Hey everyone, as usual thanks for reading and as always thanks to our Beta for all her hard work. Last chapter left off with Erhard making an offer to Anakin. Did he accept? Has another student fallen to the evil powers of The Order? You probably already know the answer, but if you want to read anyways we'd really appreciate that.

Chapter 19

Initial Order Arc:

War of Nature

Part I

Night

Slifer Dorm

Normally, Atsuko slept through the night with no problem. However, something about tonight kept her tossing and turning and finding that sleep continued to elude her.

Maybe a little walk will help… She thought before quietly creeping out of her room into the cool night air.

It had been weeks since she came to the island that she had gone outside to look at the clear sky, seeing the sea of stars above her. It was a sight that could go on forever, but she soon found herself starting to get disoriented and looked back down to the forest in front of her.

After she composed herself, the blue-haired girl heard the shuffle of feet and looked around. Close-by, she saw someone walking from her dorm towards the woods, catching a glimpse of what looked like a red jacket.

She went over to where the student had passed through, but didn't see anyone there.

Atsuko realized something must've happened and ran back inside to go towards Takashi's room on the boy's side of the dorm.

She quickly knocked a few times, hoping that the large student would wake up.

A few tense moments of silence past as the door opened to reveal a bleary-eyed Takashi blinking out at the darkness to see who was there. "Atsuko?" he murmured, rubbing his eyes. "Is something wrong?"

"Maybe," she replied nervously. "I thought I saw someone walking into the woods, and with the… revelation of what Nick and Barclay had told us, I'm worried something might be wrong."

"I see," Takashi said, now more awake. "I'll go wake them and we can go investigate."

After putting on his uniform jacket and shoes, he and Atsuko went to the rooms of Nick and Barclay.

When they arrived, the two could hear snoring coming from their door. It wasn't loud enough to echo through the hall, though if anyone was close, they'd be able to hear it.

The large student knocked a few times in hopes of waking up two.

A few moments later, Nick opened the door as the two saw him wearing ear muffs. "Oh, hey you two, why are you up so late?" He asked after taking them off.

A quick explanation and a less quick waking of the still sleeping Barclay and the small group headed into the woods.

Forest

"So, we don't know who we're looking for, where they may have gone or if there's even anyone to be looking for," Barclay muttered around a yawn. "If this turns out to be a wild goose chase, you all owe me a pack of cards."

Nick laughed. "That's pretty cheap for vengeance."

"I'm too tired to think up proper vengeance right now," Barclay replied.

"Though is it wise to bring our duel disks?" Takashi wondered, seeing everyone having them along with their decks already inserted.

"Ye-yeah, do you really think we'll run into trouble?" Atsuko added.

"I was never a Boy Scout but I try to live up to their motto anyway: 'Be prepared,'" Nick remarked.

They continued walking, looking for any signs of someone having passed through recently. In the darkness, they were even less effective trackers than they were in the day.

"I think we're lost," Barclay said after fifteen minutes. "Atsuko, I know we told you about our situation, but you're sure you didn't think you saw someone?" Nick wondered.

"I-"

"Hey now, come on Nick! You know as well as I she is trustworthy, she wouldn't lie about anything like this." Takashi remarked before she had a chance to talk.

The petite girl smiled while having a blush on her face.

"He didn't say she lied," Barclay said, looking in the opposite direction the group was heading. "Just that the darkness may've played tricks on her eyes."

"What do you mean?" Takashi and Atsuko asked.

"Hypnagogic hallucinations. Your body will sometimes hear or see things that aren't there as it's transitioning to 'sleep mode'; movement, people or animals, voices, and so on," Barclay explained.

"Meaning…?" Nick prompted, still trying to follow what his roommate was saying.

"Meaning it might actually be nothing after all," Barclay finished.

Takashi clenched his fist tightly, and Nick took that as his cue to fend off a potential fight.

"Look, at best it could've been anything, but we're not gonna just flat out ignore it. We'll look a bit longer to see if we find anything, OK?"

They all nodded in agreement and continued walking forward into the woods.

Though eventually, after about another ten minutes, they heard yelling close by along with the echoes of a duel happening.

They ran towards the sounds as they came upon a duel that was going on, though they were shocked by the appearance of the duelist. "7 Colored Fish, f-finish this duel… by d-destroying his… Ancient Lizard Warrior," a pained voice panted.

A green fish head burst out of the back of a green scaled reptilian monster, which exploded into dust and knocked the unfortunate Ra student flat on his back.

