Bastion was and is a man of logic. Before Duel Academy, the closest Bastion ever believed in magic was when he first watched Yugi Moto summon Slifer the Sky Dragon against Seto Kaiba's Obelisk The Tormentor. After all, if that moment was all it took for Bastion to get hooked into Duel Monsters, then how could it not be magic?

But as his time in Duel Academy quickly showed: living duel monsters, other worlds, the fact he was kissed by a duel monster (and how much he enjoyed it—), and now? The fact he's trapped in a world of duel monsters as dark super zombies are trying to eat his flesh would have been the final nail in the coffin if Bastion didn't believe. He did believe when he dueled Witchcrafter Golem Aruru. He gave up his pride in science but embraced logic fully. If magic did exist, he would be the first to study it!

(And the fact that even late that night, the poor teen's hormones were in overdrive as Bastion was still flushing red from imagining the surprisingly soft and warm lips on his chee—)

But the Ra Yellow knew one thing: if this other world granted him the use of his duel disk even though he left it, and his deck, at the dorms, and the fact it defied every law imagined about space and time in the human world, it meant that he could use it here.

Bastion drew his card, and without looking, he already felt he knew what it was. His Spirit Key started to shine under his clothes, and he cried out, " I summon Elementsaber Lapaulia Mana!"

In a flash of electricity, a warrior of energy appeared. The Elementsaber was true to his title because he swung his blade and unleashed a torrent of electrical energy that tore through the Vendread monsters.

Bastion's monster turned back to face his duelist. "It's an honor to finally meet you, Bastion, a shame it is under dire circumstances."

"Whoa! You've got a cool Duel Spirit, Bastion!" Syrus shouted as he, Chumley, Des Koala, and Kama 3 walked up to him.

Bastion looked on with confusion as he eyed his own monster as he lived in breathed before him. "I consider myself a man of logic," Bastion started to put a hand on his head before more of the Vendread Monsters started to regenerate. "But I can set it aside for more pressing matters at hand. Lapaulia, unleash Volt Slash!"

Bastion's monster wielded his greatsword with a single hand before swiping it as if it was light as a stick. Another wave of electricity fried the regrowing beasts. However, they could see the burning husks twitching from the movement.

"I don't believe that will last for long!" Bastion looked down but saw the ring of fire closing in. He looked up instead. "We need to gather everyone to higher ground!"

Bastion heard the sound of growls and spotted what looked to be a hound of infected dogs rushing over to him. Yosenju Kama 3 slid in between the Ra Yellow and slashed several pouncing monsters with a small hand blade.

The anthropomorphic creature turned and pointed upward. "Mr. Talk-Funny is right! We gotta go up and try to find my friends!"

"Right, let's get on—what did you call me!?" Bastion started before Elementsaber Mana yanked his Duelist away before they got swarmed by more of the Vendread monsters.

Syrus heard something and glanced towards his right. At that moment, he saw what looked to be Jesse and their Obelisk Blue members surrounded by other Vendread Beasts.

"Jesse!" Syrus cried out as he waved to the North Academy Student.

"Ah! Number 1!" Kama 3 waved at the older-looking Yosenju.

"3, good to see you." As he said this, he ducked under a Vendread Hound attempting to pounce behind him. Instead, the samurai raised his sword upward in the last second and used his opponent's momentum to cut himself on his blade.

More Vendread started to gather together and rush for the large group of refugees converging together.

"Kama 3, use Sword Sting!" Kama 3 and 1 moved forward, both sheathing their blades before both slashing towards one direction. An impressive gale of wind blew away the incoming swarm and some Vendread Behemoths.

"Come on! Let's go!" Kama 1 pointed forward towards the top.

Their groups converged, with the humans and their Duel Spirits lagging.

Syrus was unfortunate enough to trip over a piece of wood while looking around the area for Jaden. At that moment, a Vendread Revennant busted out of a pile of debris next to the Slifer Red.

"AAAHHH!?" "Syrus!" Chumley yelled while the bespectacled young man shrieked like a little girl.

To the surprise of the humans, the former jungle man, Damon, grabbed a log as tall as him and swung it like a bat at the zombie, knocking it away like a toy before he threw it like a sandbag.

