"Good morning!" A cheerful voice cried out. Yuya, Ali, Tate and Fredrick awoke to see Zuzu with an armful of food and a bright smile on her face. The five of them had spent the night in a cave, now just 80 or 90 metres from the kingdom of ZEXAL. Zuzu placed the food on the ground and the five of them began to eat. They all knew it was probably going to be a long day.

"So do we have a plan?" Ali asked.

"Well." Zuzu said. "For starters, I'm going to go into town and find something to help Yuya blend in more. So you know, we don't have a repeat of… uh…" She trailed away, not wanting to discuss what had happened. She didn't have to; they all knew what she meant. Yuya's eyes dimmed a bit but he'd been less affected by the subject recently. Much to the delight of the others.

"Okay then." He said, managing to keep his voice even. "We'll wait here."

"Right." Zuzu smiled. "Be back in a sec."

She took off through the woods towards the kingdom while the four hybrids remained in the cave, discussing plans for their time here.

"Okay… Something to disguise Yuya…" Zuzu muttered to herself as she walked through the gates of the kingdom, eyes roaming around for anything she could use. She found her mind wandering, however, the further in she went. This place was nothing like the kingdom of GX. This was much more advanced. The kingdom of GX had duelling technology but it was mostly a primitive place where people still shopped in markets and lived in wood or stone buildings and went to bed by candlelight. This kingdom was more like a metropolis. It had major advancements like cars and litterbots and malls and electricity. It was built on many levels too, with the royal palace directly at the top. The whole kingdom towered above Zuzu and she couldn't help raising her head to admire it. She was so busy gazing in awe she didn't watch where she was going and ploughed right into someone.

"Oh, I am so sorry!" She cried, bending down to help the poor person up.

"That's okay miss…" The person began, but trailed away when they actually caught sight of Zuzu. They pulled away from her almost instantly, causing her to sigh inwardly. Even in this kingdom she was treated like garbage. Now that they'd pulled back from her she got a look at them properly. It was a woman, an Astral woman, she was clearly much older than Zuzu, with glowing green hair and pupiless red eyes. She had blue skin and wore a green dress. As with all Astral beings her body was bathed in a soft glow. She looked at Zuzu with distaste, and not for the first time the young theif was fully aware of how rugged and dishevelled she looked.

"I'm really very sorry." Zuzu said, bowing her head, unable to bear the disgusted stare anymore.

The Astral woman immediately disguised her revulsion with a smile. "Oh that's alright dear." She said kindly causing Zuzu to raise her head again. "Just try to be more careful."

"Um, of course, yes, I'll… I'll do that." Zuzu replied, stumbling over her words a bit.

"You look cold." The woman stated, though something in her face told Zuzu that wasn't what she really meant. "You better take this." She removed a black cape from the bag she was carrying and draped it round Zuzu's shoulders. "I brought it in case it rained but I think I'll make it home before that happens." She smiled again and left hastily before Zuzu could say anything.

"Thank you!" She yelled after her, not sure if she heard or not. "Man…" She sighed. "Even here… people are so disgusted they wish me to hide myself." Tears suddenly formed in her eyes as a thought struck her. "This must be how Yuya feels… No wonder he's so scared of being outside…" As she said this an idea struck her. She grabbed the cloak from around her shoulders and tore off to get a better look at it. She clutched in her hands, yes, it would be perfect. She spun on her heel and dashed off the way she'd come.

When she made it back to the cave she found her four companions had emerged into the clearing and were engaging in a game of tag. She smiled at the sight, all of them laughing and having the time of their lives, she wished she'd had friends to play with in her youth. Well, she had friends now and that was what mattered.

"Hey, I'm back!" She cried, running over.

"Zuzu!" They yelled, also breaking into a run. When the four of them met Yuya enveloped her in a hug and the three small animals jumped to their shoulders and nuzzled against their necks causing the two humans to giggle.

"Here, I got this." She said, handing the cloak to Yuya.

"Thank you." He said, flashing her a smile and draping the black silk round his shoulders. He fastened it carefully and pulled the hood up to hide his face.

"Great, let's get into town then." Tate said, bounding off in the direction Zuzu had come from. The others laughed fondly and began to follow.

"What's the plan anyway?" Yuya asked.

"Well, kingdoms usually keep records of all their citizens at the palace. I'm sure if you had disappeared or been kidnapped your parents would have reported it. How about we go to the market and fetch some supplies then go check the archives?"

"Sounds like a plan." Ali said. Yuya nodded and smiled, even though no one could see it under his hood.

