The five minutes Ariana had to get to Sophia's office flew by, largely because Ariana had gone straight there as soon as most of the other duelists were on their way, Ariana took a deep breath before knocking on the door to Sophia's office.
"Door's open Ariana." Sophia called out to her and Ariana opened the door, Sophia was behind her desk as always and Kaiba was in the office as well. "Take a seat." Sophia stated simply and Ariana sat down. "Let me get this out of the way, no, you're not in trouble, this is about something that occurred during your last duel."
"You mean when my copy of Dark Illusion get replaced by that broken card, right?" Ariana asked as she shifted her weight and Sophia nodded. "I don't know what happened, I tried to use Allure of Darkness, they made me discard the cards I drew with Null and Void and…..." Ariana trailed off as she brushed some hair over her shoulder. "Remember what I said yesterday when you confronted me about my actions with my first character?"
"You weren't in control of your actions, yes, that has been established." Sophia nodded before it dawned on her. "Same thing happened?"
"Kind off, I activated that broken card even though it was originally Dark Illusion as I said and I got the sharp, stinging pain in my head." Ariana added before shaking her head. "I don't know what happened next, but I bet you had something to do with it?"
"In a sense, I was watching in one of the HUD areas at the time, as soon as you played that dark card the technician got to work resetting the duel back to when they activated Null and Void." Sophia added and Ariana nodded. "The only reason why we didn't do that during your duel against Andreas is simple, I wasn't in a HUD area at the time and I wasn't told of your actions until after the fact, and before you ask, no you can't exploit it, the ability to turn back time on a duel is mine alone and I need the assistance of my lead technician to do it, not only that but it's only to be used in emergencies like the spirit somehow getting into the game world."
"Is that why the session ended early?" Ariana asked and Sophia and Kaiba nodded. "So, what's going to happen now?"
"When the session begins again, the elves will take your group to the destiny orb, originally the session would've ended at that point, but you know what happened there." Sophia added and Ariana nodded. "What you and your group do afterwards is up to you but staying with the elves for the night seems your best option, just don't return to that lake for one of their orgies."
"Wasn't planning too, I want to save myself until marriage anyway." Ariana explained as she shook her head. "Anything else? I'm starving and I still need to take my meds."
"You are free to go unless you have something else to discuss." Sophia responded and Ariana paused.
"There is one thing, probably minor but towards the end of my duel I started hearing voices in my head, I don't know if it was because it was coming time for me to take my meds or not but this voice, which sounded a lot like my doubleganger from the dream and the vision I told you about was giving me tips on how to win." Ariana added and Sophia's frown deepened. "Yes, I took my meds this morning, I told you during the check in, and I plan on taking my meds before dinner."
"We'll discuss this voice you've been hearing another time Ariana, until then you are dismissed." Sophia responded and Ariana nodded before leaving the room, once the door was closed Sophia turned to Kaiba. "What do you think?"
"If this was an isolated incident then I'd be thinking that bi-polar disorder was the least of Ariana's problems." Kaiba responded as he stepped forward. "But you told me about the dream she had and that vision she had whilst in the shower, frankly I don't know what to think."
"First time for everything I guess." Sophia nodded as she shifted her weight. "What if this voice is a Duel Spirit Partner? Most duelists with those first encounter them when they are in their late teens/early twenties, I know I encountered Thunder Unicorn when I was seventeen."
"It's possible but I can't think of any card in her deck that would be a good Duel Spirit Partner." Kaiba nodded as he folded his arms. "I say we keep an eye on the situation, for all we know the stress of her first major tournament is getting to Ariana."
"Sadly, that wouldn't be the first time." Sophia sighed as she nodded in agreement before standing up. "For now, let's grab a bite to eat."
"Agreed." Kaiba nodded before they left Sophia's office.
*in the dining hall*
By now the dining hall was mostly empty with a few duelists meeting up there to catch up with friends or their spouses, in Phil's case he had met with Fran in the far corner of the dining room and after a few minutes of debating how he should handle what happen in the jungle he decided to just flat out tell her and hope for the best.
The last thing he expected his wife to do, was laugh her ass off so loudly that it caused several other duelists to nearly jump out of their seats. "That is bloody hilarious!" Fran added as she barely regained her composure. "Not only did you interrupt the Gemini Elves having an intimate moment with each other, but you got a close up view of their tits?!"
"Well, the blonde one more so, and I'm still not sure how I missed the rest of her naked body whilst I was underwater considering how close I got to them." Phil responded as he shook his head whilst looking at the menu. "Who eats Steak Tartare? Honestly! That's raw meat!"
"Meat that's been cooked chemically by some kind of acid component." Fran corrected him and Phil raised an eyebrow. "My dad's a retired chef, remember? He may have retired last year but after I told him that we were getting married he made sure that I knew how to cook a decent meal, alongside some culinary knowledge."
"Yeah but he was a pub chef, it's not like we're talking about a chef on the level of Chelsea's older sister." Phil pointed out and Fran shook her head. "Besides, I don't care what the chefs, I'll stick to something that's actually seen the inside of a frying pan or oven."
"Yeah, I will admit, Steak Tartare is an acquired taste." Fran admitted as she shrugged her shoulders. "So, what were their tits like?" Fran asked causing Phil to face-fault out of his chair. "Oh, come on Phil, you can't expect me to ask that after you tell me that story!"
"You could've at least waited until we were back in our room!" Phil protested as he righted his chair and sat back down on it. "I mean, Sophia seemed to be going for realistic proportions rather than breasts so big that they are liable to knock a guy out if the girl turns around, but they were pretty big, I guess? I think the blonde one's breasts were slightly bigger, and I just realized what you just made me said in a dining room." Phil deadpanned as Fran nearly fell out of her chair laughing. "Besides, the fact that I got that close to a female duel monsters' breasts wasn't even the weirdest part of that session."
"Yeah, Viagra in the form of a lake that also doubles as a condom takes the cake there!" Fran responded once she regained her composure. "Seriously, I'm surprised you didn't ask "what the hell are the writers on" during the post session meeting!"
"I get the feeling that if Sophia had to list all the drugs that the writers were on, the technical issue would've been fixed, and the next session would've started by the time she was finished." Phil deadpanned as he shook his head before noticing that the other duelists were coming in. "Let's change the subject before I embarrass myself in front of a crowd of duelists."
