Cool… The first duels are all done, as is Bakura's second duel, and we discuss what the six Duellists are here for... sort of. I'm just winging it as I go along...

The whole cast: Don't tell the readers that!

I plan to introduce new archetypes in the whole story, even if some of them are from the 5D's era, which is in the future. Time is hardly a barrier to duelling, after all... look at Bonds Beyond Time.

However, I am not going to introduce the idea of Synchro just yet.

I know you people aren't in the habit of leaving reviews, but a few would be nice... and this chapter is dedicated to deathnoteno1fan-codegeasslover for their review:

This was AWESOME!I loved how the bad guy where beat. LOL!Can't wait till the next chapter.

UP-DATE!REAL!SOON!

Thanks, honey. If you could out this up on the Tv Tropes Crowning Moment of Awesome too I'll be so thankful.

Enjoy!

Turn Nine: Rivalry Between Warlords

Destiny. A so-called predetermined flow of events. The very thing many a song and dance have been made of. Of great kings and queens, to the most glorious of revolutionaries, to the lowest of criminals, the evillest of villains, the thickest of thieves. The story that had and has been told again, and again, and again...

What they never tell you, is that Destiny is a lousy parent. The so-called children of destiny are called only in the times of need, and when those times are over, they are left to the ages of forgotten memories... Shadow's Fall, where legends go to die...

It used to be so simple, once upon a time. People were born, people lived, people grew up, had kids, watched their kids grew up. Oh, and they died.

And then, we had one person, who, instead of getting on with life, sat down and wondered: I wonder what comes after death?

This stumped many, of course, who began to make up explanations. And from there, we had many explanation of life after death, presumably from people afraid of the inevitable end. People went to Heaven, to paradise of a sort, people went to hell and suffered. And yet, death remained what it was; the undiscovered country.

There are many different versions of the afterlife, but what we refer to is the ancient Egyptian belief. More specifically, the fields of Aaru.

Despite the many different versions of the afterlife, ranging from the Aztecs to the Christians to even the Chinese Diyu, they all faced one great issue; bureaucracy.

The influx of people dying meant that, sometimes, the dead escape back to the living world. The influx and efflux of souls generally regulated itself, but there was always the little exceptions that could culminate to the utter disruption of natural order, especially noticeable since the last five centuries. Faced with the difficulties, the various afterlives had to keep track of which souls was to die, which soul was to be reincarnated, which soul lived which life, etcetera. They all copied the most successful example to date; the Chinese Book of Life and Death system. Never let it be said that running the afterlife needed a creative mind.

Destiny dictated that the souls split in light and dark would be separated by the doorways of death, left to wonder as to the what could have been, at least until Osiris called for the soul of the light.

Now, somewhere in the field of reeds that is the Egyptian afterlife, there is, oddly enough, a hut containing a collection of papyrus scrolls and slates and, in desperate cases, written on the walls itself.

And it was in this hut, that destiny changed...

"Games that can destroy the world," Green Arrow murmured as the heroes followed the two Duellists about. "This is a load of crap. If the games were so dangerous, why haven't anyone said anything?"

"Why haven't anyone said anything about monsters, you mean?" Yami questioned. "Tell me, Emerald Archer, do you believe in monsters?"

"You can't work as a hero and not meet monsters," the hero immediately replied.

"My apologies," Yami murmured. "I should be more specific. I mean that, despite all the attempts and proofs that magic is either sufficiently advanced technology, if you believe in monsters that hide under the bed and grab children."

"No," Green Arrow replied at the same time Zatanna answered "Yes." There was an uncomfortable silence.

"'By believing in magic, one ultimately accepts the existence of monsters,'" Hawkgirl stated, as if from memory. "'By accepting that monsters exist, take up the weapons of the gods and smite them.' That is the creed of wielders of Nth metal weapons back on Thanagar."

