Alexis bit her quivering lip, as she stared at the television screen. She gripped her tiny, white cup as she did, the cracks in the handle already apparent. Her leg bounced up and down nervously, as she tried to keep herself together, knowing full well what would happen had she burst out crying. Shadows embedded her eyes endearingly, as she kept on with her concerned gaze.

Jaden sat beside her, just a mere inch away. Both hands were placed on his knees, as he concentrated on whatever words the reporter was saying. Like Alexis, he was shaking, though with anger, rather than anxiety. He somehow managed to keep his composure, despite the frustrating fact that, as of this point, neither could do anything to help. The two looked on in the cafe, their cellphones in hand along with all the other customers, who had all ceased their chatter.

Police were all still scattered-brained. Sector Security couldn't even come near the mall without being gunned down from the inside. The crowds won't listen, and rather than stay back, they instead, decided to interfere with the situation, trying to get answers while endeavoring to stay safe. Even from here, everyone could feel the tension in the air, as they imagined the situation becoming more and more chaotic with each passing minute. Images of the public kept circulating throughout the hour. The two managed to catch Yusei's tired, worried face there, attempting to assess the situation, all the while trying to see if Sector Security was doing anything to help. It was perhaps all anyone can do now.

"Jaden."

Carefully, the boy stole a gaze at Alexis. She sat there, emotionlessly, though the distress remained deep within her eyes. Her long, white dress came to her legs, her hands still clutching that tiny cup. "What is it?" he asked.

"It's familiar."

"What is?"

"Everything."

Jaden stared at her for a while, then turned back.

The criminals were seen coming outside, if only to check and see how many officers there were, before going back in. Just then, their pictures were plastered up on the screen, for everyone to see. As the reporter droned on and on about the plausible conspiracies for their appearance, in the end, they simply tuned her out, and continued watching those pictures. To Jaden, they all looked the same; no difference existed between the beings. There wasn't a single detail that stuck out to him, nothing at all that called to his attention.

The dark, red rose on their necks, however, was a completely different manner.

He caught the arrogant smirks plastered on their faces.

He saw the thrill so very present in their eyes.

They were like sculpted demons, hovering over the edge of perfection.

It was familiar.

So very, very familiar.

Akiza heard the rustling sounds in the background, as she kept behind Jean, two of the men following closely behind, the gun barrel still pointed to the back of her head. The stench of iron reached her nostrils, and as they passed more bodies, Akiza was careful not to look down, for fear she might throw up. Iron coated the atmosphere, as she endeavored hiding her disgusted frown, fighting back the tears as she did.

Though somehow, she managed to push her emotions aside, in favor of the dire problem confronting her. Her eyes surveyed the mall carefully, the hijackers' shadows following her as she did. When she looked ahead, there were more men walking along the balconies, though less than she'd anticipated. As they moved down the corridors, there were fewer and fewer men, to the point that by the time they stopped, only two remained. Her gaze came back to Jean's back, as she waited for Yusei.

He was outside the mall, probably somewhere in the parking lot. She could hear everyone's worried voices in the background, trying to reach the phone and make sure she was safe. More than once she heard Jack's enraged voice, as well as Crow's stoic breath.

"What's wrong?" Jean asked haughtily. "Bad reception?"

"No," she murmured, remembering the boy who died before her. It was all she could do not to strangle the man now, knowing full what would happen if she did. Before long, she heard a quiet shuffle from the back, and finally, Yusei. "Aki?"

Quickly, Jean turned around, and backed away from Akiza. That same, cold sneer was plastered on his face, something she couldn't make disappear. "Right; here should be fine."

Akiza narrowed her eyes, as she, once again, stared up at the tiles on the roof.

Cameras.

"Are you done, girlie?" Jean asked then.

Her eyes flickered back toward the man. Automatically, she shook her head, as she began to answer Yusei. "I'm here," she said quietly. "Where are you?"

"With Trudge."

Trudge, huh?

Akiza pulled the phone away from her, all the while regarded Jean warily. "Why?"

