Sorry bout the wait on the next chapter guys! But heeeeeere it is!

Episode 3: The Pride of Rick

Jinx stood and smirked as Kravin and his thugs departed, fuming angrily. Kravin never was one to have a decent deck, and Jinx proved that pretty much every time by thoroughly defeating him. He shut off his disk and turned to face his friends, satisfied that his deck was as strong as ever.

Mitch was the first to comment. "Whoa Jinx, that was SO COOL! You took down those Sacred Beasts like it was nothing! That last attack, when you were all: "I play Ebon Arrow! You're done!" Ha ha, that was great!"

Rick high-fived him, and Vincent gave a nod of approval. "One step closer to becoming a Deck Lord, guys!" Jinx grinned.

"One step closer to beatin' your sister, right?" Rick laughed. Vincent and Mitch immediately whacked him on the head. "OW! What the hell was that for, ya jerks?! All I said was-!" But Rick realized what he had said and quieted down. "Oh man Jinx, sorry...I forgot about..."

But Jinx was looking forwards, a blazing ambition burning in his eyes. "No, don't worry about it Rick. I'm getting stronger...and the day will come when I duel Jasmine fair and square...and become a Deck Lord."

"HAH! Scum like YOU become a Deck Lord? Don't make me laugh!" The four of them whirled to see a Security squad with their cycles ready facing them, the leader a brutish red-haired man with dark brown eyes. His badge read: Lieutenant Jericho.

Jericho looked down on the group mockingly. "Scumbags like you belong in the Satellite, not in a fine city like Neo Domino! It's a shame that trash like you even HAS the chance in life to somehow make it over here. But I suppose rats always find holes to crawl through!" His men laughed along with him, out of humor or fear it was anyone's guess.

Rick immediately stepped forward and grabbed Jericho by the collar. "HEY! Who're you callin' rats, ya blue-collared greaseball?!?" Jericho was prepared to fight back, but Rick was very strong, and held him in place.

"Guys like you make me sick" Rick continued, "lookin' down on guys like us just because you're acting as beatsticks for the higher-ups! Just because you have a job to act like a bully don't mean you're better than us!"

Jericho shoved Rick away from him and straightened his ruffled uniform. "You stay away from me, filth! And if I'm not mistaken, you can't really be judging how a Security acts...based on your dad's actions, that is..."

Jericho's crew gave a snicker, and Rick froze. His brow furrowed and his eyes grew murderous. "Don't you even think about it, Jericho..." he growled, his fists clenching...

But Jericho wasn't the least bit intimidated. "What? It's pretty common knowledge among Security about your dad and how he ended up a drunken corpse amidst flaming Duel Runner remains! Or should I say, 'Inebriated O'hara'?" His squad roared with laughter.

Rick reacted before anyone could stop him. He roundhouse-punched Lt. Jericho hard enough to knock him backwards, and was prepared to do more damage if Jinx, Mitch, and Vincent weren't holding him back. "You dirty, rotten, bastard! You don't get to talk about my old man like that! We was chasing after the Shadow Thief! Everyone knows that!"

Jericho clutched the swelling bruise angrily, but still managed to laugh. "Oh please! You believe that bunk? The Shadow Thief never existed in the first place, and it's even worse that they probably used it to cover up his little 'Drinking-And-Driving Incident'!" They restrained Rick again, but almost failed.

"And besides" Jericho continued, "you're all under arrest anyways! Why should I waste any time with actions, when the law says you're all doing hard time?"

"WHAT? Hold on! What did we do?" Mitch questioned.

Jericho smugly held up camera photos of earlier that day. They were snapshots of the four of them watching the Deck Lord duel earlier that day...in an illegal area, and without paying. "Breaking and entering, illegal viewing of an official duel...I'd say you'll get off lightly, maybe twenty years or so? Cuff 'em, boys!"

The squad started forward, and Jinx prepared to distract them to run, but Rick stopped it all. "HOLD IT!" he yelled. He brought out his dueldisk and pointed at Jericho. "Here's the deal, Jericho: you and I duel, right here, right now. You win, and you can place all of their time on me instead! I'll have eighty years, at least. But if I win, then fork over those photos and back off! Sound good?"

