Before this chapter debuts, I'd like to say some words.
This chapter debuts a major character, who has a religious belief that is more common than many might think – he has none. In fact, he openly rejects such beliefs. If he worships anything, it knowledge. He has a reason, but I must keep that a secret for now.
Thus, a disclaimer.
This character is NOT, by any means, meant to represent all people who have atheistic, agnostic, or humanistic beliefs. I'm not such a person myself (I won't tell you what faith I belong to) but I have friends who are, and they are decent people, even if I disagree with them on that matter. Just because you don't follow any religion doesn't mean you can't be a decent person.
If you choose not to follow any religion, please do not be offended by this character. I did not design him to illustrate my own views to the contrary, or my disapproval towards such attitudes.
Now that I've taken care of that unpleasant business…
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CHAPTER ELEVEN
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Rasputin Appears!
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Ice Age Chill
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It was seven AM, the morning of Day Two.
Sheena Arachne walked onto the bridge, holding a cup of coffee.
"What's the status so far?" she asked a technician.
"Two hundred and eleven guests are still in the running," he answered. "So far, seven guests are at Blue status, but none beyond that.
"You might be interested in knowing… One of the guests at Blue is Ms. Mouto, and another is your daughter."
Sheena smirked.
"It doesn't surprise me…" she said. "Keep me informed of any changes…"
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Ren, Chelsea, and Yumi were sitting at an open-air café eating croissants and orange juice, while Yumi related her spooky duel with the fortuneteller last night. Ren looked in an Industrial Illusions catalogue.
"So…" he said, pouring through the 'A' section, "you said the names of these Monsters all started with 'Arcana Force'?"
"That's what I said," replied Yumi.
"Well…" said Ren, looking at a page, "this catalogue was released this May, and I can't find them in here anywhere. They must have been custom cards of some sort… This Cassandra woman clearly wasn't your typical duelist."
"That's not entirely new to me, Ren," muttered Yumi. "Most fortunetellers are just charlatans who want to make money… This one, though… I think her powers were real…"
She looked out onto the street.
"Somewhere in this big city, something is lurking, waiting to strike, and I have a feeling we're gonna be caught in the middle of it…"
"So..." replied Ren. "Do we go looking for it, or do we wait for it to walk right up to us?"
There was a long pause.
"Hey," said Chelsea, "is that Marlon?"
They looked over, and saw Marlon at the next table, talking to a slightly younger man. He was holding a small object in his hands.
"It seems… Egyptian in nature…" said Marlon, looking at the small disk, "and was likely an amulet of some sort, although the chain is long gone. Most of the hieroglyphs are strange to me, but the symbol in the center is clearly the Eye of Wdjat… A very popular symbol of magic, I believe…"
Yumi perked up. Marlon had found something with the Eye of Wdjat on it?
She glanced at her Puzzle.
Yumi got up, but before she could go over, three figures approached Marlon's table.
Two of them were Nicholas and Olga, even though Yumi and her group hadn't seen them yet…
The third was a man who seemed to be around forty. He was dressed in an outfit that resembled a smoking jacket, made of expensive material, with designer slacks and loafers. Most remarkably, his face sported a full black beard, long, but neatly trimmed and combed, with ample hair on his head.
"Marlon Farnsworth, I presume?" said the strange man.
He had one of those strange accents that made it impossible to tell where he was from.
"I am…" said Marlon. "And you are?"
"Well, my full name is Rasputin Arthur Graham Carlisle Lamont the 3rd," said the man, holding out his hand. "Simply call me Rasputin, it's much easier to remember…"
"I see…" muttered Marlon. "Not the most… respectable name…"
"Mmm, yes…" said Rasputin with a shrug. "It was the name of a Russian advisor to the Czar who was a bit of a scoundrel, but, eh, you can't exactly choose your names…
"I knew a man who actually changed his family name. He thought the name Gore would have been bad for business… He was a butcher…
"I've considered changing mine… but it takes money that I'd rather spend elsewhere…
"Oh, where are my manners? These are my two protégés… Nicholas, and Olga."
He pointed to the two teenagers. The two of them nervously waved.
"So what can I do for you mister… ah, Rasputin?" replied Marlon.
"I couldn't help but take interest in that amulet you found," said Rasputin, looking at the strange artifact. "You see, Mr. Farnsworth, like you, I'm an archaeologist of sorts, but I tend to study old cultures rather than old fossils. I travel a lot… Most recently, I've been operating out of Copenhagen…"
"Really?" asked Marlon, perking up. "I've been to Copenhagen. The Arken Museum of Modern Art is quite a place."
