"Whoa, hey! Are you okay?" asked Mikhaela, her brow creased in concern. She was sitting next to Sakura, having manually ended the duel and jumping onto the field to race to her.
"What?" Sakura said fuzzily. Her eyes blinked open and Mikhaela's face sharpened into view. Her memory flooded back to her, and she gasped. "The duel!" She attempted to stand up, but fell back to the floor, dazed.
"Hey, calm down." Mikhaela glanced at the now empty duel field. "I manually ended the duel."
"You mean you forfeit? God, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to…well you know—"
"Faint?" interjected Mikhaela. Sakura nodded. "Well, I have to admit, my whale has never frightened someone like that before…"
"I-I don't think it was your whale." Sakura looked around before whispering, "I've seen you duel before. Your talent is incredible and you seem so confident. Just like Yusei and Crow." She leaned forward, hugging her duel disk. "I can't help but think that something is going to happen soon. Something bad."
As if the Fates had heard her prediction, a dark shadow crossed over the sky, although the two couldn't see it. The air started to chill, and even here, hundreds of feet below ground, everyone started feeling cold. The LED screen above the duel arenas blanked out for a minute before shutting down completely, blanketing the DuelSanctuary in an eerie silence.
"Huh? What's happening?" wondered Mikhaela. Sakura shivered and drew close to Mikhaela.
"I think I know…but it hasn't happened since they were defeated." she mumbled more to herself.
"What are you talking about?" All of a sudden, a duel screen regained power. A shadowy figure loomed over the inhabitants and cackled evilly.
"Muahaha!" he said menacingly.
"Hey! We were told not to laugh evilly. So why are you doing it?" mentioned a figure off screen.
"Ssssh! They don't know that. Shut up, Scarlet!" hissed the shadow. "Ahem. As of now, all of you people are under lockdown. You will not leave until the one called Sakura Tsuki makes her way outside. We have a score to settle." Sakura's face blanched.
"Hey, do you know this creep?" asked Mikhaela. She clutched her duel disk and stared right at the monitor. "Where are you going?"
"I have to duel him. It was a long time ago, but I beat him in a duel once before and he lost everything. I assume that's why he's here now." She stood up straight and walked forward, but Mikhaela stopped her.
"You just got up! There's no way you're ready for a duel again," she commented, pushing Sakura back.
"I have to. If I don't he'll get angry, and then he might start hurting people." She sighed. "For the sake of everyone here, I'll duel."
"Fine. But I'll come too." She strapped on her duel disk and gathered her deck from her side of the field. "Let's go."
"Ow! God, Scarlet, what was that for?" complained Abraxas. He winced and rubbed his head.
"Well, let's see. That was for disobeying orders." She hit him again. "And that is for making our group look stupid." They were standing just outside the entrance to the DuelSanctuary, the receptionist hastily captured and tied up. They had hacked into the computer system from there. Actually, Scarlet did the hacking, and Abraxas stood on the sidelines, waiting for her to finish. Then he had elbowed her out of the way and taken control of the duel screens.
"I was just trying to tempt her out here," he explained to Scarlet who rolled her eyes in response.
Scarlet rolled up her sleeve to reveal the scorpion petroglyph burned into her skin. She pointed to a security camera's feed showing Sakura and another girl walking alongside her.
"She would have come along sooner or later. She shows power related to the Crimson Dragon. They can't keep their grubby claws out of our business." Abraxas stared at the screen, perplexed.
"I don't get it. We dueled her before and she didn't show even the slightest inkling of power." Scarlet sighed and jabbed her finger not at Sakura, but at the other girl walking alongside her.
"Not, Sakura, you nimrod. The other girl. She's been touched by Crimson Dragon energy. But it's odd…the mark hasn't yet manifested itself." But it's definitely there, she thought. She must be suppressing it somehow.
"So, which one do you want to take?" He stared hungrily at the screen. "I want Sakura. She'll pay for what she did"
"Fine. I'll take the vessel. She should be no match for a scorpion's poison." She looked down the walkway, which had shut down as per regulation. Two indistinct figures slowly made their way to the lobby.
"They're here." She hopped off the desk, activating her duel disk. Her Dark Signer Mark itched incessantly, as she readied herself for battle.
Together, Mikhaela and Sakura approached the Dark Signers. Mikhaela glimpsed the purple scorpion and gasped in alarm. She grabbed Sakura's arm.
"I thought you said that they had been defeated." Sakura looked where Mikhaela was pointing and her eyes widened.
"I thought they had been. And now he's one of them too."
"Who?" asked Mikhaela. The larger of the figures stood up and approached the two.
"Hello, Sakura," he said. "It's been far too long." She brushed past Mikhaela and walked up to him. With a hateful look in her eyes, she slapped him across the face. The other figure stifled a laugh.
"Ow! Why does everybody keep hitting me?" He glowered at Sakura and activated his duel disk. Sakura replied in kind. Mikhaela went to go help her newfound friend and the other figure appeared behind her, holding her back.
"Not just yet, sweetie. First I want to deal with you." Scarlet smiled and forcefully activated Mikhaela's disk.
Before she was pulled outside, Mikhaela had just enough time to shout a question at Sakura.
"Who is he?"
"I thought you would have figured it out by now. This nimrod is my ex-boyfriend."