Hello everyone, MoonlightWright here with another Chapter out! This chapter isn't as long as in Chapter 2, but it's kind of close with around 5,900 words. I'm just throwing these things out like a machine right now! What will this plan Zero be, and will it succeed? Find out in this Chapter, enjoy!

Ch.3: The Operation against Academia

"I can't believe we're actually doing this." A boy with spiky red hair with a bit of blonde at the end glared at the museum that stood before him. The short, teal eyed boys name was Allen Kozuki, and he turned to look at Ruri. "You're honestly going to trust this guy, whom you just met YESTERDAY, and who wears a mask. I think you've hit you head a little harder than you thought Ruri, because this is insane." Allen wore a red long sleeve shirt, grey pants, and yellow and white boots. Above the long sleeved shirt, Allen wore what resembled a black and blue poncho that had light green diamonds surrounded by yellow trimmings.

"Relax Allen." Another boy with blue-grey eyes and pale skin put a red clothed hand on the shorter boy's shoulder to help calm him. "There are six of us, and one of him. Even if this guy is as good as he says, he won't be able to defeat us." The teen's eyes were hardened, but only by the sight of war, not hatred. His name was Kaito Tenjo, he had dual blonde hair and dark cyan bangs. He wore a small black and grey blue trench coat that had a high collar, with red on the inside. The blue-grey eyed duelist also wore a grey shirt underneath, with white pants and black boots. A belt that holds two purple deck boxes finished his look.

Kaito was one of the best fighters the resistance had, and the rebel carefully skimmed over every detail about the museum he could see in case it was a trick. In a world like this, one could never be to careful.

"That is, if this isn't a trap from Academia." A tall teen named Shun Kurosaki, who had hardened yellow eyes, stood tensely beside Ruri. He had dark, almost navy blue hair that fell to his chin with dark cyan bangs. Shun looked at Ruri. "However, I trust my sister's judgement, so I'm at least willing to give this guy a shot, if barely." Shun and Ruri Kurosaki, both were indeed brother and sister, and they each cared for each other deeply. Shun wore a closed tattered blue trench coat that conceals most of his figure, along with brown shoes and grey pants. The resistance red scarf was tucked under the trenchcoat around Shun's neck.

"I agree with Ruri as well. From what she told us back at base, this person has had multiple chances to card both her and Sayaka but didn't. He also provided them shelter and medical supplies once they had left the scene. That at least says something about his character. Not only that, but this man, masked or not, saved Ruri and Sayaka from Academia. We at least owe him this much." Shun begrudgingly nodded at his best friend, Yuto's, words. The teen had black hair with light purple bangs that was swept upwards and slightly to the right with light grey eyes. Yuto wore a dark green dress shirt, black tie and black jeans, along with black wrist bands and a black choker. The most notable thing about Yuto's outfit was the tattered black cape he wore around his shoulders. It was torn near the ends, and had a dark maroon underneath.

"Thank you Yuto, Shun." Ruri gave each boy a grateful look, before looking back at the museum determined. "Zero plans to show us his potential if we meet up with him in the museum at midnight."

"Well, should we go in?" Sayaka was the one who asked that question.

"We walked all the way here, so we might as well go all the way." Kaito shrugged, not seeing anything relating to a trap yet. "Besides, this might actually give the resistance a break, people have been steadily losing hope."

"Let's not deal with that right now, for now let's just focus on this masked man. I doubt he would wait long after midnight strikes, and it's getting close." Yuto insisted, a scowl on his face. "I think we're going to have to give this guy all of our attention in case he does try something underhanded." With that, Yuto took the first step towards the museum.

The others sprang into action, and began to follow behind the caped duelist.

"Shun, you don't need to protect me, I'll be fine! After all, me and Sayaka are the only ones who have met this guy before so we should be near the front." Ruri crossed her arms and looked up into her brothers yellow eyes.

"I just want to make sure your safe Ruri. I don't want you to run into people like those Obelisk force scumbags alone." Shun insisted, making sure to keep his little sister behind him.

"Zero is nothing like those bastards though!" The Lyrical Luscinia duelist rebuked.

