WRGP First Round! Duel of Spirits?

It had been a week since the battles of the WRGP preliminary had come to an end. Zeiya and Harley were able to finish their rounds and move the team to the main event. Shuho had been in bed, unconscious the entire time. The dawn arose and so did the boy, Shuho awakened from his slumber with slow moving eyes. He lifted his head to look at all that was around him. He was inside the garage area, but it was dark and he was yet unable to see who else was there.

A jolt of power his Takuro from within the Sector Security main building. It was a sensation that he had not felt in some time. He grinned lightly with his wicked smirk as he softly said, "Looks like the Order just might be ready to play... I guess its a good thing our little Director Seiki got a little practice in. The power of Chaos is all but matured all thanks to the preliminaries. Not too shabby, eh, old man?"

In front of Takuro was a large man with short blond hair. He wore a black mask and dressed in a suit of white that was covered by a dark purple cape. "You seem to be enjoying yourself a little too much, Takuro," the man said, his voice deep and intimidating but also very wise as well. "I agreed to come here because you said you would be able to show me something interesting. All I've seen so far as children and Spirits monsters. I feel you're losing sight of the goal!"

"Keep your pants on, gramps," Takuro said, seeming somewhat annoyed by the man's overpowering tone. "The WRGP's where all the Spirit Duelists are gonna come out and play! The Prelims were meant to weed out the weak and take care of the wannabes that thought they were the shit, but turned out to be a stinky pile instead. Now all that's left are Spirit Duelists and Duelists with the potential to have spirit partners. The Durbins are already working on them, so we just gotta take care of the rest. You, me, and the god ol' Director herself!"

Zeiya was there sleeping, sitting on a chair and her head resting on the bed. She's been worried sick about Shuho ever since he first passed out and hasn't left the garage as frequent.

"It's about time you woke up." Said a voice as Shirei walked over to him quietly as to not disturb the sleeping girl. She leaned over and placed a small blanket over Zeiya before turning to Shuho, raising her eyebrow. "What the hell was the deal: passing out and taking a dive like that?"

"I'm right here, you know...I can hear you. Stop talking behind my back like that." Seiki grunted as she opens the door, closing it behind her as she tosses up a door pick in the air before catching it. "You need a new lock, by the way." She walks over to the two males, glancing at the masked one and pointing. "So who's he? Your gay boyfriend?"

Shuho's eyes were glowing a light white color where his pupils were meant to be. It stopped after a moment and he turned to Shirei before he gave a light smile. "Oh, right that... Sorry about the mess. I just saw something and then everything went blank. Couldn't really explain it if I tried..."

The man turned to the girl who walked into the door, his face unable to show emotion through the mask that covered his eyes down to his nose. "So, this is the one you chose?" he said as he examined the girl. "I expected better, but her connection to the chaos seems strong. It's much better then the 12th subject at the very least."

"Yeah, that was a bit of a mess, wasn't it?" Takuro said, all but ignoring Seiki at first. "Anyways, you've seen her, we've had our chat, and you've got your lab. If that's all can you please get out of here before those bad vibes you carry around spread? It'd be a pain in the ass to have to detox this place because of you."

The man gave a small chuckle as he lightly said, "Very well... M, prep my things for the lab!" He turned and began to leave. As he did, a smaller female with what appeared to be red hair under a hood walked before him slowly.

"Seriously hate that guy... Oh well, he's gonna be the head of the Tech division for a while, so we have to suck it up until this WRGP is over. The sooner we get what we want, the sooner he can get the hell out of here."

"..." The older girl shook her head, sighing heavily before putting her hands on her hips. "You really gotta stop getting into such trouble...you remind me of this kid right here." she gestures towards Zeiya who was sleeping soundly before returning her focus to Shuho. "So you feel ok? That loss didn't do permanent brain damage, did it?"

"R-Right!" The girl said as she quickly followed the masked man.

Seiki watched the two leave before returning her lazy gaze at Takuro. "Again...Who the hell is he?" She said bluntly at Takuro. "Don't tell me he's our third person..."

