Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's: Shadowchasers

[Shuppet Master]

I can't see the woman on that card!

[mario72486]

Of all the strategies that don't involve attacking, I completely forgot about the Volcanics. Nice use of those cards, not to mention the other support. I'm surprised (Tri) Blaze Accelerator wasn't used, but I guess that was a good thing - it'd make this duel feel like a rehash of Season 3 of GX.

And the plot thickens yet again. For all we know, Max was going to be double-crossed if he ever made it to his rendezvous, and it looks like Jinx is going to fall into the trap instead. Hopefully she'll be able to make it out of there in one piece.

Keep it up, DS.

I can't see the woman on that card!

Perhaps the attachment will help. I have the 'woman' circled in black.

[Dark Sage]

I didn't want to copy O'Brien's deck, so I purposely didn't use the Blaze Accelerator cards. I was more going for the Three-Wall strategy that his dad used (which Mr. T copied in order to psyche him out) which is focused even more on burn than O'Brien's deck, not even using Doomfire.

I'll leave it to the readers to decide whether or not DaPen was planning to double-cross Max or not. However, DaPen was quite aware that Ember had confronted him, and quickly realized that Max wouldn't be coming. So the point is now moot. DaPen is well-informed of any matters concerning anyone who works for him, due to his powers, and it is very hard to catch him by surprise.

Keep reading.

[Dark Sage]

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

As I rode the subway back to the Tops, I thought hard about what I had learned about my impulsive and downright reckless endeavor.

I had learned that no matter how clever an idea may seem, you shouldn’t get so full of yourself that you take foolish risks. If I had gone up against someone who hadn’t been bound by the rules of chivalry, that encounter may well have ended with me recovering from cracked ribs.

I also learned that in the situation I was in now, I was part of a team, and as the old saying goes, there is no “I” in “team”. I had to put more trust in the people I worked with now if this was ever going to work.

I didn’t know at the time, that my mentor, while not truly making the same mistake I had made on purpose, was about to get into a similar situation by accident. She was rushing into a trap set by DaPen, and whether the backup she had called for would get there on time was questionable…



Cemeteries tend to be very old structures. In big cities, they can date back hundreds of years. Walking through some big cemeteries in some of the world’s biggest cities, it isn’t uncommon to see old headstones with dates on them from centuries ago.

This was not the case for the Shizura Memorial Cemetery, the largest resting place for the deceased in Neo Domino. Because Neo Domino was incredibly young when compared to most cities of comparable size, its cemetery wasn’t very big either. The oldest headstones were only about twenty years old, dating back to when Neo Domino was first built, sometime before the infamous Zero Reverse Incident that separated it from the original Domino, turning the latter into the urban wasteland of Satellite.

The place was well-maintained and cultivated, with carefully manicured lawns, paved pathways, and headstones that were kept clean by a caretaker who came in every other day. It was a peaceful cemetery that rarely suggested the macabre tales that others did.

Still, the sun had now gone down, and at night, it was hard not to be nervous in any resting place of the dead.

Jinx slowly walked down the main pathway through the center of the place, clutching her Duel Disk to her chest, looking to both sides frequently. She was beginning to have a feeling that she had not taken DaPen by surprise, if he was even here at all.

Then she was startled by a laugh. A high-pitched laugh that was almost like a cackle.

She spun around, and saw a dark shape dart in front of her. Her eyes narrowed.

She tensed…

An inner voice told her that he was coming from behind…

Quickly, she spun around, and kicked him in the chest, just as he leapt at her. The creature fell on his back, but quickly sprang up.

Jinx got a good look at the Shadow, who stood six-foot-six, but was so thin he could be considered gaunt. He was dressed in a leather jacket and a pair of jeans, both of which seemed to fit him very badly. His skin was grey and hairless, and his bestial face resembled, if anything, that of a monstrous hyena.

Clearly, he was a gnoll.

Gnolls were Shadowkind known for being aggressive, predatory, and cunning. They tended to follow only the law of the jungle, and whether the jungle in question was forested or made of concrete made little difference to them. In their society, the strong survived, and the weak existed to support the strong. Like the hyenas they resembled, they were scavengers, able to survive off dumpsters or landfills indefinitely.

But there was a darker side to gnolls. They were one of the few living species who could safely associate with ghouls, disgusting undead monsters that fed on corpses. Gnolls were one of the few living creatures whom ghouls would not attack, leading some sages to believe that some bargain had been struck between some deity of undeath and an entity that the gnolls worshipped. Indeed, gnoll divine spellcasters (of which there weren’t many) tended to practice necromancy, the magic of death.

However, as for this particular gnoll, Jinx recognized him, and she was surprised. He had up to now been strictly penny-ante.

“So, ‘Fang’ Malloy,” she said. “Working for DaPen now, are we?”

“That’s right!” laughed Fang. (Gnolls always seemed to be laughing, just like hyenas, and did so at the most inappropriate times.) “And I’m sorry to say that Mr. DaPen couldn’t come tonight… He’ll always be one step ahead of any plots hatched by any Shadowchasers. But if you want to meet him tonight, he’ll be glad to make your acquaintance.”

“So this was a setup?” asked Jinx. “One to lead me here and take me hostage?”

Fang nodded, and lifted a Duel Disk.

“I warn you,” said Jinx. “I have two allies on the way…”

But how fast can they make it through the traffic jam that currently has cars backed up for miles, due to the boss killing the power to all the traffic lights from here to the Tops? thought Fang. You may have gotten here, but as of ten minutes ago, it’s going to be a traffic nightmare for anyone trying to get here driving a D-Wheel.

Jinx activated her Duel Disk.

“Let’s go,” she said. “I can beat a bottom feeder like you any day of the week.”

(Jinx: 8,000) - - - - - - - - - - (Fang: 8,000)

“I insist,” chuckled Fang. “Ladies first…”

Jinx drew a card, and looked at her hand.

“I throw two cards facedown,” she said, as two reversed cards appeared, “and then summon Alligator’s Sword.”

In a flash of light, the reptilian Beast leapt onto the field. (1,500 ATK)

“That’s all for me.”

“My move…” laughed Fang, drawing the top card off his deck.

“I play the Spell Card, Hand Destruction! Now, both players must toss two cards in their hands, and draw two new ones.”

Jinx looked at the three cards in her hand.

“Very well,” she said, discarding two of them.

Fang made two discards, and then they both drew twice.

“I’ll set a Monster,” said Fang, as a reversed Monster appeared, “and that will be all…”

Jinx drew a card.

“I’ll also set a Monster,” she said, as a defensive Monster appeared on her side of the field.

“Then I’ll attack with Alligator’s Sword!”

Alligator’s Sword made a rush at the hidden Monster holding his scimitar high. A sandy-brown turtle with a pyramid on its back appeared on the card. The Beast made a slash with its weapon, and the turtle was blown into sand.

“You just killed my Pyramid Turtle!” laughed Fang.

He took his deck out of the holder and looked at the cards.

“That means I get to bring out any Zombie I want, so long as its Defense Score isn’t higher than 2,000.”

Zombies? thought Jinx. Figures… But it’s nothing I haven’t seen before…

“I summon the Gatekeeper of Hell…” chuckled Fang. “The dreaded… Il Blud!”

With a low moan, a hulking shape appeared on Fang’s side of the field. It was a creature that looked like it was almost all torso, with four tiny limbs, dressed in a striped prison uniform. It had a huge face right on its torso, underneath the uniform, which was opened by a zipper, which consisted of two evil-looking eyes and a toothy mouth. (2,100 ATK)

“Ugh,” said Jinx. “Let me guess… A fringe benefit of working for DaPen?”

“And Il Blud isn’t the only rare card he gave me,” chuckled Fang. “Mr. DaPen is incredibly generous.”

“Yeah, right,” said Jinx. “I end my turn.”

“First, I draw,” said Fang, drawing a card. “Then, since Il Blud is a Gemini Monster, I have to use my Normal Summon this turn to awaken its effect…”

Il Blud glowed with a dark, eerie energy.

“Then, I play this… The powerful Card of Safe Return!”

A Continuous Spell Card appeared on his side of the field.

“Now, whenever a Monster is Special Summoned from my Graveyard, I get to draw one card.”

And with Zombies, that tends to happen a LOT, thought Jinx.

“I think I’ll do it right now,” chuckled Fang. “By using Il Blud’s effect, once per turn, I can Special Summon a Zombie from my hand or from either Graveyard. So I’ll bring back someone I tossed when I used Hand Destruction…

“The dreaded… Despair From the Dark!”

A haunting, ghostly laugh echoed over the field, and a huge, evil-looking shadow with glowing red eyes and claws rose behind Fang. (2,800 ATK)

Card of Safe Return glowed, and Fang drew once.

“Not bad…” said Jinx, nervously.

“If you think it’s impressive now,” laughed Fang, “wait until you see its attack! Destroy Alligator’s Sword! Dark grasp of terror!”

Despair From the Dark laughed again, and lunged at Alligator’s Sword.

“I activate Fairy Box!” shouted Jinx, as one of her facedown cards shot up.

A coin appeared in her hand, and she quickly tossed it.

“Heads!”

The coin fell to the ground. Unfortunately, it was tails.

Alligator’s Sword screamed, and then shattered into shards.

“Not so lucky, are you?” laughed Fang. “Il Blud, attack her other Monster with death breath!”

Il Blud opened its terrible maw, and vomited a cloud of toxic smoke at the facedown Monster. Roulette Barrel appeared on the card. (2,000 DEF)

“I use the effect of Fairy Box again!” shouted Jinx.

She tossed the coin again.

“Heads again!”

The coin fell to the ground. This time, it was heads.

Il Blud’s Attack Score fell to zero, and the backlash knocked it over. Fang stopped laughing for a moment.

“Ergh…” he muttered.

(J: 6,700) - - - - - - - - - - (F: 6,000)

“All right…” he said. “So you’re safe for now… I’m ending my turn…”

Jinx quickly drew a card.

“I pay 500 Life Points to keep Fairy Box,” she said.

She looked at her cards. Then she played one.

“I activate Silent Doom!” she shouted, as a Spell Card appeared in front of her. “Now, I can bring Alligator’s Sword back from my Graveyard in Defense Mode.”

In a burst of energy, Alligator’s Sword appeared, kneeling and holding his scimitar in his lap. (1,200 DEF)

“Now, I can sacrifice him…”

Alligator’s Sword vanished in a shimmer of light.

“…to summon Allsword Commander Gatmuz!”

With a roar, Gatmuz leapt onto the field, holding his huge two-handed sword high. (2,100 ATK)

Oh NO! thought Fang, his eyes opening wide. If she kamikazes that guy against Il Blud, I’ll lose Despair From the Dark too!

Jinx’s facedown card lifted up.

“Now, I activate Skull Dice!” she shouted. “Since my Monster’s Attack Score is equal to Il Blud’s, I guess it really doesn’t matter what roll I get…”

The nasty little imp appeared, and tossed its die. The die skipped and bounced, and landed on the three.

Both Il Blud and Despair From the Dark glowed with an aura of green energy. Il Blud fell to an Attack Score of 1,800, while Despair From the Dark fell to 2,500.

“Attack Il Blud!” shouted Jinx. “Severing strike!”

Gatmuz made a deep cut with his blade across Il Blud’s huge torso. The Zombie’s eyes bugged out, and then it exploded.

“You destroyed it!” gasped Fang.

“And that’s not the only one!” replied Jinx.

Despair From the Dark exploded into pixels.

“So much for them,” said Jinx. “I end my turn…”

(J: 6,200) - - - - - - - - - - (F: 5,700)

Fang grumbled as he drew a card. He looked at it.

He threw back his head, and let out a loud, annoying cackle.

I think he got a good draw… thought Jinx.

“Time to change the rules of this duel dramatically!” laughed Fang.

The Field Slot on his Disk flicked open, and he placed a card in it.

“I play Zombie World!”

Lightning flashed, and darkness covered the whole cemetery. The well-manicured headstones changed, turning into evil, decrepit ones, shaped like demonic gargoyles covered with mold and moss. Dead trees sprang up around them, and a full moon the color of blood rose behind Fang.

“What’s going on?” gasped Jinx. “A Field Spell?”

“A very powerful one,” replied Fang. “Let me explain…

“Zombie World affects all Monsters on the field and in both Graveyards, turning their Type to Zombie.

“In addition, neither player can Tribute Summon a Monster unless it was a Zombie to begin with.”

“Yeah?” snarled Jinx. “Big deal! I don’t have any Monsters that gain special effects because of their Type! My Monsters can still beat yours, even if they have to do so as Zombies!”

“Maybe so…” replied Fang. “But my Monsters, on the other hand, gain plenty of benefits if your Monsters are Zombies.

“And you know, Jinx, it’s funny that you use so many of Jonouchi’s cards…”

“Why?” asked Jinx. “Do you have one?”

“No…” chuckled Fang. “But I have one that he would use if he had been a Zombie duelist like me…

“I play Call of the Mummy.”

A Continuous Spell Card appeared in front of him.

“Now I can Special Summon a Zombie from my hand once per turn, so long as I have no Monsters on the field.

“So I’ll Special Summon… Red-Eyes Zombie Dragon!”

The ground in front of him erupted in an explosion of dirt and other nasty residue, and a huge, Zombie dragon flew out of the ground. As its name suggested, it looked like a rotting, undead version of Katsuya Jonouchi’s famous Dragon, but far more evil and hideous. (2,400 ATK)

“Attack her Commander!” shouted Fang. “Infernal rotting blast!”

Red-Eyes Zombie Dragon roared, and blasted a cloud of filth and offal from its jaws.

“I activate Fairy Box!” shouted Jinx.

She tossed the coin.

“Heads again!”

The coin fell. She gasped as it came up tails.

Gatmuz groaned as the attack hit him, and then quickly rotted into a pile of dust.

“Gatmuz…” said Jinx, sadly.

“Why the long face?” chuckled Fang. “He isn’t gone…”

Then an arm burst out of the ground on Fang’s side of the field. The rest of the creature quickly pulled itself out of the ground…

It was Gatmuz. (2,100 ATK)

“You see,” said Fang, “whenever my Dragon destroys a Zombie, that Zombie is reborn on my side of the field.

“And my Battle Phase isn’t over… Gatmuz… Attack her…”

Then he paused.

“Hmm… Come to think of it, maybe I shouldn’t attack… If you get the toss on that Fairy Box, I’ll lose another 2,000 Life Points, and that would be bad.

“After all, I can wait… Roulette Barrel is no threat to my Dragon… It can’t destroy a Level 7 Monster. I’ll just end my turn.”

(J: 5,900) - - - - - - - - - - (F: 5,700)

“I draw one card…” muttered Jinx, as she drew. “And then I pay 500 Life Points to keep Fairy Box…”

She played the card she had just drawn.

“I play Roll of Fate!” she shouted.

A die materialized in the air, and it bounced on the floor. It eventually came up a five.

She made five draws. Then she took the next five cards off her deck and pocketed them.

There’s gotta be some way to beat this thing, she thought, looking at the six cards she had.

Let’s see… I have Time Wizard, but using its effect would be pretty chancy… I have Polymerization and Baby Dragon, but Thousand Dragon would only manage a draw with that thing…

Then I have…

She looked at the Spell Card she had drawn.

Hey… Maybe my Roulette Barrel can take that thing out after all…

She quickly played it.

“I play the Equip Spell, Demotion!” she shouted. “Usually, I use this to make Synchro Summoning easier. But by Equipping it to your Dragon, its Level is reduced from 7 to 5.

“That means Roulette Barrel can effect it, and I’m gonna try just that!”

Two dice shot out, and both skipped and bounced. One landed on the two…

…then the other landed on the five.

“Bingo!” shouted Jinx. “I choose the five!”

Roulette Barrel aimed its weapon, and fired a blast of energy at Red-Eyes Zombie Dragon. Fang shielded himself as his Monster exploded.

“I’m not done with you!” shouted Jinx, playing another card. “I play Polymerization!”

Time Wizard and Baby Dragon appeared on the field.

“I fuse my two Monsters together…”

The two Monsters swirled into a blur…

“…to Fusion Summon Thousand Dragon!”

In an aura of energy, the large, elderly Dragon appeared, with smoke pouring from its nostrils. (2,400 ATK)

“Attack Gatmuz!” she shouted. “Noxious nostrils gust!”

Thousand Dragon shot a blast of toxic gas from its nostrils, and Gatmuz groaned before shattering into shards.

“You’ll pay for that…” growled Fang.

“I’ll set a Monster,” said Jinx, as a facedown Monster appeared, “and I end my turn…”

(J: 5,400) - - - - - - - - - - (F: 5,400)

Fang snapped the top card off his deck.

“Not bad…” he said. “I play Foolish Burial.”

The Spell Card appeared, and he quickly took a Monster from his deck, and discarded it.

“Now, the Monster I discarded was a guy called Mezuki. And I can activate his effect by removing him from play.”

The card slipped out of his discard slot, and he pocketed it.

“It lets me Special Summon one Zombie from my Graveyard. And I choose to summon Bone Crusher!”

Another Zombie burst out of the ground. This one looked like a bare skeleton, dressed in a fur cape and a horned helmet, holding a stone hammer. (1,600 ATK)

“I get to draw one card due to Card of Safe Return,” he chuckled, as he drew a card. “And, when Bone Crusher is Special Summoned by another Zombie’s effect, it destroys one Spell or Trap Card.”

Bone Crusher’s eye socket’s glowed, and Jinx’s Fairy Box shattered into pieces.

“Now,” he said, taking another card from his hand, “I was saving this, but now’s as good a time as any… I play Book of Life… The Book of Forbidden Magic!”

The Spell Card appeared, and in a dark shadow, Red-Eyes Zombie Dragon appeared again. (2,400 ATK)

“I get to draw again, due to Card of Safe Return,” he said, drawing, “and I also get to remove one of your Monsters in your Graveyard from play. So I’m getting rid of that dweeby Time Wizard so I don’t have to worry about it again.”

Jinx frowned as Time Wizard fell out of her discard slot.

Fang looked at the card he had just drawn.

“And I got just what I needed,” he chuckled. “I play Enemy Controller!”

The oversized video game controller appeared above the field, and Thousand Dragon shielded itself in Defense Mode. (2,000 DEF)

“Red-Eyes,” ordered Fang, “destroy that sorry excuse for a Dragon!”

The Zombie Dragon exhaled its cloud of rot and filth, and Thousand Dragon was eroded into dust.

Then Thousand Dragon burst out of the ground on Fang’s side of the field. (2,400 ATK)

“Now, Thousand Dragon, attack that annoying Roulette Barrel!”

Thousand Dragon blasted its noxious fumes from its nose, and Roulette Barrel exploded.

“Bone Crusher, crush her last Monster!”

Moving very fast for someone who was all bones, Bone Crusher leapt at the facedown Monster. Abare Ushioni appeared on the card, right before the Zombie’s hammer came down and smashed it.

“Heh, heh…” chuckled Fang. “I end my turn… And unfortunately, that means Bone Crusher has to leave…”

The skeletal warrior burst into pixels.

Oh… thought Jinx, as she drew a card. Shichiro… Gears… Where are you?

She quickly set the card on her Disk, and a defensive Monster appeared. She glared at Fang.

“That all?” he cackled, drawing a card.

“I summon Paladin of the Cursed Dragon!”

A new Monster materialized, hovering over the field. It resembled the famous Paladin of White Dragon, but the rider was mounted on a decayed, rotting, Zombie dragon. (1,900 ATK)

“Now I use his effect,” he chuckled. “I get to Special Summon a Zombie from your Graveyard every round. Which, due to my Field Spell, means I can summon anything from it.”

The ground burst open, and Allsword Commander Gatmuz rose out of the ground on Fang’s side of the field. (2,100 ATK)

“In case you don’t know what this means, Shadowchaser,” he laughed, “it means I win!

“Red-Eyes, destroy her last Monster!”

Red-Eyes blasted its breath of decay at the facedown Monster…

But when the smoke cleared, X-Saber Passiul was crouching in defense, and unharmed. (0 DEF)

“Seems your plans just hit a snag,” said Jinx. “Passiul can’t be destroyed by battle. In exchange for that, I lose 1,000 Life Points during each of your Standby Phases.”

“Fine!” cursed Fang. “I have nowhere to go…”

Nowhere to go? thought Jinx. Did something happen to Shichiro and Gears that he’s not telling me about?

I’d best assume the worst… I’d best assume that for whatever reason, they aren’t gonna get here. I’m on my own.

He’s getting sloppy, though… When he used Mezuki’s effect to summon Bone Crusher, he didn’t realize that he could have done more. He could have used Mezuki’s effect to summon Il Blud, then Gemini Summoned it, and then used that Monster’s effect to summon Bone Crusher.

I could tell him that, but with only Passiul as a defense, now might not be a good time to gloat.

DaPen may have given him a deck full of powerful cards, but clearly, he doesn’t know how to use them all to their full potential yet… And that just may save me…

She drew a card.

Double Spell… she thought. Hmmm….

Wait… Maybe, just maybe… I can use this Field Spell against him!

“I play Double Spell!” she exclaimed, playing it. “Now, by tossing one other Spell Card…”

She discarded Graceful Dice.

“…I can use one Spell Card in your Graveyard. And I choose… Book of Life!”

“Say what?” gasped Fang.

The Book of Life card appeared in Jinx’s hand.

“The way I see it,” continued Jinx, “if this Field Spell has turned all the Monsters in my Graveyard into Zombies, I can use Book of Life to bring one of them to the field.

“So I’m gonna do just that to bring back Alligator’s Sword.”

Alligator’s Sword burst out of the ground, brandishing his weapon. (1,500 ATK)

“And then I’m removing Il Blud from play, so I don’t have to look at its ugly face again.”

Fang snarled as Il Blud fell out of his discard slot.



Continued…

[Dark Sage]

Continued from last post:



“Now, I Tune my two Monsters together!” shouted Jinx.

X-Saber Passiul’s sword shimmered with a glowing light. He and Alligator’s Sword flew into the sky, and dissolved into six shimmering stars.

“Synchro Summon… Gaia Knight, the Force of the Earth!”

With a loud whinny, Gaia rode down out of the sky on his charging steed. (2,600 ATK)

Fang gulped.

“Gaia,” shouted Jinx, “attack his Paladin of Cursed Dragon! Spiral Spear Strike!”

Gaia galloped across the field, and stabbed his two lances into the Zombie rider. It groaned, and then shattered into shards.

(J: 5,400) - - - - - - - - - - (F: 4,700)

She glared at him.

“Your move…” she growled.

Fang drew a card.

“Heh, heh, heh…” he chuckled, as he looked at it. “HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA!

“I just drew another of my fringe benefits! And it’s a beast that will win this duel for me!”

A raging bonfire erupted on his side of the field.

“But don’t take my word for it… Meet Kasha… the Fire Wagon!”

It was hard to call the thing that appeared a creature. It looked more like a vehicle. To be specific, it was a big gypsy wagon without horse or rider, with large, flaming wheels, and a stone gargoyle’s face in the front. Two fiendish arms with green skin and claws were on the top, and each one held a lantern.

“What is that?!” shouted Jinx.

“My most powerful Monster!” laughed Fang. “I can Special Summon it when I have at least two Zombies on the field, which I did. And when I do so, all Monsters except itself go back to the owners’ decks.”

Red-Eyes, Thousand Dragon, Gatmuz, and Gaia all vanished.

“This isn’t good…” muttered Jinx.

“More than you could ever believe!” laughed Fang. “Because as far as its Attack Score goes, it equals 1,000 for every Zombie it just sent back to our decks.”

“Which, because of the Field Spell, was all of them,” muttered Jinx. “Swell…”

(4,000 ATK)

“Kasha…” ordered Fang. “Attack her directly!”

The gargoyle on the front of Kasha opened its mouth, and belched a blast of fire that looked like a furnace exploding. Jinx let out a bloodcurdling scream as she was hit by the powerful attack, and collapsed to her knees.

(J: 1,400) - - - - - - - - - - (F: 4,700)

“That’s all for me…” chuckled Fang.

“I… won’t let you… win…” gasped Jinx, as she struggled to get up.

She drew a card. Then she set both of her cards in her Disk, and a facedown card and a facedown Monster appeared.

“That’s my turn…”

“Then watch out!” laughed Fang.

He drew a card.

Hmm, not a Monster, he thought, but this will certainly help…

“I Equip Kasha with Zombie Lineage,” he said, playing it. “This gives it 500 more Attack Points during my Battle Phase. But more importantly, if you try to destroy it with a card effect, the Equip Spell takes the fall for it.

“Now, toast her Monster!”

Kasha’s Attack Score rose to 4,500, and it belched its wave of flames again, and Morphing Jar appeared on the card, right before it was incinerated. Jinx smirked.

Fang growled. He discarded the four cards in his hand, and then made five draws.

He looked at his five new cards.

“I’ll end my turn by setting a Monster in Defense Mode,” he said, playing a card.

A hidden Monster appeared next to Kasha.

It must be a Spirit Reaper, thought Jinx. What other Zombie would he have put in Defense Mode?

I’ll worry about it later…

She quickly drew a card.

“Your Zombie Lineage is a powerful card,” she said, “but it has one weakness… It can’t protect Kasha from being destroyed in battle.”

“HA!” laughed Fang. “I’d like to see you TRY to destroy a Monster this powerful in battle!”

“Be careful what you wish for,” said Jinx. “I summon X-Saber Palomlo!”

She played the card, and the axe-wielding lizard man appeared. (200 ATK)

“Now, I play a Spell Card,” she said, as a card appeared on her side of the field. “Star Blaster.”

An odd creature flew out of the card holding a die. It combined the features of both the teddy bear from Graceful Dice, and the imp from Skull Dice.

“First, I gotta sacrifice a Monster, so I’ll sacrifice Palomlo.”

Palomlo vanished.

“Then, I roll the die once.”

The imp tossed the die, and it skipped and bounced. Eventually, it landed on the five.

“Five?” asked Fang. “What does that mean?”

“I add that to the Level of the Monster I sacrificed,” explained Jinx. “That equals six. Now, I get to Special Summon a Level 6 Monster from my hand.

“Like Maximum Six!”

In a burst of energy, Maximum Six appeared on the field in front of her. (1,900 ATK)

“HA, HA, HA!” laughed Fang. “What a waste! You Special Summoned it! Maximum Six can only use its effect if it’s Normal Summoned!”

“True,” said Jinx, “but I’m far from done…

“I play… Monster Reborn!”

The holy ankh appeared, and X-Saber Passiul appeared next to Maximum Six. (100 ATK)

“Now, I Tune them together. Go!”

The two Monsters flew into the sky, and split into eight glowing stars this time…

With a radiant splendor, Jalal the Dragonborn alighted onto the field. (2,600 ATK)

“Big deal!” shouted Fang, nervously. “He’s all bark and no bite. He still can’t beat Kasha!”

“Well why don’t I use his effect?” said Jinx. “I pay half my Life Points to remove my Monster Reborn from play, and place a Rune Counter on Jalal’s sword.”

The Spell Card fell out of Jinx’s discard slot, and an odd symbol appeared on Jalal’s weapon.

“Now, I expend that Rune Counter to use that Spell’s effect!” continued Jinx.

Jalal lifted his sword to the sky, and the glowing ankh appeared again. Fang’s discard slot glowed, and the shadowy form of Despair From the Dark appeared behind Jinx. (2,800 ATK)

“WHAT?” gasped Fang. “Why the Hell did you summon him to your side of the field?

“Did you forget about my Card of Safe Return? It activates when anyone summons a Monster from my Graveyard.”

He drew a card.

“You’d better hope it’s a good one,” said Jinx, pointing to her facedown card. “I summoned it so I could use this.”

It lifted up.

“Gift of the Martyr! Now, by sacrificing Despair From the Dark, Jalal gains Attack Points equal to its Attack Score for one round.”

Despair From the Dark vanished, and Jalal glowed with energy. (5,400 ATK)

“Oh, no…” gulped Fang.

“Jalal…” shouted Jinx. “Fix his little red wagon!”

Jalal leapt at Kasha, and made a slash at the Zombie wagon with his blade. All of Zombie World was lit up by a fiery explosion as it was blown apart. Fang braced himself from the impact.

(J: 700) - - - - - - - - - - (F: 3,300)

“Your move…” said Jinx, as Jalal fell back to an Attack Score of 2,600.

“Oh, you think you’re so smart!” said Fang, as he drew a card. “Well, you know something? I can be smart too!

“I play Giant Trunade!”

“Huh?” said Jinx, as the Spell Card appeared. “But the only Spell Cards on the field are yours!”

The wind ripped across the field, and the haunted graveyard around them vanished, returning them to the normal cemetery. Zombie World, Call of the Mummy, and Card of Safe Return reappeared in Fang’s hand.

“That’s right,” chuckled Fang. “And without Zombie World, Jalal is a Warrior again, which is just how I like him.

“Know why?

“I sacrifice my facedown Monster…”

The concealed Monster vanished.

“…to summon Ryu Kokki!”

With a rumble, a huge, hulking creature the size of an ogre, that seemed to be made entirely out of bones and skulls, rose out of the ground. It looked at Jinx with an evil grin. (2,400 ATK)

“I get it…” muttered Jinx. “Any Warrior who battles Ryu Kokki is destroyed by its effect, so you couldn’t have Zombie World on the field.”

“That’s right,” chuckled Fang. “And I’ll play a facedown card too.”

A reversed card appeared.

“And I’ll end my turn.”

Just in case you think you can sacrifice Jalal to clear the way for a direct attack with another Monster, he thought, my Dimensional Prison will stop it cold. And you only have 700 Life Points left… Winning this duel will be easier than it seems.

Jinx drew a card.

His strategy seems sound, she thought. But he made one mistake, and it’s gonna cost him.

“I use Jalal’s effect again,” she said. “This time, I’m removing a Spell Card in your Graveyard from play.”

“HUH?” said Fang.

“I’ll cut my Life Points in half again,” said Jinx, “and the card I want is your Giant Trunade.”

Fang started to sweat as the Spell Card fell out of his discard slot, and a new rune appeared on Jalal’s sword. Then he lifted the blade, and the fierce wind ripped across the field, blowing the Trap Card back to Fang’s hand.

“So much for that,” said Jinx, playing a Spell Card. “Now I play… Question.”

Eh? thought Fang. Question?

“Here’s the deal,” said Jinx. “You gotta guess what Monster is at the bottom of my Graveyard. If you guess right, I have to remove it from play. But if you guess wrong, I get to Special Summon it to the field.”

Fang frowned.

Darn, it’s been such a long duel! he thought. Was it her Alligator’s Sword? Wait, no… She summoned that back to the field, and then used it to Synchro Summon Gaia!

Argh! That’s the problem with my deck! It manipulates both Graveyards, altering their orders so many times!

“Want a hint?” asked Jinx with a grin. “The Monster at the bottom of my Graveyard is one that I tossed when you played Hand Destruction on your first turn! So I doubt you even saw it!

“So… I think I’ll give you ten more seconds…”

“Grr…” growled Fang, as he bore his incisors.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” said Jinx, “but an angry growl was not the answer we were looking for.

“So… Meet X-Saber Airbellum!”

In a burst of energy and a loud snarl, a new X-Saber appeared next to Jalal. This one looked far more bestial than the others, with a wolf-like face, and a mane that was blonde on his right side, and brown on his left. He wore leather armor, with the X-Saber insignia on his belt, and had sharp, three-bladed claws on each of his wrist guards. (1,600 ATK)

“Now, I’ll Normal Summon X-Saber Urz!” she shouted.

In another burst, the barbarian Warrior leapt onto the field, swinging his twin sabers. (1,600 ATK)

“Jalal, take out Ryu Kokki!”

Jalal bravely charged at the Bone Dragon Ogre.

“I know, Ryu Kokki’s effect will destroy Jalal,” said Jinx. “But Jalal has more points, so your Monster won’t be surviving either!”

Jalal struck the huge beast with his blade, and there was a great explosion as both Monsters were blown to pieces.

“Ergh…” grunted Fang.

“Airbellum… Urz…” said Jinx. “Finish him with X-Saber combination slash!”

Airbellum and Urz turned to each other and nodded. Then they both leapt at the gnoll, and two slashes of their weapons sent the thug tumbling over.

(J: 350) - - - - - - - - - - (F: 0)

As the Monsters vanished, Fang slowly got up, and looked at Jinx with a look of hate.

“So I lost…” he growled.

He reached behind him, and drew a Bowie knife from his belt.

“Big deal! I don’t care about what rules I have to break. I’m gonna…”

He was interrupted as Gears suddenly appeared behind him and caught both of his arms in a lock.

“Drop it!” demanded Gears. “Drop it now!”

Then Shichiro appeared from the side. Fang apparently wasn’t going to drop it, so he snatched it away from him, and then the two Shadowchasers forced the gnoll to the ground.

“What took you two so long?” asked Jinx.

“Traffic jam,” muttered Shichiro. “And we think it was started on purpose. DaPen thought of everything… Almost.”

“We only got here by doing a rush programming job on the trans-dimensional system,” said Gears. “We never really expected the cemetery to be a destination point. But we managed to get here about five minutes ago…”

“You’ve been here five minutes?” asked Jinx. “Then why didn’t you show yourselves sooner?”

“Heh,” said Shichiro. “You were doing so well at that point, we didn’t feel it was necessary…”

Jinx bent down and picked up something that Fang had just dropped. A game card.

“Oh, swell,” she said, looking at it. “Another piece of the puzzle…”

It was Cloudian – Acid Cloud.

* * * * * * * * * *

As an old song goes, sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name.

But even if you do that, there’s no guarantee that they’ll all be glad you came.

At a bar on the other side of town, it was around the time when business was just picking up. Tired folks who had worked all day and needed a drink to relax were all coming in.

One patron came in who never failed to stand out. He stood more than seven feet tall, and was about five feet wide. He had dark skin, and a full, black beard. He wore a uniform that looked like it belonged to some branch of Security, but it had not been properly laundered in a long time – it was wrinkled and stained and stunk of body odor.

All of the other patrons frowned and turned away upon seeing him come in. They knew him well, and knew that he was one of the rudest, most unlikable people they had ever associated with.

The bartender watched, as the huge man walked up to him.

“What do you want, Takasu?” asked the bartender.

“What do you mean, what do I want?” asked the man. “Gimme the usual.”

“No,” replied the bartender.

“Whaddaya mean no?” shouted Takasu.

“Lower your voice, pal,” said the bartender. “The manager says you don’t drink here anymore until you pay your bar tab. No exceptions.”

Takasu stood up.

“Now you look here, you little…” he started.

“You want me to call a real member of Security, Takasu?” asked the bartender. “And I said lower your voice. I’m not gonna repeat it. I’m not going to tolerate you scaring the customers any more.”

Takasu sighed, and sat back down, leaning his head on his hand.

“How the mighty have fallen…” he muttered. “There was a time when I told folks to jump, and they would only ask ‘how high?’ Now I can’t get any respect at all…”

“You’re breaking my heart,” replied the bartender. “And we have a no loitering rule here, by the way, so if you can’t pay that tab, I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”

“Excuse me sir,” said a voice.

Both the bartender and Takasu turned, and saw the one who had spoken. It was a strange man, clothed entirely in a thick, black robe and a black hood, with black gloves on his hands. Considering that it was summer, it seemed a very odd choice of attire. His face was the type that was very unremarkable and easily forgettable.

“I couldn’t help but hear that Mr. Takasu owes you some money,” said the stranger. “Exactly how much are we talking about here?”

“Ah, heh, heh,” said the bartender. “Look, pal… If you’re some Good Samaritan who wants to pay this deadbeat’s tab, I should warn you, it’s a lot, and I’ll also warn you, he likely won’t pay you back.”

“You didn’t answer my question,” said the stranger.

“Fifty-thousand yen,” replied the bartender.

The stranger reached into his cloak, and took out a roll of thousand-yen notes. He tossed it on the bar.

The bartender picked it up, dumbfounded.

“There should be a little extra there,” said the stranger, “so you can get Mr. Takasu what he just asked for. As for me, I’ll have a martini.”

The bartender nervously went to get the drinks, while Takasu looked at the stranger with a suspicious glance.

“No thank you?” asked the stranger.

“Not that I ain’t grateful,” replied Takasu, “but I’m kinda suspicious of folks who want to do me big favors for no reason. What are you, some kinda priest?”

“No,” said the stranger. “But I share one thing in common with priests… I’m a good listener. I see that you’re down on your luck, friend, and I have an open ear if you care to tell me about it.”

“Not much to say, really,” mumbled Takasu. “I give Godwin the best years of my life, doing the best job I can, and then he fires me.

“And for what? Cause I tried to put a damn Satellite in his place! Apparently, Godwin thinks higher of Scum than he does of me.”

“Life can be so cruel sometimes,” said the stranger. “So, have you tried to get work since then?”

Takasu sighed.

“I kinda burned my bridges in that area when I took the last position,” he replied.

The stranger nodded.

“Hard to get references, I assume,” he said. “Being the warden of the detention center gave you power, but it didn’t give you many friends… But you figured, who needs friends, so long as you had power?

“And when you were fired, you lost the power, and ended up with nothing…”

The bartender set a beer and a martini in front of them, but Takasu seemed too depressed at this point to drink.

“Tell me something,” said the stranger. “Can you still duel?”

“Yeah, but not as well as I used to,” replied Takasu. “The strongest Monster in my deck actually belonged to Godwin, and he made me give it back when I was fired.”

The stranger took a card out of his robe.

“Is this the card?” he asked.

“Where’d you get that?” shouted Takasu.

“Do not ask such questions,” replied the stranger. “I’m simply here to help. Now take the card… And it will turn your life around for the better…”

Takasu hesitated. He slowly reached for the card…

Then he took it. He looked at it.

* * * * * * * * * *

Ten minutes later, Takasu left the bar, not having said anything else. The stranger was at the door, watching him leave.

He took a mobile from his robe, and hit a speed dial number.

“Louis?” he said. “It’s me. I found a patsy.”

“Will he do?” came the reply.

“Well, he should give them something to think about tomorrow morning at the very least,” replied the cloaked man. “I wouldn’t put my hopes on him winning too high.”

“Are you sure he won’t put two and two together once it’s over?” asked DaPen.

The cloaked man watched as Takasu walked out of sight.

“Are you kidding?” he said. “I doubt that this guy could add two and two together. But we don’t exactly need subtlety or smarts for this endeavor…”



Another day had come to an end, and we had foiled another of DaPen’s plans. But like the mythical hydra, when one head was chopped off, two more grew in its place. We seemingly had not yet made a dent in DaPen’s ultimate plans, and he still had much more in the works, including a new factor that had just come into the picture.

Tomorrow would bring more trouble for the Shadowchasers, not just for the group I was a part of, but for others in other parts of the world, as research was done towards locating the Silver Hemisphere. We didn’t exactly know why Jalal wanted it, and we certainly didn’t know why DaPen wanted it, but we knew that Jalal’s reason for wanting it would be far more benign…



X-SABER AIRBELLUM (Monster Card)

Card Specs

Type: Beast/Tuner/Effect
Attribute: Earth
Level: 3
ATK: 1,600
DEF: 200

Card Description: When this card inflicts battle damage to your opponent via a direct attack, your opponent randomly discards 1 card from his/her hand.

Note: “X-Saber Airbellum” was released in Japan for the original “Duel Terminal” system. It has not yet been released in the United States.



KASHA (Monster Card)

Card Specs

Type: Zombie/Effect
Attribute: Earth
Level: 8
ATK: ?
DEF: 1,000

Card Description: When you have two or more Zombie-Type Monsters face-up on the field, you may Special Summon this card from your hand. When this card is Special Summoned in this manner, return all Monsters on the field to their owners’ decks. The decks are then reshuffled. The ATK of this card is 1,000 for each Zombie-Type Monster returned to the decks in this manner.

Note: “Kasha” is a Japanese card that has not yet been released in the United States.



STAR BLASTER (Spell Card)

Normal Spell

Image: An imp with a die, dressed in clothing that combines the features of the teddy bear on “Graceful Dice” and the imp on “Skull Dice”.

Card Description: Tribute one Monster you control, and roll one die. Special Summon from your hand 1 Monster whose Level matches the sum of the Level of the Tributed Monster and the die roll result.

Note: “Star Blaster” was first used by Joey in the original anime episode “On the Wrong Track (Part 2)”. Creative credit goes to the writers of that episode.



ZOMBIE LINEAGE (Spell Card)

Equip Spell

Image: A beautiful, female vampire extending a hand to a handsome, young man.

Card Description: Increase the ATK of the Equipped Monster by 500 during your Battle Phase only. If the Equipped Monster would be destroyed by a card effect, you can prevent it from being destroyed by destroying this card.

Note: “Zombie Lineage” was first used by Skull Knight in the “Yu-Gi-Oh GX” episode “What Lies Beneath (Part 2)”. Creative credit goes to the writers of that episode.



Coming up next:

No one likes going to the post office, but is it really a place where you have to worry about being mugged? It sure seems that way as Takasu, who may or may not truly be himself at this point, shows up just as the four Shadowchasers go to pick up the two delivered Swords, and challenges Shichiro for them. And while Shichiro may be using his real deck, unlike Yusei did against Takasu, an inner struggle might hinder him along the way as he comes to grips with his past.

“Chain Energy” is coming next.

[Shuppet Master]

Great, we have that warden who tortured Yusei fighting the gang. Man, this really sucks.

Nice chapter, though. Zombie decks are really hard to make original.

[Dark Sage]

Author’s note: This chapter takes place before the events of Episode 32. The revelations of that episode have not yet come to light, and are not known to anyone except the Dark Signers, who currently consist of only three members.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Well, the night went like it did before, and the morning came, just as it did before. Eight o’clock found the four of us back at the townhouse, preparing for a new day. As Boris washed the breakfast dishes, I was on the computer studying up on the most popular cards that were in circulation, Gears was with Mistle (still trying to figure out the right way to give her that card)…

And as for Shichiro? He was in the den contemplating, while Jinx was watching and wondering what the heck was wrong with him…


Shichiro sat on the couch in the den, looking long and hard at two cards in his hands: the Junk Synchron and Junk Warrior cards that he had taken from that demonic auto. Jinx looked at him with an annoyed glare.

Then she spoke up.

“Is that all you’re going to with those cards?” she asked. “Look at them?”

“Certainly you don’t expect me to use them?” asked Shichiro.

Jinx sighed.

“Shichiro,” she said, “if you want me to tell you that it wasn’t your fault that it ended badly with those guys, I can’t tell you that. Jalal warned you about pursuing that project. But still, I doubt Yusei would mind. It’s not like he holds the copyright to that card.”

Shichiro looked at her. He picked up four pencils from the coffee table.

“Jinx,” he said, “let me tell you a little story about four young boys… not quite men at the time. They were bonded together by an alliance that made them more than friends, almost brothers. In fact, they were raised together since they were children; they might have well have truly been brothers.

“Fate had dealt them a bad hand, condemning them to the lower class of Neo Domino, the forsaken place called Satellite. Because they believed at the time that there was no way out, they decided they should make the most of their situation, and be satisfied with it. They became a team, and called themselves Team Satisfaction.

“Three things drove all four members of this team at one time… They were driven by morals, ambition, and optimism…

“But the cold hand of fate would intervene again, and would come down hard…”

He looked at one of the pencils.

“Yusei Fudo… Kept his morals and ambition… lost his optimism. The guy doesn’t laugh any more, and hardly ever smiles. His world is clouded by gloom.”

He put the pencil down and picked up the second one.

“Jack Atlas… Kept his ambition and optimism… lost his morals. He became nothing more than a tool for the mass media, selling his pride and self-respect for fame and money, only to find that it all was hollow in the end…”

He put that one down, and picked up the third one.

“Crow… Kept his morals and optimism… lost his ambition. Decided that the only way he could make a difference was to openly defy authority, becoming a criminal to help others. Noble, maybe, but I’m sure he knows that it will only lead to a dead end.”

He picked up the last pencil.

“And the leader of them all, the once-great Kyosuke Kiryu…”

He broke the pencil in half.

“Lost his morals, ambition, and optimism, along with everything else…

“Rest in peace, Kiryu…”

“And you think all that is because of what you did?” asked Jinx.

“Maybe not, Jinx,” replied Shichiro. “But you gotta wonder if it wouldn’t have turned out better for them if I just didn’t stick my nose into their business with my stupid ideas.”

“Listen!” shouted Jinx. “Did you tell Kiryu to kill that Security officer? No. Did you tell Jack to double-cross Yusei and become a thief? No! All four of them chose their own paths, and they’ll all just have to make the best of the choices they made!”

Shichiro looked at her.

“Well,” she muttered, “except for Kiryu, but that’s beside the point. All this time, you’ve been in this funk because you felt responsible.

“You griped about Jack having an ego the size of the moon when he became King of the Riding Duels. Well, you had the evidence that could have exposed him as a native of Satellite, and if you had given it to the press, he would have been toppled from his throne. But you kept quiet, because you felt responsible for what happened, and you felt sorry for him.”

Shichiro sighed again.

“And as far as those cards are concerned,” said Jinx, “why don’t we let them decide?”

“What?” asked Shichiro. “Let them decide? What do you mean?”

“Some say that cards have souls, Shichiro,” said Jinx. “Some say that they choose the duelist. You think that Yusei chose Stardust Dragon? I’d say it was the other way around.”

She got up.

“Give me your deck and Junk Synchron,” she ordered.

Shichiro sighed. He took his deck out of his Disk, which was on the coffee table, and handed it and Junk Synchron to Jinx.

Jinx quickly added it to his deck, and gave it a thorough shuffle. Then she put it back in the Disk.

Then she put on her own Disk.

“Okay,” she said. “Get up and duel me.”

“You’re kidding,” replied Shichiro.

“I’m deadly serious,” replied Jinx. “We’re gonna settle this once and for all.”

She activated her Disk.

“This is stupid,” muttered Shichiro, even as he activated his own.

“I’ll start off with something easy,” said Jinx, as she made her first draw. “I’ll summon Alligator’s Sword.”

She played the card, and Alligator’s Sword leapt onto the field in Attack Mode. (1,500 ATK)

“And it’s your move…”

Shichiro went to draw a card…

And then he hesitated.

“What’s wrong?” asked Jinx. “You aren’t afraid of Alligator’s Sword, are you? He’s hardly my strongest Monster.”

Shichiro drew a card…

Then he gasped as he saw what it was.

“You drew it, didn’t you?” asked Jinx. “You just drew Junk Synchron, right?”

“This… This doesn’t prove anything!” shouted Shichiro.

“We’ll see,” said Jinx, hitting a command on her Disk.

Alligator’s Sword vanished.

“Let’s start over,” she said. “Shuffle your deck and draw a new opening hand.”

Shichiro sighed, and shuffled his deck. He drew five cards again.

“This time, you go first,” said Jinx.

Shichiro drew a card.

He gasped again. It was Junk Synchron again.

“You drew it again, didn’t you?” asked Jinx. “Do you need any more convincing?”

“I…” said Shichiro.

Then his cell phone rang. He took it out of his pocket and looked at it.

Saved by the bell, he said.

He answered it.

“Yeah?” he said. “Uh huh… Uh huh… Yeah, we’ll be right down.”

“It was the post office,” he said, hanging up. “We have to go down and pick up two Retro packages. The Swords are here.”

“I’d best get Ember and Gears,” replied Jinx. “We’re gonna have to protect them if DaPen tries something…”

* * * * * * * * * *

Post offices have a reputation for being crowded, noisy places with long lines that take a long time to get the service you require from them. Shichiro and his four allies did have one thing in their favor at the large post office – the line for international parcels was never very long.

“Yes, my name is Osaka Shichiro,” he said to the clerk, as he held up his driver’s license. “I have two Retro packages here for me, I believe.”

“Uhm, yes,” said the clerk, looking at the clipboard. “Well, if you’ll just sign here, and here…”

He placed a pair of forms on the counter, and Shichiro picked up the pen that was provided.

He didn’t know that Takasu was watching from a safe distance, at the entrance of the post office.

After five minutes, the clerk handed over two large, elongated packages wrapped with packing tape, and marked fragile, with a great deal of insurance postage.

Shichiro slung them over his shoulder and turned to the others.

“Let’s get these to Soelma quickly,” he said. “I don’t want to send DaPen an invitation now that we have them.”

“Agreed,” said Gears.

As he walked to the entrance, he quickly saw that Takasu was standing in his way.

