In the alleyways of New York City, a duel had just been finished. A duel most foul, where one man was put through horror after horror, breaking his mind into so many fragments that the only recourse left to him was to drop unconscious onto the floor, his cards fluttering in the wind uselessly.

The other man, the perpetrator of the fate that befell the not-so-poor victim, was a criminal known to make his victims experience true terror and the darkness of the Shadow Realm, all through the nefarious Shadow Games. This man, dressed in a black trench coat, wearing a metal mask and with a golden pyramid hanging from his neck, was unknown to any who treaded in the light, but all who dwelled in the dark heard his name.

The Shadow Duelist, Titan.

With no trace of emotion, Titan moved towards the fallen duelist and picked up his deck, rifling through it for any worthwhile cards that laid within, but to his disappointment was met with nothing but weak, common ones.

"Hm… It would seem you were destined to lose to my hands, one way or another," said the large man mirthlessly, tossing the cards into the ground. "Curse your own misfortune for having wronged those more powerful than you, and wallow in the Shadow Realm forever."

With his deed done, Titan withdrew his phone from his pocket, and paged into his bank account. Not a second later, a message arrived, confirming the deposit of his requested payment by his employer. Just as he was about to put the phone away, however, Titan saw that he had received a new message, with a new job offer listed… And a very generous payment for a task well-performed.

He did not hesitate for even a second to accept the offer.

-O-

There is happiness to be found in the simple things in life. A bowl of ice cream during a hot summer day, a cup of hot cocoa in a cold evening, or sitting with a blanket in the porch of your house in a rainy afternoon. Really, you don't need big things to get some serotonin pumping, as long as you always remember to keep those moments close to heart, and let them come at their own time, not force it.

And that is exactly what I was doing today.

… Well, sort of. Allow me to explain.

Today was Saturday, sacred day for any student at any school level, even across dimensions. It was our reward for toiling like crazy on the classroom, our dorm rooms and whatever God-forsaken corner we ended up in while pouring over our books and notes trying to decipher the insanity that was our assignments and homework. And of course, with Duel Academy being an island, this meant easy access to the beach and everything it offered to a young adult seeking relaxation: some were playing sports on the edge of the water, others were getting their tans ready as they laid on chairs or towels under the sun, and others some were in the water itself, swimming, surfing or riding jet-skis that I had several questions over how they were purchased.

Me? Well, I had a chair, an umbrella, a big bottle of orange soda cooled to perfection, and a telescope aimed at the horizon.

The context for my choice of beach apparels was because I was currently looking for the arrival of a small navy fleet carrying rare cards.

Truly, the world of Yu-Gi-Oh was full of wonders and mysteries.

… Alright, true explanation time.

See, turns out that the timeline was… Somewhat screwy. Because since this was kinda-sorta real life, time passing was something I had to consider now when thinking about episodes and events. I was made aware of this when Chazz and Jaden's little illegal duel apparently had happened not long after the arrival ceremony, but before our first class with Crowler, and that (fucking somehow, and I'd have to get the full story from Alexis) Jaden and Syrus still ended up trespassing on the Obelisk Blue female bathhouse, and Jaden still ended up dueling Alexis to win her and her friends' silence, but that event happened about two weeks ago.

This did not bode well to any preparations that I wished to do. Because if I was too early with them, then it would look suspicious. But if I waited too long, then I'd end up unprepared and get caught flat-footed by something that could end up costing me, and people around me, dearly.

Particularly, how long between episodes I really had, and how unless Kagemaru was some kind of speed-running asshole, how much time we had between Shadow Rider attacks.

Today, however, I could safely say that I did know the timeline properly. Why? Because a trip past the card store let me overhear miss Dorothy talking about getting the shop ready for "the new batch" that was coming. And a card shop would only have one kind of "new batch" to receive.

So, here I was now. Camped out on the beach and waiting for one more of Kaiba's money splurges to show up carrying the newest cards to hit the shop. Granted, I didn't really have any interest in buying any of those cards. After all, I had more than enough cards to use, even while waiting for Pegasus to finish converting all my other decks, and I had no real reason to try and upgrade my Deck. Prideful as I was on admitting, the cards I had brought were powerful enough to take on most other decks in this time… Well, most. Seeing Sora and Anna's duel made me realize that the power gap between me and the rest of the world might not be as wide as I expected at first. Still, keeping to what I knew and others didn't felt like the best possible choice strategically-speaking, and if they started figuring out my Deck's shtick… Well, I always had more.

Well, would have more. Someday. Eh, whatever.

