Sunlight broke in from the sky and through the trees. I could hear the howls of the wind and birds chirping. By the look of things, I was in the middle of a forest, but I had no idea how I'd even ended up in the forest.

I attempted to focus my eyes on something, anything that would give me some hint as to where I was, but I wasn't able to. Hazily, I brought my hand up to look at it and in an instant, I could no longer feel anything. My sense of touch and my general awareness had almost vanished completely. It was like I was being pulled somewhere against my will, and I was powerless to do anything.

Suddenly, a voice cut through the forest.

"Somebody…"

Whatever force I felt pulling me surrendered itself almost immediately.

The voice was distinctly female, possibly belonging to a young child. I looked around until my eyes came upon a clearing, and at the edge of the clearing, I could see the shadow of a young girl. "Somebody… please help me…!" that same voice pleaded, the tone revealing to me a truly frightened little girl.

It was strange: In spite of me never having met this girl before, there was this feeling, this notion in the back of my head that I was the only one who could save her, that I was this 'somebody'. Maybe she was like me, I thought. Lost in a strange place not knowing how she got here.

I tried to run over to the child, but I didn't seem to get any closer to her. If anything, I just found myself getting further and further away from her.

The girl's cries seemed to get more and more desperate, and once I realized the futility in running, I then tried to call out to her, let her know that there was someone else around – someone willing to help her.

In spite of my attempt, no sound came out of my mouth, and the more I tried to call out to her, the more I felt myself growing weaker. Despite my best efforts, I couldn't stop my eyelids starting to flicker and droop before I collapsed onto the ground, the sounds of the forest and cries of the young girl slowly fading away.

Emerging from a dark, flat silence, incessant beeping of electrical equipment filled my ears, letting me know that I was in a much different place.

"Sayer! A change has been detected in the test subject's body!" a woman called out. This person's voice sounded older than the other girl's. I tried to speak, but like in the forest, I couldn't. Unlike in the forest, my mouth wouldn't even open this time. Heck, I couldn't even open my eyes.

"What is it?!" a man asked, practically shouting over the noise that the apparent electrical equipment seemed to be making.

"Look at this…" the woman began, "See the irregularity in the nerve impulses? It's not like anything we've seen before. It's highly likely that the subject's been communicating with the Spirit World."

I didn't know who else was in the room with me at the time. If I was just alone with these two or there were many others all observing me. I had so many questions to ask. Who was the 'test subject'? And what was the 'Spirit World'?

"Hmm… Then it seems that all of our research up to this point hasn't been in vain…" the man murmured.

"Yes, sir…" the woman confirmed.

"Perhaps then, it's time that we put this one to work for us…" the man added "Even if this subject does not possess psychic powers, I'm sure that at the very least, we'll have a decent Duelist on our hands. He was wearing the same clothing as the others, and according to what I could find on them in the database, they were the best Duelists in Satellite."

I wasn't sure if they knew I could hear them, that I was listening in, but suddenly I felt my entire body loosen up, as if a weight had been lifted off of my arms and legs. In a daze, I opened my eyes and jerked my head to the side, looking around the room. I seemed to be in some sort of examination chair, which was folded right back with my head semi-protected by a glass visor, preventing me from sitting up.

I was finally able to stir my voice and I brought my left hand up to my face, causing the woman sitting beside me to gasp. "Oh! Sayer! The subject's eyes have opened!" she shouted, sounding surprised.

"Well then," the man, who I assumed to be Sayer, began, "when our friend here is able to walk, see that you escort him to his room."

I tried to look past the visor and focus solely on the man. He had long auburn-colored hair, which seemed specifically styled to obscure the side of his face. He wore a black suit with a white tie and a green vest over both along with formal corduroy pants that were the same color as his suit. I wasn't able to tell by the man's facial expression if he was well-meaning or not, but the woman seemed to trust him, so I assumed that, for the time-being at least, I should too.

Sayer began to walk out of the room, but stopped at the door, turning back to the woman. "One more thing: make sure that no one realizes that this subject is not a psychic Duelist. If anyone else finds this out, our secret might be leaked to the outside world."

It clicked in my head that I was the 'test subject' they'd both been talking about, but for what, I still wasn't sure. The fact that Sayer said that I wasn't a psychic must've meant something, but I was too focused on trying to stay awake to let what he'd said sink in.

"Yes, sir. Understood." the woman stood up and bowed as Sayer walked out the door and out of my view. The woman then walked over to a machine and pressed a few buttons. There was a whirring sound as the visor moved up and away from my face, allowing me to sit up, though I stayed lying down. The woman then walked back over to me. "Are you alright?" she asked softly.

