Chapter 37: The Eye of Truth

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Next to the black dragon emerged the large metallic dragon surging with electricity from its limbs. Then, both of the dragons were pulled into a large vortex that seemed to meld them together. "In order to form…Black Thunder Dragon (/?)!"

A large bolt of dark electricity slammed into the platform before Rioko, sending metallic debris to fly up into the air. From the smoke that was rising emerged a pitch-black dragon with the metallic neon armor that was pulsing with electricity. Its red eyes seemed to glow with the same intensity as the lights that were on its body.

"And what is that thing supposed to do?" Maxwell asked as the Black Thunder Dragon threw its head back for a mighty metallic roar.

"Well since you asked, first it gains the same attack points as the dragon that was used in the fusion, plus half of the thunder monster's attack points that was used in fusion as well so that's a grand total of thirty-six hundred attack points!" Rioko announced as his Black Thunder Dragon (3600/0) slammed its metallic clawed feet into the ground. "And guess what he has a trampling effect!"

'No…my Troop Dragon (700/600) is only a hinder to me now…' Maxwell thought watching the dragon charge up a powerful black energy. '…This isn't over…I won't give up on my life or dream!'

"Black Thunder Dragon attack his defense!" Rioko commanded as Maxwell closed his eyes.

'This is it…

'I may not be able to prevent the punishment…but I can delay it!

'Then…after all the fools leave I'll activate the term…'

The dark electricity slammed into the face down dragon and then into Maxwell causing him to scream in a loud fury of pain.

When the attack was finished Maxwell fell to his knees with his body smoking from the electrical burns and then fell to his face. (MLP: 0)

Rioko just raised his right hand in the air with the peace sign and smiled. "And finally the last rule…Strike a victory pose!"

Everyone who was still standing sweatdropped as Rioko fell to his butt and sat down. Cain just walked up to his friend and placed his hand on Rioko's shoulder. "Nice job Rioko…"

"Nah…just had the luck of the draw…" Rioko laughed but then lowered his head from exhaustion. "Whoa…that duel took a lot out of me…"

"Good, cause we don't want you to interfere lightning boy," Alucar commented as Kuri jumped from the platform slapping on a duel disk.

"So I'll be taking on the shorty!" Kuri announced as she activated her duel disk.

Cain just narrowed his eyes and raised his arm into the air. "…You want a duel…then you just got one!"

"Kuri…hold on a minute," Alucar stated as Kuri began to walk towards Cain.

Stopping at that instant, Kuri stumbled a little before she turned around and smiled at Alucar. "Yeah master Alucar?"

"From the surveillance cameras, I've created a deck to counter that runt's strategy," Alucar answered pulling out a small deck of cards from his pocket and holding them out in front of Kuri. "Either of them…"

Snapping the new deck from her master's hands, Kuri quickly fitted the deck into her duel disk. "Thanks master!"

Cain raised an eyebrow, while his eyes were watching Kuri jump onto the platform he was standing on. 'A deck to counter my strategy? What the hell is that red haired freak talking about?'

"You sure you can handle this?" Rioko asked as Cain closed his eyes.

"If you could escape Risely and beat Maxwell," Cain replied activating his duel disk as he snapped his deck into the machine. "Then I think I can handle a duel against this person…"

"Hey Master!"

Cain turned to his deck and saw a smaller version of the Alchemist Gunner standing on his deck. 'What do you want?'

'You might want to be careful! I'm sensing something from this girl…and its somewhat familiar…'

'How the hell is it familiar?'

'Well…it's similar to…'

"Hey! Little guy!"

As soon as Cain lifted his head up, the Alchemist Gunner disappeared into his deck.

Kuri tapped her foot on the metal platform looking a little ticked off. "You planning on drawing this year?" (KLP: 4000)

"Just wanted to give you a minute to prepare yourself," Cain replied snapping the top five cards from his deck. "Now get ready!" (CLP: 4000)

"Let's get this duel started already…" Alucar chuckled as Kuri drew her sixth card. "And it would be gentleman like to let a lady go first…"

"You got that right Alucar!" Kuri shouted into the air before looking at her new card. "I'll start this turn by summoning…Indomitable Fighter Lei Lei (2300/0)!"

