Zak looked at the name of his opponent in question; it showed only three question marks where the duelist's name should be. This opponent obviously did not want his identity revealed. But before Zak could give it anymore thought, the mysterious duelist initiated his turn and drew in complete silence. He had not said a single word in the whole time Zak knew of his existence. Just who was he? And why was he here for Zak? The figure started things off by activating a field spell. Zak recognised the field spell from one of his history lessons on the threats of Duel Monsters. The spell card was known as Malefic World and had only ever been used once in recorded history, by a man named Paradox.
From what Zak remembered: Paradox had used it against Yugi Moto, Jaden Yuki and Yusei Fudo in their three-on-one duel many years ago. Paradox himself had been the only known owner and user of the Malefic cards and had been an exceptionally powerful duelist because of that. His Malefic deck had disappeared along with Paradox when he'd been defeated by the teamwork of the three heroes. Zak had considered that had been the greatest victory of each of those heroes. Each one was a hero in their own right, but all teaming up to prevent the destruction of Duel Monsters was a feat of legends. And now Zak had to face the dreaded and mysterious Malefic deck, although how the mysterious figure had obtained it was an even bigger mystery.
The figure continued his turn and Normal Summoned Malefic Parallel gear. He then proceeded to tune it with the Malefic Stardust Dragon in his hand and Synchro Summoned Malefic Paradox Dragon. The dragon was huge, covering the whole platform in a giant shadow. It glared at Zak.
[Malefic Paradox Dragon – 4000 ATK – 4000 DEF – DARK Attribute – Dragon-Type – Level 10]
The figure set two cards facedown and gestured toward Zak, meaning he ended his turn. Zak was in awe now; not only did the mysterious figure possess Malefic cards; he had shown that he could use them effectively by summoning an incredibly powerful dragon in the first turn. Zak knew that he'd need a miracle if he had any hope of defeating such a duelist and this deck. Zak drew his card in equal silence, mainly because he just couldn't manage to speak. Zak looked at his hand and desperately thought of a way to defeat his opponent. With luck, his deck had come through for him and had given him the cards necessary to protect himself and have a chance at destroying Malefic Paradox Dragon. Zak's hand contained: Spirit Reaper, Scrap-Iron Scarecrow, Chaos Sorcerer, Burden of the Mighty, Zoma the Spirit and Effect Veiler.
Zak focused and saw what he needed to do. He set Scrap-Iron Scare Crow and Zoma the Spirit. He then activated Burden of the Mighty, but the mysterious figure chained on to its activation with his own trap card: Dragon's Rage. Zak frowned slightly and then set Spirit Reaper. Despite the mysterious figure's Dragon-Type monster now inflicting piercing damage, Zak's Scrap-Iron Scarecrow would protect him for one attack.
'I end my turn!' Zak said, finally finding his voice.
The mysterious figure nodded and began his own turn by drawing a card. Malefic Paradox Dragon only had 3000 Attack now due to Zak's Burden of the Mighty. The mysterious duelist gazed at Zak for a few moments before signalling Malefic Paradox Dragon to attack. Zak quickly activated his protective trap card, but it was no use; the mysterious figure seamlessly activated his other trap: Dark Bribe. Zak's Scrap-Iron Scarecrow was negated and destroyed, but Zak got to draw one card. Malefic Paradox Dragon took a deep breath, and then roared a huge ball of fire toward Zak's facedown Spirit Reaper. Although the latter wasn't destroyed, Zak took 2800 points of piercing damage.
[Zak: 1200]
The mysterious figure set another card, gestured for the end of his turn and watched Zak. Little did he know, the card he made Zak draw with Dark Bribe was Mystical Space Typhoon: the card that could destroy Malefic World and therefore Malefic Paradox Dragon.
'My turn, draw!' Zak called out, drawing Mirror Force, 'I activate Mystical Space Typhoon from my hand to destroy Malefic World! Say goodbye to your Malefic Paradox Dragon!'
The mysterious figure said nothing and simply activated his trap card; Eradicator Epidemic Virus. Zak skipped a beat when he saw it, knowing what the mysterious figure was up to. The mysterious figure's trap resolved first, and the mysterious figure chose trap cards. Zak's hand was revealed as Malefic Paradox Dragon descended into the graveyard. Mirror Force was destroyed and so was Zak's facedown Zoma the Spirit. Now the mysterious figure knew what cards Zak had. Zak knew he should keep Spirit Reaper in defence mode for now and ended his turn; there was nothing more he could do.
