Hey guys! Sorry it's been a while since I updated. I've actually had this written for a few weeks, but I haven't typed it. Ahaha. I've been busy studying the for SAT Subject Tests, yippie standardized testing. Chapter 8 has already been written - I'm just deciding where it should cut off, and then I have to cut it. It's shaping up to be longer than this (which is another short one). Lots of action here! As the title suggests, this is when conflicts start to really develop. Everything until now has just been child's play.


Chapter 7
Escalation

The ship reached Domino City as scheduled. The six passengers unloaded and stretched, happy to be on the solid ground once more.

"We should split up if we're ever going to get enough points to go to the Finals," the taller girl said.

"Good idea, Alexis," said the shortest boy. He had a worried look on his face. "I just hope we don't get lost."

Alexis shook her head. "Nah. Chancellor Shepperd said we have reservations at a hotel. We'll all meet there once the day is done, and we'll eat dinner. Does 7:30 sound good to you guys?"

They murmured their assent. "Alright, we'll go off in pairs," Alexis said. "I'll pair with Axel."

The other girl in the red jacket tugged the short boy's arm. "I'll go with Syrus."

"Then that leaves me with Jim."

Alexis clasped her hands. "So it's settled!" she said. "We'll see you guys soon!" She walked away a bit too quickly, tugging Axel behind her.

"What was that about?" he asked.

Her face hardened. "There's something fishy going on around here," she said. "I saw Jesse and Jaden the other night on Academy Island. They were trying to avoid being seen and running in the direction of the old dorm. I'm sure they're here, doing something." She clenched her jaw. "And once we get to the Finals, we're gonna find out."

Axel nodded. He took out his identity card. "Well then, we'd better get started. Alex Brodie. Five-star duelist. My ante cards are Volcanic Doomfire and Tri-Blaze Accelerator."

"Four-star duelist. Ante cards are Cyber Angel Benten and Doble Passe." Alexis nodded. "We're gonna be a well sought-after pair."

"We'll need to be," he said. "Come on. Let's go."


"Ruby! Slow down!"

Jesse and Jaden were running through the streets of Domino City, chasing the legendary duel spirit. It was dashing in the most reckless of manners, although Jesse supposed that it had no worldly concerns of safety, being a spirit.

He was set on retrieving the remaining Crystal Beasts—much too set to tire, even after following Ruby for a couple of miles. Jaden was right behind them, and although he was breathing heavily, he kept his pace with Jesse's.

Ruby dashed around a corner, narrowly dodging two pedestrians. It scurried along the sidewalk and made another series of quick turns, causing the boys to lose sight of it for moments at a time.

Jesse stopped as he saw Ruby mad a beeline for a building. They were now deep within the city, several buildings and alleyways away from the nearest street. From the looks of the place, it hadn't been used in quite some time, and was probably forgotten about. "It's a warehouse," he said, and then sighed. "Oh course. It's always in a warehouse." He removed his jacket, now breathing heavily. "What better place to hide a card than with a bunch of other cards?"

The sound of Jaden's breathing was ragged. He too removed his jacket as Jesse unbuttoned the two buttons on his shirt, exposing his chest even more. "Walk around in tight circles," he said. "It helps prevent injury."

Hands on their hips, they did so until Ruby Carbuncle came running back out of the building and climbed up Jesse's shirt, resting on his shoulder.

"Hey there, buddy," Jesse said. "What did ya find?"

Ruby purred. Jesse cocked his head to the side. "What?" he asked. "What do you mean?"

Ruby purred again.

"Amethyst Cat? Okay, we're goin' in."

The door of the warehouse was ajar. It creaked when Jesse pushed it, but swung inwards regardless.

"That was too easy," he said.

Light flickered on as they entered. "Welcome, welcome!" boomed a voice. "It is so nice to see you here, Jesse Anderson. And oh, I see you've brought a friend."

"Show yourself!" Jaden yelled.

They could hear the frown on the fear of the disembodied voice. "You are in no position to make demands. I have something you want."

