7, hey, that's my lucky number…sometimes…

Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 7: Hunting The Bandit

Josh opened his eyes, black spots dancing in front of his vision. He was still in the cave, in fact, since hitting the ground, he hadn't been moved. He still had all his cards (which was lucky, since Lore was a thief and all).

He sat up, eyes swimming even in the dim torchlight. What a coward.

Making his way out of the tunnel, he groaned, the sun was even worse.

After making the ridiculously long walk back to his room. He showered, napped, watched some TV for a while, then called the number that Rex had left with him.

"Hello?" definitely him.

"Hi."

"Oh, Josh, its you. How'd the duel go."

"I won…"

"That's great!"

"Oh well…yes. He hit me over the head and ran away."

"What?!"

"Yes."

"Okay…I have a friend in the Intelligence Sector of I2's American Branch, he owes me one, I'll have him put a tracker out on the Dreadroot card, no biggie, I should have something in a couple of days; do you mind staying put for now?

"No problem."

"Great, I'll get back to you."

After Rex hung up, Josh closed his eyes, swearing quietly for a few moments before heading out to see what the small town had to offer.

-LineBreak-

"Where are they?" Dex leaned over the prone form of the Sigma lackey, holding the duelist/thug's best card over his head.

"I swear to god I will sell this on Ebay if you don't tell me where the hell your bosses are!"

"One of them visits the Tour Eiffel every day, at around five or six, you can't miss him, he has a disk that's shaped like a battle-axe!"

"Great, thank you."

Dex dropped the card, turned, and walked away.

-LineBreak-

"So you told him where to go?"

"Yes sir, exactly the times and place you said."

"Great, I can't wait to see what Kaiba Corp sent after me; he's gonna have to be really good."

"Yes sir."

"Okay, go back to the HQ, as promised your bonus and the 7 newest packs, all pre-releases from I2."

"Thank you, sir."

-LineBreak-

Josh watched the bus roll out of town.

"I should be on that." he muttered to himself.

"Why aren't you, then?" a voice piped up from behind him.

He turned, a girl, about his age, with a disk on her arm, was standing behind him, smiling.

He recognized her from somewhere, he wasn't sure where.

"Um. No reason I guess…waiting on a call."

"Do you not have a cellphone?" she smirked.

"Oh, no. If I left, and I got the call I'm hoping I get, I'll have to come right back, so…"

"Hm. Okay. My name is Lily, nice to meet you."

"Josh," he stood, extending a hand, "nice to meetcha."

She smiled, "I know who you are, Mr. Greene, one of the best duelists in this era."

"Oh, that's sweet to hear."

"Not really, you're totally a target, for anyone who wants to climb the ladder."

Josh rolled his eyes, "And you just so happen to be one of those climbers?"

"Nope, I work for Sigma."

He spluttered, took a step back, and activated his disk.

She laughed, tossing her hair, "Don't worry, you're fine, I'm here to give you a message; 'Sigma, or any of its allies, are to be left alone by Kaiba Corp, or all of your lives are forfeit, forget dueling."

Josh's eyes widened. "Okay…um no. Suck it. Throw what you want my way."

She smiled, but it was different, he felt a chill run down his spine.

"I could duel you right here and now…you wouldn't like it, I don't think."

Josh stepped out into the more or less empty street, "Let's see, then."

"Fine. Ladies first." she set, stepping out and drawing six cards.

"Let's get started!" she shouted, "I set one monster in facedown defense position, I play pot of greed, draw two cards, and end my turn!"

Josh drew a card, looked at his hand, and smiled.

"I play Future Fusion, using its ability to send five dragon monsters from my main deck to my grave, so that in two turns, I can bring Five Headed Dragon to the field, but in the meantime, I bring Divine Dragon Ragnarok to the field, and equip him with Mage Power. I also set two cards face down and attack your facedown card!"

"Which sucks for you!" she said, revealing her monster, Yomi Ship. "My monster's effect destroys yours!"

"Please," Josh countered, "I've been dueling for years now, you think I couldn't see something like that coming? Your effect activates the effect of the Dragonic Knight in my hand, bringing it to the field in face up attack position; now, I attack your LifePoints directly!"

The huge armored dragon lunged forward. slashing its illusory blade across the other duelist. Her LifePoints dropped to 5200.

"That's not all, I move to my second main phase and activate United We Stand, from my hand, bringing my monster's attack power up to 3600!"

She tossed her hair, sneering uglily, "Not a bad move, punk. Unfortunately, things aren't so good for you! I play White Magician Pikeru, then Double Summon, then I tribute my first monster to bring Dark Dust Spirit to the field, which destroys your monster and its annoying equip spell! Then I attack your life points!"

"Not so fast, I activate Draining Shield, so your attack raises my LP instead of knocking it down!"

She snarled more, ended her turn, and returned the Dark Dust Spirit to her hand, as per its effect.

He drew another card. "Great! I play Pot of Greed and draw two cards! Then I summon Poki Draco, use its effect to put another one in my hand, then I banish the one on my field to summon Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon! I use effect to summon Luster Dragon #2, then I activate Meteor of Destruction!"

She groaned.

"Now I attack your LifePoints directly!"

Her counter dropped to 0.

"I thought you were supposed to be the big, bad hit-girl from Sigma?" he asked, giving her a cocky thumbs-down.

"I am." she said, pulling a revolver from under her denim jacket.

End of Chapter 7!

Haha I like this one; as to the end of the chapter, you would not believe how many times that has happened to me!

-VictorDuelist97