Yu Gi Oh: Tilting the Balance

by Man Called True

Sequel to Cyber Commander's Yu Gi Oh: The Thousand Year Door. One year later, Darkness threatens all that is. This time, however, the hero is a little... unusual. DISCONTINUED DUE TO UNFORESEEN DIFFICULTIES

21. Battlecry

American culture is called "the melting pot" for a good reason - we have elements of the culture of just about every other country in the world here. One element that many find fascinating is an import from Japan: the concept of the samurai and the way of bushido.

This is rather amusing, because both are outdated. The samurai faded from importance with the development of the gun, taking Japan's focus on the sword with him. (It died hard, though - gunmakers who proved themselves were given swords as a reward.) In addition, bushido was more a goal than an ironclad way of life; much like European knights (who themselves faded with the rise of firearms), there were just as many bad samurai as good.

But the samurai is one of those things that sticks in the mind. I've encountered one would-be samurai before, on Monster Island; he was defeated in twenty turns.

Now I'm facing another, and she seems to be a little stronger... and even more obsessed than the last guy.

Chapter Twenty: Battlecry

Slinking from shadow to shadow, a mysterious woman stalked along the roof of the Xcel Energy Center. This proud warrior was clad in the armor of the ancient samurai, finely-crafted katana in hand, and kabuto firmly in place (it had taken a month to learn how to prevent its slipping into her eyes); the Duel Disk slung on her back seemed a modern intrusion. She carried herself with the grace and dignity of the very greatest swordsmen.

It rather spoiled the effect when the air blurred, Hanzaki popped out with a "Good afternoon", and she yelped and fell on her behind.

Quickly rising to her feet, the armored woman pointed her sword at the Lycra-clad individual and shouted, "How dare you dishonor me with your emergence! I should cut you down where you stand!"

"I'll never forgive myself," Hanzaki sarcastically replied, rolling his eyes. His arms crossed under his symbol as he asked, "Are you ready to duel Gerald?"

A smile crossed the woman's face as she resheathed her sword, replying, "Of course I am. My deck is more than prepared to strike down that walking servant of evil."

Hanzaki slid one hand behind the symbol, taking a Duel Monsters card out of the pouch there. "Degas and Alexander sent me to give this to you." He held it out.

Taking the card from him, the woman looked at it before asking, "But what use will this card be? My strategy does not require me to take advantage of it."

"Consider it an experiment," the messenger replied. "There's a very powerful and very important card in Gerald's deck, and they want to see what happens if you dispose of it. You'll know it when you see it. Understood?"

After a moment's thought, Fuu slid the card into the deck on her back, bowing to Hanzaki. "I understand. Tell them I will use it to the best of my ability."

"You'd better." Bowing himself, Hanzaki disappeared with a blur in the air.

It was a moment later before Fuu stood at the edge of the roof, looking down below as Gerald's group arrived. She took a glance at the time/temperature readout on a nearby electric billboard. Fifteen minutes before the battle begins, she thought.

0000000

At 12:45 P.M. (Central Time), Gerald Laxina and his allies stood in the street in front of the Xcel Energy Center; they were not afraid of traffic - any cars that might hit them would be driven by non-Darkness Infected, and thus welcomed. Vivienne had produced several blankets from her bag (it apparently had the same internal dimensions as Mary Poppins's bag), and so the group sat down, passing the last fifteen minutes.

Having passed an open Subway on their way to the center, they took advantage of the wait to have lunch. Lucifer and Gerald moved to one side of the entrance, Laura sat a certain distance away from Gerald, and Chad and Vivienne sat down under the electronic billboard announcing the most recent acts. (Acknowledgement was playing there the next week.)

"So, you mentioned you have brothers," Chad noted, taking a bite out of his sub.

Vivienne smiled and nodded, digging through her bag with one hand. "Two of them," she replied. "Stephan and Niccolai, both older than me. I'm kind of the baby of the family... Do you have any siblings?"

"No such luck," the artist said. "So how old are they?"

"Stephan is 28 and Niccolai's 25. I was kind of a surprise. Ah, here we are!" Taking a small, zipped leather wallet from her bag, the girl tossed it to Chad. He unzipped it, discovering it was a photo album. The first picture showed Lucifer standing next to a tall, willowy woman with dark hair - the woman looked so much like Vivienne that she was obviously her mother; the two were flanked by young boys, both with the same white-blonde hair as their father, and the woman was holding a little baby.

As he flipped through the photos, Chad saw the family growing older with each one, although Lucifer was mostly the same with each picture. In the last picture, Vivienne, looking the same as she did now, was standing in front of the two boys, now grown to full manhood. The man on the right, who was shuffling a deck of cards in his hands, had lighter skin than his brother and sister, and was wearing a sleeveless shirt and leather pants; "Stephan" was stitched above the pocket of his shirt. The other man, obviously Niccolai, wore an expensive gray suit, was busily cleaning a pair of sunglasses with a monogrammed handkerchief, and seemed embarassed to be there. Vivienne, meanwhile, was grinning and holding up a Duel Disk; she wore the same dress in the picture that she was wearing now.

"You have an interesting pair of brothers," Chad finally said. "What do they do?"

Vivienne replied, "Niccolai is a jeweler and professional fashion critic; Stephan's a con man. My dad's proud of both of them."

The artist blinked. "Your elder brother's a con man?"

"You should see him deal three card monte. He could deal the layout face-up and still get away with it!"

As they spoke, Laura concentrated all of her attention on the meatball submarine sandwitch in front of her.

Meanwhile, Gerald was seated next to Lucifer, and asked, "Just how old are you?"

The Beloved of Fire tightened one of the rings on his right hand, replying, "I was born from a bonfire on ze edge of ze Seine in 1455... zat would make me just over 550 years old, give or take a month."

"I'm almost afraid to ask this next question..." Gerald paused, and then asked, "How many..."

Lucifer interrupted with his answer: "I have had seven wives over zose five and a half centuries, and have ended up a widower with each one. In total, I have fathered twenty-eight children, twenty-four of which survived childhood." He paused, an expression of age-worn sadness drifting onto his face as his head settled onto his hand. "Vivienne and her older brothers are ze only ones still alive. Zeir past siblings had zeir own families, of course, and ze Allumette family line is deeply established in France and countries surrounding, but since all of my grandchildren and further descendents assume zeir ancestor Lucifer is long dead..."

"I understand," Gerald replied. He tried to imagine what sort of life that was, and failed every time. He then asked, "But why do you get married if that's the case?"

"Ze answer is ze same as ze answer to ze question, 'Why do humans fall in love?' I was made to be as human as I could be, Gerald. Zere is no use serving ze Dreams if I am radically different from ze foremost dreamers on ze planet, non?" He sighed, shutting his eyes. "When I met Fabrizia, I had already seen six women I had loved with all my heart die in front of me. I had seen twenty-four children I had raised and cared for more zan ze entire world die, knowing it would happen ze entire time zey were growing up. And yet I still fell in love."

Even as he listened to Lucifer, the lazy young man couldn't help his eyes straying away. They eventually landed on Chad and Vivienne, who were moving closer to each other; he then looked to Laura, who inched away from them with the same expression as someone who just bit into a rotten part of an apple. His eyes stayed on Laura for a second too long, and she looked at him in confusion. He quickly looked to his deck.

Sitting next to him, the servant of Dreams merely smiled.

0000000

Elsewhere in St. Paul, Degas and Alexander were seated before the mirrors, watching the conversation. At least, Degas was. Alexander's attention drifted, and he continually looked towards the door.

Finally, the man in black sighed and said, "It takes longer than that for a Pillar to break out, Alexander. The process won't conclude for another two hours or so."

"Don't you think I know that?" the man in green replied. "It's just... I can't believe we're risking her on this."

"You're the one who suggested her as a Pillar, Alexander," Degas said, pushing his sunglasses back up. "And if I knew you were going to be as protective as this, I never would have allowed it."

"That was back when I thought Jean-Vic had a chance. Gerald and his friends already waltzed through our first two Pillars, though, and now..." Alexander sighed. "What the hell was I thinking?"

Despite his frustration with his nervous, sweating partner, Degas couldn't resist the urge to smirk. "You were thinking, 'How do I keep the one woman in the entire Midwest I care about out of range of our plan?' If I gave a damn about anyone, I'd think along the same lines." The smirk vanished, and the man in black glared through his sunglasses. "Although I doubt my answer would be, 'Make her one of our four major weapons'."

Tightening his grip on his armrest, Alexander focused on the mirrors, saying, "Fuu is about to make her move. If you promise to stop haranguing me about my choice in women, I'll promise to stop worrying and concentrate on the duel."

On hearing that, Degas leaned back in his seat, smiling. "Sounds like a plan... besides, I cannot wait to see what happens when our misguided friend does battle with Gerald Laxina."

"That should be entertaining," the man in green agreed. "I still can't believe she bought everything we told her. I thought samurai were supposed to sense and reject darkness?"

"Samurai are just a human social class. You're thinking of honeybees."

0000000

As the hour drew near, Vivienne took her watch from the bag, counting off the seconds: "Three, two, one... and it's 1:00 P.M."

There was a flicker overhead, causing everyone to look up, and a loud cry of, "Kiai!" split the air. From the sky emerged a woman in armor, sword at the ready, descending on Gerald with her blade held triumphantly overhead.

