Welcome back everyone, I hope that you'll enjoy this chapter here! Just reminding anyone who hasn't been here in a while that I'll still try to answer as many reviews as I can. I just ask that you try and keep them constructive.

This is final chapter of this arc. I am fitting quite a lot into this chapter here, but I do feel that it is a good point to end things for this introduction arc. We'll be getting quite a few big reveals towards the end, so look forward to that! Please do let me know how I did for this first arc, if there's anything I can maybe improve upon. This will probably be the last chapter before Christmas and the New Year, so have a wonderful time when that comes!

Also I'm doing something a bit different, which is to ask a question to you all at the end of each chapter! You don't have to answer if you don't want to, but I'm interested to hear your thoughts about them.

—

I'd like to thank a guy 1013 and Guest for pointing some earlier issues in the previous Duels, I made sure to fix those little errors. Thank you for that!

Kenrio - Well, if I were to answer honestly, it would be boring if that Duel between Eric and Calian was a sweep. Compared to the other duelists so far, Calian has somewhat of an archetype, based around Warrior Type monsters - (If you would even call that an archetype with the cards he has...) He simply has a stronger deck, so the Duel was of course going to be tougher for Eric.

Green Eldritch - Thank you! I made sure to go hard with that duel there.

Guest - Oh, you are absolutely right about Eric's deck. It IS really bad. I had to nerf him somehow when coming into this world. But of course, he isn't oblivious to that glaring issue with his deck...

Zarbonic - Glad you enjoyed that final turn! I did my best to make seem as back-and-forth as I could. And here is the conclusion you were excited for!

Problake123 - I'm glad you're enjoying the story so far! I suppose you bring up a good point about the cards being shown at the beginning of Duels, immersion is best for a story like this. Still, I don't think I'd do it for every Duel, as there may be some secret cards I want hidden. As for the update schedule, it will come down to a monthly or two monthly upload per chapter. I am studying at Uni, so I want to still prioritise that over this.

—

Anyways, enough rambling from me, on with the story!

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh, or it's spin-off anime's. I do however own the OC's of this story, as well as any custom cards. Do NOT steal them.

-Yu-Gi-Oh: Dimensions in Disarray-

Chapter 6: End Of The Day – Battle City Awaits!

You know how you always have that one character from a show who is always your favourite one? You always love seeing them win on screen and make smart quips to other characters? They're the character that you'd always like to meet and have a conversation with, or maybe even get into a battle with them? Just seeing them is like a dream come true, right?

See I was just like that. Of course, said character who was always my favourite from the show was now coming down towards me in a helicopter, glaring daggers at me. Kaiba was clearly not happy about me being here right now. It was probably because I look like I'm associated with these fake employees. Not only that, but I'm also wearing a Duel Disk, which no-one should even have yet. That did not help.

I was panicking a little bit inside my mind right now. Kaiba was no Mokuba or Duke Devlin. If someone would notice that Eric was acting a little off, it'd be him. Even without a millennium item, he was still quite perceptive. I doubt he'd IMMEDIATELY flag me as an imposter Eric, but still, I had to be careful here. The last thing I wanted was to be ashamed by Kaiba.

Just before the helicopter touched down just ahead of us, Kaiba chose to jump off the helicopter and land dramatically on the stadiums grass. 'Always a show off.' Honestly, I don't think I would have had the balls to do that. Knowing my luck, I would have ended up straining my ankles. I saw that Kaiba didn't have a Duel Disk or his Duel Case. That meant that Dueling us wasn't the first thing on his mind. Still, this is Kaiba; he probably has an emergency Duel Disk inside that helicopter somewhere. Not that I'd be interested in Dueling him when he has Obelisk.

The helicopter landed just after Kaiba jumped down. It powered down, allowing us to hear with our ears again. Kaiba began to walk confidently towards the five of us. I saw that the three employees were possibly shitting bricks right now at being confronted by the CEO of the company that they apparently worked at. This would be fun to see at least. Calian however was still at shock at the idea of Seto Kaiba himself approaching us. I could only hope that he didn't do anything stupid like ask for an autograph.

Kaiba stopped just ahead of the five of us. Who would he talk to first?

Kaiba gave a small smirk as he looked at me. "Well, this is a surprise Eric. I thought that you weren't interested in Battle City, or even the idea of Dueling again, yet here you are playing around with my very own Duel Duel, that isn't meant to be released until another week from now."

"Kaiba… This isn't exactly what it looks like." I began in defense. "These three people here-"

"Do you honestly think I came all this way just to chew you out?" Kaiba cut me off with a glare. I mean, I wouldn't put it past the guy… "There are bigger things happening here right now than you using a KaibaCorp product before the Battle City tournament begins. I'm afraid you were just a simple pawn in these three goons plans."

