I hope for our sake, that you will win Yusei Mrs Fudo thought.

Rikuo drew. "Heh, Sonic Chick, huh? I know how that thing works." He said. "I'll attack your Sonic Chick with Warrior Lady of the Wasteland!"

"I activate the trap, Scrap Iron Scarecrow!" Yusei countered as the card flipped up.

"No you're not," Rikuo said. "I activate my trap too; Trap Jammer. Your Scrap Iron Scarecrow hits the Graveyard, just like your little birdie." Yusei's trap was destroyed by the sigil on Trap Jammer, and Sonic Chick exploded in a shower of pixels. "I set one face-down and end."

---

Yugi led Crow up the flight of stairs in the back of the shop to the living space above. "Here's where you'll be sleeping," He said, indicating the vacant bedroom. "The bathroom's right down the hall, and don't hesitate to ask if there's any problems."

Crow nodded. "Thanks," he replied.

"Come on Yusei! You can do it!" Mrs Fudo cried.

---

"Remember Crow. That bedroom is really sacred. One thing out of place and, well, you can figure out the rest" Ashleigh said.

Crow blinked. "Why's it sacred?" He asked.

---

Yusei drew. "I set one card face-down, and set a monster in face-down defense mode to end my turn." He said.

"Well, let Yugi explain about it. I didn't come here until after what happened to him" Ashleigh replied.

"Not attacking, huh?" Rikuo asked as he drew. "Fine with me. Warrior Lady of the Wasteland, attack Yusei's face-down monster!"

Yusei put his arm up as the card was destroyed in a shower of pixels. "I activate my trap; Graceful Revival, and I'll use it to summon the card you just destroy the monster you just destroyed; Speed Warrior." He said.

Rikuo frowned. "I end." He said.

---

"Okay then," Crow said, plopping his bag onto the bed. "Anything else I should know while I'm here?"

"Lets see. Sometimes the ancient spirits come to protect who's sleeping in here, and the window is your alarm clock" Ashleigh said, "other than that, that's it I think."

---

Meanwhile, back at the federation, Aki was slowly opening her eyes. Aka was sleeping on the floor, Aoi was still figuring out what she saw, and Selena was sitting next to her bedside.
"What.....what happened?" she asked.

Yusei drew. "I summon Junk Synchron in attack mode!" He said. "And thanks to his effect I can summon Sonic Chick from the Graveyard in defense mode."

"Big deal." Rikuo said.

"I'll now tune Junk Synchron to Speed Warrior! I Synchro Summon Junk Warrior!" Yusei finished. The light-blue-armored warrior materialized on the field. "Now, Junk Warrior, attack his Warrior Lady of the Wasteland!"

"Thanks for activating her effect," Rikuo said when his monster was destroyed. "When my Warrior Lady of the Wasteland is sent to the Graveyard by battle, I can summon one EARTH warrior from my deck. I special summon Jutte Fighter!" The small, yukata-clad Tuner wappeared on the field in attack position. (Jutte Fighter ATK: 700/DEF: 900) "I still lose Life Points, I know."
(Rikuo LP: 2800)

"I end with a face-down." Yusei said.

---

"...Ancient spirit...?" Crow asked. "What kind of ancient spirit?"

---

"From what I heard from Aoi and Aka, your power went nuts and you drained yourself." Selena replied. "You doing all right?"

"Again, I let him explain" Ashleigh said, making Yugi sweatdrop, "I hope you will let them protect you."

---

"I...wha?" Aki asked, "Last time I remember I told Melhana to get out of my room."

"Must've blacked out then," Aoi said. "You were pretty nuts. It took Crow summoning Blackwing Dragon to snap you out of it."

---

"Okay then..." Crow said tenatively. I get the feeling this is one odd game shop....

