Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho, Yu-Gi-Oh, Yu-Gi-Oh GX, Inuyasha, Monster Rancher, Digimon, Naruto, Ranma ½, Beyblade, and Death Note.

Author's Note: I'd like to thank Gallantmon of the Hazard for helping me with the rest of this chapter and the relations that Michael, Allie, and Tyler have for Dartz's former subordinates Raphael, Alister, and Valon goes to Michael of Archangel.

Chapter 88: The Return of L

At Dartz's hideout, in the night, we find in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber/Gravity Room, where Izayoi is battling against her children, Taigoku, Sestuna, and Kasa and even through they fight quite well, Izayoi uses a powerful series of punches and kicks that's topped off by a powerful shockwave that sends Taigoku, Sestuna, and Kasa screaming and sky-rocking through the air just before landing twenty-five feet away from Izayoi on their backs hard causing them to de-transform back into Inuyasha, Melody, and Holly immediately and leaving them temporary stunned. While this was going on, Tai, Agumon, Naruto, Light, Allie, Tyler, and Michael were watching from the side. In life, Izayoi could hold her own up to S-class demons, but thanks to the power of the Orichalcos, her strength and power has increased 20 fold making her a match with her children, even in their Ancient Egypt forms.

Tyler yells out, worriedly, "Inuyasha, Melody, Holly, are you two okay?!"

Naruto calls out to Izayoi, a dark cold annoyed tone, "Hey, what's that a bit harsh?!"

Izayoi tells Naruto, with a dark cold plain tone, "I know that you are concerned for your new friends, Naruto, but if they wish to gain the power that they need to beat Sartorius as well as teach that bitch, Kagome's, damned Ma-zoku cousin. They are going to have to learn to deal with opponents with great power and endue a lot of blows. The battles that you faced right now are going to be nothing compared to what you will face."

Allie yells out, drolly, "Great! Just what we wanted to hear!"

Izayoi calls out to Inuyasha, Melody, and Holly who are struggling to get to their feet, "Let us continue with your training, you three!" Izayoi turns her back from them to get some stuff that she had left some distance away from the 'sparring field', but then she notices three blue and eerie green glows coming from behind her.

Inuyasha calls out, in a dark cold serious tone, "No, let's keep going!" When Izayoi looks towards them, she gasps to see powerful blue and green auras surrounding her children.

Light asks, curiously, "What's that glow surrounding them!?"

Michael says, also surprised by this turn of events, "It's spiritual power also known as Reiki. The energy of the human spirit and body. It usually remains dormant, but once unleashed, it can be used as a weapon or a tool for healing. Yusuke Urameshi as well as his sisters, Kazuma Kuwabara, including Daisuke Motomiya, Takeru Takashi and their group is users of Reiki in the form of energy blasts or energy weapons, like Kuwabara's Spirit Sword. But I didn't know that Inuyasha and his sisters held this power."

Light asks Michael, "How did you know?"

Michael says, with a sigh, "Let's just say that I've got my information to a good source of mine."

Allie says, shocked, "Are you saying that…THAT is giving you information!?"

Melody asks, curiously, "That?"

Just then, a familiar male voice calls out, "That story will be told another time." Everyone turns to see Dartz walking into the room.

"Master!" Everyone says, bowing to him.

Dartz says, in a serious tone, "I need all of you to take care of three former subordinates of mine. As former children of the Orichalcos, their strong souls shall be needed to revive the Great Leviathan."

The figures bow in unison and they say in unison, "Yes, Master Dartz!"

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

In the hallways, we find Duel Academy students leaving for lunch with complaints about the food, with a depressed Syrus Truesdale sitting on one of the stairs. Some of our heroes and heroines have gotten their promotions with Ray, Genki, Izumi, Tiara, Karin, Ganryu, and Hilary promoting to Obelisk Blue. Just then, Bastion Misawa, Genki Ayaka, wearing a male Obelisk Blue uniform, and Yusuke Urameshi, Kagome Higurashi, Keiko Yukimura, and Kira Urameshi came by them and Bastion asks, "Interesting on having some lunch! They're having your favorite liver and onions!"

Syrus says, solemnly, "I think I'll pass."

Bastion, Genki, and Yusuke went to Syrus's side and Syrus says, solemnly, "First, Jaden's here and the next minute he's gone." Syrus looks up to see Jaden's face with a sly smile on his lips and he says, excitedly, "There he is!"

Genki says, plainly, "Not exactly." As Yusuke has stated, we find that Jaden's face was placed on the back part of the jacket of Tyranno Hassleberry.

Hassleberry says, with a sly smile, "Check it out, soldiers, now Jaden really has my back!" Hassleberry turns to his friends, while snickering and he says, with a sly grin, "Wherever, I go, he goes! Afterall, he's my best friend!"

Yusuke slaps his head and he says, annoyed, "Oh boy!"

Syrus yells at Hassleberry, annoyed, "Jaden's got one best friend and that's me! Plus, I don't need a drawing to prove it!"

Keiko says, drolly, "Oh boy! Here we go, again."

Kira says, plainly, "You said it, Kei."

Hassleberry yells at Syrus, annoyed, "Don't go dissing my jacket! You're just jealous that we're a two man army!" Hassleberry then tells Syrus, with a sly grin, "You've been demoted! If you want, you can carry our supplies, little man!"

Syrus yells out, seriously, "Listen, you lug nugget, you're just a third wheel!"

Hassleberry yells out, "Then, I'll roll right over you!" Syrus and Hassleberry suddenly punched each other in the face at the same. Hassleberry then punched Syrus in the abdomen, while Syrus bit Hassleberry's arm. Hassleberry yelled and slammed his fist on top of Syrus's head. While Syrus held his head, Hassleberry punched him again.

Kagome yells out, seriously, "Hey, you two, break it up!"

Keiko says, in a serious tone, "Yeah, seriously, you guys!"

Syrus stood up and punched Hassleberry in the side. Hassleberry then grabbed Syrus and slammed him into the wall. As Syrus struggled to stand up, Hassleberry kicked Syrus's bad leg. Syrus screamed in pain and fell to the ground and held his leg.

Hassleberry yells out, excitedly, "Ha! I win!" Syrus glared at Hassleberry and then stood up and pulled Hassleberry's hair. Hassleberry yelped and then elbowed Syrus's face, forcing him to let go of Hassleberry's hair and back against the wall.

They were about to punch each other again when Alexis, Jun, and Hikari showed up and grabbed them both to keep them away from each other, with Yusuke, Kira, and Genki helping.

Alexis asks, in an annoyed tone, "Now, what the hell's going on here?"

Hikari replies, drolly, "If I had to guess, 'Lex, Sy and Hassleberry were fighting over Jaden, again."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

In Chazz's redesigned room, we find Alexis and Keiko fixing Syrus's wounds, while Sayu and Mia were fixing Hassleberry's wounds, with Yusuke, Ryoko, Sasuke, Tyson, Kai, Max, Ray, Daichi, Hilary, wearing a female Obelisk Blue uniform, Tiara, wearing a female Obelisk Blue uniform, Hikari, and Kira were in the room.

Syrus yells out, "Ouch!"

Alexis tells Syrus, "Hold still!"

Ryoko says, in a serious tone, "You know, Truesdale, you're one piece of work!"

Syrus yells out, as Alexis places some medicine on his cheek, "Ouch! Cut me some slack! I'm the victim here!"

Hassleberry calls out, "Yeah, a victim of poor combat training! Scratching and hair pulling are illegal maneuvers! That's why I'm deserve to be Jaden's best friend!"

Syrus yells out, seriously, "This war is still!"

Keiko yells out, annoyed, "Break it up, you two!"

Bastion says, "Yeah, why don't you all be friends?"

Syrus and Hassleberry yell out, in unison and seriously, "I'm not sharing my rank!"

Hikari says, annoyed, "This is not getting us nowhere."

Just then, Atticus's voice calls out, "We've know how you feel, boys and we're here to help!" Everyone looks up to see Atticus Rhodes lying on a log, with Pharaoh with him.

Alexis says, perplexed, "Atticus?"

Atticus jumped down to his friends and sisters and he says, with a sly smile, while Pharaoh was jumping to the ground, "I've been sleeping there all day, sis! I couldn't help but hearing about a little power struggle and we're here to keep the band together! I mean, we you can't let your fans down."

Kira asks, perplexed, "Fans?"

Bastion says, plainly, "I'm sorry did I miss something here?"

Alexis says, annoyed, "Everything's a music reference with him, remember!"

Atticus says, with a sly grin and a serious tone, "You guys want to be front men, but the problem is you're singing back up!" Atticus points at Alexis and he says, with a sly grin, "Like her, she's dreams of stardom, but takes a backseat to her big bro!"

Alexis's eyebrows twitched and walked towards her brother with Yusuke says, lowly, "Uh oh!"