Lt. Jericho smoothed his chin in thought. "Hmmmmm....sounds good...but let's spice it up a bit." He snapped his fingers, and two squad members brought out two matching sets of spiked red armor-looking machinery. They strapped them onto both Rick and Jericho as they started their disks.

"Wait, are these?..." Rick recognized them from their studies about Underground Duels. Jericho seemed to read his confusion and responded, "Yes, these are what you're thinking of. These are Shock Gauntlets used in underground duels. The more lifepoints you lose, the better the light show!"

"Hey, hey, hey! Stop this! Those things can be fatal!" Vincent yelled, preparing to step forward. But Jericho held up a cautionary hand. "Ah, ah, ah! The duel's just begun! If he stops it now it's a forfeit on his part!"

Vincent gnashed his teeth, but Rick turned around and gave him a thumbs-up. "Don't worry about me, guys! I'll knock off this meathead in no time! Ready? DUEL!" Their lifepoints each read 8000 as they drew their starting hands.

Jericho started off. "I draw! And I'll start by summoning Assault Gundog in DEF mode!" The armored canine appeared with 800 DEF. "And next I'll set two cards face-down. Your go, rat-boy!"

Rick drew from his deck. "I start by summoning out my Marauding Captain!" The twin-swords warrior wielded 1200 ATK. "And next I'll-."

"Hold it, boy!" Jericho yelled. "I'm playing my Power Bind trap card! When you summon a monster, I decrease its power to 0, and it can't attack this turn!" A blue aura surrounded Marauding Captain as his power sank. But Rick wasn't even the least bit discouraged.

"If you'd have let me FINISH, I'm special summoning a warrior monster from my hand via my Captain's effect! I call forth the Twin-Sword Marauder!" The multi-bladed swordsman flashed 1600 ATK. Jericho cursed quietly, knowing that Rick had just summoned the bane of all defensive monsters.

"And now my Marauder attacks your Gundog!" Twin-Sword Marauder charged, slashing through Assault Gundog and inflicting piercing damage to Jericho, shocking him with the armor down to 7200 lifepoints. "Don't get cocky, kiddo, 'cause I get another Gundog when the one on my field is destroyed!" True enough, another one leapt from his deck with 1200 ATK.

"You musta skipped this part of the training Jericho, 'cause when my Marauder destroys a DEF mode monster, he gets another attack!" The swordsman slashed through the Gundog yet again, reducing Jericho's lifepoints further to 6600.

"Heh, I set one face-down to end my turn, meathead!" Jericho snarled as he drew his card, more so furious at the humiliation before his men. "Grrr...thanks to Gundog's effect I get another one to my field. But now I'll release him to advance summon Handcuffs Dragon!" The...handcuff-headed dragon shrieked 1800 ATK points.

"And now I think I'll sick him on your Marauding Captain!" Handcuff Dragon charged forward with a snarl, but then Rick's face-down card opened. "I play the trap card, Prideful Roar! By paying 1800 lifepoints, I can boost my Captain's ATK to be 300 above your monster's!"

But Rick felt a vicious electric jolt send his body into spasms, and he almost cried out from the pain. Jericho grinned smugly at his pain, even as his Handcuff Dragon was slashed to pieces by Marauding Captain. The tables turned, however, when his own lifepoints decreased to 6300, jolting HIM as well.

But he was still smirking during it! "You idiot! I wanted you to destroy Handcuff Dragon to activate his ability! I can equip him to your Captain and decrease his ATK by 1800 points!" Handcuff Dragon's head launched and captured Marauding Captain, bring his ATK back down to 0.

"But now I play the trap card, Handcuff Capture Cord! It's a special trap that goes off when one of your monsters is equipped with Handcuffs Dragon! I can gain control of it, negate the ATK decrease, and increase his ATK by 1000 points!" Rick gasped as Marauding Captain switched sides, now wielding 2200 ATK.

"And last time I checked, it's still my battle phase! Marauding Captain, slay that Sword Marauder!" Lt. Jericho's new Captain slashed easily through Rick's warrior, shocking his lifepoints down to 5600. He glared at Jericho as he rumbled through his teeth, "This game is still on, Jericho! And it's my turn!"