As the light of the new morning trickled into the bedroom of Anthony, he slowly awoke, only to find Kan'u peacefully sleeping next to him, an adorable smile on her face. Memories of last night came flooding into his mind, and Anthony smiled. It was definitely an experience for both of them, one that they deserved after everything they had been through. Bandits, warlords, cultists: the two of them survived it all, with plenty of help along the way. Slowly, the eyes of Kan'u fluttered open, and met his.

"Hello, Anthony. Did you also sleep well?"

"I sure did. Now, let's get dressed and greet the others," he said as he looked over the bedroom, only to find that with the exception of his hat and glasses, which were on a bed stand, and his shoes, which he tucked under the bed, all of their clothing was scattered haphazardly around the bed. "As soon as we find everything."

~KD~

As the couple entered the dining hall, they saw Chohi, Shokatsuryo, Choun, Bacho, Ryofu, Kochu, Riri, and Choryo hanging out. Chohi was telling Ryofu a story about the time she had a pet bear cub, with Ryofu listening intently, Shokatsuryo was currently destroying Choun in a game of xiangqi (Chinese chess), Choryo was having an arm-wrestling match against Bacho, Kochu was drinking tea, and Riri was drawing in a notebook, with her drawing looking rather similar to Shining Friendship. Chohi finished her story with her parents having her return the cub to its own parents, and while Ryofu clapped, Chohi turned to see her lord and fellow general and waved at them. "Big bro! Big sis! You're up!"

"Why are you all just goofing off?" asked Kan'u, folding her arms.

"Hawawa…I'm s-sorry, Aisha. But Kakoton and Kakoen offered to go out on patrol, and with our alliance with Go, I d-d-didn't think I was needed. I'm sorry!"

Kan'u sighed. "It's fine, we've been through a lot." Anthony remained silent as he thought about the former members of Gi. While most of them were allowed to keep their original roles, with Kakoton, Kakoen, and Kyocho being generals and Jun'iku being a strategist, he still didn't know what to do with Soso. It would also help if he could talk to her, but he hadn't seen her since they returned to Kikai, with Soso even skipping out on the party. He was brought back to reality, however, when Choryo spoke up, cradling her hand that had been slammed into the table.

"Hey, where have you guys been, anyway?"

"Yeah, you're usually the first one up," said Bacho, looking at Kan'u. "Have a good dream or something?"

Kan'u blushed as she shuffled her right foot on the floor. "Something like that." Anthony scratched the back of his neck, and Kochu was quick to catch on. Her eyes became half closed as her lips curved into a sly smile, chuckling as she placed her cup on the table.

"Oh, I don't think that you had much sleep last night. Neither of you, on account of having some…'fun.'"

"Wh-What are you talking about?" asked Shokatsuryo as she used her chariots to put Choun's general, which was in the back row, into a checkmate by putting them in the two back rows of Choun. The blue-haired general didn't seem to care that she lost, as she turned towards the couple with a sly grin of her own.

"Isn't it obvious? They had sex."

"HAWAWA!" exclaimed Shokatsuryo as she fell backwards out of her seat, with Kan'u and Anthony looking around nervously, as Choun's suspicions were confirmed. Choryo began to comment about how it was "so fucking cool" in her "neko mode," Shokatsuryo was speaking a mile a minute under her breath (which led to her biting her tongue), and Choun got super close to Kan'u, too close for her liking.

"So, what was it like, Aisha? How big was he? How long did you two go? Did he say anything…naughty?"

"S-St-Stop!" stuttered Kan'u, her entire body becoming a bright red with how embarrassed she was.

"Cut it out, Sei, you're making Aisha uncomfortable!"

As soon as Anthony said this, the doors burst open, revealing one of Anthony's guards, who was panting. Totaku and Kaku followed, apologizing for being unable to stop him, when the guard said something that made the temperature in the room drop ten degrees.

"Lord Anthony…Ukitsu escaped!"

~KD~

"We came to check on him, and he was just gone! His cell was still locked, no footprints leading out, nothing!"

Anthony was with the guard in the dungeon, standing with Kan'u and Choryo in front of the now empty cell. True to the guard's words, the cell was still locked, and there were no footprints that had anyone leaving the cell.

"How the hell did he break out? People don't just vanish!"

"Maybe he had some help," said Kan'u as she peered into the cell. "Can you unlock this for us?"

