Yu-Gi-Oh! Eternal

A Fan-Fiction by neomage

(DISCLAIMER: As everybody who's read my stuff should know by now, I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh.)

CHAPTER 53 – Redemption's Card

ELSEWHERE IN KAIBA LAND, 1:20 p.m.

"All done!" the young woman said brightly as she straightened herself up. "Give it a little time, Mr. West, and your nose will be as good as new!"

Kent blinked a bit as he just barely touched the small bandages wrapped over his nose-bridge. "Thanks a bunch," he answered.

He and Janus were at a small food-stand whose operator was currently serving grilled burgers and fries to passersby. The vendor glanced over to where Kent was sitting, where the young woman had tended to his broken nose only minutes earlier. "You're done re-setting his nose now, right?" she asked.

"Yeah, Mom," the girl answered. "Good thing we had a stock of bandages and gauzes here with us—you never can tell when medical emergencies might pop up. If it had been anything more serious, you'd have had to go right back to the hotel—the medical staff there's got advanced training."

Janus was standing nearby, chomping away at a burger. "That's good to know," he answered. "And these burgers are terrific!"

"Why, thank you," the vendor smiled. "Eat as much as you like—tournament participants get to eat from the food establishments here at Kaiba Land for free, you know."

"I'll definitely take you up on that!" Janus said eagerly. "In that case, could I trouble you to make another burger for me—and two helpings of your fries to go?"

"Sure!" said the vendor. Then, to her daughter, "Sweetheart, let's get this grill smoking! Can't keep a hungry customer waiting!"

"Got it, Mom!" the girl answered. Then she turned to Kent. "Anything else we can get you?"

"Thanks," said Kent. "I'll take a burger, myself."

Nodding, the daughter went to help her mother at the grill. Janus, meanwhile, came over and sat down next to Kent. "You sure you'll be able to handle eating with a broken nose?" he asked between bites of his burger.

"It's all good, now," Kent assured him. "At the very least, this nice girl here," indicating the vendor's daughter, "was able to re-set my nose. It still stings like a bastard, though…but the swelling should go down soon, what with the first-aid these folks have given to me."

"Mmm-hmm." Janus swallowed his mouthful of burger—and then his face became more thoughtful. "So…what's the House of Cards?"

Kent turned to look at him. "Eh?"

Janus looked right back at him. "Diane Chill was talking about it earlier…right when she broke your nose." He shook his head. "I gather it must be something really crucial for her to have done that to you, right?"

"Hmm…" Kent looked at Janus for a long moment. Then he sighed and looked away. "I shouldn't be talking about this with you, but…since blabbermouth Diane already blurted it out in your presence, I may as well tell you what I know of this whole thing."

Janus looked at him expectantly.

"The House of Cards…all of the pro league duelists here at this tournament are part of that group, including me and Diane, of course," said Kent. "Drake Phoenix founded our group four years or so ago. He was just beginning to get noticed in the pro leagues at the time, being a kid and all, but he's a dueling genius, and he places emphasis on power in a duelist. That's what drew a lot of us to him—we all want to be known as the best duelists this world's got to offer, and he's offering that to us—by association with other strong duelists, we become stronger ourselves."

"Hmm…" Janus seemed contemplative for a moment. "Okay, I'm gonna go out on a limb and ask this question, then. Did Drake forming this little club of yours have anything to do with me?"

"You?" Kent returned. "Hmm…I've never thought about it quite like that…then again, it's no big secret that he really doesn't like you, so I guess I wouldn't be too surprised if that was the real reason the House of Cards was formed. And considering that he brought all of us together for this tournament, this would support that argument…as well, Phoenix and a couple of others in our group don't exactly hold you, Yugo Muto or Seta Kaiba in very high regard…you saw that for yourself with Diane." Then he shrugged. "Then again, it's just speculation—what do I know for sure without solid evidence, right?"

Janus sucked his bottom lip thoughtfully. "What do I do, then? It's clear to me that a lot of your pro league pals have it out for me, Yugo and Seta…and Drake's using this tournament as a way for them to act on their grudges."

