So, it's been quite a while since I wrote any Yu-Gi-Oh fanfiction (and even longer since I did anything with the Shadowchasers mythos). If anyone's wondering what's happening to Shrouded World, I feel that I've moved beyond it as a writer and that if I were to go back now, I'd find it hard to reconcile all the ways I've changed with what I wrote back then, so I'm going to leave it as it is.

Leaving behind my past work, this fic is intended to fit into the Shadowchasers timeline several months after the conclusion of Cyber Commander's Shadowchasers: Ascension. It will use the January 2014 Forbidden/Limited list for the TCG, but will not incorporate the new gameplay rules from the OCG (specifically the rules in which the first turn player does not draw on their first turn, and that both players can have an active Field Spell at once). I'm not going to use Pendulum Monsters either, though I may use cards from the Arc-V era if they don't involve the Pendulum mechanic (for instance, Dragonprincess Saphira).

This fic will use the sub terminology, so D-Wheel rather than Duel Runner, Riding Duel rather than Turbo Duel, and such. However, I will primarily use the TCG names for cards, unless I vastly prefer an OCG name.

I don't own the Yu-Gi-Oh franchise, it is the property of Konami. I also do not own the Shadowchasers mythos as a concept, that right belongs to Cyber Commander, as does thanks for letting me add a story to that mythos. And finally, thanks to Scarlet Weather for being my beta for this fic.

Now that the admin is finished, let's begin.

Duel 1: Sixth Sense

The motto of the Shadowchasers says that ignorance is not bliss and that knowledge is not power. Thinking about it, I know men and women who would disagree with the first clause. Some who are aware of the world in which the Shadowchasers exist would rather not know, for as much as the world of Shadowkind is wonderful, it can also be a place of fear, dread and terror. While those who compose the ranks of the Shadowchasers willingly face that world, there are those who would rather forget.

There are things even the Shadowchasers do not know, I am sure. And I am sure of that because there was a time when I knew something they did not.

I am one of those who would disagree with the first clause of the Shadowchaser motto. If I could return to my ignorance, I know my sleep would be more peaceful. But I cannot forget. I cannot forgive.

I also disagree with the second clause of the motto. Knowledge can be very powerful indeed. The right piece of knowledge can destroy a man. The right secret at the right time can topple an empire. A man who knows many things can be a man of great power and influence. Knowledge can make one feared as a danger to even the greatest men.

If I disagree with the Shadowchaser motto, why do I work with them now? I'm sure that's what some of you will want to know. This is the story of how I came to be who I am today. When I look back on these events, I'm sure that they don't cast me in the best light. But I will not whitewash the part I played. In the end, the truth is what matters.

This is the story of the events which led me to become a Shadowchaser. And it begins in a place you may not expect.

S:TE

The city of Bath, the United Kingdom.

Police sergeant Alex Cox sighed as yet another group of drunken revellers jeered and laughed at the passing police car in which he sat. He knew that his partner would see only humans, but to his Aware eyes, several of the revellers were horned and had hooves instead of feet. Satyrs. Trust them to let a party get out of hand.

Cox was in his early forties, wearing his uniform with the air of a man who had worn it for a very long time and seen much in that time. His black hair was beginning to become speckled with strands of grey, and the cards in the Duel Disk on his arm were showing signs of wear.

"Kids," his partner muttered. "Is that all we're here for?"

Out of the other man's sight, Cox rolled his eyes. Rookies. The man at his side was barely more than an adolescent, early twenties at most, youthful and eager to deliver justice.

He had picked the wrong city, the sergeant reflected wearily. Even among the Shadowkind only he could see, there was usually peace here. All that the younger officer would usually see was this: students on nights out who'd had far too much to drink and weren't afraid to show it.

He sighed. Kids. Had he really been like that once?

"You tired?" his partner asked. Cox looked at his name tag. Luke Bennett, he read.

"No, Bennett," he answered. "Just thinking. You'll get to do a lot of that, this beat is dead most nights. Just the odd drunk."

Bennett looked aside. "And here I thought I'd be chasing down rogue D-Wheelers."

"You going for the Special Pursuit Unit?" Cox asked.

"Yeah... I always thought it'd be cool, y'know? I watched Duel Chasers. Seeing those guys in action was awesome, I wanted to do that. But then I got here and it turns out I have to sit through two years of standard duty before I can even start the training. And all the paperwork!"

