The NEW New Domino City

"Let me go!!!" Zeiya struggled to free her arms from Harley's hug. She didn't understand what was going on but the fact something was preventing her from moving...while she was surrounded by water. She struggled to get out of Harley's grip, trying to stand up. In her struggle, she somehow managed to headbutt his head as hard as she could.

The pain was intense, causing Harley to rear back but he couldn't just let go. If he did she'd hurt herself, or worse. He kept telling himself to fight through the pain and keep her safe. He pushed in a little more, placing his head on her shoulder to try and avoid injury, even though he probably couldn't. He just wanted her to be safe, even if it meant he wasn't..

Shuho looked at them all, giving a small sigh as he knew there was only one thing he could do. He lifted up the Chaos Gem as he closed his eyes. He thought to himself, ~Its for them... whatever that means for me...~ With that, the other two gems and his began to glow brightly. His black and white wings on his arm appeared again and began to shine as the boat and everything on it disappeared. It only took an instant for them to appear at the port. They were safe and back in New Domino, but Shuho was now passed out unconscious on the ship, seemingly unmoving.

Zeiya was struggling and thrashing as she tried to get out of Harley's grip. Soon, she merely slumped to her knees, exhausted. Realizing that they were at the port, she rest her chin on his shoulder as tears fell down her face. "I'm sorry, Harley...I'm so sorry!" she cried, realizing what she just done.

Harley winced once in pain but slumped with her as she fell. He felt her chin on his shoulder, eyes widening a bit at the event. He had no idea what to do but all he could do is keep the hug. "It's ok, it's ok really.....you're safe." He reached up with one hand, holding his head and looking to his palm. Blood. He didn't want Zeiya to see it, wiping it off on his pants and pulling his hat down. "Don't cry, please....d-d-don't cry."

A voice called out to them from the port. "Shuho! Zeiya! Harley!" the voice called out as someone ran up to them. It was Darren, who seemed to be waiting there the whole time. "I had a feeling you'd take a boat since you couldn't use the gems to get back, but how did you drive it?" he said lightly as he reached them.

Zeiya perked up as she saw Darren. "Umm...we didn't drive it." she said, answering his question. "I don't really know what happened...one second, we're in the middle of the ocean, the next we're here."

Darren looked at her with a confused face and said, "One second in the ocean... and the other second... wait..." Darren said as he noticed only Harley and Zeiya were there. "Where's Shuho? Did he get on the boat with you?"

"Shuho's not here?" she got up and looked around before seeing him unconscious on the boat. "Shuho!" Zeiya ran up to him and started to shake him. "Shuho, wake up!"

"Shuho!" Harley didn't waste time with greeting Darren. His friend was hurt or even worse. He looked to the unmoving body, more concerned with his safety than anything. A small trickle of crimson came down his nose, but he didn't notice it.

"Well ain't this just a touchin' moment?" a voice called out behind Darren as Shane entered the scene, his aviator shades covering his amused eyes. "Typical self-sacrificin', ain't it adorable?" he nudged Darren "Think these kiddies were havin' a moment. I can taste the tension."

Darren shook his head and rushed to Shuho, picking him up and said, "We don't have time to think about it! Let's get him to the garage and see what happened. I already have an idea of what it is... but I told him not to do that..."

"Y-Yeah" Zeiya muttered as she staggered up. She turns back to the ocean, giving a shudder before following Darren.

Harley gave a sigh, never noticing the blood on his nose from under his hat. He had to get to dry land, and by following the group he did just that. He placed his hands behind his head, trying to get a grip, so to speak. Things were just....really weird, and he knew it was going to get weirder. Just a feeling.

Shane gave a single laugh, pivoting on his heel and walking behind them. Things were about to pick up. This might not be too boring after all.

Darren rushed her to the garage where Seth and Yuki still were. He placed Shuho on the ground as he sighed lightly. "Damnit... I told him not to use the gem too loosely. I think it drained most of his Spiritual and Duel Energy..." Darren said lightly. "That means he'll be out for a while. What the hell made him go that far?"

