Most people spend their holidays cozying up in their homes and enjoying time with their loved ones. Not many would willingly choose to trek towards a haunted house on a cold, winter night, with people they barely knew.

Among that list of exceptional people were Jaden Yuki, Alexis Rhodes, and Wilona Konami. This unlikely trio made their way to Abandoned Dorms. They also almost lost their souls there and were nearly damned in a place that was similar-but-not-quite to hell.

Wilona wondered why she seemed to be the only person who didn't want to return there when she believed there was already enough reason to stay away from that place beside it being forbidden by the school.

"I'm a little surprised that you're still wearing your blazer," The green-haired girl motioned to Jaden. Wilona and Alexis were no longer in their uniforms and simply wore normal winter clothes like boots, pants, and thicker jackets. However, Jaden still wore his school uniform even though there was no need for him to wear it anymore. "Aren't you cold in that?"

"No sweat! I'm A-OK!" Jaden gave a thumbs up. "Besides, I think this blazer is super cool!"

"You two, focus," Alexis lead ahead with a flashlight. "We're almost at the Abandoned Dorms."

"Rhodes, are you sure this is a good idea? The last time we went there, we almost got trapped in," The young teen had trouble in describing the event they all nearly lost their souls in. "Not-hell."

"We're just going to check around for any more clues on where the missing students went. Honest might be able to find something we missed." After that, everyone turned to the see-through angel among their group.

"I was there before that place fell to darkness, perhaps there is something I can do to pinpoint those who were lost." Even though Honest seemed sensitive to magical energies, it didn't feel right that even he wasn't fully aware of what was going on.

"Aww, yeah! A rescue mission! If I knew school was going to be like this, I would have been more excited to come here sooner!" Jaden Yuki punched the air, obviously and obliviously looking over the fact that he could potentially be damned for eternity.

Again.

Wilona looked around, trying to find anyone with a sane mind among their group.

Jaden turned when he heard the sound of cooing. "Oh come on, Buddy, it can't be that bad as last time."

It spoke volumes that the only other sensible person was a floating, winged, hairy ball with eyes.

The green-haired girl sighed in resignation. Though, she kept her eye on Alexis. Ever since the blonde girl approached her and Jaden, Wilona could tell something's been bothering Alexis. Wilona just didn't know what it was. She also knew she couldn't leave her alone with Jaden, considering he's the last person you want to help avoid trouble.

So as the saying went, if you can't beat them, join them. "When Yuki and I were trying to find Huffington and Truesdale, we passed by a lot of strange, inscribed rocks. I'm under the impression those ancient boulders might have something to do with where everyone went."

"We'll check there then. Do you remember—" Alexis froze like a deer in headlights before she shut off her flashlight then grabbed Wilona and Jaden towards a tree.

"Al—" The Obelisk Blue girl put her finger over her lips and silenced Jaden before he could even finish speaking her name.

Alexis motioned behind the tree, to where the Abandoned Dorms should have been. Wilona and Jaden didn't know what to expect, but they weren't expecting to spot around half a dozen figures, holding lanterns, walking into the Abandoned Dorms before them.

"Whoa!? Wha—" Two different hands covered over Jaden Yuki's mouth. Two girls silenced him before they checked to see if there were any more of those stranged robed people.

When it seemed clear, Wilona spoke again in a shout-whisper. "I thought you said there would be almost no one on the island!?"

"I wasn't wrong!" Alexis whisper-shouted back. "There was almost no one on the island except Professor Banner and Miss Fontaine!" She looked back to the Abandoned Dorms. Instead of fear, her two human friends see determination, and what they hope isn't anger on her face despite the darkness of the night. "We need to go after them!"

"I'm sorry; what!?" Was Wilona the only one who thought that chasing after a group of cloaked strangers as three teenagers was a bad idea?

At that point, Jaden decided to remove the hands clamped over his mouth."Alright, I came prepared for this!" Jaden removed his bag and quickly took out his Duel Disk and slipped it on. "We'll challenge those guys to a duel and get answers after we beat them!"

