========================================

"(y/n), take deep breaths, everything is going to be okay." Yami gently said as he slowly let go of you, "Are you alright? Are you hurt?" He asked as he looked around, "There was a weird thunderstorm that I've never seen that swung by, did you get hit?" Yami sounded more worried as his hands gently held your arms once more.

By all the Gods up, you've never felt so relieved of seeing him. You merely shook your head in response as Yami wrapped his arms around you to help you sit up. He was so warm you could fall asleep on him if you wanted to...if you weren't in some virtual world.

"What happened? Do you remember anything?" Yami quietly asked and lightly shook you to get your attention,

"Pain..." You honestly answered and took a huge sigh, "...lots of it."

"I see...." Yami's eyes narrowed, "...can you stand?"

Your eyes narrowed, why can't you just sit there in Yami's arms for a bit longer?

....why are you saying that? Take it back and get your ass up.

"I'll see if I can." You nodded as Yami helped you get up. It took a bit because of the immense pain the Seal gave, but you were standing on two feet...of course with Yami's help. Yami wrapped his arm around your arm and held you tight,

"Well, by and by, you wouldn't believe what I had to go through before I heard you," Yami sighed as he slowly guided you over somewhere else, "I was fighting Gansley."

"Gansley..?" You mumbled,

"One of the Big Five, don't you remember?" Yami asked with a small smile on his face,

"Oh..." Your mind clicked, "...oh yeah...forgot about them."

Yami laughed, "So that means you didn't duel one of the other Big Five members?"

Honestly, you prefer to duel them and deal with their misogynistic ass about bodies than deal with what you just experienced with Dartz. You sarcastically laughed at Yami's question,

"I wish." You noted as Yami chuckled, giving you weird chills down your back but not in a bad way.

"I can tell, but their duel rules are so...complex." Yami's face scrunched, "For example, you need to have a deckmaster throughout the duel, which is a monster of your choosing."

"Oh?" You perked up, "More rules?"

"Yes." Yami nodded, "But there's a problem, first off you need to choose your deckmaster from the deck they have in their system, so not directly from your deck. Secondly, if the deckmaster gets zero lifepoints you automatically lose."

"Ew." You scrunched your face as Yami laughed,

"I knew you'd say that."

"Ugh, all this for our bodies."

"With how you put it, it's rather..."

"Awkward?" You smirked,

"...well....yes..." Yami awkwardly nodded, "But we must stop them and return back to our world."

"And continue the tournament..." Your mind drifted off with what Shadi warned you about prior to ending up in this world. Do you really belong at the tournament? You have some beast to attack, and after that encounter with Dartz with that green stone...should you really be here in this virtual world?

And just like that, you realized how serious this Leviathan is and the Seal.

"(y/n)?" Yami stopped and tilted his head, "What is wrong?"

"Hm?" You perked and looked at him, "...oh, nothing." You shrugged but was greeted with a raised eyebrow and a look of doubt from Yami. Taking a sigh, you stared at your duel disk, which you were surprised was still on you.

"Hey..." You shifted uncomfortably, "...Do you think I should be here?" You asked as Yami widened his eyes,

"...What?" Yami asked,

"Like, should I really be here?" You asked,

"What kind of question is that?" Yami gasped, "Of course you should!"

"But...why?" You asked,

"You're a very smart duelist, (y/n)," Yami said with a stern look, "Don't think you managed to enter the finals out of sheer luck."

"....Do you think..." You mumbled, "...that if I had a destiny away from here, I should be gone?"

Yami was quiet. He stared at you with an intense look for a bit which made you a little uncomfortable. But you weren't wrong, hearing from a person you shouldn't be here, and with the Seal being impatient and overprotective, should you really be here right now? You're lucky Yami nor Mai have seen the Seal on your back as they were taking care of you.

"...(y/n)." Yami closed his eyes and took a sigh, "I want you to listen to me. I am aware that destinies tend to be...apart from what you intend. But as of now, you're with me and to me, that's all that matters." Yami answered, "Of course, destiny has a role with your choices and your future, but you're here with me. Don't you think despite your destiny being different, it put you here for a reason?"

You blinked, oh...you didn't think of that at all.

"...So I am here for a reason?" You asked,

"Yes." Yami nodded and lightly tightened his grip on your arm, "Believe it or not, you always manage to make my day with your silliness in serious situations."

