CHAPTER SEVEN: Shattered Balance

CHAPTER SEVEN: Why Do You Duel?

Only one review for the chapter, I'm rather disappointed, I must admit, but I guess that a lot of people have better staff to do in their summer vacation then read the wild ramblings of an obsessed teenager!

Metal Overlord 2.0: I must agree, the performance of Heath Ledger as the Joker was something that will remain in my mind for years to come. The Dark Knight will become a classic to contend with the Godfather movies. Although I had to exercise my creative license as an author a little bit, I hope I've kept him true to character. And stay tuned, because another duel which could equal Yami vs. Marik in awesomeness is starting up.

"You…" whispered Kaiba, his fist clenched. The man continued to bear his freaky, almost scary grin, and spoke in his abnormally nasal drawl. He pointed to the ugly scars on either side of his mouth.

"You see the scars? Wanna know how I got em'?"

"Wanna know how you got these?" roared Rikuo as he raised his claws. "Ah ah ah…" muttered the clown-like man, raising his knife up to Serenity's mouth. A terrified squeak escaped her mouth, and the mercenaries on either side of him cocked their rifles.

"I always wanted to give the world a better class of criminal," he continued. "Really, I had Gotham City in the palm of my hand. I can't understand why the Batman just likes to control things. I hate those schemers. They have plans, they just want everything to go according to plan. Uh, you guys had plans and look where it got you. Your girlfriend has had to spend most of last night in that hell-hole."

He pointed at the warehouse and gave a shriek-like laugh.

Joey's face was turning red with rage.. "What do you want, clown?" he said through gritted teeth.

Serenity's captor looked down. "Jeez, I thought my jokes were bad." He slipped his free hand into his jacket pocket, all the while keeping his knife in the front of Serenity's face. He pulled out something that looked like a card, and flicked it across the expanse of sand towards Joey, who caught it in his right hand.

"Not clown…." Joey looked at the card. It was a regular playing card, and depicted a jester dressed in the regular, colorful outfit.

"Joker."

"The very same, aren't you?" growled Kaiba. "The one who went crazy in Gotham City and killed nearly three hundred people in some way or the other?"

The Joker shook his head amicably. "It's not about the killing… It's about sending a message. Everything burns, you know. Kinda like chaos."

"This guy is insane," growled Bakura, folding his arms. "There's no point in negotiating in any way. We'll either have to follow his demands if we want to try and get the girl back alive, or if they're unreasonable, just do what we do best and hope it works."

"Insane?" questioned the Joker, slightly loosening his grip on Serenity's arm. "No, I'm not insane. I'm just chaotic, that's all. An agent of chaos, you could say. I don't like the way the way people try to control things. Batman, Jim Gordon, Harvey Dent… Look where it got them. Batman, he's a fugitive, he's on the run. Gordon, he almost had his whole family killed. Dent, well, uh, he's dead. But you must know all this.."

Kaiba scowled. He did, of course. Gotham City had been a literal warzone and it was all over the news for weeks.

"They locked me up in the cuckoo's nest. But I was able to fly over it." He gave another shrill laugh.

"That's what I like about Paradias. They don't like control. I'm a performer, but I don't do what I do well for free. Plus, now I don't have to stage the act all by myself," he laughed, pointing at the line of armed soldiers on either side of him.

"But as I told Harvey Dent, chaos is fair. That's why I'm going to give you a chance here. We're going to play a little game."

Rummaging into his jacket, he pulled out an ancient Duel Disk. Sliding it onto his arm, he pushed Serenity towards the thugs on his immediate right. Kaiba took an involuntary step forward, but a growl from Rikuo stopped him. After all, any attempt to take Serenity at this point would only result in her death.

Behind the line of men was a single chair. Serenity was forced into it and her ankles and wrists were chained to it. The chair was lifted up, and the Joker pressed a single button on his Duel Disk. Out of the sand rose a single, glass case. It was perfectly rectangular, and about ten feet high by four feet wide. Opening one side of it that seemed like a door, they pushed the chair into it, and sealed it. Serenity was now trapped in a room of glass. She glanced at Joey, terrified.

"No one ever knew me for my diplomatic skills," chuckled the Joker, busily inspecting the straps of his Duel Disk. "So I'll give it to you straight. I like this game. It's fun. Lot's of chaos. You never know if you're going to win or not. I like getting my hands dirty, but I guess once in a while you have to be a little civilized. I'll duel one of you. Every time I lose life-points, some water fills into the tank. If I lose, then it'll be filled with water and if you can get to her in time, good for you. If you can't, too bad. If you lose, then she lives, but you and all your friends will die."

Kaiba froze. "What the-…"

He looked over at Rikuo and Bakura. "Paradias told me you guys are a little boring. Bullets won't hurt you. Nothing like Batman. He was incredibly fun. But hey, you two are just fine." He pointed at Joey and Kaiba. "So choose. If you don't duel me, you'll have to fight. If you duel, you might get your girlfriend back. Very chaotic, isn't it?"

Kaiba stepped forward, and glared at the Joker. "You are going to pay for what you've done."

"Should be fun," agreed the Joker, a bloody grin twisting its way over his mouth. The CEO of Kaiba Corp. looked over at Bakura, and the look conveyed all he had to say: Get the girl out as soon as possible. He then glanced over at Serenity and gave her a faint, reassuring smile.

