Well, it's almost one in the morning but hey, I'm updating on one of the days I said I would update so I'm happy!

Anyway, thank you to DarkZorua100, Kamen Rider Sting, decode9, SuperNeos2, StrawHatLuffy94, EndlessNight025, iloveyugiohGX93, a1993, Lightclaw's Shadow and Sorcerer of the Stories for reviewing the last chapter. I'm glad you liked it.

Also, as usual, thank you to EndlessNight025 for being an awesome beta-reader.

Okay, so here is the first chapter of part two where basically things start to go downhill and I definitely had fun writing from the perspective of a crazy psychopath, heehee. Anywho…

Here is chapter 7 and I hope that you enjoy it. Reviews, as always, are much appreciated.

7

Prelude to Chaos

The sky was cloudless and a deep, pale blue. The sun hung like a locket above the horizon, gradually crawling toward its zenith. The airport was as crowded as usual with people running back and forth attempting to grab their luggage or stay together with whoever they came with. Children ran around laughing, adults chattered with each other as they walked; it was a normal day in the busy Honolulu International Airport.

Gliding though the shadows of the airport, Kaage Naka watched with disinterest at the various people crowding the area. Worthless people who knew nothing of what was coming and knew nothing of how their inane chattering was grating on his nerves. His wild dark green eyes scanned the area, looking for two specific people whom he had contacted soon after he woke up. After all, he wanted the endgame of his little game to be spectacular and memorable, and he needed the money to do it.

'It is a no wonder why my former ally wished to get rid of these irritating little humans, granted it was not for the same reason as I,' Dark Shadow's voice whispered in the back of Kaage's mind as he glided over to the doors that allowed a better view of who was coming in and out of the airport.

As the Duel Monsters U.S. Championship Tournament had only ended the day before, the airport was crowded with visitors who were preparing to head home. Kaage had only just recently arrived, having decided to wait just a little bit longer before leaving Florence. He didn't want anything to do with the tournament and he wanted the little monster and his family and friends to be lulled into a false sense of security before he struck.

He may have left that warning, but he knew that Kaede Yuki would not take it seriously. After all, what kind of person would warn the ones they sought revenge against? The answer would be no one. No one would believe Izumi Yuki's warning, therefore leading to them being lulled into a false sense of security and being unprepared for when Kaage struck.

Catching the little monster and his family and friends by surprise was going to be oh so fun.

'Indeed it will. Have you decided on who you shall target?' Dark Shadow murmured, though, personally, he didn't understand Kaage's logic but decided that there was no point in pointed that fact out.

Not yet. I must first figure out who is with him. I do not wish to take out all of them. I want witnesses for what I have planned for the little monster after I get bored with my little mind games, Kaage thought.

Dark Shadow snickered in the back of his mind. 'You are a much better host than my last one,' he murmured.

Kaage rested his back against the wall near one of the doors, his eyes scanning the area. Finding out the little monster and his friends and family were in Honolulu wasn't that hard; the link Dark Shadow still had with one of his last host's cards was still intact. It had been finding Izumi Yuki that had been really hard, but he had managed it. Another reason why he had decided to target Izumi Yuki first was to insure that the key instruments to make his endgame memorable were completed by the time he arrived in Honolulu.

Plus, terrifying Izumi Yuki in a way he had not been able to do the last time they met was entertaining.

The little monster wasn't the only one whom he wanted revenge against, after all.

He was going to have fun, lots of fun, before he finally killed the little monster.

He spotted the two people he had been looking forward and immediately glided toward them, moving soundlessly as he walked, something he had learned from Dark Shadow. He could do so many things with Dark Shadow's powers, powers that he had thought were sealed away when the Millennium Items were sealed over ten years earlier. It was why he had only ever done fake Shadow Duels; he couldn't do real ones because he didn't think it was possible to use the Shadows anymore.

At least until he met Dark Shadow and was given the Shadow Charm.

"Mr. Naka," one of the two men he came to a stop in front of said.

"That would be me. Come, let us speak in private. Perhaps someplace where it is less likely we will be overheard," Kaage said coolly.

