"Hello?" Yuuna calls.

No voice answers her in the wasteland she's in. It's just her and Yubel, who's limping behind her because they're hurt real bad. It, it makes Yuuna feel bad.

She'd begged and begged and begged Yubel to take her away from Mother and Father. And now they were hurt and it was all her fault.

"Yuuna, shh." Yubel says.

Yuuna quiets down and walks over to Yubel, who holds her hand.

There's a crack and a growl.

Yuuna whimpers and hugs Yubel's arm tighter. "Yubel… I'm afraid."

"Hang on, Little Princess." Yubel hushes her, bringing her close.

Yuuna sniffles and looks behind Yubel.

Then she screams-

TITAN: 4000

YUUNA YUKI: 4000

Yuuna glances to the side, where Alexis is still unconcious and trapped in the coffin. "Hang on, I'll save you Alexis."

She has to help her.

"Yuuna, be careful." Syrus whimpers.

"Kick his butt, Yuuna!" Blair shouts.

Chumley whimpers and looks between the two, as if he's unsure who to agree with.

"Prepare you fool to enter into…" Titan draws. "The Shadows."

Yuuna stiffens up. Damnit, she needs Yubel's help. She doesn't know how to beat someone who knows how Shadow Games work.

"I summon Infernalqueen Archfiend in ATK mode!" Titan declares.

A skeletal monster with wings and a purple robe appears on the field with only 900 ATK to her name.

"An Archfiend monster?" Chumley calls.

"Why in ATK mode when it's so weak?" Syrus looks at the card hard.

Yuuna bites her lip. She knows it won't stay weak though. She once researched the Archfiend Deck, to see if those fiends would mesh well with her own.

"Because of her effect, Syrus." Blair calls. "When Infernalqueen is on the field, all Archfiend monsters gain 1000 ATK points, including her!"

Titan laughs. "That's right, boy."

Infernalqueen shrieks and glows a hideous purple as her points raise to 1900.

"Don't worry, guys, I'm not afraid." Yuuna lies. "Because I also know the weakness of Archfiend Decks. You have to pay life points every turn for every Archfiend on your field."

Titan chuckles and Yuuna regrets ever opening her mouth.

"No I don't." Titan selects a card. "Not after activating the Field Spell Pandemonium!"

Suddenly there's a bright flash of yellow light from Titan's Duel Disk, causing everyone to close or cover their eyes. When they open them again, the field has completely changed. The old blue and cracky stone statues of snakes have been replaced by red statues of dragons, insects, bones and curves, as if they were Duelling inside the belly of a terrifying beast. There's even a pit of lava in the centre of the field.

"It doesn't just change the Field, it changes the rules, too." Titan continues. "Now I don't have to pay life points for my Archfiends and if they're destroyed outside of a battle, I can add new ones to my hand!"

Yuuna bites her lip and curses. She just had to open her big mouth. Now all of her friends are in even more trouble.

"I know what you're thinking."

Yuuna lifts her head to look at Titan, as he holds up some pendant that looks suspiciously like the Millenium Puzzle.

"You've all but sealed your friends' fates with your cockiness and you're right." Titan points to the side.

Alexis's coffin suddenly rumbles and closes up, blocking her off from the others.

"Alexis!" Yuuna screams.

But if the girl inside the coffin hears her, she doesn't wake up as ugly red boney hands suddenly grab the coffin and drag it underground.

"ALEXIS!" Yuuna screams louder.

No.

No, no, no, she can't have failed already!

She has to save her, she has to save her, she can't let her die again-

"That's not fair!"

Yuuna snaps out of her spiral of self destruction, turning towards her friends, where Chumley has his hands in fists.

Blair snarls. "We already know this is just smoke and mirrors, stop messing with us!"

"Yeah, what have you done to her?!" Syrus calls, his own hands in fists.

Yuuna gasps. Oh no, they're going to upset Titan. She can't let them get hurt!

"The same thing I will do to you!" Titan snarls. "If you don't shut yo-"

"Hey!" Yuuna snaps.

Titan pauses and turns to her.

Yuuna slams her fist on her chest. "Your Duel is with me, not them! Let's get on with this already!"

Titan chuckles. "Draw your card then, little girl."

Yuuna does so.

Her hand is almost entirely made of spells and traps, with only one monster. But luckily he's one who can handle the Infernalqueen and if she can get it to work with another card.

"I've got a plan to hold out, but I'll need you to take a hit for the team. Is that okay?" Yuuna whispers.

A cheeky laugh greets her. "I'm always up for a vacation in the Graveyard, Coach."

"I summon Renge, Gatekeeper of Dark World in ATK mode!" Yuuna shouts.

Range takes to the Field in all his 100 ATK point glory, hands up to block any oncoming attacks.

"I've got your back Coach, that creepy Queeny ain't getting past me." Renge huffs.

"Yuuna have you gone nuts?!" Syrus shouts. "Your Renge has way higher DEF points, why is he in ATK mode?!"

Yuuna smiles. "I'll throw down two facedowns and that's my turn. Trust me Syrus, I'm not completely insane."

It's the best she can do for now, to protect Renge, her friends and get Alexis back.

"Too bad you won't get to use them." Titan draws. "I summon Terrorking Archfiend in ATK Mode!"

A red and dark yellow boney and muscled monster takes to the field, with his 2000 ATK points rising to 3000 as soon as he looks at Infernalqueen and glows purple.

"Now you have two terrifying Archfiends to contend with!" Titan calls.

Syrus whimpers. "3000 ATK points?! That's not good!"

"You're right, boy and it's about to get worse for your friend!" Titan throws out his hand. "Terrorking, attack the Gatekeeper!"

Terrorking roars and his ribs open up, releasing a storm of locusts.

Yuuna shouts. "Renge!"

"It was an honor defending ya, Coach." Renge calls, putting his hands up.

The locusts crash into Renge and Yuuna flips her traps, but it's too late to save her monster.

