and so on.

The next two hours I've been working were pretty calm, but it was broken once the office phone rang. "Secretary Goodwin", I answered the call as I held the receiver in my right hand while typing with my other hand.

"Estelle, bring me the documents of the budget for the WRGP and a cup of coffee. The usual, thank you", Goodwin said.

"Right away, Director."

I made him the coffee and brought it to his office along with the budget documents. I noticed he was working with several documents as he threw an eye on his computer every once in a while.

"Your coffee and the documents, Director", I spoke as I gently put the coffee cup and the documents on the desk.

"Thank you", Goodwin nodded.

I bowed softly with my hands on my front. "If I may ask, has the issue been solved, the one you were called for in the morning?"

"The technicians are still working on it", Goodwin replied before he picked up the coffee cup and took a sip. "It looks like it's a virus invasion, so they're trying to block it out."

"A virus invasion? Who would want to target Sector Security?"

"We've got several enemies, and we've been attacked before, but we've got the best firewalls and technicians. Unfortunately, we haven't been able to identify the enemy nor pinpoint their location."

A hacker attack toward Sector Security… Why did I have a feeling the culprits were Illiaster? Goodwin told me he had broken all contacts with them, so were they going for revenge or some kind preparation for the Meklord Emperors?

"Director Goodwin!" Lazar called panicked as he dashed into the office, but he quickly collected himself when he saw me and bowed softly. "Ms. Goodwin! Pardon my rude intrusion."

"Vice-director", I bowed respectfully to him.

"What is it, Lazar?" Goodwin asked just as I heard a weird noise coming from his computer.

"T-The virus has managed to breach Security's firewalls!" Lazar reported, resuming his panicked behavior. "Every computer in this building is corrupted by the virus and it's getting worse! Everyone is panicking and do not know what to do!"

"Tell everyone to calm down", Goodwin said seriously. "Then request for employees who has a hacker background to join the technicians. They must work together to stop the virus."

"Yes, Director!" Lazar saluted before running out of the office.

"I've never seen Lazar act like this before…", I mumbled softly to myself.

"Estelle", Goodwin said, getting my attention. "Come here."

I walked around the desk to check his computer. The screen was blank, but it shifted from black and white as neon green codes kept popping up. I had very little knowledge of a virus invasion, so I had no idea what to do.

"This looks serious…", I commented. "Is there any chances the virus could leak out confidential information of Sector Security?"

"There is a high risk to it, yes", Goodwin replied. "Estelle, take in charge of this."

"Me?" I pointed at myself in disbelief. "But, Director, I have no knowledge about handling a virus."

"I meant to say that I'll leave you to come up with a solution", Goodwin explained. "You are dismissed."

I bowed once again and left the office, only to be met by total chaos. The colleagues were restless and worried, talking back and forth as several worked frantically by their computers, trying to get past the virus. I had never witnessed such a scene before, except the section where the technicians were working.

Goodwin put this on me, so I had to come up with something and fast. In order to get rid of the virus, we needed a professional hacker. However, most hackers were of the bad type and I didn't want to take the risk to call a random hacker and let them work here.

But there was another solution to it… Yusei.

Yusei was a great hacker and had a huge knowledge about programming, but I doubted he could handle such a massive virus or…

I shook my head and went straight to my desk to pick up my smartphone. I scrolled down until I reach Yusei's number and called him. I prayed he wasn't extremely busy at the moment and he could come and give us a helping hand.

The phone beeped twice before Yusei answered. "Hello?"

"Hi, Yusei. It's Estelle. I hope I'm not interrupting you."

"No, it's okay. I was just about to take a break from the prototype engine Jack, Crow, and I've been working on."

"Any progress?"

"Not so much. So why are you calling so early? I thought you're at work in Sector Security?"

"I am, but we've got a major problem here."

"What's wrong?"

"There's a massive virus invasion going on and every computer at Security has been corrupted. The technicians are working furiously to fix it, but there's very little result. So… Do you think you could come and try to help us? You can view this as a job offer and I'll pay you for it, whether you fix it or not."

"I'll be there in fifteen minutes and you don't have to pay me. I'll see you soon."

With that, he ended the call before I could say something back. "Hello?" I called and looked at the beeping smartphone confusedly.