When another check confirmed there was nothing on the horizon yet, I lowered my telescope and laid back against the beach chair, reaching lazily for my soda and taking a long gulp from it before putting the bottle back on the bucket of ice it was resting on. "Dammit, stakeouts fucking suck…" I muttered in annoyance, draping one arm over my eyes to shield them from the sun as I stared off into the cloudless sky above. "… Eh, fuck it, time to walk the beach."

Taking hold of the bottle and telescope, I rose from the chair and started pacing in a random direction down the coast, feeling the wet sand sink beneath my feet and the waves lapping against them as I let my gaze wander freely across the mob of fellow students surrounding me.

It was a… New experience to me. I know how cliché it is to say you were the "different loner" in school, but it had always been like that with me, thanks to a combination of wild difference in interests between me and my classmates, my own anxiety and clashing personalities. Hence, middle and high school had been a very… Isolated affair for me, and I expected the same here.

But that's not what had been happening. I found myself oddly at ease here, more open to talk to people and more comfortable in the big crowds.

It felt… Good. Maybe it was because this was technically not me per say, but a blank slate existence that I had been plopped onto, but nevertheless it still helped to assuage the loneliness that liked to creep into my heart. These people didn't have any preconceptions of who I was and what I did, only what I showed them, and in the end, that's all that mattered.

Truly, a beautiful moment to think about while beach walking on a sunny day.

"Watch out!"

WHAM

Unfortunately, the moment was quickly put to an end by a volleyball that flew in from nowhere and smacked me dead in the face, laying my ass flat on the sand and making me drop my bottle and telescope somewhere around me… Along with my focus. A few seconds later (though really, it felt like an eternity considering how hard that ball hit me), I felt hands wrap around my wrists and hoist me off the ground.

"Sorry about that, the game got a little heated for a bit," apologized a voice, a female one, as the two helpers wiped some of the sand off my shoulders and hair. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah… Yeah I'm—Pff, pfpt—I'm fine…" I replied, spitting sand off my tongue.

"Hang on, close your mouth."

Before I could question the request, warm water was poured atop my head, cleaning away the sand that stuck to it and letting me safely rub my eyes clean to look at my assailants-slash-helpers.

Bless the heavens that my bangs, and my hair were both absolutely massive, so my widening eyes and slight gaping were easily hidden by the gigantic and drenched black and red mane wrapping around my head, letting me save face when staring at Alexis Rhodes and her friends, Mindy and Jasmine, all of them wearing sports tops and beach shorts, with the first two looking at me with slightly worried expressions.

After I forced my brain to finish its reboot and restart, I faked coughing out some water from my throat before straightening my posture and wiping my hair off my face, giving them a mostly confident smile and a wave of the hand. "Don't worry, I'll live, ain't the first ball that I got hit with."

Jasmine, however, certainly didn't seem very amused with my little spiel, settling instead to cross her arms and give me a smirk. "Well, with how thick-headed you seemed, I guess you'd be fine."

"Jasmine!"

"Oh, my heart! You wound it so cruelly, how may I survive!"

With all the vast theatrical skills I had gathered from my years in theater school, I clasped a hand over my chest and leaned back in a completely natural way, making extra sure to not fall flat in my ass again right in front of the three most popular girls in the school. I had a reputation to maintain, dammit, and I wasn't going to blow it here! Once I had let the moment linger just a second more, I straightened out my back and moved to pick up my fallen telescope and soda bottle, which thankfully had not spilled the rest of its contents onto the sands, before turning to face Alexis again. "Still, like I said, don't worry about it. It was an accident, I should have been paying attention... You know the spiel."

"What are you even doing in the beach with that?" asked Mindy innocently, and to which I raised said telescope in response. "You're not peeping on the girls or anything, are you?"

"Of course not! Why, I'll have you know I have the perfect reason to be holding a telescope in the middle of the beach!"

"And would that that be, Atlas?"

"Well, I—"

AWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

In no small amount of panic, I fumbled with the telescope in my grasp before finally pressing it firmly against my eye and scanning the horizon frantically for what I hoped was—

"IBROUGHTITBECAUSEOFTHATSEEYASUCKERS!"

I don't know if I kicked up sand onto the three when I ran away like a maniac back to my dorm. I probably did, considering how hard I kicked away to start running, and I did not look forward to the possible tongue-lashing I'd earn from Mindy and Jasmine, but right now it didn't really matter to me.

Because I only had about a minute of headstart of the horde of students that were slowly noticing the approaching military convoy of ships, fresh with the most important cargo for this school: brand new cards.

So it was that halfway up the incline, I started hearing the shouting and stomping of a mob of young men and women bull-rushing towards the store.

Truly, weekends were the best.

-O-

It was a sight to behold, seeing a band of half-naked young adults fresh from the beach lining the hallways to the card store. Some were still dripping water onto the floor, be it from the sea or from the hasty showers they took to clean out the sand and salt, and others still had foregone dressing back up in exchange for draping themselves with large towels. Still, that did not serve to diminish their excitement by any margin.