"Of course, General Kan'u, right away." The guard then unlocked the cell, and Kan'u stepped in slowly, before she checked the ground, and discovered something unsettling. There was a single pair of footprints that were different, suggesting that they simply appeared and disappeared.

"Maybe they could just vanish. There's another set of footprints, but only two. They came and left, taking our prisoner with them."

"Well, great. First we've got somebody who can brainwash people, then a teleporter. If I duel someone who has the power to read minds, I'm out."

"Wait a minute," said Choryo. "Oh, oh shit."

"What is it? Spit it out!" urged Anthony.

"The guy who gave us the power to make Shadow Games…he jumped out a window…and just disappeared." Panic spread throughout Anthony's brain as he heard this tidbit of information: this meant that there was a good chance that the leader of the White Clothes, whoever they were, had personally freed Ukitsu, who was now on the loose.

~KD~

Anthony sighed as he finished writing a note to Sonken about what had happened, and had one of his messengers set out to deliver it, deciding that since she was the other large power in China, she was a potential target. Kan'u was helping make wanted posters for Ukitsu, and Dokuro while they were at it, and have them spread throughout the territories of Kikai and Go, as well as any smaller territories they were allied with. Sonshoko and Kannei in particular were worried about Sonken, and looked like they were about to leave early, but Anthony convinced them that she could take care of herself, although they were unconvinced, saying that she should at least be aware of the threat, hence the letter. He then heard a knock at the door, and he pushed back his chair, walking over to the door and opening it, coming face to face with Choryo.

"Hey, Shia. What's up with you?"

"Well, I figured that you'd be a little stressed about the whole escape thing, just like me, so I had an idea to ease our minds, at least a little."

Anthony cocked an eyebrow. "I have a bad feeling about this."

"No, no, a rematch! I mean, I kicked your ass last time, but for the first half of the duel, you were out of it until I knocked some sense into you. So, I figured that we could have a rematch, at full strength!"

Anthony grinned as he heard this plan. "I like the sound of that."

"Lord Anthony, did you complete the letter yet?"

Anthony turned to see Kannei with her arms folded, and Anthony nodded his head. "I just sent out a messenger."

"I would prefer to have sent it myself, but at least now Lord Renfa will be aware." She then noticed the presence of Choryo. "Am I interrupting something?"

"Lord Anthony and I are gonna have a rematch! Wanna watch?"

Kannei seemed to think it over, before speaking. "Very well. I'll get Shaoren and Non, and meet you in the arena."

"Then we better make sure that our duel will be awesome!" said Anthony with a huge childlike grin, which made Kannei blush as she left to gather her fellow members of Go.

~KD~

As the duo walked into the arena, they were surprised to see Totaku and Kaku sweeping the floor of the stadium. As Totaku let out a sigh and wiped her brow, she saw Anthony and Choryo and smiled warmly. "Anthony, Shia! How are you?" Kaku looked up and smiled, nodding in their direction before she went back to sweeping.

"Doing fine, thanks. Hey, are you girls almost done in here? Shia and I were about to have our rematch. I need to defend my title of King of Games, after all!"

"Well, we are now," said Kaku. "Come on, Yue, let's go."

"Wait, what!?" said Choryo. "No, c'mon! Why don't you guys watch us? You're friends, after all!"

"Please, Ei?" asked Totaku, and Kaku unfortunately found herself unable to resist the persuasive powers of her friend's innocence, as she let out a sigh, and began to walk towards the bleachers, as Kannei walked in, Sonshoko and Rikuson in tow.

"I found this one playing in the garden," said Kannei, pointing to Sonshoko, "and this one sleeping with her head in a book."

"I'm sorry, it's just that nothing gives me more pleasure than reading! So I was up until late at night reading, and I just passed out…" said Rikuson, embarrasses about the circumstances of her discovery.

"Are we late?" asked Sonshoko.

"Nope, we're just about to start! Go on, take a seat!"

They did so, walking up to where Totaku and Kaku were sitting and joining them, as Choryo and Anthony took their positions and shuffled their decks.

"LET'S DUEL!"

(Anthony: 4000 LP)(Choryo: 4000 LP)

"I'll go first!" declared Anthony. "I draw! And for my first move, I summon my Drillago!"

The drill-covered robot appeared on the field, drills spinning as it stared down Choryo (LV 4: ATK 1600).

"That's the monster that Lord Anthony used to beat me," said Totaku as she saw the monster, as Sonshoko backed up a bit in fear. "It has a rather powerful effect."

