The air was still, but for the heavy breathing of two people. It was night, and in an alley were two figures, one hunched over the other's prone form. They were silhouetted, dimly visible by the light of the moon, but the alley had no lights of its own, and so visibility was poor. However, this didn't affect the top figure, despite the added handicap of a hood. This figure was staring from beneath her hood straight down into the eyes of her captive, eyes wild and desperate, while her own were stony, and emotionless. She was of average height, and had a figure that was lithe yet athletic, though this fact was muted by the looseness of her cloak. She kneeled with a knee each side of the man's waist, a Glock handgun jammed into his solar plexus. He was short, and squat, clearly built for endurance. He had a broken duel disk on his wrist, cards scattered about him. The desperation in his eyes intensified as he wildly thrashed around, searching for some way, any way, to escape her grip. He stopped when she pushed the gun into him harder. Tears filled his eyes, but as he opened his mouth to finally spoke, another, smoother voice cut through the night air.

"You might want to leave now."

Lady Light looked up to see Yamato stood in the mouth of the alley, smirking. "I'd hate to have to mess up your pretty face because my associates got here before you ran away."

She growled. "Why shouldn't I just shoot you, Yamato?"

"Hey, I'm just trying to help you." He began advancing, pulling a handgun from a holster on his hip. "Because in less than a minute, you're gonna be surrounded. So get the hell out of here, because my boss wants your head."

"Why would you be interested in helping me, you bastard?"

He chuckled. "Just makes things more fun, don't you think? Trust your old friend once in a while. After all, I haven't told anyone who you are underneath that hood, right?"

She glared at him, and growled, before standing and turning to walk away. "I don't know what game you're playing, but I'm going to find out, and them I'm going to kill you." She ran, jumping up a fire escape and quickly leaving his sight.

Yamato chuckled once more. "You shouldn't complain. After all, the game benefits you right now. And how boring it would be if things culminated without you there."

"Hey! Yamato!" A deep, booming voice interrupted his monologue, and he turned to see a hulking man, around thirty, very tall and very wide, with straight brown hair falling to the small of his back. His eyes were green, and cunning, and he wore a white shirt with grey trousers. "Who the hell are you talking to?"

"Myself. Who else?" said Yamato.

"I guess she got away, huh."

"Seems that way. She ran when I got here. Sorry, Enzo, looks like we ended up on a wild goose chase again." He smirked, unbeknownst to Enzo.

"Um, sir…" The downed man spoke up meekly, finally ascending to his feet. He looked between Enzo and Yamato, opening his mouth to continue speaking.

That was as far as he got before Yamato shot him, a double tap in the chest, quick and efficient without even turning his head. "He was getting round to talking after she cornered him," said Yamato. "Dangerous to keep that kind of guy around, wouldn't you say?"

"Yeah, you've got a point. What should we do with the body?"

"Just leave it where it is. It's not like anyone can trace it back to us."

"That's fair enough. Do you know which way the girl went? If I can catch up to her, maybe I can finally have a thrilling duel. All the opponents I've faced here so far were trash. Not worth the price of a bullet to even kill them."

"I can tell you the general direction, but she went over the roofs, so who knows where she could have gotten off to?"

"Dammit! Looks like I have to stick with the worms for now. You find anyone worth duelling recently?"

"'Fraid not. There was that one kid, but he needed his girlfriend to jump in for him. I think he was sick or something."

"And this girl, was she strong?"

"Well, she beat me, even if I was using that Constellar deck I took from the idiots I used to run around with. That's gotta be worth something."

Enzo grinned. A wide grin showing off his pearly white teeth. "I see. Who is this girl?"

"Not a damn clue, but I managed to find out the kid's name."

"What is it?"

"What are you planning, Enzo?"

"Come on, it doesn't take a genius."

"Alright, the kid is called Yukaro. Don't kill him, or the girl."

"Why does it matter? They'll probably be dead soon anyway."

Yamato began to walk away, raising a hand in a nonchalant wave. "Because I said it does."

Kaneko's Peril! The Terror of the Qliphorts!

