Alexis woke up to the sound of groaning. As she did, she found herself still in the nurse's office.

But the groaning didn't come from her. It came from her brother. Alexis' eyes widened as she slowly watched her brother's eyes open. Her heart stopped beating as those familiar eyes turned to her. For the longest second in the world, Atticus stared at her before he spoke his first words, "Lexi?"

Alexis couldn't hold her emotions back anymore. "Atticus, you're awake!" she hugged her brother.

She, nor Atticus, spotted the duel spirit, Honest, nearby watching with confusion on his face. The angel duel monster didn't understand; why did Atticus look so familiar to him?

[Tag Force: Heroes and Villains.]

Wilona followed Alexis towards the nurses' office.

"It's good to know your brother is awake, Rhodes."

"I know. I have so many questions to ask. Thanks for coming with me, Wilona. I tried to find Mindy and Jasmine, but I couldn't spot them anywhere."

"Speaking of finding people, I've noticed Honest has also been hovering over Atticus ever since we hospitalized him. It's come to the point where he also never leaves his side. Whenever I ask him, he simply says he doesn't understand himself."

"Does it have to do something with Yusuke? I never really focused on Honest because..."

"I understand that you had your own things to worry about." Wilona brushed some of her hair into her hat. "Besides, I got tired of you mopping at a hospital bed for these past few days."

"Okay, okay, I get it."

As the two female students entered the nurse's office, they noticed something. Or rather, they noticed a lack of something.

"Where's my brother!?" Alexis screamed when she saw the empty bed.

"Ah, Ms. Rhodes! Ms. Konami!" The new school nurse, a woman with long brown hair, walked up to the two. "If you're here for Mr. Rhodes, I'm afraid you just missed him."

"Missed him!?" Alexis yelled once more, even scaring Wilona for a second there. "Where is he!?"

The nurse held her clipboard tightly. "I-If I recall, he said something along the lines of 'catching some cool waves and reuniting with hot babes'. His words, not mine."

Wilona made a face. "What?"

Alexis stared in horrified realization. "No, no, no! Why did he have to remember that!?" She started sprinting away with speeds that were impressive for a girl in high heels and a mini-skirt. "I'm going to drag that idiot back here myself!"

"R-Rhodes? Rhodes!?" Wilona was understandably surprised at the reaction of her friend. She looked back at the nurse, "Sorry, Ms. Thorn! We'll see you later!"

The nurse shivered as the two girls left the room. "Right, we're not dueling her for the key."

[Tag Force: Heroes and Villains]

Alexis and Wilona eventually went to the nearest beach. The two girls spotted a crowd of cooing fangirls.

"Rhodes," Wilona gasped after the sprint. "I'm going to need some context."

"Okay, so," Alexis sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "I love my brother, but I forgot how insufferable he was."

Wilona raised her brow. "In what regard?"

Instead of an answer, the two girls heard the other female students squeal in delight. A shame it sounded more like nails to a chalkboard to the two Music Club members.

Wilona opened her eyes and followed the line of sight for the other girls. "Hold on a tick, are they looking at the sea? ... Rhodes, your brother is surfboarding the morning after he woke up from a coma."

"If he keeps this up, I'm going to put him back into a coma," Alexis growled.

The two students raced up to the beach. They watched Alexis' brother come in from the beach, wiping the hair off his head like a scene from a famous beach series.

Atticus, after parting his soaked green hair, spotted his sister and waved. "Hey, sissy! I was looking for ya!"

"Apparently, not that hard," Alexis mumbled as Atticus saluted goodbye to his adoring fans, some of those fans including Mindy and Jasmine.

"Why hello there," Atticus' voice turned to velvet as he looked to Wilona. "My name is Atticus Rhodes. Thank you for taking care of my sister while I was away." He finished with a smile that could make others swoon.

"Atticus, stop it." Rhodes sighed before she looked at Wilona. She was surprised her usually down-to-earth friend was looking away. "Wilona!?"

"What!?" When the light-green-haired Slifer girl turned back, Alexis was ticked off to find her friend's face flushing. Wilona would never say that her brother was as handsome as Alexis was pretty. And Alexis was considered the prettiest girl in school! What kind of genes did their family have?!

Rhodes shook her head and looked at her brother. "Why did you leave the nurse's office?!"

"I felt a little stuffy!" The spiky-green-haired whined. "And I talked with the nurse about looking around. She did a few checks and told me I could walk around."

"Without supervision!?" Alexis cried out.

"Uhhhh," Wilona and Alexis spotted Mindy and Jasmine waiting at the corner. "We uh thought you were at the nurse's office that morning and ran into your brother?" Jasmine offered. It was implied they were the ones who supervised Atticus. By their flushed faces, it was more for their interests than his.

