{Author Notes}

I am so sorry, guys! It's been a tough 4 months for me. I was busy, stressed, and had horrible writer's block. And just recently, I came back from a vacation out of the States, so I'm still trying to get used to jet lag and such.

Hopefully, this proves I'm not dead—just trying my best as my life gets harder. I hope you enjoy this chapter as it takes a different route than usual and that it took me multiple rewrites until I finally found something I liked!

[Tag Force: Heroes and Villains]

Jaden supposed it could be worse. "Aww, man! If only Wilona thought about putting gasoline in the boat." He knew he couldn't blame her. It was only thanks to her that he still had supplies even after burning through his own packed goods.

But what exactly could he do? How was he supposed to be able to find his cards again?

"Do you really want that answer?"

Jaden sat up, trying to find the source of the voice. He looked to the driver's seat and felt his own temperature drop.

It was Paradox.

"Hello again, Mr. Jaden Yuki. You seem to be well."

"W-What do you want, Paradox?" This wasn't good. Jaden couldn't duel anymore, and the most dangerous Shadow Rider was before him! Where was his future self when he needed him?

"Oh, don't rely on a different version of your future self. You might not be as lucky." Jaden paled as he felt Paradox read him like a child's book. "Not to mention that he's going to be busy with a pet project of mine. But I'm getting ahead of myself." He crossed his legs and leaned into the driver's seat. "I am here for your help."

"You want my help?" Jaden knew enough about Paradox that he always had a plan, and no one could ever tell what it was.

"Yes. See, there's some trouble in the spirit world. And a human like you can help save a lot of lives."

Jaden said nothing. After all, he didn't believe the guy who almost destroyed Honest and Wilona.

"You don't have to believe me," Paradox said again. "All I need you to do... is hold on tight."

Paradox put a hand on the accelerator lever and pushed it forward. Even though the boat was supposed to be dead, it jetted to life and dove into the water. Jaden screamed before instinctively holding his breath but felt his world becoming darker and darker as he sunk into the deep...

The last thing he saw was Paradox, seemingly holding in a laugh.

[Tag Force: Heroes and Villains]

Jaden Yuki, six years old, walked through the hospital with his crutches. He did not like the hospital, the brunette child decided. But as the brunette walked towards the cafeteria, an open door caught the child's attention. A man was sitting on a bed, but he looked to be putting something on his blanket.

The man turned around. "Oh? Come on in. I don't bite." His voice held a laugh but felt kind.

Jaden blushed as he realized he was staring, but soon entered. As he did, he recognized the items on the bed. "Hey! You've got Duel Monsters!?"

"You play?" The kindly man asked.

"Do I? I even got one of the best super cards ever!"

The man raised his brow. "What's the name?"

"YuOOOWWW!?"

With a sharp pain, Jaden sat up. His head throbbed as he groaned. "W-What? What happened?" The Slifer duelist looked at his surroundings yet grew more confused with each passing second. As his memory caught up, the brunette tried to find any sign of Paradox. Yet, there was no trace of the masked man. In fact, the scenery looked nothing like what he last saw. Instead of the bottom of the ocean, Jaden felt like he was inside a famous Space Movie with a sterile cell with a wall of energy blocking his only exit.

Now Jaden Yuki wasn't exactly the sharpest crayon in the toolshed when it came to social relationships. But Jaden made the connection that Paradox said he needed his help for something before he got kidnapped.

The brunette finally noticed the backpack next to him. He was about to reach for it when he heard something behind the wall of energy. It opened up, and Jaden's eyes widened. Some kind of giant Super Sentai robot was behind it, but it was pushing something in. Actually, it was pushing someone in, someone that Jaden recognized.

"Ah!" The voice cried out before they fell face-first into the floor before the energy barrier closed behind the new prisoner.

The prisoner got back up, turning quickly to the wall before slamming their hands on it. However, even though it looked to be made of energy, it didn't even shake from the pounding the prisoner gave it. "Come back! What did you mean by that!?"

