The NEW New Domino City

"U-Umm.....We'll...." She looked down before shaking her head and looking back up with a determined face. "We'll figure out a way to beat Takuro for sure! This tournament isn't gonna help us, and it'll just add unnecessary people into the fray! You agree with me, right Harley?"

Harley nodded, never breaking eye contact. "You're right......." he spoke in a somewhat disappointed tone. He never thought about the danger the others would be in, only the fun of being in a tournament for all to see. "I....I don't want to hurt anyone." He frowned to her too, not because of the issue, but because of the one thing stopping them "They'll make us do it, though. Yuki, Seth, Darren. Did you see the mechanic in there? I'm pretty sure he was the Dark signer with the mask.......if we go back they'll make us duel."

Zeiya puffed her cheeks as she started shaking Harley back and forth. "How can they make us duel? It's our decision if we wanna duel or not!" she said. "If that's the case, I'll just not go back! It's not like I have a runner to use, anyways!" she lets go of Harley and frowns. "B-Besides....they'll have to agree with us somehow, right?"

"I'm......" Harley stopped, thinking about what to say. There's no way anybody would be going anywhere as long as the past heroes were around. He had no way to know they would agree with them. "I'm not letting you go anywhere by yourself." He looked to her "I can't do this by myself........so if you go.....I go too." He leaned back a bit "I'm trying to protect my friends, and it's what I'm going to do." He shrugged, giving a grin "One way or another."

"All right! Thank you, Harley!" ZEiya cheered with a smile as she assaulted him with a hug. "You're the greatest!" She let go and looked at him. "Problem is....What about Shuho?"

Harley fell back from the hug, stuck in a single position even as Zeiya let go, muttering nosense for a few passing seconds before hsaking it off, sitting back up. "G-g-greatest?......Uuhhh, uhhh, umm......." He looked down, then back to her "Shuho's with them. They'll stop us if we go back for him." He felt terrible, he didn't want to leave his friend there, but he knew he was in good hands. Right now he was worried about Zeiya. "So....do we just....leave?"

Zeiya froze and looked down with a depressed look. "I....Don't know....I don't wanna leave Shuho, but..." she said. "We'll just have to try our luck and hope that we can convince them!"

Harley nodded with a slight grin "O-ok!" He was happy he wasn't going to leave his friend behind. That and the thought of Zeiya being alone with him for a long time was scarring him and this was probably the only way he'd live. "We'll just try and....and if they say no, we'll just leave! They can't make us do it, right?"

"Yeah! They can't make us fight if we don't want to!" Zeiya shouted, standing up. "But...uhh...." She sweat dropped as she rubbed the back of her heaed. "We'll have to wait for Shuho to get up....or at least before we get signed up."

"Yeah, I don't want to leave him there." Harley stood up too, brushing himself off "but if it gets to the point that we can't wait anymore, we're going to just leave, alright?" he placed both of his hands behind his head "If we wait too long we'll be stuck in this without backup."

"All right." She blinks and smiles at Harley. "Again, thanks for agreeing with me." With that said, she started to walk back to the garage everyone was at.

Harley watched her walk away for a while, speaknig under his breath "It's nothing..." he smiled, running to catch up with her and walking with her back to the garage, trying to make small talk that couldn't be heard to those not in their general area.

Darren was sitting next to Shuho's lifeless body. He had his hands to his face as he was thinking about everything that had happened. If it were just him fighting a battle like this as it use to be it wouldn't be a problem. But this time there were these kids, at the peak of their youth, were putting their lives on the line as well as everything they knew. He sighed again as he wondered if he should even register them for the WRGP, especially with Shuho in the state he was in.

Zeiya peeked in and gulps at the sadden older man's state. "U-Um..." She started to say as she walked in. Yuki glances over and raises her hand.

"Oh, you're back. Feeling better, squirt?" Yuki asked, a little concerned for once.

