Author Note: I hate 's stupid thing where they automatically take out the paragraph indents and double space everything. It really pisses me off. Because when I think I'm done, I have to edit it on so no one gets confused and/or lost. Okay, anyway. The next chapter. I'm sure the last chapter left you in question. And that's what I'm going for. Again, thank you, Reviewers. College sucks, and I'm glad you're all patient.

Quick note to Mercenary Pen....um, I dunno how to respond to your review. I guess, "thanks," but you tried to make me look dumb, I think. I know Back Up Soldier doesn't work on Exodia's head, and have mentioned it in the story before, so read harder. Also, no, I know my cards and my card sources, so I don't need you to tell me. Thanks anyway. And finally, I asked for Deck Suggestions, not "what cards you want to see." You can't just throw cards names at me and say, "put them in." And even so, I asked for them in E-mail. Besides those things, thank you for the review.

Quick note to HZ: Read the U.S. RULES OF LAST WILL. I don't know how the Jap card works, but that is exactly how that card works in the U.S.A. :)

Here we go...

- - - - - - - - - -

Four days have past. Four days since that night. Genki woke up two days later, but refuses to touch his cards or Duel Disk after that night. He won't even leave his house for too long, especially when it begins to get darker outside. As for Ryan...he, too, will not leave his house. Everyday since, Yugi or one of the others have went to his house to visit. But Ryan's mother always answered the door, shaking her head sadly, telling them he doesn't want to leave his house or have visitors. Joey and Tristan couldn't get him to come out. Nor could Mai and Serenity. Even Yugi (and Yami) couldn't get Ryan to show his exsistance. These thoughts traveled through the head of Téa Gardener, as she was about a block and a half away from Ryan's house. Though the others didn't have much luck, maybe she could.

Arriving at his house, she walked up the four step stoop to his home, and gently knocked on the green door. She heard movement inside, coming towards the door. The door opened, revealing Ryan's mother. She didn't look too thrilled. Téa just looked at her. "Is Ryan home?" she asked. His mother just shook her head.

"He doesn't want company," she replied nicely. "I'm sorry. Are you one of his friends, too?" She nodded.

"Téa," she introduced.

"Nice to meet you. I'm sorry, he...he feels down and out...he found that boy with Yugi and the others. And that boy was in a coma. Ryan feels like it's his fault."

"It's not," she told her.

"I know, but he won't believe that. I'm sorry, again. Maybe another day." She closed the door. Téa stood there a few more minutes, then walked off the stoop and back down the street.

Ryan watched her from his window. He had such a sad look on his face. He wasn't crying, but his expression showed he was close. "I'm sorry, Téa," he said to her, even though she couldn't hear him. "I don't want to hurt you. I don't want to hurt Yugi. I don't want to hurt anyone else. Mai, Joey, Tristan, Serenity...they are better off not around me." Ryan thought back to that night. He was awake the whole time. He remembers it clearly.

"This is for all the trouble you caused me," he told Genki's helpless, frozen body, filled with fear. "Sweet dreams...in the darkness. MIND CRUSH!" It was a horrible memory. He did it. He knew how to use an ability called Mind Crush. He knew that ability came from Yugi's Millennium Puzzle. He knew...he sent Genki's mind temporarily into the Shadow Realm. What? Why? What was this evil that flowed through him? Why did he do something he regretted seconds later? And more importantly, he knew how...but how did he know how?

Taking Ryan by complete surprise was his cell phone ringing across the room. What was surprising is no one knew his cell number yet. He hadn't given it out to anyone, but had used it to call Téa once. Perhaps it was her, and she got his number by her cell phone's caller ID. He walked over, still dumbfounded of who it was. He opened his phone, looking at the screen. It read: Unknown Caller. Ryan, in wonder, picked up.

"Hello?" he asked.

"I know all about you, Ryan Takawa," said a female's voice over the phone. "I know what Seto Kaiba has in store for you, and I know how to help you."

"Look, lady. I've had a tough week, and--"

"I know why you put that young man in his coma..."

"This isn't funny anymore."

"I know about your dream." Ryan's eyes became as big as dinner plates. "I know what is on that tablet. It holds the secret of your past life."

"What's on the tablet? What are they whorshipping? And how do I stop Seto Kaiba?"

"I cannot tell you. You must find out for yourself. Once you learn the answer, I will contact you."

"How will you know?"

"Because I have already forseen it...I leave you with one hint. The answer lies....in Radium." The phone clicked, followed by a dial tone. He clicked the end button. Who was this woman? How did she know about the dream? Only Yugi knew, but Yugi swore he wouldn't tell anyone. After that night of Yugi getting Blue-Eyes back, Ryan knows he trusts him. So how did she know?

