(A/N: Well guys, this is it; the beginning of a remake. It's time to start over what was already the strangest fanfic you might have ever seen in your entire life. For those who've read this series before, be warned that nothing will be the same as before. Everything that happens here is revised from the original and changed drastically. Many characters will be removed and new faces will emerge throughout the series for now on. The story you knew is also different, but to how much is up to you to determine. For everyone who never read this series then it'll be a fresh start and hopefully you enjoy it.

And to those new readers I will say this, this is set in an alternate universe that is separate from the main Yugi-verse. Anything that happens in this fanfic has no effect on the main Yugi-verse at all. All cards outside of fake cards belong to Kazuki Takahashi/Konami and pretty much the Yu-Gi-Oh! Franchise. Any fake cards not made by me will be credited accordingly, but otherwise they are mine. So without further ado, enjoy the fanfic.

PS: Special thanks to my Beta-Reader for suggestions, proofreading, etc.)

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Inheritor: A Yu-Gi-Oh! Based Fanfic

Chapter 1: Miracle of a Guardian Angel

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The sunlight was piercing through the treetops, its rays reflecting toward an opening in the forest where a large ruin was found. The ruin was embedded in the side of a large cliff, and appeared to be about three stories high. Inside one of the rooms of this large ruin were many different things; from broken down wooden chairs to wooden drawers. There was also a bookcase with many dusty books just wasting away on the shelves with a small chest on the top shelf.

Someone was inside the ruin as well. A little boy with his green cat-like eyes peered into the room from the darkness that filled the halls not touched by sunlight. The boy walked into the room and the sunlight bathed his body with its light.

The boy appeared to be a cat that was standing up like a human. His body was covered in black fur with his tail sticking out from the underside of his brown raggedy robe. He appeared to be the size of a 10-year old.

He cautiously looked around with curiosity until he looked up at the bookcase and saw the small chest, which let out a slight shine after looking at it from an angle.

"Look at that." the boy muttered, with his attention on the chest.

He slowly began to climb the bookcase, extending his claws to keep a firm grip as he climbed. Just as he was close to the top, he felt like the shelf was wobbling, and he held on tight as the bookcase fell on top of him. "Ahhh!!!"

A moment after falling he squirmed out of the mess of books that were now scattered all over the floor. He started to toss the books aside while digging for the chest that fell over, until at last he found it.

"Got it." He looked pretty excited as he extended one of his sharp nails and used it to pick at the small lock on the chest. After it had come undone he opened it up and inside the chest were what appeared to be Duel Monsters cards. There was dust on the top of them for having been inside for so long. He picked up the small deck of cards and blew away the dust and started to toss aside cards as he looked through them.

He looked at one card that was on top of the deck and smiled with satisfaction. "Found one."

As he searched through the cards, tossing aside those he doesn't want, something was quietly approach where he was. His ears twitched as he heard something faint. He turned toward the sound and shouted, "Who...who's there!?" A large creature emerged from the dark hallway. It appeared to be a large hound of some kind, with bare red skin and strange horns coming out of its back. The boy started to worry as the creature barked at him.

He started to climb out of the window, leapt onto a stone roof of another story of the building and then leapt to the ground with relative ease. The vicious demonic hound chased him as it followed him down the same way he did. The boy ran as fast as he could, holding the Duel Monsters cards that he collected in his arms while being chased by the vicious creature. Soon he tripped over a rock which caused him to drop all his cards.

The hound lunged at him as the boy shielded himself with fright. Just before it could reach him, something flies through the air and pierces through the hound. The hound yelped in pain as it gets shredded by small circular black blades in the shape of stars. Still quivering in fear, the boy opened his eyes to see the creature dead.

"Quite a close call, eh kid." said an unfamiliar voice. The boy looked toward the sound of the voice and out of the bush came a human girl. She wore a bright red ninja suit, had a brown bag on the back of her waist and a katana just right below it. There was a Duel Deck Box hanging on the side of her waist she and a strange looking cap on top of her head. Her hair was blonde and it appeared to split down just past her shoulders. She appeared to be 18. She put her hand out and asked him rather friendly, "You're not hurt are you?"

The boy didn't know what to do other than be frightened by this mysterious stranger. He quickly scampered around on the ground and picked up the cards that he dropped. The girl walked over to him and leaned down with a curious look on her face, yet retaining the friendly smile she had. "Whatcha got there, little guy?" The boy was spooked for a moment as one of the cards fell to the ground, which happened to be Guardian Angel Kasket. The girl curiously picks it up despite the boy's objections.

"Duel Monsters cards, huh?" she noted while inspecting the card, "A rare one too at that."

"Please," the boy begged, "That's my treasure! Give it back!"

"What this thing?" the girl wondered. The boy's eyes began to water as if he was about to cry. She gave it back to him shortly after, snatched from her hand as the boy before resumed to pick up the other cards too. "So I take it you like collecting Duel Monsters cards? Where'd you get them?"

The boy didn't look at her but only stopped for a moment to answer her. "No place."

"No place huh?" the girl wondered suspiciously, "Well I saw you coming out of that ruin a moment ago, did you get them there? Because I got to say, finding a rare card like that from a ruin is quite a feat, even for a kid."

"It was a present."

"I see. You must be lucky then to get something like that as a gift or whatever." The boy said nothing as Ayami then picked up one of the cards he missed and held it in front of his face. He looked up at her as she said, "You know it's quite dangerous to be out here by yourself, even Beastian children know it's dangerous without adult supervision. How about I take you home, okay?"

