Author's Note: Yo, what's up? I just wanted to ask you guys for your comments in the reviews. I know for a fact that a lot of you do read the chapters, but please leave some feedback, I appreciate it.

Draw 21

Dragged Down To The Grave

0-0-0-0-0-0

Psychic – This refers to the ability to perceive information from the normal senses through what is described as extrasensory perception. It could also be referred to theatrical performers who use techniques such as prestidigitation and cold reading to produce the appearance of such abilities.

And apparently, this ESP ability has the ability to make duel monster attacks real.

With this Psycho Mantis wanna-be and this otaku freak standing in front of me… I can't help but think that maybe these powers aren't just for video games and in anime. Perhaps this is real pain that I'm feeling or it could just be what my mind is making me think…

… But, with the blood on my chest… I think I know what I have to do…

"Magical Android!" Psycho Mantis roared loudly as his psychic monster lifted its staff high into the air, creating another orb of powerful psychic energy coursing through its weapon. "Destroy the fool!"

With his head snapping up, Odoroki pulled the top card of his deck, his eyes widening at the sight of the brown bordered card, "I… I drew Demon's Treasure…"

"HA! Looks like your deck wants you to lose!" Stein laughed like a mad man before the Magical Android unleashed a powerful slash of energy that flowed past the Fool and crashed directly into Odoroki's body.

The force sent Odoroki to the ground with his vest cut wide open and a small stream of blood dripping from the cut on his chest, "Whoa! That definitely didn't happen in the underground!" (OLP: 6350)

"I end my turn…" Psycho Mantis cackled as his Magical Android lifted her staff high into the air, unleashing a bright glow around Psycho Mantis's body. "And my Magical Android increases my life points back to a stable level!" (PMLP: 7100)

"D-Damn it…" Odoroki coughed, trying to cover the wound on his chest.

"Ha, ha ha!" Stein cackled even louder. "Maybe you should throw in the towel, Emperor-Sama! Against my perfect experiment, your skills mean squat! And against these new cards, types and strategies… You don't stand a chance!"

Odoroki lowered his head as he slowly got to his knees, '... Maybe… Maybe he's right…'

Looking at his deck, Odoroki's breathing began to slow down greatly. 'I… I never felt anything like this before… I can't… I can't take it…'

Slowly…

… Odoroki began to reach for the top of his deck, his slightly blood covered glove reaching for it as his vision began to blur…

As those thoughts were coursing through Odoroki's head, Stein couldn't help but smirk with his glasses shinning. He couldn't have expected anything short of perfection with this little test of his.

If he had to be truthful, Stein didn't come up with the idea for this little experiment. He had some inspiration from the rumors he was hearing about other duelists who held the power of his own experiments. So, with the okay from the boss and a little research, Stein managed to find and make a deal with a recently founded group with some guy with a weird haircut…

… However, a name wasn't really established for the group yet, since its members were small and it didn't have much power at the moment. So at the moment, Stein could only describe the group as 'a utopia for psychic duelists and fragile monsters that have been organizing actions and rallies in secret.'

At least the group was kind enough to provide DNA samples of their group… All Stein had to do was provide evidence of his experiments and provide a copy of his research.

Not too bad considering the power that was at his disposal.

But, with a shake of his head, Stein turned back to the duel at hand, looking at the Mental Sphere Demon (2700/2300), Magical Android (2400/1700), and Psychic Snail (1900/1200), Solemn Wishes, and Life Absorbing Machine that was on his representing duelist's field – Psycho Mantis. (PMLP: 7100)

And then Stein's eyes scanned the only two cards on Odoroki's field, the monster card The Fool (1800/1500) and Solemn Wishes along with two cards in his hand… And apparently the spiky haired Emperor of the Underworld was debating among himself whether or not he wanted to draw his next card. 'This is perfect, perfect, perfect! Psycho Mantis is pushing him to his limits!' (OLP: 6350)

Psycho Mantis on the other hand, narrowed his eyes behind his gas mask's yellow tinted eyes, "… He's done…"

One had to wonder, what was going through Odoroki's head…

'… This… Is…' Odoroki thought looking down at his deck, his eyes looking almost lifeless as he staggered just by standing still. 'Is this… Is this the end? Weird… I-I always saw myself dying in a different manner…'

Slowly, Odoroki slumped his hand away from his deck, his body suddenly becoming heavier for some odd reason, "Ugh…"

And with a loud bam, Odoroki fell face first into the basketball court that was slowly stained with his seeping blood.

"What? It's over?" Stein moaned with rolling eyes. "I was expecting something a little more from the former Emperor of the Underworld…"

"… You shouldn't be surprised," Psycho Mantis chuckled with his arms crossed. "All he's tasted in this world is artificial pain. And this is his first taste of real pain…"

0-0-0-0-0-0

"… Real pain? Puh-lease!"

Odoroki's eyes widened, only to blink in confusion. Pushing himself of the ground, Odoroki stopped for a second to see that there was no blood underneath him, even though he could remember that there was a bloody cut on his chest.

