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DUEL SEVEN

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Hallowed Ground

The Diabolist

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Neither Tiberius nor Lorelei were sure whether they were guests or prisoners in their mysterious host's fortress (or whether the two terms were more-or-less interchangeable in regards to mortals who stayed in a devil's stronghold) but the accommodations they had been given were far better than their cells at the prison they had been pulled from. They had comfortable, queen-sized feather beds, clean linens, and even television (which even got satellite, including the premium channels).

As they slept, they started to toss and turn in their sleep. They were both having a nightmare… But it was nothing new to them. In fact, they expected it.

Doomdreamers got their name because doom did indeed fill their dreams. More accurately, they could commune with the dark god they worshipped through special nightmares that he sent every now and then.

As they experienced this dark message, the dark being that had greeted them when they first arrived was sitting on its throne of skulls in its cavernous chamber. Two crystal balls floated in front of it, monitoring the two Doomdreamers. As they did, a scroll floated nearby, and a quill pen wrote down information.

Eventually, the dark figure took the scroll, and looked at what the quill had written.

"Interesting…" it said. "Figures… Who would have thought they put him there…"

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It was five AM in Boston, the morning after the encounter with Alyosha. The sun was about to peek over the horizon.

In the center of the North End stood the Old North Church.

It was the oldest active church in Boston, and undoubtedly the most famous. When one looked up at the old steeple, one couldn't help but recall the words of the old poem:

He said to his friend, "If the British march
By land or sea from the town to-night,
Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry arch
Of the North Church tower as a signal light,
One if by land, and two if by sea;
And I on the opposite shore will be,
Ready to ride and spread the alarm
Through every Middlesex village and farm,
For the country folk to be up and to arm."

Of course, Longfellow's poem was not historically accurate, which Longfellow was aware of; he was trying to create an American legend. The signal had not been forPaul Revere alone, but rather he had set it up for several people. He had hardly deserved sole credit for spreading the news before the Battles of Lexington and Concord.

Right now, a man in a dark cloak and hood was snooping around the perimeter, apparently casing the place.

"Are you lost, fellah?" asked someone.

The man froze.

He slowly turned his head, and saw Ophelia standing behind him.

"How'd you know I was here?" he asked.

"I was in the neighborhood," said Ophelia, "and I couldn't help but see a shady character – you – prowling around the place…"

Actually, that wasn't true. The man was apparently the source of a silent alarm that had brought her here. For some reason, Jalal had always told the Shadowchasers to keep an eye on the Old North Church and a few other Boston landmarks, and to respond immediately if a source of dark magic or supernatural evil intruded on the premises. He wouldn't say why, but promised to explain the reason someday.

The man turned around to face Ophelia, and she was shocked to see who it was.

She didn't expect this. It was none-other than the infamous diabolist Rhul Jenkins, a sorcerer in league with devils who was wanted in twelve states, including this one.

Jenkins was a bent old man, having prolonged his life unnaturally through dark magic, feeding from the life forces of others, and infernal drugs. This made him quite hardy, although it also disfigured his body and face, giving him an image of deformity that echoed a dark soul.

"What's your business here, Jenkins?" she demanded.

"My business is none of your business!" said the wizard.

He pointed at her, and a bolt of pure, dark energy shot from his fingertips, hitting her in the stomach. It hurt a little, but not as much as it normally would have.

Ophelia grinned.

"This is church property, Jenkins," she said. "And this church is over three-hundred years old. You're on hallowed ground! You'd have to use far more powerful dark magic than I'd bet you're capable of using to hurt me."

Jenkins looked at the church.

"Huh… Good point…" he said. "But you can't prove I was doing anything illegal here…"

"Maybe I can't," said Ophelia, "but your rap sheet is ten pages long, so I'm taking you in."

Rhul looked her up and down. He focused on the ankh around her neck.

"You know, I always wondered about that…" he said, pointing to it. "You folk embrace death, right? So why the ankh? That's the symbol of life, don't you know?"

Ophelia frowned.

"Like you said, my business is none of your business," she said. "And you're still under arrest."

Rhul laughed. He lifted his left arm, and a Duel Disk appeared on it, the same bladed model that Huszi had used.

"My conjuring ability may be limited so long as I'm here," said Rhul, "but I can still summon using Duel Monsters… And due to your precious Treaty, I can still defeat you that way…"

"If you insist…" said Ophelia.

She took a deck out of a pouch in her belt… But it wasn't the Gishki Deck. That one didn't seem appropriate for this location.

She placed it in the deck holder of her Disk, and her own custom-built Disk activated.

