Author's note: Just a reminder that any cards highlighted in bold are not actual Yugioh cards

Chapter 11: Power of the Flame

Yuina drove over the Daedalus Bridge, eventually stopping at a restaurant to get breakfast. Toby had, since coming back, given Yuina some money to spend, so she had nothing to worry about in that area. Just after she got her food, however, she spotted a car parking by her Duel Runner, and out of it came a bald brown-skinned man in rags who proceeded to sit at a table right next to her.

"Woman," he began.

"Can it wait? I'm eating!" Yuina shouted.

"You're with the Ember Brotherhood, aren't you?"

"So what if I am?"

"I heard your orders… Sacred Beast holder."

"How did you know…?"

"That is information I cannot willingly give out. If you want it, you will have to Duel me and win, for someone weak intruding into this grand battle will only die a pointless death."

"Fine, but two things: First, if I don't get some straight answers out of you if I win, you are going to suffer."

"What is the second thing?"

"Let me finish my food, damn it!"

It didn't take long for Yuina to devour her meal, considering she had ordered pork rinds, which she thought of as her guilty pleasure. Once outside, they activated their Duel Disks, with her going first.

She summoned a Mad Sword Beast (1400/1200), placed a card face-down and ended her turn.

The strange man, who revealed his name to be Devack, drew and summoned Ape Magician (800/1200), activating its ability afterwards: by discarding a card, he could take control of one of Yuina's monsters, choosing Mad Sword Beast.

After that, he proceeded to attack with the new monster, but Yuina triggered Negate Attack, ending the Battle Phase. He placed two cards face-down and ended his turn, with only two cards in his hand.

When Yuina drew, she thought of Rebecca. This Devack's Dueling strategy seemed quite similar to hers.

She summoned another Mad Sword Beast (1400/1200), but then played Cost Down, discarding a card to lower the level of a Monster in her hand by 2. With that, she Tributed her new monster to summon Black Tyranno (2600/1800), normally a Level 7, but treated as a Level 5 due to her Spell Card.

Finally, she played Pot of Greed for two cards, placed a card face-down and activated the Equip Spell Card Vengeful Servant, equipping it to her monster. She was left with one card in her hand.

Devack drew, and revealed his one face-down DNA Alteration, declaring that he could make all monsters one Attribute, and announcing that all monsters were now FIRE-Attribute as a result.

He once again activated the effect of Ape Magician, discarding a card to steal Yuina's monster.

"Do you want pain with that?" she gloated. "Vengeful Servant's effect activates: since the equipped monster changed control, the new controller takes damage equal to the monster's Attack!"

"So be it," Devack stated, unflinching even as he came down to 1400 Life Points. "This Duel is a test. Don't think that the Ember Brotherhood can be defeated so easily. I release your Mad Sword Beast to summon Ape Fighter, and with that, the abilities of the two Glowing Ember Spirits in my Graveyard activate. Since I Summoned either an EARTH or FIRE monster, because all Monsters are FIRE monsters by my Trap's effect, I can Special Summon the monsters in my Graveyard! Come forth, Tuner Monster, Glowing Ember Spirits!"

The two glowing rocks appeared, initially with 0 ATK or DEF, along with Ape Fighter (1900/1200).

"Glowing Ember Spirit's effects activate," Devack continued. "Although at heart a FIRE monster, it is treated also as an EARTH monster, and it is a Rock-type. In addition, they gain Attack and Defense points equal to the combined Attack and Defense of all FIRE and Earth monsters on the field. I have three other FIRE monsters, with 2600, 1900 and 800 Attack points, giving me 5300 points on each of them, with their synergistic effect doubling their Attack power to 10600! The Defense Points of these monsters add up the three stacks of 1200 to 3600, with the other spirit boosting theirs to 7200 Defense points"

"Okay, those are some pretty nasty monsters. I'll give you that."

"I will now proceed to expose you first hand to the power of the Ember Brotherhood. If used as Synchro Material Monsters, the Glowing Ember Spirits are considered a Level 3 instead of a Level 6. I tune my Level 5 Ape Fighter to my Level 3 Glowing Ember Spirit. Primordial savagery is harnessed by glowing embers in the souls of the beast. The fierce ape harnesses this and gives birth to a new body. Synchro Summon. Come forth, Molten Ember Ape."

The Synchro monster that appeared looked almost exactly like a giant ape, except its body was rocky and somewhat molten, and it came out with 10600 ATK and 7200 DEF.

"Why is that so high?" Yuina gasped.