"Why the beach then!?"

"Hey, hey! Don't worry, sis!" Atticus raised his hands out to his sister. "I asked the ladies if I could board again. Punish me, not them, for their kindness."

"Atticus!" Mindy and Jasmine swooned towards Atticus, much to Alexis' annoyance.

Alexis was losing her patience, fast.

"Should I be surprised this is the first thing you do waking up?" Everyone followed the voice up to see Seika and Zane atop the cliff.

Atticus' eyes widened before lifting a hand up. "Seika! Zane! Good to see my best friends!"

"Yeah, best friends! It's good to see you again!" Seika had a smile on her face that looked too forced.

For the first time, Atticus looked nervous. He found himself laughing nervously under the gaze of the president. "Uhh, so what's up?"

"Did I ever pay you back for tricking me into running for the student council?" Seika's smile grew dark.

Atticus found his wet suit very tight around his neck for some reason. He tried to relieve his neck, but no matter what he did, he found it hard to breathe. "I-I mean, of course! A dinner of thanks by the lovely queen president of duel academy would make me the envy of the whole school!"

Zane's mouth did its best not to move, but his mouth traitorously found his corners curving upward every other second after he forced them down.

"As much as I would like to continue hearing this conversation," Zane spoke up. "Chancellor Sheppard wants some words with you, Atticus."

Atticus sighed in relief when Seika dropped her glare. "Right. I'll say all that I can, but it's not much."

[Tag Force: Heroes and Villains.]

"So," Paradox crossed his legs as he sat in the air. "The next challengers are the seventh and the sixth riders, huh?"

First, Third, and Eighth were silent as The Second kept talking.

"Oh, boo!" Paradox huffed as he noticed his audience. "You're all such sticklers! We've only lost two, and already we're down to such droll people!"

Silence was the answer to his complaint.

"Fine! At least the seventh and sixth riders are doing something fun! I'm going to watch them!" With that, he vanished from the pocket dimension.

...

...

...

"That one," The third began. "Is dangerous."

"We are all dangerous." The First Shadow Rider pointed out.

"Wrong, all of us have goals." The 3rd narrowed his eyes. "I'm more than convinced he's gaining more from the chaos of this war than the prize itself." He turned to the remaining members. "You two are just as suspicious."

First folded his arms. "What gave you that idea?"

"Fifth, Second, Seventh, Sixth, and I. Our goals are simple enough to figure out even if some won't say them. You two and Second have harder to read goals, and that makes me suspicious of you."

For the first time, Eighth spoke up. "You're suspicious of us simply because you can't figure us out?"

"Do not act as if you haven't been snooping around those you find suspicious as well. You are a rude soul. ... Or would you like to be referred to as souls?"

The air shifted in the pocket dimension when the 8th heard that last word.

"Enough! Both of you!" The First snapped. "If you're that bothered, duel each other for all I care."

Third huffed before he vanished. Eighth made his way—

"Have we met before?" The First asked before The Eighth left. "Something about you feels familiar."

Eighth looked back briefly before walking away from the Pocket Dimension.

The First was quiet as he watched The Eighth rider leave.

"They are quite the bunch, are they not?"

The First did not turn to the new voice. "I do not like this. The remaining ones are all wild cards and can threaten the plan."

"You're not wrong. Those three might be on to us. We'll have to move cautiously but swiftly before the sharper and wilder members of the Shadow Riders do something drastic." The stranger mused out loud. "For now, it's easy to see what the Seventh Rider is doing, but what is the Sixth one doing?"

"She is making her preparations simply because she is sure the seventh will fail. I do not fault her logic, but I do question her methods." The first did a combination of a scoff and a laugh. "Everyone here may have underestimated her."

"How so?"

"Because unlike the others so far, she's not attacking the Key Keepers, she's attacking the rules."

[Tag Force: Heroes and Villains]

After several exciting days, Chazz placed the Black Scorpion cards on a table.

Zane, Seika, Jaden, Jesse, Alexis, Syrus, Chumley, Belowski, and Wilona were with Princeton in the empty Music Room.

"We're the Dark Scorpions!" The defeated spirits posed dramatically and did roll call—

"Can it! This is serious!" Chazz interrupted before clearing his throat. "I want you guys to tell us about everything you know about the remaining Shadow Riders."

"Wait, wasn't that Wilona's idea?" Jesse blurted out. "You're makin' it sound like it was your idea, Chazzy!"

"Not now!" Chazz turned back to the Black Scorpions. "Since you're no longer a part of the Shadow Riders, you can start telling us about our remaining opponents!"

