Key*

"Hi." -Regular speech
Hi -Someone is thinking
"Hi" -A ghost/Duel Monster is speaking

(3rd Person PoV)

At nighttime, Yuga was sleeping away with his blankets nearly falling off the bed. Meanwhile, Yusei was staring at the window and observing the outside world.

He found out pretty quickly that he can't fall asleep and doesn't get any side effects from not sleeping. How can he if he's dead and a ghost?

He decided to make a game of counting the things outside and adding on any new things. So far, it was the regular stuff with streetlights, fireflies, moths and the occasional car coming by with alley cats running through every once in a while. Something to keep him busy at night without getting too bored.

Yuga sometimes leaves stuff out for Yusei to look through, such as his deck. In his mind, Yusei thought of strategies that could be used with Yuga's deck. With imaginary opponents, Yusei imagined himself Rush Dueling with Yuga's deck as that's the one he knows the most.

Despite that, something felt missing in his mind.

His eyes looked over at the deck holder that Yuga had and where his own monster was. Stardust Dragon.

(Flashback)

"Huh? Are you sure that you want me to hold onto it?" Yuga asked while holding up Stardust Dragon.

"Yes, as a ghost, I doubt I'm able to hold onto it both in a literal sense and a metaphorical sense. I would rather have someone hold onto Stardust than have it be stolen," Yusei explained.

"I guess you're right. Ok, I'll place it in an extra area in my deck holder. Originally, that's where the extra deck is supposed to go," Yuga said and examined Stardust Dragon.

"Still, I have heard a lot about this dragon and how there's only one copy of it," he muttered.

Yusei perked up at this. "One copy? You think you'll be able to search up who had it last?" He asked, in hopes of finding more about his past.

"That would be a great idea but Goha monitors our Internet Searches and if you're under the age of 13, then there are massive restrictions on what you can and can't search. Believe me, I tried hacking the system and tried making my age to be 13 and up but Goha already has a system in place in case anyone wants to try that," Yuga explained.

"What can't you search?" Yusei asked.

"The bad stuff that someone under the age of 13 can't look up which I get that's reasonable but also something fishy like extremely rare cards and who owned them. For some reason, the Elemental Heroes' deck has some cards that you can't search up like I think you can't search up NEOS," Yuga explained.

"NEOS?" That word sounded familiar to him but Yusei couldn't quite tell what.

"Yeah and the only reason why I know of it was because of online forums. Long story short, I was searching for something...unimportant, something about a card I own, when I found this forum talking about E-Heroes. They specifically pointed out NEOS and how it's difficult to search up with a simple Google search thanks to Goha's restrictive Internet Searchings. I read through it and when I left to get a cup of water, the forum was gone! Deleted by Goha," Yuga explained.

"That's suspicious. Still, I feel like I know the word NEOS. Elemental Hero Neos or something like that," Yusei murmured.

"Since you came from Neo Domino City, maybe you know more about it than what Goha Corp allows us to see?" Yuga suggested.

"Possibly...so where did you hear Stardust from?" Yusei asked.

"Same forum but I only saw a little bit. All I really know about your dragon is that it's legendary, needs a tuner and non-tuner to even be summoned and it's a Synchro monster," Yuga explained.

"You seem very knowledgeable about what tuners and Synchros are. Have you come across them when dueling before Rush Duels?" Yusei asked.

"Eh, kind of. I have gotten my butt kicked by people using so many summoning mechanics that they tend to blur in my mind. Not to say that I don't recognize them when I see them though," Yuga replied.

"I see. Well, please hold onto Stardust Dragon for me. It's very important to me and I don't want it to get lost or stolen. Can you do that for me?" Yusei asked and Yuga nodded.

"Leave that to me!" The smaller boy gave him a thumbs up.

(Flashback over)

So far, Yuga has taken great care of Stardust Dragon and one thing that Yusei learned about Yuga is that he's not a bragger. He says things as they are whether that being a powerful card or a new way of dueling.

Maybe that's why Yusei could trust Yuga. For the short amount of time that Yusei has been soul connected to him, he has gotten attached to him. Like Yuga was a little brother to him.

Strange, Yusei thought as three faces flashed in his mind. Two young boys, one with orange hair and wearing a yellow beanie and the other with teal hair styled in a ponytail, and a young girl with teal hair styled in pigtails.

His little siblings? Maybe not biologically though. He couldn't tell.

Suddenly, in the corner of his eye, Yusei spotted an old man outside the house, motioning him over. Another ghost, as Yusei could see the transparency of him.

Yusei looked around and checked up on Yuga. He was still sleeping.

Yusei then checked the time and saw that it wouldn't be until a couple of hours until sunrise.

He floated towards the other ghost.

"Hello there young man. I see that you're one of those soul connected ghosts as you never seem to leave the young boy's side," the old man greeted him.

"Do ghosts don't normally do that?" Yusei asked.

"The closest thing are deceased family members and even then, at a distance," the old man replied.

Yusei glanced at the window where Yuga's room was before looking back at the old man.

"Is there a reason why you called me over?" He asked.