Staring longer than he should have, Jaden finally found his voice again as he pointed to his new cellmate. "Ib!?"

One of the three people who claimed to be from the world with the Titanic items known only as the World Legacies. Jaden met these three people over summer vacation in the Spirit World. His mind clicked! Paradox dropped him back into the Spirit World!

"Jaden!?" The girl looked different the last Jaden saw her: from a weird mix of a swimsuit and a priest attire to some odd cyberpunk armor. "I-Is that you!?"

"I was about to ask you the same question. You look different last time I saw ya."

The purple-haired girl shook her head. "Wait. You shouldn't be here! Were you captured by the Mekk-Knights as well?"

"The who?" Jaden titled his head. "Where they those robots that pushed you in?"

"What? Y-You don't know them? Surely they're the ones who brought you in here!"

"Uhhhhhh," Jaden didn't know what was going on. "Honestly? I think I was captured? But not by...them?" He saw Ib's face look more confused than less. He laughed nervously while rubbing the back of his head. "I uh. I guess I'm as surprised as you. Unless you know how you got here."

Ib sighed as she sat down and explained what had happened. After meeting and separating from the adventure he and Jesse had, the three of them saw and went toward the recently summoned World Legacy Chalice. There, they encountered a Fairy called Lee. She gifted the group more power in the form of armor and tasked them with finding the rest of the World Legacy items in this world. But on the second they had arrived, the group got beset by wave after wave of Crawler monsters. After they were weakened from all the fighting, the Mekk-Knights appeared and captured Ib away from everyone else, bringing her to another World Legacy, the shield.

"Oddly enough, they took my staff and started questioning me." Ib looked down at the floor. "But the way they did so made it sound like they knew gathering the World Legacies together was dangerous. Before I could ask, I heard a sharp, repeating sound that made them put me here before they went and investigated."

Her eyes lit up. "Wait, with you here, can you free us both?"

Jaden winced as he looked at his arm. Unlike before, there was no Duel Disk on him this time. He doubted he'd be able to see his cards, even if it was there.

Ib saw his reaction and dropped her shoulders like the topic. However, a loud grumbling sound echoed in the cell. Jaden turned to a blushing Ib who held her stomach.

"Forgive me. I-It has been a very long day. I haven't eaten or got proper rest in..." She trailed off when her stomach growled louder.

Jaden looked at the backpack. It didn't take him long to find and unpeel a sandwich. "Here. It's food from my world."

"Is this?" Ib seemed to hesitate before taking the square meal with confusion. "Is this the pizza Jesse spoke of?"

Jaden gave a small laugh. "No, sorry! Next time for sure, I'll bring that over for you and the others! It's a grilled cheese sandwich with ham!"

Ib blinked, not knowing what this Chumley was. But the odd soft square in front of her looked bizarre with its yellow ooze and sparse material. But if Jaden could eat it, then surely—

Like the cheese, Ib's thoughts melted away as she bit into the sandwich. Her eyes lit up as an explosion of flavor entered her mouth for the first time. And less time for her to realize she had finished the item quickly.

Luckily for her, Jaden was already opening a second delectable square. "Whoa! You must be starving if you wolfed that one down!" His kindness reminded Ib of Auram.

For about half a second.

The rest of the second was spent finishing the second sandwich in time for Jaden to give her a third one.

Only when the sixth sandwich turned into another empty wrapper did Jaden realize he might have been too gracious. He didn't have to say anything as Ib filled enough to realize Jaden was looking at the bag with some alarm.

"F-Forgive me! I couldn't control myself! Your food had so much flavor for something so small!" Ib's face was the same color as Jaden's jacket as she kneeled and faced the floor again in shame.

"It's fine! It's fine! I never thought I'd see the day someone loving grilled cheese more than Chumley!" Jaden grinned as he said this, imagining Ib and Chumley being Grilled Cheese buddies.

Even if Ib used her hair to cover her face, her ears were still red. "T-Thank you for the meal."

"I'll definitely ask Wilona for—" Jaden frowned after saying the name.

