WRGP First Round! Duel of Spirits?

Zeiya mutters lightly, shifting herselfa s she was still sleeping.

"Morning, sunshine." said a rather creepy, happy go lucky voice as Shirei sat next to Shuho and the sleeping Zeiya. "Had a good nightmare, i hope. Kahahahah!!!"

Shuho jumped at the voice. Moving away slightly and turning to her as he said, "Shirei! What are you... what am I doing here? Didn't we have a duel today or something?"

"Hey, did you hit your head or something, kid?" Shirei tilts her head as she moves in closer. "You're not sick are you?"

"Uh..." Shuho moved his head back slightly, blushing a little only because he was still confused as to what was going on. "I... don't think I am. I feel fine, just... Wait, were you watching me sleep?!"

"What are we waiting for, then?" Harley spoke up, holding back everything he could not to jump in place. The energy was all around him. He couldn't defeat the entire enemy by himself last time. He needed to get stronger. "If you can help me, let's start right now!"

Shirei blinks in disbelief, facepalming herself. "What do you think I am, your mother? A stalker?! You're stupid, you know that?" She pokes his forehead rather harshly as she turns her back to him. "Ahh well...Shame you missed little Miss pinky's show."

The man nodded to Shane as he started walking. "I'll need your complete trust in order to do this quickly. If you survive, then you will become stronger. However, the chance that you WILL survive is not high. Are you still willing?"

Shuho rubbed his forhead lightly, about to speak until Shirei said Miss Pinky. "Wait, you mean Seiki? She dueled already? What happened?"

"Kahahahahaha!" Shirei burst out laughing, grinning wildly as she looks at Shuho. "What happened? What happened?! She completely destroyed Jack with his own ace and defeated Aki in one turn, resulting in her crashing! That's what happens!"

Harley lowered his head, the thought of death something he had never truly gone over until now. He began to shake, his nerves once again getting the better of him. What if he wasn't strong enough? What if he failed just like he did in their first duel? He couldn't do it, he couldn't! His self-doubt continued until he looked back to the track, seeing the carnage that had unraveled. He then pictured that being his friends. Shuho, Zeiya.....

"I need to keep the people that are important to me safe." Harley looked back up to the man, sheer determination running through his veins "and I need power to do that. I'm ready for whatever you have."

"Then go to your garage..." the man said as he started to walk away. "Knowing you're willing to do this, I'll be there shortly. There are some things I need to prepare... Also, the three of them need to go alone. Please keep that in mind..." With that, the man walked away.

"Aki and Jack both?" Shuho said in disbelief. "That... how could it be that bad... I can't even use Light and Darkness Dragon and its already gone this far? Oh... what can we do!"

"Nothing!~" Shirei says, waving her finger. "With that kind of attitude, there's no way you'll be able to make a dent much less beat little Miss Pinky~ You're going to have to do different things to get the result you want." She walks around the room, her back turned to Shuho. "Try thinking outside of the box~"

Harley nodded, "Right." He looked back to the academy duelists. "Get Zeiya and Shuho, I got no time to waste!" with that he took off, running as fast as he could to the garage without so much as a second glance. No one would have time to talk him out of his choice.

"Kid's got issues." Shane said, scratching the back of his head.

"He has determination." Seth replied "we'll need all of that."

"Well what the heck should I do?" Shuho said, his frustration turning into anger as she was almost mocking him from his perspective. "If there's a way to end this, I'll do it. Whatever the heck it is, I don't want anyone else hurt!"

"Its more like the kid's desperate," Darren said with a small sigh. "Then again, I am too at this point... That guy said they need to go to the garage. That should be where Zeiya and Shuho are, but I just hope they stayed there after I dropped them off."

Harley stopped for nothing, charging at his top speed to make it back to the garage. He leapt over trash cans, rolled through railings, only the promise of a new power ready to meet him. It wasn't too long before he arrived, stopping for a breath before entering the garage.

"It's all the same." Seth sighed, hands plunging into his pockets. "Right now, desperation is dedication, and that is power." He turned to his friends "We're all caged rats right now, and they've backed us into the wall. We have no choice but to fight back as hard as we can."