"Yuuna!" Blair screams.

Chumley coughs. "There's so much smoke, is it over?!"

"No way!" Syrus shakes his head. "She'd never go down that easy! Yuuna!"

The smoke clears and reveals two plants with red flowers, a strange contraption with a tube on Yuuna's Field and her life points barely touched.

TITAN: 4000

YUUNA YUKI: 3100

"What?!" Titan shouts. "How are you not dead?!"

Yuuna smiles and points to her trap. "Because of my Sinister Seed. For every 1000 points of damage I would have taken, I can trade that in to summon a Sinister Seed Token. Since I took 2900 ATK points from the battle with Renge, I got two tokens and I've ended the Battle Phase!"

The Sinister Seed Tokens give a little wiggle, showing off their 100 DEF points.

Titan snarls.

Blair lets out a breath. "Well done Yuuna!"

Syrus sighs. "Please don't scare us like that again."

"There's more too!" Yuuna grins. "Because I activated my Damage Condenser, which allows me to summon a monster from my Deck with equal or less ATK points to the damage I just took. And I know just who to bring to the Field: Scarr, Scout of Dark World!"

Soon enough her red armoured friend is on the Field, wielding his knife and 500 ATK points with pride.

"Finally, I'll get the chance to see some action." Scarr chuckles, licking his knife.

Yuuna laughs and rolls her eyes. "Is there anything you want to do besides fight?"

"Of course, I like eating too." Scarr snorts.

"Great Duelling Yuuna!" Chumley calls.

"Scarr and the Tokens should be able to keep Yuuna safe until she can get something with enough oomph on the Field to go up against 3000 ATK points." Blair nods.

Yuuna smiles and holds her three remaining cards to her chest, feeling her heart pounding. She might be able to survive this.

Titan smiles. "I don't think they'll keep you safe."

Yuuna stiffens up.

Titan holds up his pendant. "At least not from this!"

The pendant gives a burst of light, nearly blinding Yuuna and the others.

"Now the Shadow Games have truly begun!" Titan shouts.

The room lights up in a million different ways as Yuuna glaces at her friends, worry brewing in her gut. Oh no.

"Don't your life points seem so insignificant when your very soul is at stake?!" Titan taunts.

She can't let Titan get them!

"Yuuna!"

Yuuna looks at her friends. "Blair, Chumley, Syrus, are you okay?!"

Syrus points at her frantically. "Forget about us, look at your body!"

Yuuna blinks and looks down.

She can't see her chest. Her arms and upper chest are just floating in mid air, disattached from her lower body. Actually, part of her arms are gone too.

"WHAT THE-" Yuuna holds back the swear, glancing at Blair.

Blair is shaking her head and rubbing her eyes. "It's fake, it's fake, it's fake, Yuuna it's fake, don't believe it!"

"Then how are we all seeing it?!" Chumley whimpers.

Titan cackles and Yuuna turns to him, panting heavily as black smoke spills across the Field.

"That is the way of the Shadows. Transcending the game and attacking your body." Titan continues. "Isn't the power of the Shadows immense?!"

Yuuna tries to take a step, but- "I can't move my feet."

"Of course not." Titan chuckles. "As the Shadow Fog rolls past, you all will feel the darkness take you into it's grip."

Yuuna sees Syrus freezing up, sees Blair continuing to tell herself it's not real, sees Chumley struggling to breathe.

And she knows she has to stop it.

Yuuna closes her eyes and thinks. Thinks about what Yubel told her about the Shadow Games.

"The Shadow Games are designed to inflict real pain upon both Duelists involved in the game and have some object to show that the Duelists involved are risking their lives, such as having a pink string or cup of water to represent the loss of points. Whenever a battle takes place, you can feel the aftershocks of it, stronger than you would in a normal Duel."

"Hey, Yuuna?"

She opens her eyes and looks at Scarr.

Who's giving her a funny look. "You know this guy's just a faker right?"

Yuuna's eyes widen further in surprise, whispering. "What?!"

"Yuuna, if this were real, you'd be in a lot more pain then you are right now." Scarr continues to give her a light glare. "Hurry up and take out this faker, I know you'll be able to see through his smoke and mirrors."

Yuuna blinks and looks at Titan hard.

That pendant he's holding looks similar to the Millenium Puzzle. But it's not. The Millenium Puzzle was sealed underground with the other six items, which means that whatever he's holding isn't a Millenium Item at all. It's just a replica.

Yuuna intensely observes the Field.

There's too much black smoke to properly see things, but the smoke doesn't look like it's from a fire. It's staying closer to the ground than smoke from a fire would. Is there some kind of fog machine nearby?

Yuuna gasps and looks to where Alexis' coffin once was.

It only disappeared after the Pandemonium Field Spell came into play. The Field Spell is hiding the smoke and mirrors.

"You are at the mercy of the night, now!" Titan laughs. "Treasure the numbness, for it will soon pass. Soon, you will be drawn into an infinite abyss of eternal darkness, where every waking moment will be filled with-"

Yuuna takes a step forward, raging forcing her forward. "Oh shut up, would ya, you're more dramatic than Dr. Crowler. You're making it sound like all darkness is evil and all evil is darkness."

She can move! It is all fake!

The only question is, how does she prove it to her friends?

"Hey, guys, remember the story about Prince Haou and his Dragon-Guard?" Yuuna looks over her shoulder.

Blair blinks but nods. "Of course we do, why are we walking about that at a time like this?!"

Yuuna smiles. "Well, Prince Haou has powers of darkness and he's a hero. There's no point in being afraid of the dark at a time like this, so I wanted to remind you of that."

Syrus whimpers. "How can you be so calm?"

Yuuna shrugs. "Hey, didn't you guys get blackout curtains in your rooms, because I know I did! Makes it way easier to sleep in, I ain't afraid of the dark! And you don't have to be either."