He pulled out his Duel Disk. "This shouldn't take more then five minutes."

"It probably won't," agreed the Joker, and looked over at the mercenaries, before nodding. They lowered their weapons.

(Joker: 8000, Kaiba: 8000)

"I like going first," muttered the clown prince. "Hmm… I never liked scheming. But I guess I have to. A little. So come out, Peten the Dark Clown (500/1200)!"

A clown with a white and black striped face, with yellow and blue-green baggy clothing, a blue vest with a white collar, a large red hat with a long pink flowing wig materialized onto the field.

"Nice guy, isn't he?" said the madman affectionately. Kaiba simply glared at him, and he took it as an indication to continue. He fiddled with the cards in his hand nervously. "Only played this game once… Not really sure how it goes. But hey, that's what chaos is all about. I set two cards facedown and end my turn."

Drawing aggressively, Kaiba glared at his nemesis, and snarled, "I play Future Fusion, sending three Blue Eyes White Dragons (3000/2500) (x3) from my deck to my graveyard in order to herald the coming of my Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon (4500/3800) in just two turns!"

Lightning strikes rained down in a single location on the field, as Kaiba's three massive, beasts started to fly from the blinding light. They had tined, blue skin, and a threatening structure. The long, scaley tails extended from their bodies, as relentless, blue eyes scolded the field.

"But why wait till then? Let's introduce you to him now! Go, Dragon's Mirror!"

Suddenly, the three swirled together, blurring all three forms. A new form appeared in the three's place, and slowly came into view. It was a large three headed white metallic dragon with some kind of symbol on their foreheads, blue eyes, two powerful clawed hands and feet, massive wings, a strong tail, and a strong looking body. The dragon touched down onto the ground, causing each head to let out a massive roar that shook the ground.

Sand flew up as the Joker stared at it calmly. "So… You've got your lizard up on your first turn? Interesting."

Kaiba didn't seem to hear the comment as he pointed at Peten. "No mercy, you clown! Neutron Blast Attack!"

Each head of the mighty dragon roared loudly and opened their jaws. White energy instantly flooded their mouths and began building like lightning. In a thunderous shot, the three released a white energy beam, which formed into a larger one. The massive beam was about to slam into the tiny jester when the Joker pressed a button on his Duel Disk.

"Nah, no mercy at all," he agreed as if it were a simple matter that they were discussing over drinks. Kaiba's eyes widened as the card on the Joker's field flipped up to reveal perhaps one of the most dreaded trap cards in the game. It was one that he himself used very often…. Ring of Destruction.

A large ring with many explosives attached on its sides then appeared. It then flew up and stretched out to squeeze over one of the heads of the large three headed dragon. It clamped down, stopping the flow of energy from its mouth as Peten leapt out of the way of the initial blasts, prancing up and down with a maniacal grin on its face.

"And now, your reptile goes bye-bye and we both lose four and a half thousand life-points," explained the Joker in a slow voice, as if he were talking to a pre-schooler. "Isn't that fun?"

"This is going to smart," commented Rikuo as he raised a hand in protection against the coming explosion. Joey, on the other hand, looked over at the glass cage where his sister was trapped and screamed, "SERENITY!"

It was too late. There was a final roar from the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon and it exploded. White light flooded the beach, and the sheer force of it knocked everyone except the Joker and Kaiba of their feet. The two opponents simply stood right in the middle of the vortex. The former had his gnarled hands at shoulder level, his permanent grin in sharp contrast to Kaiba's stock-straight posture and furious glare.

Soon, the light began to subside, and the spectator's quickly got to their feet. Rikuo and Bakura looked over at Kaiba's empty field, while Joey gave an inhuman roar and ran towards the glass cage that trapped Serenity. As the Joker had lost over his half his life-points, the water had begun to fill in with crazy speed. It was already filled up till Serenity's stomach, and she looked even more frightened then before.

The soldiers immediatley raised their guns into a firing position, and Rikuo reached over and grabbed Joey's collar. "Don't try anything, you idiot!" he hissed. "We can't get her out until the duel is over, otherwise she'll die anyway."

Joey glared at the Joker, and then at Kaiba. "Kill him!" he hissed in inhuman fury.

(Joker: 3500, Kaiba: 3500)

"Fine," he snarled. "I summon Vorse Raider (1900/1200) in attack mode!"

A thick, tan, and bulky beast erupted onto the field, wielding a dark-chrome and pointed axe. It had vicious, yellow teeth, and equally disturbing, red eyes. Its war helmet barely contained the large, white horns on its head's tip.

"Nice doggie," muttered the Joker.

"Finish what my dragon started!" roared the champion, and the ogre rushed forward, raising its axe-like weapon and bringing it down with a nasty swish. It sliced through the clown, shattering its weak, bony body as it went through.

(Joker: 2100, Kaiba: 3500)

At this, more water began to filter into Serenity's cage, until the level was now up to her chest. Kaiba was about to continue his move, when a scream from Joey made him turn around.

"Stop it, you IDIOT! You're KILLING her!"

"I'm the one whose dueling," said Kaiba icily, glaring at his rival. "I will save Serenity in my own way."

Joey raised a fist and was about to take a step forward, when Bakura placed a hand on his shoulder. "Don't try it," he said in a soft and dangerous voice. "Anger isn't worth it. Let him duel. We'll get the girl out, don't worry."

