Call of the Dark Spirits

"Look's like it's about that time, kid." The world around Shuho began to warp, curling, fading, everything becoming a mass of nothing and everything at once, the only constant being the expressionless mask of his opponnet. There were no monsters, no spells, no flames. X sighed, it was just getting good. "Nice sparring match, should do it again some time. Maybe I'll actually try?" He shrugged, turning his back to the group. As he walked away, he gave the group a non-chalante wave, disappearing into the shadows.

"I'm not sure." Harley looked at the cards on the table, set there by Seth. "Trust me, kid. These are your friends. They're your allies in this fight." The boy looked to his instructor "but why?! Why do I need them?! What do I have to do with this anyway?! I'm just looking for my Father!" Seth shook his head "You never had a choice, Harley. You were born into this role, as I was a long time ago." "I don't get it." Seth held back, not wanting to ruin everything by telling this boy who he really was. He searched for the words. "The world needs you, that's all I can say, and these cards will help you protect it." Harley filed through the cards, overlooking each one.

"They're fiends, Dark creatures. If they're with me, I must be one too. I can't be a hero...." Seth sighed, walking over to the boy and placing his hand on his shoulder again "I thought the same thing." Harley looked up to him, anticipation in his eyes. "Darkness embraced me. I thought that made me a monster, so I avoided the others. It was only after years that I came to realize darkness is not evil, only those who use it for evil are. All of us have darkness in our hearts, it's a fact we can't escape." He paused, showing a small smile to Harley "But all of us have light as well. Those kids out there are all scared of what will happen, but they need you if there's going to be any chance." Harley looked back down to the cards, letting the words sink in. He then looked back at Seth, determination in his eyes. "Let's do this."

He took the deck, shuffled it, and leveled it out. "But I need a duel disk too." "Way ahead of you." Seth reached down, under the table, removing from it an Obelisk blue Duel Academy Duel Disk "This was the style I used when I was your age. I ordered it special....but you need this more than me." Harley graciously took the disk as if it were a gift from the dueling gods. He looked over it in amazement, holding a piece of history in his hands. He nodded to Seth, placing his deck into the disk and placing it on his left arm. "I'm coming guys!" He fist pumped, running out of the room. Seth held out a hand. They never practiced, not even once, but Harley was gone before he could speak. He followed after him, wanting to meet up with the rest as well.

Shuho's eyes widened in surprise at what had happened. The man had seen some of his best cards and strategies, and it wasn't even real. Even if he had won, it wouldn't have changed a thing. No one would have been protected, and nothing would have come out of it. All it did was show that man his deck and its abilities. Next time, he'd have a counter for them. He fell down to one knee as he looked up at Zeiya, as if he'd already lost.

Yusei walked over to the boy, placing a hand on his shoulder. "There's always a chance to set things right," he said lightly. "He'll be in Satellite. I already know and I'm your escort. Aki needs to go as well, and so does Kai, but we gotta get them out of the hospital to make this work." Shuho could only nod as he started to raise slowly, still feeling as though he'd messed things up in a way.

Takuro was sitting now, right beside Seiki as he had a hand to her cheek. "Since we've got a little time, I think its story time," He said lightly as he looked at her with his all but devilish eyes. "Once upon a time, there was a world filled with lies and evil and idiotic human trash that didn't know when enough was enough! They kept trying to evolve, getting better, stronger, faster... but not a damn bit smarter. See, this brainless monkeys thought that the greatest power could be obtained by opening a portal to the Duel Spirit Realm, and like a kid outside a candy store, they just had to get in. Now, they used technology and portals, and time-space shit they had no business ever even knowing about, and do you know what happened? They actually opened the portal.... well, more like a Pandora's Box. Want a summary? Let's just say... shit got real, and everyone DIED!"

"Hey!" A voice called out from behind them. Harley came running as fast as he could down the street, duel disk attached. He stopped short of them, hands on his knees as he breathed harder than ever before. "I.....I got....my deck....right here!" He stood up, looking around. "Where'd he go?"