"Well, I'll tell you this much," said Kent. "You'd better start looking for Usagi Saiou—she'll probably be able to tell you, better than I can, what Phoenix's motive really is. Oh, and you remember those eliminators Phoenix spoke about in his announcement this morning? You'd better look out for four of them in particular…one of them joined the House of Cards very recently, and I've seen him duel—he's no walk in the park. And the other three are former members of those Zodiacs who sneaked into Dueltropolis."

Janus was immediately attentive on hearing that. "The Zodiacs are back again?"

"Well, these three guys were staying with Maximillion Pegasus after the World Championships, so Phoenix said," Kent clarified. "But in any case, watch out for those three Zodiacs, and that other guy I was just telling you about. You can't miss him—he's got spiky light-blue hair and wears a dark trench-coat. Oh, and he uses Archfiend monsters—ever hear of those?"

"Yeah, I've heard of those," Janus confirmed. "So, Archfiend monsters, huh? All right, I'll keep an eye out…and I'll look out for Usagi, too. Maybe she can fill me in a bit better, like you say."

"All right," Kent nodded. "And it probably wouldn't hurt for you to let Yugo and Seta know, as well, just to be safe. After all…I'm all for surpassing you three and becoming the best, but I personally prefer to do it under fair conditions—not as part of a gauntlet designed to topple you three just for the sake of earning status."

Janus looked knowingly at him and grinned. "Even if you end up getting your ass kicked?"

"Hey, as long as I learn from my defeats…" Kent chuckled. "So, what'll you do now? You've got 3000 tournament points…and by now it's been a couple of hours since the tournament started…"

Janus bit into his burger again. "Yeah, well, I suppose it'd be smart for me to go get more points before the day wears out," he reasoned even as he chewed. "And who knows—maybe I'll run into either Yugo or Seta. I'd really like a chance to duel Yugo again, and it'd be really cool to duel Seta—I've never dueled him before, you know."

"More power to you, then," Kent smirked. "As for me, I'm going back to the hotel and chilling out there…at least the TVs there have cable."

"All right!" Janus swallowed his mouthful of burger and then stood up. "Well, here I go again…and thanks for the heads-up, Kent."

"No problem," Kent nodded. "Just watch your back out there—if one of those eliminators gets you, you're done."

"Got it." Janus then turned his attention to the vendor and her daughter. "The burger and fries ready yet? I'm about ready to go."

"Just about done…now!" the vendor replied. "All right, I'll just bag it up for you…"

----------

Elsewhere in Kaiba Land, at that very moment…

"Okay, where are all those competitors hiding at? I'm ready for anybody!" Raven grinned widely as he now walked through a densely forested section of the amusement park. He then glanced down at his 2000 tournament points, proudly displayed on his Duel-Disk's life point counter. "2000 points…just a couple more to go, and then…"

He was so caught up in his enthusiasm that he didn't notice the shadow flitting from tree to tree, stalking him. Then—

Crack. The snapping of a twig just within the tree grove snagged Raven's attention. Immediately he turned around in the direction of the noise, glancing around. "Huh? Somebody there?" he called.

For answer all he got was the sound of the wind gently rustling the trees' leaves. Then…out stepped a tall figure with aqua-colored hair and clad in a maroon-colored trench-coat. "So…looks like I can finally stop twiddling my thumbs out of boredom, now," he said softly.

----------

DOMINO CITY, AT YUGO MUTO'S HOUSE

Kyo's jaw dropped when he saw the figure on the TV, coming out to confront Raven. "Oh, my God…that's…"

Mr. Bakura, too, was astonished. "Why…why is he in the tournament, too?"

Grandma Muto frowned. "Is that…Jan?"

"It is," Mrs. Bakura answered. "But I thought he'd turned himself in to the police in Egypt after what happened over there…?"

"He did," said Kyo. "So, why…?"

"Did he escape from prison, if indeed he had turned himself in as you say?" Mr. Muto suggested.

"Who knows…" Kyo's eyes were overshadowed. "Right now, though, he's there, at the Phoenix Herald Crown…"

----------

MIKI TAYLOR'S HOUSE, AT THAT VERY MOMENT

The Wheelers and Taylors were mutually silent when a camera close-up of Jan on the TV came up. "Kyo's brother…" Miki said softly.

