It was a rainy day. The cold drops with which the sky was crying were rapidly landing upon the soaked road, their noise being music to a dead town.
Inside a small wooden house, a fifteen year old boy with long dark blue hair was sitting on the floor, surrounded by a pile of rectangular cards. Through his red eyes many pictures of otherworldly creatures passed as the cards were moved from one pile to another, none seeming to find its place. Sweat was racing down his forehead as it seemed that he was finally getting an idea as to what he was supposed to do with them. As he was one of the most popular duelists of the Darkness civilization, having even earned the title of the Grim Reaper, or Black Death, he was not supposed to fail and keep his reputation as a ruthless player. But even those tense moments of deck building faded as soon as the final card was slapped upon the pile of forty cards.
"I hope that this day won't be as boring as the past months." Kokujo sighed, more bored than ever before. "What to do, what to do? I even finished my deck and I'm still bored as hell."
In the next moment the voices of two boys passing by his house echoed, catching his attention.
"So the legendary Dorballom is actually real?" one of them asked.
"Yes, I heard that it is the most powerful Darkness creature and because of that there is only one Dorballom in the whole world." the other replied.
"Only one Dorballom, huh?" Kokujo asked himself. "Heh, I will be the one who gets it."
Getting up, the long haired boy grabbed a trip bag and slid his freshly made deck into one of its pockets. Afterwards he took off his red shirt and tossed it upon a chair, he falling upon his bed and gently slipping away in the land of dreams.
Around 6 AM the rain persisted even more than the previous day. Kokujo woke up from his peaceful slumber, ready for the quest that lay ahead. Packing a small sack with food, a pile of newspapers, two books and a small wallet with money in his trip bag, he was ready to go.
Walking all alone down the empty streets, he was nothing but a shadow in the rain-stricken and seemingly deserted city. While his black leather coat did protect him, it was sleeveless, so his naked arms had to endure the merciless cold drops, even if his hands were protected by lying in his black pants' pockets. His black leather shoes however were soaked from walking through so many puddles, but he did not mind any of this.
Having arrived at the train station, after purchasing a ticket, he took a seat and calmly waited for his vehicle to arrive. After some time, a stranger took a seat next to him. Kokujo did not even take a look to see who it was and resumed his daydreaming. For a few minutes there was silence with the exception of the sky's crying, but then the stranger suddenly spoke with a rather high pitched little boy's voice:
"You must be the legendary Kokujo the Black Death, also known as the Demon Tamer."
"What if I am?" Kokujo replied, keeping his cool.
"In that case, allow me to introduce myself!"
Getting up from his chair, the midget tossed aside his black robe and revealed himself as a child dressed in a white pajama with blue stripes, a cloak covering his face. Kokujo raised an eyebrow, looking slightly interested, and asked passively:
"And who the hell are you?"
"I am one of Zakira's servants! My name is Bura!"
"Hehe, Zakira is such a coward to send kids to fight me!"
In the very next moment Kokujo's seeming passivity went away, he letting out a psychotic laughter that brought chills down poor unsuspecting Bura's spine. Finding the courage, the kid pulled out his deck which shined with a bright blue aura. Kokujo grinned and responded to the challenge be showing his own deck that was surrounded by a purple aura.
They walked to two dueling tables lying at a small shelter near the railway and had their match. After a few turns, Kokujo tapped four mana cards and showed a black card that belonged to the Darkness civilization, saying:
"And now to show you my trump card - I summon Daidalos, General of Fury!"
A thunder echoed and lightning struck from the sky, materializing a giant demon made of yellow bones, its two horns facing upwards, its two blue bat wings being in the place where its ears should have been, its bird skull eyeless and its arms having dinosaur hands attached instead of hands. Truly, it looked as if a mad scientist had crafted this hideous being.
"Wow, that is one cool darkness creature!" the kid replied, amazed by the might of Daidalos. "But it's not enough to beat me. I summon Raider Exedrive! Go, Raider Exedrive and Crystal Paladin, break his final shields!"
A white armored lizard warrior and a crystal blue centaur wielding a shield and a sword both rushed towards Kokujo and slashed his last two shields, leaving him defenseless. However, that did not intimidate him one bit. No, instead he just released another round of maniacal laughter.
"You just gave me the card to beat you!" he announced his opponent with his smile stretched to the edge of his face.
Right then a ringtone played and Bura quickly pulled out his phone, seeing a message from none other than his master Zakira.
"Understood, sir." the kid spoke in his mind and then he turned to his opponent and said. "Sorry but we have to cancel our duel! Bye!"
