Nightmares

Shiho Bengo stepped into the dark alleyway. The city was oddly empty at this time, but he knew why. A lot of people had gathered around the Duel Stadium to watch the duel between Mateo Yurigaya and Anya, unsure as to why a duel of that magnitude would be taking place at such a late hour. Originally, Shiho was watching the duel, standing by his friend. But as soon as that monster, Frelt, the Ender of Lives hit the field, Shiho knew.

Of course, there was also the text.

WE NEED TO MEET. GO TO THE BACK ALLEYWAY JUST OFF MAIN. ADACHI HATAZO.

Now there was a name Shiho hadn't heard of in a very long time. Adachi Hatazo was once a good friend of Shiho's, until the day that they had gone their separate ways. After an intense duel, Adachi punched him out. When he came to, he was gone, and he found this damned Mark on his arm. Adachi was back in the city, and Shiho intended to find out what the hell he wanted. Footsteps, from behind him.

"Made it, did you?" Shiho turned to face the man standing in the shadows.

"It wasn't easy. I don't even know how I was allowed to exit the Dark Seal."

"Right, you're friends with that Yurigaya guy who's dueling right now." The man replied. "We need to talk, Bengo."

"Talk. Right." Shiho scoffed. "You're lucky I didn't catch up with you after the last time we met."

"I did more than just wail on your face, man." The man stepped out of the shadows, revealing his face. He had dark green eyes and short, spiky hair. Adachi Hatazo hadn't changed in the slightest. "I needed something from you. Something that, if I'm not mistaken, your friend Yurigaya knows all too well."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"It means that I took something from you. Something important." Adachi replied. "Something precious."

"Memories." Shiho realized. "You stole my memories you son of a bitch!"

"I had a good reason. And I kept them, after all." Adachi held a small device up. "Its time for you to get what you lost back."

"Why did you take them from me in the first place?!"

"I dunno, seemed like fun at the time." He returned the device to his pocket. "Lately, I've been feeling generous, so I figured you might want them back."

"Let me guess. You started feeling generous around the same time Mateo arrived in the city."

"It's a possibility." Realizing that he was getting nowhere, he sighed. "I'll tell you what, Bengo, old buddy. I'll have a duel with you."

"Why would I duel you after what happened last time we dueled?"

"Because…" Adachi walked over to his Duel Runner and grabbed a Duel Disk out of a side compartment, and fastened it to his right arm. "You want answers. Answers that you can only get by defeating me in a duel."

"I do want answers." Shiho agreed. "Well, the last time we dueled, it was inconclusive. Could have gone either way at the point we left off."

"We'll just have to see how this duel will end off, then."

Shiho smirked. He raised his right arm and placed his deck in the deck slot. "Are you sure you're ready to face the full force of the law?"

"Shiho, Shiho, Shiho." Adachi shook his head. "You never change. The brutality of my deck will overwhelm the balance that your dumb Azurians have."

"And you think that I never change? Ha!" Shiho placed his left hand over his deck, ready to draw his five cards. Adachi did the same.

They shouted in unison; "Let's Duel!"

Shiho Bengo: 4000 LP
Adachi Hatazo: 4000 LP

"I'll take the first move, you pompous lawman!" Adachi shouted as he drew a card from his deck. "I summon Nightridge Scout from my hand in defense mode! Next, I activate my spell card Strategic Retreat! With this, I can return all Nightridge monsters on the field back to my hand. And since my Nightridge Scout was removed to the field, I can use his special ability to special summon a level four or lower Nightridge monster from my hand or deck! So come to the field, Nightridge Inquisitor!"

"Your deck strategy hasn't changed in the slightest, Adachi!"

"Why would it change? The Tried and True works, and I'm gonna prove it!" He pulled a card from his hand and set it to the field. "I'll end my turn with one facedown card!"

"My turn, then! Draw!" Shiho pulled a card off the top of his deck. "I summon the Azurian Secretary in defense mode! And with a defense stat of 2000, you won't be getting past her any time soon! I'll also set two cards facedown to end my turn!"

