Sunlight shone in through the window and rested on Fader's face as he lay in bed. His eyes opened and he used his hand to block the light as his eys adjusted. Throwing back the covers he got out of bed. He paused for a second as he realized that he was already fully dressed.

Something wasn't right. Fader's glance shot around the room. He looked to the bed to see if Serena was still asleep but she was no where to be found. In fact it appeared as though the bed hadn't been slept in, even though Fader himself had just gotten out of it. The room itself had changed slightly as well. The walls were a deeper shade of green and the furniture was a different style, more antiquated, but familiar somehow.

Fader exited the bedroom and made his way to the study. When he entered he found that it too had changed. Pictures that were hanging on the walls were different. Fader walked over to the desk and moved to sit down. He spun the chair around only to find himself face to face with someone he never expected to see again.

"Hello son," his father said to him.

Fader backed up a couple of steps, shocked. "What the hell is going on? Who are you?" he shouted.

"You know who I am son," the man replied, rising from the chair.

"No," Fader said shaking his head. "I know who you're supposed to be. But you're not my father."

"You always were a stubborn boy," his father continued. "I assure you that I am Hartland Fader, your father."

"My father is dead."

"How cynical. I may be dead in the real world, but a part of me will live forever in your mind."

"My mind?"

"That's right. We're in your mind right now. I'm just a part of that mind."

"How did I get here? The last thing I remember is being in this study with a man named Shadi. He said something about a shadow game and the next thing I remember is I woke up in my bed."

"Ah yes, Shadi," Hartland said. "He's around here somewhere. Probably exploring the reaches of your mind just as you are."

"You met him?"

"He was here not too long before you were. Nice young man, a little serious and a bit cryptic, but he seems very determined."

"Did he tell you anything about this game that I'm supposed to play?"

"You're expecting a little much from me aren't you?" his father replied.

"I have to find him. He's got to be somewhere in this house." Fader walked over to the door that he had entered from, opened it and stepped through. Instantly he found himself on the helicopter pad onto of the Duelist's Tower in Battle City.

He turned three hundred and sixty egrees to take in the view. Other than the door he had just come through, which looked completely out of place in the middle of the helicopter pad, it was the same place that he had been on only a few short weeks ago. He looked back through the door at the study he had just left. His father stood just across the threshold with his arms behind his back.

"You just don't get it yet son," Hartland shouted to Fader. "This isn't your home, it's your mind. A mind that is being influenced by the Shadow Realm. Things aren't going to be as cut and dry as you'd like them to be." He grasped the doorknob and began to close the door. "Be careful," he called out just as the door shut and dissappeared.

Fader found himself alone once again. He looked around the cold rooftop and looked up. The sky had turned a deep shade of purple.

"There's a storm coming," a voice said form behind him. Fader spun around to find someone else he hadn't ever planned on seeing again.

"Evo," Fader said.

"Hello again Mr. Fader," Evo greeted him.

"My father I can understand as being a part of my mind, but you?"

"The subconcious has a tricky sense of humour doesn't it?"

"So are you supposed to represent annoyanace or something?"

Evo frowned. "You hurt me. Don't we have some kind of special bond now? You said so yourself before. All of the people who have given you a piece of the Millennium Puzzle were in your heart. isn't that it? That makes us close friends now right?"

Fader scoffed at the comment. "I don't consider people that toy with me and try to have my girlfeind killed twice a friend."

"Girlfiend? I had no idea you and she had gotten so close. How is the young Miss Kaiba doing?"

"She's fine," Fader said harshly. He turned from Evo and stared off into the horizon and the ever darkening sky. He didn't notice as Evo faced turned suddenly evil and his entire body began to become enveloped in a black shadow. Fader turned around just in time to see the shadow that had once been Evo begin to twist and warp itself into something completely different. When it finished its transformation Fader found the Gravekeeper Crypt Drake bearing down on him as the sounds of thunder began to roar in the sky above.

The dragon stepped forward as it began to stalk Fader. Fader backed up and he began to inch closer and cloaser to the edge of the roof. After only a minute or so the Crypt Drake was within striking distance and Fader was teetering on the brink of falling fifty stories stright down; which, his mind or not, would probably cause problems to say the least.

Just as the drake reared back to strike its chest began to glow white and seconds later it shattered and exploded. Fader lost his balance and was about to fall when a hand reached through the smoke and grabbed his hand, pulling him forward. The smoke finally cleared and Fader looked into the eyes of his saviour, the Dark Magician Girl.

"Well that's unexpected," Fader said, still recovering form what had just happened. He looked more closely at the Dark Magician Girl's face and was shocked at what he saw. "Serena?" he exclaimed with suprise.

"That's me," she replied as she steeped back and smoothed out her skirt. "Like the outfit?"