"Get up, you little punk!"

Snapping his head up, Odoroki turned left and right, taking note that he wasn't in the basketball court, rather he was on a night covered bridge, many rusty and ruined cars lining the damaged bridge. Slowly, Odoroki stood up, taking note that there was a moon over head, a full moon that was basked in an eerie yellow glow…

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

'That voice!' Odoroki thought as he turned his head back, seeing that he wasn't alone on the bridge. "You!"

Standing with his back to Odoroki, the other person on the bridge spun on his heels, revealing a mysterious youth with long dark blue hair, combed back with white highlights that complimented his feminine face. The clothes that the youth was wearing consisted of a royal blue vest, along with a tight white long-sleeved shirt that showed the youth's petite figure. The baggy jeans covered that part up. The youth his eyes open to show the dark blue orbs, clearly angry for some reason "Yes… Three years ago… The night that the future Emperor was born into this world, I unknowingly set foot on this very bridge…"

Odoroki stepped back, "This… This isn't possible…"

"Are you blind to the truth, Odoroki-kun?" The blue haired man asked turning his dark blue eyes towards Odoroki. "This is the very place where we first met all those years ago…"

"SHUT UP!" Odoroki roared loudly with his hands snapping to the sides of his head, grabbing his hair as she shook his head. "This is just a dream! Or… Or a nightmare! Maybe…"

BAM!

Odoroki's face was burning with pain, and the great force that had impacted against his face sent him back to the ground. "URK!"

Cracking his fingers in one hand, the blue haired man looked down at Odoroki, his face shadowed by the night's sky save for his gleaming blue eyes, "That prove to you that this isn't a dream? Or am I going to have give you a scar to match the one I gave you last time we met?"

"Ki… Kinjou Chouno!" Odoroki sputtered jumping to his feet as he glared at the former King of the Underworld.

"Hmm… Now all we need is Hell Kaiser," Kinjou cackled crossing his arms over his chest. "And we could throw a small celebration with just the lords of the underground league… Too bad you're not old enough to drink with us…"

"W-Why…" Odoroki growled, clenching a fist towards Kinjou. "Why are you here?!"

"… Heh… I thought you gave up that stuttering habit," Kinjou snickered combing some of his blue hair with his gloved hands. "You haven't changed since a year and half ago…"

"Shut up and answer the damn question!" Odoroki snarled, his eyes becoming fierce.

"Humph, now, now, now, I'm just trying to strike up a conversation with a fellow top dog," Kinjou sighed shaking his head as he walked to one of the destroyed cars on the bridge and began to run his hand on the metal. "And you get rude to me? How unprofessional…"

"Things changed since you gave me this little memento," Odoroki replied running his fingers against the deep scar on his face.

"… Yes… I suppose that was a natural reaction," Kinjou mused tapping his fingers against the car's singed frame. "I guess you have grown up a little since then… But alas, I am surprised that you're getting your ass handed to you by that bug eyed freak."

"…" Odoroki couldn't retort to that sort of comment.

"You're putting that title of yours to shame!" Kinjou roared slamming his fist into the car's frame, bending the metal as if it was nothing more than tinfoil. "The very title that I bestowed on you when I left the Underground!"

"You don't understand!" Odoroki snapped back throwing his arm to the side. "He's not only using a new kind of monster type… But he has those weird Synchro monsters! It's like they replaced Fusion and Ritual monsters completely! And I…"

BAM!

"URK!" Odoroki yelped as he was flung to the ground by that powerful force.

"SHUT THE HELL UP!" Kinjou spat standing over the slightly stunned Odoroki (hey he took two of those punches in the last five minutes). "You're just giving excuses! A real Emperor or King wouldn't do that!"

"I never asked to have this title…" Odoroki muttered…

… Just before Kinjou slammed his foot directly into Odoroki's stomach, "Neither did I! But did you see me complain?! Hell no!

"In fact… I grew stronger!" Kinjou continued to apply pressure to Odoroki's stomach with his apparently iron covered boot, making the young man groan in pain. "And stronger until I became the man I am today!!"

"B-But…" Odoroki started as Kinjou pulled his boot off his predecessor.

Before Odoroki could even finish that sentence, Kinjou lifted Odoroki by his vest's collar, "Enough! I even gave you two of the cards from my deck! And you haven't even won with it yet in this duel! And you haven't even touched that second monster!"

Releasing his grip, Kinjou sighed watching Odoroki fall to his back, "Then again… You couldn't use them well in your Deck Overloaded as it is."

"I'll have you know that deck was able to beat you!" Odoroki retorted jumping to his feet.

"… Indeed… Your Mad Demon deck that you first used didn't work at all," Kinjou commented before shaking his head. "Wait a minute! I didn't come here to reminisce about the past! I've come here to make you get up and make that Psycho Mantis say his prayers!"

"And how the hell am I…" Odoroki started before Kinjou smirked greatly with his foot slamming into the ground.