"Oh man, brand new cards! Can't wait to see what they bring in!" almost squee'd Jaden as he bounced in place, watching the hallway like a kid who knew Santa was about to walk through carrying a bag of presents. "Hope they have some more Hero cards, I can't wait to tune up my deck!"

"Who knows, from what I've heard the ship's supposed to be carrying rare cards. Maybe they're packing some rare Heroes for ya," I replied in earnest, my leg bouncing furiously as I tapped my foot in anxious expectation. Not for the cards, though, those I would probably lightly browse then ditch.

No, I was keeping my eye out for someone: Chazz.

Now, I knew for a fact that Crowler did not abhor Jaden or Syrus, so he didn't have a reason to go and buy the entire briefcase of rare cards that were being shipped in. But Chazz was another story all together, and a talk with Bastion had finally explained his shitty mood…

xOx

"Oh look, there goes the Princeton hurricane…" I muttered as I watched said hurricane of a young man almost toss aside anyone in his path as he walked through the halls of the academy, always flanked by his usual goons. Once he disappeared around the corner of the hallway, I turned back to Bastion, who was sitting across from me reading a book on theoretical physics and quantum mechanics. "Wonder what the hell's up with him…"

"Perhaps if you made an effort to socialize with other peers, you'd learn about the news without having to depend on asking me or others," replied Bastion, his eyes never leaving the book as he spoke.

"Nah, that's a lotta work. Besides, I got you to hang around, plus Jaden and the gang! More than enough people to socialize."

"Quite… Well, while I don't believe in rumor mills or gossip, what I've heard from the Obelisk Blues willing to speak with the, and I quote, 'lower ranks', is that Chazz has been in a losing streak recently. And quite a cruel one."

That got my attention. Losing streak? I knew Chazz had a lot of problems and family issues to get through, and his attitude was considerably shit for now, but I also knew that his deck was powerful, and his skills were pretty darn good. And besides, he didn't seem to be chasing Jaden incessantly looking for payback after their little illegal nightly duel, so something else had to be the reason…

I needed answers.

"Losing streak? To whom?" I asked as innocently as I could, making sure to keep my tone and voice as calm as possible. Thankfully, it seemed to work, as Bastion seemed none more suspicious as he finally closed his book and put his attention squarely on me.

"To the other rising star in the blue dorm: Sora Perse."

xOx

And that was bad. Really bad. Because while I knew Jaden would never take their rivalry too seriously or harshly since he was such a happy go-lucky kid, Sora definitely would depending on his current (unknow to me) mentality. And I didn't need some little devil edging on the rich kid with family issues and piling even more concerns onto my plate, no sir.

Still, that didn't leave me a whole lot of choices. After all, Chazz would never accept help or charity from someone lower than himself, and if I started prodding too early, it'd just alienate him from me…

Dammit, why does this shit have to be so complicated?!

"THEY'RE HERE, THEY'RE HERE!"

Thankfully, that was not a complicated affair. So, with the thoughts of "Possible Emotional Trauma of a Main Character" filled away in the "Later" folder, I turned my head to the same direction the hordes of other students were facing towards, and beheld the arrival of—

…

Of a fucking military-grade escort of troops flanking several metal crates.

Seriously, Kaiba, just HOW MUCH money would you throw at this?!

Now granted, they weren't holding assault rifles or shotguns, but that honestly didn't matter when the soldiers were clad in full-body blue combat armor, complete with gas masks and evil red eyes, had collapsible batons at their waist and taser guns on their hands. At least the one leading the walk was a run-of-the-mill military sailor, probably the captain that had shown up in the anime carrying the briefcase. "Alright everyone, make way!" he called out as the soldiers pushed back the tide of students trying to get a closer look at the crates. "We got what you came for, and we'll be happy to give them, but I need you all to make way!"

As if to reinforce the point, several of the guards raised their tasers just an inch more into the air, which served as enough of a deterrent to push back all the students. As they passed, however, the parts of the crowd that had been left behind began to fold onto a single mass that followed the troop all the way to the card store, whose metal doors were lowered and windows were closed. Me and Jaden kept close to one another, locking arms together just in case the mob went wild and tried to trample each other for the cards, but thankfully the armed guards were enough to keep them at bay. "Man, they're sure taking this seriously…" muttered Jaden as he almost shoulder-checked someone out of the way.

