A bit of history before I post this up.

Although I am a new member to , I've been a part of communities and forums for many years, operating under the same username in anduril38, and my real name is Michael Baker. To those who play Yugioh and have been on similar forums, they may have met me. In March 2009, I posted Chapter 1 of the Dark Order on .com. It eventually became a great success on there, and at the current time it had spanned over 60 chapters. Although I was very proud of it, I had made many serious errors on it, which eventually lead to me being unable to continue it in its current form. Therefore, in talks with friends of mine, I decided to do a complete rewrite of my work, which I thought I would upload to here.

Chapter 1: A New Dawn

"Where is it? ANSWER ME!"

Silence fell through the chamber, with the pallor faced prisoner thrown roughly into the wall with a sickening thud. Coughing up blood and shivering in his thin, ripped rags, he slid onto the ground and looked up defiantly into the faces of his assailants, his chains keeping from pinned on his knees. The torturer's gaze was obscured by the black hood he wore, further shadowed by a white mask, and the only light in the tiny, dingy cell came from a single flickering light bulb. The prisoners face, gaunt and battered, looked dead except for the eyes, which were a brilliant, piercing blue. The cell was cramped and stank of stale blood and sweat, with dried blood and fluids coating the stone floor.

"I'm going to ask you again scum, or I'm going to saw off your fucking arm. What is the code?" The masked interrogator demanded, raising a bloodied machete in his hand towards the beaten prisoner. His voice was rough, thick with a Russian accent and devoid of any kind of pity.

"Because I'm really going to tell you it now, aren't I? If I was going to tell you, I would have done before you tried waterboarding me. Besides, if you're going to saw off my arm, you actually need to use a hacksaw, not a machete", the prisoner replied, his dry voice dripping with sarcasm.

There were a few moments of stunned silence before his torturer regained his composure.

"You're going to pay for that," he snarled.

"Vulcanov, stop. This is wasting time," a cold voice warned from the doorway. Snarling, Vulcanov turned round as another hooded male entered the room; a giant hulk of a being, his only feature detectable in the dim light was the jagged scars across his cheek.

"Rayku, we need that code and this piece of filth is irksome. Just let me kill this bastard!" He urged glancing back at the young man chained in front of him with perverse delight. Rayku raised a hand for silence and Vulcanov instantly obeyed. This man, whoever he was, was clearly of great rank for this vile man to obey so quickly.

"In due time, Vulcanov. But killing him now is contradicting your orders, yes? Now, Jalin, we seem to have a problem," Rayku began quietly, stepping into the cell and brushing Vulcanov aside to address the captive. "We cannot seem to break through the last defence codes of your clan's base. But you're going to tell us the father code to shatter them".

Jalin's jubilant expression faded at these words to be replaced from one of anger and disgust. "What makes you think I'm going to reveal it? Not willingly. I'll die before that happens".

"Which I'll oblige, scum. We already have over five hundred of our forces crossing the border of your region, and preparing for an assault". Vulcanov cut across him. "We will take it by force, and you are alone. They cannot help you now. For the last time, what is the code, or must I have to have another of your little friends burnt alive before your eyes for you to get the point?"

"You will fail. The Aukoloto clan has prepared for this moment for centuries. We've been isolated from the Order for almost as long; our forebears have learnt long ago not to trust anyone but ourselves. We don't need them or Hinari's guidance and you'll pay the price for underestimating us; unlike them we are not corrupt weaklings. You will never purge my homeland, and sure as hell I won't be a part in your sick games!" Jalin spat at him. Rayku watched on, amused. He knelt down to look him in the eyes.

"Let me explain what's going to happen, so you'll understand. Whether under your own free will or by force we shall find that code: that bitter lifeline which is protecting your children and your home from destruction. The Aukoloto homeland will burn from our hand. Your people, your families and your children shall be ripped apart before you all. You will watch as we tear away every part of your humanity until you have no choice and see that we were made to rule, and you were designed to kneel. Now, the code, if you will, Jalin. I'm not going to waste any more time".