"Yes, I have come to tell any ghost that I have come across about this young ghost who had been wandering around the city. Poor thing, his eyes seemed glazed over and seemed drifting like life has been drained out from him. Well we're all dead anyway but you get my point," the old man explained.

Yusei didn't get it and looking upon the confused look on his face, the old man continued, "I also wanted to give you a warning about the ghost though. Anytime anyone wants to talk with him, he always bites someone's head off and changes his sad tune to an angry one. No one wants an angry ghost since that'll cause a whole lot of problems. Just heed this warning of mine."

"I see. Thank you for telling me," Yusei bowed his head.

"Any time young man. You watch over that young boy. He's been helpful to the local ghosts around here," the old man told him.

"Will do," Yusei then floated away.

(Later)

Yusei then floated beside Yuga as he was peddling to school.

"...hey Yuga..."

"What's up?"

"What problems does an angry ghost cause?" Yusei asked.

"Hmm? Why are you asking?" Yuga asked.

"Just curious," Yusei said with a shrug. He wasn't quite sure if to share what he heard from the old man. Maybe later after school.

"Well for starters, they start to haunt things and create bad luck. Think of haunted houses," Yuga explained.

"Hmm. So can a ghost get out of being angry?" Yusei asked.

"Not easily, I don't think. I dunno, I have never seen one before. All I hear is rumors and warnings," Yuga said.

Yusei hummed at this but dropped the subject. He wishes this ghost well though.

Maybe this day will be a peaceful one...

"..."

As Yuga continued to walk on school grounds, the two of them heard a familiar shriek.

"WHAT?!"

Ok, well Yusei was wrong in thinking this day was going to be peaceful.

Yuga picked up the pace and ran towards where the voice was coming from.

"Yuga! This is horrible!" It was Luke who shouted.

"What's wrong?" Yuga asked.

"All the videos relating to Rush Duels have been deleted by Goha," Gakuto explained and held his phone out so they could see.

"No way, it's true," Yuga muttered.

"And it gets even worse than that. You can't even search up Rush Duels regardless of age," Gakuto added.

"Then that means someone is trying to erase it all," Yuga concluded.

"Wait, I'm still here!" Luke yelped.

"That isn't what he's talking about," Gakuto sweat dropped.

"Oh...then what is he talking about?" Luke asked.

"I think I know what's happening," Yuga said and looked at the building that was the highest in the city. It wasn't hard to miss due to the massive G symbol.

Gakuto followed his gaze and gasped, "so you're saying that Goha did it?"

"Most likely. It's kind of exciting though," Yuga admitted.

"Huh?" Gakuto and Luke asked.

"To have such a big company be this much of a fuss to delete Rush Duels means that they can't ignore it anymore," Yuga said.

"Ummm," Gakuto seemed hesitant but then Luke shouted, "well I can't stand it anymore! I'm taking matters into my own hands!"

He grabbed his phone and dialed a number. It started to ring and Luke held it to his ear.

"Uh-huh...yeah. I see. Uh-huh, uh-huh...," Luke then hung up.

"What did they say?" Yuga asked.

"Dunno, I didn't understand them. I think it's because they were speaking in a different language," Luke said and Gakuto and Yuga fell backwards dramatically while Yusei floated there while sweat dropping.

That wasn't an answer I expected, he thought.

"Excuse us!" New voices spoke up and three people appeared right in front of the three. A boy with green hair while holding a notepad, another boy with black hair holding onto a microphone and finally, a girl with black hair wearing glasses and holding onto a camera.

"Wait, aren't you from the Newspaper Club?" Gakuto asked.

The microphone boy held up the microphone and asked, "tell us more about the popularity of Rush Duels?"

"Is this an interview?" Yuga asked.

"Sure is. Now smile for the camera," the camera girl said and snapped a couple of pictures.

For some reason, Yusei finds this familiar. In his mind, he pictures a young woman with black hair and had swirly glasses.

Huh, very specific, he thought.

"Well if it's an interview, then let me answer some questions about Rush Duels!" Luke declared.

"Wait Luke, I don't think that's a good idea," Gakuto said.

"What's the harm in it? After all, Goha isn't able to influence an analog medium like a newspaper," Yuga told him.

"A school newspaper won't reach that far!" Gakuto protested.

"Well we got to start somewhere," Yuga placed his hands on his hips.

They watched as Luke did the interview.

"Rush Duels turns all common sense up its head. It's able to put one in the steep and thorny road to reach new heights! In other words, it's the road to becoming the King of Duels!" Luke declared.

"...uhhhhhhhh," Yuga said and looked at Yusei who just shrugged. However, Yusei noticed that Romin was nearby and had her phone up but it looked like she had a face of disapproval on.

(Later)

The boys were chilling somewhere. Luke was busy practicing drawing, Gakuto was cleaning his cards and Yuga was discussing some strategies that could be used with the cards in his hand with Yusei in his head.

"Hey, if all goes well, then this could be our greatest weapon against Goha," Yuga notes, breaking his thoughts away from talking with Yusei.