"That's a good one." Words warped from mechanical manipulation as another approached. Closer walked the form of X, hands slipped up to the thumb in his pant pockets. He stopped just short of them all, the blank white eyes of the facade looking to Takuro. "I was just about to break him. You got a shit sense of timing." He then turned to Zeiro "You're the other kid? More the merrier or whatever." X didn't waste time, returning to the story teller. "So how far along are we?"

"Shuho..." Zeiya mutterd as she saw her friend, the friend that was trying to do everything to help her, fall to his knee. "Come on...stop looking so sad! I don't know what happened...but we need you..." Tears started to well up in her eyes. "Seiki needs you, too...Someone...someone kidnapped her."

Seiki glances up and spits at Takuro, completely ignoring the story and thinking of ways of kililng him. "Go die..." she managed to say.

"Of course...he's an infamous asshole, what do you expect?" Zeiro said in response to X. "So now that we're here...the hell are we suppose to do? wait for those other Spirit Callers and Signers to come?"

Shuho's eyes opened wide for that moment. He knew now that he didn't have time to think of anything negative. If a friend was in trouble he had to do everything he could. He got to his feet and looked back to Harley. "We'll all get a shot at these guys," Shuho said lightly with a small grin. "Okay, just tell me where we gotta go."

Yusei gave a small smile, glad to see he was at least willing to go. He continued walking and said, "I gotta get Aki and Kai. You guys get ready to go and wait for me!" With that, he went into the hospital and searched for Aki's room.

"Oh, but that's the best part of the little story," Takuro said, speaking to X and Zeiro at the same time. "Spidey here knows all about it, but that world was THIS world... or at least it will be, but one self righteous son of a bitch just HAS to go and muck it up. He wants to change the timeline and screw up this imperfect world's one chance at having a perfect finale. So, that's where we come in. The stage is already set, and you, Seiki my girl, have a front row seat to the death and destruction of your little friends and the whole damn WORLD! Kehehehehehehehe!"

Zeiya sniffed, wiping the tears out of her eyes before nodding. She blinks as she saw Harley and turns to Shuho. "Shuho, who's this?"

"Hrrgh....Just...go...die..." Seiki muttered, her head tilting down and jolting back up as she tried not to fall asleep.

Zeiro let out a sigh, shaking his head. "I'm not gonna comment on that..." he muttered, face palming himself before turning to Takuro. "So we're just gonna have to wait for those other guys to get over here?"

Harley nodded to shuho. He was unsure if he was ready to face this head on, but he damn well was going to. He then turned to the girl, noting that she had removed the tears from her eyes. If anything bothered Harley, it was the crying of a pretty girl. "I'm Harley!" Harley nodded to her, a big grin on his face, hoping his cheerful mood would lighten hers. "I guess......I'm a part of this too!"

"Spare me the story, I was there." X leaned back, stretching out, before sitting down on a piece of rubble. He looked down, the hood falling more over his head. He reached up, removing his mask. Dark brown hair fell from just under the hood. A clear voice spoke, young tones mixing with underlaced hate. "It's not so bad, dying." He chuckled under his hood "I've done it......twice. It's kind of like going to sleep......." He reached up, placing the mask back over his face. He stood up, looking down to seiki from behind wicked white eyes. "And your friends are about to meet the fucking sandman."

"Yusei?"

A sharp voice broke as the marked Signer boy stepped into the room of a certain Black Rose, two eyes snapping open. The pigtailed boy leaning against the wall pushed off and turned to him, seemingly watching over Aki. His brought up a hand to his face and swiped away some of the stands blocking his eyes, a confused flicker echoing over his lips. "Is something wrong? What is with all that racket?" At first it seemed like the Red Eyes duelist was just having a joke with him, but, no. He really had no idea what was going on, having focused on watching over the tired beauty in the room.