Don Zaloog stood up. "Well, Children, I am nothing if not honorable in defeat. I will grant your request."

Seika raised her brow before she whispered to Zane. "I know because of Camula, you and I can see Spirits now. But does that Spirit sound like Chris...?"

She was interrupted. "We will begin with the first! A strange masked being!"

"Uh, Boss? All of the remaining Shadow Riders are masked," Gorg The Strong interrupted.

"They were? I couldn't see because of their massive shoulder pads and staunched clothing." Chick The Yellow scratched his cheek.

"We wore disguises, but those guys were practically cosplaying." Cliff The Trap Remover commented.

"Can we please focus!?" Meanae The Thorn reached for her whip.

It took a long time, but The Dark Scorpion revealed all they knew about the Shadow Riders, but it amounted to nothing but wasted time as all the Dark Scorpions argued with each other on how they saw each Shadow Rider. They didn't reveal any names.

"Wait! Perhaps, there is one thing!" Don Zaloog finally shouted. "The Rider after us, that witch-looking woman! I remember an interesting comment before we attempted our turn."

Now that was the first time the Keepers might learn something valuable.

"Before we left the Pocket Dimension where we meet, The Sixth Shadow Rider complained that everything was going too slowly for her tastes." Don Zaloog folded his arms. "She's planning something different from the others, and she claimed to take the turn after us if we failed."

"Different?" Chazz asked. "Different how?"

"Your guess is as good as mine." The Leader of the Dark Scorpions began.

Zane narrowed his eyes. "You all described the Sixth Shadow Rider dressed like a witch?"

"She was real pretty for a witch!" Gorg spoke up.

Cliff seemed to realize something. "Now that you mention it, she looked like a witch, but she wore a lot of bright colors. Bright colors and witches don't usually go together."

"There was something off about her, though," Meanae held her chin. "I don't know what it was, but she rubbed me off the wrong way."

Seika, after hearing that, stood up. "Alright, I'll keep my ears open up for any signs of witches. Everyone who still has a key needs to double their guard..." She looked at the group and blinked once. "Hey? Where's the Ra Yellow Ace?"

"Bastion can't see Spirits," Jaden answered. "Asking him to come here would be the same as asking him to watch paint dry."

"I sent a message through our PDA," Wilona finished. "I warned him that the Sixth Shadow Rider is making her move. Misawa told me he's doing a patrol."

"Alone?" Zane asked. "The Sixth Rider is at large, and Bastion is alone!?"

Everyone realized those two facts adding up together. If the Sixth were to make her move, Bastion would be caught off guard!"

"Wilona, where is he!?" Alexis cried out.

The green-haired girl tried her PDA again. "It says he's out of signal range!"

Seika acted fast. "Everyone fan out! Find Bastion!"

The Keeper Team couldn't move fast enough.

[Tag Force: Heroes and Villains.]

Bastion Misawa moved through the forest on alert. He heard suspicious rumors of something near the eastern lake. As he viewed the area, he didn't see anything noteworthy.

That changed when he saw a female student sitting under a tree reading a book. She had bluish-green hair and wore glasses over her yellow eyes.

Bastion didn't want to bother her, so he turned to go back to his dorm.

Crack!

Bastion looked under his foot and noticed a snapped branch.

"Who's there!?" The girl with straight hair cried out.

The Ra Yellow Ace came out with his hands out. "Do not be alarmed. I was simply passing by. I mean no ill will."

"Oh," The girl closed her book. "Hey, you're Bastion Misawa, right?"

"Yes, I apologize for interrupting your reading. It was an accident." Bastion recalled the last warning he received from his friends. "However, I must kindly ask you to relocate. There have been suspicious rumors going around, and this area may not be safe." Now that Bastion came closer, he noticed the girl was beautiful. Granted, many of the girls here were pretty, but this girl had a simple beauty to her.

"Thank you for warning me."

It was then that Bastion noticed the title of the book the girl was holding. "Is that the Theory of Dueling Mathemathics by Professor Eisenstein?"

"Yes! How did you recognize it?"

"I have all twenty-four volumes!" Had it been anyone else, they would have paled at the thought of 24 versions of a single book.

"Even the 12th?!" Luckily for Bastion, this girl seemed to have a similar taste like him.

"That one is my favorite!"

"Mine too!" The girl laughed in a way that made Bastion's heart skip a beat. The Ra Yellow shook his head while the bluish-green-haired girl asked. "I didn't know you were a fan of Professor Eisenstein?"