In a few seconds he quickly packed all of his cards, tucked tail and ran away, leaving behind a dumbfounded Kokujo.
"What?" the darkness duelist asked himself surprised and took a look at one of the cards in his hand which had a cost of 8, a power of 12000 and depicted a blue winged goat demon. "And I could've finished him with Ballom! That fool gave Ballom to me when he broke my final shields. Oh well…"
Right as he got his cards back in his jacket's pocket, a train arrived. Kokujo walked in and searched for a seat. His adventures had just begun.
When Kokujo managed to find a peaceful and quiet place in the train, he took out from his backpack an ancient book and some useful papers he found on the Internet. He had found an interesting website that had some duelists' diaries. Especially one had captured his attention. It was about an old cavern near Western Ohio. There was an old, abandoned mine, and when this duelist had once fixed his deck there, he had noticed strange writing in the wall. He couldn't possible solve the text, and since nobody had ever believed his story about it, this whole thing was forgotten for good. Some people said they had gone to that place many years after the diary was written, but they didn't find anything.
When Kokujo compared some papers and made some notes here and there, he was swept away in his own thoughts that he didn't notice a dark person observing him. He had to get off the train when it arrived to the final stop. Other trains didn't leave anymore, so Kokujo had to spend the night in the town.
It was a nice, quiet place with pretty normal-looking people. He started to walk among the street hoping he'd find a hotel or an inn to stay in. Suddenly a small gang appeared in front of him. They were something around the ages 16-18 and it seemed to Kokujo that other people were a bit afraid of them. They gave the gang some space to move and mothers took their children closer. The gang stopped near Kokujo. They were five of them.
"Who're you?" a red-haired boy, most likely the boss, asked and looked Kokujo from the head to legs.
"It's none of your business. Now stand aside, I have nothing to do with you anyway." the dark blue haired one replied and was about to keep going.
"Hey! Nobody talks to me like that! I'm the boss in the streets!" the boy yelled, insulted of his act.
"O rly?" a white owl asked from the rooftop.
"Wanna bet?" Kokujo asked and took his deck from his pocket.
"If I were you, I'd run away." the red haired one replied and accepted the challenge.
"Stop that!" strict female voice said behind the gang.
The five boys turned around to see a familiar face. She was a young woman with black hair and clothes.
"That's enough. Leave him alone."
"I don't take orders from you. Why don't you let me duel him?"
The girl looked quickly at Kokujo.
"Because you'd lose." she replied then.
"O rly?" the owl asked again.
Kokujo was a bit confused. How could she know that? The gang's leader looked grimly at him, but turned then away.
Meanwhile in another part of the city, a lonely spiky red-haired boy dressed in a green suit was walking all alone without any aim. He stopped and yelled angrily, not caring of those around him:
"Why can't there be a town without a gang of bullies?! Why do I have to fail in becoming the boss of a town? Why? Why?"
The angry boy was none other than Jamira, a loser who always cheated his way through duels and hoped that one day he could conquer the streets, but unfortunately for him the only things he conquered were the laughs of people. And now he had been defeated in a duel by the other red-haired boy.
"Zack, you will pay for what you did to me…" Jamira whispered and then he punched the ground. "I swear!"
In the meantime, Kokujo was trying to find a hotel to spend his night in, but the owl continued to follow and annoy him. After almost half an hour of search, he had finally found one and stepped inside, not noticing that the bird also flew after him in the reception.
"I would like to stay in here for a night." Kokujo said to the receptionist.
"O rly?" the owl asked.
"Shut up!" the darkness duelist yelled.
"Shh, please do not disturb us, sir, others are sleeping here." the receptionist replied.
"Fine, I would like my room to be at the last floor." the long haired teen continued.
"O rly?" asked the owl again.
"If you don't shut up now, I swear to God I'll make you roast chicken!" the exasperated Kokujo threatened to the owl, angrier than ever.
Upon hearing this, the owl finally shut up. Having arranged everything for his stay, Kokujo went to the last floor and entered his room. He worked on his deck a few minutes and then he continued to study some maps and information from internet for a few hours until he was tired enough to fall asleep.
Outside on the roof of another building there were some kids in dark robes waiting for instructions from Zakira. Then one of their cell phones rang.
"Kokujo is sleeping at the hotel from the east side. He is in the room from the final floor. Go there to steal all his books and information. If he knows where Dorballom is, we have find it fast before anyone else does. Now go!" Zakira's imposing voice ordered.
"Understood, master!" Peeskwhy Perfect replied and closed the phone.
The boy who was dressed fully in black robes and had the cute face of a kitten stared down and saw the angered Jamira wandering.