As soon as Kuri gently placed the card onto her duel disk, a bright light shot from the duel disk allowing a beast like figure to jump out.

The man, if you could call it that, was extremely muscular with a substantial amount of orange fur covering its body. On its torso was a traditional fighter's armor with a white angel painted on the chest plate.

Two vertical face down cards appeared behind Lei Lei, and as Cain looked at his opponent, Kuri just waved her free hand. "And since I can't attack this turn, I'll finish up with two face down cards…your move shorty!"

"Word of advice…" Cain started.

With a quick motion, Cain quickly snapped the top card from his deck and added it to his hand. "Don't call me short…."

Looking at his hand, Cain nodded at his cards. 'Let's see, since she's got that thing out, she'll probably be playing a union deck…but that makes no sense.

'How could that counter my strategies? Guess I'll have to wait for the duel to get going to figure that out…'

Immediately sliding one card into his duel disk, Cain reached for another. "I'll set a card in the back rows, then summon Crystal Alchemist (1500/1600) on the defensive…"

In a bright light appeared a young man with bushy brown hair that covered over his eyes making him seem blind. His black coat had multiple crystals attached to the fabric gleaming in the little light that was in the room.

"And that's about all I can do this turn…" Cain replied as Kuri drew her next card. 'Okay…she'll probably summon the union monster that goes with that card and then attack…and that'll leave me open…'

"What to do this turn…" Kuri cooed as she looked at her hand.

Slowly waving her free hand over her cards, Kuri's lips formed into a familiar smile…

…At least to Cain…

"I think I'll summon Goblin Attack Force (2300/0)!" Kuri announced slapping the card onto her duel disk.

In a bright light, three green goblins appeared each with armor that seemed to be made out of the nearest household objects. In each of the goblin's hands was a large club.

'Okay…she must be planning on playing Frontline Base this turn…' Cain thought as he looked at his face down card. 'Not that it matters…with this card in the rear, I'll be safe from her attacks…'

"Umm…there's nothing else I like in my deck, so go ahead little duelist!" Kuri giggled as Cain narrowed his eyes.

"I told you to stop calling me little!" Cain roared.

Kuri just held up a hand while closing her eyes. "Actually, you said not to call you short…nothing to say about being little!"

Slapping his hand against his forehead, Cain just figured something out. 'Wait a minute…why didn't she attack me? She could've done a lot of damage…is she afraid of my face down card?'

Cain didn't know it but the same thought had appeared in his head. 'Weird…summoning monsters with high attack and not attacking?'

…That's when it hit him.

'Crap! Why didn't I think of this strategy sooner?' Rioko held his hands to his head and groaned slightly to himself. 'I may not know what cards Cain's playing…but if this deck is made to counter it then he's in big trouble!'

"Uh, Cain…" Rioko started as Cain drew his next card.

"Rioko…I'm in the middle of a duel right here…even if it is frustrating," Cain growled as he reached for another card in his hand.

"But Cain! Kuri's deck is…" Rioko started.

"That's enough!"

Rioko just turned to Alucar sitting on the platform with his hand up. "It appears you know what this deck is…however, this is a duel and Cain needs to figure it out himself…so unless you want him to automatically lose the duel AND his soul…

"Then I suggest you shut your yap…"

With a great gulp, Rioko just stepped backwards with Cain looking towards him. 'If its something that made Rioko worry…then it's probably a challenge…I guess I'll just have to accept it then!'

With a quick snap, Cain slapped his next card vertical onto his duel disk. "Okay! Watch this! I summon Scholar Alchemist (1200/1200)!"

A large green transmutation circle appeared before Cain allowing the newest alchemist to emerge from the circle. As the young man jumped from markings, his long brown hair flowed past his green vest/cloak combo. With his left arm at his khaki pants, he threw his right arm into the air showing off the beaten up book that he tightly grasped.