It wasn't like Yusei to end the call without saying a small bye. In fact, he had been acting a bit odd lately, especially after New Year's. I began noticing that he often stood a bit close to me and our hands would often clash against each other, like when we would reach for the same tool and touch each other and then quickly pull our hands back. I felt like the relationship between us had changed, but I didn't know if it was a good or bad thing.

I shook my head to get rid of those thoughts and hurried to the elevator. I made it down to the lobby and waited for Yusei. The receptionists' computers had also been corrupted by the virus, so things were looking pretty bad.

I waited ten minutes before Yusei stepped into the building. He was dressed in a black coat, which he removed to reveal a dark gray long-sleeved shirt, black pants, and brown boots; not the ones with the orange jewels.

"Thank you so much for coming, Yusei", I thanked him when we met up. "I hope you didn't break any traffic laws on your way here."

"Don't worry, I didn't", Yusei chuckled softly before he cast an eye on the panicked receptionists. "This looks really bad."

"It is bad", I nodded as I led him to the elevators. "The technicians haven't made a single progress and now we fear that whoever is attacking Security could be after confidential files. We need to stop this as quickly as we can."

"I understand", Yusei nodded as we stepped into an elevator. "Could you show me your computer? I can work from there to deal with the virus."

"Sure", I nodded. "And, really, thank you for coming to help us."

"I'll always help you and our friends", Yusei replied calmly. "Don't worry about it, okay?"

I nodded slowly and turned my eyes at the door of the elevator, trying to avoid eye contact and not freak out that I was alone with Yusei. What was I, a shy fangirl? Well… Yes, I was.

I guided Yusei to my desk once we made it to the top floor. I took his coat from him and hung it up next to mine as he made himself comfortable in the seat in front of the computer. His eyes moved left and right as he checked the screen and all the glowing codes, already getting into a very serious mode.

"What do you think?" I asked softly as I stood next to him.

"Looks tough, but I'll give it a shot", Yusei nodded.

"You brought a Satellite-reject to Sector Security, Ms. Secretary?" a nasty familiar voice spoke up.

I held back a growl, but allowed my eyes to glare, as I looked up to see Natsumi walk past the desk, strutting on her high heels and throwing her hair over her shoulder.

"You're so desperate to solve the hacker attack that you randomly picked up a criminal from the streets?" Natsumi continued taunting me.

I so wanted to give her a big slap on her "beachy" face, but I held back the urge to get violent with her. "Never underestimate my reliable connections, Ms. Natsumi", I replied with the hint of a soft growl.

A hand rested on my left hand and gave it a soft squeeze. I glanced down and saw it was Yusei. Even though his eyes were on the computer screen and looked focused, he was holding me back from keep arguing with Natsumi.

"Don't get agitated by her, Estelle", Yusei said softly.

I nodded slowly in slight shame. "Sorry… I don't like hearing others talk down my friends."

"I've dealt with worse", Yusei replied as he picked up a flash drive from the pocket of his pants. "Your computer's got a plug-in?"

"On the side of the screen", I said. "I can plug it in for you."

I took the flash drive and put it in the plug-in, wondering what it was for. My question got answered when a small eight-bite digital Junk Warrior appeared at the right bottom corner of the screen. It had the same color scheme as the real Duel Monster and wasn't black or white.

"What's this?" I wondered.

"Remember the conversation we had a while ago? When you asked me about virus programs in shape of animals and you could control them with a single key?" Yusei said. "I took your idea and created my 'assistant' here to help me with attacks like this."

"He's so cute", I said with a small smile before I realized something. "Wait… Have you tested him yet?"

"No", Yusei confessed. "But there's a very small chance for him to get destroyed by the virus or make things worse if he crashes."

I nodded as I put my hand on his shoulder, giving it a soft squeeze. "I trust you. Beat the bad guys with your magic."

XXXXXXXXXX

Yusei was quite busy in the last half an hour. He typed like crazy on the keyboard while dealing with the virus. He was in such a deep concentration. I walked away to come back with a cup of coffee for him. I found out he liked his coffee black with no milk, but two teaspoon of sugar. I put down the cup a bit away from the keyboard so he wouldn't accidently knock it down while working.