-

Unlike the other Dark Signers, the final one never said a word. He merely shifted his body and closed his eyes, the torn green cloak over his shoulders swaying with the up-lifting wind. He lifted a single muscular arm and placed his hand on the hilt of a sheathed blade, a small amused smile on his pale lips. If you didn't take in his defined mass he would look rather stupid, or more feminine than normal. Then, he looked up. His eyes blinked. Twice. His footsteps never made a sound as he began to walk, humming to himself seemingly without a goal in mind.

Clouds were cool.

-

(OOC: Fucking. Short.)

Shuho pointed his thumb to Harley and said, "I found him not too long ago and we became fast friends. Funny enough, looks like he's got a stake in this whole "Save the World" thing too. The freak who tricked me was after him too."

Aki was awake, not shoring it, but her mark had been burning throughout this time. She'd hoped Kai wouldn't notice and it seemed she was right. She sat up slowly and said, "I have an idea of what he wants. You have one of these marks too, right? That means you've been feeling the same dark presence as me."

Yusei gave a small nod as he looked over to Kai and her both. "There's more to why I'm here than that..." he said lightly. "I know what's happening and have a way to the place we need to go to stop this, but we need to do this all together. Otherwise, we'll most likely fail."

At the same time, silently, Kai's phone began to ring. It was Durbin, and it was marked on the ID, "Answer Alone, No Speaker."

"Well, it looks like things are just about to start," Takuro said, looking down at Seiki, then up at his Dark Signer allies. "Seiki, my girl, you're gonna have a front row seat to the fun! Speaking of which, we should probably figure out who takes down who. X, my man, I know you probably wanna settle things with that Shuho kid, but I've got an even better idea for you. There's a duelist in this world by the name of Kai Blackdragoon. Sound familiar?"

"Hey, no problem. You can count on me. Anything beats eating this crappy hospital food for another day...." grinned Kai, his pigtail falling over his shoulder. It seemed that he seemed slightly confused why they wanted his help though, but waved it off nonetheless. He wasn't about to ignore a request from his friends after all. He was about to continue when the phone rang, his eyes blinking as he brought up the item and glanced at it with a single arched eyebrow. A odd looked flashed over his features before he gazed at Yusei and, most importantly (in his eyes), Aki. Finally, he shrugged. He gestured to his phone before moving to exit the room a moment, bringing the device to his ear before answering,

"Yeah?"

Yusei and Aki each looked at Kai. Aki was about to say something, but Yusei placed his hand on her arm, shaking his head lightly and pointing to the door. He was signaling that they didn't have time to ask about what was happening. They walked from the door, squeezing through Kai as they started to walk to the exit.

"Kai, my favorite customer," the voice said from within the phone. It was, in fact, Durbin the man that gave Kai a Duel Runner he seemed to have never obtain. "Listen, no time to talk. You've got your hands full as it is. See, I've got eyes and ears all over the place. Almost every duelist has made a deal with me and they keep me informer as a sign of gratitude. I'm not asking for that though. I know you've got a tough fight ahead, and let's just say it'll be bad for business if you don't come out on top. Your Duel Runner's in Satellite, and I put in a special card just for you. All you gotta do is use it to win. Simple enough since you gotta do it anyway, right? Now hurry up... your friends must be waiting by now." The phone hung up with that. The man never even gave Kai a moment to speak.

"Yeah, yeah it does." X leaned in, placing his arms upon his arms, his knuckle-gloved hands freely dangling. "There's a connection between the two, this kid and the one from my time." He stood up, slipping his hands back up to the humb into his pockets. "You know why I'm here, Takuro. You know who I am. Don't screw me. When I'm done with Blackdragoon, I want who I came for." He turned his back to the group, looking over his shoulder to the others. "Anything specific you want done?"

"...What a wanker."

That was all Kai said after the phone hung up.