"I do like the soap opera, but I'm afraid that if you don't continue your turn in five seconds you forfeit the duel," interrupted the Joker, twiddling his thumbs (literally). "In any case, Peten hates to say goodbye, so I won't force him to!"

By it's effect, another, creepy clown appeared on the Joker's field and took of its hat in sarcastic respect.

Kaiba gave him a hard look, and ignored Joey's angry glare. "I set a card and turn it over to you."

Shrugging, the Joker awkwardly drew another card from his deck. "Peten's getting lonely, so I'll call out one of his best friends! Saggi the Dark Clown (600/1500)!"

A demented clown appeared on the Joker's field, sitting with its legs crossed. Its skin was even paler then Peten, and it had on far too much black make-up. It had a strange purple hat, and wore similar colored clothes.

Kaiba stiffened as that same, demented laugh that now haunted him echoed throughout the beach. "Eeh eeh eeh eeh!" Both Saggi and Peten had been a part of his deck and one point or another, but he had soon come to hate them. They were, after all, reminders of times when he had not been himself…

Saggi spoke in a very strange voice. "We are this party's entertainment!"

"Regardless of 'entertainment' both your monsters are pathetically weak," snapped Kaiba.

The Joker tried to frown, but due to the fact that the hideous scars on either side of his mouth kept him in a permanent smile, he wasn't able to pull it off, and it looked like half his mouth was smiling while the other half was frowning.

"True… true… But why so serious?" He held up a card, and slipped it into the magic/trap card zone.

"Meet the magic card, Why So Serious?"

The Vorse Raider suddenly dropped its axe. It looked over at the Joker, and its clenched teeth began to relax. Suddenly, its mouth dropped open and, of all things, it began to start laughing. It sounded incredibly strange, because it was a curious, raspy, growl-like laugh, but an insane laugh none the less. Soon, the laugh began to reach a higher pitch, and it bounded over to the Joker's field.

"What the-…"

"He needs to lighten up," commented the Joker, as the Vorse Raider disappeared in a flash of light. It reappeared in a most disturbing form… Dressed in a purple jump suit and a clown's hat. "Vorse Joker (1900/1200) is a little more appropriate."

"Appropriate?" said Bakura hoarsely. "And people called me crazy."

"Don't you worry," laughed the Joker. "You're a little too serious for my taste." He gave Kaiba such a strange grin that it was scary. "Let's put a smile on that face."

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"We can't venture out again," muttered Angel as he unlocked the door to his dreary house. "I know for a fact that the King doesn't take kindly to intruders, but the fact that she was not killed on the spot but instead kidnapped leaves some hope."

Yugi didn't say a word. His head was bent with his hair falling over his face, and it cast a shadow. CJ and Ryu were both silent in their guilt; Yugi hadn't blamed them outright, but they themselves felt guilty about it. One could not only see the visible chemistry between Yugi and Tea but also feel and hear it. The young King of Games was a wreck.

"There'll be prowlers," continued the old man as they entered the hallway. "It'll be dangerous, least to say. After the disturbance with the Sentinel as well as that man Sigma, there'll be creepy-crawlies all over the street. I'll try and make a move in the morning, assess the situation. Right now, all we can do is sit tight. If anything else happens, they might excecute the girl on suspicion."

Yugi's fist tightened at this, and Daniel gave Angel a harsh look. "You don't pull punches, do you?" he said in an annoyed voice.

Angel met his glare with an icy stare of his own. "Don't talk like that to me, boy. When you've seen as much as I have, you'll know that in the real world giving it to people lightly is worthless."

Daniel was about to make an angry retort, when Brian held a hand between the two. "Stop it," he ordered, his deep voice gaining a powerful air about it, very different from his usual, laid-back and whiny attitude. "Fighting isn't going to help. We have to listen to Angel at this point, he knows most about this place. We'll step out as soon as we can and get the girl back."

Angel gave them a dirty look. "There's two other bedrooms besides my own. But considering what's just happened, I doubt any of you will be able to sleep. I won't." He stalked off, before hollering over his shoulder, "Do try though. You'll are going to need it."

Everyone looked pointedly at each other. Jason leaned against the wall and began rifling through his deck. Yugi walked off to the staircase that led to the terrace without another word. "I'll take the sofa," grunted CJ. Brian didn't seem in a mood to sleep, and collapsed on a chair, deep in thought.

Ryu and Daniel shrugged and trudged off towards the bedrooms. Having dueled, they were both extremely tired themselves.

Silence reigned. It seemed like Brian's decision to stay awake had failed, as had CJ's. The snores of the two large man echoed throughout the room, but Jason ignored it. He walked over to the window, and stared out into the inky black sky, that held not a single star. All it was lit up by was the single glow that emanated from the center of the city.

Without a word, he trotted up the stairs to the terrace.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Yugi stood stock straight as he gazed blankly into the night sky. Not one sound could be heard in the desolate void that was Necropolis. It was all weighing down on him…

The terrace was large, extremely large, with tall pillars on either side. The railing had ornate carvings of demons and flames on it, just another example of the bleakness and lack of hope that the city represented.

He heard a footstep behind them entering the terrace. "It's me," said the curt voice of Jason Becker.

Yugi did not turn around. "What is it that you want?" he replied in a blank voice.