Kaiba gave a much harder glare to the three goons of his company. "I already received the data on my way up here. You aren't real KaibaCorp employees." He said with venom. "I checked everyone who had first registered with the company weeks ago, and watched the surveillance footage from the cameras that saw you exiting the building with the Duel Disks. After that it was easy for me to conclude that you aren't real members of this company."

"So just who exactly do you work for? If you answer me now, I'll at least make sure that you still get a lawyer."

All three of the employees had expressions of fear as they clammed up, not willing to sell out their boss. Despite the fact that they were facing down who was probably one of the most powerful people in the business world, they weren't speaking up. I found such commitment to be admittedly admirable, thought annoying. On second thought, they are probably just getting paid a whole lot of money for this little scheme.

Suddenly, the employee that had the laptop in his hand suddenly shouted out. "It's done! The data's been transferred!" He immediately threw the laptop down on the ground and smashed it with his feet, rendering it completely unusable and completely useless.

Kaiba said nothing, rather he stood there just taking in what he saw and heard, or lack thereof. After a moment, he spoke up. "Well, the three of you have not only guaranteed yourself an immediate spot in prison, but I'm also going to make sure that you get the absolute worst lawyers possible!" He said a bit louder than he'd usually speak.

As soon as he said that, the doors to the helicopter opened up and six muscular looking KaibaCorp employees jumped out and ran forwards, apprehending the three goons, with the briefcases containing the Duel Disks being dropped to the ground. They made sure to hold them tightly and began to cuff them – wait was that even legal? The three goons were led by the men towards the exit of the stadium. I'm guessing Kaiba didn't want criminals in the helicopter with him.

"You'll be taken into custody for stealing KaibaCorp data and technology." Kaiba announced, stating the obvious. "You should expect to be going away for a very long time." The three goon's struggled as much as they could against the muscular KaibaCorp men that were leading them away, but to no avail. Their future in a jail cell was probably guaranteed.

I turned back to Kaiba and saw that he was looking down at the smashed laptop. He didn't bother crouching down to investigate it. Rather he just knew that it was beyond use for him. After confirming its uselessness, he turned back to me and Calian. "So, since those three idiots refused to answer my questions, do you mind explaining why you're wearing KaibaCorp Duel Disks?"

"Kaiba they-"

"They brought me, Eric and six other people in here to Duel!" Calian said immediately, sounding a bit scared at what happened earlier. "They wanted us to Duel so they could gather some data on the Duel Disks. I mean, it all seemed legit at first, but it guess it was quite shady…"

Kaiba looked down at Calian. "I figured that was the reason." He said dryly. It was like he had already figured that, but just wanted to see if they said anything of interest to us. "So let me get this straight, the eights Duelists here had a little tournament? And why would any of you even want to take part in it?"

"They were going to offer the winner a place in Battle City." I spoke up before Calian could. "Someone was forced to drop out of the tournament, so the three men here used the tournament as bait to gather Dueling data."

Kaiba narrowed his eyes at me. "That doesn't make any sense."

I was a bit perplexed by what Kaiba said. "Yes it does… The tournament was a great opportunity for-"

"I'm not talking about this little tournament." Kaiba cut me off instantly. "I already know about our dropout candidate for Battle City. What I want to know is, why would you Eric, want to take part in this little farce of tournament if you already have a position in Battle City?"

I held my breath as I saw Calian looked at me in confusion. "What? You already had a position?"

"…Yeah. I was told that the announcement would be happening tonight." I answered to Calian, but still looked at Kaiba. "Your brother himself came and told me Kaiba. That makes me think that I was one of the first people that you chose as a candidate."

Kaiba was silent, mainly because I hadn't answered his question yet. "I chose to enter this tournament here because I wanted to gain experience using a Duel Disk. That would give me some advantage above everyone else that'd be competing."

Now that seemed to make Kaiba happy – at least, as happy as you could make the guy. He smiled thinly, not out of kindness of course. "Trying to stay one step ahead of the competition. I can't blame you. After all, you'll be facing a force so deadly, that no amount of rare cards could save you."

'He means Obelisk The Tormentor… He has such confidence in the one card…' I thought with a chill running down my back. Despite everything being holographic, I still felt a bit of fear at the possibility of having to facedown a God Card.

"I take it that you've accepted the invitation to Battle City then. Just know that this won't be anything like Duelist Kingdom. You may not have been there yourself, but you can know that Battle City will be an all out war." Kaiba responded with a smirk.

