“The system is stable,” stated a male scientist.
“In thirty seconds, it’ll be ready for the final phase,” said a female. They paused as others like them stared into a giant reactor, brimming with light of several colors.
“Okay, Dr. Fudo. Enter the password and the program will be complete,” said another male.
Another man stood before a control panel, and began entering in a code using the keys on the console. His finger then hovered over the red square button.
"With this..." he thought. “New Domino City’s future will be secure.”
Yusei Fudo had finally achieved his goal. With the push of a button, he would prevent the disaster foretold by Z-ONE and his colleagues, who formed a group called Yliaster—a group that initially sought to destroy New Domino City and the Ener-D reactor that stood before him. Upon his defeat, Z-ONE entrusted Yusei to protect the city’s future—or, more accurately, the world’s future—to prevent a repeat catastrophe that took place several years before… a catastrophe that led to the world the members of Yliaster were born in.
Months of hard work were finally going to pay off. The nightmares of the previous disaster that shaped and heavily impacted Yusei’s life… were finally going to come to an end. He and his friends were going to live in a prosperous future… one where the future disaster predicted by Yliaster would never occur.
“Z-ONE, the future you were born in, that you and your friends had traveled back in time to change… your wish is about to finally come true,” Yusei thought as he pressed the large button. The scientists in the large, round room remained at their consoles, examining the screens.
“All readings are normal,” stated the male scientist. “The program was a success.”
Applause soon filled the room as Yusei sighed with relief.
“It’s done,” he thought. His eyes scanned the room, many smiling faces and pleasant expressions directed towards him.
The room suddenly began to flash red. A siren blared throughout the lab.
“What the?!” Yusei exclaimed.
“Dr. Fudo! The readings show the Ener-D reactor is about to reach critical mass!” a female scientist shouted.
“That can’t be!” Yusei rapidly mashed the keys on the console. “I’ve got to shut it down!” The control panel sparked with electricity, knocking Yusei back. He stared at the console as it caught fire, then at the reactor which began to glow brightly. The cylindrical glass that surrounded it began to crack. “No… not again...” He became wide-eyed as another Zero Reverse—as the disaster almost twenty years before was dubbed—was about to occur. Yusei stared at the reactor in disbelief. Where had he gone wrong? He had made sure. He had run several tests. The program couldn’t have failed! And yet, it had… right before his eyes. He had failed.
“Yusei!” cried two young voices.
Yusei turned his head at the sound of his name being called. He quickly got up and ran into the hallway. He scanned both sides until he saw something on his left in the darkness.
“Yusei!” a young male voice cried.
“Help us!” cried a young female.
He saw two young green-haired kids—a boy and a girl that were fraternal twins—being pulled into a black void on the wall.
“Leo! Luna!” Yusei exclaimed as he sprinted towards them, extended his arms towards them.
“Yusei!” Leo yelled, reaching out to him.
The two kids soon disappeared into the darkness on the wall as it faded.
“No!” Yusei shouted. He turned as a bright light began to engulf the building.
Yusei sprang up, sweating and panting hard. He quickly scanned the vicinity. He was in his bed of his apartment belonging to the landlady, Zora.
He peered at the window, only to see that the sky was pitch-black. Glancing at the clock, he saw it was only 3:15 a.m.
“It was just a dream…” he concluded. “The same one as last night…”
He began to recall a number of things. The program for the reactor wasn’t complete. It would probably take another month or two to finish it. Not to mention, Leo and Luna… after having that dream the previous night, the fraternal twins were nowhere to be found.
It was if they simply… vanished.
What worried Yusei even more was the lack of responsiveness of the mark of the Crimson Dragon on his right arm. It was normally able to detect when the other Signers—his friends, including Leo, Luna, and himself—were in some sort of danger.
Still weary from the previous day’s fruitless search, he slowly laid back down on the mattress, his missing friends still on his mind.
“Hey, Yusei!” called a voice.
Yusei turned his head away from the computer in the garage where his Duel Runner was stored. At the doorway, he saw a man in an officer outfit.