"I want to know if you're still up to the challenge." There was the sound of the activation of a Duel Disk. "Considering the condition you're in, it's less then likely that you'll be of much use when we go out and try and find Tea Gardner. You might make decisions biased by your emotions. I mean no offense, but you will end up being more of a burden then an asset if you aren't able to pull yourself together."

Yugi turned around, and didn't say anything. However, the Millennium Puzzle that hung around his neck gave a faint glow for the first time since the epic, final battle against Marik two nights ago.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The two faced each other. It was not with the same intensity that had occurred half a decade ago during the Ceremonial Battle, but rather with deep feelings of confusion.

Yami was shaken, very shaken, but still in better shape then before. Yugi, on the other hand, was a wreck.

"I can't do it, Yami," he whispered. He stared at the ground. "I can't bring myself to put on a Duel Disk… Not when it wasn't enough to save Tea… I was the one who brought her here. If she had never known me, all of those terrible things would have never happened to her."

Yami spoke in a gentle voice. "Guilt weighs down on both our hearts, Yugi." He placed a hand on his shoulder. "Throughout this time, simply existing has been like a nightmare for me after I found out that it was my fault that Apocalypse has been set free. You have helped through it… Even though it still gnaws away at my soul, I would have never made it without you."

His voice was shaky, not the proud and confident tone of the Pharaoh he had been. But it seemed that he had finally progressed, and was beginning to open up once again.

"They have her, Yami," said Yugi in a broken voice. "They have Tea."

Yami stepped forward and simultaneously the two hugged. "We'll get her back, Yugi," whispered Yami. "I swear it."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

There was a flash of light, and Yugi looked up. However, his face was slightly more mature, and determined, with a tad bit more confidence. When he spoke, it was in a deeper voice which was definitely not one that belonged to a broken young man.

"Jason Becker…." In reply, Jason fired off his holo projectors.

Yami pulled out the first of his two decks from his belt and slid it into his own Duel Disk. "One thing that you should know about me is this…."

(Yami: 8000, Jason: 8000)

"I never turn down a challenge."

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The sound of voices on the terrace had awoken Brian, who was a light sleeper. "Damn duelists…" he muttered before drowsily getting to his feet. He needed a visit to the restroom in any case, but decided to just go and see who was talking to who on the terrace.

He peaked over the corner of the banister, and gasped. "Now this I've got to see…"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"For my opening move, I'll summon Skilled White Magician (1700/1900) in attack mode," declared Yami.

A mage in white robes and cloak with a white hood and staff appeared onto the field in a crouching position. On his cloak, there were three half spheres: one on each shoulder, with one on his chest.

"Then I'll set a facedown and end my turn."

"Just because you're pulling punches doesn't mean I will," warned Jason. "I can't risk operations like these to satisfy the emotions of one man. I understand your sadness, Yugi, but it can't endanger our goal. I summon Clevonce (1200/400)."

Yellow, transparent cubes flickered about the area, as did random ones and zero's. Some began forming pieces of a blue and yellow-armored body, and cylinder-shaped head. Sinister, green-computer eyes flashed across the black visored face of the being, as golden and blue patterns ran up the rest of the head's helmet. Yellow teeth shot an equally dastardly smirk. The feet were covered in thin, sock-like hoppers, and white and blue gloves with golden fingers were on the creature's arms.

"What's this?" frowned Yami.

"Clevonce is one of the most basic monsters of a new set of developing monsters known as Psychic monsters. Just like other monsters have types like warrior and spellcaster, Psychic is a different and new kind of type. I then play the magic card known as Foolish Burial, in order to send Armed Dragon LV3 (1200/900) from my deck to the graveyard."

"That gives Skilled White Magician one spell counter, just so you know," remarked Yami.

Jason didn't seem bothered. "Then comes Level Modulation. First, you get to draw two cards."

Yami's eyebrow quirked, but he said nothing and snapped up the top two cards off his deck. "And then I can special summon an LV monster from my graveyard. Namely, Armed Dragon LV3 (1200/900)."

Appearing on the field was a small orange skinned dragon with dull grey metal armor. Opening it's mouth, it clamed down making a clanging sound while it also smacked it's punching glove like fists together.

"Doesn't make sense," muttered Yami. "You could have easily summoned a stronger monster. Since you have Armed Dragon LV3 in your deck, it would only make sense to assume you have at least five, if not seven and ten. Plus, that move only gave you another weak monster that you can't level up unless it destroys a monster, and me two more cards and another counter for my magician."

"Your analytical skills are spoken off with respect," replied Jason smoothly. "Indeed, such a move would make little sense if my real strategy was not what it was. The important thing is that Armed Dragon is a level three monster, while Clevonce is a level two. That means their total levels are five, making it perfect for me to summon a level five Synchro monster."

"Hold on," shouted Yami. "Synchro monster? What on Earth is a Synchro monster? I've never heard of any such thing in seven years of knowing this game."

"Indeed, you probably haven't," agreed Jason, "Clevonce is a Tuner monster, the opening type of monster to a new, powerful breed of monsters. By sending him and the correctly leveled monster to the graveyard, I can Synchro Summon a much more powerful beast." Clevonce's body started breaking up, transforming into two bright, spherical stars, rapidly spinning around the Armed Dragon, which itself transformed into a sphere of light.

