"Oh you're awake," She heard a voice say and from a doorway came someone who could only be one Yusei Fudo…

In a wheelchair.

His right leg below the knee was entirely gone.

"Yusei? How?" She asked, unable to stop herself.

"Oh you know who I am?" He asked. "A bit surprised since you appeared in the middle of my shop."

"I know, uh, my version of you." Eddie said. "What do you know about multiverse theory?"

"Not a lot." He answered.

"Parallel timelines. I uh, looked up to you. A lot." Eddie admitted.

"Not an unusual thing to say." He replied. "Do you need anything?"

"Uh… a time check? And maybe some painkillers… How long have I been here?"

"About two hours, it's about to be midnight." He answered, before turning and shouting back the way he came. "YUGO CAN YOU BRING SOME WATER AND PAINKILLERS?"

"SURE THING DAD!" A voice responded.

Eddie's eyes nearly popped out of her skull. "Dad? You look like your my age?"

"Adopted," He answered. "Orphanage went under so I adopted him and Rin."

"Oh, that's sweet."

"Heh, us Commons gotta help each other out,"

"Commons?" Eddie repeated, before the lightbulb immediately turned on at the rather dinky workshop's appearance. "Oh, uh, is that what you guys call Satellite residents?"

"No, that is everyone that lives underneath the Tops here in New Domino City," He answered. "I guess those who live back in Satellite are a little freer than here."

Eddie blinked a few times in shock… or a concussion, she wasn't a doctor.

"I've got the stuff Dad," The previous voice which she recognized as having the same undertone as Yuya, Yuto, and Yuri said. And soon enough he walked in.

The Synchro flavor came in blue and gold and wore denim work clothes. Neat!

"Thank you." She said, taking some of the offered pills and downing half the bottle of water in one go. "Wooh, okay, thank you! Real quick, does Rin have teal hair and dress in white, pink, and blue?"

"YOU KNOW RIN!" Yugo shouted in her face as he held her collar.

"Okay first, volume. Second, personal space!" Eddie said, pushing him away from her and using her best scolding tone. "Third, I landed here after saving her from the people that kidnapped her."

"Sorry," He apologized. "So where is she? Is she okay?"

"She's with my friends, including 2 other versions of you and three other versions of her, and yes, I know, I'll get to that part don't worry."

"Yeah, I've seen a bastard with the same face as me, he took Rin, Clear Wing and I tried to follow but we ended up in a ruined city, and ended up dueling a guy that a dragon called Dark Reb-something. So clearly he is the one that took her, me and Clear Wing were gonna try and travel to another dimension in a few days to find Rin." Yugo explained.

"Great, you already know about other dimensions, perfect." Eddie said, reaching for a disk only to realize she had 0. "I had five duel disks and at least two decks on me when I came here, where are they?"

"Over on the bench." Yusei answered as he pointed at the workbench along the wall.

"Academia- the bad guys from the Fusion Dimension- have an app on their duel disks that lets them freely travel between dimensions." Eddie explained as she gingerly stood up, already feeling better. Thanks, anime painkillers! "If we can hack one or both of those, we can just go to my dimension right- actually hold on, roll back, did you say Clear Wing Synchro Dragon took you to another dimension on its own?"

"Yeah then I reach high enough speeds on my Duel Runner, he can do that… wait how do you know what his full title is?" Yugo asked.

"She is apparently from an entirely different universe, not just dimension," Yusei stated. "Knew another version of me."

"Yeah, that, don't worry about that right now, that's a big 'for later' explanation that I think I'll have to give everyone." Eddie said. "For now- I need to at least send a message back to 'Standard' Dimension to tell them I'm okay, how much prep do you need to leave?"

"Urgh, I can be ready tomorrow, need to do maintenance on my D-Wheel."

"Scheiss, uh, do either of you know how to hack a duel disk?" Eddie asked.

"I can give it a try," Yusei answered.

"I know I'm asking a lot from you sir, but I need to tell them I'm alright so they don't do something stupid like try to invade Fusion to get me back after everything I just did to get everyone out." Eddie practically begged, offering Adrian's disk to the living legend. "I will make this up to you."

"No need to be so dramatic, just asking is enough, miss…" Yusei trailed off.

"Oh, right, introductions." Eddie said. "I'm Eden Hawthorne, Amateur Mystic, American Ninja. You can just call me Eddie."