"Oh yes, I know all about that." I replied simply. "The rulebook that the three goons gave us all stated that the loser of a Duel would have to fork over their rarest card to the winner."

I would have thought that Kaiba would be irked by me knowing this, but rather than act that like that, he simply gave a low chuckle. "I hope that won't be an issue for you Eric. You losing your Gogiga Gagagigo to anyone else would be an utter embarrassment to witness. I expect you to make it to the finals. Because there I'm going to enjoy crushing you."

"…We'll see about that."

'Welp. Guess I'm off to Battle City then.' I thought with an internal sigh. 'Nah, despite the dangers, I'm still excited about getting to take part in one of the best tournaments in all of Yu-Gi-Oh.'

'Just have to be careful going in. All sorts of dangers and hazards that I could run into, like Marik or Bakura.'

Kaiba raised his head with a sneer as he turned away from me. I saw that Roland had collected the Duel Disk cases that the goons dropped as they were apprehended. Now he was coming towards us. "Your Duel Disks please."

Ah, right. We still had on the Duel Disks. I nudged to Calian, trying to hint that we should probably remove our Duel Disks. He thankfully caught onto what I was trying to say, and we quickly threw our cards back into our deck, and removed the Duel Disks from our arms. Roland seemed to look pleased at that as we handed them to him.

Kaiba looked to be heading back to the helicopter now, seemingly finished his business here. "I'm making a public statement about Battle City in two hours. I expect to see you there at Domino Plaza Eric."

"And Yugi Muto I assume?" I replied, testing the waters with Kaiba.

Kaiba turned his head a little to acknowledge what I said. "I'm sure you already know the answer to that, so stop bothering me with pointless questions."

Kaiba turned back around as he headed back to helicopter, with Roland at his side. It felt like things were beginning to calm down.

"Hey Kaiba, wait!"

Kaiba, Roland and I all turned to see Calian standing there with a brave expression. "Calian." I hissed under my breath. "What are you doing?"

"Just trust me Eric, I know what I'm doing." Calian said, waving my worry aside. "Listen Kaiba, I have a… proposal of sorts for you!"

Kaiba turned his head around to face Calian. "What could you have that'd interest me?"

"You said that you were still a person down for Battle City, right? Well you can add me in to take that person's place!"

Kaiba had an emotionless look, but I could swear I see some interest under that cold stare. Calian continued. "I only entered this little tournament for a shot at the big leagues. I made it to the finals where I Dueled Eric, thinking that if I won, then I'd get into Battle City. But it turns out that he had a place the whole time! I did lose that Duel, but I put up a great fight, so you gotta add me into Battle City! I promise I won't be a letdown!"

Kaiba looked at Calian. While I couldn't read his mind, I knew that Kaiba just saw Calian as just some wimpy kid asking for a shot at fame. Being a CEO at such a young age, he probably had to deal with countless offers from lower companies. I doubt this was that different for him. Perhaps he reminded him of Joey.

"…Roland, do we have a forty-eighth candidate for Battle City yet?"

"Not yet sir. We are still to receive word from the people that we asked."

Kaiba looked at Calian. It was hard to read him.

"Whatever. I need a forty-eighth candidate anyway." Kaiba said before he walked off back to the helicopter.

'Well… Guess Calian wasn't planning on waiting for the next tournament then.' I thought with a skeptic look.

Roland approached Calian. "If you want to enter the tournament, we need your full name." He began, pulling out a small notepad. I wonder what Kaiba would make Calian's Dueling score when he picks up the Duel Disk? Higher than Joey's? Lower?

Calian quickly blurted out his full name. The kid looked like he was in heaven right now, while I was evaluating this sudden decision in my mind.

'Calian's definitely no Rex Raptor or Weevil Underwood. He could probably get pretty far in Battle City. I'll admit I underestimated him before our Duel there. He's quite crafty with how he stole my Taladon The Swordsman, not to mention he has a good deck balance of monsters, spells and traps. His cards are also quite good.' I thought with consideration.

'I guess it's ok if he entered… maybe as long as he tells me who he Duels. That way I'll know if he's ended majorly changed things. I mean, there's no way he'd be staying by my side throughout the entire first three days of the tournament until we ended up making it into the finals. He's far too energetic for that.'

'For that though, I'll need to exchange phone numbers with him. I can sort that out after Kaiba and Roland leave.' I decided as I saw Calian wrapping things up with Roland. Roland thanked Calian and chose to exit to the helicopter with Kaiba.