Chumley gapes at her. "What do blackout curtains have to do with a Shadow Game?!"

Titan chuckles and they all look at him.

He holds his pendant higher and it starts off another light show. "Nothing. Those blackout curtains do not wield the same mystic power of my Millenium Item."

Syrus whimpers. "Whoa."

"Oh no." Chumley gulps. "Trouble."

Blair pants heavily. "Come on, Yuuna."

"It's your move, but do make the most of it. It could be your last." Titan taunts.

Yuuna rolls her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, you keep talking Titan, I ain't afraid of no ghost."

Titan snarls at her.

Blair gapes at her. "Was that a Ghost Buster's Reference?!"

"I draw!" Yuuna calls, handily avoiding answering.

Okay, her first order of business proving that Titan is a faker is getting rid of his Pandemonium Field Spell. What has she got in her hand that can help with that?

Yuuna looks at her cards.

Axe of Despair, Double Summon, Dual Gate and Dark World Dealings. Not one monster or trap to back her up, but maybe…

"I play the spell card, Dark World Dealings!" Yuuna calls. "Now we each need to draw a card and then discard something in our hands."

Titan and Yuuna do so, praying for a small miracle. She needs to draw Gren, now.

"Long time no see, Queen."

Yuuna holds back a groan and looks at her card. "Kahkki, as happy as I am to see you, I needed Gren in my hand."

Kahkki huffs and folds his arms. "Excuse you, I'm way better than that bookworm, just tell me who should be hitting the graveyard and they'll do it, no time flat."

Yuuna hums and looks at her Field. If she can use Kahkki to take out the Infernalqueen, Terrorking will still be strong, but not as strong as he could be.

"Discard your card already, little girl." Titan calls. "Delaying the inevitable is pointless."

Yuuna smiles. "Titan are you sure you wanna hurry up your Infernalqueen's destruction?"

Titan hums.

"Because I'm discarding Kahkki, Guerilla of Dark World!" Yuuna slips him in the Graveyard. "And when he goes to the Graveyard, he takes down one monster on the Field with him and he's taking your Infernalqueen!"

Kahkki's spirit rises from the ground, sneaking around the field with his knife.

Syrus gasps. "Wait, why go for the weaker monster?"

Blair smiles. "Because Syrus, if she takes out Infernalqueen, Terrorking will be easier to demolish! I haven't seen any monsters with over 3000 ATK points in Yuuna's Deck, but she definitely has monsters over 2000 ATK points."

Chumley gasps. "Oh wow, that's playing it smart. That Infernalqueen is toast!"

Kahkki bursts out of the ground behind Infernalqueen, laughing his head off, knife held up-

Titan laughs and punches the air before him. "Not before I activate another of her abilities!"

Suddenly, six different coloured and numbered orbs rise from the lava pit in the centre and fly over to him, arranging themselves in a circle.

"Oh man." Yuuna murmurs.

"When my Infernalqueen is the target of an opponent's card effect, I can roll a die and if it lands on a 2 or a 5, she's safe." Titan cuckles. "Of course, if it lands on anything else, your Kahkki can take her to the Graveyard."

He snaps his fingers and suddenly the number 1 ball is on fire, then the fire jumps to number 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 1 again and again.

"It's okay." Chumley gulps. "The odds are way in Yuuna's favour."

"She has a two out of three chance of this going her way." Blair crosses her fingers.

Syrus whimpers. "Come on, come on."

Yuuna glares the roulette down. "Come on, come on."

3. 4. 5.

Yuuna holds her breath.

6.

She lets it out.

1.

2.

"Two!" Titan declares.

Yuuna curses in her head and Kahkki curses as he falls right through Infernalqueen, hitting the ground and his spirit getting sucked into the Graveyard.

"It seems that chance has favoured my Infernalqueen over your own fiends." Titan brings a fist in front of his face.

Yuuna groans. "Talk about rotten luck."

"Yuuna!" Syrus calls.

"This is so anti-licious." Chumley mutters. "Because even if she tried that with the Terrorking, he had the exact same ability! If she can't target them and she can't get something on the field that's strong enough to defeat them, her soul is toast!"

Blair groans. "For the last time!"

She stamps her feet and punches Chumley in the arm, who yelps and waves it around.

"There's no such thing as a Shadow Game, it's just smoke and mirrors and a really bad actor!" Blair turns on her heel. "Yuuna hurry up and prove all these idiot bo-" She cuts herself off. "Just prove these idiots wrong!"

Yuuna nods. "I'm doing my best here, Blair!"

But with the cards in her hand, Kahkki was her best bet at making it out of this alive and with his ability wasted, she only has Dual Gate, Double Summon and Axe of Despair to rely on.

"I switch Scarr to DEF mode, play a facedown and end my turn." Yuuna calls, setting Dual Gate.

Scarr huffs as he takes a knee and his points stay the same. "Dumb assassin can't even kill one Queen."

"Hey be nice to him, Scarr." Yuuna rolls her eyes.

"Don't waste my time! That girl's soul will still be mine after this Duel and so will yours." Titan calls. "I draw!"

Yuuna curls her hand into a fist.

"Terrorking, destroy that Scout! Infernalqueen, take out one of the Tokens!" Titan punches the air before him. "Go!"

Terrorking unleashes the locusts from his chest once more and Infernalqueen screams, sending a sound wave at her monsters.

Scarr and one of her Sinister Seeds burst into golden pixels, but as he goes, Scarr sends up a beacon from his eyes.

"Scarr might be gone, but he's a scout for a reason. He watches the battlefield and calls another Dark World monster to my hand if he falls in battle!" Yuuna pops open her Deck and finds the card she needs.

"Truly, it's about time you drew me, Lady Yuuna." Gren hums. "I feared your luck was running out."

"Oh gimme a break." Yuuna rolls her eyes.

Titan laughs. "It doesn't matter what card you draw or how you play this game. Your soul and the girl's will still be taken by the Shadows!"