"Well, Kaiba has his priorities I guess…"

Once we finally managed to make our way out of the mosh pit, me and Jaden watched as the soldiers held down the perimeter while the crates were pushed into the store, leaving a horde of students with their anxiety and expecting eagerness while the stock was undoubtedly placed on the shelves and arranged in secure cases. In the end, all we had left to do was wait, agonizing minutes passing by as we stared at the metal doors, until finally the captain walked out once more, this time followed by the clerk of the store… Err, that girl I didn't know the name of. "Everyone, thank you so much for waiting patiently!" she called out cheerfully, taking a quick bow before returning her eyes to us. "Now that our delivery has been finished, the card store is officially open for business!"

And with that, the doors were retracted to the ceiling and the soldiers stepped aside, opening the path.

Pandemonium followed.

It was a sea of half-naked and fully clothed young adults, all colliding with one another as they began barreling towards the entrance in their hunger for cards… And of course, me and Jaden joined in.

"LEG IT, JADEN!"

"ON IT!"

Thankfully, both his lither frame and my more built physique allowed us to both sneak and push through respectively, though not without some difficulty. In the end, however, our perseverance pulled through, and we found ourselves inside the card store alongside what few people had managed to overcome the tide of bodies.

It was a cozy space, with the air conditioner running extra-time to keep the interior at a comfortable temperature, and plenty of space between shelves and displays for people to walk around unimpeded to look at the merchandise. And merchandise they certainly had.

I don't know how much of it was already on the store, and how much was the new shipment that had just been delivered, but I was surprised to see just how many cards the store seemed to hold. There were individual cards kept in protective cases, sets of cards packed neatly together to be sold as a bunch, even some pre-made decks with listings beside them explaining what was inside. Alongside cards, the store also had protection sleeves, cases, even tools for repairing or accessorizing Duel Disks, and pretty much everything else an aspiring dueling student could need for their education.

"Man… Look at all this stuff, Drake!" said Jaden in awe, already walking alongside some of the aisles, his face extra-close to the glass as he stared at the cards inside. "I've never seen some of these cards before!"

"Heh, better snag something for yourself then, Jaden, before some other kid takes the good stuff."

"You think they have something for my Roids here, Jay?"

"Oh hey Sy!"/"JESUS CHRIST!"

It is with great shame that I admit that Jaden took the "scare" that was Syrus just… Materializing between us far better than I did. Then again, I've never been one for horror stuff since I spook so easy, so forgive my overreaction. Thankfully, the bustle of the shop was enough that nobody really noticed my reaction, leaving Syrus and Jaden to stare at me curiously while I drew my breath back. "Hah… Syrus… Where did you come from?!"

"What are you talking about, Drake, I was here the whole time," he replied innocently, so innocently that for a second, I almost forgot my exasperation.

Almost.

Instead, I settled for finally getting my heartrate back on track, recomposing myself, and tossing the whole thing into oblivion, where it shall forever remain. "Alright… Okay then… Well, let's get to work looking for cards then. I can help you out if you want, Syrus."

"Oh, umm… Thanks, Drake."

"Alright then, see ya in a bit, Sy!"

And with a quick wave, Jaden moved over to search for his cards in the Warrior-Type aisles, leaving me and Sy to pace around the Machine-Type display, looking for cards for his Deck. And right then, with Jaden away, I could see how the kid fidgeted here and there, or how he looked around himself nervously from time to time, like he expected something bad to happen.

Alright then, time for some action then.

"So Syrus, how are things going for you?" I asked aloud as I leaned forward to check a copy of Perfect Machine King that I had no intention of buying. "Everything going well? Any problems with the classes?"

"Umm… Well, a few…" answered Syrus, his gaze lowering for a moment in defeat. But to my surprise, he raised his head again, this time with a small smile. "B-But I've managed to get some help already!"

"Oh? Is that so?"

"Y-Yeah! Jay's been helping me with my dueling skills, and Anna helps out with studying!" As Syrus spoke, I could practically see the sparkling in his eyes and how his excitement built up as he talked. In a way, it was adorable… And I was glad to see it. "She's been trying to get Chumley to leave his room, but… Well, we'll keep trying still!"

"See, I told you things would work out just fine, Syrus," I replied in earnest, right as I caught sight of a few Roid cards in the aisle: Shuttleroid, Mixeroid, Carrieroid… And Dragonroid. "… Speaking of which… Hey Sy, look what I found."

His curiosity piqued, Syrus stopped his excited ramblings and walked to see what I was looking at, only for his happiness to peak once more at the sight of the cards in view, particularly the last one. "W-Wow! That's… That's such a powerful card!"

"Yup, and pretty rare too… So, you taking it?"