“Crow,” he responded.
“You look beat, man,” Crow commented. “Didn’t you get enough sleep last night?”
“No,” Yusei shook his head.
“That dream again, huh?”
“Unfortunately.”
“Don’t worry. We’ll find them. They won’t be missing for long. You know that as well as I do.” Crow held his right arm up.
“If only our marks were actually able to help.”
“You do realize Jack and Akiza are still searching, right? Not to mention Sector Security as well. You have friends looking for them. So don’t worry.”
“Right.”
“We now interrupt your current programming to bring you this important news update,” said a voice from the television screen nearby. The two turned their heads to watch. “Last night, a mysterious light shone in New Domino City’s central park. Upon investigation, officials recovered an unknown creature and have made no word as to what it is. They have also denied information to the media and the general public as to the origin of this creature, how it created the mass of light, or what it even looks like outside those who found it, but it is clear that no one has seen such a thing before. While it may be a new life form altogether, there is the possibility that it may be some prank. Until this is confirmed, we will continue to investigate. And now for the weather—”
“I’m not sure how that got out,” Crow said, hitting the power button on the remote control. “But it’s definitely weird.”
“What do you mean?” Yusei asked.
“I was one of the officers there to recover the thing. It… well… maybe you should see for yourself.”
“What for?”
“You’d kinda have to be there or you might not believe it.”
“Wait? Here?” Yusei asked.
“Quite the coincidence,” Crow replied. “It’s just like any science fiction. A mysterious creature shows up and the first thing that happens is people put it in a lab. Go figure, right? And this one just happened to be the closest to the site where it appeared.”
“Just what is it, anyway?”
Crow rushed down the streets of New Domino City on his Sector Security Duel Runner.
“This better be good,” Crow thought. “I was just about to have a nice dinner at a fancy restaurant… even paid for by Trudge… as a reward for making it up the ranks of being an officer… then this had to happen…”
“You’re not still upset about dinner, right?” Trudge asked, driving a car next to Crow.
“No, I am totally not upset about not being able to eat some really great food from a really fancy restaurant,” Crow replied, with a sarcastic tone.
“I asked them to box the food!”
“That’s great and all, but cooked food is usually at its best when it’s eaten soon after being cooked.”
“Then just warm it up!”
“It’s not the same.” Crow sighed.
“That’s enough, you two,” said a female voice, coming from the passenger seat of the car that Trudge was driving.
“Yeah… sure thing, Mina,” Crow responded. “Looks like we’re here, anyw—Wha?”
“What’s up, Crow?” Trudge asked. Both of them stopped in front of the park.
“My mark… it’s reacting to something?”
“That’s odd…”
Crow jumped off his Runner and darted into the park.
“Hey, wait up!” Trudge called after him.
“Let’s go, Officer Trudge!” Mina said, running behind Crow.
“Oy… I just can’t keep up… I’m getting too old for this,” Trudge mumbled, turning off the vehicle’s engine.
Crow walked up to see a pedestrian and her young child standing in front of a crater.
“What seems to be the trouble, ma’am?” Crow asked her.
“That…” the woman pointed towards the center of the depression.
Crow turned his head and gasped. It wasn’t the creature lying in the crater itself that surprised him, but the object on its head… glowing.
“The light appeared out of nowhere. Then POOF! This thing was laying there! I tried waking it up! But then I called mom and she came over here. And that’s when she called you.” the child exclaimed. “It looks like a…”
“Wait, your mark reacted to it?” Yusei asked Crow.
“Yeah. And you know not too many things can make our marks glow the way mine did,” Crow replied.
“Right…”
“Let’s go inside and you can check it out for yourself.”
The two got off their Duel Runners and headed into the lab. Yusei lagged a bit behind Crow. “This timing…” he thought. “Is it a coincidence…?”
“Let me guess.”
“Hm?”
“You think this might have something to do with Leo and Luna missing, right?”
“…I don’t know…”
“Neither do I, honestly. And I doubt there is a connection, but it’s something worth taking a look at since… you know… causing our marks to react and all.”