"They've got Ninjas in the States?" Yugo asked.

"All countries have ninjas, the Shinobi of Japan are the worst because everyone knows they exist." Eddie said completely seriously.

"I guess that is true." Yusei said as he got over to the workbench, while Yugo's eyes shined.

"Now then, Yugo, very important question: which Wind Archetype?" Eddie said. She had narrowed it down to Speedroid and Windwitches, they were the only options in her mind.

"Speedroids." He answered. "Rin uses Windwitches."

"I knew it." Eddie muttered under her breath. "Alright, very important things to go over here Yugo- one, that purple haired version of you that kidnapped Rin? Do not duel him, win or lose you will stop existing afterwards."

"Urgh, why?" He asked.

"One of you will absorb the other."

"Yeah, no, why would that happen?"

"You are one of the three things in this universe that has a dimensional counterpart in all four dimensions." Eddie said. "You, Rin, and Clear Wing. I had been rescuing the Xyz version of Rin and they were thankfully in the same place so I was able to exfiltrate her too. If you and your alternates duel… something happens. When the Xyz version, Yuto, had the idea of being put together, he entered a trance and started trying to mindlessly combine with Yuya, the standard version, via dueling him."

"Well that is definitely different from what I went through." Yusei said. "Definitely try not to duel your extra dimensional brothers."

"They aren't my brothers… are they?" Yugo asked.

"They are your brothers, pretty much." Eddie said. "That's the easiest way to rationalize it, you have completely different souls and bodies and stuff that just happen to want to combine."

"Huh… that is weird… then why is one such an ass? He went and took Rin? Doesn't he have his own Rin?"

"He doesn't." Eddie said. "Yuri's a lonely, indoctrinated kid. Admittedly a sadistic little shit, but he's been lauded as an unbeatable champion of Leo Akaba and his cause of 'bringing utopia'. He has respect but no friends, allies but no loved ones. His version of Rin barely talked to him, ever."

"That… sounds really sad… I couldn't imagine where I would be without Rin," Yugo said, sounding slightly melancholic.

"Well, good news, you should be reunited with her very soon." Eddie said. "Though… mhm, unless we can crack dimensional travel with that app, it may be best for her- and you, if you want to- to stay in Standard for a while. Leo Corp will keep them safe-"

"Huh, but didn't you say this Leo dude is the bad guy?"

"Right, sorry, keep getting ahead of myself." Eddie apologized. "Leo Corp was founded by him in Standard Dimension, but he abandoned it years ago in favor of Fusion, and his son, Reiji, the biggest Leo Akaba hater that's not named Eden, runs it as an anti-Academia group."

"Urgh… I think my brain just fried a little…" Yugo said as he sat down on the mattress next to Eddie.

"It's a complicated situation for sure." Eddie said with a commiserating sigh. "The good news is, you're not going to be handling it alone. We're growing a support network across the Dimensions now to fight back against Academia. I don't know what your situation is here-"

"Extreme classism and caste system," Yusei answered. "You are part of the one percent or your not."

"...Is Jack…?"

"A traitor."

"Crow?"

"Being a local Robin Hood."

"Oh thank god." Eddie sighed in relief.

"We thought Jack was going to help the Commons when he became Duel King, but he just joined them in luxury." Yugo said.

"Yeah, me, him, Crow, Aki, and Kiryu made Team Satisfaction after Rex Goodwin was defeated to win the Friendship Cup and basically get one of us inside and do reforms, but that didn't happen. I lost my leg, Crow became a vigilante, and Aki joined a cult and Jack lives like a King. Just like his adoptive father did before him."

"Adoptive father?" Eddie asked. This was very different from how she knew it.

"Rex Goodwin, it was a whole thing, turned out to be a 5000 year old immortal dude, who wanted to resurrect a dark dragon god."

"Bishbalkin or Tzolkin?" Eddie asked.

"They are the same being." Yusei answered.

"Wait, so is Rex still alive, or?"

"He is dead, turned to dust."

"Huh." Eddie said in dull surprise. "Alright, I'll stop distracting you sir, Yugo! Very important question!"

"What is it?"

"What…! Is your favorite color?"

"Uhhh, white?"

"What…! Is your favorite food?"

"Urgh…things that are edible?"

"Side question, do you know what a pancake is and have you had one?"