Ib noticed the look on Jaden's face. "Who is Wilona?" Unlike the name of Chumley, something about Jaden's body reacted differently to this new name.

"She's," Jaden paused as a feeling from his chest tightened. "My best friend. She's always saying a lot of things to me, and I don't always listen even though I probably should."

"You two sound like Auram and I," Ib smiled. "Thank you, Jaden. It's...been a long few days. I appreciate you lifting my spirits."

"Glad I could help. Now, if only we could get out of here."

Ib looked back at the backpack. "I don't suppose you brought something from your world that can free us?"

Jaden liked to think Wilona was prepared, but not THAT prepared. "I doubt it. Even though I wish."

Yet, the brunette noticed the girl raising her brow as she lifted her hand to point at it. "So why is it shaking?"

Jaden blinked before turning towards the pack. Unlike a few seconds ago, something looked crammed inside it and struggled to get out.

It even made a muffled sound. "Kuri."

Jaden's eyes widened as he opened the bag and pulled out something like a furball. "Winged Kuriboh!? Is that you, bud—?!"

Jaden...was half right. It was not Winged Kuriboh. For one, Winged Kuriboh had wings and brown fur. This one had white hair and a funny priest hat.

"Kuriborhn." The white Kuriboh cooed as Jaden picked him up.

"It's you! The Kuriboh from the Gravekeepers!" Jaden let go as the new Kuriboh floated in the air. Although he couldn't help but feel a little disappointed, other points came up first. "How'd ya get here? Huh, that's a question being thrown a lot here."

"Kuriborhn."

"What did you eat something spoiled in the bag?" Jaden looked back as Kuriborhn shook his being.

Ib raised her brow as she looked between the two. "What? Jaden, what did he say?"

Jaden kept forgetting that he seemed to be the only one who could understand the Kuriboh language. "Right! He's saying that he came here because he has a bad feeling. I thought he ate something spoiled in the bag." As Jaden fished the contents, his hand touched the flare gun Wilona prepped for him. He brought it out and put it into his jacket, feeling it'll be more helpful than he thought.

"Borhn." The Kuriboh pointed to Jaden.

"Uhhh, something... happened. I don't know?" The Kuriboh asked him why Winged Kuriboh wasn't with him. Luckily, the white Kuriboh didn't seem to press further before floating toward the cell cage. It lifted its paws before the energies of the cell parted, creating a doorway big enough for everyone to escape.

"Looks like we've got a way out!" Jaden slipped on the backpack as he and Ib rushed out of the cell.

But the action was akin to getting out of the frying pan and into the fire. When Ib and Jaden left the cell, neither expected the hallway to look ruined and destroyed as a sharp alarm blared.

"Whoa!? What happened here!?" Jaden cried out.

"It must be Auram and Ningrisu! They must have caught up and are trying to rescue me!"

The wall behind the two busted open, causing the ground to shake. By instinct, Jaden shielded the smaller girl as the dust settled. When the three looked out the broken wall, Jaden found his words first. "Did Auram and Ningrisu turn into a giant red serpent while I was gone?"

The being outside the wall had no eyes, yet the way it pointed its face at them and hissed with acidic breath only proved it could sense them.

"No!"

"Didn't think so. RUN!" Jaden grabbed Ib's hand before he, she, and Kuriborhn bolted down a turn as the serpent unleashed a powerful beam of energy.

The two avoided the attack, but Kuriborh floated ahead and turned deeper into the World Legacy. "Kuri!"

"He said to follow him!" Jaden cried out as they two did.

When they did, they noticed the World Legacy shield had more damage than either thought. Some holes in the wall showed what was basically a war. An army of those strange red serpents was blasting lasers around what looked like a ruined city. They could see distant glimpses of the Mekk-Knights fighting off the serpents.

But high above the sky? They spotted what looked like a UFO slowly making its way toward them with its lower half gathering energy, implying the beginning of a destructive attack.

"I guess they're not giving us a light show entertainment, aren't they?" Jaden asked aloud.