"Fine. We'll go back to our hotel room and speak there," the second man said.

"Good."

Kaage trailed after the two men as they led the way back outside the airport and toward the limo that was parked outside. He climbed inside after the two men before leaning back into the leather seat as the two men told the driver to start moving.

He knew that the only reason the two men in front of him agreed to help him was because Kaage had lied to them, telling them that what he had planned was going to bring in a lot of money for them and help them to achieve their goal for world domination. They were stupid enough to fall for it; their greed and their desire for world domination made them completely blind to the fact that Kaage had been lying through his teeth.

Either that or he was a better liar than he thought he was.

Or it could be both.

Kaage had discovered these two men when he was discovering all he could about the little monster, in particular his dueling style so that he could know and understand his dueling style and be able to overcome and defeat him when he finally got to his endgame. It had been Dark Shadow who suggested he do that, saying that the little monster was a tough and unpredictable opponent; the more Kaage knew about him, the more likely he will be able to defeat him. So he had attempted to find out what he could; the only thing he had found out was the School Duel and that was how he found out about the two men seated in front of him.

Long story short, once he mentioned the little monster as well as how he could help the two men achieve world domination—though he was lying through his teeth. There was no way he would help these idiots achieve world domination—they had been quick to agree to help him.

About twenty minutes later, the limo had arrived outside the hotel and the two men climbed out of it with Kaage following them as he led the way into the hotel. He fingered the necklace of diamond-shaped crystals hanging around his neck as he walked. The only other thing he had, besides a small bag containing a few clothes, was the duel disk resting on his left arm.

They slipped into the elevator and rode it to the top floor of the hotel.

The two men led the way into the hotel room and the first one turned to look at Kaage. "We did as you said," he said. "We just got confirmation that the arena is completed, though I'm still not sure why you wanted it to be so out of the way."

"Can't reveal all my plans, now can I?" Kaage said emotionlessly.

"I suppose not. Still, are you going to go through with your end of the deal?" the second man asked.

Kaage fingered the crystals that hung around his neck as he gave them a cruel little smirk before he held out his arm; his duel disk whirred to life and the Shadow Charm around his wrist glowed brightly, enveloping the room in a dark golden light.

"I believe, Mr. and Mr. Princeton, that it is time we renegotiated our deal," Kaage said.

. . .

The bad feeling was getting stronger. There was no doubt about that and Jaden still had no idea why he was feeling like this. He knew that Yubel was feeling the same way and even Raiden looked uncertain. "I don't like this, Rai," Jaden said quietly to his brother as he leaned against the railing on the balcony. "I don't know why I'm having this bad feeling, but it won't go away."

"I know, Judai," Raiden said. "And I wish I could say that it's probably nothing, but…I just don't know if it is nothing."

Jaden sighed. "After what happened with the Shadow Riders, I'm just not sure I should ignore these bad feelings," he said quietly.

"I know. C'mon, everyone else is going to the beach. Maybe that'll take your mind off this feeling of yours," Raiden said.

Jaden opened his mouth to protest.

"I'm not saying forget it, Judai," Raiden said immediately. "I just mean that we shouldn't let it bother us right now. We can't do anything about it until we know what it's warning us about, or if it's just our fears playing with our mind. I know you've been having nightmares again, Judai."

"I don't know why I've been having these nightmares, Rai," Jaden said. "They stopped after I told you everything."

"Just because they stopped doesn't mean they actually went away. I doubt you can just talk about what happened and never think about what happened ever again or never have nightmares over what happened, especially not about something as traumatic as what you experienced, Judai."

"You sound like a therapist, Rai," Jaden said with a smile.

Raiden chuckled. "Well, I'm considering being a therapist if I don't make it as a pro duelist," he said brightly.

"Better than a professional surfer. You wouldn't make it far then."

Raiden smacked his shoulder with a scowl but Jaden just laughed.

"C'mon, Rai, I think you're right. I need to get my mind off my nightmares and this feeling. Seeing you wipe out several times would be the perfect way to do that," Jaden said.