- - - - - - - - - -

Yugi, Téa, Joey, and Tristan sat around a table with an umbrella outside a café. Joey and Yugi sipped a latté, while Téa had a large glass of juice. Tristan read a Dueling Magazine. Téa looked down and out. Yugi and Joey didn't speak much either. Tristan broke the silence.

"Hey guys," he said. "Check this out! Pegasus is holding a contest. One of those send-a-postcard things."

"What's the prize?" asked Yugi.

"You're not gonna believe it," he said. "It's an exact copy of his deck."

"Wow," said Joey. "Hey, I'll enter that contest. You get all dem toons. And next to Gods and dem Sleeping Dragons, Toons are probably the most powerful cards in the game."

"Not to mention Relinquished and Thousand-Eyes Restrict," chimed in Yugi. Téa stayed quiet. "Hey, are you okay?"

"Huh?" she said, snapping back to reality. "Oh, uh...yeah, that contest sounds awesome." They all looked at her. Téa let out a sigh. "I'm worried about him."

"We all are," added Joey. "He'll be okay. He just has to get over this."

"You mean come out from hiding," said a voice. Yugi and the others looked over to see Seto walking up to their table in his blue coat and purple button up shirt. "Takawa's Duel Disk hasn't been activated in quite a bit. Last recording was he used Dark Magician and Dark Magician of Choas as his main cards. His doesn't own those cards. But you do, Yugi."

"What you gettin' at?" asked Joey.

"What I'm getting at is that Takawa lost a duel, and had to get Yugi here to win his cards back. After that, he knew he'd never be able to face me and win. So he's quit and gone into hidding. How pathetic of him! Someone like him doesn't deserve to have a Blue-Eyes White Dragon!"

"You stop it!" ordered Téa. She stood up, almost knocking her chair over. She put her finger right in his face. Kaiba's glare hadn't changed. "Genki was a cheater! Even you would had lost to him! And Yugi won with Ryan's deck. Yugi just added a few of his cards into the game! The only reason he hasn't come out of his house these past few day is...." Téa stopped talking. But Kaiba seemed intriqued.

"Is what?" he asked, still glaring, and still a cold tone to his voice. Téa sat back down. She had said too much. "Thought so." He turned around and walked away. "If you see Takawa, tell him I'll duel him again, once he's sucked up the courage."

- - - - - - - - - -

"Radium...radium..." Ryan flipped through the pages of science books in his local library. The first time in days he left his house. He couldn't find anything about this radioactvie material that related to Duel Monsters or his dream. "Nothing...dammit!"

"Quiet, sir," said the librarian, passing by.

"Sorry, sorry," he told her, frustrated. He closed the book and rested his head in his hands. "I can't believe this. My past is radioactive? No, that's stupid. But what else does it mean?"

- - - - - - - - - -

Closing time. Ryan left the library, feeling a chill from the cold night wind that brushed past his body. He walked down the stoop, onto the sidewalk. He wanted to go straight home. He didn't take his Duel Disk with him, or his cards. Like Genki, he hasn't touch them. He's cut off all contact with anything related to Duel Monsters. He refuses to play it again. "What does Radium have to do with it?"

"Hey, kid," said a voice nearby. Ryan looked to his left in the nearby alley way. He didn't like what he saw. "Remember me, you little prick?" Ryan knew.

"Yeah," he said. "That punk who's Michizure I won."

"My name is Derek, little novice."

"Whatever. You're still a punk."

"I'd had beaten you bloody if it weren't for that Blue-Eyes of yours! I want my card and that card now!" Ryan scoffed.

"Yeah, sure. Look, I gave up dueling, so--"

"Who said I was going to duel you?" He began approaching him slowly. Ryan stepped back. He only took a few steps until he bumped into an object. He whipped around to see three other gang members. They chuckled and pushed him into Derek. Derek grabbed Ryan by the shoulder parts of his shirt, lifting him off the ground. Ryan felt a rush of fear go through him. "Remember that whole brains over brawn speech you gave me at the arcade? Well, maybe you are smarter than me. But I can still beat you up!" With that, he threw Ryan into the alley into the trash cans. He toppled them over, causing a loud crash in his wake. Derek laughed. "Hand over the cards. A weakling like you doesn't deserve them. They don't belong to a loser!" Upon that word, Ryan felt a strange feeling. This anger rushed through him, and quickly turned into an...ego of some sorts. He stood up from the trash and brushed himself off. He grinned evilly at Derek and the others. "Look at the loser. He can still stand up."

