Hi everyone! Now, those of you who reviewed got a cryptic response about Fay. Is she alive or dead? Read on!

Arlene was eventually forced to move herself and Fay to avoid attracting attention. At the end of an alley Arlene propped Fay up against a wall and checked again for signs of life. Finding none, Arlene sat down on the ground and looked at Fay with a great intensity, as though this would bring back Fay.

This can't happen! Arlene thought desperately. It was bad enough with Ethan, but now Fay as well? She looked out of the alley with fierce anger imprinted in her eyes. If Erick Guerra shows his face here again...

Erick quickly dialed in a number on his phone as he walked to the base.

"Pick up...pick up you son of a..."

"Hello?"

"Hamon! We need to talk about the Fate cards!" There was a pause.

"When you're speaking to me, it's sir or Mr. Ayver. NEVER Hamon. You understand?"

"I DON'T CARE ABOUT THAT! FAY'S DEAD!"

"So you dueled her then? Good good! Now..."

"How can you say that? After all she did for you and Begia you're not even sorry she's dead!" There was a pause.

"...That's because she's not." Erick stopped dead in his tracks.

"What?"

"Haven't I told you about this?"

"No!" Hamon gave a booming laugh.

"Oops! Oh well, I'll tell you now. You know that that Fate cards need a lot of raw and unstable energy to be made, yes?"

"Yes I know that!" Erick said impatiently. "That's why we chose children's emotions."

"Mm. However, it seems that something's holding back the Fate cards' true power!"

"What do you mean by that?"

"What I mean is, children's emotions alone are not enough. We need something else for the Fate cards to be fully functional! Quite a blow to my plan I must admit, but ah well."

"So then what's happened to Fay? Is she or isn't she dead?"

"Well she's technically both. We took in one of the victims of The Death of Fate and analysed them to see how effective the card was. It turns out that despite the victim's heart stopping, they still had brain activity! So Fay's dead, but not clinically dead." Erick breathed a sigh of relief. "Of course, that's about to change."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, we're getting closer to finding that missing ingredient to the Fate cards! And as soon as we've applied it, everyone who was hit by The Death of Fate will die for good!"

"No! You..." Hamon hung up. "Bastard!" Then he started running towards the area where he and Fay had dueled.

Erick found the area was full of bustling people, but there was no sign of Fay or Arlene.

Please don't tell me they've gone to a hospital...please... He wasn't looking where he was going and bumped straight into someone.

"Oh! I'm sorry..." he began, but stopped short when he realised he'd crashed straight into Arlene.

"You." Arlene stated. Erick was aware of the amount of venom in her voice.

"I need to talk to you about Fay."

"What, about the fact YOU KILLED HER?" Erick glanced around quickly.

"About how she's still alive."

"What."

"I'll explain everything later. You haven't taken Fay to a hospital, have you?" Arlene shook her head. "Can you take me to her?"

"Why should I trust you?"

"Because I tore up my Fate cards." Arlene looked at him for a few minutes. "Please, just take me to her and I'll explain." Arlene was silent, then gave a slow nod and started walking with Erick close behind.

"So Fay IS dead, but she isn't at the same time?"

"Well, technically she's dead, but she's not clinically dead. Organs can be restarted, but once the brain goes that's it. The Death of Fate card is supposed to choke the victim, which should kill the victim. What seems to have happened instead is that the victims' hearts have stopped, but they still have the potential to be revived."

"You don't seem to happy about this." Erick nodded.

"That's because Begia's leader found out that the reason victims aren't being properly affected by the Fate cards is that they're missing something. As soon as he applies it, Fay will die. There has to be some way..." Erick paused. "Hold on a second..." Erick started pacing quickly, muttering things under his breath. Then a wave of realisation hit him. "Of course...Reversal of Fate..." Arlene stood up.

"What is it?"

"There is a Fate card called Reversal of Fate. Basically if someone were to suffer from the infection of Fate, then someone duels on their behalf, wins and the opponent gets Reversal of Fate that removes the infection. I didn't think it would work on The Death of Fate seeing as I thought that the card killed, but now..."

"Why can't we just revive her without the card?" Erick shook his head.

"It doesn't work like that. Just as you couldn't make an antidote for whatever comes out of The Infection of Fate, I don't think you'd be able to bring back Fay unless you used Reversal of Fate." Arlene looked like she was having difficulty accepting this new information.

"All of this is...weird. Someone dies thanks to a card and then it turns out you can bring them back to life with another card? How can they have that kind of power?" Erick stood up.

"It's time for me to go. I've told you what I needed to and now I have to go back to Begia." Arlene's face darkened.

"What, so you're still on their side?" Erick shook his head quickly.

"There's a score that needs to be settled and I'm the one to do it. Good luck." Erick started walking but Arlene followed him. "You can't come with me, Arlene."

"Yes I can! I have to go there to save Ethan! And then I can get the Reversal of Fate card there as well! I still don't trust you either!"

"As much as I hate the idea of fate right now, you'd be best waiting until it gave you a sign. I don't think you're ready to go there just yet."

"Don't patronize me! I'm going!" Erick looked thoughtful, then knocked out Arlene and sat her down in the alley.

"Sorry."

"We're HERE!" Adela shakily walked out of the helicopter and sunk to her knees.

"I don't feel so good..." she muttered. Bryon lifted her up.

"Come on! Let's go find somewhere where we can eat!" Adela nodded and the two of them made their way slowly into civilisation.

Arlene was walking quickly through the streets, not because she was in a hurry, but because she was being followed. She had gone to get some food and was now returning to the alley where Fay was and had been aware that someone had been tailing her for the several minutes. The person in question was a 17 year old boy that was very easy to notice as he was a good deal taller than the rest of the crowd that separated Arlene from him. Arlene knew she wouldn't be able to run forever, so took a left and entered the closest shop to her, which to her annoyance was a small cornershop.

So much for having somewhere to hide... The door opened and the boy entered, staring at Arlene.

"You're Arlene Ramirez, right?" The boy scratched his slightly tanned skin as he waited for an answer.

"That would be me. And you're from Begia." The boy nodded revealing his black hair with blonde highlights that Arlene wasn't tall enough to see before.

"So. Let's find somewhere to duel, shall we?" Arlene nodded and walked out of the shop with the boy close behind him.

"So what's your name then?" Arlene asked as they walked.

"It's Michael." The two of them fell silent for a few minutes before Arlene spoke.

"Take a left here." They did and entered the alley where Fay was. Arlene walked up to her and gave her some water before turning to Michael. "Because of Begia, she's unable to eat or sleep, just stuck as a rag doll for now. I have a lot of anger I'd like to vent out and you're going to be on the receiving end." Michael said nothing, simply activating his Duel Disk and making the first move.