"Wouldn't be the first time." Fran responded as she shook her head. "Or do I need to point out how you stepped up for your Battle City Semi-Finals match last year with a tear in the back of your jeans?"
"I thought we agreed that we would never speak of that again!" Phil protested before they picked up the menus.
*elsewhere in the castle*
By now most of the duelists had entered the dining hall ready for their evening meal, all except one who was back in her room.
"Seriously, I've built god knows how many gaming pcs and have a master's degree in computer science from The University of Queensland and Sophia didn't think to ask me to help Rachel with the technical issue?" Jade thought with an annoyed sighed as she sat down in front of her Alienware Laptop and booted it up, the Australian woman had elected to skip dinner to focus on the task assigned to her before the first session started. "If anything, that just proves that it's not a technical issue, I've collaborated with the staff at I2 whenever a technical problem arose before."
"Surprised Sophia never hired you onto the technical staff at I2." Ancient Jade Dragon commented, and Jade shook her head before undoing her ponytail and letting her hair flow free.
"And I would've gladly accepted that position, many of my former classmates would kill for a job like that." Jade responded before putting her hairband down and grabbing a hairbrush. "But I'm also a rising star of the Australian Dueling Scene, all it would take is one whiff that I work for the company that makes Duel Monsters Cards for me to get blacklisted for life."
"And yet your content to work for Sophia?" Ancient Jade Dragon responded, and Jade shook her head before finishing the brushing of her hair.
"Difference is, I work directly for her, no one's going to scream conflict of interest if they find out Sophia's gardener plays Duel Monsters on the side." Jade responded before her laptop finally booted up. "And if I do get outed, I can just say that I'm Sophia's tech support and I don't work directly for I2, it's not like I'd be lying."
"What about that legal trouble you mentioned during your duel." Ancient Jade Dragon pointed out and Jade sighed as she worked away at her laptop,
"I was never convicted, remember? Granted, neither was Michael Jackson during his life-time but hacking isn't exactly comparable to touching kids inappropriately." Jade responded as she worked away at her laptop. "Besides, I wasn't hacking into those government records for Sophia, I was doing that for a friend."
"Said friend subsequently turned that info over to a terrorist group." Ancient Jade Dragon pointed out and Jade frowned. "You realize how lucky you are that the plot was foiled, yes?"
"Sophia said as much when I met up with her after the trial, well, after she read me the riot act." Jade pointed out before taking a sip from her drink. "As for that friend, I couldn't cut all ties with that asshole fast enough! He betrayed my trust by saying that no one would get hurt, and technically speaking, no one did." Jade added before putting her drink down. "But only after I sent in an anonymous tip about the plot, I'm pretty sure he ratted on me in retaliation anyway."
"And you are lucky that Sophia paid for your legal consul, otherwise you'd be spending life in prison alongside your friend." Ancient Jade Dragon pointed out and Jade sighed.
"I wouldn't call being disowned by my family without getting a chance to explain myself "lucky", funny how my boss was the only one to listen to my side of the story during that whole debacle." Jade responded as she waited for the page to load. "Besides, the incident has largely been forgotten in the Dueling Scene because I was found innocent, and if it can remain that way, I won't complain, even if I did lose her along…" Jade trailed off before reading the info on the screen in front of her, without a second's hesitation she copied that link and sent it in an e-mail to Sophia before standing up. "Let's hope there's still a table available."
"Don't you miss her?" Ancient Jade Dragon asked and Jade glanced over at a framed picture on the table which showed Jade back when she was still blonde next to a brunette Aboriginal woman with the same hair length as her and it was clear from the way the two women were embracing each other that they were close, or even intimate.
"More than you can fucking imagine." Jade sighed before she leaned over and intentionally tipped the picture over causing it to fall facedown. "If it weren't for her, I would've fallen in with the Orichalcos Duelists five years ago, but she's gone and there's nothing I can do about it." Jade thought before leaving the room. "Why the fuck did I bring that picture with me?"
*back at the dining hall*
The dining hall was mostly full but Jade and a few others were able to find places to sit and order food, the others were just talking amongst themselves.
"So, Jason and Chakra are in the tournament?" Lance asked Chloe as their appetizers arrived, his was a Pancetta Risotto and hers was a Mushroom Ravioli. "I know you said that most of our graduating class is competing, but I am wondering who else we'll run into."
"I'm not sure, Brandon said that Caitlin Acosta is in his group as she's doing her comeback tour after her medical scare last year." Chloe shrugged before they started eating their food. "But aside from the obvious, I haven't seen most of the graduating class."
"There are a lot of duelists competing, some I've never heard off like the current Italian National Champ as she joined my group after we finally left that damn tomb." Lance responded with a shrug as he glanced around the room. "She seemed nice enough, but I am interested in what deck she runs."
"We did miss the Italian Nationals because of that tournament and you forgetting to DVR it to be fair." Chloe pointed out and Lance shook his head.
"No, you asked your dad to DVR it for us forgetting that his DVR hasn't worked in years and didn't bother to check until we got back from the tournament." Lance corrected his girlfriend and before long, they had finished their appetizers. "Do I even need to ask what you're having for dessert?"
"That's assuming that I still have room for dessert after the Main Course." Chloe pointed out with a sheepish grin. "But yeah, if I have room for it, I'm definitely ordering Tiramisu."
"What you see in that dessert, I'll never know." Lance commented as he shook his head earning a mock glare from Chloe. "Seriously, how can something that acidic be considered a dessert?"
"You liked those coffee and chocolate cupcakes I made for your birthday last year." Chloe pointed out and Lance shook his head.
"Because the sweetness from the chocolate offset the strong coffee favor, the one time you made Tiramisu for me you overdid it with the coffee." Lance responded and Chloe shook her head. "Where are you getting those cooking lessons, anyway?"
"Night classes at a local college in Domino City, the instructor actually said that I'm so good that I should consider going to culinary school because of how far ahead of the rest of the students I am." Chloe admitted as she brushed some hair over her shoulder. "I have considered it but first I'd need the money and hope that my dueling career doesn't interrupt my classes."
"It wouldn't be the first time a duelist went to university after graduating from Duel Academy." Lance pointed out and Chloe nodded. "Look at Chelsea, she went back to school so that she could be a high school graduate and then went to university to get a degree in IT."