The boy appeared uncertain for a moment, but he nodded. She handed him the card and then he got up to his feet. "You'll be safe with me." said the girl, offering her hand out to him. He grabbed it with his paw as they walked through the forest together. "By the way, the name's Ayami, Sukioh Ayami. What's yours?"

"...Meo."

"Meo, huh? That's a nice name."

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They later arrive at a large wooden shack. The shack was big enough to house a small family; though the condition of the house looked a little run-down while still being habitable. Around the back was a small garden of fruits and vegetables that is easy to grow. Ayami knocked on the door a few times. "Hello! Anybody home!? I got your kid with me!" She then opened the door and took a step inside just to yell out again, "Hello!? Anybody!?" There was nothing but silence in the shack. "I guess no one's home." She turned to Meo who was just walking inside, heading toward a room. "You wouldn't happen to know where your parents are, do you?"

"...My mama is out at the market."

"Okay, what about your father?" Meo just stopped and tilted his head down as if he was sad about it. "Don't want to talk about it huh? Well no biggie, I guess I can just wait here until your mother gets back then."

She followed him into what appeared to be his room. It had a small bed made just for him and several drawers. A small window was on the other side of the room with a hint of sunlight pouring in. Meo opened up the smallest drawer that was closest to his bed and placed the cards he gathered inside. He then pulled out the Guardian Angel Kasket card from his robe and placed it on a small stand on top of his drawer. He stared at it for a moment until Ayami spooked him. "So is this where you keep your cards?"

Meo was surprised by her being close and backed away. She took a peek inside the drawer to find a whole assortment of cards. She gathered them up into a deck and stared at them in an awe inspired gaze. "Wow, you pretty much have a decks worth of cards."

"Please, put them back! They're part of my collection!"

"So you are collecting Duel Monsters cards. Well that's cool seeing a Beastian who's into collecting them. I don't know a lot of Beastian who would collect these cards, even in the city, so I never would expect field folk like you to be into them."

Meo leapt at her hands and snatched the deck from her before putting it back inside the drawer. Ayami smiled as she an idea entered her head. She opened up her Deck Box and pulled out her own deck of cards.

"Tell you what, if you let me see your collection I'll let you see mine. Well it's not as much a collection as it is just a dueling deck, but still I'd like to see what you have."

Her face appeared innocent enough but Meo was unsure if it's really alright to hand something over to someone he just met. He moaned for a moment before taking the deck out and doing an exchange with her.

She shuffled through the deck one card at a time, placing the top card to the bottom while commenting on the monster cards that were inside. "You certainly like to collect a lot of Fairy-type monsters. Though you don't seem to have any kind of Spell or Trap card in here."

"They're angels." Meo commented, looking through her deck the same way but wasn't excited like Ayami was.

"Well I got to admit, every monster here looks like an angel in one way or another. Though why you only chose just those I'll never know."

Meo discovered one card that caught his attention and was completely fascinated by how it appeared. The card was Mirror Force and the artwork and name text seemed to shine upon looking at it.

"I see you found my Mirror Force card." said Ayami, bending down to see.

"Mirror Force?"

"Yep. This card is extremely rare. It can destroy any attacking monster that tries to attack you; it comes in real handy when I definitely need it." Meo stared at the card for a moment before he and Ayami switched decks back with each other. As he started to put away his cards, Ayami took the card out of her deck and offered it to him. "You know I think your collection would look really nice if it had at least one rare card in it, you know what I mean?"

She handed him the card and he asked curiously, "I...I can keep this?"

"Sure. I mean okay, it's rare and hard to come by, but consider it a gift for having such a nice collection. Who knows, maybe you'll want to use it to duel with."

Meo blushed, "Th...Thank you."

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Some time passes and a tall white female cat approached the shack. She appeared to look like an adult version of Meo, being like a real cat that can move like a human, but had white fur instead of black. Her eyes were blue and she wore a violet and blue dress. She was carrying a large brown basket around her shoulder, with some fruit and some small bags in it. She noticed that the door was open and cautiously stepped inside. "Hello?! Meo!"

Meo was still in his room when he heard her voice and looked happy. "Mama's home!" He ran out of his room and ran into his mother's arms. "Mama!"

Ayami stepped out of the room and smiled. "So you're the lucky parent of this adorable kitten."

The white cat stood up and looked nervous about the stranger in her house. "Wh...Who are you?"

"Why I'm Ayami! Second-in-command of the Ninja Branch of the Arcum Military, at your service!" The white cat looked confused and didn't know what to say about this. Ayami looked nice enough but she was still a human. "Anyway, I was just making sure your child wasn't alone, since he got himself into quite a bit of trouble while you were out."

"Is that so?" the white cat looked rather displeased as she looked at her son. Meo looked slightly guilty over the fact that he was out in a ruin.

"Anyway, now that you're here I need to get going, but first I want to ask you something."

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Minutes later the white cat poured some milk into a small glass while Ayami sat at a table. In the corner Meo was reading a book of some kind. Ayami complimented her, "Why thank you, Mrs..."

"Lightfoot. Eliza Lightfoot."

Ayami scratched her chin and pondered, "Lightfoot huh...hmm..." She thought for a moment as if she remembered something. Eliza looked rather worried about what she was thinking but soon Ayami got out of thought, "Ah well. Anyway, I was wondering if you've seen any suspicious looking humans around here, especially at any towns you've visited."

"I can't say that I have. The only town I go to is the one just southeast of here and it's populated only with Beastian."

"I see. Because you see, I was sent to find a bandit who had escaped from a local prison in another region just west of here." She pulled out a poster from her bag and showed it to her. The picture was in black and white and had a picture of a man with short long hair. "His name was Lemiuex. Apparently the Royal Guard were having trouble with tracking him, so me and a few of my men are out looking for him. He was reported to of last been seen in this region."