Jalin's eyes remained impassive. In one grisly move, he bit down and severed through his tongue in a final act of defiance, blood pouring out of his mouth slopping sickly down his chin onto the floor. He spat the remnants of his tongue at Vulcanov, where it hit him squarely on his filth encrusted muscle shirt before it lay discarded on the floor like a piece of dog meat. Rayku laughed softly; it was chilling, not like himself.

"So much loyalty for your home. We would reward you with the death you deserve. It's just a shame your friend did not show the same devotion to your cause. He gave us the code not more than an hour ago. It looks like you have nothing to say. I'm sorry, I didn't catch that?" He mocked, bringing his ear down closer to Jalin, whose eyes were wide, horrified at the betrayal.

"Looks like he's not going to be useful anymore. Well, he might be", Vulcanov chuckled perversely as he leered down at the boy. "But I doubt he'll enjoy it much. What shall we do with him?" He enquired of Rayku, who had turned to leave the cell. He stopped at the doorway looking back, carefree.

"Well I recommend a post mortem. Which means he has to be dead first", he replied casually as though they were discussing a subject as mundane as the weather. "Oh, and make sure she's watching. Fitting she can watch what she'll be eating for the next week". With that, he left.

Laughing manically, Vulcanov slammed the door shut behind him, looked up at the video camera in the top corner of the room, where live footage of another cell was taking place; a middle aged emaciated woman, beaten and laying naked in cold chains on the floor in her own blood, urine and excrement, obviously Jalin's mother from the silent hysteria she was expressing at the camera. Winking at it, he grabbed the can of petrol sitting in the nearest corner and approached Jalin, who was now screaming through his severed tongue in terror as he watched his brutalised mother do the same, knowing they would never see each other or the homeland they had sacrificed so much to protect again.

The skyline was a haze of early morning sunshine, with the sunbeams penetrating the canopy of the knurled cluster of oak trees in sight of the window. There was precious few clouds in the sky; a perfect spring morning. The surrounding city buildings were quiet, slumbering before the inevitable daily routine. Watching out from their bedside window stood a young adult male, perched casually against the side watching the view. He looked to be in his early twenties, with short, dirty blond hair blocking his left eye. He was dressed somewhat slack in a simple black shirt which hung slightly loosely from him and navy tracksuit bottoms. His eyes were a murky bluish green which gazed into the distance, but suggested his mind was further away.

"It happened again didn't it? You know, Michael, it's been too soon for you to come back."

He turned around as his friend watched him cautiously, his dark brown eyes full of concern. He was slightly shorter and stockier, with powerfully built arms, his sleek black hair falling carefree down his shoulders. He had an aura of happiness and joy around him, as though he was determined to make the air itself joyful like himself. He watched Michael cautiously for answer.

"It always does James; I don't know why you're surprised by that anymore. You know more than anyone why I came back here. I need to get stronger", Michael replied after a moment, taking one last look at the horizon before turning round to face James. Their bedroom was spacious and comfortable, with two single beds in the centre of the room. Like most young adult's rooms, it was partially a mess, strewn with clothes, books and electronic devices.

"I would say I know how you feel but I'd be lying, so I won't insult your feelings. But challenging him so soon afterwards? I know he's your mentor, and the leader of the Order, but I don't know what was going through your –"

"I wanted answers!" Michael cut across him, his tone a little sharper than normal, though still calm. "You out of everyone know how much she means to me. How much I cared for her. My friends, her and your family mean the world to me. She was ripped apart, torn away from me by that bastard, and for what? For something which none of us understood or could never have? I want to prove to Hinari that I need to be in the Order, to find him avenge what he did to her. You didn't see the blood, James: you didn't see what they did to her!" His tone rose as a mixture of rage and pain shot through him. Standing up he paced the room feverishly. James watched him begin to lose his composure; both of them could feel tears pricking at their emotions, threatening to spill over the barrier. He knew he wasn't angry with him, just frustrated at the loss he was feeling.

"I know! I know. She meant a lot to me too, to us all. But you let your anger and grief cloud your vision, and look how it cost you; you were defeated easily. Instead of letting us help you, you blindly went in and paid the consequences for that. But I guess that's why you came back so soon I'm guessing? You want to train to have another attempt at defeating Hinari and getting those answers? Look, maybe its best if you take a couple of weeks out, I'm sure Brandon will understand and grant you that. We'll back you up, you know we will".

