The last thing Fader remembered was collapsing to the ground as the spirits of his Shadow game with Evo tore through him. The pain had been too much for him to bear. He didn't even remember screaming. But it didn't matter now. He was no longer in the temple, no longer anywhere that he could recognize.

He was falling. Falling through an abyss. Shapes and colors passed by him, too quickly to identify or comprehend. He kept falling for what seemed like an eternity, faster and faster. the colors became more blinding and greater in intensity. Fader looked down to where he dropped to see a white void where the colors and images seem to originate from. It was only a few more seconds until he fell into the expanse and was completely enveloped by the white light.

When the light dissolved he found himself standing once on a dueling field. Not behind the field, but on it. He had no control over his body and had only a basic understanding of his surroundings, but the situation he was presented with was unmistakable. Standing in front of him roared the powerful Blue Eyes White Dragon.

Fader could do nothing in the face of the abominable beast, except stand there. The Blue Eyes roared once again as it's mouth opened wide, exposing its gaping maw as it charged up energy for an attack. Fader's feet were frozen in place, there was nothing he could do but wait for the attack. Just before the attack could come though the Blue Eyes stopped and roared in pain. It was then that Fader saw the reason. Around the Blue Eyes' neck a disk or brilliant energy had formed. Fader recognized it as the Spellbinding Circle, and it was binding the Blue Eyes in place.

Before he could react to the new information though he felt his right arm raise up in front of him. For the first time he was aware of an object in his hand. A long staff stretched out in his grasp aimed directly at the trapped dragon. A split second later a blast of purple energy shot forth and shattered the Blue Eyes into thousands of digital shards. As the dust cleared standing behind the Blue Eyes, on top of a small tower stood Seto Kaiba.

All Fader saw was Seto Kaiba laugh before transforming into a hideous, fat monstrosity. A few more seconds later, another Blue Eyes rose up out of the ground and roared as the one before it had. Fader watched in horror as this new dragon let loose with a blast of white lightning that completely enveloped Fader. Once again Fader's senses were overwhelmed and he succumbed to the force beyond his control.

-------------

"You're getting in way over your head little girl," Sin told Serena after she had made it clear that she would take her lover's place in the duel.

"If you think you're walking out of here with me in tow, you're the one that's in way over your head," barked back Serena. "I'm not some prize to be won. You're going to have to fight me before I'll do anything for you." She raised the Millennium Rod up and it began to glow. A gold shimmering field appeared as a dome around the playing field. "No games this time though. No spirits or tricks. Just you and me."

"You have a lot to learn girl. But don't think that just because I need you that I won't knock you down. I intend to break you. You will learn respect. And it's my move. And I'll start by activating my face down card, the Return from the Different Dimension."

"What does that do?"

"By paying half of my Life Points I can special summon to the field as many of my monsters that have been removed from the game to the field until the end of the turn. So return to me my D.D. Warrior Lady!" Out of the ground the female warrior rose up and took a battle stance, aiming her vibrant sword straight at Serena. "And now I have the requisite sacrifice I need to summon this, the Guardian of the Different Dimension (2300/1700). And since you have no monsters on the field to block my attack, you're about to lose more than half your Life Points. Guardian attack!"

The hulking guardian shifted the glowing mace that it held in its hand and charged straight at Serena. Before it could strike though a small dragon appeared in front of Serena and blocked the smashing attack of Sin's monster. "Sorry to disappoint you Sin. But it's not that easy."

"What happened?"

"Using the special ability of my Spinel Dragon (1000/1500) I payed 500 Life Points to Special Summon it to the field and protect my Life Points."

"It benefits me either way my dear." Serena didn't have time to reply before she watched Sin's Life Points rise up.

Serena: 2900, Sin: 1700.

"My Guardian has a special ability that I neglected to mention. Whenever it destroys an opponent's monster, that monster is removed from the game and I gain Life Points equal to your monster's level multiplied by 300. So though I lost 800 Life Points when I activated my trap card at the start of my turn I just gained 900 thanks to my own monster." A card back image appeared on the field in front of him. "I'll set this card before ending my turn."

Serena drew her card. She was already at a severe disadvantage. She still had Life Point advantage, but she had no monster and no other cards on the field, and she had already lost a card from her hand to protect her Life Points. "I'll start by playing this card, Graceful Charity to draw three cards and discard two. Then I'll lay these two cards face down and this monster in defense mode. I'm done."

"And so is this game," Sin said as he drew his next card. "I summon the Blood Vors (1900/1200) in attack mode. And he'll attack your face down monster. Leaving you wide open for an attack from my Guardian."