Correction, to Wilona, Jaden had the worse idea. "I despise the fact your answer to everything is to duel it to submission." Even in the darkness, they could all feel Wilona glaring.

"But it works!"

"And that is the crux of my hate."

"Guys, focus," Alexis looked over to Wilona. "You brought a bag too, Wilona. What did you bring?"

The lone girl from the Slifer Red Dorms took out a familiar, but a small object. "I brought a taser?"

"A taser? What are you going to do with that?"

"Defend myself," And ponder the possibility of accidentally hitting Jaden. Of course, she wouldn't do it. But that didn't mean Wilona wouldn't entertain the thought, no matter how tempting it may be.

"Huh," Alexis also entertained the idea of self-defense and/or violence. "Do you have a spare?"

Even though Wilona tossed Alexis another one, she did say, "Maybe we should go back, stay where it safe and come back later?"

Alexis wasn't thinking about that. Something was going on, and maybe an actual clue to where her brother went missing was finally here! She wouldn't miss this chance!

"No! We need to go now!" Alexis almost forgot she was supposed to be whispering.

Wilona had this look of fear on her face as she said, "Rhodes, I don't think we're ready for this!"

She's not ready for it.

The words from a president returned with a vengeance. And Anger flashed over Alexis's features. "No one's asking you to come, Wilona! I need to find my brother!"

With that, she stormed after the robed men. Silence filled the air as Wilona just stood there, watching Alexis blaze ahead.

Jaden knew he had to speak now. "I'll... talk to her." That was all he could offer before running after Alexis. Being one of the more athletic students, it was easy for him to catch up with Alexis despite her head start. Granted, Alexis needed to slow down in the dark or else she might trip.

"Don't you think that was kinda harsh?"

"If Wilona doesn't want to be here, she doesn't need to come!" The Obelisk Blue girl moved slightly faster.

"Wilona complains a lot, but she's also a good friend." Jaden Yuki almost always came short when it came to academic grades, but his heart was bigger than most people expected it to be. "I think she's just worried about us, Alexis. I'm worried too. I've never seen ya like this."

If anything, Alexis' eyes softened. However, as they reached the Abandoned Dorms, that softness died. "We need to be quiet." As they slowed down, it was enough for Wilona to catch up and follow the others silently into the dorm.

When they entered the old building, the air was different than before. Perhaps it was because it was a winter night that the supposedly haunted dorms were colder and darker than before. Or maybe, something else was completely amiss.

The three teens soon heard the sound of distant... chanting? They heard the faint sound of voices repeating some phrase over and over again. It almost sounded like a...

"No way, an evil cult?!" A normal person would say that in fear at the prospect of facing a group of insane zealots. Jaden Yuki was as excited as a young child on Christmas morning.

As Jaden Yuki imagined an epic duel with an evil cult, Wilona pointed ahead. "It's coming from that place you dueled that masked yahoo."

Jaden snapped out of his thoughts. "Huh. You know, I never got his name."

"Focus guys," Alexis moved ahead towards the chanting. Even though she was doing her best to be quiet, she could barely hear anything over her heart beating like a war drum. This felt like a chance to finally figure out where her brother went! "We need to get closer."

The others followed Alexis as she snuck into the room and quickly hid behind a rock. The center of the room was littered with dimly lit candles placed in a circle with a hooded figure stationed between each gap. In the center, a man was raising his hands out while chanting strange words the teens never heard before.

"Teag Teh Noep! Teag Teh Noep!" They repeated in an almost trance-like state.

The three students hid behind their rock. "Okay, what do we do now?" Wilona asked again.

"Isn't it obvious?" The two girls turned to Jaden priming his duel disk.

No matter how fast they tried to get to him, Jaden jumped up on the rock they were hiding behind and shouted, "Alright, cult freaks! It's time to throw down and get your game on!"