Alexis picks up Pharaoh from the ground, grips his tail, and clawing Atticus's face. Atticus yells out, in pain, "Ouch! My face! My beautiful unblemished face!"

Alexis says, in a serious and annoyed tone, "There's plenty of that where that came from!"

Syrus says, nervously, "Whoa, watch the temper, 'Lex!"

Hassleberry says, unnerved, "Yeah, violence isn't the answer!"

Alexis yells out, annoyed, "Like you two are the ones to talk!"

Keiko gets out two duel discs and she says, seriously, while throwing one each to Syrus and Hassleberry for them to catch it, "Look, if you two really want to settle this 'best friend issue', then shut up and duel!"

Alexis states, seriously, "No joke, we're sick of hearing about it!"

Hassleberry tells Syrus, "They're right! Suit up, soldier! Prepare for an assault!"

Syrus tells Hassleberry, seriously, "You're on, Sarge! I'll take your tough talk and wrap it in a box and mail it right back at you!"

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

The next morning, in front of the Slifer Red dorm, we find Hassleberry with a duel disc on with Yusuke, Kagome, Hikari, Alister, Keiko, Kira, Ryoko, Tiara, Karin, wearing a female Obelisk Blue uniform, with Ray, wearing a male Obelisk Blue uniform, our four younger Digidestined, Alexis, Atticus, and Bastion on the sidelines.

Alexis says, worriedly, "Syrus should have been here by now. I'm worried, guys."

Keiko says, seriously, "I know what you mean, 'Lex."

Hassleberry calls out, "Hey, half pint, we said thirteen hundred hours on the dot!" Hassleberry says, with a sly grin, "Oh I see! Little man must have come to his scenes!"

Tiara yells out, with a deadly glare, "What was that!?"

Hikari tells Tiara, "I don't think he was talking about you, Tiara!"

Tiara says, seriously, "So, Syrus is taller than me and when someone calls him short than they're calling me short!"

Yusuke says, lowly, "Touchy…"

Just then, Syrus's voice calls out, "Guess again, Hassleberry!" Everyone turns to see Syrus Truesdale running towards them from the forest with a duel disc attached to his left wrist.

Hassleberry says, with a sly grin, "Well, I'll be a dung beetle! I was sure that you'd surrendered, private! Since, this battle's still on…let's review the conditions! If I rein victorious, then I get awarded the title of second-in-command of Sergeant Jaden Yuki."

Syrus yells out, seriously, "And if I win, then I'll accept that Jaden's my best friend and you'll become my second-in-command!"

Hassleberry gasps in shock and he yells out, annoyed, "Come again! No one authorized that condition, private!"

Atticus's voice calls out, "Condition granted!" Everyone turns to see Atticus holding up white flags and Hassleberry yells out, perplexed, "Hold up! Who made you two judge!?"

Syrus says, with a sly smile, "They preferred to be celebrity judge and besides, Hassleberry, you're not backing out are you!"

Hassleberry tells Syrus, seriously, "Fat chance! A Hassleberry never retreats!"

Syrus says, "In that case, let the battle commerce!" Syrus and Hassleberry activate their duel discs and drew five cards from their decks.

Starting Score:

Hassleberry: 8000

Syrus: 8000

The duel between Syrus and Hassleberry rages on with Hassleberry gaining the upper hand in the duel, but Syrus quickly turns it around in his favor. Then, Syrus reveals his last facedown card which was De-Fusion to split both Ambulance Rescueroid back to Ambulanceroid (ATK: 300/DEF: 1200) and Rescueroid (ATK: 1600/DEF: 1800), which counted as two special summons for machine monsters, so Hassleberry loses 600 life-points. Hassleberry attacks Decoyroid with his Ultimate Tyranno, it ended up being brought out by Rescueroid and brought back to the field, which cost Hassleberry 300 more life points!

Hassleberry yells out, shocked and horrified, "I'm done for!"

Syrus calls out, with a sly smile, "There's no way you can win, Hassleberry! So, keep bring it!"

Alexis says, plainly, "I don't know how, but I think Syrus just won!"

Ryoko says, amazed, "That's a surprise!"

Bastion says, in a logical tone, "He knew how Hassleberry would duel, so he used the ultimate trap!"

Atticus says, "Well, the votes are in folks, the show's over!"

Bastion calls out, annoyed, "What?! How's voting!?"

Yusuke says, seriously, "Hey, guys look at Sy!" Everyone looks at Syrus, who was wobbling in place.

Bastion yells out, horrified, "Syrus!"

Alexis says, with concern, "You don't look so well, Sy!"

Syrus says, weakly, "I'm fine…just haven't been getting much sleep these days!"

Karin says, in a serious tone, "He must be looking for Jaden all night!"

Hassleberry says, overhearing the conversion, "What!? A search and rescue! But, he might have left the island!"

Syrus yells out, "No! He must be on the island! Dueling is Jaden's life!"

Tyson says, in a serious tone, "That's true! So, Jaden, along with Davis, must be still on the island! Otherwise, why would he leave Duel Academy!?"

Bastion says, in a serious and logical tone, "Both Tyson and Syrus are right!"

Alexis says, with a nervous smile, "They're probably lost!"

Hassleberry looks at his face-down card and wonders if he should activated, but decided to allow Syrus to win as his life points went to zero, by Syrus's Cyber Summon Blaster. Syrus then fell on the ground as his friends, except for Hassleberry and Atticus, ran to his aid.

Keiko yells out, fearfully, "Syrus!" She placed Syrus into her arms and Bastion says, plainly, "Don't worry he just collapsed!"

Hassleberry takes out his card from his spell/trap slot, looks at it to be a trap card called Jurassic Impact and he says, "Jurassic Impact, with this trap this could change the whole outcome!"

Atticus points his flag at Hassleberry and Atticus says, with a sly smile, "Minus five for not having faith that Jaden's still out there!"

Hassleberry says, in an annoyed tone, "This acting behavior is really starting to annoy me!" Hassleberry says, with a smile, "But if there's anyone that deserves to be Jaden's best friend is Syrus."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Deep within Domino City, we find three guys dressed up like motorcycle gangsters with full face helmets on their heads on motorbikes heading towards the harbor and they immediately stop when they see a group of shadowy figures in front of them. The three males get off their bikes and take off their helmets revealing to be none other than Raphael, Valon, and Alister, Dartz's three former top lieutenants, in front of the figures.

Valon says, in his Australian accent, "Okay, mates! Who are you? And what do you want? I don't think that you are here to say hello."

One of the figure says with a male figure, "Well, Raphael, Valon, and Alister. The former right hand members of Paradius, I believe."

Alister says, with a serious tone, "How do you know that?"

Another figure says, with a female voice and dark cold sly tone, "Oh, we know about you inside and out, bro."

Alister says, shocked, "Bro?" Alister then yelps in shock and he says, stunned, "It can't be…Allie!"

Out of the shadows the group revealed themselves as Michael, Allie, Tyler, Tai, Light, Naruto, Izayoi, Inuyasha, in his human form, Melody, in her human form, and Holly, in her human form.

Raphael says, shocked, "Michael?"

Valon says, stunned, "Tyler!"

Inuyasha asks, curiously, "Friends of yours?"

Allie tells Inuyasha, with an evil sly smile, "We'll explain later…"

Tai says, in a dark cold plain tone, "We're here on our mission to make sure that you don't go helping out Yugi Moto's cousins and their friends under the orders of Master Dartz."

The three former Paradius agents gasp in shock and Raphael asks, stunned, "Dartz is revived?"

Naruto says, with an evil sly tone, "That's right and so is the Great Leviathan…well soon."

Valon yells out, stunned, "That's impossible! The Pharaoh blew that overgrown lizard sky-high with his God Monsters and the power of Light! And Dartz has been sent back to where he came from!"

Holly says, with an evil giggle, "You should out of all people that the Orichalcos is the mightiest force in the universe and returning Master Dartz to the land of the living is just one of his duties. And now, we are under his orders to take your souls."

Just then mark of the Orichalcos appears on each of the Orichalcos soldiers' foreheads and Melody says, with an evil sly tone, "Since you are former members of our group, your strong souls will be needed for the Leviathan!"

Alister says, with a snarl, "No way! We're not going to give up our souls to thing this time and we're never coming back to help that madman!"

Light says, with a dark cold plain tone, "That's too bad! You don't have a choice!"

Raphael calls out to Michael, seriously, "Michael, you have to listen to me! Dartz is only using you! Whatever, he's giving you, you better throw it anyway if you know what's good for you!"

Michael says, in a dark cold nasty tone, "Shut up, traitor! I don't have to listen you!"

Valon whispers to Alister and Raphael, "Hey, you, two. Get the heck out of here when I start pounding the heck out of these guys and gals."

Alister says, with a whisper, "Are you nuts, Valon? They have that evil Orichalcos on their side. You know as well as we do."