"Fan? He is my Idol! I strive to be more like him!" Bastion exclaimed. "I must admit, it's nice to finally meet someone with similar tastes! What is your name?"

"My name is Luna Tops." The girl smiled. "Bastion, may I ask if I can borrow the 12th volume of the series? I would like to read it again."

"By all means! If you'll allow me to escort you back to Ra Yellow, I'll lend the book to you now."

"That sounds lovely. Thank you."

Bastion was quick to turn and lead the way back to his dorm. He didn't notice Luna eyeing the area of his chest where his Spirit Key would be hanging from.

[Tag Force: Heroes and Villains.]

"Oh, Wilona!" Alexis waved as she waited for the Slifer Red girl to catch up with her. "You're being called to the Female Gymnasium too?"

"I'm a Slifer Red, that doesn't automatically mean I'm not a woman." The two walked with the crowd of girls entering into the Gymnasium.

As the place gathered together, Alexis and Wilona kept talking. "It sure was a weird time for Ms. Fontaine to call all the girls in the Gymnasium."

"Even when the world is in danger, we still have a curriculum to uphold." Wilona sighed.

"Yeah, making the grade and saving the world is a real pain in the neck." Alexis laughed.

Behind the stage, Seika along with some of the Student Council members, spotted Ms. Fontaine walking up to them.

"Ms. Fontaine," Seika started. "What's this assembly about?"

The Headmistress of Obelisk Blue blinked in surprise. "Excuse me? I thought you wanted help in an awareness assembly?"

Seika raised her brow. "What? You were the one who sent that PDA message, aren't you?"

By now, something wasn't adding up. If Ms. Fontaine didn't call anyone, and Seika didn't call this assembly, then who did?

"Ladies," A new voice made the group turn to someone standing in the shadows. In an instant, she placed a strange hat atop her head and walked into the light.

Seika remembered the words of the Dark Scorpions: Witch-like. The girl had just put on a witch hat!

"Crap!" The President reached for her duel disk too late.

"No, no. Save that for the fun part." The Sixth Shadow Rider snapped her fingers.

And a magic circle appeared overall the female students. Before the Magic Circle fell upon them, they heard mad cackling around the arena.

[Tag Force: Heroes and Villains]

As Zane was walking down the hall, he felt a chill down his spine. When he looked behind him, he spotted Paradox leaning on the wall just in front of the corner.

Even with a mask, Zane could tell Paradox was smirking before he walked behind the corner. The Kaiser prepared his deck and ran after the masked man, always catching him turning a corner until he led him into the forest.

"Paradox!" Zane yelled in frustration as he got tired of being led around. "Show yourself!"

"Zane?" The Ace of Duel Academy recognized that voice: it was Syrus! The older Truesdale spotted Jaden, Jesse, Chazz, Chumley, and his brother walk past some bushes.

"Zane, what are you doing here?" Chazz asked.

The boys heard another sound from a different side of the clearing. However, it was Bastion who has just finished running.

"Where is he!?" Bastion looked around. "Where is that blonde Shadow Rider?"

"Right. Here." The male Keepers all watched Paradox appear out of thin air.

"You!? What do you want?!" Zane glared at the Shadow Rider.

Paradox folded his arms. "Is that really how you thank me for saving you?"

"Saving us?" Jaden asked. "Saving us from what?!"

After Jaden asked this, everyone heard what sounded like screams and attacks coming from the distance.

"The Sixth Shadow Rider has changed the game. She doesn't have the patience to take you on one at a time, so she's decided to have her enemies do the work for her." Paradox chuckled. "Yes, I must admit it's a good plan, too good in fact. If I wasn't here spoiling her plot, this game would be over, and she'd win for sure."

"What are you talking about?" Chazz pointed at Paradox. "Why should we be listening to this freak? Let's take him out now!"

A phone started to ring while the sounds of screams continued. Jaden fished his pocket and opened up his flip phone. "Hello?"

"Jaden!"

"Dimitri? What's wrong!? Why does it sound like you're running!?" The Slifer Ace put on the loudspeaker.

"The girls have gone crazy!" Dimitri ducked as a laser beam fired past him and melted glass. "All the girls are dueling any guy they see! Even the girl teachers are dueling the male teachers! They have this weird glow on their eyes! And the strangest thing of all: it's like all the monsters are suddenly real! People are getting hurt left and right!"

The male Keepers and Jaden's friends panicked. The Sixth Shadow Rider created a School-Wide Shadow Game!

"Dimitri! You gotta keep running! Don't duel anyone if you can!" Jaden yelled back through the phone.

"That's what Belowski told me before he and Damon held off The Tyler Sisters! They were more ruthless than usual! But I can't find Brier and Beauregard!"