“Excuse me, sir,” he said.

Takasu didn’t answer.

“Would you mind not standing there?” asked Shichiro.

“I like standing here,” said Takasu, with a grin.

Shichiro frowned.

“Okay, here’s where I stop being polite,” he said. “Move it or lose it, buster!”

Takasu chuckled.

“I mean it!” said Shichiro. “Stand aside, Clyde!”

“And what are you gonna do if I don’t move?” he asked.

“Then maybe I’ll wipe that grin off your ugly face,” replied Shichiro.

Takasu chuckled again.

“Uh, I don’t suggest you start something with me, pal,” he chuckled. “As you can see, I’m, ahem, quite large…”

“I’ve beaten bigger,” replied Shichiro.

“Uh, Shichiro?” said Ember, nervously. “Maybe we’d better find another door… Look at the size of him!”

“Don’t worry, Ember,” said Shichiro. “This guy’s bark is worse than is bite.”

“Oh, is that so?!” shouted Takasu, right in Shichiro’s face.

Shichiro made a grimace.

“…but not worse than his breath…” he said. “And I mean it… Boy, your breath stinks! I mean, I can tell what you’ve eaten in the past twenty-four hours.”

“Huh?” said Takasu.

“For breakfast this morning, you had lox and bagels,” continued Shichiro.

“Now, wait just a minute…” muttered Takasu.

“Yesterday, you had barbecue-pork pizza for dinner with a side of wings,” continued Shichiro.

“I don’t have to take this…” growled Takasu, angrily.

“And for lunch before that, you had a cheesesteak with green peppers and grilled onions. Am I right?”

“You think you’re so smart!” yelled Takasu.

He gave Shichiro a shove, but Shichiro maintained his footing.

Shichiro glared at Takasu, and then he handed the two parcels to Gears.

“Hold these,” he said.

Takasu looked hard at him, and then picked his nose with his index finger.

“YUCK!” cried Jinx. “You don’t eat with that hand, do you?”

“Look pal,” said Shichiro. “And by the way, that was pretty disgusting…

“Anyway, if you want to fight, I’ll be glad to oblige. Let’s just take it outside.”

“Not fight,” chuckled Takasu.

He put a Duel Disk on his arm, one that looked like it was industrial size, if such a style of Duel Disks were actually made.

“I’m a bit more civilized than you think…” he said. “So why don’t we throw down?”

“You’re on…” replied Shichiro. “You know, I like fat people…”

“Eh?” said Takasu.

“Fat people are funny,” said Shichiro. “When they fall down, it takes them a long time to get back up…”

* * * * * * * * * *

Shichiro and Takasu stood face-to-face on the large, concrete steps in front of the post office.

“Shichiro?” said Jinx. “Are you absolutely sure this is a good idea? I mean, this guy may look like the average thug, but I have a feeling…”

“So do I, Jinx,” said Shichiro. “I have a feeling there’s more to this too, and that’s exactly the reason why I’m dueling him and not just telling him to get lost.”

The two Duel Disks activated.

“Let’s rumble,” said Takasu.

(Shichiro: 8,000) - - - - - - - - - - (Takasu: 8,000)

“My draw,” said Shichiro, making a draw.

He looked over his hand of six cards.

“I’ll set this in Defense Mode, and that will be all.”

He placed the card on his Disk, and a concealed Monster appeared.

“That all?” chuckled Takasu, making his first draw. “I expected more of a challenge.

“I summon… Iron Chain Repairman!”

He threw a card on his Disk, and a surge of energy shot out in front of him. The Monster that appeared looked like a bulky, heavy-set man with gunmetal grey skin, dressed in overalls with chains for suspenders, a bandana on his head, and no shoes. He carried a huge sledgehammer slung over his shoulder. (1,600 ATK)

An Iron Chain Monster? thought Shichiro.

“That’s a Monster?” said Ember. “It looks like the guy who comes into Mr. Draco’s building to fix the furnace!”

“Don’t underestimate that guy,” said Gears. “It can be very dangerous.”

“Very dangerous indeed!” laughed Takasu. “Repairman… Hammer time!”

Iron Chain Repairman let out a hoarse roar, and leapt at the facedown Monster with its weapon. A winged angel holding a bow and arrow appeared on the card, right before it was smashed to pieces.

“You just flipped my Skelengel,” said Shichiro. “Now I get to draw one card.”

He made a draw.

“My Repairman has a few tricks too,” replied Takasu. “See, even though your cherub was in Defense Mode, you lose 300 Life Points whenever Repairman smashes a Monster.”

Shichiro groaned a little.

“I’ll set one card,” said Takasu, as a facedown card appeared behind Repairman, “and that’s all for now.”

(S: 7,700) - - - - - - - - - - (T: 8,000)

Shichiro quickly made another draw.

“See this?” he said, holding up a card. “This is a real Warrior, and his name is Grepher!”

He played the card, and Warrior Dai Grepher materialized. (1,700 ATK)

“All right!” shouted Ember. “Shichiro’s Monster is stronger!”

“But why stop there?” asked Shichiro, playing another card. “I’ll give him Jeweled Sword.”

Grepher’s normal sword vanished, and a much fancier one materialized in its place. (2,000 ATK)

“Now, cut down his Repairman!” he shouted.

Grepher charged at the overweight Warrior…

“He can try, but he’s not gonna,” chuckled Takasu, as his facedown card lifted up. “Not as long as I got Soul Anchor. This Trap can Equip to my Monster, and make him invincible in battle.”

Grepher’s sword struck the Repairman, who groaned a little, but didn’t shatter.

(S: 7,700) - - - - - - - - - - (T: 7,600)

“Yeah, well,” said Shichiro, “Grepher may not be able to beat your Monster, but it can’t beat Grepher either.”

“We’ll see about that,” said Takasu, drawing a card.

“First, I play Paralyzing Chain!”

He played a card, and a Continuous Spell appeared on his side of the field.

“Now, I summon Iron Chain Snake!”

A new creature appeared that sort of looked like a snake. Actually, it looked more like a big, thick, steel chain with a snake’s head on the end. (800 ATK)

“Don’t judge this critter by its looks,” said Takasu, with a grin. “It’s actually a really friendly type. In fact, it wants to give Grepher a big hug.”

Then the Snake leapt forward, and coiled around Warrior Dai Grepher, bringing him to his knees.

“HEY!” shouted Shichiro.

“Of course, now Grepher loses 800 Attack Points,” continued Takasu.

(1,200 ATK)

“And that’s just how my Repairman likes it! Attack Warrior Dai Grepher!”

Shichiro shielded himself as Repairman’s hammer came down, smashing Grepher to pieces.

“Don’t forget,” said Takasu, with a grin, “you lose an extra 300 Life Points. And because Grepher had that Snake on him, you also lose four cards from your deck, one for each Level that Grepher had. So ditch ‘em!”

Shichiro made a scowl. He took the four cards off the top of his deck, and discarded them.

“And thanks to my Paralyze Chain,” continued Takasu, “you lose 300 more Life Points every time you lose cards from your deck!”

Shichiro groaned a little again.

“Yeah?” muttered Shichiro. “Well, thanks to Jeweled Sword, I get to draw one card too…”

He made a draw.

“What sort of strategy is this?” said Ember.

“Aggro-Mill,” replied Gears. “It’s rare type of Mill Deck where the opponent also has to worry about his Life Points. Double the trouble.”

“Your move,” said Takasu.

(S: 6,700) - - - - - - - - - - (T: 7,600)

Shichiro frowned at him and drew a card.

Then he gasped when he saw what it was.

It was Junk Synchron.

What the?! he thought. I must have forgotten to take this out of my deck!

Aw man, now what? I can’t just…

Wait…

He hit a small switch on his Disk, and the chamber where his Extra Deck was stored opened.

To his horror, it was there. Junk Warrior was right on top. He had absolutely no idea how it had gotten there.

He slowly closed the chamber…

“Are you gonna move or what?” asked Takasu.

“Give me a minute!” shouted Shichiro. “I’m thinking, here!”

He added the card to his hand, and chose two others.

Not gonna panic, he thought. Jinx is just trying to make me put the past behind me. Well, I don’t need her to do that…

“I set a facedown, and then summon Axe Raider,” he said.

A reversed card appeared, and then Axe Raider appeared in front of him. (1,700 ATK)

“Your move…” he said.

Takasu chuckled again, and made another draw.

“Oh, I get it,” he said. “The facedown card is a Trap, and Axe Raider is the bait, right? Sorry to disappoint you, pal, but you ain’t the first guy to make the mistake that my brains were as weak as my body was strong.

“I ain’t gonna bite, and I don’t have to…

“First, I’m gonna play the Continuous Spell, Messenger of Peace…”

A new Continuous Spell appeared on the field.

“All I gotta do is spend 100 Life Points per turn, and all Monsters with 1,500 Attack Points or more don’t attack!”

“Hold on!” said Ember. “That means his Repairman can’t attack!”

“That may be true,” replied Takasu, “but it doesn’t have to attack to make your friend sorry. Cause I’m also playing Poison Chain!”

A third Continuous Spell appeared on Takasu’s field.

“Now, I’m activating Repairman’s other effect. If it doesn’t attack this round, and like the lady just said, it can’t anyway, I can summon a low-Level Monster from my Graveyard with the words ‘Iron Chain’ in its name.”

Repairman slammed its hammer against the ground, and Iron Chain Snake appeared again. (800 ATK)

“Next, I’m summoning Iron Chain Blaster!”

He played another card, and a soldier of some sort in armor appeared. It had chains all over its rusty battle-suit, and held a large cannon. (1,100 ATK)

“A cannon?” asked Jinx.

“And it uses Iron Chain Monsters as ammunition,” chuckled Takasu. “So let’s lock and load.”

Iron Chain Snake turned to pure energy, and flowed into Iron Chain Blaster. Then the cannon fired, knocking Shichiro over.

“Now I’m ending my turn,” chuckled Takasu. “And that means Poison Chain activates, causing you to lose one card from your deck for each Iron Chain Monster I’ve got. That’s two more cards!”

Shichiro frowned, and discarded two more cards.

“And don’t forget my Paralyze Chain…” chuckled Takasu.

Shichiro groaned again.

(S: 5,600) - - - - - - - - - - (T: 7,600)

“And by the way,” said Takasu, “I can keep doing that, every round…”

“We’ll see about that, fellah,” said Shichiro, as he started to sweat. “Draw!”

He drew a card.

He looked at it.

What am I gonna do? he thought. None of these cards can help me right now…

He looked at Junk Synchron.

He slowly started to reach for it. His hand shook…

I can’t… he thought.

“Well?” said Takasu.

“I pass…” said Shichiro, with a snarl.

“Your funeral,” said Takasu, making a draw. “I pay 100 Life Points to keep Messenger of Peace.”

Repairman slammed his hammer down, and Iron Chain Snake reappeared. (800 ATK)

Then Takasu played another card, and a second Snake appeared. (800 ATK)

“Two of them?” shouted Ember.

“What?” asked Takasu. “You think I only have one?”

Iron Chain Blaster absorbed one of the Snakes, and fired again. Shichiro groaned.

“I end my turn,” chuckled Takasu. “And you know what that means. I have three Iron Chain Monsters now.”

Shichiro growled, and discarded three cards. Then he groaned as Paralyzing Chain glowed again.

(S: 4,500) - - - - - - - - - - (T: 7,500)

“This isn’t like Shichiro,” muttered Gears. “He normally would never let a nutcase like this walk all over him. Something’s happened that’s causing him to hold back…”

“And he’d better get his act together,” said Jinx, “or this strategy is going to finish him off in a matter of rounds.”

Shichiro drew a card.

This might help, he thought, looking at the Trap Card, but it would only solve part of the problem…

He looked at the Junk Synchron card.

Looks like I don’t have a choice… If I must let the card decide, now’s as good a time as ever…

“I set one card facedown,” he said, as a reversed card appeared.

“Then… I summon… Junk Synchron!”

With a small burst of energy, the cute robot mechanic leapt onto the field. (1,300 ATK)

“Huh?” said Gears.

“Huh?” said Ember.

“Hmm!” said Junk.

“And now its effect activates,” continued Shichiro, “letting me Special Summon Skelengel in Defense Mode.”

Skelengel appeared, kneeling in Defense. (400 DEF)

“Ha, ha, ha, ha!” laughed Takasu. “So you managed to bring out a Tuner! I don’t think there IS a Synchro Monster weak enough to get by my Messenger of Peace!”

“There isn’t,” replied Shichiro. “But Junk Synchron itself is weak enough. Although, it is stronger than your Blaster.”

Takasu stopped laughing.

“Take out his Iron Chain Blaster!” shouted Shichiro.

Junk Synchron leapt at the large cannon, and socked it with its fist, blowing it into scrap.

“Ergh…” muttered Takasu.



Continued…

[Dark Sage]

Continued from last post:

(S: 4,500) - - - - - - - - - - (T: 7,300)

Shichiro sighed. He looked at Junk Synchron.

“You absolutely sure about this?” he whispered.

Junk Synchron nodded.

“Okay!” shouted Shichiro. “As an old friend of mine likes to say, let’s rev it up!”

Junk Synchron yanked the ripcord on its waist, and its motor started to hum. Then it and Skelengel flew into the sky. Both Monsters dissolved into five glowing stars.

“Synchro Summon… Junk Warrior!”

With a roar, Junk Warrior landed on the steps in front of Shichiro with a crash. An explosion of flames erupted behind it and Shichiro. (2,300 ATK)

“It’s your move, buddy…” said Shichiro.

Takasu looked at Junk Warrior. He nervously drew a card.

He looked at it and the other card in his hand.

“Oh, Takasu?” said Shichiro. “Think fast…”

The facedown card he had set last turn shot up, and a Dust Tornado shot across the field, blowing Poison Chain to shards.

“Why you little…” cursed Takasu.

“Well, well…” said Shichiro. “Seems it’s harder when you can’t cheat, isn’t it?”

“WHAT?” shouted Takasu. “I never cheat! I… Hey, wait a minute… How’d you know my name?”

“I deal with the criminal element a lot for information,” said Shichiro. “Folks on the wrong side of the law know stuff that other people don’t know. And recently, when I made small talk with several folks who had spent time in the detention facility, they often mentioned a sadistic tyrant who used to be in charge. They gave an accurate description, and also described his deck, and the duel he was in right before Godwin fired him for his atrocities. As soon as you summoned an Iron Chain Monster, I figured it was you. And I know that you’re a big cheater.”

“If you think for one minute that I can’t duel without cheating…” cursed Takasu.

“I do,” interrupted Shichiro, crossing his arms. “So why don’t you come out and tell us why you decided to bother us in the first place? I doubt you’re actually working for DaPen… Usually, a disgraced corrections officer tries his hardest to avoid committing crimes, because he knows his future will be very bleak if he ever becomes a prisoner of the same facility where he once abused his power.”

“Listen, you smart-ass!” shouted Takasu. “I never heard of any DaPen! You think you know all about me because you’ve got friends in the underworld? Well then… Why don’t you just try to figure out why I bothered to come here?”

“Make your move…” said Shichiro.

“Now THIS is the Shichiro I know!” laughed Gears.

Takasu growled and looked at the two cards in his hand.

I could use Repairman to bring back Blaster, and use the combo again, he thought. But without my Poison Chain, half my strategy is wrecked… It would take… Uhm… Six rounds to finish him off that way… That gives him plenty of time to find a way past my Messenger of Peace…

Unless…

He looked at Shichiro, and his eyes opened wide.

Unless… He already knows a way past it! Why else would he summon that Synchro Monster with it on the field?

Man… I’d better get rid of Junk Warrior…

“I’m gonna quit paying for Messenger of Peace, so it goes away,” he said.

The Spell Card vanished.

“Iron Chain Snake,” he ordered, “attach to Junk Warrior!”

The metal snake lunged forward, and wrapped itself around Junk Warrior, sending the Synchro Monster falling to its knees. (1,500 ATK)

“Oh…” gasped Ember. “It’s in trouble!”

“You got that right!” laughed Takasu. “My Snake makes your Junk Warrior kinda look like a big piece of junk!”

Shichiro glared at him.

“Iron Chain Repairman…” shouted Takasu, “smash that Monster flat!”

Repairman lifted its hammer, and rushed at Junk Warrior. Shichiro made a smirk.

“That’s just what I wanted you to do, Takasu,” he said.

Then Takasu saw it too late. The Trap Card Shichiro had set right before he had played Messenger of Peace…

Shichiro gestured, and it lifted up.

“I activate Malevolent Catastrophe!” he shouted. “Since you declared an attack, this destroys all Spells and Traps on the field! And since your Snake is acting as an Equip Spell now, it’s included!”

A fierce wind erupted over the whole field, and Takasu braced himself. Paralyze Chain and Soul Anchor were both torn apart. Junk Warrior pulled itself up, tearing the Iron Chain Snake to pieces as it did, and its Attack Score rose back to 2,300.

Iron Chain Repairman still tried to hit Junk Warrior with its hammer, but the Synchro clobbered the overweight Warrior in the gut. Repairman’s eyes bugged out, and it dropped its hammer. Cracks started to appear over its skin.

“All right!” shouted Jinx. “Without that Soul Anchor, Repairman’s defense is gone!”

Iron Chain Repairman collapsed, and then shattered into pixels.

“Ho boy…” muttered Takasu.

He looked at the two cards in his hand.

“I set these facedown,” he said, as two reversed cards appeared, “and I end my turn.”

(S: 4,500) - - - - - - - - - - (T: 6,600)

“My move…” said Shichiro, drawing a card.

“And it’s time to take you out! Axe Raider, attack him directly!”

Axe Raider leapt at Takasu, and slammed his weapon into him. Takasu grunted and made a step backwards.

“Didn’t… hurt…” he growled, with sweat running down his face.

“I’ve got more where that comes from,” said Shichiro. “Junk Warrior, attack with Scrap Fist!”

Junk Warrior’s jetpack ignited, and it flew towards the burly thug, slamming its fist into his stomach. Takasu made a loud grunt, and fell over on his back.

(S: 4,500) - - - - - - - - - - (T: 2,600)

“Whoa,” said Gears. “Talk about a turnaround…”

“Look at Takasu!” laughed Jinx.

Takasu was in the middle of struggling to get up, which, given his immense size, was clearly not the easiest thing in the world.

“What did I tell you?” laughed Shichiro. “When fat people fall down, it takes them a long time to get up. That’s what makes them funny.”

Takasu pulled himself up, his face nearly red with rage.

“SHUT UP!” he shouted. “No one would ever have dared make fun of me like this when I was still in charge of the facility! People respected me then! I was a force to be reckoned with!”

“Let me give you a wake-up call, Takasu,” said Shichiro. “No-one ever truly respected you. Everyone who knew you, your employees, the inmates… They all despised you. Your ability to intimidate and bully was all due to the authority given to you by Godwin, not through any abilities of your own. I doubt anyone was really even afraid of you… They were only afraid of the powers that were supporting you and giving you your authority.

“And when you overstepped that authority and even Godwin became disgusted with you, you quickly learned what you truly were…

“You were nothing. Nothing but a tool, like everyone else who works for him.”

Takasu glared at him.

“My move…” he said. “I make one draw…”

He drew a card.

“…then, I activate my Reckless Greed Trap Card.”

One of his facedown cards lifted up.

“Now I gotta skip two Draw Phases, but I get to draw two cards now.”

He made two draws.

He grinned as he looked at the three cards.

“I play Monster Reborn!” he shouted, playing one of them.

The holy ankh appeared, and one Iron Chain Snake appeared. (800 ATK)

“Why that one again?” asked Ember.

“I’ll show you,” said Takasu, playing another card. “I summon Iron Chain Coil!”

A new Iron Chain Monster appeared next to the Snake. This one looked like a weird toy of some sort. It had a spherical head with big eyes, and a ponytail behind, with a cylindrical torso below, with two feet directly connected to it. Its arms were two long chains with big hands on the ends. (1,100 ATK)

“Uh oh…” said Gears. “That’s a Tuner Monster…”

Takasu lifted up a card.

Godwin may have taken my old copy, he said, and Hell if I know why some guy just wanted to give this new one to me… But I’ve got it again…

So what if I was a tool? I was a damn strong one, and I liked it.

And if I have to be a tool to live the good life, well then, just call me Black & Decker!

“I Tune my Snake and my Coil…” he said, as both Monsters split into six glowing stars.

“…to Synchro Summon… Iron Chain Dragon!”

A beam of energy shot down from the heavens. With a low growl, a huge creature rose from the point of impact. It was a large Dragon with gunmetal grey scales, no limbs except for batlike wings, a serpentine face, and chains wrapped around its neck. (2,500 ATK)

“Well, what do you think?” asked Takasu.

“I’ve fought bigger Dragons before,” muttered Shichiro. “Not much uglier, but I’ve fought bigger…”

“Try laughing your way out of this!” shouted Takasu. “There are five Iron Chain Monsters in my Graveyard right now…”

The phantoms of five Monsters appeared behind Iron Chain Dragon – Repairman, both Snakes, Blaster, and Coil. Then they all dissolved into grains of light.

“…and now I can ditch all five of them, and my Dragon gains 200 Attack Points for each one!”

Takasu pocketed the five cards, and the Dragon let out a mighty roar. (3,500 ATK)

“Turn his Junk Warrior into scrap metal!” he shouted.

The Dragon blasted a bolt of pure energy from its jaws. Shichiro braced himself as Junk Warrior exploded.

“And that ain’t all,” laughed Takasu. “You gotta ditch three more cards from your deck every time my Dragon deals damage.”

Shichiro frowned, and discarded the three cards.

“My turn is over,” said Takasu, “so that means my Dragon’s Attack Score goes back to 2,500. It’s your move…”

(S: 3,300) - - - - - - - - - - (T: 2,600)

Shichiro drew a card.

Hmm, Wicked Reborn… he thought.

“I activate my Trap Card,” said Takasu.

“Huh?” said Shichiro.

Takasu’s facedown card lifted.

“It’s called Cloak and Dagger,” he said. “Here’s how it works. I get to name any Monster I can think of, and if that Monster shows its face in this duel, it’s removed from play.

“I think I’ll name… Colossal Fighter!”

“Huh?” said Shichiro again.

“Didn’t expect that, did ya?” asked Takasu. “I may have lost that duel that got me fired, but I learned something from it. My deck has a serious downside. It can be very dangerous if my opponent can somehow benefit from having a lot of cards in his Graveyard.

“Well, I know that Colossal Fighter is a card that does, and I know you got it. So you ain’t using it!”

“I play a facedown, and move Axe Raider to Defense Mode,” said Shichiro, not acknowledging that he had even heard that rant.

Axe Raider knelt, and set his axe on his lap. (1,150 DEF) A facedown card appeared behind him.

“My move,” said Takasu.

“Don’t forget,” said Shichiro, “you can’t draw this turn.”

“I know that,” muttered Takasu, as he played his last card. “I summon Iron Chain Gardna.”

A new Iron Chain Monster appeared, one that looked like a muscular barbarian with the same gunmetal grey skin, wearing trousers with a thick chain for a belt and no shirt. He held two shields, one on each arm. (200 ATK)

“And when I summon him, he moves right into Defense Mode.”

Iron Chain Gardna knelt and put the two shields together, forming one big shield. (1,900 DEF)

“Okay, that’s unusual…” said Shichiro.

“Iron Chain Dragon, attack!” shouted Takasu.

The Dragon breathed its blast of energy, and Axe Raider was atomized.

“So now what?” asked Takasu.

“I’ll show you…” said Shichiro.

He drew a card.

Sweet… he thought.

His facedown card lifted up.

“I activate Wicked Reborn!” he exclaimed. “Now, I pay 800 Life Points, and I get to bring a Synchro Monster back from my Graveyard.”

Junk Warrior flew out of the card with its jetpack blazing. (2,300 ATK)

“Big deal!” laughed Takasu. “I happen to know that you can’t attack with a Monster that’s summoned with Wicked Reborn.”

“True, he can’t,” replied Shichiro.

“What do you mean?” asked Takasu.

Shichiro played the card he had just drawn.

“I summon Turbo Synchron!” he exclaimed.

With a sound that resembled the hum of a motorcycle in neutral, a little robot appeared next to Junk Warrior. It had a torso shaped like a miniature car, with tires for shoulders, and headlights on the front. (100 ATK)

“Time for a Synchro Summon of a different type,” said Shichiro. “Junk Warrior… Turbo Synchron… You know what to do.”

The Tuner flew into the sky, with Junk Warrior close behind. Turbo Synchron turned into one star, while Junk Warrior turned into five. The six stars gathered together, and the sound of a much bigger vehicle echoed over the field.

“Synchro Summon… Turbo Warrior!”

A much larger Synchro Monster landed, its headlights flashing fiercely. Like Optimus Prime before it, it resembled a cross between a robot and a mach truck, with sharp claws on its hands, its head shaped to resemble a coif of hair. Its eyes glowed bright red as it eyed the huge Dragon. (2,500 ATK)

“Heh…” said Takasu. “Okay… I’ll admit you had me worried there for a minute… But if you attack with that guy, our Monsters will kill each other.”

“Guess again,” said Shichiro. “Turbo Warrior, attack with Accel Slash!”

Turbo Warrior bore its claws, and its headlights glowed even brighter. Iron Chain Dragon roared, and its Attack Score fell to 1,250.

“My Dragon!” screamed Takasu. “What’s happening to it?”

“When Turbo Warrior battles another Synchro Monster,” explained Shichiro, “that Monster loses half its Attack Score.”

Takasu started to sweat…

Turbo Warrior skidded up to Iron Chain Dragon, and made a savage swipe with its claw. The Dragon roared in pain, and then burst into shards.

(S: 2,500) - - - - - - - - - - (T: 1,350)

“Why don’t you just give up Takasu?” asked Shichiro. “You have no cards in your hand, you can’t draw next turn, and it will be no problem for my Turbo Warrior to defeat your Gardna.”

“Then I pass for this turn,” said Takasu. “But my Gardna ain’t as easy to defeat as you think it is. Turbo Warrior can’t beat it!”

“What do you mean?” asked Shichiro. “His Attack Score is 600 points higher than its Defense Score.”

“But you can’t take it out in one blow,” replied Takasu. “Iron Chain Gardna can resist one attack per round. So just try to get by it!”

Shichiro drew a card.

“I play Card Destruction!” he exclaimed, playing a Spell Card. “Now, I’ll get rid of these…”

He discarded the six cards in his hand.

“…and draw six replacements…”

He made six draws.

“HA, HA, HA, HA, HA!” laughed Takasu. “Look at you! You’d have to be desperate to make a move like that! That leaves you with only five cards left in your deck!”

Shichiro looked at the six cards.

“Doesn’t matter,” he replied. “Watch me tear that wall down…

“I play… De-Synchro! This lets me break Turbo Warrior up into the two Monsters I used to Synchro Summon it.”

Turbo Warrior split into six stars again, and the they formed into Junk Warrior (2,300 ATK) and Turbo Synchron (100 ATK)

“Huh?” said Takasu.

“Next, I’ll summon my own ironclad Warrior,” continued Shichiro. “Meet Gearfried the Iron Knight!”

A new Warrior leapt onto the field, one clad head to toe in black, metal armor, with two blades on his arms. (1,800 ATK)

“Still can’t do the job,” said Takasu.

“Turbo Synchron,” said Shichiro, “attack Iron Chain Gardna!”

“HUH?” said Takasu.

To his incredible surprise, the much smaller Monster leapt at Iron Chain Gardna, and slammed its fist against its shield.

(S: 700) - - - - - - - - - - (T: 1,350)

“What’s the matter, can’t add?” asked Takasu, with a frown. “My Monster is much too strong for that shrimp.”

“True,” said Shichiro. “But now Turbo Synchron’s effect activates, letting me Special Summon a Monster from my hand, with an Attack Score up to the amount of damage I just took.

“Like Command Knight!”

In a burst of flame, Command Knight leapt onto the field. (1,200 ATK)

“And now that she’s here, all my Warriors gain 400 Attack Points…”

Junk Warrior rose to an Attack Score of 2,700, Gearfried rose to 2,200, and Command Knight herself rose to 1,600.

“And my Battle Phase isn’t over…”

“Aw, crap…” said Takasu.

“Gearfried, attack that Gardna!” shouted Shichiro.

Gearfried slashed with his blade against Iron Chain Gardna’s shield, smashing the shield to pieces.

“Now, Junk Warrior will finish the job…”

Junk Warrior flew at Gardna, and walloped it with its fist, blowing it to pieces.

“Command Knight… Finish him off!”

Command Knight’s sword burned with flames. Takasu screamed as she leapt at him, and he toppled over as she made a savage swipe at him with her weapon.

(S: 700) - - - - - - - - - - (T: 0)

They all looked at Takasu, who seemed to be out cold.

“I wonder if we’ll ever know what that was all about?” asked Gears.

Shichiro noticed something. The Iron Chain Dragon card was lying on the ground next to Takasu’s Duel Disk.

He slowly picked it up.

Takasu would never have noticed it, because he wasn’t Aware. But Shichiro clearly noticed the aura around the card. And it wasn’t a benign aura. It was clearly an aura of some kind of dark magic.

“Something’s wrong here…” he muttered.

He looked at Takasu.

“Takasu!” he said, slapping the thug’s face. “Wake up!”

Slowly, Takasu came to.

“Oh, my head!” he moaned. “I haven’t had a bender this bad since last New Year’s Day!”

“Takasu, listen to me!” ordered Shichiro. “Where did you get this card?”

Takasu looked at the card.

“Someone… Gave it to me…” he said.

“Who?” asked Shichiro.

“Not sure…” muttered Takasu. “Everything that’s happened lately is… a fog…”

“Retrace your steps, Takasu,” said Jinx. “What did you do since this morning?”

“First I got up and went to the bathroom…” replied Takasu.

“The important things!” urged Jinx.

“Wait…” said Takasu. “It’s becoming clearer now…

“Some guy at some bar last night gave me that card… And this morning, I felt the urge to add it to my deck and come here and challenge you… I… I don’t know why!”

“Didn’t your mother ever tell you not to accept gifts from strangers?” asked Ember.

“I tend to doubt that he listened to anything his mother told him,” said Shichiro. “People, a word?”

“Shouldn’t we turn this guy in?” asked Gears.

“Gears,” said Shichiro, “I’m not suggesting that Takasu was ever an innocent victim. He was a cruel and uncaring sadist for a long time. But someone was pulling his strings in this case.

“There was clearly a curse on this card.”

“DaPen?” asked Jinx.

Shichiro sighed as he looked at it.

“DaPen is a psychic,” he said, shaking his head. “The curse on this card was clearly a magical enchantment, done by a true sorcerer.”

“Maybe DaPen is both a psychic and a wizard?” replied Ember.

“Unlikely,” replied Shichiro. “Training your mind to use psionic powers and learning sorcery are two entirely separate fields, and both require incredible amounts of study and discipline. It’s very unlikely that anyone could become masters of both fields. It’s possible sure, but incredibly improbable.

“People… The most likely conclusion is, DaPen has an accomplice…”

There was silence for a minute or two.

“At least we have the Swords,” said Gears, holding up the parcels.

“And let’s get them to Soelma fast,” said Shichiro. “I don’t want any more surprises before then…”


I couldn’t shake the feeling that this so-called attack wasn’t truly an attack at all, but merely a test performed by this mysterious accomplice that we now knew existed. Perhaps he (or she, to be totally fair) was curious about us, and had sent Takasu after us as a way to gauge our abilities.

It made us nervous. We now knew that we had another potential enemy out there in addition to DaPen, and this one had not yet communicated with us in any way. When would he show himself? We’d just have to wait and see…



SOUL ANCHOR (Trap Card)

Continuous Trap

Image: A wounded warrior collapsing with a glowing anchor made of energy coming out of his chest.

Card Description: Upon activation, this card is treated as an Equip Spell that Equips to an “Iron Chain” Monster that you control that is Level 4 or less. The Equipped Monster cannot be destroyed as a result of battle. (Damage calculation still applies.)

Note: “Soul Anchor” was first used by Takasu in the “Yu-Gi-Oh 5D’s” episode “The Lockdown Duel (Part 1)”. Creative credit goes to the writers of that episode.



IRON CHAIN GARDNA (Monster Card)

Card Specs

Type: Warrior/Effect
Attribute: Earth
Level: 4
ATK: 200
DEF: 1,900

Card Description: This card cannot be Special Summoned. When this card is Normal Summoned successfully, move it to face-up Defense Position. Once per turn, if this card would be destroyed by battle, it is not destroyed. (Damage calculation is applied normally.)



Coming up next:

Most who study human biology believe that one difference between humans and lower animals is that humans have no natural enemies, except other humans. But the Shadowchasers know that this is not true. There is indeed a race that preyed on humans like wolves do on sheep in primeval times, and even though those ancient days are long past, this dreadful enemy is still a threat.

Coming up next, we take a trip to Dallas, Texas, where Sofia encounters a member of this race, and a high-speed chase down a highway in rush-hour traffic turns into a dangerous Turbo Duel. “Assault Mercenary” is coming soon.

[Shuppet Master]

We're going to my home state next, squee!

This chapter is pretty good. I think Junk Warrior will show up more often now that Shichiro understands that not all Junk Synchrons are the same and the one which caused his friend to kill someone was not the same one as this one.

Interesting duel, and you used an anime character for it. Keep up the good work!

[Dark Sage]

Junk Synchron was not responsible for killing anyone, Chris.

If you want to know the history of Team Satisfaction, which was what Shichiro was talking about, PM me and I'll give you the details tomorrow. Be warned though... Such information will contain spoilers about Season 2.

[Shuppet Master]

Okay, I understand. If it's in the anime, I'll wait for CW Kids to air Season 2. I hope they do, because they're doing reruns tomorrow, I think.

[Dark Sage]

CHAPTER TWENTY

At this time, we have to take a trip, not just over distance, but through time as well. And when you work for an international organization, you do that quite often. Because while it was now nine AM in Neo Domino, it was seven PM of the previous evening in Dallas, Texas.

Earlier in the day, a bank robbery had gone terribly wrong for the perpetrator. He didn’t know that an undercover officer was in the bank itself when he handed his hold-up note to the teller, and that the officer saw the exchange quite clearly. The officer quickly called for backup, and two uniformed officers arrived before the perpetrator could leave the bank. Unfortunately, the crook’s claim that he had a gun was not a bluff, and he panicked, and used it in an attempt to get away. An officer now owed his life to the Kevlar vest he had been wearing.

The gunman hadn’t gotten far. He was now in an office building, where he had grabbed a young secretary to use as a hostage… And now, a far more experienced officer had him cornered…

Of course, when this was happening, I was back in training…



Neo Domino.

It was now ten AM. Gears had brought the two new Swords to Soelma, and Ember and Jinx were back in the lower level of the townhouse. It was time for more training.

This time, Jinx was training Ember on adjusting to calisthenics exercises, something that she stressed was important both for physical and mental health. For those who didn’t know, there were seven such exercises: sit ups, crunches, push ups, pull ups, squats, calf-raises, and dips.

So far, the sit ups and crunches had gone smoothly. But Ember was becoming a little fatigued going into the push ups.

“Come on, Ember,” said Jinx. “It may hurt now, but once you get past the pain, it will just get easier.”

Ember panted for breath as she paused.

“You know,” said Jinx, “if we were in the army, I would probably be sitting on your back. You have it easy.”

“Lucky… me…” groaned Ember.

“Enough, Kaede,” said Jalal’s voice as he suddenly appeared. “Give young Michiko a break for now.”

Jinx was startled by Jalal’s sudden appearance, but Ember was too tired to be startled. She stood up, with sweat running down her face.

“You heard the boss,” said Jinx. “Why don’t you go up and grab a Gatorade?”

Ember nodded, and headed for the stairs.

“So, what’s up?” asked Jinx.

“More concerning your student, Kaede,” said Jalal. “Her second test has come to me.”

“Already?” asked Jinx. “It isn’t natural for an apprentice to progress this fast.”

“I know,” said Jalal, handing her a card. “Michiko is a very unusual case.”

Jinx looked at the card.

“Heavy Slump?!” she shouted. “That’s even harder than Broken Bamboo Sword!”

“I know,” muttered Jalal. “But there’s something about her…”

He handed Jinx something else.

“Give her this too. I believe she is ready and can handle it responsibly.”

“I hope she can…” said Jinx.

* * * * * * * * * *

Dallas…

Travis Quimby looked the gunman in the eye.

Contrary to the gunman, who was a nervous wreck, or his young partner who was watching his back and was rather nervous as well, he was still calm, at least on the outside. The forty-one-year old veteran knew that keeping your cool in this sort of situation was crucial. It could mean the difference between life and death, both your own, and more importantly, that of anyone who got in the way.

The gunman was holding the poor woman in a lock with one arm, and had a gun pointed at her with the other. She was clearly frightened out of her mind. Travis and his partner were only fifteen feet away, and had their guns pointed at him.

“I mean it!” shouted the gunman. “Stay away! I’ll do it, I swear!”

“Oh, you will, will you?” asked Travis. “Let me ask you something, what will happen if you do? What would protect you then? I’m licensed to carry this gun, and I’ve received training in using it for years. I don’t think I’d miss you from this distance.”

The gunman grit his teeth.

“You won’t shoot me…” he panted.

“Oh, I won’t?” asked Travis. “You know how expensive it is for the state to try, convict, and incarcerate scum like you? If I did shoot you, I’d be saving a lot of people a great deal of time and a pretty large fortune. You really don’t want to give me a reason to do it. So just let the woman go.”

Sweat poured down the gunman’s face.

Then he suddenly aimed the gun away from the woman, and pointed it at Travis.

Unfortunately for him, that was the worst mistake he could have made, and was exactly what Travis wanted him to do. Before he could even get a fix on the lawman, Travis’s foot slammed into his hand, kicking the weapon away. In the next instant, a fist slammed into the felon’s face, and he was wrenched away from his hostage by Travis’s partner.

As the younger officer hurried the poor woman to safety, Travis held the criminal down and handcuffed him. He sighed in relief.

* * * * * * * * * *

Ten minutes later, Travis was leaning against a police car outside, sipping coffee from a thermos, as officers secured the scene, medics attended to the victim, and the suspect was processed. He had actually been more nervous than he had let on. But he knew how to deal with a situation like that without showing nerves. He wasn’t the typical cop, as evidenced by his uniform. He was someone who handled the hard stuff.

Travis was a proud member of the Texas Rangers, an elite division of the Texas Department of Public Safety that could trace its origins back to a time before Texas was part of the United States. These were not police officers who issued traffic tickets. They handled crimes as serious as murder and political corruption, worked as riot police and detectives, protected the governor of Texas, tracked down fugitives, and at certain parts of their history, functioned as a paramilitary force when the need was great enough.

Travis had been a member of the Rangers for half his life. And during that time, he had made allies in the Shadowchasers. He wasn’t Aware himself; rather, he was Sensitive, and got a “funny feeling” when he was around the Shadowkind that Awares could see plainly. It was enough for him to help them whenever he could.

“Yeah,” he said to a college next to him. “I dunno, fish ‘n chips, maybe?”

As he said this, Sofia drove up through the crowd of squad cars on her D-Wheel.

“Hey, Travis!” she said, taking off her helmet. “I guess it’s true what they say about the Texas Rangers… They always get their man.”

“Truthfully, that’s the Royal Canadian Mounted Police,” replied Travis with a grin, “but we try our best.”

“Any luck with what I asked you to look into?” asked Sofia.

“Well, I called in a few favors…” said Travis.

Then a black, expensive-looking car pulled into the parking lot.

“Speak of the devil…” said Travis.

The car pulled to a stop, and the front door opened. A tall, thirtysomething man in a black business suit stepped out.

“Sofia, this is Phil Kline,” laughed Travis. “He’s with the U.S. Secret Service.”

“The guys that protect the President,” replied Sofia.

“Actually,” replied Phil, “the Secret Service is the division of the Department of the Treasury that handles criminal cases of counterfeiting and forgery. Protecting the President and other government officials is our secondary goal. Not many people know that.

“But anyway, we found a reference to that object you told us about…”

“The Silver Hemisphere?” asked Sofia.

“Mmm,” said Phil. “It all dates back to a case we handled about ten years ago, where a small group in Pennsylvania was forging pennies.”

“Why the heck would any idiots counterfeit pennies?” asked Travis.

“Not normal pennies,” replied Phil. “These were fake copies of 1943 copper Lincolns.”

“Wait, I heard of those,” said Sofia. “During World War II, copper was needed to manufacture munitions, so in 1943, all three mints started making an alternate penny made of steel, which looked just like the common Lincoln penny made of copper.

“But there were problems with them. They were easily mistaken for dimes. Vending machines that had magnets designed to detect slugs often mistook these cents for them. And they rusted easily, even when exposed to swear. Eventually, the design was abandoned, and most of the steel cents were collected and destroyed.”

“That’s right,” replied Phil. “The surviving steel Lincolns are worth about fifteen to fifty cents to collectors. But during the 1943 issue, a few copper pennies were made by accident, and these are now considered minting errors, which are incredibly rare, worth hundreds of dollars.

“Ten years ago, this group of five forgers started to make fake ones that seemed authentic. A common fraud with people making these is to take a 1948 penny and cut the 8 in half so it looks like a 3. These guys made copies that were far more advanced.”

“So, what does this have to do with the Silver Hemisphere?” asked Sofia.

“Well, we found a reference to something similar in their communications notes with a coin collector from Prague whom we never located. Apparently they were going to get it from someone in Europe as part of some sort of bargain, but the deal was never made…”

As Sofia and Travis were speaking to Phil, they had little idea of the danger on the top of the three-story building across the street.

Perched on the roof was a man who looked mostly human, although an Aware would immediately notice diabolically pointed ears and incredibly dark eyebrows. He had long, raven-black hair that was worn loose, and was dressed in a black shirt, vest, and trousers – pretty much all black.

He opened a special case at his feet, and started assembling something. It took him only five minutes to put it together – a Steyr AUG 5.56mm assault rifle with a laser sight.

He deftly aimed it at Travis, aiming it right for his forehead.

“Goodbye, Sergeant Quimby,” he whispered.

Travis was saved only by a split-second action by Sofia, due in part to reflexes enhanced by supernatural techniques that she had learned in her years in the Shadowchasers. She saw the laser sight appear on Travis’s hat, and realized what it was. Even so, she only had a split second to react to it. She used that split second to make a flying tackle that knocked him out of the path of the shot.

Naturally, once the shot had fired, everyone turned to see where it had come from.

“Who…” said Phil, still in shock from the sudden attack.

“Crud…” muttered the would-be assassin.

What happened next surprised everyone. The assassin leapt off the building, landing on his feet three stories below like a cat. Apparently not even shaken by the jump, he dashed to a waiting motorcycle, and jumped on, starting it up before he was even seated.

“That guy isn’t human!” gasped Phil.

No… thought Sofia. Not human at all…

By this time, all the officers present (except for Travis, who was still getting up) had drawn their weapons, and were shouting for the gunman to freeze, but he simply drove straight towards them. They fired, but he didn’t seem to care. His bike was made of strong material, and even if he hadn’t been wearing a vest himself, he was very hard to hurt. The officers were forced to dive aside as he drove past them, away from the group of squad cars.

But while Travis was getting to his feet and the others were calling for assistance, Sofia was gone. She was already following the Shadow, who she recognized as one of the most dangerous races there was. He was a vampyre – not vampire, but vampyre, with a Y.

She knew that this was one criminal she simply could not let get away. Vampyres were the nemesis of humanity.

Of all the races of Shadowkind that troubled the Shadowchasers, few were ever as troublesome as vampyres. They had rejected the Treaty from the day it was first signed – accepting it would have defied their inherent nature.

Vampyres resembled the more well-known vampires, but unlike them, they were living creatures, not undead. In ancient times on the world where Shadows came from, vampyres were predators who filled the same ecological niche as wolves and similar beasts, except that their prey was humans. As humans became civilized, the need for them was done away with. But the vampyres did not accept it, and still preyed on humans, regarding them as lambs to be slaughtered. They did so in hiding, but if humans had a natural enemy, they filled this role.

Whenever vampyres were brought to Earth, they adapted, as any Shadowkind did. They assumed any position they could that would allow them to strike at humans. Most became assassins, hiring themselves out to other Shadows who wanted Mundanes done away with. Thus, they were able to act in accordance to their nature, and make a profit as well.

Naturally, the Shadowchasers could not let them roam free. It might have been possible to give vampyres the benefit of the doubt and say that they couldn’t go against their natural impulses, but clearly, they didn’t just kill humans, they enjoyed doing so. Like serial killers, they were often selective about their methods and their choices of victims, and often took souvenirs of their kills. There were many rumors among the Shadowchasers that several unsolved serial killer cases throughout the centuries, such as the case of Jack the Ripper, and much later, the Zodiac Killer, may have involved a vampyre.

The vampyres were labeled an outlaw race centuries ago, which meant that all members were to be arrested on sight. What made the vampyres different from any other race that had been given that label was, it had lasted centuries without being lifted. The vampyres had never agreed to any terms that would remove it. They would all rather live as fugitives than consider making peace with humans.

Sofia followed him at high speed, noticing that he wasn’t even wearing a helmet, despite the great speed that his D-Wheel (for D-Wheel it was) was going. Then she saw where he was heading – off the ramp for the Garland Road exit, onto eastbound Interstate 635.

Sofia had no choice but to follow him. The highway could take him clear out of the county before anyone else got a bead on him. And vampyres could do more damage in this situation than even most high-speed chases could. If the police gave chase now, he could start an accident on purpose and cause a disaster. She was the only one who could bring him down at this point, and she’d have to do it before the authorities got here.

The two motorcycles sped onto the highway, merging with the fast-moving commuters of the evening rush hour, with the Shadow in the lead. As Sofia tried to think of a way to stop him, the vampyre’s face appeared on her screen.

“Greetings!” he said. “Sofia, was it? I’m Dmitri… So nice to see someone I have so much in common with.”

Sofia was more than a little nervous when she saw him, with the smile on his face. His canine teeth were slightly longer and more pointed than a human’s, much like those of the traditional vampire. (Oddly enough, true vampires were said to have despised members of this race for some reason, most likely because several crimes committed by vampyres were mistakenly blamed on vampires.)

“We don’t have anything in common,” growled Sofia. “You’re just a killer.”

“I beg to differ!” replied Dmitri. “I’m a professional, just like you.”

“Fine,” replied Sofia. “You’re a professional killer. That makes you a hit man. A thug for hire.”

“You make it sound so common,” replied Dmitri. “I’m just someone who has a job to do. Sure, my job is a hired gun, but that’s what I happen to be good at doing.”

“Don’t try to BS a BSer,” replied Sofia. “You guys live to kill humans. You eat, sleep, and breathe the destruction of humans.”

“Maybe so…” replied Dmitri. “But it can’t be like it was in the old days… We have to have purpose now. We have to make a living. We can’t just kill and gorge ourselves on humanity at random.”

“So you hire yourselves out as assassins,” said Sofia. “If you ask me, that’s worse. You’re taking money for something you would gladly do for free.”

“Maybe so,” said Dmitri. “And I suppose you want to end my wicked ways and bring me to justice. Well, you’ll have to catch me first…

“And if I have to defeat you to get you off my tail, then I’ll do it…”

A light flashed on Sofia’s console. An indication that a challenge had been made.

“You want to duel in the middle of Interstate 635?!” shouted Sofia.

“That’s right!” laughed Dmitri. “Of course, don’t say I didn’t warn you. Dueling is one thing that folks like me like to play for keeps. And since my intended victim escaped because of you, you can imagine who just drew the short straw.”

He’s nuts! thought Sofia.

She hit a command on her console.

And the worst part is, I must be some brand of cashew myself! Because this may be the only way I can stop him from causing a ten-car collision when the police catch up…

I just hope we don’t cause one with the duel anyway…

The Speed World card flashed onto her screen.

“Duel mode engaged,” said the D-Wheel.

In a huge burst of energy, the highway morphed into the silvery void of Speed World.

“I see you’ve accepted,” laughed Dmitri. “Well, hang on tight… Next exit: food, phone, gas, lodging, and certain doom!”

(Sofia: 8,000) - - - - - - - - - - (Dmitri: 8,000)

“Very funny,” said Sofia, making her first draw.

She threw a card on her console.

“I summon Twin-Headed Behemoth!”