Valon says, with a nod, "No joke, but I won't go out without a fight. You need to get to Duel Academy and find the Pharaoh and his friends. We need to make this delivery."

Izayoi says, with an evil sly tone, "Going to make a run for it while little Valon is going to be a distraction? Not going to happen!"

Light quickly gets out his 'Orichalcos Note' notebook and he says, evilly, "When I write you names on this book, your souls will be plucked for the taking!"

Valon yells out, strongly, "That's what you think!" Just then Valon throws a bunch of rocks at Light's hand, making him yelp in pain as he drops his 'Orichalcos Note' to the ground and Valon throws a dozens of small round spheres that explode and creating a good sized cloud of tear gas forcing the figures, coughing, to leap back from the tear gas cloud. A shortly thereafter, the three men on their motorcycles race out with Alister and Raphael racing away while Valon uses motorcycle tricks and techniques to 'attack' the Orichalcos warriors, but just then several kunai knifes strikes the front, instantly flatting it, and sending Valon flying into the air while his motorcycle crashing into a nearby wall exploding into flames. However, Valon, with excellent aerobatics, manages to land on his feet perfectly, but he finds himself surrounded by the Orichalcos warriors. Valon throws off his helmets, gets into a defensive stance, and says, readying to fight it out, "Okay, you, blokes, I'm ready for you."

Naruto's voice calls out, with a dark cold sinister tone, "Oh, really?" Just then Valon is bashed right in the face by one of the male figures and he is knocked to the ground stunned. As his world blurs around him, Valon finds himself fading in and out of consciousness as the Orichalcos warriors surrounding him. He catches a ninja headband with the symbol of the Hidden Leaf Village engraved in the center with scrap down the middle of the symbol on the metal plate before blacking out.

Light grabs his 'Orichalcos Note' and he says, in a dark cold annoyed tone, "Okay, now, I'm pissed off!" Light then writes Valon's name in his notebook and Valon screams out in shock as his soul was taken away from him.

Tai asks, "What about those others!?"

Light says, in a dark cold serious tone, "I didn't pick up their faces, so I can't write down their names to take their souls away for the Great Beast, but we'll get them."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

In Spirit World, we find Koenma, in toddler form, in his office, with two figures in front of him.

One was a young man with messy black hair and black eyes, with wrinkled white shirt and blue jeans. The young man's knees were slightly bent and the aura of this person was messy, yet serious, with a golden halo above his head.

The other figure was a large monstrous creature that looked like one of those evil monsters in children's story books with golden and red eyes, with a grin that showed his sharp teeth.

Koenma says, in a serious tone, "I'm glad that the two of you can make it."

The young man asks, in a monotone voice, "Lord Koenma, why did you call for us?"

The monster asks, in a ghoulish tone, "Yeah, I was enjoying my nap in the Shinigami World."

Koenma says, in a plain tone, "I came to tell you that the soul of Light Yagami was taken from the Shinigami World to the human world."

The two gasps in shock and the young man says, in a rare shocked tone, "Light Yagami escaped!"

The monster says, in a stunned tone, "That's impossible! I wrote Light's name in my Death Note! I'm sure!"

Koenma tells the monster, "Well, Ryuk, I can sure that Light has been revived and it can't be good for the people in the earth."

The young man says, with a nod, "That's right, Lord Koenma. I had my suspicions on that Light Yagami is 'Kira' and I was right."

Koenma says, seriously, "Well, L, I regret to tell you that Light Yagami has other notebook, even worse than the Death Note itself! It's called the 'Orichalcos Note'."

Ryuk says, perplexed, "Huh!? 'Orichalcos Note'! Never heard of it!" Soon after, Koenma tells L and Ryuk about the Orichalcos and its recent actions and L says, seriously, "So, this Dartz or the evil within Dartz now given physical form was the one responsible for Light Yagami's resurrection."

Koenma nods his head and he says, "That's right, L."

Ryuk says, amazed, "And to think that the legend of the three half-dog demons of Ancient Egypt may come true and they're under Dartz's control, huh?"

Koenma says, in a serious tone, "I'm going to allow the two of you to go to the human world so we can defeat the Orichalcos and Sartorius, before all is lost!"

Ryuk and L say, nodding their heads and in unison, "Thank you, Lord Koemna."

Koemna says, with a serious tone, "Plus, you need to protect the 'Chosen Duelists' not under the control of Sartorius or the Orichalcos."

Ryuk says, with a serious tone, "The Yukimura girl that has become the To-zoku especially."

Koemna asks, stunned, "You know about her?"

Ryuk says, with a sly smile, "You know that we of the Shinigami world know much about the Mortal, Spirit, and Demon Worlds. The Yukimura will be vital to the battle with Sartorius."

L asks, curiously, "How do you know this?"

Ryuk says, with a serious tone, "I've observed her a bit and I sense a great power within her. A power that's so ancient and strong that it could change the 'fate' of the universe. She must never fall into the hands of this Sartorius character. I sense the evil power within him and it is very ancient and evil itself."

L says, with a plain tone, "If that's the case, we should leave right away."

Ryuk says, with a plain tone, "However, there is something else. If she falls under the sway of darkness within her own spirit and follows the path of destruction, we will not have to worry about Sartorius. She will destroy him and she will drown the world in eternal darkness. The Orichalcos gets her soul and the world will be destroyed."

L states, with a plain tone, "Sounds like this Keiko Yukimura is the center of this whole war with multiple evils to come."

Koemna says, with a plain tone, "I thought this too before Ryuk told me this information, but this makes it more serious."

L says, seriously, "We will get to the Human World and get on this mission right away."

Koemna says, with a nod, "Good. I hope that we can guide our allies to victory and get back those these two evil forces are using to their own benefit. My associates especially Botan will help you in this endeavor." The two nod their heads and they head out of Koemna's office. When they leave Koemna's office, Koemna thinks in his mind, with a sigh, "I thought that this was serious, but I never knew how serious it was. I didn't think Keiko held such importance over the other 'Chosen Duelists'. Not only she is the 'key' to saving Yusuke from Sartorius, but she might be the key to stopping him once and for all. However, she could also be the 'key' to the destruction or conquest of the world even the universe. I know that Jaden is Keiko's long lost brother, but how do the other 'Chosen Duelists' and 'Chosen Hanyou' fit into this? Something tells me that they will play just as important role. I really hope that they can do this or all will be lost."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

A day later, somewhere on Academy Island, we find Jaden Yuki and Daisuke 'Davis' Motomiya walking down a pathway with their uniforms and faces are slightly to around somewhat dirty.

Davis asks, wearily, "Jay, are you sure that we're going the right way?"

Jaden replies, nervously, "You got me. I thought I had smelled food sometime ago."

Davis says, annoyed, "Man! And Jun told me that I had a bottomless pit for a stomach."

Jaden says, with a sly smile, "Well, TK did tell me about his time with you and the others."

Davis thinks in his mind, annoyed, "Thanks a lot, TK!"

Jaden says, with a low tone, "What's wrong than being lost? Being hungry and lost!"

Davis says, with a droll tone, "No kidding!"

Just then Jaden spots something in a hole and he exclaims, "Oh, right! Food!"

Davis asks, stunned, "Where?" Jaden runs off to the hole and when they get there, they see that it is magazines causing Davis to say with an annoyed tone, "Jay! These are magazines! We can't eat those!"

Jaden says, with a solemn tone, "I know." Just then Jaden looks down at the magazines and he says, amazed, "These have pictures of Zane on them." Davis gains a curious look and he picks one up too.

When Jaden and Davis open them up to read them, Davis says, plainly, "These are old. Back before he was defeated by Aster Phoenix."

Jaden asks, curiously, "He kind of disappeared after he lost. Where is he now?"

Davis tells Jaden, putting down the magazine, "Well, all I know is that we are lost right now. If we want to get food, we need to get going, Jay!"

Jaden says, with a nod while putting down the magazine, "Right! Let's go!" Soon enough, Jaden and Davis head off to find their way back to Duel Academy.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Inside of an empty Slifer Red dorm cafeteria, we find a depressed Syrus Truesdale looking at the latest magazine and he gives a solemn sigh when he looks at the article concerning his brother, Zane Truesdale.

Syrus says, lowly, "Zane, what happened to you big bro? You used to be the best, but now, you are the butt of everyone's jokes. You lost ten duels in a row and got bumped down to the amateurs." Watching him from a distance, there is Kari Kamiya, Takeru 'TK' Takashi, Bastion Misawa, Tyranno Hassleberry, Keiko Yukimura, Hikari Urameshi, Kira Urameshi, Kagome Higurashi, Yusuke Urameshi, and Sayu Yagami.

Kari says, solemnly, "Poor Syrus."

TK says, with a nod, "First, Jaden and Davis go missing. And now, Zane is in this losing streak."

Sayu tries her best to hide her solemn expression about Davis and Keiko thinks in her mind, solemnly, "I hope that they are okay."

