Hello, everyone! Welcome to another chapter! Thank you all for being patient and taking the time to give this a read, you are all VERY appreciated! I don't own rights to YuGiOh! 5Ds! Let's get started!

Deception or Delight

"Would someone explain to me why we have to wear these ridiculous outfits again?!" Crow pouted, his arms crossing over his chest as Martha lightly smacked him upside the head. It was later that evening and the time to meet up with Rōzu was approaching. Much to their displeasure, they had no choice but to resort to the disguises that they had worn before to conceal their identity. "Why couldn't have we gone Western style with bandanas?"

"You want to get shot?" she asked, placing the final touches on his hair. He simply huffed and focused his attention on me as I finished putting in the new color contacts that Rōzu had suggested for all of us. They were engineered to better protect our retinas and irises from being traceable in case anyone took our photos without us knowing. Mine were a gold color, reminding me of a Tiger Eye stone; Crow's were hazel, which contrasted interestingly with his natural gray; Jack's were a brown so dark they were almost black. "You said the dye washed out after a few days, so why are you whining so much? Halloween was one of your favorite holidays, when did that change?"

"When he dressed up as Ditto and people thought he was a deformed Peep." A smile lifted my lips despite my best efforts. I mentioned that we needed to hurry if we were going to meet up with Rōzu on time. Jack sent me a stern look from the corner of the mirror he had been using to check his appearance when I told him that enough was enough with his constant adjusting and hair altering. The need for action had been building ever since I had finished reading the letters and I couldn't stand still anymore. I suggested that they meet up with me when they were finished, slipping my shoes on and slipping out the door, not bothering to wait for their answers. A sigh slipped from between my lips as I opened the garage door to reveal my D-wheel. With a quick mount and the roar of its engine, I tore off into the night. The cool air felt almost refreshing as I wove my way through traffic, my eyes glancing upward at the clear sky. Many of the stars were bright and glittering while others seemed close enough to touch.

"Pretty, aren't they?" For some reason, I wasn't too surprised when a familiar female voice came through my console. "She mentioned that you all had nicknames but would never tell me what they were."

"Not surprising, since hers in particular was very hurtful." I switched the autopilot on as I pulled my deck from its holster, placed it in the shuffler, and placed a single card on a projector square. In a shower of glitter, my most prized card roared to life and took its place above me. "Each nickname was given to us by different people. Mine, for example, was given to me by my parents."

"Shooting Star, right?"

I nodded. "Ever since I was born, they had called me that. They weren't surprised when I told them that I wanted to take up dueling over sports. Akiza was the first one I told. You would have thought I was speaking Greek when I began explaining the rules of dueling." A chuckle escaped me as her bewildered expression flashed across my mind. "She was supportive though and even took a liking to the game."

"Your parents turned out to be right."

"More so than I think they could ever guess," I nodded as Stardust Dragon maneuvered so that it was coasting behind me. "I never would have thought that Stardust and I would save the world like we did."

"You're referring to the natural disasters that happened a few years ago? How would you have played apart of something like that?"

"Do you believe in balance?"

"Fair enough. So, Shooting Star, tell me how you saved the world." I asked if she heard of the Nazka Lines and she laughed. "You can't be serious."

"The giant glowing monsters that appeared on the next continent over were the beasts that were confined in the lines. They were released by someone, we still don't know who, and were left to rampage on innocents. That someone had disturbed a balance, the natural balance of light and darkness." She remained silent as I went into further detail of what each beast looked like and that we had to depend on our bonds as friends to defeat each and every one of them. Stardust growled softly as I mentioned its finishing move that eradicated the final beast that turned out to be a vulture-like creature. "None of those people would be alive if it weren't for what we did."

"You expect me to believe that you three with the help of dueling fended off those things?" Rōzu's voice dripped with doubt. Stardust's answering roar echoed around them and bounced off the surrounding buildings, making them even louder. She protested the noise, but I pretended not to hear her as my dragon almost seemed to chuckle to itself before returning to its card.

I killed my engine as the warehouse came into view and pulled into a parking garage a few blocks away. Arming my D-wheel and removing my helmet, I turned in time to see the other two come up the ramp. They were bickering and were oblivious to the glossy black limo that had pulled up on my other side. Turning, I opened the car door to reveal a girl with chin length black hair and was wearing an plunging dress with a red sash around her waist. Ballet-like ribbons were wrapped around her ankles and wrists, and there was what I presumed to be an imitation katana sheath hanging from a skull on her hip. Her lips and eyeliner were a blood red, just like the contacts she was wearing. "Tasteful and simple." I complimented as she raised a questioning eyebrow. "Yura of the Hair."

"Wow…" Rōzu's eyes glancing at my own disguise. "At least I don't look like any of you. Why didn't you go for something a little more tasteful? Jack would have made an excellent Elias from Wizardess Heart and Crow, with the right hair styling and gold contacts, would have been an excellent Train Heartnet from Black Cat." Hearing her comment, they instantly quieted and fixated on her as she shook her head in a pitying manner as she walked around each of us. "Well, we won't have to worry about someone recognizing you. They are a bit…extravagant, but they get the job done."

"How come she gets to look all hot and we look like characters from Yellow Submarine?!" Crow kicked a nearby concrete pillar.

"There's nothing to do about it now," Rōzu's hands rested on her hips, briefly waving to Edgar before leading the way to the warehouse. This is the perfect opportunity to blend in with the locals. Not sure if you've noticed, but your contacts do more than conceal your iris signatures. They take photos every time you blink and records 4k video from the moment they settle in your eyes. A copy of everything is sent to the laptop Edgar is using but be sure to return them at the end of the night so I can analyze the raw footage."

