(Note: I still have room in the near future for OCs. See below.)


Chapter 7: Two in a Row

An entire series of duels, pitting member after member of Duel Academy's leading duel teams against one another, culminated in a match between the two top-level duelists in the school, though one would never know by the colors of their jackets. Matt wore a yellow jacket, representative of the fact that he currently held the lowest upperclassman rank in the school, and Bryan wore a black, leather jacket, which didn't represent anything.

Dr. West and the spectators were too excited about the coming duel to notice that Bryan hid a scowl whenever he looked at Matt.

"One on one, right?" he grumbled to Matt as they shook hands.

"Indeed. And with no hand, I look forward to the biggest challenge I've ever had."

"Then you can also look forward to your first public loss," Bryan suggested emphatically. "I'll set a monster and end my turn."

Matt was surprised, considering the intensity of Bryan's words. "That's all?"

"You still have to draw something worth playing. I'm not taking a big risk here."

"That's probably true," Matt chuckled, trying to lighten the mood. He hummed. "Looks like a decent card. I'll summon Mystic Tomato (4/1400/1100)." A fruit out of Attack of the Killer Tomatoes appeared on the field and licked its impressive teeth at Bryan's monster. "And just for fun, I'll attack." The Tomato hopped across the field and bit through a humanoid with a skeletal body clouded by a deep red cloak.

"You destroyed Phantom Magician (3/600/700)," Bryan pointed out. "Do you know what it does?"

"No."

Bryan just grinned. This was his big advantage. Matt was terrible at remembering card effects, and Bryan put some extra cards in his deck that Matt never saw before. And instead of sharing his monster's searching effect, he simply summoned Elemental Hero Knospe (3/600/1000) to his field. A flower bud sprouted on the field in front of him, and it almost immediately bloomed into a bipedal plant bud with fronds for feet, buds for hands and a head, and two more fronds off its back like a scarf.

"I know that card," Matt commented.

"But you don't know what I'm going to do with it," Bryan pointed out. He jumped to his turn because Matt had no cards to play. "I'll summon Twilight Rose Knight (3/1000/1000), and with it summon a second Elemental Hero Knospe (600)." His knight was a short woman with dark, well-kempt armor. She held her short sword in front of her as a rallying cry, and a second bud bloomed along Bryan's field.

"Not bad," Matt commented. "Two monsters who can attack directly."

"Just one," Bryan corrected him. With a grin, he placed another Spell in his Duel Disk and drew Knospe back into a bud. "I'll play Rose Bud. It turns Elemental Hero Knospe into Elemental Hero Poison Rose (6/1900/2000)." Knospe's bud bloomed very suddenly and brightly, and from its flower sprouted a woman with floral hair and frond-like clothing.

Matt put on a big smile. "Oh, yes. I see. Poison Rose's effect says I can only direct an attack at her, and the Rose Knight's effect says I can't target a plant monster. I guess that means as long as you keep them both on the field, I can't attack at all. That's an excellent lockdown strategy, especially against me. I don't run a lot of direct damage cards."

"I noticed. Even with your new deck." Immediately, Poison Rose waved her arm in a grandiose manner, and a mist of purple spores spread from her body. As the spores covered Matt's Tomato (1400), it turned purple, ashen, and necrotic, finally fading completely.

"Per the Mystic Tomato's effect, I'll summon Sangan (3/1000/600)." The wilted tomato skin revealed an orange, three-eyed critter whose limbs grew directly from its head; it had no torso. It simply grinned at Bryan's other monsters.

Again without a word from Bryan, Knospe disappeared underground, unseen until a large bud sprouted in front of Matt and spat a small cloud of poison at him. The bud withdrew into the dirt and a Bugs Bunny-style molehill traversed the field back to Bryan's side. "I'll set one card," Bryan finished.

Bryan 8000: Matt 5700 – 500 – 600 = 4600.

Matt drew, but he had only one card in his hand. "You always did like a challenge, Bro," he told his best friend. "And that's exactly what you're giving me. All I can do now is put Sangan (600) in defense mode."