"And I have something you want!" Jesse retorted. "So we are in a position to make demands!"

Laughter echoed throughout the room as the doors swung shut. Jaden spun around and tried the handle. "It's locked!"

"Correct," said the voice. "The doors are linked to my duel disk. If my Life Points hit zero, they will open."

"So we have to duel out way out?" Jesse asked.

"But of course!" The glee in the voice was uncontainable.

Jesse grinned: dueling was what he did best. "Where do we go?"

"I'll take care of that, don't worry."

Jesse threw a worried look at Jaden. Faster than the eye could follow, walls of glass shot up from where they were standing, nearly slicing Jesse's foot. Jaden banged on the walls. "Let us out!" he shouted. "What are you doing?"

More laughter. "Why, getting you there, of course. Ready for a ride?"

"No!" Jesse said defiantly. The floor opened beneath them, and the boys fell, hands flying in the air, limbs dangling helplessly.

It had been three seconds later when Jesse landed on his shoulder, hard. He head snapped back and hit solid material. He saw stars, and his vision tumbled around its frame. Jesse closed his eyes, tight, and clenched his jaw, willing the pain to stop. He was only vaguely aware of Jaden kneeling over him.

The next thing he was aware of was the sound. It sounded like a saw cutting through metal – a high-pitched, harsh screech. Jesse moved his arms to cover his ears, and a small whine escaped his lips as pain shot through his right arm. It was numbing, and he relaxed immediately, letting both limbs drop.

A few seconds later, Jesse opened his eyes to see that it was dark. Jaden's face loomed over his, his hair moving wildly in the wind. Jesse realized that although they were underground, that metallic screech was a result of them moving very quickly.

Jaden's lips moved, but Jesse was unable to hear the sound. Before Jaden could speak again, they abruptly stopped, and Jaden was thrown backwards against the front of their container. He struck his head and upper back, making a sound so painful that Jesse strained his next to see, before letting out a small "oof" and lying still.

Jesse lost track of time, but had estimated it was only a couple of minutes until he was able to sit up before pain blinded him. He looked at his shoulder the see the fabric ripped and the skin beneath it red, but otherwise unharmed. There was a scrape on the back of his hand, and a bit of blood trickled from a cut on his cheek. Using his good arm, he felt the back of his head – it was tender to touch and possibly bruised, but he'd live.

Summoning his energy, he stood up. He and Jaden were in some kind of cart – a rusty one at that – with sides that stood about waist-high. Jaden was on his back, eyes closed, on the other end. Jesse forced himself to make the effort to walk over. He gingerly knelt and spoke Jaden's name.

"Jaden," he said. Jaden lay there motionless. "Jaden!" he called, more fervently this time. Again, no answer. He took a trembling hand and felt Jaden's wrist. A knot twisted in his stomach, and Jesse felt his shoulders tense up. There it was: a pulse. Jesse breathed a sigh of utter relief and loosened.

Jaden's eyes opened. These weren't his usual brown eyes. These were different – one was a foamy sea green, a fusion of turquoise and peridot, and the other was the orange color of the sunset.

These were Yubel's eyes.

Jaden shook his head. "Really Jesse," he said, his voice in Yubel's octave. "How many times do I have to tell you to keep Jaden out of this?"
Jesse immediately shot to his feet and winced momentarily at the pain. His jaw tightened. "He chose to follow me!"

Jaden rolled his eyes. "As if he'd make any other decision!"

Jesse grimaced and clenched his fists. His shoulder was bothering him, and a trickle of blood had reached his lip, but keeping up the act in front of Yubel was much more important than simple bodily comfort. "Why do you have such a problem with me?"

He shook his head. "Ah Jesse, always so direct." Yubel's eyes hardened, and she stood up to face Jesse directly. "Because you put Jaden's life in danger!"

"But you job is to protect him!"

"I would rather that not be necessary!" she screeched. "You selfish boy, only caring for your own problems! Why can't you think about how your actions will affect others?"

