(A/N: This story is set in a complete AU Yu-Gi-Oh timeline made for the purposes of telling an original story while incorporating elements and characters from the official canon. It is best to assume most characters will act differently than their canon counterparts while trying to retain the same spirit of the character.

This series will eventually incorporate elements from all series of the Yu-Gi-Oh franchise and will use all summoning types in some way, with the exception of Link Monsters. With that being said, I hope you enjoy the story. This is based off of lore created by the user known as TrueHeartKnight. I am merely helping him by allowing him to share his ideas with the world through my writing. If you enjoy this series, feel free to check him out too!

u/6840837/TrueHeartKnight )


Yu-Gi-Oh! Legends (Gen 1)
Turn 1: A new Legend is born!

The city of Domino. A large hub of bustling activity within Japan, known far and wide for one thing. Duel Monsters. A card game with a following all over the world, and through the efforts of Kaiba Corporation and Industrial Illusions, it had revolutionized the world of sports entertainment, becoming a career path option for many growing up in the world.

Except I hate it…

At the entrance of Domino Central Hospital, a young boy that seemed to be a student walked inside, his red hair a bit of a mess and his dichromatic red and yellow eyes looking around at the people present in the lobby. He informed the reception desk why he was here, and being waved along found himself quickly before the room that was his destination. Taking a deep breath, he stepped inside.

The room was pretty bare aside from a flower in a pot that seemed to be beginning to wilt. The single bed inside was occupied by a boy a few years younger than the one who entered, his hair being a similar shade of the boy's own, but his eyes lay closed, his body unmoving. Attached to a machine, it showed the boy was still alive, just…

"Hey…Hiroki, it's your brother again." The boy spoke to his comatose brother, walking forward to place his school bag down by a chair that he'd sit in.

It's been 3 years today…

"Seems you're doing well. It's been…a while since I last saw you. I'm sorry about that. Time just kinda passes by before you realize it, huh?" The boy's words were soft spoken, his brow furrowed as a frown was all that could really be seen from his face.

"I'm in my third year of High School now. You would have been in your first…heh, I remember how excited you were to get to be in the same school as your big brother." His fist tightened as he looked at his brother's form. As unmoving as it always was.

"Mimi's the same as ever. As obsessed with Duel Monsters as you were. Even though she always loses, she still takes part in all those little tournaments of hers. She's actually dragging me to one tonight. I'm sure if you were awake, you'd probably be able to help her actually win."

No matter how many times he did this, it never made it easier. Even talking like this, just trying to pretend the person on the other side could hear him. No matter how much he wished…prayed for things to change…

It was another hour or so of just chatting before the boy knew it was time to leave. Even though he didn't want to, he knew if he flunked out of school he'd never hear the end of it at home. "Well Hiroki, I gotta go. I'll come again soon, promise." Without another word, the brother picked up his bag and left the hospital completely.

Unbeknownst to him, a small orb of light was floating in the room around him that quickly vanished as soon as he began to leave.

"Katsuro Yui…."

Yui made his way toward Domino High School, and overall the trip could be called uneventful. Walking along the streets, plenty of people would be out and about. He could even see some kids using the new "Duel Disks" that Kaiba Corp developed in order to play Duel Monsters. As much as he wished this "fad" would go away, he knew it wouldn't. It was too damn popular for that. Basically everyone played Duel Monsters nowadays, even a lot of adults would pick up the game casually just to have fun with their children. It was an entire career path to become a professional duelist and earn money in tournaments.

And yet, the boy known as Yui existed as an outcast, both figuratively and literally. As his thoughts lingered on this, he heard a voice call out to him. "Yo, Yui! Over here."

Turning his head, he'd see an older man, clearly way too old to be hanging around with high school kids standing in an alley beckoning him over. The man's dark eyes looked serious, and he scratched a bit at his beard as he waited for Yui to approach.

"Kinotaka-san? What's up?" He knew the man well, of course. He wasn't the type to bother Yui during school time unless it was serious.

He folded his arms and leaned against the wall as he spoke to the boy. "Boss called a meeting. All Wolves are to report to the hideout tonight. Apparently it's pretty serious news."

"Tonight?" He repeated, a bit of annoyance in his voice. This is not what he needed right now. "My friend is trying to drag me to a Duel Monsters tournament tonight to watch her." There was a groan that escaped him as he said that. He'd tried to say no to her, but she was, if nothing else stubborn. This wasn't going to end well.