However, there was a bit of a delay due to the Kurosaki siblings having a small squabble. It wasn't anything to really worry about though. Ever since Ruri and Sayaka returned to base and told them their story Shun has been rather protective of his sister. Yuto would have probably done the same thing when he learned what those damned Obelisk scum had planned to do just to get some information, they really were disgraceful. In the end, Ruri gave in and just decided to let her brother be his overprotective self.

Just thinking about the incident made Yuto's scowl deepen. If it were up to the Phantom Knight duelist, those three would have been torn apart, no questions asked. Even before the invasion, Yuto was always protective of those he cared about, which included the Kurosaki siblings, post invasion only increased that protectiveness.

With that out of the way, all six members of the resistance entered the darkened museum building. The double doors closing behind them, and left the group in darkened silence. Using their duel disks, each person turned on their own handy flashlight and moved it around the abandoned building.

"There sure is a lot of dust here." Kaito had to squint to really see through the thick amount of dust and ash that had accumulated in the building.

"There's dust everywhere Kaito, did you really expect this place to be any different." Allen spoke quietly, but that didn't hide any of the sarcasm he used.

"I thought this guy would have been cleaner." Shun decided to get in on some of the sarcasm, and Yuto gave his best friend an 'are you serious right now?' look.

"I usually am more organized than this, so I'm afraid I'll have to apologize for the mess." The entire team tensed up at the modulated voice that spoke in the darkness. It seemed to echo from everywhere.

"Show yourself!" Yuto called out into the darkness, his game face on.

"If you insist." The entire group was blinded by a sudden bright light. It took a moment for them to all realize that the museum lights had been turned on, and that this building actually had power.

"How did-" Shun looked around quickly, tense and on guard while trying to find the masked man alongside his sister.

"The power in Heartland has been turned off ever since the invasion started, how does this place have power?" Allen spoke in shock.

"This museum had a backup generator hidden in the basement of the building." Everyone's heads turned so fast that they should have gotten whiplash. There Zero sat, on top of one of the exhibits that had a T-Rex skull in it, in all of his purple and golden glory. The masked man was the poster child of calm and collected even under the circumstances as his faceless mask stared down each individual. Zero taking careful notes on each person that decided to show.

Each person couldn't help but feel as if they were being sized up by the masked man, but Yuto quickly shoved it off and stepped forward. "So, you're Zero, the masked man that defeated three Obelisk force members and saved Sayaka and Ruri." The black caped teen didn't state is as a question, already knowing the answer.

Zero nodded. "I am." Before he looked around the desolate building. "I do apologize for the amount of dust that has increased within the building. I had prioritized bringing the power back online first. Though I have a filter built in this mask to deal with the dust, rest assured that this problem will be dealt with the next time you return."

"That's if we return." Allen corrected tensely. "Now, are we just going to stand here all day or are we going to get to the point of this meeting. Who are you?"

"I am Zero." Zero responded instantly, inclining his head in greeting. "Who is behind this mask doesn't matter. Now then, who are you…"

"His name is Allen." Ruri stepped forward despite her brother's protest to introduce the group. "Going from his left is Sayaka as you already know, Kaito, my brother Shun, myself, and finally Yuto." The purple haired girl gestured to her right towards the caped teen. Yuto was studying Zero's every move, trying to discern if he was a real threat or not. "I have returned with some people, as I had promised Zero."

Zero nodded his head again, seeing as they couldn't see his face. "I see that, and I thank you for keeping your word. I had only expected two, maybe three people to show, but this has greatly exceeded my expectations. You have done well Ruri."

Ruri smiled at the man's praise, but did nothing more. Instead, she let Zero continue.

"Now that everyone is gathered here let us get to the point. You all wish to know who I am behind this mask, but I refuse to tell you. So instead, I am going to show you my powers, and if this little operation turns out successful you will give me your trust. All I ask is for your cooperation. In return for your trust, I will give you results."

"So what is this little 'operation' you have planned for us?" Kaito raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

Zero remained silent and pulled out a remote, hitting a button. The group tensed at the man's silence, but it only turned out to be a screen and projector on the back wall of the museum. The projector showed multiple blueprints of a building, along with guard patrols, who, what times, and even more information.

"We are going to raid a popular Academia warehouse of its food, water, and medical supplies." Zero stated bluntly, and the group of six reeled back from shock.