(Ophelia: 8,000) - - - - - - - - - - (Rhul: 8,000)

"All right, here goes…" said Ophelia.

She drew a card, and then quickly chose one of her six cards. She set it on her Disk, and a concealed Monster appeared. Then she set another card, and a hidden card appeared in her Spell Zone.

"Go ahead…" she said.

Rhul's eyes narrowed. He made a draw.

"I summon the Des Feral Imp," he said.

He played the card, and nasty, reptilian gremlin with sharp claws and horns appeared. (1,600 ATK)

"It may be a little too early for its effect to be of any use," he said, "but it still has a decent Attack Score…"

Des Feral Imp rushed at the facedown Monster…

But it was thrown backwards by an aura of pure force. A female elf with blue skin wearing a white dress was kneeling on the card in a praying position, chanting a musical incantation. (2,000 DEF)

"But not decent enough," said Ophelia.

"Mystical Elf, huh?" said Rhul. "Now there's a classic…"

He fit a card into his Disk, and a facedown card appeared.

"I end my turn…"

(O: 8,000) - - - - - - - - - - (R: 7,600)

He may not know it, thought Ophelia, but Mystical Elf is only support for someone far more powerful…

She drew a card.

"I play… Samsara!" she shouted, as a Continuous Spell Card appeared on her side of the field. "By means of this card…"

"I know what it does," interrupted Rhul. "When you Ritual Summon a Monster, the Monsters used as sacrifice go to your deck instead of the Graveyard."

Ophelia frowned.

"Well then…" she said. "Since you know so much, then maybe this duel will go quicker… I play Ritual of Grace!"

The Ritual Spell Card appeared, and she held up two cards.

"I'll sacrifice two Monsters…" she said.

Dunames Dark Witch and Nova Summoner appeared behind her, and then turned into pure light, and vanished into the Samsara card. A marble altar with a golden crown sitting on it appeared behind her.

Then the altar vanished, and a tall, female form strode onto the field. She wore the same crown as the one on the altar, a fancy black dress with elbow-length gloves, and held a long staff topped with a sunburst. (2,700 ATK)

"Northwemko…" said Rhul, with a frown. "Figures… She's an attention-whore, just like the shadar-kai."

"Hey…" said Ophelia. "I may not be proud of a lot of things the shadar-kai do, but insulting them never did any good.

"And Northwemko has a powerful effect… When she's Ritual Summoned, I get to choose two cards, like Mystical Elf and Samsara. And so long as both cards are on the field, she can't be destroyed by card effects.

"But just to be on the safe side…"

The Ritual of Grace card slipped out of her discard slot.

"By removing this card from play, she's immune to every card effect that targets for this round.

"Destroy his Des Feral Imp! Divine Blast!"

Northwemko pointed her scepter, and in a mighty surge of energy, blew the Reptile to pieces, knocking Rhul down.

"Ugh…" he said.

(O: 8,000) - - - - - - - - - - (R: 6,500)

He got up, and brushed himself off.

"My move…" he said.

He drew a card.

Then he set one on his Disk, and a set Monster appeared.

"That… ought to do it…" he said.

Ophelia drew a card.

Northwemko pointed again, and Sangan briefly appeared on the card before it was blown to particles.

Rhul grinned.

"I take it I don't have to explain that one, eh?" he said.

He took a card from his deck.

"Make your move…" said Ophelia.

Rhul drew a card.

"I summon Gagaga Magician!" he shouted.

He played the card, and an odd Spellcaster appeared. He was dressed in indigo robes with brown shoulder pads, a peaked hat and a veil, and brown boots. He held a long chain that circled his right arm and left leg. (1,500 ATK)

"Eh?" said Ophelia in surprise. "I never heard of that guy…"

"He's new," said Rhul. "Released especially for use with Exceed Monsters.

"You see, once per round, I state a number between one and eight, and Gagaga Magician's Level becomes equal to the number. He can't be used for Synchro Summoning…

"But… He has one other use besides Exceed Summoning…"

Ophelia looked at him.

"Ritual Summoning…" she said.

"You're smart…" said Rhul. "It's really too bad, you know… You're a great duelist, and a powerful sorceress… In another time, we could have been close allies…"

"Sorry…" said Ophelia, with a frown. "I would never have made a good diabolist. I plan on keeping my soul."

Rhul chuckled a little, closing his eyes. Then he played a Spell Card.

"I play Shield Crush," he said.

A bolt of energy shot from the card, blowing Mystical Elf to shards.

"Never liked her much anyway…" he said. "Now then… I use Gagaga Magician's effect, to make him Level 8.