"Molten Ember Ape requires a Glowing Ember Spirit as Synchro Material monster, and its Attack and Defense are equal to the Attack and Defense of the Glowing Ember Spirit before it was used in the Synchro Summon. It is a FIRE, Rock-type monster. Now, Molten Ember Ape, direct attack!"

Yuina revealed Mirror Force at that point, negating the attack and destroying all of Devack's monsters. He, however, revealed Backfire, dealing her 500 points of damage for each FIRE monster destroyed, bringing her to 2000. When she took her turn, she played Card of Demise, getting a five-card hand in exchange for discarding her hand in five turns, after which she placed two cards face-down and summoned Miracle Jurassic Egg (0/2000) in Defense mode.

Devack activated the ability of Molten Ember Ape: If there was a FIRE Monster in his Graveyard, he could skip his Draw Phase and Special Summon it back to his field with half its original stats. The monster reappeared with 5300 ATK and 3600 DEF due to the Glowing Ember Spirits having FIRE Attribute.

He attacked the Miracle Jurassic Egg, explaining that if there was an EARTH monster in his Graveyard, he could inflict Piercing Damage to her when he attacked, which was possible due to the Spirits also being treated as an EARTH Attribute..

Yuina revealed Depth Amulet, discarding one card to negate the attack, when Devack activated another ability of Molten Ember Ape: if the card's attack is negated, he could deal effect damage to her equal to half of the attack power of the monster, amounting to 2150. Yuina revealed her Divine Wind trap, negating the damage and making him take double damage instead, depleting his Life Points.

"Good," he voiced. "Now that you have shown me that you can stand up to the Ember Brotherhood's main monster, I shall grant your wish."

"What's your stake in this, though?" Yuina had to ask.

"The god that the Brotherhood serves is one that pursues earthly desires, and disrespects the Gods. It's in my interest to see them go."

"What makes you think you can take them down?"

"Aside from the four Ember Brotherhood vice-commanders, I am the only one who knows where their leader, the Young Dragon King Ryuunosuke, resides."

"Won't they be after you if you knew this?"

"Worry not. They have already found out and killed me years ago, tying me to a pyre and burning me alive. While I did die, I was offered the chance to serve the true Gods and destroy the false one, leading to my rebirth."

"Get to the point!"

"Due to their success at supposedly tying up the only loose end, they aren't expecting an attack. We have the advantage here, provided we act fast. Give me your Duel Runner, and I can take you into their heart, but before you do, I have got a cloak; put it on. Neither of us want our real identities to be exposed."

Devack produced the cloak for Yuina to don, then got on her Duel Runner after putting on a yellow helmet. Once Yuina was in the cloak, he drove them back towards Satellite, but took a sewage pipeline instead of the bridge, reasoning that the bridge would be too easy to monitor. The pipe was shut down for maintenance purposes until later that morning, allowing him time to ride through, but once through, he didn't leave the sewer system.

Their trip took them through the Satellite sewers, until arriving at an automated underground incinerator. Going further in, they were greeted by the sight of a short boy kneeling in front of one of the larger furnaces.

"Ah, the new arrival, Ms Woods. I am Ryuunosuke, the Prophet of the Ember Brotherhood." he spoke, standing up. He was, actually, barely shorter than Yuina, but it still seemed too ludicrous to be true, despite his face looking blackened by ashes and, in turn, camouflaging it with his untidy soot-black hair.

"You must be joking," Yuina found herself saying. "A little kid is the one in charge of a successful secret cult?"

"Devack… I thought I took care of you years ago."

"Your business is with me, small fry. Don't ignore me!"

"So, you found this place with the help of that traitor? Wait, I see it now. I only saw that the Sacred Beast holders were out there, not who they were, but I know now that you are a holder of one of them."

"And I assume that you may be the holder of what is known as a Blessing Card," Yuina retaliated, after feeling some creepy uncertainty about this child.

"You mean this?" the young Ryuunosuke asked, holding up a blank white card with a marker for a FIRE-Attribute monster in the main picture. "I know you have managed to seize the EARTH and LIGHT cards, but you will go no further. My god will see to that."

The ground began shaking, and the roof opened. Right after that, the floor that Yuina, Devack and Ryuunosuke were standing on rose towards the new exit. It continued to rise, ascending past the exit, and not stopping until it was just higher than the Satellite buildings.

"I will allow the two of you to Tag Duel against me, as my god wishes for such," Ryuunosuke continued. "Although I do not feel comfortable doing so, my god assures me that I can win without any handicap. However, nobody will attack on the first round."

With that, Yuina and Devack activated their Duel Disks, while Ryuunosuke produced a large stone tablet with card slots that glowed with the same light as the disks.