"I'll play Elemental Hero Heat (4/+2200/1200)." A tall, muscular Hero, dressed in a form-fitting red, yellow, and white jester's suit, appeared on the field and flexed his muscles, gaining 200 points for every Hero out there. "I've got enough attack points here to end this duel." First, Knospe (+700/-500), having grown stronger after the previous attack, repeated the Bugs Bunny impression as it attacked Matt directly once more. "Now let's remove Sangan (600)." Twilight Rose Knight (1000) leaped forward and slashed through the critter with a single swipe.

As Sangan allowed its owner to retrieve a monster with 1500 or fewer attack points, Matt decided, "I'll take Battle Fader (0)."

Bryan sighed. "Well, let's see it then. I'll attack with Elemental Hero Heat (2200)." As the jester-like Hero leaped over the field and landed a heavy punch with his arm soaked in flames, Matt surprised Bryan by allowing the direct attack.

"I've got something better," Matt informed him. "Taking direct damage while I have nothing on the field means I can summon Gorz the Emissary of Darkness (7/2700/2500)!" As the haze from Heat's fist faded, it revealed a warrior wearing black armor and red bases, and wielding a sword as tall as himself on his hip. His armor was bladed at the wrists and shoulders, and his helmet was a mere armored visor that couldn't contain his wildfire hair. Beside him, a second warrior appeared, but he lacked a sword and the blades on his armor were smaller. "Because you hurt me with a direct attack, Gorz brings with him an Emissary of Darkness Token (7/+2200/+2200) with points equal to the damage you just dealt me."

Bryan growled at the field, not so much for stumbling, but for failing to see Matt's strategy coming. It was like Matt wasn't dueling of his own accord… like he was getting help. And so much energy emanated from his side of the field.

"You have a good defense there," Bryan admitted, "but you still can't fight back with my lockdown in place. Especially if I activate this card." When he placed a Spell on the field, a powerful bolt of lightning struck Matt's field and instantly incinerated both his monsters.

"Raigeki?" Matt asked. "Even I know that card. That's been pretty much banned since Day 1. So why did your Duel Disk even recognize it?"

"Think of it like a closeout sale. For one day and one day only, this special card was able to be used in a public venue. And thanks to its power, you are left completely powerless."

Bryan 8000: Matt 4600 – 700 – 2200 = 1700.


In the IT room where technicians maintained the Solid Vision system during the duel, the senior programmer turned to his younger associate and asked how Bryan was able to play Raigeki. As far as he knew, the card was still banned and shouldn't be recognized unless an IT technician changed the code.

The only thing—well, pair of things—the tech could think of belonged to a voluptuous woman wearing a leather bodysuit, zipped down just enough to run his imagination wild. Her red hair matched her lipstick when she planted one on him, and in his love-struck trance, he showed her how simple it was to hack the Kaiba Corp. system from the inside and alter the banned cards list. No one would ever come to realize that Flying Fish was currently banned.


Matt drew and couldn't stop a smirk from crawling across his face. "Unless I get an OTK."

"Just try it," Bryan muttered. He had Hero Ring set. Even if Matt managed to destroy Poison Rose and end the Lockdown, Hero Ring would equip to Twilight Rose Knight and prevent any attacks against her; her effect would still prevent attacks against plants, meaning only Hero Heat would be at risk. The odds of an OTK in this situation…

"I'll summon The Dark Creator (8/2300/3000)." Lightning struck Matt's field again, but this one was a black bolt that took the shape of an armored angel. His glass-like wings spread with the lightning that jolted from the full body of dark armor.

"Another fallen angel," Bryan noted.

"With five dark monsters in my Graveyard, The Dark Creator doesn't need Tributes to summon. But by removing one from play, I can summon Darklord Superbia (8/2900/2400)," a living black chalice with a winged cup as its torso, a crystalline base, and a red face on the side.

'That's the card he used to beat Numbers,' Bryan remembered.

"When Superbia is summoned, I can summon another fairy from my Graveyard, and this time I choose Darklord Zerato (8/2800/2300)." Descending from up high, a fallen angel with red, bat-like wings on his back, blue horns on his head, a body as muscular as David, and a sword like an enormous shark tooth. Matt held the Battle Fader between his fingers so Bryan could see it. "By discarding one dark monster, Darklord Zerato instantly destroys all monsters on your side of the field." Dark energy filled the air around the giant sword, and one powerful swing sent a blade of dark energy sharp enough to split all of Bryan's monsters instantly in half.

