Arlene stared out at the gentle waves as the pale moon shone above. They were close to Duel Academy: Arlene had made the trip enough times on a make shift raft to know that. Had she not been in such a contemplative mood she might have smiled, but there was no room in her thoughts for that.

A lot has happened since I started looking for Ethan. A lot will still have to happen before all of this is over. I don't even know why he ran, and whenever I come close to this whole thing being over something else happens: I try to find him on Duel Academy Island and the place gets burned; I find Ethan but then he gets…infected…and now…

Arlene brought herself out of those thoughts and looked around the small raft. Bryon and Fay were asleep, or at least looked as though they were. Arlene was supposed to be keeping watch and took advantage of this opportunity to try and clear her head. Unfortunately this was only making things worse.

The most important things I'm trying to sort out are what I think about Bryon and Fay. I'm being ridiculous, I know…but I've been taught that good is good and bad is bad – having a mix seems alien to me. Bryon and Fay are saying that's not true, but they would say that because they're…well, they've done bad things.

Arlene was shocked at herself.

What? I can't believe I just considered it like that! No, we've all done bad things, maybe like lying to someone, but when people do things like Bryon and Fay have done…what am I supposed to think? Am I supposed to wipe the slate clean? If I do that, what should I do about Hamon? Start again?

Shaking her head to bring herself back to reality, Arlene continued her watch.

Adela was cornered. She stared impassively as a shadowy figure in front of her approached.

"Adela. You ran out on Begia's most important mission. You can no longer be considered a member of Begia and now you must let Fate decide what should be done with you." Adela attached her duel disk to her arm, aware of a strange feeling inside her, but unsure of what it was.

"Mind telling me your name?" Adela asked.

"My name is of no concern to you." Adela shrugged and drew her cards.

Adela: 4000
?: 4000

"Alright then, I'll…" Adela began to make her move, but stopped. She was suddenly aware of a presence within her, giving her suggestions on what moves to make.

What the hell? By strange coincidence, what the presence had outlined was what she was planning to do.

"I'll set one monster face down and place one card face down. Your turn." The man drew his card.

"I summon Axe Raider (1700/1150) to the field, and I'll get it to destroy your face down!"

Or so you think.

"My face down card is Marshmallon (0300/0500)! Sorry to disappoint, but not only is this card unable to be destroyed through battle, but since you attacked it while it was face down, you lose 1000 life points!"

Adela: 4000
?: 3000

"Fine. My turn's over," the man shrugged. Adela drew her card.

Hmm…Mobius the Frost Monarch. I'll save that card for later. At that moment, a green dome of energy suddenly shimmered around the two duelists, completely engulfing them.

"What the hell did you do?" Adela yelled at the man.

"I didn't do anything!" The man yelled back, looking confused.

This reminds me of the Fate cards…but they haven't been activated in this duel… Adela glanced down at the card she had just drawn, and stopped dead.

The card had changed.

I just drew Mobius the Frost Monarch! Why do I suddenly have Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch instead? The voice Adela had heard before starting telling her to use the card. What the hell's going on?

Erick and Michael had been running for hours. They knew that the trail they were following was cold – they had seen the people they were chasing board a helicopter – but as long as the general direction was clear they would keep running.

"Why hello there." Erick and Michael jumped and turned around to see who had spoken to them.

"Who are you?" Michael asked. The person was no more than 20 years old, had strangely luminous green eyes as well as blotchy green skin. His eyes stared directly into Michael's.

"I would not advise you both to chase after the helicopter." Erick glanced at Michael, then back at the man.

"What are you talking about?" The man gave a small smirk.

"If you two continue to travel together, one of you will die. If you split up and both continue your search, one of you will die. In both cases, one of you will kill the other. If only one of you goes after the helicopter, one of the two people you are pursuing will die. And if neither of you continue your search, both yourselves and the people you are after will be safe. Knowing all this, do you still want to continue?" There was a stunned silence. Then:

"I don't believe you." It was Michael who spoke. "Anyone can spout some random crap about the future, and that doesn't mean it'll come true. Why should we listen to you?" The man shrugged.