"What!"

"You're crazy! That's not possible." Allen spat.

"We could all get carded." Sayaka spoke fearfully.

"I don't know about you Zero, but I find that plan to be absolutely stupid." Shun crossed his arms, a full glare being thrown at the masked man.

Zero easily deflected said glare to the side. "You may call me many things Shun, but an idiot is not one of them. I have done things like this time and time again. I know what I'm doing, and Academia will not expect a sudden attack from the 'Xyz scum resistance', much less at a popular base such as this." Zero gestured behind himself. "Not only that, but I have absolutely everything there is to have that could be called information on this warehouse. I may be daring, but I don't rush in with half baked plans." Zero continued before someone could interrupted him. "Besides, not everyone is going to be fighting, and even then those fighting won't be fighting for long. I prefer the use of smoke and mirrors, deception is a wonderful tatic of mine."

"So we're going to be fighting dirty?" Kaito put a hand on his hip.

"There is no such thing as playing dirty on the battlefield." Zero corrected the duelist. "In war there is no such thing as honor, only survival." Zero paused, looking to the side before deciding to divulge some personal information. "A friend of mine used to believe that 'anything gained through contemptible means wasn't worth it'." Zero snorted. "I believe that all that matters are results, damn those means. As long as you get results with the least amount of casualties possible you are the winner." The light reflected off of Zero's mask as he looked at the group again. "Let it be known that I WILL fight dirty. I will never play fair, and I will only fight someone head on when I already have all of the aces."

The group was silent after that little monologue, thinking on the masked mans words as some nodded in agreement.

"Now then, who is our best fighter?" Zero asked.

Instantly, everyone turned to look at the blonde and blue haired duelist, Kaito. The teen gave a small start at everyone's instant reaction to the question before he sighed. "That would be me, Zero. What do you have planned?"

Zero crossed his arms, along with his legs, cape shuffling with the movement. "You will not be fighting during the operation."

The group gave another startled jump.

"Are you kidding me?" Allen spoke incredulously. "Kaito is our best fighter, and your sidelining him!"

Shun and Yuto exchanged looks, both boys having raised eyebrows in amusement. Kaito himself just seemed confused, but listened to the masked man with intrigue.

"Kaito will not be necessary for this operation." Zero raised a hand, silencing anymore complaints. "I am not insulting his skills as a duelist, nor do I doubt him. It is just as simple as that he is too strong. If he were sent to the front lines, Academia will most likely call for backup immediately, and eventually we will be overwhelmed." Zero finally dropped down from the exhibit and walked towards the resistance group. A mischievous smile formed behind his mask. "Now, here's the plan."

. . .

The ground rumbled, and the area around the Academia warehouse roared as a huge explosion plague one side of the building. Anyone that was harmed by the explosion was instantly teleported to Academia for medical attention, but those that stayed in the Xyz dimension began to freak out. The students ran around like a lost colony of ants in a panic. While most were focused on dousing the flames that consumed around one fourth of the building, the rest were running around trying to find the culprit. It was chaos.

Chazz Princeton was one of the first to run into the culprit of the explosion, along with a couple other students. The youngest brother recognized the high collared black and gold cape that stuck out like a sore thumb and made a beeline for it.

Chazz black jacket flicked wildly from the wind that whipped around the soon to be battlefield. He immediately activated his duel disk. "So, your Zero, the masked guy that everyone has been talking about."

"Indeed I am." Zero's modulated voice spoke calmly, as he slowly pulled out his duel disk and activated it as well.

"Word is that you managed to defeat three Obelisk Force members all by yourself."

"That is true. However, I believe that will find that out by yourself after this duel!" Zero snapped.

Chazz smirked. "I guess we will. It's too bad really, that you had to choose to help the Xyz scum. I'm sure we would have made great friends."

Zero said nothing, and a gust of smoke passed by the two duelists. Once the smoke disappeared, there were three more people on Zero's side, and four more Academia duelists on Chazz. Ruri, Yuto and Shun activated their resistance duel disks without any words. They had their faces covered in goggles and masks to help breathe through the dust and ash.

"Enough stalling!" Chazz finally snapped, getting serious. "Your defeat is inevitable, even with your pathetic back up!"