"Indeed," said Rasputin. "May I ask where you found that?"
"Believe it or not, I found it in a pile of coal," said Marlon. "It caught my eye as I passed by this morning."
Yumi rubbed her chin as she watched this…
She saw the Pharaoh watching next to her.
"Marlon…" said Rasputin, "mind if I call you Marlon?"
"Not at all," he replied.
"I collect such artifacts," said Rasputin. "If we had met elsewhere I might offer a decent check for it… But since we're both guests of this tournament, what would you say to a duel with a wager?"
"I'm listening…" replied Marlon.
Rasputin took a card out of his jacket.
"I'm willing to ante this up against that amulet. It's quite rare…"
Marlon stared at it. Yumi tried to look, but she couldn't see it.
"I say…" muttered Marlon. "That IS quite rare!"
He looked at the amulet.
"I suppose I might even enjoy it," he said. "Jolly good then…"
As he stood up, Nicholas and Olga went over to where Yumi's group was sitting.
"Mind if we join you?" asked Nicholas. "His duels are always interesting to watch…"
"Perhaps…" said Yumi.
The Pharaoh looked at her and shook his head.
But I can't shake the feeling that something is rotten in the state of Denmark… she thought.
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Marlon and Rasputin faced each other on the street beside the café. Their Disks activated.
"Game on!" they both said at once.
(Marlon: 8,000) -------------------- (Rasputin: 8,000)
"All right old boy…" said Marlon, drawing his first card.
He looked over his first hand.
"To start, I'll place two cards facedown, and one Monster in Defense Mode…"
Two facedown cards and a facedown Monster appeared.
"Ho boy…" said Chelsea. "Looks like he's gonna play the same trick he used on you, Yumi."
"Well, let's see what we have here," said Rasputin, drawing his first card.
He took one of them.
"I play the Spell Card, Nobleman of Crossout."
He played the card, and an effeminate knight in armor with a sword appeared. He stabbed into the facedown Monster, and it shattered.
"Good grief!" shouted Ren.
"So much for that strategy," said Chelsea.
"Next…" continued Rasputin, "I'll summon my Ice Knight."
He played a card, and a knight in bulky armor that was seemingly made of entirely of ice and a cape made of white fur, carrying a sword made of dull metal appeared. (1,300/1,200)
"This Monster gains 400 Attack Points for every Aqua-Type Monster on the field," he explained. "And that includes himself, incidentally."
Ice Knight rose to an Attack of 1,700.
"Well, let's see…" he said. "I could attack… But those facedown cards are a concern, so I think I'll just end my turn."
"Suit yourself…" said Marlon, drawing a card.
He looked at it.
"I summon my Sabersaurus to the field!" he exclaimed.
With a rumbling, the huge armored Dinosaur appeared, and roared. (1,900/500)
"Crush his Ice Knight!" he shouted. "Tusk trample!"
Sabersaurus charged, and smashed Ice Knight into little pieces. Rasputin cringed…
(M: 8,000) -------------------- (R: 7,800)
"Not bad…" said Rasputin, drawing a card. "Easy come, easy go I guess… But it's far from over…"
He played a card.
"I play Premature Burial. I simply have to relinquish 800 Life Points, and my Ice Knight returns."
The ground cracked, and Ice Knight rose out of the ground. (1,300/1,200) –) (1,700/1,200)
"And next…" he continued, "I sacrifice him to summon forth his master… Farwell, my Ice Knight…"
Ice Knight shattered into shards of crystal…
"I summon Mobius the Frost Monarch!"
A chilling wind seemed to blow over the whole field, as a huge form, best described as a fifteen-foot-tall giant sculpted out of ice wearing a purple cape rose behind Rasputin. His cape fluttered in the chilling wind that surrounded him. (2,400/1,000)
"And simply by summoning him," continued Rasputin, "I can destroy your two facedown cards."
Mobius breathed a blast of freezing vapor. Marlon's two facedown cards lifted up, revealed to be Fossil Excavation and Widespread Ruin. They froze solid, and then shattered.
"I'm hardly done…" said Rasputin. "Next, I play a Spell Card… Called Mobius's Palace."
He fit the card into his Disk, and with a rumble, a huge palace made of ice crystal rose up behind him, glimmering in the morning light. The whole arena started to ice over.