At first, Syrus didn't answer. However, after a long moment of hesitation, he gave a short nod and pulled from his pocket a small notepad, quickly jotting down the name of all the monsters he saw, plus a few Spell and Trap cards right below them that he most likely thought fit his playstyle. With that done, Syrus turned back to me and gave another, far more cheerful nod, one that I returned before pacing towards the counter. Unfortunately, the line was already quite long by the time we got there, so that meant me and Syrus simply stood in line waiting for our turn, letting our gaze wander across the store. Only moments later, the sound of panting heralded the arrival of Jaden, who was holding in his hands a torn piece of paper with dozens of names scribbled on them. "Hey Jaden, got everything you wanted?"

"Heh, you bet! Look at all these Heroes they have on sale now!" called out Jaden cheerfully, before offering me the paper to read, and which I calmly took. And to my surprise, the list of Heroes really was massive… And filled with Heroes I knew wouldn't exist for years to come.

Knospe, Poison Rose, Solid Soldier, Woodsman, Ice Edge, Liquid Soldier, Ocean, Blazeman, Heat, Lady Heat, Stratos, Prisma, Voltic… Not to mention all the support cards he had seemingly found, too: Change of Hero – Reflector Ray, Elemental Recharge, Fifth Hope, Hero Counterattack, Parallel World Fusion, HERO's Bond, Hero Blast, Rose Bud…

Seriously, these were some powerful cards! How did they make it here…?

… You know, screw it. I gave up on reason the second I saw Anna's Infinitracks.

"Damn, that's a lot of cards, Jaden… You sure you have the cash for it?"

"You bet! I got my savings all ready to go!"

Thankfully, soon it was our turn in the line, and we found ourselves facing Miss Dorothy operating the cash register. "Hello dears!" she called out cheerfully, waving with one hand as we got closer. "What can I do for you three today?"

"Just two, miss Dorothy, I'm not buying today," I replied with a smile, taking a step back to allow Jaden and Syrus to make their purchase. Without a word, both delivered the papers they had written their cards on, and watched as Dorothy quickly scanned over them before walking out to the store floor and fetching all of the chosen cards up, returning with them in a small pile, and scanning them with a speed I was pretty sure an old lady would normally be unable to achieve. Then again, anime.

"Alright, Syrus, your purchase totals up to one hundred and ten dollars," she said with a smile, before turning her attention to Jaden with a look of… Pity?

… Oh no.

"As for you Jaden… Well… Your purchase adds up to five hundred and seventy-four dollars."

I'll be honest, I'm pretty sure I could hear Jaden's heart and soul shattering like glass after Miss Dorothy said that number aloud. And really, who could blame him? Five hundred fucking dollars for a medium amount of cards! I know that the prices for singular cards back home could get insane depending on the meta or rarity, but for fuck's sake!

Meekly, Jaden reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet, taking from within it what seemed to be his debit card and staring at it like a person would stare at a puppy they were about to give away, before slowly inching towards the card machine. Seeing the almost pitiful display, I let out a weary sigh before reaching for my own wallet in my pocket…

"Don't worry, I got it, Jay."

Only to be completely blindsided when Syrus stepped forward, already holding his own card in hand. Before either of us could stop him, the kid swiped his card onto the machine, typed out the password, and watched as both purchases were accepted and the receipt was printed, before taking the bags with their cards inside and passing Jaden's to him.

"Umm… T-Thanks, Sy, but… Can you really afford this?" asked the young man as he looked from his card-filled bag to his smiling roommate.

"Yeah, don't worry about a thing, Jaden! My parents won't mind me using the money they gave me… Especially is if it's for a friend," replied Syrus, before raising his hand with an offered handshake. And after another moment of stunned silence, Jaden returned both the smile and the extended hand, shaking it just firmly enough, before they moved to leave the store and brave the massed students outside.

"Those two sure are good friends, aren't they," mused Miss Dorothy aloud, something that I replied with an amused chuckle and a shake of my head.

"Yeah… They sure are."

"… Oh, right! I have a package to deliver to you, dear!"

The sudden non-sequitur from the old shop owner took me right out of the moment, but before I could question her on it, Dorothy had already disappeared onto the back of the store, leaving me staring quizzically at the space she occupied, before coming back with two unmarked metal briefcases, which she set down on the counter with some effort. "Phew… There we go. The captain said to deliver these to you whenever you passed by."

"To me?" I asked with genuine curiosity before spinning one of the briefcases and cracking it open to see what was—

…

Oh~

"Oh yeah, I was expecting these. Thanks a lot, miss Dorothy," with barely contained glee, before quickly pulling out my wallet and taking fifty dollars from it and putting them on the counter. "All yours, see you around!"

