Chapter 9: Dark Crusader
"Dracoliches are created from evil dragons through powerful necromantic magics. Essentially, it involves the dragon dying and then taking over its own corpse. It also gains a vessel called a phylactery, or soul jar, in which its spirit is stored. The soul continues to exist even after the destruction of the body, and can only be killed by the destruction of the phylactery itself…"
"Yeah, there's no doubt about it," Uriel said to himself, reading the book he had borrowed from Kesto's store. "That's what I saw Shichiro force out of corpse Bonetail stole…"
It was a gorgeous day in Neo Domino, and the Israeli had taken the chance to enjoy the sites. He was in one of the city's many parks. He was sitting as at one of the many benches dotted across the area. This one was next to a fountain, with a statue of Water Omotics as the centerpiece.
But this wasn't merely a random stop to relax and read. A few days after the lycanthrope incident at Kesto's, Uriel had received a call from Lady Melissa of the Shadow Spawn. The two had kept in touch since his venture into the Pit of 100 Trials, and he made sure to let her know that Bonetail was still alive and kicking, in a manner of speaking.
This most recent chat revealed that one of her three brothers was currently in Neo Domino for a special meeting. She didn't get specific on who else was involved, but what mattered was the fact that he promised to take the time and see him. He was advised to meet this brother over by the fountain around 1pm.
The time came by, and Uriel noticed a tall man in a black suit with a suitcase coming his way. He had jet-black hair, and a pair of sunglasses covered his eyes.
"Are you Uriel?" He asked.
The Israeli stood up. "Yes I am. And you must be Lady Melissa's brother."
The man nodded. "My name is Vladimir. I am the oldest of the Shadow Spawn."
Uriel gave a bow of respect. "It's an honor to finally meet you."
Vladimir grinned. "The honor is mine. I wish I had the chance to properly introduce myself those years ago, but I think this more than makes up for it." He set his suitcase next to the bench before sitting down. "So, Bonetail is back in business."
"Unfortunately," Uriel replied. "He caught me by surprise a few weeks ago, but I don't think he was at full strength. I was able to beat him again, but he still tried to take my soul."
"That bastard has always been a nasty piece of work," Vladimir mused. "I doubt taking your soul that way would have added to his new total, so that attack was probably out of spite more than anything else."
The Israeli put a hand to his heart. "Tell me about it. If it wasn't for the Shadowchasers, I'd be dead right now."
"I actually met with him and the other Shadowchasers based here," Vladimir said. "My siblings and I have already pledged our support for the organization, and we're contributing what we can into this investigation."
"Wouldn't it have made more sense to meet with the group's leader?" Uriel asked.
"I would have, but he's been busy with other problems as of late. However, with Bonetail in such a weakened state, I'm guessing he's still in Satellite trying to regain his strength and magic. It's probably best if the investigation was kept at a local level before people begin to panic."
"I've been able to dig up a little information on what he was originally," Uriel stated, "but when he escaped the second time, he left that corpse behind. I'm sure Shichiro put out a bulletin to prevent future thefts, but that can only do so much."
"Yes," the Shadow Spawn said. "That only safeguards those beings properly buried. With the shape Satellite is in right now, even after the merging, there's a good chance he has already found another body to inhabit."
Uriel sighed. "That's just terrific. He could be anywhere…and anything. I bet he's working to get his soul count up to 1000 right now. I have to find him…and stop him before his powers are back to normal…"
The Shadow Spawn crossed his arms and took on a more serious demeanor. "I know you're determined to hunt for him, but I'm afraid I personally won't be of much assistance. However…I know of someone who just might be…"
"And who would that be?" Uriel asked.
"Look, simply giving you the information is dangerous enough. You were lucky to survive your first confrontation with Bonetail. If you go out there looking for him, and he finds out, your luck may just run out. I don't want to be signing your potential death certificate."
The Israeli looked even more determined than before. "I appreciate the concern, and I know the risks involved, but if I don't take the initiative, who will?
Vladimir sighed. "If you really want this information…you're going to have to duel me for it."