Cox nodded. "They're strict about it, probably because every rookie wants to be in Special Pursuit right off the bat. And the paperwork never really goes away."

"Did you ever apply for that?" his partner asked.

"What, Special Pursuit? No, I never really got in on the whole D-Wheeler craze," he replied. "Before my time, I suppose. When I was your age, those things were barely even in development, I think."

"Wow, I've known D-Wheels all my life," Bennett mused. "It's weird to imagine a world without them."

"Hard to imagine a world without Duel Monsters, but go back sixty years and we didn't have that either," Cox replied, glancing down at his deck. "In any case, if you want to be part of Special Pursuit, work at it, Bennett."

"Thanks," the younger officer smiled, turning the car into a side street. They passed more revellers and Cox cast a glance over them, picking out two more satyrs, a dwarf and an orc among them, the latter two at opposite ends of the group. Even having seen Shadows his whole life, it was still sometimes a surprise to see them so easily mingling with unaware humans.

The radio at his lapel hissed into life and Cox answered it. "Cox here. What is it?"

"We have a report of an assault just off of St James Parade," the officer on the other end answered. "Victim is a student, male, nineteen. No one got a clear look at the attacker, he was scared off when members of the public intervened."

Cox frowned. "I hear you. We'll go and check it out." He turned to Bennett. "Get us over to St James Parade. We have an assault."

Bennett almost smiled at the prospect of some action, before a look from the older officer stopped him. "Right." He whirled the car around in a move almost certainly taken from an episode of Duel Chasers, bringing the police car's sirens into life as he sent them racing down the street.

Cox sighed. Rookies.

S:TE

The street they ended up parked along was one of the major roads of the city centre. Looking up it as he got out of the car, Cox could see an Odeon a few buildings up, and on the other side of the road was a 24-hour convenience store of some sort. People bustled past, stopping to gawk at the young man who sat with his back to a building, a cut on his forehead being attended to by a paramedic.

Cox walked over, donning his police cap as he did so. His notebook and pen were in his hands, and he noticed Bennett looking at the instruments. He held up the notebook. "Watch me, Bennett. This is your most important tool. Part of being a good officer is making sure to make a note of everything which might be important."

Bennett nodded, though he was clearly still incredulous.

Leaving his partner trailing behind him, Cox knelt down beside the young man. He was nineteen, as the report had said, and looked his age. He was clean-shaven and this close, his aftershave was easy to detect, especially since it was overpowering. His clothes were the sort of thing one might call casually formal,a red and black checked shirt and dark jeans. His brown hair had clearly been combed at some point in the night, then messed up by the wind or something else. From his attire and that aftershave, it was clear that he had been with female company at some point in the evening.

The student's eyes caught his gaze. He could tell that the young man was shocked, no surprise given he had been assaulted just five minutes previously. But there was something more there. Cox couldn't quite tell what, but something about the look of utter shock and disbelief in the boy's eyes unsettled him. And just from looking, he could tell that the young man was as aware of the Shadowkind in the crowds as he was.

"Is he drunk?" Cox sighed, realising that more onlookers were crowding in.

"Did he hit his head?"

"Is he gonna puke?"

"Teenagers," the officer muttered under his breath. "Bennett, get us some room, please."

"Right," the younger man said, turning to move the crowd back. Cox turned his attention back to the young man, who was now looking up at him.

"Hello, I'm Officer Cox," he said, trying his best to smile. "What's your name?"

"Ryan... Ryan Wilson," the young man replied.

Cox took a look at the cut on Ryan's forehead as the paramedic turned aside for a moment. Despite what the crowd had speculated, this was not a wound inflicted by hitting one's head. As much as he'd have liked to forget, he had seen similar wounds before.

This had been inflicted by a claw of some sort.

He frowned. "I'm going to need to ask you a few questions, Ryan. If you need more time to recover, just say now and I can do that."

"No, it's okay, officer," Ryan said quietly.

"Okay, good," Cox nodded. "Can you describe the person who attacked you?"

Ryan immediately looked away. "This is going to sound crazy."

"You'd be surprised by the things I hear, Ryan. Don't worry, just say it."

"I'm not drunk, believe me."

"I think I'd know if you were," the officer replied. "Really, don't worry. I'm not going to laugh at you. I'm taking this seriously."