"I've been getting better," Raiden protested, following Jaden as he led the way out of the hotel room.

"I guess. You only wipe out half the time now."

Raiden scowled. "You're annoying," he said.

"I'm your little bro. It's my job to be annoying," Jaden said with a smirk and immediately dashed away before his brother could get him in a headlock like the last time he had said that.

Raiden immediately dashed after him.

Jaden nearly crashed into Chazz as he ran down the hallway, but the black-haired Ojama duelist managed to jump out of the way in time. "Geez, watch where you're going," he said.

"Sorry, Chazz," Jaden said brightly.

"Got ya!" Raiden said and immediately grabbed Jaden in a headlock.

"Ow! Let me go! Rai!" Jaden cried, struggling to break free from his brother's grasp.

"Promise not to annoy me for the rest of the trip," Raiden said firmly.

"Fine, fine, I promise, just let go," Jaden whined.

Yubel and Haou were laughing hysterically in the back of his head.

Raiden released Jaden, who pouted as he rubbed his neck.

Chazz rolled his eyes, secretly jealous about the relationship Raiden and Jaden had. He would never admit it out loud but he wished he could have had the kind of relationship Raiden and Jaden had with his own brothers.

A little while later, Kasumi, Alexis, and Arina joined them in their bathing suits with their beach towels wrapped around them. "Where's Kyle? And Atticus?" Alexis asked curiously as Jaden wandered over to her and hugged her.

"No idea," Raiden said with a shrug. "We just left our room now."

Keith walked over to join them with Kyle just behind him. "I still say you should've asked Celina if she wanted to come with us," Keith was saying.

"She looked busy," Kyle said.

Keith rolled his eyes and the gang began making their way toward the elevator, which they rode to the lobby. Kaede was there, talking with Matt and Emily and he looked up as the gang walked over to join them.

"Heading to the beach?" he asked.

"Yup. I'm looking forward to finally learning how to surf," Raiden said.

"Wipe out more gracefully is more like it," Jaden said brightly.

"Atticus said it takes time," Raiden said. "Speaking of him, where is he?"

"He was already gone when Keith and I left," Kyle said.

"Mom won't be happy if we lose him again," Alexis commented.

"He actually already left for the beach," Matt said. "He got tired of waiting for you guys."

"Oh."

"Kyle, wait," a voice called and the group turned to find Celina jogging toward them, her white hair in a ponytail and dressed in a blue two-pieced swimsuit with her beach towel wrapped around her. "Can I go with you?"

"Uh, sure," Kyle said, blushing and looking everywhere but at the white-haired girl.

"I thought you were busy," Keith said.

"I got bored. Bakura and Ms. Thomas told me that they'll handle everything that needs to be done so that I can go live in Japan," Celina said.

"Why're you moving to Japan?" Kyle asked curiously.

Celina sighed sadly. "The Princetons are no longer my mentors. They said that they didn't want to mentor me anymore because they see me as a failure," she said.

"Assholes," Jaden growled.

"Lousy scrubs," Chazz muttered at the same time.

"But Bakura's taking me under his wing. He's not a rich as the Princetons, though, so we're trying to make it so I can live in Japan. That way it'll be easier for him to be my mentor," Celina added.

"You're actually gonna be mentored by the duelist you like the most? That's awesome," Kyle said.

"It is an amazing opportunity. Aren't we heading to the beach, though?"

The gang nodded and left the hotel.

. . .

Kaage hummed quietly as he walked out of the hotel, fingering two crystals that hung around his neck and were glowing with a faint inner golden light. Now what to do? What to do? he thought as he wandered away from the hotel.

'Do you wish to attract the boy's attention? Or do you wish to have some fun before you do that?' Dark Shadow murmured in the back of Kaage's mind.

Eventually, I will attract the little monster's attention. He knows my name because I had introduced myself by name when I attacked his mother, probably not one of my better plans, so that will work in attracting his attention. Until then, though, I think I will just find him and watch him, learn what I haven't been able to learn since waking up and then go from there, Kaage thought.