As soon as the Scholar Alchemist landed on the ground, he immediately opened his book and began to chant some words. "And he's got an ability, when he's summoned I can select one random card in your hand and look at it…"

With a coy smile, Kuri raised her three-card hand in front of Cain. "Well then, make your choice shrimp…"

A non-existent breeze just flew through the room as Cain lowered his head. "You're just going to milk the height through out this duel aren't you?"

"Yep! You better believe it tatter tot," Kuri giggled making the non-existent breeze blow once more through the room.

"…Ignoring that now…" Cain replied as he raised his hand. "The card I choose is…"

Cain quickly threw his arm directly straight forward pointing towards…

"The card on the right!"

Kuri just closed her eyes as she flipped the selected card to show Cain the green border. "My Emergency Provisions…so what if you know what this is?"

"Cause then, my Scholar Alchemist can now switch modes at the end of my turn," Cain replied sliding a card into his duel disk, forming another card behind his two alchemists. "So when I place this card face down, I can then send my monster to defense mode."

Without a moment's notice, the Scholar Alchemist lowered to his knees and knelt down holding the book in front of his chest.

"You know, you've got some interesting cards," Kuri complimented as she drew. "But I doubt that they are able to do anything when this turn is set into motion…"

Lowering her arms and her eyes, Kuri seemed to be focusing on something.

"What the?" Cain questioned raising an eyebrow.

"Yes…the time has come…" Alucar chuckled as he began to stand up. "For Kuri to actually use the power…the reason why I went searching for her, to use! Open your eyes Kuri!

"Open them! And reveal the eyes of truth!"

At the sound of the last word, Kuri opened her eyes to reveal that they were glowing a brilliant, bright white. "Truth shall release you…of your soul!"

Sliding a card into the duel disk, a powerful storm swept across the field making Cain cover his eyes. However, since Cain could see (barely), he saw that his face down card, Mirror Force, had shattered thanks to the powerful storm. "As you can see, I activated my spell card, Mystical Space Typhoon, destroying your original trap card!"

'She knew? It must be luck… or common sense, it was a rookie move to play Mirror Force first,' Cain thought as Kuri raised her hand over one of her set cards.

The face down card revealed to be a trap card that had the Dark Ruler Ha Des screaming out in pain as a yellow smoke began to rise off its body. "Now I activate my trap card, Skill Drain! So at the cost of one thousand life points, all monsters on the field now lose their effects!" (KLP: 3000)

Cain's eyes just widened as his two monster began to cough violently and fall to their knees.

However…

Kuri's monsters seemed to stand up taller as if a great weight was taken off their shoulders. "And since my monsters all had negative effects, they're as good as new! Can't really say the same for your monsters though…"

"I knew this was coming…" Rioko sighed as he sat down. "And by the look on Cain's face…I can sense that his entire deck super powers just went down the toilet."

"Basically…" Alucar commented shrugging his shoulders.

"And I haven't even gotten to the best part yet," Kuri continued as she raised another card from her hand into the air. "The monster effects in the hand are still good, so I can summon this without tribute…Arise Fusilier Dragon, the Dual-Mode Beast (2800/2000)!"

A large cloud of exhaust fumes filled the room before a loud roar filled the room. From the smoke emerged a giant tank in the form of a dragon rolling in front of Kuri. It had two massive guns where a normal creature would have eyes, and two more stuck out on either side of its body in place of arms. It exhaled smoke as it eyed Cain. "And since my Skill Drain is out, my monster still has its attack points…and now…Lei Lei! Attack the Crystal Alchemist!"

Roaring a loud battle cry, the powerful orange beast warrior charged on all fours towards the older alchemist.

It was then that the Crystal Alchemist looked up to see the powerful beast like fist collide with his face shattering him into pixels.

"And I'm not done yet! Goblin attack force! Show that Scholar how you got your name!" Kuri announced as all three of the Goblins charged towards the panicking scholar.

Cain didn't look as his monster was clubbed to a pixilated pulp. 'Here it comes…'

"Now! Fusilier! Attack him directly with Dragon Rapid Fire!" Kuri announced as her large mechanical dragon threw its head back into the air.