"We need to leave!" Ib cried out.

"Kuriborhn!" The white Kuriboh loudly said before floating faster into deeper territory.

"Is it really that important?!" Jaden yelled as he ran after the Kuriboh, prompting Ib to do the same.

However, as they went lower, the ceiling in front of the three exploded, revealing a green Mekk-Knight had been knocked in front of them.

Ib and Jaden panicked as the robotic being got up and turned its gaze toward them. Yet, Kuriborhn looked up as something descended on the captor of the two.

"I'm not through with you!" A filtered voice said as the Mekk-Knight looked back up—only to get shot multiple times by a rubbery and liquid substance. Everything got pinned by the liquid as it grew and hardened around its body. An armored leg slammed into the face of the Mekk-Knight, pushing it further into the hardening liquid and making Ib and Jaden see a masked warrior in blue wielding a gun. The figure kicked off from his attack, shot more liquid from his pistol, and trapped the Mekk-Knight in the hardening liquid.

The figure in blue armor spun his gun into his holster before touching his belt buckle. "Mask Change!" In a blue flash, his armor became sleeker and smaller than a while ago.

"Whoa! That was awesome!" Jaden gushed at the move straight out of a hero film.

The armored figure turned to Jaden's voice, seeing the three. "Are you three prisoners?"

"W-We were. Who are you?" Ib asked.

"For now? Call me Fountain." The blue masked hero said. However, the prison he made on the Mekk-Knight started to glow green, and a single crack appeared. "We need to go!"

"Kuri!" Kuriborhn cried out and floated past the imprisoned Mekk-Knight, prompting the others to do the same before he escaped.

"So!?" Jaden looked at the blue warrior. "Who are you!?"

"That's a long story. But these beings have captured an important ally of ours. Unfortunately for us, one of our enemies—the ones who sent those serpents and Mothership charging its beam—is trying to eradicate our friend and his captors. The few friends I have left attempted to sneak in during the battle between the two. However, we got caught in the fighting. I was half lucky to surprise attack one of those things into this blasted fortress." He looked ahead. "That furball seems to be heading where my friend is believed to be held."

Ib and Jaden looked over to see Kuriborhn heading deeper into the World Legacy Shield.

With the chaos around them and the knowledge of the warship coming soon, they could only run faster to escape in time.

Meanwhile, on the outskirts of the fighting, two armored figures and a dragon reached over the hill they were climbing.

"What's going on!?" An armored Swordsman screamed.

"Auram, look!" A spearman pointed to the fighting. There, they could see traces of colored robots in a free-for-all against an army of serpents and masked warriors. "It's the ones who took IB! Good, it seems like they're distracted fighting off multiple enemies. We can use this to sneak in."

The blonde Swordsman looked to his left before his eyes widened. "Um? Ningrisu?!"

Ningrisu followed where Auram screamed at. The spearman's eyes widened as he saw a low-orbiting ship launch a powerful laser erasing all underneath it. The most alarming thing was that the ship was heading right for where the shield was, which meant his sister was in danger.

"We need to go!" A small fairy cried out. "That beam might tear apart the shield!"

Back inside the shield, the party of four moved deeper into the core of the fortress still. Eventually, they came across the core structure of the giant fortress as it looked to be held up by a pillar that regulated and transferred energy throughout the shield. On the ground level was a console, and above it looked to be the cell in question as several machines pointed and contained something within layers of energy similar to what held Ib and Jaden.

In front of the giant core, they saw a multi-layered clamp with circling energy.

"Kuri! Kuri! Borhn!" The White Kuriboh pointed below the container, revealing a console circle with a glass top that emitted an odd energy.

They made a step towards the console in question, but Fountain suddenly turned on his heel and reached for his buckle.

"Mask Change! Vapor!" Fontain shouted as he changed into a new form with a spear. Before anyone else could react, Fountain raced forward and clashed with an incoming Mekk-Knight, an indigo-colored one with a circular blade surrounding it.