'Be careful, though. The boy was able to figure out that I was watching him when I last faced him, so I have no doubt he will be able to notice now if you get too close. I believe it is because he is sensitive to the Shadow Magic within a Shadow Charm,' Dark Shadow said.

Possibly. I will stay a safe distance away, though, once I find him. For now, best not attract attention to myself, Kaage thought as he wandered toward downtown Honolulu.

. . .

Celina relaxed on her beach towel, sunglasses resting on her face and her skin covered with sunscreen. She did burn easily, but, thankfully, she always kept strong enough sunscreen to prevent that from happening.

"Whoa! Another wipeout!" Jaden said, looking at the ocean where his brother had just wiped out while attempting to surf with Kyle and Atticus attempting to help him learn.

Kasumi sat down beside Celina, who had been introduced to everyone when they arrived at the beach. "Hey," she said.

"Hey," Celina said with a small smile.

"That was a good duel between you and Keith. Your monsters are cool," Kasumi said. Though I'd probably have a hard time beating that deck with mine, she mused silently.

Celina smiled. "Yeah, I've always been a big fan of Machine-type monsters, though I'm not entirely sure why, though I really do like Dragons, too," she admitted.

"That's cool."

Celina fell silent and then decided that since Kasumi was being friendly, she may as well find something to talk about to pass the time. "So what kind of deck do you use?" she asked.

"Lightsworn," Kasumi said.

"A self-milling deck? Nice."

"It was tough for me to get the hang of it. I actually kept decking out at first, but I managed to learn a few tricks to prevent that from happening," Kasumi said.

Celina nodded. "It always takes people time to get used to whichever deck they're using. What decks do you guys use?" she asked, directing the question at the others that were sitting around her.

"I use Cyber Girls and Cyber Angels," said Alexis.

"I use Fairies," Arina said.

"I use…way to go, Raiden! Two wipeouts in a row! That's gotta be a new record for you!" Jaden shouted toward the ocean as Raiden, who had surfaced from his most recent wipeout, swam to within earshot, dragging the surfboard behind him.

Raiden flipped him off for that, which only caused Jaden to chuckle.

"I use Elemental and Evil Heroes, mostly," he said in answer to Celina's question.

"Evil Heroes?" she echoed. "I've never heard of those."

"They're one of a kind."

"Oh. What about you?" Celina asked, turning to Raiden, who plopped down on his beach towel.

"I use Shadow Reckoners," Raiden said.

"Isn't that the archetype that just came out a few years ago?"

"Yup."

"Nice."

"So decided to take a break from wiping out, Rai?" Jaden asked brightly.

"I'd like to see you do better, Judai," Raiden snorted.

"Judai?" Celina echoed.

"That's Jaden's real name, but he prefers his middle name. Rai's the only one who can call him by his first name," Kasumi explained.

"Oh."

. . .

Later that day, the gang found themselves in a restaurant near the hotel. Bakura had joined them as he and Celina were planning on going back to Celina's hotel room to get Celina's stuff afterwards. She didn't want to stay in the same hotel as the Princetons and Bakura had agreed to get her a room for herself. Jaden was excited to be having lunch with a Battle City finalist and would not stop questioning the white-haired man, which caused everyone else to sweatdrop.

"I feel it'd be worse if Yugi was here," Kasumi commented.

Bakura, however, was very patient with Jaden and answered every one of his questions as best he could. Granted, he couldn't tell them much of what happened during Battle City because his memory was spotty at best; he doubted he would ever know what really happened during that tournament.

"I can't believe you actually faced down Slifer. That'd be so awesome," Jaden said.

Raiden chuckled. "Only you would think facing down an Egyptian God card is awesome," he said.

Jaden smirked.

"So, Judai, why don't we give him a chance to breathe and talk about something else?"

"Like what?"

Raiden grinned. "Like how you almost got beat by a ten year old girl," he said.

Celina burst out laughing while Jaden sputtered and glared at Kasumi.

"You told him," he exclaimed.

"I told ya I was never gonna let you live that down," the Lightsworn duelist replied.