Cain barely had time to raise his arms up in defense as the powerful dragon launched a series of red-hot blasts all around Cain. Then with a huge blast, Fusilier sent Cain flying back a few feet. (CLP: 1200)

"Get up Cain!" Rioko shouted as Kuri smiled.

"That shorty can't win, I've got the best field advantage anyone could want," Kuri cooed lifting a hand to her chin. "Although, this is quite fun. It's actually been a while since I dueled against anyone outside the Arch Organization…

"Even if it is against a shorty…Oh well, at least I've got the best monster in play and you've got nothing to help you win little man."

Then it clicked…

'Those words…'

'I said those exact words…except for the little man part…'

'Master! I told you this girl had something similar to you…'

Opening his eyes, Cain slowly began to stand up.

'Little brat doesn't know when to give up…' Alucar just smiled as Cain weakly stood on both of his legs. 'Still…he's got determination…'

Cain's head was lowered as he breathed in deeply quite a few times. "You know…you may have a strategy that can probably beat mine…you can inflict as much pain as you like against me…"

Lifting his arm and his head, Cain's face down card started to flip up. "But…that doesn't mean a thing when you're facing off against someone like me…

"Someone, who has given up on almost anything to help another…"

Cain reached for his ripped jacket, then with a quick motion; he pulled it off throwing it to the side showing off his now unique body. "Any pain you take… is nothing!"

His right arm still had the scar that raced around the base of the limb; Alucar couldn't help but smirk at the sight of it.

However, Cain's body now had more marks on it.

From his ripped shirt, one could tell that multiple burn marks had scorched his skin and more some cuts lined next to them. How Cain was able to stand up was a mystery. "And this pain is incomparable! And to continue this duel, I activate the trap card, Damage Condenser! So by tossing one card from my hand…"

A large machine appeared behind Cain surging with electricity as he slid a card into his graveyard slot. "And then I can summon up a new monster whose attack is equal to or less of the amount of life points I lost! And since that was twenty-eight hundred, I can bring out this guy!"

The machine shattered allowing a new warrior to grace the field. His long red hair flew backwards in the wind as did his black cloak. The young man softly landed on the ground allowing everyone to see the alchemic runes all over his cloak and his apparent sword. As soon as the new warrior turned towards Alucar, he pointed his sword directly towards the evil bastard. "Allow me to introduce Phoenix Alchemist (2500/1000)!"

"Interesting title, too bad he won't defend you for long," Kuri pointed out as Cain lowered his head.

"I guess you don't know the words of someone who really knew duel monsters," Cain replied as he raised his head and slowly began to open his eyes.

"That the thing about dueling is that a match can change in an instant!"

As soon as Cain opened his eyes, a faint glowing silver began to appear from his pupils. From the sight of the new color, Alucar stepped back trying to comprehend what this was. 'That shorty was an Evo-Gen?!? But, my records and calculations proved that it was a low probability that he was one…I better get out of here.'

Snapping the top card from his deck, Cain narrowed his eyes towards his opponent. "And this is that instant!

"I summon Wandering Alchemist (1500/1300) in attack mode!" A familiar red transmutation circle appeared before Cain allowing a familiar young blonde haired alchemist with his red overcoat flowing behind him.

"And what's he going to do?" Kuri asked as Cain lifted up another card.

"Simple, I activate the spell card the Crucified Rose!" Cain announced as he slid the card into his duel disk.

As the spell card began to emerge, a picture of a lovely red rose wrapping around a large cross appeared.

"Okay…but what does that do?" Kuri asked as the spell card shattered into rose petals. "Huh?"

"First, in order to activate this spell card I need to select an Alchemist, and I choose Phoenix Alchemist," Cain explained as his Phoenix Alchemist began to pulse a powerful red aura. "Then, you have to destroy one spell or trap card on the field…your choice."

