Hey there, Yu-Gi-Oh fans, here's The Rainwalker! And it's time for another chapter of 'Touched by a Rare Hunter'. In part 5 of the story David returned triumphant from defeating Marik and the Rare Hunters. Captain Melles and the Seattle police had secured Key Arena and rounded up the last of Marik's men. David had a little confrontation with Gerald "Marilyn" Bennett after returning Bryan Stiles' deck. However things did NOT end on a pleasant note. After making his way to the finals David watched in horror as Bennett defeated Bryan Stiles. But what horrified David is the fact that Bryan received massive amounts of pain from every time he lost life points. So much so that he dropped into unconsciousness. Bennett then taunted and mocked David declaring what he'd do to him. David however was more concerned with Bryan and with the suspicion that something is very wrong here. Get ready folks David's adventure continues as 'Touched by a Rare Hunter' part 6 begins now!

Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh is strictly the property of Kazuki Takahashi. I'm just borrowing his characters but will put them away when done. David Cardigan and all original characters in this saga are strictly my property.

David Cardigan walked into the lobby of Seattle Central Hospital, Captain Melles accompanying him. David said, "I appreciate the lift, Captain."

The man nodded. "Not a problem, David, now we just need to find where Mr. Stiles and his mother are and…"

"Excuse me, pardon me, coming through!" they heard someone call from behind them. Leaping to either side they saw a man with short cropped curly blonde hair, a mustache, and full beard, wearing a white shirt, black tie, slacks, shoes, and a beige long coat like David's. The man ran up to the nurse's desk. On a hunch David and Captain Melles followed the man. The man asked the nurse on duty there, "Excuse me, ma'am. Where are they keeping Bryan Stiles?"

The nurse looked at the man and asked, "May I ask who's inquiring?"

The man explained, "I'm Gary Stiles, his father."

The nurse dialed up a number and talked to a doctor on the other end. After a brief conversation she hung up and said, "Your son was really roughed up. But the doctors have him stabilized. Your wife is with him right now. He's in room 16C."

The man nodded, "Thank you, ma'am."

David then cleared his throat and said, "Excuse me, did you say you're Bryan's father?"

The man sighed and turned as he said in an annoyed tone, "If you're here about an interview over what happened I'm not in the mood for…" his chastisement halted he saw David. The man's face paled in recognition. "David Cardigan!" he said in stunned surprise.

David nodded. "Guilty as charged, Mr. Stiles." Waving his hand at Captain Melles he said, "This man with me is police Captain Charlie Melles. We're investigating what happened today."

The man sighed in relief. "I sometimes read the articles in Duelist Weekly magazine. You've done work with the police here in Seattle and back in Portland, right?"

David nodded. "That's right, I have."

The man sighed in relief. "Amanda told me about what happened when I was on the way here. Any help you guys can offer I'd appreciate."

David nodded and followed the man. It didn't take them long to find the room where Bryan was. Gary rushed in, "Bryan," he said in a shaky tone.

The boy was battered and had a genuine despair in his eyes as he looked at his dad and croaked, "Hey, Dad."

The older Stiles male took his son's hands gently into his own. "I'm sorry I couldn't get home from Toronto sooner, son. I had to change planes because of engine trouble. I feel so bad for not being here for you."

David said, "You shouldn't be, Mr. Stiles, stuff like this happens from time to time with air travel."

The Stiles family members looked in surprise as David entered. David smiled and said, "Hello, Bryan."

The young boy winced. "I'm so sorry, Mr. Cardigan, I wanted to duel you but…"
David raised a hand before Bryan could continue. He walked up to the bed and put his hands on it, "Bryan, you have nothing to be ashamed of. And before you say that Gerald Bennett broke you, I disagree. You fought honorably with everything you had. In fact, based on what I've discovered about him, I have some suspicions that Bennett may have cheated to beat you."

The Stiles family were genuinely surprised. "What, makes you think that, Mr. Cardigan?" Amanda asked walking over to her husband and taking a hand.

David said, "Let me tell all of you a little story about a couple of good and dear friends of mine back in Portland. One of them is a former duelist who's now a qualifier for the P.D.L. His name is Randall McCray."

And so David related the story of the horrible tactics Bennett had used to win the Pacific Northwestern Championship all those years ago. As he spoke Amanda put her hands to her face a look of rage and sympathy conflicting on her face. Gary's free hand balled into a fist and shook. Bryan's face was one of stunned horror. Bryan said, "I can't believe that anyone would stoop as low as threatening Mr. McCray's wife like that!"

"How horrible!" Amanda said.

"That conniving piece of…" Gary snarled.