Harley couldn't muster up the strength to enter the room himself. Something about seeing his friends in any sort of pain never sat well with him. He leaned ont he wall outside, trying to think of what to say, to Shuho, the Zeiya.

"You think too much, kid." A voice caught his attention. There stood shane, a look of almost pity to his coutenance. "You keep on thinkin' about every single aspect of life, you're going to lose your mind." He leaned against the wall himself.

"It's just.....I..."

"I don't care." Shane interrupted him "Just go be with the others."

"Loss?" Shuho said, as if confused about what had happened. His eyes flashed once more for half a second before he lightly said, "That's right, I lost that battle, huh? No harm done... At any rate, I think I understand some things better now..." His eyes then turned to Zeiya for a moment and he simply said, "You said that like you know her. You two have a history?"

A man wearing a dark riding suit slowly walked towards Shane and Harley. He looked over to the boy and lightly said, "I came to find my teammate. She seems to have been here quite a few times. Is she here now?"

"When you're right, you're right, kid," Takuro said as the door closed at least. "His name's Professor Dark, or at least that's what he's known as. I know his real name, but its really not all that important. For the sake of appearances, he'll simply be known as Damion Dark. That's all we really need to be concerned with about that. Any-who... the first rounds of the real WRGP start up today. Think you can handle it?"

"You would be?" Shane spoke before Harley could, apathy in every word. Harley could only stand there and hope this wouldn't lead to anything. Shane wasn't exactly known for being calm......or protective of his surroundings.

"..." Shirei seemed hesitant for a second, glancing down at Zeiya before sighing. "Oh well...there's no harm in telling you. You're suppose to win and I tell you, but eitehr way..." She walks towards Shuho and leans over, whispering something into his ear for a few seconds before backing off, crossing her arms. "You can tell her or not, I don't care...just think before you act, kid."

Seiki couldn't suppress a groan, rolling her eyes before resuming a death glare at Takuro. "Do I REALLY have to be first?" She complained, turning her head away from the man. "I still don't see how this is any fun..." Her words actually held truth. Despite what Takuro said and what she would gain, Seiki looked like she was going through hell rather than having fun.

"That's nothing you need to worry about," the man said as he started to walk past them, seeing that they were putting up little resistance. "If I'd come to fight, I wouldn't be so direct. Also, the one you fought is already gone, Harley King." With that said, he walked into the garage to see Shirei whispering to Shuho.

Shuho's eyes widened for a moment. He was about to speak, but before he could speak, Shirei's arm was grabbed. "Time to go. The matches are about to begin," he said, an almost cold tone in his voice. He looked to Shuho for a moment, staring intently before he turned towards the door. "Don't fall behind..."

Takuro placed his hand on Seiki's head, ruffling her hair as he said, "C'mon, don't be that way! Look, you're already a hair's breath away from the power that Shuho kid used not so long ago to try to take me out. All you gotta do is open yourself up a little more to it and you're gonna be able to destroy whatever you want and take all the weak little spirits from all those pathetic duelists that want to stop you. Duelist who think they have it all because they got a little bit of power. They all think they're better then you. They look down on someone like you, just like when I found you, remember?"

"Sheesh...can't I have a little time for myself?" Shirei hissed, sticking her tongue out at her teammate before turning to Shuho. "Like I said...it's your choice whether you tell her or not. Just a thought, though.....do you really think it'll help her?" With that little tibit said and done, Shirei left the garage, ignoring the presence of Shane and Harley as she followed her teammate.

"Ngh!" Seiki hissed as Takuro ruffled her hair, swinging her arm at his escaping grasp, glaring daggers through the snake's body as she tried to straigten her hair. "Bite. Me. I hate Turbo Dueling. Even if this is fun, riding on that forsaken thing again is killing me. Literally."

"You really told him, did you?" the man said coldly as he walked away. He gave Harley a pat on the back before he said, "We shouldn't see each other until the later rounds. Get there if you have the strength..."

Shuho sighed lightly before he turned to Zeiya who was laying in sleep. He turned to the door as he walked to see if Harley was there. He'd heard voices so someone had to be there, right?"

