Miguel and Jiro were lying still in adjacent infirmary beds. It was the first time that Yugi had seen the Jiro without a scowl on his face. In other circumstances (like a mere coma) it might have even been a peaceful look. At least Suzuki and Hashi had been put in neighbouring cots – they seemed as natural together as any pair of brothers he knew.
"They were found near the infirmary." Alexis had been the only person who bothered to contact Dorothy for help – a few of the Blue students had actually kicked the prone forms aside for cluttering up the hallway. "It looks like Hashi tried to draw out a Duel while Jiro ran for help. We found him in the lecture hall at the end of the corridor." Maybe he'd ducked in to try and hide from pursuers, maybe they'd cornered him. But he'd been beaten either way. "These were found on them." She held a pair of Bio-Bands, no – two Death-Belts dangled from her fingers.
"Miguel had one on him as well." Yugi tossed the extra onto the tray. That made four. "And this was left at the Dorm." With the one that had been left menacingly at the Slifer Dorm, that made all five of the stolen box... unless two boxes had been stolen. Or three. Who knew how many had disappeared?
Alexis could figure the reason why it had been left behind for him to find – so that Yugi Mutou would be the one caught and punished. Whoever was doing this was covering all the angles and planning contingencies at every step. "Where are the rest of your students now?" In the space of a few days, eight had become four. They'd have a full infirmary and an empty dorm by the time breakfast was ready at this rate.
"They're back at the dorm." Each one had been given a heavy item, carte blanche to attack anyone approaching the building, and full permission to take their essential and personal possessions to barricade within the fancy extension with the sturdy locks. "I saw Dr Sartyr on the way in – he had a full account of all his students today." Not that he had the authority to point out that the only two times his students had been assaulted – and not the disgustingly normal level of barbarism that everyone had become desensitised to but this sicking new twist where their souls were snatched away – the two female Obelisk Blue and all the Ra Yellow students could be accounted for.
Unfortunately, Alexis knew this as well as he did. An afternoon trying to track down any hint or clue on the campus cameras had only revealed that recording had been disabled for ahead of the attack and any video since yesterday erased. Although it was meant to be that only senior staff had access to the security room, the windowless box frequently had the door propped open for fresh air and the guards kept regular rounds. Five minutes to grab lunch in the canteen while the spare stepped away for a cigarette and they'd pushed the perfect crime one step closer to completion. "Dr Mutou, I need to know what's happening here. I respect your standing but I'm not going to risk the safety of the students on whatever secret business you and Jaden have going on." Yugi looked over the four slumbering figures Dorothy and Sadie had been making comfortable.
How long had it been since the last time he saw this sight? Mai, Bakura, Odion, and Joey slowly laid up one after the after. Living dead who had gone into the fight knowing that more was afoot than the eye could see. Not like these children. "You're right." He agreed. "It's time that you knew what was going on." It hadn't been fair then for his other self to fight and claw to regain his memories and it wasn't fair to to keep Alexis in the dark now. "Let's go to your office, I'll explain everything" Nobody could lurk around the corner or burst in unexpectedly with Dorothy quietly humming a gentle tune in a rocking chair and slowly moving needles waiting to be 'tripped upon' but those same ears could turn against them.
Tracking down his collapsed students, getting them to the infirmary, safely relocating the remaining Slifers back to the dorm, and performing the initial investigation had drawn the rest of the day. There was enough light across the sky that he could pretend to see the good in humanity and little enough that he could pretend not to see the clusters of Blue jackets laughing on the concourse. A painfully clenched fist told Yugi he had made the correct choice in leaving the Bio-Band behind – it was darkly tempting to use it to against the cowards at ease with attacking his kids.
As they approached Alexis's private office, the sound of a impatient phone was blaring out in the twilight evening. Unlocking the door, Alexis flicked the lights on just in time for the machine to kick in and then fall dead. "They'll call back if it's important." A lot of connected parents tried contacting her after hours to try and wrangle a grade change for their little darlings. Answering machines recording evidence of their coercion was usually enough to dissuade them from leaving a message.
"I'm sure they will." Helping himself to the stationary on the desk, he made a careful note of the extension before glancing at the clock. Joey wasn't going to let him hear the end of this one.