"Yeah but didn't she say that she did it on Chris's suggestion? Something about setting a good example for Jasmine?" Chloe asked and Lance nodded. "Don't get me wrong, I'm happy that she was able to graduate from a regular school after graduating Duel Academy, but my situation isn't really the same as hers, for one thing, I don't have any convictions to my name, let alone a juvenile conviction." Chloe added before sighing. "And we both know whose to blame for that."
"Yeah, her last boyfriend." Lance grumbled as he remembered the horror stories from Chelsea about Dan's verbal abuse. "I'm still surprised her brothers didn't kill him once the truth came out, especially since Danny played American Football, just speaking from my perspective but I know that if that was Sophie he was abusing, they'd never find the body, she does have a boyfriend in Duel Academy and I am pleased to announce that he seems like a decent kid."
"All I'm saying to that is if he did turn out abusive, I don't think I'd want to stop you, you know my history with abuse." Chloe responded before the waiter came to take their orders, Lance ordered a Rib-Eye Steak Medium Rare whilst Chloe ordered a Chicken Roulade. "How about we change the subject before I enter the next session in a bad mood?"
"Agreed." Lance nodded in agreement before they chatted away.
*in Sophia's office*
Even after Sophia had poured herself a fresh cup of coffee, the I2 CEO still had a lot on her mind as she went through the e-mail that Jade had sent her.
"So, Claudio did visit Athens, Greece twenty years ago." Sophia thought as she looked at the travel logs Jade had sent her. "Still not conclusive, that visit couldn't been for anything from opening a branch of his company in the city too wanting to visit a high end restaurant because he's rich enough to visit one in another country." Sophia thought before sending a reply to Jade that was two words long, "keep digging". "Jade has undoubtedly gone to get something to eat by now, maybe I should join her…." Sophia's train of thought was interrupted by a knock at the door. "I thought I said that I didn't want to be interrupted?"
"Apologies Ms. Pegasus, but he insisted." The guard responded and Sophia frowned before taking a sip from her coffee. "It's your father." The guard added and Sophia nearly spat out her drink.
"Send him in." Sophia responded once she had regained her composure before closing the Google Chrome tab that she had been using to view the travel logs, seconds later the door opened, and her step-father walked into the room. "I take it you've heard of my troubles with hosting this tournament father?"
"I may not be directly involved Sophia-girl, but this is still my castle." Pegasus responded before he sat down, his platinum blonde hair had greyed a bit in his old age, and he had a few wrinkles on his face but there was no mistaking the creator of duel monsters. "And I still hear of the goings on, from you looking after a young duelist with bi-polar disorder to that nasty spirit business."
"That's one way of putting it." Sophia nodded with a sigh as she leaned forward. "So far, all the demonic possessions have been undone before the demon can cause any major damage, but the most recent incident has me worried."
"You mean the demon infiltrating the system?" Pegasus asked and Sophia nodded after double checking that the guard had closed the door behind him. "And you used the old "technical difficulties" excuse, classic!" Pegasus chuckled and Sophia shook her head.
"Laugh all you want father, but I've invested too much time, money and effort into this tournament for it to be brought down by one demon." Sophia asserted as she leaned forward. "And I was hoping you'd have some insights, after all, you hosted the original tournament and, regrettably, your actions have not been shed in a positive light in the years since."
"That is unfortunately true." Pegasus nodded with a sigh before shifting his weight. "As for this demon, I have several theories of my own, but I was under the impression that you had convinced yourself that it was the spirit of Yami Marik?"
"Raven and Jade certainly thought so, there was enough similarities between the demon's voice and Yami Marik's voice for a seventy percent voice match." Sophia nodded before shaking her head. "At the time, Jade's theory was that the difference was because the spirit initially possessed a duelist from England rather than his original Egyptian host, but since then the spirit has possessed an American women of Greek and Iranian descent and me, someone who is originally from Southern California."
"And there was no differences in the voice, correct?" Pegasus asked and Sophia nodded. "So, are you ready to listen to your old man for once?"
"So long as it has nothing to do with how I'm running the company or how the game has changed since the original Duelist Kingdom Tournament, I'm all ears." Sophia nodded as she stood up. "But bear in mind that the next session is starting in an hour and a half and if you intend to take me outside of the castle, I'll need to be back well before then."
"We won't be going that far outside the castle, and don't worry, we'll be back in time for your glorified Dungeons and Dragons campaign." Pegasus nodded before he stood up. "Meet me at the castle steps in ten minutes, I'll explain the rest then and there." Pegasus added before leaving the room.
"He couldn't have just told me here in my office?" Sophia thought as she watched her step-father leave. "No matter, the sooner I have answers the sooner I can deal with this demon."
*back in the dining hall*
By now dinner was well underway with most duelists either eating their dinners or waiting for their deserts whilst catching up with friends, or in Chelsea's case, her ex.
"So, you still don't know which group your current boyfriend is in?" Chelsea asked and Kylie nodded as the two women finished their mains, Sea Bass for Chelsea and a rib-eye steak for Kylie and set their plates to the side. "Is he one of the duelists still waiting for a group?"
"He didn't say, but it would be super awkward if he ended up in our group." Kylie responded with a shrug as the waiters came to take their plates away. "You plan on having deserts?"
"Between the early finish and the next session, I don't know how much time we have left." Chelsea responded as she shook her head. "And health and safety still dictates that we can't enter the virtual pod on a full stomach for some reason."
"There wouldn't a health and safety rule without a reason." Kylie pointed out and Chelsea grinned. "Besides, since when did you become such a stickler for the rules Ms. "have sex with another woman even though I'm dating a man? Sure, why not?" Cunningham?"
"Don't get me started on that, we both know how that relationship ended." Chelsea responded as she messaged her forehead in annoyance. "Almost as badly as my membership in the Christian religion."
"Really?" Kylie asked as she raised an eyebrow. "I remember you being worried about how your parents would react to you coming out as gay because of how staunchly religious they are, how did that come about?"
"If you have to know." Chelsea responded before taking a deep breath. "After I graduated from Duel Academy, I attempted to go back to life as normal back home in Chicago, didn't help that I had a niece on the way, things were fine at first until Beth moved to Chicago to be with me, we attended exactly one church service together and that was it."
