Crow led Yuya and Yuzu through a plaza to eat and as they sat, Yuya gradually became more quiet.

"If there's one thing that I always get reminded won't be the same, it's this," Yugo said as he drooled at the food.

"I know," Rin said with the same expression.

"Is everything alright Yuya?" Yuto asked.

In truth, Yuya had been sitting on something he'd been keeping buried deep enough to even keep it from his counterparts. This was that he'd have to confront Ryo again sooner or later - and he wasn't sure what he'd say to him. Ryo hadn't felt like he was against communicating with him, instead it had almost felt like the opposite. Ryo seemed like he was saying that he'd already heard everything Yuya had to say and had taken a long time to think on why he disagreed with him.

"I have that same sense. Something putting me on edge," Yuto said, and Yuya noticed that something around them was giving him the feeling.

"Hm?" Yuri glanced around and almost nonchalantly remarked, "It's that woman. She's watching us." Yuya turned and saw a woman in a flowing white dress sitting nearby, casting a sidelong smile at their table. She closed her eyes and seemed to chuckle to herself, brushing aside her long black hair. Yuya snapped his eyes back to his plate, until he heard footsteps approaching and looked up again to see she'd walked over to their table.

"Please forgive me for staring," she said, "I just had to be sure of who I was looking at."

"Are you… Misty Lola? The supermodel?" Crow blinked.

"Supermodel?" Yuzu asked, a hint of recognition coming to her face. "Wait, you're the woman on all those billboards?" Misty chuckled again.

"Well, speak for yourselves. I certainly know who you are. Crow Hogan, Yuzu Hiiragi… and of course, Yuya Sakaki." The three of them looked at each other.

"When I saw you I just had to take the opportunity to meet you," Misty continued. "Especially with two of you apparently only just arriving in our home once again?"

Yuya thought for a moment how to respond. He didn't have much of an idea of how to search for the Dimension Duelists, but they were supposed to be finding information, so he decided he might as well try.

"We've come… looking for someone, actually," he said, unsure of how much he should say.

"Oh?" Misty replied. "I'd be happy to do anything I can to help."

"Um - thank you," Yuya stammered. "We're just trying to find if anyone… I guess, has seen anything suspicious?"

"I had something else in mind, if you'd indulge me," Misty told them. "I dabble a little in telling fortunes."

"Fortunes?" Yuzu asked. She was immediately reminded of Mieru, and although she did cause those jealous (and Yuzu had to admit, immature) reactions, in reality it was hard not to like the girl. Plus, Yuzu thought on a grimmer but maybe more important note, Mieru's school had made predictions that had turned out to be very significant in hindsight.

"I read faces," Misty said, shifting the table's spare chair. "Do you mind..?"

"Well, what's the harm?" Yuzu replied, and Misty sat across from her and Yuya, the smile on her face subtly shifting as she looked between them.

"You will soon find great challenges, and they will provide opportunities to you - Yuzu, Yuya, and all of your counterparts alike. However, these challenges will also carry great risk. If you desire to face them, you must be prepared for the possibility of also facing even more tragedy in your lives."

The two of them shifted slightly in their seats, casting sidelong glances at each other.

"Did that sound relevant to your current situation?" Misty asked.

"To be completely honest," Yuya answered hesitantly, "The people we're looking for are part of a group of duelists that could be dangerous."

"Duelists, you say?" Misty looked intrigued. "Perhaps I can do more to help after all. A duel could possibly give me a deeper connection. Duels can create greater and more unusual circumstances - and they are said to make people understand each other better, after all."

"You want to duel one of us?"

"The chance to experience a You Show Entertainment Duel firsthand is one that I can't possibly ignore," Misty replied. "In fact, I have an acquaintance who I'm sure would be very interested as well - we could make it a tag duel. It would be even better to see what you can do together."

"...Together?" Yuya and Yuzu chorused, blushing. Even as he noticed the strange tone of the conversation, Crow had to inwardly ask himself who they even thought they were fooling anymore.

"What do you say?" Yuya looked over at Yuzu.

"You really think it could help you read something else?" Yuzu asked.

"The more I think about it, the more sure I am," Misty kept smiling.

They entered a ring where Misty had told them to meet her. She had apparently booked out the whole space, leaving only Crow watching. Misty entered, revealing she'd changed into more practical and form-fitting clothes, and swapped her heels for flats. Something else stood out about her outfit, though: while they'd always seen her wearing white both in her pictures and in person, this one was almost all black.

Shortly after they saw, walking in, a giant of a man wearing a sort of leather armor that was the only thing covering his upper body.

"I think I know you from somewhere…" Crow said.

"Bommer Grieger," the man introduced himself. "When I was a Pro Duelist, I was known as Bommer the Black Storm."

"Were you in the Friendship Cup?"

"That's right," Bommer replied. "Maybe that's why you had trouble recognizing me."

"I can guarantee there'll only be more surprises from here," Misty said, and activated her duel disk.

"ACTION FIELD: BATTLE DOME."

Yuya and Yuzu gasped as the purple gridded dome surrounded them.

"Where did you get that." Yuya narrowed his eyes at her.

"As you've already probably guessed, when I was approached, I found some rather remarkable young men who presented me with some intriguing ideas." She continued to smile while Bommer watched stoically. Crow ran up and tested the barrier with his hands.

"Since you wanted answers, why don't we start?" She told them.

Yuya and Yuzu gritted their teeth and activated their disks.

"ACTION FIELD: CROSSOVER."

"Duel!"

"Oh, maybe I activated that too soon," Misty said. "I would have liked to hear the intro chant. Anyway, since it's a tag duel, each team will share life points, fields and graveyards, and we'll alternate turns. Please, start, and show me something good."

A/N: Sorry for the relatively short chapter and yet another cliffhanger, but the duel is dragging a bit to write (I already rewrote Yuya's opening turn twice. His deck can be such a pain to plan for…)

I also feel the need to apologize in advance if anyone is hoping for a Dark Signers subplot after seeing Misty and Bommer. It's only a thematic and visual reference.

nightshroud96: The issue you brought up in both of your comments, and those before, is something I knew I had to address at some point; looking at your feedback and other opinions convinced me that I needed to start touching on it earlier.

Next time: Yuya and Yuzu enter the tag duel and attempt to discover its true purpose.