---

Rikuo drew. "I summon Armageddon Knight in attack mode! And thanks to his effect, I can send one DARK monster to my graveyard." He said, discarding a card. "I also activate the spell Double Summon, which lets me normal summon twice this turn, provided I don't summon anything next turn. I use its effect to summon Swordsman from a Foreign Land." Another monster appeared on Rikuo's field. "I'm now going to tune my Armageddon Knight and Swordsman from a Foreign Land to my Jutte Fighter." The three warriors dissapeared, to be replaced by another. "Blast them all to dust! I Synchro Summon Lightning Warrior!" A warrior in silver armor with bright yellow hair materialized on Rikuo's field.

"Lightning Warrior, attack Yusei's Junk Warrior!" Rikuo ordered. The attack went through, destroying Junk Warrior. (Yusei LP: 3900) "Now his effect activates. For every card in your hand, you lose 300 Life Points. I count three." Once again, Yusei's Life Points went down. (Yusei LP: 3000) "I end with a face-down."

"Oh" Aki said, then sniffed. The rose scent lingered after everything was over.

---

"I got told the same thing and never got told the reasons why" Ashleigh said.

"That's the leftovers from your aura," Aoi said, scribbling on her nearly illegible notes. "According to Melhana, it's really powerful."

---

"Right...the whole reason that room is sacred is...well, it used to be my bedroom when I was growing up." Yugi replied.

"Wh-what?!" Crow blurted. "So I'm...I'm...staying in your old bedroom?!"

Yugi nodded. "As for the ancient spirit...it was Selena to alerted us to that, back when I was in high school. He's an old protective spirit for this building." He said. "Apparently there was something else on this plot, and it burned down. When it did...well, the spirit lingered and now he's haunting this building."

---

Yusei drew. "I send one card to the Graveyard to summon Quickdraw Synchron to the field!" He said. The gunslinger Tuner appeared on the field, and a roulette of cards started in front of it. "When he's summoned, it takes the name of any tuner monster in my deck." The small gunslinger shot one of the cards: Drill Synchron.

"I now tune Quickdraw Synchron with Sonic Chick! Come forth and show your might; Drill Warrior!" The copper-armored warrior appeared on the field, and stared down Lightning Warrior. (Drill Warrior ATK:2400/DEF:2000)

"Big deal. Their attacks are the same." Rikuo said.

"Not for long. I equip Drill Warrior with Fighting Spirits, which gives him an 300 point boost for every monster on your field. I see one, so my monster's attack goes up to 2700." Yusei said. "Drill Warrior, attack Rikuo's Lightning Warrior!"

"I activate my trap; Synchro Sheild!" Rikuo countered. "This negates your attack and deals damage equal the attacking monster's attack to the opponent. Say goodbye to your Life Points."

"I activate Half Shield!" Yusei said. "The damage from your trap is halved." A shield, half glass and half metal, appeared in front of Yusei. The glass half shattered, but the metal half held strong against the damage. (Yusei LP: 1650) "I'll end my turn with a face-down."

"My aura?" Aki asked, confused in what she heard.

---

"What I heard is that the spirit protects ones with a pure heart" Ashleigh added.

Rikuo drew. "Heh. I equip Metalmorph to Lightning Warrior, giving him a 300 point boost!" (Lightning Warrior ATK: 2700) "Plus now, when he attacks, he gains half of the target monster's attack as well. Go! Lightning Warrior! Obliterate Yusei's Drill Warrior!"

"I activate Mirage!" Yusei said. "This prevents my monster from being destroyed, even though I take the damage." (Yusei LP: 300)

Rikuo smirked. "I end my turn," He said.

---

Aoi nodded. "Yeah. It's a dark red, and smells like roses." She replied. "Kind of fitting, considering your ka is Black Rose Dragon."

---

"Okay..." Crow said tenatively. He knew a few people who would be out of the running already.....

"I don't understand. Black Rose Dragon's connected to me more than I realised?" Aki asked.

---

"Well, it's close to the time Yugi" Ashleigh said.

Yugi nodded. "Right. Crow, there's a spell I want to show you, even if I'm not going to teach it to you." He said.

"What spell is it?" Crow asked.