"Why do I get the feeling I'm not going to like where this is going?" Kylie asked and Chelsea took a deep breath.
"The preacher was going on about hellfire and brimstone, you know, the usual bullshit, we just brushed it off at first but then he singled me and Beth out." Chelsea explained and Kylie's jaw dropped. "His exact words were "these sinners are going to hell for the sin of homosexuality", it should come as no surprise that I called him out on it right there, in the middle of the sermon, he tried to ignore me but I wasn't about to let him get away with that."
"Yikes." Kylie winced as she grit her teeth. "What happened after that?"
"My family got banned for life from the church, well, they said afterwards that they would've stopped going to that church anyway, but my little outburst more or less made it official." Chelsea added as she ran a hand through her hair. "The rest of my family found another church easily enough, they still live in Chicago aside from Jamie who still works in LA, but I couldn't go to another church after that incident, I threw out my copy of the bible and stopped following the Christian religion a couple of days after that."
"Don't blame you, what that asshole did was bullshit." Kylie nodded sympathetically as she shifted her weight. "Did the rest of your family try to woo you back?"
"They did at first, saying that the preacher at their new church had done gay weddings before, but even with that in mind I couldn't go back." Chelsea said as she shifted her weight. "That wasn't long after my twenty first birthday and they stopped trying to woo me back after I turned twenty two, even though they still wonder why I grew disillusioned with religion in general." Chelsea added before a waitress asked if they wanted a dessert menu and she shook her head as did Kylie. "I still plan on getting married to Beth someday, but it won't be at a church."
"To be fair, it's not like churches have a monopoly on marriages, hell my parents got married on a cruise ship." Kylie responded and Chelsea grinned. "Though you have to invite me to your wedding for the rare site of you in a dress."
"You say that, but I might be tempted to ask if I can get married whilst decked out in one of my metal outfits." Chelsea responded with a grin getting a laugh out of Kylie. "Whether or not my parents go for it is another question, they've been open minded about my love for metal music, horror movies and other women but not wearing a dress to my wedding day might be where they draw the line."
"Just let me know when you try to argue for that choice, so I can watch with a bag of popcorn in hand." Kylie responded with a grin as she took a sip from her drink. "Enough about the past, let's talk about the present, namely, that Illinois Regional Championship you've been holding for the past three years."
"I was wondering when you were going to bring that up." Chelsea commented with a grin before flipping some hair over her shoulder. "Even all these years later, I still can't believe I won it on my first go! I was expecting to make the Semi-Finals at most but turns out, no one on the Illinois Regional Scene was expecting a Watt Deck, though I have to say in recent years, my challengers keep trying to find ways to counter it."
"Obviously it hasn't worked." Kylie responded with a grin and Chelsea nodded. "Even so, you'll have to lose the title and move on to the National Scene, eventually right? You can't stay on the Regional Scene forever."
"That's the plan, to be honest, the sooner I get off the regionals the better." Chelsea grumbled as she leaned forward. "My current PR Company gave me the "Shock Rock Chick" nickname without asking me first."
"I thought that sounded too corny to be one of your ideas." Kylie responded with a laugh and Chelsea nodded with a frown on her face. "Then again, I'm talking to the same woman who named her deck "Wattitude" unironically."
"And I still haven't changed it." Chelsea sighed as she glanced at the clock. "Mostly because I can't think of anything better, that's why I plan on dumping the PR Company as soon as I hit the nationals, and maybe my agent if he somehow finds a worse PR Company."
"Could be worse." Kylie shrugged her shoulders in response and Chelsea raised an eyebrow as she took a sip from her drink. "My first PR Company thought "The Myspace Queen" would be a good nickname for me after taking one look at me, I'd never even heard of Myspace until they brought it up." Kylie added causing Chelsea to nearly spit out her drink. "I basically gave them an ultimatum, find something better or I'm finding a new PR Company."
"Why do I get the feeling that was exactly the reason why my PR Company didn't even ask me first?" Chelsea wondered once she regained her composure. "Anyway, is there a reason why your bringing up my success?"
"Well, you put out a press release saying that you'd be putting your title on the line unofficially, right?" Kylie asked and Chelsea nodded. "Basically, whoever eliminates you is free to come to Illinois and challenge you for the title? Well, I might just have to take you up on that offer." Kylie added as she looked at her fingernails playfully.
"You realize that offers only good as long as you eliminate me, right?" Chelsea asked with a raised eyebrow and Kylie nodded. "Because I aint going down without a fight!"
"Funny, you were all to eager to go down for me when we were dating." Kylie joked and Chelsea mouthed "ha, ha, ha" sarcastically. "Hey, you made that joke about my cage dancing days, it's only fair that I return the favor!"
"Point." Chelsea admitted before glancing up at the wall clock. "Seriously, how long is it going to take for them to fix that technical issue?" Chelsea wondered prompting Kylie to glance up at the wall clock. "Yes, I know I'm a computer nerd and yes, I went to Chicago State University to study IT, yes, I did get a Masters Degree in IT and yes, I do understand that anything and can go wrong with computers when they aren't working properly but this seems like way to long for it to be a simple technical glitch."
"If was it just a glitch, why did Sophia end the session early?" Kylie pointed out and Chelsea paused. "You'd think the technicians at I2 would be able to fix any glitch whilst the session is still running."
"You say that but even with all my technical knowledge, I still don't understand why computers still need to restart to install any new updates." Chelsea responded with a grin and Kylie nodded in agreement. "Hopefully they'll have it fixed soon."
*meanwhile in the pod room*
"Rachel., any updates?" Robert's voice rang out from the laptop that she was skyping him on as the two technicians were working together to figure out the problem. "If we don't find out how that dark card got onto the system…."
"Sophia and Kaiba will have our heads, believe me, I know." Rachel responded as she typed away furiously at the keyboard. "But I don't understand it!"
"Didn't you graduate from MIT?" Robert asked and Rachel nodded.
"Yeah, top of my class, but nothing at MIT prepared me for this." Rachel responded as she glanced at the different monitors. "On the surface, the computers are working fine, and the pods are fully operational, the only possible thing I can think off is if someone was already possessed when they entered the pod, and I don't think that would've been easy to miss!"
"Again, I must stress, if we can't figure this out then we had better start working on our CVs." Robert responded before he spotted something in one of the pods. "Rachel, check pod number nine."