Your cheeks turned red, "..wh...what do you mean silliness?"

"You think I didn't hear your quiet commentary back at the blimp?" Yami laughed, "It was rather hilarious."

"Y-Y-You heard?!" You squeaked as Yami's laugh increased,

"Of course I did!" He nodded, "I love hearing your voice-"

Silence filled the area for a bit as Yami froze in place and left your cheeks redder than usual.

"....iN JOKES. YES. IN JOKES." Yami yelped awkwardly as he nodded rapidly, "YOU ARE FUNNY." He assured with his cheeks slowly getting red.

"Y...Yeah.." You nodded as Yami gulped and looked ahead,

"AH. LOOK, THERE'S A DOOR." Yami pointed to change the subject. Your eyes averted in Yami's direction to find, in fact, a wooden door in the middle of the field.

"....So it seems." You gulped and nodded your head.

"Y-Y-Yugi and I are going to see where this door leads." Yami cleared his throat and stared at the ground, "It could lead to our other friends."

"Ah..." You nodded your head and grasped the door handle, "Then let's go?"

"Y-Yes!" Yami perked up and touched your hand. The moment he touched your hand, he flipped his hand off yours and awkwardly took a few steps away,

"Uh...sorry..." Yami mumbled and gulped, "Uh...instinct...uh...allow me to open the door."

Blinking, you took a step aside as Yami reached for the door and opened it. The moment you walked in, you looked over to see Yugi standing before you and giving you an intense look.

"Oh...Hi Yugi-" You greeted,

"YAMI." Yugi squeaked, "Is taking a break. Yes. A break." He nodded at his own words. You stared at Yugi for a moment, quietly registering his words,

"Because Pharaohs. Need. Rest." Yugi nodded as he clapped his hands on each word, "TOTALLY not because he was being an embarrassment towards himself and being the most obvious person in the entire world both virtual and real."

You paused and bit your lip to hide a smile, "Should...should you be telling me that-"

"ANYWAYS." Yugi clapped and rubbed his hands together, "Shall we go down this weird hallway to see where it goes?"

You nodded your head, trying to forget what Yugi had just blurted out loud and focused on the...what seems to be an endless hallway. It was entirely black with thin white lines horizontally across indicating the space around you.

"Jeez, Noah likes to exercise." You groaned and stretched your arms and legs to hear that familiar pop in your back - causing you to stop and immediately straighten up.

"Are you good for a run though?" Yugi asked, "You look really pale and it was hard for you to get up and walk on your own."

"Nah, no need to worry." You shook your head, "That walk helped me wake up my legs, I'm pretty sure I can run."

"Okay, if you need to take a breather let me know, alright?" Yugi nodded,

"I think finding everyone else is just as important though, if not more." Your eyes narrowed. Yugi paused for a bit, then smirked,

"Yami wants me to tell you no." Yugi said, "And if you even consider not taking a breather when you need one, Yami will come and be his awkward self because he's in- OW OW OKAY OKAY!" Yugi screeched as he rubbed his elbow, "S-Sorry (y/n), Yami assaulted me."

"I....can tell." You blinked and stretched your legs,

"Alright, let's go!" Yugi said and immediately started to run down the hall. You soon joined him and ran next to him until he lost his breath. Surprisingly, you managed to keep up his pace, you have no idea how, it's like some spurt of energy came on and you just went with the flow despite being literally paralyzed like, 10ish minutes ago?

"God...does this hallway ever end?" Yugi gasped for air as his hands rested on his knees.

"Well..Noah did make it..." You sat down for a bit, "He'd keep it going for as long as he wants."

"Well he isn't gonna stop me from seeing my friends." Yugi pumped himself back up. Seeing how he's gonna run more, you wasted no time and popped to your feet. Again, you have no clue how you're standing and acting like everything's fine. In fact, you feel...a little better?

"Alright, feelin' good (y/n)?" Yugi asked as he seemed to be ready to run,

"Yeah, let's go. Race you~" You teased as you ran ahead.

"Wha- HEY! NOT FAIR!" Yugi laughed as he ran after you in return. Soon he was able to catch up with you and continued to run down the halls. It wasn't even moments later and a giant hole pops up from underneath both you and Yugi.

"OH NOT AGAIN-" You hissed as you fell down this hole with Yugi and fell straight onto a new floor. Gasping at the impact, you clenched your teeth to not curse loudly in pain from your back. Your back really hates you now, especially since you took that stone. It's been popping and been incredibly being stubborn.