"I saw it before too!" said Rikuson. "He used it against Lord Renfa!"

"I think that I'll end my turn by setting a card."

"Then it's my turn!" declared Choryo. "And I summon my Marauding Captain to the field!"

The blonde knight appeared, swords at the ready (LV 3: ATK 1200), before he pointed one of his swords at the space beside him, and Valkyrian Knight appeared (LV 4: ATK 1900), and the two monsters crossed their swords.

"And when Marauding Captain is summoned, I can Special Summon a level four or lower monster from my hand, like Valkyrian Knight! And since Marauding Captain has an effect where only he can be targeted for an attack, and Valkyrian Knight is the only face-up Warrior-type monster you can attack when she's out and about, I've made an attack lock! Now my Valkyrian Knight will slice and dice that Drillago!"

Valkyrian Knight drew both of her swords and rushed Drillago, slicing it in two before the Machine-type exploded into pixels (Anthony: 4000-3700 LP).

"Now my Marauding Captain will attack directly!"

Her monster leapt towards the King of Games and slashed through him, furthering Choryo's lead (Anthony: 3700-2500 LP).

"Perfect! Now I set a card and send things back your way!"

"Okay, if you insist. I draw! And I summon my Sergeant Electro to the field!"

This new monster was made out of a bright white metal, with its head resembling a helmet, with a boxy shape and a blue visor. It had a wide torso with a thinner section connected to a base, and below it was a gem-shaped lower section that appeared to be attached by electromagnetism, with a blue tip at the bottom. In place of its right arm was a Gatling gun, and its left, a blade (LV 4: ATK 1600).

"Okay, that's new," said Kaku. "What power does this monster possess?"

"And since I successfully Normal Summoned a monster, I play my Pineapple Blast!"

His card flipped up to show what appeared to be some sort of odd grenade, which was made of rings of yellow metal surrounding a blue core in the shape of a warhead, as the same bomb appeared over on Choryo's side of the field.

"Now you have to destroy monsters that you control until we both have the same amount!"

Choryo bit her lip with this remark. "I don't wanna have to say goodbye to either of my monsters, but if I have to…sorry, Marauding Captain!" And her monster was blown to bits by the Pineapple Blast, meaning that Anthony was once again free to attack.

"Now I activate the effect of Sergeant Electro! Once per turn, I can select one face-down card in your Spell & Trap Zone, and while this monster is on the field, that card can't be activated. Go, EMP Shockwave!"

His monster then smashed its main body and lower body together, sending out an electromagnetic pulse that caused the face-down to be ensnared in a cage of thin blue bolts of electricity.

"Now I equip my Sergeant Electro with 7 Completed, and increase its attack points by seven hundred!"

A red seven appeared as the power of Anthony's lone monster spiked (ATK 1600-2300).

"Now attack! Tesla Gatling!"

The rotary gun started spinning, and Sergeant Electro fired a salvo of electric blasts that fried Valkyrian Knight (Choryo: 4000-3600 LP).

"And that should end my turn."

"Alright, Lord Anthony has this in the bag!" declared Sonshoko.

"What are you talking about? He may have made a good move, but Shia still has the lead! And she's beaten him before!" argued Kaku, butting heads with the Lotus Princess.

"Are you going to argue over who's going to win, or actually watch the duel?" asked Kannei as she turned her attention to the action, as Choryo drew.

"I summon my Blade Knight, and equip him with my Lightning Blade!"

Her knight entered the fray (LV 4: ATK 1600), and it became equipped with the electric blade (ATK 1600-2400).

"Now it's strong enough to take down your monster!"

Her Blade Knight slashed Sergeant Electro in half (Anthony: 2500-2400 LP), and the face-down was free from its prison.

"I end my turn."

"Then I draw! And I activate my Reload, shuffling my hand back into my deck and drawing cards equal to the amount that I sent back!"

Anthony sent his hand back to his deck as it was shuffled by his Duel Disk, and he drew three more cards, before he played one of them straight away.

"Now I'll use my Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy your Lightning Blade!"

The powerful storm raged across the field, as Lightning Blade was pulled from Blade Knight's hands and ripped into pixels (ATK 2400-1600).

"Now I summon Mechanicalchaser!"

The six-armed robot appeared before Anthony, ready to tear up the field (LV 4: ATK 1850).