"The how doesn't matter," Kinjou interrupted. "It's the prize at the end that matters… You beat this freak and survive in the process… You will get your answers from me…"

Odoroki's eyes widened.

And this action didn't go unnoticed by Kinjou, "If you manage to live, come to this very bridge at midnight…"

"How am I supposed believe you?" Odoroki asked narrowing his eyes before a powerful gust of wind erupted around the two.

"That's the thing," Kinjou replied howling his arms up, the wind howling around him. "You don't… And so, I implore you Odoroki-kun…

"LIVE!"

0-0-0-0-0

"Hmm… We should probably start wrapping this up," Stein sighed jumping from his perch on the basketball hoop and landing on his feet. "A shame though… I thought that Emperor-sama would put up more of a fight…"

"Against me," Psycho Mantis cackled lifting his hands up into the air. "This bug didn't…"

… live…

Both Stein and Psycho Mantis stopped, both of them turning around at the sight of Odoroki… Who was standing up, his arms limp at his sides.

… Live…

Then slowly lifting his arms up, Odoroki reached for his deck…

LIVE!

"… I… I'll live!" Odoroki roared pulling off the top card from his deck, raising his head up to reveal that the fire had returned to his eyes. (OLP: 6850)

"Hmm… Looks like he had a spark left," Stein mused as he rubbed his chin a few times.

"… No…" Psycho Mantis cackled crossing his arms around his chest as Odoroki fitted two of the three cards in his hand into his duel disk, making them appear behind his remaining monster. "I can sense that what we're seeing isn't a spark… But rather a wildfire about to engulf a forest!"

"I activate the spell card… Coins of the Underworld!" Odoroki announced as a powerful black flame erupted around the two duelists, making Stein jump back slightly. "Now! We discard our hands and draw cards from the bottom of our decks till we have five cards!"

"But since we don't have any cards in our hands," Psycho Mantis growled as five cards popped out from both duelist's decks. "We both get five free cards…" (PMLP: 7600) (OLP: 7350)

The moment that Odoroki fitted his five cards in front of him, he nodded, "Next! I activate the effect of a monster card in my hand! By removing my Coins of the Underworld from my graveyard, I can special summon Spell Striker from my hand!"

A large bright light popped in front of Odoroki, forming into a small blue armored warrior with a large red cape that billowed into the wind (600/200). "And thanks to that, my normal summon is wide open, I'll summon Armor Breaker in attack mode!"

Leaping from behind Odoroki, a largely armored hammer armored like warrior appeared landing directly next to the Spell Striker (800/800).

"Two weaklings for the price of one," Stein chuckled pushing up his glasses. 'But… This combo…'

"You won't be talking like that for too long!" Odoroki shouted before the Armor Breaker leapt into the air, spinning around to become a large hammer that the Spell Striker gripped in his small hands. "My Armor Breaker happens to be a Union monster… And gives the equipped warrior a special ability when he makes damage to your life points!"

"And how do you think that monster will do that?" Psycho Mantis questioned crossing his arms again.

"Allow me to show you!" Odoroki shouted throwing his hand towards Psycho Mantis. "Here's my Spell Striker's ability! Allowing me to attack you directly!"

"What?!" Psycho Mantis shouted jumping back slightly…

Only to have the Spell Striker jump in front of him! Spinning around, the Spell Striker delivered a powerful slam of the hammer directly into the gas masked man's stomach, sending him skidding on the ground slightly. "HA!" (PMLP: 7000)

"And here's the real kicker!" Odoroki stated as cracks began to appear on the Life Absorbing Machine's card. "Remember, my Armor Breaker gets to destroy one card on the field… And my choice is one of your life point cards! And the one that gives you returns on your monsters' effects seems like the smart choice!"

Psycho Mantis lifted his arms up, blocking the shattered remains of his trap card that shattered. "Heh… Don't act so cocky! Just because you caused me to lose one of my replenishing cards… I have an obvious field advantage!"

"Very well… If that's what you think," Odoroki stated crossing his arms over his slightly bloody chest. "Then turn end…"

"Heh, starting to act confident again?" Psycho Mantis asked slowly pulling off the top card from his deck, giving him a pure six card hand. 'And thanks to him… I've got a pure arsenal of Psychics lined up to crush him… I can even finish this during this turn if those two set cards are only bluffs!' (PMLP: 7500)

If his mouth was visible, Psycho Mantis's dirty smirk would've stained everyone's eyes who would gaze upon it, 'And luckily… I've got a way to find out. After all, I am the world's greatest telepath…'

It would only take a second, and as Psycho Mantis closed his eyes, he could feel his own psyche starting to slip into Odoroki's mind…

'Heh! Now, now, now! That wouldn't be fair!'

Psycho Mantis's eyes widened behind his yellow tinted lenses, and he would've cursed if it wasn't for the fact that there was a blue phantom of sorts standing behind Odoroki…

'I'm not normally one to play by the rules… But this little worm could use a little boost now don't you think?'