"My turn, then. And it looks like your little 'defense' won't help you in the slightest, because I summon Nightridge Chevalier!" Adachi snickered as his monster roared to the field. "With this, your defense will fall!"

"Last time I checked, 2000 was higher than your monster's eighteen hundred and seventeen hundred."

"Yes, but your Secretary is no match for this!" Adachi pressed a button on his duel disk and held his arm out. "I'm calling these boys, here, to summon forth a new Nightridge! That's an Order, Private! So by tributing two Nightridge monsters, I can call forth a more powerful one from my deck! Meet my Nightridge Executioner! And since my first two Nightridge monsters were removed from the field, I can activate their special abilities! Inquisitor's doesn't help me, but Chevalier's does! Because by paying eight hundred Life Points, your next Draw Phase gets skipped!"

"What?"

Adachi: 4000 LP-3200 LP

"That's right! Now, Executioner, why not go all Richard Brandon on his ass and execute the Secretary?" The Executioner raised his axe and brought it down, severing Azurian Secretary's head from her shoulders. "Ha ha ha!"

"My turn!" Shiho was about to draw, but he realized that he couldn't and looked at his hand. He sighed. "I summon Azurian Aide to the field in attack mode! And when the Aide is in attack mode, once per turn, I can add a trap card from my deck to my hand, and I'm choosing the Civil Disobedience trap card, which I'm setting to the field! Next, I'm going to activate my face down Right to an Attorney spell card! By changing the battle position of an Azurian monster I control, I can special summon one level four or lower Azurian monster from my hand or graveyard, and I'm choosing the Azurian Bailiff!"

"Summon as many monsters as you want, Bengo." Adachi chided. "They are powerless in the eyes of my Executioner!"

"We'll see. Because, in case you haven't noticed, my Azurian Aide was switched to defense mode." Shiho smirked as his deck shuffled and then ejected two cards. "This allows me to add up to two spell cards from my deck to my hand, and I'm choosing my second Right to an Attorney and my Hung Jury spell cards! And by activating my Right to an Attorney, I can switch my Bailiff to defense mode in order to summon my Azurian Secretary from the graveyard! And since Bailiff is now in defense mode, I can change battle positions of all other monsters on the field until my next Draw Phase, which means that your Executioner can't be doing any head chopping next turn! And with one card facedown, I'll end my turn!"

"Then it's my turn! Draw! And it looks like it's already the end of the line for you!" Adachi laughed as he summoned a monster to the field. "Behold, my level two tuner monster, the Nightridge Cannoneer! And I'm gonna tune him to my level six Nightridge Executioner! As metal clashes against metal, and brother kills brother, this mighty being descends from the Heavens, ready to reap those who lose the mighty war!

"Synchro Summon!" The Cannoneer flew up and vanished, leaving two glowing green Synchro rings and a cannon, which crashed to the ground. As they encircled the Executioner, it threw its enormous axe into the air. The Executioner vanished, too, leaving its six level stars, which aligned themselves in straight line. That line was pierced by a green light that expanded to the innermost edge of the Synchro rings. "Descend, mighty Legion Armor Dragon! Ha ha ha ha!"

Legion Armor Dragon is a level eight DARK attribute Dragon-type Synchro monster with 3200 Attack points and 2600 Defense points.

"And since those two Nightridge monsters left the field, that means…"

"That's right! Their abilities activate! First up, my Cannoneer will inflict you with 500 points of damage!" Adachi made a gun with his hand and made a shooting motion as the cannon left behind by the Cannoneer blasted Shiho.

"Urg!"

Shiho: 4000 LP-3500 LP

"And next, the axe from my Executioner will descend and destroy your Bailiff!"

"Not quite! Cause I'm gonna activate my Hung Jury quick-play spell card!" Shiho countered, causing all his monsters to begin arguing before they vanished, moments before the axe smashed down where the Bailiff was standing. "This card allows me to send all Azurian monsters I control to the graveyard! Then I can special summon Azurian monsters from my deck who have a combined level equaling that of what was sent to the graveyard!"