Zeiya looked down, clenching her hands before looking back up. "W=We....Harley and I don't want to enter the WRPG!!!"

Harley looked in from around the corner, trynig to avoid eye contact with the others. He didn't say anything, just awaited the response.

"That's not an option." Seth spoke standing up and turning to Zeiya "We went through all of this for the Grand Prix, literally months of training." He shook his head "We aren't letting you out."

Darren closed his eyes lightly, listening to her words before he stood up. "I had a feeling this would happen," Darren said lightly. "To be honest, I don't blame you for being scared. I'm scared for you. I won't force you, but its your choice..."

Shuho's eyes shot open, as if he had jolted back to life. He started to stand up as Darren looked down at him. "Shuho?" Darren called out to him. "You still need rest. It takes more time then that to recover your Spirit energy."

Shuho turned back to him, before looking at Zeiya and Harley. "We can't do that..." he said lightly. "I don't think you understand what it is we're up against, but don't make any decisions until I come back." He started walking towards the door, followed by Darren placing his hand on his arm.

"You're in no condition to do anything," Darren called out. Shuho's eyes glared at Darren and he said, "I don't remember asking for permission..."

"We both understand what we're gonna be up against!!!" Zeiya shouted as Shuho was heading for the door. "T-That's why....That's why we don't want to do this!" She looks up and glares at Seth. "This tournament will just bring unnescessary problems for the opponents...and even if we do, what's the point of it! Even if we got to Takuro and Seiki, what can we do?! He'll just keep coming back to life!"

"This isn't just about us!" Shuho yelled out. "Think about it... if Takuro and Seiki wanted us gone, knowing how much we wanna fight them, they could just come out at any time and fight us. So why do you think this tournament exists? Its to find others, like us, with Spirit cards and take them away. Destroy their Spirits like they tried to do with us. Even if we stopped them, even if we could beat Takuro AND Seiki before tomorrow then the tournament would still go on thanks to the Durbin organization. I don't know about you, but I'm gonna do whatever I can to save those duelists and bring the fun back into dueling."

"Shuho..." Darren said, surprised that he was so assertive about this. "Even if you say that... what are you gonna go do?"

"What's it matter if you're all gonna give up anyway?" Shuho said lightly, clutching something in his hand. It looked like his Chaos Gem, but Darren looked at it puzzled. Shuho's Chaos Gem was in his pocket. Shuho's body disappeared after that in a flash. Surprising because Darren couldn't sense any Spirit energy from Shuho at all. Where was his power coming from?

"Not really...." Shane spoke as he was working on the runner, not bothering to turn his face to the others. "Takuro ain't as smart as you guys think he is." He put his wrench down "You got a secret weapon anyway, so don't worry about it."

Seth couldn't stand this conversation, though his irritation did not show. "I'm not giving any of you the option here. People will get hurt, yes, but what are a few injuries compared to the future of the planet?" He placed his hands into his pockets "There's only so many options."

"But...but...." Harley walked in, standing next to Zeiya, giving her a quick nod. He had her back on this one. "That's completely stupid to even think that way. What good are possible allies if we beat them up for a crowd of people?" he brought his hands down from his head "I don't want my friends hurt and I don't want innocent people hurt."

Her heart dropped as Zeiya heard what Shuho said. Shaking her head, she runs up to him and grabs his shoulders, shaking him a little as she spoke.

"I'm not talking about us!!! I'm saying that as we fight, we're just giving them what they want! We'll just be killing off people and their spirits this way!" She glances down. "Are you saying that this is worth it...? Are you saying that we should just let them use us as pawns to fight a useless battle?!" She glared over at Shane and Seth before shaking her head.

"Oi, calm down!" Yuki hissed as she grabs a hold of Zeiya's shoulder. "Right now, this tournament is our only opportunity! Just suck it up and f-"

"What good will that do?!" Zeiya screamed as she let go of Shuho. "It's not gonna bring the lives of the people back, will it?! No! Once they're dead, they're dead!!!" She starts backing away, holding her head in her hands. "Why won't you guys listen to me...? Is it just because I'm in the way?! Fine! I see how it is! You won't have to worry about me, then! I'll go fight Takuro myself and finish him off!!!!" With that said, she shot past Harley and ran outside, disappearing through the alleyways of the area.