Narrowing his eyes, Psycho Mantis shook his head, 'What the hell is this? There's no way this brat could stop my search into his mind…'

'And you'd be right on that… But then again, you're not the only one with skills like that… And besides, natural will always defeat artificial…'

"Fine!" Psycho Mantis growled at the blue phantom holding up another card of his. "Then allow me to show you the powers that I possess once more… I summon Telekinetic Shocker in attack mode!"

A powerful jolt of electricity crashed into the ground, rising up into a slim man dressed in a red space suit with several electrical markings on it with a large fishbowl covering his head (1700/700). Throwing a few punches into the air, the Telekinetic Shocker slammed its foot into the ground, "And next, I'll unleash my attack with Mental Sphere Demon!"

With a loud roar, the large psychic demon flew towards the Fool… Only to have a large barrier appear around Odoroki's entire field, sending the demon flying back through the air over Psycho Mantis's head.

"Too bad I had my Negate Attack face down," Odoroki commented with his arms crossed over his chest. "Too bad for you Psycho Mantis…"

Taking two of his cards from his hand, Psycho Mantis slid the cards into his duel disk, making them appear around his Solemn Wishes. "Two cards face down… Turn end…"

"Then… My draw!" Odoroki announced as the light from his own Solemn Wishes began to engulf him. (OLP: 7850)

Snapping his fingers, Odoroki's face down card flipped up, transforming into the green and blue Pot of Greed, "My other card activates! Now, I can draw two more cards from my deck!" (OLP: 8350)

'I was half right!?' Psycho Mantis questioned taking a step back.

"Now then… I release the Fool!" Odoroki announced as the Fool leapt high into the air, slowly being absorbed into a large circle of light. "This allows me to special summon Turret Warrior from my hand!"

The light shattered, allowing a large fortress like warrior to crash onto the ground, four cannons mounted on it's large shoulders (1200/2000) were revealed as the weird looking warrior threw his arm to the side.

"Hmm… Well, now that's a new one," Stein admitted as the Fool appeared behind the Turret Warrior before it began to merge with the Turret Warrior, making it's dark brown armor turn black (1200/2000 + 1800/0). "W-What the?! How in the world…"

"By doing so," Odoroki explained with his eyes narrowed at Psycho Mantis. "My Turret Warrior gains the attack points of the released warrior that he was summoned with. And since I didn't normal summon this turn… I summon Mercenary Quick-Draw!"

A powerful gust of wind blew over the basketball court, allowing the poncho dressed mercenary (500/1000) to appear in front of Odoroki, pushing up his cowboy hat to reveal his smirking face. "Now then… Spell Striker! Mercenary Quick-Draw! Attack him directly!"

The small warrior leapt up into the air, spinning the powerful hammer over his head as the Mercenary leapt to the side, spinning the two six-shooters in his hands…

"Don't get cocky!" Psycho Mantis snarled pushing a button on his duel disk. "I activate the trap card, Waboku!"

Three blue robed nuns appeared in front of both monsters, making them stop dead in their tracks before they lowered their weapons to the ground while Psycho Mantis cackled loudly. "Sorry… But you won't be damaging me this turn!"

Looking at last four cards in his hand, Odoroki lifted two cards up, "Then I'll just set these two bad boys on the field…"

The two set cards appeared behind his three warriors, allowing Odoroki to cross his arms. "And that's that!"

"Humph! Yeah right!" Psycho Mantis scoffed to the side reaching for his deck. "My draw!" (PMLP: 8000)

'Damn… With the way this duel is going on,' Stein thought before he leaned up against the basketball pole behind Psycho Mantis. 'I might just get something more than I originally expected…'

"Now then… I think it's time for a change of pace," Psycho Mantis coughed as he slapped his newly drawn card onto his duel disk. "I summon Power Injector in attack mode!"

A loud battle cry erupted over the field, allowing large Frankenstein like monster to crash onto the ground next to Psycho Mantis, its blue suit slightly futuristic as it lifted its arms up to reveal two large cannons instead of hands. The monster's head was bald to reveal the three screws popping from its head (1300/1400) and the emotionless face that came with it. "And since I have a full field of five Psychic Monsters… I will get the most of my trap card, Psychic Rejuvenation!"

A gold aura erupted all over the five Psychic monsters on Psycho Mantis's field, slowly drawing the energy directly into their master's body, allowing the world's greatest psychic to float in the air, "For each Psychic monster I control… A thousand of my life points will be recovered!" (PMLP: 13000)

Odoroki was silent as he watched Psycho Mantis's life points sky rocket over the ten thousand mark.

"And don't think for a second that I'm done gaining life points," Psycho Mantis cackled as his Power Injector began to glow a bright red. "But first, I need to pay a few life points… I activate Power Injector's special ability! By relinquishing six hundred life points, I can increase the attack points of all Psychic monsters gain five hundred attack points!" (PMLP: 12400)

The bright red aura continued to flow over the rest of the psychics, empowering all of the psychic monsters (2700/2300 + 500/0) (2400/1700 + 500/0) (1900/1200 + 500/0) (1700/700 + 500/0) (1300/1400 + 500/0). "Sure… It might not be enough to defeat you in the regular manner… But with the tricks up my sleeve, you might just die from that attack!"