"It seems that we have another guest. Delicious, will you mind keeping him from causing us trouble?"
"But Peeskwhy…" the yellow skinned and tired-looking boy replied "…just look at him. How could he cause us trouble?"
"He knows Kokujo and the others. He will surely come after Kokujo and complicate things around here, and you know just how Zakira-sama reacts to unwanted trouble. Now go duel him!"
Nodding, Delicious jumped off the roof and landed perfectly on his feet in front of the now shocked Jamira.
"Who are you?" the red haired boy asked.
"I am your worst nightmare." the boy replied by showing his glowing deck and tossing away the robe, revealing a pair of white pajamas that were too large for him.
Jamira accepted the challenge and their match thus began.
Meanwhile at the hotel, Peeskwhy and Bura tried to open Kokujo's door with the help of their cards and the owl noticed that. This prompted the bird to fly inside Kokujo's room by the window and chirp loudly its famous trademark line till it woke him up.
"What do you want now, you stupid bird?" Kokujo asked, looking tired.
Just then the door opened and the two children walked inside.
"We are here for all your info regarding Dorballom!" Peeskwhy demanded.
"Heh, like you would know where I've hidden all my stuff." Kokujo scuffed and got out of his bed with his deck in his right hand shining even brighter than in that morning. "Now here's how we'll do it: a little duel. If you win, I'll hand you all my info and give up on my quest, but otherwise if I win, then you will tell me where Zakira is!"
"Fine, I'll duel him again." Bura offered and stepped forward.
"Aha, you're the brat I dueled in the train station. You want your butt to be kicked again?"
Back at Jamira's the duel was far from good for him.
"And now Divine Machine Armor, Valdios, break two of his shields!" Delicious ordered and the brown armored humanoid fired all of the cannons on its shoulders and blasted away two of the rectangular blue shields of the red haired boy's.
"Shield triggers!" Jamira answered as he picked up the two cards. "I cast Demon Hand, destroy Valdios! Also, I summon Train Man and you will lose a card form your hand!"
"Argh!" the pajama boy reacted upon discarding his last card which was Raider Exedrive. "Still, I have four shields and you have none. I will win in my next turn."
"Don't be so sure of that!" Jamira said with a very confident look on his face. "Now I tap Battleship Man and turn all my creatures into double breakers! Game, set, match! Train Man, double break his shields!"
The red locomotive with spikes on its skull-shaped front dashed towards Delicious and pierced two of his shields, causing him to take cover from the shield shards.
"Flying Man, break his final shields!" Jamira ordered.
The purple plane-looking creature flew towards Delicious and fired blasts from both its guns, taking down the remaining pair of shields.
"And now Sand Man, todomeda!"
The hourglass-looking creature fired a purple wave which knocked Delicious out. Thus he had been defeated.
Jamira took his deck and walked towards the hotel where he was spending the night. It was the same one where Kokujo was also sleeping. When he arrived, he saw that on the roof there was a kaijudo duel going on. He had to know what was happening so he ran inside, heading to the stairs.
Returning to Kokujo, his situation was not great at all as Bura had managed to bring out two of his finishers.
"And now Crystal Lancer and Divine Machine Armor, Valdios, break four of Kokujo's shields!" the little boy ordered and the green crystal centaur along with the armored humanoid attacked his opponent and destroyed four of his shields. "Hah, one shield left. I end my turn."
"Heh..." Kokujo grimly murmured as he charged mana. "On our last duel you got away, but this time no one can help you. Prepare to witness the true power of Darkness! Daidalos, evolve into Ballom, God of Demons!"
A dark aura surrounded the demon with bat wings and it was engulfed in it, morphing into a blue skinned goat demon with red pants, white bone armor, and large blue bird wings. Bura and Peeskwhy could only stare with their jaws dropped at the creature which represented nothing more than Darkness in its purest essence. Then, finding his strength, Peeskwhy shouted:
"Bura, be careful!"
"Yes Bura, be very careful!" Kokujo said, full to the brim with confidence. "Ballom, destroy all his creatures and double break his shields!"
The goat demon gave a terrifying roar and spread its aura of darkness around the battle zone, destroying the green centaur and armored humanoid in the process. Afterwards it waved its hands and created a purple energy ball that it tossed towards Bura, breaking two of his shields. Kokujo tapped the other card in his battle zone and continued:
"Flying Man, break his final shield!"
The purple plane flew towards him and fired its shots that tore down the last standing blue rectangle too. However, this one's shards united into a card that shined and its owner took it into his hand and with a sigh of relief, he spoke:
"Shield trigger, Aqua Surfer, send Ballom back to his hand!"