A silence filled the room as Alucar began to sneak away to a door that was on the second platform. 'I'll retreat for now…but then I'll be back…'

Back to the duel…

"I'll select my face down spell card, Enemy Controller!" Kuri announced before multiple thorny vines shot out of the ground and pulled the spell card into the metallic floor. "Now can you tell me the point of that?"

"Okay, since it was a spell card that was destroyed, my Phoenix alchemist gains four hundred attack points!" Cain answered while his Phoenix alchemist raised his sword into the air allowing the aura to be focused into the weapon (2500/1000 + 400/0).

"All that just to increase his attack points?" Rioko asked scratching the top of his head.

"Yeah, seems like a useless way to get stronger," Kuri sighed as Cain lifted another card from his hand.

"Everything has a purpose, like this next spell card," Cain growled while his spell card began to form in front of him.

The spell card showed off a pair of statuettes lifting what appeared to be a large orb filled with clear water. "The Water Stone of the Wise allows me to remove two monsters in my graveyard…"

The two alchemist cards popped out of Cain's graveyard and he immediately slid them into his back front pocket.

"Then I'm allowed to draw three cards."

"Man will your turn ever end?" Kuri groaned as Cain quickly snapped off the top three cards from his deck.

"Almost, I now equip my Wandering Alchemist with the Emerald Tablet," Cain retorted as a green orb appeared in front of the Wandering Alchemist.

As the young alchemist reached out for the green orb, the orb shattered then reformed into an old book with multiple runes all over the literature.

A second later the Wandering alchemist just grabbed the book and began to read what was inside it. "It doesn't do much now, but just wait…"

"We've been waiting," Kuri replied looking at her nails. "If I knew you'd be taking this long to get one turn down, I would've brought a magazine…"

"You want me to finish my move? Fine! Phoenix Alchemist attack her Fusilier Dragon! Alchemic Slash!" Cain roared as his alchemist jumped into the air.

It only took a second, but that was all the alchemist needed.

Fusilier's head was immediately slashed off and went flying through the air as the Phoenix Alchemist landed on the ground. As soon as the alchemist sheathed his sword, the rest of Fusilier exploded into pixels. (KLP: 3900)

"And I'm not done yet! I'll then have the Wandering alchemist attack your Indomitable Fighter!" Cain ordered as his younger alchemist began to run towards the beast like fighter.

"Lei Lei! Counter attack that shrimp!" Kuri ordered as Lei Lei pounced towards the Wandering Alchemist.

Just as Lei Lei was above the Wandering Alchemist, a sharp spike of metal just struck the beast monster right through the heart causing the monsters limbs to become limp. Then with a powerful kick the Wandering alchemist sent Lei Lei into the air shattering the monster.

Kuri just looked surprised as she watched her monster disappear. "W-What was that about? My monster had more attack points…" (KLP: 3700)

"Not exactly, you see the Emerald Tablet is an interesting card," Cain explained as the ancient book shattered in the wandering alchemist's hands. "When the equipped monster battles a monster whose original attack points are higher than the equipped monster, I can increase the equipped monster's attack by 1000.

"But if the equipped monster destroys a monster, the equip spell is removed after the battle."

A vertical card appeared behind the Wandering Alchemist, afterwards Cain just lowered his head. "Enough excitement for now, I'll just set this card face down…"

Shakily reaching for her deck, Kuri calmly took the top card. "Okay…I'll activate the spell card Pot of Greed!"

With a loud laugh, the familiar green pot appeared before Kuri and she quickly snapped the top two cards from her deck. "…Looks like this duel is over…"

"And what makes you say that?" Cain asked as Kuri slid two cards into her duel disk.

"Because I have this! I active two of the same spell cards, Fiend Sanctuary!" Kuri announced as two metallic eel like monsters with orb like arms appeared in front of her from a large amount of smoke erupting from the ground.

"Meet my two Metal Fiend Tokens (0/0 x2)!"

Cain just sweat dropped at the sight of the monsters. "You know…those monsters would be a lot more fearsome if you didn't have Skill Drain out…"

"They're just going to be used for a tribute, so I'll send all three of my monsters away!" Kuri announced as all three of her remaining monsters shattered into light. "So I can summon the terror of my deck…the Perfectly Obedient Fiend (3500/3000)!"