Laura sprang to her feet and snapped a kick upward. Her foot connected with the other woman's stomach, causing the breath to rush out of her as gravity added its own force to the blow. Without further ado, the woman slumped off of Laura's foot, knocked senseless as she crashed to the ground. Her sword bounced off the ground and spun away.

All of the onlookers shook their head at that point.

It was a few minutes before the armored woman woke up. She rubbed her stomach and then jumped upright, an impressive feat given the weight of her equipment.

Now that she wasn't diving out of the sun, Gerald and company could get a good look at the newcomer. She was a surprisingly tall girl, as tall as Gerald (although Chad was still the tallest among them), but it was a gawky sort of tall. Her body shape was mostly obscured by the suit of samurai armor she was wearing (which now had a crack over the stomach), itself a size too large for her and hanging around her body awkwardly; the helmet was the worst offender in this regard, as she kept having to shift it back. A look at her face and the long, blonde hair spilling out from under the helmet made her Scandanavian heritage clear.

Gerald couldn't help but think, My mother was born and raised in Germany. My father's father was the son of immigrants from Denmark, and my father's mother was from a long line of Russians. That makes me half German, a quarter Danish, and a quarter Russian, and I still look more Japanese than she does.

Giving up on the helmet, the woman took it off and set it on the ground, picking her sword up and pointing it at Gerald. "I have finally found you, evildoer!"

There was a pause, and then Gerald pointed at himself, saying, "Evildoer?"

"Do not try to deny your evil ways!" she said. "I, Fuu, samurai of the northlands, will purge you from this world!"

Laura let out a groan, shaking her head. "Why do we always run into crazy women in this city?" she said. Vivienne and Chad both glared at her.

Pulling himself to his feet, Gerald looked Fuu over. "Who do you work for?"

With a scoff, Fuu said, "I work for no one but myself!"

"That would make you a ronin," Laura pointed out, back under control. "The definition of a samurai is that he serves a lord. Are you a ronin, or do you have a master?"

At first the would-be samurai didn't answer, but finally she put her sword away, admitting, "I serve Degas and Alexander."

"Zis may seem ze obvious question," Lucifer asked in turn, "but why?"

"Why must I explain myself to accomplices of an evildoer?" Fuu said, spitting. "None of you follow the way of bushido, so any attempt to explain my actions would fall on deaf ears!"

At that point, Gerald and Laura did something that impressed their friends - at the same time, without any sort of cue, both rolled their eyes upwards and sighed. I'd bet money she can't even spell "bushido", Laura thought.

"This is missing the point," Gerald finally said, looking back to Fuu. "I'm going to assume you're the next specialist."

The young woman nodded, her hair fluttering around her as she took her Duel Disk off of her back. "Personally, I would have preferred to battle you in proper armed combat, but my masters told me you would likely fall asleep before we could even exchange the first blow."

As he checked the straps on his Duel Disk, Gerald muttered, "For once we agree." He then paused, took his deck out, and fanned through it until he found Heaven's Sphere.

"Something the matter, Gerald?" Chad asked.

The lazy young man didn't answer, but his mind was awhirl. Can I trust this card? he wondered. It doesn't seem to discriminate between friend and foe... after all, it attacked my father without any second thoughts. On the one hand, this girl is a specialist, one of Degas and Alexander's servants... but on the other hand, she seems to be more misguided than dangerous. Can I risk using this against her? More to the point, can I risk not using it?

As she shuffled her deck, Fuu said, "I will only give you a moment more before I attack, evil one."

"Stop calling me that," Gerald said. He came to a decision; his hands moved the deck forward, leaving the card in it. He then stumbled across something else in the deck and smiled. "I actually appreciate this challenge," he said, shuffling his deck and sliding it back into his Duel Disk. "I recently obtained some new cards, so this is a chance to perform tsujigiri."

The would-be samurai raised an eyebrow. "Tsujigiri?"

"It's a Japanese word, as you may have guessed, meaning, 'to try out a new sword on a random passerby'." With that, Gerald sank into a kneeling position, legs tucked under him and feet crossed at the big toe. His opponent blinked.

"Risky," Vivienne said. "He's going to conduct the duel sitting in seiza position."

Lucifer cringed. "My body is more fluid zan most humans and even I can't sit zat way more zan ten minutes..."

Bowing, Gerald said, "May you fight with honor."

"I always do," Fuu said, "and I hope you have enough honor to do the same." She returned the bow, yelled, "Hah!", and activated her Duel Disk.

The kneeling man turned his Disk on without the shouting, and both player's Life Points rose to 8,000.

0000000

Two men who had special reason to keep an eye on Gerald Laxina were in that part of town. They were, in fact, heading to the same spot.

Sol Kilkarn walked down the road, hands in his pockets and Duel Disk on his hip. He hadn't seen a Darkness Infected all day, and it was starting to bother him. What happened to them all? he thought. I strongly doubt Degas and Alexander pulled their forces out of this city... He paused, shuddered, and thought, Unless they're planning to overrun other cities with them.

Even as he thought this, an older man in a blue suit ran up to him, cane in one hand and Duel Disk ready to go on the other arm. Sol's thoughts left their current subject, and he sprang into action, activating his own disk and shouting, "Let's go, Darkness Infected!"

"Have at you, spawn of darkness!" the other man yelled back, leaping into place and turning the disk on. Both Life Point counters began to rise...

...and then the two men got a good look at each other. Seeing no signs of the Darkness Infection in each other, they grinned in embarassment, reached down, and shut off their Duel Disks.

"My apologies," said the man in the blue suit, adjusting his top hat. "After wandering throughout this entire city without seeing a single one of the black-marked hooligans, I've gotten a little jumpy."

Sol nodded, adjusting the chain on his neck "Same here," he replied. "Still, it's nice to see another normal human in town. I'm Sol Kilkarn. You?"

Taking off his top hat, the older man bowed, saying, "Demetrius Lark, first among equals."

Sol's eyes widened, and he took Demetrius's hand in his own, shaking it. "Never thought I'd meet someone like you in this town!"

"Well-met," the older man said, returning the shake. "So why are you helping Gerald? I'm doing it because he and his friends got my deck back..."

With a sigh, Sol said, "I was one of the Darkness Infected until Chad beat me. I can't really get over that until I'm sure I've helped them..." He looked away, seeing Gerald and Fuu's duel about to start, and said, "We'll have to talk more later. Gerald's about to duel."

Seeing this, Demetrius frowned. "And this won't be an easy one, if his opponent is the way I think she is," he added. "Darkness Infected are simple, but as far as I can tell from here, she's a normal human."

"Should we go cheer for him?"

Demetrius shook his head, saying, "We'd just distract him. Best to watch from here for now."

The two men sat on the street, taking the duel in.

0000000

Setting her fingers to her deck, Fuu drew her opening hand, declaring, "I will begin this battle!" She looked over her hand, and then announced, "I summon Shugenja Sorceress in Attack Mode!"

A young woman emerged from amid a series of sakura trees, their blossoms swirling about her as she walked. She wore a kimono and a straw hat, and there were a series of scroll tubes strapped to her waist. Her expression was a serene one. (1,900/900)

"She knows her opponent," Chad noted. "It's not worth your time to put monsters in Defense Mode against Gerald, so she didn't bother."

"Next," Fuu continued, "I will set two cards facedown and end my turn." The cards appeared before her as she said so.

Wise move, not placing facedown monsters, Gerald thought. But it isn't quite as good as she thought, not with this card. "I summon Cyber Tutu in Attack Mode," he said.

The air turned pink, and the sakura blossoms blew around the emerging monster - a little girl in a balleria outfit, with pink hair and a pink visor over her eyes. She piroutted about him, giggling happily. (1,000/800)

Chad leaned forward, murmuring, "Awwwww..." Vivienne grabbed his ear and yanked him back. Watching them, Lucifer had to hide a grin with one hand.

Taking two more cards from his hand, Gerald slid them into the Duel Disk, stating, "I'll set these two cards facedown, and then use Cyber Tutu's effect to its fullest extent - when all of your monsters are stronger than she is, she may attack directly. Therefore, Cyber Tutu, attack her with Fouette Strike."

Turning to Gerald, the Cyber Tutu gave a brief curtsey before dashing across the field in a perfect chasse. She leapt over the head of Fuu's Shugenja Sorceress and whipped her foot around, kicking Fuu square in the face. She staggered back, glaring at the Cyber Tutu as her Life Points dipped to 7,000.

"I think that will be all for me," Gerald concluded.

Fuu took a deep breath, lifting her arms over her head and bringing them down with the palms together (causing Laura to mutter some very harsh language under her breath). She then drew, saying, "I will activate my facedown card, Gift of the Mystical Elf, adding 300 Life Points to my score for each monster in play. That makes 600 points total."

The Mystical Elf appeared behind her, shining her in a bright light and causing the samurai wannabe to relax. Her Life Points rose back to 7,600.

"I summon Beautiful Headhuntress to the field in Attack Mode!" Fuu continued.

Again the sakura blossoms blew about the duelists, as a female warrior emerged from between two trees. She wore a blue kimono, a slightly lighter shade than her hair, and she wielded a sword nearly as long as she was tall. (1,600/800) Spinning the blade around herself, she brandished it at Gerald...