All five of the Psychic monsters leapt into the air all of them getting ready to destroy the only three monsters on Odoroki's field…

"I activate my trap card!" Odoroki shouted throwing his hand onto the duel disk's button, making one of the two face down cards on his field to pop up, immediately transforming into a large silver demonic armor. "A trap card, known as Soul Shield!"

A powerful glow erupted over Odoroki's body, creating a powerful force that erupted from his body, sending all five of Psycho Mantis's monsters skidding backwards. "By cutting my life points in half, I can negate that attack and end your battle phase!" (OLP: 4175)

"Heh… You just lost almost the same amount of life points I would've inflicted on you," Psycho Mantis coughed as all five of his Psychic monsters growled in protest. "That was a useless move!"

'… No… It wasn't,' Stein growled in his mind. 'If there's one thing I know about underground duelists… No move is useless…'

"I set a card face down…" Psycho Mantis cackled as the card appeared next to his Solemn Wishes before he lifted his hand up towards his Magical Android (2400/1700). "And during my end phase, my Magical Android allows me to gain even more life points! This time the max!" (PMLP: 15400)

'Hmm… I seriously have no clue as to who to root for…' Stein thought with a few question marks popping over his head as all five of Psycho Mantis's Psychic monsters returned to normal attack strength.

Slowly, Odoroki snapped off the top card from his deck, his fanged teeth appearing on his face, "Heh… Perfect… Simply perfect." (OLP: 4675)

"Hmm?" Psycho Mantis and Stein questioned at the same time as a dark aura seemed to appear around Odoroki's body.

Stein had to push up his glasses… He'd never seen this sort of… No, scratch that, 'Hmm… Heh, heh, heh… This has become oh so interesting!'

"You couldn't help yourself…" Odoroki cackled with his scar covered face curling into a rather destructive smirk on his face. "… Ya know… I don't normally break out the next guy… Since my life points haven't gotten this low since… Well, I can't even remember…"

That's when the Armor Breaker leapt from the Spell Striker, returning back into a monster with its arms crossed over its chest… Just before it and Spell Striker leapt into the air, shattering into several red sparks of energy…

"So… Face the wrath of the king!" Odoroki roared as the red sparks began to come back together, forming into a powerful black shadow that began to take form into a large dragon shape.

Stein's glasses nearly fell slid off of his nose as he stepped away from the basketball pole, "N-No way!?! H-H-How the hell do you… How the hell do you have that card?!!"

Unknown to the three duelists, a mysterious cloaked person watched the duel with a large grin on his overshadowed face. 'Hmm… How classic… And I guess he was able to pull off this move…'

0-0-0-0-0

While the action was rumbling through the streets, atop of the buildings or on the courts… It was actually quite calm at the Domino City Police, so much so that Wolfgainer was able to sneak in a smoke for the craving that was biting him at the back of his mind…

"Ha…" Wolfgainer sighed with a ring of smoke escaping from his mouth as he lifted his legs up, propping them on top of the table in the conference room that was given to the group assigned to the search of the Emperor of the Underworld.

At the moment, Wolfgainer was the only one in the room… Shinre was investigating that incident at Zeppel's, Nathaniel was doing Wolfgainer's paperwork, and Hareta was checking her resources about the Emperor's whereabouts.

However, not even the sweet taste of nicotine and tobacco was enough to calm Wolfgainer down. The higher ups were starting to nip at his neck, trying to find out any and all information that was concerning this mission, and personally, it felt like a pain in his backside instead of his neck.

'Damn it, I wish I could just get those bastards off my back!' Wolfgainer thought holding up his cigarette into the air. If it wasn't just the board of higher ups nipping at his heels, it was also the prank phone calls that he was getting from people who supposedly knew of the Emperor's whereabouts…

"Bah!" Wolfgainer growled putting out his cigarette on his ashtray. 'Oh and I can't forget the information that Mad Dog gave me… I've checked out almost every dojo on the Domino circuit and got laughed at every single one of them…'

Yeah, what a way to improve his ego…

RING!

RING!

Moving his eyes to the side, Wolfgainer growled at the phone near his ashtray. Recently, he decided to ignore the phone that sat on his table, after all, all he's been getting were the prank calls…

… Not like he had a choice in the matter.

With a slam of his foot, Wolfgainer made the phone fly up into the air, allowing him to catch the phone, "Domino City Police hotline, you've reached the Emperor information center, Detective Wolfgainer talking…"

"Hello? I guess I have the right place then…"

"I take it you too have information concerning the Emperor of the Underworld?" Wolfgainer sighed reaching for his pack of Lucky Seven cigarettes, they were getting low in number and frankly, since these were imported from the U.S.A., and the price was getting steeper to not only have them smuggled here, but also to buy them. "Please state your information and…"

"How about you cut with the monotone and listen?"

