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Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX. The OCs (most of them) seen in this fic belong to DarkScytheQueen.

Kilnorc: Yeah, I know, this hasn't been done in awhile, my bad. As a late gift to my co-creator of this fic, I write and wish to dedicate this chapter of Operation: Torchbearer to my dear friend, DarkScytheQueen, whose birthday was this last Sunday. Spread the love ya'll!

"So, they've arrived safely?"

"Yes, Mister Kaiba, they landed a short time ago and they're staying at their assigned residences,"

Kaiba gave a nod, "Good work, Sheppard, I appreciate what you're doing for the boys,"

"It's our pleasure, Mister Kaiba,"

The CEO closed out of the video conference call and leaned back in his chair, the city lights of Domino shining brightly in the night air behind him. Letting out a tired sigh, he rubbed his eyes, "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm actually wishing for the old days where psychopathic egomaniacs tried to take over the world with children's trading cards,"

"For one who still plays with the cards from time to time, you sure are sounding like you're putting them down, nii-sama,"

Kaiba cracked an eye and looked to the side of the room where Mokuba was laying on his back, reading a manga.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"Reading One Piece,"

"Why?"

"I like One Piece," Mokuba flipped a page over, "It's pretty good, you should give it a try, nii-sama,"

"Oh sure, Mokuba, I'll do that right after I try and keep a Mafia crime boss and his thugs from killing anyone and taking back the supposed payment they deserve,"

Mokuba rolled over onto his stomach, his manga held in one hand and hanging over the side as he placed his chin on the arm of the couch, "Seto, I don't understand. Why are these guys after the others? After us?"

Kaiba shook his head, "It's because of a mistake I made a long time ago, Mokuba. Remember, when I first started collecting the Blue Eyes White Dragons?"

Mokuba nodded.

"One of them I got, I got from making a little...'business transaction' with certain people in Europe,"

His little brother facefaulted, "You made a deal with the Italian Mafia, didn't you, nii-sama?"

"...yes. Yes, I did,"

"What is wrong with you, Seto, haven't you ever seen The Godfather!?"

"Haven't you done anything besides read manga and watch foreign movies?"

Duel Academy Dormitories

With Jett and Damien...

"Huh...so, looks like we're next door neighbors,"

"Yep, sure looks like it,"

The two young men stood outside their respective dorm rooms, just a few feet from each other down the hall.

Damien grinned and turned to his friend, "Hey, Jett. Without our connections, you ever think you'd get to stay in a nice place like this?"

Jett looked up in thought as he held out his room key, "Well...I dunno, really,"

"You know, without breaking into the place?"

"Eat it," Jett flipped him the bird, "When are you gonna stop joking around about my background, you Kaiba clone?"

"Oh ho...Kaiba clone!" Damien turned all the way to face him and crossed his arms, the grin still plastered on his face, "You come up with that yourself, or were you saving that for a special occasion?"

"D, this is a public area, do you really want me to kick your ass? I mean, if anyone saw this happen, your first day here would be defined by you being a total wuss,"

With Erik...

"Hmmm, not bad, not bad," the gray haired teen nodded slowly as he inspected his room, "Plenty of space for me and some gear, computer already here and set up for me, that's always a plus," he scratched his chin idly, "Needs a change of color though, the yellow's not really my thing. I wonder if I can pull some strings from D's Big Boss figure and get some of my old stuff sent here...or better, maybe I can find a computer lab in this place!"

He stood there in his room for a few more moments before bolting out, a hyper look on his face.

"I SMELL YOU, HIGH TECH HARDWARE, YOU CANNOT HIDE FROM ME! NO COMPUTER CAN HIDE FROM TECHNO!!!"

With Jake...

"Come on...come on you stupid piece of crap, open up!" Jake jiggled the doorknob to his new room, but to no avail. He slammed a fist on the door, "Dammit, this place is a piece of crap! Why the hell did everyone else get a nice place when I got this dump?! Did I do something, did I insult someone?!" he slammed a fist down on the door again, but when that failed, he reached behind him to pull out the pistol he had boosted from the hitman that nearly killed Damien. Just before he pulled his shirt up to grab it, he stopped himself and shook his head, "No, no...can't do that. Gunshots will only bring people around and those people will ask questions about what the hell I'm doing and why the hell I'm carrying a friggin' gun...ah! I know!"

Jake backed away a couple of yards and took a deep breath before breaking out into a hard run towards the door. Turning slightly, he rammed his shoulder hard into the door and a few seconds later, the door not only gave way, but it fell over entirely. This unforseen result threw Jake off and the next thing he knew, he was laying on top of the door on the floor.

"...I hate this place already...,"

Chancellor Sheppard cleared his throat and addressed the small gathering of teachers in one of the conference rooms of the school. He, Crowler, Miss Fontaine, Professor Sartyr, Bonaparte were gathered, like in his office, and like in his office, there was no sign of Banner's replacement.