"You promised to explain everything." Tucking herself in behind the desk, she leant both elbows imposingly on the wood beneath steepled fingers. "What's going on? Why are four of your students currently in unresponsive states? Does this have anything to do with why Jaden couldn't come? Are there any other dangers beside the Death-Belts?" Yugi evaluated his opponent – for she had become his opponent in a war of words. Alexis really cared about her students and was the only lecturer of actually see beyond the separations of the dorms. Jaden had, for whatever reasons, chosen not to mention the situation in the letter he had given Yugi to deliver.
"I wish I could tell you everything. I wish I knew everything. But I only know as much as you do right now." Looking to the clock on the wall, he watched the seconds ticking away as the darkness continued to grow. "Think of a number. Don't tell me what it is, just think about it and I'll tell you everything that I can."
"Not a minute ago you said that you know as much as I do." The phone began sounding but she simply lifted the receiver and slammed it back home again. This was no time to indulge threats of lawsuits and respond with the equally heavy threat of expulsions.
"That's true." Once again, the phone burst into life. "But I might know more." Picking up the handset, he held it out impassively. "It's for you."
Snatching the device away, she pressed it to an ear with a furious expression. "What? I'm in the middle of," All colour drained from her face at a single, innocent phrase. "Who is this?" Ashen colour filled her usually steady face.
"I think you know who it is." Time would have to forgive him on this one occasion. As long as he was careful, they'd be able to keep from contaminating the timeline while still being able to provide whatever answers Alexis needed to hear. "I'll give the two of you some time to talk." Stepping out the office, he carefully closed the door behind him. There was going to be a lot to talk about.
While Yugi had some time to himself, he tried to put events into context. Yliaster was going after Jaden. Four students had been attacked. The only link between the two was the Slifer Red dorm. By trading places with Yusei and Yugi, Jaden would be largely unaffected by any actions which took place before his arrival. Plus, the Bio-Bands must have been stolen before their destruction. Either Yliaster had arrived many years ago, these attacks were coincidental, or they had obtained the Bio-Bands from whoever had stolen them in the first place. But the first option was a stretch of logic and the other two were unprovable until he found a culprit in either case.
For now, he couldn't figure a connection between Yliaster and the attacks on his students. Their methods were too dissimilar, their approaches too different. But then why now? Why try and attack the Slifers now? The only difference was that Yugi was here and he had nothing in common with these kids. Except the bloody coat wrapped about him. As he sank into the blurry depths where thoughts emerged from instincts, he could nearly perceive his opponent at the far side of an immense game board.
A gentle click broke his reverie as the conversation inside the office wrapped up and the lock was undone. Holding open the office door, Alexis quietly gestured for him to enter. Sliding past her, Yugi seated himself in one of the guest chairs and waited as she tucked herself back in behind the desk. They contemplated one another in risky silence as each waited for the other to make a move. "253." Alexis reached out first.
"Excuse me?" Not that Yugi understood what she was trying to say.
"Two-hundred and fifty-three. That's the number I picked." A brief wind rattled the windows and Yugi tried to quell the notion that time was showing its appreciation for closing the loop. Years from then, he'd know what number to open the phone call with. He had the rest of the time to plan what he was going to say. "So, you're not Yugi Mutou. Not the one I know."
"Not yet." He agreed. "Someone's trying to interfere with history. From my perspective, this is the future. From yours, I'm from the past." It was the only plan that they'd been able to think of and still the best option for surviving – if he had managed to convince Alexis to keep supporting him.
"Yliaster." She swallowed. The very name seemed to drip with malice. "And Jaden? The students?"
"Jaden's safe." As far as either of them knew. Even if Jaden had already finished his battle in the future, he wouldn't return until a point still further ahead than the moment in the office. "But the students... this shouldn't be happening. Yliaster only sent one person to Duel Academy. There's no way they could be in two places at once." And Yliaster were limited in how much they could tamper with history. There had to be an explanation that they weren't seeing.
"Maybe they recruited someone from now to help them?" It was the first rule of deep cover: find an anchor to the target community and locate any sources of assistance.
"I doubt it. What's happened to those kids is worse than anything you can imagine." He'd kept the information at bay this long because it was worse than anything else. "Alexis, their souls have been taken. That's why their not waking up."
"Their souls?" She said flatly as thunder cracked behind her eyes.
Yugi knew what she was going to say next: exactly the same any same person would say. "It sounds crazy but I promise it's true. I don't know how Ylaister did it but"
"I believe you." She cut across with all the warmth of an iceberg. "Come with me." Standing up, she imperiously strode from the room.