A portal behind her opened, and a large Dragon with wings and two reptilian heads flew out. (1,500 ATK)

“That’s all for now.”

“Not bad,” chuckled Dmitri, making a draw.

Both Speed Counters clicked up to one.

“I summon Snipe Hunter!”

Another portal opened, and a new Monster flew out. It was a nasty-looking imp with black skin, a bald head, and small wings, holding what looked like a toy gun with a roulette wheel on the top. (1,500 ATK)

“Now I’m activating its effect, which I can do by tossing one card.”

He threw one card into his discard slot.

“And by the way, since that card I just tossed was Ojamagic, I get to take my three Ojamas from my deck.”

Three cards appeared in his hand.

“All right Snipe Hunter, take aim at Twin-Headed Behemoth!”

Snipe Hunter aimed its pistol, and gave the roulette wheel a spin. It slowed, and then landed on the four.

“Perfect,” chuckled Dmitri.

A blast of energy fired from the weapon, vaporizing the Dragon.

“And I’m not done with you,” he laughed. “Direct attack!”

Snipe Hunter fired its weapon again, and Sofia groaned as it slammed into her bike. Her Counters fell to zero again.

“I set one card, and end my turn,” chuckled Dmitri, as a facedown card appeared, and then faded from view.

“And that means Behemoth’s effect activates!” replied Sofia. “If it’s destroyed, it makes a quick recovery.”

The portal opened again, and Twin-Headed Behemoth flew out. (1,000 ATK)

“That’s not good…” muttered Dmitri.

(S: 6,500) - - - - - - - - - - (D: 8,000)

“My move,” said Sofia, drawing a card.

Her Speed Counters rose to one, while his rose to two.

“I summon Sonic Duck!” she shouted.

The portal opened again, and a large creature ran out, and started to run beside her bike. It was a duck the size of a horse, with green feathers, a scarf around its neck, and a pail on its head. (1,700 ATK)

“Attack!” she shouted. “Destroy Snipe Hunter with supersonic dash attack!”

Sonic Duck quacked, and ran forward, weaving in-between the cars as it did, hopping onto the roof of one of them, and then making a beeline for the Fiend. It rammed its beak into Snipe Hunter, and the imp spun away before exploding into pixels.

“Now, my Behemoth attacks directly!” she shouted.

Twin-Headed Behemoth blasted twin beams of frost from its two jaws, and Dmitri shivered as they hit him. His Speed Counters fell down to one.

“Gonna take more than that to bring me down!” he snarled.

“I set a card of my own,” said Sofia, as a facedown card appeared, “and then it’s your move…”

(S: 6,500) - - - - - - - - - - (D: 6,800)

Dmitri drew a card. Both Speed Counters rose to two.

“Just what I needed,” he said. “I summon my Twin-Barrel Dragon!”

A portal behind him opened, and a new Monster flew out. A Machine used by Jinx several times, it resembled a cross between a two-legged dog and a Gatling gun. (1,700 ATK)

“What do you think?” he said. “If I’m lucky, I can kill two birds with one stone. Or rather, a bird and a Dragon.”

Two bursts of light shot out of his D-Wheel, and then turned into two coins, spinning on the highway. One of them stopped, heads. Then the other one stopped, tails.

“So close!” said Sofia. “You need two heads to use its effect.”

“I still have its regular attack!” cursed Dmitri. “Attack her Behemoth!”

Twin-Barrel Dragon’s nozzle glowed.

“I activate… Negate Attack!” shouted Sofia.

Her Trap Card shot up, and the blast was halted by an invisible shield.

“Not bad,” said Dmitri. “I’ll set another card facedown, and that will end my turn…”

A second facedown card appeared next to his other one.

Sofia made a draw, and both Speed Counters rose to three.

Two facedown cards, she thought, looking at her screen. Well, they won’t matter in a minute…

“I summon Shaman of Mist Valley!” she shouted.

The portal opened, and the oddly dressed, female Winged Beast flew out. (1,200 ATK)

“Now, I Tune all three of my Monsters together!”

Twin-Headed Behemoth, Sonic Duck, and Shaman of Mist Valley all flew into the sky, and split into nine glowing stars.

“You think some Synchro Monster can scare me?” shouted Dmitri.

“We’ll see if it scares you once it shows up,” said Sofia, with a grin.

Mist Wurm slowly started to materialize, flying over the highway, even bigger than the bus that was behind the two duelists. It let out a loud roar.

“Nope, it still doesn’t scare me,” replied Dmitri. “Know why? Because I’ve got THIS!

“Trap Card activate! Discord Counter!”

One of his facedown cards lifted up.

“Discord Counter?” shouted Sofia. “That’s an illegal card!”

And it was an illegal card, at least for civilians. That Trap Card was part of a Special Pursuit Deck used by Duel Chasers, special law enforcement agents trained to apprehend criminals who used D-Wheels illegally. They were the only ones who were allowed to use it.

“And I really should thank the Duel Chaser I got it from,” chuckled Dmitri. “That is, if he ever gets out of the hospital.”

Mist Wurm vanished into particles of light. Then, Sonic Duck appeared in front of Sofia in Attack Mode (1,700 ATK), Twin-Headed Behemoth appeared in Defense Mode (1,200 ATK) and Shaman of Mist Valley appeared in Defense Mode (1,200 DEF).

“I hope those three Monsters are enough for you,” chuckled Dmitri. “Because you aren’t allowed to summon any more of them until you finish two End Phases.”

His other facedown card might be something even worse, thought Sofia.

She signaled to end her turn.

Dmitri drew, and both Speed Counters rose to four.

“I summon Pursuit Chaser!” he shouted.

A siren sounded over the field and a new Machine appeared. It looked like a miniature cockpit with a siren on top, and two robotic arms. (1,400 ATK)

“I’m beginning to see a trend here,” said Sofia. “Your deck is full of things with guns.”

“And is that bad?” asked Dmitri. “Wipe out her Shaman!”

Pursuit Chaser fired twin blasts of plasma from its arms, and Shaman of Mist Valley was vaporized.

“And guess what?” continued Dmitri. “Since she was in Defense Mode, you lose 500 Life Points.

“And I’m not done…”

Twin-Barrel Dragon fired a blast, blowing Twin-Headed Behemoth to shards.

“Heh, heh,” he chuckled. “Your move…”

(S: 6,000) - - - - - - - - - - (D: 6,800)

Sofia drew, and both Speed Counters rose to five. They were both above the speed limit now, and were passing the other cars with ease. Of course, Sofia doubted that her opponent cared about highway laws.

“Your side is looking a little empty,” chuckled Dmitri. “Why don’t you summon something?

“Oh, that’s right… You can’t!”

Sofia grit her teeth in anger.

“Sonic Duck…” she shouted. “Take out his Pursuit Chaser!”

Sonic Duck rushed at the small drone…

“I activate… Prideful Roar!” exclaimed Dmitri, as his facedown card shot up. “Now, I only have to pay 300 Life Points, and my Monster’s Attack Points become 300 more than yours!”

Pursuit Chaser shot up to an Attack Score of 2,000, and it blasted its guns, blowing Sonic Duck into an explosion of feathers.

“Ergh…” muttered Sofia.

She took a card from her hand, and set it on her console. A facedown card appeared.

(S: 5,700) - - - - - - - - - - (D: 6,500)

“Heh, so what more could you do?” chuckled Dmitri, drawing a card.

Both Speed Counters rose to six.

“Twin-Barrel Dragon, attack directly!”

The Machine prepared to fire.

Then Sofia’s facedown card lifted.

“Huh?” said Dmitri. “Attack Guidance Armor?”

Then a fiendish-looking breastplate flew forward, and clamped around Pursuit Chaser. Twin-Barrel Dragon looked confused for a minute… Then it turned, and fired at Pursuit Chaser, blowing it to pieces.

“Nice shooting, Tex!” laughed Sofia. “You just hit your own Monster!”

“Oh, har-har and ho-ho,” replied Dmitri. “Laugh while you can.”

“I will,” said Sofia. “I believe it’s my move…”

She drew a card, and both Speed Counters rose to seven.

Playing this Spell will be risky, she thought, looking at it. I’ll have to put faith in the assumption that his urge to claim a victim right now is greater than his desire to escape.

“I play Speed Spell – Shift Down,” she said.

As she played the card, her bike started to slow down dramatically. Her Speed Counters took a dive, falling to only one.

“Now, I get to draw two cards.”

Dmitri chuckled, and shifted gears as he watched her from ahead.

“All right, pal,” she said. “I’m removing Sonic Duck from play, to Special Summon Silpheed!”

In a whirlwind of energy, the white-suited Fairy carrying a scepter appeared in front of her. (1,700 ATK)

“Next,” she said, “I’m discarding one card…”

She discarded Harpie’s Brother.

“…to Special Summon The Tricky.”

The portal opened again, and the weird Spellcaster in the harlequin costume with a question mark on his mask flew out. (2,000 ATK)

“And I’m not done! I sacrifice Silpheed…”

Silpheed vanished into grains of light.

“…to summon Roc from the Valley of Haze!”

In a tremendous windstorm, a huge bird of prey resembling a golden eagle appeared, flying over Sofia’s bike. (2,400 ATK)

“That’s not good…” muttered Dmitri.

“Tricky…” said Sofia, “attack Twinbarrel Dragon with trick illusion!”

The Tricky gestured, and shot a blast of multicolored lights from his fingertips. The Machine sparked and exploded.

“Now my Roc attacks directly!” she shouted.

The Roc from the Valley of Haze beat its wings, conjuring up a small cyclone. Dmitri held onto his bike as he was buffeted by the gale, and his D-Wheel shook. His Speed Counters fell to five.

(S: 5,700) - - - - - - - - - - (D: 3,800)

“All right…” he said. “Now you’ve officially made me mad…”

He shifted gears again, and drove forward. Sofia saw that he was driving straight towards the back of a very large rig truck…

Then, he gave his shift a yank, and flames shot out of his engine like it was a rocket. The D-Wheel was propelled into the air, making a four-point landing on top of the rig.

He’s crazy! thought Sofia.

Dmitri skidded to a stop, as Sofia drove beside the rig. He looked down at her.

“Are you out of your mind?” she shouted.

“Naw,” shouted Dmitri. “I save fuel this way! And better yet, I have the high ground!”

He drew a card, and his own Speed Counters clicked up to six. Sofia’s went up to two.

“You might remember how I discarded Ojamagic to use Snipe Hunter’s effect,” he said. “Well, I still have those three Ojamas, and now I can use them. I play Speed Spell – Speed Fusion.”

The Spell Card appeared, and the three Ojamas leapt onto the highway in front of Sofia. All three of them blew raspberries at her.

“I’ll combine my three Ojamas…”

The three Monsters faded into a yellow, green, and black swirl.

“…to Fusion Summon Ojama King!”

In an explosion of energy, a huge creature with a body shaped like a big balloon, with eyes on stalks, dressed in a small cape, shorts, and a crown, appeared behind his bike. (3,000 DEF)

“Not only does it have 3,000 Defense Points,” he said, “but it can designate three of the spaces on your Monster Zone as occupied.”

Sofia was surprised to see a little Ojama King appear on her dashboard with a black magic marker. It quickly drew a big “X” on each of her unoccupied slots on her Monster Zone, then giggled, and disappeared.

“I set a facedown,” he said, as a facedown card appeared. “And I end my turn…”

Sofia drew a card. Her Speed Counters rose to three, while his rose to seven.

The card she had drawn was Garuda the Wind Spirit.

Terrific… she thought.

“Pass,” she said.

“Suit yourself…” said Dmitri, drawing a card.

His Speed Counters rose to eight, while hers rose to four.

And then he laughed out loud.

“Time to bring out my ultimate weapon!” he laughed. “I play a second Speed Fusion!”

“I don’t like this…” muttered Sofia.

“I’ll combine Barrel Dragon with Blowback Dragon,” said Dmitri, as two large Machines appeared on the field.

In an explosion, a giant Machine with an armored hull and three flexible cannon heads topped with machine gun barrels appeared in front of her.

“Meet my incredible Gatling Dragon!” laughed Dmitri.

(2,600 ATK)

Then three flashes of light shot out of his bike. They fell to the pavement, and formed into spinning coins.

They all stopped. Heads, tails, and heads.

“Two heads!” he laughed. “And that means it can destroy two Monsters!”

Gatling Dragon’s guns ignited and shot three burning blasts of hot lead, and both The Tricky and Roc were blown apart.

“And I’m not done with you!” he laughed.

Gatling Dragon fired three bursts of shells, and Sofia screamed as they ripped through her. Her Speed Counters were cut in half, down to two.

(S: 3,100) - - - - - - - - - - (D: 3,800)

“Now I activate my Trap,” said Dmitri, as his facedown card lifted up. “It’s called Summon Limit. And so long as it’s on the field, neither player can summon more than two Monsters per round.

“Get the picture yet?”

“Pardon?” asked Sofia.

“Your Mist Wurm is out of commission,” laughed Dmitri. “You need three Monsters on the field to summon it, which is impossible due to my Ojama King.

“But even if you get rid of him, my Trap Card assures that you can only summon two Monsters per turn. And my Gatling Dragon won’t let you keep them long enough to summon a third.

“Face it… Your ace Monster won’t be showing up, and you can’t defeat me!”

Sofia ignored him, and drew a card. Her Speed Counters rose to three, while his rose to nine.

That’s the dumbest strategy I’ve ever heard, she thought.

“I remove Harpie’s Brother from play,” she said, “to summon Garuda the Wind Spirit in Defense Mode.”

In a burst of wind, Garuda flew onto the field. It shielded itself with its wings. (1,200 DEF)

“That’s all.”

Dmitri drew a card. His Counters clicked up a notch to ten, and hers to four.

He looked at the card. It was Speed Spell – Summon Speeder.

Crud! he thought, looking at it. I can’t use this right now… And I have no Monsters to summon!

He looked at the field.

Gatling Dragon has a big Achilles heel… If I use its effect, it must destroy as many Monsters as it can. That means if I get two heads, I’ll destroy Ojama King… And if I get three, I’ll destroy both Ojama King and Gatling Dragon itself!

Better not risk it… I’ll just attack…

“Gatling Dragon, wax her Monster!”

The huge Machine fired its cannons, and Garuda was blown to shards.

Sofia paused. She looked at her deck.

“My move…” she said.

She drew a card. Her Speed Counters rose to five.

“You made a fatal mistake, buddy,” she said. “You designed your whole strategy thinking that mine depended entirely on Mist Wurm. Well, only a foolish duelist bases her entire deck on one powerful card. As you’re about to find out, Mist Wurm isn’t the only powerful Monster in my deck, and I don’t need it to beat you.

“I play Speed Spell – Summon Speeder! Now, I get to Special Summon a Level 4 or lower Monster from my hand.”

The portal opened, and a new Monster flew out of it. It looked like a young boy with delicate features, dressed in a leather jerkin and pants. (1,500 ATK)

“That’s Whirlwind Prodigy!” shouted Dmitri.

“So, you’ve heard of him?” asked Sofia. “Then I guess you know that if I sacrifice him to summon a Wind Monster, he can count as two sacrifices.

“So I sacrifice him…”

Whirlwind Prodigy vanished.

Then lightning flashed over the highway.

“I summon…” shouted Sofia. “Simorgh, Bird of Ancestry!”

Lightning flashed again, and a huge bird appeared over the highway, one that was twice as big as the huge rig that Dmitri was perched on. It resembled the more familiar Simorgh, Bird of Divinity at first glance, but it had four wings instead of two, two big ones and two smaller ones, and its feathers were seemingly made of gold. It let out a majestic screech as it soared over the Interstate. (2,900 ATK)

“Holy…” muttered Dmitri.

“But wait,” said Sofia. “There’s more! Since I summoned it by only sacrificing Wind Monsters, I can send two cards back to your hand! So say goodbye to your two Monsters!”

Simorgh beat its huge wings, and both Ojama King and Gatling Dragon struggled against the virtual hurricane that it caused. Eventually, it was two much for them, and they were both swept up into the air, vanishing into a dark void.

“I’m not done yet!” shouted Dmitri. “You may attack, but I’ll still have Life Points left!”

“I don’t think so,” said Sofia, playing the last card in her hand.

A Speed Spell appeared in front of her.

“With my Speed Counters at five, I can activate Silver Contrail. This gives a Wind Monster a little more wind beneath its wings. 1,000 Attack Points more, to be precise.”

The storm grew even more intense, and Simorgh let out a great cry… (3,900 ATK)

“Ooh… nuts!” screamed Dmitri.

Then he started up his D-Wheel, and rocketed right off the rig, landing on the pavement and driving full speed forward. But the huge Winged Beast gave chase. The vampyre finally screamed as the powerful storm surrounded him, and the stinging winds buffeted him from all directions.

(S: 3,100) - - - - - - - - - - (D: 0)

Then Dmitri noticed that losing the duel was the least of his troubles. His engine was on fire. It clearly had been damaged from that reckless leap off of the truck. And he was losing control.

He tried to steer, but he couldn’t. Unable to control his D-Wheel, he barreled off the road, onto a side street. He leapt off at the last moment, just as the vehicle crashed, and went up in flames.

The would-be assassin mentally checked every part of his body. No broken bones, apparently. His ankle was sprained, and he was bruised in quite a few places.

But, as one wise human had once said, and even he acknowledged that there were wise humans, any landing that you could walk away from was a good one.

He slowly got up…

…and then Sofia grabbed him by the collar.

This was not a good landing after all.

“Uh… hi?” he gulped.

“Do you know how many felonies you committed?” snarled Sofia. “Forget the attempted murder charge… You put the entire rush hour commute in danger tonight with that overt attempt at showing off!

“Why??”

“Uhm…” said Dmitri. “I crave attention?”

Sofia shook him hard.

“If I wasn’t bound by the Treaty,” she said, “I’d happily hand you over to the Texas Rangers and let you face human justice.”

She lifted the gemstone.

“Fortunately for you, I’m just the officer. As tempted as I am, it isn’t my job to judge.”

* * * * * * * * * *

Neo Domino.

Jinx was sitting at a table in the exercise room, looking at the Heavy Slump card, as Ember came in with a half-finished bottle of the sports drink.

“Boy, this stuff really works,” she said. “Well, I’m ready to start again…”

“Nope,” said Jinx, handing her the card. “You have something else to work on…”

“What’s this?” asked Ember.

“Your second test,” said Jinx. “Heavy Slump.

“Simply put, it works as follows. The next time you duel for us, your deck has to have the maximum number of cards allowed in it. Sixty. And you have to win with it.”

“Say WHAT?” shouted Ember. “That’s crazy!”

“Tell me about it,” said Jinx. “Jalal is a psycho. And if you tell him I said that, I’ll deny it. But you’re gonna have to do your best to do it, Ember. Jalal never changes a test.”

Ember sighed, and sat at the table, putting her head on her hands.

“This may help,” said Jinx, giving her another card.

Ember looked at it. It was a check card. One with her name on it, tied to an account at a bank called The Royal Bank of Scotland Group.

“Uh…” said Ember. “I don’t… I don’t have an account at this bank…”

“It’s the bank in Great Britain where most of Jalal’s assets are kept, Ember,” replied Jinx. “Shadowchasers are allowed to withdraw from it, within reason. Jalal told me to give you that card.

“So use it for necessities, use it for cards, use it for lunches… If you see something nice that you want every now and then, that’s okay too.

“But one warning, Ember. Jalal has a small army of accountants monitoring his funds. And while it takes a lot to get Jalal angry, the rare times in the past where he has actually gotten angry have been the stuff of legends.”

“I see…” said Ember, nervously.

“Write down the number on the back so you can call if it’s lost or stolen,” ordered Jinx.

“I’ll guard it with my life,” replied Ember.

And in the meantime, she thought. Sixty cards? How on earth am I gonna do that?



By this time, I had lost about ten pounds of old baby fat, and had gained ten pounds of muscle to replace it. With each passing day, my transformation from a meek secretary to a true warrior was progressing at an exceptional rate.

It was funny… Hebi-Na had tried to kill me. On one hand, I wanted her to rot in jail. But on the other, she had fully awakened my sight and started me on this path. Maybe I owed her one, and felt like thanking her. I would later find out that I couldn’t have at that point – ophidia communities were under strict sanctions due to something that happened a few years ago, and combined with the severity of her crime, it was unlikely that anyone except her lawyer could visit her.

A lot of thoughts and possibilities were going through my mind at this point. What would I tell my parents? As far as I knew, they weren’t Aware, and they’d eventually want to know about this new position I had taken. I hadn’t even formerly quit my job as Mr. Draco’s secretary; I was technically still on vacation, and I had a few days left.

I did know, however, that I would likely have to make a decision on that regard sooner or later. Probably sooner.



DISCORD COUNTER (Trap Card)

Counter Trap

Image: Tune Warrior and Silent Swordsman LV5 standing side by side while Colossal Fighter vanishes above them.

Card Description: Activate when your opponent Synchro Summons a Monster. Negate the summoning and send the Synchro Monster back to your opponent’s Extra Deck. Then, if the Monsters used for the Synchro Summoning are in your opponent’s Graveyard, Special Summon them to your opponent’s side of the field (your opponent chooses the battle positions). Your opponent cannot Normal Summon, Flip-Summon, or Special Summon a Monster until the end of his End Phase after his next turn.

Note: “Discord Counter” was first used by Ushio the “Yu-Gi-Oh 5D’s” episode “The Take-Back (Part 1)”. Creative credit goes to the writers of that episode.



ATTACK GUIDANCE ARMOR (Trap Card)

Normal Trap

Image: A man wearing steel armor shaped like a demonic face, glowing with energy.

Card Description: Activate this card when your opponent declares an attack. Change the target of the attack to a Monster on the field other than the attack target or the attacking Monster.

Note: “Attack Guidance Armor” was used by Kaiba several times in the anime, originally in “Back to Battle City (Part Two)”.



SPEED SPELL – SILVER CONTRAIL (Spell Card)

Normal Spell

Image: A pilot outside a hanger holding a helmet under his arm and looking at the sun.

Card Description: You can only activate this card when you have 5 or more Speed Counters. Select 1 WIND Monster you control. Increase the selected Monster’s ATK by 1,000 until the End Phase of the turn.

Note: “Speed Spell – Silver Contrail” was first used by Yusei the “Yu-Gi-Oh 5D’s” episode “A Blast From The Past (Part 2)”. Creative credit goes to the writers of that episode.



SPEED SPELL – SUMMON SPEEDER

Normal Spell

Image: Dunames Dark Witch surrounded by the energy of Speed World.

Card Description: You can only activate this card when you have 4 or more Speed Counters. Special Summon 1 Level 4 or lower Monster from your hand.

Note: “Speed Spell – Summon Speeder” was first used by both Yusei and Mukuro in the “Yu-Gi-Oh 5D’s” episode “Surprise, Surprise”. Creative credit goes to the writers of that episode.



Coming up next:

The search for the Silver Hemisphere continues, on another continent. In London, Hank does some investigating of his own, and runs into a Shadowkind underworld tipster who claims to have the information he needs – but who won’t give it up without a challenge. There were several secrets to the Hidden Treasure Deck that Yanagi didn’t know about (not that he knew about any of them at all), and next chapter, Hank puts them all to use against a diabolical onslaught.

And once that is done, you all are probably wondering, what the heck is the deal with Jalal? What makes him tick? Next chapter, he sits down to talk with Ember, and the past of the mysterious leader of the Shadowchasers is finally revealed!

It’s all coming up in “Ancient Rules”, coming soon.

[MeLoVeGhOsTs]

I liked the Iron Chain-deck. I liked it in the series and I'm liking it now. Good pick.
The battle was ok. The whole Junk Warrior thing seemed a bit..cliché, but the background story might be good.

The latest chapter was pretty good, although the duel itself wasn't very original, the plot is getting along and I'm very interested in seeing what Jalal's history is.

[Mystic_clown]

I can't really say there was much with this chapter. The duel just seemed to have been thrown in simply because the stuff that actually seemed to matter just wasn't enough. It just seems like a bit of filler to me.

On another note, what the heck is a vampyre? I can't find any info on it.

60 cards aint that bad. Just allows you to add more potential strategies in.

[Dark Sage]

Actually, MC, as far as "real" life is concerned, the word "vampyre" is an alternate spelling of "vampire" that was used by some authors around the time such stories were first becoming popular. (Bram Stokers Dracula was not the only such novel, only the most popular.) As for the Shadowkind race presented here, they were based in part on a monster from the Ravenloft Gothic horror RPG setting, which I adapted for here. There are many sources which I find new Shadowkind from, as you'll eventually see.

But anyway, keep reading.

[Shuppet Master]

Oh, so Test #2 is having to win with a big deck! I don't think it's crazy, many good deck themes(Lightsworn, Shadow Ghoul, etc.) would love to use a sixty-card deck! I'm sure Ember will find a good deck like she did last time and win with it. I hope that she gets to use her normal deck eventually, but the tests are important to her training.

The "Hey, you can take money from our boss whenever you need it" credit card is a sweet bonus too. I'm sure if I was given that opportunity, I'd go crazy. And that is why I am glad I am not Ember, considering the warning she got. My folks are mad enough at me for wasting my social security check on video games instead of food, last thing I need is a half-dragon fuming mad at me.

Also, I'm much more likely to whine and (censored) if I had to exercise.

You're making this story the epic grand finale of your Yu-Gi-Oh fanfiction, Brian. Keep it up!

[Dark Sage]

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

We now must travel through distance and time once again. When it was nine AM in Neo Domino, which was when the problem in Dallas had started, it was midnight in Great Britain.

This was where the Shadowchasers was founded, roughly a thousand years ago. Only Jalal knew the exact date, as he was the only one of the founding Shadowchasers who was still alive. The location of his father’s old lair – that had been converted into a tomb after he died – was a secret known only to him, but it was known to be in Britain somewhere. Jalal’s public manor house was located a mile outside of Liverpool – emphasis on “public”. It wasn’t his true home, but only what he used when dealing with Mundanes. Shadowchasers who went to the house quickly took one of the many portals that led to the secret vale that held Shadowchaser Headquarters, where his true manor house, as well as the courts, administrative buildings, meeting halls, and many other important buildings needed for running the organization were kept far away from Mundane eyes.

As you might expect, Great Britain had more of a concentration of Shadowchasers in it than any other industrialized country. And the country had a great deal of Shadowkind too, as you might expect from its long history. In addition to the numerous clans, Britain was thick with sites of power, where magic was particularly strong. London itself was one of the few metropolitan areas, along with Rome, Hong Kong, and New Orleans, where the mystic ley lines that crisscrossed the planet were known to intersect. Other places of power were common in Britain, such as Stonehenge and other lesser known groups of standing stones. It may have been the concentration of supernatural energy that had caused a Shadow as powerful as Jalal’s father to arrive here in the first place.

There would always be a need for Shadowchasers in Great Britain… And it would always be the place that they called home…



London.

At the stroke of midnight, the Clock Tower of the Palace of Westminster (often incorrectly referred to as Big Ben, which was actually the name of its largest bell) let out its low, monotonous chime over the whole city.

In a pub on the south side of the city, it was an hour to closing time. The elderly bartender was serving the few remaining customers, most of them folks who worked late and came in for a pint on the way home.

He was quick to notice when Hank walked in. Hank was a native of Britain, but business kept him from home most of the time. He was a rare sight here.

“Hank?” said the barkeep, somewhat surprised. “Heh, long time no see! What’s been keeping you?”

“Business,” replied Hank. “And I’m afraid that’s it’s business that’s brought me back home for a little while.

“Give me the usual, will you?”

The bartender filled a glass at the tap.

“Anything I can help you with?” he asked.

“Actually, yes,” replied Hank. “I’m looking for the Colonel.”

“Mmm…” said the bartender, shaking his head. “Afraid you got back about a week too late, Hank. The Colonel passed away last Monday. The doctor said he died in his sleep.”

Hank sighed.

“Poor guy,” he said. “He lived a long life, but everyone has to go sometime, I guess. So what did he do with all his money?”

“Well, he didn’t leave it to me, that’s all I know,” said the bartender with a shrug.

Hank sipped from the glass.

“No one mentioned a… Silver Hemisphere, did they?” he asked.

The bartender gave a strange look.

“Well, I think I’d know if they did,” he said. “What’s that, half a globe?”

“Long story,” sighed Hank.

Looks like this is a dead end, he thought.

“Pardon me, guvnor,” said a voice next to him.

Hank turned his head, and then looked down.

Standing next to him was a very short figure, about four feet tall. He was dressed in an old and worn jacket and pants, a wool hat, and a scarf covering the lower half of his face. Clearly, this person looked like he was concerned with catching cold, despite the fact that it was summer.

However, Hank could see his pointed ears, his olive-green skin, and his watery eyes. Combined with his short stature, it was clear that he was a goblin.

Goblins were Shadows that were related to orcs at some point in their ancestry. But while orcs were violent and warlike, goblins were sneaky and stealthy. While orcs were warriors, goblins tended to be thieves. It was very hard to ever trust one of them – any Aware who knew anything about goblins knew enough to watch his wallet whenever they were around. Goblins rarely had any loyalty at all, and most would turn in their own mothers if the reward was good enough.

“What?” asked Hank.

“You lookin’ for the Silver Hemisphere?” asked the goblin.

“Buddy, I only listen to serious claims,” replied Hank, “and I don’t fall for con games easily. I doubt you even know what the Silver Hemisphere is.”

“But I do,” replied the goblin. “It’s a silver display stand meant to hold the Regalia of Day, right?”

Hank looked at him.

“Okay, I’m listening,” he said.

“Well, maybe outside…” said the goblin. “In places like this, the walls have ears, y’know…”

* * * * * * * * * *

The street was pretty much empty at this time of night. The goblin looked back and forth.

“Look, Mr… ‘Snitch’,” started Hank.

“No ‘mister’,” replied the goblin. “Just Snitch. I just want to cut a little deal with you. I hear you’re a duelist…”

He took a Duel Disk from under his coat, and a deck.

“Okay, what do you want?” asked Hank.

“We have a friend in common,” said Snitch. “Name’s Al-Khazzir?”

“He isn’t a friend,” replied Hank.

“Whatever,” replied Snitch. “He’s in jail, you know, and I am a friend. I just want to pay him a little visit before his trial starts.”

“Then go to the detention center at Shadowchaser Headquarters and fill out a visitor’s form!” replied Hank. “It’s as simple as that.”

“Well, that’s kind of a prickly pear where I’m concerned,” said Snitch. “See, I did some time about five years ago for breaking and entering…”

“…and ex-cons can’t visit prisoners,” replied Hank. “Well, sorry, but I can’t change the rules.”

“But I can!” replied Snitch. “All I gotta do, is get a signed permission form from either the arresting officer, or the judge presiding over his trial.”

“And since I’m the arresting officer, you want it from me,” sighed Hank, putting his hand on his hip. “You realize that I can’t do that without going through the proper channels…”

“I’d ask the judge, but he’s incredibly busy,” replied Snitch. “Now look, we can do this like gentlemen if you want… I really know where this Silver Hemisphere is. And to avoid the red tape, I’ll really make this worth your while.”

“You want to duel so it counts as a wager as outlined by the Treaty,” muttered Hank. “That way, the ‘proper channels’ can be avoided.”

“But you’ll benefit either way,” replied Snitch. “You win, I’ll tell you where it is, and I’ll be on my way. If I win, you sign that form for me, and I’ll tell you where it is anyway! Win-win situation. You couldn’t ask for a better deal than that, could ya?”

Hank looked at the goblin.

He was well aware of an ancient saying that said, “if something seems too good to be true, it probably is”.

But, if this goblin truly did know where the Silver Hemisphere was…

I’ll figure it out later, he thought.

He activated his Disk.

Snitch smiled a smile that Hank did not like. He activated his own.

(Hank: 8,000) - - - - - - - - - - (Snitch: 8,000)

Snitch grinned as he made his first draw.

Perfect! he thought. There it is… The card he gave me… This’ll be a piece of crumb cake…

“I’ll start by summoning Demon Roar God Galbath,” he said.

As he played the card, a waft of bright light struck the field. An ugly-looking Fiend with a gargoyle-like face, armor, and scaly, wing-like protrusions on his forearms appeared. He carried a weapon that looked like a huge, spiked, iron ball on a chain. (1,500 ATK)

A Demon Roar God? thought Hank. Never heard of that before…

“What do you think?” asked Snitch, who now sounded a great deal more sinister than he did before. “He’ll rip you a new one!”

“Let him try!” laughed Hank. “He’s hardly the strongest Fiend I’ve ever seen.”

“Yeah?” said Snitch, placing a card in his Disk. “Well, I’ll toss down a facedown card for later. It’s your move…”

Hank made a draw, and looked at it.

“I think I’ll activate it now!” exclaimed Snitch.

His facedown card lifted, showing a Continuous Trap. It bore a frightening image of an armored Fiend appearing in a summoning circle.

“It’s a rare Trap called Spell-Sealing Sigil,” he said. “Now, I get to name one type of Spell Card, and for as long this Trap is in play, that type of Spell is off-limits for both of us.

“I’m naming Quickplay Spells.”

What the… thought Hank. That means he knew about my Curse-Returner Hitogata… He came prepared.

“And all I gotta do to keep it,” continued Snitch, “is make sure I’ve got a Light-Attribute Fiend on my field during each of my own End Phases.”

“Light-Attribute Fiends are pretty hard to come by,” replied Hank.

“Take a look,” said Snitch, pointing to Galbath. “I got one already. And he ain’t the only Demon Roar God. There are more, and they’re all Light Fiends. No-one is quite sure why that is, but some folks think that they used to be fallen angels before they were Fiends.”

Hank looked at his hand.

Well, he thought, whoever told him about my cards was a little misinformed…

He played a card.

“I summon Ashoka Pillar!” he shouted.

With a rumble, the tall, thin, stone tower rose out of the ground. (0 ATK)

“And just what are you gonna do with that?” laughed Snitch. “You can’t use your Curse-Returner! When I smash it, you’ll lose 2,000 Life Points!”

“We’ll see about that,” said Hank. “I play the Equip Spell, Spirit Mask.”

He played another card, and a large, colorful tiki mask bonded to the apex of the tower.

“And what does that do?” asked Snitch.

“If this Monster is destroyed with Spirit Mask,” explained Hank, “its controller has to discard one card.”

Snitch burst out laughing.

“Of all the idiotic…” he laughed. “That has to be the dumbest…”

Hank flipped a card in his hand around, and Snitch stopped short.

“…that has to be the smartest move I’ve ever seen…” said Snitch, nervously.

Hank played the card, and Creature Swap appeared on his side of the field. Instantly, both Monsters switched places, Demon Roar God Galbath appearing on Hank’s side of the field, and Ashoka Pillar appearing on Snitch’s.

“Need I remind you,” said Hank, “Ashoka Pillar also has zero Attack Points.”

“Hold on!” shouted Snitch.

“Now, let’s battle!” shouted Hank. “Galbath, tear down Ashoka Pillar!”

Galbath twirled the ball and chain over his head, and hurled it at Ashoka Pillar, smashing it into shards of rock. Snitch groaned and shielded himself.

“And don’t forget, you lose 2,000 Life Points from its effect,” continued Hank.

The goblin screamed as lightning struck him.

“And also don’t forget,” said Hank, as Snitch started to get up, “you have to toss one card due to Spirit Mask’s effect.”

Snitch grinned a little.

“Actually…” he said, taking a card from his hand, “it would be my pleasure…”

He discarded it.

Huh? thought Hank. What just happened?

(H: 8,000) - - - - - - - - - - (S: 4,500)

He looked at Snitch.

“I’ve wiped out almost half your Life Points in one turn,” he said. “That Spell-Sealing Sigil hasn’t done you any good so far. So why don’t you tell me who gave it to you?”

“No,” said Snitch, drawing a card. “Besides, who said anyone gave it to me? Maybe I just pulled it.

“And by the way, you might like to know that the Monster I discarded because of your Spirit Mask was a Level 6 Monster called Demon Roar God Solcius.

“And when he’s in my Graveyard, I can toss two cards…”

He quickly discarded Magical Mallet and Bark of Dark Ruler.

“…to bring him to the field!”

In an eruption of light, a new Fiend appeared in front of Snitch. It was a large, muscular creature, with batlike wings and a long, snaky tail, wearing a black breastplate with a golden design, black pants, and a golden mask over his otherwise human face. (2,200 ATK)

“Ho boy,” said Hank.

“Next, I Normal Summon Demon Roar God Kushano,” continued Snitch.

In another waft of light, a new Fiend appeared who looked like an academia-type. He wore a formal black jacket and trousers with silver designs and spectacles, had unkempt, long, white hair, and white, feathered wings. He carried a large, leather-bound tome with a skull on the cover. (1,100 ATK)

Snitch looked at the last card in his hand.

I’ll save this for later, he thought.

“Solcius,” he said, “wipe out Galbath with prismatic orb!”

The Fiend put his hands together, and formed a globe of multicolored lights. He hurled it, and Galbath was blown into gibbets of light.

“All right, Kushano, attack the guvnor directly.”

Kushano adjusted his glasses, and fired a beam of energy from them, striking Hank.

“Ergh…” he groaned.

“That’s my move, guvnor,” said Snitch.

(H: 6,200) - - - - - - - - - - (S: 4,500)

Seems this guy is better than I thought he’d be, thought Hank, drawing a card.

He looked at the Monster on the card he had drawn.

“I play Stonehenge,” he said, playing a Spell Card. “Now, I get to bring Ashoka Pillar back from the Graveyard.”

The standing stones of Stonehenge surrounded the two duelists, and Ashoka Pillar reappeared. (2,200 DEF)

“I play a facedown, and end my turn.”

A facedown card appeared behind Asoka Pillar.

“You think that oversized street lamp can protect you?” asked Snitch.

He drew a card.

“Trap activate,” exclaimed Hank.

“Huh?” said Snitch, as the facedown card lifted.

“Rock Bombardment!” shouted Hank. “Now, by sending a Rock-Type Monster from my deck to my Graveyard, I get to inflict 500 points of damage!”

A large catapult manned by two soldiers appeared behind him. One of them lowered the basket, and the other loaded the Crystal Skull into it.

The first one pulled the lever, sending Crystal Skull shooting towards Snitch. He tumbled over as it beaned him on the head.

He slowly got up.

“Oh, aren’t we clever…” he growled. “I summon Demon Roar God Urstos!”

With a cackling laugh, a hideous creature appeared next to the other two Demon Roar Gods. It was a skeleton, garbed in a tattered, black cloak, with rotting, molted, feathered wings. (1,500 ATK)

“This guy’s effect comes into play whenever I have two or less cards in my hand,” explained Snitch, “and as you can see, I only have one. Now, every Demon Roar God I ‘ave gains 400 more Attack Points.”

Solcius grew to 2,600 Attack Points, Kushano rose to 1,500, and Urstos rose to 1,900.

“Now let’s see how you like it… Solcius, destroy Ashoka Pillar!”

Solcius blasted his prismatic orb, and Ashoka Pillar was blown into pebbles for the second time.

“And now, you get a taste of yer own medicine!” laughed Snitch.

Hank groaned as the lightning struck him.

“But what doesn’t kill me only makes me stronger,” replied Hank. “You see, because I just took damage from the effect of a card I control, I can Special Summon…

“…my Anubian Soldier!”

An explosion of sand burst from where Ashoka Pillar had been, and a tall, humanoid form rose out of the ground. It was a muscular man wearing Egyptian-style armor, holding a crescent-bladed battle-axe. He had the head of a black-furred jackal, the likeness of the Guardian of the Dead, Anubis. (1,000 ATK)

“Big deal!” laughed Snitch. “That’s weak!”

“Yeah?” asked Hank. “He gains Attack Points equal to the amount of Life Points I had to lose to summon him.”

Anubian Soldier glowed with dark energy. (3,000 ATK)

“WHAT?” shouted Snitch. “Rowan never told me about this!”

“Who’s Rowan?” asked Hank.

“Uh, nobody…” muttered Snitch. “I move Kushano into Defense Mode, and end my turn.”

Kushano knelt, and folded his wings over his chest. (800 DEF)

(H: 4,200) - - - - - - - - - - (S: 4,000)

“I draw one card…” said Hank, making a draw.

He looked at the card, which was Cabrera Stone.

Can’t use this right now, he thought.

“And then my Anubian Soldier attacks Demon Roar God Urstos!”

The jackal-headed Warrior rushed at the skeletal Fiend, and made a savage slash with its axe. Urstos let out a loud cackle, and then burst into an explosion of bones and shards of cloth.

“Ergh…” muttered Snitch.

Both of his other Monsters’ Attack Scores fell to their original scores.

“I throw down a facedown, and end my turn,” said Hank, as a reversed card appeared.

(H: 4,200) - - - - - - - - - - (S: 2,900)

Criminy, thought the goblin, making a draw. This is harder than I thought it would be…

“I set a Monster," he said, "and move Solcius to Defense Mode as well.”

He quickly played his last card. A set Monster appeared, and Solcius knelt and folded his own wings over his chest. (2,100 DEF)

“My move now,” said Hank.

He drew a card.

Just what I needed, he thought.

“I sacrifice my Anubian Soldier…” he said.

Anubian Soldier vanished into grains of light…

“To Special Summon his master… King Scorpion!”

Lightning flashed, and a powerful, muscular man with bronze skin appeared in his place. He was bare-chested, with leather trousers, wearing bronze gauntlets and a helmet with a scorpion design on the crest. He held a kopesh sword in his right hand, and a large shield with a scorpion painted on it in his left. (3,000 ATK)

“I don’t get it,” said Snitch. “You sacrificed one Monster to summon one with the same amount of Attack Points?”

“King Scorpion’s Attack Points are the same as whatever Anubian Soldier had when I sacrificed it,” explained Hank. “And he gains effects depending on how powerful he is. If he has 2,000 Attack Points or more, he inflicts trampling damage. 3,000 or more, and he can dodge any Spell or Trap that targets him.”

“Trampling damage??” gasped Snitch.

He looked at Kushano.

“Oh no…”

“Attack Demon Roar God Kushano!” shouted Hank.

King Scorpion made a swipe with his kopesh, and the Demon Roar God exploded, knocking Snitch over.

“My turn is over,” said Hank.

(H: 4,200) - - - - - - - - - - (S: 700)

“I’m not finished yet,” said Snitch, drawing a card.

He looked at it.

“First I set this,” he said, as a facedown card appeared.

“Then I flip Morphing Jar into Attack Mode.”

His facedown Monster flipped up. Morphing Jar appeared, and let out a cackle. (700 ATK)

Hank discarded Cabrera Stone, and made five draws. Snitch discarded his one card, and drew five times.

“Now,” said Snitch, “since this Trap Card of mine seems to have been nothing more than a waste of time, I’ll use this…”

The card he had just set lifted up.

“Magic Planter. I’ll send Spell-Sealing Sigil to the Graveyard, to draw two more times.”

The Trap Card vanished, and he made two draws.

Then he chuckled.

“Even better,” he continued, “since we can use Quickplays again, I can use Mystik Wok.”

He played a Spell Card, and Demon Roar God Solcius vanished into grains of light.

“Now I gain 2,200 Life Points.

“Next, I’ll summon Demon Roar God Raven.”

He played the card, and a new Fiend appeared. This one was dressed in black armor with a skull design on the breastplate, and a helmet that covered his face like a cowl. His wings were attached to his forearms, and looked like blades. (1,300 ATK)

“Raven here is Level 2,” said Snitch, “but for each card that I toss, he gains one Level for one round, and also gains 400 Attack Points.”

He quickly discarded two cards, and Raven glowed with an aura of Light. (2,100 ATK)

He could only have one reason for changing its Level, thought Hank. A Synchro Summon… But what Synchro Monster could he have that could beat King Scorpion’s Attack Score of 3,000?

“And that’s not all,” continued Snitch. “The two Monsters I discarded are two guys named Demon Roar God Rulee. And when they go from my hand to the Graveyard, they go to the field next.”

In two small bursts of light, two little imps with bat-like wings, big smiles, and red masks over their eyes appeared, crouching in Defense Mode. (400 DEF x2)

“Up next,” he said, as a Spell Card appeared, “I play Monster Gate. First I gotta sacrifice a Monster. So, I’ll get rid of Morphing Jar…”

Morphing Jar vanished.

“Then I pick up cards from my deck until I reach a Monster. Then I Special Summon it.”

He took a card from his deck.

“And I got just what I needed! Meet Demon Roar God Grimro!”

The Fiend that appeared this time clearly looked more like a fallen angel than a true Fiend. She (it was clearly a female) was a dark woman dressed in a black gown made of black feathers, with dark hair, pale skin, and large, black, feathered wings. (1,700 ATK)

“Just how many of these guys are there?” asked Hank.

“The best is yet to come,” chuckled Snitch. “I Tune Raven and Grimro together!”

The two Demon Roar Gods spread their wings, and flew into the night sky. Hank felt a strange sense of foreboding as they split into eight stars, which quickly vanished.

Then a portal started to open…

A hulking, intimidating form started to walk out of the portal. It was a broad-shouldered Fiend dressed in sinister-looking, but elaborately decorated shogun armor, colored black, red, and gold, with many sharp edges. His wings were seemingly made of steel, and seemed to be part of the armor itself.

“Meet Demon Roar God Valkyurus,” said Snitch.

(2,900 ATK)

“He still can’t beat King Scorpion,” replied Hank, narrowing his eyes. “He comes up 100 points short.”

“Can he now?” asked Snitch, playing another card. “I play Banner of Courage. Now, for my Battle Phase only, my Monsters gain 200 more Attack Points.

“So… Valkyurus… Take down King Scorpion!”

Valkyurus lifted his hand, and a flaming katana blade appeared in it. He let out a roar, his Attack Score rose to 3,100, and he charged at King Scorpion.

“Not so fast!” shouted Hank, as his facedown card lifted up. “I activate a Trap!”

The Trap Card was a very elaborate one, which showed an old fashioned, black and white picture of a man being held by his ankles over a castle parapet.

“It’s called Blarney Stone,” he said. “Legend says that kissing the Stone brings good fortune, and a kiss from this Trap brings luck to any Earth Monster, making him invincible in battle.”

Valkyurus’s sword slammed into King Scorpion, but the Warrior resisted it.

Snitch placed his last card into his Disk.

“I set this,” he said, “and I end my turn.”

(H: 4,100) - - - - - - - - - - (S: 2,900)

Hank drew a card and looked at it.

Okay… he thought.

“Trap activate,” said Snitch.

“Huh?” said Hank.

“It’s called Gamble,” said Snitch, as his facedown card activated. “Since you have six cards, and I have none, I get to toss a coin. If I call correctly, I get to draw five times.”

“You realize what’s gonna happen if you call wrong, right?” asked Hank.

“Yeah, I’ll have to skip my next turn, and I’ll lose the duel,” said Snitch, holding up a coin. “But I’m feeling mighty lucky today…

Even more than you could ever believe, he thought, looking at the coin.

It looked like a Euro, but it was actually a fake, two-headed one that he had gotten from a novelty store catalogue. Normally, a Duel Disk was programmed to detect such fakes, but the person who had given Snitch this Disk had tampered with that feature.

“It’s heads!” he shouted, tossing it.

The coin spun in the air, and he caught it, slapping it on his wrist. Hank’s eyes narrowed a little…

“Heads it is,” said Snitch.

Even if Hank suspected that the move had been underhanded (and he did), he wasn’t going to waste time challenging it. He knew that this guy would likely use a fast move to switch the coin for a regular one before he could inspect it. He was full of suspicion already anyway about this whole deal.

As Snitch drew five cards, Hank looked at the cards in his hand.

If I attacked one of those Rulee, I could bring him down to only 300 Life Points, he thought. But with Valkyurus on the field and his Banner of Courage in play, I’d lose King Scorpion on his next turn, and I can’t have that…

“King Scorpion, destroy Demon Roar God Valkyurus!”

The powerful king made a slash with his blade, cutting down the evil Fiend, who was blown into slivers of brilliant light. Snitch shielded himself.

(H: 4,100) - - - - - - - - - - (S: 2,800)

“Not bad, guvnor,” chuckled Snitch. “But now it’s time to bring out my best…”

Valkyurus wasn’t his best? thought Hank, in disbelief.

He made a draw.

“I play Monster Reborn!” he shouted. “Guess who’s back…”

The fiery, glowing ankh appeared, and Valkyurus appeared again. (2,900 ATK)

“But he isn’t staying,” he continued. “I’m just gonna use him to summon someone even better.