"Okay," Ryan nodded, looking reassured. "The guy who attacked me... I thought he was just a tramp or something. His stuff looked like he'd been sleeping rough. But then he just came at me for no reason and I got a look at his face and..."

"Go on," Cox immediately encouraged.

Ryan looked right into the officer's eyes and he could see how scared the young man was. He had never seen such fear and disbelief before, and it unsettled him to the core. In his years in the police, Cox had dealt with many things. He had taken part in drugs busts and almost been killed by a maniac with a knife. He had once engaged in a tense negotiation with a man threatening to throw himself and a hostage off the edge of a multi-storey car park. And though he could never tell any of his fellow officers, he had once come face-to-face with a transformed werewolf and lived to tell the tale.

But he had never seen anything more unsettling than Ryan's look of fear.

"He looked like me," Ryan whispered. "I mean, it was mad, but he did look like me. I'm not drunk, I'm not mad, please believe me."

Cox put down his notebook and rested a hand on Ryan's shoulder. "Son, in all my years, I've had to deal with some weird things. Some of it, you wouldn't even believe. Trust me. I believe what you're telling me. And I'm taking this very seriously. Is there anything else about your attacker I should know? How did he do that to you? Did he have a knife?"

Ryan shook his head. "I don't know, I didn't get a good look at his hands, but I don't think he was holding anything. And there was something he said... I still don't get it."

"What did he say?"

Ryan didn't reply for a moment, looking down at the pavement as the paramedic returned and began to apply a dressing to the cut. The young man winced in pain as the bandage covered the wound, and Cox waited patiently for an answer. Finally, the paramedic finished his work and left again, and then Ryan spoke.

"Give me back my life." He looked apprehensively at Cox as though expecting laughter or to be told that he was drunk, but no such dismissal came.

"I believe you," the police officer said. "Here's what's going to happen now. If the paramedic will let you go, my colleague and I are going to take you home. And I'm going to get in touch with some contacts I have. They're specialists at dealing with this sort of thing, and they'll know what to do. Don't worry, Ryan. We're going to catch the guy who assaulted you and we're going to find out what's going on."

"What if he comes after me again?"

"Then we'll protect you," Cox replied. "I swear. I'll arrange some protection for you." The paramedic returned and Cox turned to him. "Do you need to take Ryan to hospital or is he fine?"

"He should be okay to move, that cut looks nasty, but it's actually fairly superficial," the paramedic commented. "That said, it might be a knife wound, but if it is, it's not any sort of knife I've ever seen. It's closer to cuts I've seen inflicted by claws."

Cox frowned. "We'll figure out what the attacker had. Thank you for your help."

"It's no problem. I would recommend that he goes to hospital at some point over the next few weeks, just so we can ensure that the injury doesn't become infected. I've applied an antibacterial gel, but it's better to be safe than sorry."

"I'll do that," Ryan murmured. Satisfied, the paramedic walked away to his car.

"We'd better get you home," Cox mused.

"Don't you need to interview everyone else?"

"I don't think they'll be of much help," the officer commented to himself. "Besides, getting you home is my priority. Okay, Bennett, we're finished here. Let's get this young man home."

"Finished?" Bennett murmured. "But there's nothing in your notebook. You said that it was important to make a note of everything."

Cox picked up his notebook and closed it, putting it and his pen away. "I'll explain later. Right now, we need to get Ryan here back home."

As Bennett led Ryan over to the police car, Cox lingered for a moment. Something about Ryan had felt odd to him since he had first seen him and he hadn't been quite sure of what, but as he watched his partner lead the teenager away, he realised what it was. It was in the way Ryan looked at the bystanders.

Naturally, several Shadows were among the humans crowded around to watch what was going on. Just glancing through them, Cox could pick out elves, more satyrs, even an ophidia. The thing was that he knew how he looked at them, with the air of someone used to seeing them. Shadows weren't an odd sight to him. But when he looked at Ryan, and saw how he looked at those same Shadows, he realised that it were as though Ryan had never seen them before. He knew the teenager was Aware, he could tell immediately just by looking at him.

So why was he looking at the Shadows as though he had never seen them before in his life?

"You coming, Cox?" Bennett's call snapped him from his musing and he hurried over to the police car, still puzzling over what he knew. An Aware young man who seemed to have only just become Aware had been attacked by a man who he claimed had his own features and who had told him to give him his life back. And this strange man had inflicted a wound on Ryan which had much more in common with the damage done by the werewolf he had faced a decade previously than with any kind of knife.