Soon, the three spheres formed a triangle, which began to expand and fill the field with blue light. When the light died down, a priest-like figure stood before her, dressed in an odd robe with numerous designs. The top had a dark shade to it, with white-outlined spheres acting as buttons at the top and bottom of it; they were centered with blue spheres and a golden disc. The being had an odd headdress, and long, wavy, red hair. An odd, multi-colored staff was found in its left hand; the top resembled that of an actual staff, with an embedded, white orb in the containment of the curved, yellow head; but, the bottom curved out and was sharpened like a sword. In its right hand, a G-shaped, light-blue shield, with bright bulbs at the top, and the point of the end.

"Magical Android (2400/1700)," declared Jason. "A level five Synchro monster that can be summoned from a special deck known as the Extra Deck by sending a Tuner monster and another non-Tuner monster whose total levels are five to my graveyard."

"I see," mused Yami. "An interesting strategy, even though I have never heard of it."

"Then I play Premature Burial to special summon Clevonce (1200/400) once again from the graveyard." Yami raised an eyebrow as the figure that seemed to be made of software pixels appeared next to the far more imposing sorceress.

(Yami: 8000, Jason: 7200)

"Now, Skilled White Magician gains his final counter," warned Yami.

"It makes no matter," replied Jason calmly. He pointed at Skilled White Magician with decision, and didn't say a word. The shield and staff of the Synchro monster both erupted with power, surging forward at the mage with unrelenting resolve.

Yami replied with equal calmness. "I activate my facedown trap card Wabuko." Jason frowned as the three robed mages appeared on his field and began to chant, warding off the blast of energy. "I see. But a move like that is to be expected. I will end my turn."

As he finished, the Magical Android began to glow. "Magical Android gives me six hundred life-points for every Psychic monster in play at the end of the turn. There are two, so that's a bonus twelve hundred that sets me above my starting level."

(Yami: 8000, Jason: 8400)

Drawing slowly, Yami allowed a faint smile to cross his face. It was the first that had come to him since the end of his duel with Marik.

"I sacrifice Skilled White Magician and his three counters to call upon Buster Blader (2600/2300) from my deck."

The white mage smiled slightly as his three counters dimmed and he vanished, only to be seen placed into the large pot. In his place, a large warrior with purple, silver, and some gold trimmed armor, a purple hood over his head, with red eyes, two small prongs on his head, and a large lance on his back appeared onto the field.

"And since you have a dragon in your graveyard, that's five hundred for him."

The warrior glowed and Clevonce buzzed in shock (3100/2300).

"Now, I could attack and destroy your Magical Android, but in a deck that utilizes a lot of cards to bring out its more powerful monsters, I don't think you have space for equip cards. And then, allowing you to keep your Tuner monster would allow for another Synchro summon. No, I think I'll make the unorthodox move and destroy Clevonce!"

The yellow cubes were now displaying a type of protective barrier around Clevonce, building up and reaching ten feet into the air. "Clevonce's effect activates. Whenever it's attacked, I can negate that attack by paying 800 Life Points." The blader's diving slash was repelled easily by the protective shield, forcing him back to Yami's side of the field.

(Yami: 8000, Jason: 7600)

"I see," muttered Yami. "Your Psychic monsters have effects that revolve around paying life-points, and also have additional effects to replenish life-points."

"It goes much further then that," replied Jason coolly. "Just finish up your move."

Yami gave him a curious look before setting a card, satisfied with the productivity of summoning Buster Blader. Whether Jason admitted it or not, even his Psychic monsters would have a tough time of contending with a monster that could usurp the power of a Blue Eyes White Dragon (3000/2500).

Meanwhile, Brian had rushed to the terrace after a quick visit to the restroom. "Did I miss the good parts…" he panted as he came to a halt and looked from one duelist to another.

"Enjoy the duel, Brian," said Jason with a smile curling up around his lips. It was the first time Yami had seen such an expression on the duelist's face, and quite frankly, he had to admit that it unnerved him. He drew emotionlessly.

"I summon Psycho Commander (1400/800)," began Jason.

With this, a saucer-shaped formation made its presence known, designed with chrome metal and small antenna-like towers revolving around the base. Out of the top-center hatch emerged a green-army-dressed individual, with white gloves on its hands, and a black visor over its head. Four, glaring, red eyes could be seen from the visor. At the front of the saucer, a long, dark-metal cannon with a green barrel deployed.

"Then comes the magic card known as Psychic Boost! By removing one monster in my graveyard, I can special summon one Psychic monster from my deck with attack points less then the removed monster. So I now remove Armed Dragon LV3 to special summon Mental Protector (0/2200) in defense mode!"

A rusted, golden-plated machine now rose to the field. It had wide, bulb-like, red eyes, with black centers; above the forehead was a half-transparent, dark-violet container, the being's brain visible inside of it. Two lightning-attracting bulbs were stationed on the sides of the horizontal, cylinder-shaped head. Two massive hands extended from the sides of the being's head, each containing a hexagon-shaped, light-violet diamond embedded at the centers of the palms.

"And now since Armed Dragon LV3 is gone, your Blader loses five hundred attack points."

Yami nodded his head in acknowledgement as the warrior glowed slightly (2600/2300).

"He's still far stronger then any of your Psychic monsters," pointed out Yami.

"You're correct," replied Jason, pointing at the Blader. "Magical Android, destroy it!"