No words were spoken as the helicopter began to power up and move up into the air. The door was still wide open, and Kaiba kept his gaze squarely on me as the helicopter lifted upwards, before it took off, exiting the stadium.

I breathed a rather huge sigh of relief when the helicopter was out of sight. "Well that could have gone way worse." I said out loud.

"I can't believe it!" Calian exclaimed with joy. "I made it into Battle City! This is like a dream come true for me! I've always wanted to try and make it big in the world of Dueling, and now I have a chance at that! It's so cool that we're both in the tournament now! This'll be so much fun! …But why'd you hide the fact that you already had a position in Battle City Eric?" Calian questioned with confusion.

"…Hm?" I was snapped out my thinking. "Oh that? Well I didn't want to reveal it to the goons there just in case they ended up changing the tournament. Also I didn't want to try and complicate things anymore than they already were."

"Oh, I guess that make sense…" Calian muttered, understanding why. "So! You excited for Battle City then? The announcement's tonight! Hey, wait was there a specific time that we had to be in Domino Plaza?"

"…I don't know…" I spoke with realisation. "Oh… We may want to head over there right now. The suns nearly set by now." Indeed, the rays from the sun had completely left the stadium. Only the orange sky was still illuminating everything in here. "In fact… if we don't go now, we may not be able to make our way out… It'll be too dark to see."

Hang on, this is still under construction. Are we trespassing now that everyone else had left?

Shit, we may want to get moving…

1 Hour Later:

"I get that this is where Battle City is being announced…" Calian began as he look around. "But this is way more than just forty-eight people!"

Me and Calian were just sitting on a bench close to the edge of Domino Plaza. I had insisted this, as I didn't want anyone from the show to bump into us here. Calian was confused being at the edge of the commotion, but he agreed nonetheless. He didn't seem to be regretting that idea, as there were dozens upon dozens of Duelists moving around the central area of the Plaza. I thought only Duelists got the invite here! Did someone spill the beans about the tournament?

"Yeah, you're right. I guess that everyone brought their friends and family here as well." I spoke as I looked around. I had seen no characters from the show, but I knew they were in here somewhere that made me feel a mixture of emotions. Like, there are some people that I wouldn't mind avoiding here, like Weevil and Rex.

There were no Rare Hunters yet, as the tournament hadn't technically been announced yet. After today however, they'd all be scrambling to hack their way into the tournament. I guess this was the last sense of calmness before the tournament began.

While sitting here, I did think about anything I could do here that would help the main cast in the tournament. The first thing that came to mind was maybe trying to stop Joey from losing Red-Eyes Black Dragon, from that dickhead who used Exodia. Hell, he didn't even have an official name! He was just called 'Seeker'! Joey did basically get screwed over there, so I did consider helping him…

But if he still had Red-Eyes, it'd mean that Yugi would struggle to save Joey from Marik's mind control at the docks on day three of the tournament. I don't want to underestimate Joey's bond with Yugi, but Joey BARELY escaped the mind control in the original timeline! Yeah, the obvious answer is just to stop Marik from mind controlling Joey, but that requires a whole lot of thought process and planning beforehand. Not to mention there was the risk of getting mind controlled myself… That would be realllly bad.

As in, 'fuck I basically just lose.' Perhaps worse... God forbid what happens if the millennium rod allowed the user to look into ones memories...

Also without Red-Eyes, Yugi may not be able to beat Kaiba in the Semifinals… Sorry Joey, you're amazing but I gotta leave you to your fate here. Maybe I can assure him that he'll get Red-Eyes back.

Honestly, the whole ordeal with Red-Eyes was the only immediate thing that came to mind about Battle City in terms of what I can change. My mind just hurts thinking about the eight finalists, as nearly all of them are important for the Battle City endgame or even the Virtual World arc! If I were to go all the way to the finale, who should I replace? Who COULD I replace?!

"Hey! Hey! Eric! Look! Kaiba just appeared on the screen over there!" Calian shouted, cutting me off from my thoughts as he pointed frantically to a huge advertisement board that now showed the face of Seto Kaiba.

He sure knew how to make an entrance; I'll give him that. There were murmurs of excitement and thrill at seeing Kaiba as the one who was hosting this tournament. Ironically, only me and Calian knew about the fact that Kaiba was hosting it before this.

"Greetings Duelists. Welcome to the town of Domino. But more importantly, welcome to my tournament." Kaiba began with a small smirk. "I see you each received your private invite to KaibaCorp's very exclusive Duel Monsters tournament, and you had enough brains to show up here tonight."

There were some shouts of protest and challenges to Kaiba for making that statement there. "Oh boy…" Calian muttered. "This tournament isn't going to be pretty, is it?" I just hummed in response as Kaiba continued to address us.