"So, that's him," said Jenna thoughtfully. "Why's he there at the tournament, though?"

"Oh, dear…first pro league duelists without ethics, now a criminal…" Mrs. Taylor shook her head sadly.

Mr. Wheeler scowled. "I really smell a rat here…"

"I've a mind to call over there and find out what the hell's going on—Drake Phoenix has a LOT of explaining to do!" Mr. Taylor snapped.

"The standard of Duel Monster tournaments has truly gone down with every generation," Mrs. Wheeler sighed. "At any rate, though, guys, there isn't much we can do from here…all we can do is watch and see how this plays out."

"Yeah…you're right," and Mr. Taylor sat back on the couch reluctantly. "There'll hopefully be time after this to get answers."

----------

THE KAIBA MANSION, AT THE SAME TIME

Kaiba frowned a little at Jan's image on the TV. "So…you're showing yourself now, in the tournament," he said softly. "As one of the eliminators, no doubt…well, let's see what you're capable of here, hmm?"

----------

KAIBA LAND, IN THE MEANTIME

Raven cocked an eyebrow at the stranger standing before him. "Who're you?" he asked. Then he glanced at the newcomer's Duel-Disk. "You one of the tournament eliminators or something?"

"I am…and I'm more than that, too." Jan nodded with meaning. "I'm the guy who's going to send you packing out of this tournament—never mind that you're Maximillion Pegasus's heir."

"Hey, now, don't go underestimating me just because you're an eliminator!" Raven argued.

"Who's underestimating anything?" Jan asked. "I saw your duel against Seta Kaiba on TV, in the Dueltropolis tournament a while back. True, you were able to hold your own against him for a while, but…if you couldn't defeat him, why would you think you'd be able to defeat me?"

"That was then—this is now! I've become a better duelist since Dueltropolis!" Raven insisted.

"In such a short period of time? If you're talking about getting new cards, fine; if you're talking about improving your own individual skill, you'll have to convince me." Jan held up his Duel-Disk. "Don't disappoint me, now."

"That's supposed to be my line!" Raven barked, readying his Duel-Disk in turn. "And anyway, you shouldn't talk—I've never seen your face in any Duel Monster tournament circuits before! How do I know you didn't just get lucky enough to have Drake Phoenix pick you as an eliminator for this tournament?

"When I am done, you'll wish I had stayed anonymous to your knowledge," Jan said ominously.

RAVEN: 8000; JAN: 8000

At once, on TVs worldwide—though the two weren't aware of it just then—their respective dueling information popped up. First was Raven's. Raven Pegasus. Age: 17. Nationality: Japan. Professional dueling experience: Participated in this year's British Intercontinental Championships; participated in the recently-ended Dueltropolis World Championships. Deck strategy: Different Dimension deck.

Then followed Jan's info. Jan Shimizu, appointed eliminator. Age: 25. Nationality: Japan. Professional dueling experience: No known prior tournament experience. Deck strategy: Archfiend.

"I'll make you swallow those words of yours!" Raven vowed, while his and Jan's life points each went up to 8000. "I've managed to beat one eliminator already; you'll just be a walk in the park!"

"You wish." Jan's eyes were narrow.

The two drew their first five cards. "I shall go first, being the eliminator here," said Jan, and he drew his sixth card. "And I summon Mad Archfiend (ATK 1800, DEF 0) in Attack Mode!" And—there suddenly appeared on his side of the field a red-haired creature with long skulls for shoulder-plates, and a smaller skull for a stomach. "And then I'll set two cards facedown, for later."

"Ha! That's the best you can do?" Raven scoffed while he drew his card. "Sorry, but I'm yet to be impressed."

"Why the rush?" asked Jan. "Or are you in that much of a hurry to be humiliated?"

"Hmph." Raven looked at the card he'd drawn. "Okay, you know what? I think I'll be a nice guy…I summon D.D. Guide (ATK 1400, DEF 1000) in Attack Mode!"

A moment later a black-robed figure appeared on Raven's side of the field. His head was obscured by the hood he wore, but his hands protruded from the sleeves of the robe, and they appeared to be cybernetic in nature. "And…what exactly is this? It can't match up to my Mad Archfiend," Jan pointed out.