It sent a shiver down his spine. This was out of his league. He needed help. That was something he needed to teach Bennett. All the rookies wanted to think they could be like the Special Pursuit officers, chasing down suspects alone like the ones off of that ridiculous Duel Chasers show. But something all good officers needed to learn, he felt, was that there were times when you had to admit that you needed help. You either learned to call for backup in times of need, or you didn't get anywhere at best and ended up dead at worst.

As much as he didn't enjoy connecting to the world he had long been aware of but stepped back from, Cox knew that times came when he and his fellow officers couldn't get the job done. This had all the signs of being one of those times, and that meant he had to get out his phone and call the number he had been given a long time ago.

S:TE

The first time Cox had heard the name 'Shadowchaser', he had been Bennett's age. He had been just a rookie fresh out of training, full of fire and eager to lay down the law. So when his attempt to arrest a drunken satyr who had chosen to go on a rampage through a nightclub in pursuit of a girl who had tried to politely refuse his advances was interrupted by a man wearing a sword, a Duel Disk, and no uniform he could identify who promptly told him that the arrest was Shadowchaser business, his first instinct had been to challenge the newcomer.

This had ended with him receiving a furious radio message from his superior ordering him to stand down. Undeterred, he had chased after the Shadowchaser, determined to deal with what he saw as a vigilante. That was why he had witnessed the satyr being arrested by the unusual method of a gem which caused him to disappear into thin air.

"Who are you?" he remembered asking.

"My name's Evan. I'm a Shadowchaser. I'm sorry, but this arrest wasn't yours to make. You're Aware, aren't you?"

He remembered meeting Evan the next day for a coffee and an explanation, and ever since, he had served as the unofficial link between Bath's police and the Shadowchasers. As the oldest Aware officer on the force, that was the easiest solution, it was felt. Several times, he had been asked to join the Shadowchasers, and each time, he had refused. He didn't want their world. He had been aware of the existence of Shadows since he was eighteen, and while sometimes it fascinated him (he sometimes fondly remembered the nymph he had dated as an eager twenty-year-old), more often it scared him. The encounter with the werewolf had only cemented his desire to cling to normality, to a wife he loved and a daughter he wanted to protect. Both were unaware of the supernatural things he saw on a regular basis, and in truth, he knew he wanted neither of them to ever touch that world.

"If you ever come across a case you're sure has Shadow involvement, call this number and let us know. We'll come and deal with it. If you don't want to join us, I understand. This isn't the safest life. But we could use your help in this way."

Now, in the police car driving Ryan home, Cox found himself reminded of the reasons he was afraid of the world he saw. He remembered the werewolf, a slavering, vicious beast which had no desire but to maim and kill. He had been oh so lucky to survive his encounter with it, and he still wondered how the Shadowchasers had managed to capture and contain it. Even ten years later, he still sometimes snapped awake from nightmares about the confrontation with the creature. Its claws and fangs gleaming in moonlight, ready to tear him apart. Saliva dripping from its jaws in anticipation. Those hungry golden eyes.

He forced himself to stop. Dwelling on that wouldn't do any good.

"You okay?" Bennett asked.

Cox snapped from his reverie. "I'm fine. Just remembering something."

"Anything you think'll help with this case?"

"Maybe, but I think at this point it's out of our hands," the older officer shrugged. "Sometimes, kid, what we have to accept is that some cases are ones we can't solve."

Bennett made a puzzled frown as he turned off of the main road onto a residential street. "What do you mean? That we should give up on this?"

"No," he answered. "Let me tell you something as a twenty-year man. Sometimes, people from groups you don't really know are going to come in and take over the case, and when you try to argue, you get phone calls from your superiors telling you to step the hell down." He remembered his first confrontation with Evan and the angry message from the chief inspector he had promptly received. "When that happens, just do it. There are some things best left untouched except by the experts."

"You're saying someone else is going to take this case?"

Cox nodded, watching the houses pass by outside the windows of the car. "It's for the best, Bennett. Just a word of advice from a man who's seen it happen plenty of times."

"Right," the rookie nodded. "Uh, Ryan, which is your house?" Ryan indicated one and the officers parked the car outside. "There you go. We'll be keeping an eye out for this maniac. We'll catch him, don't worry."

Cox had to look away. No. They wouldn't catch him, he was sure of that.