“And it all starts with this guy… Demon Roar God Mihztorji.”

He flipped a card in his hand around.

“See, he’s a Tuner himself, but I can use him a different way. If I send him to the Graveyard…”

He discarded the card.

“…I can treat any other Demon Roar God on the field as a Tuner. So I’m gonna do that with one of my Rulee.

“And that lets me Tune all three of my Monsters together…”

All three of the Fiends flew into the sky, turning into a cluster of stars. Fog started to rise on the street, and Hank’s eyes opened wide.

“That’s ten Levels worth of Monsters!” he shouted.

“That’s right!” laughed Snitch, as a large object appeared in front of him.

The large object appeared to be a granite throne, its back to Hank. Slowly, it rotated, showing another powerful-looking Fiend reclining on it. He was wearing armor and had a hair style each resembling the visual kei fashions, covered with decorated gold and crimson, with a mask over his eyes, and large, leathery wings on his back.

He yawned, and stretched, and stood up. (3,000 ATK)

“Meet the lord of the Demon Roar Gods,” chuckled Snitch. “Demon Roar God Levuathan!

“And thanks to my Banner of Courage, he has enough firepower to atomize your King…”

Levuathan’s eyes glowed with crackling energy. Thunder clapped. He lifted his hand, and lightning fell from the heavens, falling to his palm, and his Attack Score rose to 3,200. Then he hurled the lightning forward, and King Scorpion groaned before being blasted into shards.

“So much for him,” said Snitch. “I’ll set a facedown, and end my turn.”

A reversed card appeared in front of him.

(H: 3,900) - - - - - - - - - - (S: 2,800)

Hank glared at Snitch and drew a card.

I wasn’t sure before, but now I am, he thought. Synchro Monsters are rare enough as it is… Level 10 ones are not cards that would ever be found in the hands of any goblin tipsters. This whole thing was a setup.

I’d better beat this guy and find out why…

“First, I play a facedown,” he said, as a reversed card appeared.

“Then, I play the Spell Card, Valley of Kings.”

A Spell Card appeared in front of him.

“Now, by removing a Level 8 Monster in my Graveyard from play, such as King Scorpion, I get to Special Summon three Monsters from it, so long as all three of them have zero Attack Points.”

He quickly pocketed the King Scorpion card, and three surges of energy appeared on the field. Crystal Skull appeared first (0 DEF), then Ashoka Pillar (2,200 DEF), then Cabrera Stone (0 ATK).

“You just summoned your Crystal Skull!” shouted Snitch. “You know what that means!”

Hank groaned a little as the Crystal Skull glowed with eldritch energy and it shocked him.

(H: 2,900) - - - - - - - - - - (S: 2,800)

“Since I played Valley of Kings,” he said, “I’m not allowed to use any other Spell Cards or summon any other Monsters this turn. So I’ll end my turn.”

Snitch grinned as he drew a card.

Your strategy couldn’t be more obvious, thought the goblin. You’re planning to use Triangle-O next turn. The facedown card is likely a Trap that will protect those three Monsters… Most likely Totem Pole.

Well, you’d win the duel… If I let you use it…

“I play Card Destruction!” he exclaimed, playing a card. “Now, we each have to ditch all the cards in our hands and draw an equal number!”

Hank closed his eyes as he discarded the five cards he had, and made five draws. Snitch discarded his two cards, and drew two.

Hmm, he thought, looking at them. I can’t get rid of Totem Pole with these… So I guess I’ll just have to force him to use it up.

“Levuathan… Destroy his Cabrera Stone!”

Levuathan called lightning to his hand again, and shot it towards the artifact. Hank gestured, and his Trap Card lifted up, which was indeed Totem Pole. The tall, wooden monolith shot out of the ground, and the blue carved face shot forward, deflecting the blast.

“Fine, fine,” said Snitch. “But you can only use that thing two more times, and those three Monsters are a liability to you now.”

“So you say,” said Hank. “It’s my move!”

He quickly made a draw.

Got her, he thought, looking at it.

“I summon Counselor Lily!” he exclaimed.

He quickly played the card, and a tall female appeared, with long, curly red hair, dressed in a long, white coat, with eyeglasses, and large, feathered wings on her back. She held a pen and a clipboard. (400 ATK)

“Eh?” said Snitch. “That there’s Injection Fairy Lily…”

“No she isn’t,” corrected Hank. “Not anymore. She was called that when she was younger, when she a nurse. But she continued her studies, and received a promotion, becoming a counselor, an administrative position. Now she’s Counselor Lily.

“And she has greater powers than before… She’s a Tuner now.

“Okay, Lily… Let’s Tune up this duel!”

Lily nodded, and spread her wings. She flew upwards, and Crystal Skull, Ashoka Pillar, and Cabrera Stone appeared behind her. All four Monsters turned into eight glowing stars…

“I Synchro Summon the legendary guardian of Crete,” said Hank, as a hulking form arose behind him. “I call forth Talos the Iron Titan!”

A huge creature appeared next to Hank, standing fifteen feet tall. It was a humanoid made entirely or iron, cast in the shape of a man in Spartan-style armor, holding a short (relative for its size) sword in its right hand. Its eyes glowed with a fiery light, as if there was a core of flames inside it. (2,500 ATK)

“Heh,” chuckled Snitch. “Levuathan is stronger than that guy…”

“Oh really?” said Hank. “Well, why don’t I activate Lily’s effect? Since she was used as the Tuner to summon it, I can spend 500 Life Points, and Talos gains 1,000 Attack Points this round.”

Talos glowed with a powerful aura. (3,500 ATK)

“And then I’m using Talos’s effect,” continued Hank. “By destroying one of my own cards this round, it can destroy one of yours. So I’ll get rid of Totem Pole, and take out your Trap Card!”

Totem Pole shattered, and Talos breathed a stream of fire at the facedown card. The Mirror Force – because that was what it was – lifted up, and was burned to a crisp.

Another incredibly rare card, thought Hank. This guy has some explaining to do…

“Talos…” he ordered, “destroy Demon Roar God Levuathan!”

The Iron Titan charged forward, causing the ground to tremble with each step. It smote the Demon Roar God with its mighty blade, and an explosion of light lit up the street as the Fiend was blasted out of existence.

“You activated Levuathan’s effect!” shouted Snitch. “When he bites the big one, I get to recover three Demon Roar Gods from my Graveyard!”

Three cards fell out of his discard slot, and he took them.

“Well, my turn isn’t over,” replied Hank. “I play Monster Reborn!”

He played the card, and the ankh appeared again. Ashoka Pillar appeared again. (2,200 DEF)



Continued…

[Dark Sage]

Continued from last post:



“Ashoka Pillar?” laughed Snitch. “Why’d you bring that thing back?”

“I’ll show you,” said Hank. “I play Double Spell!”

A Spell Card appeared in front of him.

“Now, for the cost of one other Spell Card…”

He discarded a card in his hand.

“…I can use one Spell Card in your Graveyard. And I think I’ll use your Mystik Wok.”

The Mystik Wok card appeared in front of him, and Ashoka Pillar dissolved into grains of light.

“Bet you’re sorry you got rid of your Sigil now, huh?”

Hank took his last card, and placed it in his Disk. A reversed card appeared behind Talos.

“End turn…” he said, as Talos fell back to an Attack Score of 2,500.

(H: 4,600) - - - - - - - - - - (S: 2,300)

“You think you’re so smart,” growled Snitch, drawing a card. “Well, you aren’t!

“I play Magical Stone Excavation! So I’ll ditch these two cards…”

He discarded two of the Monsters he had recovered.

“…and get back my Monster Reborn!”

Monster Reborn slipped out of his discard slot.

“Now, I’ll play it!”

The golden ankh appeared, and Levuathan appeared once again. (3,000 ATK)

“And I’ll summon back Grimro too!”

He played another card, and Demon Roar God Grimro appeared again. (1,700 ATK)

“And finally, since Solcius is in my Graveyard, I’ll toss my last two cards to summon him to the field again.”

He quickly discarded his remaining hand, and in a blast of light, Demon Roar God Solcius appeared again. (2,200 ATK)

“Quite impressive…” muttered Hank.

“Levuathan, show him who the true Titan is!”

The Demon Roar God’s eyes glowed, and his Attack Score rose to 3,200. He blasted his lighting, and Talos the Iron Titan was blown to pieces in an eruption of flames.

“So much for your Iron Titan,” chuckled Snitch. “Grimro, attack…”

“You lose, pal,” interrupted Hank.

“Say what?” said Snitch.

Then he noticed that Hank had activated his facedown card.

“I activate Curse of Akator,” said Hank.

With a glowing surge of powerful energy, the Crystal Skull appeared, hovering over the field.

“What’s happening?” shouted Snitch.

“This Quickplay Spell can be activated when a Monster is destroyed after Crystal Skull is used to summon it,” replied Hank. “Now, we both lose Life Points equal to Talos’s Attack Score.

“Now do you see why I padded my points using your Mystik Wok? Unfortunately, you didn’t do the same.”

Lightning flashed from Crystal Skull, striking both the duelists. Hank had time to brace himself, but Snitch wasn’t so lucky. He tumbled over on the ground.

(H: 1,400) - - - - - - - - - - (S: 0)

Snitch looked up to see Demon Roar God Levuathan looking at him. The Fiend shook his head with a disappointed look, and then vanished.

The next minute, Hank had grabbed him.

“All right fellah, talk,” demanded Hank. “Where did you get these cards?”

“From…” gasped Snitch. “From Toys R Us?”

“Don’t lie to me, pal,” said Hank. “You can’t just walk into a store and buy a Level 10 Synchro Monster. Some of those cards would be worth hundreds of pounds on the open market, or thousands on the black market. Not to mention the fact that you knew how a lot of my cards worked. So I want to know what the whole deal is.

“Start talking, or I know an alchemist who’d pay good money for goblin warts.”

“All right, all right!” shouted Snitch. “I’ll sing! Rowan gave them to me! He’s Al-Khazzir’s lawyer…”

“So what was the deal?” asked Hank. “Did you want to visit him to slip him a weapon?”

“No…” muttered Snitch. “It’s all because of the confession you got from him, which will likely be the biggest piece of evidence at his trial.”

He sighed.

“Rowan is under a lot of pressure to get the judge to throw it out. All of the folks that Al-Khazzir named as his benefactors and buyers in that confession… They don’t want to go to jail!

“But Rowan can’t think of any legal arguments that the judge will listen to that will convince him that the confession can’t be used…”

“Of course it can be used,” said Hank. “I obtained it as part of a wager in the agreed-upon form of conflict between Shadowchaser and Shadowkind as outlined in the Treaty. It’s completely legit.”

“Yeah, but…” said Snitch, meekly. “Rowan was thinking… If he could get your signature… On anything, like a permission slip…”

He paused, nervously.

“He could type up a second confession,” said Hank, “saying that Al-Khazzir’s confession was obtained through an underhanded and illegal method, and then forge my signature on it, to make it look like evidence of a frame-up.”

“More or less,” squeaked Snitch.

Then Hank laughed. He laughed out loud.

“What’s so funny?” asked Snitch.

“It wouldn’t have worked, pal,” said Hank. “He would have been making a pretty serious accusation against a Shadowchaser, so any evidence he had, such as the forged document, would have been subjected to magical examination, and he would have been interrogated using lie-detection magic. Trust me, it would have quickly been exposed as a forgery.

“And once you tell the judge that, he’s not going to like it…”

“Wait!” pleaded Snitch. “I can make all this worth your while! I still know where the Silver Hemisphere is!”

“So where is it?” asked Hank.

“Well, uh…” said Snitch. “You’d have to call a place, and ask for a certain person… It’s kinda hard to describe, but if you had a pen and a paper, then I could, y’know…”

“Tell you what,” said Hank, lifting up a gemstone. “You can do all that when we get to Shadowchaser Headquarters.”

Snitch groaned.

“You might as well…” he said. “It’s not so bad for a guy like me who has a lot of guys he can rat on…”

* * * * * * * * * *

In Neo Domino, it was a quarter to noon.

As Sorsha napped on the mantle, Ember sat in front of her laptop computer, looking through message boards and chat rooms on the internet, trying to find a reference somewhere to a successful deck that had used the maximum number of cards. She had not yet met with any success.

She sighed. She remembered another evening she had spent with her cousin, about six months ago…

* * * * * * * * * *

Akira’s cards were all spread out on the counter. The Lightsworns were definitely not a group with specific membership rules. There were Warriors, one Beast, Spellcasters, Beast-Warriors… But one thing that Ember couldn’t help but wonder about was the drawback that all of them seemed to share.

“I dunno, Akira,” she muttered. “It seems like a deck that relies a lot on luck. With all of the self-milling, you never know if you’re gonna have to toss the important cards.”

“Well, the idea is to use that to your advantage,” replied Akira. “I always pack three of these…”

He held up a Trap Card. It was Beckoning Light.

“This Trap predates the Lightsworns, but it works with them. You can use it to get any Light Monsters you want from your Graveyard, and that can be much easier than getting them from your deck.”

“Assuming that you don’t toss the copies of Beckoning Light with the self-milling,” replied Ember.

“Well, that’s where the laws of probability come into effect,” said Akira. “If I have three copies of Beckoning Light, I have a pretty good chance of holding onto at least one. And one is usually all I need.”

* * * * * * * * * *

Ember sighed. The laws of probability were a big part of Duel Monsters. But you couldn’t count on them in this case.

The rules of Duel Monsters said that a deck had to have a minimum of forty cards, and a maximum of sixty, not including the Extra Deck. But you’d have to be crazy to have sixty. Most players stayed as close to forty as possible. If you had too many cards, your chances of drawing the right card when you needed it diminished. You were only allowed to have three copies of each card in your deck, or less in the case of a Semi-Limited or Limited card, and the less cards you had, the better your chances of drawing a card that was essential to your strategy.

Where do I start? she thought.

“Having difficulties, child?” said Jalal’s voice.

Ember turned and saw Jalal’s phantasmal image, which she was pretty much used to by now.

“I’m sure I’ll figure out something,” she replied.

“Oftentimes the solution to a problem comes when you aren’t looking for it,” said Jalal. “Archimedes figured out one problem that was troubling him when he was taking a bath.

“My father was a master of riddles and logic problems… No puzzle was so hard that he couldn’t figure it out…”

Ember didn’t speak for a minute.

“You know, boss…” she said. “I meant to ask you something… Everyone says you inherited your dad’s wealth…”

“Yes?” asked Jalal.

“Well, how did that happen?” asked Ember. “Don’t dragons live forever?”

A sad look crossed Jalal’s face. A tear fell down his cheek.

“If you’d rather not talk about it…” said Ember, quickly.

Jalal sat down.

“No, child, sometimes I feel I must talk about it,” he said. “Dragons don’t live forever… I only wish that were so…

“It’s quite a tale…”

He took a deep breath.

“My father was one of the greatest of dragonkind. A beautiful gold wyrm, the mere sight of which inspired bards and poets to write epic tales. The name Jamor Stormbringer was a name that was synonymous with majesty and glory.”

Ember looked at him hard. Jalal nodded.

“Yes, it’s my last name,” he said. “I rarely use it these days anymore…

“But anyway, Jamor knew that even dragons must one day die. Before I was even born, he sought true immortality, so that his glory would live in person forever among Shadowkind, and not just in books.

“So, Jamor journeyed to a place where the barriers between our dimension and others were not as difficult to bypass. He discovered an in-between place that held the lair of Athentia the Great Sphinx.

“Now, dealing with Athentia is always incredibly dangerous. They say she is a creature who can trace her roots back to when the Titans reigned as the lords of existence, and her power is incomprehensible. Some seek her out for the great wisdom she holds. But one must be careful, because anyone who comes to her for knowledge must accept her dreaded Conundrum Curse as a payment. This legendary power turns the victim into a living riddle who can do nothing but attempt to solve it until he succeeds. If he can, he is deserving of whatever lore or wisdom was given to him.

“And woe to anyone who receives the Curse as a result of making her angry. These poor retches will likely be cursed forever. Athentia has a cruel streak at times, and has often required these victims to solve paradoxes of near-impossible complexity to gain their freedom.

“But Jamor approached Athentia not with a request for information, but with a bold offer. He challenged her to a contest of riddles. Had Jamor lost, he would have become her slave until he did die. But should he win, Athentia would make him immortal. The Great Sphinx thought she couldn’t possibly lose, and accepted.

“And so the contest began. Each of them posed riddle after riddle, each one harder than the last, and each one was answered in kind. After the first day, a small crowd of planar beings had gathered to watch, and after several days, the crowd had grown to great size. Angels learned of the contest and took time from their schedules when they learned that Athentia had met a worthy challenge. Some of the viewers swore they saw Rao himself view from a distance…”

“Rao?” asked Ember.

“The Lord of Reason,” replied Jalal. “A great being worshipped by the scholars and sages among Shadowkind. He is one of the greatest logisticians in existence.

“The contest literally lasted weeks, and consisted of thousands of riddles and logic problems posed by each participant. Finally, Athentia missed one, and it was enough for Jamor to claim victory.

“Athentia kept her word. She made Jamor immortal. And she spared him her Conundrum Curse as well, possibly because she figured it would be pointless using it on such a master of riddles.

“All went well for years. The young human maiden whom my father courted was honored when he took her as a consort, and I was born soon after. The years passed, and I grew into a man, and a powerful warrior in my own right.

“But there were other dragons in the world, and many grew envious of my father’s glory, as well as his great horde. Dragons have vast riches, and my father was no exception. One exceptionally wicked wyrm named Malys was enraged by the fact that her horde was second best.

“Knowing she couldn’t confront my father directly and hope to survive, Malys hired a reeve – a member of a race known for being the highest-priced and most skilled killers among Shadowkind. Promising a rich reward for the death of her rival, Malys sent him to assassinate Jamor Stormbringer.

“But the reeve would take a different approach than most did while slaying dragons. Rather than fight with armor and sword, he would approach under cover of darkness while my father slept, and stab with a blade that was envenomed with a powerful concoction called dragonsbane. It was a rare chemical, and one of the few things that dragons were afraid of; a poison that could deliver a horrible death to any dragon, killing him from within as it literally caused the victim’s blood to burn.”

Ember’s eyes opened wide in fear. But Jalal continued.

“His blade struck, and my father roared as the poison infected his system. I arrived just in time to see the assassin fleeing. I couldn’t take time to stop him – my father was in agony.

“He wasn’t dying. He was truly immortal, and not even dragonsbane could change that. But I soon wished it had killed him, for his suffering was great. No remedy or medicine I could create could make the pain go away for longer than an hour.

“I worked without sleep for three days. At some point, my attempts to find a cure turned into an attempt to deliver euthanasia to end his suffering. But I couldn’t kill him any more than that assassin could. Not with poisons, not with magic… Not even with a sharp blade.

“I dared to cast the most powerful ritual my father possessed, one he never risked using, in an attempt to banish the spell of immortality. In doing so, I drew power from the ley lines that crisscrossed Britain and tied the very land to the core of the magical power of the Earth itself. When I cast the spell, all of Britain shuddered.

“But it failed… The most powerful spell I possessed could do nothing to help him.

“The gift he had gotten was now a curse. I feared he would likely suffer forever. I had only one option left. I garnered the courage to seek out Athentia herself and beg her to take back her gift.”

He paused.

“Were you scared?” asked Ember.

Jalal sighed.

“Michiko,” he said, “I don’t mind telling you that I was petrified. I knew of the horrible curse that befell those who angered Athentia. My father had forbidden me several times as only a parent could from ever attempting what he had done. But no matter how slim my chances were, I saw no other way.

“She was rather annoyed when I made that proposal. I remember the look in her eye when I spoke to her. She was looking at me like she might look at a grilled sirloin rather than someone who wanted to negotiate with her.

“But she did let me negotiate. I was willing to offer anything. I would even offer myself, giving her the prize my father had promised for her victory in that contest, with me in his place. But Athentia said it wasn’t so easy. She said that giving immortality was much easier than taking it away, and it was out of her hands.

“The only way my father could lose his immortality was if he gave it to someone else. And he could not be tricked into giving it away via any means of deception, or threatened into parting with it via blackmail or any other means of force. He had to give it entirely via his own free will. He simply had to say the word, and whomever he wanted to receive the gift would get it, at the expense of losing it himself.

“And then she told me to be gone. No price, no Conundrum Curse… She just told me what I needed to know, and told me to leave. To this day, I have no idea why.

“I got back to see my father still in pain. I told him what the Great Sphinx had said, and offered to take myself what I now knew was a gift of incredible risk. He didn’t want to, at first, thinking the same fate could befall any who had such a gift. But eventually, he relented, and bestowed his immortality upon me. I comforted him in his last hour, and said he would be avenged.

“I mourned, but not for long. After I laid him to rest, I went to confront his enemy. I took up my armor and sword, and went to confront Malys.

“I wouldn’t strike like a coward like that reeve did. I stormed through the front gates of her lair, avoided her traps, and slew her guardians with ease. Then I confronted Malys herself, and attacked the wicked dragon head-on with sword in hand. The battle was long and terrible, as most battles between dragons and knights are wont to be, but finally, I drove my blade through her heart, and she was no more. For her greed, she only got doom.

“But my victory was short lived, for no sooner had I cleaned by blade, than the reeve appeared. Apparently, Malys had not paid him, claiming he had botched the job, and he was going to kill her and take his payment from her corpse. But when he arrived to see us fighting, he decided to watch, and finish off the weakened winner.

“I was exhausted, and in no condition to face him. He stabbed me with the same envenomed dagger that he had killed my father with, which he was planning to kill Malys with.

“I did the smartest thing I had yet done. I played dead.

“The reeve had made two mistakes. The first one was thinking dragonsbane had any special effect on half-dragons, which it didn’t. My human heritage saved me from the same fate that almost befell my father. Also, the reeve didn’t know that a dagger couldn’t kill me. I was immortal now.

“When I recovered, I was the one in possession of my father’s vast wealth, and that of Malys as well. That reeve could only take what he could carry from her horde, but I knew how to transport it all. I didn’t know what to do with it. I had more money than I could use in thousands of years, and a life that would likely last for longer… I needed to find a use for it, and a reason to exist…

“That, dear Michiko, is how I started the Shadowchasers.”

There was silence for a few minutes.

“Did you ever find this… reeve?” asked Ember.

“No, I didn’t bother,” replied Jalal. “I knew his days were numbered. Regardless of what his interpretation of the facts were, the job he did was botched. And reeves are not allowed to botch a job. Their race is supposed to be the greatest assassins in the world, and if a reeve ever fails, he quickly becomes the target of other reeves.

“I happens to all of them eventually. Reeves may be their own worst enemy as a race…

“Still, I only wish I could have gotten a good look at him… I never saw his face at all, it was obscured by his hood. All I remember were his glowing green eyes, and his horrible laugh that he made when he stabbed me. It made my blood run cold…”

Jalal looked at the computer screen.

“Keep working on it, Ember,” he said. “The world of Shadow remains fraught with peril. Dangers like DaPen continue to challenge us, and we must remain ever vigilant…”

He turned, and then slowly started to fade.

Ember sighed, and leaned her head on her hands.

“DaPen,” she muttered. “Yeah, yeah…

“Know what I think? I’d wager anything that DaPen’s mental powers are a front to hide a body that’s frail and weak. For all we know, he may just be a disembodied head in a jar who can’t even move outside his stronghold without help.”

* * * * * * * * * *

Ember had no idea that her comment had been heard by the last person she wanted to hear it.

In his office in Satellite, DaPen himself was leaning his head against his hand, staring at the wall, rather bored at the moment.

Members of DaPen’s race did sleep, and they needed to sleep for roughly eight hours out of every twenty-four. But unlike most races, those eight hours didn’t have to happen on a daily basis. They could stay awake when they had to, staying awake for days or even weeks at a time. Eventually, when fatigue did catch up to them, they would sleep to replenish their energy, sleeping every eight-hour cycle at once in a deep slumber that lasted days.

Naturally, they were smart enough not to go into this torpor unprotected. Their homes had secret vaults with deadly booby traps that made sure their sleep wasn’t disturbed, and only their most loyal servants even knew about their resting areas.

DaPen wouldn’t be ready to sleep for a few days now, but he was still bored. An appointment he had just cancelled. One trick he had learned long ago was to use his mental powers to hear any plots verbally made against him within the Neo Domino city limits. If a rival gang or member of Security made a plan against him and spoke it aloud, he’d hear it.

What Ember had said normally wouldn’t have qualified. But he was so bored right now, his senses were more acute than normal, so he faintly heard it.

And he didn’t like it. He sat up.

“So, the young apprentice thinks I’m helpless does she?” he muttered. “Maybe I should teach her some manners…”

He thought for a minute. What he could do to Ember right now was very limited. She was protected by the magical wards of the townhouse, and he was a great distance away…

But there was one little thing he could do if he put some effort into it… Maybe with a little unwitting help from one of the city’s more annoying residents…

He picked up a remote on his desk, and turned the TV on. He turned on the guide section and perused over the listings.

No, there was nothing good on. There wasn’t much on at noon anyway, unless you liked the midday news or game shows, which he didn’t. He turned it off.

“Okay, then,” he said. “Looks like I’ll have to go elsewhere for entertainment… And Ember might fit the bill…”

He concentrated, and his eyes started to glow.

* * * * * * * * * *

Back at the townhouse, Ember suddenly felt very sleepy.

She lay her head on the desk, and fell asleep.

She started to dream…


My goal to make the perfect sixty-card deck had taken an abrupt detour. A strange sleep had overpowered me, taking me into a place where I would start to doubt what was real, or even whether or not I was real. DaPen’s strategy was a plan of trickery, more than any malicious attack.

And I would soon learn that I wasn’t the only victim of this plan. Someone else was included in it. I had never met this person, but that would change soon…



DEMON ROAR GOD RULEE (Monster Card)

Card Specs

Type: Fiend/Effect
Attribute: Light
Level: 1
ATK: 200
DEF: 400

Card Description: When this card is discarded from your hand to the Graveyard, Special Summon it.



DEMON ROAR GOD GALBATH (Monster Card)

Card Specs

Type: Fiend/Effect
Attribute: Light
Level: 4
ATK: 1,500
DEF: 800

Card Description: You can discard one card from your hand to destroy a face-up opposing Monster with a DEF that is lower than this card’s ATK.



DEMON ROAR GOD GRIMRO (Monster Card)

Card Specs

Type: Fiend/Effect
Attribute: Light
Level: 4
ATK: 1,700
DEF: 1,000

Card Description: When you control a face-up “Demon Roar God” Monster, you can send this card from your hand to the Graveyard to search your deck for a “Demon Roar God” Monster, except for a “Demon Roar God Grimro”, and add it to your hand.



DEMON ROAR GOD KUSHANO (Monster Card)

Card Specs

Type: Fiend/Tuner/Effect
Attribute: Light
Level: 3
ATK: 1,100
DEF: 800

Card Description: When this card is in your Graveyard, you can discard one “Demon Roar God” Monster from your hand, except a “Demon Roar God Kushano”, to add this card to your hand.



DEMON ROAR GOD RAVEN (Monster Card)

Card Specs

Type: Fiend/Tuner/Effect
Attribute: Light
Level: 2
ATK: 1,300
DEF: 1,000

Card Description: Once per turn, you can discard any number of cards from your hand. For each card discarded by this effect, increase the ATK of this card by 400 and increase its Level by 1 until the End Phase of the turn.



DEMON ROAR GOD VALKYURUS (Monster Card)

Card Specs

Type: Fiend/Synchro/Effect
Attribute: Light
Level: 8
ATK: 2,900
DEF: 1,700

Card Description: “Demon Roar God” Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner Monsters.

Once per turn, you can discard 1 Fiend-Type Monster from your hand. Draw one card.

Note: The proceeding six Demon Roar God Monsters were released in Japan for the “Duel Terminal 4: Demon Roar God Revival!!” set. They have not yet been released in the United States. (Note that Demon Roar God Monsters are NOT Archfiends. There are several words in Japanese that can be translated to mean “Demon” and the word that means “Demon” that makes certain cards Archfiends is a different word than the one on the Demon Roar Gods.)



DEMON ROAR GOD URSTOS (Monster Card)

Card Specs

Type: Fiend/Effect
Attribute: Light
Level: 4
ATK: 1,500
DEF: 200

Card Description: When you control this card face-up on the field and you have 2 or less cards in your hand, all “Demon Roar God” Monsters you control gain 400 Attack Points.



DEMON ROAR GOD SOLCIUS (Monster Card)

Card Specs

Type: Fiend/Effect
Attribute: Light
Level: 6
ATK: 2,200
DEF: 2,100

Card Description: Activate this card’s effect by sending two cards in your hand to the Graveyard, except for a “Demon Roar God Solcius”. Special Summon this card from your Graveyard.



DEMON ROAR GOD MIHZTORJI (Monster Card)

Card Specs

Type: Fiend/Tuner/Effect
Attribute: Light
Level: 2
ATK: 400
DEF: 200

Card Description: Activate by sending this card in your hand to the Graveyard, and selecting one “Demon Roar God” Monster you control. Until the End Phase of the turn, the selected Monster is treated as a Tuner Monster.



DEMON ROAR GOD LEVUATHAN (Monster Card)

Card Specs

Type: Fiend/Synchro/Effect
Attribute: Light
Level: 10
ATK: 3,000
DEF: 2,000

Card Description: “Demon Roar God” Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner Monsters.

When this card is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard, activate by selecting three “Demon Roar God” Monsters in your Graveyard. Add the selected Monsters to your hand.

Note: The proceeding five Demon Roar God Monsters were released in Japan for the “Duel Terminal 5: Champions of Chaos” set. They have not yet been released in the United States.



SPELL-SEALING SIGIL (Trap Card)

Continuous Trap

Image: Demon Roar God Valkyurus appearing inside a summoning circle.

Card Description: When this card is activated, declare either Equip Spell, Continuous Spell, Quickplay Spell, Field Spell, or Ritual Spell. Neither player can activate Spell Cards of the declared type while this card is face up on the field. If you do not control a LIGHT Fiend-Type Monster during your End Phase, destroy this card.



SPIRIT MASK (Spell Card)

Equip Spell

Image: A colorful, African spirit mask.

Card Description: When the Equipped Monster is destroyed, its controller selects 1 card from his hand, and sends it to the Graveyard.

Note: “Spirit Mask” was first used by Yanagi in the “Yu-Gi-Oh 5D’s” episode “The Facility (Part 1). Creative credit goes to the writers of that episode.



TALOS THE IRON TITAN (Monster Card)

Card Specs

Type: Rock/Synchro/Effect
Attribute: Earth
Level: 8
ATK: 2,500
DEF: 2,300

Card Description: Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner Rock-Type Monsters

Once per turn, you may destroy one face-up Spell or Trap Card you control to destroy one card on the field.

Note: This is an upgrade of a Monster that I first used in “City of Souls”, which was a Normal Monster.



ANUBIAN SOLDIER (Monster Card)

Card Specs

Type: Warrior/Effect
Attribute: Earth
Level: 5
ATK: 1,000
DEF: 1,000

Card Description: This card cannot be Special Summoned except by its own effect. When you receive damage due to the effect of a card you control, you may Special Summon this card from your hand. When this card is Special Summoned this way, increase the ATK of this card by the amount of damage you received.



KING SCORPION (Monster Card)

Card Specs

Type: Warrior/Effect
Attribute: Earth
Level: 8
ATK: ?
DEF: 0

Card Description: This card cannot be Normal Summoned or set. This card can only be Special Summoned by Tributing 1 “Anubian Soldier” that you control. The ATK of this card is the same as that of the ATK that the Tributed “Anubian Soldier” had when it was Tributed. This card gains the following cumulative effects depending on its Attack Score:
* 2,000 or more: When this card attacks with an ATK that is higher than the DEF of a Defense Position Monster, inflict the difference as Battle Damage to your opponent's Life Points.
* 3,000 or more: This card is not affected by Spell and Trap Cards that target a specific Monster.



VALLEY OF KINGS (Spell Card)

Normal Spell

Image: The entrance to a tomb that has been excavated in the desert.

Card Description: You may only use this card when you control no Monsters. Remove from play 1 Monster in your Graveyard that is Level 8 or higher. Special Summon from your Graveyard up to 3 Monsters with zero Attack Points. On the turn you play this card, you cannot activate any Spell Cards except this one and cannot Normal Summon, set, or Special Summon any other Monsters.



BLARNEY STONE (Trap Card)

Normal Trap

Image: An old-fashioned, black and white picture of a man being held by his ankles over the parapet of Blarney Castle to kiss the Stone.

Card Description: Select one EARTH Monster you control. The selected Monster cannot be destroyed by battle until the End Phase of the current turn. (Damage calculation is applied normally.)



CURSE OF AKATOR (Spell Card)

Quickplay Spell

Image: A Mayan shaman in a golden robe and mask, chanting and holding a Crystal Skull above his head, as worshippers kneel before him.

Card Description: You may activate this card when a Monster that was Tribute Summoned using a “Crystal Skull” as a Tribute, or one that was Synchro Summoned using a “Crystal Skull” as a Synchro Material Monster, is destroyed. Inflict damage to both players equal to the base ATK of the destroyed Monster.



Coming up next:

DaPen transports Ember to a dream realm so that she can amuse him. But Ember isn’t the only victim. Someone else is there to meet her. And this other duelist happens to be a surprise guest star from the anime!

Who is he (or she)? Is this person friend or foe? I’m not telling yet, but it’s going to be a wild ride.

“Dreamsprite” is coming soon.

[Shuppet Master]

Loved the duel, loved the backstory on Jalal. I can't wait to see who this surprise guest star is.

[MeLoVeGhOsTs]

Really good chapter. The battle was nice. I've never heard of these new monsters, so it was pretty cool seeing a new duel. The background story is a cliché one, but I like it, so good job.

Keep up the good work.

[Dark Sage]

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

With psychic powers, it’s often hard to differentiate fact from fiction. There are many recognized types of psychic abilities; telekinesis, clairvoyance, precognition… The Black Rose Witch, who had suddenly decided to go public recently, had displayed powerful reality-warping abilities…

One type of psychic ability that scared people was the possibility of pyrokinesis. In theory, this was the ability to control, and possibly create, fire with your mind. A psychic who could do that, especially if he couldn’t control his power, could be even more deadly than the Black Rose Witch.

But a self-respecting psychic would tell you that this was nonsense. Pyrokinesis did not exist. No psychic could control fire. It was an invention of contemporary science fiction, made famous by Stephen King in his novel, Firestarter.

Of course, psychics are also not supposed to be able to control the minds of others. I had read somewhere that you couldn’t even be hypnotized against your will. But controlling the mind of a person using psychic powers was something that DaPen was certainly able to do, which made us doubt the word of these “self-respecting” psychics.

I would soon learn that he had even more powers. We had only scratched the surface…



Ember was falling.

She was plummeting into a dark, deep void.

Would she wake up before she landed? Most folks assumed that you always did when you dreamed… At least, no-one could ever recall a dream where they had crashed.

There seemed to be a first time for everything.

She didn’t exactly crash, but she landed in a rather undignified manner, falling on her behind in the middle of a dark street.

“Ow…” she muttered, rubbing her backside.

She looked around. She got up.

Run down buildings surrounded her. Trash was strewn everywhere. She looked up, and smoke and soot filled the sky.

Satellite… she thought. I’m in Satellite…

She noticed that her Duel Disk was on her arm. She took the deck, and looked through it. It seemed to be her normal deck.

She reached into her pocket, but her cell phone wasn’t there. So much for being able to call for help.

She looked down the street, but she couldn’t see past about three-hundred feet. Beyond that was a shadowy void. Distance seemed to be warped beyond a certain point. Was this truly Satellite, or some facsimile of it?

“What do I do?” she muttered. “Am I even awake? Is this real?”

She sat down on the sidewalk. She remembered something that she had learned as a kid – if you’re lost, the best thing to do is stay in one place. If you move around, you hinder the efforts of anyone who might be looking for you.

“That’s it…” she told herself, nervously. “Shichiro, Jinx, and Gears will likely realize that something happened to me… They’ll come looking…

“Besides… Something is bound to happen if I wait long enough…”

She secretly hoped that the “something” wouldn’t be someone coming to hunt her down for sport. She still didn’t like this place much, despite what Jinx had said to alleviate her fear of it.

She sighed. What does one do when waiting for help to arrive?

“Maybe I can sing American Pie…” she muttered.

Then she hit herself on the head.

“Get ahold of yourself, Ember! Now retrace your steps.”

She thought for a minute.

“I was at the computer, looking through websites… Then I felt sleepy all of a sudden…”

She paused.

She gave herself a sharp pinch on the arm, hoping it would wake her up. Unfortunately, it didn’t.

As she was wondering what to do next, she heard a noise. She had heard it enough to recognize it by now; it was the sound of a D-Wheel.

She watched as the rider drove out of the darkness. The D-Wheel looked incredibly fancy. It was colored black, had what looked like wings on the rear, as well as a rocket engine. The rider was only using a regular engine right now, however.

The rider wore a black helmet, which seemed to be the article of clothing he had that was in the best shape. He wore a dingy, brown, sleeveless jacket over an orange shirt, a pair of run-down jeans, leather boots, and gloves.

He pulled to a stop, and held his head, mumbling something incomprehensible.

“Eh?” said Ember, standing up. “You okay?”

The rider didn’t answer right away. He took his helmet off, and Ember got a clear look at him. He was someone who would stand out in a crowd. He seemed about Ember’s age or so. His hair, which was held back by a headband, was carrot-red and bushy. What really got Ember’s attention was the fact that this guy certainly was not the law-abiding type; his face had no less than three criminal marks on it, one on each cheek, and one on his forehead.

Ember was a little nervous. If she was in the presence of a criminal who had a history of violence…

He looked at her.

“What’s a good kid like you doing in a mess like this?” he asked.

Ember paused.

Okay, not exactly what a mugger would say, she thought.

“I… I dunno,” she said. “I was asleep… And the next thing I know, I’m here?”

“You too?” he asked.

He dismounted his bike.

“I remember dozing off too,” he said. “Next thing, I know, I’m driving my bike without a clue where I’m going.”

“Do you think we’re both dreaming?” asked Ember.

He shrugged.

“Maybe,” he said. “Or maybe one of us is dreaming, and the other is just part of the dream.”

He chuckled a little.

“Man, do you think that could be possible? That one of us could be just a flight of fancy, and not even know it?”

Ember laughed nervously, and sat down again. The youth sat down too.

“The name’s Crow, by the way,” he said, extending his hand.

“Eh,” said Ember. “How’d you get a name like that?”

“It’s the name I chose for myself,” said Crow, now a little annoyed. “That okay with you?”

“Just asking!” said Ember. “I’m sorry…”

“I used to be a big guy in Satellite…” said Crow. “The called me Crow the Bullet. Heh, more stuff happens in this place than the folks across the bay could ever imagine…”

“Uhm…” said Ember. “You wouldn’t happen to know where we are, would you? Specifically, I mean.”

“Not sure,” said Crow, looking around at the buildings. “I thought I knew Satellite like the back of my hand, but this place seems to be a jumble of several parts of it.

“Hmm…”

He looked at Ember’s Disk. Then he got up and walked over to his bike again.

“Got an idea,” he said.

“I’m listening,” said Ember.

“Disengaging Duel Disk,” said the D-Wheel.

The Disk clamped to Crow’s gauntlet. It looked like a standard Disk, except that it was made of black metal with silver trim.

“Wait, you want to duel me?” asked Ember.

“Well…” said Crow. “The way I figure, neither one of us is gonna get any answers until one of us wakes up. And just sitting here doing nothing isn’t gonna lead us to that. We’re both duelists… Can you think of anything better to do?”

Ember hesitated. Didn’t Jinx say that the next time she dueled, she’d have to use the rules of Heavy Slump?

No… Only when she dueled in the service of the Shadowchasers. This would just be a friendly duel.

She shrugged, and got up.

“Okay…” she said. “But… No strings attached…”

“Hey…” said Crow. “I only hurt folks who have it coming to them, and you seem like a decent sort, unlike most of the folks here…”

* * * * * * * * * *

Meanwhile, DaPen was not only watching, but he was projecting the scene in front of him like a holographic projection. His two bodyguards had come in and shown an interest in this, so he saw no harm in letting them watch.

“This should be amusing,” said DaPen. “My dream manipulation should manifest in both of them long enough for them to have a complete duel before either wakes up.

“If Ember loses, she’ll hopefully learn a little respect, and maybe she’ll be demoralized as well.

“And if that annoying thief loses, even better. Anything that leads to him being humiliated makes me happy. I can’t stand him.”

“What’d that guy ever do to you?” asked one of the bodyguards.

DaPen puffed on his cigar a few times before answering.

“You have no idea what that vigilante has put me though,” muttered the crime boss. “My men lift something from Godwin’s men, he lifts it from my men. If one of my men says he’s in charge of an area of Satellite, this guy challenges him to prove it.

“I’ve tried to recruit him, but he won’t give me the time of day. He just doesn’t like anyone who tries to enforce his will over others in Satellite, not Security, not the crime circles, no-one.”

“Hey, Vince,” said the other bodyguard. “I’ll bet you a Whatchamacallit that Crow beats her skirt off.”

The first bodyguard put a candy bar on the desk.

“You’re on!” he said.

* * * * * * * * * *

“Let’s do this…” said Crow.

(Ember: 8,000) - - - - - - - - - - (Crow: 8,000)

“I always say,” he said, “ladies first.”

“I gotta ask,” said Ember, as she drew her first card, “just how did someone like you get arrested?”

“Oh, this and that,” muttered Crow. “Breaking and entering, larceny, burglary, safecracking… Anything I could do to get money out the hands of the slave drivers who push the good folks in Satellite around and get into the hands of the ones who deserve it.

“Sure, the law is always after me because of it… But in these times, often what the law says is right and what is truly right are two entirely different things.”

Ember looked at him for a minute. She looked at the cards in her hand.

“Uhm…” she said. “I guess I’ll just set a Monster for now…”

She set a card on her Disk, and a facedown Monster appeared.

Crow drew a card, and looked over his hand.

“I’ll start by playing the Continuous Spell Card, Black Whirlwind,” he said, as a Spell Card appeared on his side of the field.

“Uh…” said Ember. “Interesting name. What does that do?”

“Simple,” replied Crow. “Every time I summon a Blackwing, I get to search my deck for one that’s a lower Level.”

“Blackwing?” said Ember in surprise. “What are they?”

Crow grinned.

“Want to see?” he said.

He played a card.

“Since you control a Monster, and I don’t, I can Normal Summon this one without a sacrifice. Meet Blackwing – Sirocco the Dawn!”

In an aura of shadowy energy, a tall Winged Beast appeared, hovering in the air in front of Crow. It was a bird man with black feathers, taloned feet, both arms and wings, claws on his arms, and the head of a bird of prey. Its only article of clothing was a fancy collar that formed a small vest. (2,000 ATK)

“Like I said,” he continued, taking his deck, “I now get to use Black Whirlwind to get a lower Level Blackwing.”

He pulled a card from his deck.

“And since I have one Blackwing on the field, I can Special Summon it! Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind!”

An intense windstorm erupted over the field, and a new Winged Beast appeared. This one was smaller than the first one, had midnight blue feathers over its whole body, and a green plume on its head and the back of its neck. (1,300 ATK)

“Sirocco, attack!” he commanded. “Feather blast!”

Sirocco the Dawn lifted its wing, and a gust of wind mixed with black feathers shot towards Ember’s Monster. UFO Turtle appeared on the card, and was blown into scrap metal.

“You triggered its effect!” shouted Ember. “I get to Special Summon another low-powered Fire Monster… Like another UFO Turtle.”

A second of the fiery Machines appeared. (1,400 ATK)

“In that case,” said Crow, “I end my turn…”

He looked at another Monster in his hand.

If she is asleep, he thought, what I have planned next round should wake her up…

Ember made a draw.

“I move UFO Turtle to Defense Mode…” she said.

UFO Turtle withdrew its head and limbs into its shell. (1,200 DEF)

“Then I’ll set a new Monster, and set a card facedown,” she said.

A reversed Monster, and a reversed card appeared.

“That’s all,” she said.

Crow made another draw.

“I summon Blackwing – Bora the Spear!” he exclaimed.

In another windstorm, a new Blackwing appeared. This one had a human torso, bare-chested, taloned legs, black-feathered wings on its back, and a bird’s head with an orange plume. It carried a huge, black lance. (1,700 ATK)

“I use the effect of Black Whirlwind,” he said.

He took a card from his deck, and reshuffled.

“Now, as you probably can guess,” he continued. “My friends here all have some keen effects. Let’s start with Gale…”

Gale the Whirlwind spread its wings, and a fierce wind started to buffet UFO Turtle. It groaned, and its scores fell to (700/600).

“It can cut a Monster’s scores in half?” asked Ember.

“Yup,” said Crow. “Next, I use Sirocco’s effect. When he’s on the field, I can add up the Attack Scores of all my Blackwings, and give one Blackwing the sum as its Attack Score for one round. That bonus is going to Bora.”

Bora the Spear glowed with a dark shadow… (5,000 ATK)

“Of course, that also means that only Bora can attack this round.”

“But that makes no sense!” said Ember. “My UFO Turtle is Defense Mode. Why would you go through so much trouble…

“Unless… Unless Bora’s effect…”

“That’s right,” said Crow with another grin. “It has a trampling effect. And it’s about to shish-kebab your UFO Turtle!”

Bora the Spear flew at UFO Turtle, aiming its lance…

However, to Crow’s surprise, Bora missed UFO Turtle completely. Instead, it jammed its weapon into Ember, knocking her over.

(E: 5,500) - - - - - - - - - - (C: 8,000)

“HUH?” said Crow. “How did it attack directly?”

Ember got up, holding her chest and sweating. She pointed to her activated Trap Card.

“It’s called Martyr’s Flame,” she said. “I can activate it when you attack a Fire Monster. I take the attack myself instead.”

“But then… You should have lost 5,000 Life Points…” said Crow.

“Uh-uh,” said Ember. “In exchange for taking the attack, I only have to take half of it. The damage is halved. I would have lost 4,400 Life Points if you had attacked UFO Turtle, but instead, I lost 2,500.”

Crow closed his eyes and chuckled.

“Well…” he said. “You aren’t bad… So now what?”

He gestured to end his turn. Bora returned to an Attack Score of 1,700, but UFO Turtle’s scores remained at their reduced state.

Ember made a draw.

“I flip Flame Ruler into Attack Mode,” she said.

Her facedown Monster flipped up, and the fiery Pyro in the red jacket and blue pantaloons appeared. (1,500 ATK)

“Next, I sacrifice UFO Turtle…”

The Machine vanished into motes of flame.

“To summon Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch!”

In a bonfire of flames, the mighty Thestalos appeared in front of Ember. (2,400 ATK)

“Ho boy…” said Crow.

Then his hand of cards glowed, and five large cards appeared in front of them, backs to Ember. Thestalos hurled a fireball at one of them, and it was incinerated in a blast of flame.

“Fortunately…” muttered Crow, “that Monster was only Level 2…”

“Well I’m not done!” exclaimed Ember. “Thestalos, roast Sirocco the Dawn! Flame strike!”

Thestalos threw up its arms, and hurled a blast of fire at the Winged Beast. Sirocco the Dawn burst into an explosion of black feathers.

“Now, Flame Ruler, quell his Gale!”

Flame Ruler blasted a stream of fire at Gale the Whirlwind, and the smaller Blackwing exploded in another burst.

“Ergh…” muttered Crow.

“I’ll set a facedown,” said Ember, “and that will be all.”

A facedown card appeared behind her two Pyros.

(E: 5,500) - - - - - - - - - - (C: 7,200)

Crow made a draw, and quickly added it to his hand.

“I play Dark Eruption,” he said, playing a Spell Card. “Now, I get to recover a Dark Monster from my Graveyard, so long as its Attack Score is 1,500 or less.”

Gale the Whirlwind slipped out of his discard slot.

“Uh, that’s not good…” said Ember.

She stepped back in shock as Gale appeared again in a blast of wind. (1,300 ATK)

“Next, I use the effect of Black Whirlwind,” he said, taking a card from his deck.

“Then, you remember how Gale’s effect works, right?”