Eliza frowned, "Well I'm sorry, but I haven't seen anybody like that around here. None of the other folk in town seem to know anything about this sort of thing either."

"It's alright." Ayami rolled up the poster and put it back in her bag, "Thank you anyway." She then drank the whole cup of milk in one sitting. After that she got up and wiped her mouth, "Thanks again for the milk, it was really good."

"No problem and thank you again for looking after my son. He's all that's left to me." Meo looked up at her from his book, wondering what they're talking about.

"Well it was nice meeting you both! And if you do learn anything please report to the guard post that's north of here! Good bye!" Ayami waved at them and then exited the shack.

After she had left, Meo closed his book and put it away on a shelf next to him. He began to head for the door but Eliza grabbed him. "Where do you think you're going?"

"I...I was only going to go out and play." Meo replied innocently.

"You were going to go out to that ruin again." Eliza tugged on his ear, "I've told you many times not to go there."

"But mama..."

"No buts!" she scolded him. She walked him into his room and says, "Now please...play in here while I get dinner ready."

She closed the door as Meo went to the drawer with his cards. He took a look at his Guardian Angel Kasket card. "You wouldn't let papa get hurt while exploring ruins. You never did." He then took the card and hides it in his robe. He proceeded to climb out the window and ran toward the forest.

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In another part of the region was a horse-drawn wagon being accompanied by a few plate-armored men with swords. They were leaving from a small village not too far away. Inside the wagon is a man in fancier plate-armored and a red cape. His brown hair was slightly long and it reached the back of his neck. He was looking at a map which shows the entire region he was in with a list of residents and their map references on the side.

"Hmm…" he mumbled, "This region certainly doesn't have a lot of residents living here. Only two towns, one human and one beastian and not even half a dozen single settlements. Quite boring, but either way it at least pays to collect taxes."

One of the men outside the wagon asks, "Sir, where we heading for now?"

The man moved his finger around the map until he found one that hasn't been marked off yet. "Here's one." He took a glance at the list of residents that are referenced to find out who lived in the place he pointed to. "This is the last settlement, belonging to...the Lightfoot residence?"

"Something wrong?"

The man inside the wagon just smiled. "So he does have a family. This should be interesting."

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Meo looked up toward the ruins after having reached it once again. "Maybe now with that monster gone, it'll be a lot more safer to explore," muttered Meo.

He entered a part of a ruin that he felt hasn't been explored yet. He had visited the ruins many times and often explored the rooms several times looking for hidden treasure. He looked excited as he entered an entirely different part of the ruin. "There's an area I haven't explored yet!" He ran through the hall, just running excitingly until he fell through the floor and landed on his face.

"Owww…" he moaned. He leaned up and felt a little pain on the front of his body. He noticed there was dirt on his robe and brushed it off. There were vines growing along the wall of the hole he well in and he noticed them leading all the way up. "Thank goodness for the wall."

He went up to the wall and began to climb on it, when something gleamed behind him and caught his attention. He looked toward the gleam before leaping off the wall and walk toward the direction of the gleam. He approached a doorway that was covered by a sheet and pulled the sheet away, revealing a large room with many statues of angels all over.

"Wow…" Meo looked amazed at what he was seeing. There was a large golden treasure chest sitting in the center of the room. He ran over to it and started to inspect it. There were some strange carvings on the sides but he didn't pay mind to it. "What could be inside?"

Meo struggled to get the top of the chest to open. The chest was made out of gold and yet it was still heavier than even he could imagine. He pushes with all his might until the top finally comes down with a loud clang. He looked inside the treasure chest and pulled out what was inside. It was a Duel Disk, but instead of having a randomly colored plating to go on top of a white base, the color plating was gold on top of a white base. Meo looked at it for a moment and even looked at his reflection. "Neat."

There was something else inside the chest. It appeared to be a Duel Monsters card. He reached into the chest, nearly falling in and grabbed the card. He turned over the back of the card to find a blank white image. "Huh? It's blank!"

He stared at it for a moment with doubt on how this could be treasure. Just then he heard a voice coming from somewhere. He looked around and saw no one. He decided to put the card in his robe and carry the Duel Disk with him as he climbed out of the chamber that he had found by the vine wall. He failed to notice the silhouette of a large angelic creature that loomed from above the chest after he left the room.

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Eliza was in the kitchen making dinner as she called out to her son, "Meo! It's just about time to eat!" There was no response. She started to walk toward his room, "Meo! Did you hear me!? Meo!" She opened his door to find he wasn't there and started to panic. "Meo! Where are you!?"

She heard a knock at the door. She proceeded to answer it and at the door was the man in fancy armor. "Good afternoon madam. I believe you're Mrs. Lightfoot, yes?"

"Yes, and who might you be?"

The man introduced himself, "Why my name is Lance Lemiuex and I will be your tax collector for this month."

Eliza looked surprised, "Tax collector? B...But it's not even that time of the month."

"Well you see, the king has decreed to have taxes be collected earlier than the usual monthly rate. I apologize if this is an inconvenience, but that's the way it is." Eliza appeared unpleased with what he said. He took out a piece of paper as he continued, "Now based on our last visit you were to pay 20 silver pieces for this month. Doesn't seem too much but I'm sure you can squeeze it out, even for this early in the month."

She frowned, "I...I'm sorry. I wasn't expecting you to come so soon, I was hoping to..."