"I do not know if that is true," Yami shook his head. "But it is correct, nevertheless. Magic itself balances itself, light and dark exists side by side. Tell me, if a random person was to point out that people die by playing card games, would they stop? And, why? Any man of science who analyses the cards will tell you that it is mere paper, nothing more. The appearance of monsters could be put down to holograms, and if craters appear... well, the hologram is solid enough. Despite the existence of magic, despite the mirror magician here, tell me, why do mortals still seek to prove that magic does not exist? When you fight a… what was the term?"

"Meta-human?" Zatanna volunteered. "I know. We always seek to believe that it's the product of science first."

"So, admitting the games are dangerous would require that one admits monsters are real, and humans are... what they are." Yuugi sadly murmured. "If your goal was to appear sane to the general public, no one would mention the monsters hidden in cards."

"Someone would have known," Green Arrow pointed out. "Someone would have told it to the world."

"Cassandra's Tears is a condition that allows one to see the future, yet no one believes the visions seen by those afflicted," Yami answered. "It is the same. Some truths are spoken only by those thought of as mad. And no one believes the delusional."

"Because some truths we don't want to believe," Zatanna quietly murmured.

"That is a possibility," Yami nodded. "There is also the other option. That, against all odds, the human population turns to believe that there truly are monsters lying hidden in the game and either seek to destroy or embrace them. Humans are curiously self-destructive in their search for power, as the descendant of Ra may well know."

"I don't know any Ra, sorry," Hawkgirl shook her head.

"The Great Old Ones," Yuugi volunteered, not noticing Hawkgirl's wince that was not missed by the rest. "If news enough spread, and urban legends become more well known, in time, they become legends to be told of in stories, and one day they may become real. It is the same pattern through time. Believe enough and it would become real."

"So," Batman finally mulled it over. "There are two reasons for your actions. One is that the truth might be unusual enough to be deemed as the workings of an insane mind, and the other is that it may lead to the worst-case scenario happening. Am I right?"

"The gist of it, perhaps," Yami shrugged. "I am hardly at liberty to reveal everything. The descendant of Ra is better equipped than I to speak of such things."

"Hawkgirl?" Green Arrow blinked as he observed the heroine's expression. "Sorry?"

"Perhaps," the Thanagerian finally nodded. "Both are good precautions where magic is concerned, especially those relating to the beings of other dimensions."

"Then there comes what we use this for," Yami sighed. "The Dark Games were used to judge criminals and punish the guilty three thousand years ago. It may seem… cruel."

"Aside from the obvious question of how games can be used to judge the guilty, how?" Green Arrow asked.

The change in tension was noticeable. "The Dark Game reveals the true character of the players. Those judged by the Dark Games are automatically presumed guilty. All that is left is the sentencing. If I have to describe it, it would be a trial where the outcome is already decided."

The huge flaw in it was immediately colour-coded, highlighted and circled and outlined in big cheery colours by those of the Justice League present.

"What if you catch someone guilty?" was the obvious question that went round.

"If you know that they were guilty to begin with, I fail to see how that would be a problem." Yami murmured. "One cannot bribe, threaten or sabotage the shadows which have existed since the beginning. One can only hope for forgiveness."

Lashes of dark power fanned out all of a sudden, Zatanna doubled over from it, panting in fear. "That was–?"

"Another Dark Game," Yuugi answered. "Bakura this time. He must be close by if the lash was so strong. And it is nearing the conclusion. Let's hurry, mou hitori no boku."

"What's so bad about the end?" Green Arrow blinked as their speed picked up noticeably.

"There are three known outcomes from a Dark Game," Batman answered, to everyone's surprise. "Coma, insane, and dead."

"Interesting," Yami mused quietly, heard only by the Dark Knight and Yuugi. "Zera must really like you to give you that information."

Batman coughed. "I now have a..."

"You are a chosen, you are hardly a Duellist," Yuugi corrected. "It is a matter of choice. You certainly have the soul of a Duellist, if not actually embracing it. It is hardly a full vocation. Kaiba Kun manages his company fine and he still duels."

"Huh?" Zatanna blinked. "I thought anyone could play card games."

"Anyone can play the game," Yami acknowledged. "Few have the will and the malice to manifest the facets of the game in real life, such as use the Mirror Force trap card to reflect your projectiles back. Of course, everything comes at a price."