And with that, I ran out of the store as fast as I could, gunning it straight to my room in the Ra Yellow dorm…

And thus, being unaware of the moment Chazz had walked into the store, already making a beeline to the Machine-Type section…

-O-

Meanwhile, at the Obelisk Female Dorm…

While most of the girls were outside, enjoying the weekend and everything the sunny day had to offer, some still were hunkered down in their rooms, finishing homework or studies in preparation for the week soon to start, while others were just sleeping away, blissfully traversing the world of dreams.

But one person was doing none of those things.

With preparations made, Seras lit the last of the candles that littered her room, before calmly pacing back to the spot marked down with the proper seals and symbols. The air hung heavy with the smoke and scents of her incenses, trapped inside thanks to the windows and door being tightly shut, and all the furniture had been pushed to the walls so that the most space would remain cleared. Every step Seras took lightly shifted the ceremonial garbs she wore in lieu of her student uniform, the silk cloth mixing with the smoke to create a mesmerizing, ethereal image that were it to be witnessed by any other, would have left their mind adrift and lost.

Without a word, the girl knelt upon the floor right in the middle of the drawn symbols, and laid her hands atop the only other object next to her: an aged, thick book with a black metal cover inlaid with several silver symbols… Chief of them being the stylized wadjet eye right in the middle. Seras then carefully opened the book, daintily flipping through the pages until she reached the desired one, before letting the now open tome rest on the floor and slumping her body forward…

Mukashi no chie to chishiki o motte iru senzo no tamashī… yami no naka ni hisomu kiken o manoatari ni shi, mukō ni aru mono ni me o muke sasete kureru

Only to violently throw her body back, the ink printed upon the pages of the book moving from them to travel up Seras' arm and across her body, while the smoke pervading the room began to swirl and the flames of the candles danced chaotically as they threatened to go out. The girl's mouth hung open, her body spasming here and there as the ink threatened to overtake her skin completely, and her pupils each split into two as they shook violently…

And in a moment, everything stopped. The ink retreated back into the book as it was slammed shut with such force that the smoke was blasted away and all the candles were put out, leaving Seras to lurch forward just as sharply as before, sweat dripping from her body as she violently gasped for air, the euphoria and exhilaration leaving her just as her eyes returned to normal… And a wild, ecstatic grin spread across her face.

Ten minutes later, properly washed and redressed with her student clothes, Seras took off to the Ra Yellow dorm.

-O-

"Phew… All done."

With a sigh, I leaned back in my chair and let my head hang over the back rest while my arms hung limply beside me. As soon as I had gotten to my dorm, locked the door and windows and made sure that nobody was around to peep on whatever I was doing, only then did I dare to fully open the briefcases that miss Dorothy had delivered to me.

Briefcases marked with the Illusion Industries logo, and one of which held a note addressed to me.

To Drake Atlas,

As requested by the representatives of Illusion Industries, Sigmund and Roderick Pegasus, KaibaCorp's Special Security Forces have performed the escort and delivery of the assets now in your possession. As of this moment, KaibaCorp will not be held accountable for damage, theft or loss of the assets currently contained within the utilized containers.

KaibaCorp sends its regards, and thanks you for choosing Duel Academy as your institution of education.

It was short, concise, and more than a bit cold, but the note itself was of little importance. The contents, on the other hand, were worth their weight in gold and jewels both to me and anyone else who found them. And as I leaned back forward picked up and examined what was probably this world' first and only copy of Cyber Eternity Dragon from within the briefcase, I couldn't help but smile in satisfaction as I realized why Pegasus had taken so long to modify two Decks: because it was not the only thing he had been working on.

Honestly, I don't know why he didn't mention doing this before or even why he focused on reworking these cards instead of my own, active use ones, but whatever the reasonings I wouldn't question them for now. Maybe later, if I ever got in touch with him or his sons again, I'd pop the question and get some answers.

But instead, throughout the rest of the day, I had done the one thing I could do with these cards: separate them into "care packages" for everyone.

Granted, it hadn't been me to choose these cards, but instead -Null- themselves, so I didn't have any idea of what exactly they had sent to me. Only when I finished separating the cards based on what character used them did I realize one big detail of the cards chosen: they were only for people who already existed in GX. There were E and D-Heroes, Neo-Spacians, Cyber Dragons and Angels, A-to-Z, Magnets… So many archetypes, all of them geared to "main characters" or related. Some seemed to be missing, but I simply chalked it up to Pegasus not delivering everything in one batch and not risk any curious peeps trying to nab some "rare cards" for themselves, and besides, what I had was more than enough.

Still, this did bring up the problem of how I would give these to everyone. I couldn't really just show up with cards for their personal decks that were stronger than anything they used previously, and act like they were not a big deal. No, this would take subtlety and tact…

Something that I lacked in massive amounts.