"Come on!" The former Jungle man screamed before tossing away the log like a bag of flour. "Let's go!"

"Whoa, you can do that, Damon!?" Chumley screamed as he helped up Syrus.

"Let's just say living in the wild is one heck of a training regimen. Now come on!" The former jungle boy cried out.

Meanwhile, Yosenju Sabu hacked and slashed incoming flocks before he slid under a larger stand. "Alright, we're clear for now."

Jaden looked over towards The 3rd Shadow Rider, who sat down and rested on a wooden beam. "Can't you stop this?"

"I could if I was at my full power. I'm still healing from the last duel." Despite this, Revendread Slayer stood up. "Paradox will pay for this."

"Where are you going?" Yosenju Sabu sheathed his blade.

"To the top. I'll play Paradox's game for now. But when I get my chance, I'm wringing him by the neck."

"I'm helping too!" Jaden cried out. "This guy is gonna pay for hurting what was supposed to be a fun day for others!"

"We'll need to move now then." Revendread Slayer pointed. "I can still sense the other Vendread. The path is as clear as it can get to the top, but we'll have to sneak around. I need to gather whatever strength I can before facing Battlelord."

The other two and Winged Kuriboh nodded. The group began sneaking towards the top. As they did, Jaden realized something.

"Hey, Mr. Slayer?"

"What is it?"

"You're kinda cool," The Slifer Red admitted.

He seemed to be startled by the statement and by the time and place. Yet Slayer's features softened. "Thank you. You have no idea how long it's been since I've heard a compliment."

"Yeah. That! That right there!" Jaden lowered his voice after realizing his raised it. They looked around but saw no signs of anything coming over to them yet. "You're a cool guy and an amazing duelist! So why are you trying to destroy our world?"

Slayer stopped and looked Jaden in the eye. After a second of what looked to be a mental debate, he asked, "Would you protect your world no matter what?"

Jaden felt his mind replay his nightmares: the ones where everyone perishes if he failed. "I-I will! I'll stop my world from being destroyed!"

"You're luckier than I in that regard. My world was destroyed before I was given a choice." Slayer looked ahead. "Let's move into that stand. I think I have enough time to gather more of my strength and tell one story."

The three plus Kuriboh did so, and when the area was secured, Slayer turned back to Jaden and Yosenju Sabu.

"My world was so much like yours," Slayer told Jaden. "I think I was human. Once. We didn't have these... Duel Monsters, though. And I don't know why your world is so intertwined with this world, but that's not what I'm here to tell you."

Jaden was in awe, but a piece of him believed that the Shadow Rider was human. But a world without Duel Monsters? How could that exist?

"My world fell to ruin almost overnight. A mysterious being called the Battlelord unleashed a super virus known then as Vendread. Within a week, my world was trapped in an eternal and artificial night. All of that created by that being and his waves of infection." Revendread Slayer reached into his scarf. Jaden was surprised to see a scorched and worn-out amulet. But Slayer held it as if it was the most precious thing in existence for him. "It didn't take long before even my spouse fell. At that moment, I was overcome with rage and hatred for the Vendread. But my anger did something strange to my dormant Vendread spores. As the virus tried to take over me, something changed. I could control myself even as an infected. And I could use and absorb their powers."

Jaden found himself listening more to this than all his classes put together.

Slayer shook his head at that moment. "To make an even longer story short: I fought and fought, getting strong enough to finally face Battlelord. I won... but it was a pyrrhic victory at that point. I was the last living being of my world. There were no more humans. No more Vendread. Just me." After a few seconds of somber silence, Slayer spoke again. "I thought I would go insane before I would die because of the power I accumulated. But something called to me, which I now realize were the Sacred Beasts and told me that they could grant my wish of saving my world. Desperate, I followed the voice, entered through a tear in my world, and the rest is history."

Jaden, who listened to the call, started to piece things together. "Wait, but that means," He trailed off.

"I, too, am trying to save my world," Slayer admitted.

Jaden's eyes widened as he realized something. "But my world will get destroyed if you save your world!"