"Free my friend! I'll hold it off!" The warrior focused his energy on his spear and tackled the Mekk-Knight through a wall.

Jaden looked at the screen, as did Kuriborhn and Ib. All they saw were alien symbols scattered in a disorganized manner.

Jaden looked to the Kuriboh. "Uhhh, you don't happen to know how to deactivate this, do you?"

Kuriborhn blinked slowly at him. Jaden looked to Ib, who looked just as confused as the flying hairball.

"Why do tests gotta exist in other worlds?" Jaden muttered under his breath as he pressed what he thought were buttons. However, they didn't even go down from his touch. "That's not good."

Kuribohrn and Ib did the same, yet both seemed confused if they were doing anything. Meanwhile, the fighting between Foutain and the Indigo Mekk-Knight grew more violent in the distance. If that wasn't bad enough, the group heard another sound. They turned back, seeing a green light glowing brighter towards them.

"And the green guy's free," Jaden looked back to where Fountain was. "Maybe one of his friends is nearby too?"

Unfortunately for Jaden, the green Mekk-knight appeared and dove for the group the minute it spotted them. Ib broke off and pushed her palms together, creating a barrier around them. However, the Mekk-Knight swung its weapon only once, and the barrier cracked with Ib falling on one of her knees already.

"Jaden-GRH! Hurry!" Ib focused her energy on the barrier.

That did not make the brunette feel any better as he started to slam his fists on the console, only making his hands sore. "Come on! We didn't come all this way just to...! Work darn it!" Jaden panicked and kicked the machine in high stress. Of course, it hurt him more than the machine. However, the place that Jaden struck started to light up.

Jaden and Kuriborhn looked at each other before they lowered themselves and touched an area next to the light Jaden kicked. Other squares lit up. Without waiting for another second, Jaden and Kuriborhn went to work lighting up the bottom of the console.

"Jaden!?" Ib yelled as her forcefield started to fizzle out of existence.

The two finished circling the console, making it open up. Jaden spotted something he could not believe: a Duel Monsters deck bound in odd energy.

"Kuri! Kuri!" Jaden heard the white puff ball say to take it quickly, and he did. As soon as he did so, the energy orb above them decompressed. It exploded in a ball of light, forcing everyone to shield themselves.

At the same time, the Mekk-knight destroyed Ib's barrier and attempted to apprehend her once more. Instead, a fist met with its helm, causing it to fly through a wall with sudden force.

Jaden and Ib looked up. They didn't know what they were looking at, but the being was unlike anything they had seen before. However, for Jaden, he couldn't help but feel like he's seen the being before.

The freed being gave off the feeling of something heroic... before he fell to his knees, seemingly weakened.

Fountain came out of the hole he made and saw the freed being. "Neos! Everyone, I have Neos! We need to escape!"

"That voice?" Neos turned to the blue warrior that helped him stand up. "Aqua? What are you wearing?"

"It's a long story!" He said as he slung Neo's arm over his shoulder and started walking. "But the others and I came to get you...!"

"Ib."

Everyone turned ahead once more. Ib gasped as she recognized who found them. "Lee!"

Jaden had only heard of fairies from all the children's tales they show. However, when he heard Lee was a fairy, the brunette had an unsettling feeling from the small dark light heading towards them.

"Oh, there you are, sweet Ib. Auram and Ningrisu got caught in the fight above us."

"Then we have to," Ib stepped forward before Neos used his free hand to stop her.

"Hold. I sense maliciousness in her." The weakened being narrowed his eyes at the fairy.

Lee sighed as darkness started to cover her entire body. "Darn. I suppose it was only a matter of time before we met creatures who could see through me. Actually, I have to thank you for weakening the Mekk-Knights for me. I doubted even Auram and Ningrisu could handle them head-on."

Lee summoned a darkened object that suddenly erupted with dark power. It ensnared Jaden, Ib, Fountain, Neos, and even the two Mekk-knights that were currently incapacitated.

"Don't struggle, Ib!" Lee cackled, her voice becoming more distorted with each passing second. "I can make it all..."