"Those are big fluffy things with jam and other things right?"

"Oh you poor thing, we will be getting you some pancakes when we get to Standard, Yuya loves them." It was his favorite, in fact. Yuto's favorite was Sushi. She didn't get to ask Yuri while she was busy beating his ass. "Anyway… What…! Is your favorite Speed Spell?"

"...What is a Speed Spell?"

Eddie stared at him in confusion. "I'm sorry, you do the dueling on the motorcycles here right?"

"Yeah? Turbo Dueling is the best method of dueling."

"And there are different rules for Turbo Dueling?"

"Not really you just can't use Field Spells, Speed World Neo is what enables the Auto-pilot."

"Wait, you autopilot your Runners here? What?"

"Well that is for non-tournament duels, it is also that Sector Security can catch you." Yugo grumbled.

"So… your reaction time isn't based on your actual skill on your Runner, everyone just moves at the same speed? No speed counters?"

"It's a bit more complicated than that, but Speed Spells and Speed Counters used to be how things were done with the old Speed Worlds, but it got done away with before even I was born." Yusei answered. "People didn't want to have two sets of their decks."

"So what's even the point of Turbo Dueling then? Just going fast? Just do an Action Duel at that point, it'd be more interesting, dang."

"Yeah it's for the thrill of it, but with a bit of ingenuity you can disable the autopilot," Yugo answered. "That is needed to develop a Sense."

"Sense?" Eddie repeated. "Like a sixth sense, or?"

"Something like that," Yugo answered.

"It's your way of Turbo Dueling," Yusei answered. "It is how you feel the flow of the wind and speed, it is how you achieve proper synchro summoning and can make the impacts of Real Solid Vision even harder, and even before could make normal Solid Vision pack a real punch."

"...Huh. So you guys managed to tap into Shadow Magic using The Accel, speed, instead?"

"You know about Clear Mind?" Yusei asked.

"Yes." Eddie said with a nod. "Can't use it, not yet. But I know it. I've talked with my Cards extensively about a lot of different things like it… and I saw my version of you use it, too."

"You can talk-talk to your cards?" Yugo asked.

"Yeah." Eddie confirmed. "RSV lets you cheat by giving them mass… speaking of, how do you have RSV?"

"It was released as an upgrade by Jean-Michel Roget, he took the position as Director of Security after Goodwin died, five years ago." Yusei explained.

"Iiiinteresting." Eddie said. "Standard put it into full production 10 years ago, XYZ didn't have it at all, Fusion got it from Leo… actually, on that note, do either of you know a pair of blue-haired twins? The whole common-top thing might have prevented you from meeting here but I want to check."

"Lua and Ruka, I guess they are the ones you are referring too?" Yusei responded.

"Yes, my version of things, some of the names are different, I knew them as Leo and Luna. I was very confused when finding out about Leo Akaba."

"Different universes are like that I guess, also Yugo could you come over here?" Yusei asked.

"Sure thing Dad what is it?" Yugo answered as he walked over.

"This thing is connected to a database, so there is something I wanna test. Can you press a finger on the screen?" Yusei asked.

"Sure," Yugo replied and then Eddie heard an automated voice speak.

"Welcome Commander Yuri."

"I guess my hunch was right," Yusei said. "They weren't locked to an individual but a collective id database if it gets ruined and they need a new one as this one isn't customized in any way, clearly mass produced."

And then Eddie felt really lucky she had gotten Adrian's and not just Axel's duel disk because she could guess his disk had more personal security.

Being a gun and all.

"Well, I guess we don't need to hack it." Eddie said, hopping to her feet and already strapping on her duel disks, double checking her cards as she did. "Yugo, I'm assuming you want to come with now, or will you try to come with your bike on the morrow?"

"That was just to make sure nothing would go wrong at such speeds, but if we are using that thing, I can just bring it along." Yugo said. "Right?"

"I don't know how many people they can transport at a time." Eddie said. "I'm going to use one of them to go to Standard and leave another here. If you and your bike don't come with, you have a way to come at your own pace. If you do, Yusei has one to look at. That sound good?"

"I think that works, lets try it while we are on my bike and I hug you or something?" Yugo suggested.

"Something like that should work. Go pack up awhile." Eddie said.

"Right!" Yugo said as he ran out of the Autoshop, and into the house proper.