The man, Kinotaka, seemed to know exactly who he was talking about as he too sighed. "I'm just the messenger. You know the boss won't care if you don't-"

"No. I'll be there. You guys are my family. I'm not gonna just ditch you, especially for some dumb tournament." He was rather firm in his response back, almost angry sounding though both parties knew that was just his normal demeanor speaking.

Kinotaka just chuckled. "Alright alright. You just focus on school. Most of us didn't make it that far."

"You say that like I'm not struggling here myself. Whatever…I'll see you tonight then, Kinotaka-san." With a wave of his hand toward the man, Yui proceeded to continue his way toward his destination.


Before long, he'd find himself walking inside the gate and later doors of Domino City High School. Plenty of students lingered about, but most of them chose to ignore him, or if they caught his eye, quickly tried to move on and not talk to him.

For most, that'd probably get a negative reaction, but for Yui, he was used to it. After all, not many would want to associate with a delinquent that doesn't exactly hide that he's part of a gang. Of course, if anyone tried to make fun of the Obsidian Wolves…they'd have him to deal with. After switching to his school shoes at his locker, he made his way toward his homeroom.

As he approached though, a boy with black hair and black eyes stood in his path, a cheeky grin on his face. "Well well, if it isn't Yui. Showing up right when class is about to start again? Tsk tsk.."

"Oh shut up Ren, you're just as bad," Yui said as he pushed past his friend to enter the room. "You look tired as hell. Did you even sleep last night?" He added, having noted the deep crow's feet around his friend's eyes.

Ren sighed a bit as he turned to face Yui. "Yeah, but I had to stay up a bit. My sister wanted my help with something, so I ended up not going to bed on time."

"Right…you have a sister. I keep forgetting. You barely talk about her." As Yui made this comment, he made his way toward his desk. Currently the desk next to him was turned to face another as older Duel Monsters mats were laid out. On one end, a girl with long purple hair tied into twintails with black eyes looking completely baffled at whatever was happening in front of her. On the other, a girl of similar build with auburn colored hair down past her shoulders and green eyes hidden by a pair of glasses.

That one was the one to speak first. "I win again, Mimi." She seemed to say that a bit hesitantly, and it was clear why by her opponent's reaction.

"What?!" Mimi shouted, looking annoyed. "But-but…I…how?!"

Yui, seeing all of this, just shook his head as he took his seat next to Mimi's. "Is this how you plan to react any time you lose at your tournament, Mimi?"

She quickly turned in a huff toward Yui. "And what's that supposed to mean? I just got unlucky against Naomi, that's all!"

"Really?" Yui asked with a hint of amusement. "And tell me, Naomi. What's the current record you have against Mimi again?"

Naomi seemed a bit hesitant to respond, as she scratched at the back of her neck. "Uhh well, at this count it would be…20 wins to 5 losses."

Ren let out a whistle as he took his seat in front of Yui. "What is that, a 20% win record, Mimi? Seems like your "bad luck" is spreading."

The girl in question looked like she was about to snap at her friend, but quickly just sighed as she began to gather her cards. "I just don't get it…I try so hard and I still lose so much…"

Her opponent across from her seemed to feel bad about how she was feeling, as Naomi reached a hand for Mimi's shoulder and patted it. "Hey, it's alright. It's like I said. You just get reckless. You need to slow down a bit and think."

"But if I take too long, my opponent just gets whatever they want and I still lose!" She shouted, scratching her hair in utter frustration. Honestly, even Yui felt a bit bad for her. He knew she cared a lot about this game, and even if he didn't like it, she was his childhood friend, so saying he didn't care for her succeeding would be wrong.

Which is why this next part would be rough, but he knew he had to get it out of the way now. "Mimi…your tournament tonight. I'm not gonna be able to go. I got stuff I gotta do." He had to rip the bandaid off now, otherwise it'd be worse later. Of course, it was bad anyway…

"What? What do you mean you can't come! You said you'd be there! You promised!" She quickly turned to face him, getting in his face a bit as she spoke. Yup. She was mad.

"The Wolves are having a meeting tonight. I need to go."

"That's always your excuse! Come on! This is important to me!"