"I don't think so," Serena replied. "Your Blood Vors destroyed my Dragon Egg (0/500) and thanks to its ability when its destroyed in battle I can special summon from my deck a Dragon that has 200 attack points or less. So before your Guardian can attack it will have to contend with my new monster the Pearl Dragon (2000/2900)!"

"You're a fool. My Guardian is still stronger, your new dragon will be destroyed and I'll gain 2100 Life Points from my monster's ability. Guardian attack!" The Guardian leaped up and brought it's mace crashing down on top of Serena's beast only to be thrown back and sent careening into the ground as the Pearl Dragon slammed it with its tail. "What happened?" exclaimed Sin.

"My trap card," she answered with a smile. "The Mirror Wall, which cuts your monsters attack in half. So instead of an impressive 2300 it's reduced to 1150, which couldn't stand up to my monster's power. which means that I've just eliminated your monster's threat to my monsters and my Life Points."

"My turn is over."

Serena: 2900, Sin: 850.

"So much for all your arrogance Sin .You may look like him but you just don't have the flair or dueling ability that Fader does."

"Is that why I'm still standing and he is unconscious?" asked Sin as he gestured to Fader's body.

------------

The light faded again, and Fader once again found himself standing on a field of battle. The adversary in front of him this time was another recognizable character. In front of him, in the same robes as he had seen in his battle with Sin. Dressed in the red and grey and sporting the same evil gaze that Fader had looked into before was the Dark Magician. It was not quite the same. there was something different about the Dark Magician, something familiar.

Sin.

The face of the Dark Magician was Sin's. Fader hadn't noticed it initially but now it was unmistakable. It was the same face that Fader himself stared into in the mirror every morning, but it was warped, twisted with an evil expression that he had seen on Sin's face. he didn't know why, but he sensed a familiarity with the situation, a feeling of deja vu. He had been on this field staring into Sin's face before, under the same circumstances, but he didn't know how.

Behind the Dark Magician stood someone or something that Fader had seen before, but didn't expect to see in this situation. A clown was behind the Dark Magician and was laughing though Fader couldn't hear any sounds or words being said. He saw that the clown was using an antique Duel Disk, the same type as the one Yami had used in their duel before. Suddenly Fader felt chains grab his arms and force them up and Fader found himself bound to a cross, chained and immobile as the Dark Magician and clown continued to stare at him.

It was then that Fader heard the first sounds since the light had cleared. The unmistakable sound of Yami, his unlikely partner in dueling cry out against what had just happened to Fader. Fader was finally beginning to regain his orientation and he realized what was going on, though he didn't know how. He was in the middle of a duel, Yami, or more correctly Yami and Yugi Moto were dueling against this clown and somehow Fader had been dragged into this struggle, not as a duelist, but as a monster. He looked down at himself to confirm his suspicions to find himself clad in the deep purple robes of the Dark Magician that he was more familiar with. He himself was a monster, not just any monster but apparently the monster that was Yugi Moto's personal favorite, a monster that held a significance, a profound bond with that duelist.

Fader continued to watch the duel unfold around him, unable to more or fight back against the crucifix that he found himself chained to. he watched as Yugi summoned a Big Shield Gardna beside him, obviously to protect himself from the Sin-Dark Magician. What happened next though was not anything Fader could have anticipated. He watched as the clown summoned another monster, a puppet with weapons, then the clown played a magic card that Fader didn't recognize. The card glowed as did the puppet and as the puppet collapsed a beam of white radiant energy shot out and passed right through the Gardna and striking Yugi in the chest. Fader tried once again valiantly to break free of the chains, he was overcome with an overwhelming desire to protect Yugi and Yami, a desire he couldn't explain considering he had never known or met the King of Games.

Yugi struggled to recompose himself from the assault and barked out comments to his opponent, words that Fader could neither hear nor understand. What he did understand though was the plans of Yugi's opponent. The clown had sacrificed his monster to strike at Yugi directly and as Fader watched he could tell that the clown was planning on doing the same thing with his remaining monster, the Sin-Dark Magician.

Time seemed to slow as Fader and the opposing Dark Magician stared each other. Neither of them could say anything verbally, but the only things they needed to say were conveyed in that simple glare across the battle field. Fader felt the energy and familiarity of a continued rivalry swell within him. He had been in this moment before.

He watched as Sin's form became limp and collapsed to the ground. The energy of the monsters soul circled around the clown and aimed itself straight for Yugi. Fader was filled with a variety of powerful emotions. His anger at the situation and his desire to protect the King of Games overcame him completely. He knew that in his heart that he had to protect Yugi. As the energy wave that was the Sin-Dark Magician got closer and closer to Yugi, Fader's spirit lifted itself away from his body and he placed himself in the way, blocking the attack on Yugi.

It was in that instant that Fader came to a realization. There was no mistaking it anymore. He was the Dark Magician.