Bryan could hardly believe that Matt owned a card with such an effect. He claimed to spend the entire summer avoiding Duel Monsters, but somehow he ended up with a deck more powerful than he ever had before. There was no way Matt could do that by himself!

"Tell me, Bro. Is your facedown card a Mirror Force?" Matt could tell from the way Bryan tried to force a smirk: "I thought not. In that case, I'll attack with all three of my monsters!" The Dark Creator (2300) released a surge of electricity from its hands, Darklord Superbia (2900) drew energy into its chalice and released the focus directly at Bryan like a cannon, and Darklord Zerato (2800) swing his sword once more in a vertical slash.

Bryan 8000 – 2300 – 2900 – 2800 = 0: Matt 1700.

The flood of cheers directed at both teams for an impressive and well played series was unfortunately tempered by groans of disbelief from people who bet on the losing team or the losing duelist. Bryan's disappointment was impossible to hide even as Dr. West showed off both him and Matt to the stadium's spectators. He glared at Matt from the corner of his eye.

"I felt the energy flow," he grumbled so only Matt could hear. "You had help."

"What? Honestly, Bro. I don't even know how to share…"

"Save it. You awakened a god in order to beat me, so I'll just find a devil to bring him down."


Bryan just needed a walk. The night air might help clear his head. He really wanted to believe that his sworn brother wouldn't cheat him like that, but he just couldn't help it. The odds were so long against Matt that something just had to be rigged. He even used one of the cards so powerful that is wasn't seen in a public duel for more than thirty years. Yet for Matt to recover from that, there had to be something bigger at play.

"Cheating block of salt."

Bryan wandered away from campus. He wanted as little chance of seeing a classmate as possible right then, and given the size of the island, there weren't many places to escape. There was a fairly significant chance of running into someone out in Kazuki, but maybe if he wore a baseball cap and kept his head down, no one would notice him.

The city was pretty different at night. Despite being a college town, Kazuki was home to a college with a curfew, and that pretty well gave the city a curfew through association. Streets were lit by nothing more than the faint glow of street lamps and the shine of the moon. Each street Bryan turned onto was occupied by a maximum of three people, and Bryan was the only one moving around.

But even so, every step he took didn't bring him closer to forgiving and understanding his friend. Each time his feet rolled along the pavement, he felt angrier. He cheated in that duel—he knew he did—just to prove a point; Matt still won!

Growling, Bryan finally let loose and punched his right arm into a tree trunk. His solid arm shook the massive tree and left a quarter-inch indentation. He held his arm there and soaked in the pain, letting it permeate his body and fill him with endorphins. It felt good to hit something again. He really missed playing football right then. Flag football just wasn't cutting it.

Speaking of stimulation, he heard the footsteps of hard high heels on the street behind him. When he turned around, he saw the slender, overly-pierced form of Valerie Sheehan, the motorcycle mechanic Bryan dated for a brief period during the previous year. She was a looker, especially for any guy who like leather bodysuits with the zipper pulled pretty low, but that isn't what caught Bryan's attention. The smirk on her face meant she wanted something.

"Hi, Val. What are you doing out so late?"

"Looking for you, handsome," she spoke seductively. "And call me Lust."

He shook his head. "Sorry, but I'm not that depressed."

Feigning insult, she pouted. "Aw. You could really hurt a girl's feelings talking like that. That loss wasn't that embarrassing."

"Leave me alone."

Instead, she stepped up to him and gently ran her fingers across his back, finishing by playing with his ear. "You look like you could use some cheering up, and I have the perfect way to do it." She purred in his ear, which he expected, but then she surprised him with the suggestion, "Let's have a duel."

He turned his head to see her eyes. "Why?"

"Because you still owe me one for giving you that card."

He huffed and pulled the Raigeki card from his deck. Handing it back to her, he said, "It didn't work, anyway."

"That's because you're just not strong enough yet. But we can change that through a duel."

He began chuckling almost uncontrollably. "Yeah, right. Because you're magic?"

"Something like that," she whispered. "What have you got to lose?"