“Right…”
“Dr. Fudo! I didn’t expect you here!” said a guard, standing in front of a laboratory door.
“It’s all right,” Crow said. “I’m giving him permission to enter.”
“But… it’s highly classified… no one outside us or Sector Security can know about it…”
“‘Us’?”
“The scientists in the room performing tests on it. Director Lazar’s orders. You know that as well, Officer. With all due respect, I cannot permit him to enter.”
“Look, sir, we both are, in some way, working under Lazar. I’ve even been promoted to higher ranks. And I want you to let him in.”
“I’m sorry, sir…”
Crow sighed.
“It’s all right, Crow,” Yusei said. “It can’t be helped.”
“Fine,” Crow replied, walking with Yusei towards the exit. “Maybe I should get that clownhead Lazar to let you in. Surely he would…”
“Yeah.”
The two remained silent as they went down the hallway, until they were halted by the sound of an explosion. They turned their heads to the see the guard speaking to a male scientist.
“What was that explosion?” asked the guard.
“Someone’s… taken… it…” the male scientist panted, then collapsed. The guard rushed into the doorway.
“Hey! Are you alright?” Crow asked, rushing to them. “What happened?”
“Someone’s taken the lab specimen!” the guard answered, as Yusei appeared at the doorway. Yusei quickly scanned the room. A large glass tube had been smashed into and a gaping hole existed where the wall used to be.
“Did anyone see who did it?” Crow questioned.
“It was…” groaned another scientist, “…some big, bulky guy… on a huge Duel Runner…”
“Big, bulky guy… huge Duel Runner… that could only be…” Crow turned his head back towards the doorway. “Let’s go, Yusei! …Yusei?” He walked back into the hall only to find no one in either direction. “Where’d you go?”
Pedestrians were startled as a large vehicle rushed past them. A cackling was heard from its bulky rider.
“That was too easy!” the man said, turning onto a Duel Lane. “I don’t normally resort to stealing such girly looking things like this… but with that sum… it’s definitely worth it! All I have to do now is retu—”
“Dobocle!” a voice exclaimed.
“Who’s that?” the man replied, turning his head behind him. “What?! Yusei Fudo?!”
Yusei rode his Duel Runner close behind Dobocle’s, his eyes drawn to the creature that was tied to the back. The creature was clearly four-legged but its coat was almost purple. “A horse… no… it’s got wings and a horn…” he observed. He then felt a pulse in his arm. Glancing at it, he saw the mark on his arm glowing then looked up at the object now fastened to Dobocle’s waist. The emblem, glowing brightly, was shaped like a star and was identical to the symbol on the creature’s rear end. “That crown… Is that what my mark is reacting to…?”
“Hey! Stay away from my loot! I need to return this to get my pay!” Dobocle exclaimed.
They suddenly heard a soft moan from the equine. Yusei glanced at its face. He saw the expression of a troubled being.
“Aren’t you listening? I said stay away!” Dobocle shouted.
“No. I won’t let you get away!” Yusei replied.
“Is that so?” The bulky man punched a button on his Runner, releasing tacks onto the track.
“What?!”
“Let’s see you get past that!” Dobocle cackled again. “What?!” He watched as Yusei swiftly avoided the hazards laid out on the Duel Lane.
“Like I said… you won’t get away.”
“Then there’s only one thing to do.” Dobocle pressed another button on his Duel Runner. “I activate the Field Spell Speed World 2!” The image of a card appeared on his and Yusei’s screen, as the latter’s integrated Duel Disk appeared from the sides of his Runner.
“DUEL MODE ENGAGED,” said a computer voice.
“If you lose, your Runner will slow down and prevent you from pursuing me any further,” Dobocle continued, chuckling.
Yusei glared at him. “Fine, then. I accept,” he declared.
“I’ll teach you to mess with me. When it comes to Turbo Duels… there’s no one who understands them better than me!”
The two continued down the Duel Lane as one word came from their mouths. “DUEL!”