"Nine?" Rachel asked before she glanced at the virtual pod, the two technicians had somehow missed it at first but now they saw that there was a dark mist emerging from the pod even though it was apparently empty. "Rachel McKenzie reporting in." Rachel said into her earpiece as she glanced at the pod. "Requesting Sophia's presence immediately."
"Sorry Rachel but Sophia's out of the castle." The guard responded as the mist started to take shape. "She left the building with her father."
"She picked an odd time to go catch up with her step-father!" Rachel responded as she ran a hand down her face before checking who the pod belonged to. "Send the duelist known as Raven, there's a fault with her pod."
"Right away." The guard responded before the mist finished taking form and emerged as a tall male figure seemingly made out of shadows.
*a few minutes later*
As soon as Raven was alerted to the problem the Polish woman marched straight from her table to the virtual pod room, as she entered the room her body language stiffened as she glared at the misty figure standing before an unconscious Rachel.
"I thought I was done with you." Raven sneered as she removed her hood revealing an angry expression on her face. "And yet, here you are."
"Is that no way to greet an old friend." The misty figure responded before his arm took the form of a scythe and he lowered it towards Rachel's head. "One step closer Nadia and her head comes clean off her shoulders."
"No one calls me by that name!" Raven responded as her eyes narrowed. "Not anymore! And one way or another, I will send you back to where you came from." Raven added as she activated her duel disk. "Now let Rachel go, she has nothing to do with this."
"As you wish, I will deal with you both after I win." The misty figure responded as his scythe turned into a duel disk which he activated. "Then I can start my search for a new body for my master."
"Just as I expected." Raven thought as the misty figure activated his duel disk. "Tell me, how long were you hiding on Duelist Kingdom Island? And how did no one notice you."
"No one thought to search the catacombs that the Paradox Brothers once called home." The misty figure responded as a deck appeared in the duel disk slot and five Duel Monster cards appeared in his hand. "As for how long, longer than Pegasus has been alive."
"Which one? The creator of Duel Monsters or his step-daughter?" Raven asked as her eyes narrowed.
"Yes." The figure responded simply and Raven growled.
"What's going on in here?" Chloe's voice rang out and Raven looked up seeing Chloe, Chelsea, Jade, Andreas, Brandon and Theresa standing nearby. "On second thought, do we even want to know?"
"The short answer is you don't." Raven responded as she turned to the other duelists. "The long answer? This is my battle and I don't need your help to fight it."
"You said on the boat that we weren't ordinary duelists." Theresa chimed in and Raven grit her teeth. "So please, let us help you."
"Pierdoleni idioci." Raven grumbled under her breath in her native language. "You want to help? Get Rachel out of herm's way, if you want to watch, that's your funeral." Raven added and Chloe and Chelsea got Rachel out of harm's way. "And Andreas? Don't bother translating for your friends."
"I wasn't going to." Andreas responded as he folded his arms. "Though I am curious as to why she just called us fucking idiots for trying to help her."
*meanwhile, outside the castle*
The castle grounds that once played host to the Duelist Kingdom tournament hadn't seen much activity as of late despite the island's important place in Duel Monster history, despite this Sophia followed her father down the steps and further into the island.
"I could probably turn this into a tourist destination once father passes away." Sophia thought as she glanced around the forested area where she was following her father. "Little plaques on the floor to point out where famous duels take place? Could be a good source of revenue." Sophia thought before sighing. "Or it could be a massive money sink since not many people know where this island is, the most they do know is about the island's location are the duelists I've brought here and Duel Monsters historians."
"That was a heavy sigh Sophia-girl." Pegasus broke his step-daughter's train of thought as he turned to her. "Something on your mind?"
"Easier to list what isn't on my mind." Sophia scoffed before flipping some hair over her shoulder. "Do I even need to say why?"
"Quite." Pegasus nodded before he resumed walking and his step-daughter followed him, it took the pair around twenty minutes before they reached a cave entrance which Sophia quickly recognized. "I must thank your men for moving the boulder left here by Bandit Keith and his men."
"That's one way of putting it." Sophia responded as she walked up to the cave. "That said, I have to ask, not one but two duel arenas in the cave and catacombs? How was any duelist supposed to find them?!"
"Provides an element of surprise, does it not?" Pegasus chuckled and Sophia shook her head as he entered the cave. "Come now, the answers you seek are within." Pegasus added but before she could take another step towards the cave Sophia felt her phone ringing and picked it up.
The caller ID raised enough red flags to cover the island five times over, without hesitation she answered the call and put it on speaker phone. "Sophia-girl, where are you?" Pegasus's real voice rang out from the phone and the imposter froze. "There is a situation back at the castle that requires your urgent attention."
"I'll be back at the castle momentarily." Sophia responded as her eyes narrowed before gritting her teeth. "Father."
"So, my ruse has been sprung." The imposter said in his real voice, which sounded like it came from a mid-western American state though Sophia couldn't put her finger on where exactly it came from, as he turned around. "But you've been suspicious ever since we left the castle."
"Even before he adopted me, I've known my father for years." Sophia responded as she glared at the imposter. "Your first mistake was leading me out of the castle, ever since he retired from running I2, father has never left the castle, he didn't even leave it during the first Duelist Kingdom tournament." Sophia explained as she folded her arms. "So why don't you stop wasting my time and tell me who you really are before I return to the castle?"
"That would be telling." The imposter responded before removing his wig and mask revealing him to be a man who was around Sophia's age with neck length black hair and brown eyes. "But I think you know anyway." The man added and Sophia's eyes narrowed once it clicked in her mind.
"Max Stevens, the man Chelsea dethroned to win the Illinois Regional Championship." Sophia realized before her frown deepened. "You disappeared off the face of the earth after Chelsea defeated you in one of the first turbo duels in a mainstream tournament, and yet here you are, impersonating my father on his island home."
"How astute of you." Max responded before he grit his teeth. "I was growing bored off the pro-leagues before that dyke came along and took my title anyway! And before you ask how long I've been on the island, well, I've been hear since the tournament was announced."
"I need to have a thorough word with the island security over this." Sophia thought before morticing the shadows forming around her. "A shadow duel. How quaint." Sophia commented as the shadows surrounded them. "You realize my father practically wrote the book on these things, right?"