He shook his head, but he cracked a grin. Val certainly amused him enough to duel. "Alright. One duel. But I left my Duel Disk with Lucy."

"That's fine," Val said as she produced a second Duel Disk from her bag. This one wasn't the newest model like Bryan's; it was an old Academy model from about two upgrades ago. When he asked where she got that, Val just smiled. "From an old boyfriend." Bryan had no trouble believing that story.

"I'll go first," Bryan decided as he pointedly drew his cards.

Val said with a sultry tone, "Ooo. I like it when a man takes charge."

Bryan was pleased with his opening hand. "I'll play Polymerization to fuse Avian and Heat into Elemental Hero Nova Master (8/2600/2100)." The Hero jester was encased by wings as the air around them drew inward like a vortex. What emerged was a taller Hero with powerful, red armor and a cape that billowed like flame. "That's all for now."

"Good. I'll activate Call of the Mummy." A wooden coffin appeared vertically on her side of the field. "With no monsters currently on my field, I can summon any zombie from my hand. I choose Burning Skull Head (3/1000/800)." The lid slid from the coffin on her field and produced a skull engulfed in flames. Purple lights—dim at first but with growing intensity—shone in the skull's eye holes. "When Special Summoned, this creature inflicts 1000 points of damage to you." The light from the skull's eyes burst, and a holographic flame ignited Bryan's chest. "I'll set one card and end my turn."

Bryan 8000 – 1000 = 7000: Lust 8000.

"That's a nice effect, but it's a weak card," Bryan decided.

Val smiled. "Admittedly, it's a far cry from the Darklords, but…"

That instantly quashed Bryan's smugness. The Darklords were all incredibly powerful monsters. They were much too good for Matt to chance upon them after running a deck of Kuribohs and Magical Scientist. But ultimately, whatever his cards, Matt ended up winning. That's the gift given by the spirit sealed inside him. And that's what Bryan needed to find a way to counter.

"Fair enough," Bryan accepted. "I'll summon Elemental Hero Flash (4/1100/1600)." His field showed a Hero with a blue, skin-tight costume marked by yellow bolts and a silver conduit on his back. "Flash will attack your Burning Skull Head (800)."

"I'll activate Relieve Monster," Val instantly replied. A blue spirit reached out from the cards in her hand and wrapped around her Burning Skull, pulling it back to her hand and tossing out a turtle with a cinderblock shell on its back and an Egyptian headdress upon its sage-like face. "It lets me replace Burning Skull Head with Pyramid Turtle (4/1200/1400)."

Bryan nodded. He hardly looked amused by the duel anymore. "Stronger than Flash, huh? Well, changing the monsters on the field triggers a Replay. I'll send Nova Master (2600) to attack instead." His warrior's arm burst into flame as he leaped across the field and shattered the shell on the Turtle's back, destroying it instantly. Bryan whipped one card up from his deck. "Nova Master's effect gives me a card each time he destroys a monster in battle."

"But Pyramid Turtle's effect gives me even more power," Val chuckled. "I can summon any zombie from my deck with 2000 or less defense. I'll summon Skull Flame (8/2600/2000)." From the shattered pieces of cinderblock appeared a mage-like spirit with no visible body—only blackness as if formed from the darkness itself. The mage's blue robes and red cape were capped by a bone crown and mantle, and by fire that covered its shoulders.

"A monster to match mine… In that case, I'll set a card and end my turn."

Val drew her next card without much reaction. "Once per turn, Skull Flame summons Burning Skull Head (800) from my hand." The flaming skull appeared on the field again, and again the purple lights from its eye ignited Bryan's chest. "That means another 1000 points of damage to you. I suppose I'll set a card now and end my turn."

Bryan 7000 – 1000 = 6000: Lust 8000.

"Here we go," Bryan said. "I'll play H – Heated Heart!" An H in the Hero font was engraved on Nova Master's (+3100) breastplate. "With an added 500 attack points, Nova Master can also inflict Piercing Damage for this turn." As he pointed out Burning Skull Head (800), he commented, "You want more power? Try this." When the H symbol became as fire, both of Nova Master's arms burst into flame. The intensity of his flame lent him additional strength as he crushed the Burning Skull Head with his fist. "How was that?"