Dimitri halted with a slide as smoke appeared from a hallway. Of all people, he didn't expect Sora to come sliding out.

"Damn it! Both of them are too much for me!" The usually cheerful Obelisk Blue darkly cursed. He looked at Dimitri, and his eyes widened. "Who are you calling!?

"Sora!?" Jaden's voice came out of the phone. "Is that you?!"

"Jaden, we could use your help here!" Sora shouted back before both he and the Copy Cat duelist heard something behind the smoke.

"I sacrifice Zaborg The Thunder Monarch to tribute Summon Ehther The Heavenly Monarch!"

"I Ritual Summon Cyber Angel Izana!"

Dimitri recognized those voices, as did everyone behind the phone. However, Dimitri and Sora had it worse as Wilona and Alexis walked out of the smoke with a board full of their strongest monsters on their duel disk.

The two girls pointed to Sora. "Attack Directly!"

Two things happened: Dimitri's call was cut off, and everyone saw an explosion come out of the side of one of the main Duel Academy buildings.

"They got Alexis and Wilona!?" Syrus screamed in panic.

"Wait, if they got all girls," Jesse's eyes widened with alarm. "Don't that mean they got The School Prez too!?"

Zane snarled as he too came to that conclusion in his mind. Seika wasn't answering her PDA. The Kaiser, and the other Keepers, turned to Paradox. "Stop this at once!"

"I'm not the one who created this spell. If you want this to stop, you must defeat the Sixth Shadow Rider." Paradox answered.

"Then where is she!?" Jaden demanded.

"I don't know. And even if I did, I wouldn't tell you. I wanted to give your team a fair chance, not the keys to victory." Paradox shrugged his shoulders.

"Guys," Jesse gripped his fist. "We gotta calm down some of the girls! Especially Alexis and Wilona! Those two will cause some damage to the school at this rate!"

"You shouldn't duel them if you have a key." Paradox cut in. All eyes were back on him as he pointed to the war zone. "This charm she cast on the females works like this: she placed bits of her essence into her hypnotism. As such, if any girl is lucky enough to defeat you, The Sixth will take your key. But if the female Keepers lose to any male, they will also lose their key."

"Wait, what!?" Chumley cried out.

"The Sixth is turning the rule, "The Spirit Keys can only be won in a duel", against itself. She's hoping that you Keepers will defeat each other to get your keys. It's a wonderful and magnificent strategy that I would tip my hat to if I had one." Everyone felt anger as Paradox reveled in the chaos.

Bastion, on the other hand, realized something. "Why would she use this spell on the female population? If she used it on the male population, wouldn't that yield better results?"

"She can't influence that many. Even something of this scale would make her mentally and physically weak." Paradox clapped his hands. "And with that, I think I've given you enough hints. Now here comes the game within the game: can the remaining Keepers find and defeat the Sixth Rider in time? Or will they fall under an army of their turned allies? Either way, this is going to be juicy!"

"Wait!" Zane cried out, but it was too late. Paradox teleported away.

"We gotta find the Sixth Rider!" Jaden cried out.

"But how!? She could be anywhere on the island!" Syrus yelled out. "And who knows if we'll run into the strong female duelists?!"

The boys all heard something. Soon, Brier and Beauregard screamed as they were knocked into the clearing.

"Brier! Beauregard!" Jaden yelled to the former Duel Giant Duo.

"..." Following after the two was a female Obelisk Blue Student they never saw before.

"Great. It's Missy." Zane noted as he recognized that bizarre Obelisk Blue that was like an obsessive fan. However, he didn't recognize this empty look in her eyes. It was almost as off-putting as her normal side.

"Guys, run!" Brier groaned out. "She mopped the floor with us!"

Missy looked ready to duel as she primed her duel disk.

"Alright! Sorry about this, but we gotta put ya down!" Jaden raised his duel disk.

However, a crowd of girls started following after Missy, all of them priming her duel disk.

"Battling them all would drain us before we found the Sixth!" Bastion cried out before pointing. "We need to run! Focus on finding the Shadow Rider!"

"But what about those two!?" Jaden pointed to the Duel Giant duo.

"Leave that," A strong wind started to blow. "TO ME!"

Everyone looked up to see The Atmosphere descend from above. Atticus jumped off. His eyes were fierce. "I'll hold them off and get your friends out of here! You guys have to find the Sixth!"

"Atticus!" Zane yelled.

"Just go! Start at the Girl's Gymnasium! That's where the girls were called before this madness started!" Atticus pointed to the girls. "I'll be your opponent, ladies!"