"As I said before, you are much luckier than I. You still have a world to save. By the time I had the power to fight, it was nothing but vengeance for everything taken by Battlelord." Slayer stood back up. "You believe in this 'dueling' process, yes?"

Jaden looked to his deck before looking back up. "Yeah. I do."

"This ritual of yours has given you a fighting chance whereas I did not. Use its power to protect instead of vengeance. You must fight me with everything that you have, or else you'll become like me: a desperate ghost."

Jaden didn't realize that his enemy also had his reason for winning. But he wasn't going to back down. He still would protect his friends too. Yet, he felt more resolved than he did before. He still felt the pressure of losing but hearing his enemy trying to calm him down... Jaden felt like he was ready.

"Whosoever wins must ensure their world lives well. But you must give it your all regardless of victory or defeat."

The Slifer Ace stood up. "I will! I'm going to beat you and save my friend and the world!" Jaden looked to Slayer. "Hey, thanks for psyching me up. But why were you helping me? You were even helping me before Paradox attacked ya. Why?"

"... Frist, we need to re-seal Battlelord. I'm strong enough to fight him as he is."

Yosenju Sabu spoke up for the first time in a while. "Didn't you mention that your enemy a world breaker?"

"Then thank your gods for small mercies. When Paradox pulled Battlelord away from me, most of his power was diminished. Let's not find out if he can regain a fraction of it."

[Tag Force: Heroes and Villains]

Paradox watched from afar, playing with his drink. "I suppose it's time to do what I've been trying to do from the start."

The Masked Shadow rider set his drink and stood up. He swiped his hand in the air before a small portal appeared. A creature from the many Vendread abominations fell and landed near his feet.

Paradox picked up the creature. Although the creature was not alive, it started to scream as Paradox used his powers to change it into something.

"Now, I have a question that has been burning inside me ever since I learned about the Spirit Keys. You're going to help me find that answer, little one."

Paradox looked down, past the flaming circles. "And I wonder what you're doing, 8th? The idea of me making your blood boil is so amusing to me. And I have so much more planned for this place."

[Tag Force: Heroes and Villains]

It didn't take long for Jaden, Winged Kuriboh, Yosenju Sabu, and Revendread Slayer to reach the top of the mountain. Battle Lord stood like a statue until it noticed Revendread Slayer.

"Stand back. Make sure none of the others get in the way of our fight." Slayer exclaimed before his tendrils flared to life, and he rushed for the monster.

"What? No way, let's help him!" Jaden cried out as he tried to draw a card, but Yosenju Sabu grabbed his shoulder. He pointed forward as the two clashed in a deadly battle where Battlelord was strong enough to rend the air with his swings while Revenread Slayer was fast enough to create after images.

"It's different over there. But I'm going to need your help with this."

Jaden was about to argue towards the samurai-like tanuki. But he wondered what help the Yosenju needed in? Until he realized the ground beneath them started to move.

Upon the tree, Paradox stroked his chin. "Am I forgetting something? Bah, it probably wasn't important." The man thought to himself, oblivious that he had Battlelord re-create another one of Slayer's former foes.

Yosenju Sabu grabbed Jaden as the ground split open, and out appeared Vendread Chimera. Slayer looked back at the two before being forced to focus on his fight with Battlelord.

With a scream of multiple creatures forced together, Vendread Chimera opened itself up in an attempt to swallow Yosenju Sabu. However, the Yosenju back-flipped to avoid the attempt. At the same time, Jaden and Winged Kuriboh avoided pieces of the Chimera stretching out to reach for him.

"Alright, Winged Kuriboh, looks like you and I are gonna deal with the living reject pile!" Jaden drew his card and put it on his duel disk. "Let's go, Sparkman!"

The Elemental Hero appeared and blasted the Chimera with electrical energy. However, while some parts screamed in pain, the blob did not slow down from the strike. The parts of the creature fired strange gunk at the Elemental hero, who ducked and weaved from the attempt to get him.

"Alright, looks like we need more firepower!" Before Jaden could reach for his deck, the amalgamation slammed pieces of itself on the ground with enough force to make the ground fail beneath the Slifer. Jaden screamed as he fell, but to his surprise, he felt something interrupt his fall. It didn't take him long to realize that Light and Darkness Dragon had caught him from falling into the crack.