"You're some kinda tech wiz, aren't you?" Takuro said with a small glare of annoyance. "The rules don't say the Duel Runners have to meet any standards. Hell, you ARE the rules, so you can make your "Runner" into whatever the hell you want it to be. Did you forget that?"

"Who gave you the right to butt into my reasons?" Shirei grunted. "Come on, we'll be late if YOU decide to drag me along."

ZEiya muttered as she felt Shuho moving from his bed, opening her eyes and yawning. She rubbed her tired eyes and looked around ,seeing Shuho wasn't in the bed and walking off. ".....Shuho....?" she muttered tiredly.

"IT DOESN'T MATTER!" She shouted, slamming her hands on his desk and glaring deeply at him, clenching her teeth. "A Duel Runner's a Duell Runner! Nothing will change even if I DO make somethign different!" With that little outburst said, she violently kicks the chair that their guest used before storming out of the rooom, slamming the door shut.

"Wha....wha...wha" Harley had no idea who that was, but his words spoke of a challenge. He would face him eventually? More thoughts cluttered his mind. Shane could only laugh at his panic. "Man I hate this dramatic mumbo jumbo" he shook his head "I'm gonna go...........do....something."

Shuho looked at Zeiya, blinking lightly as he saw she was waking up. He started to walk back to where she was and lightly said, "Hey there Zeiya. You're finally up, huh? Guess I can't say too much about that, though."

"Its good that you two are awake," a voice said as Darren started to walk down the stairs. "You picked the perfect time. In about three hours, the first round will start. From here on its a team-format. You know how it works, right? The order is determined in the prelims. Harley is Duelist A because he fought the man with Uria. That was the Duelist A battle. Shuho is B because he went to the B battle, and Zeiya is Duelist C. That means Harley starts, then Shuho and then Zeiya. We can't change that order unless we switch with an alternate duelist. I know its not right to talk about this when Shuho is first waking up, but this won't be anything like the last battles. These are people who made it past the same prelims as you and I can bet it was rigged so that only Spirit Duelists would get this far."

Takuro grinned lightly as he saw her storm away. "That's right... get mad," he said in a sly tone. "The angrier you get, the more that Chaos within you grows and gets stronger. Won't be long before it comes out and we can really get things started!"

Zeiya blinks, her mind still groggy from sleeping as she slowly started to wake up. Her eyes widen as it finally it her before she rushed over to Shuho, wrapping her arms into a hug as she started to cry into his chest. "Shuho....Shuho!!!" She sobbed, relieved that her friend was all right.

Seiki returned to her office, slamming the door with a BANG as she made her way back to her desk. She places her hands on them, trying to calm her anger that Takuro caused. Getting angry during the match wouldn't help her in the slightest. The more she thought about it - the more she thought about Takuro - the more pissed off she got. Clenching her teeth and her hands into fists, she yelled out, grabbing her chair and literally throwing it through the glass behind her, sending it plumeting to the earth as she tried to calm herself down again.

Harley was beside himself. Meeting a future opponent, especially an unknown individual was intimidating. He thought of everything he did wrong in his last duel, and everything he did right. What to do? What to do? He couldn't even think straight, even after hearing Zeiya scream in the other room.

Shuho all but fell over at how sudden the whole experience of her running to his arms was. He blinked lightly before he patted her back and lightly said, "Sorry I worried you. But... since I'm awake you can focus on the next fight. We still have to save the Spirits from being destroyed, after all. Seiki's only getting stronger with all the time passed."

Darren raised a brow to his words. He hadn't mentioned Seiki at all, nor did anyone else. And Takuro was the usual threat, so why did that suddenly change? He looked into Shuho's eyes for a moment, seeing a light glow before he turned and walked out to Harley. It was plain to see that Harley was shaken, but he had to say something to him right now before the round began. He placed his hand on Harley's shoulder and said, "Hey Harley, you're gonna be starting today, alright? If anything happens, Shuho will fill in for ya. But I kinda wanted to ask ya for a favor...."

On the table, a dark glow began to emanate from a stack of cards. It was Seiki's deck. From it, a strong male voice seemed to softly whisper, "You have no need to holster your anger... Place it on me, and I shall burden it along with you, master..."