Gale spread its wings, and Thestalos stepped back as it was buffeted by the fierce winds. Its Attack Score fell down to 1,200.

“Okay, Blackwings!” shouted Crow. “Time to fly!”

Gale and Bora looked at each other, and nodded. Then, they both spread their wings, and flew up into the heavens. Both Monsters glowed with pale light, and then turned into seven glowing stars.

Lovely… thought Ember. A Synchro Summon…

“I’m bringing out one of my favorites…” said Crow. “Blackwing – Armor Master!”

With a flourish, a new Monster landed. Unlike the previous Blackwings, this one didn’t look like a bird at all. Rather, it looked like a faceless android covered in black armor, with two huge, metal wings that looked like blades. (2,500 ATK)

“If you think Armor Master here looks pretty sharp, that’s because it is,” said Crow, with a grin. “Armor Master, cut down her Firestorm Monarch!”

The Blackwing flew at the large Pyro, the sheen of its wings glimmering in the dim light…

“I activate… Draining Shield!” shouted Ember.

Her Trap Card shot up, and Armor Master was thrown back as a dome of force shot up. Crow grinned again.

“Then it’s your move…” he said.

(E: 8,000) - - - - - - - - - - (C: 7,200)

Ember drew a card.

Great, she thought. I have just what I need…

“I sacrifice Flame Ruler…” she said.

Flame Ruler vanished in a burst of flames.

“To summon Infernal Flame Emperor!”

In a great bonfire, the huge, centaurian Pyro appeared, burning with fire. (2,700 ATK)

“Nice…” said Crow.

“Here’s something else that’s nice,” said Ember. “When he’s summoned, I can remove up to five Fire Monsters in my Grave from play, to destroy just as many Spell or Trap Cards.”

One UFO Turtle fell out of her discard slot, and she pocketed it. The Black Whirlwind card went up in flames, and collapsed into a pile of ash.

“Well… Shoot…” muttered Crow.

“Now for your Monster!” shouted Ember. “Infernal Flame Emperor, destroy Armor Master!”

The Emperor roared, and socked the armored Winged Beast with a fiery fist…

However, Armor Master didn’t seem to care in the least. Infernal Flame Emperor, however, howled, and shook his hand in pain.

“What?” asked Ember, in shock.

“All this armor it’s wearing isn’t just for show, Ember,” said Crow. “Armor Master can’t be destroyed in battle. In addition, my Life Points aren’t hurt if you attack him.”

Okay… thought Ember, nervously, looking at the last two cards in her hand. Not impossible, not impossible…

She turned a card on her Disk, and Thestalos knelt in Defense Mode. (500 DEF)

“That’s all I can do,” she said.

“I draw,” said Crow, drawing a card.

“Then I attack! Armor Master, attack Infernal Flame Emperor!”

Ember opened her eyes in disbelief, as Armor Master flew up to the Pyro, aiming a punch to his chest. Infernal Flame Emperor wasn’t harmed by it, and was seemingly just as confused as Ember was.

“I don’t get it…” said Ember. “That was… pointless.”

“Oh, it had a point,” said Crow. “But you’ll have to wait for me to make it. In the meantime, my turn is over.”

Ember looked at him hard, and made a draw.

She placed two of her cards on her Disk, and a reversed card and a reversed Monster appeared on her side of the field.

“That’s all,” she said.



Continued…

[Dark Sage]

Continued from last post:



Crow made a draw.

“First, since I already control a Blackwing Monster,” he said, “I can Normal Summon Blackwing – Elfen the Pitch-Black without a sacrifice.”

In another burst of shadow, a new Blackwing appeared. It looked similar to the first three, but this one not looking as young as the others. Despite its name, its feathers were a shade of grey, and it wore a blue, sleeveless tunic over its chest, and two shoulder pads that looked like epaulets. (2,200 ATK)

“What is this?” asked Ember. “Some sort of swarming strategy?”

“More or less,” replied Crow. “And Elfen has a special effect. When it’s summoned, I get to change the Mode of one of your Monsters.”

Thestalos stood up into Attack Mode. (1,200 ATK)

“Now, you were probably wondering about that ‘pointless’ attack last turn. Well, when Armor Master attacks a Monster, and doesn’t destroy it, it leaves behind something… A Wedge Counter.

“And now I can get rid of that Wedge Counter, and…”

Infernal Flame Emperor groaned, and his limbs sagged. (0 ATK)

“You reduced his Attack Score to zero!” shouted Ember.

“You got it,” replied Crow. “And now Armor Master’s gonna finish what it started last turn!”

Armor Master flew at Infernal Flame Emperor, and made a slash with its wings, slicing the huge Pyro in half. Ember cringed.

“Elfen, take down her Monarch!” he shouted.

Elfen the Pitch-Black took to the air, and swooped on Thestalos, crushing it in its talons.

“And it’s your move…” said Crow, with a smug look.

(E: 4,500) - - - - - - - - - - (C: 7,200)

Ember quickly made a draw.

“My Trap Card activates,” she said, as her facedown card lifted up. “DNA Transplant.”

Two glowing double helixes appeared behind Ember.

“Now, I can change the Attribute of all the Monsters on the field to whatever I want. And I chose Fire.”

“Huh?” said Crow. “What good would it do you to make my Monsters Fire?”

“I’ll show you,” said Ember. “I flip my facedown Monster into Attack Mode… Hiita the Fire Charmer!”

Ember’s facedown Monster flipped up, and standing there was a young girl with red hair, dressed in a brown jacket, holding a staff with a shining ruby on the end. A small fox was sitting at her feet. (500 ATK)

“She may not look like much,” said Ember, “but Hiita can control the element of Fire with ease. What that means is, by Flip-Summoning her, I get to take control of one opposing Fire Monster.

“I think Armor Master will do.”

Hiita chanted and cast a mighty incantation. Her eyes glowed with flame. Armor Master looked confused. Then it flew over to Ember’s side of the field.

“HEY!” shouted Crow.

“I’m not done,” continued Ember. “Next, I summon the Blue Flame Swordsman!”

In another burst of fire, a Warrior appeared. He looked like the Monster that Jonouchi had called his favorite before he had won Red Eyes from Ryuzaki, but his armor and sword were – naturally – blue where the true Flame Swordsman’s were orange. (1,800 ATK)

“Armor Master,” ordered Ember, “attack Elfen the Pitch-Black!”

Armor Master flew at its former comrade…

“Not so fast!” shouted Crow, as he quickly discarded a card.

As Armor Master closed in, Elfen’s Attack Score rose to 3,600, and it swatted away Armor Master with its claw.
\
“What?” asked Ember. “How did it get more points?”

“The card I just discarded was a Blackwing named Qal'at the Moonlight,” explained Crow. “By tossing it when another Blackwing battles, that Blackwing gains 1,400 Attack Points.

“You may not have lost any Life Points due to Armor Master’s effect, but when you end your turn, you’re gonna have to give it back!”

“I don’t think so,” said Ember. “You see, I get to sacrifice Hiita and one other Fire Monster…”

Hiita and Armor Master vanished into plumes of flame.

“…in order to summon Familiar-Possessed Hiita!”

In the two Monsters’ place, a new fiery Spellcaster appeared. It was Hiita, but she was older now, dressed more maturely, and her fox was now bigger and fiercer-looking. (1,850 ATK)

Crow chuckled a little.

“Well…” he said. “I see that you’re more powerful than I had thought… You managed to take out one of my best Monsters… Not even the Magician’s Four were able to do that…”

“Who were they?” asked Ember.

“A group of guys you’d never want to meet,” replied Crow. “But anyway…”

He drew a card.

“I was gonna go easy on you,” he said. “But I can see that you mean business. So from now on, I’m not gonna give any quarter or expect any!

“I summon a blue, flaming Monster of my own… Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame!”

In a cyclone of blue, fiery wind, yet another Blackwing appeared. It had a larger wingspan and bigger arm talons than the others, and a bright, blue plume. (1,800 ATK)

“Elfen, attack Hiita!” he ordered.

Elfen the Pitch-Black squawked, and flew at the Fire Charmer.

“Not so fast!” shouted Ember. “I activate Blue Flame Swordsman’s effect! At any time, I can reduce his Attack Score to increase the Attack Score of another Monster by the same amount.

“So I’ll reduce his score by 400 and give it to Hiita!”

Blue Flame Swordsman fell to an Attack Score of 1,400, while Hiita rose to 2,250. Hiita fired a blast of flames from her staff, and Elfen the Pitch-Black was incinerated in a blast of fire.

“In that case,” continued Crow, “I’d best deal with him… Shura, attack Blue Flame Swordsman!”

Shura the Blue Flame swooped upon the Warrior, raking him with its talons. Blue Flame Swordsman groaned, and then shattered.

“And when Shura crushes a Monster,” continued Crow, “I get to Special Summon another Blackwing from my deck with 1,500 or less Attack Points. So I’ll bring out Blackwing – Foehn the Iron Chain.”

The Blackwing that appeared this time was a strange one. It was dressed in a black martial arts gi, with a mask over the lower part of its face. Its blue plume was tied back in a topknot. It crossed its wings over its chest in Defense Mode. (800 DEF)

“And I activate Blue Flame Swordsman’s effect,” replied Ember. “When he goes down, I get to bring out the real Flame Swordsman!”

In a fiery flourish, the true Flame Swordsman stepped onto the field, holding aloft his great bronze sword. (1,800 ATK)

“In that case…” said Crow, “I’m finished for now…”

(E: 4,100) - - - - - - - - - - (C: 7,150)

Ember quickly drew a card.

“I activate Emergency Provisions,” she said, playing it. “So I’ll get rid of my Trap Card, to gain 1,000 Life Points.”

DNA Transplant vanished, and she glowed with energy. Then she took the last card in her hand.

“I summon Guard of Flamvell!” she shouted.

She played the card, and a small, fiery Dragon with a scaly hide appeared. (100 ATK)

“And guess what?” she added. “He happens to be a Tuner Monster!

“So I Tune him and Flame Swordsman…”

Guard of Flamvell and Flame Swordsman leapt into the air, and then faded into six glowing stars…

In a fiery burst of energy, Flamvell Urquizas landed on the field. (2,100 ATK)

“Not bad…” muttered Crow.

“Flamvell, barbecue his Shura!” ordered Ember. “Attack with fist of flame!”

Frembell Urquizas slugged the Winged Beast with his molten fist, and Shura of the Blue Flame groaned before exploding into a blast of feathers.

“And now, Urquizas gains 300 more Attack Points,” she continued.

(2,400 ATK)

“Now Hiita attacks your other Monster. And due to her own trampling effect, its defending is not gonna protect you.”

Hiita fired a blast of flaming energy, and Blackwing – Foehn the Iron Chain was blown to pieces.

“ERGH!” groaned Crow.

(E: 5,100) - - - - - - - - - - (C: 5,400)

“Man…” he said. “If this is a dream, I’ve really gotta watch what I eat before going to bed…”

“It’s your move…” said Ember.

Crow drew a card.

“All right, Ember,” he said, “I play my Pot of Avarice Spell Card.”

He played the card, and took Armor Master, Sirocco the Dawn, Shura the Blue Flame, Elfen the Pitch Black, and the Monster that Thestalos had made him discard from his discard slot. He shuffled his deck, and then made two draws.

“I’ll set a Monster,” he said, “and then set a facedown.”

A facedown Monster and a facedown card appeared.

“Your move…”

Ember quickly drew.

“I have news for you,” she said. “Urquizas has a trampling effect too.

“But first, I’ll summon my Molten Zombie!”

In another blast of flame, the lumbering, hunched-over Pyro with an ugly face appeared. (1,600 ATK)

“Urquizas, crush his Monster!”

Urquizas flew towards the facedown Monster.

“I activate… Fake Feather!” shouted Crow, as his Trap Card flipped up.

“Fake Feather?” said Ember, in shock. “What does that do?”

Crow quickly discarded a Blackwing Monster called Blizzard of the North Pole.

“Simple,” he said. “At the cost of one Blackwing Monster from my hand, the effect of this Trap becomes that of one in your Graveyard. Think I’ll use that Draining Shield you used a few turns ago…”

The art of the Fake Feather card turned into that of Draining Shield, and Urquizas’s fist struck a dome of energy. Invigorating power flowed into Crow.

“I’m not done with you!” shouted Ember. “Hiita, you attack his Monster!”

Hiita blasted a bolt of fire, and a second Bora the Spear appeared on the card before it was burned to ashes. Crow cringed a little.

“Molten Zombie, direct attack!” ordered Ember.

Crow groaned and sweated as the Pyro breathed a cloud of cinders on him.

(E: 5,100) - - - - - - - - - - (C: 4,750)

“Seems I’m in the lead…” said Ember.

“For now…” said Crow. “It’s my move…”

He drew a card, and looked at it closely.

“All right, time to try something new,” he said. “I play this… The Spell Card, Earthquake!”

The Spell Card appeared, and a tremor struck the whole street. All three of Ember’s Monsters stumbled, and then knelt in Defense Mode, Molten Zombie simply collapsing in a heap (400 DEF), Hiita kneeling and holding her staff in her lap (1,500 DEF), and Urquizas kneeling and crossing his arms. (400 DEF)

Nuts, thought Ember. The biggest problem with Pyro Monsters is, they tend to have weak Defenses…

“Now,” continued Crow, “I play the Spell Card, Against Wind.”

The Spell Card flashed into existence.

“Now, I get to recover any Blackwing Monster I want from my Graveyard. The downside is, I take damage equal to its Attack Score.”

He glowed with red energy as a card slipped out of his discard slot.

“Now, I’ll summon it… Blackwing – Blizzard of the North Pole.”

A blast of chilling, Arctic wind blew over the field as a new Blacking appeared. Unlike all the others, this one didn’t appear humanoid at all. It looked like a large albatross with black highlights in its wings and plume, which were otherwise white. (1,300 ATK)

“Now, when this guy is summoned, I get to Special Summon a Level 4 or less Blackwing from my Graveyard…”

Bora the Spear appeared once again, crouching in Defense Mode. (800 DEF)

“Now, I Tune my two Monsters together… Fly!”

The two Blackwings took to the air, flying over the street again.

That’s only six Levels, thought Ember. He couldn’t be summoning Armor Master again…

“Synchro Summon…” said Crow, “Blackwing – Arms Master!”

A Blackwing flew from above, and this one truly looked like it meant business. Unlike Armor Master, it wasn’t covered only by armor, but rather by a combination of feathers and armor, with a black mask over its face, a plume of orange feathers, and large, bladed wings. It held a nasty-looking shotgun in its upper talons. (2,300 ATK)

“Uh… oh…” said Ember.

“And this guy not only can inflict damage by attacking a Monster in Defense Mode,” continued Crow, “it gains 500 more Attack Points when it does so.”

Arms Master aimed at Urquizas, and its Attack Score rose to 2,800…

Ember cringed as the shot fired, and Urquizas was blown to bits.

“I set a card facedown,” said Crow, as a facedown card appeared, “and that will be all.”

(E: 2,700) - - - - - - - - - - (C: 3,450)

Ember took some deep breaths.

Okay, Ember… she thought. You can do this…

She drew one card.

It was Sakuretsu Armor.

If she was able to use this to get rid of Arms Master, she might have a chance…

She quickly set it in her Disk, and it appeared facedown. Then she turned both the cards in her Disk. Hiita stood up in Attack Mode (2,250 ATK) and Molten Zombie did the same. (1,600 ATK)

She nodded.

Crow drew a card.

“You remember Elfen the Pitch-Black, don’t you?” he asked.

In another burst of wind, Elfen the Pitch-Black appeared again. (2,200 DEF)

Hiita struggled against the wind, but fell into Defense Mode again. (1,500 DEF)

“Now,” said Crow, “I activate Monster Reborn.”

He played the card, and the golden ankh appeared. Gale the Whirlwind flew onto the field again. (1,300 ATK)

Then Gale spread its wings again, causing the familiar storm and buffeting Hiita. (750 DEF)

“Now, I activate Ebon Arrow,” continued Crow, as his facedown Trap Card lifted.

Arms Master’s shotgun vanished, and was replaced by an equally nasty crossbow. The Winged Beast’s Attack Score fell to 1,800.

“Yeah, it has to give up 500 points, but since it will gain 500 when it attacks, it’s no big deal.

“So, Arms Master, attack…”

Arms Master aimed at Hiita. Then Crow stopped short.

“Heh… Where’s my mind?”

He took the last card in his hand.

“Since I have three Blackwings on the field, I can activate this… Delta Crow – Anti Reverse!”

The fiercest wind yet started to blow, and Ember struggled to maintain her footing. Her facedown Trap Card was swept up and blown away.

Arms Master fired his crossbow, and Hiita exploded. Ember screamed as a spectral arrow hit her in the chest.

“Ebon Arrow inflicts direct damage equal to your Monster’s original Defense Score,” said Crow. “In addition to the battle damage. So that’s all she wrote.”

Ember fell to her knees.

(E: 0) - - - - - - - - - - (C: 3,450)

Ember was gasping for breath.

“I lost…” she said, sadly.

Then Crow put her hand on her shoulder.

“Don’t dwell on it,” he said with a smile. “You lasted longer than most of the thugs I’m used to dueling around here. Heck, you’re even better than most of the Duel Chasers who give me a hard time, although that’s really not saying much. You have a lot of promise…”

“I do?” asked Ember.

“Yup,” said Crow. “We could have used someone like you way back when… Before everything fell apart…”

And then his hand fell through her shoulder.

“What’s happening?” said Ember, looking at her hands.

She was fading away.

“I think you’re waking up,” said Crow. “Or I am… Look, Ember, you’re a good duelist, remember that! If I never see you again, don’t give up! Whatever you’re planning to do, put everything you’ve got into it!”

“I will!” shouted Ember. “Thanks…”

* * * * * * * * * *

In DaPen’s office, the crime boss leaned his head against his hand.

“I win,” said the first bodyguard, picking up the candy bar.

Vince sighed, and looked at DaPen, who didn’t look like he was in a good mood.

“What’s wrong, boss?” he asked.

“What’s wrong?” asked DaPen. “Everything… I had hoped to humble Ember… To dissuade her…

“And instead, I encouraged her. When she wakes up, she’ll be more willing than ever to continue…

“Seems I’m going to have to start taking her more seriously from now on… I can’t simply play games with this one…”

* * * * * * * * * *

Ember woke up.

She found herself looking at the computer screen, which was now on screensaver.

She heard a loud rumble, and then realized it was her stomach. She looked at the clock on the computer. One PM. It was past the time she usually had lunch.

“Boris…” she called.

The skull flew into the room.

“You called?” he asked.

“Uh, can you make me a BLT?” she asked.

“Comin’ up!” said the chef, and he flew back into the kitchen.

Ember leaned her head on her hand.

What a weird dream, thought Ember. That was quite a powerful group of Monsters he had…

That Black Whirlwind was a pretty powerful Spell Card… If I hadn’t destroyed it, it would have let him keep searching for Monsters…

Searching for Monsters… Cards that search for Monsters…

She paused.

Then the idea hit her suddenly.

She moved onto the couch, and took out her boxes full of cards. She looked through them, quickly finding the ones she needed, as very few of them were very rare. Even as Boris brought the BLT, she put card after card into a deck that quickly grew. Monster after Monster, then Spells, then Traps. Then she added some more essential Monsters, the key points of the strategy to this idea.

After an hour of this work, she held it up… She counted…

Sixty. A deck with sixty cards. One that she felt had a solid strategy.

“Success!” she shouted.


I had gotten past stage one, at least in my eyes. I had built a deck that I thought would work that had sixty cards in it. And I wouldn’t be reckless or careless in doing my test this time. This time, I would do it under the proper supervision, following the proper procedure.

I owed a lot to the young man who had called himself Crow… The youth who seemed to be the Robin Hood figure of the ruins of Satellite. His words of inspiration and the Spell Card he had used had inspired the deck. I knew that he had not simply been created by my dream, and I made a pact with myself at that point; when I became a full-fledged Shadowchaser and had to go to Satellite alone, I would look him up.

After all… I wanted a rematch.



GUARD OF FLAMVELL (Monster Card)

Card Specs

Type: Dragon/Tuner
Attribute: Fire
Level: 1
ATK: 100
DEF: 2,000

Flavor Text: The guardian warrior of Flamvell who can manipulate flames at will. Creating a red-hot barrier, he rejects the attacks of his enemies.

Note: “Guard of Flamvell” was released in Japan for the original “Duel Terminal” system. It has not yet been released in the United States.



BLUE FLAME SWORDSMAN (Monster Card)

Card Specs

Type: Warrior/Effect
Attribute: Fire
Level: 4
ATK: 1,800
DEF: 1,600

Card Description: You may decrease the ATK of this card (in increments of 100) to increase the ATK of any other face-up Monster on the field by the same amount. This effect may be used during any Phase of the turn, and may be used during your opponent’s turn. If this card is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard, you may Special Summon 1 “Flame Swordsman” from your Extra Deck or Graveyard.

Note: “Blue Flame Swordsman” was first used by Jonouchi in the original anime episode “Fighting for a Friend (Part 4)”. Creative credit goes to the writers of that episode.



MARTYR’S FLAME (Trap Card)

Normal Trap

Image: St. Joan standing in front of a wounded Hiita the Fire Charmer as Tyrant Dragon prepares to attack.

Card Description: You may activate this card when 1 of your FIRE Monsters is the target of an attack. Turn the attack into a direct attack on your Life Points. Battle damage you receive by this attack is halved.



All Blackwing Monsters and support cards that were used in this chapter that have not yet been released will be released either in the “Raging Battle” set or the “Ancient Prophecy” set.



I’d like to point out to anyone who has seen today’s episode that it was pure coincidence that I decided to debut this chapter at this time. As far as the anime is concerned, this occurs shortly (about an hour or so) before Crow meets up with Yusei at the end of Episode 30.

Coming up next:

Ember is ready to do her next test, and in preparation, Shichiro and Jinx take her out to dinner at a local fast food place that’s a favorite for Shadowkind. But where’s Gears? He’ll show up… But first, he gets sidetracked by a mysterious rider on a D-Wheel with strange powers who challenges him to battle, with the promise of answers at the end. What secrets is this stranger hiding?

“Union Rider” is coming soon.

[MeLoVeGhOsTs]

This seemed a bit to filler for me. But good duel nonetheless, I like the blackwings.

[Dark Sage]

Yeah, I liked them too, and I wanted them to appear in this fic. The problem was, I felt that it would be kinda... wrong if anyone but Crow used them. So I had to find a way to work him into the fic so that he could use them personally.

Maybe this chapter was semi-filler, but don't forget, Shichiro has some sort of connection to Team Satisfaction, a group that Crow was a part of. How would he react if Ember mentioned this to him? We'll just have to see down the road...

[Dark Sage]

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

After Jinx and Shichiro got back (I’m not exactly sure where they had gone) they were pretty surprised that I had been so quick in putting the deck together. Jinx wanted to help me find a way to get the Heavy Slump test done with as soon as possible.

Unfortunately, we had a little problem. It seemed to be a rather slow day for Shadow-related felonies. The ophidia were behaving themselves, the orc gangs were quiet, and Satellite seemed a peaceful place for a change.

By four o’clock, not even a flicker had appeared on the docket. So, Shichiro suggested that we go where things were bound to happen among the Shadowkind community…

He suggested we go out for cheeseburgers and fries.



In all major cities of the world, fast food theme restaurants had come and gone. Not all of them had met the success of giant conglomerates like McDonalds, or MOS Burger, its equivalent in Japan (both chains were well-represented in Neo Domino), but some had left their mark. Pandora’s Box was the next likely candidate to do so.

Pandora’s Box was the latest hot property. It was owned by Fantastic Foods Inc, a relatively new corporation headquartered in New York, and the franchise was quickly growing, with new storefronts opening at a rate of about one every three days, worldwide.

The first thing you noticed when you entered a Pandora’s Box was that the dining area was built to resemble a medieval tavern. But all the staples of a thematic fast food place were there: arcade games, puppet shows, and costumed characters, including the chain’s mascot, Marty the Monster (who looked like a cartoon version of a kobold), who had been appearing in commercials, on t-shirts, and would headline a new line of action toys. It was all very commercial (and extraordinarily trite), but it had struck a chord with kids, both human and Shadowkind alike.

And in areas with high Shadowkind populations, local elves, dwarves, goblins, bugbears, and many others creatures of Shadow could easily find jobs at the Pandora’s Box simply by being themselves.

The menu consisted of such items as minotaur burgers, spicy roc wings, filet of nixie sandwiches, dryad garden salad, and the ever-popular Monster Meal (rumor had it that the magic toys included with these kids’ meals truly were enchanted). However, all this was nothing more than regular fast food fare with thematic names. A plaque hung by the counter in each restaurant, saying, “No sentient beings were harmed in the making of this food”.

This had not been the first time Ember had gone to a Pandora’s Box for a quick snack, but this was the first time she recognized so many of the customers as Shadowkind. With all the diverse creatures chowing down on burgers and fries, it was almost like a contemporary Mos Eisley Cantina for the big city.

“So, Ember,” said Shichiro, “are you sure you’re ready to do this test? In a place like this, a problem could come up at any minute…”

“Am I ever,” said Ember, tapping her Duel Disk.

Jinx looked at the Disk, which wasn’t Ember’s normal Duel Disk. It looked bigger, bulkier, and much more high-tech.

“Uhm, correct me if I’m wrong,” asked Jinx, “but isn’t that one of the new KaibaCorp Duelmaster Prism 10-90 Disks?”

“Calm down,” replied Ember. “I’m renting it. See, with this new deck’s strategy, I have to shuffle my deck a lot, so I figured I’d rent a Disk with an auto-shuffler to save time.”

Let’s just hope I get to use it soon… she thought.

“And I’ve made a decision,” she continued. “If I pass this test, I’m going to resign my job as Mr. Draco’s secretary. I only have three vacation days left, and I guess it would be kind of hard to work for him and be a Shadowchaser at the same time.”

“Probably,” replied Shichiro.

“So…” continued Ember. “Where’s Gears?”

“He’ll be here soon,” replied Shichiro. “Mistle was feeling better, so he took her to the greenhouse to check on things. Unseen Servants are usually dependable, but they aren’t foolproof.”

* * * * * * * * * *

They most certainly were not.

Gears and Mistle had arrived at the greenhouse to find that no less than three of the Servants had malfunctioned while she was gone, and the place was a mess because of it. The three malfunctioning Servants were spilling potting soil, potash, fertilizer, and anything else they could get ahold of. It was rather a hilarious sight – the competent Servants were busy cleaning up each mess, only for the malfunctioning ones to make a new mess, in a vicious cycle that had lasted for who knows how long. Several flowerpots had been broken, two windows were cracked because of it, and Mistle’s display of seashell wind chimes that were regularly sent to her by a tribe of merfolk living offshore had been knocked over.

After deactivating the three malfunctioning Servants, Mistle told Gears that she needed to call in some living help to clean this up, and that he’d only be a third wheel. She told him to go to the Pandora’s Box without her, so Gears left, saying he’d pick her up later.

Unfortunately for Gears, rush hour had just started, and traffic was heavy. Not to mention the fact that the weather had suddenly gotten incredibly hot all of a sudden. As he stopped at a red light, he took off his helmet to wipe his brow.

He appeared out of nowhere. A rider on a very large and very noisy D-Wheel, one that was jet black, and almost as high-tech as Gears’s. Gears quickly took notice of the rider – he seemed to be wearing black armor of some kind that covered him from head to toe, and a black helmet that completely covered his face. He looked like a character in some Japanese live-action superhero TV show.

The rider pulled in front of Gears, and looked at him.

“Hello, Gears,” said the stranger, in a voice that seemed incredibly formal.

“Uh, the light just turned green,” said Gears.

His eyes narrowed.

“But you don’t seem to care, right? How did you know my name? And who are you?”

The stranger took something out of his armor. It looked like a golden pocket watch on a silver fob.

“Who am I?” asked the stranger. “An ally of your enemy. Whether that makes me an enemy too is up for you to decide.

“Let’s just say for now I’m a person with a lot of curiosity… And a lot of time on my hands.”

They he pushed a button on the top of the watch, and all of a sudden, the whole world froze.

Gears looked around him. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. It looked like everything had just frozen in place.

The cars had stopped. Pedestrians had stopped in mid-stride. A little girl on the sidewalk who had been eating an ice cream cone had been frozen in mid-lick. Two deliverymen lifting a crate had been frozen lifting it halfway up. Even a group of birds overhead had stopped cold in mid-air.

He dismounted his bike.

“Confusing, isn’t it?” asked the stranger.

“What did you do to them all?” demanded Gears.

“Absolutely nothing,” replied the stranger, shrugging his shoulders. “The spell I just cast only affects the two of us. I believe that the League of Wizards refers to this as the Tempus Fugit effect…”

“Advanced acceleration…” gasped Gears. “But… That’s impossible…”

“Oh, it’s very possible,” said the stranger. “By warping the temporal field around us, in simple terms, we are now moving so incredibly fast, the rest of the world has, to our point of view, slowed to a halt. No-one else can perceive us, and we cannot manipulate anyone else. We are all alone, in a state of advanced acceleration.”

“Doing this would take exceptional magic…” muttered Gears.

The stranger shrugged his shoulders.

“I’m an exceptional wizard,” he replied.

Gears looked at him.

“Don’t you know what happens when you do things like this?” he asked. “The dangers? How doing things of this nature could attract the attention of a platonic?”

“Don’t know, don’t care,” replied the stranger. “I simply thought it would be the best way for us to have privacy for our Turbo Duel.”

“And what if I refuse?” asked Gears. “I suppose you’re gonna threaten to leave me in an accelerated state forever?”

“Heh, heh, heh, heh,” laughed the stranger. “Boy, that was a good one… Gears, you give me too much credit.”

He looked at the pocket watch again.

“There’s no way I could make a spell this powerful last for longer than a half-hour from our point of view. And to even make it last that long, I had to enchant this 19th Century gold-plated Swiss timepiece to use as a focus. It’s more accurate than a Rolex. And once the magic is depleted, it won’t be able to do anything more than tell time. I’d have to get a second watch of equal value to cast the spell again.

“But I can afford it. If you don’t want to duel me, just say the word, and I’ll hit play again. You’ll be free to go.”

“Then why did you bother?” asked Gears. “Why risk casting a spell like this when you can’t force me?”

“Oh, I could force you if I wanted to,” replied the stranger. “But I don’t feel like doing that. I’ll give you one good reason for dueling me. I’ve cast this mighty, time-warping incantation. You have no idea just who I am, or where I came from… Heck, you don’t even know if I’m human under this armor.

“If you refuse to duel me, they’ll be no answers. And I’m sure you want them. So why don’t we duel?

“After all… It will only take a second of your time…”

Gears looked at him.

“You’re on,” he said.

He mounted his bike. The stranger quickly did the same. Simultaneously, both engines started.

“I’ll activate the Speed World Field Spell,” said the stranger.

With a whir, the streets of Neo Domino, now frozen in time by the powerful incantation, were transformed into the realm of Speed World. Only two vehicles ran on this once busy street to Gears’s point of view – his D-Wheel, and that of his opponent.

“Duel mode activated,” said the D-Wheel.

Gears felt an eerie feeling as he sped off from his starting point – who wouldn’t feel weird to see the entire world around him frozen in place, caught at one point in time by magic that shouldn’t have existed?

(Gears: 8,000) - - - - - - - - - - (Stranger: 8,000)

The stranger leaned forward, and made his first draw.

“I’ll start by summoning Shining Angel in Attack Mode,” he said.

He threw a card on his console, and a man in a toga with large, golden, feathered wings appeared, flying in front of his bike. (1,400 ATK)

He’s using Light Monsters? thought Gears. Clearly, he doesn’t know much about my deck…

“Then I throw one card facedown,” continued the stranger, as a facedown card appeared beside his bike.

The facedown card shimmered out of view, and he waved his hand to signal the end of his turn.

“Then I draw!” shouted Gears, drawing a card.

Both Speed Counters rose to one.

“I summon Nanobreaker!” he shouted.

The portal opened behind him, and the female android in armor emerged, holding her wavy, glowing sword. (1,600 ATK)

Time to find out just what he’s up to, he thought.

“Attack!” he shouted.

“YA!” shouted Nanobreaker, swinger her blade. Shining Angel was thrown backwards, and was blown into particles of light.

“I activate Shining Angel’s effect,” said the stranger. “I can…”

“I know, I know!” said Gears. “You get to Special Summon a Light Monster from your deck that has 1,500 Attack Points or less. I’m not stupid. So do it already.”

“Be careful, Gears,” said the stranger, holding up a card. “With a tongue so sharp, you could cut your own throat.

“I summon Y-Dragon Head.”

In a burst of digital symbols, a large Machine appeared in front of his bike, flying in front of it. It was fire-engine red, and shaped like a streamlined, mechanical dragon. (1,500 ATK)

Y-Dragon Head? thought Gears. So he’s using XYZ Machines?

He took a card from his gauntlet.

“I set a card facedown, and end my turn,” he said, as a facedown card appeared.

(G: 8,000) - - - - - - - - - - (S: 7,800)

The stranger made a draw, and both Speed Counters rose to two.

“I summon X-Head Cannon,” he said.

He played the card, and in another digital burst, another Machine appeared. This one was blue and yellow, and had a head, torso, and large arms, but no legs, with large rifles protruding from its shoulders. (1,800 ATK)

“Now I activate Y-Dragon Head’s effect,” he continued, “and Union Equip it to X-Head Cannon.”

X-Head Cannon flew up higher, and Y-Dragon Head flew under it. A hatch opened on Y-Dragon Head’s back, and X-Head Dragon lowered itself onto it, the two Machines bonding together in a blast of sparks and steam. (2,200 ATK)

“Now, attack!” he shouted. “Destroy Nanobreaker!”

The Union-Equipped X-Head Cannon aimed its blasters at Nanobreaker…

“Go!” shouted Gears, as his facedown card spun around. “Draining Shield!”

X-Head Cannon fired, and the blast hit an invisible shield. Nanobreaker took a deep breath in relief.

“Not bad,” said the stranger. “Seems you’re safe for now…”

(G: 10,200) - - - - - - - - - - (S: 7,800)

Gears drew a card, and both Speed Counters rose to three. Both of the bikes swerved, turning down another avenue.

“I sacrifice Nanobreaker…” he said.

Nanobreaker held up her blade with a stern look on her face, and transformed into a globe of light.

“…to summon Ally of Justice Rudra!”

With a roar, the large, mechanical wolf leapt onto the field, and started running beside Gears’s bike. (1,900 ATK)

“And since your Machine is a Light Monster,” said Gears, “mine can easily take it down.

“Rudra, destroy his Machine!”

Rudra pounced, and leapt at the merged Monster, its Attack Score rising to 2,600. There was an explosion at the point of impact…

But when the smoke cleared, Y-Dragon Head was gone, but X-Head Cannon was still there.

“What?” said Gears.

“Didn’t you know how Union Monsters worked?” asked the stranger. “When a Monster is attacked while Equipped with one, only the Union Monster gets junked.”

“Of… course I knew that…” muttered Gears.

That is, I know it now, he thought.

“And now’s a perfect time to activate my Trap Card,” said the stranger, as his facedown card spun around.

“It’s called Roll Out! Since Y-Dragon Head is a Union Monster that I can Equip to X-Head Cannon, I can take it out of my Graveyard, and Equip it to X-Head Cannon again.”

Y-Dragon Head appeared again, and X-Head Cannon bonded to it again. (2,200 ATK)

Gears looked at the rest of the cards in his hand.

He threw another card down, and a facedown card appeared.

“That’s all,” he said.

(G: 10,200) - - - - - - - - - - (S: 7,400)

The stranger drew again, and both Speed Counters rose to four.

“I separate Y-Dragon Head from X-Head Cannon,” he said.

X-Head Cannon blasted its rockets, and lifted off of the Union Monster. (1,800 ATK) Y-Dragon Head moved onto the field. (1,500 ATK)

“Then, I summon Z-Metal Tank.”

He played a card, and another Machine appeared in a digital burst. This one was a headless, limbless tank, colored yellow, on caterpillar tracks. (1,500 ATK)

“Now, I remove all three of my Monsters from play, to fuse them together!”

The rockets on all three Machines blasted. Y-Dragon Head lowered itself onto Z-Metal Tank, fusing to it. Then, X-Head Cannon bonded to the top of the two bonded Machines. All three of them glowed with an aura of golden flames.

“I summon XYZ-Dragon Cannon,” said the stranger.

(2,800 ATK)

“Super,” said Gears, sarcastically.

“Oh, but it is,” said the stranger, as he discarded a card.

XYZ-Dragon Cannon blasted its guns, and Rudra was blown to shards.

“And just wait until you see its real attack,” he continued. “Attack directly! De-fission lasers!”

The Machine blasted three sets of laser blasters, and they slammed into Gears’s bike. He grit his teeth and held on, as his Life Points fell, and his Speed Counters fell to two.

“I’ll set another card facedown,” said the stranger, as a facedown card appeared. “And that will be all.”

(G: 7,400) - - - - - - - - - - (S: 7,400)

Gears quickly drew a card. His Speed Counters rose to three, while his opponent’s rose to five.

Got to do something, he thought, before that three-part beast takes me apart…

“I set a second facedown card,” he said, “and then summon Robotic Knight.”

A facedown card appeared, and then the portal opened, disgorging the Machine sergeant, holding its rapier. (1,600 ATK)

“It’s your move.”

The stranger made a draw. His Speed Counters rose to six.

“I summon V-Tiger Jet,” he said.

The now familiar burst of digital symbols summoned a new Machine. This one looked like a cross between a jet plane and a robot tiger, colored yellow and green. (1,600 ATK)

“Then, I activate a second Roll Out!” he said, as his facedown card lifted. “Now I can Equip V-Tiger Jet with the W-Wing Catapult that I discarded last turn.”

In a flash of light, another Machine that looked like a blue jet plane with two cockpits appeared on the field. Then, V-Tiger Jet lowered itself on top of it in a blast of electric sparks. (2,000 ATK)

“V-Tiger Jet, attack his Robotic Knight!”

Two missile launchers opened on the sides of the Union-Equipped Monster…

“I activate… Half or Nothing!” shouted Gears, as one of his facedown cards spun around.

Judge Man loomed over the field, holding his two axes.

“Now, you gotta choose whether to end your Battle Phase, or continue your attack… But if you continue, the Attack Scores of your Monsters get cut in half.”

“I believe I’ll end my Battle Phase,” said the Stranger. “And I’ll end my turn too.”

He didn’t use XYZ’s effect, thought Gears. That means, for whatever reason, the three cards he has left in his hand are too valuable to discard.

Either that, or he’s toying with me…

Gears made a draw. His Speed Counters rose to five.

Hmm, he thought. I could use this Monster to wipe out both of his Machines… But not if he uses XYZ’s effect to destroy it…

Better not chance it yet….

“I set a Monster,” he said, “and then move Robotic Knight to Defense Mode.”

A set Monster appeared, and then the android shielded itself in Defense Mode. (1,800 DEF)

The stranger made a draw. His Speed Counters rose to eight, while Gears’s rose to six.

“W-Wing Catapult, separate from V-Tiger Jet,” he ordered.

The two Monsters split apart. V-Tiger Jet lifted off of its base (1,600 ATK), and W-Wing Catapult moved onto the field. (1,300 ATK)

“Now, I bond them together again in a more permanent fashion, forming the VW-Tiger Catapult.”

V-Tiger Jet’s rockets ignited, and it lowered itself onto W-Wing Catapult once again. (2,000 ATK)

“And now for my big surprise…” said the stranger.

“You don’t have the guts, pal!” shouted Gears.

“I summon my ultimate beast!” said the stranger, not acknowledging the comment. “A Machine that’s five Monsters in one…”

Both XYZ-Dragon Cannon and VW-Tiger Catapult split into their component Monsters. Then all of them started to change shape, and piece together like a giant puzzle.

The end result loomed over Speed World, flying above the stranger’s bike. It was a giant, humanoid mecha, over twenty feet tall, seemingly made from all five of the Machines used so far.

“I give you… The VWXYZ-Dragon Catapult Cannon!”

(3,000 ATK)

“Okay…” said Gears. “I guess you do have the guts…”

“And it has a lot of power under the hood,” continued the stranger. “Like the power to remove one card from play every turn.”

Gears gasped as his reversed Monster simply vanished.

Me and my big mouth… he thought.

“Also, defending doesn’t help with this mecha,” said the stranger, “because it can change the battle position of any Monster it attacks.”

Robotic Knight stood up in Attack Mode. (1,600 ATK) The V-Through-Z fired its cannons, and the robot was atomized.

“Ergh…” mumbled Gears.

His Speed Counters fell one point, down to five.

“It’s your move…” said the stranger.

(G: 6,000) - - - - - - - - - - (S: 7,400)

Gears drew a card. He gave it a strange look.

His Speed Counters rose to six, while the stranger’s rose to nine.

“I set a card facedown,” he said, as he placed it on his console. “Then, I activate Soul Resurrection.”

The facedown card he had set earlier spun around, and Robotic Knight appeared, crouching in Defense Mode. (1,800 DEF)

“Then I set a Monster…”

A reversed Monster appeared.

“And I end my turn.”

“You’re only prolonging the inevitable,” said the stranger, drawing a card.

He looked at it. It was Speed Spell – The End of Storm.

The two bikes swerved again, and started racing down the main thoroughfare of Neo Domino. The site was chilling to behold. A news helicopter was frozen in midair. Pedestrians were as still as statues, some in the midst of speaking on cell phones, or exiting taxis, or buying hot dogs. A woman was giving a bottle to her infant child at the point the spell was cast.

If a platonic didn’t notice this, it would be a miracle…

The stranger’s Speed Counters rose to ten, while Gears’s rose to seven.

“I use the effect of my Monster to remove your facedown Monster from play,” he said.

“Oh, no you don’t,” said Gears, as his facedown card lifted.

“Huh? A Trap?” said the stranger.

“It’s called Skill Shock,” said Gears. “By sacrificing a Monster…”

Robotic Knight vanished.

“…your Monster can’t use any effects this round, and it can’t attack either.”

The stranger grunted a little.

“I end my turn!” he shouted. “But keep this in mind… If that Monster is a Flip-Effect Monster, you’d better flip it yourself this turn if you want to use it, because if V-Though-Z moves it to Attack Mode, that effect is negated.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” said Gears, drawing a card.

His Speed Counters rose to eight.

“I’ll set a second Monster,” he said, as a second reversed Monster appeared. “And I’ll end my turn.”

The stranger made a draw. Flames shot out of the back of his bike, as his Speed Counters hit the maximum of twelve. He pulled ahead of Gears.

“I summon a second Shining Angel!” he shouted, as another Shining Angel appeared. (1,400 ATK)

This is it… thought Gears. Fifty-fifty chance…

“V-Through-Z,” he said. “Eradicate the Monster on the left!”

Gears grinned as the reversed Monster on the left vanished.

Gotcha, he thought.

“Now, my Monster will move your other Monster to Attack Mode, and attack!”

Gears’s Monster flipped into Attack Mode. It looked like nothing more than a metal golf ball the size of a watermelon. (400 ATK)

Gears screamed as the guns blasted, and it exploded…

But then he grinned…

“You just destroyed my Ally Bomb!” he shouted. “And when an Ally Bomb is blown up in a battle with a Light Monster, I get to destroy two cards on the field!”

The stranger gasped…

Then a much bigger explosion erupted around him, as the VWXYZ-Dragon Catapult Cannon was consumed in a fiery series of blasts. Shining Angel was burned to a crisp immediately, and the huge robot crash landed, illuminating Speed World in a great explosion of fire and pure light.

“Well?” asked Gears. “What do you have to say to that?”

The stranger said nothing. He simply set a card on his console, and a facedown card appeared.

“Your move,” he said.

(G: 3,400) - - - - - - - - - - (S: 7,400)

Gears deftly made a draw, and his Speed Counters rose to eight.

“I summon Ally of Justice Blind Sucker!” he shouted.

He played the card, and the portal opened. The armored, robotic cockpit with arms and six legs flew out. (1,600 ATK)

“Attack him directly!” shouted Gears.

Blind Sucker fired its missiles, striking the stranger’s bike. The stranger made very little reaction at all, so it was hard to say whether it did much to hurt him.

(G: 3,400) - - - - - - - - - - (S: 5,800)

“My move,” said the stranger.

He drew a card.

Then he paused. He lifted up the pocket watch, and looked at it.

“Gears, this has been quite a duel…” he said. “Unfortunately, according to my watch, my Tempus Fugit spell is going to wear off in less than five minutes, so I’m going to have to cut this short…”

His facedown card lifted up.

“I activate Return From the Different Dimension! Now, I cut my Life Points in half, and every Monster I removed from play comes back.”

Lightning flashed, and a glowing, multicolored portal appeared overhead. Monsters started flying out of it; X-Head Cannon came first (1,800 ATK), then Y-Dragon Head (1,500 ATK), Z-Metal Tank (1,500 ATK), W-Wing Catapult (1,300 ATK), and finally, V-Tiger Jet. (1,600 ATK)

“HEY!” shouted Gears. “Wait a minute!”

X-Head Cannon fired its lasers, and Blind Sucker was blown to pieces.

“Aw… Crap…” said Gears.

Four more lasers blasted, and Gears screamed as they plowed into him. He struggled to control his bike, and slammed on the brakes, just as Speed World vanished, and the Tempus Fugit spell wore off. The world started moving again, and everything was as it was before.

(G: 0) - - - - - - - - - - (S: 2,900)

Smoke poured out of the engine of Gears’s D-Wheel. He took some low, deep, gasping breaths, as the stranger pulled up in front of him.

“Thanks, Gears, that was fun,” he said.

“Yeah, fun…” muttered Gears. “I haven’t had so much fun since the last time I had a root canal…”

“Well, I’ll be leaving now…” said the stranger.

“WAIT!” shouted Gears. “You said there’d be answers…”

“Mmm, yes, I did,” said the stranger. “I got plenty of answers… I learned that you are a very dangerous man who is not to be taken lightly. Not many duelists would have been able to defeat a Monster that powerful…

“And if you didn’t get any answers yourself yet, I suggest you think about it for awhile. While you’re doing that, I bid you adieu.”

As he started up his bike, Gears considered chasing him…

But then he thought of something…

Perhaps he had learned something from this encounter.

This sorcerer, whoever he was, called himself a “ally of his enemy”. He was an ally of DaPen, most likely. He knew magic powerful enough to create the Tempus Fugit effect, something that even the council of leadership of the League of Wizards warned against researching into. What other powerful spells could he cast? And he was a duelist powerful enough to best him at a Turbo Duel. That wasn’t easy for anybody.

Clearly, DaPen was keeping some powerful company, and it would be in the Shadowchasers’ best interests to be careful.

He looked up.

He couldn’t believe it. He was right outside the Pandora’s Box that he was supposed to meet the others at.

* * * * * * * * * *

The stranger drove his D-Wheel into an alley.

He dismounted, and muttered a hasty incantation which made the bike vanish. Then he waved his hand, and his armor and helmet disappeared, replaced by dark, heavy robes and a hood. It was the same strange man that had met Takasu in that bar.

There was one difference, however. If an Aware looked at him, he would notice that his face wasn’t a face at all, but a ceramic mask made to look like an old man’s face.

He took a cell phone out of his robe, and dialed a number.

“Louis?” he said into it. “It’s me…”

“How did it go?” asked DaPen.

“It was satisfying,” replied the robed man.

“Satisfying?” said DaPen, now a little irked. “Edmund, I expect a spell as dangerous as that one to have more results than being ‘satisfying’! You’ve got to stop playing with them and start something more substantial.”

“Patience, Louis,” said Edmund. “It’s something we’re both going to need. You know, that was the whole problem with idiots like Marik and Dartz. They thought that they could conquer the world and be done by five o’clock. They didn’t realize that it just doesn’t work that way. If you really want to conquer the world, you have to start small. Maybe conquer a small country first, then move up to bigger things.

“Anyway, I can’t truly challenge them on that front until the chest appears.”

“And when is that going to be?” asked DaPen. “It’s been a few hours now…”

“It might take a few more,” said Edmund. “The Astral Plane is a big place, and retrieving something from there takes time. Just have your men keep their eyes and ears opened for any strange things that happen around Satellite. We should have it by late evening…”

“I hope so,” said DaPen. “And by the way, if it lands in the bay this time, you’re going to have to find a way to fish it out, because I’m not gonna.”