Jesse's pain was blinded by anger. Had it not been Jaden's body, he would have felt tempted to lash out. Instead, he brought his face closer to Jaden's. "You should talk about being selfish," he snarled. He could see the glassy reflection of himself in Jaden's eyes, and he was, once again, suddenly aware of his shoulder.

"What," Jaden spat, "has a pain, but feels none of it?"

Jesse said nothing, letting more blood trickle onto his lips and into his mouth. It tasted salty and unpleasant. Jaden looked disappointed.

"I hoped you'd have gotten it by now," he said as he sat down again.

"What are you doing?"

"Jaden's unconscious, remember?"

"So you're just going to leave him there?"

"No Jesse." The voice was hard, solid, unlike anything he'd heard Yubel use before. He looked her in the eyes. They were as cold as ice. "You are going to leave him here. You are going to leave him here while you duel for your Crystal Beasts. It is too dangerous for you to bring Jaden with you, especially unconscious."

Jesse said nothing. He felt it was outside of his power to argue with the duel spirit.

"Oh, and one last thing," Jaden said, before closing his eyes. "You might want to wipe the blood off your face. It's rather disgusting."


"So Blair, do you actually know where we're going?"

"Not a clue," she replied. "We should probably challenge someone soon."

The pair walked on in silence after this remark. To Syrus, it looked as if Blair was experiencing some form of city syndrome, for she was mesmerized by the height of the buildings. While Syrus looked at the ground as he walked, Blair looked towards the sky.

"Ahh, I'm sorry!" she said.

She had bumped into two girls, both of them only slightly taller. One of them had flaming hair that looked as if it would burn to touch. She turned around and eyed Blair silently while her companion, a dark-skinned girl with sable hair, remained motionless, as if Blair was never there in the first place.

"That jacket," she said, "Are you two students at Duel Academy?"

"Y-yes," Syrus answered.

The redhead smiled. "Excellent," she commented. "Excellent."


Tamura left the card shop, debating whether to run into the city and show off her new abilities or to stay longer to draw out her time with the dueling legend.

The boy had appeared at the open door. He was waving. "Good luck!" he called.

Tamura pulled out her cell phone. "Oh, I almost forget! I have to text my mother! She'll never believe what just happened!"

He blinked. "You're texting your mother?" he asked as Tamura's fingers clicked across the keypad. "Does she know how to use a cell phone?"

"Of course she does!" Tamura barked, thumbs still busy.

"Ahh, sorry! I was wondering, because Grandpa can't even figure out how to use the microwave."

"Don't you just put the bread in, push down, and wait for it to pop up?"

"Um, that's the toaster."

She gave a dismissive flick of the hand. "Well, I've got a tournament to win!" She had evidently finished texting her mother. "Thank-you so much for all of your help!"

"Don't mention it!" he called as she ran off. "Come back anytime!"

The city air felt fresher than ever before as she ran, hair streaming behind her in the wind. Tamura wasn't entirely sure of her destination, but she was sure that she was going to find somebody to duel and she was going to defeat them. She was entering those finals, and she'd have herself another shot at that match with Jaden Yuki.

It was a feeling she couldn't explain. That boy ignited all of her passions for dueling. He seemed to enjoy every minute of it, yet there was something else she found as well. He couldn't hold back, almost as if he was afraid to lose. His dueled with every bit of power he possessed and countered her move for move. There was a charge Tamura felt against such a powerful opponent, something that made her love dueling. She wanted it again.

She reached an area crowded with people, several of whom invariably had Duel Disks strapped to their arms. She ran up to one at random, a boy, and tapped his shoulder. "Hey, wanna duel?"

He turned around, sizing her up. A grin. "Sounds like a plan," he said. "You don't have a change against me."
She smiled as she clicked her deck into her Duel Disk. "We'll see about that," she said. "You'd better believe I'm not going easy on you!"

"You'd better not be. I want to see your rare cards before I take them! My turn, I draw!" He looked at the card and placed it on the Duel Disk. "I summon Takriminos in Attack Mode!" (1500/1200)

The monster appeared on the field, a green, humanoid creature with a bill somewhat resembling that of a duck's. "Ahh! Kappa!" Tamura screamed.