Chumley pants and heaves. "Hurry up, Yuuna, you gotta win!"

"This isn't good." Blair bites her lip. "If Yuuna can't summon something next turn, that Terrorking can take another chunk out of her life points."

"Don't say that!" Syrus shouts, then he bursts into tears. "I don't want Yuuna to disappear!"

Yuuna's heart stops as she watches Syrus cry.

Then it starts up again, rage fuelling it's beating, turning to Titan. "End. Your. Turn."

Titan actually takes a step back.

Yuuna puts her fingers on her Deck, darkness slipping between them. She draws and glances at her card.

Yuuna smirks. "Titan, your Shadow Game scam is up!"

The other Slifer Reds gasp and Titan takes a step back.

"Did she just say this was a scam?" Chumley calls.

Syrus looks up at him. "What's she mean?"

Blair slowly smiles. "I knew it. I knew they were fake."

Titan roars. "Your insolence will cost you your soul! How dare you!"

"It's because I'm daring, now quit playing dress up before the Shadow Games swallow you whole!" Yuuna raises her hand up high. "I'm gonna prove my soul's not on the serving plate anymore and Alexis' was never in the line of fire either!"

The three Slifers look to each other in confusion.

"I play the spell card Dark Corridor!" Yuuna raises the card up high. "I can add a Dark World Monster from my Deck to my hand and send another Dark World Monster to the Graveyard! And I choose Gren!"

Gren slides into the Graveyard and appears on the Field.

"When he gets Discarded, he can take any Spell or Trap card on the Field with him." Yuuna points at the lava pit. "And I choose Pandemonium!"

Titan roars. "NO!"

Gren's after image dashes across the field, book open in front of him, until he's floating over the lava pit. His book starts to glow and he throws it into the lava.

It bubbles and bursts and boils over, creating a massive explosion that destroys the red underworld and reveals the blue basement again, with snake statues on all sides. Terrorking and Infernalqueen look far more out of place in this blue world while the final Sinister Seed Token fits right in.

The black smoke and fog disappears, revealing-

"Alexis!" Yuuna shouts.

She's still in the coffin in the corner of the room, asleep but otherwise fine.

"She's okay!" Syrus gasps.

"So what?!" Titan roars, holding up his pendant. "Her body may be here, but her mind is still locked in the shadows!"

The pendant puts on another light show and Yuuna is really getting sick of that thing.

"Okay, enough's-" Yuuna pulls Gren from her Graveyard. "Enough!"

She throws him as hard as she can, straight at the pendant-

He slices right into it, cutting through the eye.

Titan shouts. "What did you do?!"

The illusions on her arms and chest disappear, leaving Yuuna whole once again.

"Yuuna, you got your body back!" Syrus smiled.

Blair laughs and gently punches him in the arm. "She never lost it, silly. It was all smoke and mirrors, just like I said."

"And a little hypnosis too, so you noticed two out of the three tricks." Yuuna laughs and gives her a thumbs up. "Nice work, spitfire!"

Blair flushes and grins wide.

"This guy is a complete sham and we were never playing a Shadow Game!" Yuuna points at Titan and then snorts. "You're probably just an unemployed carnie looking for easy money scaring teens."

Titan hisses and takes a step back. "I'm not out of work, I was the only good thing about that fair!"

Chumley blinks. "Who'd pay this guy to scare us?"

Syrus lifts his head. "No way."

Blair, Syrus and Chumley all turn to each other and shout. "Crowler!"

Yuuna laughs and turns to Titan. "So, did our head of Obelisk put you up to this?"

Titan snarls. "I don't know what you're talking about, you can find your way out by yourself!"

He throws the pendant on the ground and there's a sudden smoke screen.

Yuuna gasps. "Not fair! We're in the middle of a Duel here, you can't just run away!"

How big of a coward do you have to be to run away from someone as adorable and non-threatening as her?!

"Yuuna!" Blair shouts, running after her.

Suddenly golden lines burst across the floor. Yuuna gasps and turns around, seeing the golden lights coming from the snake statues and all connecting in the centre of the floor. The golden lines turn into a symbol Yuuna recognises well.

"The Eye of Wdjat." Yuuna gasps.

The symbol of the Millenium Puzzle and of the Shadow Games.

That means-

The earth starts to shudder and shake, the black smoke disappearing for a moment.

"Yuuna!"

She gasps and turns around. "Blair!"

Then the wind and fog start spiralling around the Slifer girls and Titan. The fog rises higher and higher and Blair screams when she starts floating in the air.

Yuuna runs over to her, grabbing her arm as the fog rises higher, the two girls screaming as they go flying, Blair's hat coming off her head and her hair flying all over the place. Yuuna tugs Blair under her arms and against her body.

"Hold on!" Yuuna shouts over the wind.

Lightening crackles and then Yuuna finds herself on something like the ground, steady enough to stand on, so she puts Blair down.

"Where are we?!" Blair gasps.

Yuuna looks around and curses at the sight of all the purple shadows and dark light all around them. They're in the Shadow Realm.

"Blair, stay close to me." Yuuna reaches out and holds her hand.

Blair clings to her arm, then gasps. "My hat and my hair clip!"

Yuuna gasps and curses to herself as she looks around; no sign of them.

"What is this place?!" Titan calls.

Yuuna growls and turns to him. "We're in the Shadow Realm, genius! You mimicking the Shadow Games angered the beings that live here and they want revenge!"

Blair gasps and Yuuna clamps her hand over her own mouth. Curses.

"Your eyes!" Titan screams. "What are you, a demon?!"

Yuuna curses again and looks around, desperate for an eye-covering.

"You just said he was a phony." Blair says it calmly, slowly. "Don't start buying into his lies now! It's all a trick, Yuuna, it's all a really, really good trick!"

"A trick?!" Titan calls. "I can't do something like this!"

Then, as if things couldn't get any worse, they do.