The Shadowchasers would.

S:TE

When Cox finally got home, his daughter was sound asleep. He lingered at the door for a moment, smiling at how tranquil she seemed, before kissing her goodnight and leaving.

"How was work?" his wife asked as he passed her on the way to what they had dubbed 'the study'.

"Same sort of thing, just teaching Bennett the ropes. Kid wants to be on Special Pursuit, like the rest of them."

She chuckled and shook her head. "Damn Special Pursuit. Everyone should know that beat officers like you are the ones who put in the real work."

"I guess D-Wheelers who catch criminals in high speed Riding Duels are more fun for the camera," he replied absent-mindedly. "How was Ellen's day?"

"She got an A on that painting she did for art," she replied, clearly happy with this. Cox smiled too.

"That's brilliant. I'm glad she's doing well." He looked at her for a moment. "I need to make a phone call. It's just a work thing, I'll be five minutes, okay?"

"Okay, dear." She kissed him good night and disappeared into their bedroom. Cox stared at the door. He hated being Aware sometimes. He hated that he saw a world very different from what his loved ones saw. If he could have given it up, he would have done so without a second's thought. It was impossible, of course, no one knew how to blind an Aware to what they alone could see, but sometimes when he had to lie to everyone he knew, it was difficult to appreciate his 'gift'.

Putting aside the melancholy thought, he walked into the study. In truth, it was more a chaotic mass of books and papers he had gathered for some reason, only to neglect due to the demands of his work. He slumped into the swivel chair placed by a desk overflowing with paper, and retrieved his phone from his pocket. He opened the contacts and scrolled down to the number labelled 'Shadowchasers'. It was perhaps a bit blatant of him to simply label the number with the group's name, but who besides him read his phone's contacts on a regular basis?

Sighing, he dialled the number. He didn't actually know who it reached, he presumed it connected to some office in the Shadowchaser bureaucracy who could direct members of the group to help.

Just a moment after he dialled, he was answered. "Officer Cox? What do you need?"

"I had a case this evening, a young man assaulted in an alley," Cox explained. "He had an injury which definitely looked inflicted by claws, and he claims the assailant had the same features as himself and told him to give him back his life."

"Any chance the young man was drunk?"

Cox was shaking his head even as the question was asked. "No. I'd have been able to tell. He was completely sober. This sounds too much like a job for the Shadowchasers for me to not call."

The person at the other end considered it. "You've worked with Alyssa Daniels before, right?"

Cox nodded absent-mindedly. He did remember Alyssa, a stunning woman with chestnut brown hair who had been one of the Shadowchasers helping with the werewolf affair. "Yes."

"She's the closest Shadowchaser to Bath right now not involved in a critical assignment, so I'll get in touch with her. Just, uh, Alyssa's a bit of a lone wolf, so if she gives you the cold shoulder-"

"I know the type. I'll be okay," Cox replied. "Thank you for your help."

"Think nothing of it," the Shadowchaser replied.

Hanging up the phone, Cox sat for a while, looking into the chaotic mass of papers. Getting in touch with the Shadowchasers always reminded him of why he had refused to join them. It brought back memories, of the werewolf, of the other things he had just glimpsed, but of which glimpses had been more than enough.

Finally, he got up and left the study.

S:TE

A hundred miles from the city, the moon was shining down on open countryside. A small glade stood isolated atop a hill overlooking a great valley, with a small stream running beside it, and amidst the trees, two duelists stood.

One was clearly a Shadowkind, a tall, brutish muscular man with the head of a bull, wearing black leather which glistened in a sickly manner in the moonlight. His Duel Disk was almost twice the size of a regular model just to fit on his arm, and a blazing draconic creature with a body of dark obsidian rose before him, its form wrapped in an aura of fire [2900/1800/L8], along with a monstrous T-Rex of black iron with a body likewise wrapped in fire [2800/2200/L8].

His opponent controlled only a Trap Card named Sylvan Waterslide and a face-down card. She was a slender, toned woman with chestnut brown hair and sharp green eyes, wearing a black leather biker jacket over a form-fitting green T-shirt and blue jeans. Her features were soft, but there was no mistaking the steel in her gaze and the mark on her cheek which identified her as a Shadowchaser. While she seemed largely human, her ears tapered to gentle points, betraying her elven heritage. She had only two cards in her hand.