"A death spell. It's meant to make one's enemies believe the person's dead, as a safety measure." Yugi replied. "It's dangerous, and should only be used as a last resort." He glanced breifly at Ashleigh. "As far as I know, this is the only way to keep Kaimiri and his goons from Ashleigh, at leas tfo the time being."

---

Selena nodded. "Yes. Black Rose Dragon is more than just your Signer dragon; she's the true form of your soul. Your ka." She said.

---

Yusei drew. The card he'd drawn was Nitro Synchron. "Summon it," a familiar--and unwanted--voice said in the back of his mind. "Use Nitro Synchron to summon it. Summon Black Hole Hell Dragon!"

N-no! I can't! Yusei thought.

"You have to, if you wan to win." The voice insisted. "Use that Tuner to Synchro Summon Black Hole! DO IT!"

Yusei bit his lower lip hard enough to draw blood. No...I won't. Not after what I've done with that dragon. He thought. "I end my turn."

"Even if it worked the first time, I didn't let it go long enough to be effective" Ashleigh said.

---

"Ka? What's that?" Aki asked.

"Your ka is the form your soul takes when you summon it," Selena replied. "There's only a few people who can summon their ka; you're one of them."

---

"The absolute time limit to the spell is an hour," Yugi replied. "Ashleigh was only out for twenty minutes."

---

"Not going to do anything? Fine by me." Rikuo said. "Lightning Warrior! Attack and destroy Yusei's Drill Warrior, along with the rest of his Life Points!"

The armor-clad warrior lifted his huge sword, and brought it down on Drill Warrior, which exploded in a shower of pixels. In unison, his Life Points reduced to 0. "Pathetic," Rikuo said. "Here I was, thinking you'd be a challenge."

"Oh, I see" Aki said.

---

"After the hour is up, I should be back. Anymore than that, there is a chance I won't return" Ashleigh replied.

---

"Yusei! What happened?" Mrs Fudo yelled.

Selena nodded. "Jack and Crow can summon their auras too, and it's possible that the rest of the Signers can too." She said. "Jack's ka is Red Dragon Archfiend and Crow's is Blackwing Dragon."

---

"Isn't already risky enough?" Crow asked.

---

"I...." Yusei said. "I...I don't really...I don't want to talk about it."

"I thought you were a good duelist." Rikuo said. "And here I am, I beat you without even breaking a sweat. Sounds like a title you don't deserve."

"But why the dragons?" Aki asked.

---

"I know, but it's better than nothing" Ashleigh said.

---

"That's enough Rikuo! Do you think you be better off in his shoes?" Mrs Fudo yelled, "Just be thankful that you had parents!"

"I have no idea," Selena replied. "The best person to ask about kas would be either Atem or Mahado."

---

"I don't like it, but she's right." Yugi said. "This is the only option we've got so far. If you've got an alternative, Crow, then fire away."

---

"Lucky? You call growing up as a dead guy lucky?!" Rikuo retorted. "Sorry, ma, but if you ask me it's just plain not fair that this guy--" he pointed to Yusei "--got to live, became a Signer, won the world dueling championship or whatever the hell it's called, and got to meet not just one, but BOTH people to hold the title King of Games?! Including the original?!" He shook his head. "Just being alive is bad enough. Having all that happen...that just rubs salt in the wounds"

"Oh" Aki said, then coughed.

---

"I'm open to suggestions" Ashleigh agreed.

---

"Well, you had your chance to be alive when you were 15! And who was the one who turned it down?" Mrs Fudo snapped.

"What's wrong?" Aoi asked from her seat on the ground. "Are you sick or something?"

---

Rikuo's hands balled into fists. "I...I know I rejected it....but..." He started, but he kicked a small rock on the ground and stomped off. "Why I rejected it is my own buisness!" He shouted as he stormed off.

"A bit. I guess I caught a bit of a cold from that place" Aki replied.

---

"I'm so sorry Yusei" Ms Fudo said, "I never seen him that way before."