There's a horrendous shriek that makes Blair cover her ears and Yuuna pull her away from the source, tugging Blair into her arms. Then Yuuna hides Blair's face in her shoulder as the colour drains from her own face.

Black blobs with evil eyes and tiny legs gravitate towards Titan, spinning around him, latching onto his body-

"Help! They're attacking me!"

They cover his coat, his Duel Disk, his skin, his face-

"Girl! Save me!"

They dive down his throat and Yuuna nearly vomits.

Then the leftover monsters start crawling towards her and Blair.

"Get back!" Yuuna orders, kicking away one of the beasts that gets too close. "There is an innocent child here, get back! She is not a part of this Duel, don't involve her in his crimes or mine!"

"Yuuna!"

"Kuri!"

"Blair!"

Suddenly Yubel and Winged Kuriboh burst from her Deck, as does a Monster Yuuna's never seen before pop out of Blair's Duel Disk. An older woman dressed as a maid with a dragon's tail and horns poking out of her black hair.

Blair lifts her head and gasps. "House Dragonmaid? What crazy dream am I in?!" She looks around. "Yubel?! Winged Kuriboh?! When did you summon your monsters, Yuuna?"

Yuuna holds back the urge to swear.

"Leave at once!" Yubel commands, flapping their wings.

"Don't touch her!" House Dragonmaid gives a flick of her tail.

The blobs scurry away and the few brave ones left are chased off by Winged Kuriboh.

Blair starts to pant, looking around. "What's going on?! When did I hit my head?!"

The blobs all scurry around Titan and force themselves down his throat and Yuuna is actually going to vomit, this could not be worse-

"Yuuna Yuki…" Titan calls. Except it's not his voice, but that of the monsters inside him as the eyes in his mask glow red. "The Shadows pang for a soul…." He readies his Duel Disk. "Only one shall survive."

Yuuna looks to Blair, who's looking at Titan with tears in her eyes, panic on her face.

And she has to take a risk.

Yuuna puts Blair on her feet and looks up at House Dragonmaid. "Protect her with your life. Don't let the monsters get her."

House Dragonmaid puts her hand on Blair's shoulders and smiles. "She's like a daughter to me. I won't allow any harm to come to her."

Blair gasps and looks up. "Since when could you talk?!" She looks up at Yuuna, truly crying now. "Yuuna, what is going on?!"

Yuuna's own face wobbles and she kneels before Blair.

"I didn't want to tell you, because I wasn't sure if you'd believe me. I tried to convince you not to come to the Abandoned Dorm, because I was afraid this would happen." Yuuna looks at her best friend, the girl she'd started to see as a little sister.

Blair looks at her, sobbing. "Just tell me what's going on! Why are your eyes gold?! What were those things?! How is Titan doing all of this?!"

"That con artist isn't doing any of this, little one." Yubel says, their arms crossed.

Blair looks up at them in shock.

"Shadow Games are real, Blair." Yuuna says. "We're in the Shadow Realm now."

Blair chokes on an inhale and starts to cough.

"Winged Kuriboh, I want you to protect Blair too." Yuuna gets to her feet.

Winged Kuriboh 'kuri's and flies right in front of Blair, brandishing his wings proudly.

Yuuna nods and turns around-

A tug on her sleeve.

Yuuna looks at Blair, who's clinging to her.

"What are you going to do?" Blair whimpers.

Yuuna smiles and kneels before her. She pulls an orange bandana from her pocket.

"I'm going to save you. If I don't make it out of this Blair, please know this." Yuuna takes one of her hands and puts the bandana in it. "I love you and I don't regret a single moment we shared that led up to this. Use that bandana to hide your hair from the boys, okay?" She curls Blair's hand over it. "Be brave."

Blair stares at her and her tears start anew. "No. Why are you talking like you're about to die?!"

Yuuna's smile falls a little and she stands up. "Yubel, you're with me."

Yubel nods and Yuuna walks away.

"Yuuna!" Blair calls.

But Yuuna doesn't turn around this time. She walks over to the centre of the Field and glares Titan down.

"I will only play in this game, so long as the child goes free regardless of the outcome!" Yuuna declares. "She has nothing to do with this Shadow Game and is here by accident!"

"Yuuna, no!" Blair shrieks. "House let me go, please, let me go-"

"Very well, the child will leave. After this Duel has been completed in the Shadow Realm!" Titan declares.

The remaining blobs disperse, forming a ring around Titan, Yuuna, Yubel and the cards they had on the Field. Gren appears in Yuuna's Graveyard slot, before sliding in. Terrorking and Infernalqueen hiss while Yuuna's tiny Sinister Seed Token blooms on the Field.

TITAN: 4000

YUUNA YUKI: 3100

"It's still my turn." Yuuna declares and looks at the cards in her hand. "And because I haven't used my normal summon yet, I'll tribute my Sinister Seed Token to bring out-"

The token disappears in a lightning strike, bringing out-

"Lucent, Netherlord of Dark World!" Yuuna slams his card on her Duel Disk.

Lucent takes to the Field in all his silver muscled and armoured glory, glaring the Archfiends down with an impressive 2400 ATK points.

"I know you said Duel Academy would be different, your Majesty, but I wasn't expecting my debt here to be in a Shadow Game." Lucent chuckles.

"It talks?!" Blair shrieks.

"Please, save the jokes for later, Lucent." Yubel rolls their eyes. "We have to return to our world sooner rather than later."

"On that note, I equip Lucent with my Axe of Despair." Yuuna points ahead. "Lucent, attack Infernalqueen!"

"I'm not a fan of hitting ladies, but if my Queen commands it." Lucent brings back the hand holding the axe as his ATK points rise to 3400.

He roars and charges across the Field, socking Infernalqueen across the jaw and sending her bursting into pieces.

TITAN: 2500

YUUNA YUKI: 3100

Titan spews black smoke and snarls at her. "1500 life points is nothing to me!"