"Just a warning." Green light burst from his skin. Erick and Michael shielded their eyes. When they opened them, the man was gone.

"Just who the hell was that?" Michael asked. Erick shrugged. "Come on. Let's keep going."

"I take it you don't believe what he said?" Michael shook his head. Erick gave a small nod and the two of them started running again.

Was that Ethan? Erick thought to himself. What happened to him?

"Make your move." Adela looked at the man she was dueling.

"You really want to duel in this?" Adela gestured to the large green dome surrounding them.

"We've been here for an hour. This dome – whatever it is – isn't going to move anytime soon. Maybe it's just me, but I think our duel has something to do with this dome appearing, so maybe if it's over the dome vanishes?" Adela looked uncertain. "I know you won't believe me if I say this, but I won't play any Fate cards." Adela was silent for a long time.

I have no idea what's going on, but this guy's right. I should end this as fast as I can.

"I sacrifice my Marshmallon for Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch (2400/1000)! When this monster is summoned 1 card is randomly discarded from your hand, and if it's a monster, you take damage equal to that monster's level multiplied by 100! So, let's see what you have." Adela pointed to the man's far-left card. The man revealed it to be Summoned Skull, a six star monster.

Adela: 4000
?: 2400

"Next I'll play Smashing Ground, which lets me destroy your Axe Raider! And now, Thestalos! End this!" Adela and the man tensed, waiting to see what would happen when the duel ended.

Adela: 4000
?: 0000

The dome shimmered, and then…a Fate card appeared.

"What?" The man screamed as he saw the card. Adela was shocked as well.

No one played a fate card! What's going on? Adela could only watch what happened. The Fate card showed a small boy dissolving into small green particles, and a second later the same thing was happening to the man. He screamed until he was completely gone and all that was left were floating particles…then the floating particles shot straight into Adela! Adela gasped as she felt new life flowing through her veins, and then it was over. The dome faded away and Adela sunk to the floor.

"What…was that?" She muttered.

That was the true power of Fate. Adela jumped as she heard a voice. She looked around but saw no one there. I am inside your mind, girl. You have been injected with the essence of a pure Fate Soul.

"Fate…Soul?"

You humans do not appear to have been using Fate cards properly. In order to make a Fate card, one must first have raw and unstable energy as well as a human sacrifice. Fate cards also require a special energy converter, which is why many of the Fate cards you have seen have been ineffective.

"Hamon has been…killing people?" Adela could hardly believe her ears.

Yes. He has been experimenting with the Fate cards and discovered the need for human sacrifices, but has yet to discover the need for a special energy converter. However, recently he was given five small vials, each containing a Fate Soul. A Fate Soul is created when two proper Fate Cards are fused together. These can either manifest themselves in a body of the dead, or in this case can share a body with the living.

"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" Adela screamed, clutching her head with both hands.

Now now. We Fate Souls do not simply take up space. We are able to activate proper Fate Duels, not like the pale imitations you have seen thus far. That last duel you had was a proper Fate Duel, and proper Fate Duels do not require a Fate Card to activate. They simply require a Fate Soul to want to change the regular duel into a Fate Duel. And while in this type of duel we receive…certain advantages. For example, we have a larger variety of Fate cards available to us, and as you have already seen we are able to change the odd card or two should it not suit our needs. All of this comes at a price though. We must constantly absorb the energy of our defeated foes, as you have just done.

"I'm never dueling anyone again! You hear that you bastard! NEVER!"

We shall see. Adela felt the presence in her mind fade away. She curled herself up into a ball, unsure of what to do.

New cards...

Fate Absorption
Quickplay Magic
Image: A small boy dissolving into small green particles.
Effect: If this card is chosen by your opponent due to the effect of "Fate" your opponent is converted into Fate Energy and transfered to the victor's body.