"True," said Raven. "But I didn't bring D.D. Guide onto the field to fight with…you see, he has an effect that'll work very well for me now. When he's Normal Summoned, control of him switches to you…"

At once a dimensional portal appeared on Raven's side of the field, and D.D. Guide stepped into it—and seconds later he re-emerged on Jan's side, standing next to the bemused Mad Archfiend. "Hmm…I see…and I assume you wouldn't so easily just give your monster to me, unless his effect somehow hinders me," Jan remarked.

"You're actually pretty sharp," Raven grinned. "During each player's End Phase, the opponent of D.D. Guide's controller gets to pick one card from the controller's Graveyard and then removes that picked card from play. So, in other words, since you control D.D. Guide now, at the end of each of our turns I'll be able to remove one card in your Graveyard from play."

"I see…fairly ingenious—except that now I have two monsters to attack you with next turn," Jan pointed out.

"Actually, you won't get to attack at all—not after I activate my Magic card, D.D. Borderline!" Raven promptly activated the card from his hand, and a short while later the huge blue barrier emerged and surrounded both players. "Now, while D.D. Borderline's active, so long as I don't have any Magic cards in my Graveyard, neither of us can attack!" Raven continued.

"So, in other words, you plan to bide your time until you can come up with a way to defeat me," said Jan. "Well, normally I respect duelists who can cleverly use strategy…and yours might be considered a clever strategy…except for two glaring points at this very moment."

"Oh?" Raven cocked an eyebrow.

Jan nodded. "First of all, the effect of your D.D. Guide—which you were very kind to give over to me, by the way—that effect that removes a card in the Graveyard from play…it'll only work if I have ANY cards in the Graveyard at all, and right now, I do not. Second of all, your D.D. Borderline here might protect you from being attacked, but, A: you yourself are restricted from attacking as well, so any opportunities you may otherwise have to strike at my life points will fall through terribly; and B: how do you know I won't still find a way to damage your life points anyway?"

"Analytical, now aren't you?" Raven quipped.

"End your turn, and then we'll see if I can't demonstrate my point," said Jan.

"Hmm…all right. I end my turn—and as you said, since you don't have any cards in the Graveyard, D.D. Guide's effect won't activate for now," said Raven, even as he sighed grudgingly.

Jan wasted no time, drawing his next card so now he held four. "Now…" His eyes flashed. "I activate the Magic card, Card Destruction! Now both of us must discard our entire hands and draw the same number of cards from our decks that we'd discarded!"

Raven flinched like he'd been slapped. "Damn it…!" he hissed, even as he discarded the four cards in his hand and drew another four. No sooner had he done this, though, than all at once D.D. Borderline's force field dimmed a little.

"Just as I suspected…those cards you discarded, at least one of them must have been a Magic card," Jan remarked, even while he discarded his remaining three hand-cards and then drew another three. "And now to capitalize on my advantage! Mad Archfiend, D.D. Guide, attack directly!"

Mad Archfiend pulled the skull out of its stomach and hurled it with bullet-like force at Raven; the skull hit him square in the head and violently ricocheted off his cranium. As Raven staggered back from the blow, the skull flew right back into Mad Archfiend's hand and was swiftly returned to its rightful place in the monster's otherwise hollow stomach space.

RAVEN: 6200; JAN: 8000

Then D.D. Guide appeared to levitate—then seconds later shot right toward Raven, leaving after-images of himself behind in the process, and unleashed a barrage of punches into Raven's midsection. Already disoriented from Mad Archfiend's attack on his person, Raven now reeled from his own monster's assault on him.

RAVEN: 4800; JAN: 8000

"You should think over your strategies a little more thoroughly before you execute them," Jan said coolly. "But I believe in fair play—and in all fairness, you were quite open to attack without monsters on the field to protect you, and I did attack you with your own monster. So, allow me to make it up to you—by activating my Trap card, Nightmare Archfiends!"

Suddenly, D.D. Guide vanished from Jan's side of the field in a burst of flame. Then, from out of nowhere three balls of green flame appeared on Raven's side of the field…and from those balls of flame there appeared three ebony-skinned, red-eyed, green-haired creatures, cackling maniacally. "Uhh…what the hell…?" Raven asked in bewilderment, still a bit groggy from the attacks he'd suffered moments earlier.