"Then, I play Final Ritual of the Ancients!"

There was an eerie humming noise, and three orbs of light, one red, one blue, and one gold, appeared. They started encircling Gagaga Magician…

Then they burned into him, and he screamed… Then he went up in a plume of white-hot flames…

A huge, hulking form slowly came out of the shadows. It looked like a giant, demonic statue hunched forward on very large arms, with a horned head, and rocky spires radiating from its back. (2,500 ATK)

"Reshef the Dark Being…" said Ophelia.

"That's right…" said Rhul, as he held up a Spell Card. "Who needs to destroy your Monster…"

He discarded it.

"…when I can force her to do my bidding?"

Northwemko's eyes glazed over, and she was yanked over to Rhul's side of the field.

"Now, my slave," said Rhul, "attack her directly!"

Northwemko pointed her staff, and Ophelia screamed as the bolt of light hit her in the stomach.

"I'm only half-done…" said Rhul. "Reshef, attack with bolts of bedevilment!"

The three colored orbs appeared in front of Reshef again, and then they turned into three concentrated beams of light, hitting Ophelia for a second blow and knocking her over.

(O: 2,800) - - - - - - - - - - (R: 6,500)

"I'll bet you didn't expect that," said Rhul.

Ophelia slowly got up. Sweat poured from her brow.

"I'll admit I didn't…" she said. "But at least I have this…"

Her facedown card lifted up.

"Shock Draw?" gasped Rhul.

"That's right," said Ophelia, as she stood up straight. "Now, for every 1,000 points of damage I took, I get to draw one card."

She quickly snatched five cards off of her deck.

"I end my turn!" shouted Rhul.

Northwemko reappeared on Ophelia's side of the field. She quickly drew another card.

His facedown card is likely something to block Northwemko's attack, she thought. But if I can get him to use it up…

"Attack his Dark Being!" she shouted.

Northwemko aimed her staff.

"I activate… Cursed Ring!" exclaimed Rhul, as his facedown card lifted up.

Northwemko's left hand glowed, and a ring appeared on her finger.

"So long as this card is Equipped to her, she can't destroy the Monsters she battles…" he continued.

The goddess fired a blast at Reshef, but it merely bounced off its stony hide.

"Damn…" said Ophelia. "This is going to be tricky…"

She set two cards in her Disk, and a set Monster and a set card in her Spell Zone appeared.

(O: 2,800) - - - - - - - - - - (R: 6,300)

"I end my turn…" she said.

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In the devils' fortress, Ibza led Tiberius and Lorelei into the falxugon's office. He was speaking on the phone at the moment. The two Doomdreamers were still somewhat shaken from the encounter with their mysterious host yesterday, but they were determined to keep their cool with Dybbuk until their host decided to show himself again.

"Right," said Dybbuk into the phone. "Let me get back to you on that, okay?"

He hung up.

"Good morning," he said to the two Doomdreamers. "I trust that your new wardrobe meets your standards?"

Tiberius and Lorelei looked at their new clothes. The dark tunics were made in the same style as their old Doomdreamer robes, but with a much greater emphasis on freedom of movement. They were kind of like a combination between the vestments of a dark cultist and a martial artist's gi.

"They seem appropriate," said Tiberius.

"I feel like a Sith Lord…" muttered Lorelei, looking at her new clothes.

Dybbuk laughed.

"You say that as if it's a bad thing," he snickered.

Lorelei didn't answer. She didn't want to offend him, lest their status be changed from guests to victims. But she was a little concerned. She had watched the Star Wars movies, and knew that Emperor Palpatine had often regarded his apprentices as expendable.

"Then let's get down to business, eh?" said Dybbuk.

He waved his arm, and a holographic globe appeared over his desk. The globe slowly turned, and then started to zoom in on a location in Africa.

"I turn your attention to this spot," he said, as the map closed in on a location in Ghana.

Tiberius and Lorelei looked at it nervously.

"There, on an unassuming cliffside," said the falxugon, "there is a metal plate in the stone wall. The locals have seen it, and some assume that it might be a doorway… But they can't open it.

"It only opens with a password… Inside lie some very potent cards… And I know that the Triad entrusted each of you with half of the password."

Tiberius and Lorelei looked at each other in shock.

"He gave you the first half?" gasped Lorelei.

"He gave you the second?" shouted Tiberius.

"Uhm, yes…" said Dybbuk. "And thus, I need both of you to unearth them…"

"Are you out of your skull?" asked Tiberius. "When the Triad tried to use those cards, they were almost killed by the evil energies that they unleashed!"