"Now that our young guests are here safely, we can discuss an option that has come our way," the bald Chancellor began the meeting slowly and calmly, "We need to keep an eye on them so nothing happens to them. While they're in the dorms, we can make sure that they're okay, but when they're out and roaming the island, we need to make sure. Which is why I suggest that we make a special program just for these young men,"

Crowler raised a hand, "Excuse me Chancellor, but what kind of special program?"

"A student-teacher program. Simply put, the boys will be assisting you in your work here at the school as well as being students. They'll be classified as students, but they'll be helping you out, which means they should be in your sights most of the day, so we can ensure their safety,"

"Wait," Crowler blinked, "Are you saying that we'll be babysitting these kids all the time?!"

Bonaparte slapped himself in the face, "What did you think we were going to do, let them run wild like a bunch of animals and just have security keep tabs on them?"

Miss Fontaine sighed and turned to her boss, "Sir, I understand this is important and everything, but even if we do this with the boys, what's to guarantee their safety, or even our safety?"

Sartyr nodded, "She's right, Chancellor. Say that the unwanted pursuers show up, and they find the boys, what's to say that we'll be able to get through it alive? Aren't people like the ones hunting them usually very violent?"

"Of course they are!" Crowler snapped, "They're capable of any act of violence, the mafia! These people can do anything and everything they want! When a car blows up, it's the mafia! When people die in a fine restaurant, it's the mafia! When-,"

"That's enough, Crowler, we get it!" Sheppard cut him off, rubbing a temple, "Calm down...and try not to use many stereotypes to prove a point. I understand that you're all worried about this arrangement, believe me, I am too. I fear not only for ourselves and the boys, but for the other students here. The only thing we can do right now, is just keep our eyes on them for now and hope that the people looking for them don't get a hint of where they're hiding out,"

Bonaparte stood on his chair, in an attempt to make himself easier to notice and be heard by the rest of the room, "Excuse moi, but I have a question!"

"Which is?"

"Why the hell are these mafia lunatics hunting the children anyway?" the dwarf asked haughtily, "What did Kaiba do to piss them off?!"

Sheppard sighed, "I'm afraid I don't know all the details, Bonaparte, all I know is that Kaiba and certain people he's connected with are afraid that they'll come after these four boys and they will try to harm them in an attempt to get to them,"

Bonaparte huffed, "This doesn't sound like Kaiba at all. Everything I've heard about him, he only looks out for his brother, and even that kid gets taken every few weeks! Why's he so worried about these four?"

Sheppard rubbed his eyes, God, send me a diversion...right now, please!

"So, what're you guys doing?"

"Settling in, getting used to the place,"

"Same...except my place is right next to the bathroom, and I think it's leaking or something, because it smells really bad in here,"

"Same. What're you up to, Microchip?"

Erik frowned as he adjusted the cellphone headset, "It's not Microchip, it's Techno! Microchip's a middle-aged, overweight nerd who helps a gun-toting vigilante take on the crime lords of the world. I'm just a technological genius!"

"Sure, who can get his toys from Mommy and Daddy easy!"

The gray haired teen grinned as he hooked up about the third computer he "borrowed" from the nearest computer lab together with the others and his room computer, "Not my fault my dad works at Microsoft and my mom works at Nintendo," he paused in his setup, "I think we can all blame them for my technological genius,"

"No, I think we can blame them for having a son who obsesses over electronics like no other,"

"I do not get obsessed!"

"Erik, weren't you banned from ever stepping foot into Microsoft HQ? I mean, doesn't security have your picture on a poster that says 'DO NOT LET THIS PERSON WITHIN TEN FEET OF THE TESTING OFFICES!!' ?"

"Bite me, Jake," Erik snapped before recieving a small shock from the setup, "Dammit! Back you go, you naughty plug!"

"Fifty bucks says he fries himself," Jake piped up, "Taking all bets on all kinds of accidental, electrical deaths with Microchip!"

"I said-!"

"I'll take that bet," Jett cut Erik off, "I'll bet a hundred that he gets fried and that he shorts out the power to the entire building,"

"Oooh, a dual-scenario bet, how interesting. Yo, D! You wanna piece of this action?"

"He's not gonna-,"

"I'll bet five hundred dollars and I'll throw in a free piloting session with sensei's personal jet that he gets fried, a small shortage takes place, but he'll end up burning down the building all at the same time!"

Erik's eye twitched, "I frickin' hate you guys!" he muttered as he began the final stages of his hookup, "I'm just about done, so there's no chance in Hell that anything will-,"

BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT!!!

The lights in the dorm flickered on and off for a few moments while Erik fell over onto the floor, leg twitching and his hair standing up on all ends, crackling with electricity.

"OH! I HEARD THAT! YOU GUYS HEAR THAT?!" Jake shouted into his end, "I FRICKING CALLED IT! I SO CALLED IT! I WIN THE BET!!!"

"Bullcrap you did!" Jett snapped, "We dunno what happened to him yet!"

"Well, let's head down there and see if he's still breathing...," Damien sighed, "I bet he smells like cooked bacon right about now,"

"I'll take that bet!"

"SHUT UP, JAKE!" Jett and Damien shouted before hanging up.