Uriel never had the chance to duel Melissa all those years ago, due to his injuries after his Pit expedition, but going up against her eldest brother?
He was invigorated.
"You're on," he replied.
The Shadow Spawn nodded. "Very well, then." He opened his suitcase and pulled out a duel disk made of black metal with gold trim. A somewhat faded deck was already loaded in it.
"I'm going to warn you," Vladimir began, as he strapped the disk to his arm, "this deck was originally constructed by my mother. It wasn't the one she used against the Three Heroes, but it was formidable enough for her personal use."
"The Shadow Queen used it?" Uriel asked, stepping back to make room for the coming duel. "Isn't that a little dangerous, carrying around something that belonged to her?"
"There's no need to worry as far as that is concerned," the Shadow Spawn replied as he activated his disk. "It has long since been purified of all her negative energies. It has been heavily rebuilt, as well, and honed into something far more impressive than I doubt even she could have imagined."
Uriel felt a little better, but not by much. "…if you say so." He activated his own disk, intent on giving a good showing. "You can go first. Bring it on."
Uriel: (8000)….Vladimir: (8000)
"I fully intend to," Vladimir stated, drawing a sixth card. He looked over his options, and then activated a Magic card.
"I'll start with a little something called Dark Dragon Ritual." A black vortex appeared above the field, purple lightning shooting out of it.
"For this to work, I must offer up 4 stars or more worth of monsters from my hand. With a deck like this, however, I only need one card."
He quickly discarded said card, and a shadowy figure dropped out of the vortex. It was a warrior of sorts, wearing black armor with a dark blue cape. It looked back to Uriel with bright red eyes. (1900/1200)
"Meet Knight of Dark Dragons, but he won't be staying for long."
Before Uriel could even say anything, the Knight exploded in a ball of black fire.
"During my Main Phase, I can sacrifice my Knight to bring out a specific monster."
The fire grew to enormous proportions, and a sinister-looking dragon emerged from it. Its black skeletal body and blood-red eyes made it clear what it was. (2400/2000)
"Red Eyes Black Dragon…" Uriel stated in awe.
He had read about the escapades of Joey Wheeler and the Red-Eyes he packed within his unique deck, but he had never actually seen one in person. The card itself was extraordinarily rare; nowadays one could consider himself lucky to own even a single copy.
"I can see you're impressed," Vladimir said. "Since it was brought out through the effect of my Knight, he's unable to attack. But thanks to this card, I can still knock you down a peg."
He played the card, and Uriel's eyes widened as the Red-Eyes charged up a large ball of fire in its mouth.
"Go, Inferno Fire Blast!"
The dragon unleashed the namesake attack, and it exploded just in front of the Israeli. He cried out as the wave of heat hit him hard.
"This card deals damage equal to the original attack power of my Red-Eyes."
U: (5600)….V: (8000)
"Damn it…" Uriel muttered. "What a way to start off a duel…"
"I try my best," Vladimir replied, setting his remaining card. It appeared on the field as a face-down monster. "I've exhausted my resources, so let's see what you can do."
"Let's see, indeed…" Uriel drew his sixth card and checked his full hand. It wasn't overly impressive, but he knew he would have to manage.
He set a monster and two face-down cards before waving a hand.
"Disappointing," Vladimir mused, drawing a card. "Red-Eyes, attempt to take out his monster, would you?" The dragon roared its response, unleashing its true attack.
The face-down card exploded, but revealed itself to be one of Uriel's two copies of Gellenduo. (1700/0)
"Heh, this is the same monster you started off with when you faced Bonetail."
Uriel nodded. "They've never let me down before, and they haven't this time. Unless you drew another copy of Inferno Fire Blast, you won't be getting rid of them."
The Shadow Spawn grinned. "Luckily for you, I didn't. I will be placing what I drew face-down, though." He set it behind his dragon before passing his turn.