"I see…still disoriented, eh? Then allow me to break it down for you," Jan offered. "Just now, I activated my Trap card, a card called Nightmare Archfiends. Here is how it works: I had to tribute a monster on my side of the field to activate it, and I tributed your D.D. Guide. Then, I was able to Special Summon three Nightmare Archfiend tokens to your side of the field in Attack Mode, and from here on out they're treated as Level 6, Fiend-type, Dark-attribute monsters with 2000 ATK and 2000 DEF."

Raven shook his head, the swimming lights finally clearing away from his vision. "Oh…okay…I get it now…that's decent, I guess…" Then suddenly his gaze hardened. "But I'm not stupid. I wouldn't just get a monster or monster tokens from my opponent unless there were strings attached, like with my D.D. Guide when you got control of it after I summoned it."

"How astute," Jan nodded. "Very well, I'll tell you the secret of these tokens. When a Nightmare Archfiend token is destroyed, its controller gets 800 points of damage. And since you have three of them there, if all three are destroyed…"

"…then that's 2400 points of damage to my life points," Raven finished.

"Exactly." Jan nodded again. "And now, I will offer Mad Archfiend as a tribute to call on the power of the Skull Archfiend of Lightning (ATK 2500, DEF 1200)!"

A bolt of lightning shot down from above and took out the Mad Archfiend—then, standing in its place was Jan's tall, hulking, winged skeletal fiend, roaring with fury even while electricity coursed around its body. "And now," Jan finished, "I'll call it a turn."

His eyes narrowing at this development, Raven drew his next card so he now held five in hand. "You got a stronger monster into play to stand against these three creatures here," he observed. "But you're not gonna get a chance to destroy them, no way! I'm gonna pay you back for attacking me…and I've got just the cards here in my hand to do the job right!"

"Do you?" asked Jan.

"Yeah, that's right," said Raven. "Now that I've got a better idea of how you play, I'm going to have to really make the most of my next play—I know that much at least. So, here I go!" He held up one of his cards. "I activate the Magic card, Dark Core! Now, by discarding one card from my hand…" Which he did. "…I can remove one face-up monster on the field from play—and naturally, I choose the Skull Archfiend of Lightning!"

Instantaneously a ball of dark energy emerged and sucked the helpless and screaming Skull Archfiend into it; it then shrank into nothing. Jan furrowed his brow at this development. "So now it's my life points that are exposed," he said.

"And I'll give these three Nightmare Archfiends an additional boost of strength—by summoning D.D. Crazy Beast (ATK 1400, DEF 1400) in Attack Mode!" Raven played another card—and as a dimensional portal opened on his side of the field, from it there emerged a red-skinned, worm-like beast with foam slathered over its large teeth.

"Now, I'm just sorry this big guy doesn't have more ATK so that he and these three critters here can wipe you out right now, but I guess I'll have to take what I can get," Raven continued. "Go, monsters—attack directly!"

All three of the Nightmare Archfiends burst into flame, cackling wildly. Then, hovering in the air, they flew at Jan like bullets, striking him one after another; he flinched a bit as their combined assault sharply dropped his life points to 2000.

RAVEN: 4800; JAN: 2000

Then, as he was steadying himself, D.D. Crazy Beast barreled forward and snapped at him; he managed to jump back just in time to avoid its jaws, but still his life points went further to a dangerously low 600.

RAVEN: 4800; JAN: 600

"And finally, I'll put one card facedown, just to be safe, and then call it a turn," Raven finished while he set a card facedown in the Magic/Trap slot. "Not much of an eliminator, now are you? I've got you on the ropes, instead of the other way around!"

"Don't be so sure of yourself," Jan warned. "You might've taken advantage of my giving you those Nightmare Archfiend tokens to pull yourself ahead in this duel…but you still have a long way to go before you can hope to beat me."

Raven scowled. "Why, you arrogant…"

"I suppose it would be better to give you a physical demonstration of my point." Jan then drew his next card, so once again he held three in hand. Then he picked one of the three cards and held it up for Raven to see. "All right—I activate the magic of Monster Reborn! And I'll use it to revive a monster from my Graveyard, in Attack Mode…"

Raven watched him carefully, instinctively on his guard.