Edmund hung up, and looked around.

Then he walked into the alley, and vanished into the shadows.

* * * * * * * * * *

Gears walked into the restaurant, with a frown on his face.

“Gears!” shouted Jinx. “Over here!”

Gears walked over to their table, and sat down.

“You look happy,” said Shichiro, obviously noting that Gears wasn’t happy. “You want to get a burger?”

“Not hungry,” muttered Gears.

“Gears isn’t hungry?” said Jinx. “Something must be wrong.”

“We’ll talk later,” said Gears.

In truth, he was less concerned about losing the duel than about the fact that there was a very powerful, but incredibly careless sorcerer out there. How could he not care about the fact that he could attract a platonic to Earth? That was just stupid. A wizard who repeatedly cast spells that broke the laws of time was likely going to attract a platonic that was going to stop him from doing so, and punish him for it as well.

Platonics were extradimensional beings from another reality, where Law was worshipped, and Chaos was a sin. They were not living beings – they were humanoid automations, much like robots, given sentience and intelligence. No-one knew who built the first ones, but they had quickly learned how to build more of themselves. Platonics believed that the universe was held together by laws, both man-made and natural, and took it upon themselves to enforce them wherever they were broken. No-one knew just who gave them the authority, if anything did, but they seemed to believe that they had it.

A mortal could conceivably attract an platonic by breaking an oath or a contract, but it would have to be one whose violation bore very dire repercussions to attract their attention. More often, platonics came forth from their extradimensional crèche forges to correct violations of the natural laws of the universe… To punish those who violated the laws of science and nature. Dangerous magics that interfered with the temporal flow certainly qualified. Those who raped nature and caused pollution on a very large scale might attract their attention too, as could those who dared try to create life, something that mortals simply were not allowed to do.

When they found the lawbreaker, they either forced him back onto a law-abiding path, or dealt out any “punitive damages” that they believed were sufficient. And they were incredibly powerful – no record existed of a mortal being ever winning a physical confrontation with a platonic.

Platonics were single-minded in ways that no mortals could comprehend; once committed to its mission, virtually nothing could sway a platonic from it. And once it found its target, it was utterly without mercy. Any pleas of extenuating circumstances were sure to fall on deaf ears. All of them had heard every excuse a thousand times, and to a platonic, no excuse was sufficient for blatant violations of such vital axioms.

As he thought this, his friends snacked on burgers, fries, and shakes, while someone outside the restaurant had an eye on Shichiro… Someone who wasn’t very friendly.


I didn’t know at the time what had made Gears so upset, but as for me, I was waiting for a chance to do my second test. Shichiro said that if you wait in a place frequented by Shadowkind for long enough, something was bound to happen sooner or later. I personally hoped it would be sooner rather than later.

I would get my wish sooner than I thought. Someone was about to enter the Pandora’s Box, and he hadn’t come for a Monster Meal…



ALLY BOMB (Monster Card)

Card Specs

Type: Machine/Effect
Attribute: Dark
Level: 2
ATK: 400
DEF: 300

Card Description: When this card is destroyed as a result of battle by a LIGHT Monster and sent to the Graveyard, destroy 2 cards on the field.

Note: “Ally Bomb” was released in Japan for the “Duel Terminal 2: Invasion of Worms!” system. It has not yet been released in the United States.



SKILL SHOCK (Trap Card)

Counter Trap

Image: Sasuke Samurai surrounded by bolts of lightning.

Card Description: Activate when your opponent activates the effect of an Effect Monster. Tribute one Monster you control to negate the activation of that effect. The Monster whose effect was negated cannot attack or be Tributed this round.

Note: “Skill Shock” was first used by Judai in a fourth season episode of “Yu-Gi-Oh GX”. Creative credit goes to the writers of that episode.



Coming up next:

Who here remembers Hisao? Let’s have a show of hands. You know, the orc with the Spirit Deck? Well, next chapter, he’s coming back! He hasn’t forgotten that pounding that Shichiro gave him, and he’s coming gunning for revenge. So why is he dueling Ember? Whatever the reason, Ember puts her sixty-card deck into play next chapter, as she tries to make it two-and-two. “Grave Lure” is coming soon.

[MeLoVeGhOsTs]

I like that character. The one who talked to Takasu. Mysterious, powerfull, but not arrogant and full of himself. That's a good villian. He's also not afraid to battle himself, which is what other villians don't do most of the time, they let their underlings take care of everything. Then they battle once or twice and be defeated.

Curious to see how Ember will fare.

[Shuppet Master]

Again, another main character loses, but it's okay because nothing bad happened and it made a contact with the Shadowchasers that they have a dangerous enemy. I can't wait to see who this strange masked creature is and its backstory.

Oh, and it looks like we'll see Ember duel again soon.

[Dark Sage]

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Ask the typical Shadowkind what he thinks of orcs, and he’ll likely tell you that they’re a militaristic, violent race of warmongers. Then he’ll take you aside and tell you what he really thinks, in words that are likely not printable.

In the world where Shadows come from, from what we know, orc tribes have little purpose other than to wage war. Tolkien’s version was pretty much on the money, except for his assumption that they were once a cursed race of elves (both races would consider it disgusting to think that they were even the slightest bit related). An orc tribe that isn’t involved in some conflict is more than likely trying to start one. They don’t even care who the enemy is, and will gladly start a conflict with a rival orc tribe if they think they would benefit. Indeed, the orc language has no word for “peace” in it. The closest they have is a guttural expression that means, roughly translated, “temporary restraint from aggression”.

What gave a whole race this outlook? Well, one creation myth told by orc spiritual leaders (which only orcs believe) says that at the beginning of time, the creator deities drew lots to decide which lands would go to which races, but they rigged the drawing so that the orcs got the worst of it. Thus, the orc gods taught their people that the best way to compete for land and resources was to take it by force, since they were cheated out it anyway.

As a result, orcs who end up on Earth find it hard to cope. There are no large orc cities, and no huge orc armies, so they can’t wage wars against their neighbors like they did before coming here. They can’t try to form large armies of orcs to do so without the Shadowchasers stopping them – it would violate dozens of articles in the Treaty.

Orcs are allowed to join other military forces, and some try, but it never works. Mundane armies require discipline, something that orcs are notorious for not having. Orcs aren’t big on military classes, patrolling areas, peacekeeping, and anything else that the armed forces do that doesn’t involve actual fighting. They can’t understand why militaries need medics or other medical facilities – to them, a soldier who was wounded is a weakling who doesn’t deserve aim. And orcs quickly become disgusted at the thought of having to cooperate with human soldiers, and downright insulted when given orders by human officers.

It’s with little wonder than, that this race with such aggression in their blood, gets into so much trouble when trying to fit in to the Mundane world.



“Well, we’ve been here an hour,” said Ember.

“S’okay,” said Shichiro. “I’m not worried… I have a feeling that something will…”

“SHICHIRO!” shouted a surly voice from the entrance.

“What did I tell you?” chuckled Shichiro.

All of the customers in the restaurant turned to the door, and saw a burly orc in a leather jacket and punk attire, along with sunglasses (orcs didn’t like sunlight too much) and a Duel Disk. The two workers behind the counter (who were both kobolds) slunk behind it in fear. Their experiences with orcs had always been bad.

It was Hisao, but only Shichiro knew that.

“What can I do you for, Hisao?” asked Shichiro, as the thug stormed up to their table.

“You think you’re so smart,” grumbled the orc. “I’m gonna wipe that smile off your face by time I…”

Shichiro picked up a napkin and wiped his mouth, turning it from a smile to a frown in the process.

“Like that?” he asked.

“Smart ass…” growled Hisao.

“What do you want, pal?” asked Shichiro.

“Do you have any idea what that duel did to me?” asked Hisao. “I’m the laughing stock of my clan!”

“Pardon me for asking,” said Shichiro, “but how did they find out? There were no other orcs around.”

“Yes there was!” shouted Hisao. “There was one on a fire escape right above us! A jerk named Nomura.

“Nomura is what we call a runt…”

“A runt?” asked Ember.

“A ‘runt’ is what orcs call an orc who has absolutely no aptitude for fighting,” replied Gears. “Rare, but they turn out from time to time.”

“The only way a runt can survive is by getting a stronger orc as a protector,” continued Hisao. “He does whatever the stronger orc tells him to, and the stronger orc protects him. I was Nomura’s protector.

“He was on that fire escape, and was supposed to holler if he saw a Security coming when I was shaking down that duelist. But he didn’t think you were a threat, unfortunately.

“After he saw me lose to you, he figured that I was the last person he’d want protecting him, so he left. I didn’t care. What orc would believe a runt?

“Well, he found a new protector who would believe him… My biggest rival in my clan! A big lug named Kaneko. He started spreading the word, and before I knew it, the whole clan knew about it.”

“What do you want me to do about it?” asked Shichiro. “Cry?”

“No,” said Hisao, placing his deck into his Disk. “I want to duel you again. See, I figure if I beat you in a place this public, I can redeem myself, and get some of my respect back. Then I can confront Kaneko on equal terms.”

“Hisao,” said Gears. “A wise duelist once said, a duel fought for revenge will please only the shallowest of souls.”

“Gears, this guy belongs to a clan that calls itself the Horned Skull,” said Jinx. “You can’t get much shallower than that.”

Shichiro sighed.

“Hisao, normally I’d just love to feed your ego and duel you,” he said. “But the Shadowchasers kinda discourage pointless challenges…”

“Oh, so you think this is pointless?!” shouted Hisao. “Well, what if I took out some heat and held up this place?! You’d have to try to stop me then, wouldn’t you?”

“Hisao, I don’t like what I’m hearing…” said Shichiro, getting angry.

“I’ll do it if that’s what I have to do to get you to duel me!” threatened Hisao.

Shichiro paused. He looked around. Everyone in the restaurant was a little nervous now.

He didn’t really know whether or not Hisao was really carrying heat… It was awfully hard to get a firearm in Neo Domino, after all. But if he did…

“Tell you what,” said Shichiro. “Duel Ember.”

“Eh?” said Hisao.

“Huh?” said Ember.

“Duel Ember,” said Shichiro. “You beat her, then I’ll duel you.”

Hisao looked at Ember.

“Why?” he asked. “Did she just dump you?”

“I have my reasons,” said Shichiro.

“Alright, fine!” shouted Hisao. “I don’t care who I have to trash in order to get to you…”

“Ember, a word…” said Jinx.

Ember stood up, and Jinx held her by the shoulders.

“Keep calm,” said Jinx. “That’s your main advantage over Hisao. You can keep calm and composed, while he likely has the same anger management problem that his whole species does. If you just keep a cool head, you can beat him.”

“Yak, yak, yak!” shouted Hisao. “Let’s get this duel done with before this place stops serving dinner and puts out the breakfast menu! After all, the whole reason I waited until now to confront you here was to get a bite to eat when I was done…”

“Well,” said Ember, activating her Disk, “chew on this!”

Hisao activated his own.

(Ember: 8,000) - - - - - - - - - - (Hisao: 8,000)

“Seniority rules, kid,” said Hisao.

He drew a card.

“I’m goin’ first.”

He looked at the six cards in his hand.

“I’ll play a facedown, and a Monster in Defense Mode.”

A reversed card, and a reversed Monster appeared.

“That’ll do,” he said.

Shichiro rubbed his chin.

If Hisao is still playing his Spirit Deck, he’d have little choice but to set a Monster on his first turn, he thought. Summoning it in Attack Mode would be pretty pointless.

Ember made a draw, and she looked at her cards.

“I play Gather Your Mind,” she said, playing a Spell Card.

In an aura of soft light, a woman in a loincloth, halter top, hood, and veil, sitting in the lotus position in a meditative trance appeared behind her.

“This card lets me take another Gather Your Mind from my deck,” she said, taking a card from her deck. “Then I shuffle…”

She hit the auto-shuffler, and the Disk shuffled the deck.

“Next, I play Toon Table of Contents,” she said, playing another Spell Card. “Now I get to take any card with the word ‘Toon’ in its name from my deck.”

She held up a card.

“Even another Toon Table of Contents. I think I’ll play that one too.”

She played the card, and took another Spell Card from her deck.

“Then, I’ll play a third Toon Table of Contents!”

“I had to pick a duel with a weirdo,” muttered Hisao. “At least that was your last one…”

“True, but there’s one more Toon card I can get with it,” said Ember, adding a fourth card to her hand.

“I’ll set a Monster and a facedown card, and that will be all.”

A reversed Monster and a reversed card appeared.

“Finally,” said Hisao, making a draw.

“I flip Maharaghi into Attack Mode,” he said.

His facedown Monster flipped up, revealing a large, clay jar, carved in the style of a Dogū idol. (1,200 ATK)

“Now, by doing that, I get to look at the top card on my deck, and then decide whether to keep it on top, or put it on the bottom.”

He took the top card from his deck and looked at it.

“Think I’ll keep that on top,” he said, putting it back.

“Next, I activate my Trap Card… Embodiment of Apophis!”

His Trap Card flipped up, and dark purple smoke started emitting out of it. A creature with the body of a man and the lower body of a snake, with a serpent’s head behind its human one, slithered out, holding a sword and shield. (1,600 ATK)

“Ugh,” said Ember.

“Now, my Trap Monster attacks your Monster!” shouted Hisao.

The Embodiment slithered towards the facedown Monster, and Sangan appeared on the card. With one swipe, it was cleaved in half.

“Thank you,” said Ember, taking a card from her deck.

“Big deal,” said Hisao. “Maharaghi, direct attack!”

The clay jar hurtled through the air, and smashed into Ember, knocking her upside the head. She fell down on her behind.

“Heh, heh,” chuckled Hisao. “How does that feel?”

“Rotten…” muttered Ember. “But I think I’ll activate this now…”

She gestured, and her facedown Spell Card lifted up.

“Scapegoat!”

In four bursts of energy, four multicolored Sheep Tokens appeared. (0 DEF x4)

“HUH?” gasped Hisao. “Wha… You could have activated that before I attacked with Maharaghi and blocked my direct attack! Why the heck did you wait?”

“Well…” said Shichiro. “I think I know why she waited… But since Ember is the one dueling, I’ll let her explain it.”

Hisao growled.

“I end my turn…” he said. “And that means that Maharaghi returns to my hand, since it’s a Spirit.”

Maharaghi turned to pure energy, and flew back to Hisao’s hand, turning back into a card.

(E: 6,800) - - - - - - - - - - (H: 8,000)

Ember drew a card, and looked at it. She added it to her hand.

“I play my second Gather Your Mind,” she said, as the meditative woman appeared behind her again. “Now I get to search for my third one.”

The auto-shuffler shuffled the deck again.

“Now I summon the Monster I searched for with my third Toon Table of Contents… Toon Cannon Soldier!”

In a burst of stars and swirls, a grinning, pastel-colored parody of Cannon Soldier leapt onto the field. It let out a throaty laugh. (1,400 ATK)

“You think I’m scared of that?” asked Hisao. “I happen to know that Toons can’t attack on the round they’re summoned.”

“Who needs to attack?” asked Ember. “This guy has the same effect as the regular Cannon Soldier. By sacrificing my four Scapegoats, it can blast you for 500 points of damage for each one.”

“Eh?” said Hisao.

The four Scapegoats vanished into energy, and Toon Cannon Soldier shot a spray of multicolored silly string from its hands all over Hisao. Hisao grunted and cursed as the Toon Machine laughed.

(E: 6,800) - - - - - - - - - - (H: 6,000)

“Yeah, Ember!” shouted a voice from one of the tables. “Teach that goon a lesson!”

Everyone looked over, and saw that the cheers were coming from a female elf who was sitting at a table with a male who looked a little more serious. Hisao looked at them and sneered.

Shadowkind knew that orcs hated elves even more than they hated anyone else. The two races had been enemies for eons. The mythologies of both races told of a battle between the elf and orc creator gods, where both races were born from their blood shed in the battle, where the elf creator was the ultimate winner.

“My move…” growled Hisao.

He made a draw.

“I sacrifice my Apophis Monster…”

Embodiment of Apophis vanished into grains of light.

“…to summon the Spirit Monster, Great Long Nose.”

A hulking creature rose in front of Hisao. It was a muscular ogre, dressed in a white robe. Its face had red skin, pointed ears, long, white hair, a long, white beard, and true to its name, a long, pointed nose. (1,900 ATK)

“Kinda weak for a Level 5 Monster, wouldn’t you say?” asked Ember.

“Mmm,” replied Hisao, “but he has a nifty effect, which we’ll get to in a minute. For now…

“Flatten that Toon! Spiritual lightning!”

Great Long Nose’s eyes glowed with anger, and its claws crackled with electricity. It threw bolts of burning lightning, and Toon Cannon Soldier’s eyes bugged out. It burst into a spray of colored lights.

(E: 6,300) - - - - - - - - - - (H: 6,000)

“I set one card,” said Hisao, as a facedown card appeared, “and I end my turn. Once again, my Spirit Monster returns to my hand…”

Great Long Nose turned to energy, flying back to Hisao’s hand and transforming into a card.

“But then, we get to that effect we mentioned. Since it dealt damage, you skip your next Battle Phase.”

Ember paused. Then she drew a card.

“I’ll set one card, and then summon UFO Turtle,” she said.

A facedown card appeared in front of her, and then UFO Turtle appeared. (1,400 ATK)

“If I can’t attack, then I’ll just end there.”

Hisao drew a card.

“I suppose that you’re going to use UFO Turtle’s effect to Special Summon another Fire Monster, huh?” he said. “Well, sorry. That’s not gonna work…

“I summon Asura Priest!”

He played the card, and one of the most popular Spirits in the game appeared in front of him. Asura Priest was technically a Fairy, but the Monster had been based on a race of demons mentioned in Hinduism and Buddhism lore. The humanoid creature had six arms, three faces, and was garbed in a loincloth and a red cloak. (1,700 ATK)

“Asura here can attack all of your Monsters in one Battle Phase,” he said. “And I’m going to Special Summon someone else to deal with you once it’s done. But first, I gotta remove a Spirit in my hand from play.”

He flipped Great Long Nose in his hand around.

“Think I’ll get rid of this one.”

He pocketed the card.

“So, I Special Summon Izanagi!”

In a gust of wind, the Japanese deity in a stuffy, white suit, with long, white hair, carrying a decorative spear appeared. (2,200 ATK)

“Alright, Asura, clobber that Turtle!”

Asura Priest flew forward, and smashed the Machine with its fist, blowing it to scrap.

“I use its effect, and summon a second UFO Turtle,” said Ember.

A second UFO Turtle appeared. (1,400 ATK)

“Weren’t you listening a minute ago?” asked Hisao. “Asura, destroy that one!”

Asura Priest punched the second one, and it blew up.

Ember gestured, and a third UFO Turtle appeared. (1,400 ATK)

“Just how dumb do you think I am?” asked Hisao.

Asura Priest attacked again, and the third UFO Turtle was destroyed.

Pretty dumb, thought Ember, with a slight grin.

“I use the effect of my last UFO Turtle to Special Summon Masked Dragon!” she shouted.

In a blast of fire, a large, metallic, rust-red Dragon wearing a metal mask appeared. (1,400 ATK)

Hisao snarled. Asura Priest attacked a fourth time, blowing it to shards.

“When Masked Dragon is destroyed, I get to Special Summon another weak Dragon,” said Ember. “Like another Masked Dragon!”

A second Masked Dragon appeared, this time in Defense Mode. (1,100 DEF)

“This is insane!” shouted Hisao. “Don’t you realize that my Monster isn’t going to run out of attacks, no matter how many Monsters you summon?”

Asura Priest attacked again, and the second Masked Dragon blew up. Ember gestured, and a third one appeared. (1,100 DEF) Asura Priest attacked that one too, and it burst.

“No more Masked Dragons!” shouted Hisao.

“But I have a few Troop Dragons,” replied Ember.

In a burst of energy, a small, green Dragon-man in armor, holding a sword appeared, crouching in Defense Mode. (800 DEF)

“ARRGGHH!” shouted Hisao. “Asura Priest, rip them apart!”

Asura Priest punched the small Dragon, blowing it to shards. Ember gestured, and a second Troop Dragon appeared. (800 DEF) Infuriated, Hisao ordered another attack, but Ember just summoned a third Troop Dragon. (800 DEF) Finally, Asura Priest destroyed the last one.

“No more shields!” screamed Hisao. “Izanagi, direct attack!”

Izanagi flew forward, and jammed his spear into Ember’s torso. Ember gasped, and toppled over.

(E: 2,900) - - - - - - - - - - (H: 6,000)

“Uh, Jinx…” asked Gears. “I just gotta ask… What was the point of that whole thing? Why did Ember waste nine Monsters?”

“You got me,” said Jinx, with a shrug. “I didn’t exactly look over this deck of hers.”

“I end my turn,” said Hisao. “And thanks to Izanagi, Asura Priest gets to stick around.”

“I draw one card,” said Ember, making a draw.

She looked at the card.

Then her facedown card lifted up.

“I activate Hallowed Life Barrier. Now, by discarding one card, I can’t lose any Life Points this turn.”

She discarded her last Gather Your Mind.

“Then, I summon Giant Rat.”

She played the card, and the huge rodent materialized in front of her. (1,400 ATK)

“Now, it’s gonna attack your Asura Priest.”

“Say what?” asked Hisao.

Giant Rat pounced, and leapt at the Spirit. Asura Priest punched it, and it shattered into shards.

“I use Giant Rat’s effect to summon a second Giant Rat,” said Ember.

Another Rat appeared. (1,400 ATK)

“Now it attacks too.”

The second Rat appeared, and it was blown to bits. Then a third Giant Rat materialized. (1,400 ATK) Just like the others, it attacked, and was cut down.

“I use my third Giant Rat’s effect to Special Summon a critter called Hyena,” continued Ember.

A new Beast materialized in front of her. It was, as its name suggested, a Hyena. (1,000 ATK)

“And what’s that gonna do?” asked Hisao.

“What do you think?” asked Ember. “Attack!”

Hyena leapt at Asura Priest, and was blown to shards.

“When Hyena is destroyed in battle, I get to Special Summon another Hyena,” said Ember, as a second Hyena appeared. (1,000 ATK)

Then the second Hyena leapt at Asura Priest, and was blown to pixels.

“I’ll Special Summon my third Hyena, this time in Defense Mode.”

A third Hyena appeared, sitting on its haunches. (300 DEF)

“I set one card facedown, and end my turn.”

“I think I see part of Ember’s strategy,” said Shichiro.

“Well, do tell,” said Gears. “Because I sure don’t.”

“She had to make a sixty-card deck,” replied Shichiro. “So she filled it with cards that could search for copies of themselves. The ultimate in deck-thinning strategy. Of course, I really don’t know how she can manage to mount any sort of offensive using them, seeing as none of them are very strong…”

Unless… he thought.

“My move…” growled Hisao.

He made a draw.

“I summon Susa Soldier!” he shouted.

In a blast of electricity, the tall humanoid soldier in Eastern oriental armor appeared, holding its sword. (2,000 ATK)

“Asura Priest, destroy Hyena!” he shouted.

Asura Priest flew up and gave the Beast a solid punch, flattening it.

“Now I’m gonna finish you off! Susa Soldier, attack directly!”

Susa Soldier slammed its sword down to the ground, and a wave of lightning shot towards Ember.

“I activate… Negate Attack!” shouted Ember.

Her facedown flipped up, and the blast was halted by a dome of pure force.

“Then I end my turn,” said Hisao. “But next turn, my Spirit army is coming at you full-swing.”

Ember made a draw.

Well, she thought, it’s about that time…

“I toss two cards facedown, and then summon Shining Angel,” she said.

She played all three of the cards in her hand, and two facedown cards appeared, followed by the angel with golden wings in a white toga. (1,400 ATK)

“What kind of dumb strategy is this?!” shouted Hisao.

He whipped a card off of his Disk.

“Fine!” he shouted. “You keep settin’ ‘em up, and I’ll keep knockin’ ‘em down!

“I summon Maharaghi again.”

The clay jar appeared again. (1,200 ATK)

“Not that I really need to, but…”

He checked the top card on his deck, looked at it, and then put it back on top.

“Asura Priest, attack!”

Asura Priest punched Shining Angel, blowing it to shards. Ember quickly gestured, and a second Shining Angel appeared. (1,400 ATK) Hisao growled, and Asura attacked again. The second Shining Angel went down, and a third one appeared. (1,400 ATK) Asura attacked a third time, destroying the third Fairy.

“I use my third Angel’s effect,” said Ember, “to summon Chaos-End Master!”

In a flash of light, a radiant Monster appeared. It was an angelic being, wearing a white bodysuit with golden highlights, a golden circlet, and white, feathered wings. (1,500 ATK)

“Eh?” said Hisao. “Well, I admit I’ve never seen that guy before… But I’ll kill him anyway! Asura Priest, attack!”

Asura Priest flew at Chaos-End Master.

“Hisao,” said Ember with an evil grin, “this is what you get for losing your temper. Now, my trap is finally sprung!”

Both of her facedown cards shot up.

“First, I activate Shrink!” she shouted.

Asura Priest was reduced to half its size, and fell to an Attack Score of 850.

“Then, Emergency Provisions! I’ll sacrifice Shrink, and gain 1,000 Life Points.

“But it’s all over for your Asura Priest…”

Chaos-End Master blasted a beam of pure light from its hands, and the wicked Fairy was blown to pieces.

“Wha… buh… guh…” said Hisao. “Why…”

“And now I activate Chaos-End Master’s effect,” said Ember, taking her deck from its holder. “When it destroys a Monster in battle, I get to Special Summon any Monster from my deck that meets two criteria. It must be Level 5 or higher, and it must have 1,600 or less Attack Points.”

“What sort of Monster would that be?” asked Hisao.

“This one,” replied Ember.

An explosion of energy erupted over Ember’s side of the field. A large, hideous Monster rose beside her, looking like a large, decayed horse with four clawed legs and two clawed arms. Its face had nine red orbs on the front that could possibly pass for eyes. (1,600 ATK)

“Shadow Ghoul!” exclaimed Gears. “Of course!”

“Not the most… Orthodox strategy,” said Shichiro, “but go with what works, I guess.”

“And guess what, Hisao?” asked Ember. “For each Monster in my Graveyard, Shadow Ghoul gains 100 more Attack Points. With a little help from you and that Asura Priest, I’ve got twenty Monsters in my Graveyard right now.”

(3,600 ATK)

Hisao started to sweat heavily… He looked at Maharaghi.

If she manages to use that guy’s effect to summon a second Shadow Ghoul, I’ll be finished! he thought. Losing to Shichiro was bad enough… I can’t lose to his girlfriend!

“Izanagi, attack Chaos-End Master!” he shouted.

Izanagi charged, and struck Chaos-End Master with his spear. The Warrior exploded into shards. Shadow Ghoul’s Attack Score went up slightly, to 3,700.

Then Hisao gestured, and his facedown card lifted up.

“I activate Legacy of Yata Garasu,” he said. “Now, I get to draw one card.”

He made one draw.

“I move Susa Soldier to Defense Mode, and end my turn.”

Susa Soldier knelt, and held its sword down. (1,600 DEF)

(E: 2,300) - - - - - - - - - - (H: 5,350)

Ember drew a card, and looked at it.

“Shadow Ghoul,” she ordered, “destroy Maharaghi! Death breath!”

The Ghoul roared, and blasted a cloud of corrosive green gas at the clay jug, reducing it to powder. Hisao was thrown backwards, and landed on his seat.

“All right!” cheered the elf. “You go, girl!”

Several more folks were cheering for Ember now. She could hardly believe it.

“Aw, shaddup!” shouted Hisao, getting up.

“It’s your move,” said Ember.

(E: 2,300) - - - - - - - - - - (H: 2,850)

Hisao grunted as he drew a card.

“I throw one card facedown,” he cursed, “then move Izanagi to Defense Mode, and end my turn!”

A reversed card appeared, and then Izanagi knelt and held his spear in his lap. (1,000 DEF)

Ember quickly drew.

“I play the Spell Card, Dian Keto the Cure Master,” she said, as she played it, “to gain 1,000 more Life Points.

In an aura of soft light, the goddess of healing appeared over her, and cast her benevolent spell.

“Then my Monster attacks Izanagi!”

Shadow Ghoul blasted its wave of death, and the master of Spirits was eradicated.

And they say a cute little girl who wore pigtails used to use this card? thought Hisao, getting nervous.

“It’s your move,” she said again.

(E: 3,300) - - - - - - - - - - (H: 2,850)

Hisao drew a card.

He quickly chose another card, and set it in his Disk. Another reversed card appeared.

“Mmm!” he said.

He’s up to something, thought Ember, drawing a card.

She looked at the two cards she had.

“First I set a Monster,” she said, as a reversed Monster appeared.

“Then I attack Susa Soldier!”

Shadow Ghoul breathed its death breath, and Susa Soldier was blown to pieces.

“I activate Vessel of Illusion!” shouted Hisao, as one of his facedown cards lifted up. “Since my Spirit Monster was destroyed, I get a Spirit Token.”

A duplicate of Susa Soldier, looking ghostly and transparent, appeared where it had been. (2,000 ATK)

“I end my turn,” said Ember.

This was the same strategy he used to summon Hino-Kagu-Tsuchi, thought Shichiro. But… Even that Monster can’t beat Shadow Ghoul…

“Then stand back!” said Hisao, drawing a card.

“First, I summon Izanami.”

In an aura of white light, the soft, female version of Izanagi, garbed in a white Miko robe appeared. (1,100 ATK)

“Next, I activate her effect, I toss one card, and I get to recover a Spirit Monster from my Graveyard.”

He made a discard, and Susa Soldier slipped out of his discard slot. He took it, and added it to his hand.

“Then, I play Double Summon,” he continued, as a Spell Card appeared. “Now, I get to make a second Normal Summon this turn.

“So, I sacrifice both my Monsters…”

Both the Token and Izanami erupted into bonfires of flame.

“To summon one of the most powerful of Spirits… The mighty Yamata Dragon!”

A titanic, hulking form rose behind Hisao. It was hard to find a body in the huge Monster – it looked more like eight incredibly ugly heads on long necks, all connected to a central point. It glared at Ember with sixteen beady eyes. (2,600 ATK)

“My Monster is stronger than that,” said Ember.

“Not for long,” said Hisao.

His other facedown card lifted up.

“I activate Rising Energy! So, I toss one card…”

He quickly discarded an Orb of Yasaka.

“…and my Dragon gains 1,500 Attack Points for one round.”

(4,100 ATK)

“Then, I Equip it with Mirror of Yata.”

He quickly played an Equip Spell.

“Now, attack! Eight-headed flame strike!”

Yamata Dragon belched fire from all eight of its heads, and Shadow Ghoul let out an unholy howl. Everyone watched in horror as it was reduced to ashes.

“So much for that,” said Hisao. “And thanks to Yamata Dragon’s effect, whenever it dishes out damage, I get to draw cards until I’ve got five of them.”

He made four draws, and looked at them.

“I end my turn. And thanks to Mirror of Yata, my Dragon doesn’t have to leave.”

(E: 2,900) - - - - - - - - - - (H: 2,850)

Ember closed her eyes and drew a card.

She looked at it and her other card.

“I set one card facedown,” she said, “and I end my turn.”

A facedown card appeared behind her defensive Monster.

“Then I draw!” exclaimed Hisao, making a draw.

He quickly played a card, and Susa Soldier reappeared. (2,000 ATK)

“You remember this guy, right?” he asked. “Attack her Monster!”

Susa Soldier slammed its sword down, and lightning shot towards the hidden Monster. Mystic Tomato appeared on the card, and was blasted to pulp.

“I use its effect to summon a second Mystic Tomato!” shouted Ember.

A second of the goofy Tomatoes appeared. (1,400 ATK)

“Have it your way,” said Hisao. “Yamata Dragon…”

The Dragon belched its flame, and the second Tomato was blown to bits.

Ember glared at him.

“I use that one’s effect to summon a beast even stronger than that Shadow Ghoul…” she growled.

A dark shadow crept behind her…

“The insidious… Chaos Necromancer!”

With a cackling laughter, a gaunt creature that looked like a cross between a Zombie and a Fiend, wearing colorful clothing, with sharp teeth and large claws, surrounded by an aura of darkness, appeared behind Ember. (0 ATK)

“He may not look like much at first,” continued Ember, “but he gains 300 Attack Points for each Monster in my Graveyard, a total that’s grown by three since you destroyed Shadow Ghoul.”

(7,200 ATK)

Hisao gulped. He looked at his hand.

“I’ll set a facedown…” he said, placing a card in his Disk, “and end my turn…”

A facedown card appeared, and then Susa Soldier turned into glowing energy, and flew back to Hisao’s hand.

(E: 1,700) - - - - - - - - - - (H: 2,850)

“My move!” shouted Ember, making a draw.

“Chaos Necromancer, destroy his Dragon with rage of restless spirits!”

Chaos Necromancer’s eyes glowed, and it cast a mighty spell. Small, green fires started to appear around it, vaguely shaped like all the Monsters Ember had played during the duel so far. All of them gathered around Chaos Necromancer, and it gathered them all together…

And then it deftly hurled them at Yamata Dragon, causing them to fly at the beast with a series of ghostly screams. The whole restaurant shook as a deafening explosion hit at the point of impact…

The smoke started to clear…

Unfortunately, Yamata Dragon was still there, and Hisao’s Life Points had not gone down by even one point.

“What?” said Ember.

“I had a Trap Card,” gasped Hisao, pointing to a card he had activated. “Spirit Barrier. Now, I can’t take any damage so long as I have at least one Monster on the field.”

He took some deep breaths.

“And the reason I still have one,” he continued, “is because my Dragon managed to survive by ditching the Mirror of Yata.”

He discarded the card.

“It’s like I told your friend over there… We’re not as dumb as you all think. We can think up clever plans and strategies when we want to.”

“Then make your move,” said Ember.

Hisao drew a card.

“Oh, I will,” he said. “And I’m gonna finish you off!

“I Equip Yamata Dragon with Sword of Kusanagi.”

He played the Equip Spell, although the change seemed to be minimal.

“Now, I summon Otohime!”

He played another card, and the female Spellcaster in braids, wearing a halter top and skirt appeared. (0 ATK)

“I don’t much like this Spirit… We don’t care for wizards that much…”

“Why not tell the truth?” shouted the elf from her table. “You don’t like them because you’re scared of them!”

“I’ll deal with you later!” shouted Hisao. “As I was saying, she does have one good ability… The ability to switch the battle position of one Monster.”

Chaos Necromancer quickly knelt and shielded itself in Defense Mode. (0 DEF)

“By the way,” said Hisao, with a grin, “thanks to the Sword of Kusanagi, my Dragon inflicts trampling damage now…”

“If this attack hits, it’s all over!” gasped Gears.

C’mon, Ember… thought Shichiro. I really don’t want to duel this guy again…

Yamata Dragon breathed its eight blasts of flame, and Ember cringed as Chaos Necromancer exploded into a blast of debris.

“Well…” said Hisao. “That’s tha… HUH?”

(E: 3,100) - - - - - - - - - - (H: 2,850)

“Your Life Points went UP?” he shouted.

“That’s right,” said Ember. “I had a useful Trap Card, too. Ironically, it’s the same card that one famous duelist used to counter the attack of a Yamata Dragon. Nutrient Z! Since your attack was enough to inflict at least 2,000 points of damage, I gained 4,000 Life Points as a buffer before I lost any.”

“Then Yamata Dragon’s effect activates, and I get to draw one card,” said Hisao.

He made a draw.

“Next, I play Fairy of the Spring.”

The glowing fairy holding two swords appeared behind him.

“Now, I get my Mirror of Yata back, so long as I don’t use it this turn.”

The Equip Spell slipped out of his discard slot.

“Then I end my turn…”

Otohime turned to energy, and then flew back to Hisao’s hand.

“Now, let’s see… You have no cards on the field, and only one in your hand… While I’ve got my Yamata Dragon with an Equip Spell that lets it trample. What can you do now?”

Not, much, honestly, thought Ember, looking at that one card, which was Flying Kamakiri #1. I’m gonna need the best draw ever…

She made a draw.

She looked at it.

She placed both cards in her Disk. First, the winged, green mantis appeared in front of her. (1,400 ATK) Then a facedown card appeared.

She nodded.

“Ah, heh!” laughed Hisao. “So that was the best you could do? This is like target practice…”

He drew a card.

“I summon…”

“Time to end this,” said Ember.

“Eh?” said Hisao.

Ember’s facedown card shot up.

“Here’s the best I could do, and it’s a doozy,” she said. “A Trap Card called Blasting the Ruins. I can only use it when I have at least thirty cards in my Graveyard, and I have thirty-eight.”

Then all the cards that Ember had used started to appear behind her.

“Since I do, you get pounded, for 3,000 points of damage!”

The ground started to shake, and the cards turned into boulders.

“Hey, wait a minute!” shouted Hisao.

The time for waiting was past. The boulders barreled into the vengeful orc, and he screamed as they buffeted him, sending him to the floor face-first.

He groaned, not only in pain, but in utter humiliation.

(E: 3,100) - - - - - - - - - - (H: 0)

Everyone in the restaurant cheered. Jinx rushed up and hugged Ember.

“You did it, Ember!” she beamed. “Two tests down, two to go, and then you’ll be ready for the rite of passage!”

“Rite of passage?” asked Ember. “Uh, what’s that?”

Then Jinx suddenly looked a little worried.

“Uh…” she said. “I’m not allowed to tell you until you’re ready. But don’t worry about it just yet.”

“So who’s up for going out for ice cream?” asked Gears. “I’m suddenly in the mood for ice cream.”

“Why don’t we meet for that later?” asked Ember. “Like I said, I have to go meet with Mr. Draco.

“It’s gonna be hard saying goodbye after so long, but I guess I have to move on… I just hope he’s in a good mood…”

* * * * * * * * * *

In Satellite, very few of the buildings still served the purposes they were originally built for. Ruined tenements were still used as living quarters sometimes, and some factories were still in use. But buildings that had not been abandoned had been converted into other living quarters, storehouses, and markets, by a populace who was good at recycling, if nothing else.

The building that was once the Domino Mall stood almost completely in ruins, having almost no purpose now. The roof had almost completely fallen away, making the place poor shelter from anyone seeking it. Nothing valuable remained here; everything of worth had been looted a long time ago.

Nothing, perhaps, until today.

“I’m telling you Lou,” said the streetwise to his partner as they made their way into what was once the mall’s promenade. “It was like it just fell out of the sky!”

“Oh, come on!” said his partner. “You can’t be…

“…serious…”

They looked, and in the center of the floor next to what remained of the fountain of the mall’s main promenade was a stone chest, about four feet long, by three feet wide, by three feet deep. It was covered with strange sigils and runes, and odd writing.

“What do you think it is, Mike?” asked his partner.

“Dunno,” said Mike, as they walked up to it. “But maybe there’s something valuable inside it… Something that we can sell…”

They looked at it.

“Uh, Mike?” said Lou. “There’s no latch… And no hinges… There doesn’t seem to be any way to open it…”

“Hmm…” said Mike. “Then grab hold a’ it. We’ll carry it back to Chuck’s place, and he’s got some tools we can use ta open it.”

The two men grabbed hold of the chest to try to lift it. Unfortunately, it wouldn’t budge. It seemed to weigh a ton.

“Geeze, what’s in here?” asked Lou. “Bricks?”

“Maybe there’s gold inside!” said Mike. “I heard that gold is really heavy…”

“So is lead, lead-head,” muttered Lou.

“Oh, come on,” said Mike. “Who would go through all the trouble to pack a load of lead in a box like this? Look at it! I’ll bet the box itself might be worth a few thousand yen…”

“Halt!” shouted a voice.

“Aw, naw,” said Mike. “It’s Security!”

No chest was worth being caught by Security, so Lou and Mike took off, and were gone before the member of Sector Security walked in holding a flashlight.


I had passed two tests, and all I could say was, bring on the third. I didn’t exactly know what this rite of passage was, even if it did seem a little ominous. However, things were afoot that we didn’t exactly know about. Before we could go out for ice cream, Shichiro would get involved in something that would cause DaPen to make up his mind about his next step, and it wouldn’t bode well for any of us. The day was hardly over… In fact, it may have just been beginning.



CHAOS-END MASTER (Monster Card)

Card Specs

Type: Warrior/Tuner/Effect
Attribute: Light
Level: 3
ATK: 1,500
DEF: 1,000

Card Description: If this card destroys an opposing Monster as a result of battle, you may Special Summon from your deck a Level 5 or higher Monster with 1,600 ATK or less.

Note: “Chaos-End Master” is a Japanese card that has not yet been released in the United States.



Coming up next:

A desperate plea from a member of Security sends Shichiro on a high-speed chase through the streets of Satellite after a thief. And DaPen’s plan begins in earnest, as he takes steps to oppose the Shadowchasers in a more underhanded fashion. “Respect Play” is coming up next.

[Shuppet Master]

Great chapter, Brian. I can't wait for the next.

[MeLoVeGhOsTs]

Good chapter. The battle seemed familiar as I use it in the GX-game, but effective none the less. I'm interested in DaPen's advancements, as well as what that rite of passage is.

Keep it up.

[Dark Sage]

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Can you trust a police officer? The answer to that question could differ greatly, depending on where you were in the world, and what the time period was.

For example, in Great Britain in the early 20th Century, it was a definite yes. The constabulary there acted like paternal figures, and only had to talk to a group of troublemakers to restore peace. To this very day, the typical British patrolman doesn’t usually even carry a gun.

But at other times, and other places, things could be very different. In Prohibition-era Chicago, you had to think twice about trusting an officer – a lot of them were on the take. In Apartheid-era South Africa, only the upper class could depend on them for anything. And Germany under Nazi rule had a special police force called the Gestapo who existed to combat enemies of the Third Reich, not to truly help anyone. They were little better than actual Nazis, and often worked with them.

Basically, how trustworthy the local constabulary is depends on who’s in charge of running the system. That’s the short end of it.

I used to think that the police force of Neo Domino, the forces under Godwin’s control, was a group that I could trust. But as my time with the Shadowchasers grew, I was starting to doubt this. Little by little, I was beginning to hear about things I didn’t like, now that my eyes had truly opened. And as we left the restaurant, it seemed I was about to learn more…



“So,” said Ember, “I’ll meet you guys in about an hour. I’ve got to go, and…”

“I don’t believe it…” said Shichiro, looking ahead. “Gakushi?”

About twenty feet in front of them was a Security officer next to a police motorcycle, making a call on a radio.

Shichiro knew Gakushi only too well. He was a Security whose rank went up and down so often, his captain called him a yo-yo. It usually went up when he blackmailed some other Security into letting him take the credit for some big collar, but then went down again when he loused up and had no-one to pin it on. From what Shichiro had last heard, his rank was up again. But right now, he seemed incredibly nervous…

“This is officer Gakushi,” he said, in a nervous tone. “Requesting assistance…”

“I don’t believe it,” said Shichiro, walking up to him. “A thug threatens a whole fast food joint full of customers while a Security sits outside doing nothing…”

Gakushi looked at him and scowled.

“Don’t start with me, Shichiro!!” he howled.

Shichiro saw that Gakushi was not in the best shape. He had a black eye and a fat lip.

“Were you in some sort of fight?” asked Jinx.

Gakushi sighed.

“If you must know, nosey,” he said. “I had just gone to get a hot dog, when some bum dressed in rags, with the worst case of body odor, swiped the deck of cards off of my bike!”

“Huh…” said Gears.

“Uh, this deck of cards…” said Shichiro. “It wouldn’t happen to be a Special Pursuit Deck, would it?”

Gakushi sighed again, and held his head with an embarrassed look.

“Yes…” he groaned.

“Oh, man…” said Jinx. “You are in big trouble this time!”

“I tried to stop him,” moaned Gakushi, “but he slugged me twice and ran so fast he was out of sight before I could get up. What do these bums eat that make them so tough?”

“A bum dressed in rags,” whispered Gears, “with a bad smell, who’s both very strong and very fast…”

“Wererat,” whispered Shichiro.

“What are you blabbering about?” shouted Gakushi. “Do you know who did this?”

“I have a general idea,” said Shichiro, turning away.

“Could you get the deck back?” asked Gakushi, eagerly.

“Yeah, I could,” said Shichiro. “C’mon guys, let’s split.”

“WAIT!” shouted Gakushi. “You said you could…”

“Yes, I said I could, Gakushi, and I can,” replied Shichiro. “I didn’t say I would, and I won’t.”

“Oh, c’mon!” shouted Gakushi. “I’ll make it worth your while!”

“Where have I heard that before?” asked Shichiro.

“You can trust me!” pleaded Gakushi.

“Stop right there!” said Shichiro, spinning around.

He glared at Gakushi.

“How can I trust a word you uniformed dictators say?” he asked. “I seem to remember one other Security who promised to make it ‘worth my while’ if I helped him. So like a fool, I helped him.

“The next time I saw him, he claimed he didn’t know who I was, and then threatened to arrest me if I didn’t leave.”

“Uh… That was Officer Kohara, wasn’t it?” asked Gakushi, nervously.

Shichiro nodded.

“Next time you see him,” replied Shichiro, “ask him what it’s like working mall security, will you?”

“Look, Shichiro,” said Gakushi, nervously. “I can’t let any other officers know about this, but I have to get that deck back! If I don’t, I won’t just get demoted this time… The cost of those cards will be coming out of my salary for the next year!

“So, I can offer you this much… If you get it back for me… Tell you what… I’ll… I’ll owe you a favor…”

Shichiro crossed his arms.

“Well, it’s a start,” he said.

He started to walk to his D-Wheel.

“You know he’s likely going to break his word just like Kohara did,” said Jinx.

“And be demoted two ranks and lose his benefits like Kohara did?” asked Shichiro. “Kohara didn’t know that we knew who we knew. But I’m sure that anyone who knows Kohara won’t make the same mistake.

“And it might benefit us in the long run to have Gakushi owe us a favor. I really don’t like having to go talk to you-know-who when I have to deal with Security.

“Ember, you go talk to your boss. Gears, you go check on Mistle. I’ll go find this wererat. I think I know where he might be. We’ll meet at the place on Cherry Blossom for ice cream at seven o’clock. Okay?”

“Great,” said all three of them at once.

* * * * * * * * * *

In Satellite, in the ruins of the Domino Mall, a group of more competent Security had cordoned off the large room where the mysterious chest had appeared. The sergeant in charge was talking on a radio.

“Yes, sir, it’s very strange,” he said. “This stone chest of some sort just seemed to appear out of nowhere. Some witnesses say it fell from the sky. No, frankly I don’t believe them…

“Anyway, it’s covered with weird symbols that we’ve never seen before. Kinda looks like runes of some sort, maybe Old English or some Gaelic language.

“Gaelic, it’s one of many old languages of the British Isles? I kinda took an elective at the Academy. No, I can’t translate them! I’m just guessing here.

“Yeah, we checked. The portable Geiger counter didn’t detect any radioactive materials, but for all we know, the stone might have a lead lining on the inside. I don’t think we can open it right now anyway. There doesn’t seem to be any latch or lock or hinges or any way to open it. And it seems too heavy to lift.

“Uh huh… Uh huh… Okay, roger on that…”

He turned the radio off.

“Okay folks, they’re gonna send some people to watch this thing until they can do a more thorough test. We’ve just gotta watch it before they get here.”

* * * * * * * * * *

At the Limburger Cheese Co. factory, where Gears had fought Maccal, a wererat thief stopped for a minute to ponder his plunder. A Special Pursuit Deck that Security used was full of very powerful cards that only law enforcement officers were allowed to use, and thus couldn’t be obtained anywhere else. To the right person, this deck was worth a small fortune.

He ranked higher in Neo Domino’s wererat clan than Maccal did, having become admired by other wererats because he was so smart. At least, he was smarter than the typical wererat. A while back, some of the other wererats had started calling him Algernon, believing it to be the name of a rat in a short story who was very smart. He was flattered, and started using the name.

Of course, those wererats were not all too smart, and had never read Flowers For Algernon. If they had, they’d have realized that Algernon was actually a mouse rather than a rat. Algernon himself had read it, but he kept the name, as his underlings seemed to respect it more than his previous name.

As of right now, he was talking on his cell phone.

“Yes, I’ve got the goods,” he said, in his soft, seedy voice. “It was easy to get… The Security in this city couldn’t protect a playground.