Yui sighed. "I know! Look, I don't pick when these things happen alright. I literally just got told on my way to school. So just…I'll go to the next one alright?"

That didn't seem to simmer her down at all. In fact, it might have made her angrier. "There isn't going to BE another one! This is the last local tournament before they start doing regionals in the Summer! You know ever since what happened with Hiroki you're always so distant-"

"Drop it." Yui said, suddenly sounding really angry. Mimi immediately noticed, and realizing what she said, she stopped.

"I-I'm sorry Yui. I didn't mean to drag Hiroki into it." She looked really upset, just sitting down at her desk, having to turn it back to face the right direction. "It's ok..you don't have to come.."

He would have loved to just leave it at that, but hearing how sad she sounded. He knew he had to say something. "Tell you what. Once the meeting is over, I'll head right over, alright? Sound good?"

"R-really?! You'd do that?" She sounded surprised, clearly having expected him to still say no.

"Yeah. If it's really that important to you, I'll do it." He knew there was a good chance he'd still not make it. But, he didn't wanna just blow her off either. He felt her arms wrap around him as she hugged him.

"Thank you Yui. I really mean it. Thank you so much." She let go after that, returning to her seat as she knew class was about to start.

This led to Yui just sighing. "I don't know why she cares so much…" He saw Ren lean back in his chair, looking directly at Yui with a smile.

"Oh buddy…you have a lot to learn about girls."

And so, the day continued normally from there. Another boring day at school, one Yui would barely really remember as the days went on. And before he knew it…the day had passed by in a flash, finding himself at the end of the day.

He, of course, had already told his friends what he needed to do. Getting up to leave, he caught Mimi's eye one more time. "I promise. I'll call you as soon as I'm done, alright? The thing doesn't start till 7, right? My meeting's at 6. I might miss the first round or something, but I'll be there."

She seemed to smile hearing him say that. "Okay. If you can't get a hold of me, just call Naomi or Ken. They'll be with me." And with his promise secured, she let the boy go. It wasn't the most ideal set up, but he knew it'd get him less of a headache later…


Later that night, Yui found himself outside of what appeared to be an abandoned warehouse in the middle of the industrial side of the city. Of course, looks can be deceiving. He knew that it was really the base of operations for the gang he was a member of, the Obsidian Wolves. Walking into the warehouse, he was immediately greeted by a plethora of familiar faces, his "family" greeting him warmly as he walked in.

For the first time since he visited his brother that morning, Yui's stoic looking expression changed to show a look of genuine happiness as he walked up. "Hey guys, hopefully everything's going well today?"

"Yea, for the most part. I mean, everything's basically the same as usual. You just get off class?"

"Yeah. But I was told there was going to be a meeting, so I came right over." Yui put down his bag in his usual spot as he walked toward the main gathering area of his gang, hands in his pockets as he waited. He knew it'd only be a matter of time before-

"Oh good. Yui's here. Guess that means we can start." His thoughts being interrupted as a very familiar voice shouted over everyone to make their presence known. An older woman with long dark purple hair, similarly colored eyes, and a biker outfit came walking out into the main area.

Beside her was a tall lanky sort of man, with black hair, gray eyes and a bit of a sunken face to him. These two were the leaders of their little outfit, Natsuki and Ishida. They'd been in charge for as long as Yui could remember, Natsuki even being in charge when he first joined.

Because of that, he looked up to her greatly, and she treated him a lot like family, as she did everyone in the group. That warmth helped make him feel a little better, given he and his family hadn't really been…close, since what happened with his brother.

"Gather round fellas. We do have some important news we gotta share, and you know I hate to repeat myself." Her stern command was heard from all over, and it took no time at all for the Wolves to gather in the main area, all waiting for their leader to begin explaining why she called a meeting in the first place.

Thankfully they wouldn't have to wait long. Placing a hand against her hip, she began to speak. "So, let's get right into it. I'm sure you all remember the Crimson Fangs, right?"

That caused a reaction from the gathered group. "Yeah, we remember those bastards!"

"Those assholes that tried to ruin our turf!"

Yui, too, remembered quite well. Back when he first joined the wolves a few years ago, there was a rival gang in the area called the Crimson Fangs. They were led by a man who called himself the "Beast King", and they were the type of gang to actively mess with people and try to cause a ruckus. Honestly, sometimes what they did really got out of hand and caused serious injury to people.