"Stand back, Slifer Slacker," Chazz, who rode on his dragon's back, declared. "I'll show you how to deal with that living reject pile. Go, use Paradox Stream!"

The dragon flew upward before blasting Vendread Chimera with both light and dark energy. However, even though the attack made a direct hit, and even as the blob gave many overlapping shrieks of pain, it rose back to full height as if it was never hurt.

"Okay, what the heck was that?" Yosenju Sabu cried out before he was caught unaware by a piece of the Chimera gunning after him. The appendix was cut in half by Yosenju 2 and allowed the two to retreat.

Even though the appendix was cut in half, it quickly started to reattach itself.

"It appears as if it can heal faster than it can be destroyed." Yosenju Kama 2 began. "That is problematic."

"Well, it would have been if it had just been one of us." Sabu fixed his hat. "How long until the others get here?"

"Yo! Sabu! Number 2!" The others looked as the rest of the Music Club started to climb up the hill, as well as Kama 1 and 3.

"Hey, looks like nearly everyone is here!" Sabu twirled his blade.

"Sy! Chumley!" Jaden cried from Chazz's dragon.

"Jaden!" The two Slifers yelled out.

However, the reunions would have to wait as Vendread Chimera roared while the battle between Battlelord and Revendread Slayer continued.

Kama 2 turned to the rest of the Yosenju. "Our enemies are fierce, but perhaps we should use a Sword Sting with all four of us."

"Alright then!" Kama 3 quickly agreed, while Sabu and 1 also did so with a single nod. "YO! Everyone! We've got a super cool and killer technique! But you guys gotta make way for us!"

As soon as the Yosenju screamed that, the Chimera seemed to turn towards the Duel Spirits.

"You stupid Racoon-Samurai!" Chazz yelled out before Light And Darkness Dragon tried to blast the amalgamation. "Why did you scream that out loud!?"

"Racoon-Samurai? Hey! We're Kama-," Whatever the younger Yosenju was about to say was interrupted when Kama 1 and two grabbed the smaller Duel Spirit away.

"Alright, those with duel disks, it's time for a plan of attack!" Bastion cried out as he looked towards Vendread Chimera.

"Woo-wee! Now have any of ya guys ever been in a wrangle before? Cause this sure is shappin' up to be one!" Jesse shouted as he and the Crystal Beasts started to get in position.

Jaden jumped down and drew his next card. "Let's get ready to throw the trash!"

"Could you sound any lamer, slacker!?" Chazz screamed as Light And Darkness Dragon roared.

The remaining four Key Keepers stared down the angry Chimera before they went on the attack.

Up above, Paradox looked down at the battle below. "Finally. Now, where are you?"

Syrus, and the remaining male members of the Music Club, watched in awe as Bastion, Jesse, Chazz, and Jaden worked in tandem with each other against Vendread Chimera. They avoided tendrils, blasts of virus goo, and pieces of the beast trying to reach out and eat them. At the same time, each of their monsters was able to blast, protect, and save each other from harm. The Elemental Heroes teamed up with the Elemental Lords. Light and Darkness Dragon worked in tandem with the Crystal beasts. And it looked as if Slayer was winning his fight against Battlelord.

"Alright, everyone!" Yosenju Sabu cried out. "Get ready for a big one!"

Many on the side of the Key Keepers could feel a sudden shift in the wind. They soon cleared out while Revendread Slayer took cover. The moment they did, a large blast of wind blew away Vendread Chimera while Battlord stabbed his blade into the ground to stop himself from getting blown off.

The three Yosenju Kama, who wielded their weapons, had a gale of winds swirling around them. They turned their weapons to Battlelord, and when all three of them swung, the winds exploded with more power than they did before.

Battlelord held on, but Revendread Slayer shot out of his hiding spot. Using the wind as momentum, he forced a bone spike to burst out of his arm before he used it to stab Battlelord in the head.