Hikari says, with an angered snarl, "It is all that Aster Phoenix's fault! Zane lost his game because of him! If he was here right, I would flatten him."

Hassleberry says, with a plain tone, "Easy, Private!"

Kira says, with a nod, "I know that you are angry about Zane and that's understandable and all, but you can't keep blaming him."

Hikari says, with a snort, "Watch me!"

Yusuke says, with a plain tone, "Don't even bother, Kira. You know how it is with Kari and anything that concerns Zane."

Hassleberry says, looking at Syrus, "Poor Soldier. He needs some R and R."

Bastion says, with a nod, "If I had lost a best friend and if I had brother that hit rock bottom like this, I would feel the same way."

TK tells Kari, "Maybe you, Sayu, or Keiko should talk to him. I mean, you understand how he feels in a way with 'brother problems'. Sorry if I sound rude."

Kari tells TK, with a kind smile, "I know that you didn't mean anything by it, TK."

Sayu says, with a solemn smile, "We know what you meant TK. Maybe we should try to cheer up Syrus's spirits." Just then the white-clad Chazz Princeton appears and Alexis Rhodes, hidden at the table nearest the door, comes into the open.

Chazz says, with a cold snobbish tone, "And if Zane were my brother, I would change my last name." Chazz says, with a cold sly smile, "Hey, Syrus, there is someone even lamer than you!" Hikari then started to gain an enraged look while plenty of the others see.

TK thinks in his mind, worriedly, "Way to go, Chazz! You had to open your big mouth!"

Chazz says, with a cold grin, "But there is hope for you! All he needs to do is join the Society of Light."

Just then Hikari grabs him around the neck and she yells out, angrily, "And you need to learn to watch your mouth when talking to other people especially Zane!" Soon after, Hikari starts to give Chazz a painful headache when she starts to hit him in the head. On the meanwhile, Yusuke and Kira quickly move to get Hikari off of Chazz.

Kira tells Hikari, worriedly, "Come on, sis! Stop!"

Yusuke says, with a plain tone, "Chazz is a jerk and he deserves getting some 'payback' for that, but even he doesn't deserve your wrath!" Soon enough, Yusuke and Kira manage to pry Kira off of Chazz while Alexis comes up to Chazz.

Chazz then asks, with a cold smile, "You will join Alexis, won't you?" Alexis puts her right hand towards Chazz's forehead and flicks his forehead sending him flying across the ground before he skids to a stop.

Kagome tells Yusuke, cold annoyed tone, "Ugh! Sometimes I keep wondering if making Chazz look like an idiot was a bad idea! I know I shouldn't question Master Sartorius's choices, but this is just sad!"

Yusuke replies, with a cold sly tone, "I don't know. Personally, I like Chazz getting put down on his butt by Alexis for once and not me!" Yusuke tells Kagome, with a cold serious tone, "Look! I know that you don't like it, but we need to keep the others attention away from us for one and keep their suspicions of all of us to a minimum. Chazz might not like this as much as we do! Master Sartorius will tell us the time is right and when he does, this act will be over and we can reveal who we truly are now to everyone!"

On the meanwhile, Syrus says, while looking over the magazine article, "Chazz's right. I don't want to believe it, but he has got a point." Just then Alexis takes the magazine away from Syrus and he yells out, "Alexis! That's mine!"

Alexis crumbles the magazine up as much as she could and she says, plainly, "And it's trash. Syrus, this is sensation garbage! You can't believe this stuff! Zane's going to win tonight! I know it!"

The others, minus Chazz, enter the room and Keiko says, with a nod, "Alexis is right, Syrus!"

Bastion says, with a nod, "She has a point, Sy. Have you seen his opponent? He is a joke."

Hassleberry says, with a nod, "That's right. If he loses to this guy…"

Syrus asks, curiously, "Then what?"

Hassleberry says, solemnly, "Then his career is over." Hikari gives him a deadly glare and Hassleberry says, with a nervous smile and tone, "But that doesn't mean he will lose to this joker!"

TK says, with a wide grin, "Nice save, Hassleberry."

Kira says, with a wide smile, "No kidding, TK."

Kagome says, with a smile, "Yeah! Zane will win!"

Keiko and Sayu think in their minds at the same time, worriedly, "But with the way that Zane's playing, I'm not sure!"

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

And unfortunately, Keiko's and Sayu's predictions came true, Zane lost badly to his opponent and he left the arena in disgrace. Right now, that evening, we find him washing up in the shower stalls as he remembers his sponsor abandoning him.

Zane thinks in his mind, solemnly, "What's wrong with me? Why am I afraid to duel? Was it something in Aster's words that got to me? Why did I lose my edge?" After Zane is done with his shower, he wraps a towel around himself and looks towards the ceiling to wonder.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Later into the evening, we find Zane, in a dark blue business suit and pants with black business shoes, walking down the hallway with a suitcase.

Just then a male voice calls out, "Quite a duel, Mister Truesdale." Zane looks to see a shady man with a black top hat, glasses over his brown eyes, and wearing a black overcoat over his form in the shadows. The man says, with a sly smile, "Some say that it might have been your last."

Zane asks, with a serious tone, "Says who?"

The man replies, with a plain tone, "Various members of the press. But then again, who watches television and reads papers these days?"

Zane asks, with a slightly annoyed tone, "Look, pal. Buzz off!"

The man states, with a sly tone, "I'm sorry. Let's start over shall we?" He walks out of the shadows to reveal himself to Zane and he says, with a sly smile while displaying a business card with the words 'Mr. Shroud' on it, "The name is Mister Shroud. And I think that I can help you."

Zane takes the card and he asks, suspiciously, "Really? How's that?"

Mr. Shroud replies, with a sly smile, "By getting you back on top of course. Why isn't that what you want? Cheering fans and sold out arenas? Zane, if you stick with me, I'll get you back everything that you lost. But don't be fooled. It won't be easy. We're going to have to start way back at the beginning. I'm going to reinvent you, Zane. It will be your rebirth."

Zane asks, suspiciously, "How's that?"

Mr. Shroud replies, with a wide grin, "We'll begin at the bottom. Far from the camera's eyes. Where the press can't slander you. Tell me Zane, have you heard of Underground Dueling before? It's not as glamorous as the Pro Leagues, but it has its advantages."

Zane says, with a serious tone, "Listen, Mister Shroud. I graduated at the top of my class from one of the greatest dueling academies on Earth. Underground Dueling, which I've heard about, trust me, aren't my thing."

Mr. Shroud says, with a serious tone, "If you expect to salvage your career, you don't have a choice." Mr. Shroud asks, with a sly grin, "Now, care to reconsider your decision?" Zane gives him a hard and emotionless stare as Mr. Shroud gives a sly giggle.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

The following day, deep inside of a seduced arena in the basement of a building on the 'bad side' of the city, we find a large cage in the center of a large basement area with wooden tables covered by pink cloths surround the large cage in the center. Sitting at those tables, there are various men and women wearing formal dress and masks over their eyes to keep their identities hidden.

An announcer over the arena's intercom yells out, "Ladies and gentlemen! Today's duel will be a steel cage match! There are no holds barred and no means of escape!" The crowd gives sounds of awe from that announcement. The announcer then says, "And now, entering the ring from parts unknown: The undefeated Cage King, Mad Dog!" Just then the scene switches to reveal a dark brown haired and brown eyes muscle man with a good tan and several scars on his body with his muscular upper body exposed and barefoot wearing only two large black belts and pants to cover his lower waist just above his bellybutton and his legs with a duel disk that has a dueling deck inside attached to his left wrist coming to the left side of the 'caged arena' with a loud roar. The announcer then yells out, "And now, introducing the first Duel Academy student to grace our halls: Former Pro League Champion, Zane Truesdale!" The scenes to see Zane entering the right side of the 'caged arena' with a duel disk containing his dueling deck attached to his left wrist.

There were many whispers and we find one masked woman saying to a masked man, "Talk about hitting rock bottom."

Zane looks over his opponent and he thinks, plainly, "Okay, this shouldn't be so hard! This lug doesn't look he has any training at all!" But then two masked men put black shackles with two spikes on the ends at Mad Dog's upper arms and Zane looks to find two more of them putting the same shackles on his upper arms.

Mr. Shroud says, with a sly grin, "Don't worry about those. They just make the duel a bit more electrifying."

Zane asks, perplexed, "What?" Just then Mad Dog and Zane were fitting with a black collar similar to the shackles around their necks.

Mr. Shroud tells Zane, with a sly smile, "Now, Zane, you are forbidden to leave the cage until the duel is over. Oh, yes, one more thing, your opponent has been known to be quite dangerous."

Mad Dog then says, with a child-like voice, "That's right, poppy head! My mommy says that I'm really strong! I take guys like you and eat them for breakfast!"

Zane thinks in his mind, plainly, "You have got to be kidding!"