Lady Light hopped from a roof, and she ran. Maybe Yamato had been lying, but she wasn't ready to take the chance of being outnumbered in a gunfight involving a man just as proficient with small arms as she was. She had to put distance between her and them, to avoid any kind of confrontation tonight. It was not yet midnight, but the streets were empty anyway, being that it was still late and those particularly streets were all residential, and most sane people not working nights were already at home. A gust of wind threatened to blow down her hood, and she clung to it desperately, as if it were her life. There was a reason she concealed her identity, after all. She came to an alleyway and ducked inside. The only thing she could do now was go home, remove the cloak and start again the next day. She had been so close, too.

From a corner fifty feet away, Matsuda Yukaro watched Lady Light turn into the alley, hugging the wall in an attempt at stealth. He doubted she'd noticed him, and whatever she was doing, he was interested. That woman had basically tortured a guy for information and shown no remorse, then saved his life and even been nice enough to take him home. Plus, she had a duel disk capable of producing hard light, and he wasn't letting that one go any time soon. He had been n his way home and seen her entirely by chance, and now he was in full stealth mode. He would be the first to admit that it wasn't a very effective stealth mode, but it seemed to be working thus far.

He took a tentative step forward, increasing his confidence with every step, although still trying for stealth. It wasn't long, however, before a figure emerged from the alleyway. Matsuda had to suppress a gasp. It was Kimiko. The dissonance in time between Lady light's entrance and Kimiko's exit meant they could have just brushed past each other, or not encountered each other at all, especially since Lady Light had been running.

Or they could have been talking.

With this in mind, he froze like a deer in headlights, waiting to be seen. Luck was on his side, however, as she simply strolled a couple of hundred yards before turning into a building and disappearing from view. He let out a breath he hadn't know he'd been holding, and rushed forward to the alleyway.

It was empty.

Of course, he had been stood there for long enough for someone to conceivably get out, but he knew the street on the other side was long and straight, so it was an opportunity. He sprinted the forty feet to the other end, and stopped, looking around frantically for a cloaked figure.

He found none.

He stepped back into the alley, walking now, and scratching his head. What the hell was going on? Was Kimiko, someone he considered his friend, connected to the cloaked weirdo who had nearly killed him? Whatever the case actually was, he just didn't know.

He hated not knowing.

Meanwhile, Lady Light watched him walk past her position and narrowed her eyes.


It was early, and a dewy mist clung to the floor. A pleasant sea breeze rolled across the landscape, chilling the already cool autumn morning by a couple of degrees, but not enough to cause discomfort. Matsuda wasn't paying any attention to that, instead sprinting past the plaza with no regard for his surroundings, almost bowling a couple of people over with hurried apologies in his haste. Once again, he would be late. Well, not anymore, he thought as he checked the time, now slowing to a walk as he realised his sprint had been beneficial. He still walked briskly, not pausing to catch his breath, until he caught sight of a figure walking ahead of him. A girl, for sure, walking neither quickly nor slowly and wearing a Delta High uniform, the same as him. What made her distinctive was the fact that she had crimson hair.

Kimiko.

Normally, Matsuda would have kept up his brisk walk and fallen into step beside her, the two of them finishing their walk in silence, with perhaps the occasional word being exchanged. However, suspicion held Matsuda back, and he fell in and matched her pace twenty yards behind, making sure to keep an eye on her. This probably qualified as stalking, but he didn't care. He wanted to know what was going on.

The walk continued for a couple of minutes, nothing of particular note happening apart from the passing of distance and time. However, this wasn't to last, as Kimiko stopped dead in the middle of the street, Matsuda stopping as well. She craned her neck and turned her head back, her eyes falling directly on the frozen Matsuda.

Crap, he thought.

Rather than just stand there, he resumed walking whilst Kimiko remained still, glaring holes in him as he approached. He chuckled nervously as he came alongside her, rubbing sweat from the back of his head.

"You were following me," she said.

"I was just walking to school, same as you." He tried to sound innocent, but it was painfully obvious that he was trying too hard.

"Really? Then why did you stop when I saw you?"

"Thought my shoelace was untied?"

"Really?" She didn't sound convinced. "What the hell are you doing?"

He sighed. "Alright. You ever met any cloaked weirdo calling herself Lady Light?"

She answered almost instantly. "Nope, never heard of her. What's that got to do with you following me?"

"I'm getting to it. Sure you've not seen any cloaked weirdoes recently?"