"Easy, Mr. Stiles, easy…" Charlie Melles said. "I know you're upset, I'm a family man myself and if it were one of my children I'd be outraged too. But understand if you want to see justice please give us all the information you can on what happened. Then let us do our job. I promise you David and I will nail Gerald "Marilyn" Bennett to the wall for what he's done to your son."

The Stiles family members calmed themselves. Charlie Melles said, "Now, Bryan, I know this is going to be hard for you, son. But I need you to tell me exactly what happened out there."

Bryan nodded and said, "It was all going well until I got my life points hit for the first time. The…the pain seemed to be coming from the duel disk. It was this fiery intense pain unlike anything I'd ever felt. It was like nails that were heated up and being pressed against me. I tried to maintain my senses but the pain, the pain was so intense…"

David nodded and said, "Ah ha, Mr. and Mrs. Stiles, would you mind if Captain Melles and I borrowed your son's duel disk?"

Amanda nodded and handed the item over to David and asked, "Of course, but why?"

David said, "Call it a hunch. Captain Melles here has a trio of tech savvy individuals who'll want to have a good long at it and the programming within. I promise it'll be returned in one piece."

She nodded in agreement. David turned back to Bryan as he said, "What does it matter anyway? Bennett beat me, he's taken everything from me."

David vehemently shook his head. "No!" he said firmly. "Bennett can only take everything from you if you let him. Just because he cheated and won this duel doesn't mean he's taken everything from you. As long as you continue to strive to be a better duelist Bennett can never beat you. So never give up on being the best duelist you can, that's how you defeat Bennett. Do you understand what I'm saying, Bryan?"

Bryan listened and nodded in understanding his eyes lighting up with a familiar fire. David smiled and said, "Good, that's what I want to see out of you."

Amanda asked, "Mr. Cardigan, are you a father yourself?"

David shook his head. "No ma'am, I'm not. Though I'd like to be one someday. I've just learned how to communicate with people. Now if all of you will excuse me, I'm going to be heading back to Key Arena. I have a tournament bully to beat up in a duel!"

Bryan smiled as David and Captain Melles parted. Captain Melles said, "I assume you want Ed, Fred, and Ted to take a look at that duel disk and its programming?"

David nodded. "That's exactly what I want you to do, Captain Melles, something nasty happened with Bryan Stiles. And I won't stop until I find out the who and the why!"

Back at Key Arena an hour later David sat in a chair on the Arena floor. All the seats were emptied as the attendees had gone home for the day. The championship match wasn't until tomorrow. Technical crew and one of the three members of the geek patrol were going over the equipment. David had taken out a Heralds of Valdemar novel by Mercedes Lackey and was reading it. Captain Melles was reading the local paper. Captain Melles looked at David and asked, "David, I hope this isn't some kind of fishing expedition."

David put down his book and said, "After the testimonial given by Bryan I can assure you we have reasonable doubt."

"So, what exactly is it that we're looking for?" captain Melles asked genuinely puzzled.

David's face darkened. "If my hunch is correct, captain, I can sum it up in one word…sabotage!"

Captain Melles' face paled in horror. "You think someone messed with the dueling system?"

David said, "I do, which is why I'm having the geek patrol take a look at the hardware, and software systems as well as the security footage prior to the match. As I recall captain there is a felony charge for that sort of thing?"

Charlie Melles nodded his own face darkening. "Oh yeah, we call that reckless endangerment and that's a serious felony charge."

Just then they heard several sets of footsteps running towards them. They turned in the direction of the footsteps to see the Clarke triplets running towards them excited looks on their faces and holding their laptops. The three came up and took several breaths before they collectively started babbling quickly. After several moments captain Melles whistled to get their attention and added, "Hey," for emphasis.

The three looked at the police captain who said, "First off, geek patrol take a breath and calm down."

The three did as asked. Then David added, "Okay one at a time tell us what you've found."

Ed went first, "Well, I checked out the hardware systems like you asked, David. And you were right to be concerned."

From a pocket he pulled a strange looking device. David and Captain Melles's faces furrowed in puzzlement. "What the hell is that?" David asked.

Ed explained, "This is a nifty little gadget. It's part of the growing amount of technology coming out in this era of the internet. This device is designed so that even from a long distance another computer can access the computer systems for the P.D.L."

David asked, "So, this device can allow the owner to hack into the P.D.L. systems if they wanted to?"

Ed nodded. "Yeah, and I checked the number on this baby. It turns up this little piece of work was purchased by Gerald Bennett himself."

David whistled as Captain Melles raised an eyebrow. "You just got my full attention," the policeman said.