Uriel drew his next card, and grinned at what it was. "So you read up on my duel in the Pit, eh? Then I guess you'll remember me playing this guy next!" Asura Priest appeared, holding a trio of daggers in each of his six arms. (1700/1200)
"Go after the face-down monster first!" The Spirit monster flung his daggers, cutting through the face-down card with little effort. Morphing Jar appeared briefly before disintegrating.
"No wonder you didn't care about using up your opening hand," Uriel muttered. He discarded his three cards before drawing another five.
"I work with whatever the deck provides me," Vladimir replied, as he drew his five.
"Did it provide you with something to protect your Red-Eyes? My monster can attack every monster on your field once, you know." Asura Priest materialized another set of daggers and hurled them.
"That's suicide…unless…"
"That's right - I have something to cut your dragon down to size!" One of his two face-down cards lifted. "Go, Shrink!"
The Red-Eyes was surrounded by black energy as its attack power dropped (1200/2000), right before it was skewered by the flying daggers. The many dismembered pieces shattered as they hit the ground.
U: (5600)….V: (7500)
"At least that big bugger is gone," the Israeli sighed. His Gellenduo appeared to create a pair of pompoms and started waving them around like cheerleaders.
"Gone, but not forgotten," Vladimir replied, activating his set card. "I play Red-Eyes Spirit!"
In a flash, his dragon reappeared out of the Trap card, clearly ticked off about what had happened to it.
"Ah…crap…" Uriel stammered. His twin pixies dropped their pompoms and grabbed each other in utter terror.
"My Trap let me revive one 'Red-Eyes' monster from my graveyard after it has been destroyed, ignoring any special-summoning requirements. It seems you've wasted a number of your resources for no reason at all."
"Maybe, but your Morphing Jar gave me another hand to work with." Uriel set one more card. "I end my turn." Asura Priest returned to his hand.
"You're not the only one with a fresh bag of tricks." Vladimir added a sixth card to his hand, and then fit one of them into his disk. "I activate Future Fusion, sending fusion-material monsters to my graveyard."
Uriel was shocked. "You're not thinking about bringing out…"
"…F.G.D.?" The Shadow Spawn finished. "While it represents the same element as I, I would have to be crazy to. It is not a dragon for the faintest of heart, or for the weak in spirit. It will literally tear your soul apart if you're unable to control its power. That is why you see so few duelists with it these days."
The Israeli breathed a sigh of relief. "Well, since that's not what you have in mind, what is?"
"You'll find out in a couple of turns," Vladimir replied. "I will say this, though – the fusion requires two monsters." He searched his deck for the two in question and discarded them.
"I can't get past your Gellenduo just yet, so I'll set these on the field for now…" Three face-down cards appeared.
"…and while I'm at it, I'll activate the ability of another of my dragons."
Uriel was confused. "Wait…what do you…"
It was then that he realized what Vladimir meant. "You're talking about what you discarded to summon your Knight, aren't you?"
"You catch on quick," the Shadow Spawn replied. A phantasmal image of a dragon reminiscent of his Red-Eyes, albeit smaller, appeared behind him.
"This is Red-Eyes Wyvern. During the end phase of a turn when I didn't normal summon a monster, I can remove it from play to special-summon, guess who?"
In an instant, a second Red-Eyes Black Dragon appeared next to the first. Both of them licked their chops, eyeing Gellenduo as a kid would eye an ice cream sundae.
"Double the fun…" the Israeli murmured. "But I think you revealed your hand a bit too early."
Vladimir raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
"There's only one reason why another Red-Eyes was in your graveyard – it's one of the material monsters for the Fusion you plan to bring out. There is only one creature I can think of that specifically calls for it…"
"…and you can be sure that I can take care of it."
"A bold claim," Vladimir said, "considering I have you on the defensive right now." He waved a hand to end his turn.
"You'd be surprised how quickly I can bounce back in a critical situation," Uriel replied, drawing for his turn. "Here's an example!"
His twin pixies vanished into pixels, offered up for Darklord Desire. (3000/2800)
"I activate Desire's special ability," the Israeli declared, dropping his monster's attack power down to 2000, "sending one of your dragons packing!"