After a few seconds gaping at the empty chair, Yugi rose from his own seat and hurried after her. "Where are we going?" He was sprinting to catch up as Alexis broke first into a jog and then a run of her own. Maybe she had answered but he was slightly dizzy from having to keep up with her significantly longer stride and it was an effort to hear beyond the pounding in head.
Throwing open another door, Alexis seemed to be running on pure adrenaline as she grasped a paint twice her size and lifted it off the wall while Yugi collapsed gratefully against the mahogany desk. "This... Crowler's... office?" No more oxygen could be spared as his brain prioritised itself over conversation.
"No," Heaving the gilded frame aside, she managed to unhook the wires and lower the painting to the carpet. "It's the Chancellor's office." Heaving against the picture, Alexis managed to shove the canvas far enough aside that she could reveal a squat metal box set into the wall. Physically seeing the dial in the middle brought her back to the gravity of the situation. "Can you look away for a second?" Yugi did the next best thing – he flopped into a chair and leaned his forehead against the table as he sucked in more air.
Gentle clicks sounded in the room as she rotated through the combinations. After a few seconds, Yugi felt good enough to sit upright and ask "What's in the box?" Between the severity of their conversation before the frantic sprint and then the speeds they'd run at, he was willing to bet every card in his Deck that the box she'd taken from the safe was important.
"Back in our first year, Jaden and I fought against a group called the Shadow Riders." Right, Jaden had mentioned them. They had tried to break the seal on the Sacred Beasts to harness their immense power. Chairman Kagemaru had even managed to regain his youth, albeit temporarily.
"And they went after the Spirit Keys to obtain the Sacred Beasts?" Ignoring the question, Alexis continued to shuffle through the secure contents.
"Help yourself." Opening the box, Yugi looked at a series of interlocking stone shapes. "I'm not worried about the Sacred Beasts getting loose." She disregarded the immense efforts both her friends and the Shadow Riders had been through. "Jaden's the only one who has a chance of controlling them. This is what I'm worried about." Dropping a mountain of folders onto the desk, she pulled out a thick steel briefcase from the furthest corner of the safe. Alexis slowly thumbed in the combinations before flipping the latches open. Even so, she didn't open it. "Each Shadow Rider had a special item with them. After we beat them, Chancellor Sheppard locked them up in here." Taking a deep breath, she pulled open the lid. "Fuck. Fuck fuck." She spun the container around for him to see.
Inside lay a collection of unusual but innocuous items. A gauntlet, an eyepatch, a circlet. Nothing that would titillate antiques dealers nor turn them away. Except for the single facet shared amongst them. "Where did these come from?" The Eye of Horus was an ancient symbol of protection from Egyptian mythology and could be seen in any number of carvings from the era. Stylised like this, without the teardrop and tail, it was known as the Eye of Wdjat. Stylised like this, it had been imprinted on the Millennium Items.
"They're called Shadow Charms." Both fists angrily leaned on the table. "Chairman Kagemaru refused to tells us where they came from but they're capable of stealing souls." From the empty indents, it was clear that the case was meant to contain more. Standing up, Yugi examined the remaining inventory. He hadn't seen such a collection of items since the Millennium Stone in the ruins of Kul Ena.
"Which ones are these?" Jaden had explained the various trials which each Shadow Rider had imposed but Yugi had dismissed the information as unimportant. The Riders were gone, their items secured, the threat vanquished. Until he got cocky.
"Pendant of the Gravekeepers, Gauntlet of the Amazons, Eyepatch of the Scorpions, Circlet of Abidos the Third, and the Emerald Tablet." She didn't need to point out which was which from the list.
"The Emerald Tablet?" Despite the numerous historical references, the factual existence of the Emerald Tablet was dismissed as an unfounded myth as the source of alchemy. "Damnit Jaden!" Grinding his eyes in wouldn't help anything but his frustration. How his successor could gloss over the existence of an important historical artefact... No, no. That was just Jaden. "What can these do?"
"The Tablet's been blank since Banner passed." She couldn't figure out that bitter sigh which came in response. "The Eyepatch and Gauntlet let Duel Spirits materialise in our world, and the Pendant can defend against them." Okay, that was the end of the good news. No self-respecting criminal would abandon the dangerous artefacts. Except; "What about the headband?"