"Ah, girlie catches on fast." he murmured delightfully, as he took the phone out from her grasp, his icy fingertips barely touching the palm of her hand. He stared at it for a moment, before taking it from her and putting up to his ears. "Hello?" he said. "Am I speaking with Mr. Yusei Fudo? Fortune Cup, right?"

In an instant, he fell quiet, his hushed voice seemingly fading from her eardrums. She tried taking a step closer, if only to hear what Jean was talking about, though the men grabbed her shoulders and forced her back. When she stayed where she was, they took their hands of her shoulders, and remained beside her.

Carefully, she scanned the corridors once again, examining every inch, trying to, at the very least, find a hiding place so they won't shoot her. Empty stores surrounded her helplessly, the doors easily reflecting back the men, who were, as of this point, staring blankly at the empty space in front of them. And through those reflections, she caught sight of her mark, which remained as it was. She stared at it for a while, before moving onto the other columns. There was no way she could avoid all of them.

But she was alone.

No sooner had the thought arrived did she shove it away. Jean was right here, in front of her. If she tried using her powers, he might be liable enough to annihilate all the hostages; he's already done it with the other people, so to him, what's a few more? His gang was practically at every corner of every shop, which was the reason why Sector Security was at a standstill with them.

Where could she go, if only to hide from this lunatic? Without anyone getting hurt?

Without more people dying?

Then, at an instant, something just…clicked.

Suddenly, she found the phone, right back to her face. "Here girlie," Jean said haplessly. "You can talk with your little boyfriend again."

Warily, she grabbed the phone, and placed it against her ear. "Hello?" was the first thing she heard.

"Yusei," she murmured quietly, "is he arrogant?"

A confused pause resounded from the other line. She could hear his slow, steady breathing, as he endeavored to make sense of her question. Soon, he answered. "Yes."

Jean, meanwhile, only laughed. "Arrogant; what a cruel word. I'd prefer the term seductive, tempestuous, conflicted, mysterious, lively…"

She stared up at the security cameras. Then, without thinking, she shifted her gaze toward one lone exit, off to the side, the one no one was guarding. Yes, it was probably locked, but she could fix that problem soon enough. And Trudge had the layout of the mall already there; Yusei would know where she was. "And you can see me too, can't you?"

Again, that same pause, though it was more determined. Akiza closed her eyes then, and turned away from the camera, the men barely noticing anything from her.

Finally, Yusei answered. "I can. Wait for a bit, alright?"

It was strange, how she felt at that moment. Neither helpless, nor vulnerable, nor scared; it was as if this was the most normal thing in the world. The Crimson Dragon, useless, her own mark labeling her as such, and yet, in the end, she was perfectly calm.

She would've waited.

She should've waited.

"No," she said, as she stared up at the camera, carefully masking her own, cunning smile away from the man. It wasn't long before she closed her eyes, and snapped her phone shut, her eerie confidence easing into her system.

Trudge kneeled in front of the laptop, the small screen flickering towards the group with whatever power it had left. "We managed to take control of the mall's security system," he explained, his fingers flying across the keyboard. "And so far, things look pretty grim."

"Did anyone get hurt?" Crow asked.

"…The body count's pretty high." he answered hesitantly.

"These are bad guys we're dealing with," Leo stated then. "We gotta know what we're up against."

Trudge remained silent for sometime, before nodding reluctantly. "Right."

As the monitor flickered in the afternoon light, the group could see the nightmarish ordeal. There were faceless people lying there, in the hallway. Puddles of black adorned what used to be clean, glass windows, the remnants of flesh scattered everywhere along the corners of the walls. Dismemberment, missing organs, a few veins here and there, and with it, fresh crimson, all of which were splayed throughout the mall's once innocent appearance. Limbs were scattered away from their masters and mistresses, as the mangled bodies took on the appearance of something inhuman. It was all so very surreal, to the point where Yusei had to wonder if he was sleeping somewhere, those same, sorrowful dreams coming back to haunt him.

And yet, just a few feet away from them, were pale men surveyed the hallways, with bored expressions on their face. All had red roses on their throats, their dark uniforms contrasting sharply to the collar they seemed to cherish. They just stood there, beneath the cameras, as they played with the barrel of their guns. All the while, the hostages remained in the food courts, emptily staring down at the floors, trying to keep quiet as to not draw any attention toward themselves.