"A powerful Spell Card," he said. "It can only exist so long as Mobius is on the field, but when it does, all Beasts, Beast-Warriors, Winged Beasts, Plants, and Dinosaurs lose 500 Attack Points."
Sabersaurus groaned, and fell to an Attack of 1,400.
"Now Mobius, attack!" shouted Rasputin. "Blizzard blight!"
Mobius breathed forth a cone of chilling frost, and Sabersaurus was frozen solid in a block of ice. It shattered into little pieces.
(M: 7,000) -------------------- (R: 7,000)
Ren turned to Olga.
"Your dad sure can duel," he said. "He…"
"Rasputin's not my dad," Olga quickly said.
"Oh… uh… okay…" muttered Ren.
Rasputin fit a card into his Disk, and a facedown card appeared.
"That will do it for my turn…" he said.
Marlon drew a card. He looked at it.
"My Trap Card activates," exclaimed Rasputin, as his facedown card lifted. "It's called Mobius's Glacier. This card needs Mobius's Palace to exist, but it further inconveniences the Monsters the first card effects. Those Monsters can't attack, and can't be set in Defense Mode."
"This is not a coincidence, Yumi," said the Pharaoh. "Rasputin's deck is specially designed to counter a deck like Marlon's. He must want that artifact pretty badly…
"The question is… why?"
"Well, let's see what we can do about that," said Marlon. "I play… Pot of Greed."
He played the card, and then drew twice.
"Since I can't defend, I'll go on the offensive," he said. "I summon Balloon Lizard."
He played the card, and a large creature appeared, floating in the air. It resembled an alligator, but its torso was spherical and bloated, similar to… a balloon. (500/1,900)
"Interesting…" said Rasputin. "But all for naught. I'll destroy it before its effect becomes a serious issue."
"I wasn't intending to use its effect," said Marlon, taking a card from his hand. "Let me share with you a common theory among paleontologists. Most folks say that dinosaurs were an evolutionary step up from common lizards, who were in turn a step up from amphibians. In a sense, ordinary cold-blooded reptiles evolved into dinosaurs, who many believe were warm-blooded, more like birds.
"This Spell Card is called Ultra Evolution Pill. What it does is speed up the evolutionary process. So if I used it on a Reptile, like this one, it might turn into a Dinosaur, now wouldn't it?"
He played the card.
"So I use it to sacrifice my Balloon Lizard…"
The Reptile vanished in a burst of energy.
"To summon Black Tyranno from my hand!"
A huge, carnivorous Dinosaur, standing bipedal with dark skin arose, and gave a primal roar. (2,600/1,800)
Then the ice froze it to the ground, and its Attack fell to 2,100.
"I'll place this facedown," said Marlon, placing a card in his Disk, "and end my turn."
Rasputin drew a card.
"I summon my second Ice Knight," he said.
Another Ice Knight appeared. (1,300/1,200)
"And then," he said, "I bring back the first with the power of Monster Reborn."
He played the card, and the ankh appeared. Another Ice Knight materialized.
"And with three Aquas on the field," he said, "they both have 2,500 Attack Points.
"Mobius, attack the Black Tyranno!"
"Hold it right there, old sport," said Marlon. "I had a Trap ready…"
His facedown card lifted.
"Zero Gravity," he said. "Now all Monsters on the field switch Modes."
Mobius and the two Ice Knights crouched in Defense Mode, as did Black Tyranno, but the Dinosaur was quickly moved back into Attack Mode by the Glacier.
"Fine…" said Rasputin. "I end my turn then. You still can't attack…"
Marlon drew.
"Oh, I can't can I?" he said. "I play the Spell Card, Shield Crush!"
He played the card.
"Now I can destroy one Monster who's in Defense Mode. Time to break the ice, so to speak. I target Mobius!"
A beam of energy shot from the card, and Mobius groaned as cracks started to appear all over him. He shattered into little pieces of ice.
"Mobius…" moaned Rasputin. "Smashed into pieces… like common cocktail ice…"
"That means his Palace goes too…" said Marlon.
The Palace blew into pieces, and Black Tyranno rose to its normal 2,600 Attack.
"…and like a chain reaction, that means the Glacier is gone as well."
The Trap Card shattered, and the ice trapping Black Tyranno melted.
"And since the only cards you now have on the field are Monsters in Defense Mode," continued Marlon, "Black Tyranno not only can attack now, he can do so directly!"