"I'll place one card facedown and end my turn," he boy said.

"Draw!" She added the card to her hand. "Your monster only has 1500 Attack Points! I'll oppose it with my Ally of Justice Cyclone Creator!" (1400/1200)

He snorted. "Uh, sorry to point this out, but your monster has less attack points than mine."

"That's not what I'm after," she said. "I activate its effect! My discarding one card from my hand, I can return one Spell or Trap Card on the field to the owner's hand!" She placed a card in her graveyard. "So say good-bye to your facedown!"

Wind swept through the field, and the boy's card appeared in his hand. "Fine," he said. "I'll just set it again next turn."

"But you won't!" she said. Tamura reached for her graveyard slot and took the card out. "Since the card I discarded was Mist Valley Baby Roc, it gets special-summoned to my field!"

"Once again," he pointed out, "Less attack points."

"Be patient!" she cried. "Now, time for a field spell. Go, Divine Wind of Mist Valley! Now, every time a Mist Valley monster returns to my hand, I can special-summon one low-level Mist Valley monster from my Deck! Now I'll activate this spell card, Gust of Wind!"

He frowned. "I've never heard of any of these cards."

"Gust of Wind returns all monsters on the field to the owner's hands. Then, our opponents take 600 Points of Damage for each monster on our fields. Finally, we are able to special-summon monsters as if the monsters returned to our hands were used to Tribute Summons!"

"So you'll summon a high-level monster?" he asked.

"Exactly! Gust of Wind!"

Both Ally of Justice Cyclone Creator and Mist Valley Baby Roc returned to Tamura's hand, and her opponent's Life Points dropped to 2800. Takriminos returned to its owner's hand, and Tamura's Life Points dropped to 3400.

"That was a bad move," he said. "I summon my ace - Amphibian Beast!" (2400/2000)

Tamura raised an eyebrow. "Not bad, but not good enough! I summon Mist Valley Apex Avian!" (2700/2000). She pointed to her field spell. "Because of the Divine Wind of Mist Valley, I can special-summon any low-level Mist Valley monster I wish, and I choose the Mist Valley Falcon!" (2000/1200)

Mist Valley Falcon stood about a foot shorter than Amphibian Beast. However, both monsters were considerably dwarfed by the Mist Valley Apex Avian. "Mist Valley Apex Avian, attack his Amphibian Beast!"

The large bird took flight and swooped down, raking Amphibian Beast across the belly with its fearsome talons. Amphibian Beast shattered, and the boy's Life Points fell to 2500.

"Now you're wide open! Mist Valley Falcon, attack him directly! I return Mist Valley Apex Avian to pay the cost for Mist Valley Falcon's attack."

The monster rushed forward and swung its sword across the boy's chest. His Life Points dropped to 500.

"Since Apex Avian is a Wind-Attribute monster, Divine Wind of Mist Valley activates! I Special-Summon Mist Valley Baby Roc from my Deck!" (600/400) The small monster appeared on the field in Attack Mode, flying around in a tight circle. "Finish him off, Mist Valley Baby Roc! Direct attack!"

The boy's Life Points fell to 0, and he fell to the ground.

"In one turn!" One of the spectators exclaimed.

The boy took out his deck. "The ante rule – "

Tamura shook her head. "Keep them," she said. "I don't like the ante rule."

Another spectator came up to her. "Duel me!" she said. "Please!"

"No, me!" Another girl called out.

Tamura put her hand on the back of her head. "Um, please form a line?"

There was some pushing as about four duelists formed a line.

"Wait!" Tamura exclaimed as the first opponent, a boy, readied his Duel Disk. "I have to tell my mother about this!"

He blinked, but said nothing in reply.


"I play Ojama Delta Hurricane! This destroys all of the cards on your field!"

If there was a reply, it was muffled by the sound of the explosion. Chazz coughed as the resulting smoke surrounded him. "Hey, watch it!" he said. "You're getting the coat dirty!"