The announcer calls out, "All right! Let's begin!" Mad Dog gives a roar as he and Zane activate their duel disks, their life-point counters display 8000 life-points each, and they draw five cards from their decks.

Starting Scores:

Zane: 8000

Mad Dog: 8000

Mad Dog yells out, "Me first! No back seat dueling!" Mad Dog draws one card from his deck and he says, putting one card on his duel disk, "I play Acid Slime in defense mode!" Just then Acid Slime (ATK: 800/DEF: 1000), a blue slime monster that looks like a jellyfish with a mouth full of fangs, comes to the field in defense mode. Mad Dog says, putting one card in the spell/trap slots, "Then I place this face-down and end my turn!"

Zane draws one card from his duel disk and calls out, plainly, "Is that all? Watch this!" Zane puts one card in the spell/trap slots on his duel disk, "I put one card face-down." Zane puts another card in the spell/trap slots and he says, "Next, I play my Different Dimension Capsule!" Zane takes out his deck and he says, with a smile, "First, I take a card from my deck and remove it from play!" Zane takes one card from his deck, puts the card in his pocket, and while putting his deck back in his duel disk, the image of a card appears inside of coffin similar to the picture on Different Dimension Capsule spell card before it closes and vanishes. Zane then says, "However, in three turns, it comes back to my hand." Zane puts one card on his duel disk and calls out, "And now, I call forth my Cyber Dragon in attack mode!" Just then Cyber Dragon (ATK: 2100/DEF: 1600) comes to the field in attack mode.

Mad Dog says, in a taunting tone, "Attack me! I double dare you!"

Zane thinks in his mind, seriously, "If I attack his Acid Slime, I take eight hundred points of damage. So, I might play it cool for now."

Mad Dog states, in a taunting tone, "Did I scare you already? Well, get a load of this!" Mad Dog pushes a button on his duel disk and calls out, "My trap card: Last Machine Acid Virus!" Just then Mad Dog's face-down card is revealed to be a trap card with a picture old fashion tank begin melted down by blue blobs that some kind of acid slime. Mad Dog says, with a sly tone, "Now, here is how it works: I sacrifice one Water monsters and all machine monsters in your hand or on the field, like that Cyber Dragon, are instantly crushed! And for every monster destroyed, you take five hundred life-points of damage and that goes for the next three turns little man!" Zane gasps in shock and Mad Dog says, with a plain tone, "Oh, well? Acid Virus, activate!" The trap card activates, Cyber Dragon turns into rust, and is destroying causing Mad Dog to say, tauntingly, "Ha! Ha! Now, take five hundred points of damage since your dragon went bye-bye!" Just then Zane's shackles activate and he cries out as he is shocked while he loses 500 life-points.

Zane yells out, surprised, "Hold on! What's the deal, Shroud?"

Mr. Shroud says, with a sly tone, "Didn't I warn you? To keep the duel more interesting, every time that you lose life-points, you receive an electric shock. Be careful, this duel can take a lot out of you. Trust me on this one. This is a duel that you don't want to lose."

Zane calls out, angrily, "You lied to me, Shroud! You'll pay for this Shroud!"

Mr. Shroud says, with a sly smile, "That's not fair. Just look. Sold out crowds and fans cheering you to victory. I gave you what you exactly what I promised. Wanting these things comes with a price. You should know that nothing in life comes easy. Now, go fight for your life!" Zane gives a growl of anger and Mr. Shroud says, with a sly smile, "Go on. Your public is waiting." Just then loud voices from the crowd of annoyance and anger towards the delay in the duel come up.

Zane tells Mad Dog, plainly, "Bring it on!"

Current Score:

Zane: 7500

Mad Dog: 8000

Mad Dog draws one card from his deck and he says, "It's brought!" Mad Dog puts one card in the spell/trap slots and he says, "I'm playing this! It is my Contingency Fee spell card! Now, you draw a bunch of cards until you have six in your hands and I gain one thousand life-points for each one!" Zane draws three cards from his deck and Mad Dog gains three thousand life-points. Mad Dog then says, with a wide sly grin, "But that's not all! Thanks to my Last Machine Acid Virus, I get to check your cards for Machine monsters."

Zane reveals the cards that he draw to be Card from a Different Dimension spell card, Battle Fusion Quick-Play spell card, and Damage Polarizer counter-trap card causing him to say, plainly, "Sorry, no machine monsters here."

Mad Dog puts one card in the spell/trap slots and he says, with a sly grin, "Oh, yeah? Time to change that with this card! Card Destruction! Now, we drop all the cards in our hands and pick up a whole new hand." Zane and Mad Dog discard the cards in their hands and Mad Dog says, with a sly smile, "Three for me and six more for you."

Zane says, plainly, "Go on, check them out."

Mad Dog says, with a sly grin, "It helps if you turn them around." Zane snarls as he displays his cards and reveals Cyber Barrier Dragon (ATK: 800/DEF: 2000) monster card, Power Bond spell card, Cyber Laser Dragon (ATK: 2400/DEF: 1800) monster card, Cyber Kirin (ATK: 300/DEF: 600) monster card, Trap Booster Quick-Play spell card, and Cyber Phoenix (ATK: 1200/DEF: 1600) monster card. Mad Dog says, in a taunting tone, "I spy with my little eye…Four Machine monsters!" Just then the images of those monsters appear on the field and rust up while Mad Dog says, with a sly grin, "Now, you get two thousand points of damage! Here we go! You are about to get a big boo-boo!" The images of the monsters are destroyed and Zane cries out as he is shocked again while losing 2000 life-points. Mad Dog puts one card in the spell/trap slots and he says, "We're not done yet! I play Pot of Greed! Now, I get two more cards!" Mad Dog puts one card in the spell/trap slots and calls out, "Next, I play Clone Slime in defense mode!" Just then Clone Slime (ATK: 0/DEF: 0), a green slime in the shape of a human, comes to the field in defense mode. Mad Dog puts two more cards in the spell/trap slots and he says, "Now, I end my turn with two cards face-down! Give up yet!"

Current Score:

Zane: 5500

Mad Dog: 11,000

Zane takes awhile to catch his breath and he says, wearily while drawing a card from his deck, "Okay, my move." Zane looks to see the card was his Future Fusion continuous spell card and he thinks, "This might be the cure to his Acid Virus!" Zane puts the card in the spell/trap slots and he says, "I play Future Fusion! By moving Fusion Material monsters from my deck to my grave, I can summon a Fusion monster right now!"

Mad Dog pushes a button on his duel disk and calls out, "Afraid not! You've trigger my trap: Jammer Slime!" Mad Dog's face-down card is revealed to be a trap card with a picture of a purple slime ball in it and Mad Dog says, discarding Draw Slime (300/400) monster card which has a picture of a red slime creature in it in a child-like taunting tone, "I discard this and now, you can't use your spell card! Sorry, but you are in my world and in here, I call the shots!" The image of the trap card sends purple slime that destroys Zane's Future Fusion spell card. Mad Dog draws a card from his deck and he says, "The card I sacrificed was Draw Slime and this gives me one more card from my deck." Mad Dog says, with a sly smile, "Don't worry. Deep down, I'm a real softie. So, I'm going to help you out a bit."

Zane says, with a serious tone, "No thanks."

Mad Dog pushes a button on his duel disk and calls out, "Too late! Now, I play my Despised Reality!" Mad Dog's other face-down card is revealed to be a trap card that has a picture of king with his hand bound behind his back, swords pointed at him, and a demon looking down at him. Mad Dog says, with a serious tone, "Now, you get to summon a level four monster! But I wouldn't celebrate just yet you stinky diaper face! Because once you play your card, I get two cards from my deck! So, think before you summon because if you don't, I lose one thousand life-points! So, Zane, what's it going to be?"

Zane thinks in his mind, "If I'm going to win, I need to get my monsters out there!" Zane takes out his deck and calls out, "I accept!" Zane takes a card from his deck, puts his deck back in his duel disk, and calls out, putting the card on his duel disk, "So, I summon my Proto Cyber Dragon to the field in attack mode!" Just then Proto-Cyber Dragon (ATK: 1100/DEF: 600) comes to the field in attack mode. Zane says, with a serious tone, "Sorry to disappoint you, Mad Dog, but my dragon is far stronger than your little slime ball!"

Mad Dog draws two more cards and he says, with a snort, "So, what? I get two more cards!"

Zane yells out, strongly, "Your last! Proto-Cyber Dragon, destroy his Clone Slime!" Proto-Cyber Dragon launches a beam of energy at Clone Slime!

Mad Dog states, with a plain tone, "You are so close, but when my Slime is attacked, I get to replace him with a monster from my graveyard! You remember my Acid Slime don't you?" Just then Clone Slime transforms into Acid Slime (ATK: 800/DEF: 1000) in defense mode. Proto-Cyber Dragon's attack destroys Acid Slime and he says, with a sly smile, "Now, for his little trick, when he is destroyed in battle, you lose eight hundred life-points! And a blast like that would be a shock to your system!" Zane cries out in pain as he is shocked while losing 800 life-points. On the meanwhile, the crowd laughs at Zane's pain from the shocks while Mr. Shroud gives a wide sly smile.