Black Tyranno charged, causing the ground to tremble, and stomped with its mighty foot.
Rasputin groaned and held his head…
"Ugh…" he said. "That was… unpleasant…"
(M: 7,000) -------------------- (R: 4,400)
"I'll place a card facedown and end my turn," said Marlon, fitting his last card into his Disk. "It's your move…"
Rasputin drew one card. He gave it an odd look.
He placed it in his Disk, and a facedown card appeared.
"Your move…" he said.
Marlon drew a card.
"Well…" he said. "With that facedown card there, Black Tyranno can't attack directly, but I can still take care of your Knights."
His facedown card lifted.
"I activate Call of the Haunted."
The ground rumbled, and Sabersaurus clawed its way out of the ground. (1,900/500)
"Both of you…" he ordered. "Take down his Ice Knights!"
Sabersaurus charged, and smashed one of the Ice Knights to pieces. Black Tyranno charged and stomped the other one flat.
"Thank you…" said Rasputin, with a sinister smirk. "As a paleontologist, you surely know about another theory, Marlon… About how a catastrophic event caused the extinction of the dinosaurs, like, say perhaps, a meteorite crashing to Earth…"
"Well, yes, that's a very common theory, but…" replied Marlon.
Then his eyes opened wide.
"Wait… Your facedown card…"
"Yes…" said Rasputin, as his facedown card lifted. "It's the one I wagered, and I can activate it since I have fewer Life Points than you do…
"Jurassic Impact!"
The sky turned red, and a swarm of fireballs fell from above.
"Hit the dirt!" shouted Ren.
Everyone gasped in horror, as the meteorites crashed onto the arena, the two Dinosaurs howled, and were blown to atoms.
It wasn't over yet. The whole arena had been turned to a volcanic wasteland, covered with molten lava.
"This is a hologram, right?" asked Ren, nervously.
"The cataclysm it causes not only kills all Monsters on the field," said Rasputin, "but the owners of the destroyed Monsters lose 1,000 Life Points for each. Plus, the arena becomes so inhospitable to life that no Monsters can be summoned or set for one of each of our turns."
"Fine…" muttered Marlon. "I'm ending this turn…"
(M: 5,000) -------------------- (R: 4,400)
"Then I draw…" said Rasputin.
He looked at the card he had drawn.
"Pass…" he said.
Marlon drew. He shook his head as he looked at the card.
"I pass as well…" he said.
"I guess there isn't much they could do…" said Chelsea. "Without being able to summon… That was a powerful Trap. No wonder Marlon accepted the wager."
The lava cooled, and became a rocky surface again.
Rasputin drew again.
"Well…" he said. "I can summon again, but to summon this lass, I need to remove Mobius from play."
The card fell out of his discard slot, and he placed it inside his jacket.
"So I summon Tara the Ice Princess."
He placed the card on his Disk, and a coldly beautiful princess with icy skin and hair, dressed in a skimpy fur bikini and white fur cloak appeared. A chilling wind blew around her. She didn't seem at all like she was dressed for cold weather, but she was an Ice Princess... maybe that was the whole point. (2,000/800)
"And by the way," said Rasputin, "she has the same ability as Mobius, but she can use it every round.
"Attack directly!"
Tara blew a chilling gust at Marlon. He shielded himself, but shivered under the intense cold…
(M: 3,000) -------------------- (R: 4,400)
"I say…" said Marlon. "When this is over, I might need some brandy to ward off this chill…"
"She can destroy two Spell or Trap Cards every turn?" asked Ren. "There has to be a catch…"
"Yes, there is a catch," said Nicholas. "That effect is not optional. Rasputin must use her ability to destroy two cards if any are on the field, even if that means destroying his own. If Marlon doesn't use any, she can be a handicap."
"It's your move," said Rasputin.
Marlon drew a card.
He looked at the three cards in his hand.
He placed one of them on his Disk, and a facedown Monster appeared.
"That's it for my turn," he said.
Rasputin made a draw. He scowled. Clearly he was disappointed.
"Tara, attack," he said.
Tara blew her freezing mist. A winged cherub appeared on the card, and froze solid before it was blasted to shards.
"You just flipped my Skelengel, old bean," said Marlon. "Now I get to make one draw…"
He drew a card.
"That's all I can do…" muttered Rasputin.
I have to win… he thought. The Jurassic Impact card means nothing, but I must have that talisman…
Marlon made a draw.