"Now, just so you don't get confused," Jan continued, "this monster I'm about to summon from the Graveyard—it got sent there when I activated my Card Destruction card earlier. And…it's coming straight from my own personal collection, one that I'd put on the back-burner for years…but with this tournament so full of pro-league competitors, there's no reason for me not to play it safe—at least, that's what I told myself."

Raven frowned. "Would you stop yapping and bring out your monster if you're going to?"

"Mmm-hmm…definitely in a hurry to be defeated. Very well." Jan slapped the Monster Reborn card onto his Duel-Disk. "Monster Reborn, activate! Special Summon from my Graveyard, in Attack Mode…Darklord Zerato (ATK 2800, DEF 2300)!"

Monster Reborn's familiar ankh of light shone on Jan's side of the field…then abruptly it turned black as a menacing shadow slinked out from it and took form. The shadow sprouted bat-like wings, and the form of a sword appeared in one of its hands. Then, quite suddenly, the darkness evaporated from the mysterious arrival—and when it did, there stood a gray-skinned man, with blood-red wings, jagged red guards on his wrists and a horned red helmet on his head, and in his hand he held a wicked-looking sword with a grinning silver blade.

"Eh?" Raven blinked at this sight. "Okay…this guy's really creepy-looking…"

"I admit, he's a stretch from my usual Archfiend strategy—but his power is useful to me nonetheless," said Jan. "For you see, kid, by discarding one Dark monster from my hand to the Graveyard," and here he held up one of his two remaining hand-cards, the Mazera DeVille (ATK 2800, DEF 2300) card, and sent it off to the Graveyard, "I activate Darklord Zerato's effect—he'll destroy every monster that you control!"

Raven turned ashen at this information. "No!"

But Darklord Zerato raised his sword above his head, then abruptly swung downward—and created a haze of red crescent-shaped energy disks that flew right over to Raven's side of the field, cutting straight through D.D. Crazy Beast and the three Nightmare Archfiend tokens. As the latter three got destroyed, their fiery essence hurtled back onto Raven, and he cringed as he lost life points by their effect.

RAVEN: 2400; JAN: 600

"Normally, when I activate that effect for Darklord Zerato, he'll be destroyed at the end of the turn," Jan pointed out. "However, considering the current situation, that's no longer a concern for me. So…Darklord Zerato, attack directly! Blade of the Corrupted Heavens!"

Readying his sword again and flapping his large wings, Darklord Zerato rushed headlong at Raven—but the other duelist suddenly shouted, "And I counter with my Trap card, Dimensional Prison! When you declare an attack with a monster, I get to remove that attacking monster from play!"

A large tear in the dimensional fabric opened up just then, and the hapless Darklord Zerato ended up flying right into it. Just as he realized his mishap, the dimensional tear sealed up again. "Now that's one prison that the prisoner won't be escaping from any time ever!" Raven declared.

For a long moment Jan stared at the space that Darklord Zerato had, only moments ago, been occupying. Then he sighed. "Well…that was certainly a bad error in judgment on my part. I'll ensure it doesn't happen again." He looked at the one remaining card in his hand. "All right…I'll set this card facedown, and that will be all for my turn."

----------

DOMINO CITY, AT YUGO MUTO'S HOUSE

"Um…" Mrs. Bakura cocked an eyebrow. "That monster Jan just summoned…"

"I've heard of it," Mr. Bakura told her. "It's one of a series of cards that Industrial Illusions released years ago…around the same time Jan…left home. Those cards are supposed to be dark versions of already-established monsters."

"And that monster just now…it was a dark version of my own Archlord Zerato (ATK 2800, DEF 2300)," Kyo said quietly.

"Yes," Mr. Bakura affirmed. "But there's also a separate set of monsters within that category…Dark-attribute, Fairy-type monsters. They're known as the 'Fallen Angel' set…but who would've thought Jan had one of them all this time?"

"But what does it mean, then?" Grandma Muto wondered.