An incredulous look crossed Yami's face as the arcane sorceress lifted her staff once again. It began to glow with white energy, which shot across the field in the form of a bolt and crashed into the Buster Blader. The warrior lifted its sword and swatted the attack away easily. The energy went sailing back to its source, ready to destroy it.

Then, Jason spoke. "The effect of Psycho Commander allows me to reduce my life-points by a maximum of five hundred when a Psychic monster does battle, and reduce the attack points of the target by the same amount."

With a snap of its staff, the Magical Android deflected the energy back to the Buster Blader and immediatley shattered it.

(Yami: 7700, Jason: 7100)

"Now, that leaves you wide open for Psycho Commander and Clevonce. Attack!"

Brian watched in grim awe as the Psycho Commander's cannon began to glow green. The sphere of mental energy slammed into Yami, and was followed up by a tackle from Clevonce which brought him to his knees. However, he was on his feet in a second, albeit panting heavily.

(Yami: 5100, Jason: 7100)

"I end my turn," said Jason imperiously. At that moment, the effect of Magical Android gave him an enormous boost in life-points, thanks to the fact that there were four Psychic monsters on his field.

"However, the effect of Mental Protector, which will be revealed to you later, forces me to pay five hundred life-points during my end phase."

(Yami: 5100, Jason: 9000)

"And I have a lead of nearly four thousand life-points," he said calmly. "How do you plan to lead this group to victory against Apocalypse when you're struggling against me, an unrecognized duelist with a never-before heard of deck strategy? I mean no disrespect, but I was assigned as head of the task force from Eagle, and I will not let anyone but the best fight Apocalypse."

"Four turns in, and already you think you're going to win?" grunted Yami. "The duel isn't over until one duelist has not even one life-point or a single card in his deck."

"Then by all means, show me if you have it in you to fight him."

Yami drew, giving him a total of five cards in his hand. "All right! I summon Breaker the Magical Warrior (1600/1000) in attack mode!"

A mage with mostly maroon armor and a cape, with gold trim and some blue jewels, appeared onto the field. He had a hood over his head, which covered blue skin. In his hands were a sword and shield, showing he wasn't just a mage, but was also a warrior.

"Since I just normal summoned Breaker, his effect activates. He now gains a Spell Counter, granting him an additional 300 attack points (1600 + 300 1900/1000)."

"Nineteen hundred is too weak to take on my Magical Android," scoffed Jason.

"But it's more then enough to destroy your troublesome Psycho Commander. Magical Sword Slash!"

The warrior-mage lifted its broadsword up to chest level before hurtling across the field at top speed. With a cry of triumph, its sword cleaved through the soldier-like individual. The commander hovered in the air for a minute, before its pieces began to glow and then vanished.

(Yami: 5100, Jason: 8500)

"Then I'll follow it up with a quick-play magic card known as Magical Dimension! This allows me to sacrifice one monster on the field to special summon a spellcaster from my hand, as well as destroy one monster on your field!"

He nodded to Breaker. "Thank you for your help, Breaker."

A golden statue held up by chains in four different directions appeared. The top half opened, sending out a beam of energy at the maroon mage. The mage vanished, and the beam returned to within the statue.

"And now I call upon my Dark Magician Girl (2000/1700)!"

Opening once more, the statue shot out a new beam. Forming in front of the statue, a young woman with long blonde hair, bright blue eyes, wearing a skimpy blue and pink mage's dress that showed her cleavage quite well with the dress barely covering her back side, a blue and pink mage's hat, and a staff in her right hand took to the field.

He gave her a grateful smile, which she returned before looking over at the three monsters on Jason's field and frowning.

"Now, she can destroy one monster on your field. It's no surprise, but my choice is none other then your Magical Android."

For the final time, the statue's doors opened, releasing a beam of energy at the strange sorceress. It was struck hard, shattering instantly.

"Finally, Dark Magician Girl can finish off Clevonce once and for all!" The female mage began twirling her scepter till she finally pointed at Clevonce. A pink spear instantly formed at the tip of the scepter and was launched straight at the strange, cube-like monster.

"I pay eight hundred, and Clevonce negates the attack." As Jason spoke, a wall of energy ascended around the Psychic monster once again. The spear of pink energy slammed into it and rocketed off in Brian's direction. He gave a surprised yelp and ducked just in time before it left a pitch-black burn mark on the terrace door.

(Yami: 5100, Jason: 7700)

Jason allowed himself another minor smile. "Perhaps I misjudged you. Indeed, it is not through sheer luck that you could have gotten yourself a perfect professional dueling record. Even then, while I must say your dueling skills have gotten a higher regard with me after you picked apart my carefully set up field with three cards, your emotional balance is still a factor for worry."

Yami did not answer, and simply set a card. "I end my turn."

Jason drew. "I see that my minor strategies are not enough for you. Very well, it is truly time for the duel to begin in earnest. I play the continuous magic card, Dimensional Countdown."

Even as he said these words, a swirling dome of blue energy appeared around them. It was quite similar to the Pyramid of Light, starting with a blue sphere in the air which exploded into walls of light that cascaded across the terrace until it touched down on all sides of the field, enclosing the two combatants. It had twenty, sparkling dots of light on it.

"What's this?" began Yami, but Jason held up a hand.

"Dimension Countdown comes into play with twenty counters on it. During my turn, I am forced to remove at least one counter from it, or two, if I like. This will grant you one Black Psychic Token (0/1000) for every counter removed. Then, I can draw one card for every token summoned in this way. This same effect applies to you."