He grinned.
"Okay, old chap…" he said. "First, I Special Summon Gilasaurus…"
Gilasaurus appeared, bearing its claws. (1,400/400)
"I use its effect to raise Ice Knight from the Graveyard," replied Rasputin.
Ice Knight appeared again.
"And don't forget his ability. Now there are two Aquas on the field."
(1,300/1,200) –) (2,100/1,200)
"I didn't forget," said Marlon. "Next, I play Inferno Reckless Summon, to summon my other two Gilasaurs."
He played the card. Two more of the small Dinosaurs appeared.
"You're only hurting yourself," said Rasputin, with a laugh.
Two more Ice Knights appeared on his side of the field. Each of them grew to (2,900/1,200)
"And now…" said Marlon, "I sacrifice two Gilasaurs, to summon my best Monster! I summon Super Conductor Tyranno!"
Two of the small Dinosaurs vanished, and a Dinosaur just as big as Ultimate Tyranno loomed above the field. It seemed as much metal as it was flesh, and an electric aura emitted fiercely around it. In let out an unearthly roar. (3,300/1,400)
"3,300 Attack Points?" shouted Rasputin. "Surely, you've got to be kidding…"
"No joke," said Marlon, "and that means it's curtains for your Ice Princess! And don't call me Shirley. Attack! Electric rage!"
Super Conductor Tyranno fired a blast of pure electricity. Tara the Ice Princess screamed before she was reduced to ashes.
"Well…" said Marlon, "with one less Aqua on the field, the Attack Score of your Ice Knights fall to 2,500…"
He looked at the last card in his hand.
With Dark Driceratops in reserve, he thought, and one more Gilasaurus on the field to sacrifice, next round, this duel will be mine.
(M: 3,000) -------------------- (R: 3,100)
"Your move…" he said.
Everyone watched as Rasputin drew a card.
"Heh, heh…" he chuckled.
"You've been a challenging opponent, Marlon… But this duel is over…"
He fit the card into his Disk.
"I Equip one Ice Knight with Chthonian Alliance. Now he gains 800 more Attack Points for each Monster on the field with the same name. You're pretty smart… You can add it up…"
The Equipped Ice Knight glowed with a dark, fiery aura…
(4,100/1,200)
"Good Jove…" said Marlon.
"Stronger Ice Knight…" said Rasputin, "destroy his Super Conductor Tyranno! Cold blade!"
The Ice Knight leapt up, and slashed at the huge Dinosaur with his sword. It roared, and exploded into a blast of furious pyrotechnics.
"You…" continued Rasputin, "destroy the final Gilasaurus."
With one swipe of his blade, the second Ice Knight cleaved the Gilasaurus in half.
"Third time's the charm," said Rasputin. "Attack directly!"
The third Ice Knight leapt up and slammed his blade into Marlon. He toppled over and fell on his back.
(M: 0) -------------------- (R: 3,100)
Marlon sat up, and held his head.
"Ugh…" he said, getting up. "Well, it was rather close at least…"
He stood up.
"Ah, well… A deal's a deal… This thing was only a curiosity anyway…"
He handed the amulet to Rasputin.
"Thank you…" said Rasputin, with a glimmer in his eye. "I assure you, I'll make good use of it."
He held out his hand. The two men shook.
Marlon looked at his hand strangely…
Olga and Nicholas stood up as Rasputin approached the table. He turned towards Yumi.
"Ah," he said, "young Yumi Mouto… I've heard good things about you… I'll be watching your progress very closely…"
Yumi didn't respond. She didn't like how he had said that.
Nicholas passed by Yumi.
He quickly slipped a small piece of paper into her hand.
"This is my cell phone number…" he whispered. "If you ever want to have lunch or dinner or something… Call me, okay?"
"Nicholas, get over here!" shouted Rasputin.
Yumi looked dumbfounded…
Yumi looked at Marlon, who was shaking his hand as if it were numb.
"You all right, Marlon?" asked Yumi.
"Oh, I'm quite all right, Ms. Mouto…" said Marlon. "Darn arthritis must be acting up again…"
When the three were walking away from the table, Nicholas spoke up as Rasputin looked at the odd talisman.
"That was foolish," said Nicholas. "If you hadn't drawn Chthonian Alliance, you could have lost a very valuable card!"
"Heh, heh…" chuckled Rasputin. "I would gladly have wagered the entire deck!"
He held the talisman up to the sun.
