Aster ran frantically through the hallway of the main Duel Academy building, hoping against hope that he would make it to the dueling arena on time. He had only just heard that Alexis was dueling against Chazz, who was now a member of the Society of Light. He had already seen what happened to other students who had lost a duel against him. They were now all loyal brainwashed servants of Sartorius' freaky little cult. And the numbers were only increasing. He wasn't exactly sure yet about how to go about dealing with Sartorius and the society. But one thing that he did know for sure was that he could not allow Alexis to join their ranks.

Why did she have to accept the duel!? This is not something to walk into blindly when we don't know nearly enough about the Society of Light yet! She's too stubborn for her own good! Aster thought to himself in frustration as he reached the doors to the dueling auditorium.

Xxx

Alexis stared down Chazz determinedly from her side of the dueling field. He had only seemed to have become more far gone today since he had obtained his new followers for the society. More than half of the male students from Obelisk Blue had been brainwashed, and she knew that she had to try doing something about this before it got even more out of control.

If Chazz uses Armed Dragon LV 7's effect, I can use Angel's Blast to negate it and destroy his monster in the process. Then I could win the duel! But even if he doesn't use it and decides to just attack instead, I can at least still force a draw by using Doble Passe. Either way, he won't win! And then maybe he'll come to his senses and stop brainwashing people. Alexis thought to herself carefully as she studied her two facedown cards.

"It seems as if you will not understand the nature of fate and how it controls us all until I make you see the light, Alexis." Chazz said.

"I don't believe in concepts like fate or destiny. We control our own futures through the choices that we make every day in our lives. I thought that you were someone who knew just how true this is. After all, when you left Duel Academy last year, you chose your own path of becoming stronger by going through trials at North Academy and learning to duel outside of your usual style from before then. Where is the Chazz Princeton who was not afraid to break away from the crowd by abandoning the more elitist ranks of Obelisk Blue to remain in Slifer Red with his true friends? The Chazz who found the value in cards that looked weak on the outside like the Ojamas. As far as I can see, he is gone, replaced by a mindless shell of a drone to this Society of Light. But I'm going to bring you back out of this once I defeat you in this duel, Chazz." Alexis said.

"But that is where you are wrong. I was not brainwashed at all. Master Sartorius presented me a choice: the choice to become something much greater than I am. If anything, overcoming challenges at North Academy was just another path in life that the Light had chosen me to follow to obtain my true purpose. And you will soon embrace the Light and join me in our glorious service. The Light is everything! More! More Light!" Chazz said insistently. He raised his hand upwards as if reaching for this light he spoke of himself.

"The Light! More Light!" The brainwashed students chanted repeatedly from their seats in the auditorium.

"WAIT! STOP THE DUEL!" A voice shouted.

Alexis turned to see Aster standing next to the dueling platform, looking angrier than she had ever seen him before.

"And why should we do that? The Light has guided me to this moment, and soon Alexis will be able to see it too after she loses to me and becomes a part of Master Sartorius' wonderful vision of the future." Chazz said.

"Not if I can help it! We don't need anymore people becoming brainwashed like you obviously are. Sartorius is playing you all for fools with this sick little cult of his and I'm going to get to the bottom of it!" Aster protested. He climbed up to the dueling platform so that he was standing next to Chazz.

"I appreciate your concern, Aster. But this is my fight. I'm going to defeat Chazz so that we can start to end this madness. And there is nothing he can do about it now anyway." Alexis said firmly.

"You're a fool if you think you have this all figured out so soon, Alexis." Aster said through narrowed eyes.

"Shut up! I won't have you come out of nowhere like this and insult Alexis like that! I will win this duel and make her see the Light and there is nothing that you can do about it!" Chazz said furiously.

"Not if there is no duel." Aster said through gritted teeth. He then grabbed Chazz from behind and pinned his arms behind his back in a lock-hold.

"HEY! What the hell do you think you're doing!? Let go of me!" Chazz demanded angrily.

Alexis and everyone in the audience watched in shock as Aster yanked Chazz' right arm in a tight grip and positioned his hand so that it was lying facedown on the deck of his duel disk. Chazz tried to break free, but Aster was too strong for him. After one agonizing minute that felt like the longest of his life, Aster finally achieved his objective. The word, "SURRENDER", appeared on the display of Chazz' duel disk in bolded uppercase letters. His lifepoint counter then proceeded to hit zero with a dull beep and his and Alexis' monster and card holograms faded away.

For a moment, there was nothing but stunned silence throughout the auditorium. Alexis couldn't believe what had just happened. Had Aster really been that concerned about what could have happened to her if she had lost the duel? But at the same time, she was angry with him. This had been her duel. She didn't need anyone trying to save her by interfering like that. And couldn't Aster have at least a little more faith in her abilities as a duelist!? It was insulting, to be honest.

"How dare you interfere with the Light's plan like that! Alexis had been predestined to join the Society of Light! No, everyone is! You can't challenge fate with your underhanded tactics!" Chazz yelled.

