Before this chapter debuts, I’d like to say some words.

This chapter debuts a major character, who has a religious belief that is more common than many might think – he has none. In fact, he openly rejects such beliefs. If he worships anything, it knowledge. He has a reason, but I must keep that a secret for now.

Thus, a disclaimer.

This character is NOT, by any means, meant to represent all people who have atheistic, agnostic, or humanistic beliefs. I’m not such a person myself (I won’t tell you what faith I belong to) but I have friends who are, and they are decent people, even if I disagree with them on that matter. Just because you don’t follow any religion doesn’t mean you can’t be a decent person.

If you choose not to follow any religion, please do not be offended by this character. I did not design him to illustrate my own views to the contrary, or my disapproval towards such attitudes.

Now that I’ve taken care of that unpleasant business…



CHAPTER ELEVEN



Rasputin Appears!



Ice Age Chill




It was seven AM, the morning of Day Two.

Sheena Arachne walked onto the bridge, holding a cup of coffee.

“What’s the status so far?” she asked a technician.

“Two hundred and eleven guests are still in the running,” he answered. “So far, seven guests are at Blue status, but none beyond that.

“You might be interested in knowing… One of the guests at Blue is Ms. Mouto, and another is your daughter.”

Sheena smirked.

“It doesn’t surprise me…” she said. “Keep me informed of any changes…”


* * * * * * * * * *



Ren, Chelsea, and Yumi were sitting at an open-air café eating croissants and orange juice, while Yumi related her spooky duel with the fortuneteller last night. Ren looked in an Industrial Illusions catalogue.

“So…” he said, pouring through the ‘A’ section, “you said the names of these Monsters all started with ‘Arcana Force’?”

“That’s what I said,” replied Yumi.

“Well…” said Ren, looking at a page, “this catalogue was released this May, and I can’t find them in here anywhere. They must have been custom cards of some sort… This Cassandra woman clearly wasn’t your typical duelist.”

“That’s not entirely new to me, Ren,” muttered Yumi. “Most fortunetellers are just charlatans who want to make money… This one, though… I think her powers were real…”

She looked out onto the street.

“Somewhere in this big city, something is lurking, waiting to strike, and I have a feeling we’re gonna be caught in the middle of it…”

“So...” replied Ren. “Do we go looking for it, or do we wait for it to walk right up to us?”

There was a long pause.

“Hey,” said Chelsea, “is that Marlon?”

They looked over, and saw Marlon at the next table, talking to a slightly younger man. He was holding a small object in his hands.

“It seems… Egyptian in nature…” said Marlon, looking at the small disk, “and was likely an amulet of some sort, although the chain is long gone. Most of the hieroglyphs are strange to me, but the symbol in the center is clearly the Eye of Wdjat… A very popular symbol of magic, I believe…”

Yumi perked up. Marlon had found something with the Eye of Wdjat on it?

She glanced at her Puzzle.

Yumi got up, but before she could go over, three figures approached Marlon’s table.

Two of them were Nicholas and Olga, even though Yumi and her group hadn’t seen them yet…

The third was a man who seemed to be around forty. He was dressed in an outfit that resembled a smoking jacket, made of expensive material, with designer slacks and loafers. Most remarkably, his face sported a full black beard, long, but neatly trimmed and combed, with ample hair on his head.

“Marlon Farnsworth, I presume?” said the strange man.

He had one of those strange accents that made it impossible to tell where he was from.

“I am…” said Marlon. “And you are?”

“Well, my full name is Rasputin Arthur Graham Carlisle Lamont the 3rd,” said the man, holding out his hand. “Simply call me Rasputin, it’s much easier to remember…”

“I see…” muttered Marlon. “Not the most… respectable name…”

“Mmm, yes…” said Rasputin with a shrug. “It was the name of a Russian advisor to the Czar who was a bit of a scoundrel, but, eh, you can’t exactly choose your names…

“I knew a man who actually changed his family name. He thought the name Gore would have been bad for business… He was a butcher…

“I’ve considered changing mine… but it takes money that I’d rather spend elsewhere…

“Oh, where are my manners? These are my two protégés… Nicholas, and Olga.”

He pointed to the two teenagers. The two of them nervously waved.

“So what can I do for you mister… ah, Rasputin?” replied Marlon.