His calm, kind words seemed to lessen Michael's anger slightly. Letting out a sigh, he leaned back into the recliner next to him. "I don't know. I know I messed up. I just wanted the opportunity to change things. To somehow turn all that pain into something positive. All I felt in that week in the hospital recovering was how I had failed her, failed you all. So many missed opportunities to tell her how much I truly loved her. That's why I went straight to Hinari. He's my legal guardian after all, I expected him to have answers. But he wanted me to prove myself; to see if I was ready to really learn, to be a member of the most lucrative yet the most secret organisation of the world. You know how important that was to me. I accepted on the spot. You were right though; I felt nothing but anger and thought that would get me through. Even the deck which Hinari had given me was no match for him. I lost that duel without being able to even get through: without him losing a single Life Point by my hands. He tried to console me afterwards. And that's why I've came back, even amongst all the fucking publicity," His tone became sarcastically bitter as he recalled the obsessive journalist interest which surrounded him upon his return to the Central Academy. "Was it too soon? Probably yes, but I don't have the time to nurse that. He told me to go back to this Academy and train for the chance to take him on again at the end of the year. That's the last I've seen or heard from him/ I haven't heard from him since."

"Have any idea where he is?" James asked. Michael shrugged as he checked the clock on the large, handsome oak table beside him. It was five minutes to ten.

"He's a busy man. He has so many secrets. I guess one does when they are in the command of an organisation such as his. Jonathon's family don't have half the task he has and they're busy on a daily basis".

At that moment, James's cell phone bleeped on his bedside table, indicating a message.

"It's Deigo", He said, checking it. "He's just calling to say that he, Jonathan and Chris all passed their assessment. They're going out to play tennis and will meet us in the afternoon. Come on, we'd better get going; ours is in half an hour".

"Pirius needs to stop coming down on me like a ton of bricks" Michael muttered darkly, as he pulled on his heavy duty sporting trainers. "He needs to get off my case".

"It's only because he cares", James replied coolly as he quickly pulled on a pair of jeans over his red gym shorts. "Just as we all do. And speaking of that, when are you planning to tell them the full story? I know I said not to say anything as I trust your judgment, but they have a right to know".

"I know that, but I don't want them to needlessly worry. Telling that a deranged gang is trying to kill someone you know? That's going to help their safety isn't it? Come on, we'd better wake up Alasdair and Daniel".

"They're seriously still asleep? God, Al was using his damn hair straighteners for two hours last night. TWO!" James exclaimed furiously, as they shut the door behind them as they stepped out into the dormitory corridor. Well lit and narrow, all was quiet; most of the occupants had already left for lectures or exams. "Seriously, what kind of guy does that besides a transsexual or someone who's gay?" He continued, as they walked a few feet down the corridor and turned to the door opposite them. He knocked on the door hard for a few moments, noticed it was already open, and pushed it aside, leading him and Michael into their bedroom.

"Aww, look at them, how sweet", James said mockingly, struggling to contain his laughter. Daniel and Allisdair were curled up on opposite ends of the single bed, both clearly exhausted. Daniel was short, slightly podgy and gently built, with a good natured large, round face with a crop of short red hair, giving the look of looking like an egg. Allisdair was around the same height but slimmer, with black ruffled hair which he took great pride of. His features gave the look of him looking like an overgrown, friendly mole. Both were snoring gently, with Daniel having kicked off most of his duvet onto the floor; he was wearing distinctive pyjamas with penguins on them.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" James whispered incredulously, aghast at their laziness. Smirking now, Michael quietly walked through the clothes littered on the ground towards the sink, taking a bucket which lay on the floor by the doorway and quietly filling it up.

"Well if this doesn't wake them up, they deserve to fail today". With a devious grin over his face, Michael tiptoed over to where they were dozing, and with a tip, trickled a large amount of cold water over the two of them. The effect was immediate. As Daniel let out a shocked squawk of surprise and fell out of the bed onto the floor, Allisdair leapt out of the bed with a furious leap, his hands reaching up to his hair.