Fred opened up his laptop and quickly brought up a set of numbers and letters on his screen. David and Captain Melles examined it. Fred explained, "I had a good long look at young Mr. Stiles's duel disk and the computer systems for the P.D.L."

Fred typed on his keyboard coming up with a series of numbers and letters. The Clarke triplets collectively said, "Helloooooo, nurse!"

David snorted and asked, "By that Animaniacs quote I think it's safe to say you found something?"

Fred answered, "Did we ever!" He pointed to a set of numbers and letters as he continued. "What we've got here is a nasty little program, designed to amplify the pain emitters on an opponent's duel disk and actually deactivate the pain emitters on Bennett's duel disk entirely."

David gasped, "That's cheating!"

"And…" Melles added his face darkening with anger. "It's criminal reckless endangerment!" Melles then asked, "But how could Bennett hack his way into the system and put this program in? He's good with computers but to pull something like this off without being detected he'd have to be real good."

David raced through his memory as this situation reminded him of something. A moment later the memory hit him. "Wait a second, right before the competitors parade I had a little confrontation with Bennett in his V.I.P. lounge. There was a blonde-haired goth chick with Bennett who looked awful handy with computers." David said thinking back to that confrontation. The memory caused David's face to furrow in suspicion. "A little too handy, hmmm."

Ted added, "On that count, Mr. Cardigan, you're quite correct. This is where I come in. I looked over the events prior too Bryan Stiles' match. And I've made a little video compilation I like to call, the machinations of a scheming hacker/goth chick."

Fred closed his laptop as Ted opened his and started the DVD. The group was treated to men and women looking over the equipment before the match. "Pay attention to the technician wearing the hat right there." He said pointing out the person in question who was walking over to a holographic stabilizer device.

The technician looked around then pulled something from a jumpsuit pocket. Ted froze it there and zoomed in on the object making the picture more detailed with digital enhancement. "That would be the remote transceiver Ed found." David said.

The technician who looked to be female installed the device then got up and left. A series of shots showed the technician walking down various corridors of the arena. Finally the technician stepped into one of the ladies restrooms. A quick change showed the inside of the restroom. The woman went to one of the stalls and entered. There was a brief flash of a large briefcase. A couple minutes passed as no one came into the restroom. The technician was changing. A short time later, in place of the technician, the goth woman with short cropped blonde hair exited the stall. And this time she was dressed in the pseudo-trashy clothes of a goth chick. The woman in her high-heeled black boots, tight fitting shirt and short dress smiled deviously. "Busted," the brothers declared.

Ted explained, "And take a look at what I dug up on her."

The Clarke brother brought a police profile on her and used a program to enlarge it so David could see. David read out loud, "Hmm, Lizzie "Borden" McKinley." The writer/duelist snorted and wrinkled his face at the irony. "Lovely name!" he added in a tone of dripping sarcasm.

"Huh?" The Clarke triplets said.

Captain Melles said, "Lizzie Borden was a notorious murderess from the 1800's. She was noted for killing her parents with an axe. She was a real piece of work."

The Clarke triplets nodded and shivered. "So you see the irony. Oh boy Lizzie, Lizzie, Lizzie…" David said as he examined her file. "You are quite the piece of work yourself. Two counts of felony assault with a deadly weapon, conspiracy to commit murder, 2 counts of arson, and hello there! 3 counts of embezzlement. One charge from Duke University her old college and two from a couple major corporations."

"Sounds like she and Bennett would fit together like two peas in a pod, three if you count that other goth girl with Bennett." Captain Melles said derisively.

David thought for a long moment. Then he was struck with an idea, a deliciously elaborate and downright clever idea. David said, "Captain Melles can you get a search warrant for Bennett's computer?"

Bennett nodded. "Based on what we've found I don't think that'll be a problem. I take it you have a plan?"

David's grin became absolutely cat-like. "Oh I do have a plan, and it's quite the doozy! Ed, Fred, Ted I need you to put that device back into where you found it." The Clarke brothers were about to protest but David halted them. "But before you say anything, hear me out. Answer me this, can you hack into that thing and the program it has?"

The brothers nodded and collectively answered, "Yeah."

David's cat smile took on an evil look as he rubbed his hands and said, "Perfect!"

Captain Melles asked, "I know that look from the last time you were here, David. You're up to something aren't you?"

David nodded, "Oh yes, captain, I am indeed. And by the time we're done, Bennett is not only going to lose that Pacific Northwestern Championship but he and his girls will have either confessed or practically sung what they did, and be hauled away by you guys in complete and total humiliation."

Captain Melles flashed his own diabolical grin. "Considering all the stuff Bennett has pulled over the years I'm looking forward to this!"