So for now, all I could do was stash these away, and wait for the perfect opportunity to present itself… Whatever that would be. Maybe when Sheppard called them up to defend the keys… I could play it off somehow as reinforcements or whatever…

With another sigh, I put back Cyber Eternity Dragon on the "Zane package" (and hoo boy, imagine having to get these delivered to Zane without getting him OR Sheppard suspicious), closed the briefcase, then looked at the clock in my wall. It was 11pm.

"Damn, already this late?" I muttered as I pushed myself off the chair and carried the briefcase to my bed. Slowly, I got on all fours and took hold of a board in the floor that I had, admittedly haphazardly, ripped off to reveal an empty space beneath the flooring of the room. I then squeezed the briefcase as carefully as I could onto the hole, making sure it was within reach of my hand but just away enough from view, before placing the broken board back in place and standing up. "Shower, then bed… Crowler's gonna kill me if I'm late to class…"

Knock-knock-knock

Unfortunately, it seemed someone had decided to pay me a late-night visit. Grumbling a few muttered curses, I threw on my shirt and dorm jacket that I had tossed onto the bed earlier in the day before going to the beach, then dragged myself over to the door, trying to rub the drowsiness off my face as I once more heard the person knock. "I'm going! I'm going, sheesh…"

And so, I opened the door… And was met with the presence of Seras Augur, standing at my doorway with that same aura of mystery and nobility I had seen on her.

… Well, at least before our duel.

Still, tired as I was, the most I managed in response to seeing her was a yawn and a rub of my eyes, before scratching my head and pushing my hair off my face. "Seras…? What are you doing here…?"

"Greetings, mister Atlas," she spoke in that same impeccable tone of hers, taking a quick bow to greet me before returning to her normal posture. "I have come bearing news that are of utmost importance to you."

"News…? What—yaaaaaaaaaawn— What do you mean, news? And can't it wait until tomorrow?"

"Trust me, mister Atlas, it cannot."

A small corner of my mind registered how seriously she seemed to have spoken that last phrase, but amidst the haze of sleep that clouded the rest of my mind, said realization went unnoticed. Instead, I let out another yawn, then propped myself against the door arch, arms crossed and eyes half-lidded as I stared at the Obelisk student. "Alright then… Let's hear it."

All traces of tiredness left my body and mind, however, being instead replaced with alertness and what was most likely an industrial dose of adrenaline when I saw Seras' pupils duplicate, followed by her pointing directly at the forest of Academy Island, before speaking her "news".

"Your friends face darkness and treachery amidst the ruins of a crime most foul, all in the name of rescuing one whose loss is tied to events of the past. Hurry, and you may still witness their struggle."

Literally seconds later, I was running out of the Ra Yellow dorm with my Duel Disk around my arm and as fast as my legs could physically push me forward into the woods, with Seras following me closely behind.

-O-

FuckfuckfuckfuckfuckFUCK!

Following the old, beaten trail of dirt that led into the woods wasn't hard by any measure, but when my mind was in the middle of having a panic attack, it felt like a small miracle that I didn't just run in a straight line trying to find the Abandoned Dorm.

And really, could you blame me? I might not know how she knew about it, but Seras had found it useful to warn me in a cryptic, roundabout way that Alexis had just been kidnapped at the Abandoned Dorm.

But how?! And why?! Crowler wasn't the cartoonish fop he was in the series, and he didn't have a hate-boner against Jaden, so Titan had NO FUCKING REASON to show up at Duel Academy! Was this the canon trying to force itself into conformity or something?! However, that train of thought was quickly interrupted by another runaway train: that it might not be Titan currently at the dorm… And that was even more terrifying to me. Because if it was Titan, then we'd be dealing at most with a charlatan pretending to be a Shadow Duelist, and would only have smoke, mirrors and a rigged Duel Vest as a threat.

But if it wasn't him… If this was some other Shadow Duelist or enemy, then it meant I'd be flying in completely fucking blind. I had already made myself highly suspicious to Seras by running to the place of danger without her telling me where it was, but honestly, I'd place the safety of these kids above my cover any day. And besides, I had an inkling of a feeling that Seras didn't really care about my blunder… For better or for worse.

So in the end, whatever happened inside that god-forsaken place, I'd have to deal with it either alone or alongside whoever was present for it… And pray that nobody got harmed.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity of running, the old, decrepit building that was the Abandoned Dorm began to enter our field of view, something that only made me push myself even harder towards it. Only when I was standing in front of the closed-off gate did I let myself stop, drawing in oxygen through still-panicked and gasping breaths as I desperately surveyed my surroundings. And just like I expected, the place was as quiet as a grave, with only the rustling leaves and the whistling wind to disturb the silence that pervaded the area.

And yet… Something felt wrong. So once more, I scanned over the area, making sure to triple-check every centimeter of the grounds surrounding the Dorm… And once more, nothing.