"Face it, Alyssa," the minotaur said in some mix of a laugh and a snort. "You've lost! You should've known better than to fight me alone!"

"A great duelist once said that the duel isn't over until the last card is played," Alyssa responded. "I'll prove the truth of that maxim right now."

Alyssa 1100LP/Minotaur 3400LP

"In my Draw Phase, I use the effect of Sylvan Waterslide instead of drawing," she declared. "With this, I excavate the top card of my deck, and if it's a Plant-Type, it's sent to my Graveyard, otherwise, it comes to my hand." She turned over the card, holding it up. "Since I revealed my Plant-Type Sylvan Peaskeeper, it goes to the Graveyard, activating its effect as it was excavated and then discarded. I revive a Level 4 or less Plant-Type from my Graveyard, like Copy Plant." A gnarled stump with venomous green eyes appeared before her [0/0/L1].

"A Tuner monster," the minotaur considered. "But it won't help you without other monsters!"

"I activate my Trap Card, Sylvan Blessing!" Alyssa continued. "I put a card from my hand on top of my deck," she put a card onto the top of the deck, "then, I Special Summon a Sylvan from my hand or Graveyard, like Sylvan Hermitree." A swirling whirlwind of leaves erupted before her, transforming into a great tree with a face in its trunk, its leaves a mix of green and red [2700/1800/L8].

"With Hermitree's effect, I excavate my deck's top card," she held up a monster called Sylvan Marshalleaf, "then, if it's a Plant-Type, it goes to the Graveyard and I draw." She discarded the monster, making a draw. "With Marshalleaf's effect, when it's excavated and discarded, I destroy one of your monsters! Begone, Pyrorex!" Vines burst from the ground, wrapping around the T. Rex-like Elemental Lord and crushing it until it burst into embers.

"You might have destroyed my Pyrorex, but I still have Shiryu!" the minotaur boasted.

"All you people do is boast, and boast, and boast," Alyssa retorted. "It won't save you. I activate Copy Plant's effect, allowing it to become the same Level as another Plant on the field for the rest of the turn. I copy Hermitree's Level." Copy Plant glowed, its body twisting and expanding to become a dark duplicate of Hermitree [0/0/L8]. "I expect you thought I would go for a Synchro Summon, but a Tuner with an ability like this can also be used in another way. I Overlay my Level 8 Hermitree and Copy Plant!"

The minotaur glared in surprise as the two turned into bolts of red and green light respectively, shooting into the air then crashing down into a swirling portal of iridescent colours.

"White tiger of the West who thrives in the autumn, sharpen your claws and roar in defense of the holy forest!"

The portal exploded into golden light and a gigantic, four-legged silhouette became visible within it.

"Xyz Summon... Alsei, the Sylvan High Protector!"

The monster emerged, a gigantic tiger with white fur and four horns made of jagged branches. Its coat was covered in moss, and its claws gleamed menacingly in the moonlight, two golden Overlay Units orbiting its body [2300/3200/R8/2OU].

"I activate Alsei's effect!" Alyssa called. "Once per turn, I can declare a card name, then excavate my deck's top card! I declare Pyrotech Mech – Shiryu!"

"What? Why would you declare that card? Is it even in your deck?"

"Because if the card I excavate isn't what I declared, it goes to the Graveyard," she explained, discarding the excavated Breakthrough Skill. "And since a card went from my deck to the Graveyard due to a card effect, I can activate Alsei's other effect. I detach one Overlay Unit," the tiger growled, crushing an Overlay Unit with a swipe of its claws, "to return any card on the field to the top or bottom of the deck. I'll send Shiryu to the top of your deck!"

The minotaur watched in shock as Alsei roared, causing Shiryu to dissolve into embers and vanish. He caught the card as it flew from his Duel Disk, grudgingly putting it on top of his deck.

"Now, I summon Sylvan Bladefender!" Another Sylvan appeared, this one resembling a wandering samurai with a katana and wakizashi sheathed at his belt, wearing a kimono made of leaves and a round straw hat [1900/700/L4]. "And now, to finish this. Bladefender and Alsei, direct attack!"

"No!" her opponent cried in horror as first Bladefender lunged, slashing across the bull-man's chest with a katana, and then Alsei struck with a sweeping blow of its claws.

Alyssa 1100LP/Minotaur 0LP

As the minotaur was thrown to the ground, Alsei and Bladefender slowly faded into blowing leaves which lingered for just a moment before vanishing. Groaning, the massive Shadowkind began to struggle to his feet, only to stop as Alyssa stood over him.