"You're cool with this, right boss?" Eddie asked Yusei.

"Not your Boss, and you can, also thank you for saving Rin. She means a lot to Yugo and he has been going crazy without her," Yusei said.

"Thank me when she's back." Eddie said. "And… it really is an honor to meet you, Yusei."

"Not the one you looked up to, not the man who succeeded in life apparently." Yusei said back.

"Yeah, but you raised Yugo and Rin. And while I've only met the one, he's clearly a good kid. So it's still an honor."

"Heh, thanks for the compliments Eddie, and make sure they don't cause too much trouble."

"I'll do my best, but if they're anything like the Standard versions…" She trailed off.

"They will get into trouble whether you want them to or not, I know that feeling very well."

"Alright I've changed, and packed." Yugo said as he came in wearing a Turbo Duel suit, helmet and bag.

"Guess we're doing this." Eddie said. "Yusei, you keep that disk, we'll take Yuri's."

"Wait, what?" Yugo asked.

"I had to kick a lot of butt today." Eddie said. "Your counterpart included. I ain't no fourth rate scrub. All the disks I had that I wasn't wearing came from their commanders and I didn't get one because his dragon was saving him from falling."

"Cool… Wanna duel later?" Yugo asked.

"Yes, in the morning, after I feed you pancakes." Eddie said as she sat on the Duel Runner. It was no Wheel of Fortune, but it was slick. Probably supposed to look like Clear Wing, but she thought it looked like an albino bee.

"That sounds great," Yugo replied as he sat behind her.

"Alright then…" Eddie said, holding out Yuri's duel disk for him to unlock, which he did. Now that she had a moment, she could actually look at the options, and found it could function on just one's own person, as well as a radius of effect, which she used to expand big enough for the bike. "Okay, commencing Dimension Move in 3… 2… 1…go."

The same feeling as before was felt as moved through that dimensional kaleidoscope and a second later she was seeing things again.

And she was seeing a familiar place.

The house she had been staying in for the past few months.

Namely the yard.

Which was… either a really good coincidence or a bit of a concern, she couldn't tell which.

And then the door opened and out stepped Yuya Sakaki.

"Yo!" Eddie said with a wide, wide grin. "Made it just under the 4 hour deadline, right?"

"Yeah just made it and…" Yuya's eyes went past her and locked with the person behind her. "Hey…"

"Hey…" Yugo responded.

"Feel a certain urge to duel?"

"...not really." Yugo replied.

"Same."

"This is weird." They both said.

"Good, better weird than bad." Eddie said. "Now then, I do believe everyone needs to get together so we can rest easily tonight. What was the last update you had from Yuzu?"

"They were really concerned when Serena appeared and you didn't, and that was two hours ago." Yuya answered. The kid not saying that he was clearly worried too as he looked like on the verge of tears as he looked at her.

"Hey, I told everyone 4 hours, I made it back just in time. Speaking of." Eddie said, quickly calling Yuzu, wanting to comfort him but wanting to prevent anything rash.

"EDDIE!" Yuzu's voice shouted from the duel disk. "We were so worried, Serena said you were surrounded by a bunch of goons and that that stupider Akabaka was there too and… and… awaaaa."

"Hey, hey, it's okay. I made it back, and I'm okay." Eddie said reassuringly. "Now, is everyone else still there?"

"Yeah, Serena, Ruri and Rin-"

"Where?" Yugo asked as he looked over her shoulder to see. "RIN!"

"I am not Rin."

"Is that Yugo? Oh by the Crimson Dragon I am so happy to hear you again!"

Eddie proceeded to flick Yugo in the forehead so he would stop pushing his chin onto her shoulder, causing him to go back with a "Ngah!"

"Alright everyone, we're all going to meet up. Let's get Akabaka on the line and prepare a safe place for tonight, everyone gets their tearful reunions tonight, and then tomorrow we deal with all this. Sound good?"

"That sounds good," Came Kaito's voice. "Thank you Hawthorne, for all that you've done."

"Don't say that like I'm done. I'm only getting started." Eddie said. "Oh, by the way, Yuzu?"

"Yeah?"

"You wanna guess how I managed to not only escape but do everything I did today?"

"How did you?" Everyone asked.

"My Leet. Ninja. Haxor. Skillz."

There followed four groans.

And four notes of awe.