...and then let out a scream as a pit opened directly under her feet, causing her to vanish from view.

Taking the card from his Duel Disk, Gerald slid it into his Graveyard, noting, "Pity about that Trap Hole, but if she'd watched her feet instead of waving that sword about, she could have avoided it."

Off on the sidelines, Vivienne sneezed, rubbing at her nose. "Are you all right?" Chad asked her.

"It's just an old ailment of hers," Lucifer replied. "She's allergic to cherry blossoms."

Laura sighed. "This duel is going to be hell for her, then, if Fuu's monsters are all like what she's summoned so far."

As her hands twitched, Fuu said, "Shugenja Sorceress, attack the Cyber Tutu with Ki Sorcery!"

Taking a scroll from one of the tubes at her side, the sorceress unrolled it, intoning the spell written on it in a low tone. Four arcane symbols flashed in the air over her head, and a shroud of pure light engulfed the Cyber Tutu...

"Activate trap," Gerald announced. "My last gift from Ulysses, known as Silver Dollar."

One silver dollar flipped into the air, and Gerald extended his palm, catching it in his hand. He lifted the coin, tucked between two fingers, and gave it a moment's concentration. Immediately afterward, there was a magnificent flash of light, blowing the Shugenja Sorceress's concentration as she dropped the scroll. The shroud covering the Cyber Tutu evaporated, whereupon she shuddered and hugged herself.

"What was that?" Fuu asked.

Holding up the coin, Gerald explained, "This silver dollar was blessed by the goddess of good fortune as protection for the weak. It can negate any attack on a monster of 1,000 Attack Points or else, but only once. After that, the blessing is gone." He threw the coin away.

"And that makes all three of the cards from Ulysses," Chad pointed out. "Raging Flame Sprite, Cyber Tutu, and Silver Dollar..."

Lucifer crossed his arms, asking, "Who is zis Ulysses?"

"We'll explain later," Laura replied.

Sneering, Fuu said, "I set another card facedown and end my turn."

Gerald drew, making a quick plan in his head. "I play Nobleman of Extermination on your newest facedown card," he began.

The burly knight stepped out of the card as he played it, carrying a gargantuan sword in his right hand. He stepped on the facedown card, raised his blade, and impaled it with one smooth stroke. The card revealed itself as Des Counterblow, soon vanishing into thin air.

"And zat takes care of zat," Lucifer said. "Ze one card he really has to fear is gone for good."

As expected, two more copies of the card vanished from Fuu's deck as they removed themselves from play. She began to seethe.

"Now," Gerald went on, "I summon Jinzo #7 to my field in Attack Mode."

The prototype humanoid robot clanked its way onto Gerald's field, adjusting the panel with the number "07" on his shoulder. It clicked its fingers back into place, as they'd gotten a little loose. (500/400)

Nodding to it, Gerald said, "Jinzo #7, attack Fuu directly with Cyber Glitch."

A ball of purple energy charged up in the robot's hand, and it threw it at Fuu, causing her to twitch slightly as the electricty sank into her system. Her Life Points sank to 7,100.

"Now, Cyber Tutu, attack her again," the lazy man continued, stretching as he said it.

With another curtsey, the little ballerina slid across the street, this time spiraling around the Shugenja Sorceress before performing a jete and kicking Fuu in the jaw. The woman groaned, rubbing her face as her Life Points reached 6,100.

Chad's eyes followed every step of this, as he thought only one word: Cute...

On landing, the Cyber Tutu bounced back to Gerald's field, assuming fourth position. He studied this before informing his monster, "Your right foot's too far forward." Blushing, she moved it back a step.

Spitting, Fuu hissed before asking, "Is that all from you this turn?"

"I just need to set this facedown..." He set a card facedown before finishing, "That will be it."

Drawing another card, the woman paused for a moment, eyes flitting between two separate cards, before choosing and playing one. "I summon the Nin-Ken Dog in Attack Mode," she said.

A cloud of smoke filled the air, causing most of the spectators to cough. (Gerald covered his face in time, and Lucifer was unaffected; in fact, he actually inhaled it with a sigh of pleasure.) From the smoke emerged a sight that, once the air cleared, lead to tilted heads: a humanoid dog in a ninja's outfit, poised to attack. (1,800/1,000)

Gerald merely replied, "I activate Gravity Bind, preventing monsters of Level Four or higher from attacking this turn." The orb of quicksilver flowed into being next to him, and it began to pulse, intensifying the gravity around the duelists. The Shugenja Sorceress and Nin-Ken Dog slumped over, trying to stay upright.

"At least it didn't turn out like last time," Laura noted.

"Last time?" Vivienne asked.

Chad replied, "The opponent used nothing but high-Attack Point Level Threes. He then pulled out Man-Thro' Tro' and went to work." He paused, as Vivienne giggled over that name, and continued, "It turned out to be his dad, on top of it."

With a smile, Lucifer said, "I like ze elder Laxina; he's a pleasant man to talk to."

Back in the duel, Fuu groaned, sliding a card into her Duel Disk as she said, "I set this facedown and end my turn."

Sliding another card from his deck, Gerald tucked it into his hand, giving him exactly two cards. One of the nagging problems with this deck is that my hand empties fast and refills slowly, he thought. "Cyber Tutu?" he said aloud.

Without any further ado, the little ballerina piroutetted, and then leaned forward and danced toward the samurai...

...only to be interrupted when Fuu yelled, "Activate Waboku!" A ring of priestesses emerged, frowning at the Cyber Tutu, who nervously bowed her head and stepped back.

"I end my turn on that note," Gerald said at that.

Fuu drew, took a card from her hand, and said, "Your tricks will not stop this monster, for he can walk untouched by your defenses. I summon the Monk Fighter in Attack Mode."

A large rock appeared on her field. Even though they knew that the Monk Fighter was a Rock-type, those watching the duel were still confused. In particular, Vivienne thought, Is he going to carve himself out of that?

Then cracks appeared in the rock. They spread, and finally the rock shattered, revealing a muscled young man in a sleeveless yellow shirt and long pants. He pulled his arm back, tensed, and let out a yell. (1,300/1,000) The Gravity Bind pulsed, but its powers didn't so much as distract the martial artist.

"And before you ask," the armored woman continued, "this monster is only Level Three. Monk Fighter, destroy the Cyber Tutu with Quivering Palm!"

Level Three? Gerald thought. He set a hand to his forehead, thinking, That's twice in one day...

The monk stepped forward, glaring into the ballerina's eyes. Quicker than she could follow, he thrust his hand out, striking her in the stomach. Nothing happened at first, but then she gripped her stomach, eyes watering. With a peep, she shattered into triangles, and Gerald's Life Points decreased to 7,700.

As Chad moaned in sadness, Laura raised an eyebrow, asking, "What was that?"

Fuu smiled, watching the Monk Fighter take a controlled pose. "The martial arts style of the Monk Fighter includes training in a forbidden art, the Quivering Palm. That attack seems to do nothing at first, but from the moment it hits, a lethal vibration travels through the body of his victim. As soon as he struck the Cyber Tutu, she was already dead..." After a moment's thought, she said, "I'll end my turn now."

Gerald drew, feeling his legs tense under him. He hadn't quite practiced sitting seiza before, and his muscles were calling him on it. He looked at his latest draw, tilted his head, and slid it into his Duel Disk. "I set this card facedown, switch Jinzo #7 to Defense Mode, and set a monster in Defense Mode." The clunky machine's eyes faded as it knelt, crossing one arm in front of itself, even as a concealed monster faded into view next to him. "That will be my turn."

Even as the armored woman drew, she said, "As a wise man once said..."

"If this is going to be one of those 'Confucius Say' things, you can shut up right now," Laura interrupted.

"It would not be, but I see you do not wish to hear it." Taking a card from her hand, Fuu placed it into her Duel Disk, announcing, "I play the Magic Card known as Remove Trap, destroying Gravity Bind!"

A bit of fire leapt off of Lucifer's shoulders as he muttered, incredulous, "People actually play zat card?"

"Not most of the time," Fuu replied. "But I put it in the deck for Gerald - after all, one of his major defenses is a Continuous Trap Card, and he has more than one. Therefore, it is worth my while to have a way to remove it that is not restricted to one per deck, is it not?"

Logical, Chad thought. Bad luck for Gerald, but still logical.

The quicksilver orb that was Gravity Bind warped and twisted, stretching itself to the breaking point. And then it broke, flinging pieces of liquid metal every which way. Quicksilver being another name for mercury, and mercury being toxic, the spectators danced out of the hologram's way from sheer instinct.

With the destruction of the orb, the unusual gravity that was tormenting the Shugenja Sorceress and Nin-Ken Dog came to an end, and the two rose to their feet, stretching out. The Monk Fighter, on the other hand, merely smiled.

"Monk Fighter," Fuu began, "destroy Jinzo #7 - but do not bother with the Quivering Palm, it will not work on that machine..."

As advised, the monk did not use the forbidden technique. He instead just walked up and smashed the robot's head in with one swing of his arm.

"Nin-Ken Dog," she continued, "attack the facedown monster with Howling Lunar Strike!"