"Estelle", a new voice spoke up, making me look over my shoulder. "I heard you've got quite the handsome man to deal with the hackers."

Sumino Fuyuka was another colleague of mine who worked on the top office. She was twenty-six years old, tall but not as tall as me, and had long black hair, blue eyes, and fair skin. Compared to Natsumi, she was nice and helpful. When I was new at Sector Security and got confused over something, she explained until I understood it.

"Is his your boyfriend?" Fuyuka continued asking.

Her question made me blush and softly elbow her side. "No, he's just a friend."

"Sure…", Fuyuka pulled the word a bit with a mischievous grin. "You're friends with the winner of the Fortune Cup, who's got quite the looks and the skills of a hacker."

"Oh hush…!" I said softly with red cheeks, fearing Yusei could hear all of this. "Yusei can't work if we keep chit-chatting around him."

"Don't worry about it", Yusei suddenly spoke up. "I'm done."

"Really?" Fuyuka said in shock. "That fast? I'll report to the Director right away!" She didn't hesitate to knock on Goodwin's office's door before entering to deliver the good news.

I walked around the desk to check the computer and, indeed, the screen was back to normal. It showed the nebula wallpaper I had picked out and every single file I had was still there. The digital Junk Warrior, or Junky as I had nicknamed it, was standing in the right bottom corner and had happy eyes. "Wow… It's like the attack never happened", I commented with a smile. "You're amazing."

"You've fixed it?!" Natsumi exclaimed in disbelief from her desk that was a few meters from mine.

"Miss, you just need to restart your PC and everything will be okay", Yusei replied calmly before turning his eyes on the screen. "Good job, Junk Warrior."

A speech bubble appeared above Junky. "Thank you, Master."

"Voice recognition?" I asked Yusei.

"Voice recognition", Yusei nodded.

I snapped my head up when I heard the door to Goodwin's office open. My adoptive father and Fuyuka stepped out, but Goodwin went straight to my desk with a poker face. At first, I thought he was going to scold me for bringing someone outside of Sector Security, but I quickly shook off those thoughts. He knew Yusei and what he was capable of.

"I had a feeling you would call for Yusei, Estelle", Goodwin said with a very small smile at the corner of his lips.

"Goodwin", Yusei stood up and nodded his head slightly.

"Thank you for your help, Yusei", Goodwin nodded in return. "I'll send you the compensation to your account later today."

"I didn't do this for the money", Yusei shook his head. "I did this to help my friend."

"But I insist", Goodwin unconsciously pushed it. "You've helped us immensely."

Yusei looked like he was about to argue, but I lightly elbowed his side, telling him silently to accept it or else they would stay like this for a long time arguing back and forth. "Only if you insist, Director."

Goodwin nodded with a slightly bigger smile. "Excellent." He turned to me. "Estelle, you can go and take your lunch break now."

"Yes, Director", I nodded, knowing it was a bit early for the lunch hour, but after this issue I needed a bit longer break. "Want to join me for lunch, Yusei? The least I can do is treat you."

"Sure", Yusei nodded as he removed the flash drive from the computer screen and put it in his pocket.

I packed my stuff into my briefcase before I grabbed my coat to leave. Yusei grabbed his coat and followed me to the elevators. Both of us were quiet for a short time in the elevator until Yusei spoke up.

"Have there been similar attacks toward Sector Security before?"

"From what Goodwin told me, there has been a few occasions, but never as intense as this", I replied. "Did you find something and didn't tell Goodwin?"

"No, it's not that", Yusei shook his head. "Normally, a virus invasion happens when the enemy is looking for confidential and private information from the target and steals it and then erases all the data from the main source. I've checked some files, only their codes, and I didn't see any indications of erased files."

The elevator made it to the ground floor and we stepped out to put on our coats before heading out to the fresh air and half-busy streets.

"So… Someone just decided to hack the computers at Security for fun?" I questioned.

"Yeah", Yusei nodded. "I couldn't track down their location, so I don't know if the hackers are in Japan or in another country."

I stayed silent as I looked up at the sky. This virus invasion could have been a forewarning about Iliaster's next move, meaning the Meklord Emperors were on their way.

The second war was coming.