The winds died down, and it looked as if Battlelord was being absorbed back into Revendread Slayer. At that moment, Slayer raised his hand upward, and everyone watched as all of the Vendread creatures, including Chimera, started to get sucked into Slayer like being pulled by a black hole.

"Was that it? Is it over?" Bastion looked up.

"Those were the Vendread? I can't believe I was worked up over a bunch of stupid monsters!" Chazz declared as he folded his arms.

"Yeah, I feel like a real sucker for being afraid of these things. Especially when I got y'all backing me up!" Jesse shouted.

It seemed like fighting the vendread monsters gave the remaining Key Keepers the confidence to face The 3rd Shadow Rider.

"Do not let down your guard," Slayer exclaimed, causing nearly everyone else to get back into fighting positions.

"Whoa! Guys, chill! Chill!" Jaden and Yosenju Sabu stepped in. "He wasn't the guy who did this!"

"Oh, and you're telling me the VENDREAD Slayer isn't responsible for this madness!? He must have worked together with that clown Shadow Rider, the one that always is messing with us!" Chazz pointed as Light And Darkness Dragon snarled. However, he did get the name wrong, but the Shadow Rider didn't bother to correct him.

"You tell 'em, boss!" The Ojama bros cheered from beneath the coat of the former Obelisk.

They all noticed the 3rd Shadow Rider doing something strange: ignoring them completely. "Regardless of what you feel towards me, I should at least warn you all to look up," Revendread Slayer pointed with his finger.

When he did, everyone saw Paradox falling from the sky and landing with all the force of a leaf.

However, Paradox stood up and started to clap his hands. "Bravo, everyone! Bravo! I enjoyed today's festivities the most." He exclaimed as if he wasn't about to become dust in the air.

In a gust of wind, all the Yosenju surrounded the Shadow Rider with their blades pointed around his neck.

"Alright, troublemaker," Kama 1 began, his voice low as if to suppress his need to push his blade into the Rider's skin. "We can either do this the easy way or the hard way."

Paradox began to laugh despite his situation. "Is this all the thanks I get for helping them?" He looked over towards the humans.

"Help us? You trapped and almost killed us, your monster!" Chazz threw his hand and glared at the masked man.

"I also made you immune to fearing big, old Mr. Bad over here." Slayer's eyes burned with light when Paradox mentioned him.

"He helped saved everyone from your twisted game! Don't try and shift the blame!" As Jaden screamed this, a strange thought came to his mind. Whenever they saw Paradox, he always seemed to have a hidden agenda. The Shadow Rider messed with Zane, so he and Jesse would duel Camula first. Paradox also gathered the guys before they could be ambushed by Aruru's attack. Jaden started remembering Paradox, in his own twisted way, likes to have fun.

So why did he still feel excited even when he was trapped with no way out?

Unless he wanted all eyes on him and away from—

Jaden snapped his head back. He saw it hiding in the rubble from their fight against Vendread Chimera: a glint that neither The Crystal Beast nor Jessie spotted.

"Look out!" Jaden moved faster than his mouth as he pushed his friend out of the way. The moment that he did, a snake that looked like a leftover Vendread Monster shot up and bit Jaden's right arm when it would have bitten Jesse.

Silver Wolf acted first and downed his jaws on the zombie snake. However, despite the reaction time, Jaden screamed and fell to the ground after being bit.

"Jaden!" Syrus screamed before he and the others rushed for their friend.

Revendread Slayer stepped towards Jaden before he realized— "Paradox is escaping!"

The Yosenju made the mistake of looking away when Jaden was hurt. Paradox took advantage of this by leaning forward and kicking the stomach of Kama 3, who was behind Paradox. In a flurry of moves, Paradox took down the rest of the Yosenju before laughing as his body faded away in the winds.

Revendread Slayer clicked his tongue before turning his attention elsewhere. "Move!" He yelled to the others. They made way for him as he knelt towards Jaden.

When he picked up the hand, everyone panicked when they saw what looked to be Jaden's hand rotting like the Vendread from where he was bitten.

"Jaden! What's happening to him!" Syrus tried to move closer, but Slayer motioned his hand up to stop him.