Someone else chuckled darkly. "Wonderful. For slack-jawed fools who could barely duel their way out of a wet paper bag."

Everyone turned toward the voice. To their surprise, they saw Anakin sitting on a tree branch like it was his throne. A small army of forest animals-squirrels, birds, rabbits, even a tanuki or two-surrounded the tree, staring forward intently.

Then they noticed that every animal had glowing red eyes, and Anakin himself had a more malicious vibe than usual.

"He's been tainted by The Order," Gwenhwyfar whispered to her partner.

One of them stepped on a twig, causing it to snap and the Slifer to look over in their direction. "Ah, my friends. It's so good to see you, come and join us," he said.

"Are you alright, Anakin?" Atsuko asked, stepping forward with the others.

"I've never been better, thank you," he replied calmly.

Nick looked at the bodies on the floor and from what he could tell, they were only unconscious. It wasn't just one pair of students from a dorm, it was from all three.

Though part of him knew that some may have deserved this, but no one should ever be hurt in any way.

"So, the duel just now, what was that?" the red-haired teen asked seriously.

"Entertainment. All the good these animals are worth," the young student replied with malice.

"You're forcing them to duel until they lose consciousness? Just for your own entertainment? That's disgusting!" Atsuko cried out.

Anakin smirked. "It's justice."

"It's cruel and unusual!"

"I understand your frustration, Anakin, but this isn't the way," Takashi added. "We can get you help, talk to someone who can deal with the bullies-"

"Hahaha! Help?! Why would I need help from anyone, especially those useless teachers?! Look around you! I've made this possible all on my own!"

"You borrowed your powers from some interdimensional evil organization hell-bent on destroying or ruling the world. I'd hardly call that 'on your own,'" Barclay said.

"You know nothing of the source of my power!" Anakin barked.

"Neither do you!" Atsuko cut in again. "Using your anger to justify hurting the others only breeds more anger!"

The animals around Anakin growled (those that could, anyway) and headed towards them in eerie unison. More than a few of the bigger ones also bared their teeth.

Takashi got in front of his friends protectively. "When I say 'Run' or they start biting me, run."

Then something unexpected happened.

"Wait!"

Anakin jumped down from the tree branch, and the animals immediately backed away from Takashi. "I can handle this myself," he told them. "Go back to guarding my throne."

As his de facto minions returned to the tree, Anakin walked up to the group and equipped his duel disk and visors.

The duel disk's red and white color scheme stood out clearly in the darkness, and in turn complemented the stylized black animal imagery. His digi-construct manifested and took the appearance of a gunstock war club with five spots across it.

"You think I'm wrong? Fine, then let's settle this how most people settle disputes here; with a duel. Atsuko, I challenge you!" Anakin pointed at her dramatically.

Barclay and Nick were about to interfere, but Atsuko put a hand on each of their shoulders.

The two turned around, saw the determined look on her face, and stepped aside to make room for her as she walked forward.

She activated the duel disk already on her arm, it was primarily green in color with a four-pronged symbol in a circle being prominently displayed on the top in white. Other designs on her duel disk gave the impression of flowing air or water.

Her dig-construct manifested, taking on the shape of a vibrant green feather with a red tip and five spots designated for cards.

"If it's the only way to help you, then let's duel!"

The trio behind her backed away a few feet and they placed their own visors on when the hologram dome expanded around them.

Faces appeared on the trees around them as the forest became even darker. The only sources of light were small glowing pods sprinkled around, giving just enough light for the duelist to see.

Atsuko - 8000

Anakin - 8000

"I'll go first," Anakin declared as he drew his hand and looked over it. "I'll start by activating the field spell Closed Forest."

Countless trees suddenly began erupting from the ground and twisting together into a near impenetrable mass of trees that made the already dark forest they were standing in even darker and somewhat claustrophobic.

"Next, I play two cards face down and summon my Hyena (3/1000/300) in attack mode."

Stepping out of the trees came a grey-white furred quadruped with high shoulders. Its muzzle and feet were coated in brown fur and its hungry eyes leered at Atsuko as potential prey.

"I end my turn."

Atsuko drew her first card before putting it into her hand. Anakin, no matter what happens to me, I promise you I'll bring you back from the dark side.

And we come to yet another frustrating cliffhanger, sorry about it guys, but gotta keep the suspense, right? We'll let your minds comprehend what happens, so until next chapter.