Yami seemed bemused. "An interesting card, indeed. But it benefits both players equally, perhaps me slightly more then him as these tokens will allow me to tribute for the Egyptian Gods easier."

"I know that you're thinking about summoning those Egyptian God cards," continued Jason, "but I'd just like to tell you about the final effect of my Dimensional Countdown card. When the final counter is removed, the one who removed that counter is dealt four thousand points of damage."

Yami gasped. "Four thousand?"

"Yes. So be wary of how you use my card's effects. They can be quite useful, but can bite you in the back when you least expect it."

"And now, I think I will grant you two Black Psychic Tokens (0/1000) in order to draw two cards myself."

He snapped the top two cards off his deck, and two small dragons appeared on Yami's field. They were jet-black in color, with long, mechanical heads. Their bodies spread out broadly, showing off many glowing orbs, and ending with a razor-sharp, wire like tail. Dark Magician Girl gave them a frightened look before glancing at Yami, who gave her a reassuring nod.

"Now, I will summon Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV4 (1600/1000)."

A silver metallic looking bird like dragon materialized onto the field with its wings folded up.

Yami frowned. "His deck strategy makes no sense… It's full of those Psychic monsters that involve paying life-points for various effects as well as gaining them, but then he's got these LV dragons as well. They're two different strategies that absolutely can't be used together… Either that, or my disconnection with dueling over this time is making me miss one key factor."

"Then I play Level Up," continued Jason. The small silver dragon was suddenly hidden by black flames. From the flames, large silver wings came out, along with a long silver tail, a pair of powerful talon legs, and finally the main body of the silver metal dragon was seen. It still looked like a large bird, but a much more powerful bird.

"Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV6 (2300/1600) has risen," declared Jason.

"Makes sense or not, that dragon is stronger then my Dark Magician Girl," snarled Yami inwardly, as Jason calmly pointed at the female spellcaster and declared the attack of his wyvern against her.

Roaring once more, the dragon beat its sizable wings. It opened its jaws, revealing black flames in it's mouth. Breathing out, the flames came spewing out in a stream straight for the pretty spellcaster, who squealed in fright and raised her staff in protection. Unfortunately, it was no help as the fire consumed her.

(Yami: 4900, Jason: 7700)

"Fortunately for you, Mental Protector's lack of attack points stops him from destroying one of the Black Psychic Tokens I gifted you. In that case, I will end my turn."

(Yami: 4900, Jason: 7200)

Yami drew, and looked over at Horus grimly. "I sacrifice one of the Black Psychic Tokens to summon the mighty Chaos Command Magician (2400/1900)!"

The dragon was replaced by a mage, who was in mostly black robes with a little yellow trim. His facial skin was light blue, which was the only skin really shown. The rest of his body was wrapped up in the black robes, with a long black cape on his back and a large black hat on his head. In his hands was a short black staff that was lightly glowing yellow on the end.

"Now, avenge my Dark Magician Girl by annihilating Horus with Chaos Burst!"

Pointing his staff at the imposing dragon, the black robed mage released a blast of yellow energy. The blast struck the wyrm hard, making him slide backwards a bit as the attack pressed into him and finally shattered.

(Yami: 4900, Jason: 7100)

"Now, I'm forced to grant you a Black Psychic Token (0/1000)," muttered Yami as he drew, and the strange black dragon appeared on Jason's field. A spark of light vanished from the dome of energy around them.

"I will set a card and end my turn."

Jason drew, and looked intensely at Yami's field. "I sacrifice two more counters." The Chaos Command Magician and the original token were joined by a further two dragons, which descended from the sky, wildly flapping their wings.

Yami felt uneasy. "He's giving me tokens quite easily. He knows that if I draw any one of the Egyptian Gods, he'll have made it simpler for me to summon them. No, there's an ulterior motive behind the way he's been sacrificing counters without a second thought."

"Then I play the magic card Forceful Gift. Both of us must special summon one monster from our graveyards in face-up defense mode. It's battle position cannot be switched. Then we each draw one card."

Shrugging, Yami pulled Breaker the Magical Warrior out of his graveyard and placed the card horizontally on his monster card zone. The maroon armored warrior appeared in a kneeling position, and raised its sword up horizontally with the flat of the blade on his palm.

"I choose Armed Dragon LV3 (1200/900)." The short, fat, orange and green dragon with various spikes on its back appeared. It had long, thin claws for hands, but it kept its arms to itself.

"He's allowed me to set up for a potential One-Turn-Kill with Obelisk the Tormentor (4000/4000)," thought Yami.

"And now, I activate Flash of the Forbidden Spell."

Yami gasped. "Flash of the Forbidden Spell?! He couldn't have done that!"

"When each and every one of your monster card zones are occupied, Flash of the Forbidden Spell will destroy all monsters on your field. Due to the effects of Forceful Gift and Dimension Countdown, all five of your monster card zones are indeed filled."

Yami was thrown back a few steps as his field became engulfed in a fiery inferno, wiping out his Black Psychic Tokens, Breaker, and his Chaos Command Magician.

"I have you now, Yugi Moto." The Armed Dragon LV3 gave a small grunt. "I set two cards and turn the board over to you."