Desire slashed with his sword, and a blade of energy cut through the Red-Eyes most-recently summoned to the field. It gave a shrill shriek before dissipating.
"You may have gotten rid of one," Vladimir stated, "but Desire is now too weak to do battle with the other."
"Then someone else will have to pick up the slack!" Uriel activated one of his face-downs – Call of the Haunted.
"Here's the first monster you made me discard for Morphing Jar. Athena, arise!" The goddess emerged, brandishing her pike. (2600/800)
"I'm far from finished. I activate her own special ability, offering up Desire as the sacrifice." Desire vanished, and a vortex of energy appeared on the ground.
"Now I can special summon another Fairy from the graveyard." Uriel's ornate Fairy, with crescent-shaped arms and silver armor, appeared in all her splendor.
"Welcome back, Tualatin." (2800/2500)
"Very impressive," Vladimir mused.
"Thanks. I think you'll be more impressed by their battling skills. Athena, you're up first!"
The goddess hurled her pike at Vladimir's dragon.
"And it'll be for naught!" The Shadow Spawn sprung his Trap - Mirror Force. A reflective barrier appeared before his Red-Eyes to protect it.
"Or so you think!" Uriel chained his other face-down. "I activate Trap Jammer in response!"
The Counter-Trap went to work, nullifying the barrier just enough for the pike to fly through it. The Red-Eyes was impaled, and went into its death throes before shattering.
"You've done it, now!" Vladimir yelled, activating his second face-down. "I chain Red-Eyes Burn to my monster's destruction!" A far larger dragon made of fire appeared behind him, unleashing a literal firestorm onto the battlefield.
"With my Red-Eyes destroyed, this Trap inflicts damage equal to its original attack power to both players…or in this case, JUST YOU!"
He chained his remaining face-down, Barrel Behind the Door.
"Ah sh…" Uriel was cut off by the sheer force of the effect damage. He cried out in agony, as it felt like he was being roasted alive.
U: (800)….V: (7300)
"I was hoping to wait until you had taken a little more damage," Vladimir said, "but you left me with no other choice."
Uriel could remember the last time he had felt so much pain. It was against Bonetail, himself. He knew the Shadow Spawn was not pulling any punches, even in a duel where there was nothing truly serious on the line.
"I'm…not done yet…" The Israeli growled in retaliation. "Tualatin, sic 'im!" The other Fairy monster fired a ball of energy, hitting Vladimir with impressive force of its own. It was enough to knock him to the ground.
U: (800)….V: (4500)
Vladimir laughed as he got back to his feet. "That's what I want to see from you. That's the driving force that allowed you to beat Bonetail in the first place. Push a little more, and you may just pull off that upset you mentioned."
Uriel set two cards on his field. "Just…move…"
The Shadow Spawn gave a cough as regained his serious composure. He drew a card and considered his options.
"Future Fusion still has a turn to go…but why wait that long? I activate Dragon's Mirror!"
He played the Magic card, and two transparent dragons appeared - his Red-Eyes, and another with a purple head, wings and limbs, and what appeared to be the body of a meteorite.
Uriel gasped. "Hold on…that's not Summoned Skull!"
"By removing my material monsters from play, I can fusion summon my beast right away!"
The two dragons merged together, and the end result was truly grotesque. If Red-Eyes was the skeleton, the other monster, Meteor Dragon, provided the rest of the body. It was pure muscle, with purple skin and throbbing red arteries. Red runes covered its neck and stomach, and seemed to glow with an eerie resonance. As it roared, steam poured out of its mouth.
"Meet the embodiment of hellfire, Meteor Black Dragon!" (3500/2000)
Uriel was dumbstruck. He now felt like sticking his foot in his mouth for the comment he had made earlier. He was expecting Black Skull Dragon, but this alternate fusion was even more powerful and menacing.
He now wished he was facing down Black Skull Dragon, instead…
"Meteor Black Dragon, attack Athena with your Armageddon Blast!" The behemoth coughed up a monstrous flaming meteorite, and it was sent straight at the goddess.
