Episode 26: The Iron Cage of Life

Knocking softly on the large golden door, Order pushed it open slowly to see Kaira's large brown eyes looking at her form her place kneeling on the floor. Smiling, she nodded as Order walked in and quietly closed the door behind her.

"How are they doing?" Order asked, kneeling down next to Kaira who took her attention off of the red haired woman and looked out over the three sleeping bodies.

"I've cleaned and changed their bandages, and they are sleeping soundly now." Closing her eyes, she turned her head and looked at Order once again. "They will be fine. Good things demons heal a lot faster than regular humans. Actually, if they were human, they'd be dead by now."

"Yes, quite resilient creature's demon's can be." Order nodded, her eyes drifting aimlessly over the three bodies that lay sleeping before her. "Unfortunately we are dealing with a demon as well, so his wounds will be quick to heal as well."

"True." Kaira sighed as Order stated something she really didn't want to hear.

"But this isn't the only reason I came here." Order slid her hand onto Kaira's shoulder as the blond haired girl turned her head to look at her with a confused expression on her face. "A little while I felt a strange energy. I usually can't pick out energies unless they have an incredibly strong duelist soul. I felt Reku and Ronin dueling elsewhere, and that energy was incredibly strong for a long time, so I'm surprised I even noticed this still weak, but stronger than normal energy flux."

"So who was it?" Kaira asked, not totally following Order's explanation of feelings duelists' energies.

"That is what I don't know. This energy was completely new to me. I had never felt it before." Order stood up from her crouching spot, Kaira following suit behind the woman. "What bothers me is it was in the vicinity of Reku's and Akina's home. And you said Kiro lives near by. I'm unsure what his energy feels like, it could have been him."

"Kiro could have come back looking for us." Kaira's eyes widened as she realized. "Order, can you send me there? I need to find out!"

"Sure I can." Order smiled at the girl's silliness. "That is why I came to you. I figured you would want to be the first to know." Looking down, Order took Kaira's hand in her own and held it up. "But because you don't posses a fragment of the crystal, you won't have the power to contact me back. I'll give you a brief amount of time, but I'm going to have to contact you to bring you back."

"That is fine with me." Kaira nodded, smiling wide at the thought of Kiro finally returning. She had been worried sick about him ever since he disappeared

Chao stood with his arms crossed under his cloak. The rain was pounding on his silver mat of hair that rested on his head, but he refused to move until Tal and Masuyo had completely vanished from sight and he was sure they weren't going to double back the moment he turned his back.

"I wonder what in the world that was all about." Chao spoke under his breath, turning finally and looking over at Kiro's house. "And I wonder where that numbskull wondered off to. Seems like he must be busy to not be home. Oh well, I guess I'd better just go…" Something dropped his sentence midway through, his eyes narrowing to see if he had really seen what he thought he had. Behind Kiro's front door, he could of swore just a second ago he had seen a huge flash of light.

Moving slowly, cautiously, he crossed the lawn diagonally heading straight for Kiro's front door. When he was just a little ways from it, he stopped dead still on the soaking grass. His eyes vigorously watched the door knob turn, and the door inching open. From inside, a blond haired girl stuck her head out, seeming to jerk it back in when the rain surprised her.

Opening the door fully, Kaira stood in the small entry way staring out at the raining sky. Turning her head slightly, she caught just a glimps of a silver and black blur that was racing towards her. The next thing she knew, she was in the embrace of a soaking wet blanket.

"Kaira! I was wondering if I'd ever see you again." The voice quickly registered with Kaira who jerked back from the man, smiling wide.

"Chao!" She cried out, happy to see the man who stood halfway in the door now. "What are you doing here?" She asked, before realizing the front of her clothing was now dripping wet. "And why are you wondering around in the rain, getting me all dirty like that? You jerk."

"Sorry, sorry." Chao rubbed the back of his head, smiling like an idiot. "I was just happy to see a friendly face. I came here to meet Kiro. He told me to come by and visit him. Do a few practice duels, things of that sort. What are you doing here?"