The mysterious figure drew his card and looked at Zak. The expression in the former's eyes, if any, showed that he had a plan and a dangerous one. Zak was anxious as to what his opponent would do next, but to Zak's surprise; the mysterious figure simply ended his turn. Somehow, Zak felt that this was even more nerve-racking than the opponent doing anything. Zak drew; it was D.D. Warrior Lady, which was revealed to Zak's opponent due to the effects of Eradicator Epidemic Virus. He commanded for her to attack the mysterious figure directly.
[?: 2500]
The mysterious figure didn't even react to the attack at all. Zak frowned and ended his turn; his opponent was confident above all else. The mysterious figure began his turn and drew his card. He now had three cards in his hand while Zak had two. The mysterious figure wasted no time in starting this turn; he quickly Special Summoned Photon Thrasher using its effect. Zak's jaw dropped now in absolute shock: Malefic and Photon in the same deck possessed by a powerful unknown Duelist. Zak doubted that he would survive this round and even doubted that Kite could beat this mysterious duelist. Zak sighed sadly; this was the end.
The mysterious figure continued on by Normal Summoning Photon Crusher. Both monsters were Level 4 and had over 2000 Attack. To Zak, this meant that the mysterious figure could bring out a powerful Rank 4 monster or Special Summon Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon, assuming he had either. But Zak definitely not expecting what happened next. The mysterious figure activated the Spell Card Polymerization from his hand and fused his two Photon Monsters together. The mysterious figure then Fusion Summoned Twin-Photon Lizard right before Zak's eyes.
[Twin-Photon Lizard – 2400 ATK – 1000 DEF – LIGHT Attribute – Dragon-Type – Level 6]
Zak saw that his Burden of the Mighty reduced the new monster's Attack to only 1800, which wasn't enough to defeat him if it attacked D.D. Warrior Lady. But, just to be safe, Zak activated the effect of Effect Veiler in his hand to negate Twin-Photon Lizard's effects. Zak didn't actually know what they were; he just didn't want them to be used against him in case they were powerful. The mysterious figure did not react and simply signalled his monster to attack Spirit Reaper. Zak looked at the mysterious figure in confusion for a few moments.
Then it dawned on him as the pieces of the all puzzle fitted into place. Twin-Photon Lizard was a Dragon-Type and the mysterious figure still had Dragon's Rage on the field. Spirit Reaper only had a Defence total of 200, and Twin-Photon Lizard had 1800 Attack. The difference was 1600 and Zak only had 1200 Life Points. Zak was finished. Twin-Photon Lizard shot off a burst of blue fire at Zak's Spirit Reaper. The latter took the blast head on and came off perfectly fine. But Zak was a different story; he took the aftershock of the blast and was knocked on his feet, landing a few metres back near the platform's edge.
[Zak: 0] [Winner: ?]
Zak closed his eyes and waited for the mysterious and dangerous duelist to use the Photon Hand on him and take his Numbers. Zak didn't even bother attempting to protect himself with his own Photon Gauntlet; he was into too much of a state of shock for that. The mysterious figure had used two of the most powerful decks in known history as a single devastating weapon. Zak had stood no chance from the beginning and he sincerely doubted that anyone could stand up to that kind of power. Zak lay there for at least five minutes, just waiting for the end to come. But it didn't arrive, so Zak opened his eyes and sat up. The figure was gone without a trace. Zak thought that he must have left as soon as Zak was defeated. Zak stood up and looked around.
The mysterious figure was nowhere in sight. But where he stood was something small and pink. Zak carefully walked over to it and peered down at it; it was a Heart Piece. Zak was now more confused than ever, he had no idea what was going on now. He picked up the lone Heart Piece and pulled out his own Heart Pieces. He slotted the new piece into his current ones: a perfect fit. It seemed that this figure knew more about Zak than he let on. He had defeated Zak quickly and countered his moves. Then he'd left without a trace and left a single Heart Piece, which fit perfectly into Zak's Heart container. Zak turned off his D-Gazer and the darkened area faded back into the sunny day that it was. Zak now had a complete set of Heart Pieces and eight Numbers as it was. The dark presence was completely gone and the sense of dread had disappeared altogether.
'Thank you,' Zak said to the empty area.
Somehow, Zak knew that the mysterious duelist had heard him.