(Yami: 4900, Jason: 6600)

Yami looked over at the Mental Protector. "First I will grant you a Black Psychic Token (0/1000)." Joining the Mental Protector, Armed Dragon LV3, and the token was another token. Yami drew, and continued.

He pointed at Mental Protector. "That monster has to go. That's why I'm summoning Rapid Fire Magician (1600/1200) in attack mode."

A mage with long flowing purple hair, a black pair of leather pants, a short sleeved cloak with black flowing cloak, an odd black hat, and two black finger cut off gloves then appeared. In each hand he held a staff with bird like claws, which clutched small orbs. To top it all off, around nine different colored spheres formed an arch around him.

"Then comes Double Summon, to make an extra normal summon this turn. I introduce Silent Magician LV4 (1000/1000)!"

Materializing onto the field was a very young mage with light brown eyes and silver hair, dressed in white and blue robes, holding a small white staff.

"And since Double Summon is a normal magic card, Rapid Fire Magician deals you four hundred points of damage!"

The purple-haired sorcerer nodded and extended one of the claw-like braces in his hands. One of the orbs hovering around him shot towards Jason's fields, bypassing the Mental Protector as well as the three dragons and crashing into Jason's chest. He gave a grunt of anger as whispers of smoke began to appear around his chest.

(Yami: 4900, Jason: 6200)

"Now, I play the magic card Magician's Unite! Two spellcasters on my field may now attack together as one entity with a mighty total of three thousand attack points!" Rapid-Fire Magician and Silent Magician LV4 crossed their staffs. The point where they intersected began to glow insanely, and slowly, they dropped their staffs so that they were pointing at the Mental Protector. As one, they let their energy lose so that a sphere of black magical energy the size of a bookcase was soaring towards the Psychic monster.

"I'm afraid that can't be allowed," responded Jason, tapping two buttons on his Duel Disk. "I first activate Windstorm of Etaqua, which shifts all monsters on your field to defense mode. I'll then follow it up with Dark Mirror Force, which automatically destroys all monsters on my opponent's field that are in defense mode."

As he said this, the two magicians automatically fell to their knees, as if they were compelled to do so by an invisible force. Then, a tall wall of black energy appeared on Jason's field, easily fifteen feet high. The sphere collided with it and was deflected back to Yami's field.

"I'll chain Seven Tools of a Bandit, paying a thousand life-points to negate Windstorm of Etaqua! Since Dark Mirror Force does not negate attacks, it's quite useless when my magicians are back in attack mode."

At his words, the double sphere of energy smashed through the wall of black energy and consumed the Mental Protector. The software creature tried to defend itself, but it was hopeless to do so as it was completely incinerated into a pile of ashes, which was blown away by the harsh night wind of Necropolis.

Brian whistled. "Impressive show," he muttered to himself. As it was, it was not only to himself, for a waking Daniel and Ryu had both heard the sounds of the duel and joined him on the rooftop. They both watched the exchange impassively.

"I have never seen such evenly matched opponents," said Ryu, not taking his eyes off the two. Brian snorted. "Evenly matched, my foot! Jason has been dominating this duel right from the beginning. King of Games though he might be, Yugi Moto has finally gotten himself into a duel he can't win. Just wait, Jason hasn't even begun to stretch his legs yet."

"Neither has Yami," indicated Daniel. Brian shrugged, and looked back over at the duel.

(Yami: 3900, Jason: 6200)

"You seem surprised," smirked Yami. Indeed, Jason did have a look of astonishment on his face from the instant Yami had countered with Seven Tools of a Bandit.

"I… That was impressive," he admitted, folding his arms. "Then again, precautionary measures are the basics of the game. Being Duelist Kingdom as well as Battle City Champion, I think that a simple negation move is not something to fawn over, although the timing was nonetheless impressive. No, there is something more that was able to help you break Seto Kaiba's ninety-nine duel winning streak all those years ago after he starting rampaging through the professional circuit."

Yami was stonily quiet as his opponent continued.

"I no longer wish to duel you to see if your prowess is enough to contend with Apocalypse. No, I wish to find out what is it that makes Yugi Moto the most talked about duelist in the world. Your duels even outside tournaments are no stranger to me. I know about your war against Paradias in which you succeeded in taking down Dartz himself. Then there was your triumphant victory in the Tournament of Shadows just a few days ago.

"I want to know how you do these things. I want to know what makes you do these things. I want to know what drives you, Yugi Moto. Why do you duel?

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Yes, there you have it. Two more crawesome (yes, I'm making up words now, crazy + awesome crawesome ) duels on the table, the second of which could become one for the ages. Really, I wanted to start it as a minor duel to show that Yami is slowly regaining his confidence, but when I delved deeper into Jason's strategy, I realized the potential it had to be among the best ever. I know it's strange to have such an epic duel in the beginning of the fic, but I couldn't resist.

Of course, if any of you guys have any objections about such a major duel in the beginning of the fic, do tell me and I'll try to avoid such duels in the future, at least until the climax of the fic. But in Nightrise, things are so intense anyway that their never really is a climax, lol.

I know some must think the stunt with the Joker was beyond weird, frankly, I do. But it's fun! Anyway, the Joker belongs to the creators of Batman, most probably DC Comics and Bruce Timm. In any case, this chapter is dedicated to the memory of the late Heath Ledger, who was truly amazing during the Dark Knight.

Anyway, review!!