"Being that you are all elite Duelists, I've added special rules to my tournament just for experts. For example…" Kaiba looked down at his arm as the camera cut to show Kaiba's Duel Disk. "You will Duel with these new and improved Duel Disks." There were some awes and gasps at the reveal of the Duel Disk. "Another new rule that I designed for the tournament, is that before each Duel, both players much ante up their rarest cards, and the loser of the Duel forfeits their rarest card to the winner."

Calian grunted at that announcement. He already knew via the rule book that we read earlier, but it is still a big rule to take into account.

"My competition will make Pegasus and his Duelist Kingdom tournament look like a joke." Kaiba concluded with a sneer. Suddenly, I could once again hear the whirring of the helicopter that Kaiba rode. Me and Calian looked up and we saw Kaiba holding onto the helicopter as he stood out facing everyone.

"Don't forget to register and pick up your Duel Disk, because exactly one week from today, my Battle City tournament begins!" Kaiba yelled for everyone to hear.

There were even more shouts, challenges and protests as Kaiba flew away in his helicopter, not giving us anymore attention. He had said what he had needed to say. The screens cut to black, before they came back on with their usual adverts. So that was that then. The large crowds began to disperse and make their way home.

I saw that Calian had a bit of sweat running down his neck. "Oh? Scared about the tournament?" I questioned humorously.

Calian turned to look at me. "I'll admit I'm a little anxious here and there, but I can't be scared going forwards! Even if it means that I'll be risking my rarest cards here!"

I nodded. "That's the spirit. Think of it this way: The more Duels you win, the more rare cards you collect!"

"Oh yeah, that is a good point. I was so worried about the consequences of losing, that I forgot the benefits of winning." Calian said with a surprised look.

"Hey Calian? I was thinking, it might be a good idea for us to swap phone numbers. It means that we can keep an eye on each others progress during the tournament." I suggested, hoping to god he'd say yes.

"Oh yeah, sure." He agreed with a nod. "I was kinda hoping to go off and do my own thing during Battle City. Wouldn't want to get in your way."

We both got out our phones and swapped numbers with each other. After that was done Calian spoke up to me. "So what's the plan now until Battle City? Gonna buy some more cards?"

"Eh, I was hopefully planning to take it easy until the big day next week." I lied with a laid back shrug. The week long wait foe the tournament would give me plenty of time to do some much needed research. About Eric and this world. "What about you Calian?"

Calian grinned as he stood up. "Me? Oh, I'm gonna be Dueling nonstop until next week! That's right, I'll be doing everything I can to become the best Duelist that Domino has ever seen! I'll be buying cards, editing my deck, everything! No one is gonna stop me here!"

"There you are! Do you know how long I've been looking for you Calian?!"

…Hm?

Who… was that? It sounded like… it was directed at us…?

I turned to my right and saw a young woman about my age. She had long, dark purple hair, and dim red eyes. She was somewhat tall, definitely taller than Calian but maybe shorter than me. She wore a short jacket that was coloured black, and wore a dark blue shirt under that. For her lower half, she wore some dark blue trousers, and some brown boots.

However, what caught me off guard was that the young women had a scowl on her face. She was glaring daggers at Calian. Who was she?

She then immediately began to storm over to where Calian was at a fast pace. Literally all of the confidence that Calian had was immediately gone under the impression that this lady presented to him. Calian began to show signs of fear as she reached him and began to pull at his ear. "You! Do you have any idea how worried I was when I came home today and saw that you weren't there!? There was no note saying that you'd be out, and I even received a call from the school saying that you ditched your last two classes today! Do you have any idea how worried I felt!?"

"Ah! No! Sis, please! Don't pull my ear, not in public!" Calian begged to his… sister? She continued to pull his ear for punishment. "L-Look I'm sorry ok! Really I am! I just got caught up in some really important stuff! A-And I even made a new friend!"

Calian pointed towards me as desperately as he could. His supposed sister turned to look at me with confusion. She then blinked upon seeing me. "O-Oh I'm sorry! I had no idea that you were there!" She apologised as she let go of Calian's ear. "I just had my attention focused squarely on someone else."

She gave an awkward chuckle as she stared menacingly at Calian. I cleared my throat, smiling at her. "So… who are you?"

"I'm Sophia, Calian's older sister. I'm the one responsible for looking after him." She huffed at that last part.

"Hey what's that supposed to mean?!" Calian questioned with suspicion. "I heard that tone of yours!"

"And I don't like your tone Calian!" Sophia snapped. "I am this close to really losing my mind with you here! So, shut. Up." She ordered, looming over him.