"Dammit…" I muttered, my hands clenching tightly into fists. "Are we too late…?"

"That is not the case, mister Atlas," called out Seras as she slowed her pace and moved to stand next to me, somehow neither winded nor ruffled by the intense running we had just done. "A dark presence still lingers in this place, whispers of ill omens echoing in the air." As calmly as ever, Seras walked past me and kneeled upon the ground, and when she rose up, something was in her hand, something that made my heart sink.

It was a single red rose.

And that's when a terrified, shrill scream echoed out of the dorm.

Without hesitation, I leapt over the chained-off gate and dashed straight into the dorm, shoulder-checking the door hard enough that it swung like a hammer onto the wall and drew the attention of the three people standing in the middle of the dust-covered atrium: Syrus, Chumley and Jaden, all of them holding flashlights and pointing them straight at me.

"Drake?! What are you doing here?!" called out Jaden with a rare tone of worry in his voice. However, I didn't have time for pleasantries, so I opted instead for running into the building proper and right up to them, followed only moments later by Seras.

"No time for that!" I shouted back, my head already on a swivel as I looked at our surroundings. "What the hell was that scream?! Where did it come from?!"

"I-It came from deeper in the dorm!" replied Syrus somewhat fearfully, his flashlight turning towards a short hall that, indeed, led deeper into the Abandoned Dorm. "And… And I think that was Alexis' voice!"

That was all we needed to hear. As one, our newly made party ran in the direction Syrus had pointed towards, quickly finding ourselves above a small common room filled with tarp-covered furniture and broken masonry… And a single Duel Monsters card laying face-down in a spot where something clearly had been dragged away from and down what seemed to be a mining tunnel that led downwards and away from the room.

Without hesitation, Jaden ran down the stairs two steps at a time until he reached the fallen card, carefully picking it up and turning it to see, then towards us so we could see what card it was.

It was Etoile Cyber.

"Hey… Isn't that one of Alexis' cards?" asked Chumley with just a hint of apprehension in his voice. In lieu of answering him, however, I chose to run down the stairs and check the ground itself, peering at the drag trail that led into the tunnel before quickly taking off down its length, the sound of stomping behind me confirming the others were following. And while I didn't have a flashlight, the tunnel was both wide and tall enough that the light of the Slifers' flashlights managed to arc around me and illuminate the path forward as we dashed madly down the excavated tunnel, until finally we reached yet another open room.

But unlike the others, this place clearly had nothing to do with the dorm, or at least originally. Uneven rock formed the walls and ceiling, while a surprisingly smooth stone surface carved with strange indentations made up the floor of the room, and several ancient, mystic-looking statues lined the surroundings of the room at uneven intervals.

But the only thing that mattered to me at that moment was the figure clad in a black trench coat and hat, with a metal mask hiding their face and a dangerous-looking Duel Vest strapped to their chest, standing right beside a familiar coffin that held the unconscious shape of Alexis Rhodes. And that was a sight that made my blood positively boil.

"Welcome, you young children, to the last Duel of your lives. For I, Titan, shall drown your souls in eternal darkness."

~O~

Holy fucking SHIT.

This took TOO LONG. And I have no idea WHY.

Still, I made it. One last chapter before the end of the year… Even if I AM posting this at 4 in the fucking morning.

Now, I don't really have a whole lot to say, other than two things: first, is that soon I'll be commissioning my first-ever piece of art for my fics, that being a ref sheet for Drake himself, and all thanks to the support of folks who joined up my (I can't say the name of the website otherwise FFnet censors it, but you know the one. It's the one that starts with Pat and ends with on).

And the second thing… Is precisely related to that.

You all have been following my stories for the last two years, both the ones I stuck to and the ones I ended up leaving behind. And when I made the leap and opened up the (same website name) page, and saw just how many people ended up pledging… It meant the WORLD to me. It showed that my decision to stick to my guns with writing wasn't a mistake, and that my efforts had drawn in the attention and praise of so many people across the entire world. Even throughout the absolute shitstorm that were the last few months, all of you decided to continue supporting my writing.

And for that, I am truly, eternally thankful. Words cannot express how absurdly grateful I am to have found a viewership as fantastic as you folks.

That is why I decided to shift gears with what the pledge money shall be used for: from now on, the PRIMARY goal of the pledge money will be to give back to you all in the shape of artwork for these fanfics, so that I can pay back all the love you guys have shown, even if by just a fraction of it.

And with 2022 coming up, you better believe I'll keep going no matter what.

Next time, a fated duel! The herald of shadows makes his move against our heroes!

Stay frost folks, stay safe, and to all of you, I wish a happy and prosperous year.