"KURIBORHN!" Luckily for all of them, the darkness did not touch Kuriborhn. Instead, the puffball floated forward before exploding with his holy light, burning the darkness that captured everyone else.

Lee wailed in pain before she fell to the ground.

"Aqua! Neos!" A new voice made everyone look to the main entrance. A green version of Fontain appeared before them. "There you are! What was that light show?"

"Hummingbird, no time! You have to get us out of here! Include those three!" The blue warrior screamed and motioned to Jaden and the others.

As soon as he screamed this, the entire area shook as the light from outside grew with an intensity that reached blinding. The green warrior changed his form, and Jaden and Ib felt themselves being lifted into the air. Jaden grabbed Kuriborhn before the group flew out of the area with purposeful speed. Ib and Jaden turned back to see the beam of the spaceship starting to hit the edges of the World Legacy.

Inside the massive ruin, Lee slowly got up from being burned by Kuriborhn's light.

"N-No! Damnable hairball! How dare it get in my way! I was so close! So damn close!" She screamed as pieces of her body started to burn from Kuriboh's light.

"Iruk..."

Lee looked up at the new shadow cast over her. For some reason, she started to feel her fortunes change.

[Tag Force: Heroes and Villains]

The green warrior dropped the winds as soon as they were far enough.

"Let me light the signal. It should call the others here soon enough." Fountain said as he dropped an item that shined a light into the dark clouds above. Jaden recognized it as the Hero Signal from his own trap card.

Soon, more masked beings came to the area, all looking damaged and dirty from what was no doubt a horrible fight.

"Good," A red warrior exhaled. "I was getting worried as the mothership started to burn that fortress."

"What happened to all of you? Where did you get those armors?" Neos asked.

"It happened after you were captured, friend. We followed a voice, and it showed us strange masks that altered our forms. With options and time limited, we used it to rescue you." Fountain looked over to Jaden and Ib. "They happened to be captured as well. And helped you escape."

The one called Neos turned to look over at his other former prisoners. Jaden felt his sense of nostalgia increase tenfold while looking into the eyes of the powerful being.

"Jaden Yuki. It's been a long time." Neos didn't have a mouth, but many could tell he was smiling as he said this.

"Wait-what? You know me?" Jaden raised his brow.

"That's him?" "Jaden Yuki!?" "You're Jaden Yuki!?" The other armored warriors pointed over to the Slifer Red with alarm.

Jaden looked around in disbelief. "Uhh, how do you all know me?"

"A bit hard to not know our creator," Neos spoke as he stood up to his full height.

Ib turned to Jaden. "You made these creatures?"

Many of the armored beings removed their helmets. As they did, Jaden and Ib's eyes only widened. Lights flashed from the removal of the helmets. Afterward, the two saw their saviors were aliens; they consisted of a hummingbird, a panther with a cape, a scarab, a glowing being, and a humanoid dolphin.

Kuriborhn cooed, making Jaden look over and see the little point to the deck he held. It took Jaden a second before he looked at the cards. At first, he only saw blank white as he did before. Yet, Kuribohrn floated towards his head and placed a paw on his head.

Jaden recalled an old memory: creating new cards after hearing about a contest from Seto Kaiba. He remembered gathering crayons and drawing non-stop for hours. It was these cards, the...

"Neo-Spacians..." Jaden gasped as he looked at the deck once more. They were real Duel Monsters cards. He must have won the contest to send his cards into space! But wait...

"Hey, where's this guy?" Jaden picked up the card that held a mole card.

"He's..." The others trailed off as they realized the one in question was nowhere nearby.

At that moment, the ground shook before a drill popped up. Said drill split open to reveal a giant space mole. "Sorry about that! Need to help some strangers get up here! They were a big help back there!"

As the mole got out of his hole, something quickly raced out and tackled Ib to the ground, that being a teal dragon.

"I-Imduk!?" Ib managed to gasp as she held the face of the dragon.

"Ib!" "Ib!" Two more people climbed out of the hole.