At the mere mention of the name, an extremely large explosion filled the room. From the smoke emerged a huge horrible beast that stood several times taller than Kuri. In some sense, the beast looked like a larger version of the devil, only uglier with its huge rows of sharp teeth appearing at its mouth. The monster seemed to be wearing multiple forms of jewelry and dark markings all over its body.

"Okay…that's definitely not friendly," Rioko commented as the Fiend roared loudly into the air shaking the entire room.

"Not to anyone," Kuri replied raising her arm into the air. "And since Skill Drain is out, his effect doesn't hinder him! Attack his Wandering Alchemist!

"Fist of the Underworld!"

As the almighty fiend raised it's right arm, a powerful blood red aura appeared over the monster's fist.

Rioko's eyes widened as the fiend sent its fist flying directly towards the panicking alchemist. "If this hits then Cain's down for the count!"

After the fist had collided with the Alchemist, a large flame filled dueling arena on Cain's side covering up the short duelist.

Kuri just laughed as her fiend pulled back its large fist. "And this duel is over!"

"…Funny…it doesn't feel over…"

As the flames dissipated, Rioko's jaw dropped and Kuri's eyes widened at the sight that was before them both.

Cain was standing upwards with his two Alchemists beside him as a powerful shield protected all three of them from the flames.

"But…how…why…when?" Kuri stuttered as Cain motioned to the trap card that had multiple souls escaping from a man's mouth.

"My trap card, Soul Shield happened," Cain sighed as the flames and the shield disappeared. "When you attack, I can pay half of my life points to end your battle phase immediately…" (CLP: 600)

"Fine…then I'll wrap up my turn with a card face down," Kuri announced as a face down card appeared next to the Skill Drain. "You just like being an annoyance don't you?"

"Hey…comes with the height," Cain groaned as he drew his next card. "Now then, I'll activate the spell card, Graceful Charity!"

A brilliant light formed over Cain's head as he quickly snapped off the top three cards from his deck. After a few seconds, Cain nodded and slid the cards into his graveyard. "I discarded my second Wandering Alchemist and my Seed of the Red Dragon…"

"And I should care because…?" Kuri asked as Rioko raise an eyebrow.

'Something inside is telling me that something familiar is coming.'

"Now, I summon Flame Alchemist (1600/1400)!" Cain announced as a powerful flame emerged in front of him.

From the flame stepped out the black haired alchemist, with his blue military uniform flowing behind him. With a devious smirk, the Wandering Alchemist narrowed his eyes towards the Flame Alchemist.

"None of those monsters hold a candle to my Fiend…" Kuri replied as Cain immediately slid another card into his duel disk.

"Then it's a good thing I have this spell card! Go Brave Attack!" Cain announced as a powerful blue aura surround all three of his monsters. "This allows all three of my monsters to combine their attacks into one, including their attack score, and fight off your monster (5000 ATK)!"

"What?!?" Kuri exclaimed as all three alchemists glared at the huge fiend.

"Alchemy combination attack!" Cain announced as all three of his alchemist sprung into an attack.

Snapping his fingers together, the Flame Alchemist sent a powerful barrage of flames that crashed directly into the chest of the large fiend.

With a quick clap and slamming his palms into the ground, the Wandering Alchemist launched a multitude of spikes that follow the flames into the fiend.

Then to deliver the final blow, the Phoenix Alchemist jumped over the fiend and then brought his sword directly through the fiend's body, making a large slash go through the entire monster.

With a final cry, the large monster exploded into a large cloud of smoke that pushed Kuri back a couple of feet. "No…that card could've won it for me…" (KLP: 2200)

Cain quickly closed his eyes as his Alchemists began to fade from his view. "Thanks you three, you did well…"

As soon as all three of the alchemists disappeared into the air, a face down vertical card appeared in front of Cain. "Now since that's done, I'll end this turn with my face down card…"

Kuri drew the top card from her deck and sighed. "You may have defeated him, but I'm betting that this deck has some more powerhouses…like this guy! Come on out Jirai Gumo (2200/100)!"