A blue creature made of liquid riding a surfboard appeared and flew towards Kokujo, hitting his goat demon and making it disappear into his hand.
"And now I summon two Aqua Guards and Aqua Hulcus. Aqua Surfer, break his final shield!" Bura ordered and the creature surfed through the last shield of Kokujo.
However, the moment of relief was gone when the long haired male's laughter returned. A bright light came from the shield and fell upon Bura's table, the boy gasping:
"What's going on?
"Shield trigger, I cast Super Spark, tap all his creatures!" Kokujo said with satisfaction. "And now Flying Man, todomeda!"
With a final attack from the purple plane, Bura fell hurt and Peeskwhy barely caught him, his weight being a pain for his frail hands. It was then that Jamira had arrived on the roof at long last.
Kokujo and Jamira stared each other for a while.
"What are you doing here?" Jamira asked.
"Shopping. What does it look like?!" Kokujo blurted out, after which he turned back to the little ones. "And now, where is Zakira?"
"We... we don't know." Bura said carefully.
"What?! You promised to tell me where that bastard is, didn't you?!" he yelled and took couple of steps towards them, making the two startle in response.
"We're sorry! We really don't know! He didn't tell us and he moves so fast everywhere..." Peeskwhy told and started to cry.
"Damn... I was hoping I wouldn't have to hear about him anymore... Why is he always getting on my way? And what does he want now?" Kokujo asked the boys.
"We... can't tell. He's going to kill us if we do." Peskwhy sobbed as Kokujo came closer.
When he was right in front of them, he lifted Peeskwhy up, holding his robe.
"I'll do worse." he said so quietly and angrily, that his voice could have almost killed a flower.
Peeskwhy gasped and coughed for a while.
"Okay, we will tell you! Let him down!" Bura's scared voice asked.
Kokujo dropped the boy down and crossed his arms, saying:
"I'm listening..."
"O rly?" the owl asked him again.
"Shuddup!"
"Zakira wants to…"
"Wait!" woman's voice told.
Everybody turned their heads and behind Jamira stood the same girl Kokujo saw before.
"You again." Kokujo said.
"I was going to say the same to you. Peeskwhy, Bura, we're going. Now!" she said loudly and walked to the boys, first passing Jamira, and then Kokujo.
"Hey! We had a deal, and since I won, they have to tell me Zakira's plan!" Ko tried to stop her.
"That's nothing to do with me. Try to live with it." girl replied and looked at Kokujo with her dark red eyes.
The dark blue haired duelist also noticed she had a moon-shaped mark on her forehead.
"You're kinda cute when you get angry." the girl said and took a long whip from her belt.
"I wish I could say the same to you." Kokujo replied, ready to defend himself.
"You don't need to. Bura, Peeskwhy, hang on me!" she said and the boys grabbed tight her belt.
Then she turned around, whipped her whip to a tree, and took off.
"Wait!" Kokujo yelled, but it didn't help. They were gone. "Darn it..!" he murmured and turned to see Jamira still staring at him. "Why are you still here? Waiting for the kiss of good bye?" he asked grimly, obviously not on his best mood.
" No, no, no! I was just... errr... Going! Bye!" Jamira was gone very fast.
Kokujo sighed. It was getting late and he headed back to his room. And so did Jamira.
"I must get Kokujo's deck. It's so powerful and cool." he talked to himself with a conspiring grin.
"O rly?" the owl asked behind his back.
"Kyaaaahh!" Jamira was scared so much he stumbled on his own feet. "Stupid bird..." he murmured.
The next morning was bright and sunny. Kokujo woke up at 6 AM, although the train was about to leave at 3 PM. He had something to do, and he wanted to do it fast. He ate his breakfast, took a shower and left the hotel. He wished the person he was looking for wasn't too hard to find. He wanted to pay back.
Kokujo wandered through the city's menacing streets in the hope of finding Zack. It was then that he tried to remember what he said: "Hey! Nobody talks to me like that! I'm the boss in the streets!"
"If he's the boss of the streets, then he can't be so hard to find." Kokujo thought.
Meanwhile in the sewers, Jamira was crawling like a snake and following Kokujo. From time to time he would take a look up whenever he would see the hole in the road above him just so he could see if the one he was pursuing had not changed his direction.
"Kokujo's deck is just too good!" Jamira spoke in his mind. "If I'll have it, I'll surely be a world champion! I will be famous and I will have my first real fanclub instead of an imaginary one! I must find a way to snatch it from him… but how?"
After a few hours of nothing but searching with no fruition, Kokujo stumbled upon the gang of five duelists who were getting ready to steal some cards form a shop. It was then that he heard Zack's voice talking to the other four:
"And then we will search in all card shops till we find that bloody Dorballom. Master Zakira will repay us so well for getting it."