Lance gazed at her suspiciously. "Hoping to what, Mrs. Lightfoot,? You should always be able to pay your monthly taxes, no matter when it needs to be done. You are aware of what happens to those who don't pay their taxes on time, do you?" He came closer to her and leered into her blue cat-like eyes. "If you can't pay then you can pay by serving time in prison. Everyone else has been able to pay off their debts despite the change in the schedule, even the beastian half were able to squeeze in some money to pay off their taxes. Now you don't want to be the only one of them to be spending time alone in a cell, do you? I have one just for you in the guard post here; if you don't pay."

Eliza was starting to look horrified by what might happen. "Please...can't we have just a little bit more time? I just need to spend a little more time selling our house-grown goods."

Lance only smiled after seeing the look on her face, "Well I'm sorry. However there is one other way you could pay off your debt." He pushed open the door, causing her to step back a bit as he stepped inside the doorway. "We could take something of good worth in compensation. How does that sound?" Eliza scowled after hearing that.

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Meo was running out of the forest while holding the Duel Disk in his arms. He reached the window leading into his room and took a moment to look at his newly acquired Duel Disk. "I need to hide you especially."

He grabbed onto the window to climb into his room but quickly dropped back down upon hearing someone else entering the room. Lance and Eliza were entering the room with Lance talking to Eliza, "Well so far I'm not all too impressed with what you have. Surely you would have something of more worth to give away." Meo listened to their conversation and watched quietly from outside.

"Please sir, if you could just consider letting us have more time..."

"I already told you I don't make exceptions and neither does the king." He began to search through Meo's drawers and began pulling out different children's toys, throwing them on the floor. Meo winced as his things were being thrown on the floor.

"Nothing but trash!" Lance shouted with disgusted, "Is there anything of worth here?!" He pulled open the one drawer that contains Meo's cards and immediately becomes interested, "Oh my, what do we have here?"

As he picked up the deck of cards, Meo cried out, "Wait!" Lance paused and saw him climb through the window. "That's my treasure! Please don't take my treasure!"

"Meo!" Eliza exclaimed, "Where have you..."

"Enough," Lance interrupted. He walked over to Meo who was by the window, "So you must be Giera's son. I suspected that the master thief himself would have a family somewhere. As soon as I read the word Lightfoot on your family's tax record I knew that it might be the same Lightfoot that Giera was known for. I could tell by looking at you that you look just like him."

"Please sir, can I have my treasure back? It means a whole lot to me."

Lance looked at the deck and commented, "You call this a treasure? They're only cards, only meant for amusement! There's hardly anything rare about them so to call these your treasure is an absolute joke!" He began to look through the deck of cards one card at a time. He chuckled slightly after looking at only a few. "Besides, these are nothing but trash cards. Commons not even worth selling." He dropped the deck onto the floor, which caused them to scatter all over the floor.

"No!" Meo cried out as he began to frantically pick them up and try to put them back together. Eliza looked away, not wanting to bare the sight of it.

Lance turned to Eliza, "Well then, I guess that's all you have to show me?" Eliza regrettably nodded. "Well I suppose I have no other choice. Seeing as how you can't pay off the tax you'll have to spend some time in a prison cell. On the other hand..." He picked up Meo by the back of the neck, causing him to drop his cards and making Eliza frightened. "I could just take him instead! After all, no way a child can survive without his mother anyway!"

"No!" Eliza begged, "Let him go!"

Meo squirmed in place as the blank card he had and Guardian Angel Kasket drop from his robe and onto the floor. There was a slight shine from the artwork of Guardian Angel Kasket which caught Lance's attention. He started to pick it up as Meo was dropped onto the floor. He stared at it for a moment and commented, "Now this is a surprise."

"Stop, that's my papa's card!" cried Meo, "It's my most prized possession!"

"Meo!" Eliza grabbed him and covered him in her arms.

Lance made a short glance at them before turning his gaze back at the card. "I could see why. This card seems to be one of a kind despite being of Super Rare quality. The last time I've looked at a checklist I don't ever recall seeing this one being on any of them. This card alone could be worth just enough to compensate for the tax you couldn't pay, maybe more if you were smart enough to have given this to the University. They would of paid handsomely to mass-produce this card, but I suppose that will never happen. So what do you say? Will you use this as compensation?"

Eliza didn't say anything but looked worried over what may happen. Meo started getting angry however as he squirmed out of her arms. "Meo!"

He lunged at Lance's arm and bit him. Lance was surprised and angry by this act. "Ow! You little..."

"Meo stop!" Eliza begged as she got up to pull Meo off. Lance dropped the card from his hand as Meo is pulled away, no longer in a state of anger.

Lance looked appalled by what had happened. His arm wasn't completely covered in armor and he was bitten where the cloth was. There was a small blood stain around the bite marks. "Why you filthy creature...you dare bite me?!" He stomped on the card, Meo appeared very shocked as Lance walked over to the two, "If you're going to behave like an animal then you'll just have to die like an animal; alone!"

He grabbed Eliza by the back of the neck and pulled her away. "Mama!" Meo cried out.

"Me…ugh!" She tried to call back to him but Lance had her choked slightly.

"You should of just behaved like a good kitten." said Lance coldly, "Now this is the price you must pay."

Meo got on his knees and begged, "Please, let her go! I'm sorry for biting, I won't do it again!" He began to cry, "Please, she's all I have left!"

"Hmm..." Lance mumbled. He then let out a smirk as he thought of something, "Alright. I suppose I'm willing to forgive you for that short little outburst just now, however...I can't simply bend the rules as it is. Since neither of you can pay compensation for the remaining tax I'm afraid I have to keep with my word. Unless...I decide to overlook it."