However, Romin spoke up as she approached them. "Are you sure that was a good idea?" She asked.

"Did you want to be interviewed too? Well you could have just asked," Luke said.

"It's not that! It's just that our Newspaper Club doesn't really have the greatest reputation," Romin said.

(The next day)

And she was right!

"WHAT IS THIS!?" Gakuto cried. He was reading the school newspaper with Romin, Luke and Yuga reading it while Yusei was peeking over Yuga's shoulder.

"Rush Duels are the worst of the worst of all time?!" He shouted, reading it.

"They're calling it 'a dishonor to dueling,'" Romin noted.

"And that the rules are shallow and for kids...WE ARE KIDS!!" Gakuto continued to shout.

"And look what they said about me. A King who thinks of everyone as his servants," Luke said.

"Wow someone needs to keep his ego checked," a couple of students whispered nearby.

"I don't see this as real dueling," another student said.

"What clowns," another one whispered.

Romin stepped away from the boys as soon as everyone around them started to whisper about them.

"Well, it's not much of a bad thing. Rush Duels are still getting traction," Yuga shrugged.

"In the worst way possible," Yusei told him and even though Gakuto couldn't hear or see the ghost, he agreed with him unknowingly.

"This is no time to be impressed! This is slander and we're taking official action against it!" Gakuto declared.

They all went to where the Newspaper Club was at and asked to retract the article.

"No way, we can't do that," the boy with the microphone, Masaru, told them.

"But why not? This is an official objection from the Student Council," Gakuto stated.

"Are you censoring us?" Masaru asked.

"Ooh, I think they are! Let me take a picture of the evil face of the Student Council President who is pressuring the Newspaper Club," the girl with the camera, Nico, said and rushed over, taking pictures.

"I'm not pressuring you, I'm just saying that the article isn't saying the whole tru-," Gakuto started but then suddenly, Luke slammed his hand on the table.

"Listen, you can write all the things you want to write about me," Luke said before looking at the two with anger in his eyes, "but I won't let you make fun of Rush Duels like that!"

"Luke...," Gakuto gasped, surprised at how serious he was.

Dragears manifested themselves besides Luke.

"Do you think we should teach a lesson?" It asked.

We'll do this the nice way first by asking, Luke told him.

"Now we're not making fun of Rush Duels. We're just telling the truth," Masaru shrugged, dismissing what Like had said.

"Yep! Reveal the truth to as many people as possible. That's our motto alright!" Nico gave them a thumbs up.

"Screw you!" Luke shouted.

"Oh well, it's too bad really. Such a dedicated Newspaper Club will be unfortunately silenced," Yuga sighed.

"Huh?" Nico asked.

"Yeah, Goha has been observing us and whenever we upload a video that has Rush Duels as one of the keywords, it's deleted," Yuga explained.

"Wait what? They really do that?" Masaru asked, shocked.

"Yeah so if this newspaper gets scanned and uploaded to the Internet, it'll get deleted by Goha. Well depending on the circumstances of course but it's still a scary thought," Yuga said while lifting up the newspaper.

Masaru and Nico were sweating nervously and Yusei turned to Yuga.

"Do you think that Goha would pay attention to an analog way of news like a newspaper?" Yusei asked.

If Goha has been constantly deleting all forms that have been Rush Duel related then I'm pretty sure that they're not going to let this slide, Yuga explained.

"Oh no! If Goha finds out about this, this won't be good for the Newspaper Club! Cease publication," Romin said, adding on the conversation.

CRACK!

A tip of granite fell to the floor from the third member of the Newspaper Club. The boy who was writing in the notepad.

He was rapidly writing more and more until he suddenly shouted and tossed the papers up in the air, "CEASE PUBLICATION?!"

"Chief, are you ok?" Nico asked, rushing to his side.

"How do you feel right now?" Masaru asked, also rushing to his side and holding the microphone towards him.

"Wait, he's the head of the Newspaper Club?" Romin asked.

"I'm sorry for losing my cool like that," the boy walked over to them and brushed his hair out of his eyes.

He continued, "my name is Bakuro Shinjitsu, the head of Goha #7 Elementary's Newspaper Club. And I can't have you cease publication on our club's newspaper."

"But if you retract the article?" Gakuto asked.

"Then let's duel and then we'll talk about the article's contents, Winner's choice," Bakuro stated.

"What will the rules be?" Yuga asked, excitedly.

"I don't mind them being a Rush Duel," Bakuro shrugged.

"Huh, but why a Rush Duel if you're so against it?" Gakuto asked.

"To show how childish and shallow they are!" Bakuro declared.

Romin, Gakuto and Yuga didn't seem too happy about that. Most notably, Yuga.

"Listen here-," he started but then Luke said, "wait one moment, Yuga."

"Huh?"

"I'll duel him!" Luke declared, much to Gakuto's surprise. Luke added on, "I'll show him how deep Rush Duels are!"

"Looks like we are teaching them a lesson," Dragears told him and Luke took out his card.

"You know it," he said.

A/N: we're caught up with the AO3 chapters. Nothing else to say other than...

Cya in the next one -Flare