"did they say why they want Ashleigh?" Atem asked.

"What? You saying that her heart is the key of winning?" Atem exclaimed. Even Crow went wide-eyed.

"Anything else they told you?" Atem asked.

"Wow. An Arch Angel. I wonder if she's going to stay with them or stay with us" Atem wondered.


It was now close to D-Day. Rua and Ruka was close of summoning their Kas, Yusei's training was way underway and Crow was now in advance training. On top of that, both Selena and Mana was able to convince Aki to learn the basics and to control her physic power. Ruby was still assuring to Ashleigh to wait until she had a taste of what an Arch Angel does before deciding to become one or stay with her family. In Oblivian however, the strength of the armies has tripled. Kaimiri healed fully and now was looking for Dark Ashleigh. This where we pick the story.

Yusei lowered his hand. The last target had just been blasted not only out of the air, but into dust. "That good?" He asked.

---

"Concentrate," Bakura told Kiryu. The teen had his eyes closed and breathing even in the meditaion. He was standing, with his posture relaxed and loose. "Take your time. There isn't any reason to have to rush yourself. Your ka will reveal itself on its own."

Kiryu nodded. He's come a long way in such a short time, Bakura thought. A small smile played its way accross his lips. He's quite a promising mage too.

---

"Good!" Yugi said when Crow succeeded in slicing the target. "Now, let's see if you can pull that off on a moving target." He summoned a new target, this one able to fly in the air.

"Okay...." Crow said. He activated his aura again. It flared mahogany, and the same smell filled the air lightly. He whipped his hand out, the lines of highly concentrated magic trailing behind. The target flitted out of the line of fire, and Crow quickly changed his trajectory. Again, he missed. "Aw, c'mon...."

"Hitting a moving target is harder than hitting one on the ground." Yugi said. "You have to try and predict where the target will be, not where it already is."

---

Selena whislted when the disk penetrated the wall. Hell, it didn't just penetrate the wall, it left a nice and clean hole all the way through. "I wouldn't be surprised if that went through the wall on the other side of that room, Aki." She said.

---

"You sure you want to go through with this?" Max asked. Kaiba nodded.

The CEO placed a hand over the bandages covering the place his right arm had been. "Just do it," he said. "I want this surgery over with. The last thing I need is to be a cripple."

Max nodded. "You do realize you'll have to be concious when the arm is attached, right?"

"I know," Kaiba replied as the nurse entered the room. She placed the sedative pills on the table next to him before exusing herself. "I'm still going through with it."

"All right then," Max said. "I just hope you don't regret this desicion."

You and me both, Kaiba thought as the woman left. The sealed box was lying on the windowsill. "Bottoms up, I guess." Kaiba said, downing the two pills. Even as the nurse entered to check on him, he was starting to feel drowsy. This had better work....

"Impressive Yusei" Atem said, "Now we will start on sword fighting."

---

"Sorry" Aki said.
"It's ok" Mana said, "It showed that you are controlling both your powers at the same time."

Selena nodded in agreement. "She's right. I actually think it's really good that you've come this far in so little time."

---

"Right," Yusei said, pulling the pendant off. The Crimson Sword formed in his hand from the charm. He held it out in front of him.

---

The nurse came out of Kaiba's room breifly. "He's under," She said. "Ma'am, it would be best if you waited in the waiting room until he's done."

Max nodded. "Let me know when he's awake." She said. The nurse nodded and retreated back in the room as the head of Omega strode down the hall.

---

"Rua, you look like you're trying to take a poop." Ruka said when she saw how hard her brother was concentrating.

---

Kiryu's light gray aura misted around him, some of it wafting off and beginning to take a shape. "Yes, that's it! Keep going!" Bakura said. He's almost there. He thought.

---

"Damn it, Jack, concentrate!" Melhana shouted. "I told you to summon your ka, not blast a hole in the wall!"

"I told you; I don't know how I did it!" Jack snapped back. "It was a fluke! That's it!"

Melhana sighed in frustration. "Jack, things like that don't happen because of a fluke." She said. "You summoned your ka for a reason; you were ready for it."

"Reason my ass," Jack muttered. "I'm done with this shit. I'm out of here." And with that he stormed out ofthe gymnasium.

Melhana shook her head and let out a breath. "That idiot..." She said. Neferhenta appeared next to her in spirit form.

"He's going to do something rash," she said.

"I know it," Melhana replied. "I've been trying to help him see past his rage...but it's not working, damn it. That guy seems hell-bent on being a short-tempered mass of ego."