Meo looked up at him, still with a few tears in his eyes as Lance continued, "You certainly treasure your cards more than you do your own mother. So why not put them to good use? Come to the guard tower before I leave tomorrow morning, and we'll play a game of Duel Monsters. If you win I'll let your mother go and I'll pardon you both as compensation. But if you lose, then I'm afraid you won't be seeing your mother for a very long time. This is your one chance, don't blow it." He started to take Eliza away, "Unless you're afraid to come challenge me alone you better think of how you're going to live by your lonesome!"

Meo just knelled there and trembled. "Mama..."

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Not long after, Lance and his group have left the area, taking Eliza along with them. She could only watch from inside the wagon as her home was getting further out of sight. She could do nothing with her paws tied behind her back.

"Don't feel so glum, madam." said Lance, "You still have a chance to see him again. Just pray he can duel better than he does collecting." Eliza looked down all depressed.

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The sun was starting to set in the distance while Ayami stumbled upon a trail embedded on a dirt road. She knells down and feels it with her hand. "This was made not too long ago. I wonder what wagon came through here."

A small white bird flew around her from above. Attached to it was a small piece of paper around its foot. She let out her arm so it can perch on her and then proceeded to untie the paper off its leg. She unfolded the paper and read it, "So the village-folk have been getting taxed early. That doesn't seem right, unless…" She thought for a moment and then appeared shocked, "Of course! It must be his doing! Maybe there's still a chance to catch him!" She dashed down the road toward the south.

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She soon arrived at the shack and noticed that the wagon tracks had lead to here. "No…don't tell me." She knocked on the shack door and yelled frantically, "Hey! Mrs. Lightfoot!? Hey!!!" The door creaked open and she stepped inside.

The inside of the shack appeared to be in a mess. Books were scattered on the floor, tables and chairs have been knocked over and there was crushed fruit on the kitchen floor. Ayami appeared surprised by what had happened here. "No way…" She muttered.

She then ran into Meo's room, "Meo!!! Tell me you're still here!" The room was empty and no one else was in there beside herself. She turned her head to examine the room and noticed that the drawer that had Meo's deck was empty. The Guardian Angel Kasket card that was on top of the drawer was no longer there. "Dammit! He must have taken them!"

She bolted out of the shack and followed the trail left by the wagon. "For him to impersonate a tax collector…I can't forgive him!" she thought to herself, "Hang on you two, I'll get you out of this!"

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Night time had fallen as Meo arrived at a small stone tower that appeared to be the guard post. There were men there that were not wearing their plate armor and were loading crates into multiple wagons.

"Hey, isn't that the kid the boss mentioned?" One of the men loading the crates commented as Meo approached them.

"He came after all." another one noted, "Well this should be interesting then." They both snicker as Meo glared at them.

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Lance was counting up the gold he had collected inside the tower that seemed to spiral upward. Near him was a prison cell where Eliza was. She sat there in depression as she looked up out the window above her and thought, "Where are you Giera? I wish you were here to save me again." She started to form tears in her eyes.

"Well it might have not been much of a haul, but I'm sure the next region will have more to gain. After all it was easy enough to take over this tower of weaklings." Lance said to himself while counting the gold pieces that he had collected from people.

"What should we do about the Beastian woman?" the man in the room with him asked.

"I'm sure we can sell her off to some land lord or something. She looks fit enough to be somebody's maid. We could fetch a bit of money in the slave trade with her." He chuckled at the sound of the idea.

"Hey boss, that kid you told us about is here!" Another man shouted out as he entered the room. Meo walked into the room afterwards and the man left the room.

Lance stood up and smiled, "My my, so you've come after all. In all honesty I didn't expect you would come, but I see you have more love for your mother than I thought."

"Please sir, where's my mama?" Meo begged him.

Lance pointed toward the door, "Oh she's in the prison cell behind me, but the only way you'll see her is if you beat me first. As I said, we're going to be playing Duel Monsters, and if you win I would let her go. Just note that if you lose, you won't be able to see her for a long time. And just to make it more interesting, we're going to play city-style."

He reached up to a shelf that hung on the wall and took down a Duel Disk. He tossed it to Meo who caught it. Meo started to inspect it, and even sniffing it as he had no idea what exactly he was holding. Lance took down another Duel Disk from the shelf and explained everything, "We call those Duel Disks. In the capital they are really popular among the high-class. Designed after the original models found in ruins all over the world, the University gets big money for these; as well as for the cards themselves. You can say that they literally bring the game to life."

"This is just like the treasure I found back at the ruin." Meo thought to himself.

"Now then, just attach the Duel Disk to your left arm and insert your deck into the top-most slot. This will activate the Duel Disk." He attached the Duel Disk to his arm, which locked itself onto him. He then took out a deck from his pocket and inserted it into the Duel Disk, turning it on. "You can place Monster cards into the top lower slots while beneath them are slots for your Spells and Trap cards. The middle slot above them is where your Graveyard is. The rest you have to figure out, as you should be aware on how the game works, for one who collects the cards."

"I see." Meo appeared uncertain about this but proceeded to do everything he was told to. He attached the Duel Disk onto his arm and like Lance said it locked onto his arm. He appeared surprised for a moment by how the Duel Disk seems to function. He then placed his deck into the Duel Disk and it activates.

"Now let us begin!" They stared at each for a moment and the duel began.

(Meo: 4000 LP/Lance: 4000 LP)

"The first move is mine." Lance declared and he proceeded to draw his card. "I summon Makyura the Destructor in attack mode!" A humanoid creature appeared, it was wearing a mix of purple and yellow armor, wielding two arm weapons with three blades attached like claws, and on his head were two axe-like blades and a mask with a yellow eye on it (ATK 1600).