"Oh, you're back." Yuki said as she saw Darren rushing in with the three kids. She raised her eyebrow as Zeiya walked in, looking a bit depressed. She stopped at the entrance, looking down on the ground.

"Umm...I'll be outside for a bit..." she muttered before turning around and walking out of the garage, sitting a few blocks away.

Harley looked to where Shuho was, then to the direction Zeiya was going. He hopped between both directions, bottom lip quivering as he tried to figure out who to go to. Shuho would be safe now that he was among the 'masters', so he would be ok. Zeiya looked like she needed a friend right now. Oh man, what was he thinking? He could already feel himself stuttering from here, but he felt like eh was needed. He ran off after Zeiya, Shane walking in right behind him as if he didn't see him at all.

Seth kneeled down beside the unconscious boy, placing his hand on his chest. "Desperation......hostility......" he looked up "The boy has undergone a surge of emotion. They must have gone into something very trying."

Darren sighed lightly and said, "The tournament hasn't even started yet, and we've already got a problem... We're gonna have to do this without Shuho until he wakes up. He won't be ready in a day..." He started walking to the computer, sighing lightly as he said, "Make sure those two don't go too far. We need to get their Duel Runners since I was too busy getting Shuho. We also gotta make sure Harley knows how to ride one."

"Yeah, we have a problem, guys..." Yuki came inside the garage before they noticed she has left, bringing in Harley's Runner. "This was the only runner they had. We're still short one."

Zeiya sat down in front of a run down building, hugging her legs as she buried her face in them. She just wanted to be alone and not be in their way. "Seiki..."

"The kid had parts" Shane said without looking back to them, heading over the the runner. "I heard his bag rattling, he had more in it than he let us know. I can work with that." He looked over his shoulder "Just let me work my magic when they get back."

Harley had turned the corner, seeing Zeiya in the mess she was in. He went to step forward, pulling back at first as he shied away. He had no idea of what she was thinking but he wanted to help, yet his feet wouldn't move. He reached out, then stopped again. As he took a deep breath, he spoke in a waving voice "Z...Z...Z-Zeiya?"

"Roger that, Senor Douchebag." Yuki sneered before shrugging off and sitting down.

Zeiya didn't look up at Harley. She merely drew her knees closer to her, her face burying deeper into them and out of view. "I'm sorry, Harley...." she muttered. "I...I could have just driven the boat...but..."

"Love ya too, Yuks" Shane mocked, crouching down at Harley's runner.

"Hey....." Harley gathered everything in his being to walk over, sitting down next to her, arms rested upon his knees. "Y-you were scared. It's....natural....." that sounded stupid, and he knew it. Harley didn't know what to say. "I was too." He nudged her a bit with his elbow "We're ok now, though, right?"

"..." She moved her head up a little, slighly nodding it before putting on a face smile. "Hey...L-let's forget about the WRGP!" she said, looking at Harley. "I-I mean, it's obviously a trap, right? There's no need to do it if it's just gonna satisfy that creepy snake!"

"It's definitely a trap!" Harley said with excitment, glad to see Zeiya even a little bit better. He wasn't going to pick up the level of sincerity in the smile, he just knew it was there. It sort of....eased his stutter. "Going to it would put us in a bad position......" he smiled "but I'd be lyin' if I said it doesn't sound really fun!" He gave a big grin, then looking out the the street "I want to take that guy down, too.....but that doesn't mean you and me can't have a good time before that!"

"I mean, I wanna have fun like you...but..." Zeiya let out a frown. "There's no point if people's lives are on the line, you know? I mean...if our opponents lose, they'll have to suffer. Not only that...We can't kill that guy! Even if we beat him, he'll just come back to life!" She grabbed Harley's shoulders. "Please...can we just not do the WRGP? I....I just have a bad feeling about all this."

Harley's eyes locke don the girl, unmoving as she grabbed his shoulders. Not go to the tournament? But, why? They had been training for so long, they were destined to fight in this....and she just wanted to stop. "Even if we couldn't....what....what would we do?"