"I came to visit Kiro as well." Kaira admitted, stepping back and sweeping her arms so that Chao could enter the house. "I was kind of hoping you were him. But I guess you aren't." She turned a bit disappointed, but still happy to have met an old friend here.

"So Kiro isn't here." Chao turned, closing the door. "That kind figures, but, what are you doing alone in his house? And why didn't you answer the door when I knocked?"

"'cause I wasn't here." It was Kaira's turn to rub the back of her head with embarrassment. "I was…um…in a different dimension."

"Different dimension huh?" Chao shrugged, looking around the small living room. "I've heard stranger things I guess. And you can access this dimension through this living room?"

"No, no, I can't access it at all." Kaira waved her hands in front of her body in an attempt to disprove Chao's theory. "A new friend of mine has to contact me and bring me back to their dimension."

"Oh, of course." Chao nodded, in complete disbelief of Kaira's story. "I'm friends with a demon, so I guess anything is possible."

"So wait." Kaira interrupted Chao's thoughts as something dawned on her. "Why would Kiro ask you to come here and duel with him? Last time I check, Kiro could smoke you in a duel."

"The vote of confidence in my skills is lovely, thank you Kaira." Chao sweat dropped sarcasm blatantly obvious in his tone of voice. Perking up, he took a serious expression. "You don't know? Don't you read like, Duelist Weakly or anything?"

"No."

"Wow. Um…" Scratching his head, Chao looked off to the side. "Sorry that you didn't know then. About a year ago, a little longer than that maybe, I entered into the pro-league dueling circuit. My rank isn't extraordinarily high yet, even after a year, but it has definitely risen since I entered. There are a lot of tough competitors in the circuit." Looking back, Chao couldn't help but chuckle at the fact that Kaira literall had her mouth hanging wide open. "I think Kiro's actually been thinking about getting into the dueling circuit. Or that is what it sounded like on the phone, he wanted to see what a pro-league duelist dueled like."

"Why has…no one…bother to tell me about…any of this?" Kaira was bumbling her words around, completely thrown out of the loop.

"I figured you knew." Chao stupidly backed up incase the woman went into a raging swing fit.

A few moments earlier, after sending Kaira, Order paced back down the golden hallway to the main room where Deruku and Gurabe were still, talking away. She felt a strange twinge, knowing that someone was tapping into the power of their crystal to speak to her.

"Order? Are you there Order?" The voice belonged to Joe.

"I'm here Joe, what is it you need? Did you find Reku and Ronin yet?" She questioned, getting a wave of emotions through their connection.

"No, sadly, by the time we got to where they were supposed to be, they had already disappeared. We have no clue what happened to them. We're kinda at a loss here, would you mind transporting us to the castle?"

"Of course. Hang on one moment." Order broke the connection, walking into the large chamber of the castle and focusing her energy. Gurabe and Deruku were surprised at first to see her walk in like that, but once they recognized what she was doing, they didn't dare say anything.

A huge sphere of light began to form, taking shape in the clearing in the middle of the room. Blasting out rays of light, the orb took shape before dispersing off into wisps of light leaving the large group of people standing there.

The first thing Order noticed was Akina who was crying on Sachiko's shoulder. Moving quickly she pushed through the group and stood next to the two of them.

"Akina, are you alright?" She asked, though looking at Sachiko. "It's because you don't know what happened to Reku, right?"

"Yup." She nodded, patting Akina on the back once again. "We are unsure if he won, or lost, or what happened to either of them."

"We were hoping you could track them down." Joe came in, causing Order to look back at him because he was standing behind her. "We figured that since you could feel powerful auras, you might be able to find them.

"Not unless they release a burst of their soul energy, which typically only happens in a duel." Order shook her head. "I can faintly feel people, but I can't feel either one of them right now. Sorry."