"See, I told you that it will be more fun without any stress" Mana said.

---

"I can spot something that you doing wrong automaticly" Atem said.

---

"So? I'm trying my hardest" Rua replied, but accidently let a burst of power and it did 2 things:
1. Blasted both Yugi and Crow to the wall and
2. Was able to hit the moving target.

"What's that?" Yusei asked.

---

"Yeow! What the heck?!" Crow yelped.

"Rua, you were supposed to hit the target, not send Yugi and Crow flying." Ruka deadpanned. "And you hit the wrong target too."

"You don't put the sword up like that unless there is a fight" Atem replied.

---

"Whoops. Sorry" Rua replied.

"At least you're not expending excess energy," Yugi said. "Now you've just got to practice hitting one target, and not everything in the room."

---

"Okay..." Yusei replied, lowing his sword and relaxing.

---

Bakura stepped back as the forming ka took the form of a dragon. When it was done forming, Bakura gasped. "You've got to be kidding me."

Kiryu opened his eyes and saw his ka for the first time. "No way...." he whispered in disbelief. Why won't my past stop haunting me? He thought when he saw it.

His ka was Hundred-Eyes Dragon.

"Maybe that could be my secret weapon" Rua said.

---

"Much better" Atem said, "I know you you will learn qucikly. So, we're going to start with your footwork."

"Secret weapon or no, an undirected attack, no matter how well-controlled in power, is useless." Yugi replied. "Here, let me show you an example." He raised his hand and formed a ball of power in his palm. He released the power in a narrow beam into one of the targets around the room. The beam left a smoldering hole all the way through the target. "And I didn't use much power to do that, either."

---

The doctor checked Kaiba's readouts to make sure he was completely under. "Right, let's get him into the OR." he said. "Max wants to be able to get that arm on him by the end of the day."

"Yes doctor," The nurse said. The operating room was already prepped, and ready to go.

"I'll meet you there. I'll go and tell Max about when he'll be out." The doctor said as the two nurses wheeled Kaiba out of the room.

---

Yusei nodded. "Where do I start?" He asked.

Rua sweatdropped.
"Ok....now what?" he asked.

---

"If I didn't say take your sword out, we wouldn't do this right?" Atem asked.

"Here, stand in front of one of these targets." Yugi said.

---

"I guess," Yusei replied.

---

Bakura's brow furrowed. "Kiryu, what's wrong?" He asked.

Kiryu shifted uneasily. "It's just...Hundred-Eye Dragon was my trump when I was a Dark Signer...it's something that I don't like having to remember." He replied.

Bakura shook his head. "Having Hundred-Eye Dragon as your ka doesn't make you a bad person, Kiryu." He replied. "It's just like having a muderous raving lunatic for a yami, like I did. Just because the King of Theives was a loony doesn't make me one."

"I guess you're right," Kiryu replied. "I thought I'd put all that behind me though."

"I have no doubt that you have." Bakura told his student. "But, you have to remember; your ka is the true form of your soul. It's the embodiment of your being, not a part of your past."

Rua stood at one at his level.
"Ok, what's next?" he asked.

---

"First off, you have to be in a good stance. The best recomendation for any sort of sword fighting or anything relating to sword work is have your feet shouder width apart. When sword fighting, it's important to have one of your feet forward like you're taking a step. That way, you be able to shift your weight easily. You got me so far?" Atem explained.

"Hold your hand out like this," Yugi said, holding his arm out straight with his palm towards the target.

---

"Right," Yusei said, reflecting Atem's stance. Shoulder width apart...front foot out like I'm taking a step... He thought.

Rua followed suit.
"Like this?" he asked.

---

"That's it. You got it. I knew you were a fast learner" Atem said after seeing Yusei's stance.

Yusei couldn't help but smile a bit. "Where do I go from here?" He asked.

---

"Yes, exactly." Yugi replied. "Now, pool a ball of energy into your hand. You won't need much power for this trick, all you'll have to do is keep it concentrated in a small area." He demonstrated by pooling some of his power into his outstretched palm.

Rua did the same an gasped as the magic formed into a ball.
"woah" was all he could say.

Meanwhile, Dark Ashleigh was sitting on the roof, looking at the stars.
Does he really love me? Or does he want to use me to get power? she thought. Then she realised.
No, it can't be! He's only hungry for power. He doesn't care at all. I'm only a pawn in his game. How can I be so stupid? she thought.