She growled. "No."

"Not last night?"

"No."

"Because I was on my way home last night and saw her run into an alley and not long after, you walked out. You must have run into her, and you're lying to me. No-one answers as quickly as you did unless they have something to hide."

Anger flashed across her features and she bunched her hand in the front of Matsuda's shirt, slamming him into the wall behind him. She stood with her face close to his, so close that he could feel her warm breath glide across his skin.

"Stay the hell out of it."

"Who is she? More to the point, who are you?"

She gripped tighter, and he felt himself tense up. Despite her smaller stature, she was doing a fine job of intimidating him. Of course, he knew what she was capable of. "She's someone dangerous, so stay the hell out of it. Curiosity killed the cat, and it might kill you if you're not careful."

"I know she's dangerous, we're already acquainted. I'm just trying to look out for you."

She growled in his face, a sound that would have made him squeak if his throat wasn't so dry. "I don't need you to look out for me."

"Yeah? Well you're my friend, so of course I'm gonna-"

Her grip slackened, and she gave a miniscule chuckle. "No I'm not. I'm not your friend, and I'm dangerous too, like she is, so you should stay the hell away from me as well. Be clever about it."

"Well, as you seem so intent on reminding me, I'm an idiot, and a persistent idiot, and I don't abandon my friends. Obviously you've got some trouble, and I'm gonna find out what it is!"

She simply walked away and said, "whatever."


Matsuda's first class of the day had been chemistry, and he found that Kimiko had requested a new lab partner, so he guessed that she had been dead serious. However, he had been partnered with Kaneko instead, so it wasn't all bad. All his attempts at talking to Kimiko throughout the day met with no success, and he found himself scratching his head in confusion. Something was definitely going on, and he was still none the wiser as to what it was, or even its nature. Still, he was no kind of detective, and couldn't possible hope to unravel a mystery so soon after he had discovered it. He sat at lunch staring absentmindedly into space, food untouched, even ignoring Daitaro waving his hand in front of his face.

"Hey! Matsuda! You in there?" This broke Matsuda out of his stupor, and he just gazed at Daitaro. "Anyway, as I was saying, that transfer chick is acting all cold with you all of a sudden, huh?"

"Where the hell did you hear that?"

Daitaro pointed at Kaneko who simply shrugged and said, "he asked."

"That doesn't mean you have to tell him!"

"You never said that."

"So, dude," Daitaro had a sympathetic look on his face, "bad breakup?"

"I will kill you where you sit."

"Wow, that bad, huh?"

"For the love of god, she is just my friend! That's what I thought, anyway."

Daitaro laughed. "Nah, that girl doesn't do friends. Said so the first day she got here."

"I'm not convinced."

"How come?"

"Remember that dream I told you guys I had when I was concussed? With Lady Light and the hard light without an action arena and nearly dying?"

"Yeah," said Daitaro, Kaneko merely nodding.

"It wasn't a dream."

There was a beat, and then Daitaro started guffawing, clutching his stomach and wiping tears from his eyes. Kaneko began giggling, but stopped when she saw Matsuda's expression, and said, "go on."

"Alright, so I told you about the cloaked weirdo, Lady Light. Daitaro, shut the hell up!"

Daitaro managed to fade his laughter out and said, "sorry, dude, but I can't believe that crap! No-one's put hard light into duel disks yet. Also, Lady Light is a really dumb name."

"I know, but just listen. I saw her last night. She was running, and she ran into an alley. Kimiko came out of it."

"So?"

"I asked Kimi about it earlier, and she pretty much admitted that she has a connection with her. And she told me that she and Lady Light are both dangerous and that I should stay the hell away and stay the hell out of it. That means that something's going on."

"Alright," said Daitaro, "say I believe you. How do you propose we figure this out?"

"I believe you," said Kaneko. "You wouldn't make something like this up."

"Maybe it was a really lucid dream?" said Daitaro.

"You're really not understanding the sequence of events here, man. As for a proposal, no idea. I kinda hoped one of you could come up with an idea."

"So something is rotten in the state of Denmark," said Daitaro, "and you want our help?"

"Yeah, kinda."

"Hold on," said Kaneko, pointing an accusing glare at her brother, "since when do you know Hamlet?"

He shrugged. "I like Shakespeare. So sue me."