"Well, that's just great." Joe, filled with a mix of anger and disappointment, turned and scraped his foot over the ground as if to kick something, had there been anything there to kick. "What do we do now?"

"Wait I guess." Sachiko bowed her head, before looking back up. Waving dumbly she made Order cock her head at her. "Hey Order, it's been a while."

"Oh, Sachiko." Order placed her hand on her chest, a bit relieved there was nothing seriously wrong with the woman. "In all the panic I didn't even realize that I hadn't seen you in ages."

"So where is Kaira?" Kevin asked, changing the subject back to the matter at hand. "And how are Kooru, Heruru and Hebanu doing? Are they getting better? Are they awake?"

"Yes, the three demons are doing fine. They are recovering their health and are resting now. Their bodies regenerate at a rapid pace compared to humans, but Freyr's wounds are deep. It will take some time, though I would assume Freyr himself is out of combat as well.

"As for Kaira…" Order turned towards the golden ceiling that was high above her head. Concentrating, she spoke calmly into the air. "Kaira, can you hear me?"

"Yes Order, I can hear you." Kaira's voice bellowed back, echoing off the walls of the golden chamber. The small group looked confused to find out that Kaira must be back on Earth, as Order can't contact any of them like that in the same realm as her. "It wasn't Kiro, but it's a friend. It is alright to bring us both there now."

"A friend?" Joe cocked his head. "Wait…I'm a bit lost. How many more friends are there?"

"You're lost?" Ryokurio hit Joe on the shoulder playfully, but forcefully enough to grab his attention. "Who the heck is this Kaira person. Who's Kiro? And did she say there were three demons resting here?"

"Woops, we've got some explaining to do." Kevin put his hand over his mouth playfully, but still showing he was serious.

Just as he said that, a large orb of light blasted into the room right next to the small group. Subsiding, the light produced two figures, one was the blond haired Kaira, the other was a stranger wrapped in a soaking wet, black and silver colored cloak. Smiling dumbly, he raised his right hand slowly and waved it back and forth as an awkward silent greeting to the rather large group. Not sure of what was going on or where he was, he just cocked his head and stared blankly at the new faces.

"Hello again everyone." Kaira stepped forward, turning and extending her arm towards the new man. "I'd like to introduce everyone to an old friend of mine and Kiro's, this is Chao Ryota.

Darkness had swallowed up the gray sky with the setting of the sphere of light called the sun. Though darkness had blanketed the city, the rain that had started its down pour hadn't cut any slack to its violent onslaught. Pounding the cold, steel buildings and rock hard cement with wave upon wave of soft, but frequent drops of icicle water. Splashing into the shallow lakes that had formed in uneven surfaces along roads and sidewalks as it did.

The scene was shattered though as a large, black leather boot came crashing down into the puddle, sending water flying out in all directions as the boot lifted, causing its liquid foot print to fill in lightning fast with the rushing water.

Without slowing its stride, the owner of the boot rounded the stone corner of the building and trudged down the alley way to the large steel door at the end. Pounding on the door with a massive sized, hair covered hand on the tree trunk arm, the man waited for the door to swing open When it did, he greeted that large, bald black man who smiled to see him. Exchanging the cash needed, the large man walked into the hall as the door was closed behind him.

Fading into the sound of the area was loud roaring and cheering, as out in the main dome area of the room were cheering fans. Most of them looked to be gruff street punks and scandaly clad women who accompanied them, but all eyes were locked on the steel cage in the middle where two duelists were shocking the hell out of each other as they staggeredly took one another's life points.

Screams ripped through the air as one of the players inside the cage lost all his life points, the shock collars taking a huge voltage of electricity and surging it through the veins of the poor man.

Kiro frowned deeply, pushing up his sunglasses on his nose to hide his unhuman eyes from the world. He was leaning against the corner that lead off into the hallway with all the duelists chambers. Growling, he watched as the fans hooted and hollered as ring security dragged the unconscious man from the ring. He knew full well that in just a little while, he himself would be shoved in that cage.