"You can't handle all those people alone..." Jaden stepped forward but stopped when Zane motioned a hand in front of him.

"We need to go to the gymnasium. Now!" Zane started to run, and when he did, everyone followed.

"Come on, J!" Jesse and Syrus screamed out as they lagged for their friend.

Jaden was split between searching for the Shadow Rider or helping his friends. He looked over to Atticus, who gave him one nod. As much as he hated it, Jaden ran after the other Keepers.

"You better win, Atticus! I wanted to duel your wind deck!" Jaden screamed before catching up with the others.

"A duel with the Hero Duelist? Hmm. That does sound like fun." Atticus looked to his right side. "Isn't that right, Hon—" When Atticus saw nothing beside him, he shook his head. He had a brief migraine before steeling himself for his opponents. "Alright, ladies! I may not be a knight in shining armor, but I'm here to save you none the less! En garde!"

And the winds blew in Atticus' favor.

[Tag Force: Heroes and Villains]

"The fastest way to the Girl's Gymnasium is through Duel Academy, but that's where the brunt of the fighting broke out!" Bastion screamed as they ran past monsters fighting each other through the courtyard.

"Just keep going!" Zane yelled as the group of boys ran through the battlefield.

It was at that moment, while they were passing through an empty arena, something flew through the air and snagged Jaden's empty wrist.

"Agh!" Jaden spotted what looked to be some kind of hook snare and turned to see Gloria and Grace from the stand.

"Jaden!?" Syrus cried out.

The twins activated their duel disk while Jaden struggled to free himself. "Where did you guys even get this cool claw-thing?!" The Slifer Ace cried out.

"We'll help out!" Jesse cried out before Jaden raised a hand to stop them.

"You guys gotta find the Shadow Rider doing all this! We can't waste more time! I'll handle the Tyler Sisters! You guys keep going!" Jaden turned and activated his duel disk in response.

"He's right, the longer we stay here, the higher chance we get caught by other brainwashed-cronies." Bastion noted.

Syrus looked back before his eyes narrowed. "Jaden, I'm dueling with you!" He screamed as he ran up to Jaden and activated his duel disk as well. "I'm not gonna leave you alone!"

"You sure?" Jaden asked.

"I'm positive!" Syrus of all people looked back on the others and pointed ahead. "You guys go! Jay and I will hold off any more girls coming this way!"

They were being ordered by Syrus? Zane was quietly proud. "Alright! Move!" Zane said as he ran ahead with a small smile.

As the other Keepers left, Jaden smiled at Syrus. "Wow, Syrus! I like this new side of ya!"

"Thanks, but that's all the courage I can muster," Syrus' knees were shaking as he said this.

"Don't say that! You've proven to be one of the bravest in the school!" Jaden reached for his deck. "Sorry, girls, but it's time to get our game on!"

Up ahead, the male Key Keepers saw the Gymnasium and were closing in on the building.

"There it is!" Bastion yelled out.

It was at that moment that the Ojama and some of the Crystal Beasts appeared. "Boss!" "Jesse!"

The two students of North Academy stopped, activated their duel disks, and played the first card they drew.

"Go, Light and Darkness Dragon!" "Crystal Beast Pearl Reindeer!"

The spirit monsters appeared before they raced and clashed with Ehther and Izana.

"Uh, oh!" Chumley huffed. "Not those monsters!"

Wilona and Alexis stepped out from both sides of the forest path. Their eyes were empty yet their monsters overflowed with power.

"We'll handle these two!" Chazz screamed out. "I want payback on the witch anyway!"

"I guess that leaves me with the angelic Alexis!" Jesse got in position. "I've always wanted to duel the Cyber Angels!"

"Jesse, be careful! If either you or Alexis loses, the Sixth will get a Key!" The Ra Yellow ace shouted.

"Then ya best beat the Shadow Rider fast! Stalling a duel ain't my usual specialty!"

"I'll help him out once I defeat Wilona," Chazz declared. "Now hurry up and go!"

The remaining three nodded and hurried to the gymnasium. Jesse and Chazz stood back to back with Chazz facing the Monarch Duelist and Jesse facing the Cyber Angel Duelist.

"Ya know, now that those two are on the opposite side, their decks sure are intimidating," Jesse had a bead of sweat going down his head as he stared down Alexis' Cyber Angels.

"Just stall Alexis long enough for me to help you out!" Chazz shouted, but in the back of his mind, he was wary of the fact that Wilona could adapt to dueling faster than most people. He hoped it wasn't translated to her hypnotized state.

Chazz shook his head and readied his cards. "It's time to duel!"

