The assailant grunted as the guard roughly guided him into the Leo Corporation building. He was soon joined by his partner, who was being treated equally as roughly.

"How'd it go with your guys?"

"They went down in a couple of turns. Even working together, they were weak."

"Move it, you two!"

Grunting, the two followed Declan through another set of doors into his office. Declan took a seat, gesturing for the two to do the same. Once they were all seated, Declan began his interrogation.

"Now, mind telling me why you've been assaulting my faculty and students?"

"You know full well, Fusion Scum! You've messed with us for the last time, now you'll pay!"

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

The taller teen moved in to grab Declan, but his partner held him back.

"Shay, settle down. He's trying to help, attacking him won't help us."

"Yuto, he's the son of our enemy! He's not going to help us, he's going to card us!"

"If I was going to do that, wouldn't I have done that by now?"

Realizing Declan had a point, Shay sat back down, grumbling to himself.

"Now then, why don't you start from the beginning? Clearly you have an interesting story to tell."

Yuto and Shay exchanged a glance, unsure if it would be wise to divulge everything. At last, Yuto spoke up.

"My partner and I come from the Xyz Dimension, one of four separated by their dueling methods. Three years ago, soldiers from Duel Academy in the Fusion Dimension invaded, destroying our home and carding many duelists and innocent civilians. The remaining ones formed a resistance, and have been combating them ever since. Not too long ago, one of our comrades was kidnapped by them in a surprise attack, but they retreated to their home base before we could track them. When we learned that their professor, Leo Akaba, had a son in Standard, we decided our only hope was to kidnap you and create a hostage exchange. As you can see, that part of the plan didn't go so well."

"I see. And this comrade of yours, you were close, weren't you."

Shay grew tense, tears starting to well up in his eyes.

"She was my sister. I'll do anything to get her back..."

"I understand, but believe me, your plan would not work even if you had succeeded in capturing me."

"And what makes you say that?"

"Because my father does not care for me. He abandoned my mother and I four years ago to follow his dream of universal conquest. I knew he had goals of invading other dimensions, but I didn't know they went this far."

"So why did you bring us here? If you're not working with Duel Academy, then why even bother with us?"

"Because I cannot allow my father to destroy more lives than he already has. I brought you here not as my hostages, but as my guests. If you work with me, then I will help you bring down my father, and Leo Corporation will aid in the rebuilding of your home in anyway we can."

"And what's the catch?"

"What makes you think there's a catch?"

"Because I've seen people like you before. If you offer to help, you always expect something in return."

Declan smirked. Clearly, Yuto was the smarter of the two. That would make things somewhat easier.

"My catch, if you can call it that, is simple: I want you to enter my tournament. The Arc League Championship. I'll forge all the necessary paperwork, all you have to do is win."

"Why do you need us to compete? Surely, its just a tournament."

"No, its not. If we're to take down Duel Academy, then we need strong duelists, duelists who can hold their own against overwhelming odds. This tournament will weed out the strong from the weak, and together we'll form an unstoppable force. So, are you in?"

Shay and Yuto looked at each other, as if speaking telepathically to one another. They still weren't sure if they should trust him. After all, he was still the son of their enemy. But they could use the help...

Nodding, the two reached the same conclusion.

"We're in."