Zane says, weakly, "I'm still standing."

Current Score:

Zane: 4700

Mad Dog: 11,000

Mad Dog draws one card from his deck and he says, with a sly smile, "Not for long! My turn!" After he looks at the card he drew, Mad Dog says, with a sly grin, "I've been waiting for this! Time to knock you on your tussy! So, I play this: Slime Base!" Just then image of a spell card with a slime creature coming out of a desert fountain appears on the field and Mad Dog says, putting a card on his duel disk, "Now, I get to summon a Slime monster from my hand, so, get a load of this guy! Multiple Slime!" Just then Multiple Slime (ATK: 1500/DEF: 2000), a yellow slime monster in a canine like form, comes to the field in attack mode. Mad Dog says, with a serious tone, "Okay, Slimy, attack his Cyber Dragon now! Primordial Ooze Attack!" Multiple Slime fires a yellow glob of yellow slime which covers Proto-Cyber Dragon before it destroys him causing Zane to cry out in pain as he is shocked while losing 400 life-points. Mad Dog puts one card in the spell/trap slots and calls out, "Now, I play my Card of Sanctity spell card! Both of us must draw until we have six cards in our hands!" Zane and Mad Dog draw from their decks until they have six cards in their hands with Zane displaying that none of his new cards are machine monsters. Mad Dog says, with a sly smile, "Ooh, I can play my Monster Reborn! Now, I get a monster back and I choose my Revival Jam!" Just then Revival Jam (ATK: 1500/DEF: 500) comes to the field in attack mode. Mad Dog puts in his spell/trap slots and calls out, "Next, I play my Meteor of Destruction! This card costs you another one thousand life-points since you have over three thousand! This will be a real shock!" Just then a large meteor slams in front of Zane and he yells out in pain as he loses 1000 life-points causing the shackles on him to shock him, once more.

Zane asks, lowly and with a groan, "Is cheap shots all that you've got?"

Mad Dog says, with a sly smile while putting another card in the spell/trap slots, "I wouldn't watch my mouth if I were you, little man! I play my Mischief of the Time Goddess! Too bad! You lose your turn and I get to attack again!"

Zane yells out, stunned, "What?!"

Mad Dog calls out, with a sly smile, "Show him!" Just then Revival Jam and Multiple Slime attack Zane directly and he cries out in pain as he loses 3000 life-points while getting shocked again. Mad Dog says, with a sly smile while putting two cards in the spell/trap slots, "I think that you've had enough. So, I'll end with these!"

Current Score:

Zane: 700

Mad Dog: 11,000

Mr. Shroud tells Zane, with a sly smile, "Mister Truesdale, I told you that you had to start on the bottom. And it doesn't get lower than this! You've reached the bottom of barrel and there is only one place to go from here!"

Zane says, with a serious tone, "Yeah! Out! I quit, Shroud! I don't want to be part of this world, Shroud!" Zane yells at Mr. Shroud, demandingly, "Now, open that door!"

Mr. Shroud says, with a sly smile, "That's impossible. This match isn't over, yet. If you want out so bad, all you have to do is to win."

Zane yells out, seriously, "I can't! If I draw a machine card, he'll destroy me with his slime monster! It's over!"

Mr. Shroud says, with a giggle, "What do you have to lose? Not your reputation since it is already gone. Your pride is also gone. And if you were to give up this fight right now, you will never get them back."

Zane yells out, seriously, "Stop!"

Mr. Shroud says, with a sinister smile, "The reality is that you have already lost everything. What you need to do is let go of the past and move on. Leave the 'old Zane' locked up in that steel cage."

Zane asks, lowly, "What about my friends?"

Mr. Shroud says, with a plain tone, "They are all gone expect for me."

Zane asks, lowly, "What about Hikari?"

Mr. Shroud states, plainly, "Your girlfriend? If she really cared about you, she would be here wouldn't she?"

Zane says, lowly, "Everyone…has abandoned me."

Mad Dog says, with a slip-song tone, "I've got to go potty. So, hurry up!"

Zane says, with an angered snarl, "So, it is excitement that you want?!" Zane draws one card from his deck and Zane says, with a snarl, "So, let the fun begin!" Just then the capsule reappears on the field and Zane yells out, "It has been three turns since I played Different Dimension, so, the card that I put in it gets returned to my hand!" Zane takes a card from his pocket and puts it into his hand. Zane puts another card in the spell/trap slots and calls out, "And now, I play my Take Over Five spell card! This card forces me to discard the top five cards in my deck, but from now on, all cards that force me to send cards from my deck to my grave are negated and as long as this card remains in my grave, I get one more cards from my deck each turn!" Zane takes the top five cards from his deck, discards two more Cyber Dragon (ATK: 2100/DEF: 1600 X 2) monster cards, Cyber Soldier of Darkworld (ATK: 1400/DEF: 1200) monster card, Mystical Space Typhoon Quick-Play Spell card, and Final Fusion trap card. Zane puts one card in the spell/trap slots and he yells out, "Next, I play my Power Bond spell card! This card allows me to send some Fusion Material monsters from my hand or field to the graveyard and summon Fusion monsters right to the field! But there is a problem! I'm quite short on monsters!" Zane puts another card in the spell/trap slots and calls out, with a deadly serious tone, "Oh, well! I think that I'll play my Cybernetic Fusion Support! This card allows me to skip a step! By paying half my life-points and removing the Fusion Material monsters from my graveyard, I can summon my Fusion Monster!" Zane's life-points go down by half, he ignores the shock from the shackles, he removes his three Cyber Dragon monster cards from play, and he puts a fusion monster card from his fusion deck on his duel disk, declaring, "Meet Cyber End Dragon!" Just then Cyber End Dragon (ATK: 4000/DEF: 2800) appears on the field in attack mode. Zane yells out, deadly serious tone in his voice, "And thanks to Power Bond, his attack powers are double!" Cyber End Dragon's stats rise from 4000/2800 to 8000/2800! Zane says, with a serious tone, "On a side note, when my turn ends, my Power Bond causes me to lose life-points equal to my dragon's original attack points, but I'll be done with you before that happens!"

Mad Dog pushes a button on his duel disk and calls out, "Ha! Nice try, but I make the rules around here! I play my trap: Slime Ball!" Just then Mad Dog's face-down card is revealed to be a trap card with a picture of a fallen down vase spilling green slime and Mad Dog says, with a sly smile, "This beauty increases my life-points equal to your dragon's attack points! But that's not all my trap does, say goodbye to your friend!" Just then Zane yells out as Cyber End Dragon is destroyed and Mad Dog gains 8000 life-points. Mad Dog says, with a sly smile, "Thought you had me, didn't you, Truesdale? Now, you see why I'm the king of the cage!"

Zane says, with his eyes covered by his left arm low angered growl with his tone getting darker, "Not yet."

Mad Dog asks, with a taunting tone, "What? You think you will still win."

Zane lowers his left arm, revealing a darkened angered glare in his eyes, and he yells out, with a darkened angered tone, "Think? I don't think! I know it with all my soul!" Zane cries out in pure anger as a weird dark blue aura gathering around him. Zane says, with a dark serious tone, "I should warn you. The Zane that you knew is long gone!" Zane says, with a dark angered snarl, "All this time, I've been focusing on nonsense like respecting my opponents when I should have been thinking about winning! I played by the rules and look where it got me! Nowhere! Dueling is playing by your own set of rules?! Right?! And tapping into your anger to win!" Mad Dog yelps in shock of Zane's new darkened attitude. Zane pushes a button on his duel disk and calls out, "I reveal my face-down card: Call of the Haunted!" Zane's face-down card is revealed to be the Call of the Haunted trap card.

Mad Dog yells out, stunned, "What?!"

Zane says, with a dark plain tone, "With this card, I can search through my graveyard and summon one monster! And I choose my Proto Cyber Dragon!" Just then Proto-Cyber Dragon (ATK: 1100/DEF: 600) returns to the field in attack mode. Zane puts one card in the spell/trap slots and calls out, darkly, "And now, I play this: It's Overload Fusion!" Zane says, while searching through his Fusion deck, "Now, I can search my Fusion deck and summon one monster from it! Now, let me see, which monster I should use to tear you to shreds?!" Zane takes one fusion monster card from his fusion deck and he yells out, "Ah, I know! Chimeratech Overdragon!"

Mad Dog asks, nervously, "Are you sure about that?"