"I hate to break it to you mate," said Jim, his duel partner, "But that's not a difficult thing to do."

"Just can it!" Chazz yelled back. "Reverse card open! Go Call of the Haunted! This trap card lets me summon X-Head Cannon from my Graveyard!" (1800/1500) Chazz pointed towards his remaining opponent, a man probably in his 30's. "I attack you directly!"

The X-Head Cannon fired two shots, one from each cannon. Both made contact on the opponent's chest, and his Life Points dropped to 0.

Chazz flicked his hair. "And another win for the Chazzster."

Jim, ignoring his partner, took out his identity card. "Let's see," he said. "Both of these guys were only three-star duelists, so if we add that to our previous five…"

"We're not even halfway there!" Chazz exclaimed.

Ojama Yellow appeared on his shoulder. "Don't worry, Boss! With us, you'll go straight to the top!"

"Yeah, that's right Boss!" echoed Ojama Green and Ojama Black, both of whom were floating in the air next to Ojama Yellow.

"Shut up!" Chazz yelled, hitting both spirits with a well-aimed punch. "Let's go, Jim."

Jim cast a look at the defeated opponents, both of whom were retreating. "Okay," he said. "Shirley, are you ready for some more dueling?" The crocodile made a noise, which Jim interpreted as a yes. "Where to?" he asked.

Chazz pointed in a random direction. "That way!"

"Do you know where that goes?"

He inhaled sharply, his proud chest rising. "Of course I do!"

Jim sighed and followed him.

Chazz led them through a tangle of city buildings and boulevards, rounding the same block multiple times, executing 180 degree turns, and charging down streets. "Chazz," Jim said. "This is the ocean! We need to go farther into the city!"

"I know where I'm going!" he snapped.

"We can see the Kaiba Corp. Tower. We should go there. I'm sure plenty of duelists will be in that area."

"Exactly what I was going to say!" Chazz replied. He turned around and began marching triumphantly in that direction. Jim sighed.

"Come on Shirley. We need to make sure he doesn't get lost."

The crocodile made an assenting noise.


After having somewhat grudgingly wiped the blood off his face, Jesse tried to move Jaden's unconscious body. His shoulder pained him too much, so he knelt down and wrapped his good arm under Jaden's shoulders an awkwardly dragged him out of the cart and into the solid concrete. "This could have been a subway," he said to Jaden, although he knew the other boy couldn't hear his words. Neither of them had lost their jackets; Jesse took both from the cart, dressed Jaden in his, and then donned his own. With one last glance at Jaden, he left.

There was a single door in the visible area, and light flooded from the cracks in its doorway. It was across both sets of tracks, so Jesse hopped down, taking great care to avoid the legendary third rail – one wrong step and he's be toast, literally – and walked to the other side. There was no ladder, but the ground was only at head level, so with a grunt and much pain, he pulled himself onto the median that separated the two sets of tracks. He sat down, catching him breathing and waiting for his shoulder to stop flaming. Once it cooled, he hopped down and made his way across the second set. Eventually, he stood in front of the illuminated doorway.

Jesse reached behind him and detached the card holder box on his waist. He opened it and took out his deck. Then he reached into the small compartment that separated his special cards. He took the three of them and shuffled them into his deck. That done, he placed his deck into his duel disk and put the card holder box back onto his belt.

Jesse reached a hand for the door, but it swung open before he could make contact. Light rushed to greet his eyes, and he shut them immediately, warding off the assault.

"Come, come!" a voice called. "There's no need for you to be shy."

Jesse just barely opened his eyes to a squint. He saw a middle-aged man with white hair and a mustache dressed in a suit with pinstripes. On his arm, over the blazer sleeve, was a duel disk, and on his head was a top hat. He held a cane in his hand, and seemed to be leaning on it. There was a monocle over his left eye, and a chain – presumably one belonging to a pocket watch – snaked out of his right pocket only to return into the same pocket.

"Where's Crystal Beast Amethyst Cat?" Jesse demanded.