The remaining three burst through the doors of the gymnasium where there was a large, glowing, and magic circle floating below the ceiling. Under the center of the circle wasn't the Sixth Shadow Rider, but...

"Seika," Zane steeled himself and walked forward.

"Wait! If the Prez is here, where is the Shadow Rider!?" Cumley screamed in panic.

"If I were to guess, the Shadow Rider is using Seika as a bodyguard to prevent anyone from reaching her," Bastion narrowed his eyes beyond Seika. "She's probably behind the stage."

"In that case, Bastion," Zane said, "You must face and defeat her."

Bastion's eyes widened. "Wait, Zane! Perhaps I should duel Seika while you face the Shadow Rider! Your deck's style isn't known for stalling! You mostly go for One-Round-Kills, so you have the chance to defeat the Shadow Rider faster than me!"

"That logic is sound, Bastion, but you underestimate Seika." Zane prepared his duel disk. "I know how she duels and how to counter it. I'm the only one here who can keep her on her toes long enough for you to defeat the Shadow Rider doing this."

Zane pointed ahead. "Go, it's all on you now."

Bastion gripped his fist and started running ahead. "I will not let you down!"

"W-Wait up!" Chumley yelled. "This is worse than keeping up with Jaden!"

As Bastion and Chumley went ahead, Zane stared down Seika.

"How unfortunate we duel under these circumstances." Zane reached for his cards as Seika mirrored the action. "Let's see how well you've mastered that new deck."

Chumley and Bastion raced behind the stage. However, it was too dark for them to see anything. When Bastion hit the lights, he was horrified at what he saw: nothing.

"I don't see anyone!" Chumley yelled as he too looked around the area for any sign of a person.

"Keep looking!" Bastion screamed, "She has to be here somewhere!" The two quickly searched behind corners and props, but they didn't see any sign of anyone there.

"I fusion summon, Cyber End Dragon!" Zane's voice yelled out as the two heard the sound of Zane's ace monster.

If Zane was forced to bring out Cyber End dragon that early, they were running out of time! "Bastion, ya gotta hurry! We can't beat the girls, but they're trying to beat the guys!" Chumley panicked. "You're the smart one! You gotta figure out where she is!"

Bastion found himself biting his thumb as he started to think. However, what could logic even do against magic!? He didn't even believe in such a thing before the Shadow Riders! How was a scientific man supposed to find a witch-like Shadow Rider!? She could be anywhere on the isle! He didn't know how magic worked!

...Wait...

Paradox let slip that a spell this powerful would leave the Sixth Shadow Rider drained. That small fact made the Ra Yellow Ace realize something: perhaps he thought about this wrong way. He assumed magic to be this utterly unknown factor. But if it had rules as science had, then that must mean he could figure out where she was through deduction!

Bastion started to pace. (Think, Bastion! Think! This is a powerful spell, which means it must require power and focus. The Shadow Rider isn't in the auditorium, but if the circle here is what is keeping all the women under her influence, then that means she would need to be close by to keep watch of it. Personally, I would also keep my strongest pawn, Seika, to protect the circle in case my opponents tried something with it. So she still must be close by!)

It was then that Bastion remembered a map of the academy. When he did, he realized there was one area that the Girl's Gymnasium was nearby.

Bastion blinked before his eyes narrowed.

"Chumley, follow me." The Slifer Red was confused. It looked like Bastion figured out where the Shadow Rider was hiding, but why did he look angry?

They ran out of the gymnasium and into the forest. Eventually, the two students reached one of the school lakes.

"Luna!" Bastion shouted. "I know you're here! Come out and duel me! You want my key, don't you!?"

"Luna?" Chumley repeated with confusion. However, he became more confused when he spotted a female student walk from behind a tree with a witch hat.

"So you did figure me out," 'Luna' spoke with a tone different when Bastion and she first met. "It took me a while to create a nexus point here. If it was any other ally of yours, they would have been too late in finding me. How rotten my luck must be."

"Release your hold on my friends, Shadow Rider," Bastion primed his Duel Disk. "Or else."

"You dare make a demand of me!? YOU!? A mundane mortal!?" A magical circle appeared beneath 'Luna' as she screamed in anger. The magic circle absorbed her and her form transformed into a tall, colorful, but powerful witch-like figure. She was gorgeous, but there was something... off and doll-like about her. Perhaps it was the fact she still retained her fury towards Bastion's demand. "I have more power in my pinky than you have in your soul!"

"Yet I have the one thing you want," Bastion pulled his Spirit Key out of his shirt. "And there's only one way for you to get it."

The one previously known as Luna paused before a small smirk came across her face. "I could simply bide my time, you know? I can wait here until your allies overwhelm each other. Then, when you are the last reaming Keeper, I can duel you then!"