"Paradox made sure one of the Vendread remained when I attempted to reabsorb them all. This one is special." The Shadow Rider claimed. He lifted a palm over towards the bite mark. Everyone saw the rotting skin start to heal and recced back towards the bite wounds. However, Jaden's Spirit Key started to shine and shocked Revendread Slayer's hand away.

"What happened!?" Jesse cried out.

"The Key is reacting to my powers. It thinks I'm attempting to harm him." Slayer explained as he looked at the Spirit Key.

"Well, can't ya just remove it!?" Dimitri shouted as he motioned his hands outward.

"You can physically. But its powers remain to protect that it has bonded to. Only Paradox can remove it now."

"That masked punk!" Chazz seethed in anger after seeing his rival brought to his knees with such a dirty trick. "I can't believe he would stoop so low! Take me to him so I can Duel him for the Slacker's life!"

"Uh. Uh. Uh!" Paradox's voice loomed over everyone. "Don't be so hasty! If you went and discovered me now, I'd be all embarrassed! I haven't tidied my room in ages!"

Revendread Slayer looked up. "More of your accursed games, Paradox? People have suffered enough! End this spell!"

"Aww, but I made the spell tied to you, buddy!" Paradox's answered.

"What?" The 3rd Shadow Rider looked up to the sky in anger.

"I'm growing bored of this secret war between Shadow Riders and Key Keepers. So Let's accelerate the timetable. The curse will be lifted if one of either two things happens first: the Keepers defeat you in a duel, or you beat the remaining three." He paused for dramatic effect. "But here's the catch, and don't worry, it's nothing horrible. If any of the remaining three are defeated, the curse will deteriorate. But it will send that last key to the 3rd Shadow Rider! The 3rd has an incentive for winning as well! You get your friend's life back, and Slayer can end this war and get his wish! A win for everyone around!"

"Why in tarnation should we trust you?!" Jesse yelled with anger that no one had ever seen of the pleasant boy.

"Hey, it's not my life on the line. Do whatever you want~." The voice ended with a laugh that resounded with an echo before fading in the wind.

The Slayer looked around as they heard no response after. "He left. He's not saying any more than that." The 3rd Shadow Rider turned towards Chazz. "You meant what you said, right? About facing him for your friend's life?"

"He ain't my friend. But I'm not letting some clown-school-drop-out take out this slacker. We're one-to-one, and we still need a tiebreaker." Chazz declared.

Slayer looked into Princeton's eyes before he threw his hand outward. A portal appeared not too far from them. "Meet me at the same area at midnight. I will defeat all three of you there if I must. For now, tend to your friend."

The 3rd Shadow Rider walked away before vanishing similarly to Paradox. With that, the portal the Shadow Rider created started to grow. It pulled in the outsiders like magnets, and most of the boys screamed while their spirits chased after them.

Belowski, being one of the last, looked over to the Yosenju. "Sorry about the bummer festival this year, guys! Hope it gets better next year!" He screamed before being taken in by the portal.

As the portal closed, all that remained were the ruins of a once festive area.

"Well, I'm not staying to clean up this mess!" Yosenju Kama 3 yelled out.

At that moment, the first Kama grabbed the younger one's head. "We protect and serve the area. Of course, we're going to clean this up."

"All of it!?" The young one motioned to the entire mountain.

Even Sabu and Kama 2 gave coughs of disapproval.

"We're going to help." Kama 1 said with finality. However, he looked up to the night sky. "I only wish we could help those humans somehow."

[Tag Force: Heroes and Villains]

After getting Jaden to the nurse's office, Chazz, Bastion, and Jesse had to quickly decide who would duel the Revendread Slayer.

"It's gotta be me! J took that bite for me! I gotta be the one to help defeat The Shadow Rider!" Jesse exclaimed.

"I understand how you're feeling, but we cannot make any risky moves. Chazz, I've almost completed a deck that should nullify most of Vendread Slayer's strengths. Your deck has more firepower between the two of us, and we'd have a chance at beating him and saving Jaden."

"Sorry, Bastion, but ya can't expect me to sit and watch while someone else fights a battle that I've got too much stake in!" Jesse argued.

"Guys," Alexis came in after exiting the Nurse's Office. "You're being too loud. If it's really a problem, why don't you guys challenge him to a 3-on-1 duel?"