"Perhaps, but the old man couldn't keep up with me even if he had that Millennium Eye!" Max responded with a scoff as the shadows surrounded them. "And I wouldn't be so casual about dueling with your soul on the line."
"Wouldn't be the first time." Sophia responded as they drew their cards. "Max wasn't on the roster because he had disappeared after losing the title to Chelsea, hell I'm probably the only person who's seen him since Chelsea won the title." Sophia thought as she went over her hand. "I had better hope that they can contain the situation back at the castle."
*back at the castle*
"For the last time Lance, we are not calling him MistyMcMistFace." Raven commented as she a ran a hand down her face whilst Lance, who had joined the group of supporters to see what the fuss was about, rubbed the back of his head nervously. "Can you just tell them your name before they make more inane suggestions?"
"No, I will not." The figure responded and Raven's eyes narrowed. "Once I am free from this room, my name won't matter."
"What exactly are you anyway?" Chloe wondered as she looked at the misty figure. "If you ask me, you'd look like a stupid idea for a comic-book villain if it weren't for the Duel Disk!"
"You do not want to know." The figure responded before turning to Raven. "For now, we will duel!" The figure added and both duelists activated their duel disks and Raven drew her opening hand. "Ladies first."
"How generous! I start my turn by activating Black Whirlwind!" Raven announced as she played the card causing the Continuous Spell Card to appear on the field. "More on that later, I set two cards facedown and a monster in defense mode to end my turn."
"Playing defensively Nadia? How unlike you." The misty figure responded before drawing his card and looking over his hand. "I start by activating Shard of Greed, during my following standby phases it'll gain a greed counter and once it has two, I can sacrifice it to draw two cards." The figure explained he played the card and as the Spell Card appeared on the field the other duelists not named Raven were thoroughly confused. "I set two cards facedown and a monster in defense mode, your move Nadia."
"Who plays Shard of Greed nowadays?" Chelsea wondered as Raven drew her card. "That card is as slow as my grand mom whose she's nearly ninety and gets around with a walking stick!"
"I think we're missing the bigger picture here." Chloe responded before turning to Raven. "Do you prefer Nadia or Raven?"
"Nadia is my real name, but I haven't gone by it in years." Raven responded as she turned to Chloe. "That was a lifetime ago, and if you wish to stay on my good side, you won't repeat my real name to anyone else in the castle."
"Not even Sophia?" Brandon asked and Raven shook her head before he realized something. "Wait, where is Sophia anyway? You'd think a situation like this would have her undivided attention."
"I was called to the pod room because Sophia was taken outside the castle by her step-father." Raven explained as she glanced over at Brandon. "And given how big and forested the island is, it could be hours before she returns to the castle."
"So, I see my associate has done his job." The misty figure responded, and Raven froze before slowly turning to him. "Sophia didn't leave with her father, she left with an imposter who, provided he's doing his job correctly, is defeating her in a Shadow Game as we speak."
"Divide and Conquer, I would say that's a wise strategy if you hadn't blabbed about it in front of Sophia's men." Raven responded as she motioned to Sophia's men. "Go find Sophia immediately, time is of the essence." Raven commanded the guards who nodded before running off.
"You can do that?" Lance asked Raven and the Polish woman nodded.
"As far as Sophia's men are concerned, me and Jade are her second and third in command respectively." Raven explained as she turned to Lance. "Sophia signs their paychecks true, but in cases of emergency like the one we're in now, we have command over the guards until the situation is resolved."
"Are you familiar with Roman history?" Jade chimed in and the other duelists nodded. "Back in Ancient Rome, the office of Dictator was one used in emergencies and those who had that position had emergency powers granted to them by the Senate, the most famous example would be Julius Caesar but it dates back to the wars against Carthage and even further than that, I'm a sense, our powers over the guards are a lot like that."
"Just don't try to name yourself "Commander of the Guards for life"." Chloe chimed in and Jade raised an eyebrow. "I already knew what you were talking about when you mentioned dictator, me and Lance watched a Rome documentary before we left home for the tournament."
"Well, she watched, I fell asleep halfway through." Lance corrected her and Chloe gave her boyfriend an annoyed look. "What? I was tired from working the shop."
"Back to business." Raven commented before going over her hand. "First, I flip summon my facedown monster, Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame!" Raven announced as the humanoid crow with the blue head appeared on the field (4/1800/1200). "Next, as I control a Blackwing monster, I can Special Summon Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind from my hand!" Raven announced as she played the card and the smaller Blackwing monster appeared on the field (3/1300/400). "For my normal summon, I will bring out Blackwing – Harmattan the Dusk!"
"Back to your old tricks, Nadia?" The figure asked as a much smaller crow with rose petals around its neck appeared on the field (2/800/800). "This was the same combo you used on that fateful day, I suppose you are going to explain how this triggers the effects of Black Whirlwind and Harmattan the Dusk?"
"As I have normal summoned a Blackwing Monster, Black Whirlwind will allow me to search my deck for another Blackwing monster." Raven ignored him before she started imputing commands into her duel disk. "Now onto Harmattan the Dusk's effect, when he is Normal or Special Summoned, I can target one other Blackwing monster I control and increase that monster's level by Harmattan's level, I chose Gale the Whirlwind!" Raven explained once she had added the monster to her hand and her deck had auto-shuffled and indeed, Gale the Whirlwind's level had increased to five. "We have no time to lose, Shura the Blue Flame, attack his defense monster!" Raven commanded and the humanoid crow took flight.
"Perfect!" The misty figure thought as his facedown monster flipped up shocking each duelist present as it was an infamous golden arm with a chain around it (1/200/300) which was quickly destroyed. "Such a pity that I lose the Right Arm of the Forbidden One."
"Well, I guess him using Shard of Greed makes sense now." Chelsea commented as she scratched her head. "But why throw away an Exodia piece like that?"
"He could be using Exodia Necross like the proctor Lance faced when he enrolled in Duel Academy did." Chloe offered with a shrug before frowning. "But why? Exodia Necross isn't that good."
"That's what I want to know as well, but I can't let this go on for much longer." Raven thought before she started inputting commands into her duel disk. "When Sirocco the Dawn destroys a monster his effect activates, allowing me to Special Summon another Blackwing monster from my deck, I chose Pinaki, the Waxing Moon!" Raven announced as another small crow appeared on the field though this one had a turban on its head and a bow in its hands (3/1200/1200). "Now the stage is set, I have two Tuner Monsters on the field and the means to do a Synchro Summon right now!"