Harley looked to Darren with a startling jump, but stopped as he heard his words. He shook his head "Nobody's replacing me....." hewas ready for this, despite his demeanor. This was just the moment and everything that had happened to him hitting at once. He took a deep breath, then turned to Darren. "What do you need done?"

A gust of wind picked up outside of the arena. Leather caught the gust, flowing about the form of a man who looked down to the track, preparations being made. Seth awaited the battle today. The strength of the kids needed to last, or else they would fail.

Zeiya ignored his words as she contineud to cry onto his chest. The only thing on her mind right now was that Shuho was awake and fine, causing all of her worries to just pour out through her tears. "Shuho..you're ok...You're ok...!"

Seiki panted as she simiply stared at the broken window, barely listening to the voice emitting from her deck. Slowly, she turned and walked over to her desk, placing her hands on it and shut her eyes. "...No more..." she muttered as an expression no one would expect Seiki to have dawned on her face. The expression was full of terror, as if she was reliving a bad event form her past. "I can't...I can't ride one anymore...I won't let that happen again..."

Shuho saw her hysterical tears and knew there wasn't much he could do to stop it. He simply hugged onto her and allowed her to cry as much as she needed to. "It's alright, Zeiya. It's alright..."

"I need ya to do your best out there," Darren said plainly. "This isn't just a pep talk though. Shuho's second meaning that if your Life Points drop to zero, he goes in next. I want him getting as little time on the track as possible. I'm a little worried about him. I know its a lot to ask, but ya gotta try to win as many of the matches as you can for his sake."

The cards started to glow more brightly with an almost unstable light. It started to fade as the image of a spell caster in purple robes and green eyes appeared before her. "Master, you have experienced pain before... but you no longer need the past. Trust in me and your power of Chaos and you can erase the fear of the past from your mind. Master, give those burdens to me and I will use it to strike down any who wish to do you harm."

Harley looked to Darren with a surprised widening of his eyes. They wanted him to play hero, for Shhuho of all people? It didn't match up right with him, but this was the moment he had always wanted. He nodded, punching his right fist into his left palm. "I'm ready for this, and so's Grapha. You won't even needed anyone else out there!"

As Zeiya continued to cry, Yuki sighed as she walked up to the group, crossing her arms. "well, this is a lovely mess you three are in." She muttered, seeing the state of all three kids. "Hate to be the killer of moods, but this isn't the time to be down in the dumps! The moment you three lose, it's over! Get a hold of yourself and go!"

"..." Seiki's gaze refused to look up at the magician's face, continueing to look at her own hands instead. "I never trust anyone for anything...much less trusting this curse of a power I have." She muttered, clenching her hands into fists. "...Even so...If you're so willing to help...I'll trust you, then."

Darren nodded as he turned to hear Yuki. He nodded to Harley and said, "Good to hear. The round's about to start so you better get moving." He knew there were still a lot of concerns, but they had to push them aside just for now.

Shuho started to stand, holding onto Zeiya as he looked down to her. "C'mon... We gotta go now," he said as he started to walk to his Duel Runner. "Let's save the teary reunion for later, okay?" In his mind, he thought about what Shirei had told him. Telling Zeiya would make things more complicated, especially since he didn't fully understand it yet. It would be best to keep it to himself just for now.

The Magician closed his eyes lightly and said, "Very well, master. I promise not to disappoint and I will never leave your side..." The man began to glow with a purple light, walking to Seiki before vanishing. The male's voice came to her again and called to her, "The battle will start soon. I won't let harm come to you."

As Shuho was walking to his RUnner, zeiya refused to let him go. In fact, her grasp only grew tighter. "Don't go..." she muttered as she tried to calm herself down. "Shuho...Don't go...not like her..."

Seiki simply stood tehre, staring at the desk before taking in a deep, shakey breath. After a moment of hesitation, she grabbed her deck and shoved it in her pocket as she made her way out of the room, preparing for the battle that will be upon ehr.

Harley was ready for anything. He turned, storming out to his runner that had been resting just outside the garage. He jumped ontop of his ride, checking the systems. He had to try his best, and that was all he could do for his team.