Chumley gasped. "Y-You can't do that!"

"What's stopping me from doing nothing?" The Sixth Shadow Rider exclaimed with a dark smile.

Bastion stared down his opponent until he relaxed his stance.

"B-Bastion!?" Chumley looked panicked.

Meanwhile, the Sixth started to chuckle. "Oh? Are you surrendering that easily?"

"The Twelveth Edition." Bastion blurted.

"Huh?" Poor Chumley. He was starting to have a headache with him using his head harder than he was used to.

"Why," Bastion began, "would a magical being be so interested in Eisenstein's works? Specifically, the 12th volume? I've read his works tenfold, and the 12th has always stood out to me because... it the volume where he expresses his most philosophical values on life."

Chumley had no idea where this was going, but he noticed the Shadow Rider seemed nervous.

"It's a gateway book for more mundane people. Eisenstein uses both poetry and science to explain his life story and philosophy. And he argues that..."

"SILENCE!" Chumley decided to give up on understanding what was going on at this point. Why was she mad over a book!?

Bastion remained calm. "You... you pretended to be a student here. And there is something off with you. You aren't human, but are you perhaps...?"

Whatever Bastion seemed to figure out was silenced as 'Luna' shrieked and summoned a duel disk in her hand.

"No! No! NO! NO! I refuse to be read so easily by a mortal! I will crush you and make your friends feel pain as they have never before! And as they suffer, I will make them all know that it was all your fault for their misery!"

Bastion readied his duel disk. His eyes narrowed. "Then, my hypothesis might be true." He shook his head. "But time is still of the essence! I will stop your madness!"

"DUEL!"

{Author Notes}

Bastion always had a soft spot in my heart. Maybe it was because Ra was an epic beast for me, so the students who represented Ra should also have been just as cool as Ra.

Yes, I was setting myself for disappointment.

... GX, I like you, but ya did Bastion stupid dirty. Heck, many Fanfic writers that I read write Bastion with more important roles than he got. I'm glad that he's so loved.

Now on to the sixth Shadow Rider. She is a Yugioh Character, but the same kind as the Dark Scorpions: a monster spirit given physical form. I've dropped some hints as to who she is, but don't worry if you can't figure her out. I made the hints super vague, and there are a lot of Yugioh Monsters. And you'll figure it out/it will be revealed next chapter.

I'll tell you right now: I replaced the following Shadow Riders: Titan, Abidos the Third, and Tania.

Paradox replaced Titan (Who I might re-appear in the future for a different reason); The Sixth (Whose fake form I based off Luna from Yugioh 5ds: a mix of both her adult and kid version. I imagined her with longer hair despite being taller than how she looked.) replaced Tania. And Abidos the Third is replaced by my 3rd Shadow Rider (Ooh! I can't wait till we get to him!).

I had those three replaced because while they were cool, I couldn't fit them to my style of writing. I kept Don Zaloog and the Dark Scorpions because they were super funny. (That and having them as spirits has an interesting potential.)

Technically speaking, I'm copying the season 3 gimmick of zombie duelists, but on a lesser scale. I know that I am and aware of what pulling off something like this early on means: I have to make some interesting twist when I get far into that part of the story so it isn't just a repeat. But that's a risk I'm willing to make.

Be safe out there guys, and thanks for all your support.

{Deleted Scene}

(A/N: At first I wanted to write this, but as I did, it felt... wrong. It didn't appeal to what I really wanted and felt shallow. But since people do like fan service, I thought I'd keep it as a deleted scene.)

When Bastion arrived, he didn't see much worth investigating. Wait, there's something on top of a nearby rock. It looked like a girl's uniform? Why was there also a towel nearby it? And was that lacy thi...

Bastion stopped thinking and instinctively turned away. The Ra Yellow student, at that moment, could have been mistaken for a Slifer Red with how red he was.

It didn't help that as he tried to walk away, he heard something come out of the lake. It took Bastion the strength of his entire life to not turn around at the sound.

"I'm sorry," Bastion, focus, focus! You prepare for everything, right? Oh, right. No one could prepare for that situation he was in. "But who are you?" The owner of the voice was a girl.

"Th-That's not important!" Bastion muttered out while using all his brainpower to not turn around. It didn't help that he could hear water dripping off her... dang it! Bastion, focus! "It's dangerous to be skinny—SWIM! IT's dangerous to be SWIMming in the forest lakes! We have pools for a reason!"

"I don't like the feel of chlorine. And I thought you were suspicious."

(At this point, I hated the direction of where this went. It just didn't click for me.)