The dog ninja howled, fading away as it did so. The sky briefly turned dark, as a low flute note sounded on the air. Gerald's facedown monster turned face-up, revealing itself to be a one-eyed, grinning pot. (700/600) Another howl sounded, and then the Nin-Ken Dog dove down from the sky, shattering the pot with a swing of its sword.

Fuu gasped as she recognized it. "A Morphing Jar!"

All Gerald did was nod, and then both duelists discarded the remaining card in their respective hands before drawing five cards. While the lazy man didn't mind (all he had was Attack and Receive), Fuu hissed as her Avatar of the Pot slid into the Graveyard.

"I take it you know what that card does now, Laura?" Chad asked. He then ducked as her foot swept overhead.

"My turn is not over yet, Gerald," the would-be samurai continued as she finished drawing. "Shugenja Sorceress, attack Gerald directly with your Ki Sorcery!"

Taking another scroll from the tubes on her waist, the Shugenja Sorceress rolled it out and began to chant. This time, the arcane symbols of the spell appeared around Gerald's body. He looked at them, beginning to sweat, before a yellow light covered his body. He glowed brightly for a moment, and then let out a cry of pain as the light grew to searing intensity, his Life Points dropping to 5,800.

But as the light faded, Gerald's facedown card flipped up. "Attack and Receive will damage you as you damage me," he said. "You take 700 points of damage from this card, and 300 more because I discarded an Attack and Receive for the Morphing Jar..."

Two armored knights stepped out of the card. They crossed their blades and then charged, landing an X-shaped blow across Fuu's body. She yelled as her Life Points fell to 5,100.

As the X faded, Fuu staggered a moment before taking a card from her hand and setting it into place. "I end my turn with this card facedown."

Gerald drew... and then stared, as his latest draw began to glow. There you are, he thought. I still don't know if trusting you is wise, but you could come in handy. Still, I need to prepare for you. "I set a monster in Defense Mode," he began, the monster appearing as he said it. "Next, I play Swords of Revealing Light..."

"And I will activate Magic Jammer," Fuu replied, "discarding my Lone Wolf card for the cost. Now your swords mean nothing."

The glowing swords began to cage in the would-be samurai's monsters, but then a ritual circle appeared before her. Smoke billowed out of it, obscuring the light of the swords until they completely disappeared.

Even as his legs cramped, Gerald wiped the sweat from his brow, saying, "I set a card facedown and end my turn."

The two duelists looked to their hands as Fuu drew. Even as Gerald stared at his Heaven's Gift, his opponent raised an eyebrow, thinking, This is the card Hanzaki gave me. If those looks mean what I think they do, now is the time to employ it.

"I begin my turn by summoning Usagi Warrior in Attack Mode," Fuu declared.

Once again, there was a wave of cherry blossoms, and Vivienne sneezed, sniffling in misery as they blew past. A human-shaped hare emerged into view, clad in blue samurai armor and with his ears tied back into a topknot. He bowed to Gerald as he appeared; Gerald bowed back, wincing at the weight on his knees. (1,500/1,000)

Vivienne couldn't resist, yelling, "Bunny!" before doubling over with a massive sneeze.

"It's Usagi Yojimbo!" Chad called out. "I haven't seen him since that one Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles episode!"

As she blew her nose into a Kleenex provided by Laura, Vivienne muttered, "One of my brothers had that action figure... too bad the ears broke off."

Taking another card from her hand, Fuu continued, "Now I will equip the Usagi Warrior with the Blade of Bushido, which can only be wielded by warriors or beast-warriors of the Light attribute and increases their Attack Points by 800."

Gerald and Laura again groaned in unison, Gerald thinking, Must they hammer that word into the ground?

Laura, meanwhile, thought, What's the point of even having a card like that when both types have other, almost-identical support?

Despite their complaints, a sheath still appeared in the Usagi Warrior's hand. He drew the shining blade out of it, brandishing it before him. (1,500/1,000 - 2,300/1,000)

"I set a card facedown," Fuu went on. "Now, Usagi Warrior, attack Gerald's defending monster with Strike of the Hare!"

"Activate Negate Attack," the kneeling man answered.

The armed leporid sprang forward, blade at the ready. As he swung it around into Gerald's monster, however, the air blurred, and his blade caught in nothingness. Uttering what Gerald thought was a very nasty curse in Japanese, the hare braced his foot on the nothingness and tugged, extricating his sword. That done, he bowed again and returned to Fuu's field, glaring at her.

"That will be my turn," the would-be samurai concluded.

While he drew, the lazy young man shifted one of his legs, finding it hard to continue in his position. At this rate I'll have to stand before the next turn's done, he thought. He then took a deep breath, declaring, "I offer my Humanoid Slime as a tribute to summon forth Heaven's Sphere."

The facedown monster revealed itself as a human-shaped slime. It bubbled, and then drew itself inward, forming an orb of ooze over the heads of the duelists. From within it grew an ever-growing light, concealing its outline as it grew and swelled. Soon the slime was gone, leaving only the light behind. This light took shape and solidified, now the marble orb of Heaven's Sphere. (2,000/1,000)

Even as this happened, though, Fuu took on an expression of evil glee, saying, "I activate my trap, Bottomless Trap Hole!"

There was a moment's pause, and then Gerald dropped his hand, the cards fluttering about him.

Underneath Heaven's Sphere, the ground began to crack and break, finally giving away to reveal an infinite empty space. At first, this meant nothing, since Heaven's Sphere floated. But soon, a vacuum came up, pulling on the floating servant of Light. The orb fought against this, pulling back hard, but it was too late - the vacuum won, and Heaven's Sphere vanished into the pit, which disappeared immediately afterward.

"Due to the Bottomless Trap Hole," Fuu explained, still grinning, "your monster no longer exists. Unlike the Trap Hole you carry, this one removes its victim from play altogether! Unless I am mistaken, you have no way to bring it back!"

Once Fuu stopped talking, the truth of the situation hit the spectators. Chad and Laura both recoiled, Laura gasping as Chad grabbed his head with both hands. Lucifer stumbled to one knee, the destruction of the Light hitting him hard, breathing heavily. Even Vivienne, who didn't know what this entailed, was left pale.

And after the shock sank in, Gerald did not scream, nor did he fly into a rage, nor did he cry. In fact, he did not do anything. He merely collapsed onto his face, legs kicking out from under him. He tried to stand, but collapsed again, eyes open and empty.

0000000

"So the damned thing worked," Degas noted. "It was true, then - his Heaven's Gift was unprotected from magic or traps."

Alexander smirked, resting his chin on his hand. "Unlike Cards of Night, Heaven's Gifts tend to be... well, more fair," he replied. "One can imagine, for sake of argument, a Hell's Sphere being far more prepared than that. Granted, looking at it would likely be enough to burn out your eye sockets."

"The damage to Gerald is more than I expected, however. I can understand his reaction to Image Sealer - that was a branding iron to his soul - but why would losing a Heaven's Gift hurt him so?" the man in black then asked.

The man in green answered, "He is a Chosen of the Light, and that was a weapon granted him by the Light. Break a samurai's sword, to use a reference Fuu would understand, and you'd have much the same calamity. I'm not sure what the exact injury is, but recovering will not be easy for our lazy young friend."

0000000

Much the same conclusion came to Gerald's allies as they stood aside, watching as the young man's prone form twitched. Nobody moved; no one so much as spoke, afraid they could somehow damage him.

After a few moments, Fuu sighed and drew her sword, walking towards her unconscious opponent. "I say enough time has passed," she said. "This counts as a forfeit, and thus his life is forfeit."

Laura stepped in the way, arms at her sides. "Take another step and I'll kick your sword back through your head."

"Commoners should not speak like that to a samurai," Fuu replied, narrowing her eyes. "You have dishonored me with your words. By all rights, I should kill you where you stand for that."

Taking out her deck, Laura searched through it until she held four specific cards, fanning them out. "You're no samurai," she said. "These are real samurai... at least, one of them is." She held up the Sasuke Samurai cards, glaring at Fuu from behind them. "Sasuke Samurai #2 is a farmer, #3 is a ronin, and #4 is a nobleman and you're less of a samurai than any of them."

Tucking her hand into the sleeve of her armor, Fuu raised her sword overhead. "Impudence!" She brought it down hard...

...and faster than anyone could catch it, Laura slid her cards back into her deck and caught the sword between her hands, a thin smile on her face. "You took a step back before you attacked," the redhead said, closing her fingers around the back of the blade. "Work on that and you might be decent with this toy." With one pull, she yanked the sword out of Fuu's fingers, throwing it aside (and nearly impaling Chad, who had to dance out of the way).

During the interlude, Lucifer and Vivienne had kept watching Gerald. Finally, Lucifer called, "He's getting up!"

And indeed, as Fuu and Laura turned their focus to him, Gerald rose to his knees, taking a few deep breaths with his eyes shut. He gathered his spilled cards, and then set one hand on the street and climbed to his feet, staggering for a moment.

Satisfied, Laura stepped away from Fuu, arms crossed. She went out of her way to kick the would-be samurai's sword as she moved.

After a moment, Gerald looked into Fuu's eyes, muttering, "I thought about not summoning Heaven's Sphere, in order to show you mercy. That can be forgotten now." He looked at his cards, took two, and slid them into his deck, saying, "I set these two cards facedown. Go."