Though the distance was short and the neighborhood usually quiet, but the streets were filled with people and there was loud music coming from multiple Bluetooth speakers that lined the streets tonight. They were dressed in everything from gaming to anime to famous celebrities. Adults and teens, judging from the heights. A red flag made itself known in my mind as a much shorter figure darted into the warehouse we were planning on entering. Slipping inside, we quickly found Toño and were paired up with our respective dueling partners. Mine was a woman dressed as a swordswoman with long crimson hair. The duel ended nearly as quickly as it had started; my deck easily defeating her own that was full of knight-like cards. We were quickly paired with other duelists once the formalities had been finalized and I was soon paired with a man dressed as a bald monk with six orange dots on his forehead, another familiar character from an anime I knew. He too fell to the power of my deck. I was able to catch up with Jack and Crow once they had finished their own duels. "Anything?"

"Other than me realizing that I blink more times than I can keep track, no." Crow sighed, scratching the back of his head. "Where did our fearless banshee go?"

"Demon, moron, I'm a demon." Rōzu rolled her eyes, appearing next to me. "There's some big even going on tonight. The winner of the duels will be paired with the Mystery Duelist. Evidently, they have been around for a while, but they are super secretive about their identity. Only problem is that it's a tag duel." She held up a hand as Jack's mouth opened. "Yusei's deck paired with my intellect would be the best option." One of my eyebrows rose. She had wanted to stay in the shadows ever since this whole things started, and now she wanted to be a major playing role? She slid an arm around my own as the next set of duels were announced. "Shall we?"

Our opponents were dressed as the famous duo from Black Butler, one short dressed in old English attire while the other tall and dressed in a tailcoat. Their decks were powerful and worked well with each other; one full of dark and light attributes while the other was filled with traps that would have rendered any other deck useless. I wasn't too surprised to find her own deck trap-loaded but the monsters she used reflected her love of computers. The pair after them were another tall and short combo, but they were both men with unruly black hair; one deck focused on pure strength while the other was more strategically balanced. Neither could hold a candle to our decks though and the two Saiyans fell.

"Where'd you learn?" I asked as we waited to be paired up again. I recalled the subtle hints and signs that she had given when she was about to make a move or to give me the go ahead to make my own. "Very poker worthy."

Her shoulders rose slightly. "She taught me the basics. It helped pass the time."

"How did you get away?" The question slipped out before I even realized it had. "I'm sorry, it's none of my business."

"No," she shook her head. "don't apologize for being curious. I wouldn't blame you if you held it against me either." Her arms rose and wrapped around herself as tilted her head in the direction of the multiple food vendor stalls that had been installed. She took a deep breath through her nose as she placed an order for a Jack Skelling-tini for herself and handed me a Butterbeer as the cocktail was placed on the counter. The butterscotch drink slid over my tongue pleasantly enough and judging from her blissful expression, hers was more than satisfactory. She grabbed my arm and pulled me to one of the empty tables. I raised an eyebrow as her eyes darted around, briefly resting on each person that passed by before resting on my own and directing them to the table in time to see her glass levitate slightly. "I wasn't as strong as she was and they were going to do away with me as they had the other girls." She held up a hand as my mouth opened. "I didn't say anything at first because I needed to be sure of your feelings towards this…ability."

Realization hit me in the gut as she briefly glanced up at me. "She used her powers, sacrificing her own chance for escape to save you." The hand that was holding my drink tightened as I attempted to keep my breathing and heart relaxed.

"You don't sound surprised," she whispered. "I guess you knew her better than I did. I used to wish that she had saved herself instead of me. I cursed my weakness even though I put on a brave face." With a quick toss, she drained her glass and gestured for me to finish my own drink as they announced the second to last duel. "Hurry up. It's time to repay an old debt."

Quickly finishing my drink, I followed her to the taped off ring that sat in the center of the warehouse. The red flag from before rose in the back of my mind as a our opponents took their places. They were no taller than my waist, one black with a blue gem on their forehead and the other white with a red gem with their hair styled into ear-like shapes. Their costumes were simple and well known to anyone who was a CLAMP fan. I tapped the face of my digital watch and sent a quick message to Toño. Within seconds he appeared next to us and put up a motion to halt the duel as I requested. Walking forward, I dropped to a knee in front of them. "What are you two doing here?"

The black one sputtered and struggled for words before the white one intervened. "I'm sorry, Yusei, but I heard it." Luna whispered, her expression twisting with distress as Leo removed the blue gem from his forehead. "It's here, I know it is."

"Where?" I asked, waving Rōzu over as the young girl said that she heard it in one of the upper level rooms. With quick introductions, I sent the two off to find Jack and Crow. Toño officially terminated the duel and crowd that had gathered roared in approval as the final duel was announced. Alarm filled me as a duo wearing white masks and dressed in long wine red robes emerged from the shadows; one mask with black lines and the other with red. The one with black lines seemed distracted, it's attention fixated on their companion as they blew kisses to the crowd. There were a couple inches difference between the two but they were adults. The one with red lines paused in front of me as we were asked to shake hands as a sign of acknowledgment for one another. I accepted the gloved hand they offered and though their hand was smaller than my own, it had a tight grip.

"May the best duelist win." The crowd around us faded as they spoke, it's distorted and filtered voice reverberating in the space between us. Their companion pulled them backward so they stood close to twelve feet from me. The crowd instantly hushed as the one with red lines raised a hand. "Shall we make things interesting? Loser reveals their identity."

Ooooooooh things have gotten spicy! Let me know your thoughts!