They turned a corner as Batman was about to ask, and the question died on his tongue as he saw shadows, for there was no other way to describe those shadows that somehow warmed his soul and made his skin crawl at the same time, swallow two screaming boys whole.

"Yo, per-Aa," the nastier white-haired boy mockingly saluted at them. "What took ya?"

Yuugi took in a breath as he saw Ryou's expression of shock and felt the pain over their linked minds. "Bakura! Ryou's gonna keel over!"

Bakura managed to catch the falling light in time, but that went unnoticed by the heroes, who just stood stumped at what they just saw.

He took them. Drowned them in shadows and darkness, never to see the light again–

"That was–" Green Arrow choked.

"The outcome of a Dark Game," It was Yuugi's forlorn whisper that answered him. "Whoever loses a Dark Game forfeits their soul. Those boys are lost to the shadows already."

"Ryou's in shock," Yami coolly observed. "Take him. Go." He and Bakura exchanged fierce looks that may be interpreted as glares to outsiders but to any hikari or yami as a fierce mental conversation before Bakura gave a swift nod and, carrying Ryou in a bridal style, swooped down for a moment to retrieve a dropped Puzzle card before the shadows enveloped the pair.

"Are you mad?" It was Green Arrow who broke the silence. "You just let a–"

"Bakura can do worse, can't he?" Zatanna quietly asked in wonderment. "That was like Chaos magic, but... more controlled. More... refined."

"Bakura has stolen the souls of hapless innocents in the use of role-playing games and nearly destroyed the world using them," Yami mused. "We would have all died if not for luck, timely action and the heart of the cards that time."

"This is what's waiting for them," Batman said with full conviction. "Whoever who's messing around with the tournament, whoever who's seeking to destroy the world using the monsters, they need to win the game to release the monsters, don't they?" He turned to Zatanna. "It's like a ritual, like you've told me before, to raise power enough for a spell of the caster's choice. The entire Dark Game, it's like a ritual designed to raise power to deliver the sentence. The whole tournament, it's a game from the start, either to torture or pick them off one by one, even though it's technically illegal. There's no chance for any of them to reach the courts, it'll be a sentencing, right from the start, and we'll be the witnesses to these supposed acts of justice. That's why we're here, isn't it?"

The two tri-coloured haired boys exchanged looks, but from Batman's admittedly limited experience they could be holding a mental conversation. They were saved from answering when a high-pitched girl's voice called:

"Darling!"

"The bastard shot you," Bakura snarled as pieces of the previously pristine striped shirt were torn off Ryou's bleeding arm. "A glancing shot, nothing more. Barely a scratch, but it might be infected."

"Lower left pocket," Ryou winced, recovering from the shock. "There's alcohol swabs."

Bakura froze. "You seem awfully kitted out," he observed. The pocket in question was the largest one on the cargo pants Ryou was currently wearing.

"Force of habit," Ryou winced. "I may not remember much of the first Battle City, but there was a terrorist hit on the second Battle City, right at the qualifying round. Somehow, I seem to be accident prone even without the Ring. I gave up and just started to carry bandages just in case."

"I... don't know what to say," Bakura eventually answered, digging out the swabs and applying them. Ryou winced at Bakura's coarse touch before the dark softened. "Did this happen at every single tournament?"

"Some thought I was borderline psychotic after the first Battle City broadcasts," Ryou admitted, biting his lip at Bakura tightened the bandages. "Others wanted the Ring, even when it was buried already. Then my father died and I was pretty much alone except for Yuugi and Marik. Did you really have to Game them, yami?"

"They threatened us," Bakura muttered mutinously. "How many times did you duel when we were apart?"

Ryou's normally soft features sharpened. "Contrary to what you think, koe, I can duel. I just prefer not to."

"Oh?" A cold voice sounded. The two white-haired Duellists turned to regard the flame-haired man who had just appeared. "World ranked fourth, Ryou Bakura, and the one who swept the Kanto Regional, Bakura Yami."