Wolfgainer's eyes narrowed slightly before he pulled out one of the remaining Lucky Seven cigarettes from the small box, "Heh, you mind telling why you're giving me lip? Especially since I can throw ya into the slammer."

"Well, excuse me! But I'm not really in the best of moods since I learned this information about the Emperor of the Underworld."

"I know the feelin'," Wolfgainer sighed searching for his lighter. "So I'll humor ya, let's start with a description of the Emperor…"

"Fiery reddish brown hair with three extra long spikes popping on the top of his head, a small, yet slightly muscular body, and his face has a long scar on it."

Wolfgainer raised an eyebrow, "… Alright, have you seen him duel before and if so, what kind of duel monster deck does he run?"

"I have seen his deck, and he runs a drawing deck which focuses on have a sixty card deck…"

Good so far, but there were two possibilities that Wolfgainer could draw so far from this information. One, this person was an audience member in the underground, or two, this was the real deal. And taking in account that her voice seemed to be a little young for someone to be a viewer of those matches…

"Alright, let's hear what information you've got," Wolfgainer muttered lifting up his lighter to his cigarette, lighting it in the process.

"Odoroki Ryusei – The Emperor of the Underworld, has been staying at a dojo under a false name…"

Wolfgainer's eyes widened, and he almost dropped his cigarette, "… Before you continue… Who is this?"

"… M-My name is… Saika Miyamoto…"

0-0-0-0-0

"ARGH!"

"W-What power!" Stein shouted as the powerful crimson wind swept through the basketball court, sending him and Psycho Mantis skidding back. (PMLP: 12100)

The large black and red dragon like shadow roared greatly behind Odoroki, who held up two of his three cards left in his hand. "I set two cards face down… And end my turn!"

The shadow behind Odoroki shattered like glass falling behind him before it disappeared, "Of course, at the end of my turn, he's sent to the graveyard… But he's done his job."

Indeed, whatever monster Odoroki had summoned had not only cleared the entire field, but had also managed to damage Psycho Mantis greatly.

"My… My strategy…" Psycho Mantis growled slowly standing up from the ground. "GONE!"

'… The Fool got me concerned…' Stein thought with a bead of sweat rolling down the side of his head. 'But… But that monster just now…'

"Don't think you can win!" Psycho Mantis growled pulling off the top card from his deck, turning the card around for him to look at. "Take for example this! I…"

"I activate Drop Off!" Odoroki shouted as his face down card lifted up, making both Stein and Psycho Mantis jump slightly. "Send that card you just drew to the graveyard!"

"N-No…" Psycho Mantis growled fitting the monster card into his graveyard slot. "… Turn end…"

'He… He's almost a different person…' Stein thought pushing up his large glasses.

"… Draw…" Odoroki quietly said pulling off the top card from his deck. "… I activate the equip spell card, Premature Burial!" (OLP: 3875)

A powerful bright light erupted from the ground, forming into the Fool (1800/1500), spinning his long sword into the air as he glared at Psycho Mantis, "Attack him directly!"

Disappearing for a few seconds, the dark warrior appeared directly in front of Psycho Mantis, slicing through the psychic master's body with its sword, "ARGH!" (PMLP: 10300)

"You little…" Psycho Mantis growled as the Fool appeared in front of Odoroki, stabbing the sword into the ground.

Odoroki simply crossed his arms as the Fool crossed his arms over his chest as well.

"Don't think that this duel is done!" Psycho Mantis snarled nearly ripping his next card from his deck and into his hand. "Heh… And if you thought that you can win, then I'll just change this around! I activate the continuous Spell card, Teleport!"

The spell card appeared before Psycho Mantis, revealing the picture of the Power Injector appearing in a burst of light, "Now, when you have a monster on the field while I don't, I can special summon a Psychic monster from my hand for only eight hundred life points." (PMLP: 9500)

Slapping the other card from his hand, a powerful twister erupted onto the field, forming into a rather strange and bulky blue skinned monster covered with weather scanning equipment with a large satellite on its back, and with a loud roar, the monster canceled the twister around it's body (2300/2000). "For example, I can special summon the Storm Caller from my hand… And Storm Caller, attack the Fool!"

Clapping its hands together, the Storm Caller unleashed a powerful twister of green wind towards the Fool. "I activate the Fool's effect! Now, I reveal the top card of my deck…"

Odoroki pulled off the top card from his deck, spinning it around to reveal his deck's main trap card, Greed, "And since it's a trap card, not only do I get to negate your attack…"

Spinning around, the Fool sliced through the twister with the sword he had redrawn from the ground, sending his overcoat's tails and hair fluttering upwards, "… And end your battle phase."

"And my turn apparently," Psycho Mantis growled holding up his empty hands. "I hold no more cards in my hand… And thus, I cannot perform any other moves this turn."