"Heh, like you would find Dorballom in card shops." Kokujo said while walking out of the shadows to face them.
"Oh look, it's the first guy who ever tried to oppose me!" Zack said with a wrathful voice that would have put a weaker person to utter fear. "So what do you know about Dorballom, huh?"
"None of your business!" Kokujo replied with his chest pumped out. "Why does Zakira want to get Dorballom?"
"None of your business!" Zack answered in the same tone as Kokujo and pumped his chest as well, the two being at the same eyelevel.
"I have an idea." Kokujo showed his deck. "How about we duel? If I win, you will tell me more about Zakira's plan and your gang leaves the town!"
"But if I win, you give us all your info on that card and never come back in this town!" Zack brought his part of the bidding as well.
"It's a deal! Now duel start!"
After many turns passed, it was clear to everyone that Kokujo was the one in great advantage. Giving off another one of his trademark laughs, he said:
"Hahahaha, you're too easy, Zack!"
"Don't be so sure of that!" the punk replied, trying to keep his confidence despite the situation he was in.
"And now Auzesu, the Demonic Holy Spirit, double break his shields and his effect will destroy your Kaiser Basikula, Holy Angel!" Kokujo ordered and the green armored demon swung its sword and slashed the angelic robot made of red spheres, after which it fired a laser from the eye in its chest, breaking two of the opponent's shields.
"Argh!" Zack groaned, angered by the loss of his powerful creature.
"Also, my Super Trash Train, Fuuma Devil suicides with your Larba Gear, the Immaculate Patron!"
The red train dashed at the golden flying craft and upon their impact both imploded.
"We'll see about that!" Zack began his turn and tossed two cards in the battle zone. "I summon Kinzera, Doom Missionary and Dio Raios, Divine Gun Soldier! When Dio Raios is summoned, we both have to destroy 1 creature. I choose Kinzera."
"Grr, I destroy Auzesu. "Kokujo answered and watched how the tank blasted away his green armored demon. "My turn, I summon Genocide, Lord of Devastation and Bloody Earring!"
"Play time is over!" Zack announced. "I summon two Raider Exedrives! Go, first Exedrive, break his shield!"
"Bloody Earring, block it!" the darkness duelist responded and the spider like blocker jumped in the war of one of the white armored red skinned lizard warriors, the two battling and destroying each other.
"Second Exedrive, break his shield, Dio Raios break his final shield!" the punk ordered and his creatures took down Kokujo's final shields. "That's it, I won!"
"O rly?" the owl asked.
"For once I agree with this stupid owl." Kokujo said looking self confident again. "Shield trigger, Train Man! And now I evolve Genocide into Ballom, God of Demons!"
"No, not Ballom!" a scared Zack yelled.
"Train Man, break his final shield! Ballom, todomeda!"
The God of Demons fired purple beams from both its hands and thus Zack fell on the ground with small burns over his body. His gang members ran to him, worried both for their leader and their fate at the hands of the Black Death.
"Ok, now I won." Kokujo said and slowly approached them. "Tell me what you know about Zakira!"
"Don't tell him anything!" a girl's voice commanded.
Everyone looked towards the roof of a building and saw the same girl with the moon mark on her forehead from last night. Worried, Kokujo spoke to her:
"What do you want now?"
"Zakira-sama has sent me to defeat you. But first witness my power!"
The girl jumped in the air and the moon mark on her forehead started shining. Her hands became pink as she froze everyone in the town except for Kokujo and those boys. Jamira and the owl did not get frozen due to the fact that the sewers sheltered them. The girl fell in the air and performed a cool landing. In the same time two fake bat wings appeared on her back.
"Hot!" Kokujo remarked.
"Oh, so you're Kyoshiro Kokujo." the girl said, a little impressed. "My name is Malice, it is indeed nice to meet you!"
"Hmph, what do you want?"
"Wait a minute, please. " she demanded of him, after which she turned to the thugs. "Zack, take your gang and leave this town!"
"What? But I don't want to respect the agreement!" the red haired one protested.
"Do as I said and leave this town. Now!" Malice yelled at him, instilling fear into the quintet of males.
"Understood!" they barely replied and immediately took off, leaving the two all alone.
"So what do you want?" Kokujo asked, looking grim.
"I want you to give us all of your info about Dorballom. And since I like to solve the things by peaceful manners, I'll let you go unconditioned. I just want the information, nothing else."
"Sorry, but I'm not interested." the long haired duelist smirked, showing that he had no fear of facing her.