"I get the feeling he's not going to let us do that." Chazz looked towards the sky and saw the sun setting. They were losing time fast. "You and Seika almost beat him. While he seems to be a man of honor, I don't think he'll risk having to duel three of us when he barely won the tag duel." The former Obelisk knew that he had to be the one to pick. "Sorry, Jesse. Bastion made a deck around tag duels. If you and I were to duel Slayer and lose, Bastion wouldn't stand a chance, and we'd lose all three of our Keys."

"That's pretty sound logic." Everyone turned to see Seika and Zane walk up to them. "Not bad for a former Obelisk Blue."

"What are you talking about?" Chazz scoffed. "I've always been this great. Why is it that our enemy had to be the one to spot it first?" The black-clad teen turned to Bastion. "Hurry up with your deck. I need to make some changes to mine too."

"Right!" Bastion nodded before leaving.

As everyone but Alexis and Jesse left, the North Academy Student clenched his fist. "Darn it! It should be me on that bed, not Jay!"

"Don't say that," Alexis put her hand on Jesse's shoulder. "Jaden's always known to be reckless and getting into trouble. He and Wilona even survived almost drowning in the ocean. This isn't the worst of our problems yet, so let's not give up."

"I hope you're right." He looked at the door. "How is he?"

"Stable." Although Alexis didn't say it, Jesse could hear her saying, for now.

"It keeps rising, ain't it?" By the time they got into the Nurse's Office, the rotting covered his whole arm.

Alexis tried to think of something in response to that. The way how Jaden's arm looked so pale and rotten made Alexis almost barf. So she tried to think of something else. "Maybe you should do deckbuilding as well. I can help."

"Shucks. Thanks, Alexis. And don't worry, We'll save J for sure before dawn!" Although Jesse said this, he looked over to the Nurse's Office again.

"Syrus and Wilona are going to keep watch. He'll be fine. We need you three at your A-game."

Jesse reluctantly agreed before he left with Alexis.

Back inside, Jaden struggled even while he was asleep. His temperature rose at an alarming rate, and he was sweating with no signs of stopping.

Wilona sighed as she placed a wet cloth on the brunette's head. The way she did it was much more gentle than Syrus expected. "You daft idiot. Why must you keep acting like a blasted hero?"

"Y-You shouldn't be so hard on Jaden, Wilona!" Syrus found the courage to say. "It's not his fault!"

However, a part of Syrus did expect retaliation in the form of a tongue lashing.

"I know," Wilona answered before sitting on the seat across from the smaller Slifer. "If anything, I'm at fault for bloody suggesting everyone to relax in the spa."

When Wilona heard nothing but silence, she raised her brow in deadpan towards the blue-haired teen. When she saw Syrus fidgeting in his seat and avoiding eye contact, she decided that Syrus was too afraid of her to agree. (It better be that.) How could anyone expect such an event to happen on a spa day?

Yet, the room fell silent again between the two. This lasted even as the moon started to rise, and the appointed duel was coming up. Syrus found this more awkward than talking to Wilona.

"Do you think the others will save, J?" Syrus asked.

"They better." Wilona looked at Jaden. However, the girl raised her brow in confusion. "Truesdale, tell me again how Yuki got poisoned?"

Syrus blinked before he started to tell the story from his side. After he did, Wilona's eyes widened. Syrus watched as she suddenly went up to Jaden and reached into his shirt.

"Whoa!" The Slifer Red became red at the sudden movement. However, before he could shield his eyes and ask the girl what she was doing, Syrus saw Wilona took out Jaden's Spirit Key. It was glowing but faintly. He then noticed the extremely focused look on Wilona's face before her eyes widened.

"Truesdale, watch Yuki! I need to warn the others!"

"Warn them!?" Syrus cried out, but it was too late as Wilona already ran out the door. "Wilona, warn them about what!?"

The two Slifers didn't know that someone was watching them the entire time.

[Tag Force: Heroes and Villains]

Wilona kept running, even as Honest appeared beside her. "Wilona, what's the matter?"