"Not gonna happen!" Uriel called out, activating a Trap - Heaven's Judgment - and searching his deck. "I send Darklord Superbia to the graveyard to destroy your dragon!"
"In response, I chain My Body as a Shield from my hand!" Vladimir played the Quick-Play Magic card. "I spend 1500 Life Points to negate your Trap!"
Uriel growled, chaining his other face-down. Then I have no choice but to play Mystic Wok!" Athena vanished right before the meteorite struck her.
"By sacrificing Athena, my Life Points go up equivalent to her attack power." He felt slightly revitalized, but he knew what was coming next.
"Since one of my targets left play," Vladimir stated, "the battle restarts. Take out Tualatin!" Meteor Black Dragon unleashed a second meteorite. This one struck home, obliterating Uriel's other Fairy.
U: (2700)….V: (3000)
"This is turning out to be a closer match than I anticipated," the Shadow Spawn mused. "I end my turn."
Uriel was quickly running out of options. He didn't have anything in his hand to take care of the Meteor Black Dragon, and what he drew wasn't of much help, either.
He set a monster and a face-down card before passing his turn.
Vladimir drew for his turn. "Two turns have elapsed since Future Fusion was played. Now I can bring out my other Meteor Black Dragon!"
The ground seemed to erupt, and a second behemoth, just as big and hideous as the first, emerged with a roar. (3500/2000)
I'll have my first dragon attack your face-down monster!" Dragon number one fired off its attack, and Nova Summoner appeared briefly before it was incinerated.
"Since it was killed by battle, I can special summon another Light-type Fairy monster with 1500 attack points or less." Uriel searched his deck and brought out a second Nova Summoner in defense mode.
"Number two, take it out!" The second dragon blew away this fairy as quickly as its counterpart.
"Now I can get something started…" Uriel said to himself, summoning a bronze-skinned angel from his deck. "I summon Shatiel!" (500/2000)
"For each Fairy I have, he boosts the attack and defense of all Fairies on my field by 400 points." Shatiel glowed brightly. (900/2400)
"A solid wall, but it will not be solid enough." Vladimir ended his turn without playing any other cards.
"He doesn't have to be," Uriel replied, drawing for his turn. "He's merely here for the kind of summoning not even Bonetail expected when I first faced him."
He played another card from his hand, and a pink-haired fairy dressed as a psychiatrist appeared. The stats of both monsters increased. (400/1500 -=- 1200/2300, 900/2400 -=- 1300/2800)
"I tune Counselor Lily with Shatiel!" Lily turned into three gold rings, which quickly scanned the bronze angel. Shatiel turned into five stars, and the elements merged into one entity.
"A Synchro Summon…" Vladimir gasped.
"Avenging Knight Parshath, you're up!" The white centaur in blue and gold armor made his appearance known, rearing up on his hind legs. (2600/2100)
"I activate his special ability, switching one of your monsters to defense mode!" Parshath pointed his sword, and the original Meteor Black Dragon was forced to its knees.
"Not only does my Knight cause trample damage, I'm going to boost him up even further!" Counselor Lily appeared behind him.
"Since Lily was used in this Synchro Summon, I can pay 500 Life Points to raise my Knight's attack power by 1000 until the end of the turn." Parshath roared its approval as it felt the new wave of energy course through its body. (3600/2100)
"Parshath, unleash your fury and slay the defending dragon!" The Avenging Knight charged in, slashing with his sword. The Meteor Black Dragon shuddered, screeched violently, and finally exploded in a ball of black fire.
U: (2200)….V: (1400)
"Just a little more…" Vladimir said to himself as the smoke cleared.
"I set a card and end my turn." As Uriel placed one of his two cards into his disk, Parshath's attack power returned to normal.
The Shadow Spawn drew for his turn. "Meteor Black Dragon, attack! Take revenge for your fallen brethren!" The behemoth unleashed another Armageddon Blast.
"I'm ready for you this time," the Israeli replied, activating his face-down. "Negate Attack!" The purple vortex appeared in front of his Knight, and it easily absorbed the meteorite.