"When did this happen?" Chazz wondered.

"It was after you left Academy Island when Kyle transferred," Arina said.

Bakura looked amused. "So what happened?" he asked.

Jaden was red with embarrassment as Kasumi happily began giving Bakura all the details about the duel, including the love-struck Elemental Heroes. By the time she was done, everyone was chuckling and Jaden buried his face in his hands to try to hide his embarrassment.

"Okay, okay, let's talk about something else," Jaden said quickly.

Kasumi pressed her lips together. "Oh, I know. Jay, why don't you tell everyone about how you beat Yugi's deck?" she suggested.

Bakura's eyebrows shot up. "You beat Yugi's deck?" he repeated.

Jaden grinned at the memory. "Hell yeah. That was an awesome duel. Granted, I'm not entirely sure I could actually beat Yugi himself, but beating his deck was awesome," he said and immediately launched into the story. He told them about how Dimitri had stolen the deck and how he had dueled Dimitri in order to get it back and won.

Chazz scowled. "Why did all the good stuff happen after I left?" he complained.

Arina patted his arm, but otherwise said nothing.

"Beating Yugi's deck is quite the accomplishment," Bakura said. "I think I'll let him know that. I'm pretty sure Yugi will want to duel you himself when he finds out."

Jaden's eyes gleamed with excitement. "Me duel the King of Games? Sweet!"

The waitress came by to get their orders at that moment.

"What else happened after I left?" Chazz asked, curious despite himself, as the waitress left.

"Well, there was that incident with the dueling monkey," Kasumi commented.

"Dueling monkey?" Celina repeated.

"Yup." Kasumi launched into the tale of the duel and could not help but tease Jaden about how he had been getting beat by a monkey at the beginning of the duel. Jaden was red with embarrassment again while Raiden was laughing hysterically.

"You were getting beat by a monkey!" he gasped.

"I won," Jaden muttered.

Alexis patted his arm. "We know, but it's still funny," she said.

"Let's see. Well, there was that duel with that idiot Harrington," Kasumi commented, going on with what happened after Chazz left.

"Melodramatic idiot," Jaden muttered.

Chazz raised an eyebrow. "You dueled Harrington?" he repeated.

"He got upset because I was talking with Jaden and completely ignoring him," Alexis explained.

"He then had the nerve to challenge me to a duel where the winner would become Alexis's fiancé," Jaden said. "I won, though."

"Aww, Lexi has a fiancé," Atticus said. "When's the wedding? Ow!" He grabbed his shin as an irritated Alexis had kicked him.

"There was also that Duel Giant who kept beating all the Obelisks," Jaden said.

"And Damon who was a pretty good drawer," Kasumi said.

"The Battle Royal was cool," Jaden said.

"You told me about that at the banquet," Celina said. "You went against Arina, Kasumi and one of your friends, Bastion, to see who would duel Chazz at the School Duel."

"Yup. It was a tough duel, especially when Bastion locked down most of my deck," Jaden said. "But I managed to win."

"Ah. What about the Spirit Day? Kyle already told me about his duel against Arina, but were there other duels?" Celina asked.

"Little Mist and I dueled," Raiden said.

"And I dueled Dark Magician Girl," Jaden said.

"You mean someone dressed up as Dark Magician Girl?" Celina asked.

"Sure, let's go with that."

"There was also that duel against Pierre," Alexis commented.

Jaden blushed at the memory. "Yeah, that's when we got together," he admitted.

"What happened?" Kasumi asked.

Alexis told her about the duel and then about how she had just decided to take the plunge and tell Jaden how she felt. "We got together officially after that," she said.

Kasumi smiled. Wish someone out there cared about me like that, but it's doubtful anyone could love a freak like me the way Jaden loves Alexis, she thought sadly. Despite her friends accepting her gift, she still couldn't help but see herself as a freak. Her friends and family didn't know the entire truth.

The food arrived at that moment and Jaden happily fell on it like a starving lion, which caused everyone else to just shake their heads in exasperated amusement.

Celina frowned. "Where does it all go?" she asked.