"All right we'll need Lieutenant Grayson in on this too. But here's what I need you guys to do." David said before he explained his improvised plan.

Cameras from all the news stations around the Pacific Northwest flashed as Bennett sat at the table for the pre-match interview. "You pathetic Pacific Northwestern hicks sicken me! You need a hip and cool duelist like myself just to put you on the map, why if it weren't for me, you'd probably be…"

David walked through the curtain like an avenging hero a confident grin on his face wearing his long black coat, slacks, walking shoes, Harley Davidson belt, and cowboy hat, along with a dust brown denim shirt. He was also holding a wireless microphone in one hand. David put the microphone near his lips and interrupted Bennett's rant with, "Hee haw, hee haw, hee haw, I'm sorry I don't speak jackass!"

The goth duelist turned with a start to see David walking in. The goth duelist smiled like a predator and said, "So, the hick who thinks himself a writer decides to face his impending doom head on. Are you ready to succumb to the darkness, Cardigan?"

David inwardly wanted to make like a professional wrestler and just storm the stage to beat the hell out of Bennett. But he knew he had to bide his time. This punk would get cold, terrible justice served on him soon enough. Instead David chuckled and shook his head. After a moment David approached the stage and said, "How long are you going to keep up this whole pseudo-prince of darkness act, Bennett? Because it's getting old, you remind me of that old story the Emperor's new clothes. I can see right through your little charade."

David walked over to the platform and climbed remaining calm and steady. Bennett guffawed and said, "You think your pathetic little brain can see through to what I am? Then enlighten me as to what you see you blind freak!" Bennett spat nastily.

A gasp of shock and disgust racing through the crowd of reporters. David said, "The simple truth of the matter is, Bennett, what I see is this. You're a coward, you're a bully, and you're a 14-karat phony, and it's long overdue time that someone had the guts and the audacity to put you in your place! And that someone is going to be me!"

David took his seat and said, "And let me make you this promise Bennett. When our match is over you will be made to pay for the crimes you've committed against the people of the Pacific Northwest!" Then David remembered something from that morning. "By the way, my instructor Rebecca-sensei let me know she wants me to kick your ass too. You remember her, Bennett? Remember Rebecca Hawkins the little intercontinental champion who clobbered you back in Portland?"

Bennett hissed in rage, "How dare you bring that up in front of my subjects!"

David let out a guffaw of laughter. "Subjects? Who do you think you are some kind of king? The United States doesn't have a king. We haven't had one since we broke away from England a couple centuries ago. Though I seriously doubt an arrogant arse such as you reads history much."

The reporters gasped and even chuckled at David's retort. Bennett fumed, "You! I'll eat you alive while you scream for mercy!"

David waved it off. "Yeah, yeah the old eternal torment eat my soul bit. Bennett you're not scaring anyone here. In fact I find you downright boring. I will say this, when I become the Pacific Northwestern champion, I'm going to bring honor and respect back to this branch of the country, and you'll be relegated to a bad memory!"

Bennett snarled, "We shall see!"

As the rest of the press conference continued David noticed that his little trash talking was having an effect on Bennett based on the nasty glares Bennett sent his way.

The crowd erupted into cheers as David stepped out onto the floor. And there before him was Bennett and the P.D.L. referee. David thought to himself, Now it's time to see if my carefully laid plans come to fruition.

The good, the Bad, and ugly theme started to play. David's face darkened as he walked out towards where Bennett and the referee were. The audience cheered and cheered eager for the match. Yet David knew the watchful reporters would note the angry stares that he and Bennett were giving each other. It was the look of two men who genuinely hated each others very existence. Bennett snapped, "I'm gonna' eat your soul," before he opened his mouth and made a ghoulish noise as he flashed his tongue.

David simply smirked and retorted, "I wouldn't try it, Bennett. My soul will give you a fatal case of indigestion."

The referee said, "All right gentleman in accordance with all P.D.L. rules I want a good clean match, and obey my commands at all times. Now take your positions for the coin flip."

David and Bennett did as the referee told them neither one turning their back on the other. David assumed a horse-riding stance as he readied his disk. Bennett readied his own disk. The referee said, "Command authorization Z-alpha-7 commence coin flip!"

The virtual coin flipped into the air. David thought to himself, Now the showdown begins!

And once again the evil cliffhanger strikes with a vengeance. It looks as though Bennett's blonde-haired girl has been up to some serious no good. But what's this plan David has hatched with captain Melles, lieutenant Grayson, and the Clarke triplets? And will David and the police be able to pull it off successfully for that matter? You'll just have to wait and see. Come back next time for the final chapter of 'Touched by a Rare Hunter'. Until next time read and review. Stay safe and stay happy everybody.