He followed after his friends and quickly began to mull over the information just given to him, eyes flashing to a narrow. A unshakably serious expression bred over his features, a hand coming up as he clenched his fist in frustration. A tough fight was ahead? That didn't sound good. Still, he had to agree with Durbin, he needed to come out on top. His new Duel Runner was about to go for a spin for the very first time, a chuckle echoing over his lips as a flicker of excitement flashed in his eyes. The shadows of the building flashed with two ruby red specks, only to fade the instant the pigtailed boy stopped thinking about the situation ahead,

....Mmmm, cheesy-poofs.

Hospital food really was shit.

"Hah....? He doesn't look like much." Zeiya muttered, tilting her head as she got closer to Harley. "Ehh...not like I can judge anyone....HEY WAIT!!! YUSEI!!!" She shouted back at her Satellite friend as he and Aki left the room. "You're suppose to help us to Satellite!!! Get back here, jerk!!!"

"Hmph...I don't give a damn. Do what you want: pick whoever you want." Zeiro said before walking over to some debris and sitting next to it. "If we're done here, at least let her go. Like I said, she can't do shit with her fucked up body...and even if she recovers, she can't really do anything without her deck."

"..." Seiki said nothing, turning her head away from the man before her. "....Fuck this shit, I don't care anymore...Gonna go to sleep..." Soon, she finally allowed her body and mind to succumb to the dire rest it needs.

"Kahahahahahahaha! Nani, nani? Didn't think this little group of ours is full of stupid guys!" Someone said as a young girl walked up to them. She wore a simple t-shirt and pants, but her cloak with purple highlights on it hid her face, revealing nothing more than a wide grin. "Oi oi, if you're not gonna go after that sad excuse of a King Slayer, I'll be glad to take that brat off your plate!"

Yusei stopped as he looked at them all and said, "We're just waiting for Kai, and then we can go." He turned to Shuho and Harley with a small smile. "They're the ones with spirits like us, huh? If what they said is right, they might even be stronger than these Crimson Dragon marks."

Takuro grinned lightly and said, "You see? This girl gets it! As long as I get to play with little Zeiya, its all fine with me. We'll let the other two figure out who they want, provided there's anything left, that is." He turned back to Seiki and lightly said, "As for her... I really can't let her leave right now. See, I told her some pretty deep shit and we can't really let that info go public just yet. So, she's gotta stay here just a liiiittttle bit longer."

The sound of something echoing broke the silence, a single figure walking into the area with a grin over his lips. It was who they had been waiting for, a certain pigtail twitching with the wind as the boy gave a brief wave and a chuckle, bidding a small greeting. "Hey, sorry for the wait. I can get lost in a narrow hallway sometimes, let alone a bloody hospital..." He sighed and gave a brief pout, a shrug following. Kai let his features relax into a more serious expression before he looked at Yusei, let alone the rest of the companions. "Something tells me this isn't going to be good..."

Harley nodded to Yusei, not knowing what the hell the Dragon thing or whatever was, but he knew he could help somehow, and that's all he ever wanted. "I'll do whatever I can to help!"

X turned to the newcomer. He didn't know who she was and he didn't care, but hearing King Slayer was all he needed. He bowed his head, a pulse of energy racing around it, floating up in a mist. Words spoke in the back of her head. ~The kid has guts, but with this you can see what they look like.~ Images flashed through her head, memories of the duel X had toyed with Shuho suddenly became her own, then ended in a tick. "Don't rough him up too much, I want what's mine."

"Well, let's go!!! I'm really worried about Seiki!!! Hahh....." Zeiya whined, jumping up and down. "Come on, come on, come on!!!!"

"Which is why I'm saying...I'm not saying let her go. Just let her heal up and rest like a normal person. Like I said, she can't do shit without her deck, and she can't really leave this area without one of us noticing." Zeiro tried explaining to the creepy snake again.

"Oh? Damn. Wanted to mess the kid up a bit more, but looks like you did most of that!" The girl said, grinning even wider at the images she's seen. "As long as I have a little toy to mess with, I'll be happy...but since you asked, I won't screw with him TOO much....heheheheheh...." She turns to Takuro at his words. "You should wait till we can ALL see...ohhh, I can't wait to see that girl break down! We should get it on tape!"