All of a sudden, a large red spider with multiple fangs appeared in front of Kuri letting out a loud screech. "Attack him!"

"Face down card go! Scapegoats!" Cain announced as his face down card disappeared and four multicolored sheep appeared before him. "Now your little spider takes out one of my sheep tokens (0/0 x4)!"

Leaping into the air, the Jirai Gumo landed directly on top of one of the sheep tokens and began to eat the token, ripping the monster to shreds. Kuri just narrowed her eyes from behind her mask and groaned loudly as her Jirai Gumo walked back over to her side of the field. "You keep prolonging the end…why not just give up and accept it?"

"Cause I'm not going to lose," Cain replied as he drew. "Now then, I have what I need…"

"What in the world are you getting at now?" Kuri questioned as Cain held up two cards.

"Let me tell you a story…" Cain started as his graveyard began to glow black and white. "When I was a few years younger, I received this scar around my arm from a terrible criminal when I was trying to help someone close to me…

"Ever since, it was a reminder of my goal to help that someone. And using what I could, I managed to acquire a certain card that someone left me a long time ago. With that card I would find that someone and make that criminal pay.

"Then the second card, it was won by a good friend of mine…I'm in debt for her for getting this card for me…and it allowed me to be able to keep my vow to find that certain someone…"

"I remove my two Wandering Alchemists, my Flame Alchemist, and my Phoenix Alchemist from my graveyard!"

Two orbs of lights…

Two orbs of darkness…

Two pairs of each that collided with each other to form into two powerful forms that landed in front of the remaining sheep tokens.

To his left, a powerful green dragon appeared slamming its feet into the ground. Its entire body was covered with a large amount of skeleton like armor that protected the monster from any attack. From the monster's hair shot out a powerful mane of fiery red hair.

To the right, a noble swordsman with a royal blue armor covered with added golden armor stepped forward drawing his sword from his shield. His helmet covered his eyes as he looked towards the dragon and the dragon turned towards him.

…For a spilt second, both monsters seemed to smirk at each other.

"Chaos Emperor Dragon – Envoy of the End (3000/2500)!

"And Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning (3000/2500)!"

Kuri just stepped back slowly at the sight of those two monsters, then wiping away a small sweatdroplet, Kuri smirked. "Ha! Nice job bringing those two out, too bad that since they don't have their effects, and if you attack I'll trigger my trap card!"

Cain just shook his head as he raised his right arm into the air. "That would've been an adequate bluff…if I didn't already know that face down card wasn't Emergency Provisions…it won't help anyway…"

"But how did you know that?" Kuri gasped holding her hands to her face.

In response, Cain simply pulled a card from his pocket and held it up to Kuri.

The card's picture showed off a familiar green cloaked alchemist with an old book in his hands. "Remember my second turn? My Scholar Alchemist told me that you had that card…"

"Master Alucar! Help me!" Kuri shouted as she turned around to see that Alucar was gone. "Alucar?"

"Chaos Emperor Dragon! Attack that overgrown insect!" Cain ordered throwing his arm forward.

With a quick reel of its head, the dragon began to charge up a powerful blast. The Jirai Gumo began to climb over the room before the dragon launched a powerful blast of chaotic energy that immediately vaporized the insect into dust particles. (KLP: 1400)

"Black Luster Soldier! Attack her directly!" Cain commanded.

With a great leap into the air, the Black Luster Soldier raised its blade over its head. After a second of floating in the air, the powerful warrior dived directly towards Kuri and missed her…but the powerful air current sent Kuri to the ground. (KLP: 0000)

"And that's…how…you win," Cain sighed falling to the ground as his monsters disappeared before him.

"Cain, that was cool!" Rioko exclaimed as a dark smoke steamed off of Kuri's body.

Cain slowly got to his feet and meagerly began to head over to Kuri as a card fell to the ground next to her. "What the?"

Lifting the card to his face, Cain could easily see that the card's picture was Kuri…but rather the mask that Kuri was wearing.