"Oh Kokujo, what a great time we could have if you were…"
"I was what?" Kokujo asked.
"Oh nothing, forget about that!" the girl sweated. "Till next time, adios!"
Malice rushed towards Kokujo and he expected the worse. Raising his fists to defend himself, he was taken by surprise when she landed a brief kiss on his cheek just before disappearing into thin air as if she were nothing more than a dream or hallucination.
"Now that was weird." Kokujo thought.
In a few minutes he was at the train station waiting for the next train. The train arrived and Kokujo walked in, on yet another search for a seat. But since he was swept in his thoughts, he did not notice that both Jamira and the owl also entered the train.
Malice arrived couple of seconds later to the train station than Kokujo. She, Peeskwhy and Bura ran to the train, but not to the same carriage as Kokujo. They had a mission to grand.
Unlike them, Jamira tried to get closer to Kokujo's deck. He had made a plan to get it and now he put his disguise on.
"Good afternoon!" a strange-looking man said to Kokujo when he was reading his book. He looked up and saw a guy with bushy moustache, sun glasses and a long brown coat.
"May I sit here?" the man asked and sat down.
Jamira had problems changing his voice, but hoped that he would not be recognized for his plan's and his own sake.
"Who are you?" Kokujo asked.
"I am a deck-inspector. It's my job, see? I check people's decks! Can you show me yours?" man asked and handed his hand.
"How did you know I'm a duelist?" Kokujo asked which made Jamira a bit confused.
"Um... I can see it miles from here! I've learned to recognize duelists, and I can surely say you're a strong one. Please, give me your deck!" Jamira explained quickly.
His moustache was getting pretty itchy, which meant he had to be quick before any unwanted reflex would ruin his disguise. Kokujo still didn't believe him. There was something odd with this guy who desperately wanted to see his deck. He was also very short.
"May I see your papers? I don't give my deck to anyone who I don't trust" now was Kokujo's turn to hand his hand.
Jamira blushed, the unexpected situation taking him by surprise.
"Errr.. I think it's in my other coat's pocket. Well, I'd better get going; there's still many decks I haven't checked yet. Bye!" Jamira said and disappeared, leaving Kokujo alone again. "Darn it, I was so close!" red-haired boy murmured when he took off his mask.
"O rly?" the owl asked.
"Yes! And would you mind to shut up for a sec, you're really annoying!"
"O rly?!" the owl asked again, and if it wouldn't have been an animal, Jamira would have sworn it was laughing at him...
Suddenly the train stopped fast. Kokujo was squeezed to his seat and Jamira flew a long way on the corridor.
"What's the meaning of this?" Kokujo asked, even if there wasn't anyone with him.
He packed his pack quickly and stepped to the corridor. Other people were as surprised as he.
"This is a kidnapping. Stay right where you are and nobody gets hurt, alright?" a familiar voice talked from a loudspeaker.
Kokujo recognized the voice immediately.
"Malice!" he whispered and started to run to the engine, Jamira and O rly owl after him.
When he opened the door that lead to the engine, Malice and her whip were waiting for him. On that same second Kokujo was trapped tight.
"My my... I knew you'd try to play hero, Kokujo... There's no kidnapping, only couple of trees on the road. (Jamira was putting his disguise on again.)
"Let me go!" Kokujo yelled, even though he knew it wouldn't help.
"And what if I don't?" she asked and sat in front of Kokujo. "Zakira-sama doesn't want you to disturb him this time, you see? Nothing personal, but I can't let you go".
Then Jamira came in his costume...
"Oh my, I'd better go check this deck immediately!" he said, took Ko's deck from his pocket and started to run away.
"My deck!" Kokujo screamed.
He tried to get free but to no avail. Malice was holding him too tight.
"And now Kokujo, let's have a little talk shall we?" she asked and pulled him closer to her.
"Well I'm not going anywhere so what shall we chat about?"
Unfortunately for her, Bura and Peeskwhy appeared and ruined their little moment.
"There's no time for talks, Malice." Peeskwhy's serious voice announced.
"Now that we have Kokujo and all his stuff, let's head to Zakira-sama's castle." Bura demanded while sitting on the train driver's chair.
"Are you sure you can drive, Bura?" Malice asked while pulling Kokujo after her. "You're just a little kid. I don't think you'd be able to…"
"Watch me!" Bura excitedly replied while pressing the ignition button.
Meanwhile in another carriage, Jamira was running with the snatched deck in his hands, the owl was following him.
"Finally, I got Kokujo's deck!" Jamira cheered like a child who had just found an amazing present under his Christmas tree. "Now it's time to have some fun."