“I’ll have the deck to you within the hour.

“Oh, don’t worry, I’m very discreet…”

“But I’m a big blabbermouth,” said Shichiro’s voice.

Algernon leapt off of his chair and spun around, to see Shichiro standing in the doorway.

“Stealing a deck of cards from Security,” he said. “That takes guts…”

Algernon squawked, and dashed towards a loading bay at the far end of the room. Shichiro gave chase as he dove through a door.

Then Shichiro heard the roar of an engine starting…

Shichiro dove aside, as Algernon drove at full speed out the door on a D-Wheel built in the style of a motorbike. It was painted black with flame decorations, with rat skulls hanging from the seat and handlebars.

“You want this deck back?” he asked. “Well… Come and get it!”

“I never turn down a dare like that,” replied Shichiro.

As he drove out the door, Shichiro ran after him, leaping on his own D-Wheel parked right outside. He started it up, and started to drive after the wererat.

Then he was shocked, as Speed World activated on his Disk, and the Duel Mode engaged.

“HEY!” shouted Shichiro. “I didn’t…”

He paused.

“Oh yeah, that’s right…” he said. “When you’re up against someone who’s using a Special Pursuit Deck, you don’t have a choice.

“You realize, pal, that now you’ve just added another offense to what I can arrest you for,” he shouted. “Impersonating a law enforcement officer!”

“Only if you can beat me!” laughed Algernon, as Shichiro chased him. “I was just itching to try this deck out anyway!”

* * * * * * * * * *

It was about five-thirty in the afternoon as Ember walked into the office she had been so familiar with since getting the job as Mr. Draco’s secretary.

It seemed that her desire to find Mr. Draco in a good mood would be a pipe dream. He seemed to be very upset as he spoke on phone.

“I’m really sorry, Onimako,” he said, “but I have to cancel.

“Yes, I know it’s short notice, but I don’t have time for golf tomorrow. I have to work. This whole place has been a mess since my secretary left on vacation. The temp agent wouldn’t know a good worker if she bit him on the…”

Then he saw Ember.

“Uhm, I gotta cut this short. Look, I’ll still be able to meet you for lunch on Monday. Probably.”

He hung up.

“Ember!” he said, trying hard to smile. “Didn’t expect to see you so soon. There are still a few days left of your vacation… I thought you’d be at some resort hotel right now, with a cocktail in one hand and some gorgeous hunk in the other.”

Ember giggled.

“So, how have things been while I’ve been gone?” she asked.

“Oh, just great,” muttered Draco, standing up. “Ember, I am a billionaire…”

“Then… Why aren’t you happy?” asked Ember. “I thought you were already a billionaire…”

“I’m a billionaire,” growled Draco, “because the amount on my paycheck this morning had two extra zeroes! Everyone’s did!”

“Oh…” said Ember. “Problems with the payroll, huh?”

“The worst,” replied Draco, as he sat down, and leaned his head on his hands. “And the temp secretary that the agency gave me keeps messing up. She can’t even make decent coffee…”

“Heh…” said Ember. “Seems that this place needs me in order to function… Kind of a nice feeling, in a surreal way…

“That’s why I’m so sorry I have to give you this.”

She handed him a slip of paper.

“What’s this?” asked Draco.

“My resignation, sir,” said Ember. “I’m sorry… But I’ve found a new job, at a… new company, with a better position. It’s time I moved on.”

Draco looked at her closely for a second.

“Well…” he said. “I guess I can understand… I knew you weren’t planning to be a secretary all your life…

“Is this a company I’m familiar with? Can I write you a recommendation?”

“I don’t believe so,” said Ember, “and that won’t be necessary. If you really need me, I’ll work part time until you find a replacement.”

Draco got up.

“No, no, no need,” he said. “I can manage…

“It was good to know you, Michiko… I wish you good luck wherever your road may take you.”

He extended his hand, and they shook.

Draco watched, as Ember walked out of the office, towards the elevator.

Once he was sure she was gone, he sat back down, and opened his laptop. Then, he input a second password, one that let him access his most confidential files. He opened one file.

The file contained eight lists. These lists were unofficially named “People of Power”. Lists of individuals who could conceivably benefit or threaten him in one way or another. List 1 had the names of the most powerful individuals, while List 8 had the least, although those on List 8 were worthy of notice. Each name had a file within the file that could be accessed by clicking on it. Some were more extensive than others.

Some of the names were marked. A gold mark next to a name meant that the person was considered an ally. A red mark meant he or she was an enemy or a threat. No mark meant that he was neither – yet. These lists were subject to change, and the number of gold marks wasn’t very high. It was well-known that being a power player in the world of business and finance was similar to swimming in a tank full sharks, and you didn’t have many true allies in such a place.

Only seven names were on List 1 currently. One of them was Godwin, who was unmarked. (Draco didn’t trust Godwin, but didn’t truly distrust him either.) Five others were heads of state in very powerful countries where Draco Industries had a foothold. The seventh name was only a set of initials: S.S. It had a gold mark.

List 2 was longer. It consisted of less powerful heads of state, as well as the four known Signers (Godwin’s plan was hardly a secret to Draco), and the three current Dark Signers (neither was theirs). The true Signers were unmarked, while the Dark Signers had red marks.

Jalal was also on List 2, with no mark. So was Divine, who had a red mark. (Again, Divine’s true plan was pretty obvious to him. It was very hard to keep any secret from someone as well-informed as he was. Draco paid people well to find out what everyone on these files was up to.)

DaPen was slightly further down, on List 3. He had no mark.

What concerned Draco right now was someone way on the end, on List 8. Near the top of the list (they were alphabetized) was “Eiko Michiko”. Her name had no mark.

Draco highlighted the name, then input an option. The name moved to List 5. He left it unmarked. Then he clicked on the name to open the file.

He sighed, and leaned his head on his hand. He stared at the screen for a few seconds…

He started to type in the new information.

* * * * * * * * * *

Shichiro chased after the wererat, the very streets of Satellite having been changed into Speed World.

(Shichiro: 8,000) - - - - - - - - - - (Algernon: 8,000)

“Catch me if you can, Shadowchaser!” he laughed, drawing a card.

“I’m calling out my Assault Dog!”

The portal opened, and a large greyhound dog with a gun harness mounted on its back leapt out. It started running next to his bike. (1,200 ATK)

“I like dogs,” he chuckled. “Dogs hate cats, and I hate cats too.”

“Yeah?” said Shichiro. “I rather like cats.”

He drew a card, and both Speed Counters rose to one.

“You can kiss your Assault Dog goodbye,” he said. “Come on out, Obnoxious Celtic Guardian!”

The portal opened behind him, and the elven soldier in armor, holding his gleaming sword appeared. (1,400 ATK)

“Attack his mutt!” shouted Shichiro. “Silver blade slash!”

The Guardian made a swipe with his blade. Assault Dog howled, and burst into pixels.

“Mutt?” said Algernon. “Don’t you know that the law uses careful, selective breeding techniques to raise police dogs?

“And you may have gotten rid of one of them, but when you take down one Assault Dog, I get a bonus. I get to summon another one.”

A second Assault Dog flew out of the portal, sitting in Defense Mode. (800 DEF)

“It’s your move,” said Shichiro.

(S: 8,000) - - - - - - - - - - (A: 7,800)

Algernon drew a card, and both Speed Counters rose to two.

“I’ll toss two cards facedown, and that will be all,” he said.

Two facedown cards flashed into existence, and then faded from sight.

Got to be careful, thought Shichiro, as he drew a card. I’m pretty sure that this deck he’s using has some pretty powerful Traps…

Both Speed Counters rose to three.

“I call out Marauding Captain!” he shouted.

The portal opened, and the armored soldier holding twin blades leapt out. (1,200 ATK)

“Now, I use his effect,” he continued, “to summon Gearfried the Iron Knight!”

The portal opened again, and Gearfried flew out as well. (1,800 ATK)

Both duelists turned down a side street, the three Warriors following close behind Shichiro’s bike.

“Captain, take out that Assault Dog!” ordered Shichiro.

Marauding Captain flew at Assault Dog, and made a swipe with his blade, blowing it to pixels.

Algernon gestured, and a third Assault Dog appeared. (800 DEF)

Obnoxious Celtic Guardian flew at the third one, cutting it in half.

“You’re out of dogs,” said Shichiro. “Gearfried, direct attack!”

Gearfried grunted, and flew at Algernon, slamming his bladed hands into the lycanthrope’s bike. Algernon grunted as his vehicle shivered. His Speed Counters fell down to two, and he started falling behind Shichiro.

“My turn is over,” said Shichiro.

(S: 8,000) - - - - - - - - - - (A: 6,000)

“Okay, Shadowchaser,” said Algernon, drawing a card.

His Speed Counters rose to three, while Shichiro’s rose to four.

“I was gonna be nice about this, but you’re starting to get on my nerves…

“So, I’m bringing out the serious stuff. I summon Gate Blocker.”

He played the card, and a large barrier materialized in front of Shichiro. It looked like an ominous, rectangular stone tablet, with the Eye of Wdjat on the front. (100 ATK)

“Big deal,” said Shichiro. “You should have set it in Defense Mode.”

“I’m not keeping it,” replied Algernon. “I’m sacrificing it…”

Gate Blocker dissolved into particles.

“…for Gate Blocker 2!”

In an intimidating burst, a Gate Blocker twice the size of the first one appeared in front of Shichiro, with two Eyes of Wdjat, and this one was in Defense Mode. (3,000 DEF)

“That’s trouble…” muttered Shichiro.

“I hope that four Speed Counters are enough for you,” said Algernon, “because so long as my Blocker is there, you aren’t gonna get any more. I end my turn.”

Shichiro made a draw. As the wererat had said, his Counters stayed at four, while Algernon’s went up to four.

Shichiro quickly set a Monster, and it appeared concealed.

“That all?” asked Algernon, drawing.

Once again, his Speed Counters went up, while Shichiro’s stayed the same.

“I summon Pursuit Chaser!”

In a flash of light, the robotic drone with two arms and a siren on top blaring flew out of the portal. (1,400 ATK)

“Destroy his defensive Monster!” he ordered.

Pursuit Chaser blasted beams of energy from its hands. Skelengel appeared on the card, and was blown to plasma.

“And now you lose 500 Life Points!” laughed Algernon.

“But I still get to use Skelengel’s effect,” replied Shichiro, “and draw one card.”

He made a draw.

“Aw, make your move,” said the lycanthrope.

(S: 7,500) - - - - - - - - - - (A: 6,000)

Shichiro drew, again not getting any faster, while Algernon went up to six.

“Gearfried,” he said, “destroy Pursuit Chaser!”

The Iron Knight flew at the drone, and with one slash of his blade, sliced it in half.

“That’s all for now,” he said.

(S: 7,500) - - - - - - - - - - (A: 5,600)

Algernon drew a card, his Speed Counters rising to seven.

“Now you’ve made me mad,” he muttered. “So I’m bringing out Gonogo to deal with your merry men…”

He played a card, and a huge shadow fell over Shichiro’s bike. He looked behind him to see a Monster that was literally huge. It looked like a gigantic bowling ball with eyes and a pointed nose on the front. (1,350 ATK)

Gonogo simply bowled forward, rolling over Marauding Captain and crushing him.

“I’ll set a card facedown,” continued Algernon, “and end my turn.”

A facedown card appeared next to his other two on Shichiro’s screen.

(S: 7,350) - - - - - - - - - - (A: 5,600)

Continued…

[Dark Sage]

Continued from last post:



Shichiro quickly made a draw. His opponent’s Counters rose to eight.

Darn, he thought, looking at his hand. The only Monster I have right now is Jack’s Knight. That usually isn’t a good card to have on hand…

Oh well, his 1,900 Attack Points are better than Guardian’s 1,400.

“I sacrifice Obnoxious Celtic Guardian…” he said.

The armored elf vanished into grains of light.

“…to summon Jack’s Knight!”

Jack’s Knight flew onto the field, holding his longsword aloft. (1,900 ATK)

“I was hoping you’d do that!” laughed Algernon, as one of his facedown cards shot up. “Activate… Intercept!”

“Huh?” said Shichiro.

A net shot out of the Trap Card, and Jack’s Knight grunted as he was snagged by it.

“Intercept let’s me commandeer any Monster that’s summoned with one Tribute,” chuckled Algernon.

Jack’s Knight was pulled over to the front of the wererat’s bike.

“Oh yeah?” said Shichiro. “Well, you still made one mistake…

“Gearfried, destroy Gonogo!”

The Iron Knight flew upwards and backwards, flying behind the huge boulder. He made a mighty swipe at it with his blade, and Gonogo’s eyes bugged out. It exploded in a huge blast of flames and pebbles.

“Now, Gonogo’s effect activates,” continued Shichiro, “and Gearfried moves to facedown Defense Mode, meaning I won’t lose any Life Points when you attack him.”

Gearfried vanished, changing into a reversed card, which faded from sight.

“What you should have done was set Gonogo in Defense Mode,” continued Shichiro. “Any smart Duel Chaser knows that it isn’t an offensive Monster. I’d have been in real trouble if I had attacked it then.”

He took three cards from his hand, and set them on his Disk. Three facedown cards appeared.

“End!” he exclaimed.

(S: 7,350) - - - - - - - - - - (A: 5,150)

“Oh, aren’t we smart,” said Algernon, drawing a card, as his Counters went up to nine.

Then another of his facedown cards shot up.

“I activate Level Retuner!” he shouted. “This Trap Card lets me reduce the Level of one Monster by up to two. So I’ll reduce the Level of Jack’s Knight by one.

“Next, I summon the Tuner Monster Tora Part.”

A cackling laughter sounded over the field, and a bizarre-looking clown materialized next to Jack’s Knight. Actually, it was more like two clowns, joined at the waist, one above, and one below. (600 ATK)

Uh oh… thought Shichiro. A Level 6 Synchro Summon in a Special Pursuit Deck can only mean one thing…

Then both duelists drove at full speed into a dark tunnel. It was pitch black inside, but fortunately, the autopilot turned on the headlights. Shichiro glanced at the duel field on his console, and saw both Jack’s Knight and Tora Part disappear, and a new Monster appear in their place…

As they emerged from the tunnel, Shichiro saw the Synchro Monster standing in mid-air, twenty feet in front of him. It was an intimidating Warrior, with the makeup, costume, and hair style of a kabuki actor, but with a far more muscular build, holding a weapon that looked like a leather rope with a jutte as a grapple.

“Meet Goyo Guardian,” said Algernon.

(2,800 ATK)

“Next,” continued the lycanthrope, “I activate the Trap Card, All-Out Attacks.”

His last facedown card lifted up.

“And by the way, if you’re thinking of using those facedown cards to block this attack, forget it. Since I used Tora Part to summon this guy, you can’t use Trap Cards until the end of the Damage Step.

“Now, my Guardian attacks!”

Goyo Guardian twirled its grapple, and hurled it at the reversed Monster. Gearfried briefly appeared on the card before dissolving into grains of light.

“And that’s not all,” continued Algernon. “Now, your Monster comes over to my side…”

Gearfried appeared next to Goyo Guardian, crouching in Defense Mode. (1,600 DEF)

“…and thanks to my Trap Card, he moves into Attack Mode, and gets to attack right away!”

Gearfried stood up into Attack Mode. (1,800 ATK) He leapt at Shichiro, and slammed his blade into him. Shichiro groaned a little, as his Speed Counters went down by one, down to three.

“I set one more card facedown,” said Algernon, as a new facedown card appeared, “and I end my turn.”

A facedown card appeared, and then faced from view.

(S: 5,550) - - - - - - - - - - (A: 5,150)

Shichiro drew a card, as Algernon’s Speed Counters rose to ten. He was threatening to lose Shichiro at this rate.

“I set a new card,” said Shichiro.

A new reversed card appeared, giving him a total of four.

“Then, I summon Queen’s Knight!”

He played the card, and the lovely lady Warrior in crimson armor appeared, flying in front of his bike. (1,500 ATK)

“Now, she’s gonna smash down your Gate Blocker.”

“I’d like to see her try it!” laughed Algernon.

To answer him, one of the three facedown cards Shichiro had set last turn flipped up.

“Activate… Micro Ray!” he shouted.

A beam of energy shot out of the Trap Card, striking Gate Blocker 2. (0 DEF)

“No… Way…” said Algernon.

“Way,” said Shichiro. “Attack!”

“YA!” shouted Queen’s Knight, as she struck the huge tablet with her blade. It smashed into little shards of rock.

“Ooh, you’ll pay for that!” screamed Algernon.

“It’s your move,” said Shichiro.

Algernon made a draw. His Speed Counters rose to eleven, and now that the Blocker was gone, Shichiro’s rose to four. He began to pick up speed again.

Algernon turned into a run-down building, one that had been so devastated by the urban decay that you could drive through it. Shichiro followed him, swerving around the dangerous twists and turns.

“I sacrifice your Gearfried…” said Algernon.

Gearfried burst into pixels.

“…to summon Handcuffs Dragon!”

In a great blast of energy, a huge Monster appeared with a roar. It was likely the most bizarre Dragon that had ever been spawned. Its reptilian body was thin and lithe, but it had two large sets of mandibles, one on its head, and one on its tail, which made its entire body look vaguely like a set of handcuffs. (1,800 ATK)

“Next, I activate a Trap Card. The powerful Ceasefire!”

His other facedown card spun around.

“Now you lose take 500 Life Points in damage for each Effect Monster on the field.”

“Fortunately, Queen’s Knight isn’t an Effect Monster,” replied Shichiro.

“But my Monsters sure are,” replied Algernon.

“But mine sure are,” replied Algernon.

Shichiro groaned as a red aura of energy surrounded both of Algernon’s Monsters, and him as well. His Counters fell one notch, to four.

“Now, then,” said Algernon, “I’ll be taking your Queen’s Knight!”

Goyo Guardian hurled his grapple again, and Queen’s Knight burst into pixels. Shichiro’s bike shook, as his Speed Counters fell down to two. Then Queen’s Knight reappeared next to the Guardian. (1,600 DEF)

All-Out Attacks glowed, and she stood up into Attack Mode. (1,500 ATK) She made a rush at Shichiro’s bike.

“I activate… Birthright!” shouted Shichiro, as his facedown card spun around. “Now, I can bring Jack’s Knight back from my Graveyard!”

The glowing portal opened, and Jack’s Knight leapt out, leveling his blade at Queen’s Knight. (1,900 ATK)

“Queen’s Knight, stop!” screamed Algernon. “Stop your attack!”

“She can’t, stupid!” replied Shichiro. “Your Trap Card forces her to attack, remember?”

Jack’s Knight swung his blade, and Queen’s Knight shattered into pieces.

(S: 3,250) - - - - - - - - - - (A: 4,750)

Algernon just stared with a vacant expression for a second or two…

“Getting the picture yet?” asked Shichiro. “Using a deck full of new and powerful cards might seem like a thrill, but it isn’t as easy as it seems. Those cards all have complex and complicated effects, and can’t be used on a whim. It takes a lot of practice to adjust to any new deck, much less one that was designed for use by law enforcement. Using such a deck now and pinning your chances for escaping from me on it was a dire mistake.”

“Have it your way!” shouted Algernon. “Just make your move…”

“Oh, I will,” said Shichiro, drawing a card.

His Speed Counters went up to four again.

“Come on out, Junk Synchron!”

The portal opened, and the cute, robot Tuner flew out. (1,300 ATK)

“Now, let’s bring this home!”

Junk Synchron gave its ripcord a yank, and its motor started to hum. Then it and Jack’s Knight flew into the sky above the rooftops of Satellite, turning into eight glowing stars.

With a loud roar, Colossal Fighter descended, moving in time to Shichiro’s bike. (2,800 ATK)

“Right now, there are six Warriors in my Graveyard…” he said.

A small phantom regiment appeared behind him: Obnoxious Celtic Guardian, Gearfried, Marauding Captain, Jack’s Knight, Queen’s Knight, and Junk Synchron.

“And I believe that there’s one in yours too,” he added.

Tora Part appeared with the group, and grinned at Algernon with its two faces. Then all seven of the Warriors vanished, and Colossal Fighter’s Attack Score rose to 3,500.

“Now, since a Synchro Summon is considered a Special Summon,” he continued, “your All-Out Attacks requires my Monster to attack this turn. But hey, that’s gonna be a pleasure…

“At least it will be, once I activate this!”

Another facedown card lifted.

“Synchro Strike! Now, my Monster gains 500 more points for each Monster I used to summon it!”

Colossal Fighter glowed with energy. (4,500 ATK)

“Clobber his Handcuffs Dragon!” shouted Shichiro. “Mega knuckle!”

Colossal Fighter roared again, and socked the bizarre Dragon hard, blowing it into shards of metal. Algernon screamed, and his D-Wheel wobbled. His Speed Counters fell down two places, to ten.

(S: 3,250) - - - - - - - - - - (A: 2,050)

…and then he grinned.

“Heh, heh, heh,” he chuckled. “I still have one trick… That attack may have cost me some Life Points, but your Fighter is gonna pay for it in spades! That Monster isn’t called a Handcuffs Dragon for nothing!”

Then a phantom version of Handcuffs Dragon appeared, and flew at Colossal Fighter. Its two sets of mandibles clamped to its wrists, pinning its arms behind its back like a true set of handcuffs would.

Colossal Fighter growled a little… (2,700 ATK)

“Bet you weren’t expecting that,” laughed Algernon.

“Actually,” replied Shichiro, “it was exactly what I was expecting.”

“Eh?” said the wererat.

“You see, I knew that Handcuffs Dragon was usually part of a Security’s deck, even though it isn’t officially included in the deck recipe for the Special Pursuit Deck. It’s like a mascot for them, so I assumed that Gakushi’s deck would have one.

“So, taking inspiration from another duel where it was used, I added this little number to my deck…”

His last facedown card shot up.

“The Trap Card, Equip Shot! Now, I can take Handcuffs Dragon off of my Monster, and put it on yours!”

Colossal Fighter roared again. It wrenched the Dragon off of its arms, and then hurled it at Goyo Guardian. The Guardian screamed as the Dragon latched onto its arms.

Colossal Fighter rose back to an Attack Score of 4,500, while Goyo Guardian fell to 1,000.

“No fair!” shouted Algernon. “Grr… This isn’t over!”

“I’m afraid it is,” replied Shichiro. “Because Equip Shot also lets my Monster attack again.”

“Oh… no…” gulped Algernon.

“Colossal Fighter…” said Shichiro. “Take him down.”

Colossal Fighter flew towards Goyo Guardian, and socked the mad kabuki in the gut. Algernon hollered as his Monster shattered, and his D-Wheel went into a tailspin.

(S: 3,250) - - - - - - - - - - (A: 0)

Shichiro walked up to the D-Wheel, which was smoking and knocked over. Algernon was lying on his back, groaning.

The Shadowchaser reached down, and collected the deck. Then, he reached into Algernon’s pocket. In it were his cell phone, and also a game card.

Cloudian – Cirrostratus.

* * * * * * * * * *

In his office, DaPen was watching his own cell phone. He hadn’t made any move for about a half an hour.

Then it rang. He picked it up.

“Isn’t it interesting what numbers some people will put on their speed dials?” asked Shichiro’s voice. “I’m calling to inform you that Algernon will not be delivering ‘the goods’, as he referred to them.

“By the way, I know who this is, DaPen. And if you think you can keep thumbing your nose at both the Mundane and Jalal’s authority, you’re in for a rude awakening. We will find you. We will find out who or what you are. And we will take you down.

“I seem to remember you comparing yourself to Al Capone and me to Eliot Ness. Well, let me tell you something about Ness. He was a lawman to the core. He couldn’t be bribed, and he wasn’t scared by threats. That’s why he and his group were called the Untouchables.

“I’d say your comparison was right on the money.”

He hung up.

DaPen put the phone down.

He picked up a piece of paper. On it was written his to-do list for tomorrow. It had five items on it at present.

He picked up a pen and wrote down a sixth item under them:

6. Change number on cell phone.

“Interesting call?” asked Edmund, who had been watching.

“Quite,” said DaPen. “But Shichiro’s little threat helped make up my mind…

“It’s time to end the preliminary phase, and start the true plan…”

Then the phone rang again. DaPen looked at the number.

He answered it.

“Speak,” he said.

He listened. After about a minute, he hung up again.

“Good news, Edmund,” he said. “Your package is waiting at the old Domino Mall…”

He started dialing a number.

“And we can go to get it, just as soon as we give our… friends something to do. And maybe benefit from it as well.”

“You sure it’s wise to trust that creature?” asked Edmund.

DaPen chuckled. Then his form warped and twisted, as he shed his disguise. Edmund simply glared at him. DaPen’s true form was hideous, but Edmund had seen much worse.

“I doubt it will ever come after me,” replied DaPen. “Looking like I do is difficult in this world… But it does have its upside…”

* * * * * * * * * *

In the heart of downtown, a bookstore stood; Aquarius; Books for a New Age.

Inside, it looked like the typical bookstore; the shelves were organized by topic, new fiction up front, science fiction and fantasy in one wing, nonfiction in another, historic fiction in other, and so forth…

Only Shadowkind and Awares could see the special books that were on sale. They included spellbooks, scrolls, books of alchemy, and books on the history of Shadowkind clans.

The owner and proprietor of the shop was a female elf named Soelma Nilaenish. There’s a stereotype surrounding female elves – most think that all of them are ravishing, enchanting beauties. But it wasn’t true for Soelma, at least not anymore. She was mousy and plump for an elf, and was getting on in her years, which for an elf, meant that she was quite old. Elves were not immortal, as some thought they were, but their life spans were measured in many centuries. Her dress was plain, her hair was cut short, and her eyes were bloodshot from all the reading she did.

Soelma was a moon elf, a rare offshoot of the elf species who were even more in tune with the magic of the fey world than high elves. Soelma had been a powerful wizard in her youth, but it had been ages since she had used spells for much more than research and the crafting of magic items, mostly potions and scrolls.

Research was her main focus now, the bookstore her means of funding it. She had an extensive library on artifacts and magical items hidden from view, as well as a vault to hold them. Unraveling the secrets of the arcane was her specialty, and the Regalia of the Day was one of her current projects.

Right now, she was sitting behind the counter, going over a moderate-sized text written in Sylvan that she had been asked to translate. Sylvan – the language of fey – was pretty much a second language to elves, so this was going to be a rather boring night…

Then she looked up, as the door to the shop opened.

“Jinx?” asked Soelma, looking up.

It sure looked like Jinx, although she was looking at Soelma with a cold, icy stare that didn’t look at all friendly.

Then she smiled slightly.

“Hi, Soelma,” she said. “Look, Gears needs the Sword of Noon for a few hours. He got a lead on a possible source for the runes on it.”

Soelma looked at Jinx nervously.

“Uh… sure Jinx…” she said.

Soelma nervously walked to the vault. She didn’t know if Jinx was acting via her own free will, or if something sinister was afoot, or even if this was Jinx at all. But she did know that all was not right, and she would never be a match for Jinx in any sort of conflict. She didn’t want to put her life in danger.

What do I do? she thought, as she approached the vault. If this is a trick, I can’t let her get away with it…

Then she got an idea.

She took the Sword of Noon from its shelf on the wall, and then turned to see if she was being watched.

Less than a minute later, she handed it to Jinx, smiling.

“Just call me when Gears is done with it, okay?” she asked.

Jinx nodded, and smirked a little.

Soelma breathed a sigh of relief as she watched her walk out of the store. She slumped in a chair.

“What a fright!” she gasped.

She looked at her watch.

“I’ll wait half an hour… She should be gone by then…”


You don’t become a wizard by being dumb. Soelma realized that the young woman with the icy cold expression that looked like Jinx likely wasn’t her. And since Soelma was smart, she also realized that refusing to hand over the Sword would more than likely result in the Jinx look-a-like trying to take it by force. Soelma had no idea of her abilities, was too old to fight it in a spell battle, and she didn’t duel. She was an old dog, and Duel Monsters was a new trick as far as she was concerned.

Still, who was this imposter? Soelma was still on our payroll, and she was going to help us find out, just as soon as she knew she was in the clear. DaPen had made a serious move, and it would prove incredibly dangerous for at least one member of our group.



ASSAULT DOG (Monster Card)

Card Specs

Type: Beast/Effect
Attribute: Earth
Level: 4
ATK: 1,200
DEF: 800

Card Description: When this card is destroyed by battle and sent to the Graveyard, you may Special Summon 1 “Assault Dog” from your deck.

Note: “Assault Dog” was first used by Ushio in the “Yu-Gi-Oh 5D’s” episode “Ready, Set, DUEL!” Creative credit goes to the writers of that episode.



GATE BLOCKER (Monster Card)

Card Specs

Type: Rock/Effect
Attribute: Earth
Level: 4
ATK: 100
DEF: 2,000

Card Description: Your opponent cannot increase his number of Speed Counters via the effect of “Speed World”.

Note: “Gate Blocker” was first used by Ushio in the “Yu-Gi-Oh 5D’s” episode “Pipe Dreams” Creative credit goes to the writers of that episode.



GATE BLOCKER 2 (Monster Card)

Card Specs

Type: Rock/Effect
Attribute: Earth
Level: 6
ATK: 100
DEF: 3,000

Card Description: This card cannot be Normal Summoned or set. This card must first be Special Summoned by Tributing one “Gate Blocker” you control. Your opponent cannot increase his number of Speed Counters via the effect of “Speed World”.

Note: “Gate Blocker 2” was first used by an unnamed member of Security in a Season 2 episode of “Yu-Gi-Oh 5D’s”. Creative credit goes to the writers of that episode.




Coming up next:

What monster did Professor Lupin use to teach Harry Potter how to cast the Patronus Charm? If you know, then you have a vague idea of the threat that impersonated Jinx. However, next chapter, you’ll see that J.K. Rowling isn’t well-liked among Shadowkind because of the numerous things she got wrong about magical beings. A powerful Shadow Game starts where Jinx risks her very existence and must wager everything against the roll of a die. DaPen isn’t playing around any more.

“Physical Double” is coming soon.

[Shuppet Master]

Oh, I know the answer to that - it was a boggart, a creature... (gets shot by the spoiler police)

Heh heh. Anyways, great chapter, it was nice seeing a thief trying to use a cop's deck. ^_^

[Dark Sage]

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Everyone has bad days at work. And when your stress headache is the worst, you can’t help but think up creative ways to tell your boss off when you finally get a better job and are able to leave for good.

Well, I had seemed to leave Mr. Draco’s employ on good terms, without any angry feelings, but I still felt satisfied. I had left my boring nine-to-five routine behind forever – hopefully – and started on a new path. I was part of an organization bigger and more powerful than Draco Industries could ever imagine, and the sky was the limit.

As you might expect, I had a pie-in-the-sky attitude when I met my three “co-workers” for ice cream, something that I had never done with anyone I had worked with in Mr. Draco’s company… No-one had ever invited me before…



Gears walked over to the pair of park benches outside of the ice cream parlor, holding a cardboard tray containing four sundaes.

“All right!” exclaimed Ember. “I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!”

“Man,” said Shichiro, as they were passed out. “If you say that again, I really am gonna scream.”

“I gotta admit, Ember,” said Gears, as he started on his, “that deck of yours was awfully clever…”

“Well, I can’t take all the credit,” said Ember. “It was all cause of a weird dream I had this morning…”

“A dream?” asked Jinx.

“Yeah…” replied Ember. “I dreamt I was in Satellite, and got into a duel with this guy about my age… A tough guy with a D-Wheel…

“He called himself Crow.”

Then Shichiro started to cough loudly, almost as if he was choking on the bite of ice cream he just took.

“Ah, heh…” he said. “Went down the wrong… tube there…”

Gears and Jinx looked at him.

“He had quite a deck,” continued Ember. “Dark Attribute Winged Beasts, I believe. And to think I thought all Winged Beasts were Wind…

“Anyway, we dueled, he won… But a Spell Card he had let me think, if you can constantly search for Monsters, you can thin out a deck fast, and…”

She looked at Shichiro.

“You know,” she said, “it’s awfully hard to talk while you keep making those weird faces!”

Then Jinx laughed.

“The duel gods move in mysterious ways,” she said.

“The duel gods must be crazy,” muttered Shichiro.

“What?” asked Ember.

Then Shichiro’s cell phone rang.

“Saved by the bell,” he muttered, answering it.

“Yeah? Soelma? What’s the matter? Yeah, Jinx is here…

“What? Yes, I’m absolutely sure that it’s Jinx. What happened?”

He stopped to listen.

“We’re on our way… Lock the door and wait for us.”

“What’s going on?” asked Jinx.

“You just stole the Sword of Noon,” replied Shichiro. “Or rather, someone who looks just like you did. DaPen is trying a new trick…

“We have to get to Soelma’s bookstore, pronto…”

* * * * * * * * * *

Twenty minutes later, the four of them were listening to a detailed explanation by Soelma, while Gears was doing a scan of the store with the same device that he had used when he first detected the joystealer.

“I knew it wasn’t Jinx,” said Soelma, nervously. “Jinx is warm, happy, and kind… This… thing was cold and definitely unfriendly.”

“This is very odd,” said Gears, looking at the device. “The aura that this creature left seems to have the same levels of supernatural ability possessed by the real Jinx… Except that everything in Jinx’s aura that’s positive is negative here.

“I’m sensing hatred and anger where Jinx has love and joy…”

He paused.

“Boggart,” he said.

“Lovely,” said Shichiro.

“Boggart?” said Ember. “I thought boggarts were creatures who hid in dark places and took the form of the greatest fear of whoever saw them.”

Gears sighed.

“Shichiro, why don’t you explain it to her,” he said.

“Ember, listen up,” said Shichiro. “J.K. Rowling was an a-list author who was admired the world over for her works… But only among humans.

“Most Shadowkind didn’t like her much at all. The Harry Potter books portrayed many supernatural races in ways that got real ones up in arms.”

“How so?” asked Ember, raising an eyebrow.

“Well, for instance,” said Shichiro, “when Chamber of Secrets came out, the Shadowchasers received a petition signed by the members of a clan of pixies who happened to live in Cornwall, calling for the book to be banned.”

“You gotta be kidding,” said Ember.

“I’m deadly serious,” said Shichiro. “As if the Shadowchasers actually had the authority to do that. Things got worse when Goblet of Fire came out. It seemed that half the merfolk in world wrote complaint letters saying that Rowling made them look too primitive.

“And you do not even want to start with the complaints elves have made about the house-elves that appeared in every book starting with the second. First, there’s no such thing as house-elves, elves are rural creatures; second, those creatures were ugly, and elves pride themselves on beauty; and third, Rowling’s elves were a slave race. Rowling’s name was found on numerous hit lists belonging to elf clan leaders with considerable power because of the whole thing.”

“Those creatures were not elves,” said Soelma. “I would have given Rowling the benefit of the doubt and called them brownies, but not even brownies would enjoy slavery. Dobby may have been a heroic figure in those books, but that still doesn’t excuse how elves were portrayed.”

“Pretty much the only Shadowkind race who ever had a good word for Rowling were goblins,” said Shichiro. “They could only wish that they were as smart as the ones in those books.

“Also, a lot of real wizards thought that some of the magic in the books was unrealistic. And a few of them thought that the idea of the Killing Curse was too sensitive a subject to be used in any caricature.”

Ember’s eyes opened.

“There’s… really a spell that lethal?” she asked.

“Of course not,” replied Soelma. “It’s a magical impossibility. There are spells that can kill, sure… But ones that you can’t counter or defend yourself against? Nonsense.

“The thing that made wizards uneasy about it was the trouble that hoaxes about spells like that have caused. Throughout history, many unscrupulous sorcerers have claimed that they were indeed able to research horrible spells that could do what Avada Kedavra could do, or worse, and offer no defense. They were always bluffing, but they used these bluffs to threaten or blackmail everyone from peasants to emperors.”

Worse?? thought Ember.

“Know how the Magna Carta was really signed?” asked Gears. “King John was at first prepared to die before he abdicated his power to the barons by agreeing to it. But three of the barons who drafted it were Aware, and one of them was a wizard. After proving his power, the wizard threatened to inflict a powerful and irreversible curse on John that would doom him and every male descendant to a long and miserable death from leprosy.

“As you probably know, during this time period, leprosy was one of the most feared diseases known, and victims of it were social outcasts. John believed it, and gave in. Those three barons believed that their wealth and social status would protect them from any form of retribution.

“But they quickly discovered that neither was any good when you do something that falls under Jalal’s jurisdiction. The Shadowchasers stepped in, and they were apprehended. The wizard actually made the same threat to Jalal, bu Jalal was smart, and knew that such magic was beyond the power of mortals to create. He called his bluff, which it clearly was.

“Still, Jalal didn’t do anything to reverse the signing of the document… He feared that if he did, another rebellion would start, and blood would be shed, and regardless, he thought that limiting the power of the monarchy was a good idea.”

“But you get the idea,” said Jinx. “The whole idea of curses that lethal is nothing to make light of, at least from the point of view of a real wizard.”

“Bottom line is,” continued Shichiro, “Rowling was pretty much clueless about true supernatural beings. And her depiction of boggarts wasn’t very accurate.”

“Well, are you going to tell me?” asked Ember.

“Boggarts are shapeshifters,” replied Gears. “That’s pretty much the only thing that Rowling got right. It finds its victim, takes a ‘snapshot’, and is then able to transform into a carbon copy… One that reflects the victim’s darker emotions. Any pent-up aggressions or vices that the model might have had are brought to the surface in this being, who is not held back by any conscious or moral standards that the model had. These beings live to enjoy themselves, and don’t care about rules or other taboos.”

“Oh, this is just great!” exclaimed Jinx. “Someone who looks just like me is out there, and it’s probably going to go do everything illegal, immoral, and fattening that I ever considered doing!”

“Calm down, Jinx!” urged Gears.

“Calm down?!” shouted Jinx. “What if it lets some guy have his way with it, and then gives my cell phone number to him?”

“Uhm, if I may butt in,” said Soelma, “I did something so you can find this rogue…”

They all turned to her.

“Before I handed over the Sword,” she said, “I covered it Dust of the Bloodhound. It’s a magical substance that will let you find anyone who handled the Sword within fifteen minutes after I treated it, so long as they’re still in the city.”

She held up a test tube full of red liquid.

“Just drink this, and you’ll be led right to this imposter.”

They looked at it.

“Maybe I should do this…” said Shichiro.

“To Hell you should!” said Jinx. “This is between me and myself, Shichiro.”

Shichiro held up his hands, and stepped back, as Jinx took the potion. She undid the top, and drank it, slowly.

“YUCK!” she gasped.

“Uhm, I should have warned you…” said Soelma. “Since it was a rush job, I didn’t have time to make it taste very good… If I had a few hours, I could have added some sweetener, I could have…”

“That’s okay…” muttered Jinx, holding her head. “Wait… Actually, I’m sensing two beings…

“One of them…

“One of them is in this bookstore.”

Everyone paused.

“Oh, that would be me,” said Soelma. “I guess I spilled a little of the Dust on my hands when I coated the Sword with it.”

“Okay then,” said Jinx. “The other one is the one I’m after.”

She started to walk outside.

“I’ll leave my cell phone on, people… But I don’t think this will be easy…”

* * * * * * * * * *

In some large cities, there is a part of town that caters to the sins and impulses of its populace. There are many names for this part of town, not all of them printable. The most universally used term is the red light district.

Red light districts host a large number of bars, nightclubs, and adult movie theaters. Also common are video rental places, strip clubs, peep shows, casinos, tattoo parlors, and other less reputable businesses. Prostitutes, pimps, and drug dealers are also common sights in these districts, doing a brisk business with anyone who seeks them out.

Some cities simply tolerate their red light districts, while in others, they are persecuted and harassed. Some cities, like New Orleans and Las Vegas, actively promote their red light districts, hoping to attract tourists with a taste for serious adult entertainment. Neo Domino didn’t promote theirs, but it was a place where it was tolerated.

Shadowkind flourished in this part of town, blending in with the local populace who rarely questioned anyone on the street. Some monsters even set up shop here, establishing themselves as drug dealers, hired muscle, and even crime bosses.

Night was falling on the red light district, and this was the time when it was the busiest. Jinx knew from the potion that her quarry was at a nightclub called the Mermaid’s Cups. She really hoped that if the Mermaid’s Cups was a strip club, her duplicate was a customer, and not a performer.

She drove her D-Wheel down the street, and saw the nightclub. It seemed like an old place, which had apparently gotten its name from the wooden carving of a mermaid with shells over her breasts that hung over the entrance. Halfway down the street was a business that she had heard of – Dr. Morston’s House of Wax. This wax museum had once been a business in the original Domino, but the owner relocated to Neo Domino a few years before Zero Reverse.

Jinx slowly walked into the Mermaid’s Cups carrying her Duel Disk. It seemed like a posh place. What she first took notice of was the singer who was sitting on the edge of the grand piano, singing while the pianist played. Most humans would simply see a beautiful woman in a low-cut green dress, but an Aware like Jinx could tell that she was a real mermaid.

Jinx was rather surprised at this. Only an oddball merfolk spent more than the briefest amount of time on land, due to their inability to move about there. Those who did usually required a wheelchair or similar convenience.

Then she saw her. A woman by the bar who looked like her, dressed in a trashy outfit, flirting with a well-dressed man who was obviously past his limit.

“So…” said the imposter with a big smile. “This place is so formal… What say we go somewhere where the dress code is more lax?”

Jinx had several options right now. She decided to take the direct approach.

“You know what?” she said. “You look just like me when I’m having a bad day.”

The boggart spun around. She grinned.

Then she turned to the guy, and gave him a big, wet kiss. Jinx gasped.

“I’ll call you,” said the boggart.

Jinx made a grab for the beast, but it slipped free, and made a run for the door. Jinx chased it out the door, and saw it run down the street, and dive into a building.

Jinx followed, and then saw where it had gone. She looked up at the museum entrance.

“A shapeshifter in a wax museum…” she muttered. “Talk about a needle in a haystack…”

She opened the doors, and walked into a dark hallway.

There are two major genres of wax museums. Some, like the famous Madam Tussaud’s of London, specialized in sculptures of celebrities and other famous people. Most others specialized in horror icons. It was clear that this museum was one of the later.

Three of the most famous horror icons were right inside the door: Dracula, Frankenstein’s Monster, and the Wolfman. Jinx slowly walked past them, past display stands featuring the Creature From the Black Lagoon and the Invisible Man.

Down another hallway stood Quasimodo and the Phantom of the Opera…

She paused. She was taken a little by the irony. Both characters were famous roles played by Lon Chaney Sr., The “Man of a Thousand Faces”.

She wasn’t picking up any bad vibes from these or any other of the classic monsters, so she moved on. She saw another annex – the Hall of Science Fiction.

She slowly walked in, and was greeted by a display featuring Robby the Robot from Forbidden Planet. Slightly past him was a far less friendly robot – Gort from The Day the Earth Stood Still.

A chill started to creep down her spine. She drew her sword.

She walked further, past displays of the aliens from War of the Worlds, past Ming the Merciless and Daleks, and finally to a very large display featuring the classic lightsaber battle between Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker from Return of the Jedi.

Something was wrong… Her eyes went to the statue of Darth Vader…

His lightsaber… It was a mistake. It was green.

Quickly, Jinx made a slash with her sword at the statue. But it simply fell down into pieces of wax and a metal frame.

She looked at it, puzzled. Then the statue of Skywalker behind her smiled.

Jinx didn’t have time to react as the boggart kicked her in the behind. She dropped her sword, but she got up in time to see it change back into a form that looked like her.

“Very clever,” said Jinx. “You got rid of the Luke statue, and put its lightsaber in Vader’s hand, so I’d think Vader was you. Everyone knows that Vader had a red lightsaber. Then you imitated the Luke statue so you could ambush me.”

“Yup,” said the boggart. “And you fell right into my trap, Jinx.”

“Trap?” said Jinx.

The boggart nodded.

“Look at me!” said the boggart. “Your body… I love it! I’m beautiful, sexy… This is the best form I’ve ever taken!”

“And just how many guys are gonna call me after you’ve ditched it?” asked Jinx.

“None!” laughed the boggart. “Cause I’m not going to! I want to keep it, permanently! Like I said, I’ve never had a body this good before!

“Of course… In order to do that, I have to break the mold… I have to get rid of the model…”

Jinx stood up. She suddenly understood. This demon had wanted her to come after it. It was all a trap to lead her to her doom.

The boggart gestured, and a Duel Disk appeared on its arm.

“Why bother dueling me?” asked Jinx. “I doubt something like you cares about the Treaty much…”

“I don’t,” replied the boggart, “but I have my own reasons for wanting a duel. You’ll see soon enough.

“So, you want me to stop imitating you? Beat me, you’ll be free to go, and I’ll shed this form.

“Lose, and… Well, you’ll see when it happens.”

Jinx held up her Duel Disk, and they both activated.

(Jinx: 8,000) - - - - - - - - - - (Boggart: 8,000)

“See if you can handle this,” said Jinx. “I play the Spell Card, Legacy of X-Saber!”

The Spell Card appeared in front of her, and she was surrounded by a red aura.

“Now, I give up 1,000 Life Points, and I get to bring out three, count ‘em, three X-Sabers from my deck in Defense Mode.”

In three auras of energy, X-Saber Airbellum (200 DEF), X-Saber Urz (1,000 DEF), and X-Saber Axel (100 DEF) appeared, and all three knelt and shielded themselves with their weapons.

“Ahem,” said the boggart. “I suggest you take a look at your leg…”

“Huh?” said Jinx, looking down.

Her left shin was starting to fade.

“What have you done to me?!” she shouted.

“You’re disappearing,” replied the boggart. “As you lose Life Points, you’ll start to fade away. And when you lose, the old Jinx will disappear forever, letting me take your place as the new one.”

“What is this?” shouted Jinx. “Some sort of Shadow Game?”

“Call it whatever you like,” replied the boggart. “But you’re playing for keeps now… Finish your move.”

Jinx started to sweat…

“Since I played Legacy of X-Saber, I can’t summon any more Monsters this turn,” she said. “It’s your move.”

(J: 7,000) - - - - - - - - - - (B: 8,000)

“I draw one card…” said the fiend.

It looked over the six cards in its hand.

“I set a Monster, and then three facedown cards.”

A hidden Monster, and three reversed cards appeared.

“…and my turn is complete.”

“Then it’s my move!” shouted Jinx, drawing a card.

“I summon X-Saber Galahad!”

The heroic Sir Galahad was a key figure in Arthurian legend. However, the Warrior that appeared did not look much like the depictions in the legends. He still wore armor, but it was bronze and not as shiny as that of the traditional knight. The X-Saber insignia was on his belt. More importantly, his face was toad-like, with blue hair tied in a topknot. (1,800 ATK)

“Now, I Tune together Airbellum and Urz…”

The two X-Sabers got up, and leapt into the air. They both dissolved into seven glowing stars…

A flash of light illuminated the room, and X-Saber Urbellum landed with a roar. (2,200 ATK)

“I was hoping you’d do that,” replied the boggart.

One of his facedown cards shot up.

“I activate Demise of the Land! Since you Special Summoned a Monster, I get to activate a Field Spell from my deck.”

It opened the Field slot on its Disk, and placed a card into it.

“I choose to activate Fusion Gate.”

With a rumble, a dark cloud crackling with energy appeared over the field.

Fusion Gate? thought Jinx. What is she… it planning?

I’ll figure it out later…

“My Galahad attacks your Monster…”

Galahad lifted his sword.

“…and when he attacks a Monster, he gains 300 Attack Points.”

Galahad’s Attack Score rose to 2,100. He made a swipe with his blade, and Sangan appeared on the card before being cut in half.

“Why, thank you,” replied the boggart, taking a card from his deck. “And since I’m such a nice gal, I’ll even show you what this card is…”

It flipped the card around.

“Sand Gambler?” asked Jinx. “What, are you copying my deck too?”

“No,” replied the boggart. “I put a unique twist on your theme. You’ll see soon enough.”

“Let’s see it help you avoid this,” replied Jinx. “Urbellum, direct attack!”

Urbellum drew one sword, and made a mighty slash at the imposter. It grunted, and stepped backwards once.

Then it made an evil grin.

(J: 7,000) - - - - - - - - - - (B: 5,800)

Jinx was worried. There was no sign of the boggart’s body disappearing, even though it had taken a lot of damage. Clearly, it could bend the rules in this contest. She sighed.