"Actually, I just did. And you're not going to duel or even come anywhere near her ever again. At least not while you are like this, Chazz. If you want to duel someone so bad, why don't you try me!?" Aster challenged.

"Believe me, I would. But I have my orders. Just don't think that I'll forget about this…" Chazz said in frustration. As much as he would have liked to defeat Aster and make him see the Light himself so that he wouldn't be able to pull anymore stunts like this with Alexis, he knew that he couldn't unless it was specified otherwise. He still remembered that Master Sartorius had specifically ordered him to not duel against either Aster Phoenix or Jaden Yuki unless he was told that the Light had willed it. And since Master Sartorius followed the Light, what he said must be true. The Light could never be wrong. He had to trust and obey it's will no matter what.

"Orders, huh!? Is that really how you want to live your life? Fine then. You tell Sartorius this: If he's already afraid to have you and the rest of his lackeys go up against me, then he's already lost the fight!" Aster said.

Chazz simply glared at Aster before turning around and leaving the auditorium. The rest of the society members trailed behind him like sheep.

Soon, the entire auditorium was empty except for Alexis, Aster, Jaden, Atticus, Hassleberry, Syrus, Mindy and Jasmine. At first, nobody seemed to know what to say.

"Well… That was some duel, huh!?" Syrus joked awkwardly.

"Is that all you guys can say!? I don't believe this! Just what the HELL did you think you were doing by letting her duel like that!? What if I hadn't come in time when I did!? Were you all just going to sit there like idiots and hope that everything would be okay!?" Aster raged.

Jaden and the others looked a bit taken aback by Aster's outburst. The pro duelist was usually a lot calmer and more composed than this.

"Look, Aster. It was Alexis' choice to duel Chazz. We already knew that the Society of Light was causing problems, so we decided to do something about it this morning. Lex was only trying to help save the people from Obelisk, her own house." Jaden explained calmly as he tried to defuse the tension.

"And did you all even bother to try finding out anything else about them before you just started blindly accepting duels like that!?" Aster argued.

"Well, how will we learn more about them if we don't duel?" Jaden asked, still trying to reason with Aster.

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe by first trying to do things like observe their actions, watch their other duels to see how they fight, scout out the white dorm with a little reconnaissance work? It's called using your brain, Jaden." Aster said sarcastically.

"Shut up! He was only trying to help! All of this Society of Light stuff only started happening this morning, so we haven't had time to come up with a plan yet! And when Chazz wanted to duel, I wasn't going to just back down and do nothing!" Alexis practically yelled at Aster.

"It would have been a better idea if you did. But I guess your ego is greater than your sense of self-preservation." Aster replied coldly.

Alexis was too angry too even retaliate. To hear Aster of all people lecturing her about vanity was just too much…

"Lay off her, kid. I don't know why you're so upset about this, but like it or not, it's always been impossible to get my sis to change her mind once it's made up, especially when a duel is involved. Either way, this wasn't any of your business to begin with, so I suggest you take a hike and stop bothering her before I run out of patience." Atticus threatened Aster. He had been oddly quiet throughout the whole ordeal, simply observing everything. And he didn't like what he had seen. Why was this Aster kid acting so familiar with his little sister? Was something going on that Alexis wasn't telling him about? Or was he just imagining it? Aster had only been here for a few days since he came back, after all.

Aster had to fight to stay silent. He wanted to say something, but from the way Atticus was looking at him, it appeared as if he might already be onto him. He didn't want to give himself away any further than he might have already.

"Guys! Let's just calm down! Even though we don't know who would have won the duel, maybe it's still a good thing that Aster stopped it." Jasmine said.

"Yeah. I didn't realize that Society of Light was THAT bad until everyone started going nuts over Chazz like that. It was scary. I don't want to think about what could have happened to Alexis if she had lost…" Mindy agreed with Jasmine nervously. They were both obviously coming to Aster's defense because of their fangirl crushes on him that were even bigger than the ones they had for Atticus. But at the same time, they were trying to sound neutral.

"You're right. What's done is done. So, there is no point in talking about it anymore." Aster said wearily.

Xxx

Aster had barely even left the building after they had all disbanded after the big argument when he heard rapid footsteps behind him.

"You had NO right to do that!" Alexis practically spat in Aster's face as she caught up to him.

"Look, believe it or not, I was only trying to help you, Alexis. I didn't want you to become some mindless slave to do Sartorius' bidding. You saw what all of them were like! I couldn't take a chance!" Aster argued desperately.

"It's not about that! It was still MY duel, Aster! I don't need anybody trying to fight my battles for me. I can take care of myself. Besides, Chazz wouldn't have won anyway. I had everything I needed to stop him no matter how he had decided to use Armed Dragon LV 7." Alexis insisted. She took her deck out and handed her earlier facedown cards from the last turn to Aster so that he could read their effects.

"These mean nothing. I can usually predict how a duel will flow, and Chazz had something ready for you. I could feel it. Sartorius would have seen this and prepared him for it. You guys may feel like you have a chance since Jaden managed to prove him wrong. But that almost never happens. Believe me, I know Sartorius and you really have no idea what you are dealing with. So, I had to stop you, Alexis." Aster explained.