"Why are you asking me? I don't know anything~" She says, laughing her butt off as she turns to Shuho. "Didn't one of you guys say to cut her ties with Takuro? that way, everything's back to normal...or would you rather try to kill her yoruself? What would poor, poor Zeiya think of that? Huh?"

"I don't know much about it, but I know I have a power that can stop this!" Shuho said as he started to get up out of the bed. "I kept feeling it... again and again... I think its close. If I work a little harder, I think I can pull it out of me and use it to stop Seiki without killing her! That's what I have to do, but I don't know if I can do it in time!"

"Time is exactly what we will give you..." a voice said as the man walked into the garage, somehow getting there before Harley. "Shirei, you've played with them enough... shouldn't you tell him why you actually came?"

Harley could only follow behind the man, taken back by the speed he had arrived. He was still catching his breath, but listened intentively to what the man had to say.

"Awwww....Can't I play around with them some more?" She grins at the man. "It's so much fun seeing the kid freak out in a panic! I just love it! Kahahhahaa!"

As Shirei laughs, Zeiya lets out a groan, rubbing her tired eyes open. "Huh...? What's going on?"

The man placed the palm of his hand to his head for a moment, then looked at the three children as he said, "Zeiya, Harley, Shuho... you three are the ones who can save the Duel Spirits and protect the world from Takuro's plans... However, as you are, you won't be able to save anyone. You need to train, to become stronger. That takes time, so I'm going to give it to you, by sending you into the past..."

"The WHAT?!" Shuho said, now in complete shock. "What do you mean by the past? How would that help at all?"

Harley's eyes peeled open, jaw tempted to drop but he fought back form going entirely insane. He exhaled. It was just a few months ago he was just exploring the world, looking for his Father. Now he was sitting in a room full of powerful people and being told he was going back in time.

Now this was just another day.

His shy nature wouldn't let him speak up. He averted his gaze from the man, looking to the ground and trying to bring himself together, piece by piece.

"It's just what he says, stupid~" Shirei says, walking over to Harley and shoves him to Shuho and Zeiya. "You're gonna have to all get along....you'll be together for quite some time if you wanna survive~"

"Huh...Past? Survive?" She mutters as Zeiya yawns lightly, stretching as she gets up. "What do you mean?"

"Dueling strategy... Spirit Control... teamwork..." the man said as he started to pace back and forth in front of them. "You will all need these things in order to face the coming challenges. Your older counterparts, Darren, Yukina, and Seth have all gained these through trial and tribulation. You will be sent into their pasts to learn from them and use the experience to become stronger."

"Darren's past?!" Shuho said, looking around the room. "Well... how are we suppose to do that?" The man grinned and said, "You go to sleep... As you are asleep, Shirei and I will send your minds back in time. You will experience everything that happened in the past, and even interact with it. Since this will be in your mind, it won't change fate in any way, but these "Dreams" are what will help your minds evolve to what they need to be."

Seth's past? Harley only knew the stories of Seth's time in the academy, heck, the duel disk he wore on his arm was the very same Seth wore in his youth. It was an exciting proposal, albeit overwhelming. He was happy that it wouldn't actually change how things were now, as any slight shift could change the landscape of the present immensely.

"So......"

He spoke up, still not making eye contact, "Where's the danger you mentioned?"

Zeiya blinks lightly before her eyes widen. "W-Wait! We can't sit here dreaming our butts off!!! What about Takuro and Seiki and Durbin?! Who's going to take care of them?! We have no time to spare at all!!!"

"Dream time is different than normal time," the man said as he turned to Shirei, signaling her to get the equipment they would need. "Within the dreams, you can get months of experience in hours. Before your next round, you should be finished with everything you need to do." He then turned to Harley. "As for the danger... these aren't true dreams. The experience will affect your mind just like anything you would do when awake. That means the sensations of pain and death would be just as real. If you aren't careful, you won't be able to wake up at all. It'll be the same as dying."

"So its super fast training with just as much risk..." Shuho said, trying to understand what was happening. "If it'll help me unlock whatever powers aren't waking up yet, I'll do it!"