Cain turned towards Kuri…

The sight of her face caused him to drop the card and fall to his knees.

"C-can it really be?" Cain stuttered as he hovered his hand over Kuri. "I-it is!"

Rioko just raised an eyebrow as Cain propped Kuri up with his arms. "Uh, Cain? What in the world are you doing?"

"Get over here and help me you idiot!" Cain growled as he struggled to stand up with Kuri in his arms.

Rioko just casually walked over to Cain with Kuri in his arms. When he got close enough he noticed that Kuri's unmasked face looks somewhat similar to a certain white haired, short duelist. "What in the world? Cain…why does Kuri look like you?"

If it wasn't for the fact that he was holding someone in his arms, Cain would have beaten Rioko's brain from his skull. "That's because Kuri is really my sister Ami!"

It took a moment for Rioko to register what Cain just said to him a few seconds ago. Finally, a single thought surged through Rioko's head. "You've got an older sister? Wow…how could you have a sister this cute?"

"I'm the older sibling! And what the hell did that last comment mean?" Cain growled as he lifted Ami a little higher.

"Just having a little fun with ya friend," Rioko replied rubbing the back of his head. 'But it certainly looks like Cain is the younger of the two…if it wasn't for his mouth.'

"Rioko…Do me a couple of favors…" Cain replied as he lifted Ami into Rioko's arms. "Take Ami with the others down to the boat…"

"What? You're her sibling, why can't you do it?" Rioko asked as Cain reached for his duel disk and pulled out two cards.

"Cause…I've got some things to deal with," Cain answered turning his back to Rioko. "I've got to find Alucar…and Leon Arch…he probably had a key role in all of this as well..."

"Then why not get the others?"

"This is my battle…and mine alone…"

"Cain you can't really expect me to let…"

"Rioko!"

Rioko stepped back at Cain yelling his name loudly, Rioko knew that Cain had his reasons…but still…

"Rioko…I'm not asking you to take Kuri cause you're my friend…"

"Then why?"

"…Cause I'm not big enough to carry my sister for very long…"

A sweatdrop appeared on the back of Rioko's head, but then Rioko began to laugh loudly. "Yeah! I guess you got that right! You're almost a midget!"

"And thanks for giving me another reason to return," Cain sighed turning around once more walking towards Rioko holding up the two cards. "When I get back, I'm going to kick your ass!"

"Well…I'll hold you to that…" Rioko replied before he began to turn. "Good luck Cain…"

"Oh and Rioko…"

Just as Rioko turned his head, two cards flew towards him, which he managed to catch while still holding onto Ami. When he looked at the cards, his eyes widened. "Cain…why are you giving me…"

"Just give Kazica the card, and Ami the other…" Cain answered running towards the door on the second platform. "I'll be back!"

Rioko just nodded before walking towards the elevator. As soon as Rioko stepped on the elevator, he closed his eyes. "You better…ya little shorty…"

Unknown to Cain and Rioko, after both of them left, Maxwell weakly stood up and slowly made his way to the second platform. The multiple shadows began to envelop his body for each step he took.

"I…I won't lose…" Maxwell groaned as he stepped onto the second platform.

With a light tap with his cane, a small control panel appeared before Maxwell. As soon as Maxwell placed a hand onto the panel, the shadows had covered him full to the waist.

"Act-activate demo-demolition program…take down the tower!"

With that last final breath, Maxwell fell to the ground as his entire body was engulfed in the dark smoke.

When the smoke flew into the air, the only thing left of Maxwell…

…Was a card with his picture on it, his face with a dark smile.

/-/--/-/-//--/-/-/-//-

Cain: Finally…I'll finally get to face you…Alucar!

Leon: Unfortunately…he's not your opponent…I am!

Cain: Fine…but if you lose, you'll tell me everything about Alucar!

Leon: Very well, but you cannot defeat the Arch Gods!

The moment you've been waiting for has finally arrived…Next time – Chapter 38: Final Ritual of the Ancients

Cain: What the hell is that thing?!?