Given the Wolves tried to keep a decent rep around the neighborhood, the two gangs saw each other as rivals.

"But I thought the Beast King was in jail? Aren't they finished?" Yui asked, inquiring as to why his leader would bring up this old gang randomly.

She sighed. "Yeah, they should be. But word on the street is the Beast King is out of jail. I don't know how the hell that happened given he was supposed to be in there for at least another 5 years, but they let him out."

Another ruckus of shouts and whispers. No one, not even Yui could believe that. A guy that dangerous already back out on the streets? It'd only been, what, 3..4 years? He could immediately figure out why this meeting had been called.

"Do you plan to do something about this, Boss?" Yui asked, having a feeling he knew where this was heading.

"At the moment, there's nothing we really can do." She said, frustration clearly audible in her tone. "Unless the bastard starts something, we can't just pick a fight with him otherwise the cops will be on us instead. And I've said before…we don't pick fights with cops. We ain't crooks, we just like to be left alone."

The gang was clearly frustrated as well by what their leader said. But she raised a point. She made an effort for her gang to not be seen as a bunch of criminals. Despite the obvious people who refused to believe a "gang" could ever be anything but, they had a fairly positive reputation in the neighborhood they made their base. So going after a guy just because he got released from jail…

"I'm mostly telling you all this so you can keep your eyes and ears out. I plan to have some guys do some patrols around to see if his old gang starts to pop up. The last thing we need is for him to hit us with an ambush or something."

"Don't worry boss, we won't let those guys get one up on us," called one of the other members.

"Yeah! Wolves don't go down without their fangs getting in you, right?" Another one called.

They were joined by several more pumped up messages of the gang, clearly showing everyone was more than on board with things. Even Yui felt a bit of inspiration hearing it all, just reminding him of how closely knit their group was.

Their leader had a smirk form on her face, showing the early frustration all but fading away. "Damn straight boys! Wolves don't back down, especially not against some poser "Beast King!"

With her final word said, the meeting quickly began to end, everyone getting assigned some things to look into by Ishida. Yui expected to be told to do something himself, but surprisingly when the man got to him..

"Yui. I'm surprised to see you here. With how last minute this meeting was-"

Yui cut him off. "Come on, Ishida-san. Cut me some slack. I'm not gonna skip an important meeting. You guys are my family."

The older man did have a smile come across his face as he heard that. "Well you definitely got the spirit of a Wolf, I can say that. Still, I heard there was some big tournament happening today for Duel Monsters. Figured your little friend…uh, what was her name? Mimi? Figured she'd drag you off."

It was then Yui's expression froze. "Oh..crap." He suddenly realized that in the excitement of the meeting, he'd forgotten about Mimi's tournament!

"I'm gonna have to go. Shit, I promised her I'd go see her play…"

Ishida just laughed. "Yeah. See, that's exactly WHY I said something. Get out of here, man. We can handle the rest of things here."

Being given the permission he needed, Yui quickly went to gather his bag and then sprinted out of the complex, already pulling out his phone to dial his friend.


["The number you are trying to reach is unavailable, please call again."]

"Tch…4 calls and not a single one went through? She can't be in a game that long right?" But the thing was, she wasn't the only one he'd tried to call. Mimi. Naomi. Ken. He'd tried to call all of them and not a single one was going through. He knew his phone wasn't the issue, because he'd gotten a text from Ren.

The sinking feeling in his stomach kept getting worse and worse as it felt like deja vu was playing out right in front of him. Especially as light rain began to fall down, the normally gentle sounds compounding his worries as it cascaded all around, splashing against the roads and sidewalks he found himself making his way through.

Of course, he quickly pushed down those thoughts, knowing he needed to merely focus on getting to the tournament grounds as quickly as to his credit, he managed to get there in a relatively short amount of time, cutting corners and going through alleyways when he needed it, and before he knew it…

He found himself running up to the civic center that was being utilized for the tournament, heading into the building in a rush that left him panting slightly as he got in, dripping a bit from the rain. This did earn him some curious glances from the people that were nearby, wondering just why the boy had run in there so hard.