"Then what are you waiting for?" The figure asked and Raven's eyes narrowed.
"Nothing! I activate my facedown cards, Urgent Tuning!" Raven announced as both copies of the trap card flipped up. "I use my first Urgent Tuning to tune Gale the Whirlwind with Harmattan the Dawn!" Raven announced as the two monsters took flight for the Synchro Summon. "I Synchro Summon Blackwing – Obsidian Hawk Joe!" Raven announced as she played the card and once the blight flash faded a man with the wings of a crow in gold and silver armor with long red hair appeared on the field ready for battle (7/2600/2000).
"Impressive." The misty figure responded with a scoff. "What about your other monsters?"
"I was getting to then, now for my other monsters! I tune Pinaki the Waxing Moon with Shura the Blue Flame!" Raven announced as the two monsters took flight. "This time I Synchro Summon Blackwing Armor Master!" Raven announced as she played the card and once the bright flash faded the second time around the armored Blackwing monster appeared on the field ready for battle (7/2500/2100). "I have a combined attack power of 5100 on my second turn and you have nothing to defend yourself with, most of my opponents throw in the towel by now."
"I am not that cowardly." The misty figure responded, and Raven's eyes narrowed.
"Your funeral! Obsidian Hawk Joe, Armor Master, attack his life-points directly!" Raven commanded and the two Blackwing monsters flew towards the misty figure…
"I activate my facedown card Shield of the Forbidden One!" The misty figure announced as his trap card flipped up depicting Exodia, the Forbidden One blocking attacks with a massive shield. "As I have one of the Exodia pieces in my graveyard, this trap card ends the battle phase immediately and allows me to draw a card." The misty figure explained as the attacks were stopped and he drew a card. "How anticlimactic."
"If your plan is to draw all five pieces of Exodia then I will stop you long before you get to that point!" Raven responded before she retrieved Pinaki the Waxing Moon from her graveyard. "I move to my end phase and this triggers Panicki's effect, as he was sent to the graveyard this turn, I can add another Blackwing Monster to my hand." Raven added as she started searching through her deck. "Once I'm done, you will be free to take your turn Emil."
"Emil?" Chloe asked and Raven paused before glancing at the younger woman.
"I'll explain after I win." Raven responded as she inputted commands into her duel disk. "Sooner we can get this resolved, the better, and the same goes for the guards searching for Sophia!"
*back at the cave*
"Before we get started, just answer me this." Sophia stated as both duelists drew their opening hands. "Before Chelsea came along, you were one of the best Regional Champions in the country, why the disappearing act?"
"Didn't I explain that already?" Max asked impatiently as he went over his hand. "I had gotten bored of the pro-scene by the time she entered the tournament and after Chelsea defeated me, I used the opportunity to find my true purpose in life." Max added and Sophia raised an eyebrow. "Even if that dyke hadn't dethroned me, I would've vacated the title eventually."
"I know for a fact that there's no way in hell that would've been accepted by the Tournament Committee."Sophia responded as her eyes narrowed. "Champions, regardless of what level they are at, are expected to defend their titles yearly at most, they can only vacate a title if they get injured or die and given that Duel Monsters is a non-contact sport, injuries don't really happen unless the opponent turns off the safeties in their duel disk and that is a whole different can of worms."
"Don't you think I know that?" Max asked before grinning. "I have enough money to burn to pay any opponent to do that willingly."
"And how long would it have been before said opponent spilled the beans?" Sophia asked and Max's eyes narrowed. "Any duelist caught turning off the safeties in their duel disk faces a lifetime ban from the pro-leagues at best and a conviction for assault or attempted murder at worst, I don't care how rich you are Max, there aren't many duelists who have made it to the pro-leagues who are that dumb and those who are that dumb aren't exactly the most morally sound of individuals." Sophia added before smirking. "And you know what they say, no honor among thieves."
"What about that Otto brat from the New York Battle City?" Max asked and Sophia frowned. "He turned off the safeties in his duel disk and made it all the way to the top four."
"Because he had been outed as an Orichalcos Duelist by that point." Sophia pointed out as her frown deepened. "He already had no future as a duelist by that point, turning off the safeties was just the icing on the cake, now are we going to duel or are we going to stand here and talk all day?"
"Fine, and I'll go first." Max responded before going over his hand. "I set two cards facedown and I activate Toon World."
"You have got to be kidding me." Sophia thought as the book containing the cartoon kingdom appeared on the field and Max's life-points dropped to seven thousand. "It wasn't enough for you to impersonate my step-father, you had to go and steal his deck as well?"
"Don't insult me." Max responded with a grin. "You know as well as I do that your father's Toon cards are hilariously outdated, this is a new and improved version!"
"If your using the new Toon Cards I released five years ago, guess what? I'm still not impressed." Sophia responded as she shook her head. "There are still cards for that archetype that are yet to be released."
"Who said I'm using those either? I set a monster in defense mode and end my turn." Max announced and Sophia drew her card.
"Max was using an Archfiend deck when he was still the Illinois Regional Champion, if he is working for that demon then I wouldn't be surprised." Sophia thought as she went over her hand. "But why play Toon World? As outdated as the Toon Cards are, Toon Kingdom is a much better card and doesn't require a life-point payment." Sophia thought before playing a card. "I activate Spellbook inside the Pot, now we both draw three cards."
"Thanks." Max responded with a grin as they drew their cards. "I look forward to you repaying the favor when I make you my sex slave after I win this duel."
"I wouldn't count on that! I set two cards facedown and I summon Berserk Gorilla!" Sophia announced as she set the cards and the enraged gorilla appeared on the field (4/2000/1000). "Berserk Gorilla, attack his defense monster!" Sophia announced and the gorilla charged into battle against the monster, revealed to be a cartoonish court jester whose eyes widened when he saw the gorilla (1/0/0) which was quickly destroyed. "Sending a jester against someone who may as well be the queen of that castle? Didn't know you had a sense of humor."
"Joke all you want but when Toon Jester is destroyed as a result of battle and I have Toon World active, I can search my deck for another Toon Monster and add it to my hand." Max responded before he started searching through his deck. "And as soon as I summon this guy, your gorilla's going on the endangered list!"