Retrieving her own hand from her armor, Fuu fanned it, shaking her head. She drew before saying, "I play Pot of Greed."

"And I'll chain my Scapegoats to that," Gerald replied.

As the evil, chortling jar appeared in front of Fuu, four tiny goats bounced into being in front of Gerald. Vivienne let out a little noise of happiness with that occurance, making Chad and her father glance to each other and shrug.

After her second draw, Fuu let out a small laugh, saying, "It seems the Heart of the Cards is siding with me today, evil one..."

"Heart of the-" Gerald inhaled, his limbs still shaking to an extent, and let out a long, groaning exhalation. "You're one of those people, too? I thought being obsessed with samurai was your biggest problem, but it seems I'm wrong."

"I, however, seem to be right about your villainous ways," Fuu replied, narrowing her eyes. "Either way, I sacrifice my Nin-Ken Dog for a far nobler being - a monster known as Yamoto the Noble Samurai in Attack Mode!"

The Nin-Ken Dog bowed before vanishing. As he disappeared, a massive cloud of sakura blossoms blew through the air, sending Vivienne into a sneezing and coughing fit to the point where she collapsed against Chad, eyes watering.

From this cloud emerged a figure clad in gold armor, wielding a shining blade. He bounced the sword on his shoulder, and then bowed to Gerald before moving into an attacking stance. (2,200/2,000)

To everyone's surprise, Gerald gave a low whistle and bowed back, saying, "We meet again, Yamoto." He noticed the confusion and explained, "The last duelist I defeated on Monster Island before losing my duel for a Crystal Star played Yamoto. He was as much of a fool for samurai as Fuu was, actually."

"Fool for... you baka!" Fuu yelled. "Yamoto, cleave one of his Scapegoats in half!"

As the samurai charged forward, blade at the ready, Gerald activated his other facedown card. "In response, I activate Widespread Ruin. Goodbye, Usagi Warrior."

The trap did nothing to Yamoto, so he proceeded to cut the little goat in half (to a sigh from Vivienne). However, the Usagi Warrior dropped his Blade of Bushido, gulped, and exploded, leaving a scorch on the field and throwing pieces of blue armor everywhere.

Now digging a hole in the concrete with the toe of her armor, Fuu declared, "Take out two more of his Scapegoats, my loyal monsters!"

There was no hesitation. The Shugenja Sorceress read off another one of her spells, causing one of the Scapegoats to vanish in a puff of smoke as it was incinerated, and the Monk Fighter slid up to the other one and tapped it with the Quivering Palm, whereupon it shattered.

"I'll end my turn with another card facedown," Fuu concluded.

Drawing his next card, Gerald dusted himself off and glanced at the new acquisition. He then slid it into place, declaring, "I activate my Continuous Magic Card, Spell Sanctuary. Both of us may search our deck for a Magic Card and add them to our hands, and as long as the Sanctuary's in play, we may activate any Magic Cards as Quick-Plays."

A brilliant light covered the field before a temple on a hill rose up down the street from the duel. Both duelists took their decks out of their Duel Disks and searched through them. From the sidelines, watching the activity, Chad pondered, "What might they take out?"

"If Gerald has any brains, he'll be looking for one of his defenses," Laura replied. "As for Fuu, she's got control of the field, so who can tell?"

Once he was done searching, Gerald shuffled his deck, slid it back into the slot, and played the card he searched for. "I play my Pot of Greed."

Bit of a gamble, but what choice did you have? Lucifer thought.

The evil jar appeared again, and Gerald drew. "Next," he said, "I set a card facedown, and summon the Inaba White Rabbit in Attack Mode."

The teleporter flickered into being, and one of the sparks it threw off became an angry-looking white rabbit, ears twitching. (700/500)

"Attack her directly, Inaba White Rabbit," the lazy young man ordered.

The rabbit stepped onto its teleporter, which turned it into the ball of light and fired it at Fuu... and then it hit an invisible wall, turned back into a rabbit, and bounced up to its owner, looking angry.

"Negate Attack solved that problem," Fuu explained.

With a sigh, Gerald said, "I end my turn." He returned the Inaba White Rabbit to his hand after saying so.

Fuu drew next, and then announced, "I will activate my Pot of Charity. By removing one monster of Light in my Graveyard from the game, I may draw three cards, so I will now remove Usagi Warrior and do so!"

A somewhat prettier take on the Pot of Greed appeared in front of Fuu, and the Usagi Warrior appeared on top before sliding in. The hologram vanished just as Fuu finished drawing.

With a smile, Fuu continued, "I set a card facedown and summon Yamoto's favored student, Sashia the Samurai Squire in Attack Mode!"

"Oh, in the name of..." Laura muttered. "Samurai did not have squires! That's a Western concept!"

"For once, I can accept this," Gerald replied. "After all, can you tell me what samurai referred to their students as?"

Laura thought about it, and then shrugged.

"Same here. That being the case, I can let it slide."

During the argument, another monster had taken her place on Fuu's field, almost unnoticed. She looked like a dark-haired version of Fuu - tall, gangly, and dressed in oversized armor. There was a bow and quiver of arrows slung on her back, and she blushed sheepily as Yamoto stared at her. He then smiled, and she sighed in relief. (1,700/1,500)

"As long as she shares the field with Yamoto," Fuu added, "Sashia gains 300 extra Attack Points." And indeed, just being next to her teacher made the younger warrior visibly more confident. (1,700/1,500 - 2,000/1,500)

Quietly enough that the duelists could not hear, but loudly enough for the other spectators to catch it, Laura whispered, "Suck-up."

Gerald readied himself, looking to his last Scapegoat.

"Sashia the Samurai Squire," Fuu ordered, "take out the final Scapegoat!"

"In response," Gerald said, "I activate my Messenger of Peace."

Sashia took the bow and arrows off of her back, nocked the arrow, and drew back the drawstring, aiming for the little goat. Suddenly, however, the goat was in the arms of a kind-faced man in white robes with a peaceful aura about him, who glared at Sashia. The young warrior relaxed her bow, looking ashamed to have even thought about it.

On Fuu's field, Yamoto and the Shugenja Sorceress also lowered their heads, Yamoto returning his sword to its sheath... but the Monk Fighter spat, pounding one fist into the other palm. Noting that, Fuu said, "Perhaps my other monsters are too strong to attack, but the Monk Fighter is under 1,500 Attack Points, so nothing stops him! Attack the Scapegoat with your Quivering Palm, Monk Fighter!"

Marching up to the Messenger of Peace, the Monk Fighter wrenched the Scapegoat from his arms and gave it what looked like a gentle pet before returning it. After a second, however, the Scapegoat shook in the messenger's arms before exploding into shards. The older man shook his head in regret.

"That will be it for my turn," Fuu finished.

Gerald drew another card, smiling as he saw it. "I pay the 100 Life Points to maintain my Messenger of Peace," he began, his Life Points slipping to 5,700.

"And now you'll lose even more as I activate my Solar Ray trap!" Fuu shouted. "For each Light Monster on my field, you lose 400 Life Points, so that's 1,200 in total!"

Yamoto, Sashia, and the Shugenja Sorceress glowed brightly, and then a beam of light shot out of the three of them, piercing Gerald from three different directions. He fell to the ground again, exhaling as his Life Points sank to 4,500.

"And that's still less painful than when Jacob used Just Desserts on him," Chad said just before wincing.

There was a slight groan as Gerald got back to his feet, stretching for a moment before he went on, "Now I summon Mucus Yolk in Attack Mode."

A hideous purple substance bubbled up from a storm drain, pooling at Gerald's feet. It burbled upwards, a pink core forming within it. (0/100)

"Now, I will equip it with the Axe of Despair," Gerald continued.

The axe came into being on top of the Mucus Yolk, sinking into its mass after a moment and swelling it. (0/100 - 1,000/100)

"And now that it has an Attack Score, Mucus Yolk, attack her directly with Damaging Form: Axe," the lazy man ordered, slumping over a few degrees as he said it.

The ooze rose off of the ground, spun rapidly, and turned into a fast-spinning axe. It then flung forward, shearing into Fuu and causing her to cry out as her Life Points dropped to 4,100.

"That will be that," Gerald concluded, "and because you took damage, the Mucus Yolk gains 1,000 Attack Points." The ooze grew even larger, until its mass touched the Messenger of Peace's foot and he kicked it back a step. (1,000/100 - 2,000/100)

As she recovered from the blow inflicted by Mucus Yolk, Fuu began to shudder, finally asking, "How did you draw those? You do not have the Heart of the Cards behind you, yet you drew just what you needed!"

At first there was no response, as Gerald took a few deep breaths, setting one hand to his brow. After a moment, however, he let out a long sigh and replied, "Heart of the Cards... I'd have an easier time believing in that if Duel Monsters cards weren't just ink on cardstock."

Fuu gasped, and then yelled, "You liar! Every card in this game has its own spirit, its own soul! They are unique beings with their own talents! How dare you say such things!"

"I say the truth," Gerald said, cutting her off. He held out the last card in his hand, back to her - perhaps it was coincidence that all his fingers except his index and middle fingers were curled up, and his index finger was hidden behind the middle one. "Take a good look. This is cardstock; in essence, it's the same as the bottom layer of cardboard." His finger tapped against the card's back. "This is ink - a liquid mixture of various pigments, although I don't know if this one uses resin or water-based inks. Together, they make your average Duel Monsters card. Now where in that mixture is there room for a soul?"