"O rly?" the owl asked.
"Ya rly!" Jamira replied to the bird in the same manner.
Like any future champion, Jamira deserved the best. And what better than an entire train just for yourself with no annoying passengers whatsoever to disturb you? As such, he challenged everyone inside to duels. Those that lost had to leave the train.
"Flying Man, todomeda!" Jamira yelled.
A little boy flew out the window.
"Gachack, Phantom Machine Doll, todomeda!"
A little girl flew out the window.
"Fallen Monk of the Bloodstained Soil, Zahaku, todomeda!"
A teenage girl flew out the window.
"Auzesu, the Demonic Holy Spirit, todomeda!"
A teenage boy flew out the window.
"Dark Mulder, Wing of the Void, todomeda!"
A man flew out the window.
"Dulanzames, Jet-Black War Demon, todomeda!"
A woman flew out the window.
In just half an hour only two boys were left in the train.
"This deck is fantastic. Soon, very soon, I will be a world champion." Jamira thought.
The train was going fast towards Zakira's castle. Meanwhile at its destination, Zakira was ready to take a bubble bath when he got a video call. The blue skinned man with long white took out from his red jacket's pocket a video cell phone and answered. He saw Bura driving the train, Peeskwhy sitting on the copilot's seat and Malice holding Kokujo tight with her whip.
"Zakira-sama, as you can see, we've got Kokujo and all his stuff. We are now heading towards your castle. In a few minutes you will know everything about Dorballom." Malice reported.
"Excellent job, you three! Make sure that everyone except Kokujo won't be alive by the time the train arrives here. I don't need others to find out what I am doing here, understood?"
"Yes, sir!" all three exclaimed.
"Now go back to work!" Zakira replied, closing the phone afterwards and letting his clothes fall behind as he went to the bath tub.
Back at the train .
"You will never get my info about Dorballom, you got that?! " the angered Kokujo yelled at his captors.
"O rly?" the owl asked as it flew inside the cabin.
"How the hell that thing come here?!" Peeskwhy yelled while jumping to get the owl.
Then he accidently fell on Malice, who knocked her head on the door and accidentally set Kokujo free.
"Malice, are you ok? Wake up!" Peeskwhy yelled trying to wake Malice up.
"Heh, looks like it's just you two and me." Kokujo remarked with a dark smile upon his face. "Now here's how we do it - you stop the train at Okinawa… don't ask why I'm going there… and then after everyone goes out, then you can leave with it to Zakira and tell him this message: 'I am always with a step upper than him and he will never succeed in getting Dorballom!' Now do as I said and change the course to Okinawa! I will go and find my deck, and if you try something fishy, you'll soo regret the very day you were born!"
With those words being said, Kokujo walked to the next carriage to find his deck. Just then he heard a voice yelling.
"I destroy Bloody Earring so that Daidalos can attack, and now Daidalos, General of Fury, todomeda!"
Kokujo ran towards the next carriage.
Meanwhile in that carriage, it seemed that Jamira, the O rly owl and one last duelist were the only ones left.
"Heh, just one more duel and the whole train is mine, haha!" Jamira laughed as he began the match.
After many turns passed, it seemed that even that final standing poor unfortunate soul was nothing compared to the greatness of Kokujo's deck
"I evolve Genocide, Lord of Devastation into Ballom, God of Demons! Go, Ballom, destroy all his creatures! And now Ballom, todomeda!"
The last boy flew out the window, signaling Jamira's victory. At long last, he was all alone in the train and he could relax. But before he could even say a word, Kokujo entered the carriage.
"Oh my God!" Jamira panicked.
"What the bloody hell are you doing with my deck?!" Kokujo growled, ready to beat him up.
"Err… cleaning it!" Jamira said, taking out a clean hanky and rubbing it with a stupid smile on his face.
Unfortunately for him, that failed to impress the dark blue haired one who took a few steps towards him, still having trouble to maintain his anger:
"Give me back my deck, or else!" Kokujo said with steams coming out of his ears.
Jamira stopped being scared as he realized that the deck was in his possession and he could do whatever he wanted with it.
"Hold it right there, Kokujo!" Jamira interrupted him. "This deck is mine now and if I want, I can throw it out the window, hehehe!"
Kokujo stopped walking upon hearing that. But then, instead of the shocked facial expression Jamira was expecting, he smiled at him as he pulled something out of his leather jacket's pocket:
"Heh, if you think you can be champion using my deck, let's see you handle this!"
"What, you have another deck?!" a scared Jamira exclaimed.
"It's my spare deck." Kokujo smiled maliciously." It's not as strong as the one you got, but it sure has some new cards. Now let's see you face it!"