They all still had their cellphones.

He blinked. That was probably the reason why Akiza was able to contact everyone. It was also how Sector Security probably managed to find them so easily. Well, whoever they were, they must've been confident in what they were planning. It didn't seem the men took their jobs seriously either; though they were heavily armed, their dull faces told Yusei they were practically harmless. As long as the hostages did as they were told, the men wouldn't do anything else to them. They were lazy, slow, sloppy, almost. Still, he remembered the bodies lying near, and he tensed; more than likely they were following orders.

But where was she?

Where's Akiza?

His eyes scanned the monitors, trying to catch a glimpse of the duelist. After a few seconds of pointless wandering, his eyes finally settled on one, lone screen, toward the middle of the screen. He then leaned over. "Zoom in."

Trudge turned back to him. "Wha-?"

"Camera 6."

Trudge paused for a moment, then did so.

Yusei pressed the phone to his ear. "Aki?"

Meanwhile, Jack nudged Yusei out of the way, the utter shock upon his face. Crow had the very same stillness; Luna turned away, and Leo was trembling, trying to make sense of what he was seeing.

Corpses.

Bullet shells.

Everything there, laid out for the world to see.

Yet when Yusei looked down, he could only focus on her face, Akiza's face, who was staring up at him, right then and there. She had one hand pressed to phone, the other to her side, as she watched her surroundings. "Where are you?" she asked.

Once again, his eyes flickered toward the security cameras. There were too many men on the outer skirts of the mall, about seven with the hostages. But for some reason, there were only two men with Akiza.

He narrowed his eyes; they should know who Akiza was. The famed Fortune Cup participant, as well as the senator's daughter; were they doing this for attention then? To try and shock the city with whatever torture they wanted to put her through?

He turned back to her. No duel disk, no deck, and only a hairpin to keep her powers stable. For some reason, her mark wasn't glowing, and frankly, neither were theirs.

What's going on?

"With Trudge," he answered finally. Immediately, the others looked up at him with hopeful, worried lights in their eyes. He returned their inquisitive stares reassuringly, before coming back to Akiza.

It looked like she was talking with someone. An emotionless scowl decorated her face, but even from a distance, he knew she was calm. She kept up her composure, then, to his surprise, she handed the phone to someone else in front of her. He brushed aside his friends' hushed tones, demanding why Akiza would do something like that, who it was she handed it to. He could feel their eyes boring his back, as he kept watching her dark orbs examining the mall, trying to find someway, any way, out of the ordeal. He gripped his phone tightly.

"Hello?" an unscrupulous voice said. "Am I speaking with Mr. Yusei Fudo?"

"You are."

"Fortune Cup, right?"

"Right."

"I see now!" the man squealed happily. "So you're an acquaintance of the girlie here? My, what a turn-around. You know, I was just admiring the way she dueled during the Fortune Cup, and how disappointing her loss was. Of course, I always knew she was a strong duelist, so if you could, perhaps you both could duel again-"

"Let her go," he growled.

The other line fell silent for a while. Before long, the man began chuckling, his snickers rebounding throughout the static air. "Now, now, settle down. My, you're just so impatient! Ever heard of the word? Patience? Opposite of inpatient, really-"

He clenched his fists. "I'm not in the mood."

"Then of course, what would I expect from Fallen? You're all so very immature; it's starting to get so very annoying."

"If you even touch her-"

"The Black Rose."

Yusei stopped. "Excuse me?"

"I'm sure your organization is already aware of the coven," the strange man murmured. All the while, Yusei stared down at Akiza, whose eyes finally settled on one, single door, offscreen. Yusei began searching the cameras once again, trying to find the very same door. Finally, he settled on one particular monitor. Automatically, he nudged Trudge away, as he came toward the laptop, clicking on yet another one aimlessly, the silence now coming around him with ease. "Look," Yusei hissed, "I don't know what the hell you're talking about, but-"

"Don't play dumb," the man interrupted, the playfulness now gone from his tone. "I already saw the mark on the girlie's arms. You're with Fallen, aren't you?"