"Boring," Valerie replied quickly.

Bryan 6000: Lust 8000 – 2300 = 5700.

Val shook her head. "You aren't playing at the same level you're known for. I guess I'll have to push you a little harder to see if you've still got it or if Matt crushed your spirit completely."

Bryan sneered as she played her cards.

"I choose to skip my Draw Phase and instead return Burning Skull Head to my hand. Skull Flame will further summon the Burning Skull Head (800) to my field." Her mage cast a spell that pulled Burning Skull Head to the field again, and the purple light ignited Bryan's chest. "You should have destroyed Skull Flame."

"I plan to," Bryan told her. "I just wanted to even the score first."

Val sighed. "A pointless effort that the old Bryan wouldn't have been suckered into. I'll activate Spiritual Fire Art – Kurenai." A red-haired, female spellcaster appeared on the field and cast a seal around the field. "This Trap lets me Tribute a fire monster on my field to inflict damage to you equal to my monster's original attack points." The magician's seal closed around Skull Flame, and the result was explosion into a dozen, raining, flaming bones that holographically pelted Bryan.

"Your own monster?"

With an irritated nod, Val said, "Of course. If you destroyed Skull Flame for me, I wouldn't have to do it myself. By removing Skull Flame from play, I summon Supersonic Skull Flame (10/2600/2000)." The flaming mage reappeared, but this time, it evolved to appear as a centaur. With its lower torso appearing half equine, the monster's skeletal body was more obvious. "This is my trump card," she informed him. "This card will be the one to destroy you."

Bryan 6000 – 1000 – 2600 = 2400: Lust 5700.

Bryan gazed at the top of his deck and wondered about Valerie's words. 'Am I really losing my touch? Am I so focused on expecting Matt to cheat that I wasn't able to play my full ability?' He placed his fingers gently on his deck.

"You must not think about how to defeat a duelist," a smooth, male voice spoke. Bryan searched for a source to find only a thin man with light hair shining in the moonlight. "You must instead see your opponent as a god."

"What?"

The man who spoke had long, silver hair that was outshone by his white eyes, shimmering brightly. He was much smaller in stature than Bryan, and his clothes were simple: a white, sleeved shirt buttoned up the middle with no collar on top; white pants that were seamless; and white shoes that were perfectly rounded without laces or straps.

"Do you know who I am?" the man asked.

Bryan huffed. "You look like a ghost."

The man chuckled softly. "You are not the first to describe me with such a word."

"Great. So now I'm just like everyone else."

"But you are not. You have deep potential, young Knight. You only lack power."

Bryan laughed off that ridiculous comment. "Yeah, yeah. Power helps a lot during a card game!"

"You dismiss the presence of power within yourself, but you recognize it within your friend?" The man stepped closer to Valerie and shook his head. "There can be no wonder your own power falls short of its goal." He stepped directly behind Valerie and placed his hands on both her shoulders, leaning his head just over her left side. "Do you not feel the power possessed by this temple? Can you not tell that Lust is made stronger by an energy not derived on this Earth?"

Confused yet curious, Bryan narrowed his eyes at Valerie and tried to see her the same way he saw Matt. She appeared normal enough, for a woman with so many piercings and tattoos, but there was something in the air around her. Maybe it was the night playing tricks with his eyes, but slowly and with focus, Bryan discovered the air of darkness flowing through and around Valerie's body.

Ghost saw the recognition in his eyes. "There is a simple way to achieve such energy," he announced to Bryan. Clenching his hand into a fist, he declared, "You must take it! Win this duel and obtain the power Lust now uses against you. It is the way to propel you far beyond your divine friend."

Perhaps it was grief that weakened Bryan's senses or perhaps Ghost himself laid some influence upon Bryan's will, but the top-ranked duelist found himself feeling desire well upon within him—not for Valerie's body, but for the power the had within her. It felt so similar to the shadows that once gave Bryan and his Sacred Beast the power to duel Matt to a tie. If that power coupled with the growth he made over the past year… he would crush Matt!

"A Catch-22, huh? In order to take her power, I have to be better than her power, which then leads me to wonder why I'd need it."

Ghost grinned. He could almost feel Bryan's growing desire. "For a capable vessel, power is additive and may well be unlimited."