"How do you read it?" asked Matsuda, "your English sucks."

"Translations. Anyway, I don't completely believe your wild-ass story, but I'll go along with it for now. In fact, I have an idea." He grinned, and Matsuda groaned.


"Why did I let you rope me into this?" said Matsuda in a whisper. The three of them were stood on a street corner, huddled together behind a conveniently placed bin.

"Because you know I'm a genius! It might have been a task, but I got us here eventually, and we've found our quarry!" Daitaro gave a grinning thumbs-up, eliciting a sigh from his two companions.

"We'd have been here even quicker if you actually had any sense of direction," muttered Kaneko.

"Hey, as your older brother, I demand respect!"

"Stop being such a buffoon and I might consider it."

Daitaro slumped down to his knees and began letting out a stream of tears. "Disrespected by my own little sister! Just what is the world coming to!"

Kaneko sighed. "I was born fifteen minutes after you."

"Dude, shut up!" said Matsuda. "You want her to see us?"

Daitaro stopped crying and rose back to the huddle. "You were just against this, why the change of heart?"

"I'm still against it, I just don't want to get killed."

They looked over at their quarry to see it looking around, puzzled. They backed away, out of sight around the corner. "Crap!" said Matsuda, "she heard you! Nice going, dumbass. And nice plan!"

Daitaro peeked around the corner and quickly retreated back. "She's coming."

"Crap! Do we run?"

"Nowhere to run, we're screwed."

Kaneko shook her head and sighed. "Follow me." She walked out from the corner, much to the chagrin of Daitaro and Matsuda, who were forced to follow her.

They came upon their quarry, who was walking towards them, venom in her eyes. Kaneko strode forward unerringly until she was only a few feet away, whereupon she stopped and gave a shallow bow.

"You're Kimura, right? From school? What a pleasant coincidence."

The only reply was a, "che," as Kimiko brushed past them and away, Matsuda sighing in relief.

"I'm never coming to you for an idea again."

"Hey, come on, it was a great idea! We should start a detective agency: Ikeda, Ikeda & Yukaro! The great crime solving trio!"

"Are you drunk?"

Meanwhile, on the same street, a huge man with long brown hair heard the commotion, and gazed inquisitively over to the blue haired teen who had just uttered those words. Yukaro, he thought. It seems I've found the child Yamato spoke of, and there is a girl with him. He grinned. How lucky I am. He strode over to where Daitaro was arguing with Matsuda, and stopped, letting his imposing presence cut into their debate.

All three looked up at him, seeing a man bigger than any they'd ever seen before. Matsuda and Daitaro gulped whilst Kaneko shied away slightly. "Are you Yukaro?" he said, his voice booming through their eardrums.

"Uh, yeah," said Matsuda, confused. "Why, who's asking?"

Enzo ignored him and instead looked over to Kaneko, who stepped back. "And you must be his friend, correct? I am Enzo, what is your name?"

"Uh… K-Kaneko Ikeda, sir."

Enzo grinned. "Excellent. Well, my dear, I would like to challenge you to a duel."

Kaneko said, "um, a duel?"

Daitaro interjected by stepping in front of Kaneko and pointing at Enzo. "Hey, if it's a duel you want, big man, look no further than the great Daitaro Ikeda!"

Enzo growled and grabbed Daitaro by the throat, lifting him into the air. Daitaro choked, and Matsuda and Kaneko gave horrified gasps. "I have no time to waste with trash like you. I duel the girl." He squeezed, and Daitaro let out a choked gasp. Enzo smirked. "Well, look at you, gasping for air. Such is the fate of the weak." He squeezed again and Daitaro scratched at his wrist, which was like a tree trunk, to no avail.

"Get your hands off my brother!" Kaneko stood, her breath coming in panting gasps, rage evident in her features. "I'll duel you, so put him down!"

Enzo threw Daitaro off to the side and chuckled. "Well, she has fire after all. Very well, let us duel." He took a look around and smiled. "Dusk, no-one to interrupt but a helpless audience. What a lovely setting."

Kaneko growled and activated her duel disk. "No-one lays their hands on my family."

"Well," said Enzo, "here I present you an opportunity to do something about it."

"Duel!" they both shouted.