"Brother! Auram!" Ib shouted before the two males ran up to hug their lost member.

"Are you hurt!?" Ningrisu asked but didn't let go.

"I'm fine! I'm fine!" Ib managed to say over being muffled.

"We were so worried about you, Ib!" Auram started sniffing.

"I was worried about you two as well." The purple-haired girl smiled.

"Well," Everyone turned to the dolphin. "Now that we're all accounted for, even with extras. We should be off. The less time we're here, the better."

Everyone agreed with that notion and started to make their way. However, Jaden stayed behind when he saw Kuriborhn suddenly pause mid-flight. "Something wrong?" As soon as the words left his lips, Jaden felt off. It was the opposite feeling of being near Winged Kuriboh and Kuriborhn. But this feeling was familiar, which triggered another memory of Jaden, a more recent one during his last visit to the spirit world in summer vacation.

However, the thoughts stopped. Or rather, they got interrupted when a cracking boom echoed in front of the group ahead. Jaden and Kuribohrn turned, seeing shadow tendrils ensnaring everyone once more.

Lee floated forward, summoning a shadowy figure of a chalice that oozed with malicious energy. "Now then? Let's try that again."

"L-Lee!?" Auram struggled under her grip but couldn't budge. "W-What's going on!?"

Kuriborhn spurred to action as he floated towards the dark fairy once more. Yet, this time, Lee only smiled wider than most lips should be able to stretch.

"Oh? This time, I have a little friend of my own." Her sing-song tune became a signal as something appeared between both Kuriborhn and Lee.

Jaden's eyes widened as he saw who—no—what appeared before the little light: Ankuriboh. The mysterious troublemaker created a reverse symbol of an Ank that repelled Kuribohrn's light.

Lee could only laugh. "This is better than I could have imagined! I was only aiming for Ib, but now? I can gather multiple hosts for my power!"

Jaden panicked as he saw the shadows slowly swallow everyone around the area. He wasn't some being with magical powers, and even now, he still didn't have a duel disk to summon monsters to help!

Yet, Jaden wasn't about to give up. There had to be...

Kuribohrn cooed as his powers clashed with Ankuriboh's.

"Light?" Jaden raised his brow as he heard the message. But again, what could he...Jaden remembered what was in his pocket. Quickly, he noticed the portal where Ankuriboh came from: it was directly behind Lee.

Without waiting, Jaden ran forward. Spotting an opening, he dashed with all his might to avoid more shadow tendrils from getting him. As he got close, one of the tendrils snaked around his leg and lifted him up in the air.

"I don't know what use I'll have for you," Lee looked at the upside-down Jaden. "But I'll figure something out."

Yet, this was all part of Jaden's plan as he fished his pockets and aimed Wilona's flare gun at Lee. The brunette pulled the trigger...!

Before we continue with the events, the author wishes to inform the reader of a few things that Jaden did not know. One: flare guns are not actual guns. Two: they are inaccurate and are only likely to hit if someone is in close range. And three: they are not that powerful when hit from a distance. That being said, please do not shoot anyone point-blank with a flare gun; it will cause 2nd to 3rd-degree burns. This has been my very first PSA message. We now returned to your regularly scheduled fanfic.

Alrighty then. For Jaden, he intended to hit Lee with his shot. Instead, his flare slammed into the Chalice Lee was using. The shadowy object flew some distance into the portal that Ankuriboh made while the object was still exerting dark energy.

Believe it or not, reality-fabric-breaking energy does not mix well with corrupting darkness. As such, when the chalice made contact with Ankuriboh's portal, it created an explosion that Jaden only had half a second to realize he didn't mean to do that.

Everyone got caught in the shockwave that blew them away before the portal imploded on itself and started sucking everyone in. Kuribohrn, seeing the distraction, acted fast and headbutted a distracted Ankuriboh into Lee, making them both fly into the portal first. Lee attempted to use tendrils to grab Ib with her in the pull. But the white Kuriboh repelled her attempts. Yet, the white being didn't notice the repelled tendrils taking Auram, Ningrisu, and Imduk instead before falling into the portal with the other two.