Bryan nodded. "I guess we'll see about that. I'll summon Elemental Hero Knospe (3/600/1000)!" A flower bud sprouted on the field in front of him, and it almost immediately bloomed into a bipedal plant bud with fronds for feet, buds for hands and a head, and two more fronds off its back like a scarf.

Val huffed. "That's a pretty weak monster for you to plan to take my power with it."

"I know. But when there's another Hero on my field, Knospe gets to declare a direct attack." Knospe disappeared underground, unseen until a large bud sprouted in front of Val and spat a small cloud of poison at her. The bud withdrew into the dirt and a Bugs Bunny-style molehill traversed the field back to Bryan's side. "I'll set one card and end my turn."

Bryan 2400: Lust 5700 – 600 = 5100.

"Nothing excites me more than knowing I excite you," Val assured Bryan, "but don't think I'll make it easy. I'll activate Painful Choice." As she pulled five cards from her deck, Bryan made a face.

"I'm pretty sure that card is currently banned according to Kaiba Corp Gaming. Did you seduce the duel tech to play that card, too?"

"Oh, no," she whispered seductively. "This is just some of the power I gain from the Shadows." She showed Bryan five cards through her Duel Disk: two Burning Skull Heads, two Skull Flames, and Pyramid Turtle. Bryan huffed and allowed her to keep Skull Flame. A soldier equipped with basic, shabby armor appeared on the field, pointed to Skull Flame with his right hand and dismissed the other cards with his left. "Skull Flame comes to my hand. And I'll activate Supersonic Skull Flame's effect." The centaur looked to Bryan, its eyes flashed with purple lights, and three streams of fire blew from the centaur across Bryan's body. "For each Burning Skull Head in my Graveyard, you lose 400 Life Points. With one set monster, that will end my turn."

Bryan 2400 – 1200 = 1200: Lust 5100.

"I've got a power play to beat that one," Bryan said with a chortle. "I'll play Fusion Recovery to return Polymerization and Hero Heat to my hand. Then I'll activate Polymerization to fuse Flash and Knospe into Elemental Hero The Shining (8/2600/2100)." After a void of energy drew in both Heroes, the monster that appeared in a light shining brightly as the sun was a tall, confident Hero—dressed in white armor studded with red gems, wearing a golden crown that looked like mutton chops, and emitting light from a golden, eight-pointed halo that represented the energy supply on his back.

"It's still no stronger than my monster," Val pointed out.

"I only need him as a defense. I'll activate Limit Reverse!" As his Trap flipped up, a flower bloomed on his field and brought Knospe (600) to his side. "Not only does it revive my monster, but I'll play Inferno Reckless Summon to play two more Knospe from my deck." Two more flowers bloomed on his field and presented identical Hero plants.

Ghost hummed softly. "That's better. Normally Inferno Reckless Summon lets your opponent duplicate a monster on the field, too, but Supersonic Skull Flame can only be summoned by its own effect; the Spell won't work for Lust. You do retain some of your former power, after all."

"And Light beats Shadow," Bryan pointed out, noting how brightly The Shining lit the area. "Finally, I'll summon Elemental Hero Heat (4/+2600/1200)." A Hero leaped onto the field wearing a tight bodysuit—red, yellow, and white like a flame—and somewhat resembling a court jester. "He gains 200 points for every Hero on the field. With another Hero on the field, each Knospe gets the chance to attack you directly.

"And I've done the math—those three will beat you faster than your three Skull Heads will beat me." All three plants withdrew into the dirt to emerge momentarily and spray poison clouds at Valerie. "Next, Heat will take down that monstrosity of yours." The super-powered jester propelled himself across the field and planted a heavy, powerful fist in the centaur's midsection. When the centaur exploded, bone fragments struck the Hero and destroyed it simultaneously. "And now, The Shining can hit you directly."

"I think not," Val argued. "When Supersonic Skull Flame is sent to the Graveyard, Skull Flame (2600) is summoned to replace him." The more humanoid version of her monster returned to the field, fire bursting from its skull.

"Your mage doesn't scare me," he informed her. "I still have The Shining (2600)." The light grew brighter from The Shining until it became like a stream of needles, pelting Skull Flame relentlessly. "That ends my turn."