Kaneko: 4000
Enzo: 4000

"I will allow you the first move," said Enzo.

Kaneko looked over her hand briefly before pulling out a card. "I'll start with Spellbook Star Hall, which gains a spell counter for every Spellbook I activate, and each spell counter gives my spellcasters an extra one hundred ATK." An aisle flanked by walls with strangely shaped lights appeared, a luminous orb glowing a light blue in the sky above it. "Then, I summon Spellbook Magician of Prophecy (Lv.2, ATK: 500)!" From the card emerged a young boy wearing blue robes and carrying a book of spells. "With his effect I can add a 'Spellbook' card to my hand, and I'll choose my Spellbook of Secrets!" She showed him the card and added it to her hand. "With this, add a Spellbook to my hand and I choose Spellbook of the Master! I activate it, allowing me to copy the effect of a Spellbook in my grave, and Secrets is the only one in there, so I copy it to add The Grand Spellbook Tower, which I then activate!" The field was overtaken by the tower, which was sleek and silver and surrounded by magical wards. The Star Hall now had three orbs lit up (SMoP ATK: 500-800). "I set a card and end my turn."

Enzo grinned. "Impressive. But allow me to show you my own strength. Draw." He drew his card and smiled. "I use the monsters Qliphort Disk (Pendulum Scale: 1) and Qliphort Scout (Pendulum Scale: 9) to set the Pendulum scale!" A disk appeared in a pillar of light on the left of his field, multi-coloured with four spikes protruding at even intervals and some kind of body beneath it. In a pillar of light to the right appeared a white machine with what looked like a golden shell and four black protrusions near the top.

Matsuda gasped. "The hell? I thought only those kids in Maiami city could use Pendulum?"

Enzo chuckled. "Not so. I use the effect of Scout, paying eight hundred life points to add a 'Qli' card from my deck to my hand (Enzo: 4000 – 3200). I choose to add my Qliphort Monolith. And now, for the Pendulum summon! Swing in perpetual motion! Come to my aid, my monster servants! Qliphort Helix (Lv.6, ATK: 2400) and Qliphort Shell (Lv. 8, ATK: 2800)!" From the light came a helical golden machine with a protrusion on top and a grey and black machine covered in spikes with what looked like a small head at the top. "My Qliphort Disk gives all my Qliphort monsters an extra three hundred ATK (Qliphort Helix ATK: 2400 – 2700, Qliphort Shell ATK: 2800 – 3100)! Qliphort Helix will attack your Magician of Prophecy!" he helix began spinning, and started moving in the direction of the mage in training. He panicked as the helix drilled into him, obliterating him. The drilling motion continued towards Kaneko, and she screamed when it connected, being sent flying away (Kaneko: 4000 – 2100).

Hard light? thought Matsuda. "Hey, asshole, where'd you get that technology?!"

"I believe you now," Daitaro said dumbly.

Enzo simply chuckled. "I'm afraid I can't tell you that boy." He looked over to Kaneko, who was struggling to her feet. "What a shame it's over so soon. I find it hard to believe that you beat Yamato."

Matsuda's eyes widened whilst Kaneko looked confused. "Um, who is Yamato?"

"An asshole who tried to kill me," said Matsuda.

"Someone tried to kill you?!" Kaneko's eyes were wide now.

"Yeah, kinda. Guess I forgot to tell you that part." He chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of his head.

"He told me that your friend was a girl and that she defeated him."

"Oh," said Matsuda. "You got the wrong friend. Just what the hell do you want, anyway?!"

Enzo replied, "I want a thrilling duel with a strong opponent. Trash aren't worth the effort. In that case, this trash will be disposed of. Qliphort Shell, finish her off." The monster rushed at Kaneko, the spikes on its body looking sharp and evil.

"Not yet!" said Kaneko, panting and clearly in pain. "I activate Spellbook of Fate! By banishing two Spellbook spells from my grave I can flip a monster face down, so I'll banish Secrets and Master to flip Qliphort Shell!" Qliphort Shell was replaced by the image of a reverse card and Enzo grunted while a fourth orb appeared in the Star Hall.

"Turn end."