He clenched his fists. "What mark?"

"The mark on your arms, of course! Girlie has a claw, and how about you? How about the others? Ah, now that Goodwin's out of the way, nothing left to protect you from us, is that right?"

He fell silent.

"Got you, didn't I?" he gloated. "So listen, I only want to confirm something with you. Apparently, our leader is getting a lot of protection from you, isn't he? Why don't you go ahead and point him out to me, and we'll be on our merry way? Won't bother you again; you've my word."

"Yeah right."

"Smart!"

"Who are you?" he demanded, as he stared at the cameras, the bodies, once again, coming up on the monitors.

"Jean Beaumont," the man answered easily. "A loyal knight to the Black Rose Coven."

There was no way Yusei would get anything else from this man, aside from his own confusion. From the way he acted, it seemed he had some kind of grudge against Goodwin, something that had to do with the Signers. That was the only thing he knew really; Fallen, the Black Rose Coven…he didn't have a clue.

And yet, when he looked down at the screen once again, his own indecisiveness disappeared.

"I'm sure you are a reasonable man, Mr. Fudo," Jean continued. "You're sensible enough to know a threat when you see one, right?"

"Let me talk with Akiza."

Silence erupted over the phone. Before long, Jean huffed, and agreed, as he turned the phone over to the witch. "Hello?"

"Yusei," Akiza whispered, "is he arrogant?"

Arrogant…

Yusei didn't know what Fallen was. He didn't know anything involving the whatever coven, nor did he understand anything of what else Goodwin was hiding. And yet, from the moment these…creatures attacked, they thought Yusei, along with everyone else, knew what was going on. Jean Beaumont, most of all, believed he managed to destroy some enemy he thought was here, residing in normalcy. The man revealed so much over one, simple little conversation; maybe it was just out of sense of desperation, since he knew he wasn't getting anywhere with the hostages.

And judging from the bodies just lying around the mall, it would seem that, to Yusei, Jean had absolutely no idea what he was doing. With an attack like this, the goal was to leave as many people as you can alive; even one, single casualty would more than likely increase the likelihood that Security would just come storming in. How much of this footage was being leaked, however, was a mystery, though it'd seem Jean anticipated that Trudge would hack the system.

That's probably why he had Akiza stand in front of the cameras, to try and get their cooperation. It wasn't because he as trying to make her a public example; rather, it was to try and draw their attention. Perhaps the only reason why Jean allowed the hostages to keep their phones to begin with, to pressure Yusei and the others into doing something drastic. To bet on the Signers to give into primal instincts and storm in, taking everything by force on one hand, while juggling the safety of the hostages on the other.

Idiots.

"Yes," Yusei answered.

"And you can see me, can't you?"

Again, his eyes flickered toward the doors. From the corner of his eyes, he caught Trudge standing right behind him. With one finger, Yusei pointed out the doorway, and automatically, the officer nodded, his shoulders tensing at whatever assumption he was carrying. Yusei then turned back to the monitors, trying to make out Jean Beaumont, but failing in the process. Still, as Yusei flicked over the monitors bit by bit, it was clear that there weren't a lot of men from where Akiza was; three at most, including Jean.

Yusei's attention returned to the hostages, as one by one, more of the men started relaxing, their serious frowns melting away. Some were just talking with each other, while others began scaring the hostages, threatening to kill them in the most gruesome way possible, only to try and get a reaction from them. If they were as arrogant as their leader, and if something bad happens, the men would more than likely rush to Jean's side, rather than just kill the hostages.

Yusei nodded. "I can. Wait for a bit more, alright?"

It was then she looked up at the camera, a feral, confident light in her eyes. "No," was all she said, before shutting the phone.

He stared at the monitor, time passing from him easily. Finally, he sighed. Yusei turned back, and found Trudge standing there, arms folded, as he waited for Yusei.

"East side?" Trudge asked.

Yusei nodded. "Get all your officers there now."

"What're you gonna do?"

"Something stupid."