She held out a glowing gem. "Matthew Walker, you are under arrest for assault, theft and grievous bodily harm."

Matthew's head slumped down and he stared into the dirt. "Just get it over with."

The gem flashed and the minotaur vanished in an instant. Alyssa was left alone, lowering the gem. The Shadowchaser sighed, looking up through the trees at the night sky. Chasing the minotaur down had taken several hours of high-speed pursuit through country lanes, which she hadn't enjoyed at all. Pleasant as the British countryside could be, the roads weren't meant for D-Wheels.

Retrieving her sheathed sword from where she had left it by a tree, she emerged from the glade to be met by a trio of worried-looking teenagers. To a Mundane, they would have seemed normal, but to her Aware eyes, their leafy hair and green-tinted skin indicated their true nature. The three were dryads, plant Shadowkind connected to the woodlands.

"I'm sorry to have brought him here," Alyssa said quietly.

"It's okay," the eldest of the dryads said. "We understand. At least he's safely in custody now." She smiled warmly. "Have a safe trip home, Alyssa. Despite the circumstances, it's good to see you."

"It was good to see you too, May," the Shadowchaser answered. She passed the dryads by, returning to where she had parked her D-Wheel a short distance from the glade. It was one of the latest models, a sleek motorcycle painted a rich green. Removing her Duel Disk from her arm, she set it into place on the D-Wheel's console, only to pause as the sound of her phone's ringtone disturbed the night air. She answered it. "Alyssa here."

"Alyssa, I got a call from Sergeant Cox in Bath. There's a case he thinks needs Shadowchaser involvement."

The half-elf Shadowchaser considered this, remembering Cox. The last time they had met, she recalled, the man had almost been killed by a werewolf. That had been a decade ago. She wondered idly how much he had changed since then.

"Why does he think he needs us?"

"From what he said, a student was attacked by someone who looked exactly like him and told him to 'give his life back'. And the student's injuries looked inflicted by claws."

Alyssa pursued her lips in thought, trying to think of what Shadowkind might fit that description. "It sounds like something for us. I'll get over there in the morning."

"Meet the sergeant at the police station when you arrive, he'll be helping you out."

She frowned. "I don't need help. All I need is a briefing and then I can get by on my own."

"I'm pretty sure he knows the city better than you do. Alyssa, please, just work with him. Cox is a good man and he'll definitely be able to help out."

"Caleb, I'm fine on my own."

"If it was Jalal on this phone, he'd tell you the same, Alyssa. I know you prefer to work alone, but Bath's a city you barely know and the sergeant can help you out. Every Shadowchaser I know who's worked with him has had nothing but praise for him. And he's been invited to join us at least three times."

"Really?" She tried to reconcile the image of the man she had seen in the aftermath of the werewolf's capture with someone who would be asked to join the Shadowchasers. She somehow couldn't manage it. She knew he had confronted the werewolf face-to-face, of course she did, they'd all heard about how a man with nothing but police training had faced a werewolf and lived.

Maybe it wasn't so surprising he had received an offer to join them after all.

"Will you work with him?"

Alyssa considered for a moment more. "Okay. I'll work with him."

Caleb audibly sighed down the phone. "Thank God. I thought I'd be here all night trying to get you to change your mind. Good luck with the case, Alyssa. It sounds like it'll be a tough one."

She hung up, pocketing the phone. She briefly wondered what sort of Shadow could be behind the case. Any number of Shadowkind could have inflicted injuries with claws, but the added details sounded unlike anything she had ever come across before. Of course, there were Shadowkind who could copy a person's appearance, though she had never personally encountered such. Perhaps the attacker had intended to kill the student and then imitate him. But why?

Frowning, Alyssa mounted the D-Wheel. She needed to get some sleep, then she could head out to Bath. It would only be an hour and a half trip by D-Wheel from her home. She took her helmet from a compartment behind the seat, putting it on before starting up the motorcycle and racing away from the glade.

Even as she returned to the winding country lanes, her thoughts were still filled with theories and thoughts about the mysterious attacker.

S:TE

Next time, with Alyssa arriving in Bath, she prepares to meet Sergeant Cox, only for duty to call at the most unfortunate time. Faced with a Riding Duel, will she be able to win?

See in Duel 2: Warrior's Pride!