"Wow…"

They all turned to see Tate standing at the edge of the forest with a completely awestruck look plastered on his face. The rest of the group caught up with him and found themselves at the towering gates of the kingdom. It was like a huge, glowing tower. So bright and built on so many levels.

"Incredible…" Yuya muttered. Zuzu giggled and headed off into the kingdom, having already been through the awe most have the first time they visit the kingdom of ZEXAL. It took the others a couple of seconds to snap out of their daze and run to catch up with her.

"Any idea which way the market is?" Ali asked.

"No…" Zuzu said, only just realising herself.

"Don't worry, I'm sure if we ask around someone will know." Said Yuya, trying to stay positive. As they continued walking they came across a street of shops with several people strolling around, glancing in windows and such.

"Excuse me." Yuya said, addressing a young man that was passing them. He stopped and looked down at the unusual group.

"Yes?" He asked uncertainly. The sight of a rugged girl, black caped boy and three brightly coloured animals was not something he was use to.

"Can you tell us which way the main market is?" Yuya asked politely.

"Oh, sure. It's on level two, just walk to the end of this street and take the elevator." He replied, pointing down the street he'd just come from.

"Thank you very much." Zuzu said, the others nodded and the five of them headed off in direction he'd indicated. Sure enough, at the end of the street, there was an elevator. They all hopped in and pushed the button marked two. As they began their ascent, Zuzu noticed Yuya's hands were beginning to shake ever so slightly. "Is everything alright?" She asked.

"Huh?" He said, snapping out of whatever daze he'd been in. "Oh, oh, yeah I'm fine."

She took a hold of his shaking hands, causing his eyes to widen. "It'll be okay, I promise." She soothed, knowing he was worried about the crowds. Ali, Tate and Fredrick also sensed their friend's discomfort and stroked against his legs comfortingly. He smiled at his friends, calming down considerably. Just in time too. A loud ding signalled their arrival, followed by the clattering of the doors opening. They all stepped out into chaos. Market stalls lined every inch of the large square they'd arrived in and swarms of people were rushing all over the place, both frantic and excited. Yuya shied away behind Zuzu, still uncomfortable in crowds, but the other four were beginning to feel the joy in the atmosphere.

"Let's go shopping." Ali said, slipping through peoples' legs towards the stalls.

"Ali! Wait up, you could get lost!" Tate yelled, running after her, Fredrick hot on his heels.

"Come on, let's go!" Zuzu said happily, grabbing Yuya's arm and dragging him into the crowd.

First they went to the food stalls and bought provisions with the small amount of money Zuzu had, but after a while, they all began getting distracted. Ali, Fredrick and Tate couldn't resist messing around with the stuff on the toy stalls, until they were chased off by the stall keeper causing both Yuya and Zuzu to laugh. Zuzu took time to admire a lot of the jewellery being sold and eventually bought herself a small gold ring with a purple butterfly on top, though it cost most of what she had. Yuya was drawn to stalls displaying duel monsters cards. He'd read about these before but never actually seen any in real life. They were amazing, the colourful designs had him mesmerised. He found himself imagining what they would look like in real life; he had heard of holographic technology and solid vision but he'd never seen it before. Now it was all he wanted to see. No, even more than that. He wanted to be a part of it, looking at the cards in front of him, all he wanted to do was to have them. To become a duellist and entertain people with his awesome duels.

"You seem quite interested in that card." The shopkeeper remarked, snapping Yuya out of his daydream.

"Oh, um… Sorry I was staring." Yuya mumbled, blushing a bit under his hood. The man laughed heartily.

"No harm done, to tell the truth I've had it here for a few weeks but no one's seemed interested in it till now. Why don't you take it?"

"Oh, I can't, I don't have any money, but thank you."

Yuya bowed and turned to leave but the man stopped him.

"Tell you what why don't you just take it, on the house."

He held out the card for him.

"R-Really!" Yuya stammered in shock.

"Yeah I would have had to send it on the next day anyway, go on take it."

Yuya did as he was told.

"Thank you so much." He said, clutching the card happily.

"Your welcome, you have a nice day now."

"Yes, you too."

He then ran off the find the others. It didn't take him long, they were stood by a lamp post just a bit away from the hustle and bustle of the market.

"There you are." Zuzu said as he caught up to them.

"What kept you?" Tate asked.

"This nice shopkeeper gave me this card." He said, showing it to them.

"Wow! Cool!" Ali cried.

"That sure was nice of him." Zuzu said with a smile.

"Yeah…" Yuya breathed, looking down at the card in his hands. Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon it was called. He didn't know why he'd been so interested in it, there was just something that felt right about it. Like he was being drawn to it. But that was silly. He slipped the card in his pocket to keep it safe then turned to Zuzu.