"Clearly, the old fogy didn't realize just what he had…"
Yumi heard that. No one knew she had, but she had.
"Ren, Chelsea…" she said. "I'll meet you in the lobby of the hotel in an hour. I have something I need to do. Until then… just enjoy yourselves."
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"So are we going to use it?" asked Nicholas.
Rasputin studied it closely.
He took a leather strap out of his pocket, and strung it through the hole where a chain would have gone. Then he tied the strap together.
"None of them have revealed themselves yet in a way that this talisman can determine," he said, placing it around his neck. "But we have a means, and they don't. They don't even know about them yet, most likely. We can be patient.
"You two… Go, duel… I'll take care of things if something happens…"
Olga and Nicholas went off on their separate ways.
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In her hotel room, Yumi logged on to the computer that was provided.
"Let's see what we can find out about you, Mr. Arthur Graham Carlisle Lamont the 3rd," she said. "There can't be that many people with a name like yours in the dueling world…"
She logged onto the "Who's Who in Duel Monsters" site.
A file came up.
"Yeah, that's him…" she said, looking at the picture. "Winner of last year's Kaibaland London Duel Monsters Cup, I see… Not the best picture…
"Won using a Fire Deck? So why use ice now?"
She looked at some vital stats. His citizenship listed him as a legal resident of the Czech Republic.
"Yeah, right…" said Yumi. "If that's a Czech name, then I'm Italian…"
She looked at the date of birth. It seemed to confirm that he was forty-two years old, but there was an asterisk next to it.
She checked the footnote. It said: "Could not be validated. Birth certificate could not be located."
Yumi's eyes narrowed.
Marital Status: Single
Known Relatives: None
Clearly, Olga and Nicholas were not his true children. Was he their legal guardian? Not many teenagers would hang around with someone his age unless he was their guardian or they were his love slaves, and if they were the latter, he wouldn't have brought them to a place so public.
He checked for occupation. It said "CEO of Raxxon Importing".
Yumi thought for a minute. She had heard of Raxxon Importing… It was a shipping firm in Europe that imported chemicals… very rare ones. Not the type you could buy at the corner drug store. As far as she knew, it was legit…
…but it had nothing to do with archaeology.
She looked at other information.
He was known to speak at least seven languages, known to have an I.Q. of 190 at last testing, interests included science, chemistry, art, and ancient cultures.
Well, that might have explained the archaeology.
She sighed.
He was hiding something. What did that strange talisman do?
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Yumi and her friends may have been up with the sun, but Sam had slept later. She had plenty of time to reach Gold, being at Blue, and she was going to meet Erik for a breakfast buffet.
She was just getting out of the shower, when she heard a knock on her door.
"Oh…" she moaned, reaching for a bathrobe, "one minute!"
She quickly put on the robe, and went to the door.
Standing there was the same old woman whom Yumi had met last night. Sam flinched a little at the sight of her.
"Forgive the intrusion, Ms. Arachne," she said. "I am Maria, someone who has an interest in you and your friends…"
"If you want an autograph, this is a bad time…" said Sam.
"No…" said Maria, "I simply came to ask a small favor…"
She held up a letter that was sealed with wax.
"Your friend Yumi will be exiting her hotel when you walk past it. Simply give her this letter when you see her. If I tried to deliver it myself…
"Well, let's just say that some unscrupulous people are looking for this letter, and I'd be no match for them. But you…"
Sam gave her a dirty look.
"You're telling me that this letter has info that could get me mugged," she said, "and you want me to deliver it? By the way, Yumi is NOT a friend!"
"It is in your best interest to do so, Sam," said Maria. "An evil tide heads for this island, and your part in it cannot be avoided. As much as you two are rivals, you must become allies, however shaky that alliance may be.
"Do this, and at a later date, I will repay you with vital information when you need it…"
"Oh, fine!" snapped Sam, grabbing the letter. "I'll do it. But don't think I'm gonna play hero if this place is overrun by weirdoes again. I'm not my father…"
"I wouldn't think of it…" said Maria.
She turned and walked away…
Sam looked at the letter.
If I was smart, I'd toss this, and forget this ever happened, she thought.
If I was smart, I'd go as far away from Yumi as possible right now…
She paused for a second, and then reached for a pair of fresh underwear.
If I was smart… I would have chosen a less violent hobby…
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"Yumi," said the Pharaoh, "I can tell when something is magical, and I didn't detect even a trace of magic from that amulet."