"Hmm…" Mr. Muto frowned. "Ryou, those monsters…they're Dark-attribute, but at the same time they're Fairy-type, yes? Traditionally, those two descriptions would never mesh in the Duel Monsters game…with faeries being attributed with goodness, and darkness being attributed with evil—with certain exceptions."

"Then these Fairy-types being of the Dark attribute…they'd be included in those exceptions," Mr. Bakura put in. "I wonder…it's been said that those particular monsters are symbolic of falling from grace and seeking of redemption, within Duel Monster lore…" He looked at the others. "Do you suppose…"

"The only one who can truly say is Jan himself," Kyo interrupted. "And right now, we're here, and he's there. So…let's just see how the rest of this duel turns out."

"Kyo…" Mrs. Bakura said softly.

----------

And now, as Raven prepared to take his turn, his face had all the marks of serious contemplation on it. Can't deny it…this guy's good! Even if he got that Darklord Zerato card last turn by luck of the draw, he sure knows how to handle his cards well! And for all I know, that facedown card of his might just be a trap he's waiting to use to finish me off…I'll have to really play it safe from this point onward! He drew his card, so now he held two in hand. Oh? These are the cards I have? Hmm…all right, then…this is going to be really risky to do, but if I can pull it off, it'll be well worth it! All right—here goes! Then, aloud he announced, "I summon Dimension Fortress Weapon (ATK 1700, DEF 200) in Attack Mode!" He then played one of his cards—and there emerged a huge gold-plated mechanical monstrosity, hissing and whirring with every bit of movement.

"I see…so this is what you're going to use to end my tenure in this tournament, eh?" asked Jan. "Well, what're you waiting for? Attack me, if you're brave enough to do so, boy…"

But Raven waved a disapproving finger. "Oh, you'd like that, wouldn't you? For me to attack you blindly, giving you an ample opportunity to activate that facedown card of yours, right? Sorry, Mac, but I've got other things in mind!" He then held up his remaining hand-card. "I activate the Magic card, Different Dimension Capsule!"

All at once a dimensional rift opened above Raven's side of the field; the next thing Jan knew, hovering there was a huge casket with an Egyptian pharaoh's head decorating the top. "Here's how this card works," said Raven. "After the Different Dimension Capsule's been activated, it'll stay on the field until my second Standby Phase after I activated it—in other words, until my next two turns. Now, I select one card from my deck…" He pulled his deck out of its slot, thumbed through it quickly, and then picked a card. "…then I shuffle my deck…" Pocketing the selected card for a moment, Raven shuffled his deck and replaced it into his Duel-Disk. "Afterwards, I remove the selected card from play, and it's placed facedown in the process." He took the selected card out of his pocket and held it up, its face away from Jan; the card swiftly soared up to the Different Dimension Capsule, which opened up and admitted the card into its dark bowels before slamming shut. "And then, during my second Standby Phase two turns later, I destroy the Different Dimension Capsule and add the selected card to my hand," Raven finished.

"Hmm." Jan cocked an eyebrow. "It must be quite a card if you're willing to go to this kind of trouble, huh?"

"That's for me to know and you to discover—eventually," Raven grinned. "For now, though, I'll end my turn."

"Very well." Jan nodded and drew his card, replenishing his hand. "And now…it is time for me to deliver my own counterattack."

"Counterattack?" Raven said doubtfully.

"Watch and see." Jan indicated his facedown card. "You were right to be suspicious about this facedown card of mine…it IS a Trap card—although probably not the type you were expecting." He held a hand out toward it. "Activate—Archfiend's Roar!"

RAVEN: 2400; JAN: 100

As Jan's facedown card was revealed, his life points dropped to a scant 100! "I had to sacrifice 500 life points to activate this card," Jan explained. "However, in return it allows me to Special Summon one Archfiend monster from my Graveyard, although that monster can't be tributed under any circumstances and will be destroyed at the end of this turn. But for what I'm about to do, it'll be worth it—so be resurrected, Mad Archfiend, in Attack Mode!"

From the Archfiend's Roar card a loud and frightful roar erupted—and then Mad Archfiend burst from the ground, cackling wildly. "Okay…but so what? That's not nearly enough to frighten me!" Raven scoffed.