"WHO JUST TOUCHED MY HAIR?" He shouted as his balled up fists rose to attack whoever had committed such a horrifying act. James was doubled up on the floor with laughter.

"It's to wake you up, moron. Come on, you're going to be late, you're assessment is in 20 minutes!" Michael remarked putting the now empty bucket onto the floor as Allisdair groped his hair to feel how much damage had been done. Recovering from his shock awakening, Daniel stood up and began searching his drawer for clothes to put on. After feeling the damage done to his precious hair, Allisdair furiously threw the covers back and strode to his clothes drawer.

"Shit, I overslept! I didn't get much sleep last night!" He groaned.

"Then don't spend two hours straightening your hair then!" James replied exasperatedly, giving him a helping hand up. "And don't even think of straightening them now, you don't have time. Come on!" He added, as Allisdair looked at his hair straighteners on the bedside table in the corner longingly.

"I'll just meet you guys there," Michael said. Allisdair angrily jabbed his finger at him.

"I'll get you back for that!" He began, but Michael merely laughed at this meaningless threat, ignoring him as the door slammed shut. Daniel glared at James for a moment, who was paying no attention to him. He finally let out an impatient cough.

"James, I dislike getting changed in front of men. Would you mind leaving while I do so?"

James suppressed a giggle. "Yet Allisdair is right beside you," he pointed out. All he got was two glares from his direction. Smirking and shaking his head, he left the room.

"Attention. All entrants for the Quarterly Assessment please attend Examination Theatre 3 and enter the respective booth when your name is called. To all other students who are not in the Assessment's, please refrain from entering the theatres while the examinations are taking place".

Allisdair looked up angrily at the ceiling at the sound of the tannoy system, frustrated at its distraction. Dressed conservatively in a black workers shirt and jeans, he glared across the duelling arena at his opponent, a heavily built, angry male with alarming red hair which clashed horribly with the Russian top hat he was wearing. The duelling arena they were in was compact and cramped, one of the smaller booths which were used mainly for practical demonstrations. Sitting at a desk sat two proctors, watching the examination closely.

"Hurry up and make your turn dammit! Stop stalling: you're only delaying the inevitable!" Allisdair's opponent goaded. He was an arrogant piece of work called Stu, in his second year.

Allisdair ignored him and thought hard as Stu smirked across at him, confident in his victory. Allisdair was slightly ahead in Life Points, having 1600 compared to Stu's 1400, but he was in an inferior position. He had nothing on the field, while Stu had a Big Shield Gardna in Defence, a Marshmallon in Defence and a powerful Wave Motion Cannon on his field, currently loaded at one counter. (100ATK/2600DEF, 300ATK/500DEF)

I have to win this turn, Allisdair thought quickly. Or that Wave Motion Cannon knocks me out. And I'm not going to lose to this idiot!

"It's my turn," He declared. "And since it's the start of my turn, I can bring back my Treeborn Frog to the field, since I control no Spells or Traps on my field!"

A pale green frog with angelic fluffy white wings hopped onto the field, as Stu snorted with laughter at the sight of it. Allisdair's eyes bulged slightly as he puffed up with anger at the idea of his precious frogs being insulted.

"Next, I'll summon Substitoad to the field in Attack Position!"

Its brother joined it onto the playing field, similar in size but pink and brown in appearance, its left side ominously decayed and its angelic wing demon like. (100ATK/2000DEF).

"What's that going to do?" Stu taunted.

"If you'd shut up for a moment, I'll tell you exactly how you're going to lose. Substitoad's ability allows me to tribute a monster I control in order to summon a Frog monster from my deck. So, by tributing Treeborn Frog and itself, I can summon two more Frogs from my deck, such as my Unifrog and Bullet Frog, and I'll put them both onto the field in Attack Position!"

Both of Allisdair's monsters sank into the floor of the arena, to be replaced by two larger frogs; one with an aggressive, needle sharp horn on its forehead and the other swollen up to the size of a basketball. (400ATK/200DEF, 300ATK/1500DEF)

Bullet Frog

2 Stars

Water/Aqua/300ATK/1500DEF

You may tribute this card you control to have all other "Frog" monsters you control on the field gain 1000ATK until the End Phase.