"What in the hell happened with the tournament?" You hissed to yourself as you felt warm arms hold your shoulders. Thinking Yami was back, you turned to find no one behind you and soon looked back to see Yugi slowly getting up as well.

"Ugh...that...could've been better..." Yugi groaned as the warmth left your shoulders. Extremely confused about what just happened, you gently rubbed your back.

"...you good?" You asked,

"Yeah, you?" Yugi nodded and slowly got up, "Damn...why does Noah like holes so much?!"

"Don't know and wish he liked slides." You sneered as you looked around to find 4 white doors surrounding you and Yugi. They were really bright, indicating that these doors were long open and were waiting for you to walk in on.

"Well...better than long-ass hallways." You rose from the floor and approached one of the doors, "...and looks really fishy."

"Ah! WAIT!" Yugi quickly grabbed your arm, "Y-Yami advises we test the doors first."

"..Good call.." You nodded and took a step back as Yugi took out a coin. Tossing it to one of the doors, an electrical field sparked and immediately threw the coin back.

"...Ya know..." You huffed in annoyance, "...I am really starting to hate this kid."

"I...can't blame you." Yugi nodded, "Let's test the other-"

"It's getting so cold..." Both you and Yugi perked up at a female voice that rang both yours and Yugis ears.

"....Is...Is that?" You immediately recognized that voice as it shivered in your spine,

"I...I don't think I can take it anymore..."

That's...that's Tea. Yugi turned pale upon hearing her voice,

"TEA!" Yugi cried out, "WHERE ARE YOU? TELL US WHERE YOU ARE!"

"Its....so....cold..." Tea quietly whimpered,

"NOAH TELL ME WHERE SHE IS RIGHT NOW!" Yugi screamed as his voice began to quiver.

"....Yugi, calm down-" You tried to get to Yugi's head but he immediately ran straight for one of the doors, "YUGI-" You screamed as the door propelled Yugi back and onto the floor. You immediately ran to Yugi and knelt beside him,

"Dude. Chill." You grasped his shoulders, "Noah's a prick, he's gonna do shit like this."

"But...but what about Tea?!" Yugi stared at you then looked to his other side. Blinking, you saw him look up at the door and his eyes perked up,

"...(y/n), do you see that star?" Yugi pointed at the top of the door. You looked up to find a single star imprinted and nodded your head,

"One star could possibly symbolize a monster's strength, so that means a one-starred monster could be right outside that door." Yugi explained as he got up. You rose from the floor and activated your duel disk,

"Then let's break it down~" You smirked as you pulled out a card from your deck - finally, playing a card game....with a door.

Erasing the fact you're having a mini duel session with a door, you stared at the door, "I summon Hysterical Skeleton in attack mode!"

"Ooo I love this one!" Yugi clapped excitedly as the skeleton appeared, laughing non-stop, as usual, attack points 1790 and defense points 1500.

"Attack and see who's behind this door!" You commanded as the Hysterical Skeleton's laughter soon turned to a scream as its wavelengths breached the door. Moments after the door was breached, a green dragon showed itself from the door but was soon demolished with the screams of the Hysterical Dragon.

"ALRIGHT! WOOHOO!!" Yugi cheered as he jumped out of excitement, "AW MAN I LOVE THE HYSTERICAL SKELETON! If you use any magic card that boosts him, he gets even COOLER!"

You lightly blushed at the aggressive compliments, "D'aww....thank you..."

"Now, let's go!" Yugi cheered as he bolted inside the door. Terrified of the idea of you losing Yugi and being lost again to encounter....someone again...you immediately followed Yugi to find yourself in...the same location you were?

"What....in the paradox?" You raised an eyebrow as Yugi clenched his teeth,

"..Back to where we were-"

"It's...freezing......my...my legs are numb!" You heard Tea cry out and Yugi gasped,

'WE'RE COMING TEA! HOLD ON!! WE GOT TO GET OUT OF HERE!" Yugi looked at you with a panicked look,

"Okay, let's first take a deep breath." You advised and looked around, "As I said, there's a likelihood that we're in some paradox that Noah threw us in."

"...T...True.." Yugi was practically shaking as he looked around. After pausing for a bit, he seemed to start to calm down as his eyes landed on the ground,

"Hey, look!" Yugi gasped, "It's the very same coin I tossed at the door earlier!"