Chime had wanted a few moments alone to prepare for the match that was coming up, as well as talk to her manager, so Kiro had trudged down to watch the duels. Though he wasn't really a fan of this kind of dueling, he still found it better than pacing the drab hallway.

Turning, he grunted as he began to walk back down the hallway. "This is a waste of time. If this wasn't my sister…I probably would have said screw this by now." Turning his head back, he glared over his shoulder. "Though this isn't exactly the pro-league…at least I won't be considered too much of a freak here. I'm no more messed up than any of those asses."

The large wooden door opened, and forcibly shoved through it was the upright gentleman that was Chime's manager: Tatashi.

"I don't care, I will not trade out my brother as my partner, and that is final!" Chime yelled, walking out into the hallway and backing the man up against the far stone wall. He was holding up his hands to defend himself should Chime take to swinging at him. "If you want to keep me around, you need to put faith in me and let me handle this my way! We will win, and you will be sorry you doubted us."

"Oh my," A strange voice caught Chime's attention, dragging it away from the black suited man and to three men standing a few feet away down the hall. Her eyes widened when she saw them. "Five years later, and you still are a bitch."

"What the hell are you two doing here?" Chime asked, turning her full attention to the small, buff man that had spoken and the talk, slicked over hair man that stood next to him smirking darkly. "How did you two find me?"

"Dumb luck I guess." The short man, Hygin, shrugged. "We were schedualed to drop by here by our circuit to duel some losers at four times the pay. So we couldn't pass it up, right Archip." Hygin smirked, elbowing his partner in the ribs. Rubbing his side slightly, Archip nodded.

"Yup, never expected to find you here Chime." He spoke, causing the shock on her face to be flustered with a mix of anger.

"Losers?" Chime stomped forward to face the two men and Yukio who was trailing slightly behind them. "Those losers you are facing tonight are me and my brother, and you are the chumps that are going down."

"Chumps?" Hygin laughed, pushing Chime back so that she wasn't directly in their faces. "So you are the hopeless soul that we must massacre tonight. Good, it'll be the perfect revenge for abandoning us all those years ago. You left us for this," Hygin spread his arms out, motioning to the damp stone hallway they were standing in, "a trashy life and underground duels."

"Wait." Archip interrupted; looking down at the green haired woman he cocked his eyes. "Did you just say you had a brother?"

"What would that matter?" Hygin hit his partner again in the ribs to get him to shut up. "They are going down no matter what. You can't abandon the dreams you beat so frivolously into our skulls and leave us to rot in some hospital room."

"I left that hospital because of the defeat I was handed by Ronin!" Chime bellowed back, making Yukio widen his eyes at the name. "Him and his friends fought so hard to stop us, and guess what happened in the end? They won. They put everything they had on the line to save all those people. If we had such a fool-proof plan in place, how in the hell did three kids overcome all of them and beat us at our own game? I had all the odds stacked against that fool, and they won!

"So when I woke up in that hospital room I was confused as to why I had lost. Ronin had some powerful words and the backing behind it. I needed time to think it over before I ever saw your two ugly mugs again."

"What the hell is going on here?" Yukio questioned, looking back and forth between the three people who were yelling at each other. "I knew Hygin and Archip had run into Reku, Ronin and Akina before, but how is this woman involved with them. I never even bothered to find out how these three knew them…"

"I don't care who had strong words." Hygin pushed passed the tall woman and kept walking. "I dislike backstabbers, and I will personally be the one to drop your life points to zero tonight, and shock the living shit out of you. Come on you two." He called back to the two other people following him. Quickly they jogged down the hallway until they caught up with him.

Chime watched their backs as they moved to one side, allowing a man in black hoodie to come past them. Kiro looked up and saw Chime with a beat red face, storming back into her chamber. Tatashi still up against the wall, just as lost as to what has just transpired before him.

Walking into the room, Kiro instantly grabbed his white duel disk that came flying through the air at him. Holding it down he saw his sister strapping on her own unique green duel disk. Glaring at him, she nodded with rage and passion burning in her eyes.