The monster moaned rather creepily which caused Meo to be frightened. Lance chuckled at the sight of him being afraid. "What's wrong? It's just a hologram."

"Hol...Hologram?"

"That's right. They are images that are projected through the Duel Disks. They produce the image of the monsters that are shown on the cards. Everything you see isn't real per say, but it certainly looks real enough don't you think?" He took a card from his hand and placed it in his Duel Disk, "I set 1 card face-down. That ends my turn. Let's see what you got, little one."

"R...Right." Meo stuttered as he drew his card. Looking at the monster made him nervous as it looked like it really wanted to kill him. He took a big gulp and proceeded to set a card, "I play this!" The card appeared face-down horizontally. "And I...um...end my turn."

"This kid is easy to scare." thought Lance, smiling sinisterly, "Maybe I can have some fun with him before I beat him."

"It's my turn now!" After drawing his card he pointed toward Meo's face-down monster and declared, "Makyura the Destructor will attack your face-down card!" Makyura leapt into the air and then came down; slashing the card with both his arm blades and revealing the card to be Skelengel, who shatters into pixels upon being destroyed. Meo appeared very frightened as Makyura was right in front of him. The monster leapt back to its side of the field.

"Because Skelengel was flipped, its effect can activate. Now you can draw 1 card from your deck. Go on, do it." Meo nodded and drew his card. He appeared to be shaking in fear as his paws can't stop trembling. "I end my turn."

"M...My turn." He drew his card, the card being Mirror Force. He looked at it for a moment and remembered when Ayami gave him the card. "This is..." The image of Ayami filled his head. "I play these cards!" He sets both a monster and his Mirror Force on the field. "I end my turn."

"So he does have a Trap card after all. No matter, I'm sure it's something as useless as Reinforcements or Castle Walls." Lance thought about the possibility of those cards and then proceeded with his turn. "My turn then. Makyura the Destructor, attack his face-down card!"

Makyura leapt into the air again as if to perform another attack while Meo thought, "If I use Mirror Force, I can destroy it! I can! I..." As it got closer, Meo panicked and didn't respond at all. He watched as Makyura shredded his face-down monster, being Petit Angel.

"Just as I thought, it's nothing he can use at all!" Lance thought to himself while he smiled with utter satisfaction.

"I...I couldn't do it." thought Meo, "If I can't destroy that thing, how am I ever going to win?"

Lance pointed at Meo and retorted, "It's your turn. I mean come now, if you aren't going to attack me then at least put up a better defense." Meo scowled as he drew his card and set a monster.

"Well then I guess I can at least make you dance. Now dance!" As the duel went on, Makyura destroyed every monster that Meo placed onto the field. All he could do was to continue setting monsters on the field without doing anything else. The whole time Lance was laughing at Meo's misfortune. Meo was also starting to lose hope as everything shatters in front of his eyes.

-----------------

Inside one of the wagons, Ayami was looking through an opened crate while the unconscious bodies of Lance's men were on the floor. She pulled out documents that were on top of gold and other supplies and examined them. "I knew it. These guys were passing themselves off as tax collectors after all. But, where could the Lightfoots be?"

-----------------

Makyura proceeded to destroy another monster of Meo's. Lance yawned out of boredom after what seemed to of been six turns into the duel. "I'm getting rather bored now. I might as well finish things up here."

Ayami entered the tower through the window high above the ground floor. She peered down and saw the duel that was going on. "What is this?" She muttered quietly, so that no one could hear. She then saw Meo down there along with Lance and appeared shocked, "No way! What's he doing dueling!?"

"I summon Vorse Raider in attack mode!" Lance declared. A large beast-like humanoid with a large pole-axe appeared (ATK 1900). "Next I activate the Continuous Trap, Ultimate Offering! By paying 500 Life Points, I am allowed to Normal Summon a monster from my hand!"

(Lance: 4000 – 500 = 3500 LP)

He held up 2 monster cards though, "Of course, I can activate the effect again so that I can summon another monster! So I pay another 500 to add one more!"

(Lance: 3500 – 500 = 3000 LP)

Two new monsters appeared, Gil Garth (ATK 1800) and Drillago (ATK 1600). There were now four monsters on his field and Meo started to feel scared. He looked at each monster; Drillago spinning its drills like it was ready to skewer him, Vorse Raider raising his blade slightly as it let out a slight gleam to show how sharp it was, and Gil Garth holding its sword like it was ready to cut Meo. His body started to shake. "I'm done holding back on you. On my next turn I'm going to go all out. No more defenses for you, for they will be crushed instantly. So I think it would be appropriate to let your mother see you fall for the last time."

Lance snapped his fingers and the man closest to the cell opened the door and went inside. He dragged Eliza out of the cell for Meo. From above, Ayami appeared shocked by what was going on.

"Mama!" Meo looked stunned.

"M...Meo!" she tried to call to him, but the man had his arm wrapped around her neck.

"Dammit!" thought Ayami, "I can't get to them like this. Where the hell are you guys?"

"It's time for your final turn, boy!" said Lance, "Whatever you do though it will make no difference! You've failed to save your mother and that's something you should be ashamed of!"

Meo was about to cry, "No...I can't..." For a moment he didn't do anything but cry tears. He clamped his paws together in what appeared to be a prayer, which confused Lance. "Please...I don't want to lose her like with papa...please help me save her."

"Praying will get you no where." Lance said coldly.

Meo proceeded to draw his card. The card this time was Guardian Angel Kasket. "P…Papa's card."