"Loser?" asked Ryan. "I'm the loser? You're the loser because you can't even hit me. Not even once."

"I can't? Heh heh heh." Derek walked over to Ryan. Ryan stood, not moving. Arms crossed across his chest. Derek kissed his fist and pulled it back. "This is going to hurt real bad!" He launched his fist at Ryan. His buddies cheered him on.

"Don't think so..." Derek's fist stopped centimeters from Ryan's face. Derek tried to punch, but he found nothing working.

"Dude, hit him!" one of the guys shouted.

"I'm afraid that's no longer possible," said Ryan. He walked around Derek. Ryan had the Millennium Symbol on his head. They looked in his right hand. They saw his fist clenched, but was holding nothing. But one time, there was this yellow flash. Like he, for a split second, was holding a rod of some sort. Derek turned around. His eyes were blank, and he had a Millennium Symbol on his head, too. "Derek, get them out of my sight." Derek picked up a trash can and launched it at the middle member, knocking him to the ground. The others watched the trash can smack their friend into the concrete. When the looked back, Derek had already ran up to them. He socked another in the head, and then threw him into the last one. Ryan stepped out from the alley. "I suggest you leave, unless you three want more..." Without a second thought, they painfully stood up, limping away. Ryan waited until they were out of sight. He turned to Derek and snapped his fingers. Derek blinked, but the symbol remained on his head.

"What just happened," he asked.

"Quiet," ordered Ryan. "I allowed you to talk, but your body is still under my control."

"What?"

"Yeah, mind over matter, or brains over brawn. However you want to put it. It still triumphs. Because with the brain, you control the brawn!" Derek let loose a heavy, full fisted punch, right to his own face. It left a red mark, along with some blood on his lip. "How can you beat me up? You can't even hit me!" Another punch smacking Derek's own face. "What? Having trouble hitting me? Stop beating yourself up over it! Ha ha ha!" Another shot into Derek's face, and one to his gut, followed quickly by an uppercut. Derek started breathing heavy, as his face was smeared with blood. Ryan walked over and took his deck box from his belt. "Done already? I barely felt the wind off your swings. No brawn. No brain." He opened his deck box. "You're nothing." He dumped Derek's cards all over him. "You're just a punk."

"No more," he plead. Ryan's grin grew wider.

"Guess I made the mistake of letting you talk. Maybe a mind trip to the Shadow Realm will make you learn!"

"NO!" Ryan held his hand out. But a sudden thought rushed through his head.

"What am I doing?" he asked himself mentally. "I have to stop. He's had enough." Ryan lowered his hand. He glared angry at Derek. He sent him a mental note. "If I ever catch you flexing your muscles again, you'll spend your time surrounded in a world of eternal darkness! Get me?" He nodded. Ryan turned around and walked away. Derek regained control of his body soon after. He wasted no time running away after fearfully picking up his cards.

- - - - - - - - - -

Ryan walked up to the stoop of his house, opening the door. The wonderful scent of pizza quickly filled the air, forcing a smile upon him. The first one in days. "Oh, honey," said his mom, happy. "You're smiling."

"I love pizza, mom. You make it better than any fast food place."

"How was the library?"

"Okay. Anything happen while I was gone?"

"Someone stopped by for you about three hours or so ago."

"Yugi, Joey, Téa...?"

"No, someone else."

"What'd he look like?"

"Tall. Brown hair in the style like Joey's. Carrying a suitcase. He didn't look happy." Ryan knew exactly who that was. It didn't take him long to guess at all.

"What'd he want?"

"He asked if you were home. I told him no, so he wrote this note for me to give to you." She walked over to the counter and grabbed the note, handing it to Ryan. "Here you go. Go wash up. Dinner will be ready soon." He walked upstairs, unfolding the note. It read:

"Takawa,

I guess you decided to duck out while I was around. Afraid to face me? Come out of hiding and show me what you have, or do you need Yugi to fight your battles for you? I'll be waiting in the park in three days. If you don't show, then you prove you don't deserve a Blue-Eyes White Dragon. Duel me if you dare. Oh, and by the way. Nice mom. I wonder if she is aware her son is a cowaring loser!

From the desk of Seto Kaiba, Kaiba Corp Industries."

Ryan crumpled the note with one hand. "Three days, Kaiba?" he asked the crumpled note in his hand. "I accept. And this time, when I win, you'll admit my superiority...or pay for it with your soul." Ryan chuckled to himself as the Millennium Symbol on his head glow brightly.

To be continued...