"Kiro, we have to win now."

"Why?" He asked, stepping into the chamber slightly. "What is going on?"

"Our opponents are old friends of mine. That's all. They both need to be brought to their knees." Chime watched as the latch on her duel disk tightly clamped onto her wrist. Turning it over, she looked down at the top of her duel disk. "Brought to their knees and whimper like the dirty mutts they have always been."

"So instead of just a regular; 'I am dueling in order to save my place down here and my life from the thugs that will kill me should I lose', this is turned into a…" Kiro swirled his arms through the air as he came up with the right term to use. "Personal vengeance match."

"Yeah, let's go with that." Chime picked up her deck off of the glass table and slid it into her duel disk.

Taking a seat in the very front of the room, Yukio ran his hand through his long and unkempt blue hair. He had no idea what he was doing here, but it seemed as though Hygin and Archip belonged to some kind of underground dueling circuit on the side of their work for Freyr. Looking up, he saw the two men he accompanied to the dueling ring inside strapping large black shackles around their arms and neck. Turning, they waved to the crowd which sent everyone into a frenzy of either cheers, or intense booing.

Turning his gaze to the staircase that lead up to the hallway they had emerged from earlier in the night, Yukio watched as the green haired woman followed by some strange guy in sunglasses and wrapped tightly in a black jacket came down to the arena, walking into it without saying a word.

"So this looks to be some kind of double duel." Yukio rested his head on his hands which were propped up by his knees. "I wonder how this is going to go down in the end."

As Chime and Kiro strapped themselves into their own shock shackles, a strange man in a pure white sure walked pasted them into the center of the ring. Holding a microphone up to his face, he began to bellow out to the hooligan crowd that surrounded him on all sides of the cage.

"And now for tonight's main event!" He called out, rotating around so that he could face the crowds on all sides of him. His words sent them into another uproar that he had to wait till it passed before he could continue to speak. "Tonight, one of our very own is being challenged for her spot in this dueling circuit. If she should lose, she will suffer horrible consicenques that will defenently scar her dueling career for life. In this corner," the man thrust his arm out, pointing towards Chime and Kiro as he spoke. "Our very own Chime Rinku! And her partner, a stranger to the dueling circuit, as well as her little brother I've been informed, Kiro Rinku!"

The crowed, those who supported Chime anyways, began to cheer extremely loud. To this, Chime held up her left arm, her emerald green, circular duel disk humming as it began to activate. Sliding up, a hatch on the side of the device slid out into a long, pointed spine that was to act as her dueling field. Next to her, Kiro held up his duel disk, the field of light forming from a rainbow energy shooting out of the hologram projectors on the side of his wrist gadget.

After the cheering had quelled once again, the announcer whipped his arm out to his other side, motioning towards Hygin and Archip. "And their challengers, brought here on special request from the western branch of our lovely dueling circuit!"

Hygin and Archip, both mimicking their opponents, held up their hands, their white duel disk humming as they activated, snapping the duel plate together then loading it into the grove at the side of the duel disk.

The crowd's response to this was the same as it was for their opponents, roaring out that shook the steel cage around them.

"And now for the rules of this match." The announcer calmed down the crowed so that everyone knew what was going on. "Our teams will share a jointed life point account, both being set for 8000. This means that once damage is taken to the life point pool, both players on that side will feel the incredible voltage as punishment to the team.

"Furthermore, no direct attacks will be allowed on the opponents life points until both players on the same team have their field completely wiped out." Looking back and forth, he got a nod from all four contestants. "Now for the order of how we will be conducting dueling tonight. First off, lets start with this man here," Pointing, the announcer held his index finger towards Kiro. Shifting his weight, the announcer than pointed across from him. "After Kiro goes, Hygin will follow. Next Chime will move, with Archip bringing up the rear. No one is allowed to attack until everyone has drawn once. Are we clear?" Again, a nod came from all four competitors. "Good, now don't disappoint us with this duel, or the wrath of the fans will be worse than any shocks you might get. Let's duel!"