"They locked them in that vault and gave the two halves of the password to us, but didn't tell us who had the other halves," said Lorelei. "They even subjected us to powerful spells to make certain that an enemy couldn't use magic to get the passwords by reading our minds. Then they drank a potion derived from the waters of the River Lethe to purge the password from their minds, so they would never be tempted to unearth them!"

"No mortal duelist can control those things…" said Tiberius.

"Er, ahem…" said Dybbuk, pointing to the horns on his head.

Tiberius lifted an eyebrow.

"Hmm, he has a point…" he said. "Maybe a devil could do it…

"Okay, Dybbuk, we'll open the vault for you, but we won't go inside it. Once we open the door, you're on your own."

"That was my plan," said the falxugon.

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"My move…" said Rhul. "I draw…"

He went to draw a card… His hand hovered over his deck.

"On second thought…" he said. "Check that… I won't draw.

"You see, the Spell Card that I used last turn to use Reshef's effect was Magical Blast."

The Spell Card slipped out of his discard slot, and he took it.

"And I'm allowed to recover it from my Graveyard during my Draw Phase. So long as I forfeit my normal draw, of course. That means I can discard it to pay Reshef's cost every turn!"

He discarded the card, and Northwemko was dragged over to his side of the field again.

So that's his game… thought Ophelia.

"Reshef," ordered Rhul, "obliterate her Monster."

The three orbs appeared again…

"I activate… Dimensional Spellbook!" shouted Ophelia, as her Trap Card lifted up.

The three beams of light shot towards her Monster. Ophelia discarded a card from her hand, and the blast was halted.

"Not only does my Trap negate your attack," she said, "but I get to recover a Spell Card that's been removed from play."

The Ritual of Grace card appeared in her hand.

Rhul looked at the one card in her hand.

"Well," he said, "since attacking with Northwemko would be pointless due to Cursed Ring, I end my turn."

Northwemko appeared back on Ophelia's side of the field.

She made a draw.

"Northwemko, attack Reshef again!" she shouted.

The Goddess of Grace fired a blast, but again it just glanced off Reshef's rocky hide.

"You did 200 measly points of damage," said Rhul. "You're really grasping at straws."

"It's better than nothing," said Ophelia. "I'll set one more card facedown, and end my turn."

A set card appeared in her Spell Zone.

(O: 2,800) - - - - - - - - - - (R: 6,100)

"My move…" said Rhul. "Once again, I'll use the effect of Magical Blast to recover it."

He took the card from his discard slot. Then he played his other card.

"Next, I'll play Compensatory Damages. Because I forfeited my normal draw two turns in a row, this Spell Card lets me draw twice."

He made two draws.

"And I'll play one of them… Monster Reborn!"

The shining ankh appeared, and then Gagaga Magician materialized. (1,500 ATK)

"Now, once again…"

He discarded Magical Blast, and Northwemko was dragged over to his side of the field.

"Gagaga Magician," he ordered, "attack with Gagaga Magic!"

The strange Spellcaster pointed, and strange sigils appeared in the air. A blast of dark energy shot from his finger. Shining Angel appeared on the card, and was vaporized.

"I'm not finished yet," said Ophelia. "I use its effect to Special Summon another one."

A second Shining Angel took the place of the first. (1,400 ATK)

"Two bad it had to be in Attack Mode," said Rhul, as Reshef's orb's appeared.

The three-colored beam of light shot at Shining Angel, blowing it to shards.

Ophelia grunted a little, and a third Shining Angel appeared. (1,400 ATK)

Northwemko pointed her staff, and fired a blast. Ophelia grunted again, but Shining Angel survived.

Rhul looked at the last card in his hand, Magic Cylinder.

He looked at Northwemko, and then set it in his Disk. It appeared facedown. He waved his hand to signal the end of his turn, and the Divine Grace reappeared on Ophelia's side of the field.

(O: 400) - - - - - - - - - - (R: 6,100)

"It's almost over, Shadowchaser," he said.

And once she attacks my Magician, he thought, it will be over.

Ophelia made a draw.

"I agree," she said.

She threw a Spell Card into her Disk.

"I play Enemy Controller! By sacrificing my Shining Angel…"

The Fairy vanished into motes of light.

"I can give you a taste of your own medicine!"

Reshef the Dark Being was drawn over to Ophelia's side of the field.

"I have tasted my own medicine!" said Rhul, with a grin. "It's terrible!"

"Then prepare to choke on it!" said Ophelia.

She held up another card, Monster Reincarnation.

"I'm tossing this card to use Reshef's effect, and take Gagaga Magician too…"

She threw the card into her discard slot, and Gagaga Magician was pulled over to her side of the field.