He didn't keep them waiting long, immediately walking up to anyone he could find and asking about his friends. Yet no matter who he talked to, no one seemed to know who he was talking about. It was understandable, really. This tournament, despite being local, was decently big. It'd be hard for people to remember every participant. That didn't stop the boy from being extremely frustrated.

"Gah, there has to be someone here who's seen Mimi!" He said out loud in one of the hallways, rubbing his head in frustration. Fortunately for him, a girl nearby overheard him.

"Hmm? Are you looking for Mimi Tasogare?"

Hearing the question he immediately turned to the voice, probably sounding a little more frantic than he meant. "Yeah! She's my friend and I was supposed to meet her here. Have you seen her?"

The girl seemed to look a little sorry for him as she answered. "Well..she's already gone. She lost in the third round and I saw her leave with her friends. She looked really upset. Like the loss really hit her hard."

Yui felt upset for a completely different reason when he heard that. He realized that she was probably that upset because of him. He had promised he would watch her and she lost before he even showed up. "Did…did you see which direction she left?"

"Uh, I think I saw her heading down the east road from here?"

"Thanks! That's a big help." And without letting them get another word in edgewise, the wolf was on the move again, sprinting out of the dueling hall and heading East. Now the worries from before were starting to return.

"Not again. I'm not gonna let it happen again."

He knew that more than likely Mimi was okay. She was probably ignoring his messages just because she was mad at him. Still, the fact no one else picked up either did worry him. While this was going on, unbeknownst to Yui, a pair of golden eyes almost seemed to float in the air behind him, watching him, before vanishing.


"Dammit, this sucks!"

Walking down the sidewalks of the streets, two figures watched as Mimi ranted into the air and kicked a piece of trash on the sidewalk, letting out all of her frustrations. These were Naomi and Ken, her friends who accompanied her to the Duel Monsters tournament, and who unfortunately witnessed the result that befell her. They knew it was better to let her do so right now than to try and reassure her. Though for Naomi, she couldn't help but still say something.

"Hey now, you know it's not the end of the world, Mimi. And you made it through to the third round, so-"

"That makes it worse!" Mimi cut off mid-way. "I was feeling on a roll! I had that game in the bag, I know I did! If I had just played my card like I should have, I know it would have been my win!"

"Yeah, so you've said already," Ken commented. Ken himself was a boy around the same age as them, with a mess of dark black hair and equally colored eyes, wearing a loose white shirt and casual jeans at the moment. "Look, it's already done. I get it sucks, but shouting about what could have happened isn't going to make anything better."

Ken was always one of the calmest and most honest of their group of friends, often being a voice of reason to the more emotional ones, like Mimi and Yui. Of course, in this case, Mimi didn't feel much better, despite knowing he was right.

"Yeah well, it makes me feel better," Mimi grumbled with a huff. "And of course, Yui wasn't even there like he promised he would be. The jerk."

"Maybe something came up at his meeting," Naomi offered, trying to give the often misunderstood boy the benefit of the doubt.

"Probably wouldn't have changed much to be honest," Ken mumbled under his breath. He knew that, as much as Yui cared for his friends, Duel Monsters was always a very sour subject.

"What was that?" Mimi shot him a deadly glare.

"Nothing. Just wondering if we should have stayed there to wait for him. You know, if he's on his way over right now then us leaving will just make him confused where we are."

Mimi paused mid-step, realizing that what Ken said held some truth. A deep red took to her cheeks. "Oh… Yeah, I guess we, uh, should have, huh?"

She'd been so upset about the loss that once she had withdrawn from the table and wished luck to her opponent, she had basically all but stormed out of the area. She didn't want to spend another second watching other players able to move forward where she couldn't. Maybe it wasn't fair to feel this way, since a lot of others hadn't even gotten past the first round. But well, she's always acted on her emotions first before anything else.

Save for maybe one aspect, but she wasn't going to get into that kind of thinking right now.

"Maybe you should call him or text him to let him know?" Naomi suggested. "That way he can just meet up with us and not rush over there."

"Yeah, good idea." Mimi immediately went for her cellphone and hit the number for Yui. Even knowing that he might still be with the Wolves, he would at least check to see who was calling or sending a message, so once he saw it was from her he'd be quick to respond or pick up.

["Beep! The number you are trying to reach is unavailable, please call again."]

"Huh?" Mimi's brow rose hearing that. "Didn't go through."