"We'll see." Zero retorted.

"DUEL!" Both Zero's and Chazz side yelled as one.

ZERO LP- 4000

SHUN LP- 4000

YUTO LP- 4000

RURI LP- 4000

CHAZZ LP- 4000

ACADEMIA YELLOW LP- 4000

ACADEMIA BLUE LP- 4000

ACADEMIA YELLOW LP- 4000

ACADEMIA RED LP- 4000

Meanwhile, on the other side of the Academia warehouse, Allen, Sayaka and Kaito were in the process of taking Academia's supplies.

"I can't believe we're doing this." Allen muttered as he help Sayaka carry a crate of food towards a waiting jeep.

"I can't believe we're succeeding in doing this." Sayaka grunted as the lowered the crate onto the back, and pushed it to the very front. "I can't believe the resources Zero has."

"I know, makes you wonder where he goes these jeeps." Allen looked at two others waiting to be filled to the brim with supplies.

"Now is not the time for your suspicions Allen." Kaito interjected swiftly, the teen using some of his monsters to carry multiple crates at once to make the process go faster. "We were instructed to get the crates of supplies and get out before anyone noticed. Most of Academia is focused on the fire, while the rest are distracted by Zero and the others as planned. The faster we leave, the faster the others can pull out."

"And if they get in trouble?" Sayaka questions gently. "What if they get cornered while they pull back?"

"If it does happen I'll go in there and join the duel." Kaito closed the back of one of the jeeps, seeing its full. "After I escort you two, along with this jeep over to the safe point."

"You realize that Academia's going to be looking extra hard for our heads after this right?" Allen asked, arms crossed.

"Allen, Academia's been after us ever since the invasion. It was only a matter of time before they actually tried and quell the resistance instead of sitting back and being lazy. At least this way we can kick their ass and harm their pride before they shape up." Kaito smirked. "This way, we can give them something to cry about, something for them to never forget. A little present from karma." Now Kaito gave a full blown, almost shit eating grin. "And I have to admit that I've never felt so satisfied because of it."

Allen's lips twitched slightly, before the teen threw his hands up into the air and huffed. "Alright fine. I admit that it feels great to kick Academia's ass this badly." The redhead smiled as he watched Kaito's monsters finish filling up the trucks. "It feels like we finally have a chance, you know? That we're actually starting to turn the tide against Academia, that we're winning."

The two boys smiled at the thought, before they were snapped out of it by Sayaka clapping loudly. They turned their attention to the lilac haired girl.

"I don't mean to interrupt, but the jeeps have been load and we should really start moving out before we're seen." The girl pushed her glasses up, before she turned and got into the driver's seat of one of the jeeps. The car roared, and then turned into a soft rumble to show that Sayaka had turned the car on.

Kaito reformed his usual frown, an emotionless mask covering his face. "Let's hurry up. I don't like leaving Ruri, Yuto, and Shun alone with so many duelists for so long. It's only a matter of time before the sheer bulk of soldiers overwhelm them."

"And what of Zero?" Allen just had to ask, since he noticed that Kaito didn't include the masked man.

Kaito turned to look Allen in the eye, before he snorted and started to walk towards his designated jeep. "I'm sure that he can take care of himself. He's already proven it at this rate, because not only did he defeat three Obelisk force members, he also brought power back to a building and managed to survive in this wasteland for who knows how long, alone. He's earned my respect, and his right to personal space. That masked man can take care of himself."

With those words said, the rest of the trip to the safe point was mostly silent. Allen thought about Kaito's words, and couldn't help but agree with his friend. Zero had managed to take care of himself in the destroyed city once called Heartland all by himself. After all, they would have heard about this masked man long before they actually met him if he didn't live alone. Not only that, but Zero was pretty keen on keeping his identity a secret from everyone, literally.

The redhead had problems about not knowing who this guy was, but he couldn't deny the results that Zero did bring. With the supplies they had stolen, they could feed the resistance for at most a month if they rationed it out right. It felt so gratifying to be able to take down one of Academia's bases while procuring rations and supplies for their own group.

It felt nice to win, and for that, Allen was willing to give this guy a chance.

The jeeps spit dirt and concrete as they drove away from the scene. The three more focused on how their friends were doing at the moment. So far, there haven't been any emergency signals, but for all they know anything could happen.