"Duel!" All four of them cried out, the arena erupting in cheers.

Kiro/Chime-8000 LP
Hygin/Archip-8000 LP

"Since it's my turn first, let me get the ball rolling." Kiro cried out to his opponents, fanning open his opening five cards. With his free right hand he yanked a sixth card from his deck and added it to his hand. "Rise up first; Gravekeeper's Spear Soldier (1500/1000)!" He cried out, slapping the piece of cardboard onto the clear light dueling field.

A hologram erupted before him, producing the dark skinned monster that was to serve him. Flying through the air, the man's black robes whipped back from the force. As he landed with a soft thud on the cement arena, he straightened himself up, bringing the large, metal pointed spear to his side.

"Since I went first, I also get to attack first. No matter what they try, they can't get to me this turn, so my monster is safe…for now." Kiro thought and he waved his arm across his body. "Now take your turn. Lets get this game over with."

"Now come on." Hygin smirked as he placed his hand on the top card of his deck. "You heard the nice man; we are supposed to make this a good duel. Like hell were throwing it to a loser and a backstabber like you two." Drawing his card, Hygin flipped it over so he could look at it. "Though we are supposed to be serving Freyr, right now he is out and we have an obligation to keep up our jobs. He'll just have to wait."

"Backstabber?" Kiro turned his head to look at his partner, who just looked at him for a second before shifting her gaze back to her opponents. "Chime…what is…"

"Nothing." Chime waved off his question, pointing towards their opponent. "Pay attention. I'll explain everything later."

"You'll always explain everything later." Growling, Kiro turned his head back to his opponent who was slapping a card from his hand onto his duel disk. "Lucky you didn't live with me, you'd be as good as dead with that attitude."

"Element Soldier (1500/1200) in attack mode." Hygin announced as a large, tan armored warrior appeared before him in a rain of lights. "And I won't do anything else on my turn either. Your move, you traitor."

"You aren't going to drop that, are you?" Chime growled as she whipped one of the cards from her deck off and added it to her hand for her opening six cards. "Well, I'll shut you up, come out, Revival Slime (1500/500)." Chime cried, slapping the orange bordered card onto her duel disk. Appearing as a hologram before her, the image erupted into a large, shapeless blue blob with a hideously sinister face carved into its gel like surface. "I also end there."

"Which makes it my turn. Draw!" Archip announced as he pulled the top most card off his deck and gazed upon its face. Looking up, he smirked towards his opponents. "It would appear that we all start off even. I summon Mystic Clown (1500/1000), also in attack mode." With its name announced, the card appeared before the man with a rush of energy, producing a large purple suited monster. Eyeballs ran all down the monster's limbs and body, with one large green eye in the middle of its oval head. "This will end my turn."

"So this real duel can start!" Kiro cried out, sliding the top card from his deck. "Draw! And what a draw it is! I set this face-down on my field to start with." Kiro announced, sliding the card he drew into his duel disk of light. Snapping his arm up, he barked out his order. "Gravekeeper's Spear Soldier attack his Element Soldier now! Suicidal Spear Stab!"

Nodding, the tan Egyptian man charged across the field, a battle cry ripping from his lips. Thrusting his spear forward, he put it directly into the stomach of the monster he was targeting. His smile though soon turned into a frown as he felt a wave of pain surge through his own body, the spear of the enemy soldier ran through his own gut.

Both of them cried out before exploding into tiny data bits, causing Hygin and Kiro to shield themselves from the raining data.

Once the barrage stopped, Kiro held up another card from his hand, slapping it face-down onto his duel disk. "Next up, I'll just set this card and end my turn." The horizontal monster card appeared before him in a wave of light and a rush of sound.

"You best be careful, or she'll backstab you too." Hygin warned Kiro as he placed his hand on the top card of his deck. "You'd be best not to rely on her at all this game, only trust yourself, 'cause she'll backstab you to. Draw!"