"If the cult doesn't kill us, I'm killing him." "I'm helping you." Wilona and Alexis whispered under one breath.

Anything could happen at that moment. What did happen was that the cultists all screamed like girls after Jaden challenged them.

The three students watched with varying levels of surprise as some of the cultists ran into each other, while another cultist was so scared that he jumped into the arms of another cultist. Overall, they looked more pathetic than a while ago, which betrayed the foreboding image from before.

"Guys! Chill!" The leader cried out before he removed his hood, revealing... a normal looking guy with long black hair and glasses. "Is that Jaden Yuki? What are you doing here?"

"Uh, challenging you to a duel for answers?"

"What!?" The student yelled before he shook his head and pointed at him. "I thought the school almost kicked you out for coming here, why are you back!?"

"Hold on, Tori Barez?" Wilona followed by Alexis walked out from behind the rock. "You're in my economics class. What are you doing here?"

"Hey, you're that Slifer Red girl!" Tori pointed to her before looking to Wilona's left. "And you're Alexis Rhodes!"

"I'm confused."

"I'm on the same page as Jaden." Alexis concurred. "And I never thought I'd say that."

"Okay, the truth is," Tori began as other supposed cultists removed their hoods and revealed themselves to be normal students like the three. "We're the Occult Club. After Jaden Yuki there made the Abandoned Dorms public knowledge, we decided to stay over the winter break and investigate this place for any paranormal activity."

"You call that investigating?!" Wilona motioned to the chanting, the candles, and the robes.

"We're not investigating!" Another robed club member exclaimed. "We're trying to harness the dark powers of this place to summon a real Duel Monster!"

"How is that any better?!" Wilona screamed while Alexis and Jaden looked over to Honest and Winged Kuriboh.

"W-Well what are you three doing here!?"

"I asked Rhodes and Yuki here to help out with some Music Club activities for the future. On our way to the school building, we spotted a bunch of weirdoes heading to the Abandoned dorms and decided to follow."

"Wait, I thought we—" This time, Alexis was able to shut Jaden up before he did something reckless. They didn't want to alarm students that there were actual missing students here.

"So tell you what," Wilona continued speaking. "I doubt you want to be put in an expulsion duel just like Yuki was, so let's all agree that we saw no one here. At all."

If there was ever a time to thank Dr. Crowler for being so over the top, now was the time. Because of that stunt that he tried to pull with Syrus and Jaden, the students think that's how the school punishes all the rule-breakers.

Even though it was dimly lit, Alexis and Jaden spotted the fear across the Occult Club's face.

"O-Okay!" Tori quickly agreed without thinking too much about why they were there.

"Great, now if you'll excuse us. We have a dingy old house to inspect." Wilona turned back to her acquaintances.

"I guess... we'll go back to summoning a real Duel Monster?" Tori looked around his other club members who just shrugged their shoulders. One of them dropped the guy who jumped into his arms.

"Try not to damn your souls." The green-haired girl waved goodbye before motioning to her other two friends. "Come, let's leave."

As the other three started to leave from the bizarre interaction, Jaden realized something as the Occult Club continued their chanting. "Uhh, shouldn't we do something about that weird chanting?"

"Since I found out that they're wearing bathrobes and using scented bath candles, they probably got that stuff from the internet. I doubt it's anything legitimate."

"But Lady Wilona," Honest flew closer to them. "I've been feeling a strange spike of dark energy in the air!"

Before Wilona could say anything, Tori shouted out, "Now to finalize our spell!" Tori took out a kitchen knife and pricked his middle finger.

It took the other three a second to realize Tori was about to pour blood into unholy ruins. Once more, they didn't act fast enough.

A drop of blood fell onto the floor. Then a red light exploded from the symbols and swallowed everyone in the area whole. Everyone except Wilona screamed in panic. Wilona found a way to sigh in exasperation as the dark blood magic consumed her and the others.

[Tag Force: Heroes and Villains.]

Warmth.