I didn't know how to answer her, so I just stayed quiet, slowly looking over the woman. She had shortish, golden brown hair and wore a white shirt underneath some sort of robe or gown. I could tell by the look in her golden-colored eyes that she didn't mean me any harm, so I decided to answer her. "I-I…" I stammered, realizing I didn't really know what to say. I began breathing much more heavily until the woman calmed me.

"Shh… it's okay…" the woman cooed, "I didn't mean to rush you. Why don't you take a moment to gather your thoughts and then tell me, okay?"

I closed my eyes as I slowed my breathing right down, trying to think how I could best answer her question. Besides having a small headache, I felt fine in every sense, but I didn't know where I was or why I was even here. "I've got a headache…" I mumbled.

The woman nodded knowingly. "How you're feeling now is perfectly normal, so don't worry. My name is Seria, what's yours?" she asked.

I looked into Seria's eyes and gave her my answer. "Tyler… My name is Tyler Nochi…"

"Tyler…" Seria muttered. "That's a great name!" she smiled.

"Th-thank you…" I murmured, doing my best to sit up. My hands were weak though, struggling even to support my upper body. Seria then extended her hand out to me, which I took, assuming that she wanted to help me up.

I assumed right as Seria pulled me to my feet. However, I wasn't very steady and I stumbled forward. Thankfully, Seria caught me, holding onto my waist tightly as she served as my crutch. "Oh my! Are you okay?!"

"Y-yes… I'm sorry about that…" I apologized.

"You don't need to apologize. You've been under for quite a while." Seria assured me, gently turning me around and taking my hand in hers. "Let's take a walk around the room, help get some feeling back into those legs."

I nodded and shakily took a step forward, my entire body wobbling. If Seria hadn't have been there, I was sure that I would've fallen and never gotten up. Ever so slowly, I began to walk, Seria by my side and holding her hand in mine, offering gentle encouragement every time I took an uneasy step.

After a couple of laps around the room, I was able to walk without Seria holding me. I couldn't understand as to how I wasn't able to walk before. Even though Seria said I'd been unconscious for a while, it felt like it was more than that, like my body had somehow forgotten how to walk. That didn't matter now though, as I seemed to be doing just fine walking without Seria's assistance.

"That's great, Tyler!" Seria smiled, "Here, I've got something for you." she said, turning away and picking up some weird contraption that was resting on one of the machines before giving it to me.

Somehow, I recognized what it was right away. It was a Duel Disk. I slotted the Duel Disk over my left arm and readjusted the strap until it fitted my wrist comfortably. "Thank you…" I muttered.

Seria smiled once more. "You're welcome." Seria glanced over at a monitor before looking back to me. "I'll help you get settled in. Come on."

Taking my hand, Seria led me out of the room. I found myself taken aback by my new surroundings. The place I was in seemed like a palace. Bronze and copper statues littered the halls and fine velvet seemed to serve as the carpet. Seria took me into an elevator and then, once we'd reached another floor, led me to a locked room, taking a card out of her pocket and swiping it in a little scanner near the door. The door unlocked and Seria motioned for me to join her as she went inside.

I walked inside and was met by two other boys, both wearing the same clothing that Seria had on. One of the boys had dark brown hair, tan skin and aside from his clothing had a small pair of glasses over his eyes. The other had messy blond hair, light skin and freckles.

"This will be your room from today onwards. If you have any questions at all, please feel free to stop by the lab. I'll be happy to answer any questions you may have." Seria explained, before twitching. "Oh! I almost forgot, here's a Deck that you can use."

Seria reached into her pocket and handed me a deck of cards along with the key card which she used to open up the room. "Thank you…" I muttered, slotting the deck into my Duel Disk and shoving the key card in my pocket.

It was at that point I realized that I also seemed to be wearing the same clothes as Seria and the two other boys, though I noticed that while Seria's centerpiece was baby blue and the two boys' was lavender, mine was a folly red. I also seemed to be fairly well-built, although my stark-black hair was a mess. "Now, that Deck has been created from a pre-constructed set, so be careful not to mix up or misplace any of the cards, okay?" Seria told me. I nodded. Seria then turned to the other boys. "Sayer will be coming by soon to give you your first set of orders shortly, so you two had better be ready for when he arrives."

"Yes, ma'am…" both boys said.

"Good." Seria smiled, "You should prepare as well, Tyler." She added, but before I could ask what I had to even prepare for, Seria had already walked out of the room, the door closing behind her.

Sheepishly, I turned back around to the other boys. "It is a pleasure to meet you." the tan-skinned boy spoke up. "My name is Okita Konowara. I'm sure we'll get along smashingly."