"My turn, draw! I activate the effect of Tower, allowing me to return Fate to the bottom of my deck and draw again. First, I activate Spellbook Library of the Crescent. I pick three Spellbooks from my deck and you pick on at random to add to my hand. I choose Spellbook of Life, Spellbook of Fate and Spellbook of Judgment!" The three cards appeared in the air before flipping and shuffling themselves, their backs to Enzo. Come on, thought Kaneko.

"I choose the middle card," said Enzo.

Kaneko inwardly cheered while maintaining a straight face and added the card to her hand. "Now I activate my Spellbook of Judgment. With this, during the end phase I can add Spellbooks to my hand equal to the number I activated this turn as well as special summon a spellcaster with a level equal to or less than the number of cards I add with that effect! Up next it's Spellbook of Eternity, which returns the banished Secrets to my hand! Now I activate Secrets, adding a Master to my hand, which I activate to add Spellbook of Power to my hand! Now I summon out Justice of Prophecy, and thanks to Star Hall, she gains eight hundred ATK (Lv. 3, ATK: 1600 – 2400)!" The monster appeared and was bulked up. "Now I activate Spellbook Library of the Heliosphere, to reveal the top two cards of my deck and add any Spellbooks among them to my hand!" The two cards were Spellbook Organization and Spellbook of Fate. "Now they both go to my hand, and Star Hall gains another counter (JoP ATK: 2400 – 2500). I'll activate Spellbook Organization, which lets me look at the top three cards of my deck and return the in any order!" She picked up the cards, took a cursory glance and returned them. "I activate Spellbook of Power now to give Justice a one thousand point boost (JoP ATK: 2500 – 2600 – 3500)! Now Justice of Prophecy will attack Qliphort Helix!" The mage pointed her wooden staff at Helix and it shattered (Enzo: 3200 – 2400).

"I set two cards and end my turn," she said, "and during the end phase I have a lot of effects to activate. First is Justice of Prophecy. I banish her to add a level five or higher light or dark attribute spellcaster and a Spellbook to hand. I add another Judgment and High Priestess of Prophecy. Next is Spellbook of Judgment, and I activated six Spellbooks, so I add Spellbook Library of the Heliosphere, Secrets, the Master, Eternity, Life and Wisdom to my hand and special summon Reaper of Prophecy (Lv. 6, ATK: 2000 – 3000). He has three effects that activate based on the number of Spellbooks in my graveyard, and I have enough to satisfy all three. First, he gains six hundred ATK (RoP ATK: 3000 – 3600). Then, I add a Spellbook to hand, so I'll add another Star Hall. Finally, I can special summon a level five or higher dark attribute spellcaster from my deck, so meet Wheel of Prophecy (Lv. 8, ATK: 2700 – 3700)! What looked like a humanoid lion appeared, a large creature with very pronounced muscle tone holding a massive circular shield patterned with arcane runes.

Kaneko continued, determination evident in her features. "And his summoning allows me to return my banished Spellbook of the Master to my deck. And that's the end of my turn."

"Whoa," said Daitaro, "She just got two powerhouses with over three thousand ATK out at the same time."

Matsuda smirked. "Trash? This guy doesn't know what he's let himself in for."

"Draw," said Enzo, doing so. "Impressive move, girl, but it will end here for you. I use Scout's effect once more (Enzo: 2400 – 1600) to add Apoqliphort Skybase to my hand! Now I'll pendulum summon Helix from my extra deck and Qliphort Stealth from my hand." The helical machine reappeared alongside what looked like a cloaked ship. "But they won't be around for long, because I tribute all three of my monsters to summon Apoqliphort Skybase (Lv. 9, ATK: 2900 – 3200)." All three of his monsters disappeared, fed to a gargantuan gold and white airship, half-rings jutting to the sides at forty-five degree angles, with what looked like a blue tower in the centre. "Skybase is unaffected by spell and trap cards, as well as the activated effects of monsters with a level or rank lower than its level! Next up is that pesky Star Hall, so I'll get rid of it with Mystical Space Typhoon!" The typhoon ripped through Star Hall, completely removing the effect of the spell counters (RoP ATK: 3600 – 2600, WoP ATK: 3700 – 2700).