. . .

ARMED DRAGON LV.10 ATK:3000 DEF:2000

KNIGHTMARE GAWAIN RNK.4 ORBS:3 ATK:2700 DEF:2000

"I attack Zero's Gawain with my Armed Dragon LV.10!" Chazz pointed towards the revolutionary and his ace knightmare. "Go! Fire Blast Strike!"

An enormous red dragon covered with steel and spikes roared into the air, before unleashing a scorching hot flame that spiraled into Zero's knightmare. The Gawain took the brunt of the attack to prevent it from harming its master or allies, but is slowly began to melt.

"I activate the quick play spell Blaze Luminous!" Zero slapped the spell card onto his duel disk. A green light formed around the Gawain, and began to repair it to its proper state. When Armed Dragon stopped it's attack, the Gawain remained standing, floating casually in the air it occupied. "This prevents my monster from being destroyed."

"But you still take damage, and thanks to my spell Double Damage, it's doubled." Chazz smirked.

Zero winced as electricity soared through his veins, his knees buckled but he managed to remain standing.

ZERO LP- 1600 = 1000

SHUN LP- 3300

YUTO LP- 2700

RURI LP- 3600

CHAZZ LP- 1800

ACADEMIA YELLOW LP- 1600

ACADEMIA BLUE LP- 1900

ACADEMIA YELLOW LP- 1850

ACADEMIA RED LP- 2000

"Zero, are you alright?" Yuto looked over at the masked man, his grey eyes narrowed as he tried to get a reading off the guy.

Zero raised a hand and shook his head. "I'm fine. The shock was just all of a sudden." With that the masked hero straightened up. "And I believe that is the end of Mr. Chazz turn, am I correct?"

Chazz scowled in annoyance, agitated at this stranger's eerie calmness. Hell, he made the guy get electrocuted and it didn't even seem to phase him. "I end my turn."

"Then it's my turn." Shun stated. "I draw." The Raidraptor user drew a card, before he openly smirked. "I use the spell-"

There duel was momentarily interrupted by a loud beep that came from Zero's duel disk. All of the duelists paused to look at the masked man. Zero himself gave an intrigue 'hmm?' before he looked at something on his duel screen.

It wasn't long until people could feel the smirk that Zero was displaying under his mask as he turned to look at Shun. "It seems our time here has come to an end. Let's finish this duel quickly and then retreat to the safe point, we have no reason to be here anymore."

Yuto, Ruri, and Shun relaxed slightly at the news of their friends returning to the safe point safely. "They're alright." Yuto gave a small, relieved smile.

"Of course they're alright." Zero remarked as he sent a message back to the others saying they would be their soon. "I wouldn't send my allies into danger unless I knew they would come back. Otherwise I would go out there myself. Besides, your friend was with them, so unless the Commander-in-Chief himself suddenly showed up, which shouldn't happen until fifteen minutes, they wouldn't have a problem."

How the hell does this guys know so much about us? Chazz thought frantically. He even knows when the Commander-in-Chief will arrive! Could it be? Someone is leaking information to this guy!?

Zero looked up at Shun. "Will you finish this duel, or shall I have the honor?"

Shun snorted, before a devious smirk adorned his face. "I like you." The rebel duelist stated, surprising Ruri and even Yuto. "Ruri was right in trusting you, she always did have good judgement." Ruri blushed at her brothers praise as he returned to the duel. "However, I'm afraid that these Academia brats won't last until your turn Zero."

"We'll see about that!" An Obelisk Blue member shouted furiously.

"Let's make it a competition then. Who get the honor of finishing this duel?" Ruri spoke up.

Zero almost chuckled, but managed to bite the inside of his cheek at the last second. In this dimension, he didn't technically exist, so any fear of getting his identity exposed was technically a moot point. Unless they managed to get back to his dimension, which he severely doubted since he got here by accident. However, with his lack of existence here Zero could communicate and get to actually know his comrades. Even though he couldn't see Nunnally, and that made his heart ache deeply, he couldn't help but feel relieved at the thought of being his true self.

How ironic the man who wears a mask trying to be his true self.