"Attack and destroy that Blade Knight with Arsenal Medley!" he cried, but as soon as his monster had begun its attack, silver armor that was covered in mirrors with mirrors surrounding them coated Blade Knight (ATK 1600-1850).

"Pretty sick, huh? My Mirror Mail makes my monster as strong as the one attacking it! So now, they're both destroyed!" And true to her words, both monsters went up in smoke, and Anthony set a card before Choryo drew.

"And now, I summon my Hayabusa Knight to the field in attack mode!"

The falcon-headed swordsman leapt into action, slashing at the air before it.

"That monster can attack twice per turn, so now Anthony is in for it," said Kaku.

"Come on, Anthony!" cheered Sonshoko. "Take her down!"

"Slice and dice Anthony's life points with Falcon Slash, Hayabusa Knight!" shouted Choryo, as her monster sped towards Anthony, only for it to run into an explosive that blasted it into pixels.

"Looks like your monster just met the business end of my Widespread Ruin!" said Anthony. "When you attacked, this card activated and destroyed your strongest monster!"

"Awesome! Now Lord Anthony finally has a chance to inflict some more damage!" said Rikuson as she clenched her fists in front of her, rooting for the Messenger from Heaven, as she knew him better.

"That is, if Choryo doesn't play another card, Non," said Kannei.

"Well, shit. I end my turn!"

"Ha! He can do some damage, Shishun!" said Sonshoko. "Show no mercy!"

"I summon my Machine King Prototype!"

This new monster sat on a metal throne, its hands on spheres and many wires in its body. Its head was made of gray metal with a red light shining through a gap acting as an eye, a T-shaped torso that was red on top, and gray on the bottom with a visible Tesla coil inside, with gray and yellow spherical shoulders and more Tesla coils in its arms, which were otherwise red, and red legs with Tesla coils in the calves (LV 3: ATK 1600).

"What is that? It looks like a much older version of his Machine King," said Totaku.

"That's because it is. This is the prototype, basically an earlier and incomplete model. But no less powerful! Attack with Proto Shock!"

His monster managed to lift one hand and fire a blast of green electricity that struck Choryo directly (Choryo: 3600-2000 LP).

"And that's all that I can do."

"Now things are starting to look more even," said Kannei as she drummed her fingers across her folded arms. "How will Choryo respond?"

"I draw! And I summon my Dark Blade!"

Her black knight came onto the field, both swords laying on his shoulders as he sized up his adversary (LV 4: ATK 1800).

"Attack with Dark Sword!"

Her monster sprinted towards the robotic ruler and crossed his swords before uncrossing them, decapitating the Machine-type before it exploded (Anthony: 2400-2200 LP).

"That'll do!"

"Then I draw! And I end my turn by setting a monster."

"So I draw! And I play Reinforcement of the Army, to add one level four or lower Warrior-type monster to my hand!"

As Choryo took her deck out of her Duel Disk and began to search for the monster she wanted, Rikuson put her hand to her chin. "What do you girls think she's going to pick?"

"I have one idea," said Kaku.

"And so do I," said Totaku.

"Alright, I summon Gearfried the Iron Knight!"

Her iron-clad warrior appeared, letting out a powerful battle cry as he swept his blade before him (LV 4: ATK 1800).

"And now, I activate my Release Restraint, to tribute my Gearfried the Iron Knight and bring out my Gearfried the Swordmaster from my hand!"

The armor of Gearfried began to glow and crack before it shattered, allowing him to unveil his true form (LV 7: ATK 2600).

"Incredible…" said Totaku, having never seen this monster before.

"And now, my Gearfried will destroy your monster! Mega Slash!"

Gearfried let out a war cry as he charged the defense mode monster, which flipped up to reveal it to be Battle Footballer (LV 4: DEF 2100). While the Machine-type had incredible defensive power, it simply wasn't enough to save it from destruction as it was slashed in half horizontally by the Warrior-type.

"Now my Dark Blade can attack directly!"

Anthony crossed his arms in front of him to block the attack as Dark Blade brought down both of his blades (Anthony: 2200-400 LP).

"Anthony, come on! Take her down!" shouted Sonshoko, waving her arms up and down.

"I end my turn."

Anthony drew, and grinned as he saw his next card. "I need to buy some more time if I want to beat you, and this is just how to do it! I activate Nightmare's Steelcage, which will prevent either of us from attacking for two more turns!"

The spiked steel cage was formed around Anthony, and he grinned as he flipped down his sunglasses. "I end my turn. Bring it on!"