"Next is Skybase's effect, which means I can steal one of your monsters until the end phase. I'll take your Wheel of Prophecy!" The lion-man was pulled over to Enzo's side of the field by a beam from Skybase, and stood menacingly glaring at Kaneko, who grimaced and shied away. "This duel is over. Wheel of Prophecy, attack Reaper of Prophecy!" the monster held up its shield, energy gathering as the pattern lit up. It was all released in a huge blast which tore Reaper of Prophecy to shreds. Kaneko was hit by a small amount of the energy, and she winced (Kaneko: 2100 – 2000).

"Now," said Enzo, grinning, "Apoqliphort Skybase, finish her off!" The base began charging a huge beam of blue energy, but Kaneko kept a determined look about her.

"I activate Spellbook of Healing! I can banish up to five Spellbooks from my grave to gain three hundred life points for each one! I banish Secrets, Master, Eternity, Heliosphere and Organization to gain fifteen hundred (Kaneko: 2000 – 3500)!"

"You survive, but not unscathed." Skybase finished charging and launched the beam at Kaneko. It engulfed her entirely, and she screamed. She was sent flying back, covered in bruises and lacerations. It was one of the hardest things she had ever had to do, but she managed to get back to her feet and glare at Enzo (Kaneko: 3500 – 300). "Turn end." Wheel of Prophecy returned to Kaneko's side of the field.

Kaneko drew silently, but she looked disappointed. "I activate… the Grand Spellbook Tower. I return Judgment to the deck and…" She panted and laid two fingers on her deck. Come on, she thought. "Draw!" She looked at the card she had drawn and gave a tiny smirk that quickly fell into her usual straight face. "I reveal to you my Spellbooks of Secrets, Eternity and Wisdom to special summon High Priestess of Prophecy (Lv. 7, ATK: 2500)!" The pink-haired magician appeared.

"A useless move, really."

"Not quite," said Kaneko. "I activate Spellbook of Power (WoP ATK: 2700 – 3700)!"

Enzo grinned. "It seems you aren't trash after all. Come at me with all you have, girl!"

"With pleasure." Her voice was filled with venom. "First, Wheel of Prophecy attacks Apoqliphort Skybase." The magic erupted from the shield and collided with the airship, comparatively miniscule, but it penetrated to Skybase's core and triggered a massive explosion that engulfed the entire field. When it subsided, the monster was gone (Enzo: 1600 – 1100).

"Now, High Priestess of Prophecy, finish him off!" The priestess sent a burst of cyan magic at Enzo which hit him square in the chest, ending the duel (Enzo: 1100 – 0, winner: Kaneko).

The holograms faded and Kaneko stood panting, her body basically ruined. Enzo grinned a wide grin and said, "That was certainly entertaining. You have bested me this time, but we shall battle again, and I'll be victorious."

"Get bent," said Kaneko before walking off, leaving Matsuda and Daitaro to stand their agape.

"Did she just say that?" said Daitaro.

"I heard it too." Matsuda then took off after Kaneko, shouting, "Kaneko! You alright?" He was followed by Daitaro, leaving Enzo to stand there alone, perplexed.

Meanwhile, from a little ways away, Kimiko watched, her eyes narrowed. Great, she thought. That huge bastard is after that girl, and of course Yukaro was there. Idiots are getting themselves involved in this shit, and I'm gonna be the one who has to clean up their goddamn bodies. Pain flashed across her features and she turned on her heel and swiftly departed.

From another vantage point, Yamato watched, but he wore a smirk. Kid seems to like surrounding himself with the strong ones, huh? Damn, looks like the climax is gonna be pretty even!


AN: Yay, stuff happened! The mystery of Kimiko deepens, and whatever ThatLoneAvenger may say, she is NOT Amamiya xD Kaneko got a duel, obviously, she's a main character, main characters get screen time. Next chapter Daitaro will duel. Maybe. If I can figure out how to do it without Kamina levels of hamminess. Or even if I can't, actually, that sounds fun. Yamato is up to some shit, clearly, but I wonder what his overall goal is? Ooh, more mystery! Anyway, if you have any kind of question, comment, praise or criticism, please leave a review! Even if it's just to let me know you're reading. I will respond to all (non-guest) reviews in a timely fashion. Anyway, I doubt the next one will take me long, so until next time, folks.

Spellbook of Healing
Quick-play Spell
Banish up to 5 'Spellbook' spell cards from your graveyard; gain 300 life points for each one.