Calian backed down almost immediately, while Sophia crossed her arms. I decided to try and defuse this situation. "So, why are so frustrated Sophia…?"

"Because-! …I mean, because Calian here thought it'd be a good idea to skip the later half of school today and go buy Duel Monster cards! Not only that, but he never told me what he was doing! No phone call, no note; nothing!" Sophia huffed as she stamped a foot on the ground.

Calian looked to protest this. "Hey, I was-! I was… I erm… I guess… I should have called you at least…" He muttered as he looked to the ground.

Sophia nodded with superiority. "Yes you should have! You're too young to be out and about at this time anyway! I nearly called the police!"

"Hey, you don't need to keep rubbing it in…!" Calian grumbled as he sat back down on the bench. "I get it, I should have called. I'll remember next time…"

"…You better." Sophia warned him. She then turned to face me again with curiosity. "So who are you then?"

"My names Eric Yuriko." I answered, standing up. "I spent the rest of the afternoon with Calian here. We just bumped into each other and hit it off quite well. After that, we just walked around Domino and ended up losing track of time."

'You better appreciate this Calian. I could be telling your sister that you nearly got into trouble with three criminals today…' I thought, looking at him. He seemed happy by my answer. Good.

Sophia frowned. "Oh, I see… I was worried that something happened to him… Guess I was just being a bit too paranoid."

"You usually are…"

"What was that?"

"Nothing!"

Sophia gave her little brother a suspicious look, before she sighed and looked back up me. "Well I appreciate you looking after him like that Eric. You know, I thought your forename sounded familiar, might have been someone else that I was thinking of."

'Probably Yugi Muto…' I thought. Hopefully that similarity will only remain as a coincidence. He is the King Of Games after all.

Sophia looked around before speaking again. "So what was that huge commotion all about earlier? I heard so many cheers and arguing about some tournament?"

I was going to speak up about that… but Calian beat me to it.

"Oh yeah you should have seen it sis! There's going to be this awesome tournament taking place here in Domino next week! It's called Battle City!"

"Really?" Sophia raised an eyebrow in response, weirded out by the idea. "I guess you'll want to be watching it?"

"No, I'm competing in it!"

"…"

Sophia was struck silent taking that information in. Calian was a bit shocked himself. "Uh, sis?"

"…Do you have any idea how stupid that was Calian!?" She snapped with anger. "You can't be entering tournaments when you have tests coming up next week!"

"Oh come on!" Calian argued. "I can definitely ace those tests! They'll be before the tournament, and we'll get a week holiday at the time when Battle City would be taking place! I'll plenty of time to study!"

"You'll have your preliminary exams just after that!" Sophia rebutted back. "You need to keep studying so that you can get good grades in those exams! I can't have you running off to play card games!"

"The finals barely matter to me! I can just study hard next year!" Calian yelled back. "Just let me have some fun sis!"

"I always let you do what you want! Don't you appreciate the amount of freedom I give you!?"

"Yeah, obviously, but I'm just asking for a few days off studying!"

"Oh really? Then why did I hear you saying earlier how you'd spend all of next week Dueling!?"

"Argh, well… I was confident. Yeah, I was just confident in my abilities! I can easily handle these tests!"

"Tell me the year that KaibaCrop began to dismantle their weapon factories."

"…"

"Well, that answers that then. You're not going to Battle City Calian."

"What? No! I need this sis! Just let me go!"

"You've been flunking classes and the fact that you don't let me see your report cards tells me all I need to know about your education right now! Can't you see that I'm worried about you! I work day and night to try and help you study!"

"Yeah right! Half those nights I see you watching Jean-Claude Magnum films! What, you thinking that he'll show up and fall for you?!"

"You're one to talk! I always see you practically drooling over those Dueling magazines you buy! Who are YOU fantasising over now huh?! Is it Mai Valentine, Vivian Wong!?"

"Sis-!"

"Calian-!"

"SHUT. UP!" I said with loud distain, trying to hold in my rage.

Both siblings immediately ceased their squabbling at my outburst. It was then that they realised that their bickering had gathered quite a large number of bystanders to watch in a mixture of amazement, amusement, and confusion. Thankfully no one from the anime seemed to be watching. Thank god for that. The crowds seemed to move away as I silenced the arguing.

I cleared my throat, turnings to Sophia and Calian. "AHEM. Can't you both just come to some sort of compromise?" I said, my eye twitching.

"How so?" Sophia questioned, suspicious at my idea.