“I couldn’t help but take interest in that amulet you found,” said Rasputin, looking at the strange artifact. “You see, Mr. Farnsworth, like you, I’m an archaeologist of sorts, but I tend to study old cultures rather than old fossils. I travel a lot… Most recently, I’ve been operating out of Copenhagen…”

“Really?” asked Marlon, perking up. “I’ve been to Copenhagen. The Arken Museum of Modern Art is quite a place.”

“Indeed,” said Rasputin. “May I ask where you found that?”

“Believe it or not, I found it in a pile of coal,” said Marlon. “It caught my eye as I passed by this morning.”

Yumi rubbed her chin as she watched this…

She saw the Pharaoh watching next to her.

“Marlon…” said Rasputin, “mind if I call you Marlon?”

“Not at all,” he replied.

“I collect such artifacts,” said Rasputin. “If we had met elsewhere I might offer a decent check for it… But since we’re both guests of this tournament, what would you say to a duel with a wager?”

“I’m listening…” replied Marlon.

Rasputin took a card out of his jacket.

“I’m willing to ante this up against that amulet. It’s quite rare…”

Marlon stared at it. Yumi tried to look, but she couldn’t see it.

“I say…” muttered Marlon. “That IS quite rare!”

He looked at the amulet.

“I suppose I might even enjoy it,” he said. “Jolly good then…”

As he stood up, Nicholas and Olga went over to where Yumi’s group was sitting.

“Mind if we join you?” asked Nicholas. “His duels are always interesting to watch…”

“Perhaps…” said Yumi.

The Pharaoh looked at her and shook his head.

But I can’t shake the feeling that something is rotten in the state of Denmark… she thought.


* * * * * * * * * *



Marlon and Rasputin faced each other on the street beside the café. Their Disks activated.

“Game on!” they both said at once.


(Marlon: 8,000) -------------------- (Rasputin: 8,000)



“All right old boy…” said Marlon, drawing his first card.

He looked over his first hand.

“To start, I’ll place two cards facedown, and one Monster in Defense Mode…”

Two facedown cards and a facedown Monster appeared.

“Ho boy…” said Chelsea. “Looks like he’s gonna play the same trick he used on you, Yumi.”

“Well, let’s see what we have here,” said Rasputin, drawing his first card.

He took one of them.

“I play the Spell Card, Nobleman of Crossout.”

He played the card, and an effeminate knight in armor with a sword appeared. He stabbed into the facedown Monster, and it shattered.

“Good grief!” shouted Ren.

“So much for that strategy,” said Chelsea.

“Next…” continued Rasputin, “I’ll summon my Ice Knight.”

He played a card, and a knight in bulky armor that was seemingly made of entirely of ice and a cape made of white fur, carrying a sword made of dull metal appeared. (1,300/1,200)

“This Monster gains 400 Attack Points for every Aqua-Type Monster on the field,” he explained. “And that includes himself, incidentally.”

Ice Knight rose to an Attack of 1,700.

“Well, let’s see…” he said. “I could attack… But those facedown cards are a concern, so I think I’ll just end my turn.”

“Suit yourself…” said Marlon, drawing a card.

He looked at it.

“I summon my Sabersaurus to the field!” he exclaimed.

With a rumbling, the huge armored Dinosaur appeared, and roared. (1,900/500)




“Crush his Ice Knight!” he shouted. “Tusk trample!”

Sabersaurus charged, and smashed Ice Knight into little pieces. Rasputin cringed…


(M: 8,000) -------------------- (R: 7,800)



“Not bad…” said Rasputin, drawing a card. “Easy come, easy go I guess… But it’s far from over…”

He played a card.

“I play Premature Burial. I simply have to relinquish 800 Life Points, and my Ice Knight returns.”

The ground cracked, and Ice Knight rose out of the ground. (1,300/1,200) –> (1,700/1,200)

“And next…” he continued, “I sacrifice him to summon forth his master… Farwell, my Ice Knight…”

Ice Knight shattered into shards of crystal…

“I summon Mobius the Frost Monarch!”

A chilling wind seemed to blow over the whole field, as a huge form, best described as a fifteen-foot-tall giant sculpted out of ice wearing a purple cape rose behind Rasputin. His cape fluttered in the chilling wind that surrounded him. (2,400/1,000)




“And simply by summoning him,” continued Rasputin, “I can destroy your two facedown cards.”