Alexis opened her eyes and saw the ceiling of a cabin. That couldn't be right. The last thing she saw was... she shot up from the... bed? She was on a bed?!

Because Alexis was so distracted, she didn't notice someone walking into the room. "Ahh, you're awake!"

He was a man with green hair with a streak of white hair. He wore glasses, but he wore clothes as if he was some kind of Duel Monster's card, specifically a Spellcaster.

"I m terribly sorry for the mess. I wasn't expecting visitors, let alone ones that fell from the sky! Furthermore, I didn't expect said visitors to be humans from the legendary world of Earth! Your existence has already disproved half-a-dozen thesis written by those twits in The Magic Citadel and has confirmed my theory that the—"

"W-Who are you!?" Alexis shouted as the man kept muttering a mile a minute.

"Oh, apologies about that," The cloaked man with a staff gave a bow. "I am Aleister, and I am training to be an Invoker."

"Ah what?" Alexis got out of bed and looked around. The last thing she remembered was the Occult club... wait! "Where are my friends!?"

Alexis saw Aleister wince at the mention. her instincts told her that staying here was a bad idea after seeing that reaction. "R-Right! There were more of you. I wanted to bring you all here, I really did—"

The Obelisk Blue girl got out of her bed and ran past the weird man. As she got out of the room, she wasn't expecting to see Wilona sitting on a dining table with Honest.

"Oh, Rhodes, you're awake. Splendid." The green-haired girl then continued drinking her tea.

"W-Wait! Oh good, you waited!" Aleister acted too late as he entered into the living room of that cabin. "You're friend is awake!"

"I know." Wilona was monotone in her answer. Alexis raised her brow. From what she knew about Wilona, she would only get this way when someone, namely a certain Slifer Red, got too much on her nerves. In other words, she was angry right now with her small talk. But why?

"Rhodes, sit down, the tea is getting cold." Wilona motioned to a chair nearby her.

"What? Wilona where's—" "Trust me, Rhodes, you are going to need to sit down for this."

Wilona's spoke with a finality that made the blonde girl sit down. As she did, she looked over to Honest...

"Hey, Honest? Why do you look so solid?" Alexis eyed the Duel Spirit before Wilona started drinking her tea as if it was alcohol.

"Because we're in the Spirit World, Lady Alexis." Honest began before he took a cup and handed it over to Alexis.

That answer brought up more questions instead of satisfying the Obelisk Blue. "What?"

"Rhodes," Wilona poured herself another cup. "Look outside that window."

Why would looking out a window explain any...

"Why are there 3 suns?"

"Keep looking."

"Why are there rivers floating in the sky!? Is that cliff moving and made of steel!?"

"Keep looking."

"Are those Duel Monsters flying out there!?"

"Here's your tea." Wilona pushed the drink to a startled Alexis as she continued drinking hers in some vain attempt to get drunk despite being a minor.

Alexis followed Wilona's action and only received a burnt tongue for her efforts.

"Impressive! I had no idea humans could consume hot liquids so easily!" Aleister exclaimed as he wrote in his notebook with all the fury of a man writing a book at the last minute.

"Um?" As Alexis calmed down, she looked around and saw no sign of Jaden, even Winged Kuriboh. "Hey, where is everyone else?" This cabin seemed too small to house Jaden and the rest of the occult club.

After that question, she noticed Wilona pressing her hand harder into her forehead.

Wilona started with a deep breath as if she was about to break the world record of holding one's breath underwater.

"Okay, Rhodes, you missed a lot. Let me tell you about our entrance into the Spirit World... AND HOW YUKI GOT ABDUCTED BY BLOODY ALIENS!"

{Author Notes}

And scene! This is what I was waiting for! After a long self-debate, and horrible writer's block, I've finally finished this short prologue of a mini-arc!

In this story, we're having Jaden and some friends enter into the Spirit world early! They're actually going to have an adventure in here long before season 3, and the spirit world and human world tie-in are going to play a major part in this story.

Thanks so much for the support, guys! I really do appreciate your reviews.