"No one knows," Kasumi said with a shake of her head.

"Reminds me of Joey," Bakura commented, eating at a much steadier pace.

After lunch, Celina said her goodbyes to the gang and she and Bakura left the restaurant. "I wonder if I'll ever see 'em again," she said as she and her new mentor headed toward the hotel where she was staying.

"I'm sure you will," Bakura said. "So have you made your decision?"

"What do you mean? I already said I'd like to go to Japan with you."

"That is still your choice to make, Celina. I've talked with Ms. Thomas and we both agreed that if you really want to move to Japan, I'll look after you. Though do you have any family or friends in Japan that you can stay with? If not, I have an extra room at my apartment that you can use," Bakura said.

Celina sighed and shook her head. "I don't even know if I have any family in Japan, or friends for that matter" she admitted sadly. "But I have made my decision. I do want to go to Japan and attend a duel school, and if you don't mind me staying with you…"

"No, I don't mind and I already have your guardian's approval," Bakura said.

Celina smiled. "Then I'll accept that offer, at least until I go to that duel school, if I can anyway but it must cost a lot and I don't have that kind of money," she said.

Bakura smiled. "Don't worry about that, Celina, not only am I sure you can get a scholarship, I can cover any costs if you can't," he said. He may not be rich like the Princetons—that is he did not have enough money to travel from one country to another every week—but that didn't mean he was broke. He did have enough to pay the tuition for Duel Academy for his protégé and, if not, he was sure Marik wouldn't mind helping out as well.

Celina glanced at her new mentor and smiled. "Thank you," she said, surprised by Bakura's generosity.

"You're welcome, Celina."

The two of them entered the hotel before heading toward the elevator and taking it up to the top floor. Celina led the way down the hall, pulling out her keycard as she did so before opening the door.

What she saw inside shocked her to the core.

"Mr. and Mr. Princeton?" she said, stunned, for the Princetons were lying motionless on the ground in the center of the room, a single card resting on them. Their duel disks were on their arms and their cards lay scattered all around them.

"Oh God," Celina gasped as she moved forward and immediately knelt down beside Jagger. "Bakura, call 911."

"Already on it," Bakura said, his cell phone pressed against his ear as he gazed at the two motionless bodies in shock. "Yes, this is Ryou Bakura." He immediately explained what they found while Celina sat back on her heels, confused and concerned.

"I can feel their pulses, but they're slow. They almost seem comatose," she said, looking at Bakura as he closed his phone and slipped it into his pocket.

He walked forward and knelt down beside the figures before he also checked for a pulse, pressing his lips together. "The ambulance is on the way," he said and then frowned before he reached over and picked up the card that had been resting on Slade's chest.

Celina picked up the one on Jagger's and turned it over. She looked at Bakura in confusion. "What card was on Slade?" she asked.

Bakura turned it over and Celina saw that it was the same as the one she held in her hand.

Brron, Mad King of Dark World.

. . .

Kaage watched from a safe distance as the ambulance carted the soulless bodies of Slade and Jagger Princeton away from the hotel they were staying in. It took 'em long enough to find 'em, he thought. He rested his hand on the crystals that hung around his neck; now a total of four crystals were glowing with a faint inner golden light.

'Wonder how long it'll take them to find the other two victims,' Dark Shadow mused.

Eventually, they will notice and the news will pick it up. When that happens, I can take the next step of my plan, Kaage thought.

'And have you decided who shall be your first target?'

Kaage walked down the sidewalk to the hotel in which the little monster and his family and friends were staying. I was thinking of that little girlfriend of his, he thought as he had learned a lot about the little monster's friends and family from the time he was spying on them on the beach and in the restaurant earlier. Hmm, it's doubtful she will willingly want to duel me, though.

'Then force her,' Dark Shadow murmured. 'Use someone she loves against her. That brother of hers, for example. If you threaten him, then she will likely be more willing to duel you.'

Possibly, Kaage thought.

He slipped off into the shadows, eyes scanning the area until he spotted a lone woman walking down the street, chatting on her phone; he also noticed that she had a deck box resting on her hip. A duelist.