"Leaving me to continue with my turn," Odoroki finished with his arms crossed before he snapped off the top card from his deck. "Now then… I'll start this turn by summoning Tomahawk Hunter in attack mode!"

Leaping from one of the nearby buildings, the tribal warrior leapt onto the ground, spinning the tomahawks in his hands (1500/1400) before smirking at the Fool. "I'll end my turn."

'Hmm… He'll probably use Tomahawk Hunter's attack deflecting ability,' Stein thought watching as Psycho Mantis drew his next card. 'But still… there's the chance of his face down card being something else…'

"… I set one card face down," Psycho Mantis growled before throwing his hand towards the Storm Caller. "And Storm Caller! Attack the Tomahawk Hunter!"

'I'll make him waste that defense!'

Just as the Storm Caller unleashed another powerful twister of green wind, this time towards the tribal warrior…

"I activate my trap card!" Odoroki announced as his face down card flipped up, revealing a Mechanical Chaser being covered by a Cannon Soldier's cannon blast. "Covering Fire combines my monsters' attacks into one!"

Both of Odoroki's monsters leapt into the air, the Fool and Tomahawk Hunter (1500 + 1800) both back to back before they spun into a large green and black twister of their own, crashing into the Storm Caller's and shattering it before the two monsters slammed into the surprised Storm Caller. (PMLP: 8500)

"Urk!?" Psycho Mantis questioned looking at his life point counter. "You… You little runt…"

"Don't blame me you put all your best cards out before this duel barely started," Odoroki retorted pulling off his next card from his deck. "I'm just a duelist trying to survive… Speaking of, I activate the effect of a monster card I've had in my hand for a while, I discard my Demon's Treasure, and then, I can draw two cards. Any monster cards I draw with this effect are immediately discarded…"

Odoroki turned the top two cards from his deck around, revealing Silver Safe and Giant Trunade. "Now then, the Fool! Tomahawk Hunter! Attack him directly!"

The gas masked duelist stepped back just before both of Odoroki's monsters appeared in front of him, slicing him across the chest with both of their weapons, making Psycho Mantis stagger backwards, "Y-You…" (PMLP: 5200)

"And I've just started!" Odoroki shouted taking one of the cards he drew thanks to Demon's Treasure. "I now activate Silver Safe!"

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"Hmm…" Wolfgainer questioned raising an eyebrow at the dojo that the girl on the phone told him to come to. Personally, Wolfgainer didn't really care for those swordsman skills, after all, he wasn't originally from Japan and preferred a gun to a sword…

But with a shake of his head, Wolfgainer pushed the button next to the door, expecting a bunch of wind chimes or bells to signify his arrival…

… Needless to say, when he got The Mexican Hat Dance song, Wolfgainer couldn't help but sweatdrop. '… Weird…'

A few seconds later after the musical doorbell rang, the large doors slowly opened up, revealing a fully dressed Sai standing in the doorway, "… You must be Detective Wolfgainer…"

Crossing his arms over his chest, Wolfgainer nodded to the blue haired teenaged girl, "Indeed I am… And that must make you Miss Miyamoto. And for your sake, this had better not be a prank for your sake."

"I assure you," Sai stated stepping to the side to allow Wolfgainer to enter. "I've never been so serious before…"

A few minutes later in the dinning room, Wolfgainer sat at the table with Sai and another teenaged girl, this one with long dark hair tied around in a weird fashion ending with a heart like trinket. A little edgy with the tea they served him, Wolfgainer wished he could just whipped out his cigarette… But since these were ladies and he was taught never to do anything that could insult a lady…

"… Alright, so should I ask why he's been here? After all, if you knew that…"

"As I said," Sai interrupted with her hands wrapped around her tea cup. "He was here under an alias, we all had no idea that he was the Emperor of the Underworld."

The other girl turned her head to the side.

However, Wolfgainer narrowed his brow, "I see… And do you have any evidence to back up your claim?"

Sai merely ducked under the table for a few seconds, allowing her come back up with a folded up black clothing, "… This is his…"

With a raised eyebrow, Wolfgainer took the clothing and began to unfurl it… His eyes widening at the sight that it was a sleeveless black coat, but it was the emblem that was the cause of his reaction, "A… A crown engulfed in flames…"

Pulling the overcoat to his side of the table, Wolfgainer coughed once to regain his composure, "… Alright, am I correct in assuming that there are other people living here?"

Sai slowly nodded, trying to ignore the pleading look on the other girl's face (something that Wolfgainer couldn't help but notice…). "… Alright, here's what is going to happen, I'm going to give a call to the station, and then…"

0-0-0-0-0-0

"ARGH!" Psycho Mantis shouted as he skidded backwards from the two monsters' attacks once more. "W-Why am I…" (PMLP: 1900)

As the Fool and Tomahawk Hunter leapt back to Odoroki's field, both of them with their arms crossed, Psycho Mantis threw his arm to the side, "Why am I losing to you!?! I'm superior!"

"… All you have is false power," Odoroki growled narrowing his eyes. "If you had true power then…"

"One more time! We're gonna celebrate! Oh yeah, alright!"