Mobius breathed a blast of freezing vapor. Marlon’s two facedown cards lifted up, revealed to be Fossil Excavation and Widespread Ruin. They froze solid, and then shattered.

“I’m hardly done…” said Rasputin. “Next, I play a Spell Card… Called Mobius’s Palace.”

He fit the card into his Disk, and with a rumble, a huge palace made of ice crystal rose up behind him, glimmering in the morning light. The whole arena started to ice over.

“A powerful Spell Card,” he said. “It can only exist so long as Mobius is on the field, but when it does, all Beasts, Beast-Warriors, Winged Beasts, Plants, and Dinosaurs lose 500 Attack Points.”

Sabersaurus groaned, and fell to an Attack of 1,400.

“Now Mobius, attack!” shouted Rasputin. “Blizzard blight!”

Mobius breathed forth a cone of chilling frost, and Sabersaurus was frozen solid in a block of ice. It shattered into little pieces.


(M: 7,000) -------------------- (R: 7,000)



Ren turned to Olga.

“Your dad sure can duel,” he said. “He…”

“Rasputin’s not my dad,” Olga quickly said.

“Oh… uh… okay…” muttered Ren.

Rasputin fit a card into his Disk, and a facedown card appeared.

“That will do it for my turn…” he said.

Marlon drew a card. He looked at it.

“My Trap Card activates,” exclaimed Rasputin, as his facedown card lifted. “It’s called Mobius’s Glacier. This card needs Mobius’s Palace to exist, but it further inconveniences the Monsters the first card effects. Those Monsters can’t attack, and can’t be set in Defense Mode.”

“This is not a coincidence, Yumi,” said the Pharaoh. “Rasputin’s deck is specially designed to counter a deck like Marlon’s. He must want that artifact pretty badly…

“The question is… why?”

“Well, let’s see what we can do about that,” said Marlon. “I play… Pot of Greed.”

He played the card, and then drew twice.

“Since I can’t defend, I’ll go on the offensive,” he said. “I summon Balloon Lizard.”

He played the card, and a large creature appeared, floating in the air. It resembled an alligator, but its torso was spherical and bloated, similar to… a balloon. (500/1,900)




“Interesting…” said Rasputin. “But all for naught. I’ll destroy it before its effect becomes a serious issue.”

“I wasn’t intending to use its effect,” said Marlon, taking a card from his hand. “Let me share with you a common theory among paleontologists. Most folks say that dinosaurs were an evolutionary step up from common lizards, who were in turn a step up from amphibians. In a sense, ordinary cold-blooded reptiles evolved into dinosaurs, who many believe were warm-blooded, more like birds.

“This Spell Card is called Ultra Evolution Pill. What it does is speed up the evolutionary process. So if I used it on a Reptile, like this one, it might turn into a Dinosaur, now wouldn’t it?”

He played the card.

“So I use it to sacrifice my Balloon Lizard…”

The Reptile vanished in a burst of energy.

“To summon Black Tyranno from my hand!”

A huge, carnivorous Dinosaur, standing bipedal with dark skin arose, and gave a primal roar. (2,600/1,800)




Then the ice froze it to the ground, and its Attack fell to 2,100.

“I’ll place this facedown,” said Marlon, placing a card in his Disk, “and end my turn.”

Rasputin drew a card.

“I summon my second Ice Knight,” he said.

Another Ice Knight appeared. (1,300/1,200)

“And then,” he said, “I bring back the first with the power of Monster Reborn.”

He played the card, and the ankh appeared. Another Ice Knight materialized.

“And with three Aquas on the field,” he said, “they both have 2,500 Attack Points.

“Mobius, attack the Black Tyranno!”

“Hold it right there, old sport,” said Marlon. “I had a Trap ready…”

His facedown card lifted.

“Zero Gravity,” he said. “Now all Monsters on the field switch Modes.”

Mobius and the two Ice Knights crouched in Defense Mode, as did Black Tyranno, but the Dinosaur was quickly moved back into Attack Mode by the Glacier.

“Fine…” said Rasputin. “I end my turn then. You still can’t attack…”

Marlon drew.

“Oh, I can’t can I?” he said. “I play the Spell Card, Shield Crush!”