"No? Then how about this?" Jan held up the card he'd just drawn. "Being in close proximity to Pegasus near-constantly, you should know this card that I'm about to play…it was one of his earlier works from way back in the day." Then he flipped the card's face around so Raven could see what it was. "The Magic card—Change of Heart!"

"Wha—" Raven's doubtful expression gave way swiftly to one of utter panic. "No! You CAN'T!"

"I can, and I shall!" Jan played the card. "I activate the Change of Heart—and with it, I'll take command of your Dimension Fortress Weapon!"

All at once, from the Change of Heart card, a youngster emerged, bearing wings on his back—but one wing was a black bat's wing, and the other was a pure white dove's wing. The spirit now flew over to Raven's side of the field and entered the Dimension Fortress Weapon…and just like that, it rolled over to Jan's side of the field, hissing and grinding all the way. "Shit…!" Raven cursed under his breath.

"Now—the end! Mad Archfiend, Dimension Fortress Weapon, attack directly and finish him off!" Jan yelled. In turn, Mad Archfiend flung its stomach-skull at Raven again, hitting him square in the chest and bringing his score down to 600.

RAVEN: 600; JAN: 100

Then, parts of the Fortress Weapon's metallic chest opened up, revealing a huge particle cannon within. The cannon swiftly charged up with energy, then fired a blast that thundered toward Raven's side of the field…

RAVEN: 0; JAN: 100

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DOMINO CITY, AT MIKI TAYLOR'S HOUSE, AT THAT VERY MOMENT

"…ouch." Mr. Wheeler flinched as the Dimension Fortress Weapon's particle cannon attack exploded all over Raven's side of the field.

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised," Miki said quietly. "When I dueled him in Egypt, during the whole JUDAS affair, he beat me really easily. I didn't stand a chance."

"Do you think anybody will be able to best him in this tournament?" Jenna wondered.

"We'll just have to see, I guess…" Miki shrugged.

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KAIBA LAND

As the holographic figures disappeared from the field, Jan looked at his Duel-Disk's life point counter, where his tournament points were rising to 3000. "2000 points added to my tally…as easily as that," he remarked. "And yet it will be just as easy for me, as an eliminator, to lose them to any tournament player who defeats me. I'll need to be careful from here on out."

Across from him, Raven was slowly starting to get up, even as the smoke from Dimension Fortress Weapon's attack steamed off his clothing. "Ow…that sucked…" he groaned. "Looks like I'm out of the tournament now…"

Jan cast a glance at him. "I'm curious. Just what was your strategy that you were going to employ, that you needed to use your Different Dimension Capsule card?"

"Huh?" Raven looked at him. "Oh…well…" He tucked a hand into the pocket where he'd stored the removed-from-play card—which was soon revealed to be Caius the Shadow Monarch (ATK 2400, DEF 1000). "Well, since you're asking…if I'd had a chance to add this card to my hand when my Different Dimension Capsule's effect wore off, I would've tributed the Dimension Fortress Weapon to summon this guy, and use his effect to remove your facedown card from play. That way, I'd have had a clear shot at your life points. Or, if I'd have gotten to summon another monster alongside the Fortress Weapon, then I could tribute that one to summon Caius, and remove the Fortress Weapon from play with Caius's effect—and his effect says that if the card I remove by Caius's power is a Dark-attribute monster, you'd get 1000 points of damage." Then he sighed ruefully. "At least, that's how I could've won, if it hadn't been for your Change of Heart card."

"Hmm." Jan seemed to consider this information. "Well…for what it's worth, kid…that kind of strategy probably could have worked. But the fact is, I still prevailed, and you still lost."

"Yeah. Can't escape that." Raven shrugged his shoulders in resignation. "So…now I'm going to have to watch the rest of the tournament from a distance." He nodded at Jan. "You're strong, I have to admit that. Maybe one of these days I can get to duel you again, or something."

"Maybe." Jan's expression was poker-faced. "Well, time for me to continue my eliminator duties. See you around."

That being said, Jan turned and walked off in a random direction. Raven Pegasus…you have the potential to become strong, too…I will not forget your name or face.

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neomage: The enigmatic (not so much) Jan Shimizu continues in the tournament…and who will his next target be? Review soon, please!