-----------------

He remembered the time when he was really little. He was barely three when his father, who appeared to be an adult version of him, gave him the card. "Here you go. Now you have your own angel to protect you, just like he did for me."

-----------------

"Papa…" he muttered. He washed the tears from his eyes and proceeded with his turn. "I play Guardian Angel Kasket!" Instead of setting the monster like he has done the whole duel, he instead played it face-up. The monster was an angelic human in gold armor, baring a spear in his hands, and wearing a halo like wreath over its head (ATK 2600).

Meo and Eliza were mesmerized by this monster. Light seemed to shine from it in awe-inspiring brilliance. "It did exist after all." Eliza muttered, "He always said there was someone watching over him...this must have been it." Her eyes watered, "Oh, Giera..."

"Humph." Lance grunted as he appeared unimpressed by this new monster. "So you brought out that monster. Such high attack points for a Level 4 monster, however...I already got a glimpse of what it does. From that moment I picked it up I looked at every bit of the card, including its effect. I'm only going to tell you this, you cannot win with that monster, for any time it attacks me it will lose 1000 attack points during that battle. In other words, if it were to attack any monster I own, it would only be destroyed. Your last monster is great for a heavy defense, but as for offense it's nothing more than another 1600 attacking monster. Disappointing but true."

He proceeded to draw a card, "It's my turn now." He gazed at his new card and smiled, "As I said, nothing matters at this point for I have won. I equip Vorse Raider with United We Stand! This is an Ultra-Rare Spell card, when equipped to a monster it increases its attack and defense points by 800, for every face-up monster I control! Since there are four on my field, that amount adds up to 3200!" Vorse Raider emits an aura that connects to the other monsters, increasing his power (ATK 1900 + 3200 = ATK 5100).

Meo looked nervously at the newly powered monster. It appeared bigger than before and much scarier. "You did your best, but in the end you've failed. Of course I didn't expect much, from a kitten. Vorse Raider, attack!" Vorse Raider leapt into the air and prepared to slam down its poleaxe right through Kasket.

"I can't be afraid!" he thought, "I can't be afraid! I...I have my papa's card with me...he's protecting me even now!" For the moment he felt like he couldn't do it again, though he managed to muster up the courage to press the button under the Spell/Trap slot that Mirror Force was in. "I activate Mirror Force!" The card flipped up, causing a mirror-like barrier to surround him.

"What!?" exclaimed Lance, as he watched Vorse Raider slamming into the barrier with his weapon. After a bit of struggle he was launched backward and destroyed. This also caused beams of light to blast out of him, destroying all of Lance's remaining monsters. He looked stunned by what had happened. All his monsters were completely gone. "N...No way."

Ayami was surprised by Meo's play. It was her card that he used to destroy all of Lance's monsters and she was surprised that he even made such a move. "Amazing." She muttered quietly.

Meo looked relieved, "I did it. I really did it!"

Lance grunted, "I don't know where and how you got that card but, you still haven't won. From my hand I summon Granadora in attack mode!" A large green reptile like creature with many spikes on its body appeared (ATK 1900). "When this monster is Normal Summoned, I gain 1000 Life Points and if it gets destroyed and sent to the graveyard then I take 2000 points of damage! I end my turn!"

(Lance: 3000 + 1000 = 4000 LP)

He thought to himself, "He won't be able to touch me as long as I have a monster with at least 1600 attack points. If by chance I draw a monster with over 2600 attack points then I'll be able to defeat him with what I got left." In his hand were monsters with more attack points than his current monster; reaching no higher than 2200. They all had a Star Level of either five to six.

"It seems like that's the only kind of Wall monster he could come up with." thought Ayami, "But fortunately for him Meo's monster can't attack it since it will only lose out to it by 300 points. His monster just isn't the kind to be attacking with, only for defending. What can he possibly do?" She then realized something, "Wait of course!"

"This is it." thought Meo, looking at his deck for hope, "If I can't beat that monster now, I will lose mama." He turned his gaze at his monster hoping for guidance. "You always helped my father, and you even helped me. Please…just a little more." He slowly drew his card, this time being a Spell card. "This is..."

-----------------

He remembered from earlier in the day when Ayami was giving Meo her Mirror Force. He had thanked her for the card.

"You know, seeing as one of your cards has an ability where it loses attack points, I think this card would fit nicely." She pulled out another card from her deck and handed it to Meo, "It's called Anti-Reverse Sword. When equipped to a monster, it reverses any change done to a monster's attack and defense, so instead of having to attack with a weak offense you would have a really strong offense. If you ever decide to play Duel Monsters, definitely use it!"

-----------------

"That's right." Meo thought, "She did say that. Thank you, Ayami."

He proceeded with his turn, "I equip Guardian Angel Kasket with the Anti-Reverse Sword!" Kasket's spear was replaced with a long sword, with spiked blades that went up with the blade, and runes were all over it. "And to add to it I summon another monster! Tellus the Little Angel!" A small round angel in a shell appeared (ATK 500). "Guardian Angel Kasket, attack his monster!"

"There it is!" thought Ayami.

"Fool," thought Lance, "So what if he has a Spell card, it won't do anything as long as I have Granadora...wait a minute." He appeared concerned after realizing the card Meo played, "That card...he said it was Anti-Reverse Sword! I remember now, it's an Uncommon card but its effect can be really powerful. It can reverse the changes in attack and defense points. So when Guardian Angel Kasket attacks, it wouldn't lose 1000 attack points, it would gain them...and that would put it at 3600 which means..." He appeared frightened and thought, "It'll be enough to beat my monster!"