Strangely, Gagaga Magician looked almost relieved, as if he was happy to get away from Rhul. Ophelia looked at him strangely.

"Okay…" said Ophelia. "I'll use his effect too… Making him Level 7.

"Then, I'll play Ritual of Grace again…"

The Ritual Spell Card appeared, as did the altar.

"…and sacrifice him…"

Gagaga Magician turned into an orb of light, and flew into the Samsara card.

Then the altar vanished, and a clone of Divine Grace – Northwemko appeared. She looked at the first one, and they both smirked. (2,700 ATK)

"Unbelievable…" said Rhul. "I would think that she was too egotistical to have a twin."

"Save the smart remarks, Rhul," said Ophelia. "I see that facedown card perfectly clear, and I'm not dumb… That's why I have this…"

Her facedown card lifted up.

"Ritual Buster! I can activate it because I made a Ritual Summon, and as a result…"

Rhul turned white.

"…opposing Spell and Trap Cards can't be activated this turn…" he said.

"That's right," said Ophelia. "So let's see how you like it. Reshef the Dark Being, attack directly with your bolts of bedevilment!"

Reshef obeyed, and fired its colored blast at its former master. The diabolist screamed.

"Okay Northwemkos," she continued. "Let's bring this to a close."

The two sisters nodded, and aimed their staffs. Rhul screamed again as their blasts of holy energy hit him and propelled him backwards.

(O: 400) - - - - - - - - - - (R: 0)

The three Ritual Monsters vanished, and Ophelia looked at her enemy, who was out cold.

She lifted her gemstone, and quickly made the arrest. She sighed. Jalal would be happy that Jenkins was finally in custody.

She looked at her watch. It was still just six o'clock.

Best be getting back, she thought. Dante and Jeb will be waking up soon, and I'm going to have to make breakfast…

She looked up at the Old North Church.

Still wish I knew why this old place was so important…

Well, one thing's for sure… If Jenkins knows, I doubt I would have gotten the secret from him…

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CURSED RING (Trap Card)

Normal Trap

Image: A signet ring with a skull-shaped setting, with blood dripping in the background.

Card Description: Activate when your opponent declares an attack. This card is Equipped to the attacking Monster as an Equip Spell Card. The Equipped Monster cannot destroy Monsters as a result of battle.

Note: "Cursed Ring" was first used by Fubuki in the "Yu-Gi-Oh GX" episode "Pop Goes the Duel". Creative credit goes to the writers of that episode.

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COMPENSATORY DAMAGES (Spell Card)

Normal Spell

Image: Dark General Freed parrying a strike from a sword using a shield with a picture of Yata Garasu painted on it.

Card Description: Activate this card on a round in which you do not conduct your normal draw during your Draw Phase or skip your Draw Phase entirely. Draw one card from your deck, and an additional card for each consecutive previous round in which you did not conduct your normal draw during your Draw Phase and/or skipped your Draw Phase entirely.

Note: "Compensatory Damages" first appeared in "Power Primordial".

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DIMENSIONAL SPELLBOOK (Spell Card)

Quickplay Spell

Image: D.D. Warrior Lady floating in the void of the Different Dimension, sitting on the back of a giant snail and pondering over a large book.

Card Effect: Activate when your opponent declares an attack. Discard 1 card from your hand. Negate the attack and then select 1 of your Spell Cards that has been removed from play; add the selected card to your hand.

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Dugan: When one thinks of infernal dimensions, the Nine Hells of Baator is the most obvious one. But there are two others, the ones that border Hell. One of them is the Bleak Eternity of Gehenna. This place lies between Hell and the Grey Waste, which means it's also a realm of Law and Evil, but with a greater emphasis on Evil. It's inhabited mostly by yugoloths, a race of fiends that claim to be only mercenaries, but whom some suspect are even greater manipulators than devils.

Of lesser notoriety is the Infernal Battlefields of Acheron, which is on the other side of Hell, between that dimension and Mechanus. As a result of this location, there's a greater emphasis in Acheron on Law than there is on Evil.

Still, Acheron is full of violent, warlike, militaristic races. The most widely worshipped gods of both the orcs and the goblins live there, and the spiritual armies of the two groups continually wage war against each other.

Many other races live in Acheron, and they're usually fighting too. It's turned the whole place into one big junkyard of bones, rubble, and broken weapons. Some smarter members of these races use this junk to build things, like the maugs.

Who are the maugs? Well, Jeb had the pleasure of knowing one, and today he was about to meet him again.

"Rematch; The Grudge" is coming soon.