"What's the matter with him?!" Blair shouts. "That's disgusting!"

Yuuna curses the fates and looks at her hand. "And that's the end of the turn."

"I draw then!" Titan does that.

Then he spews more black smoke, heaving and coughing like an old man.

TITAN: 1700

YUUNA YUKI: 3100

"What's happening to him?" Yuuna calls.

Yubel sighs. "It's his Terrorking. It requires a 800 life point sacrifice to stay on the Field."

Yuuna's heart quakes and she wonders if Titan will destroy himself before he can destroy her. She's not sure if she wants him to go out like that.

"800 life points is nothing compared to a soul!" Titan shouts. "I summon my Desrook Archfiend!"

A skull with four spines for legs that are tipped with claws appears on the field, shrieking mercilessly.

"I now activate the Spell card Checkmate!" Titan points at Desrook. "By sacrificing one Archfiend on the field, my Terrorking can wage a direct attack on you!"

Yuuna gasps.

"Yuuna, brace yourself!" Yubel calls.

Yuuna digs her heels in and holds up her arms. "Right!"

Terrorking's chest opens up with a shriek and locusts swarm towards her, bypassing Lucent and knocking into Yuuna's Duel Disk directly.

"YUNA!" Blair shrieks.

Yuuna screams and falls to a knee

TITAN: 1700

YUUNA YUKI: 1100

The locusts let up and Yuuna lowers her hands to the ground, panting heavily, trying not to faint.

"Yuuna, are you alright?" Yubel calls.

She hurts all over, her body hasn't ached this bad since her parents found her after running away.

"Hey can you stand?!" Lucent turns around. "Queen!"

Yuuna opens her eyes and can hardly see what's happening, her vision blurring in and out of focus as the pain swallows her whole.

"YUUNA!"

Yuuna's eyes and mind clear up and she looks over her shoulder. "Blair..."

"DON'T DIE, YUUNA, DON'T DIE!" Blair sobs and screams, trying to wriggle out of House's arms and tail as Winged Kuriboh flies around her in a panic. "DON'T LEAVE ME LIKE MY MOM AND DAD DID! PLEASE DON'T GO!"

Yuuna's heart snaps in too and then she turns to Titan ahead and glares.

The Shadows won't take her soul today. Not when Blair needs her.

"I'm not…" Yuuna gets off her knees. "Going anyway, Blair." She forces herself to her feet, taking her hands off the ground. "I promise…" She stands straight. "I promise I'll stay and win!"

Blair stops screaming. "You mean it?"

Yuuna looks over her shoulder.

Blair has stopped struggling, simply looking at her with a red tear stained face and her black hair spilling all over for once, instead of hidden in her hat.

Yuuna nods. "I won't go. I promise."

Blair breaks out into tears again and House Dragonmaid holds her close, wiping her tears with a napkin she pulls from her pocket and Winged Kuriboh nuzzles her face.

Yuuna smiles.

"That's not all."

Yuuna turns around and glares.

"I play the equip spell Mist Body, which ensures my Terrorking cannot be destroyed by Battle." Titan huffs. "I play two face downs and end my turn."

Yuuna takes in a short breath.

"Yuuna, if he has another Checkmate card, you're done for." Yubel warns.

Lucent nods. "They're right, Your Majesty. You gotta win this, fast."

"I know, you two. I'm fighting for more than just our survival though." Yuuna glances over her shoulder.

Blair is clinging to Winged Kuriboh as if he were a stuffed toy and still crying.

Yuuna sobs and clings to her pillow as her parents scream and fight outside.

"I'm fighting for her, too." Yuuna turns around and puts her hand on her Deck.

This time, Yuuna concentrates on these feelings in her chest.

Her overwhelming terror that she's in a Shadow Game. The unending disgust at knowing what's happened to Titan. Her horrendous guilt of allowing Blair to get involved in this game. Her bottomless love for the girl behind her and the monsters in her Deck.

Yuuna opens her eyes.

She watches darkness slip through her fingers and into her Deck.

Yuuna nods and looks ahead. "I draw!"

She looks then smiles. Just what she needs.

"I play a Monster in face down DEF mode!" Yuuna plays it on the Field. "Lucent, attack Terrorking Archfiend!"

Lucent chuckles as he swings the axe. "I'm gonna make you sorry for ever messing with my Queen, buddy."

"I activate a trap!" Titan calls.

Yuuna gasps.

"My Battle Break trap card destroys your attacking Monster." Titan declares, smirking. "Unless you have another Monster card in your hand you can show me."

Yuuna curses, looks at her Double Summon and shakes her head. "No. I'm sorry Lucent."

Lucent smiles at her over his shoulder. "Ah well, win some, lose some."

Battle Break shoots a red laser at him and he bursts into pixels.

"I activate my second trap: Battle-Scarred." Titan's other facedown flips up. "So long as Terrorking Archfiend and this card are on the Field, we will both pay the price for having him out."

Yuuna gasps and puts her hand over her heart. Oh no.

"Can you do anything else, girl?" Titan calls.

Yuuna shakes her head. "No. I end my turn."

"Then it's my move." Titan calls. "I draw!"

Then Yuuna and Titan start spewing out black mist

TITAN: 900

YUUNA YUKI: 300

"Yuuna!" Blair shrieks.

"Little Princess, hang in there!" Yubel begs.

Winged Kuriboh shrieks. "Kuri!"

House Dragonmaid shouts. "Don't give up!"

Yuuna falls to her knees, coughing and sputtering until all the black mist is gone. She gasps and heaves, then topples onto her side.

The black blobs around her shriek and scream, inching closer, but Yubel scares them away with their own screams.

Yuuna weakly lifts up her head, glaring at Titan.

"Terrorking Archfiend, attack that facedown monster!" Titan punches the air in front of him.

Terrorking releases another body horror locust storm and her facedown monster disappears.