Ken raised a brow. "Oh? Maybe we're in a bad signal spot then, or maybe it's the storm gathering around."

The purple haired girl just shook her head. "I doubt that. Never had this kind of problem with storms before." She cut off the initial call and tried again.

"Hmm…well it's not just you," Naomi commented, having her own phone pulled up. "I'm not getting anything through to anyone either."

Ken seemed to pause mid-step as he looked around. "I know a storm's coming and all but uh guys…does anyone notice it's pretty quiet around here?" He motioned around and his friends were able to see that yeah, despite being in the prime downtown of Domino right now, not a single other soul was around them at all. Not helping the scene was the dark storm clouds gathering above and the feeling of temperature dropping.

"Probably just everyone trying to take shelter and all," Mimi said as once again she couldn't get a call through. She tried sending a text, but even that seemed to not be going through, as any signal she could have had was not connecting. "Dammit, as if this day couldn't make my mood worse."

"Maybe we should head home quickly then," Naomi said with a worried look to the sky, feeling some light drizzles of rain already coming down. "I'd really rather not be caught out in the rain."

"I'm in agreement with that," Ken said. Mimi nodded and reluctantly put her phone away.

"Yeah, guess I'll just let Yui know once we find a better spot to connect to. And I'll just apologize if he got worried about us or something. Come on, let's hurry up."

The three picked up the pace down the sidewalk, praying that they'd be lucky enough to avoid getting completely showered on before finding shelter. Yet as they ran, the quiet that Ken had noticed seemed to only continue, as no other person was seen walking down either sidewalk or down any other roads they passed. There also weren't any other cars either, which even on a day like this was abnormal.

And as they continued running through this strange, almost otherworldly quiet, a mist that was not there just moments ago seemed to start rolling in, becoming thicker and thicker by the moment. It was only a minute or two before they could barely see what was in front of them.

This, combined with the uneasy feeling running up their spines finally caused them to halt in their tracks. Looks of worry donned their faces as there was almost a pressure to the air, a feeling of weight that seemed to bear down on their throats and threaten to suffocate them.

"Okay, really not liking the vibes here. Was today supposed to have a storm or something?" Mimi questioned as she ran, praying that they wouldn't be soaked even as the rain stayed relatively light.

"Strangely enough, I don't think so," Ken answered, only now realizing the oddity.

"I don't remember hearing anything," Naomi added. "Actually, wasn't today supposed to be a pretty nice day? That's why everyone was excited for the tournament going on, since it was going to be a great day outside."

Mimi frowned as she realized Naomi was right. While the excitement she had for today had left because of her loss, this morning had been bright and sunny, making her all the more amped up for the tournament. It stayed that way even as they got to the civic center. Not one cloud in the sky.

She shook her head, pushing the strangeness out of her mind for the moment. "Let's just focus on getting out of-"

BA-BUMP!

Suddenly out of nowhere, as the trio rounded the corner of a building to head down an alleyway for a shortcut, they all came to a sudden halt.

"Huh…?"

Mimi's shocked voice expressed the same feeling as her friends. They all felt as if something…hit them. Not physically, but yet at the same time it almost did feel physical. Like they just passed through something thick and heavy, not to mention how the air noticeably became even colder than before.

"H-Hey, you all felt that, right?" Naomi stuttered.

"I…I don't know," Ken responded, unsure if what he just felt was a trick of his mind or not. Though with the way Naomi and Mimi looked, it wasn't.

Not to mention how the rain that had been pelting them before suddenly seemed to stop. Not slow down, but just completely cease. They felt not a drizzle or saw a single droplet aside from what fell off their clothing and bodies already..

"What the heck was-?" Mimi began, only to cut off as she suddenly realized that, up ahead in the alley they were in, a figure was standing in their way.

The figure appeared feminine in form, but wore a dark cloak that made it hard to see much underneath, the shadows only further aiding in that secrecy. The only thing of note aside from a head of dark hair was a wicked smile. "Hello there, children. I'm so pleased to see you've arrived at my little….get together."

The voice was almost like a whisper, a hushed yet menacing tone that seemed to exude danger. The kids, understandably, were quite freaked out.

"Who the hell are you?" Naomi stated, beginning to back up. Her other friends began to follow suit, yet no matter how much distance they put between themselves and this woman, she seemed to always be at the exact same distance away from them.