"Gee, I don't know, maybe have Calian study hard until Battle City, then give him the three days off so he can compete?" I suggested with a bit of sarcasm. "Everyone needs a break after studying."

"Yeah, well that's easier said than done." Calian huffed as he crossed his arms. "I erm… don't really have the resources to study my subjects that well… The only person who could help me is maybe sis… But you're terrible at that…"

"I am-! …Oh you may have a point about that." Sophia admitted with embarrassment as she frowned. "I know hardly anything about History and Politics… I'd be hardly any help to you…"

"Can't you hire a tutor to help you?" I suggested.

Both siblings looked a bit awkward at that idea. "Um, that may not be possible…" Sophia spoke softly. "That would be… a bit too expensive for us…"

I decided to change tact here, realising I might have struck a nerve. "Do you only do Politics and History Calian?"

"No…?" Calian said, surprised by my question. "I also do English, Maths and I made the mistake of taking Archeology."

Trying to ignore that someone seemed to think that Archeology was a good idea for a subject in High School, I thought about what Calian told me there. Hmm…

"Alright how about this: I actually got full A's in History and Politics and went onto study them at College. Maybe I can swing by and help you out sometimes if I'm free. I still know a whole about what I learned, so-"

Sophia immediately grabbed me by the shoulders. "You'd do that!?"

I blinked. "Erm, whenever I'm free of course. Calian would actually have to try and study hard, so that's his goal really. But in turn, you let him join Battle City… Oh, and I'd do it for free as well. I think I'm good with money at the moment…?"

Sophia practically began to sob tears of joy. "Thank you!" She cried with happiness. "Thank you so much!"

Calian was also jaw dropped. "You'd do that… for me…!?"

"Isn't that what friends are for?" I said with a grin. "I don't want to see you fail your grades after all. Trust me when I say that you'd regret not doing the best that you could have done in High School later down the line."

Calian also nearly broke down into tears under the sheer joy that he felt. "Oh this is amazing! Thank you Eric! Thankyouthankyouthankyou!"

"Oh it's no bother…!" I said with a grin, before coming to a sudden realisation.

"Hey Calian? How bad are your grades right now?"

1 Hour Later:

As it turns out, Calian had very bad grades right now. Like, wow, they're bad. I like the kid, but goddamn he really needs to try and do better.

After that rather emotional moment back at Domino Plaza, I agreed to try and swing around whenever I could to try and help Calian with his upcoming tests. He had two tests before Battle City and a few after that. It'd be hard work for him, but I wanted him to do well.

With this new arrangement settled, I began to head back home. By the time I had arrived, it was nearly 11:00 PM. It had been quite the long day…

Also… I realised that I've had nothing to eat the entire day! I've literally eaten nothing ever since I arrived here this morning! How was I only hungry now!?

So, when heading into the kitchen arriving home, I made my first meal of this new world: A pizza. Basic, but oh well. I was too tired to cook always.

I had my pizza in the dining room, completely alone again. I had always been with someone in the last few hours of the day, so it felt a bit… weird to be alone like this again. At least I had made a friend in the form of Calian. He was a good kid.

So I'd conclude that day one of being Iskekaid was a success. Yay!

Moving upstairs to get to bed, I knew that this was probably going the most amount of peace that I'd be receiving for a few days. Tutoring Calian would be… interesting.

I mean, both siblings accused the other of doing some rather eye-rolling things. Here's hoping I wouldn't always end up being the middleman between the two squabblers.

Then Battle City would be after that. I feel like I'm prepared for the trials that lie ahead. At least, I feel more prepared than I did hours ago. My opinion had changed quite a bit during this entire day. I couldn't help but feel that it had been months since I arrived here! How has it only been a day?

Arriving into the bedroom, I got changed into some new pair of pyjamas, and collapsed onto the bed after turning out the light. My deck was back in that drawer that I got it from, my clothes were lying in a heap on the floor, and my mind was beginning to calm down completely – The first sense of full calmness that I had felt since arriving here.

I smiled at how good it felt. Today had been rather successful, though admittedly stressful. As my eyes began to close for good, I did think back some things that happened today.

'Hm… I didn't change that much in the timeline, right?' I thought, a small amount of doubt in my mind.

'Nah, I would have known if something changed.'

Elsewhere:

At the same time, far far away from the country of Japan, was a large, wonderful castle that was located in Central Europe. It was an exquisite monument that had been well-maintained over the centuries that it had stood. While it used to house Kings and Queens, now it housed a completely different person altogether.

Sitting on the balcony of this castle, was a young man taking the wonderful rays of sun. He sat on a lovely deckchair, and had a glass of wine in one hand, while in the other, he held a white rose. The man took a small sip from his glass of wine before he twiddled with the rose in his hand.