His lips pulled back into a sinister grin. Victim number five, he thought, gliding after the woman.

. . .

"How are they?" Celina asked curiously. She and Bakura were in the waiting room of the hospital closest to the hotel. She may not like the Princetons that much anymore, but that didn't mean she was heartless enough to want them dead or anything like that.

"They are comatose right now," the doctor said quietly. "Physically, they are perfectly healthy but, for some reason, they won't wake up. There also doesn't seem to be any signs of head trauma. We can't seem to find the cause for this. It's baffling. Do you know of anyone we can contact?"

Celina chewed her lip. "Well, there's Chazz," she said. "I don't know his phone number, though, but I know where's he's staying so I can let him know."

The doctor nodded.

"Doctor Senna, we've got another two who are just like the Princetons," one nurse said, running forward.

"Oh dear, are you sure?" Doctor Senna asked, concerned.

"They are both showing the same signs, at least. No visible head trauma, no physical injuries; we've taken them in for an MRI to see if there is any brain trauma," the nurse said.

Doctor Senna nodded. "I have to check on my other patients now," she said and hurried away.

Celina turned to Bakura. "What's going on?" she whispered.

"I wish I knew," Bakura said with a shake of his head. "C'mon, let's go tell Chazz."

"Yeah, he may not like his brothers, but he still deserves to know," Celina said and the two of them left the hospital.

. . .

Atticus hummed as he walked toward the hotel. After leaving the restaurant, the gang had decided to go back to the beach and Atticus decided to stay a bit longer to flirt with the pretty girls and to keep on surfing. Then he had decided to just take a walk, but stayed within sight of the hotel so that he didn't get lost.

Suddenly, a scream of pain sounded, causing Atticus to jump and he turned just in time to see a woman in an alley right next to where he was standing fall to the ground, a dark figure standing over her. The dark figure bent down, placed something on the woman's chest and then walked away.

Atticus waited until the guy was out of sight and earshot before he dashed to the woman's side, hoping she was alive. He knelt down beside her and reached out to find a pulse, relieved when he found one, though the woman remained motionless on the ground. It didn't help that cuts and bruises covered her body. She was also surrounded by cards and had a duel disk on her arm.

"Hey, are you okay?" he called, shaking the woman's shoulders but she remained motionless.

Atticus chewed his lip before pulling out his phone, glad he had charged it. His aunt and uncle had made sure he knew all the emergency numbers to call in case anything happened, since they were different in America than they were in Japan. He dialed 911 and waited.

"911, what is your emergency?" the female voice on the other end said.

"Hello, this is…sorry, this is Atticus Rhodes," Atticus said, accidentally starting to talk in Japanese before remembering where he was. "I found this woman unconscious in an alley. She won't wake up."

"I see, and where are you, Mr. Rhodes?"

Atticus walked to the mouth of the alley and gave them a rough idea of where he was before he returned to the woman's side when the operator told him that they were sending help.

"Thanks," he said into the phone and hung up before slipping it into his pocket. He gazed at the card that was resting on the girl's chest and then reached forward before picking it up, frowning upon seeing it.

Brron, Mad King of Dark World.

Why would that guy put this card here? He thought, dropping the fake card and standing up, ready to head back to the mouth of the alley to keep an eye out for the ambulance the operator said they were sending.

He turned and jumped when he spotted the dark figure from earlier leaning against the wall nearby, watching him. He gripped his phone and looked around, only to realize that the alley he was in was a dead-end. Wait, how did he get out if it's a dead-end? He thought, confused.

The man smirked as he pushed himself away from the wall. "No one can help her, you know," he said coolly.

"What did you do to her?" Atticus demanded, searching for a possible way to get past the man.

The man rested a hand on a necklace of crystals that hung around his neck, five of which were glowing with a faint golden light, and didn't respond. Atticus's eyes widened when he spotted the golden bracelet around the man's wrist with the Eye of Wadjet on it.

Atticus was positive that it was some sort of Shadow Charm.