Whatever had been said on the phone must have included a warning because Alexis' already tight hands curled faster still. "We never figured out how it worked but it was capable of manifesting Abidos the Third from the afterlife."
Of course he had warned Alexis to brace herself. It was taking all of his restraint not throw the entire table through the window. The headband had been left here intentionally, like the Death-Belt hanging on the handle at the dorm – they were tempting him to give into what he wanted instead of what was right. "And what's missing?" He forced himself to move past the temptation, to treat it as he would a landmine and not the chance to see his other self one last time.
"Choker, mask, and ring." Half of the remaining items. The gauntlet and eyepatch were worthless to humans, the Emerald Tablet had been blank since Professor Banner – otherwise known as 'Amnael' of the Shadow Riders – was defeated and the headband was only good for conjuring up old stories. Whoever had robbed the safe had known exactly which items to go for.
"What can they do?" These items were incredibly powerful, even with the strict limitations placed upon them. Exchanging limitations on conditions for limitations on power could still leave the stolen relics incredibly powerful.
"The choker and the ring can steal the soul of the loser." Which explained what had happened to the bodies in the infirmary – they had been robbed of their natural inhabitants. "The mask can do more. Hypnosis, Dark Duels, telepathy, portals. The only thing it can't do is force a Duellist to lose." The rules were very clear on that: no rigging the Shadow Games. A player could heavily tip the scales in their favour yet every player had to get a fair chance. Hypnosis could be broken and telepathy overwhelmed with false data and deceitful narratives but forcing a player to surrender was outright cheating and the Shadows exacted a heavy toll on cheaters.
"Is there anything else?" There had to be something else, something that Alexis hadn't covered.
"Like what?" Taking that phone call had convinced her to fully support Yugi in whatever he needed but she hadn't been given a clear roadmap of what lay ahead.
"If the mask can't seal souls then we've got a problem." It was a simple matter of arithmetic: two soul-snatching relics with three empty bodies left one unaccounted for. "How did they get Hashi, Jiro, and Miguel at the same time?" Darkly impressive efficiency but not the currently largest problem.
Disturbingly, Alexis had a possible answer to the question. "Have you ever heard of Shadow Cards?" One look at the stony expression and she knew that Yugi had experience on par with her own. "There used to be a lot of them around but we haven't seen any since Jaden defeated Nightshroud. Maybe someone figured out a way to make more." She wasn't discounting the odd Duel Spirit but they hadn't been around in even longer, not with the Sacred Beasts sealed away.
"You're lucky to have Jaden. He's an impressive young man." Knowing that his future depended on the adult child was oddly reassuring to Yugi – even if it did involve battling a cosmic demon.
"Yeah," Alexis stubbornly brushed a lock of hair behind one ear. "I am."
Returning back to the main matter, Yugi continued to be confounded. Yliaster was capable of manufacturing Shadow Cards which would make them the prime suspects again. But multiple students indicated that it wasn't them. Everything he learned conflicted with everything else. "Let's put these back for now." Forcing his hand not to stay towards the headband was the most tempting action he'd ever had to resist as Yugi shut the lid. "Can you change the combination?"
"If I can't, I'll smash the dial off." The venom in her voice took him by surprise. Jaden's stories had been brief on the damage his friends had endured and Yugi was guessing it went far deeper than he could express in one afternoon. Yugi waited as she loaded the contents back into the safe and did something to the dial. "10-24-83-89." She called the numbers over one shoulder. "In case one of us has an accident."
"About that." Waiting outside her office had given him plenty of time to think. Only two people knew why he was really here and one of them was ninety years in the future. He needed a confidant on his side. "I want you to take this." Sliding the pendant across the desk, he had slipped it into a pocket as readily as the last thief must have done. "Jaden said it protected him against the other Shadow Charms. I don't know if it'll work against any Shadow Cards that Yliaster makes but it's better than nothing."
"I'm capable of taking care of myself." Alexis had grown up with an overbearing older brother and barely enough room to breathe. She didn't need protecting from a threat she'd already survived.
"And I don't need to be worried that the only person who knows what's really going on is going to go missing on me." Part of him was uncomfortable around the stone disc. It reminded Yugi too much of the cursed Millennium Ring and all the misfortune it had wrought. "Crowler is too powerful to disappear because you'd simply step right up to fill his seat and having both of you disappear would draw more attention than Yliaster can afford." But taking Alexis down could dramatically further Yliaster's goals. Jaden emphatically loved his accidental fiancée and she was Yugi's only real ally on the island.