"Now. No need to be so rude, children. I graciously invited you. Is that any way to treat a host?" She asked, almost letting out a chuckle at them.

Mimi in particular seemed very concerned. "Y-you just stay back, whoever you are!" She quickly reached for her phone, trying desperately to pull up Yui's contact number. The woman, seeing this, seemed to frown.

"Calling for help, are we? I'm afraid that won't work, dear." And as she finished speaking, her cloak seemed to billow out for a moment, a purplish fog seeming to come out from underneath it and threaten to engulf the whole area. Mimi's instincts told her if she didn't get out a message now, she'd never get a chance.

All she could send to her friend was a cut off message saying, "Strange woman. Need.." Before the signal was cut, she was unable to connect anymore. They all began to run and yet no matter how far they ran…the woman was always right there, behind them.

"Come on, children. Let's play!" The woman began letting out a wicked and evil laugh as she seemed to enjoy the chase the kids were putting on.


["Beep! The number you are trying to reach is unavailable, please call again."]

"Dammit, pick up already, Mimi!"

Yui shouted as he ran down the empty streets. He kept trying to call his friends over and over, hoping at least one would get through so he could figure out where they were. But not a single one did. He even tried to call the Wolves to ask if they could maybe help, but even that call had been blocked for whatever reason!

"What the hell is going on? Is service dead or something? God dammit!" Yui cursed, almost ready to throw his phone to the ground in frustration. Yet that even paled in comparison to the emotion of fear and worry crawling in his heart.

It was like he was reliving a nightmare. Running along empty streets, dark clouds above, all to find someone who he hadn't been able to get in contact with. Only to find that person…and be too late for it.

"Hiroki…"

His grip on the phone tightened as his teeth grinded, thinking of his brother lying in that damn hospital bed. His mind imagined Mimi and the others in the same position, all quiet and motionless, eyes closed and looking like corpses.

"Not again, I refuse to let it happen again." Yui's rational sense told him he was overreacting, that they were fine. But deep down, somehow, something told him that wasn't the case. He just…he needed to be sure.

As he stood there, lost in his thoughts, a golden aura of light hovered not far behind him, the same eyes that had been watching before continuing to observe the boy. They then moved in a different direction, as if sensing something else, before pulsing brightly with light.

BA-BUMP!

Yui shot up and turned around in alarm. For a moment, he swore he felt something, someone's eyes on him, a habit he had picked up on thanks to the Wolves. But he still saw nobody else on the sidewalks or any vehicles in the road.

Beep!

Just then, Yui's phone sounded out, snapping him right back to the device with widened eyes as he spotted a text message. And the ID it came from was Mimi!

"Mimi!" Yui opened the phone again and rushed to open the text he received. When he read it however, what hope he felt was immediately smothered away.

["Strange woman. Need.."]

There weren't many thoughts that went through Yui's head after he saw that text. His body reacted on instinct and just started running. His thunderous footsteps splashing against the ground as he just kept going. Even as he did this though, he panicked. He didn't even know where she was. What was he supposed to do?

"Turn left."

Yui came to a halt, his head snapping around again like before.

"What?"

"Turn left on the street here. Keep going that way, down the road."

His eyes widened before sharpening into a hardened glare. Just now, that was a voice he heard. Someone was speaking to him.

"Who's there!?" Yui called out while searching for the person who he heard. Yet he could find nobody. There was not a single other soul in sight as far as he could tell. Were they hiding somewhere?

"You need to hurry."

Yui jumped and turned again, but still saw nobody. "What the…?" He wasn't imagining things, was he? That voice sounded like it was right next to him, up to his ear even. How anybody could sneak up on him like that was a question in itself, but there was no way someone could be that close and he would not be able to find even a trace of them, right?

"If you don't go down that way, your friends will be in danger."

He didn't know who or what was talking to him, and quite frankly, he'd prefer to ignore it. Yet there was a part of him that couldn't just ignore it. And so, against his better judgment, he followed the instructions and began running off in that direction.

He didn't know where this would lead him. Hell, the very idea of listening to a voice in his head was ludicrous yet as he pressed forward the area seemed to grow darker and darker. And the rain from before seemed to almost disappear in an instant, leaving just a cold, dark, empty looking area.