The man placed his palms face up, cane still in his left hand, and weighed them, imitating the motion of a scale. "Oh, she could be here, she could be there." He grinned. "But that's not relevant. The fact of the matter is, you are here." He made a wide, captivating gesture with his cane and stepped to the side as he did so. "And, even more serendipitously, perhaps," he intoned, "is the rare case that we are both wearing Duel Disks." He reached into his pocket and took out a deck. "As the case may be, I happen to have my deck on my person." He inserted it into his Duel Disk. "As these circumstances have been met, it is only protocol that we duel."

Jesse could now see that they were in a yellow room. It was circular, with only a far door and no windows. The ceiling was low, so low that Jesse didn't even need to jump to reach it. The only remarkable thing that Jesse noticed was the large, black circle that had been inscribed on the floor.

"It is only protocol," he said, "That you give you back what you stole."

The man's eyebrow shot up. "That I stole?" he asked. "My dear boy, I have stolen nothing! I have simply taken note of certain circumstances and manipulated them to my advantage. Pray tell, what is wrong with that?"

Jesse rolled his eyes. "Fine," he said. "We'll duel, and when I win, you'll tell my where Amethyst Cat is!"
A smile appeared on the gentleman's mouth. "The rules are as follows. If you win, you can claim your card. But if I win, then I can claim you."

Jesse stiffened, for the condition threw him off balance. "You claim me? What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means I claim you. Your body, friends, thoughts, memories, family, and possessions – all of it." He cocked his head to the side. "I see you have an interesting possession in the other chamber."

"What?"

"They boy," he intoned.

"Jaden's not my possession!" Jesse retorted. "How could you say that?"

The man shook his head. "But you love him," he said. "Sickening as that is—"

Jesse bit his lip.

"—is that not what love is? Ownership? The same way you love your cards, for they are your tools to do your bidding."

"No," Jesse said. "My cards and I have a bond!"

"And you speak of bonds," he said. "It's curious that you should see things that way. Your so-called 'bond' is one of ownership, for 'I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine,' as the Song of Songs goes."

"Don't quote the Bible at me," Jesse said, "and I don't think you get it."

He chuckled. "No, I don't think you get it, little boy." He tapped his cane on the ground. "My conditions still stand."

"And if I refuse?"

"Then you'll never have your Amethyst Cat." He shook his head. "More's the pity."

Jesse clenched his teeth. "Fine!" he said. "I'll accept your challenge."

"Now step inside the circle."

"I am not stepping inside that circle," Jesse repled.

The man stepped into the ring. "See?" he said. "It's harmless. If you still refuse, well then, Amethyst Cat…"

Jesse stepped inside the circle. "I'm here." He readied his Duel Disk. "Stop talking and just duel me! I don't like your head games!"

"They're not head games, Jesse Anderson. By the way, my name is Richard DuMort."

"DuMort?" Jesse asked. "That is probably the most fake French name I've ever heard."

DuMort snarled, a visible difference from his former calculated composure. "Just duel! I draw!" He added the card to his hand. "I'll place two cards facedown and summon Balloon Lizard in Defense Mode." He held out a card. "Next, I activate the Spell Card that will seal your fate! It's called Chain Energy!"

"Chain Energy?" asked Jesse. "What does that do?"

He smirked. "It costs each of us 500 Life Points to play any cards from our hands."

Jesse's eyed widened in alarm. "Then his facedown cards are either going to reduce my Life Points, make him immune to the negative effect of his Spell Card, or negate any cards I have to play! I have to end this fast." He readied his Duel Disk and drew five. "My turn!" he announced, drawing the sixth card from his deck.

"I activate my Trap Card! Meteor Flare! When you have more than 3000 Life Points, I can activate this card. I discard two cards from my hand to inflict 2000 points of Damage!" He discarded the remaining two cards from his hand.

"2000?" Jesse asked. "Already?"

"Take this!" DuMort screeched. Flames shot from the Trap Card and engulfed Jesse. He could feel the searing heat of the fire and threw up his Duel Disk to protect himself. His Life Points fell to 2000.