"Well, better head over to the archives." She said.

"Right." He nodded. "Do you know where they are?"

"In the palace, on the top level, come on the elevator's this way."

The group followed her back to the elevator and headed up another floor to the palace. It took up the entirety of the upper floor of the kingdom and most people never visited unless they worked there or were members of the council. Some servants and the Emperors lived in the palace as well as the prince of course. The elevator dinged and opened onto a large hall with an oversized staircase on the opposite side, a clean marble floor and barely any furniture aside from a desk to the left of the room at which a young Astral male was sat with his feet propped up and a tired look on his face.

"Excuse me." Zuzu said, approaching the desk. The young man raised his head slightly to look at her. Just like everyone else did, he looked her up and down with distaste. "We'd like to visit the kingdom archives please."

The man yawned, a little rudely in Zuzu's opinion. "I'm afraid our archives are private, sorry." He said, tone as bored as his expression.

"What?" Zuzu gasped. "Please, you've got to let us check just for a few minutes, my friend—"

"Look!" He interrupted, sounding mildly irritated. "I said it's private and that's that. Now go away you're annoying me."

Zuzu's mouth dropped open, shocked by how rude he was. She huffed in indignation and returned to her friends.

"So?" Tate asked when she reached them.

"No good, the archives are sealed."

"What?" Fredrick gasped.

"We came all this way for nothing?" Ali asked, sounding upset. In fact, everyone had hurt looks on their faces at the thought that they wasted their efforts.

"No way!" Zuzu said, determination clouding her eyes.

"What?" Yuya asked.

"I'm not letting this be a waste of time." She continued, walking, or rather sneaking towards the door on the opposite side of the room.

"Zuzu." Yuya hissed as she reached for the handle. "What are you doing?"

"Shh…" She said, putting her finger to her lips and slipping through the door. Yuya looked back at the receptionist to see he was still struggling not to fall asleep. With a heavy sigh, he followed Zuzu through the door, the three animals slipping in behind him. They found themselves in a purely white room with golden chandeliers providing a glowing effect, much like the rest of the kingdom. They didn't waste time admiring it though, Zuzu had obviously carried on, trying to find the archives, they had to catch up with her. So they headed over to the door at the end of the room. However, when they got there, they heard quite a commotion on the other side. They opened the door to a sight that shocked and horrified them. There was Zuzu, caught in the arms of a soldier. He was at least twice her size, with huge muscles, big lips and spiky green hair.

"Let me go!" She cried.

"You're trespassing; I'll be taking you to the prince now." The big soldier said, shoving her roughly out of the room.

"Oh no!" The other four gasped. "Zuzu!"

Meanwhile…

Back at his castle, Don Thousand was having a meeting. To say he'd been furious when he discovered his prisoners had escaped was an understatement. However, after having calmed down he consulted his mirror and discovered the group was in the kingdom of ZEXAL. Rather than trouble himself, he decided to get someone else to do his dirty work for him. So he hired the best criminals he could find. The kingdom of DM's notorious thieves and assassins Bakura and Marik Yami. They were brothers and despite their names not related to Lord Ryo Bakura or Marik Ishtar, though the two bared a slight resemblance to them. Like Ryo, Bakura had pale white hair and brown eyes but these features were much softer on Ryo and sharper and edgier on Bakura. The two Mariks shared the sandy colour of their hair but unlike Marik Ishtar's downward spikes and curves, Marik Yami's hair flared out all over the place. The two Yami brothers had committed many horrible crimes in the kingdom of DM throughout their lives, such as Murder, Rape, Arson, Theft and so on… There was no doubt in Don Thousand's mind they were the ideal pair to hunt down Yuya and his friends. The two weren't accustomed to taking orders but Don Thousand had offered them a price they simply couldn't refuse, so they listened quietly as he explained their task.

"These are the people you're after." Don Thousand said as an image of the five friends appeared in his mirror. The two criminals laughed.

"We could take them in our sleep." Bakura said arrogantly, while Marik had an equally arrogant smirk on his face.

"Don't underestimate them. Most are harmless but the boy…" He paused as an image of just Yuya appeared on the screen. "He has incredibly strong magical abilities. Fortunately for you, he doesn't know how to control them but if he gets cornered I'm not sure what'll happen."

"We can take him; our magic is unmatched." Marik assured.

"Excellent." Don Thousand said. "Bring him back to me and you'll get your reward. He needs to be alive, whether harmed or unharmed I don't care. As for the others do what you want with them, though I'd prefer if they be left in a position not to tell anyone what they know."

"We understand." Bakura said, adjusting his blood-red coat. "They'll be silenced."