"An interesting play, but worthless in the face of my new monster, the Legion Armor Dragon!"

"We'll see!" A glowing light began to emanate from Shiho's Duel Disk. "Because I'm special summoning the Azurians Councillor, Prosecutor, Clerk, and Paralegal! And I'm summoning all of them in defense mode! All those defense monsters, and they've got some benefits coming my way! Due to the Clerk's special ability, I can add the spell card Reversal of Hope to my hand! With the Prosecutor's effect, I can special summon the Azurian Juror in defense mode! As long as he's on the field in Defense mode, you can't target any other monsters for an attack! Bring your worst, Adachi!"

"Legion Armor Dragon, attack the Azurian Juror with Ravaging Hellfire!" Legion Armor Dragon opened its mouth as fire erupted from within, obliterating the Juror. "I'll end my turn with a facedown!"

"And by the effect of my Paralegal, on your end phase, if it's in defense mode, I can tribute it and special summon my Azurian Attorney from my deck!" Shiho called as it appeared to the field. "And since it's in defense mode, all monsters I control gain 300 Attack until the end of your next turn!"

"Grrr!"

"It's my turn! And boy, is this move gonna be a big one!" Shiho closed his eyes for a moment, deep in thought. He opened his eyes. "I'm tuning the level two Councillor to my level two Clerk and level four Prosecutor! Law. The defining force of our society. I summon forth a monster who is Law Incarnate!

"All rise, for court is in session!" As with Adachi's monsters, the Councillor transformed into two green Synchro rings, one for each level. As they encircled the other two monsters, they, too, transformed into their level stars. The level stars within the Synchro rings aligned themselves in a straight line and was pierced by a green light which expanded to the innermost edge of the Synchro rings. "Synchro Summon! The Supreme Judge, Justiciar Dragon!"

Justiciar Dragon is a level eight WATER-attribute Dragon-type Synchro monster with 2600 Attack Points and 2100 Defense points.

"And with its special ability, he can increase his attack by 500 for every WATER-attribute monster in my graveyard! By my count, there's eight! So that means my dragon will gain four thousand attack points!" Shiho looked up to his dragon. "See, it looks like we've both got some new toys since the last time we met!"

Justiciar Dragon: 2600 ATK + 4000 ATK = 6600 ATK

"Agreed! But by activating my Moment of Peace spell card, I can draw one card and prevent either of us from attacking this turn!"

"Getting desperate?"

"Hell no! But I do have a plan!" Adachi drew a card from his deck, signifying the start of his turn. "My move! I summon Nightridge Scout in defense mode! Next, I'm gonna activate a little Spell card! I like to call this the Battle Façade continuous Trap Card! I target a monster on my field, and as long as that monster is on the field, you can't target another monster for an attack! Speaking of attacking, Legion Armor Dragon! Use your Ravaging Hellfire attack to destroy the Azurian Attorney!"

As with before, Legion Armor Dragon blasted flames towards the Attorney, but at the last second, it blasted around it and back towards the dragon, forcing it into defense mode. "What the hell?"

"You triggered my Civil Disobedience trap card! By attacking, I can change my monster's battle position, change yours, negate the attack, and end the Battle Phase!" Shiho shouted, confidently. "And since my Attorney is now in Attack Mode, when a monster card I would control would be destroyed, I can banish it instead, and summon it back in the end phase!"

"Grrr! I end my turn!"

"Then it's my turn! And I'm commanding my Justiciar Dragon to destroy your Nightridge Scout!" Shiho pointed at the monster as his dragon opened its mouth. "Go! Justice Wave!"

His mighty monster opened its mouth and roared, the shockwave causing the Scout to explode. Almost as soon as it did, it reformed. "Huh?"

"Did you forget my Nightrdige Scout's special ability?" Adachi laughed. "When it leaves the field, it summons another level four or lower Nightridge monster from my hand or deck, and I chose another Nightridge Scout!"

And with this, there's no way I can lose! Ha ha ha ha! Adachi thought to himself as he looked at the Majestic Dragon he held in his hand.