The man however, was interrupted by one of his many maids, who all wore French maid outfits.

"Forgive me for interrupting sir, but the three spies that we sent to KaibaCorp retrieved the data that you wanted." She handed the man the laptop that held the acquired data.

The man handed the maid his rose and waved her away. Now alone again, he inspected the acquired data via the laptop. He hummed as he did this, scrolling though the pages that he was able to acquire.

"It appears that Herr Kaiba was able to build himself quite the lovely invention." The man remarked with interest, looking at the latest KaibaCorp invention. "How wonderful. This will be an excellent opportunity for me to show the world what Schroeder Corporation has up their sleeves."

The man scrolled through some more of the acquired data before he found something interesting. Two things as a matter of fact.

The first was that there would be a huge tournament held in Domino City to commemorate this new Duel Disk invention. Perhaps there were more reasons, but they were not here for the man to see. On there, were the list of all the participants. A few names did catch the attention of the man. Yugi Muto, Herr Kaiba… and Herr Yuriko. That was the second thing of interest.

"Ah it seems that Herr Eric is also competing is this upcoming tournament." The man said as he sipped his wine again. "Yes, this will be a most wonderful reason for me to visit Japan in the coming week." He stated as he stood up.

The man had long pink hair that came down to his waist, while also having aqua coloured eyes. He wore some rather fashionable clothes: A purple suit with a black lapel which showed his companies insignia at the left side, which was a purple rose. Under that, he wore black patent-leather shoes. Around his neck, he wore a cerise coloured frilled jabot adorned with a purple brooch. He also carried a golden watch on his left wrist.

"I suppose it wouldn't hurt to make sure that those three get a good lawyer." Zigfried Von Schroeder muttered with a chuckle, as he walked off into his castle.

Elsewhere:

Far away from Mr. Von Schroeder's castle, in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, stood what you think would be an island. Instead, you'd be surprised to see that it was a a small structure of sorts that resembled a temple.

Inside of this temple, there were many passageways, and one large room that held the faces of many people engraved on stone. Further into the temple, there was young man sitting down with his legs crossed. His eyes were closed, and he looked to be communicating with someone – or something.

"I felt it too Great Leviathan… It appears that an interloper from outside this realm has entered into this one." The man spoke. Silence filled the room, but it was like someone or something was communicating back to this man.

"Yes… I believe you are correct in suggesting that. It would be foolish to act now when we know so little about this being." He concluded, before he opened his eyes and stood up.

The man had blue greenish hair which trailed to near knee length and was tied at waist length. Interestingly enough he had Heterochronic irises; his right iris was green, and his left was gold. The man's outfit here consisted of closed white and blue robes. His outfit also included a foot length cloak which trailed behind him, padded shoulders, cuffed wrists, a raised collar and a stone that bore an accent symbol around his neck. Across his forehead, he wore a fragment of sorts that was tied by a small chain.

"Gurimo. Come here at once, I have an assignment for you." Ordered Dartz, Master of the Orichalcos.

"Yes Master Dartz?" Answered a man wearing a thick robe, appearing before Dartz from the shadows.

"I want you to head to Domino City and keep an eye on someone. I have reason to believe that they are an outsider to this world." Commanded Dartz, not looking towards Gurimo.

"A Duel Monster Spirit?" Questioned Gurimo.

"No." Responded Dartz in a dry manner. "I don't know who they are, but they are most certainly giving off unnatural energy. The power of the Orichalcos may be limited right now, but you can still use it to locate him."

"Shall I engage him upon encountering him?" Gurimo asked.

"Just keep an eye on him." Dartz ordered bluntly, not wishing to take any risks here. "Don't do anything foolish, and if I tell you to return here, then do so immediately. That is all."

"As you wish Master Dartz." Gurimo bowed before he made his exit.

Dartz was left alone to his thoughts. If an interloper had made their way here… the ten-thousand-year plan to resurrect the Great Leviathan was at risk. Dartz had came close once before, five thousand years ago, but other forces seemed to be at work back then.

He could not fail now. He had come too far.

Perhaps it was worth another look at some of the evidence that he had collected throughout his ten-thousand-year journey. It might be worth looking into again.

Dartz smirked to himself as he made moves to travel to Paradius HQ. It was nearly time now. Soon the Great Leviathan would rise again.

The first of many ripples have began to occur…! It looks like the filler characters are up to no good. Who will act first…!? I'll see you all in 2025!

Oh, but the first question I have for you all is this: What is your favourite Yu-Gi-Oh anime?