Bryan 1200: Lust 5100 – 600 – 600 – 600 = 3300.

Val whipped her card from her deck, and the shadows surrounding her card became visible to Bryan. "You've already lost."

"You think? I'm a prominent member of Team Lockdown, and you don't think I'd set you up? Just look at my field." Three Knospe all stood side by side, ready to escape into the ground if attacked. "Each one can't be attacked if there's another Hero on the field. That means they protect each other, and they protect me. Now what?"

"I play Raigeki!"

Shadows swarmed the field, preceding the brilliant bolt of lightning that struck the field and incinerated Bryan's monsters instantly. Bryan gasped, unable to believe that a forbidden card he used just earlier that day—one that Matt overcame—now caused his defeat.

"I'll summon Flame Spirit Ignis (4/1500/1200)." Formed from the scant embers remaining on her side of the field, flame billowed in front of Val and took the shape of a fox—with a sharp, canine face and fire spouting atop its fur. Val huffed with annoyance. "Finish him." Ignis took in a deep breath and spewed a heavy, billowing stream of flame that clouded Bryan's field and turned his Life Points to ash.

Bryan 1200 – 1500 = 0: Lust 3300.

All of a sudden, Bryan felt his strength leave him. He fell to his haunches and felt sleep trying to wrest his consciousness from him. He felt these effects before; they were difficult to mistake. Val's victory drained what energy he had, and shadow energy threatened to overcome him in his weakness.

Ghost patted Val on her hand. "Well done, Lust." He knelt to the ground next to Bryan and placed his hand upon the shoulder of one who lost his second duel of the day.

"There is one other way to obtain vast power," he spoke, his voice filled with seductive confidence. "There is a cap on the amount of energy one temple can amass, and that is where the intensity of energy comes to import. Lust's purpose was to drain you of weak energy that currently fills your spirit. When your reserves run dry, I can provide you with energy of the highest quality."

From the Ghost's touch, Bryan felt his strength return. What flowed through him was different from his feeling earlier that day, and yet it was different from the last time his body was possessed by the shadows.

"It is only energy I share," Ghost informed him. "Whether power comes with it is a decision only you can make, my Pale Rider."


I'm getting worse about updating, and I apologize for that. I have so much going on that it gets harder to focus on this story every day.

After two more chapters, I will begin the Thelemic Pantheon arc. I still have room for OCs if anyone wishes to submit one. All I require is a name, basic physical description, deck theme without god cards (including Aesir and Earthbound Immortals), reason for dueling, and typical personality during conflict and in good company.

For the life of me, I couldn't come to a definitive conclusion whether two Knospes protecting one another from attack prevents the opponent from declaring a direct attack. A lot of people seem to believe it true, and there is some evidence to support that view, yet opposing evidence also exists. Magician's Valkyria, for example, can double up and prevent the opponent from attacking, but her effect prevents other monsters from being attacked. The Legendary Fisherman is protected from attack with Umi on the field, but the opponent can bypass him to attack directly. Given these two types of effects (protecting oneself vs. protecting others), I would suspect that two Knospes do not stop the opponent from attacking. Unfortunately, I found no official ruling.
To avoid having to make that call myself, I just had Lust use Raigeki again.

Credits:
Darius Mantzios...tiramisu19
Jason Maxim...Maxim and Knight
Nathan Zislaw...Mavrik Zero
Hillary Delaney...Nodqfan144
Lili Von...Happy2BMe
Carter Jade...Jaden2010
Mitsuro Itachu...Titanic X
Sean Bivins...DarkVestroia2

Ivy Roaks...Mental Panda
Naoto Kurotsuki...Kurotsuki Haru
Hayley Wilson...TeamRocketDiva
Maikeru Stone...onyxshade7
Victor Rocks & Abel Shinzou...Iron-Arm-V

Alister Kazama & Jessica Parks...ZaneKazama001
Synthia Spencer...Madly Chessur
Leila & Linear Lockhart...Windraider
Logan Wilson...MercWithTheMouth13

Allen Tebaro...Nouva17
Tai Ishihara...ZAFT Prime

Everyone else so far...YamiRuss