Zane yells out, darkly, "I've never been this shore for months, but first, I need to remove six monsters from the grave! Actually, I'm only required to remove two, but I feel in a destructive mood today! So, let's do this! I remove six monsters from play!" Just then images of Cyber End Dragon, Cyber Kirin, Cyber Barrier Dragon, Cyber Laser Dragon, and Cyber Phoenix appear on the field as Zane removes their monster cards from the graveyard. Zane puts the fusion monster card on his duel disk and calls out, darkly, "Now, meet the last monster that you will ever see! Rise, Chimeratech Overdragon!" Just then all of the monsters on the field vanish and Chimeratech Overdragon (ATK: 4800/DEF: 4800) with six heads coming out of its metal body.

Mad Dog yells out, nervously, "That's a lot of attack points!"

Zane says, with a dark sick smile, "Now, Overdragon, it's time for revenge! Attack his Multiple Slime!" Chimeratech Overdragon fires a beam of energy from one of its head that destroys Multiple Slime and Mad Dog yelps out as he loses 3300 life-points.

Mad Dog yells out, strongly, "Is that all you got? Well, my Multiple Slime has an ability! Did you know when you destroy him I get three of these?! Slime Tokens!" Just then three Slime Tokens (ATK: 500/DEF: 500 X 3) comes to the field in attack mode. Mad Dog pushes a button on his duel disk and he says, with a serious tone, "Then I play this: My Trap Trip!" Mad Dog's face-down card is revealed to be a trap that has a picture of a hand reaching out for a piece of candy on a mouse trap and Mad Dog says, with a sly smile, "Here is how it works: One of my traps comes back to me." Just then Last Acid Machine Virus comes out of Mad Dog's graveyard and he puts it back into his hand.

Zane says, with a dark sly smile, "Your Last Acid Machine Virus, right? I'll admit it that it is a powerful card…if you can use it."

Mad Dog says, with a sly grin, "I can! I have three Slime Tokens and my Revival Jam on the field and all I need is to sacrifice one of these monsters!"

Zane yells out, with a dark smile, "That's just it! None of them will survive! Face it! It's over!"

Mad Dog says, with an annoyed expression, "Liar!"

Mr. Shroud asks, perplexed, "Are you sure this will work?"

Zane ignores Mr. Shroud and yells out, darkly, "Since I ditched six monsters to form my Overdragon, it can attack six times!"

Mad Dog and Mr. Shroud exclaim in unison, shocked, "It can?!"

Zane says, with a dark snarl, "It can!" Zane yells out, with a dark strong tone, "Overdragon, END THIS!!" Chimeratech Overdragon fives five more blasts from its other five mouths that slams into Mad Dog's other monsters and then Mad Dog himself causing a huge explosion while he yells out in pain as he loses 21,000 life-points ending the duel immediately. But the explosion was so strong that it blew a huge in the other side of the cage and creating a wind so strong that everyone cries out in shock.

Final Score:

Zane: 350

Mad Dog: 0

When the smoke and dust cleared, it showed a large hole on the side of the cage that was behind Mad Dog while the duelist himself was totally unconsciousness!

Mr. Shroud says, with an wide sinister smile, "It worked! Zane Truesdale is reborn!" Just then Mr. Shroud gives out a sinister laugh that could be heard for miles around.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Some days later, we find TK and Kari heading towards the Slifer Red dorm when they look to see Sora Takenouchi, in her Duel Academy uniform, waiting for them.

Kari asks, with an annoyed snarl, "What do you want?"

Sora asks, with a pleading tone, "Kari, can we please talk?"

Kari yells out, angrily, "What's there to talk about, Sora? I've lost my brother because of your backstabbing ways!"

Sora tells Kari, with a pleading tone, "Kari, please…!!"

Kari yells out, angrily, "Just stay away from me!" Soon after, Kari enters the redesigned dorm while Sora looks at TK with a pleading form, but TK gives Sora the cold shoulder as he enters the room with Sora looking solemn as she enters quietly. Inside of the redesigned dorm room, they find the rest of our heroes and heroines, minus Davis and Jaden, looking at television with wide eyes and/or shocked expressions.

TK asks, perplexed, "What's up?"

Yolei says, pointing at the screen, "Take a look for yourself." The new arrivals enter the room and look at the television screen to see Zane, with all black version of his clothing and a dark sick smile on his features, after a harsh duel that left his opponent unconscious.

The announcer on the television screen says, "Another victory for Zane Truesdale! I'm telling you folks! This Pro is dueling like a man possessed! Could the secret to his success be his edgy new look? Whatever the case, Zane Truesdale is back on top! All I know is that Zane Truesdale is back on top!"

Kari asks, perplexed, "What's with the 'Goth' look?"

TK says, with a worried tone, "And that smile on his face. It looks sinister."

Bastion says, with a plain tone, "Good observation, TK. This is one of Zane's latest duel."

Jasmine says, stunned, "It was…horrible!"

Hilary says, with a nod, "Jaz is right! Zane dueled that poor guy into the ground!"

Tyson says, with a serious and stunned tone, "Yeah! Zane might have put that poor dude in the hospital!"

Karin asks, perplexed, "What could have happened to him?"

Kai thinks in his mind, "Whatever it is, I don't like it! There is a dark and sinister look on him now."

Ken thinks in his mind, worriedly, "Zane is giving off a feeling that's similar to mine when I was the Digimon Emperor! I hope Zane isn't possessed by a dark spore or the dueling world will be in major trouble!"

Syrus thinks in his mind, solemnly, "I know my brother and he would never duel like that! Whoever that guy is, he isn't Zane!"

Hikari thinks in her mind, horrified, "Oh, Zane, what happened to you?!"

The Supreme Princess tells Keiko, "If you are thinking that your friend is under some kind of evil force, forget it! I know what really happened! He let his anger get the better of him and he embraced his inner darkness!"

Keiko yells out, annoyed, "No way! Zane is too strong to let himself become evil!"

The Supreme Princess tells Keiko, with a dark sly tone, "Who said that he turned evil?! I'm just saying he isn't under the control of any dark force! The only thing controlling him is his own darkness! Now, Zane Truesdale is a true 'dark duelist'."

Keiko thinks in her mind, shocked, "Oh no! If that's true, Kari would be devastated if she learns that! She has already been hurt with Yusuke and Kagome under Sartorius's sick control and now, seeing Zane in this state! If she learns that he willing gave into the darkness, she will be totally devastated! Jaden! Davis! Where are you when we need you?!"

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Speaking of our two Elemental Hero duelists and Spirit Detectives, we find them wandering the woods and starving holding their hands over their stomachs.

Jaden yells out, as his stomach growls, "Oh, man! I'm totally starving!"

Davis says, holding his stomach while it growls, "No kidding, Jay! We barely managed to find some berries and nuts to snack on to keep us alive and well!"

Jaden says, with a groan, "Oh, man! I can taste that Duel Academy shrimp! But there is a problem when you've barely eaten in days!" Jaden and Davis collapse to the ground on their knees and Jaden yells out, "I just want to see a familiar face!" In another area, by a large pile of metal garbage, we find none other than Wheeler the Monkey searching for metal objects and he lifts his head, dropping some sunglasses on his face, as he hears Jaden's voice ring through the air. Later on, Wheeler is wheeling a cart filled with discarded electronic items when he gives a look of surprise to see Jaden and Davis on their knees and face-down in the dirt. Wheeler immediately wheels over to Jaden and Davis and quickly turns them over causing Wheeler to see that they have collapses from hunger. When Jaden and Davis open their eyes, they look towards Wheeler and the pile of trash. However, Jaden hallucinates and sees Ancient Gear Golem instead of trash and he sees Wheeler as Doctor Crowler. Jaden asks, perplexed, "Ancient Gear Golem? Crowler? Is that you?"

However, Davis manages to keep himself just composed and he thinks, looking at Wheeler and the pile of electronic trash, "Oh, boy! This is bad! He is looking at a monkey and trash and he sees Crowler and his monsters! That's not a good sign!"

Jaden's hallucination of Crowler says, "Jaden! You are hallucinating you twit! Wake up!" Just then Jaden's memories of his duel with Crowler at his first year examination come up and Crowler's voice booms in his mind, "You remember this duel don't you?!" On the meanwhile, the pile of metal junk collapses and Wheeler is yelling out in annoyance while Jaden and Davis are sitting up.

Davis says, starting to see Veemon with little angel wings floating up in the air and in a low tone, "Oh, boy. I'm starting to go bonkers too."

Davis's Veemon hallucinates yell out in unison, "Well, I would too if I barely had any food to eat in days!"

Davis thinks in his mind, with a smile, "They might be figments of my imagination, but they do have a point."

On the meanwhile, Jaden is looking at Wheeler and the pile of trash and Jaden says, weakly, "Wait! You aren't Crowler!" Just then Jaden hallucinates Wheeler into Bastion.

Jaden's hallucination of Bastion says, "Jaden, you are psychotic episode, Jaden! You are reliving duels from your past!"

Jaden says, with a smile and spaced out look, "Far out."