"That was my Morphing Jar, so now we discard our hands and draw until we have five cards each." Yuuna growls, struggling to her knees and drawing her cards.

Titan does so. "This is your last turn, girl. You may have renewed your hand, but on my next turn, all I have to do is draw and Terrorking Archfiend's cost will do the rest. And then you'll join the rest of the students I locked away in the Shadow Realm!"

Blair whimpers. "Yuuna."

Yuuna doesn't face her, doesn't let her see the way she can't fake a smile through the pain. It's bad enough she can see that Yuuna can't stand.

"Yuuna, you have to stand." Yubel calls, kneeling beside her.

The blobs shriek and squeal and reach for her, but Yubel turns around and roars.

"I know." Yuuna pants, looking at her feet, trying to not let her head spin. "I know."

Yubel puts their hand on her shoulder. "Then stand up. You know what you're fighting for."

Yuuna closes her eyes.

Syrus's smile flashes across her eyes as he shouts. "Syrus Truesdale is a capable Duelist!"

Bastion offering her a hand and a friendly grin. "Allow me to be the first to welcome you to the Ra Dorm."

Chumley's starry-eyed look as he stared at the grilled cheese she made him. "Yuuna, I mean this very platonically, but I love you."

Mindy holding two different red skirts with a small smile. "So, I thought they would both look super cute on you, so I decided to show them to you!"

Jasmine smirking at her and giving her a high-five. "Next time us girls go to the mall, you can buy a drink on me after that match."

Blair's biggest smile in the world as she looked at the pack of cards Yuuna gave her. "IT'S HER!"

Yuuna stands.

Yuuna opens her eyes.

Yuuna levels Titan with a glare.

"Here I come!" Yuuna draws.

Wind bursts across the Field from the swing of her arm and she looks at the six cards in her hand.

"I play the spell card, Foolish Burial!" Yuuna calls. "I can look through my Deck and send one monster there to my Graveyard! Like my Stygian Street Patrol!"

Blair gasps.

Yubel gapes at her, then they smirk. "Excellent."

"Next, I'll use Stygian Street Patrol's special ability!" Yuuna calls. "By banishing Stygian Street Patrol from my Graveyard, I'm allowed to Special Summon a Fiend monster from my hand so long as it's ATK points are less than 2000!"

"She's doing it!" Blair cheers.

"I summon Yubel!" Yuuna punches the sky.

Yubel chuckles and walks from Yuuna's side, onto the field, giving a mighty flap of their wings.

Titan shouts, his teeth on display. "No, it can't be!"

"Oh it be!" Yuuna grins. "And if you know to be afraid of them, then you know when you do battle with Yubel, you take all the damage!"

Yubel shrieks and charges across the Field. "This is for everything you've done to Yuuna since she came to this forsaken realm!"

Titan roars helplessly.

Terrorking charges Yubel, his locusts bursting out of his body to attack them.

Yubel flies right through them, raming into Terrorking, who bursts into pixels.

Titan screams as the locusts attack him, making him fall to his knees and claw at his head.

TITAN: 0

YUUNA YUKI: 300

WINNER: YUUNA YUKI!

"Yuuna!" Blair gasps.

Yuuna gasps and runs over to her, jumping over the black blobs. "Blair!"

Blair sobs and jumps, but Yuuna catches her in her arms, hugging her close and hiding her face in her chest.

"I was so scared!" Blair shouts, then pounds her fists weakly on Yuuna's shoulders. "Never scare me like that again, you hear, or I'll stop being your little sister!"

Yuuna laughs, lets the words wash over her and hugs her tighter. "Nope, we're sisters now, you're free to beat me up if I do stupid stuff again, but we're sisters forever, Blair."

House Dragonmaid wanders over and pets both their heads. "You two were so brave during that situation. I'm so proud of you."

Yubel hugs Yuuna from behind. "My Little Princess, please don't scare me like that again."

Winged Kuriboh squishes himself between the human girls, looking between the two of them in worry.

Yuuna giggles. "I'll try, no promises."

A scream and Yuuna hides Blair in her chest, looking over her shoulder.

"Get off me!" Titan shrieks, his voice normal.

Yuuna gasps. He's surrounded by the blobs, they're completely dog piling him, drowning him, black mist coming off his body as they bite and claw and chew-

Yuuna looks down at Blair. "Come on, we have to tie your hair away, fast."

Blair blinks, but turns away from Yuuna and Titan, passing Yuuna the bandana. "Why?"

"Because this thing is gonna crumble fast and I'd rather not be finicking with knots when we're running for our lives." Yuuna quickly tucks Blair's hair in a bun and hides it under the bandana, that she ties in knots as fast as she can.

"Fair." Blair giggles.

"Can anyone see an exit?" Yuuna looks around.

The Duel Monsters all start looking, as the sound of the blobs gets louder, closer, quicker-

"Kuri!" Winged Kuriboh claws at the bubble and a bright white light starts spilling into the area.

"Well, I'm not one for following the light, but let's go!" Yubel calls, yanking Yuuna to her feet.

"This way, Little Love." House Dragonmaid pulls Blair to her feet.

With that the four of them start running away from the blobs and whatever remains of Titan, following Winged Kuriboh to the exit. The little fuzz ball pops out first, Blair and House Dragonmaid rolling out next and Yuuna and Yubel rolling out last-

"Yuuna! Blair!""

And they're back in the basement of the Abandoned Dorm, with Syrus and Chumley running over to them, their Duel Monsters vanishing into thin air.

"Are you okay?!" Syrus calls.

Yuuna takes in a deep breath, puts on her best smile and turns to them. "Yeah, never better guys! Why wouldn't we be okay?"

Chumley rushes over, kneeling next to them. "What happened in there?"

Yuuna shrugs.

Then the black bubble the girls were in starts shrinking and shooting off electricity. Chumley holds Syrus close and pulls him down while Yuuna tucks Blair under her body to shield her-

Wind starts sucking them in, pulling Alexis' coffin down from the wall it was against, nearly sucking it in-

Yuuna reaches out a hand to hold it down, bringing Blair closer to her chest-

Pop!