"No problem! I draw! And I summon my Absolute Crusader to the field!"

Her Absolute Crusader appeared in a flash of light, sword and shield in hand (LV 4: ATK 1800).

"And that's it."

"Well, I draw, and I set a card to end my turn."

"This is getting really boring," said Sonshoko as she propped up her head with her fists, squishing her cheeks. "When will they be able to attack again?"

"As soon as Choryo wraps up her turn," said Rikuson as Choryo drew, "things will get interesting again!"

"I tribute my Dark Blade and my Absolute Crusader to summon my Gaia the Fierce Knight to the field!"

Her armored monsters disappeared to make room for the lance wielding cavalier (LV 7: ATK 2300), and Totaku looked on in amazement. She didn't know that Choryo had that monster either!

"Go Shia! I believe in you!" cheered Totaku with a sweet smile on her face, as Choryo finished her turn, and the Nightmare's Steelcage shattered as Anthony drew.

"Okay, let's see what we've got here! I summon my Reflect Bounder in attack mode!"

The reflective robot appeared on the field (LV 4: ATK 1700), and the spectators leaned forward as they saw it appear. They were all aware of this monster's effect, but Choryo wasn't.

"Your move, Shia. Are you ready to face the future?"

"More than ready! I draw! And I equip my Gearfried with Metalsilver Armor!"

As the armor and weapons of Dark Blade were equipped to Gearfried, Choryo chuckled. "Now Gearfried is the only monster that can be targeted by your card effects, and when Gearfried the Swordmaster is equipped with an Equip Card, I can destroy one of your monsters!"

Gearfried began to run towards Reflect Bounder, swords ready to slice through some metal and glass, when it ran into a mine that exploded on contact, with a whole slew of mines on the field, as one blew up in Choryo's face (Choryo: 2000-1500 LP).

"What the fuck just happened to my monster?"

As Choryo was trying and failing to process what just happened, Totaku's eyes widened in recognition. "He used that Trap Card against Aisha. I think it was called Guard Mines?"

"Right you are, Yue! This negates an effect that would target and destroy a monster I control, and if I destroy the card, you take five hundred points of damage!"

"But I can still win! Gaia, take down that Reflect Bounder with Spiral Spear Strike!"

Her monster began to charge, and the mirror on the chest of the Machine-type began to charge up energy, as Anthony laughed. "Game over, Shia! By attacking Reflect Bounder, you take damage equal to your monster's attack points!"

"Oh shit!"

"It seems that Anthony managed to pull off a victory after all," said Kannei, the tiniest hint of a smirk on her lips.

"I knew he could beat her!" said Sonshoko.

"Fire!"

Reflect Bounder shot a blast of light that knocked Choryo backwards (Choryo: 1500-0 LP)(Winner: Anthony), and as the holograms faded away, Anthony went up to her and helped her to her feet, with the girls in the crowd cheering and clapping. He then heard a clap come closer and closer behind him, and turned to see Kan'u, a smile on her face.

"Good job."

"Hey Aisha!" said Choryo with an eager wave and a huge smile, as Anthony tilted his head.

"When did you get here?"

"The wanted posters have been finished. In a month or so, they'll have been copied and sent all over China, so everyone should be aware of the White Clothes. I came to get you, but when I couldn't find you in your office or your room, this was the third place I thought to look. As for when, I arrived just in time to see your victory."

"Well, now I've completely redeemed myself, now that I've beaten Shunran and Shia," said Anthony. "Hey Aisha, wanna meet me for lunch?"

"I would be honored to. It was nice seeing you, Shia, and the same goes for everyone in the bleachers," said Kan'u, before she and Anthony left hand in hand. Choryo couldn't help but sigh.

'They sure are happy together, ain't they?'

Choryo had feelings for Anthony. That was no secret. But she couldn't be jealous of her idol. That would be extremely shitty of her, in her own opinion. Of course, there was one solution, but Anthony didn't like it. But maybe if she convinced Kan'u? She couldn't do it now, on account of all the stressful events that had happened recently, and the relationship between the lord and his first general becoming much stronger. But in due time, Choryo would have to have a chat with her hero.


The harem is coming, folks! I promise, it will be formed before the Go Arc begins, mark my words! Also, I made a new omake starring Inzektors that's in the same storyline as Beginning of a Journey and Mokey Mokey Morph, if you feel so inclined (hooray for shameless self-advertisement!). Starpion out!