"Now I can only play four more cards!" he exclaimed.

DuMort laughed. "No!" he cried. "If you play a fourth card, Chain Energy will sap your remaining Life Points and you'll lose!"

Jesse frantically threw an eye across the cards in his hand. "I activate the Continuous Spell Card Wattcine!" he said.

"And you pay 500 Life Points!"

"I don't care about that, since Wattcine allows me to regain my Life Points!" he looked at his hand. "Wattgiraffe, perfect," he said. "I summon Wattgiraffe in Attack Mode!"

"Now you're done to 1000! And that silly monster doesn't have the Attack strength to overcome Balloon Lizard's Defense!"

"Wattgiraffe, attack DuMort's Life Points directly! Watt Nullify Charge!"

The monster rushed forward, and static discharged from its fur. It rammed into DuMort, who seemed to almost lose his balance.

Jesse pointed to the Wattcine card, which was glowing. "Thanks to this, I gain the amount of Life Points that you just lost! That's 1200!"

DuMort's Life Points dropped to 2800, and then Jesse's rose to 2200.

Jesse held out another card. "I activate the Quick-Play Spell Card Photon Lead! This lets me Special-Summon any Level 4 or lower Light Monster from my hand, and I choose the Watt King Cobra!"

DuMort pointed to Chain Energy. "That move'll cost you 1000 Life Points!"
Jesse wagged a finger at his opponent. "No it won't! When Wattgiraffe successfully inflicts damage to an opposing player, that can no longer activate the effects of Spells, Traps, or Monsters until the end of the turn! Therefore, I don't have to play any Life Points for Chain Energy's effect!"

DuMort's teeth clenched, and he made a fist with his empty hand. He slammed the cane into the ground in frustration.

Jesse pointed at him. "Now Watt King Cobra, attack him directly! Watt Venon!"

The snake reared back its head and spat. A large glob of purple and yellow, something like silly putty or taffy, flew across the air and struck DuMort's chest. The venom began eating away at the material of his blazer. His Life Points fell to 1800.

Jesse pointed to his Wattcine Spell Card. "Thanks to Wattcine, I gain 1000 Life Points!" His Life Points rose to 3200. He then pointed to Watt King Cobra. "Thanks to Watt King Cobra's monster effect, I can add one Watt monster from my Deck to my Hand! I choose my Wattrabbit!"

"Oh my," DuMort said as he drew. "Another stuff animal. Whatever shall I do?" he looked at his card. "I activate Nightmare's Steel Cage!"

"And pay 500 Life Points due to Chain Energy!" Jesse said.

"Don't tell me how my own card words," he spat as his Life Points decreased to 1300.

Jesse looked at the steel cage that fit perfectly over the circle. "Draw!" he shouted.

"Due to Nightmare's Steel Cage, I can't attack. So anything that I do will cost me Life Points, and I won't be able to regain them." He looked at his hand. "Wattrabbit, Wattkey, Watthopper, and Thunder Dragon. I'll have to thin out my deck to help draw the right card."

"I discard the Thunder Dragon in my Hand to draw two more from my Deck!" he placed the card in the Graveyard. "Since I didn't place it on the field, I don't lose Life Points!" He took out his deck and sifted through the cards, taking out both Thunder Dragons. Then he shuffled and placed it back into his Duel Disk.

"Trap Activate!" DuMort shouted. "This is my Life Absorbing Machine. It replenishes my Life Points equal to half the amount I paid in the previous turn."

"Turn end," Jesse said.

DuMort drew and pointed to Life Absorbing Machine. "Because of my Trap Card, I gain 250 Life Points!" His Life rose to 1550. "Next, I activate Poison of the Old Man! This raised my Life Points by 1200!"

"But you still pay 500," Jesse observed.

"So my score drops to 1050 and rises to 2250," he snarled. "Then I'll activate this Magic Card from my Graveyard! Burn Equilibrium!"

"That card only inflicts damage when you lose Life Points from a Card Effect!" Jesse said. "Chain Energy is a cost, so it won't work!"

