A/N: Please note that this is of course Fan Fiction, therefore the events described would be slightly deviated from the orginal telling.
And nope, I in fact do not own Yugioh or anything else I write about.
Chapter 14
Several nerve-racking turns went by in a dead stalemate. Both sides watched with bated breath as their chosen duelist would constantly trump the other. Odion was confident though panic-stricken that he placed too much on the line. Both Diem and her opponent continued on trying to achieve total victory during their turn, the whole room was utterly silent.
Her opponent's turn ended as he placed three cards in his magic/trap zone and switched his Giant Soldier of Stone back into defense mode. Diem drew her top card and was delighted to see exactly what she wanted. There was only four cards in her entire deck with enough orginal attack to overcome the 2000 defense points of the rock monster. Luckily though, she would not have to attack it to destroy it.
Diem flipped up her Trap Stun to prevent his traps from activating this turn. Then played the card she drew, Soul Exchange. Her Mystic Elf was tributed along with his Giant Soldier of Stone, with the two tributes her Dark Magician was summoned onto the field. Finally she played Dark Magic Attack to destroy all his magic/trap cards. Though due to the effect of Soul Exchange she could not attack this turn. With his field completely bare, she could only end her turn.
The man showed a great deal of nervousness now. He had no cards in his hand and no more under his control. The card he drew would decide his fate. Everyone kept their eyes firmly on him as he looked at the card he drew, grimaced and hung his head. Seconds later he ended his turn in a sorrowful voice. Diem drew her card and with no reason to hesitate, declared a direct attack to win the duel.
Both sides kept the stony silence for a few extra moments. Rare Hunters did not celebrate victory that was considered to belong to them from the start. The other side shook with rage and indignation, they obviously seemed unwilling to accept the results of the duel.
"Your little girl had to cheat in order to pull a card combination like that," snarled the eerie voiced man.
"That is a lie!" Odion returned. "Now your debt must be payed."
"Never will I let your pathetic gang intimidate me!" he replied.
To Diem, the moment reminded her so much of the first time she defeated a Rare Hunter. How he was so deceitful and unwilling to accept an honest loss. She had nearly forgotten about searching for him and now wondered how close he actually could be. The thoughts of vengence were always a part of her character, and the aspiration was still strong to get even. Then she wondered how close the Rare Hunters that savagely attacked Yunis were as well. And whether or not she would ever know.
The rabble of thugs moved closer to the Rare Hunters now. Ready to do what they were payed so little for. Diem quickly gathered her cards up and moved away from the table seconds before the encroaching thugs flipped it. Odion moved a hand into his pocket, seconds later the doors burst open with dozens of Rare Hunters filing in. The thugs stopped and moved back slightly as the balance of power in the room quickly shifted.
"If your bets are not honored, then we will take everything you own. We will destroy what is left. And then we will break any semblance of power that you believe you have," Odion said.
The doors closed with perhaps more than forty Rare Hunters in the room. All looking in one direction, threatening and fearsome looking with their full cloaks on. The eerie voiced man turned his back and stormed away.
"Just give it to them and get them the hell out!" he shouted, exiting through a back door.
The table was picked up and set like it was. Several of the thugs came forward and reluctantly placed their full decks of duel monsters cards on the table top. Their champion to whose loyalty now belonged to the Rare Hunters still sat in his chair. He was obviously in down spirits due to his loss, but looked as if the end had come for him. In under a minute he had grown as sad, silent and pale as the grave.
When all the decks were collected from off the table, two Rare Hunters urged the man up from his chair and walked him out. The rest began to walk out, the thugs chose not to follow this time.
"Have the million within the week," Odion called out to nobody in particular.
The Rare Hunters walked out into the cool night. Once again glowing with triumph and shining with success. Though to Diem the victory seemed hollow. It still felt better to defeat Rare Hunters, than to work for them.
An hour later Odion walked with Diem and four more Rare Hunters along the rooftops in the safer districts of Al Jizah. Though there were four following, Odion talked only to Diem. He explained better of what was expected of her, the rules and codes, techniques and advice to a beginning Rare Hunter.
"That pit boss was one of the last to resist us in this city. With him and his crew out of the picture the rest of them will no longer stand up so defiantly against us," Odion said.
"Why didn't you tell me that your plan was putting me on the line?" Diem interrupted, still slightly angry.
"Understand that I would never do anything to intentionally place you in danger. Master Marik forbade me from letting you come to harm. You were simply the safest bet for me to make. You and the duelist that you faced were the only two in this entire city that defeated me fairly," Odion said.
"It would have been a lot easier if you just told me that before I walked in there. And why does he care so much if he wanted me to be doing high risk gambling so badly in the first place," Diem said, pulling her hood back slightly to see better.
"All that will be revealed in time," Odion said musingly.
The Rare Hunters walked along casually from roof to roof as Odion returned to his speech on procedures. Diem listened intently to his words and absorbed as much information as she could under the circumstances. When at last Odion finished, Diem checked her watch inside her pocket and was quick to say.
"You know I have to be home soon. I can't afford to let my parents know that I've been out all night, let alone coerced into a gang of anonymous people," Diem said.
"I suppose that is enough for one night. There has been sufficient progress made," Odion said.
They doubled back along the rooftops to the SUV that remained parked in an alleyway. All six got inside, Odion driving and Diem riding shotgun. The ride back to Diem's neighborhood was a quiet one. Diem did not have to give directions to her home and was not asked, Odion already seemed to know the way. Though she should have been unnerved by that, after everything that had happened tonight, she wasn't.
"Why did you call yourself 'The Phantom'"? Odion asked lightheartedly.
"Hmmm...oh..I don't know, it was just the first thing I thought of," Diem said.
"It fits," Odion said. "Just try and keep it down to one alias."
"Just stop here," Diem said about a block from her home.
Odion gently applied the brake and Diem jumped out.
"Be sure you take that off before your neighbours see," Odion called out before he drove away.
Diem looked down quickly at the purple cloak. She had it on so long that she nearly forgot she was wearing it.
End of Chapter 14