“I end my turn…” she said.

The boggart made a draw.

One of its two remaining facedown cards lifted up.

“I activate Jar of Greed,” he said. “Now, I’ll make one draw.”

It drew a card. Then it looked at the five cards in its hand.

“I’ll set one more card facedown,” it said, “and then summon Mystic Tomato.”

A second facedown card appeared, and then the goofy Tomato appeared. (1,400 ATK)

“I end my turn.”

Clearly, it doesn’t know about the downside of Galahad’s effect, thought Jinx. He may gain 300 Attack Points when he attacks, but he loses 500 when he’s being attacked. He could have attacked him with Mystic Tomato.

Or he could have attacked Axel… He’s up to something…

She drew a card.

“Galahad, destroy Mystic Tomato!” she shouted.

Galahad charged at the Tomato, and his Attack Score rose to 2,100 again. He sliced it half.

“I use its effect,” said the boggart, “to summon Gambler of Legend.”

In an aura of dark shadow, a tall man appeared, wearing a buckskin and a dark cowboy hat. He casually tossed a coin. (500 ATK)

“Sand Gambler and Gambler of Legend?” asked Jinx. “Well, they won’t do you any good. Urbellum, attack!”

X-Saber Urbellum rushed at Gambler of Legend.

“I activate a Trap!” shouted the boggart, as one of its facedown cards lifted up. “Dimensional Prison!”

As Urbellum leapt at the Spellcaster, he faded, and disappeared in a ripple of light.

Jinx closed her eyes. She clenched her fist in anger.

“You, my friend, just made a serious mistake…” she growled.

“We’ll see about that,” said the boggart.

“It’s my move!”

It drew.

Just what I needed, it thought.

“I first play two facedowns,” it said, as two reversed cards appeared.

“Then I use the effect of Fusion Gate. I fuse together Gambler of Legend and Sand Gambler.”

Sand Gambler appeared on the field. Then, both Monsters dissolved into grains of light.

“WAIT!” shouted Jinx. “Those two guys can fuse together?”

“Yes!” laughed the boggart. “Didn’t expect that, did you? I summon Ipos, Lord of Masques!”



Continued…

[Dark Sage]

Continued from last post:



An odd figure descended from the Fusion Gate. It was a tall creature, dressed in clothing that suggested a nobleman of Elizabethan England, although the colors were somewhat tacky, even gaudy. He had the head of a feral cat, possibly a lynx, and the legs of a goose. He wore a colorful mask over his eyes, similar to the type worn during Mardi Gras.

(2,400 ATK)

“What do you think?” asked the boggart. “Don’t you think my Monster is just a million laughs?”

“I’m not fooled by your Monster’s comical appearance,” muttered Jinx. “I’m sure that it’s hiding some dark power…”

“You’ll see soon enough,” said the boggart. “Attack X-Saber Axel! Raging flames of chaos!”

Ipos pointed with one hand, and shot a blast of white-hot fire at the X-Saber. The Beast-Warrior was incinerated.

Whoa, thought Jinx. Smarter than I thought.

“It’s your move…” said the boggart.

Jinx slowly drew a card.

“And my Trap Card activates,” said the boggart.

One of her facedown cards lifted, and Jinx didn’t like the look of it at all. It bore the image of a frightening grim reaper in a multicolored robe.

“This is a gamble card that you never considered putting in your deck,” it said. “The powerful Tour of Doom!

“I’ll explain. Normally, I would toss a coin during your Standby Phase, as in now. If it came up heads, then you wouldn’t be able to Normal Summon or Flip-Summon this turn. If it came up tails, then I wouldn’t be able to Normal Summon or Flip-Summon during my next turn.”

“No wonder I never put it in my deck,” replied Jinx. “That’s sounds like too much of a risk to take.”

“Ordinarily, yes,” said the boggart. “But thanks to Ipos, who is a master of manipulating chance, I can stack the odds in my favor. Once per turn, I don’t have to toss a coin. If a coin toss would be made, I can instead pay 500 Life Points to choose the result!

“So, I pay 500 Life Points to choose heads.”

“Oh, come on!” shouted Jinx. “A Monster that powerful has to have some sort of catch…”

“Yeah, it has a catch,” replied the boggart. “If you manage to destroy Ipos, he’s gone for good, and I lose every card on my field and in my hand. But I’m not too worried about that…”

Jinx looked at the seven cards in her hand.

“Yeah, well,” she said. “I can still set a Monster…”

Then another of the boggart’s facedown cards lifted up.

“Light of Intervention,” muttered Jinx. “So I guess I can’t, huh?”

She played a Spell Card.

“I play Magical Mallet!” she exclaimed. “Now, I’ll shuffle these six cards back into my deck, and try again.”

She combined the six cards with her deck, and shuffled. Then she made six draws.

She looked at them.

“Well, look at that!” she exclaimed. “I play Heavy Storm!”

She quickly played the Spell Card, and a fierce wind started to blow over the field.

“You make this too easy!” laughed the boggart.

Its last facedown card shot up.

“I activate Judgment of Anubis!”

It quickly discarded its last card, a second Mystic Tomato. The winds quelled, and Galahad screamed. He exploded into pixels, and Jinx cringed.

Then she gasped, as part of her left arm started to vanish.

That’s why it never attacked Galahad, she thought.

She looked at her remaining five cards.

“I toss two cards facedown,” she said, “and I end my turn.”

Two reversed cards appeared in front of her.

(J: 5,200) - - - - - - - - - - (B: 5,300)

“My move!” laughed the boggart, making a draw.

It looked at the one card, and then looked at Jinx.

“Ipos, attack her directly!”

Ipos pointed at Jinx.

Time to see if there are limits to that guy’s powers, she thought.

“Activate… Fairy Box!” she shouted.

As Ipos blasted his wave of flame, Jinx’s Trap Card shot up. A coin appeared in her hand.

“Heads!” she shouted, tossing it.

The coin landed, and it came down, heads. The flames didn’t hurt her at all.

“Seems Ipos has a limit to the cards he can use his effect on,” said Jinx.

“Indeed,” replied the creature. “You figured it out. I can only affect the outcome of my own cards. But anyway, I can’t do anything else…”

“But I sure can!” said Jinx.

Her second facedown card shot up.

“I activate… Blind Destruction!”

There was a rumble, and the whole room darkened. The boggart and Ipos looked up, as the Fusion Gate parted, and a huge alien spaceship slowly moved overhead.

“What’s going on?” it shouted.

“Ever see Independence Day?” asked Jinx. “This is one of those alien crafts full of psychotic aliens that destroy everything in sight.

“Here’s how Blind Destruction works. During my Standby Phase, before any of your cards activate, because I’m the turn player, I roll one die. Then, all Monsters whose Level matches the roll are wiped out. If the roll happens to be six, then that means that all Monsters that are Level 6 or greater, like your Ipos, are destroyed.”

“Bah!” said the boggart. “That’s a one in six chance.”

“We’ll see,” said Jinx, drawing a card. “I pay 500 Life Points to keep Fairy Box…

“And here it comes!”

A silver die materialized on the field, and started to skip and bounce.

It came up, a three.

“Crud,” said Jinx.

“Now, Tour of Doom activates,” chuckled the boggart. “Once again, I pay 500 Life Points to choose heads.”

Jinx looked at her cards.

“Question,” she said. “What Attribute is Ipos?”

“Fire,” replied the boggart. “Why?”

“Good,” said Jinx, taking two cards from her hand.

“I use the effect of your Fusion Gate! I fuse together Alligator’s Sword and Baby Dragon…”

The two Monsters appeared on the field, and then disappeared into grains of light.

“To summon Alligator’s Sword Dragon!”

A new Monster flew out of the crackling cloud. It was more-or-less Alligator’s Sword riding a more mature version of Baby Dragon as a mount. (1,700 ATK)

The boggart chuckled.

“Nice,” it said. “You figured out Tour of Doom’s weakness. It doesn’t prevent Special Summoning. Unfortunately, that guy isn’t strong enough to defeat Ipos.”

“He doesn’t have to be,” replied Jinx. “Since you have no Wind, Dark, or Light Monsters, he can attack you directly.”

Alligator’s Sword Dragon took to the air, flying right over the Lord of Masques. He swooped down on the imposter, making a slash with his sword, and knocking it over.

The boggart grunted as it got up.

(J: 4,700) - - - - - - - - - - (B: 3,100)

“You’ll pay for that,” it growled, drawing a card.

It looked at one of the cards in its hand.

I can get rid of her Monster with this, it thought, but it may be more vital in case that Trap Card of hers actually works…

“Ipos,” it shouted, “roast her Alligator’s Sword Dragon!”

Ipos blasted its flame at the mounted wyvern…

“Go, Fairy Box!” shouted Jinx.

She tossed the coin.

“Head again!”

The coin fell, and unfortunately, this time, it was tails. Alligator’s Sword Dragon was burned to a charred crisp.

Jinx gasped as part of her torso started to vanish.

“I set these two cards,” said the boggart, “and end my turn.”

Two reversed cards appeared behind Ipos.

(J: 4,000) - - - - - - - - - - (B: 3,100)

Jinx quickly drew a card.

“I pay 500 Life Points to keep Fairy Box,” she said. “And then Blind Destruction activates.”

The die rolled again.

Then she cheered as she saw it come up a six. The spaceship started to glow…

“Go, facedown cards!” shouted the boggart, as his two cards shot up. “First, Burial From a Different Dimension! Now, Sand Gambler and Gambler of Legend go to my Graveyard.

“Then, De-Fusion!”

Ipos split into two orbs of Light and Dark, which turned into Sand Gambler (1,600 DEF) and Gambler of Legend (1,400 DEF) crouching in Defense Mode.

“Since Ipos wasn’t destroyed, I don’t have to deal with his nasty side effect,” said the boggart. “And next round, I’ll just summon him again.”

“Not if I take out those two guys,” replied Jinx.

“You forget,” said the boggart, “Tour of Doom activates now.”

“Yeah,” said Jinx, “only now, you don’t have Ipos to help you.”

The boggart cursed as a coin appeared in its hand. It gave it a toss.

Then it grinned, as it came up heads.

“Seems luck is still with me,” it said. “Finish your move…”

Jinx looked at her hand.

“I play… Roll of Fate!” she exclaimed.

She played the card, and a golden die appeared on the field. It skipped, and came up a three.

She quickly drew three cards. Then she took the next three, and pocketed them.

“I set two facedown cards, and end my turn,” she said.

Two reversed cards appeared.

(J: 3,500) - - - - - - - - - - (B: 3,100)

The boggart made one draw.

“Go, Trap Card!” shouted Jinx. “Dust Tornado!”

“Eh?” said the demon.

It at first thought that Jinx was going to destroy Tour of Doom. But then it saw that the Tornado was instead aimed at the Field Spell. The dark cloud surrounding the spaceship started to quell, and then scattered.

Curses… it thought.

It looked at the one card in its hand, which was Fusion Recovery.

[I]Sand Gambler’s effect would be pointless,[I] it thought. Gambler of Legend’s effect would only have one good outcome out of four at this point. It isn’t worth it…

And both of them have pathetic Attack Scores. Attacking her with them would accomplish nothing…

“I pass,” he said.

Jinx made a draw.

“I pay to keep Fairy Box again…” she said.

“And Blind Destruction activates again.”

The die rolled…

And this time, it came up a three.

“Oh, a three!” said Jinx. “Isn’t Sand Gambler a Level 3 Monster?”

Sand Gambler ominously looked up at the huge spaceship…

Then a bolt of pure energy shot down from it, and he was atomized.

“This isn’t over!” shouted the boggart. “Tour of Doom activates now!”

“Then let’s see who’s luck is truly better,” said Jinx. “That person is the one who truly deserves to be me.”

The boggart tossed the coin…

And this time, it landed on tails.

“That means I can Normal Summon this turn,” said Jinx, “and I think I’ll summon X-Saber Palomlo.”

The small lizard-man Tuner, holding his spear appeared. (200 ATK)

“Next, I play Monster Reborn, to bring back Galahad.”

She played the card, and the golden ankh appeared. Galahad appeared once again. (1,800 ATK)

“Now, I Tune them together!”

Galahad and Palomlo flew towards the ceiling, towards the huge spacecraft. They dissolved into five glowing stars. The whiny of a horse, followed by a galloping sound could be heard.

“Synchro Summon… X-Saber Wayne!”

A portal opened, and a new X-Saber appeared. Unlike the other X-Sabers, this one was not dressed in barbarian armor. Rather, this one was dressed in the regalia of an old-fashioned cowboy, with a leather suit and a cowboy hat, along with a tattered cloak. The X-Saber insignia was printed on his shoulder guards. He held a weapon that looked like a cross between a six-shooter and a Bowie knife. (2,100 ATK)

“When Wayne here is Synchro Summoned,” continued Jinx, “I can Special Summon a Warrior-Type Monster from my hand. So, I Special Summon X-Saber Anabelera.”

In a flourish of energy, Anabelera leapt onto the field, holding her sword aloft. (1,800 ATK) The boggart growled.

“And now,” said Jinx, “my facedown card activates… Synchro Strike!”

Wayne glowed with energy, and his Attack Score rose to 3,100.

“Anabelera, destroy Gambler of Legend!” shouted Jinx.

The female X-Saber made a slash with her blade, and Gambler of Legend was no more.

“Wayne, finish him off!” shouted Jinx. “Saber six-shooter!”

X-Saber Wayne aimed, and fired six rounds of hot lead from his weapon. The boggart screamed in pain.

(J: 3,000) - - - - - - - - - - (B: 0)

Jinx took a deep breath, as her flesh was restored.

“Now it’s your turn to vanish into the darkness, monster,” she said.

The boggart laughed. A dark shadow surrounded it.

“You think I care?” it laughed. “I like the darkness! I eat, sleep, and breathe the darkness!

“You may defeat me for now, but any victory you win over me is temporary… You cannot defeat darkness… Soon, very soon, I’ll be back, with a different face, wearing a different skin…”

The demon’s cackling laughter echoed through the wax museum as the shadows consumed it.

Jinx looked at the ground where it had been. A game card was lying there. She picked it up.

Cloudian – Ghost Fog.

* * * * * * * * * *

Jinx stood next to her D-Wheel for quite some time, shaken.

DaPen had struck hard this time. He had tricked her into a deadly duel, where she had risked her very existence. His methods had turned deadly now.

And that wasn’t the worst of it… She had searched the whole museum, and it wasn’t there. Clearly, the boggart had already delivered it to DaPen.

DaPen had the Sword of Noon now.

* * * * * * * * * *

It was now nine o’clock.

In the ruins of the mall in Satellite, a portable beacon illuminated the large promenade with the chest, as two Securities sat on the remnants of the fountain watching it.

“Why the heck do we gotta watch this dumb chest again?” asked the first.

“Because the captain told us to,” replied the second. “Besides, it isn’t like we have anything better to do tonight…”

“Yeah, well,” said the first, “if anyone at the academy ever told me that this job would involve watching some weird chest at nine in the evening, I would have told him he was crazy.

“I’d bet anything that’s it full of nothing but a bunch of old lug nuts or something…”

Then he yawned, and slumped over.

Then the second one noticed two flashlights approach. He at first thought that the next shift had arrived early.

It wasn’t. The flashlights were held by DaPen’s two bodyguards. Following them were Edmund and DaPen himself (disguised again, naturally).

“Let’s get this over with, guys,” said one of the bodyguards. “I wanna go get somethin’ to eat.”

“Albert, will you stop thinking about your stomach?” said Edmund.

“Stomachs,” corrected DaPen. “He has four of them.”

The second Security turned to his partner.

“Burt!” he whispered. “Burt! Wake up!”

“No need to wake him,” said DaPen. “In fact, why don’t you take a little nap yourself?”

Then DaPen’s eyes glowed, and the Security’s eyes glazed over. He collapsed, and fell into a deep slumber.

“So what’s in this box?” asked Vincent, as he and Albert looked at the stone chest. “Gold? Jewels? Kielbasa?”

“Something far more valuable than that,” said Edmund. “Something that I can use to strike a serious blow to the Shadowchasers…”

He muttered a hasty incantation, and the chest glowed. Then the top opened, seemingly on invisible hinges.

Inside, the chest seemed to be full of glowing, green, thick, vicious liquid.

“Eh?” said Albert. “It’s a chest full of slime?”

DaPen sighed. Then he slapped the bodyguard in the face.

“It’s not slime, you idiot!” he scolded. “It’s highly corrosive ectoplasm created using necromancy, put there to protect the contents. If anyone put his hand in there, that stuff would take it right off.”

“That’s right,” said Edmund. “The one who sent this chest to the Astral had to be very careful. The contents of this chest could be sold for a fortune on many worlds, and be turned in for large bounties on others. Thus, he made certain that even if an enemy got ahold of it, no-one would ever benefit from its contents.

“Only someone familiar with its magic – like me – can retrieve this treasure…”

He muttered another spell, and the thick ooze parted, leaving an indentation. He slowly reached in, and took something out.

It was a deck case.

“Ooh!” exclaimed Vincent. “Cards!”

Edmund took the cards out of the case and looked at them.

“Very special cards,” he said. “Ones that I can use to create a deck with great power, which will allow a great force to return…”


I hadn’t experienced this myself yet, but I had heard that if you battle in a Shadow Game and survive, you’re generally in no condition to do much until you get a good deal of rest. My mentor had triumphed in one of these deadly competitions, so she was in no condition to train me any more that night. It was past nine anyway. At least she had won. Still, the Sword of Noon was in enemy hands, and DaPen had proven that he was clearly not to be taken lightly.

The day was over, and as at least one great hero in Neo Domino planned to make the return trip to his home, I turned in, not knowing what the next day would yield…



X-SABER GALAHAD (Monster Card)

Card Specs

Type: Warrior/Effect
Attribute: Earth
Level: 4
ATK: 1,800
DEF: 800

Card Description: If this card attacks an opposing Monster, increase the ATK of this card by 300 during the Damage Step only. If this card is attacked by an opposing Monster, decrease the ATK of this card by 500 during the Damage Step only. When this card is attacked, you can Tribute another “Saber” Monster you control to negate the attack.



X-SABER WAYNE (Monster Card)

Card Specs

Type: Warrior/Synchro/Effect
Attribute: Earth
Level: 5
ATK: 2,100
DEF: 400

Card Description: Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner Monsters

When this card is successfully Synchro Summoned, you may Special Summon 1 Level 4 or less Warrior-Type Monster from your hand.

Note: “X-Saber Galahad” and “X-Saber Wayne” first appeared in Japan for the “Duel Terminal 2: Invasion of Worms!!” system. They have not yet been released in the United States.



LEGACY OF X-SABER (Spell Card)

Normal Spell

Image: X-Saber Urbellum standing in silhouette on a hill against the full moon.

Card Description: Pay 1,000 Life Points to activate this card. Special Summon 3 “X-Saber” Monsters from your deck that are each Level 4 or less in face-up Defense Position. The battle positions of these Monsters cannot switch. During the turn you use this card, you cannot Normal Summon, set, or Special Summon any other Monsters.



IPOS, LORD OF MASQUES (Monster Card)

Card Specs

Type: Spellcaster/Fusion/Effect
Attribute: Fire
Level: 7
ATK: 2,400
DEF: 2,300

Card Description: Sand Gambler + Gambler of Legend

This card can only be summoned via Fusion Summon using the above-named Fusion Material Monsters. When a card effect that you control is activated that involves tossing one or more coins, you may pay 500 Life Points to disregard the coin toss and choose whatever outcome you desire as the outcome of that card effect. If this card is destroyed, remove this card and all cards on your side of the field and in your hand from play.

Note: This card is an updated version of a card that appeared in "Dark Messiah".



Coming up next:

DaPen is not finished with his plans yet. Not by a long shot. He has one of the Swords, and next chapter, he makes a move towards getting another. Gears finds himself tracking down an odd excuse for a thief who might be able to shed more light on the whole subject – so long as he defeats him and his equally odd deck.

“Invitation to a Dark Sleep” is coming soon.

[MeLoVeGhOsTs]

Ubergamblingduel. Fun, I don't really like gamblecards, but this match didn't bore me at all. Good job.

The fic is going slowly which is bad for someone with little patience like me, but it's good for the story in a whole.

I hope to see some plot twists soon.

Keep writing!

[Shuppet Master]

Calm down, Ghosts, Brian probably has business to do.

Great chapter, Brian. I feel a little disappointed that, in this world, the Harry Potter series is not liked by everyone and got everything about magic and mythical creatures badly miscontrued. I used to like J.K. Rowling.

And DaPen won this round. I have the feeling that he's going to get all the swords and be stopped just before he invokes the Regalia of Day, but then this is way too far in the future to speculate. Still, great duel.

[Dark Sage]

Don't worry, people. I do have a job, and I am playing Pokemon Platinum and an online game, but I still have time to write fanfiction.

I realize that this fic has a lot of subplots, but I plan for it to be as long as any of my other fics. But more will be revealed very soon. Next chapter, in fact, an important plot element will come to the surface.

I may in fact have opened a can of worms with this fic. Several folks reading it on the other website have expressed an interest in writing their own Shadowchaser stories. Therefore, once this fic is finished, a set of writer's guidelines will be available for any fanfiction writer who wants to use the world I have created, sort of like what Master of Paradox did with his CSR. Whether I will ever write another one, I won't make any promises. More than likely, if I do, it won't appear on TPM.

Heck, a Shadowchasers story does not necessarily have to involve the card game. Jalal's organization was around long before I2 or KaibaCorp was founded, and storylines involving the past are certainly possible. We'll see where it leads.

As one would say, it's a big world, with a universe of possibilities.

[Shuppet Master]

Don't worry, people. I do have a job,

Unlike SOME people (kicks self many times for being a lazy slob)

and I am playing Pokemon Platinum

Oh cool, could you PM me your friend code? I'm working on a battle team right now and plan on testing it soon. ^_^

and an online game,

World of Warcraft? Oh dear, we're in deep doo-doo!

but I still have time to write fanfiction.

Just kidding, Brian. I know you're not that crazy to play WoW.

[Dark Sage]

Author’s note:

People may have noticed that this fic uses several monsters borrowed from role playing games, in particular the Dungeons & Dragons system from Wizards of the Coast.

Up until now, all of the monsters that have appeared are included in Wizards of the Coast’s Open Gaming License, which means that any publisher is free to use them, without crediting or obtaining permission from Wizards of the Coast.

However… Several elements of Dungeons & Dragons are not included in the Open Gaming License, due to their originality. The monster mentioned in the last scene of this chapter is one such element. Thus, I must give due credit, as I do whenever using someone else's work in a fanfic.

Said monster is a registered trademark of Wizards of Coast. Credit for its creation goes to the late Gary Gygax and first appeared in The Strategic Review #1 (Spring 1975).

I will do this again if I need to. Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way…

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

I woke up the next morning to a cold wind and an overcast sky. It was odd weather for this time of year, but I didn’t think anything of it. Rain maybe? Perhaps a small storm?

I didn’t know it, but something worse was brewing. The spirit of the Earth itself was nervous, and the sun wasn’t going to shine while she was. The demons that she had kept imprisoned inside her for so long were threatening to break their bonds, even though their group of minions was not yet complete.

By day’s end, the first battle between a Signer and a true Dark Signer would take place, and there was nothing that the Shadowchasers could do to stop it. Jalal was helpless to even warn the Signer who was the intended target.

He would watch though… And whatever the outcome, he could learn from it. He was preparing for the “worst case scenario”, to put it simply.

As for us, we would also learn a lot, pertaining to our current situation, and it would happen before noon. But before that, I was finishing Boris’s homemade Belgian waffles, while Jinx was looking over my deck, looking for ways to improve it.

And DaPen was in his office, by himself…


Louis DaPen.

It wasn’t his real name, but rather a name he had adapted when he learned he was stranded on this world, and had to deal with humans. In truth, he had no real name; his race didn’t use them. They identified each other via psionic patterns.

As the clock moved to eight o’clock, he opened his laptop, and clicked on his stored recordings. There weren’t many – he wasn’t all that fond of music. But there was one song that he listened to every morning.

The music started to play. It was a song in English, one time a popular piece by the band Coldplay:

I used to rule the world,
Seas would rise when I gave the word;
Now in the morning I sleep alone,
Sweep the streets I used to own…

It was a somber, haunting melody, with lyrics that contained historic and religious references. The song was about a king who had lost his kingdom. DaPen played the song every morning, because it had a great deal of significance to him…

It reminded him of what once was… And inspired him to strive to achieve it again…

As he always did, he listened to the complete song. Once the last stanza had faded, he hit stop.

Then he picked up the phone.

* * * * * * * * * *

“No, no,” said Jinx. “Ember, you don’t need three copies of Molten Destruction. Two is plenty.”

“You sure?” asked Ember.

“More waffles?” asked Boris, holding up a plate.

“We’re fine,” said Jinx. “Ember, there are only three occasions where more than two copies of a Field Spell are justified – one, a Water Deck that uses A Legendary Ocean, two, an Archfiend deck where you have to have Pandemonium, and three, maybe, a Fairy Deck where The Sanctuary in the Sky plays some role. In any other case, two is enough.”

“Think I should have more than one Flame Ruler?” asked Ember.

“Why?” asked Jinx. “You only have one Monster that’s two-tribute. Even if you had two, one would be enough. Three of them, and I might see two, but one is plenty.

“And furthermore…”

She looked up to see Jalal standing there.

“Good grief, Jalal,” said Ember, “don’t you ever sleep?”

“Ember, do you know how dragons are often said to spend all their time sleeping on piles of treasure?” asked Jalal.

“Uhm, yeah…” said Ember.

“It was a myth that dragons themselves invented to lure greedy treasure hunters to their dooms,” said Jalal, “by making them think that it was easy to catch a dragon sleeping. In reality, dragons are very active creatures, who only need one hour of sleep out of every twenty-four.

“As a half-dragon, I need more than that, but not much more. I only sleep three hours a night.”

Ember looked at him.

“You’re awake twenty-one hours a day,” she said, “you’ve lived for over a thousand years… Jalal, if it were me, I would have gone nuts by now.”

Jalal nodded.

“Insanity is quite common with mortals who manage to live for great amounts of time past their normal lifespan,” he said. “Those who haven’t have kept their sanity by finding a purpose… A reason to exist. That’s one of the reasons I first founded the Shadowchasers. Their mission is my reason to exist.

“And I have other people to help relieve the stress; I see a shrink, a massage therapist, a fitness trainer…

“Kaede, a word?”

Jinx sighed.

“Ember, I’m sure you know the drill…” she said.

“Yeah,” muttered Ember, gathering her deck, “you talk to the boss, and I’ll go cozy up to Shichiro.”

Jalal and Jinx watched as she left the kitchen.

“I’m pretty sure she was joking…” said Jinx. “So let me guess… Her third trial now?”

“I admit that they are coming fast,” replied Jalal. “But her power is growing at an uncanny speed. It’s grown more than fourfold since she started.”

“Tell me about it,” replied Jinx. “Sparring with her is getting dangerous.”

“Yes,” said Jalal. “And once she passes this next trial, you can start teaching her to use a real sword.”

He handed her a card.

Ember looked at it. It was the Trap Card, Rivalry of Warlords.

She held her chin. She knew that test, and while it wasn’t as hard to pass as Broken Bamboo Sword or Heavy Slump, it made it a little harder on Jinx, because she had to arrange a few things… And a few things had to fall into place just right…

“Well, I can’t complain this time…” she said.

* * * * * * * * * *

“Get out of here!” said Ember, almost laughing. “Dr. Frankenstein was a real person?”

Shichiro nodded.

“But he wasn’t a scientist who used technology to create his monster,” he replied. “Dr. Frankenstein was a necromancer… A wizard who practiced the magic of death.

“See, the monster was actually an improved version of something that necromancers often create, called a flesh golem. Normal flesh golems are, like Frankenstein’s Monster, animated constructs made from parts of dead bodies stitched together. They tend to be slow, clumsy, and completely mindless.

“But Frankenstein improved the formula greatly. He made his monster fast, agile, and intelligent, something almost unheard of with anything created by necromancy.

“After that, what happened is pretty much what happened in the book – he rejected the monster, it sought revenge, it eventually killed him, and then it went away and was never seen again. Most Shadowchasers believe that it did what it said it was going to do, and killed itself.

“The book leaves out the fact that, in addition to having a younger brother, whom the monster murdered, Frankenstein had another, older brother, who escaped the monster’s revenge scheme. That brother told the author Mary Shelly an account of his sibling’s mad story… Whether she believed him or thought him insane, no-one knows. But she was inspired by his words to write and publish her masterpiece of horror.

“Most Mundanes assume that Frankenstein is only a work of fiction… Only those who can see know the truth…”

They heard a phone ring.

“So many things about Shadow I don’t know about…” muttered Ember. “Do… necromancers still make these flesh golems?”

“They aren’t supposed to, but some do,” replied Shichiro. “No necromancer has ever matched Dr. Frankenstein’s success, and they likely never will. Frankenstein destroyed all known copies of his notes. But some still create regular flesh golems, even though it’s illegal. Of course, most of the things necromancers do are illegal. You need a special license to legally practice necromancy, and very few legit wizards even bother – the only legal uses for the school are some spells used by wizards who are coroners or forensic scientists.”

“Shichiro?” said Gears, poking his head into the room holding a telephone. “Your brother is on the phone.”

“Gears, how many times have we been over this?” asked Shichiro. “If someone calls saying he’s my brother, what’s the first thing you ask him?”

“Oh, right,” said Gears.

He spoke into the phone.

“Which one are you?”

“Wouldn’t medicine benefit from such magic?” asked Ember.

“Just the opposite,” replied Shichiro. “Doctors are supposed to keep people healthy and alive. Necromancy only deals with death. The only time a doctor deals with death is when he does an autopsy or teaches students using cadavers.

“Necromancers usually do a lot of evil stuff, like create zombies and other nasty things…”

“Shichiro, it’s Jiro,” said Gears.

“Gimme the phone,” said Shichiro, getting up.

As Shichiro spoke on the phone, Gears put on his riding jacket and took his sword off of the wall.

“And where are you off to?” asked Shichiro. “No, Jiro, I haven’t forgotten…”

“I’m going to go check on Soelma,” replied Gears. “Her shop is a prime target now, in case you didn’t know…”

“Yeah, I’ll try to be free that day,” said Shichiro into the phone. “Gears, she beefed up her security system. She’ll know if a magical creature even looks at that store.”

“Yeah?” said Gears. “What if DaPen comes personally, like he did at Mistle’s greenhouse? He isn’t a magical creature, remember?

“It doesn’t hurt to be more careful.”

“I hate it when he’s right…” muttered Shichiro.

* * * * * * * * * *

Twenty minutes later, Gears pulled up in front of the book store.

Everything seemed to be okay as he walked in.

“Soelma?” he said, looking around. “Soelma?”

He walked to the desk.

“SOELMA!”

The moon elf was lying on the floor next to her chair, fast asleep. She was snoring loudly.

Gears didn’t believe for an instant that this was because of a particularly boring book that she had been reading. He knelt down and gently lifted her onto the chair.

“Soelma?” he said, as he gently slapped her on the cheek. “Wake up! Be okay, please be okay…”

Slowly, she started to come to…

Then she screamed.

“Soelma!” shouted Gears. “It’s me! Calm down!”

Soelma took some deep breaths…

“A sandman!” she gasped.

“Huh?” said Gears, looking puzzled. “A sandman did that to you?”

“He came into the store, and demanded the Sword of Dawn and the Sword of Midnight,” said Soelma. “And I was looking at both of them at the time. I tried to use some magic to scare him off, but he must have upped the intensity of his sand…”

“Great,” muttered Gears. “So he took the two Swords?”

“Only the Sword of Dawn,” said Soelma with a smile. “I managed to shove the Sword of Midnight into a Leomund’s Secret Chest and shoot it into the Astral before I fell asleep.”

Gears sighed.

“Nice work,” he said. “Man, I don’t get it… Sandmen usually go around helping people who can’t fall asleep. They’re supposed to be helpful fey. Why would one of them work for DaPen?”

“Well, I didn’t exactly get a chance to ask,” replied Soelma.

“How long ago was this?” he asked.

Soelma looked at her watch.

“Almost forty-five minutes,” she replied.

“Look, Soelma,” said Gears. “Drink some coffee, then call the Chest back, and take the Sword of Midnight to the townhouse. We’ll keep it in our own vault from now on. We can’t put you at risk from anything else.”

He put on his helmet.

“Where are you going?” she asked.

“I’m gonna find me a sandman,” he said.

“Won’t he be hard to find?” asked Soelma.

“Not if I follow the trail of sand,” replied Gears.

Once outside, he got on his bike, and punched a command onto the computer.

And I mean that literally, he thought.

The program was set to detect fine traces of magical substances. Substances like sandman sand, which was, in reality, specially enchanted form of the pixie dust that was exuded by the bodies of some fey. The best way to describe it was to say that these fey exhaled it as part of their respiration process, although it was, like every part of their bodies, magical.

As he hoped, a fine trail of the stuff was hanging in the air, undetectable to the naked eye, but clear as crystal to his D-Wheel’s sensors.

He had to hurry. Even this trail would go cold soon.

* * * * * * * * * *

Ember looked with worry as Jinx sat down beside her on the couch.

“So?” asked Ember. “Gimme the bad news…”

“Actually, this is one of the easier ones,” said Jinx, handing her the Trap Card.

“Rivalry of Warlords?” asked Ember.

“It’s rather straightforward,” said Ember. “You don’t even have to build a new deck. In fact, you aren’t allowed to. You can alter your deck a little, but this time, it has to be your deck.

“First, you have to confront an enemy whose deck has the same general theme as yours.”

“That would be Fire…” said Ember.

“Exactly,” said Jinx. “Doesn’t matter what the exact strategy is, so long as Fire is the predominant theme.

“But there is one other condition. Not only must you win the duel, but in the process, the key Monster in your deck must defeat that of your opponent. Your Warlord must defeat your enemy’s.”

Ember gave her deck a long look.

Then she took Flamvell Urquizas from her Extra Deck, and gave it a longer look…

* * * * * * * * * *

Gears drove into the city park.

A girl and her boyfriend were asleep on a bench in each others arms. Nearby, a man who had been walking his dog was asleep on the ground, and the dog was asleep next to him.

A hot dog vendor was slumped against his cart, also asleep. A woman holding her two-year-old child was asleep, the child snoring softly in her arms.

“Yep,” said Gears. “Either a sandman is nearby, or Godwin was just here, and made one of his famous speeches.”

He took off his helmet, and then opened up a compartment on the left side of his seat. In it (and a matching one on the right side) was a variety of Shadowchaser-issued equipment.

He found what he was looking for. It looked like a strap-on, portable gas mask. He quickly fastened it over his nose and mouth and tightened it.

He shuffled his deck, placed it in his Disk, and started to walk through the park. Finding his quarry would be easy – he simply had to find the one living creature who was awake.

And he found him, after ten minutes of searching. The sandman was helping himself to the breakfast buffet at an outdoor kiosk. He looked like a gnarled, wrinkled old man, dressed in blue, striped pajamas, a night cap, and bare feet.

“Hey, Wee Willie Winkie!” shouted Gears.

The sandman shouted in shock, and dropped his tray. Clearly, he had not been expecting anyone around to be awake.

“Hey, I was going to pay for it!” he protested. “I’m no thief!”

“Yeah, you don’t steal food,” replied Gears. “You only steal big stuff, like magical swords.”

The sandman let out a loud sigh.

“By the way,” said Gears, pointing to the mask, “this thing is enchanted to protect me from magical dusts and powders, so your sand isn’t gonna work.”

“Smart…” muttered the sandman.

“I can figure out most crooks,” said Gears, “but not you. You’re supposed to help insomniacs. Why work for some mob boss?”

“Do you like your job, Shadowchaser?” asked the sandman.

He sat down at one of the tables and leaned his head on his hand.

“Uh, yeah…” said Gears.

“Well, mine isn’t too hot lately,” replied the sandman. “You don’t know how hard it is for most fey who have to work in urban areas… It’s the pits. Except for tooth fairies. They have it made. They live in the lap of luxury because of their position, all because of what they do for the fey lords. I tell ya… If more folks were Aware, and they knew what the little sprites did with the teeth they so easily got kids to sell to them, they’d want more money for them.”

“You’re gonna make me ask, right?” said Gears, raising an eyebrow. “What do they do with the teeth?”

“Human tissue taken from children is used by fey sorcerers to create fairy homunculus,” replied the sandman, “artificially-created beings that are used for the defense of a fey community. In ancient times, fey had to kidnap children to get what they needed to build them. They’d snatch little children, and leave changelings in their place.

“But then one smart brownie met a six-year-old child in a forest in France; the kid had just lost one of his baby teeth, and offered to sell it for only half a franc.

“News spread fast. Some tests were done, and the fey lords realized that kids everywhere would sell their teeth for pocket change. After that, kidnapping wasn’t necessary. The most petite, gentle fairies, who could switch teeth for coins without waking a sleeper, could get jobs as tooth fairies, and the fey lords who they give the teeth to rewarded them well.”

“It still doesn’t explain why you’re working for DaPen,” replied Gears. “But, uhm… I know this guy who’s a dentist, and he tends to throw away the teeth he extracts…”

“Adult teeth are no good,” replied the sandman. “You want to know why I’m doing it?

“Sandmen serve the Lord of Sleep and Dreams. We flit around every night, finding humans who are tossing and turning, and we help them fall asleep. That’s what we do…

“The thing is, for two months now, I have had the hardest time sleeping myself! Strange, isn’t it? My sand can put anyone out like a light, and yet I myself sit up awake with insomnia!”

“Uhm, yes,” replied Gears, “that is kinda… ironic…”

“I’ve tried everything…” muttered the sandman. “Warm milk, meditation, self-hypnosis…”

“Why don’t you take a pill?” asked Gears.

The sandman gave him a dirty look.

“A pill,” he growled. “Pills are the answer to everything with you humans, aren’t they? I don’t trust pills… You ever listen closely to the commercials on TV they have for those things?

“First they tell you in a big, strong voice about all the great things these pills can do. Then they tell you in a real quiet voice about all the side effects they have. ‘Side effects may include nausea, constipation, upset stomach, and bloody discharge. If you are pregnant or nursing, consult your obstetrician before taking this medication’. Puh-lease! You could get most of those problems from eating chili dogs, and at least they taste good.”

“Okay!” shouted Gears. “So you don’t like pills! I can respect that…”

“But…” said the sandman. “DaPen can cure insomnia. He can put someone to sleep even faster than I can. I only had to steal the Swords for him to get him to do it.”

“You’re an idiot,” said Gears. “If he uses his powers to put you to sleep, you may never wake up. You have no idea what danger you’re in.”

“Au contraire,” said the sandman, gravely. “I have a better idea than you do what the danger is.”

Gears looked at him strangely.

Did this guy know something?

The sandman stood up and slipped a Duel Disk on his left arm.

“Tell ya what,” he said. “With you wearing that gas mask, my sand can’t do squat to you. And I’ve got no chance against you in any other fight. Dueling you is the only way I’m getting out.

“But… You know now that I know a little secret… So, you duel me, and I’ll tell ya what it is if you win.”

Gears paused at this.

Truthfully, the only way that he could apprehend this guy now was to duel him. He could knock him out with one punch if he wanted to, but he was as bound to the Fair Fight clause in the Treaty as much as any Shadowkind was.

But he wasn’t going to tell him that. This Shadow knew something, and Gears wanted to know it too…

Both Disks activated…

(Gears: 8,000) - - - - - - - - - - (Sandman: 8,000)

“You can’t sleep?” asked Gears, making his first draw. “Well, my Monsters can put you out like a light.

“I summon Ally of Justice Researcher.”

There was the sound of a loud motor, and a Machine drove onto the field. This looked more like a vehicle than a humanoid robot, resembling a futuristic dune buggy with robotic arms on the top, and laser pistols behind them. (1,400 ATK)

Gears placed two cards into his Disk, and two facedown cards appeared.

“Now let’s see what you’ve got,” he said.

“Of course,” said the sandman, making a draw.

He played a card, and a set Monster appeared.

“That’s all for me,” he said.

“Really?” said Gears, drawing a card. “Well, watch this combo…

“First, I activate Researcher’s effect. I toss one card…”

He discarded his Robotic Knight.

“…and your reversed Monster is moved to Attack Mode.”

The sandman’s card flipped, and a Giant Rat appeared where it had been. (1,400 ATK)

“Hmm,” said Gears.

Then one of his facedown cards lifted up.

“Next, I activate Birthright. I’ll bring back my Robotic Knight.”

In a flash of energy, the android sergeant appeared. (1,600 ATK)

“Then, I summon Ally of Justice Unlimiter.”

He played another card, and the large, mosquito-shaped drone appeared, hovering in mid-air. (600 ATK)

“Then, I use Unlimiter’s effect, and sacrifice it to double the Attack Score of Researcher!”

Unlimiter vanished into pixels, and Researcher glowed with energy. (2,800 ATK)

“Uh… oh…” muttered the sandman.

“Researcher, blast that rat!” shouted Gears.

The sandman covered his head as Researcher fired its lasers, blowing giant rat into particles.

He took some deep breaths.

“I use my Rat’s effect…” he said. “To summon another Rat…”

A second Giant Rat appeared. (1,400 ATK)

Gears pointed, and Robotic Knight fired its gatling blast at the second Rat, blowing it to pieces.

“Now I use that one’s effect,” replied the sandman, “to summon Milus Radiant.”

In a small burst of energy, a small, shaggy cat with long claws, wearing earrings and a blue scarf around its neck appeared. (300 ATK)

“With him around, all Earth Monsters gain 500 Attack Points.”

(800 ATK)

Gears looked at the small Beast, and raised an eyebrow.

“I end my turn…” he said.

Researcher fell back to an Attack Score of 1,400.

(G: 8,000) - - - - - - - - - - (S: 6,400)

“Alright…” muttered the sandman, making a draw.

He looked at the card. Then he flicked open the Field slot on his Disk, and placed a card inside.

“I activate Gaia Power,” he said. “This will give all Earth Monsters an additional boost.”

Gears stepped back, as huge trees sprouted around the playing field, covering the whole area with a thick canopy of leaves. Milus Radiant rose to an Attack Score of 1,300.

“Let me guess,” said Gears. “You use a lot of Earth Monsters?”

“Mmm-hmm,” replied the sandman. “And they all feel right at home in this unspoiled forest.

“Take my Naturia Guardian, for instance.”

He played the card, and it seemed like another tree sprouted in front of him.

“It’s just another tree,” said Gears.

“Look closer,” said the sandman.

Gears did, and saw what he meant. The tree had a face, a face with a smug smile. (1,600 ATK) –> (2,600 ATK)

Naturia? thought Gears.

“All right, Guardian,” said Sandman, “turn his Researcher to mulch!”

Naturia Guardian started to shuffle towards the Machine, using its roots for legs…

“Not so fast!” said Gears, as his other card flipped up. “I activate Half or Nothing!”

Judge Man appeared in front of Naturia Guardian, holding his two axes. The Guardian stepped back, nervously.

“Seems your Monster doesn’t like axes all that much,” said Gears. “I don’t blame it. But you can end your Battle Phase now if you want… If you don’t, its Attack Score will be cut in half.”

“Hmm, tough choice,” replied the sandman. “But… before I decide, there’s something else I can do…

“You see, since you just activated a Trap Card, I can send the top card from my deck to the Graveyard…”

He discarded the card.

“…to Special Summon Naturia Rock from my hand.”

With a loud cry, a goofy-looking purple boulder with tiny arms, tiny legs, and a goofy face, with moss and daisies on top, appeared next to the Guardian. (1,200 ATK) –> (2,200 ATK)

“And as far as your Trap Card is concerned, I’ll end my Battle Phase. Then I’ll move Milus Radiant into Defense Mode…”

Milus Radiant sat down. (0 DEF)

“…and then Equip it with the Spell Card, Mist Body, to make sure it stays around.”

He played the card, and a misty shroud surrounded the Beast.

“And I end my turn.”

Whoa, thought Gears, making a draw. Two Monsters with over 2,000 Attack Points in one turn?

He looked at his hand.

“I set a Monster,” he said, “and then move the other two into Defense Mode.”

A set Monster appeared. Researcher shielded itself with its robotic arms (100 DEF) and Robotic Knight knelt and held its saber down. (1,800 DEF)

“That’s all I can do,” he said.

The sandman made a draw.

“I summon Naturia Nerve,” he said.

He played another card, and a small creature appeared with the other two Naturia Monsters. It was a sly, grinning imp, apparently made out of ivy leaves. (200 ATK) –> (1,200 ATK)

“Give that Researcher a bad rash,” said the sandman.

Naturia Nerve pointed, sending a cloud of poison dust at Researcher. The Machine quickly dissolved and corroded into dust.

“Naturia Rock, wash Robotic Knight away!”

Naturia Rock opened its mouth, and blew a stream of multicolored bubbles at the android. It groaned, and then burst into pixels.

This is just plain weird, thought Gears.

Naturia Guardian made a swipe at the facedown Monster with its mighty branch. However, Dark Resonator appeared on the card, and blocked the blow. (300 DEF)

“It won’t be leaving just yet,” said Gears. “It has to be attacked twice to be destroyed.”

“Then that’s all for me,” said the sandman.

Gears drew a card.

Now what? he thought. My Dark Resonator isn’t going to last another turn, and then these dream creatures are gonna come after me.

Hope this works out.

He played a card, and a set Monster appeared. He nodded.

The sandman made a draw.

“I summon Naturia Beetle,” he said.

He played another card, and a large Insect burrowed out of the ground. Well, sort of an Insect. It looked more like an acorn with a wooden stag beetle’s head, with big, blue eyes, and leaves for wings. (400 ATK) –> (1,400 ATK)

“Now I move Milus Radiant to Attack Mode,” he said.

Milus Radiant stood up. (1,300 ATK)

“Naturia Nerve, attack Dark Resonator!”

The Nerve shot its poison pollen at the Tuner, and Dark Resonator groaned.

“Now, Milus Radiant will attack your Resonator.”

The large Beetle pounced, and made a swipe with its claws. Dark Resonator shattered.

“Naturia Rock, attack his last Monster!”

The Rock spit its stream of bubbles at the facedown card. Dekoichi appeared on the card, and burst into shards.

“Now I get to draw one card,” said Gears, making a draw.

He looked at it, and he grinned.

“Beetle, attack him directly!” ordered the sandman.

The Beetle spit a volley of seeds from its mouth, and Gears covered his face as they hit him.

“Guardian…”

Gears grunted in pain as the large tree clubbed him with its branch.

Gears took some deep breaths.

Man… he thought. These Naturia Monsters may look cute on the surface, but they clearly mean business. And I haven’t even seen the effects of three of them yet…

He looked at the card he had drawn.

But this should weaken them considerably…

(G: 4,000) - - - - - - - - - - (S: 6,400)

“My move!” he said, drawing a card.

“And here goes your Field Spell! I play Heavy Storm!”

He played the Spell Card, and a fierce wind started to rip through the forest.

“Sorry, but it’s not gonna happen,” replied the sandman. “I activate Naturia Nerve’s effect.

“By sacrificing it, and one other Naturia Monster, I can negate your Spell Card.”

Naturia Nerve and Naturia Rock dissolved into grains of light, and the Storm subsided.

“At least I forced you to get rid of two Monsters,” replied Gears.

“True, but one of the ones I have left is stronger now,” replied the sandman. “You see, each time a Spell Card is activated, even if it doesn’t resolve, Naturia Beetle’s Attack and Defense Scores switch.

“Its base Defense Score is 1,800. Thus, its Attack Score now becomes 1,800, which is augmented by Milus Radiant and the Field Spell.”

(2,800 ATK)

“Twenty-eight hundred Attack Points?!” gasped Gears.

“Let me explain how Naturia Monsters work,” said the sandman. “I use them mostly because they look like figments of a child’s dreams and imaginations… But the strategy behind them is rather complicated.

“Each one’s effect is mostly dependent mostly not on what I do, but what you do. They can use their effects based on certain actions that my opponent takes. Or they can simply restrict the actions my opponent takes.”

“So a deck that uses them is a Control Deck?” asked Gears.

“Sort of,” replied the sandman. “But it takes the aspect of Control a step further, and benefits me as much as it hinders you.

“In other words, you have to be careful with every move you make…”



Continued…