I smiled at how jovial the young man was, before the blond stepped forward. "Some new blood, eh…?" he muttered with a slight uneasiness in his voice. "I'm Liquid Hebi. What's your name?" he asked.

"Uh, Tyler… Tyler Nochi." I answered quickly.

"Tyler, eh?" Liquid seemed to ponder something. "Well, good to have you on board."

I still had plenty of questions that needed answering, but I knew I couldn't go and see Seria now, not with Sayer supposedly on his way here. For now, I'd just have to sit tight and keep my questions to myself.

"Hey!" Liquid shouted, pulling me out of my thoughts. "What're you staring into space for? You got anything goin' on upstairs there?" he asked me.

"What?" I asked.

"Hey now, get ahold of yourself! This is the Arcadia Movement Headquarters!" Liquid seemed slightly irritated by my response.

"Arcadia Movement…?" I muttered.

"Yes, the Arcadia Movement." Liquid sighed.

"Sorry, I'm just trying to figure some stuff out…" I murmured.

"Okay, give your brain a rest 'til we get some instructions then." Liquid suggested.

I looked around the room. It was small, only possessing two beds, two windows, one bedside drawer and a bench. I could already tell that both Okita and Liquid had claimed ownership of the two beds. So I just sat down on the bench and decided to go through the deck that Seria gave me.

Most of the cards I had in my Deck I had recalled seeing at some point or another, which was weird, because I was unable to pinpoint exactly when I had seen most of these cards, or how I even knew how to use them. I began sorting my cards into various piles based on the sorts of combos my deck could use.

Just as I finished shuffling and recombining the Deck, the door to our room opened up, and Sayer walked in. I cautiously got up off the bench and walked over to where Okita and Liquid were.

"Psychic Duelists, listen up!" Sayer barked, causing Okita and Liquid to straighten themselves up quickly. I followed suit, though I was confused. Sayer had admitted to Seria while I was in their company that I had no such psychic powers. So why would he say that I was one? And why did he want it to be kept a secret?

I sighed, thinking it would be best not to ask and just go with it for the time being.

"The next operation to be carried out by our very own Arcadia Movement has been decided upon!" Sayer began, "Our target will be the Sector Security event, the Fortune Cup. Apparently, a large number of Duelists with amazing skills are set to participate in this tournament, with the winner being crowned the champion of New Domino City." Sayer explained. "Of course, the title has little interest to me. The main reason for going is that we suspect Sector Security to be plotting something behind the scenes… And I can't let them go about their business without any oversight now, can I?!" Sayer asked.

"No, sir!" Liquid spoke up, only to receive a glare from Sayer. I got the feeling that he wasn't really asking us a question, and was more talking out loud.

Sayer turned back towards the door. "Akiza, come!" he shouted.

A young girl, probably around my age, meekly stepped into the room, before making her way over to Sayer. She had dark burgundy hair and wore a victorian-style outfit that showed off a good amount of cleavage. A silver hairpin was positioned at the top of her head to keep her front bangs positioned away from her eyes. I'll be honest; she was a very beautiful girl.

"Everyone, this is Akiza Izinski, though you might know her as the Black Rose Witch. She has been invited to take part in the Fortune Cup." Sayer explained, motioning to the girl.

"Hi…" Akiza said, somewhat coldly, and yet somewhat bashfully. She was sticking unnervingly close to Sayer and seemed to be hanging off his every word.

"I need the three of you to infiltrate the rear of the event hall in order to support her." Sayer began. "That being said, the arena will be heavily guarded, and as you're all novices, you probably won't have enough power to bend a psychic Duel to your will. Not like Akiza anyway…"

"Yes, sir…" Liquid and Okita muttered. I joined in about halfway through.

"The three of you will have to work together! Consider it a kind of field training." Sayer said, turning back to Akiza. "Akiza, make sure you give those other contestants a real taste of your powers! Show them the power of the Black Rose Witch!"

"Yes, sir." Akiza bowed. "Everything will be as you wish, Sayer."

Sayer then turned toward Okita, Liquid and I. "All right then. You three, head on over to the tournament area. And don't fail me!" and with that, Sayer left the room with Akiza following closely behind.

I'm sure that Sayer didn't mean it to come across this way, but his words sounded a lot more threatening than he needed them to be. I looked over at Okita and Liquid, who were both strapping on their Duel Disks.

"Oh well… To think our first mission is at the Fortune Cup…" Okita murmured.

"All the more reason for us to get it right then." I smiled, though I truly had no idea what the Fortune Cup even really was.

"Well," Liquid piped up as the door to our room opened, "there's no sense in wasting time. Let's get to work!"