"A KaibaCorp eliminator?" Bakura's eyes widened at the sight of the KC logo armband hanging on the man's sleeve. "Whoever you are, call–"

"I'll be fine," Ryou automatically replied. "They report gunshot wounds in hospital, I believe."

"Yeah, they do," the flame-haired man smirked. "Aidan Owen here, at your service."

Bakura's eyes immediately narrowed. "Cú Chulainn," he spat.

"Got it in one," he whistled. "I actually stole this off another eliminator just now. What can I say, the Irish always had the devil's luck. I left home to find you, and I did. Now, give me back the card."

Cú Chulainn the Awakened, and the Ritual Spell, Bakura considered. "Don't you have it? I don't remember stealing that."

"You know what I mean!" the flame-haired freckled face was twisted in anger. "The spirit of the legendary warrior Cú Chulainn! Give my buddy back, bastard! Let's settle this the old way, with a duel! I'll stake my two Puzzle cards on it."

"I don't have time for this," Bakura scowled. "Ryou, let's get you to a healer first–"

"I'll recover," Ryou automatically replied, face set. There was absolutely no deviation from the norm, but the doll-like expression still left an impression in Bakura's mind. "It's nice to know that some things don't change, anyway."

"I don't duel wimps," Aidan sneered.

"Then we'll leave you," Ryou tonelessly replied as his own DuelDisk unfolded. "I can't die from getting shot at, anyway."

"Oi, hikari," Bakura called. "You're still–"

"The curse is still active," Ryou shot back. "We've already seen the effects. As long as both of us exist, one of us will recover. Besides, I've been cleaning up your messes for a long time. That still hasn't changed!" The light looked slightly hurt, some some reason unfathomable to Bakura.

Aidan drew a long breath. "Take your couple argument somewhere else, will ya? Now, who's duelling?"

Both white-haired boys choked before looking at each other.

"Ryou," Bakura growled. "If you say you're fine, then kill him."

The hikari duly nodded, face set.

"If I can't beat you, then I won't be one of the top ten in the European circuits!" Aidan promised, his own DuelDisk unfolding.

"Duel!"

"Two Puzzle cards each," Marik counted, somewhere else in the city. "That's Bakura's Dark Game, so we can probably assume that he's got another Puzzle card or two. And there's a name to the boss, but I don't know anyone with the lack of self-respect to call themselves Apollymi."

"It's Greek," Rafael observed, noting down the information. "Bishop should know what it means."

"'To destroy'," Diana tonelessly answered. "That's what it means. Apollymi Hunter..."

The three Duellists looked at her but wisely chose not to say anything as an explosion sounded.

Rafael started. "That was–?"

Malik grinned. "The work of a witch. None of our beeswax."

"Hello?" Sven's voice was clearly heard by all KaibaCorp eliminators within a half-mile radius. "Somebody help me? I got stuck in a meta cat-fight..."

"He'll live," Rafael shrugged optimistically.

The brunette eliminator blinked. "If you say so... But he sounds a bit–"

"He'll live," Rafael repeated with more conviction, turning his back to the three. "We have company, though."

"Nice instincts," two girls and a scarred young man, all three wearing Gothic clothings and makeup enough to put Yuugi and Yami to shame stepped out of the shadows. "My name's Xander, and the ladies are and respectively. We're here for the two Mr Ishtars by the order of the boss."

"The American Duel team, Triple Threat," Rafael muttered. "All eliminators had a missive of potential troublemakers. You three occupied five pages of that report because of 'unusual injuries' incurred when you three duel."

"Thanks," Xander drawled. "So, will the two Ishtars come quietly, or will me and the girls have to pull out our bag of tricks?"

"I have more tricks in my deck than you," Malik smirked. "You'll have to duel us for our… cooperation. However, there seems to be too many Duellists for a tag team Duel."

"I'll deal with Xander, the two of you handle the girls," Diana ordered. "As a KaibaCorp eliminator, it's time to earn my salary."

"Oh? The boss's sister as well," Xander smirked. "The boss's been searching for you, Ms Hunter."