He played the card.

“Now I can destroy one Monster who’s in Defense Mode. Time to break the ice, so to speak. I target Mobius!”

A beam of energy shot from the card, and Mobius groaned as cracks started to appear all over him. He shattered into little pieces of ice.

“Mobius…” moaned Rasputin. “Smashed into pieces… like common cocktail ice…”

“That means his Palace goes too…” said Marlon.

The Palace blew into pieces, and Black Tyranno rose to its normal 2,600 Attack.

“…and like a chain reaction, that means the Glacier is gone as well.”

The Trap Card shattered, and the ice trapping Black Tyranno melted.

“And since the only cards you now have on the field are Monsters in Defense Mode,” continued Marlon, “Black Tyranno not only can attack now, he can do so directly!”

Black Tyranno charged, causing the ground to tremble, and stomped with its mighty foot.

Rasputin groaned and held his head…

“Ugh…” he said. “That was… unpleasant…”


(M: 7,000) -------------------- (R: 4,400)



“I’ll place a card facedown and end my turn,” said Marlon, fitting his last card into his Disk. “It’s your move…”

Rasputin drew one card. He gave it an odd look.

He placed it in his Disk, and a facedown card appeared.

“Your move…” he said.

Marlon drew a card.

“Well…” he said. “With that facedown card there, Black Tyranno can’t attack directly, but I can still take care of your Knights.”

His facedown card lifted.

“I activate Call of the Haunted.”

The ground rumbled, and Sabersaurus clawed its way out of the ground. (1,900/500)

“Both of you…” he ordered. “Take down his Ice Knights!”

Sabersaurus charged, and smashed one of the Ice Knights to pieces. Black Tyranno charged and stomped the other one flat.

“Thank you…” said Rasputin, with a sinister smirk. “As a paleontologist, you surely know about another theory, Marlon… About how a catastrophic event caused the extinction of the dinosaurs, like, say perhaps, a meteorite crashing to Earth…”

“Well, yes, that’s a very common theory, but…” replied Marlon.

Then his eyes opened wide.

“Wait… Your facedown card…”

“Yes…” said Rasputin, as his facedown card lifted. “It’s the one I wagered, and I can activate it since I have fewer Life Points than you do…

“Jurassic Impact!”

The sky turned red, and a swarm of fireballs fell from above.

“Hit the dirt!” shouted Ren.

Everyone gasped in horror, as the meteorites crashed onto the arena, the two Dinosaurs howled, and were blown to atoms.

It wasn’t over yet. The whole arena had been turned to a volcanic wasteland, covered with molten lava.

“This is a hologram, right?” asked Ren, nervously.

“The cataclysm it causes not only kills all Monsters on the field,” said Rasputin, “but the owners of the destroyed Monsters lose 1,000 Life Points for each. Plus, the arena becomes so inhospitable to life that no Monsters can be summoned or set for one of each of our turns.”

“Fine…” muttered Marlon. “I’m ending this turn…”


(M: 5,000) -------------------- (R: 4,400)



“Then I draw…” said Rasputin.

He looked at the card he had drawn.

“Pass…” he said.

Marlon drew. He shook his head as he looked at the card.

“I pass as well…” he said.

“I guess there isn’t much they could do…” said Chelsea. “Without being able to summon… That was a powerful Trap. No wonder Marlon accepted the wager.”

The lava cooled, and became a rocky surface again.

Rasputin drew again.

“Well…” he said. “I can summon again, but to summon this lass, I need to remove Mobius from play.”

The card fell out of his discard slot, and he placed it inside his jacket.

“So I summon Tara the Ice Princess.”

He placed the card on his Disk, and a coldly beautiful princess with icy skin and hair, dressed in a skimpy fur bikini and white fur cloak appeared. A chilling wind blew around her. She didn’t seem at all like she was dressed for cold weather, but she was an Ice Princess... maybe that was the whole point. (2,000/800)

“And by the way,” said Rasputin, “she has the same ability as Mobius, but she can use it every round.

“Attack directly!”

Tara blew a chilling gust at Marlon. He shielded himself, but shivered under the intense cold…


(M: 3,000) -------------------- (R: 4,400)



“I say…” said Marlon. “When this is over, I might need some brandy to ward off this chill…”



Continued…