Odoroki and Psycho Mantis stopped for a second, turning towards Stein who had flicked out his cell phone, "Sorry 'bout that, but I need to take this…"

Both duelists sweatdropped as Stein continued with his cell call, "Stein here… Oh, Dorkus! Ah, I see… You have Volgin too?"

…

"WHAT?! What do you mean you left him there!?!"

…

"… I see… I didn't count on one of your co-workers would be there… That's my fault," Stein sighed pushing up his glasses. "Did you at least retrieve… Oh! Good! Most excellent!"

Snapping his phone shut, Stein fitted his hands into his lab coat's pockets, "I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but thanks to my fellow co-worker, we'll have to cut this short…"

"But we're not done here!" Odoroki snarled lifting up his duel disk. "Not until someone's life points are…"

Before Odoroki could continue, a powerful invisible force sent him skidding backwards towards the chain link fence next to the basketball pole that stood behind Odoroki. "URK!"

Psycho Mantis slowly lowered his arms, growling through his gas mask, "… Sir… Allow me to destroy this…"

"No," Stein sighed holding his own arm up to Psycho Mantis. "He's not really a part of the equation… He's a remainder that was needed to test your powers. And I've already had more than enough information on that matter."

"… Very well…" Psycho Mantis cackled before pointing his finger towards Odoroki. "However… Don't think for a second that our business is finished Emperor-sama! I will be back… And we will finish our little game."

"Ooh, excellent exit speech!" Stein announced clapping his hands a few times before he reached into his pockets a few more times.

"You two… Aren't…" Odoroki growled standing up, his brow narrowed down at the two weird characters in front of him. "Going anywhere!"

"Scotty!" Stein shouted into the air throwing his hand into the air. "Beam us up!"

Apparently, Stein had thrown several silver orbs onto the basketball court's blacktop, bouncing a few times before they exploded into several clouds of smoke that covered both Stein and Psycho Mantis. The force of the multiple explosions even made Odoroki jump back slightly with his duel disk covering his mouth. "Urk!"

"… Sir… Who's Scotty?"

"It's a trek reference! Now get us out of here!"

"… Yes sir…"

When the smoke blew away, the two were gone. Odoroki knelt to the ground, slamming his fist into the blacktop the moment his knees touched the ground, "DAMN IT!"

'… Why am I feeling like this?'

Lowering his head, Odoroki slammed his fist one more time into ground…

Taking off his duel disk, Odoroki slowly sat down to allow his back to lean up against the chain linked fence taking in a deep breath before he looked up into the air, noticing that there weren't any clouds above…

"Heh, not a single cloud in the sky," Odoroki chuckled with a smirk on his face as he reached around for his hat, pulling it over his fiery hair and extra long strands of hair. "I don't… I don't know…"

"I don't know why I'm acting like this. It doesn't make any sense."

0-0-0-0-0

Meanwhile, at an unknown location…

"Ugh…"

Raising his head up, Leo winced in pain, "Ack!" His head was pounding, and as he sat up, Leo grabbed his head, "W-What hit me?"

Unfortunately, Leo had bigger problems. When his head stopped ringing, Leo realized he wasn't on the Domino City Hospital roof any more. In fact, he was inside what appeared to be an extremely fancy hotel room, one that could easily rival the Ritz. With a dark blue color scheme, this room looked like it could hold a party of three or four couples, complete with a television and refrigerator.

It was then that Leo noticed that his wounds and burns he had gotten from Volgin were properly bandaged, "W-Who did this?"

There were so many questions that needed to be answered.

Like, who were those two guys who were knocked out on the other two beds?

A trap waiting in the wings…

A mystery hanging over Leo's head…

What will destiny bring?

Or will Odoroki's destiny be one of dread?

0-0-0-0-0-0

Card Stats

Demon's Treasure / Dark / LV. 3 / ATK: 0 / DEF: 1000 / Fiend/Effect: By discarding this card from your hand, you may draw two cards from your deck. Any monsters drawn with this effect are discarded and for each one inflict 500 points of damage to your life points.

Description: A large silver treasure chest with a large demonic face on it.

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Shinre: Finally! I get my own chapter preview!

Wolfgainer: Where the hell are you anyway?

Shinre: Master of the paranormal, Shinre follows on the heels of the mystery plaguing Domino City, closing in on the real master mind behind everything!

Wolfgainer: … That doesn't really answer the question at hand.

Shinre: Next time on Secret Paranormal Agent – Shinre! Final Episode – The Hidden Files! Can the awesomely cool detective find the truth, or will he be buried under all of the lies?

Stein: … I maybe an otaku, but this guy takes the cake for being a dork.

Wolfgainer: … No arguments here…

Next time – Draw 22: Search Striker

Stein: Personally, I think that Tactical Espionage Expert would be better as a title for next chapter.

Author's note: Brownie points for anyone who can guess the name of the monster that Odoroki used to clear the field (I think it's obvious but hey.)