"Oh man, this isn't good," he whispered, backing up a step as the man approached him. "Stay away from me!" He would fight if it meant he could get away; he did take some self-defense courses, after all.

Sirens wailed and Atticus breathed a sigh of relief. Help was coming.

The man looked up, scowled and then vanished into the darkness.

Atticus relaxed. He didn't know how the man had disappeared, but he was relieved that the sirens had scared him off. Now, I should get back to the hotel, he thought and headed toward the mouth of the alley, only to feel a searing pain in the back of his head.

He was unconscious before he hit the ground.

. . .

"What?" Chazz exclaimed.

"It's true. Bakura and I went to go get my things from my hotel room and we found them unconscious in the middle of the room. The doctor, Dr. Senna, said that they were healthy physically but were comatose for some reason," Celina said.

"We also found the same card on each of them; a fake Brron, Mad King of Dark World," Bakura added.

"They were also surrounded by their cards and each had their duel disks on their arms."

"So a duelist did this?" Jaden asked.

"It seems like it," Kasumi said.

"But what kind of duelist can cause someone to fall into a coma?" Celina asked.

Everyone, except Jaden and Raiden, exchanged glances. They didn't know.

Jaden was thinking about what Yubel used to do when he was younger and Raiden was thinking along the same lines, but about a different Duel Monster.

"So, what now?" Chazz asked.

"Are you going to go see them?" Arina asked.

Chazz was silent. "Maybe," he said finally.

"Assholes or not, no one deserves to be in a coma," Jaden said. "I hope they catch the person who did this."

The others nodded in agreement. Most, if not all, of them didn't like Slade and Jagger Princeton, but, as Jaden said, no one deserved what happened to them.

Alexis suddenly looked around. "Hey, guys," she said with a frown.

"What is it, Lex?" Jaden asked.

"Where's Atticus?"

"He said he was going to take a walk when we left the beach," Raiden said.

"Did he get lost again?" Kyle asked.

"I doubt it. He said he was going to stay within sight of the hotel so that didn't happen, but he should've been back by now," Raiden said with a frown.

Alexis pulled out her phone and dialed her brother's number. It rang several times before going to voicemail. "That's odd. Atticus always answers his phone. It didn't go straight to voicemail, so it's not dead," she said after she left a message for Atticus to call her back.

Jaden snaked an arm around his girlfriend's waist, exchanging a concerned look with Raiden. Two people falling into comas after dueling someone, Atticus not answering his phone even though Alexis said he usually does, that bad feeling steadily growing worse…

Something was wrong.

. . .

A/n what do you think?

Blaze: yes, something is definitely wrong

Bakura: no duh

Ryou: (raises eyebrow) when did you get back from blowing things up?

Bakura: just now

Blaze: well, the next chapter is where one of the biggest secrets of this story is revealed

Bakura: hmph, whatever (holds of piece of paper) question?

Blaze: go ahead

Bakura: this is another ARC-V question so Blaze says sorry to those who haven't seen all of ARC-V yet. Today's question is: what is your favorite opening and/or ending theme song from Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V? As of right now, Blaze's two favorites are the opening theme songs Believe x Believe and Burn!, both by Bullettrain.

Blaze: they're both very catchy!

Jaden: can't argue that

Jesse: so, other than a big secret being revealed, what else happens in the next chapter?

Blaze: I will tell ya that the title of the next chapter is "Demons of the Past" and I shall say nothing more

Bakura: anything else you wanna tell us?

Blaze: other than the fact that when I start posting White Radiance, I will also be posting a collection of short stories and oneshots entitled Anthology that will include several short stories and oneshots set in the Shadow Rise Universe along with several other, completely unrelated oneshots and short stories, nope, that is all I gotta say

Bakura: great, so end the chapter

Blaze: you end it (walks off to go steal Haou's plate of snickerdoodles)

Haou: stay away from my snickerdoodles! (Takes off after Blaze)

Jaden: (snickers) I'll end the chapter. Blaze really hopes that you enjoyed this chapter and reviews, as always, are much appreciated.