Everyone listening to him just stared, jaws on the verge of dropping.

"The answer," Gerald continued, "is nowhere. Duel Monsters don't have souls. How can they? Wouldn't that make anyone who disposed of a torn or damaged card a murderer?" He rolled his eyes, staring at Fuu afterwards. "The Heart of the Cards is little more than a myth. I've seen its fondest believers lose the first rounds of major tournaments while the worst jerks in the building won without even trying hard. If the Heart of the Cards was real, it would be the other way around, now, wouldn't it?"

The would-be samurai was incoherent as far as responding, but if her expression was any sign, she was on the verge of trying to break Gerald's neck.

"I've never needed the Heart of the Cards. I have enough self-confidence to not rely on a fable," Gerald concluded. He then smiled and said, "Now, it's your turn, correct?"

Five seconds later, Fuu let out a noise similar to a whistling teakettle (causing the audience to break out of shock and grab their ears) before drawing her next card. "You will pay in blood!" she screamed. She glanced at her cards, and then threw one on her disk, shouting, "I summon Ancient Master Yoshi in Attack Mode!"

An old man emerged from the card in question, staff held across his chest. He turned and bowed to Yamoto and Sashia, and they bowed to him with the utmost respect. (800/2,000)

"This monster trained every samurai in the proper way of the warrior," Fuu continued. "As a result, all monsters with Samurai in their names gain 500 Attack Points as long as he is face-up! Mataza the Zapper would gain this bonus, too, but I have yet to draw him."

Huh, Laura thought. I could use one of those myself. It would be a benefit for my Sasuke Samurai group...

Meanwhile, as Gerald looked unworried, Fuu studied her hand, eyes narrowing. I have three De-Spells in this deck, she thought, why have I not drawn any of them? "I now play Smashing Ground, destroying the monster with the highest Defense on your field," she declared. "Since you only have the one monster, I will destroy that."

The clouds parted, and a giant fist shot out of the sky. It slammed into the Mucus Yolk, splattering it every which way and crushing the Axe of Despair. The fist shook some residual slime off of its knuckles before withdrawing into the air.

"Oh, dear," Gerald muttered, studying Fuu's field. "I just realized... you have two monsters that can attack me directly, even with the Messenger."

The samurai wannabe hissed, "I was going to say that! Ancient Master Yoshi, crack him across the jaw with Master's Staff!"

The old man hobbled forward, age having robbed the speed from his legs. Time had not, it appeared, stolen the strength from his arms at the same time. How else to explain how he snapped Gerald's head to one side with a good swing of his staff?

While Yoshi returned to his spot on Fuu's field, leaving Gerald's Life Points to drop to 3,900, Lucifer couldn't help a chuckle. "Age often equals power, my friends," he said. "I'm living proof."

"You don't look that old..." Chad noted. "At least, not as old as he does."

"It's an illusion," Lucifer replied. He passed a hand in front of his face, and his entire body seemingly aged sixty years before the hand reached his neck. "I can be any age I want - it is simply easier to be young." With that, the Beloved of Fire was back to his early-thirties self.

The duelists hadn't seen that, focused as they were on taking out the frustrations accumulated over the course of the battle. Fuu ordered, "Monk Fighter, show him what your Quivering Palm does to humans!"

Striding forward, the Monk Fighter cracked his knuckles and then thrust his palm out. To everyone's shock, Gerald moved faster than they could follow, blocking the palm with one of his own fists (card tucked into his knuckles). The monk raised an eyebrow, and then threw a punch with his other hand. Gerald's hand snapped in front of it, catching his fist.

The onlookers stared, and then Gerald's Life Points dropped anyway, to 2,600. He withdrew his hand, muttered, "Worth a shot," and then groaned, "Ow..." as he rubbed at his bruised knuckles. Shaking his head, the Monk Fighter walked back to his owner's field.

"I will end my turn on that, evil one," Fuu said.

"We're back to the namecalling again?" Gerald asked as he drew. "As before, I pay 100 Life Points for Messenger of Peace..." As his Life Points lowered to 2,500, he stared at his draw, and then set it onto his Duel Disk, declaring, "I play Exchange, letting me see your hand and trade you one of my cards for one of yours."

Fuu gasped, turning her hand around for Gerald to see. The lazy young man looked it over, eventually gesturing to one card and saying, "The Card of Sanctity will do nicely. Of course, you get my Inaba White Rabbit in the trade..."

"That happened last time he used that card," Chad noticed. "He has the best luck with Exchange..."

Laura asked, "When was the last time he used it?"

"Against the Pillar of Destruction. Like I said, he has the best luck."

Magical hands reached down, grabbing Fuu's Card of Sanctity and Gerald's Inaba White Rabbit and tucking them into each other's hands. Gerald didn't hold onto the card for long, setting it into his Duel Disk and announcing, "Let's draw, shall we?" Both duelists drew up to six cards, whereupon Gerald said, "I summon Servant of Catabolism in Attack Mode."

This was the special one, judging by his beatific smile as the squid/snail creature oozed into view, waving its tendrils. (700/500)

"I'll set a card facedown," he continued, "and then attack you directly with Electric Tendrils."

The Servant of Catabolism oozed forward and sprang at Fuu, digging through her armor and electrocuting her as she screamed. Her Life Points plunged to 3,400.

"I believe it's your move now," Gerald concluded.

Fuu shut her eyes, set a hand in front of her face, and then let out the loudest scream anyone had heard outside of stepping on a cat. Chad, Lucifer, and Vivienne all stumbled backwards, while Laura held her ground with her hands tight on her ears. Gerald suffered the worst, and collapsed onto his knees as he shook.

"What in ze name of ze Divine was zat?" Lucifer asked as the echo faded.

"I think that was her battlecry," Laura replied. "Or was supposed to be, anyway, even if it sounded more like a plane crash."

"Thanks to you," Fuu said as she drew her next card, "I now have every tool I need to finish this duel in my favor! But before I do anything else, I will play Dian Keto the Cure Master..."

An aura of light surrounded her as her Life Points returned to 4,400. Gerald glanced to his hand, realizing he hadn't drawn any of his own yet. I do have all the parts of my new weapon, he thought, which is definitely a help. Now to see if she does what I want...

"Next," Fuu continued, "I play De-Spell, destroying your Messenger of Peace!"

A magic key appeared in front of the white-robed messenger, emitting a white smoke. The smoke formed a keyhole on the messenger's chest, and the key slid into it. The kind-faced man gasped and vanished.

The armored woman smiled, playing her next card. "By discarding Luminous Spark, I can play the card known as Lightning Vortex, destroying your Servant of Catabolism!"

An arc of electricity passed from one cloud to another overhead, and then a massive bolt of lightning shot down, vaporizing the Servant of Catabolism. "You're digging your own grave, Fuu," Gerald said with a glare as part of his monster bounced past him.

"I am sorry, but you must be struck down," Fuu replied. "Now that all the pieces are in place, I declare my attack! Strike him down, Yamoto! Blade of Honor!"

"And you ran right into it." Gerald gestured to his facedown card, which flipped to reveal an all-too-familiar image. "I take it you've heard of Mirror Force?"

A glowing barrier surrounded Gerald, and Yamoto ran directly into it as he charged. Even as the samurai stumbled back, a wave of burning power engulfed him before it spread out, consuming all of Fuu's monsters. The barrier shattered, and Gerald yawned.

Her confidence gone, Fuu stammered for a moment before she said, "I set a card... facedown... and that will do it."

Gerald drew now, barely looking at his draw. "I start by playing Graceful Charity, drawing three cards and discarding two." The angel descended, and he took three cards before swiftly discarding two.

"He picked his discards as fast as Geese did," Chad noted. "There must be a plan..."

As he held up his next card, Gerald smiled. "I have a story to tell you," he began. "Long ago, the Amazons were faced with a rather... unpleasant problem. One of their own had turned to dark power in order to become stronger, but it turned her into a violent lunatic who lusted for battle. She finally killed two other members of the tribe, but the Amazons didn't want to stain their own hands with her blood. In order to punish her properly, they banished her from the tribe forever, dubbing her the Unfriendly Amazon.

"With no choice, the Unfriendly Amazon wandered the world, her thirst for violence unsated. Eventually, however, she noticed that a young woman who had just completed her own warrior's training was following her wherever she went. As she trained, so did the young woman. As the Amazon fought, she fought alongside her. When she needed food, the young woman left it at her tent.

"In due time, the woman introduced herself. She'd seen the Unfriendly Amazon in battle, and wanted more than anything to develop that sort of strength. As she talked, the Unfriendly Amazon felt her need to kill well up within her... but just being around the girl caused it to wane. Whether it was her devotion or something else, the ever-present violent spirit was weakened.

"From that day forward, the Unfriendly Amazon was no longer alone. She was accompanied by her student and... well, friend, a warrior now known as the Loyal Knightess."

"Impressive, but do you have anything you are going to play?" Fuu asked, her voice possessing the same boredom that Gerald's voice always had.

Gerald set his card onto the Duel Disk, replying, "It's something we call Monster Reborn. I just discarded her, so now I'll bring her back... Meet the Loyal Knightess herself, in Attack Mode."