"You want to duel? Fine by me!"
"O rly?" the owl asked.
"Shut up!" both yelled at the bird.
And so their match began and from the looks of it, Kokujo was losing badly to Jamira.
"I… I s-summon Super Trash Train, Fuuma Devil." an exhausted Kokujo declared.
"Heh, you will surely lose now. And now for no reason whatsoever, I evolve Dark Mulder into Ballom, God of Demons!" Jamira said and the black bat demon evolved into the blue skinned goat one. "Ike, Ballom double break his shields!"
"Argh!" the Black Death took cover from his own avatar's attack.
"Ike, Auzesu, break Kokujo's last shield!" Jamira commanded and the green armored demon slashed the last piece of defense of its former master.
However, the shield shards quickly united into a card that Kokujo took into his hand and said:
"Shield trigger, Demon Hand, destroy Zahaku!"
A pair of demonic hands grabbed the small green demon and crushed it. Afterwards Kokujo drew a card thanks to the effect of Super Trash Train, Fuuma Devil and began his turn. He drew another card, charged mana and put two cards in his battle zone, saying:
"I summon Vashuna the Sword Dancer and Bloody Earring."
"Heh, you can't win! I summon two Daidalos, General of Fury! And now Auzesu, todomeda!" Jamira shouted and the demon attacked with its sword.
"Block it, Bloody Earring!" Kokujo replied and his spider jumped forth and sacrificed itself for its owner. "Trash Train lets me draw a card."
"Ballom, todomeda!" Jamira tried again.
"Maxval, Electro-Fuuma, block it!" Kokujo said, rather angered of his Maxval's death, at the hands of his Ballom, nonetheless. "Tsh, I'll draw another card for Trash Train…"
"Hehe, Maxval made your creatures cost one mana less." Jamira laughed, satisfied. "Now that your precious Maxval is gone, you will have to summon your creatures by paying their normal cost, hah!"
"Still, I can win this duel!" Kokujo said, confident about his declaration as he put the elevent card in his mana zone."You have only one shield left! And even if that shield is Demon Hand, victory will still be mine!"
'What? How?" the confused red haired one asked.
"I summon Daidalos, General of Fury and then I evolve him into Ballom Emperor, God of Demons!"
The yellow boned demon with blue bat wings appeared for a moment and then its bone armor collapsed and out of it a grey goat demon with two heads, a pair of black wings and eight pairs of hands appeared.
"No!" the scared Jamira shouted.
"Go, Vashuna, break his final shield!" Kokujo ordered and the demon swung its swords and made a majestic dance through which it slashed the last standing shield.
"Shield trigger, Demon Hand, destroy Super Trash Train!" Jamira said, disappointed that his opponent managed to guess his move.
"Ballom Emperor, todomeda!" Kokujo declared the final attack.
Jamira fell defeated, the stolen deck scattering around. Kokujo walked towards him, leaned down and took his deck.
"Tsh, now that you idiot saw my cards, I'll have to change my deck... again!" he aired his frustrations.
Jamira tried to slowly crawl away before Kokujo could beat him up for what he had done.
Meanwhile at Zakira's castle, its blue skinned owner was enjoying a nice bubble bath when he had received a another video call.
"Who is it?" Zakira lazily moaned as he looked at the screen.
A clown holding a T-scepter, an ice cream sitting on his T-shaped wheelchair appeared on the screen.
"Oh, it's just you, Toto." Zakira said while diving slowly in the bubbles.
"Zakira-sama…" Toto replied with a somewhat psychotic voice. "The train is approaching the place near our castle. Shall I create the cyber railway which will lead them here?"
"First ask Malice if she's killed everyone, and if she says 'yes' then you can create it."
"Understood, sir!" Toto said, closing the call.
"Hehehe, Dorballom will soon be mine." Zakira said, diving completely in the bubbles and closing his eyes, dreaming at the power that would soon be his with such a card in his hands.
Inside Toto's lair, the clown tried to contact Malice but no one answered, so he decided to create the cyber rail anyway.
Back at the train, Kokujo was about to beat Jamira to a pulp, but then he remembers that he left Peeskwhy and Bura all alone, so he ran back to the engine. There Malice had finally woke up, but she was dizzy.
"Wha-what happened?" she asked while trying to get up.
"You had an accident and Kokujo got away." Peeskwhy said it fast in a nutshell.
Just then Kokujo entered the engine.
"Oh great, she's awake… " Kokujo commented, half disappointed and half worried.
Just then the cyber rail appeared. Bura, Peeskwhy and Malice understood what that meant.