"Are you certain?" she asked.
"Almost positive," he replied. "For all we know, it could have been nothing more than a toy belonging to a girl your age several millennia ago."
"I really doubt that this guy would duel for the ancient equivalent of a friendship bracelet…" muttered Yumi.
She sighed as she sat back in the chair.
She couldn't discern anything more from the internet. Whoever Rasputin was, her computer couldn't tell her.
She shrugged her shoulders.
"Maybe I was wrong about this guy…" she muttered. "Maybe he's just an eccentric businessman from Copenhagen who collects old junk…"
Her Puzzle glowed.
"Yumi!" shouted the Pharaoh. "I feel it!"
"Feel what?" asked Yumi, nervously.
"The presence," he said. "It's been here ever since I've known you… But it's much stronger now! It's coming…"
Yumi got up…
And she was startled to see her…
In front of her was the strange, phantom woman. Yumi had seen glimpses of this in dreams and daydreams since she was a toddler… A woman with waist-length, platinum hair, dressed in a white business suit, wearing dark sunglasses…
Yumi stared at her.
"Hello, Yumi," she said in a gentle voice. "I've finally been given permission to let you see me, because I must. Things are entering a phase, and you need my help."
"Who are you?" asked Yumi, nervously.
The woman removed her sunglasses, revealing big, beautiful, sea-green eyes.
"I'm Anastasia Pegasus," she said. "Your father knew me…"
Yumi drew back in fear…
After witnessing a strange duel with an odd wager, the situation for Yumi gets stranger still as Anastasia appears from the Great Beyond. Why is she here? And what threats are posed by this new duelist with an interest in Yumi?
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ICE KNIGHT (Monster Card)
Card Specs
Type: Aqua/Effect
Attribute: Water
Level: 4
ATK: 1,300
DEF: 1,200
Card Description: For each Aqua-Type Monster face-up on the field, increase the ATK of this card by 400.
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MOBIUS'S PALACE (Spell Card)
Continuous Spell
Image: A beautiful palace made of ice crystals.
Card Description: If there is no "Mobius the Frost Monarch" face-up on your side of the field, destroy this card. Decrease the ATK and DEF of all face-up Beast, Beast-Warrior, Winged Beast, Plant, and Dinosaur Monsters on the field by 500.
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MOBIUS'S GLACIER (Trap Card)
Continuous Trap
Image: A menagerie of rural Monsters frozen in an icy tundra.
Card Description: If there is no "Mobius's Palace" face-up on your side of the field, destroy this card. All face-up Beast, Beast-Warrior, Winged Beast, Plant, and Dinosaur Monsters on the field are switched to Attack Position and cannot be set or summoned in Defense Position. The above-named Monster Types cannot attack.
Note: "Ice Knight", "Mobius's Palace", and "Mobius's Glacier" were used by Frost in the "Yu-Gi-Oh GX" multi-part episode "Taken By Storm". Creative credit goes to the writers of that episode.
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TARA THE ICE PRINCESS (Monster Card)
Card Specs
Type: Aqua/Effect
Attribute: Water
Level: 6
ATK: 2,000
DEF: 800
Card Description: This card cannot be Normal Summoned or set. This card can only be Special Summoned by removing one "Mobius the Frost Monarch" in your Graveyard from play. Each of your Standby Phases that this card is face-up on your side of the field, destroy two Spell or Trap Cards on the field (this effect is not optional).
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JURASIC IMPACT (Trap Card)
Normal Trap
Image: A meteorite falling to Earth from orbit.
Card Description: You can activate this card when your Life Points are less than those of your opponent. Destroy all Monsters on the field. Each player loses 1,000 Life Points for each of his/her Monsters that are destroyed by this effect. Each player cannot Normal Summon, set, or Special Summon a Monster for one of his full turns after this card has been played.
Note: "Jurassic Impact" was first mentioned by Hasselberry in the "Yu-Gi-Oh GX" episode "Camaraderie Contest", and first used by him in "Taken By Storm (Part Two)". Creative credit goes to the writers of that episode.
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Ren: Uh, Chelsea? What do you think Yumi is doing?
Chelsea: Dunno… Must be important.
Ren: Maybe she's found out something important…
Cassandra: That she has, young ones, and it will decide the path she will take to her destiny!
Coming up next, "Legend of the Sorcerer Kings; The Pathway Revealed!"
And don't worry… Sam will get a chance to get some things done too.