"And what about you?" She flared up again. "How do we know that you won't get killed trying to do everything on your own?" She caught the pointed glance towards the phone on the desk. If Yugi died now, he'd be unable to make the recent phone call, ten years from now. Simply having the conversation was enough to certify that he survived. "Fine." Snatching the charm from his fingers, she tied the leather strap around her neck and tucked the pendant out of view. "But I want to know every step you take from now on."
"Fair enough." Having a friend on the faculty had been useful enough already. Having an ally help him sniff out the Yliaster element infiltrating the academy would cut the work down. Everyone besides Alexis was equally suspect. He couldn't even be certain if one of the Slifer Reds wasn't playing for the home team. Home team... "They didn't go after Steve or Zaw." Miguel was Filipino and Yliaster was certainly a universal opportunist. But why not the son of the American diplomat or the political refugee from Myanmar? "Whoever is doing this don't want to create too many ripples."
Realisation dawned across the table. Too much attention from the pages of history would send up a flare that Yliaster still thought they needed to avoid. Only the two people in the office knew that this Yugi was skipping ahead, Yliaster had no idea that their activities were already coming under scrutiny. In some way, Yliaster had to be involved with the attacks on the students.
"This person from Yliaster," She wasn't sure exactly what to call them. Nobody was dead yet and they might still save the students in the infirmary. It was more like being tormented by a bully who kept pulling punches at the last instant. "You said they had to arrive after Jaden left?" Yugi nodded absently. That certainly sounded like the sort of information he could safely give. "Crowler, Satyr, Dorothy, Sadie, and me."
"Sorry?" No, they'd never accept being struck by lightning. Trying to explain two simultaneous coma victims was stunningly difficult.
"Chancellor Crowler, Dr Stayr of Ra Yellow, Dorothy and Sadie who run the kitchens and card shop, and myself." Alexis needed no self-introduction. "Everyone else has changed since Jaden left." Duel Academy had a surprising level of turnover with its members. A lot of the staff used their roles as a springboard into better jobs on the mainland. Being isolated on Academy Island for at least two weeks at a time was hard on most people and they tended to hand in resignations every eighteen months or so. It took the sort of person who really liked teaching or really hated people to willingly live on the island for extended periods of time.
"Damn." Yugi ground his teeth slightly. Slifer students nearly universally rose a rank after their first year so it was unlikely to be his students. That only left the entire faculty, support staff, the remaining Ra Yellows and the belligerent Obelisk Blues. "How many of them don't have established backgrounds?"
"None." She responded firmly. "All the support staff are thoroughly vetted and all the teachers were either hired or recruited straight from the pro circuits." Piling up too many problems for later always caught up in the end and Alexis could feel them crashing down on her now. Jaden's return was meant to be the end of all the crazy (whilst being the beginning of ongoing low-level weird for the Spirit sensitives among the intakes), not a grand event to battle for the fate of the future. "I'll catch Crowler up on everything in the morning." He'd softened up on the supernatural nature of Duel Academy in their latter years together. As long as Yugi was delivering the news, he'd inevitably be willing to join this new crusade.
"Everything everything?" Yugi had successfully avoided the sentient pile of ruffles by a combination of Crowler being in meetings and the Slifers not technically having a room to teach out of and being able to hide in a disused cupboard somehow excluded from official blueprints. If it came out that his new celebrity substitute teacher was also from the days of glory past, he'd attach himself to Yugi like the profane creation of a welder on a bender.
"Well, maybe not the new safe combination." There had to be something she was missing. She could feel it, itching away behind her eyes. Or maybe that was the exhaustion setting in. Too much time in the security office trying to find a clue in the rolling screens of useless data. They both needed as much rest as they could get before the next disaster. "What are you going to tell your kids?"
Yugi had been debating that since the second he felt a Dark Duel be called. "What they need to know." Anything else and she'd be able to relay it to Crowler. "Goodnight, Dr Rhodes." He'd nearly fallen for it and kept a Death-Belt for himself. But that wasn't how he was going to win. Every foe and villain he'd fought had always gone for the easy route and every single one had fallen without the strength of true allies. That was how the Slifer Reds would do it – that would be his enduring legacy.
Ring-ring. Leave a re-view.