Kasket held its sword up in the air, the light from the sword emanating through his body (ATK 2600 + 1000 = ATK 3600), and then it began to fly down and slashed his sword right through Granadora. The resulting destruction caused rays of light to flash off the creature and hit Lance for damage. The explosion caused by the monster's destruction however engulfed Lance for even more damage due to Granadora's effect.

(Lance: (4000 – 1700) – 2000 = 300 LP)

"Tellus the Little Angel will attack you directly," yelled Meo, as his last monster flew toward Lance at top speed. Lance looked on with a shocked look on his face as the monster rammed into him, depleting his Life Points to zero.

(Lance: 300 – 500 = 0 LP)

The holograms disappeared and Meo was in shock over what has happened, "I did it...I won." His eyes started to water. He wiped his eyes and looked up toward Kasket who was still disappearing from the field, "Thank you, Kasket!"

Ayami clenched her fist and smiled. "Yes!" She cheered quietly.

Eliza started to cry tears of happiness, "Oh thank god!"

"Grr…" Lance appeared furious as he tossed aside his Duel Disk and picked up Meo by the neck. Eliza was surprised as Lance angrily yelled at Meo, "You dare make a fool out of me? You think that by stealing a couple rare cards makes you better than I!? Well, I'll show you what for!"

He slammed Meo down on the table and the man who was outside the tower came back into the room. He helped pull out Meo's left arm onto the table, with the Duel Disk still attached to him. Meo tried to get out but couldn't move.

Lance picked out a small axe from the weapon rack in the corner of the room, "Whether it be you or your father who stole those rare cards of yours, it don't matter to me. I don't want his son to one day be as conniving as he was so...I'll give you your just deserts!" He walked over to the table with the intent of cutting off Meo's arm.

"No!" Eliza cried out, but she was still held against her will.

He raised the axe up high and before he could slam it down a black bladed star hits the hilt of the blade, causing him to drop it. He turned toward where it came from and shouted, "Who dares to interrupt!?"

The person who did it leapt down from a window above them. It was Ayami, "It's over for you, Bandit Lemiuex! Let those people go and no one will have to die!"

"Ayami!" cried Meo.

"Don't underestimate me, girl!" said Lance harshly. The men from outside the tower began to pour into the room. There were so many inside that she was greatly outnumbered. "As you can see you are clearly outnumbered. I suggest you drop your weapons and surrender yourself to me. Otherwise these two will die."

Ayami smirked as she placed her hands up in the air, "Alright, you win...Just kidding!" From one hand she dropped a smoke bomb. Touching the ground it exploded and filled the room with smoke.

"What the!?" Lance coughed as the smoked was blinding everyone in the room. He heard the sound of his men being struck down by someone and when the smoke finally cleared he sees that the room was filled with ninja. His men were on the ground unconscious after being attacked by them. Meo and Ayami were safe together with the ninja.

"Now as I said before, come quietly and no one will have to die."

"You..." Lance grunted and fell to his knees in defeat, "Dammit!"

-----------------

Lance and all his men were tied by their wrists outside of the tower, in a long line with ninja keeping watch over them. Ayami instructed them, "Alright, now I'm going to accompany you in turning these guys into the capital." She turned to the other group instructed them as well, "I want you guys to make sure all stolen goods are returned to their proper owners, got that?!"

"Oie!"

Meo and Eliza were together on the tower steps. Meo was holding his deck in his paws and the two of them were looking at his Guardian Angel Kasket card. Ayami walked over to them and asked, "You two alright?"

"Yes. Thank you ever so much." said Eliza gratefully.

Ayami smiled, "Not a problem. After I turn these guys in I'll see about getting you an extension on paying off your tax for the month, as for everyone else who was robbed. I know it won't be much but it's the least we can do for all the trouble he caused by pretending to be someone from the kingdom."

Ayami turned to leave but Meo spoke up, "Um...Ayami." She turned back around. "I um...want to thank you, for everything. If it weren't for the cards you gave me I wouldn't have been able to save mama."

She didn't know what to say for a moment, but she simply smiled, "Hey, you were pretty amazing though. I was able to catch your duel mid-way. I couldn't just barge in without my boys backing up, since you can't just go in by yourself." Meo looked embarrassed since he did that earlier.

"Maybe if you applied yourself you could make a great duelist one day. I mean hey, we don't generally get any Beastian duelists here in the capital, it'd be a nice change in scenery for once."

"And that's the other thing. I...I was wondering if...you could teach me..."

"Sure I can." Meo's face lit up cheerfully as she added, "As soon as I finish things on my end, I'll come back and teach you all about the fine art of Duel Monsters. Until then you just keep yourself safe, okay?" She waved good bye as she walked away with the rest of her men.

Meo watched her leave and thought, "A great duelist...I wonder what that would be like."

-----------------

Inside the ruin where Meo had visited before, a stranger was looking at the golden chest that Meo had previously opened. The stranger appeared to be human, was wearing some sort of white garb underneath his cloak, and sporting a long sword. He held up a card in his hand, blanketed by the shadows of the room, and it emitted a red aura.

"So it's no longer here," he muttered. He turned around as if to leave the room, "No matter, it will be found eventually. The Dark King won't be kept waiting for long." The silhouette of a tall, horned being lingered behind him.

To Be Continued...

Fake Card List:

Guardian Angel Kasket (Light)

****

Fairy/Effect

When this monster declares an attack, decrease its Atk by 1000 until the end of the Damage Step.

ATK 2600 DEF 0

Anti-Reverse Sword

Equip Spell Card

When the equipped monster's Atk or Def would be decreased by a card's effect, increase it by that amount instead. When the equipped monster's Atk or Def would be increased by a card's effect, decrease it by that amount instead.