Harley stepped ot the side as Zeiya ran by, eyes trailing her as she ran. He looked back to the group, shaking his head in disapproval before turning away, running after her as fast as he could. "Zeiya! Zeiya wait up!"

"We can't let them go." Seth took a few steps forward, an outstretched arm stopping him. Shane walked ahead. "You guys have enough to worry about." He placed his shades back on "Leave the kids to me. I'll get 'em."

"Don't bother..." Shuho said as his body started to split apart, becoming two Shuhos. One had white and the other wore black. "If they want to quit, I'll fight on my own," They said at the same time before they both disappeared.

The White Shuho appeared in an area in New Domino City. He started to look around, then called out, "KAI! I know you're here Kai!"

The black Shuho was in the Sector Security main building, the office of the Intel department. A green haired man was sitting in his chair with a large grin on his face. "I don't know how you got in here with a transportation power," Takuro said as he looked at the boy. "But the new look is pretty fitting. Too bad I can't feel a god damn but of Spirit energy from you."

New Domino City

"Long time no see."



Two eyes snapped open and a single figure let his arms drop, his pigtail whipping behind him as his almost pitying gaze fell upon the boy. He stood at the same height he had always been, his soft features sharp with a unusual frown and a oddly serious air. A red shirt had been replaced by a sleeveless white top, his normal black trousers moving with his lean body as he silently kicked off the broken wall and began to walk towards his supposed target. The pigtailed boy looked different. His relaxed cheeky manner had been overtaken by a focus that would just not break. It seemed a far cry from the same male that had befriended Aki and refused to give into sadness.

Kai Blackdragoon held up his hand and shifted himself, letting his fingers run through strands of his own black hair with a following sigh. It had been far too long since he had corrupted his Spirit, changing it with the same anger that he denied a certain red-head with almost mocking words. It showed on him, from each action and movement that he did. He had lost a small spark in himself that he needed to get back, a spark that was now covered with shame and guilt. He had once helped Durbin, once helped a monster. Yet, he had become worse than a monster in that battle against a certain signer. Now, he was left picking up the pieces.

But, he wouldn't give up.

He would help his friends and those that needed it.

That was his dueling way.

"Need a hand?"

Shuho nodded lightly as he looked at Kai. "I don't have much time," he said lightly, his voice almost an echo. "I can guess you've heard of the WRGP, right? Zeiya, Harley and I were going to enter, but things are different. Its a team tournament and one of us might not be able to be there... I need you to help us, Kai."

The black Shuho looked at Takuro with a grin and said, "I didn't come here to play games, Takuro! I came to duel you and end the pain you're causing my friends." His arm started to glow as a duel disk came forth and activated. "If you think I'll be so easy to defeat then you can end my connection to my spirit here and now.... Either way, this'll be over soon enough."

Takuro stood up from his chair, beginning to laugh as he said, "Well, look who's grown a pair! But really kid... are you high? Insane, or just that god damn stupid?! That Zeiya chick couldn't beat me, and I wasn't even HALF of what I am now!" He lifted his arm, revealing a glowing green orb. "I'll show you... Restriction 666 released! Temporal Dimensional Interference Field Deployed! Code SOL Chaos Augment, activate!"

Shuho only grinned lightly as he said, "Not a bad trick. Let me guess... this'll enhance all your Spirit cards and make them stronger. Alright then... its time I showed you a few tricks of my own!"

Zeiya stopped running, panting as she looked up to see the Director's building. ~Why is it so far away?!~ she whinedi n her head as she continued to run. Turning a corner, she runs into Shuho, falling back and rubbing her face. "S-Shuho? How....?"