The familiar stylized ankh flashed, and a young woman stood on Gerald's field. She was fairly short, with long red hair and a bemused expression, and she wore studded leather armor. She bore a rapier in one hand, and crossed her chest with it as she bowed. (1,500/1,200)

On the sidelines, Chad, Vivienne, and Lucifer all looked to the monster. Then they looked to Laura, and then back to the monster. It was hard to tell them apart. Laura, meanwhile, smiled warmly at her doppelganger.

"That monster is only Level Four," Fuu noted. "Why did you go to all the trouble of discarding and resurrecting her?"

"So that I could summon another monster this turn," Gerald replied. "I summon Ameba in Attack Mode."

The sewer drains spat out another pile of ooze, much like they had for Mucus Yolk. This ooze was a light blue in color, and bubbled and flowed as if over a fire. (300/350)

Fuu smirked, waving to herself. "Strike me if you dare. I will still survive."

"You will, but only barely. My turn is not yet complete." Gerald slid another card into his Duel Disk. "The third part of the combo is this card, Shien's Spy."

A tall woman in a straw hat stepped onto the field, carrying a wicker basket. She opened the basket, scooped Ameba into it, and walked across the street to where Fuu stood. She then opened the basket and upended it, dumping the Ameba onto Fuu's field.

Fuu blinked, even as the woman bowed and vanished, and then let out a slight laugh. "Thank you for the monster, I suppose, but..." she started to say.

She never finished the sentence, as Ameba shot out a pointed tentacle and rammed it through her chest, knocking her Life Points to 2,400. As the tentacle withdrew, she fell to her knees, breathing hard.

"Did I forget to mention that part?" Gerald said. "Shien's Spy lets me give you one of my monsters, and Ameba deals you 2,000 points of damage if it comes under your control while face-up. And as for the third part of my combo..." He gestured to his Loyal Knightess, who was growling with rage and brandishing her sword. "The Loyal Knightess hates it whenever anyone turns against his, her, or its allies. So when she destroys a monster in battle that used to belong to me, you lose 500 Life Points for each of its Level Stars. Feel lucky Ameba only has one."

Laura snapped her fingers, saying, "That's it! Those are the three cards he bought at Scry!"

"Interesting setup, if a bit tenuous," Lucifer said in turn.

With another yawn, Gerald ordered, "Loyal Knightess, attack Ameba with Loyalist's Thrust."

Raising her blade, the warrior lady danced forward, sidestepping the Ameba before ramming her blade home. The slime exploded, sending Fuu's Life Points to 1,200. After that, the Loyal Knightess stepped forward and, before Fuu could react, slashed her across the face with her sword, reducing Fuu to 700 Life Points. Content, the warrior headed back to Gerald's field.

"Your move," the lazy young man concluded.

Despite everything that had happened to her in the last few turns, Fuu didn't seem unduly scared. In fact, she smiled as she drew her next card, declaring, "Time for my final victory. You see, I have had an emergency plan in place for several turns now. I begin with Call of the Haunted, bringing back Yamoto the Noble Samurai!"

A tombstone rose on Fuu's field, smoke curling around its base. From the smoke emerged the noble warrior, sword at the ready as he strode out. (2,200/2,000)

"Now," Fuu continued, "I switch my Time Wizard to Attack Mode."

From the facedown monster card sprang a bizarre creature, looking like a clock with arms, legs and a cape, wielding a clock-face-topped staff. (500/400)

"I take it you'll use his effect now," Gerald said.

Fuu nodded, and declared, "Time Wizard, Time Magic now!"

The clock magician raised his staff, shouting, "Time Magic!" A spinner lowered into view, the hand rotating rapidly between a time machine shape and skulls.

If it lands on the time machine, Gerald thought, I'm more than a little screwed. Yamoto has a special form that only comes out when someone wins a Time Wizard spin. If it lands on the skull, this duel is over. Let's see if my luck holds.

The spinner slowed to a halt... and landed on the skull. Fuu dropped to her knees, stunned.

"And that is that," Vivienne noted, blowing her nose afterward. "Time Wizard will now destroy all her monsters and cut Fuu's Life Points by an amount equal to half their Attack Points, and that's lethal damage."

A vortex opened over the heads of Fuu's monsters, sucking them in without any ado, and her Life Points hit zero.

With Fuu's defeat, Gerald smiled, wavered on his feet, and then collapsed to the ground, snoring before his back even touched the pavement. His head never touched the ground, as Laura shot forward and caught it before it could hit the street; she laid it gently down, stepping back once she was sure he was okay.

That done, she stepped back with Chad, Vivienne (who was over her allergies now that the cherry blossoms were gone, although she still sniffled), and Lucifer. No one moved for a few moments, expecting Hanzaki to show up with a gun or some other interruption. Fuu just knelt there, her head down.

After three minutes, Lucifer finally decided to check on the defeated, armored woman. He stepped forward, reaching towards her with a gentle, "Are you all right, madame Fuu?"

With a loud "Kiai!", Fuu grabbed Lucifer's arm and flipped him overhead. He hit the street with a flash of fire, dazed on impact. Scrambling to her feet, the would-be samurai rushed to her sword...

Laura sprang out, kicked the blade away, and snapped her foot out, catching Fuu on the shoulder. The two women faced off, and then Fuu half-turned, thrusting her palm towards Laura's belly. The short redhead whirled away from the attack, bounced forward, and rammed one knee hard into Fuu's stomach. As the armored woman recoiled, gasping for breath, Laura jumped back one step before leaping forward.

Her foot hit Fuu's stomach with such force that it shattered her armor. Pieces of ceramic tile flew everywhere as the defeated girl struck the street, clay shedding from her as she bounced once before setting down. Fuu's head dropped, and she was out cold.

Part of the shattered armor rolled up to Gerald's hand. He picked it up as he awoke, glancing at it. "Cheap replicia," he judged.

Seconds after the skirmish, the air blurred, and Hanzaki stood over the unconscious young woman, hands behind his back. He paused, and then asked, "Any objection to me taking her away?"

As one, Gerald, Chad, Laura, Lucifer, and Vivienne said, "Go right ahead."

With a shrug, Hanzaki made a cryptic gesture, the air blurred, and they disappeared.

Once the air cleared, Laura extended a hand, Gerald took it, and between them they pulled him to his feet. Looking down, Gerald noted a rent in the side his shirt. He looked to Lucifer and said, "I can't seem to make an article of clothing last six hours anymore."

"So it would seem," Lucifer replied. "Once zis is over, I will buy you a new wardrobe." He glanced to Laura, who was still wearing the gray jacket, and added, "All of you, zen."

After a moment of disposing of garbage and repacking the blankets, the group headed into the Xcel Energy Center in the name of sweeping for Darkness Infected.

0000000

When Fuu woke up, she was staring at a dark ceiling, but with several glowing panels of light tucked into it. After wincing for a second, she sat up, rubbing the spots out of her eyes.

The room was a quiet one, every wall as black as pitch. She was sitting at the center of a large chalk circle, and the dim lights prevented her from seeing much else. She could hear voices in the dark, voices that were familiar to her.

"B-7," said a voice she recognized as Alexander, one of her masters.

A voice that she knew as Degas, her other master, replied, "Hit. You sank my submarine." There was a pause, and then he asked, "C-2?"

"Miss," Alexander replied.

A third voice, which she placed as belonging to Hanzaki, said, "I think she's awake."

Somewhere in the dark, a chair pushed back, and Fuu heard footsteps coming her way. In due time, Degas emerged onto the circle's edge, running a hand over his bald head. His other hand held a knife by the blade. As he approached, she scampered backward, shivering.

"In the feudal era of Japan," the man in black said, "if a vassal failed a feudal lord, the lord would be dishonored. In order to make up for this, if the failure was spectacular enough, the lord would send his vassal a messenge. The contents of the messenge would include a knife." He tossed the knife into the circle, hearing it clang as it landed at Fuu's feet. "This was an order in its own right, an order for the vassal to avenge his lord's honor by committing seppuku."

There was a pause as Degas pushed up his shades, and then he asked, "Well?"

For a moment, Fuu considered her options. She moved onto her knees, reaching out to feel the knife's handle. Her fingers wrapped around it, and she brought it closer to her, staring at her reflection in the blade. And then she raised the knife...

...only to drop it, quivering in fear. "I... I can't do it," she said, gasping as she fell onto her hands. "I'm no samurai. I'm just a girl from Blue Earth, I can't kill myself like that! I'm so sorry!" Tears rolled from her eyes as she placed her forehead to the ground.

With a sigh, Degas said, "If the vassal couldn't bring himself to perform the necessary self-sacrifice, the lord would send another one of his servants. This one had orders to do what the vassal couldn't." He snapped his fingers. "Hanzaki?"

From the darkness at the other side of the circle, Hanzaki stepped out, pulling back the slide on his gun. He jammed it against Fuu's temple and pulled the trigger without a moment's pause.

A shot rang out, and Fuu collapsed to the ground, unmoving.

After a moment, Hanzaki pulled the clip from his gun (which he had flipped up at the last minute), threw it aside, and loaded a new one into it, saying, "I thought it would be quieter than that. I haven't fired blanks in a while."