Vladimir adjusted his shades before setting a card behind his monster. "Make your move."
"Gladly," Uriel said as drew his next card. "Parshath, switch his dragon to defense!" The Avenging Knight pointed his sword again, and Meteor Black Dragon dropped to its knees.
"Now, attack!" The Fairy took a far different approach this time, cutting the dragon right down the middle. The behemoth screeched briefly before the two bloody slabs fell over to either side. They shattered as they hit the ground.
U: (2200)….V: (800)
"I set this face-down and end my turn." Both monster and duelist were looking a bit more confident than before. They now had their opponent on the ropes.
…Or so he thought, as Vladimir grinned at the sight of what he had just drawn.
"Time to wrap this up," he said, revealing his face-down card. "First I activate Burial from a Different Dimension, and I'll use it to return the three dragons I've removed during this duel back to my Graveyard."
He pulled Red-Eyes Black Dragon, Meteor Dragon, and Red-Eyes Wyvern from his pocket and deposited them into his discard slot.
"Now the fun can really begin. I summon Red-Eyes Black Chick." A red egg appeared on the Shadow Spawn's field. It quickly hatched, revealing a baby Red-Eyes. It gave a cough as smoke came out of its mouth. (800/500)
"Meet the juvenile form of this deck's star monster. But it won't be staying for long. By sacrificing it, I can special summon the original Red-Eyes from my hand!"
The Chick glowed red before growing rapidly in size. By the time the glow dissipated, the Chick had grown up into a full fledged adult. (2400/2000)
"Not bad," Uriel said, "but it's still not enough."
"True," Vladimir replied. "That's why I'm sacrificing it so it can evolve to an even more powerful form!" His Red-Eyes began to glow red again, growing even larger.
"I remember all those years ago, when one of the Three Heroes attempted to use this combo in his duel against me. He wasn't able to complete that final evolution, but perhaps his spirit will allow me to…"
The end result was a far greater behemoth than even Meteor Black Dragon. It had grown more spikes on its body, while its arms were replaced by gigantic scaly wings. Its trademark red eyes were a darker shade than its predecessor. It gave a screech as it extended its wings to their impressive full length.
"Behold, Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon!" (2400/2000)
"Wow…" Uriel gaped. "How often does a duelist manage to have all three component cards in their hand at the same time?"
"It's been done before, and apparently it has, now. By your expression, I'm sure you're aware of my dragon's ability. For every dragon in my Graveyard, Red-Eyes gains 300 attack points."
Phantasmal dragons appeared behind him; all three original Red-Eyes, Red-Eyes Black Chick, Red-Eyes Wyvern, Meteor Dragon, and both Meteor Black Dragons. They turned to pure energy, which was quickly absorbed by the Darkness Dragon. It received this extra power with a great deal of enthusiasm. (4800/2000)
"Red-Eyes, finish the game!" The Darkness Dragon exhaled a large stream of black fire.
"I'm not through yet!" Uriel shouted, activating his face-down. "I play Battle Tuned!" Counselor Lily appeared behind him.
"By removing a Tuner monster from the game, I can transfer her attack power to my Knight!" Lily vanished, and Parshath gained a boost. (3000/2100)
"It's not enough to save it!" Vladimir retaliated. He was right, as the Avenging Knight was finally defeated, vaporized by the black fire.
U: (400)….V: (800)
"Once again, I've exhausted my resources," the Shadow Spawn stated. "And you're down to your last draw. Unless you get a defending monster, you're going down next turn."
"We'll see about that." Uriel drew a card, but played it immediately. "It's not a monster, but it'll lend me a hand. I activate Pot of Avarice."
He chose the two Nova Summoners, Avenging Knight Parshath, Shatiel, and Gellenduo, shuffled them back into his deck.
"Come on…I need something to turn this back around…"
"Come on…" Vladimir said to himself. "Show me that inner spirit that brought you this far…"
After hesitating for a brief moment, Uriel drew two cards.
"Why hello there," he said to one of them.