As it turns out, dueling is actually a really good way of getting to know someone. As shown by Shun's sudden liking towards the masked man, along with Ruri and Yuto's trust as well. It felt nice to get to know people without having to hide any secrets.

Of course, Zero did have his secrets that he would NEVER tell them, but they didn't even know that a place like Britannia existed. So if Zero said he was a prince of Britannia they wouldn't even believe him without sustancial, undeniable evidence.

But why focus on such complex nothings when there was a duel that needed to be finished.

"I activate the Rank-Up-Magic card Revolution Force!" A golden vortex appeared, before Raidraptor Blaze Falcon appeared on the field once again. "I use one of my Xyz monsters in the graveyard as material to summon an Xyz monster that is one rank higher!"

The Falcon screeched, and went into the vortex in a blazing red light. A bright light blinded most of the duelists, but Zero remained unfazed with his mask as he watched a new raptor descend from the sky.

"Prideful falcon, spread your wings dyed in the blood of heroes! Advance through the path of revolution! Rank-Up Xyz Change! Come forth! Rank 6, Raidraptor-Revolution Falcon!" Shun yelled, but it was mostly blocked out by his monster's own shriek.

RAIDRAPTOR-REVOLUTION FALCON RNK.6 ORB. 3 ATK: 2000 DEF: 3000

Not long after his monster finished its war cry, Shun raised his hand towards his monster. "Raidraptor-Revolution Falcon's effect! By using one Orbital, it can attack all of my opponent's monsters once each!"

Chazz laughed. "With an attack like that! That weak bird is about to get its wings clipped!"

"Do get ahead of yourself now." Shun snapped. "When this card battles a Special Summoned monster, that monster's Attack and Defence becomes Zero."

Now Zero really did laugh at the unintentional pun. The others seemed to realize the joke as well and smiled Most of the Academia students gasped in realization, and looked at their monsters. Chazz himself was affected by this, because he summoned his Armed Dragon LV.10 by tributing his LV.7.

"Then that means!"

"You lose!" Shun finished.

"Well, it looks like this is checkmate for you." Zero casually crossed his arms and watched as Academia's monsters grew helpless as they lost all of their Attack and Defence points.

"Finish them Shun!" Yuto yelled, raising a fist towards his best friend as Shun's sister cheered him on.

RAIDRAPTOR REVOLUTION FALCON ATK: 2000 + 3000 + 1700 + 2100 + 2400 + 500 = 11700

"Go Raidraptor-Revolution Falcon! Carry on the will of the broken. And eradicate all of our enemies! Revolutionary Air Raid!" Shun made a gun like gesture with his fingers, and pointed towards the defenseless Academia group. Revolution Falcon screeched, before it flew up high in the air. Two compartments opened up on the mechanical birds chest, and not two seconds after bombs started falling from the sky and towards the Academia duelists.

Chazz and the rest of the duelists were thrown backwards against the concrete from the sheer force of the attack. Most of the students crying out from the ferocity that was displayed.

CHAZZ LP- 1800 = 0 LOSER

ACADEMIA YELLOW LP- 1600 = 0 LOSER

ACADEMIA BLUE LP- 1900 = 0 LOSER

ACADEMIA YELLOW LP- 1850 = 0 LOSER

ACADEMIA RED LP- 2000 = 0 LOSER

ZERO LP- 1600 = 1100 WINNER

SHUN LP- 3300 WINNER

YUTO LP- 2700 WINNER

RURI LP- 3600 WINNER

An enormous cloud of smoke engulfed what was once the battlefield, giving our resistance fighters some time to escape.

Yuto ran up to his childhood friend and gave him a clap on the back. "Nice job there Shun, I couldn't of done it better myself."

Shun graced the group with a small smile, but it was quickly turned back into a frown. "It was nothing. They might as well have been cannon fodder." The raptor duelist checking up on his sister to make sure she was alright.

"That is because they are mere children playing the game of war." Zero stepped forward. "They believe that this war is a game, and don't take it seriously. They underestimated you. Underestimated us, and paid the price by losing." Zero's cape billowed with the smoke as he turned. "However, now is not the time for celebration. Our mission has been a success, but now is the time for retreat while we have cover."

"Zero is correct." Ruri nodded along with the masked man's words. "If we stay any longer we'll be swarmed."