Crouching, Degas checked the girl's pulse and nodded. "Still alive. Good. It's not worthwhile to kill a good joke. Are you ready, Alexander?"

The man in green stepped out from the darkness on the circle's center, holding the engraved jar. He set his bare foot on the chalk lines, sighed, and said, "This will make six. If he doesn't accept these, I don't know what we'll do."

"Did you check with Caiside and Klaus?" Degas said as he rolled up his sleeves and Hanzaki stepped away.

"Klaus couldn't get a good reading on how our next battle will go, and Caiside just kept saying, 'Confusion over the fire's part' over and over again..." Alexander opened the jar, concentrated, and winced.

The chalk lines flared up, and Degas began to chant, drawing a white fog from Fuu's body...

0000000

An hour later, Gerald's party came to a pair of disheartening conclusions. The first was that there was no way for five people, even split into two groups, to sweep an entire stadium for Darkness Infected.

The second was that even if they could, the odds of finding any were probably less than the odds of drawing all five pieces of the Forbidden One in your opening hand. Wherever Degas and Alexander had hidden their infected minions, it wasn't in there.

"Waste of time," Chad muttered as they walked back outside. "Personally, I think we could have stopped searching once we knew there weren't any in the main concourse."

Lucifer shrugged. "It was worth a shot, I suppose." He then sighed, turned to Gerald (who was slouching along on their left) and asked, "Something has bothered me for a while, Monsieur Laxina. After Heaven's Sphere was removed from ze game, you were out for quite some time. What happened?"

Heaven's Sphere vanished, and Gerald plummeted into the Bottomless Trap Hole with it, spinning helplessly as he fell. An endless wind rushed up, ripping past him as he continued to descend. At some point, he hit terminal velocity, but he didn't feel like he'd stopped accelerating.

And then a hand shot out, grabbing the front of Gerald's shirt. Defying all physical law, Gerald was not, in fact, killed by the sudden shock of this violent stop. He instead hung from the hand, breathing hard.

The hand pulled, and Gerald stumbled onto a ledge. He looked at his rescuer in confusion; aside from the hand, which was hidden in a white glove, all he could see was a white robe hiding all features of the one who'd caught him. But sitting at the robe's edge was a Servant of Catabolism, its tentacles currently exploring Gerald's shoe.

The robed figure turned and walked into a door that appeared from nowhere, the Servant following. After a moment, Gerald followed them...

"I can't recall," Gerald said. "There was a fall, and a white building, and..." He sighed. "It was like a dream, and most dreams disappear when you wake up."

"Ah," Lucifer said. "Zat zey do... When you work for zem, you get used to how evanescent dreams tend to be."

Chad spoke next, moving away from Vivienne to walk beside Gerald. "Did you mean what you said to Fuu about ink and cardstock?" he asked.

At that point, Gerald broke into a light chuckle. "Not nearly to the extent she thought," he replied. "For the most part, I did that just to get her so angry she'd lose her focus. It worked, you must admit..." He then paused, and continued, "I think the philosophy's foolish - it leaves no room for personal skill or human spirit - but I also think there's some truth to it. After all..."

Instead of finishing the sentence immediately, Gerald took out his deck and drew a card from the center. He held it up. It was the Servant of Catabolism. "This card is closer to me than some human beings," he concluded.

Taking out his own deck, Chad turned over the top card. It was Chiron the Mage. He wasn't surprised.

Laura, meanwhile, fanned her deck out, picked a card, and sighed in relief when she saw her draw. The card was Zombyra the Dark.

The Allumettes didn't bother with this. Vivienne wasn't sure which deck to use, and Lucifer needed no reassurance.

0000000

After the duel, Demetrius and Sol had gone their separate ways after a brief nod and sharing of notes. Now Demetrius Lark was headed through the Midway area, walking stick at his side.

To his surprise, as he rounded a corner, he saw a group of uninfected people. All were kneeling, hands before them, and they listened intently to another uninfected man. The man wore a black suit and backwards collar, and he was reading from a battered Bible.

"'Listen, I tell you a mystery: we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed - in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet,'" the man read. There was a conviction in his voice that was inescapable.

Even though he felt rude just thinking it, Demetrius walked up and called, "Excuse me, Father!"

The crowd glared at him, and Demetrius stepped back, but the priest merely smiled. "Relax, my friends, he means no ill will," he told his audience. He then looked up and said, "What is the problem, sir?"

"I was wondering if you've seen anyone with the Darkness Infection walking around here," Demetrius asked, sweating slightly.

The priest shook his head, adjusting his glasses. "I haven't seen anyone with those symptoms since yesterday, and I doubt if any of the ones I did see could walk. But why would you seek someone like that out, if I may ask?"

"It's a favor for a friend of mine. I duel and defeat them so that the Infection's purged from them. Consider it an attempt at urban renewal."

"Well, that sounds like an honest occupation," the priest said. "I am sorry I couldn't help you." He raised his hand and crossed the air, saying, "May the Lord be with you."

"And also with you," Demetrius said, bowing slightly. "Thank you for your time, Father." Feeling slightly better, he headed off down the street, continuing his search.

As he returned to the congregation, the priest thought, So that's one of the two who kept defeating the newly infected... Degas and Alexander will need to know about this. He could be a most dangerous opponent... but he was a nice person. I wish we weren't going to do what they'll order done to him...

"Let us pray," Father Young said, and the assembled innocents bowed their heads in silent prayer. He let out a long, drawn-out sigh as he closed his Bible, thinking, I don't know how many times over I've damned myself, but it grows by the day...

And next to him, unnoticed, a shadow began to lengthen, stretching across the sidewalk.

USAGI WARRIOR

Type: Normal Monster Card

Statistics: Beast-Warrior/LIGHT/Lv. 4/1500/1000

Image: A hare clad in armor, ears tied in a topknot and ready for battle.

Flavor Text: Part hare and part soldier, this dedicated martial artist brings luck to his allies and misfortune to his foes.

YAMOTO THE NOBLE SAMURAI

Type: Effect Monster Card

Statistics: Warrior/LIGHT/Lv. 6/2200/2000

Image: A mighty warrior, clad in gold armor and carrying a perfectly-forged sword.

Effect: If this monster battles with a Fiend-Type Monster, increase its ATK by 500 points during the Damage Step.

SASHIA THE SAMURAI SQUIRE

Type: Effect Monster Card

Statistics: Warrior/LIGHT/Lv. 4/1700/1500

Image: A young girl in armor, wielding a bow and arrow, standing alongside a proud Yamoto.

Effect: Increase the ATK of this monster by 300 points every "Yamoto the Noble Samurai" that is face-up on your side of the field. Once per turn, you may select one "Yamoto the Noble Samurai" on your side of the field. If you do, the ATK of this monster becomes 2600, and the chosen "Yamoto the Noble Samurai" cannot attack during that turn.

ANCIENT MASTER YOSHI

Type: Effect Monster Card

Statistics: Warrior/LIGHT/Lv. 4/800/2000

Image: An old and wizened man, wielding a staff, standing before a bowing Yamoto and Sashia.

Effect: When this monster is face-up on your side of the field, increase the ATK of all monsters on your side of the field with the word "Samurai" in their names (or who are named "Mataza the Zapper") by 500.

Note: The above four cards all first appeared in Dark Sage's "Yu-Gi-Oh Jr.: Legacy of the Duelist". All creative credit goes to him.

SHUGENJA SORCERESS

Type: Normal Monster Card

Statistics: Spellcaster/LIGHT/Lv. 4/1900/900

Image: A young woman in a silk robe, a set of scroll tubes strapped to one hip.

Flavor Text: A specialist in the arts of ki magic, this young woman has faced armies of demonic forces and emerged untouched.

BLADE OF BUSHIDO

Type: Equip Magic Card

Image: A shining blade engraved with glowing kanji.

Effect: This card may only be equipped to a Warrior or Beast-Warrior monster of the LIGHT Attribute. Increase the ATK of the equipped monster by 800 points.

Note: The above two cards first appeared in Dark Sage's "Yu-Gi-Oh Jr.: Mandate of Heaven". All creative credit goes to him.

POT OF CHARITY

Type: Normal Magic Card

Image: A ceramic jar with a gentle expression.

Effect: Remove one LIGHT Monster in your Graveyard from play. Draw three cards from your deck.

Note: This card was created by Shuppet Master for use in his story "Yu-Gi-Oh Jr.: Sister of Anansi". All creative credit goes to him.

LOYAL KNIGHTESS

Type: Effect Monster Card

Statistics: Warrior/FIRE/Lv. 4/1500/1200

Image: A red-haired young woman in armor, wielding a rapier, chasing a panicky Goblin Calligriogropher away from a blushing Unfriendly Amazon.

Effect: If this monsters destroys a monster on your opponent's field in battle, and you previously controlled the destroyed monster, your opponent loses 500 Life Points for each Level Star of the destroyed monster.

Coming next chapter: The forces of Shadow make a play of their own, taking advantage of a spell they've lifted from Degas and Alexander. The Light can't fight the Shadow, but Dreams can... and they just happen to have a man on the scene. Lucifer finally gets to duel, and his opponent is someone certain video gamers may well recognize. But what can the Beloved of Fire do against invaders from another planet? Find out in Chapter Twenty-One, "Supernova"!