The wind stops.

Yuuna lifts her head and confetti starts to fall to the ground.

Blair looks up. "What?"

"Awesome!" Yuuna jumps to her feet and claps her hands. "I wonder what he does for an encore! I mean, how on Earth could he have topped that?! Talk about a magic trick, right Blair?"

Blair blinks, then her eyes widen and she nods and starts clapping too. "Yeah, there were little monsters and flashing lights and vortexes! It was like I was on a sci-fi set!"

"Magic trick?" Syrus gapes at the girls like they're crazy. "You don't think that was the real Shadow Realm?"

Blair laughs and rolls her eyes. "Oh come on guys, what did I say?"

"That it's all smoke and mirrors?" Chumley repeats.

"Exactly!" Blair nods, finally pausing in her clapping. "He even did this little thing with my hat and made it disappear!"

"Though, I will admit." Yuuna hums, rubbing her hair. "I'd give my entire Deck to know exactly how he did it, I've never seen anything like it."

The boys look at each other and sigh, while the girls share a secret wink.

"So who's carrying Alexis back?" Chumley asks.

All the first years raise an eyebrow at him.

Chumley frantically looks between them, then groans and slumps. "So long as we aren't running."

"I'll carry your backpack, Chumley." Syrus offers.

"Thanks Sy." Chumley takes off his backpack.

As the boys walk over to Alexis' coffin to figure out how to get her on Chumley's back, the girls walk nearer the entrance, until they're out of hearing range.

"So when are we going to talk about what actually happened in there?" Blair says while looking at one of the snake statues.

Yuuna follows her gaze. "The next time we're alone. I promise, you can ask me anything you want and I'll be completely honest in my answers. Just, please don't tell the boys, okay?" Yuuna looks at her feet. "It's bad enough I got you involved in this. I don't want them to suffer too."

Blair huffs and puts her hands in her pockets. "As if they'd believe me. Well, they probably would, but I haven't told them any of our other secrets. Why start now?"

Yuuna feels tears slip down her face. "You're a good friend, Blair."

"Nah." Blair pulls a tissue out of her pocket. "I'm a good sister."

Yuuna cries harder, accepts the tissue and dries her eyes as best as she can, while Blair walks over to the boys when they can't get Alexis on Chumley's back.

No one notices Blair's hat in the corner with her hairpin and the Pandemonium card.

Alexis drifts in the darkness for a while. It's peaceful for once. Warm. Safe. Like how her brother's hugs used to feel.

Alexis whimpers. "Atti…"

"Uhh, hey guys, I think she's waking up, Chumley let her down."

Alexis feels the floating stop for a moment and something hard digs into her back.

"Alexis? Can you open your eyes?"

Who's calling her? Her voice is so… warm. When did she last feel warm?

Alexis opens her eyes and sees- "Yuki."

"Gee, you don't have to say my name like it's a bad word Alexis." Yuuna giggles. "Or are you just not a morning person?"

Alexis narrows her eyes at him. Liar.

"What she means is-" Syrus cuts in, making Alexis turn to him. "We're glad you woke up okay?"

She hisses, looking at the other Slifer Reds, a short boy with a bandana and an older chubby boy.

"Where am I? And what are you all doing here?" Alexis checks herself over slowly.

Her Deck is still there, along with everything else she and Zane came out here with. She knew she shouldn't have gotten separated from him but that little short one made her so angry-

"Hey what kind of a thank you is that?" Yuuna laughs. "We're here because we had to find the bad guy, win the Duel and save the Damsel in Distress."

The bandana head huffs and folds his arms. "We could have left you to that masked guy, ya know."

"But we didn't because we're good people." Yuuna says.

Alexis huffs and gets to her feet. "I would have been fine on my own."

She would have. She is the Princess of Light and a man like the one who kidnapped her wouldn't have lasted two seconds with her White Night Deck.

"Hey, before you go off in a huff and hate me more, I have a question." Yuuna calls.

Alexis spares him a glance.

"We found your card and this." Yuuna gets to his feet and offers her a picture. "Is this your brother?"

Alexis takes her card and the picture.

She gasps.

Atticus used to send pictures of his days at Duel Academy to her. The last photo she still has of her brother was taken before his second year started.

This one shows Atticus in the middle of that second year. She knows because the date's written on the bottom.

"I'll take that as a yes." The big one says.

Alexis holds the photo protectively to her chest, glaring at them.

The big one and Syrus back away, but Yuuna and the short one don't.

Yuuna just sighs and looks her in the eye. "Alexis."

Alexis glares right back at him.

"I know you don't like me. I think I know why too. But we don't have to fight. I didn't know you even had a brother until tonight, but I wanna help you find him." Yuuna smiles and offers her a hand. "Will you let me help you Alexis?"

Alexis gapes at her, nearly dropping the picture and her card.

She doesn't know about Atticus? How?! Is she lying?! Did White Night Queen lie?! No, she never lies, she-

"If you don't, she'll still try to rescue you from whatever coffins and creepy men you keep running into." The short one rolls his eyes. "But please don't, because I don't want you dying and leaving Yuuna to think it's all her fault."

"Blair, please don't invite bad things to keep happening by saying stuff like that, you're going to jinx us!" Syrus whimpers.

Yuuna laughs and it's such a warm sound…

It's like how her brother used to laugh.

Maybe how Alexis used to laugh.

Alexis looks away. "I don't need any help."

And the Princess of Light walks away from the Supreme King and his people, before his lies can ensnare her.

Yuuna must be sick to try and trick her like this. Into working with him to rescue his own prisoner.

Alexis snarls and punches a tree, ignoring the pain in her hand.

She'll save Atticus on her own. She'll stop the Supreme King and finally free the world of the Darkness! Like she was always meant to.

She will!