"But it has a different effect," DuMort said. "By excluding it from the Graveyard, my opponent loses Life Points equal to the amount I gained this turn. So you lose 1450 Life Points!"

"Ahh!" Jesse yelled as his Life Points fell to 1750.

"Tut-tut," DuMort said, his tone patronizing. "What are we going to do now? Pretty soon, I'll take you out."

"How?" Jesse challenged.

DuMort pointed to his Balloon Lizard. "When Balloon Lizard is destroyed, you take 400 Points of Damage for each of my turns it's been left on the field!"

Jesse gasped. "That's already been three!" he exclaimed.

DuMort cackled. "Exactyl! No go ahead and make your move! It'll be your last!"

Jesse drew. "Ruby!" he nearly exclaimed. Something buzzed in his jacket, but he ignored it. "You sure we can get through this?"

Ruby purred.

DuMort laughed again. "Talking to your cards? It's a sign that you're losing it!"

"My cards and I have a bond!" Jesse shouted. "Which is something you don't understand!"

"And again," DuMort sneered, "You speak of bonds. Well then Jesse, tell me how your so-called 'bond' will get you out of this little pickle? On my next turn, I'll destroy Balloon Lizard, reducing your Life Points to a mere 150. Due to the effect of Chain Energy, if you play anymore cards, your Life Points will drop to 0! Then I'll just need to draw a Monster Card and finish you off!" He laughed again.

Jesse looked at Ruby's card. "Please, Ruby, give me strength." He looked at DuMort. "I switch Wattgiraffe and Watt King Cobra to Defense Mode and end my turn. Now your Nightmare's Steel Cage wears off!"

"Life there's anything else that you can do!"

More laughter.


Alexis lowered her Duel Disk. "Another win for us. That makes, what, sixteen points?"

Axel nodded. "We only need eight more to enter the finals."

"I should call the rest of the gang to see how they're doing," she said. "Let me call Jim."

"You're starting to speak like Jaden," Axel observed.

"I know," she said. "I wish he would at least tell us what was going on." She dialed Jim's number on her student PDA.

A few seconds later he picked up. "Alexis?" he asked. "Everything's fine here. We're going to the Kaiba Corp. Tower. Or, at least Chazz thinks he's leading us to the Kaiba Corp. Tower."

"Where's he actually going?" she asked.

He shrugged. "I don't know, but it's off to the left and we're not heading in that direction. Why don't you ask Chazz?"

"I know where I'm going!" he said, taking the first left that came.

Alexis suppressed a laugh. "We'll meet you there!" she replied. 'I'll tell Syrus and Blair too. See you soon!"

Jim winked and clicked off. Alexis began dialing Syrus's number.

The PDA dialed, but Syrus didn't pick up. Alexis frowned.

"Hmm, that's weird. Let me try again."

Again, no answer.

"Let me try Blair's…"

"Hello?" a voice said. Female, but Alexis knew it wasn't Blair's. She nearly dropped her PDA in surprised.

"Show yourself on the screen!" she replied. "I can't see you."

"You're another student at Duel Academy," the voice replied. "How interesting."

"Who are you and where is Blair?" Alexis demanded.

"We have your friends," the voice responded. "As to who I am, that's really none of your concern. However, since you seem to be so eager to recover them, you can meet us at the old metro station." She rattled off an address and clicked off.

"Hey!" Alexis called. "Hey!"

There was no answer.

Axel began speaking, but Alexis cut him off. "Hold on, I have to try to call Jaden."

There was no answer.

Alexis sighed. "Jesse," she said.

Once again, nobody answered.

She sighed again. "I just wish they would at least let us know that they're okay."

"About what's going on," Axel asked, "Do you think this kidnapping is somehow related to Jaden and Jesse?"

The set of Alexis's mouth was grim. "Everything bad has something to do with Jaden and Jesse."


So, how did you guys like it? I know that the view point changed a lot this chapter...that get's better! This is the curse of having multiple plots to move forward at the same time. Please review!

~ JakillNearBeg