Davis looks at Jaden and he thinks, rolling his eyes, "Oh, boy! Jaden is starting to really lose it!" Wheeler looks around and he gives Jaden a confused look. Davis tells Wheeler, "Hey, little guy, I can't believe that I'm talking to a monkey, but my friend is zoning. We have had no food for sometime and before I really start to go crazy, can you find something for us to eat?" Wheeler goes over to Jaden while he is spacing out and relieving his duel with Bastion. Soon after, Jaden shakes Wheeler's hand.

Jaden says, spacing out, "Good times. Good times." Wheeler slaps his hand away and Jaden then hallucinates that Wheeler is Chazz in his old Obelisk Blue blazer.

Jaden's hallucination of Chazz tells him, "You don't get it, do you Slacker? You are losing your mind! Well, what's left of it anyway!"

Jaden says, weakly and spaced out, "That's not good."

Davis thinks in his mind, with a sigh, "No joke, Jay!" Davis tries to get back up on his feet, but with his energy limited by lack of food for awhile, Davis drops back down to a lying position on the ground. Davis thinks in his mind, annoyed, "Just great! I can't move an inch! And I think that I'm really going bonkers!" Davis then looks up to see hallucinations of chibi-versions of Kari, Sayu, TK, Patamon, and Veemon flying around with little angels.

Wheeler hops away, but Jaden sees him as Chazz and Jaden's hallucination of Chazz calls out, "Enjoy the flashback, loser!" Soon after, Jaden starts to hallucinate about his promotion duel with Chazz. After the hallucination, Jaden and Davis are hit on the head by a group of bananas.

Davis gets to a sitting position and he thinks, stunned, "What the? Food!" While Davis prepares to eat, Jaden is lying motionless on the ground as Wheeler leaps down from a tree. Davis says, with a sly smile, "I can't believe that I'm talking to a monkey, but thanks a lot pal!" Wheeler goes over to the motionless Jaden and when Davis looks, he says, stunned, "Oh, man! That's really not good!" Davis groans in pain from hungry and looks to see Chibi-versions of his friends in the Odaiba Digidestined and their Digimon partners. Davis yells out, stunned, "Yikes! Before I can help Jay out, I had better eat before I go totally bananas!" Wheeler gives Davis a look of surprise and he says, nervously, "Sorry. Forgive the pun." Wheeler give a motion with his hands like saying 'Don't worry about it' and Davis immediately starts to eat the bananas. On the meanwhile, Wheeler looks over the motionless Jaden Yuki and he makes sure that he is still alive, thanks to his time as a human experiment before Jaden freed him. Wheeler then slaps him on the cheeks and brings Jaden out of his 'coma'.

Jaden yells out, stunned, "Quit it!"

Zane's voice then calls out, "Snap out of it!" When Jaden looks towards the source of Zane's voice, he looks towards Wheeler, but his state makes him to hallucinate that Wheeler is Zane.

Jaden's hallucination of Zane says, "Come on! You haven't eaten enough in days! Your body has gone into shock! You're sick, Jay!"

Jaden gets back into a sitting position and he asks, perplexed, "I am!"

Jaden's hallucination of Zane replies, "That's right! Would look at yourself? For goodness's sake, you are talking to a chimp!"

Jaden says, with a smile, "Come on, you are bland and a bit boring! But I wouldn't call you a chimp!"

Jaden's hallucination of Zane says, seriously, "You are in danger! Like when we dueled!" Soon after, Jaden hallucinations about his first duel with Zane. When the hallucination is done, Jaden looks to see his hallucination of Zane having a crown made of bananas in his hand and he says, "Since I'm gone, you are Duel Academy's top banana now!"

Jaden says, not realizing it is just a pile of bananas on his head, "It's an honor! I'll wear it with pride! Thank you!" Just then Jaden gets hit with cold water by Davis with the bucket in his hands.

When Jaden shakes off his head, he can focus again and he sees Davis tells Wheeler, with a smile, "Man! I never knew that monkeys could be so smart! Sorry to be insulting, but thanks for that!" Wheeler gives a smile and monkey sounds that sound like 'No problem'.

Jaden asks, perplexed, "Davis? Wheeler?"

Davis asks, perplexed looking at the Wheeler, "Wheeler?"

Jaden says, with a serious tone, "I met him last year." Soon after, Jaden quickly explain to Davis about Wheeler, the experiments, and their duel.

Davis states, perplexed, "A dueling monkey, huh? That's new to me." Davis tells Jaden, pointing to the bananas, "Well, it shows why this little guy is so smart. He got us these bananas to help us survive."

Jaden yells out, excitedly and licking his lips, "Oh, boy! I'm starving!" Jaden immediately starts to rapidly eat the bananas, but he goes so fast that he starts to choke. Immediately, Wheeler gets a second bucket filled with water and Jaden immediately takes it and swallows it down. Jaden tells Wheeler, when he regains his breath, "Thanks. You saved my life twice now!"

Davis says, with a nervous smile, "And once for me! However, not to insult our smart little guy here, but I'm not sure about being saved by a monkey."

Jaden says, standing up and twirling around, "Well, I feel great!"

Davis asks, quirking an eyebrow, "Are you sure that you aren't going nuts again, Jay?"

Jaden says, shaking Wheeler's left hand, "Thanks, man…I mean monkey!"

Davis tells Jaden, with a serious tone, "Come on, Jay! We need to get back right away! Remember what Aquos told us!"

Jaden says, with a smile, "Right!" Soon enough, Jaden and Davis walk off into the distance with the two of them waving good-bye to Wheeler while Jaden yells out, "Time to get home! Later!" Wheeler points towards sometime and Jaden says, not looking where Wheeler is point, "Thanks for the memories!"

Davis thinks in his mind, with a sigh, "Oh, brother!" On the meanwhile, where Wheeler is pointing, Duel Academy is in the distance with a sign that's nearby that has 'Duel Academy' in bold red letters.

As Jaden and Davis continue into the woods, Jaden says, "We've got to be close to Duel Academy. If there was only a sign." Just then the sign leading to Duel Academy breaks apart after that comment.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Returning to Dartz's base, Michael, Allie, Tyler, Tai, Light, Naruto, Izayoi, Inuyasha, in his half-demon form, Melody, in her half-demon form, and Holly, in her half-demon form have returned and lay down one Seal of Orichalcos card with Valon's face on it. Dartz goes over to the card and picks it up causing it to glow as it vanishes.

Dartz tells his 'soldiers', with an evil sly smile, "Excellent work, my friends."

Light says, with a dark cold plain tone, "Thank you, Master. But Raphael and Alister managed to get away and take a ship to Duel Academy."

Dartz says, with an evil sly smile, "No matter. They shall pay for their betrayal soon enough."

Melody asks Dartz, in a dark cold serious tone, "Master Dartz, when will me and my siblings have our chance to teach that witch and her Ma-zoku cousin, why it's not nice to mess with my brother's heart!"

Dartz tells Melody, with an evil smile, "Don't fret, Melody. You'll have your revenge on Miss Higurashi, but not now."

Inuyasha says, in a dark cold angered tone, "But when! The more I remembered what that bitch did to me in the past, the more I want to get rid of her!"

Dartz tells Inuyasha, with an evil smile, "Patience, Inuyasha. You will have your chance at justice and revenge soon enough. For now, we keep preparing. The Great Leviathan will soon awaken, the whole world shall finally be reborn and humanity and demon kind shall finally be erased from this planet!"

Allie tells Inuyasha, with a dark cold sly smile, "Don't worry, Inuyasha. We'll help you make sure that damn little bitch is put down for good!"

Izayoi tells Inuyasha, with a dark cold serious tone, "That's right, Inuyasha! No pathetic witch messes with my son's heart and gets away with it!"

Tai says, in a dark cold snarl, "Not to mention, payback a certain carrot top wench and her damn rock star wannabe boyfriend!"

Naruto says, in a dark cold sneer, "Yeah, as well as that fucking scarecrow, overgrown fore-headed freak and their 'precious' Uchiha."

Michael says, with an evil sly smile, "Don't worry, guys! With us and the power of the Orichalcos on our side, we'll get our share of justice and revenge against those damn traitors!"

Holly says, with an evil sinister smile, "Yeah, they'll regret ever messing with us!" Holly cracks her claws and she says, evilly, "And with these claws, that witch that broke my brother's heart will soon regret ever messing with family!"

Izayoi tells her son and daughters, in a dark cold plain tone, "Okay, you three, back to training!"

Melody says, with a dark cold sly tone, "Okay, mom! We still need teaching on how to use our spirit and demon energy as weapons."

Naruto asks Izayoi, "Hey, Izayoi, is it okay if I join you? Since I want to become stronger as well."

Michael says, in a dark serious tone, "Same here."

Izayoi says, with a dark smile, "Sure, you two." Soon after, Inuyasha, Melody, Holly, Izayoi, Naruto, and Michael walked back to the Hyperbolic Time Chamber and Gravity room to train some more.