"Ah... if you insist," Takuro said lightly as he snapped his fingers. The serpents adjusted themselves, they went from restraining her arms and legs to holding her full body like a cocoon. "There... releasing her completely would be bad. I know what she'll try if we give her a chance, but she should be more... comfortable this way. Not like it matters anyway. She can't die from the injuries anymore."

With everyone gathered, Yusei guided them to a large mansion. They were asked to walk inside and Rex Goodwin was right at the entrance with the white armored man on one side and Darren on the other. "I see you all have arrived," the director said as he looked at them all. "Shuho, Zeiya, Kai and even a newcomer to the group. It seems that Yusei's gifts to gather others were well utilized here."

Shuho rushed in front of Zeiya as he saw the armored man. "What the heck?! Is this an ambush?" Shuho said as he glared at him.

"Fear not..." the man said as he looked directly at the boy with his eyeless helmet. "If I were your enemy, I would have destroyed you long ago. The last time we met, I needed to test Zeiya's development as a Spirit Duelist. Unfortunately, her powers then were far under the level they needed to be, so I sent Yukina Flames to assist her. It is time you learned everything... all of you..."

Harley gazed around at the mansion, so confused as to what exactly was going on, but on the inside as well as the outside, he was overjoyed. This was what he has been dreaming about, pretending to be. He was on an actual adventure! He stopped just short of Shuho, seeing him dart infront of the other girl, Zeiya was her name, right? He heard the word ambush and tensed up, ready to defend himself, but calmed once he heard the friendly words. He recognized one man, the one called Rex Goodwin. The other was Darren, Seth had spoken about him briefly. He waited attentively, hoping that the weirdly dressed dude in the white armor knew something he didn't.

"Well I say this party needs to get started." X rose his hand, a snap echoing from his fingers. The sound of an engine roared into the air as a blast of crimson flame erupted next to him, raging before fading into the air. In it's place, a wicked red and black Duel Runner stood. He stepped over the side, sitting down on his mount. He wore no helmet. Why would he? He was dead. "Must not keep the guests waiting, afterall." He looked back to the group "don't fuck up out there. You rookies better back up your talk. We'll meet up after. Try not to die, I'd rather not clean up your mess."

"Yah! You?!" Zeiya yipped, hiding behind Shuho and Yusei, peeking her head out. "I-it's all your fault! Those days she 'trained' me were so bad, I think my skull's cracked from all her punching and hitting! Besides, I don't trust you, you freak! You made Shuho's arm hurt all of a sudden and threaten to take away our spirits!!!"

"Would you rather her locking herself up emotionally? I think not." Zeiro said, glancing up at the green snake. "You're pushing it. Is it gonna be a repeat like 8 years ago? Hell, NOTHING fazed her that time...not even you."

"Hah! This is gonna be loads and loads of fun!" The girl snickered before pointing at Takuro. "You better not duel before I'm through giving that Shuho kid a whole sort of mind fuck! I wanna see that innocent blue haired girl break down to her knees!" she then turns around and walks away from the four males, then stops. "Here's an idea...why not get that Seiki kid to duel against them as well?" She turns her head back to them. "It worked on that Zeiya kid, and as long as you two don't duel at the same time, death isn't a worry. Besides, it'll crush ALL their hearts and hopes, seeing their beloved friend dueling against them!"

Darren gave a small sigh as he stepped in front of them. "Look, that was just so you'd be at our best. Sankishin doesn't want your spirits, but someone does. That's the guy who's in Satellite and that's who we're goin' after."

"I've risked my life coming back in time, giving you heroes the chance to gain strength to rise to this challenge. Even Darren, Yukina, and Seth's existence in this world is all because I needed them to meet you. Their strength, skill, and spirit defeated many evils in their world, and I can only hope that those have been passed on to you four."