"I will take my chances." Kiro growled, angered that his opponent was trying to break them apart so it would be easier for him to win. Though it wasn't to big of a deal, both his and his sisters deck could hold their own very well.

"Well, it's your loss then. My card will use her for all she is worth." Hygin smirked, sliding his card into his duel disk. "Go Spirit Scroll of Water!" The magic card materialized before him with a blast of light, from it a small orb of water appeared (?) (1000/1000). "This creates a Spirit Water Token, a object that will gain 500 attack and defense points for each and every water monster on the field. That includes itself, as well as your Revival Slime." Hygin announced, his monster glowing with a feint blue aura.

Next to his blob of water, a woman monster in a tight white suit popped up, spinning a sphere of magical ruins between its hands.

"Next I summon Element Magician (1500/1200) in attack mode, and due to her effect, while a creature of water is on the field; this monster can't leave my control. But here is the kicker." Hygin slid another card into his duel disk, watching as it materialized before him. "Scroll of Bewitchment allows me to change the type of my own Element Magician to water."

"What?!" Both Chime and Kiro watched in horror as a scroll began to spiral around the deep purple haired monster, changing into a stream of water as it span.

(Spirit Water Token 1500/1500)

"Now watch this!" Hygin snapped his arm out pointing towards Chime's monster. "Let's make that thing vanish. Spirit Water Token go! Wipe out Revival Slime with little to no resistance. "

True to its master's words, the ball of water raced across the field, crashing into the blue blob monster and enveloping it within seconds. A loud explosion shook the ring as the two monsters exploded, bringing back a massive roar from the crowed.

"Oh yeah!" Chime bellowed, snapping her arm forward. "I'll show you by paying 1000 life points so that I can revive my monster during my standby phase."

Kiro/Chime-7000 LP
Hygin/Archip-8000 LP

"Wait…" Kiro's words weren't completed before the harsh voltage came racing from the black shackles, shocking the two siblings with 1000 life points worth of voltage. Black lightning bolts raced from the front red orbs, crashing along the dirty cement ring. When it subsided, Kiro growled deeply in his throat, glaring at his sister from behind the black glasses. "Don't get hasty like that, the duel just began. And don't forget, we are sharing life points. If you kill me with that kind of shit, I'll be sure to take you six feet under with me."

"Aww, are the poor little ones getting into a big fight?" Hygin mocked, snapping his arm forward to grab their attention. "Well, you'll be put in a time out after this one. Element Magician attack the remaining monster on the field."

Cupping its hands, the magician created a sphere of ruins that it instantly launched forwards. Racing across the field, the ball of energy crashed into the set card, but fizzled out as a monster hologram was revealed.

"You fool, you ran into my defense strategy, Gravekeeper's Spy (1200/2000)." Smirking, Kiro watched as black sparks began to surge from the clamps on his opponents bodies. The two men grunted as the voltage surged through their bodies.

Kiro/Chime-7000 LP
Hygin/Archip-7500 LP

"Oh, but watch out." Kiro warned as he pulled his deck out of its slot. "My monster allows me to summon a Gravekeeper monster from my deck to the field. And for this, I will choose: Gravekeeper's Curse (800/800). Placing him in defense mode."

Next to the crouching black robed Egyptian monster, appeared a smaller one with a large curved staff in his hands. Twirling about before it crouched down onto his card, he smirked as a large, toxic green fog began to swarm around Hygin and Archip, causing the shock collars to go off again.

Kiro/Chime-7000 LP
Hygin/Archip-7000 LP

"My Gravekeeper's Curse deals 500 points of damage to the opponent when it is summoned to the field." Kiro smirked, watching as the two opponents recovered from the sudden shock to their system.

"It won't matter." Hygin growled, pointing to Chime. "Alright, your move."

