Hello, Viper again. As you can see, I'm back to POV's at least for the next couple of chapters, but there's another one without a POV coming soon too. I think Judai gets out of character a lot here. I hope it's not as bad as I think, but I feel his personality slipping away. I promise to try to fix that after this chapter. I kind of need him serious for this one. Anyway, today is many thanks to GrayWitch13 for favoriting this story. I really hope you continue to enjoy this story. =)

Judai's POV, first person

It was a hectic hour before I found myself in my room, staring up at a small red cell phone with dread. I didn't want to use it, but what choice did I have? I had to find out about that Crimson Dragon. But still...

I hadn't Asuka about what I was going to do, otherwise she might make it worse for me. I didn't want to involve anyone else, but I didn't have a choice anymore. I flipped open the phone and went to my contacts menu. There was only one number in there: Austin O'Brien. I stopped before hitting the call button.

Pharaoh appeared from the rafters in my room and mewled loudly, as if he and Professor Daitokuji were encouraging me to go through with the call. I sighed, gathering my courage, and pressed the green button.

As the phone was ringing, I sat up, desperately hoping that O'Brien had tossed his old cell phone or that he just wouldn't pick up.

Much to my surprise, he picked up on the second ring. "Only one person knows this number, but he hasn't called in seven years. This had better not be a prank."

I chuckled. He was still his suspicious self. "Unfortunately not," I answered.

"Judai? I thought you died somewhere! How could you just jump off the charts for seven years?"

I chose not to answer. Besides, I had more important things to do. "Look," I said forcefully, ending the subject of my disappearance. "I need you to do something for me."

"Yeah, sure thing Judai," Austin said, sensing my unease.

"There have been disturbances due to a certain card at a dueling school. I need you to patch me through to Hayato Maeda at the Card Developing department of Industrial Illusions so I can ask him about it."

"Give me one second to hack into the communcations system, then you'll be good to go. But Judai..." he trailed off. "Nevermind."

There was some static as O'Brien forced his way into the Industrial Illusions phone lines. A few seconds later, he came back onto the phone. "You're on. Make it quick, though, otherwise you'll be kicked back off. The defenses on the phones are crazy."

A different voice entered the conversation. "Who is this? You shouldn't be able to reach this number."

"Hey, Hayato, it's Judai."

"Yuki Judai? I heard that no one's talked to you in like, ten years. Where have you been?" I couldn't resist groaning in frustration. Was I going to hear that every time?

"I don't have time to talk about it Hayato. I was calling because I need a favor."

"What do you need me to do?"

"I need you to look up a card called the Crimson Dragon of Rage. There's nothing about the card on any books about the Crimson beast deck, and I was told that it may not be registered."

"Being like, the Head of Card Development/Design should allow me to search the files without a problem. I should be able to find something in a few days. Why are you, like, so interested in this card?"

"I really don't want to answer that, but I promise I'm not asking to mess around," I promised, putting as much force as possible behind my words. Hayato wasn't used to me being serious and didn't ask about the dragon or my disappearance anymore. He only paused to ask for my number so he could contact me on the information before hanging up.

I was exhausted just from that conversation. I dropped the phone onto the bed next to me and collapsed back onto the comforting mattress. My eyes closed and I gradually drifted to sleep.