Your eyes averted to the ground and spotted the coin, "...So we are going in circles."

"I don't get it!" Yugi frowned, "I thought the game was easy! Each star represents the level of the monster, beat the monster and you go through. Am I missing something?!" Yugi furiously asked,

"Okay, first off before we continue." You walked in front of Yugi and firmly grasped his shoulders, "First you need to calm down."

"B-But Tea!" Yugi looked at you, "We need to hurry-"

"And I get that," You nodded, "But panicking and running around mindlessly isn't gonna get you to Tea. We only managed to find out about this game after you calmed down, remember?" You quirked an eyebrow as you referred to beating up the dragon with your skeleton. "Take deep breaths and calm down. Noah is getting in your head and you're letting him. Breathe through your nose and out with your mouth."

Yugi stared at you as you took a deep breath as an example and soon joined you. After a few breaths, Yugi relaxed his shoulders and nodded,

"Okay...okay I'm calm." Yugi assured and looked at you, "Th....thank you (y/n)."

"No problem." You let go of his shoulders and looked at each door again, "Now, let's look further into this godforsaken game. We may be missing something, maybe it's supposed to be in order or something?" You asked as Yugi gasped,

"That's it!" Yugi's eyes lit up, "You're a genius, (y/n)! Oh...yeah, you too Yami." Yugi nervously laughed, "Sorry (y/n), Yami's been telling me the same thing! Maybe there's more to it and you're right! Maybe since we beat the one-starred monster, we now need to do the second."

"Then the third, and so on." You smirked at the doors, "Good idea." You mumbled as you set out your duel disk,

"Awww yeah!" Yugi clasped his hands together, "Let's see what you're gonna cast this time! OOH! Let me do the next one, alright?"

"You gotta remind me though or I'll keep doing it for you," You reminded Yugi as you pulled out another card with a smirk, "I summon Mermaid Wonder in attack mode!"

Mermaid Wonder. A single mermaid with long pink hair, green eyes, a purple shell around her chest, and a long blue tail. Her attack points are 1950 and her defense is 1500.

"AW YEAH!" Yugi cheered,

"Attack the door!" You demanded as the mermaid used her tail and smacked the door, including the green-rooted monster that came out of it.

"Let's go!" Yugi sprang into action and bolted in the door the moment it opened. You soon followed as the Mermaid blew a kiss for goodbye. Once you ran down that hall, you encountered the same room. Darting your eye to the third door, you discovered three facedown cards below the stars.

"...wait a minute-" You paused,

"My turn!" Yugi said excitedly and immediately opened his disk, "I summon Swift Gaia the Fierce Knight, attack!"

"Yugi, wait a minute-" You warned as the Knight attacked the door but struck what appeared to be a card. The attack bounced straight back to the knight and he went down.

"What..?" Yugi gasped,

"There are three facedown cards below the Stars-" You looked to find one of the facedown cards was gone, "....Okay now two."

"And that one if I had to guess it was Mirror Force trap card..." Yugi muttered as he pulled another card, "I summon Gazelle!"

As he was summoned, a much weaker-looking monster appeared behind the door. It looked like a decaying vampire to you but you didn't say anything.

"Now lets-" Yugi paused as he watched the second facedown card be activated. This decaying vampire soon held a sword.

"...I summon Berfomet and use Polymerization to form Chimera!" Yugi activated his magic card and fused both the monsters to increase the damage. "Now attack my mythical beast!" Yugi demanded as the Chimera floored the decaying vampire.

"WOO! GO YUGI!" You cheered as Yugi briefly smiled at you,

"Th-Thanks! Now let's go!" Yugi bolted down the halls with you following. Once you made it back to the room, you caught eyes with the four-starred door with five facedown cards,

"Holy - five facedown cards?!" You gasped as you immediately pull out your disk, " Yugi I am TOTALLY taking this one."

"B-But it's five facedown cards!" Yugi looked at you, "Can you handle it?"

"Yup, and I have just the card to get rid of those." You pulled out a magic card you were keeping, "I activate the Heavy Storm magic card."

"You have that too?!" Yugi gasped as he watched the storm get rid of all the facedown cards.

"It was a gift from someone, I forgot who actually..." You bit your lip, "...so sorry to whoever gave me it, I