With those words said, all four resistance fighters retreated with the smoke. Heading towards the safe point to meet up with their friends who were already there. Yuto, Shun, and Ruri each were seemingly high off of the energy of their first true victory against Academia.

During the retreat, Zero smiled from underneath his mask. Mission successful.

. . .

Smoke towered towards the sky, the dark grey a beacon compared to the light grey of the sky above. The fire that had spread to half of the building had finally been extinguished, and everyone was exhausted from the events. The entire building had been rendered unstable due to the fire damaging the infrastructure, so all of the Academia students were sitting outside on rubble waiting.

A green military jeep pulled up towards a group of waiting duelists. One in particular had a bandage across his cheek from some debris hitting his cheek. To say the least, Chazz Princeton wasn't very happy.

How could I managed to lose to those Xyz scum and a masked man! The black haired teen brooded.

A teen with grey hair and blue eyes stepped out of the jeep that had stopped. The boy wore a black and green cloak that had dark yellow trimmings and shoulder pads. The uniform along made almost everyone recognize the teen as the Commander-in-Chief of the Xyz Dimension, and each one saluted. Chazz however, was staring at the ground rethinking his duel with Zero and his little gang.

"You're Chazz Princeton, I presume?" A commanding voice spoke up. Chazz blinked, before he looked up straight into the eyes of Edo Phoenix.

Chazz jaw dropped as he hastily got into a salute. "Sir! I didn't see you there sir, I apologize."

Edo waved it off, and Chazz put his arm down and relaxed slightly. "It's alright soldier." Blue eyes looked towards the abandoned warehouse. "I want to know what exactly is going on here. The command center got an emergency distress signal and all that we know was that a fire broke out from an explosion." Now blue eyes narrowed towards Chazz. "I want an explanation."

Now Chazz was tense again. "There was indeed an explosion that happened sir, it was what caused the fire. However it wasn't an accident. That masked man named Zero caused the explosion with a group of rebels. I and a couple other Academia students got them in a duel, but we." Chazz clenched his fists in frustration, a growl escaping his lips.

"You lost, and they got away." Edo summed it up, and Chazz nodded.

"That wasn't all sir." The Commander-in-Chief raised an eyebrow. "After the battle when Zero's group escaped, we had learned that almost half of our supplies had disappeared. I personally believe that they were stolen, and that Zero used himself and that explosion as a distraction so that others could steal the supplies. Not only that, but I believe that we have a traitor in our midst that's been sneaking information to the rebellion."

Edo rubbed in forehead, already feeling a headache coming on. "I knew that masked man would be trouble. I just didn't think it would be to this extent. How foolish I was." The Commander had to admit that Zero had used a good strategy, and what better bait than the masked man himself?

With a flare from his cloak, Edo turned to head back to the jeep. "I want all bases to be on high alert. I get the feeling that Zero's interference won't stop here. If anyone sees a speck of this guy I want groups of six deployed to go after him." Edo frowned. "I want this bastard caught, immediately."

"Yes sir!" Chazz barked a salute, before he started whipping the other Academia students into shape as Edo got back into the jeep. The car started and began to drive back to their main base.

This person, just who the hell is he? No one reported ever seeing a masked man before, and this guy suddenly shows up out of nowhere. Edo slammed his hand down on the jeep, disregarding the thumping pain in his hand. I'll have to report this to Akaba immediately, and he'll most likely send some of Obelisk force to deal with him. Or worse, Yuri. What an embarrassment.

The Commander could already hear the remarks and mockery directed at him for this failure. This caused the teen to grit his teeth in rising anger. I need to find this guy.

Looks like I'll be looking for Yusho along with this Zero. Perhaps this masked man has information on Sakaki's whereabouts.

Edo Phoenix grinned at the thought. His primary focus now on the masked man himself. You should have stayed under the rock you where hiding Zero, because now I'm coming for you. I won't stop until I find you.

There we have it for Chapter 3! The operation was a success, which was obvious since this is Lelouch we're talking about. However, it looks like he attracted some dangerous attention, what'll happen in the next Chapter?

Not what you're thinking I'll tell you that much. I'll see you guys in the next Chapter! Comment if there are any mistakes you see, and have a nice day. -MoonlightWright