Just as he began to process the change in scenery, he came across what appeared to be an almost purplish black dome of…of something. Almost like pulsating energy? It was hard to say. Yet, he couldn't help but feel a sense of dread as soon as he laid eyes on it. As he stared into the thing in front of him, at first it seemed to be a solid wall of mass. Yet as he continued staring, he could almost make something out inside of the dome, as if the dome had some transparency to it as well.

"What…What is that?"

"There, look!"

That voice again. Yui was starting to make it out in more detail. It almost sounded like a woman's voice, with a calm and firm tone, yet at the same time holding soft and warm emotion with it. But behind that was a sense of urgency evident by what it was telling him to do. Though he still wasn't sure of it, he still did try to look through the giant black sphere to what lay inside.

It took a few moments, but eventually his eyes managed to gleam something within. It looked like there were multiple figures inside, and some kind of…fight? Wait. His eyes widened as he quickly realized something. What he was looking at. It looked like…a duel!

He saw what looked like duel disks strapped to two of the figures and there were creatures between them. But who the hell would be doing something like that with…

"Mimi…Mimi!" His mind cut himself off as his brain registered that one of the people clutching the duel disk was none other than Mimi. "Mimi!"

He called out to her, but she didn't face him. It was like she hadn't heard him at all. And if that was Mimi, then the two behind her had to be…!

"Ken! Naomi!" Yui rushed to the dome, no longer caring about what it was and just trying to reach his friends. However, as he approached the edge of the dome he felt his body hit what almost felt like an electric interference and then he was blasted backward, almost slamming into a wall that was nearby in the process.

"What the hell?" Yui shouted out as he felt his body slam against the ground, feeling a lot of pain coursing through him. For a second, the wind was knocked out of his body and it took a moment for him to even recover. Slowly but surely, he did manage to get back up, just staring toward the dome.

He was about to rush at it again before the voice in his head seemed to return.

"Stop. You can't get in there like that. The magic surrounding the dome has a dangerous protection field on it. It won't allow outside intrusions, and you don't have the power to break through it."

"Magic?" Yui uttered in disbelief, before shifting into annoyed frustration. "What kind of shit is that? There's no such thing as magic!"

"Whether you believe me or not doesn't matter right now. What matters is that you can't get into that dome on your own, not that way at least."

"The hell I can't!" Yui went back to the sphere to try again. Yet like before, the moment he touched the strange black energy, his body was flung back and onto the ground, jolts of that electrical feedback striking him once more. "Agh!"

There was almost a gasp of shock from the voice at what occurred. "Are you okay!?"

"Dammit!" Yui slammed his hands to the ground and pushed back to his feet, shakily as he glared at the dome.

"Please, stop! You'll only hurt yourself if you try that again! Just-"

"Like I care! Mimi is in there! Ken and Naomi are in there! I don't know what's going on, but I…"

His mind again thought back to his brother. Just again seeing the image of his unmoving body. The closed, empty eyes and just the actions that caused it. "I'm not going to let anyone else down again!"

There was a pause of silence from the voice as Yui was able to recollect himself. He prepared to charge again, but stopped when the voice spoke once more. "I was never saying that. I was saying that you can't do it on your own. So let me."

"Huh?"

Yui suddenly felt something beside him, and became shocked at seeing a glowing light starting to form. It was bright, forcing him to have to cover his eyes for a moment, but he could make out that something was being shaped from the light. Something quite large and certainly not human-like at all.

"Brace yourself! You only have one moment to move!"

"What are you-!?"

The light brightened.

"Now. Move!"

Yui didn't know what was going on, but he knew he didn't want to just sit and not do anything. And so, he charged forward. As he hit the wall of energy he still felt the electric shocks along his body, and yet there was also a glow around him that seemed to be lessening it and piercing into the wall.

After a moment of struggle though, his body pierced through and he fell forward, barely catching himself from hitting the ground. Immediately he felt a drastic shift in the air, the rain and atmosphere from outside vanishing in place of a much colder dip in temperature as well as a strange pressure on his body.

But none of that mattered as Yui lifted his head up and called out. "Mimi!"

To be continued…..

(A/N: Hopefully you all enjoyed the story! Please feel free to leave a review if you wanna support this story! Once more, this is a collabarative piece between me and another user, so if you enjoy the story please be sure to check out his writing as well!)