"Knew it," Diana muttered mutinously. "If I win, you'll tell me everything your boss intends to do to screw up this tournament."

Rafael held up his hands in surrender as he walked off. "I'm going to wander around a bit more. I want to duel the Pharaoh again."

"Traitor!" Diana yelled as he speed-walked off.

"Girls, please handle the gruesome twosome," Xander bowed, DuelDisk unfolding. Five other DuelDisks unfolded simultaneously.

"Duel!"

"Harpie Lady Sisters, player direct attack!" Mai Kujaku crowed as the harpies descended upon Vivian and reduced her life points to zero. "Yes! Now, the Puzzle cards, hand them over!"

It turned out that Vivian already had two Puzzle cards, as had her tag-team partner whom Jounochi had the honour of Duelling, and now the two blondes only had three more Puzzle cards to find.

"It's a pretty good haul," Jounochi grinned. "But..." Years of duelling had given them a sort of sixth sense that only years of Duelling in Dark Games could bring to both Duellists. "It's a bit... ominous, isn't it, Mai?"

"This city feels weird," Mai shivered.

"It's the crazies," Jounochi wisely nodded. "You never know when they'll come."

"I resent that!" a masculine voice scowled behind them. Both Jounochi and Mai turned around to see what could only be described as a flamenco couple dancing to hot Spanish music.

"…" both of them sweat-dropped.

"Look, darling, another cute couple!" the female dancer squealed as another flamenco pose was adopted.

"…"

"Indeed, Carmen, there is love in Duelling still!"

"…-.-'"

Why do we feel like we're missing something here?

"Due to the competitive nature of Battle City, weaker Duellists often choose to team up to collect Puzzle cards," Mai realised. "This must be one of the few tag teams around. The three-year tag team who unseated the Meikyuu brothers in the International Tag Team tourney, Lady Luck."

"Tag Team?" Jounochi realised. "So... both of us against them?"

"I duel alone!" Mai protested.

"Come now, señorita, let us not tarry," the man purred. "I am Gerard, and this is my lovely lady, Carmen. We are indeed, Lady Luck. Will you duel the both of us with this lovely gentleman behind you?"

The two blondes exchanged looks before looking back to the couple Duellists.

"It might be fun," Jounochi shrugged.

"We stake three Puzzle cards each," Carmen murmured, pulling out the cards with a flourish.

"Fine," Mai grated angrily, DuelDisk unfolding.

"It's not that bad, Mai," Jounochi muttered fearfully as three other DuelDisks unfolded simultaneously.

"Duel!"

Somewhere in the shadows of the city, one of the newest Duellists to fall slumped over, his corpse still smoking from the onslaught of power as his opponent retrieved the intact Puzzle cards from his body.

"Boss," one of the five accompanying him murmured. "Should we–?"

"We need more," the leader snapped back. "Go. Soon, the monsters will walk the earth once more as they wish..."

This is a crazy battle fought by card games, and people's lives are on the line... Batman's fist clenched.

There are more to this than you can see, Dark Knight...Yami thought.

Those who break the bonds between Duellist and Duel Monster are the worst, Yuugi murmured in the deep recesses of shadows.

Brother, please don't do anything stupid this time... Diana prayed.

Hikari, I'm sorry about the curse, was Bakura's last thought before the duel started.

I'm the one supposed to crash the party, Malik sulked as the three duels began.

We're the crazy ones, not them, Marik thought.

What? Unleashing Duel Monsters? Kaiba cursed as he dropped the unconscious Garth Adamson, the Blue Eyes White Dragon towering over them all. We'll have to move fast...

I'm not dead weight, Ryou prayed as storm clouds began to gather.

Battle City is a Colosseum, the one leader of Armageddon smirked as another Duellist fell. The strongest Duellists of Armageddon are recruiting the King. Whoever holds the King wins. And when we win, Metropolis will become Monster Central as we unleash monsters across the world.

The prelude is over. The real fight begins as the next paths cross.

Next will be Ryou's deck unveiled! Celebrate the Duality Deck! Watch out for it in the next turn: Celestial Transformation. Duel, standby!