When the five passed through, the energy of the portal changed. And it started to vacuum the entire area. Jaden looked up to see Kuribohrn unable to defy the pull before he and the Neo Spacians got sucked into the portal. Jaden turned to see even Ib's body starting to get sucked in.

"Uh oh! Ib!" Jaden cried out as he raced after the girl before diving into the portal after everyone got sucked in. His world turned deep green before utter darkness.

[Tag Force: Heroes and Villains]

Lee slowly woke up, finding herself in the middle of a void with Auram, Ningrisu, and Imduk floating around. "Blasted Child! He and that furball ruined everything! Once I find them, I will rip them asunder!"

"Could you maybe put a hold on that?" Lee turned around, seeing a blonde man with a black and white mask.

"Who are you?" Lee asked before seeing Ankuriboh float beside him.

"For you? Call me someone interested in your plans. See, I had plans of my own until someone new interrupted them." He turned towards Ankuriboh. "In fact, they involved that teen that stopped you. He was supposed to be somewhere else until something came out of nowhere and snatched him out of my grasp."

The Ankuriboh floated unblinkingly at the man's words.

"So, I have you to blame for this screw-up?" Lee narrowed her eyes.

"Hey, don't look at me. I was doing something else. Though, I am surprised there's someone else trying to stop me. I could've sworn I already knew all the players of this game."

Lee did not understand a single thing the blonde spoke of. But she did understand one of his earlier statements. "You said something about being interested in my plans?"

No one could tell the man behind the mask smiled in a way as one would remember an inside joke. "Let's just say that they happened to coincide with mine. And I am more than willing to make... an alliance."

Darkness and something new slithered around those that remained of the World Legacy beings.

[Tag Force: Heroes and Villains]

"You must be a daft one, you know that?" Those were the first words Jaden heard as his consciousness returned to him. Instantly, his mind felt an odd relief as he heard the familiar voice and accent.

"Come on. Gimme a break, Wilona..."

"...Wilona?" It was then that Jaden realized that wasn't his best friend. The voice sounded like her, but it also felt distinctly different.

Even as he opened his eyes, he felt confused when looking into familiar purple eyes. But was something wrong with his brain? The eyes were the right color, but there was something off about them. But not only that, he was staring at long pink hair instead of light green. And Wilona didn't wear something that looked straight out of a navy uniform.

"Oh?" The familiar girl smiled as if to suppress a giggle. "Awake then, Mr. Shipwrecked?" Instantly, Jaden thought of Wilona's Mr. Late nickname before they introduced themselves.

"Um. Err..." Jaden looked around, seeing himself in some fancy and rich-looking bedroom. He saw a window, but it was weird in that it was small and circular—as one would see in a boat. Oh, wait. He spotted the sea; Jaden was in a boat.

"I'm going to assume that your mind isn't all there quite yet," The elegant teen said as she stood up. "I'll have Miles prepare you and your friend a meal once you both rested up."

"Friend?" Jaden asked, still stunned by the information coming at him.

"Yes, the purple-haired girl we found with you. Poor lass. Anyway, take your time. I'll ask you questions later."

As the teen turned around, one question burned in Jaden's mind that reached his mouth first. "Hey, wait! Who are you!?"

The girl turned as she put on her navy cap. She said, with an almost flirty smile, "My name is Gwendolyn Aeolus Baldulf. A pleasure to meet you." As if finishing, she turned and closed the door behind her.

The girl named Gwendolyn closed the door behind her. Her smile turned into a scowl before she put a hand underneath her chin.

"Who is that? And how does he know Lona?"

{Author Notes}

FINALLY! This Chapter is COMPLETE! This was mostly a combination of Jaden finding the Neo Spacians while crossing over with another story not in the anime. I really hope you guys like it. Sorry there was no duel this time, but I wasn't really up for it.

Anywho. I hope you all can forgive me for the late work this time.

Thanks for reading and hope you're all doing well!