"Wow, you really like to have your own way, don't you, Aster!? First the lighthouse, then you won't even let me pay for my own meals, then you couldn't even handle me not wanting to sit where you wanted when we had lunch yesterday, and now this! And you had no right to talk to my friends that way. You know what? That's it. I've had enough of this. This…isn't going to work for me." Alexis said, not even sure herself what "this" exactly was with her and Aster. All she knew for sure was that Aster was too controlling and she could not handle being with him if they were always at odds like this.

"That is not true! I will admit that I took matters into my own hands with the duel, but that was for your own safety, Alexis! You always had a choice about everything else that you mentioned, and I don't recall you complaining when we were at the lighthouse together." Aster argued, throwing in the last part just to put a hole into her defenses by reminding her of the pleasure that they had shared that night. And it worked. Alexis' face became flushed and she did not seem to know how to respond to Aster for a moment.

"Look, putting aside what we justify as right or wrong for a minute, have you ever stopped to consider what would have happened to you if you had lost the duel, Alexis? I'm not saying for sure that you would have lost, but just think. We don't know enough yet about how strong the effects of the brainwashing really are. What if I- I mean, what if we couldn't get you back to your real self? We really don't know just how strong Sartorius' hold over others is or even if it is reversible. I'm sorry that I just took over like that. But I just didn't want to risk losing you. No duel is worth that." Aster explained. He hadn't wanted to reveal his feelings as much as he just had, but he didn't see any other way out of this.

Does he really mean that? Was he really that worried about what could have happened to me? Alexis thought to herself. Her face felt even hotter by now and she was positive that Aster could see it.

"Aster, I…" Alexis started, not even sure what she was trying to say. She turned away in embarrassment.

Aster placed his hands on Alexis' shoulders and turned her around so that she was facing him. "You don't have to say anything right now. Look, I know I haven't been great at explaining a lot of things, but I think I should about this. So how about we do this? If you come into town with me on the mainland after school today, I can explain everything about Sartorius. I think it will help you to understand everything that has been going on lately better." He said.

"That's fine, I guess. But why go into the city to do that?" Alexis asked curiously.

"Because that's where he lives. Sartorius has his own fortune-telling shop with his apartment above it in Domino and it will help me to explain if I can show you more about his life. And maybe we can even find some clues to help us." Aster explained.

"Um, but what if he's there?" Alexis asked somewhat apprehensively.

"Don't worry, he won't be. He's moved into the dorms here now and quit his regular business hours. Besides, I won't let him try to do anything to you, and he probably wouldn't even try anything anyway with me there. You're safe with me, I promise." Aster insisted.

"Well… Then I suppose it's alright. I'll give you another chance, Aster. I didn't even stop to think about how worried you- uh, everyone might have been about what could have happened if I had lost the duel. I'm not going to thank you for what you did or say that you were right, but I will try to think things over more carefully about the risks of any situation that I put myself into before making anymore decisions. I promise." Alexis said quietly.

"Alright, I will accept that. I'm just glad that you still have enough patience to put up with me, Alexis. Because I'm not going anywhere." Aster said somewhat teasingly, wearing that mischievous, gorgeous, cocky smile of his that Alexis was growing to love.

"I'll see you after class." Alexis said hurriedly. These moments with Aster made her feel like she had forgotten how to breathe, and it was only getting worse. Just how did this one boy manage to have such an effect on her after only a few days?

Xxx

Sartorius carefully arranged his tarot cards in a pile on the desk of his room in the now-Obelisk White-dorm as he went over his thoughts over the events of today. Alexis Rhodes had been destined to lose that duel and join the Society of Light. Of that he had been certain. But Aster had somehow managed to foil his prediction, with no warning or sign whatsoever. He had no idea how or why this had even happened. Clearly, Jaden Yuki's unexpected victory over Aster had something to do with a force he had obtained in his new deck that Sartorius seemed to have no control over. But this was different. Just how had Aster managed to change fate like this? The will of the Light should have been absolute.

Sartorius was hesitant to try reading Aster's future. Since they had been friends for years, it always felt like an intrusion of privacy on his part if he did it without Aster's consent. It also always made Sartorius feel fear about what kinds of horrible things he might see that could happen to Aster. Being able to predict the future was as much as a curse as it was a gift, even more so with the former in Sartorius' opinion. But he had to try to find some kind of answer as to why this had happened, and more importantly, how it might affect Aster's future.

As Sartorius looked at the card in the pile that he had chosen, it felt like all the blood had drained from his face.

"No! This cannot be…" Sartorius thought to himself in fear as he held the card in his shaking hand. For once, he was hoping against hope that this was another prediction of his that would fail to pass…

AN: Sorry if Chazz was boring here. I don't really like him and Alexis when they are possessed by the Society of Light. And speaking of… No Society of Light Alexis here! It just doesn't work with the story and the development of her relationship with Aster, so I changed it. So, if any of you were hoping for some kind of kinky lemon scene with Aster and Society of Light Alexis (Eh, you probably weren't, right?), I apologize. XD