"Now, I'll activate Bullet Frog's ability; by tributing it, all other Frogs I have on the field gain a 1000ATK point boost!" Allisdair continued, gleefully watching the proctor's for recognition as his horned frog swelled up to twice its original size. (1400ATK).

"That's still not going to help you," his opponent smirked smugly. "It has no hope of getting past my defence, and on my next turn you will lose thanks to my Wave Motion Cannon!"

Allisdair let slip a rare leer of joy; it was frightening, or creepy. "You won't get a next turn. Clearly you haven't realised that Unifrog can attack directly? Wipe out the rest of his Life Points!"

Tucking in its head, the little frog shot across the arena like a dart, hitting his opponent square in the chest and sending him flying backwards onto the ground. (Stu's LP: 0)

Allisdair gave a fist pump of triumph and turned away as Stu swore under his breath. The proctor at the desk gave them permission to leave, with the information that their results would be posted in the next few days. Waving to them after removing the stylish Duel Disks they were both using for the assessment, Allisdair opened the door and stepped out, almost crashing headlong into Michael, who was walking in the opposite direction.

"Did you win?" He asked, pulling Allisdair back onto his feet after he was sent sprawling to his knees. He gave a disgruntled look of annoyance, shocked in his view that such a question of him would be asked.

"Of course, the opponent I got was that Stu kid, who do you think won?" He said pompously. "When's yours?"

"Just now, I get to be tested by Brandon, yay!" Michael said sarcastically, raising his arms in mock celebration. "Why couldn't I get somebody simple instead of the leading Deputy Professor? By the way, I bypassed Tom a few minutes ago; he looked really down; do you know what's wrong?"

"Something to do with that Lucas prick. He mentioned he had a run in with him this morning. He really pisses me off; strutting around the place with his cronies to try and trick people into thinking he's important and has friends. He's so elitist!" Allisdair ranted for a moment, failing to see some of the resemblance.

"He makes you seem humble, Allisdair. We'll get the bitch later today anyway. Deigo wants to know if you and the others want to meet us later on for lunch?"

"Sure, though this time don't ruin my fucking hair!" Allisdair replied somewhat bitterly, raising his hand up to feel his precious goods. Shaking his head, Michael began to walk on.

"I'm not even going to dignify that with an adequate remark so I'll leave you be with your hair. See you later on," With a wave of his hand Michael continued down the corridor until he reached the end of it, with a set of double doors with the words Practical Theatre 4. Just as he reached it, they opened.

"About time! You're nearly late!" Brandon said, blocking his path for a moment, closing the door behind him. He was young for a proctor, in his mid-twenties, tall and fair, with jet black hair spiked up behind his ears. His eyes were piercing, which made him seem a lot older then he actually was. But he was one of the most popular professors for a reason. "How you getting on?"

"Yeah, sorry, Allisdair needed waking up. And as well as you'd expect, to be honest," Michael replied.

"James had a quiet word with me yesterday you know," Brandon began, watching him closely. He gave a great amount of care and welfare for the students he came to tutor, and was highly respected by the teaching world as a result. "You know we wouldn't object to you spending some more time away from here. It can't be easy coming back".

"I know," Michael said shortly. "I've had too much time away. I'm better off here". Brandon nodded, understanding. "Okay. Well, if you'd like to follow me," he said, opening the doors. This was a larger room, well lit and sloping up, with many rows of tables where students would usually sit and take notes. There were only two students in today, timid looking newcomers it seemed who were watching with interest. "If you don't mind for the assessment I would like these first years to assess and take notes. Picking up a Duel Disk from the set of tables ahead of him in full view of the room, Brandon threw it to Michael as he activated his own, far more extravagant Duel Disk, proof of his prestige. Wordlessly, Michael activated his own Duel Disk and stood opposite him on the platform.

"Students, watch closely. This is something which you are very lucky to see, so pay close attention to this duel. It shows how even the most outgoing and fun students here can play like a devil when it's an important battle. You ready Michael? This will decide your Assessment for the third Quarter".

Nodding, Michael prepared himself as the two drew.

So, I begin again.

End of Chapter 1

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