"Sankishin's interference and changes in history have caused the "Onlookers" to change history as well. A Continuum Shift has resulted, meaning anything is possible from this point onward. The Dark Signers have been changed and made more powerful, and you've all been deemed capable enough to stop them."

"But wait, why us?" Shuho said, turning to Yusei and Aki. "Yusei's a good duelist and Aki as well. They have glowing arm marks and spirits too, right? Why doesn't that work?"

"Simply because I've tested you all myself," the Director replied. "The entirety of the Fortune Cup was to pit you Spirit Callers against the Signers of this time to see who was superior. You all defeated them and proved yourselves to be the ones to save this world. That was, in fact, when the Shift began. In a different time, Yusei would have won the Fortune Cup and led the other Signers to battle the Dark Signers. In one scenario they die there, and in another they are victorious but fall to a greater power later to come. For obvious reasons, neither can be allowed to happen."

"As you can see, our options are limited," Sankishin said. "I had to intervene in order to have a chance to change this world's fate, but Takuro was sent to thwart me..."

Takuro grinned at the girl and said, "Well, ain't that a good idea. You know what? I think I might do that. Oh, and you know Zerio, if she does withdraw like that then that'll help me out SO much! The best puppets are the ones that choose not to think and feel for themselves. Gotta say, I'm not really seeing a downside here."

"Ummm....excuse me?" Harley raised his hand as if he was in a classroom waiting to ask his teacher a question. He lowered that hand, scratching the back of his head slowly as he thought about the situation. "I didn't face any of these "Signer" people. I wasn't at the Fortune Cup. How am I tied to this, exactly?"

"H-Hah....I still don't like you..." Zeiya said, glaring at the white armored man.

"Bunch of bull shitting people, preventing us from taking a crack at those monsters..." Yuki hissed as she walks up from behind the group and standing next to the three. "Look, just go along with this. No matter how many questions you ask, we're sort of pressed for time...The sooner you guys get this over with, the better. Believe me."

"There was a time where she didn't even listen to you, you know..." Zeiro hissed under his breath before sighing. "Whatever...as long as you don't force her to fight that Zeiya kid, I don't care...though she'll probably give me a black eye when she hears about this."

"Then its settled! Kahahahahah! This will be sooooooo much fun, I can't wait!" The girl cackled before grinning wider. "In fact, I might as well go mess with them before dueling that kid." In that instant, her body seemed to 'change' and 'morph' under her cloak, revealing a shorter girl with clothing exactly like Seiki's. She pulls her hoodie down, revealing an exact replica of Seiki, minus the crazy sadistic expression. "Still not used to this damn power, but what can you do? If you excuse me, I'll go have some fun!" With that said, she turned back around and waved at them before walking away, laughing her ass off to the sky.

Your objections and questions are well deserved, but untimely," Sankishin said as he placed his hand on his chest. "All I can say from here is that the ones with the powers of Duel Spirits are the ones destined to save this world. In my era, you four never fully developed your abilities as a team and the world fell. Now, you have the chance to protect all that you have in this world. That is what I offer you... as well as this..." His chest plates opened, revealing a compartment inside. Inside were seven gems each of a different color.

"Wait, that's..." Darren said, recognizing it immediately. "Yes, this is how I was able to gain the power to pass through time and space. The Chaos Gems hold powerful temporal magic from the realm of Duel Spirits. When all seven are together, Time/Space transportation and distortions are possible. You all must take one, Shuho Zeiya Kai and Harley. This is the only means of countering the magic of the Dark Signers X and Takoru. It is very likely that man is the one that holds your friend Seiki. If you can defeat that man, all of this should come to an end."

Takuro began to laugh maniacally as he saw Seiki's transformed state. "With this, we won't even need the bitch to stand up on her own! Alright then, places everyone! The shows about to start!" His face continued to grin as he thought, ~While they're busy 'playing' I'll find a few more actors for this little performance.~