"With four Fairies in the Graveyard, I can special summon this!" A column of white light erupted from the ground, and Archlord Kristya emerged from it. (2800/2300)
"Very nice," Vladimir said, "but she pales in comparison to my Darkness Dragon." His beast seemed to laugh as smoke and fire bellowed from its jaws.
"Maybe not, but thanks to her special ability, I can retrieve someone who can take care of it."
A certain Fairy slipped out of his discard slot, and Uriel added it to his hand.
"What are you-" The Shadow Spawn's eyes widened. "Oh no…"
"…and I can sacrifice Kristya to bring it out!"
The Archlord vanished, and Darklord Desire instantly took her place. (3000/2800)
"Like before, I lower his attack by 1000 to send your monster to the graveyard!"
As Desire's attack dropped to 2000, he fired off his ability. Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon was immediately eradicated.
"That's the way…" the Shadow Spawn said softly. While he was proud of what had transpired, he was not looking forward to what was about to happen…
"You have nothing left. Desire, END THIS!" The Darklord slashed with his sword, and this time Vladimir felt the full impact. Unlike last time, he was knocked onto his back.
U: (400)….V: (0)
"Ouch…" Vladimir muttered, sitting up and holding his back.
As the holograms vanished, Uriel walked over. "Are you alright?" He asked, offering a hand.
"I've felt better," the Shadow Spawn replied, taking the hand and helped to his feet. "But I have to admit, this duel went far better than I expected. You took everything I threw at you and tossed it right back. It's that kind of resolve I was looking for."
The Israeli smiled. "I'm glad I was able to meet your expectations."
"In any case, you've more than proven yourself." Vladimir reached into his suit and pulled out an envelope.
Uriel received it and opened it. Inside were two items – a business card of sorts, and a Duel Monsters card.
He eyed the Duel Monsters card first. "Hey, where did this come from?"
"Consider it another gift from Melissa to help you on your way," Vladimir replied.
The Israeli read the effect, but the card still sent shivers down his spine. "I've heard of this card, but…something doesn't feel right about it …"
"That's understandable. When my siblings and I were still under our mother's influence, she had an alternate deck that utilized this and other creatures of the type. When deciding between this deck and another for her final confrontation with the Three Heroes, she went with the latter.
"While the rogue deck was far more powerful, she was unable to control the key creatures. She had since broken it apart, and the cards were purified after we had regained our freedom. She wanted to pass this along to you; seeing as how you use monsters of the same clan, you should be able to make use of it."
Uriel thought about it for a moment. "Well, every little bit helps, I guess. I'm going to have to rework what I have, though. Perhaps it's time I give the Seraphims a break…"
After adding the card to his disk, he looked at the business card next. The e-mail address didn't look out of the ordinary, but the name was written in an unusual language.
"It's written in Elven," Vladimir said, "and Ancient Elven at that. It's his way of ensuring that only trustworthy individuals contact him."
"He sounds a bit paranoid, if you ask me," Uriel stated.
"Don't get me wrong, he isn't exactly right in the head, and you need to catch him on one of his better days, but his sleuthing abilities are second-to-none."
The Israeli was still a little skeptical. "Alright, I'll take your word for it."
"Let me get a hold of him first. I have good relations with him, and his information-gathering has benefited my siblings and I on many an occasion. Once he has a better idea of who you are and what you're looking for, I'll give you the go-ahead to make an appointment.
Uriel gave a bow. "Thank you, again. The more I have to go on, the better my chances of finding that bastard and putting an end to him."
"I know you're trying to make this a personal quest," Vladimir said, "but remember, you are not alone here. We're all trying our best to aid in the search. Being independent is good to some extent, but depending on those around you is far more beneficial."
Uriel nodded. "I'll keep that in mind…"
Bonetail: It would seem that the Sons of Kyuss are stubborn to the core. Another of their agents has made his presence known, and he is not hesitant in initiating a Shadow Game. My new deck has already been proven, but will it stand a chance against the strategy he possesses?
Next Time: "Sinister Serpent"