"I don't even know myself! It was a gut feeling when I saw Yuki's key! I think," She ran past several trees. "I think I know what Paradox is really planning!"

"What do you mean?!"

"It was how the younger Truesdale told me about how Paradox only cursed one of our friends! He could have done a similar curse on the other three on his turn, and he would have won. But why is Paradox doing this on Slayer's turn? He also forced Slayer into dueling only a day after Seika and Alexis' duel! He's not at full strength!"

"He's forcing his comrade to fight when weakened?"

"It's simpler than that, he's—" Wilona slid to a stop when something blocked her path.

Or rather, someone.

"Well, someone has been paying attention. I can't have you spoil my fun." Paradox was always a bad sign to those in Duel Academy and even for the other Shadow Riders.

But a dead-serious Paradox? That was not something anyone wanted to imagine. Yet Wilona kept her composure and glared back at the blonde jester. But her composure fell when she felt a weight on her left arm and saw that she had her duel disk on. She left it at the dorms early this morning, so why was it... Paradox.

"How about a duel, little girl? If you win, you can tell everyone about your revelation." Paradox summoned a Duel Disk on his side. "If I win? Well, have you ever heard of a place called the Shadow Realm?"

Wilona tried to pry off her Duel Disk, but it was stuck on her hand.

"Now then," Paradox raised his hand and pointed to Wilona, who struggled to move her hand as she activated her Duel Disk.

"Let's Duel!"

{Author Notes}

And done! Man, I made Paradox a real show act. This chapter went in a completely different direction from where I wanted it to go. And I like it!

Next time you're all going to be in for a treat: Chazz and Bastion in a Tag Duel Together! That's a combination that's not seen a lot.

Anyway, guys, I hope you enjoyed this other filler-ish chapter because crap is about to hit the fan! This last half of the Shadow Rider's saga is going to be a doozy!

Oh, right! Before I forget, I originally wanted Kaibaman to appear because I found him so fascinating. I mean Kaiba in the Dub has vehemently denied the existence of the occult even as it stared at him in the face, so the idea of him having a monster spirit is so hilarious to me. However, I tried to write him here, but I found him redundant since I made the Yosenju a police force in this alternate world.

But I thought it was a shame that one dream match-up never got to see the light. Spoilers for a ten-year-old movie (Avoid if this and the Deleted Scene if you don't want to know Paradox's deck yet): Paradox's deck in the movie involves stealing cards from the previous generation, including Blue-Eyes White Dragon. So how awesome would it be to see Malefic/Sin Blue Eyes white Dragon face his original counterpart? I kept this deleted scene and thought I'd share it down here.

[Deleted Scene: Dragon Vs Dragon]

Paradox saw from the top of the tree what was happening down below.

"I love a good card game as much as the next guy, but I've always had a soft spot for chaotic action sequences." He stood up from his seat and turned. "Of course, not everyone can appreciate such refined tastes—"

A beam of destructive energy raced for the Shadow Rider. However, the attack distorted around Paradox and fired into a group of Vendread monsters down below.

"So rude! But then again, I was rude first, wasn't I?" Paradox began laughing.

"You." Kaibaman stood on the opposite side of the branch with a Blue-Eyes White Dragon flying over him. "Who—no. What are you?"

Paradox clicked his tongue and wagged his finger. "If I went and told you that, I wouldn't be half as interesting as I am now, would I? Secrets make people sexy!" He motioned his arm as a Duel Disk appeared. He drew a card from his deck and looked at it. "But now that a Blue-Eyes is in front of me, I've always wanted to see this match up. Come forth, Malefic Blue-Eyes White Dragon!"

Kaibaman looked in disgust as another Blue-Eyes appeared before him. Only this one had plating all over him as if marked and owned by someone other than itself.

"How do you have such a beast?" Kaibaman gritted his teeth.

"That's not the question you should be asking. The question is: should I bring out my other dragons before he attacks? The answer will surprise you." Paradox exclaimed as his dragon unleashed a wave of destruction towards Kaibaman and his Blue-Eyes.

The duel spirit had no choice now as he commanded his monster to counterattack.

An explosion lit the sky, but the beings down below were too busy to notice.