"Fine." Chime drew her top card, the blue blob monster pulling itself back together on the field before her. "Kiro is right, I have to think about the two of us. Sadly, my deck works a bit on life point costs, so this could get bad. Luckily Gravekeeper's don't have life point costs as a major factor to them." Pulling a card from her hand, she slapped it down on her duel disk. "I sacrifice Revival Slime in order to call out White Blood Cell Warrior (2100/1000) in attack mode!"

A swirling blue light raced around the slime monster, vaporizing it clear off the field. In its place a dark skinned warrior monster with solid white armor that covered all of its body save its face and its arms. In its hands it held a sword hilt and a silver blade that looked like it was sawed vertically down. Smirking through its large bush of hair that made up its beard, the normal monster prepared to fight its opponents.

"Take this Hygin!" Chime bellowed, snapping her arm forward. Her monster began to charge across the field with its sword raised up by its side. "Strike down Element Magician with Viral Destruction Slash!"

From the side of the sword that appeared to be sawed away, a tail of white disks came racing out as the blade was swung through the air, slicing clean through the chest of the purple haired spell caster. Screaming out, the monster shattered into millions of little data bits.

Kiro/Chime-7000 LP
Hygin/Archip-6400 LP

As their life points dropped by 600, the two men began to groan as the voltage began to rush through their bodies again. The scene of them suffering while black bolts of electrical energy jumping from the orbs on the shackles made Chime smirk darkly.

"Soon I'll shut the two of you up permanently." Chime pondered, whipping her arm across her body. The large white knight landed on the field before her with a soft thud on the ground and a grunt from the impact. "I end my turn."

"It seems that no one even considers me a threat." Archip smirked as he drew his top card. Holding it up to his face, he glared past it at the two green haired siblings that he was facing. "I'll teach you to underestimate me and my deck. I'll sacrifice my Mystic Clown in order to call out: Summoned Skull (2500/1200)!"

As the clown vaporized instantly, a large, white boned skeleton monster rose up in its place. Large patches of deep purple muscle could be seen through the rib cage of the monster, and its face, with the dark eyeball sockets, sent out a ghastly chill of demonic dominance.

"Time to rock your world." Archip snapped his arm forward, pointing towards the white armored monster that Chime had. "Summoned Skull attack! Wipe out that monster with your Lightning Strike!"

Outstretching its large forearms, the monster sent a blast of electrical energy from the solid bones. Cruising across the small field, the blast collided with the armored warrior, causing it to explode in a fiery death. As it did, the shock collars on Kiro and Chime began to react, sending waves of electrical energy surging through their bodies.

Kiro/Chime-6600 LP
Hygin/Archip-6400 LP

"Chime, do you remember the power of my deck?" Archip mocked, watching as the woman recovered from her punishment. "You took me on because I was incredibly powerful with my deck, and I am toying with you. Hygin has been pulling the fast moves, while I'm leisurely taking my time. You two don't appear to have decks that work together, nor does it look like you two have a dueling face and tempo that works together."

Hygin snapped up his arm, smirking darkly. "And without that, you two are bound do go down faster than a rock thrown into the lake."

"Dammit." Both Kiro and Chime cursed under their breaths, looking at each other for a second before their attention was brought back to the field before them.

"They could be right." Chime glared at them. "But we can still win…I hope…"

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CARD OF THE EPISODE

Gravekeeper's Spy
1200/2000/4/Dark/Spellcaster
FLIP: Special Summon 1 Monster Card that includes "Gravekeeper's" in its card name with an ATK of 1500 or less from your Deck.

Kiro: "A card from my deck has made the Card of the Episodes this time; Gravekeeper's Spy. This card does a wonderful job at thinning my deck and quickly summoning a monster from it with 1500 attack points or less. There are some pretty killer monsters in my deck that this card has the power to target. Plus it has incredibly good stats to accompany itself. It's quite an amazing card."

A/N: Well, Happy New Years everyone. I'm back now for just a little bit. Be sure to cherish what I can get to ya in this time. Have a nice day!

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