"Don't mind if I do!" The entity said, charging at Atem.

---

"You feel that, Yugi?" Crow asked.

"Yeah, I do." Yugi replied. "Atem's close to losing it...and that's not a good thing."

---

Finally all the memories hit Yusei like a bolt of lightning. His friends, the battle against the Dark Signers, the upcoming WRGP, the duel against Paradox, what they were going through now...what he'd done while under the control of the entity.....

Now I remember! Atem wanted me to summon that thing, and it took over! He thought. Now he was fully concious of what was going on. He started swimming upward. I won't let it hurt him! Or anyone!

Before the entity was about to hit the pharaoh, Atem stepped to the side and it fell. With a blast of light, Atem was back in his pharotic form.
'Yusei, if you can hear me, hurry up! I can't last for much longer' he cried.

'I'm trying,' Yusei replied. It felt like he was having more and more trouble reaching the surface the closer he got, and he found out why when he looked down.

There was...something reaching up, and it had hold of his feet. Damn!

---

Yugi wheeled around another corner, then raced into the gymnasium. "Atem!" He called. He stopped when he saw Atem in his pharaonic form. "Oh no...."

Crow stopped short, nearly bumping into Yugi. "Whoa! Is that Atem?" He asked. Yugi only nodded.

---

The entity groaned as it picked itself up off the ground. "Damn...I knew I shouldn't have tried something as simple as a punch." It said. It pulled a card out of its extra deck. It activated its Duel Disk. "I summon you forth, my servant. Black Hole Hell Dragon!"

With one wave of the the staff, a card was activated.
"I activate Solem Warnining. Deal with that beast" he commanded. Sure enough, people appeared surrounded the dragon. When they disappeared, the dragon was no more.
"Good try, but that's not enough" he said.

"You..." the entity said. "Then I--" it froze when it felt a sharp pain deep inside. No! That boy!

---

Yusei fired a blast of power at the tendrils gripping his legs. He freed himself with that blast. Now, to show you whose body this is! He thought as his head broke the surface....

---

"No...YUSEI!" Crow called when he saw the red tint in Yusei's eyes. "Snap out of it!" He started running towards his friend, who was clearly in pain fron the internal struggle. Yugi stopped him with an outstretched arm.

"What are you doing?! That's Yusei! He needs help!" Crow protested.

"No," Yugi replied evenly. "He'll take back his body, I can tell."

Atem smirked.
"I knew you were lying" he said.

"N-no! I'm in control!" The entity protested. It yelled out in pain as another shock lanced through its skull.

"Sorry, but you're not the one in control!" Yusei shouted. "Now, if you don't mind, I'll take my body back!"

"I won't let you...!" The entity protested. The mark on its arm flared and burned. "NOOOO!!!!"

"RAAAGH!!!" Yusei took over again....

...just in time to find himself facing down a magic blast. "No!" He swung his arm out in front of him, not knowing what he was going to do.

His dark blue aura flared, filling the room with the scent of mint. A dragon was forming in front of him, acting as a shield from the blast of power. Yusei's eyes widened when he realized what that dragon was.

"...Stardust?"

---

Crow was standing openmouthed as he saw the dragon shield Yusei. "Are my eyes playing tricks on me or is that Stardust Dragon?!" He asked.

Yugi smiled. "Yeah, it is." He said. "Yusei's just summoned his ka!"

Atem smiled and the magic blast faded.
"I knew you can do it" he said, "I'm really proud of you Yusei. I am honored to have you as my student." And with that, he bowed.

Yusei blinked as he bowed in response. "So, this means that you're my mentor?" he asked. The dragon faded once it realized his master was no longer in danger.

"Hey! Yusei!" Crow called. "What the heck happened there?"

Yusei looked up. "I...tried summoning that entity, and...well....." He shrugged. "It took over, again."

"And I see you also have a sword" Atem said, noticing the pendant around Yusei's neck, "I will be happy to teach you the basics of sword fighting since I'm a swordsman as well." After that, Atem collasped and returned back to his present day form.

"Atem!" Yugi shouted, running forward to his partner. "Are you all right? Say something!" He knelt down next to him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Looks like he might've overtaxed himself," Yusei said. Soon enough he stumbled as well. Crow caught him just as he fell. "Wha...?"

"Easy, buddy." Crow said. "Look at your shirt and you'll see why."

Yusei looked down. "What the--the wound reopened?!" He asked, shocked. His vision blurred. "Damn it...."

Shortly after, Atem woke up in sick bay.
Where am I? he thought as he tuned to see Yusei with a waterbottle, full of the healing liquid.
"Yusei, I'm so sorry, but it was the only way to keep the entity at bay" he said weakly.

"It's fine," Yusei replied. "The stitches got ripped out though...I passed out not too long after you did."

"Yeah, and you're a dead weight too," Crow said from the other end of the sickbay.

"So are you when you're out cold." Yusei replied.

Atem sat up.
"Looks, like the first lesson is completed plus facing your fears head on was a huge success" he said, "I'm really proud of you Yusei."

Yusei nodded. "Thanks for the vote of confidence," he replied. "I'm not entirely sure about what happened towards the end though. Why did Stardust come an protect me like that?"

"Kas are usually there when you are in danger" Atem replied, "and it acts also as a sword, than just a sheild."

Yusei frowned. "What do you mean, they're a sword as well?" He asked.

"You'll see what I mean when we train" Atem replied.

"I see," Yusei replied. "I heard Kaiba lost an arm. How's he been?"

"Stubbon as ever but he is staying in the bed though" Atem replied, "and he's getting an robotic arm."

"Good," Yusei replied. "I take it he still hasn't gotten over...it."

Atem noticed Yusei moving slighly.
"Are you alright?" he asked, "what happened with Ashleigh?"

"I had to give her the kiss of life," Yusei replied. "I know for sure that Yugi's not happy about it...Ashleigh's probably not too thrilled...and I know once Aki finds out, I'm a dead man."

"And?" Atem asked, "there's more to this, I can tell."

Yusei hesitated, then nodded. "The four Archangels finally decided to tell us their plans." He replied. "Someone other than Ashleigh is going to betray us."