"Just try it! It'll be your turn once your done searching." Sophia responded and Max nodded before drawing his card once his deck had auto-shuffled. "If he thinks he can intimidate me with a toon deck, then I'll be happy to give him a reality check!"
"Perfect!" Max thought before playing a card. "As I control no monsters and Toon World, I can Special Summon Toon Knight without tribute." Max announced as he played the card and from the book emerged a tall cartoonish knight wielding a comically oversized lance (6/2400/1200). "Attack Berserk Gorilla!" Max commanded and the knight charged towards Berserk Gorilla…
"I activate Beast Soul Swap! Berserk Gorilla returns to my hand and I can Special Summon another Beast Type Monster of the same level in his place!" Sophia announced as her facedown card flipped up and Berserk Gorilla disappeared from the field before Toon Knight's attack could hit. "I Special Summon Protect Wolf in defense mode!" Sophia announced as she played the card and a large wolf appeared on the field growling at Max (4/1000/1500) before crouching down. "Don't bother with the replay, Protect Wolf can survive attacks from monsters with two thousand or more attack points as long as he is in defense mode."
"That won't save you for long! I set a card facedown and end my turn." Max announced and Sophia frowned before drawing her card.
"He's got a point, at least I have Berserk Gorilla back in my hand as a back-up." Sophia thought before glancing over in the direction of her father's castle. "I know I planned to delay the next session by an hour because I ended the previous session early but if I don't finish this duel soon then I might be forced to delay it until tomorrow morning, let's hope the duelists in the castle can go on without me!"
*back at the castle*
What Sophia didn't realize was that there was another duel happening at the exact same time, albeit one that was going quite differently.
"As a turn has passed since I activated Shard of Greed, it gains its first Greed Counter." Emil announced as the shattered pot started to take form. "Now I activate Spellbook of the Forbidden One! As I have at least one Exodia piece in my graveyard I can shuffle it back into my deck and draw two cars." Emil announced as the Spell Card, which depicted Exodia reading from a book that heavily resembled the Necronomicon, appeared on the field and he shuffled the card back into his deck and drew his cards. "I set one monster in defense mode and a card facedown to end my turn."
"I hope you realize that your moves are making no sense." Raven commented as she drew her card. "You sent that Exodia piece to the graveyard so you could protect your life-points with Shield of the Forbidden One only now you've shuffled it back into your deck so that you could get more draws, honestly you would've been better off using Pot of Duality or a similar card."
"Do you always give your opponents advice?" Emil mocked Raven and her eyes narrowed.
"No, I just like to point out obvious holes in their strategies! Obsidian Hawk Joe, attack his defense monster!" Raven commanded and her monster took flight before diving towards the monster, revealed to be Mystic Tomato (4/1400/1100) which was quickly destroyed. "Don't bother explaining Mystic Tomatoes effect to me Emil, I know what it does."
"Then I won't keep you in suspense." Emil responded as he played another card from his deck causing another Mystic Tomato to appear on the field. "You still have a monster capable off attacking."
"Are you that eager to take first blood?" Raven asked with a raised eyebrow and Emil remained motionless. "Suit yourself, Armor Master, attack his second Mystic Tomato!" Raven commanded and her monster divebombed towards the tomato destroying it and bringing Emil's life-points down to 6700. "Don't tell me, a third Mystic Tomato?"
"If I had any need for it yes, but you didn't summon another monster." Emil responded as he searched through his deck before playing the card revealing it to be Exodia, the Forbidden One (4/1000/1000). "Intimidated yet?"
"Why would I be? Exodia and it's individual pieces are only useful in your hand, yet you've done everything but keep them in your hand." Raven pointed out with a frown on her face before looking at the cards in her hand. "I end my turn."
"Suit yourself." Emil responded before drawing his card. "Shard of Greed gains its second counter." Emil announced as the pot completely reassembled and bore the likeness of the infamous Spell Card. "Now I send it to the graveyard and draw two cards." Emil announced as the pot vanished and he drew two cards. "I activate Magical Dimension, I send Exodia, the Forbidden One to the graveyard to Special Summon another Spellcaster and then destroy one card you control." Emil announced as the monster disappeared from the field and a tall robed man wearing an Exodia mask appeared on the field (4/2000/1000). "Priest of the Forbidden One, destroy Armor Master!"
"Did you really think I'd let you destroy one of my monsters that easily? Think again! I activate my Trap Card Black Feather Shield!" Raven announced as her facedown card flipped up and a shield seemingly completely made of black feathers appeared on the shielding Armor Master from the blast. "As a Blackwing Monster I control was about to be destroyed by a card effect, this trap card protects all my Blackwing monsters from being destroyed as long as I discard one monster from my hand for each monster on my side of the field."
"Discarding two monsters from your hand to protect those on the field." Emil scoffed as the blast was deflected off the shield. "Then again, you've always been quick to discard those you no longer need, how long until you discard your employer?"
"I'm not going to answer that." Raven responded as her eyes narrowed. "Now finish your turn."
"Fine, I set two cards facedown and end my turn." Emil announced and Raven drew her card. "Do you really think Sophia's men can find her in time?"
"Sophia uses one of the best security firms in the world for her security staff, I have every confidence that they will find her." Raven responded as she went over her hand. "Whether or not she'll be alive when they find her is a different matter entirely."
*back at the cave*
"Okay, now I can do something!" Sophia thought as she looked at her drawn card before activating her remaining facedown card. "I activate Dimension Switch! This trap card removes Protect Wolf from play for the time being!" Sophia announced as the trap card flipped up and Protect Wolf vanished from the field. "Why would I do that? I'll let this Spell Card answer that for me, I activate Obedience Schooled! As I control no monsters, this Spell Card allows me to special summon three level two or lower Beast Type Monsters from my deck."
"And they'll come with their effects negated and they'll be destroyed during the end phase." Max interrupted Sophia and the I2 CEO frowned. "Did you forget that I'm the former Illinois Regional Champion?"
"No, but I was under the impression that explaining card effects was common courtesy! In any case, I special summon the Tuner Monster Elephun alongside Unifora, Mystical Beast of the Forrest and Key Mouse!" Sophia announced as she played the cards and the three weak monsters appeared on the field (2/500/300) (1/700/300) and (1/100/100) however Max remained unimpressed as the three monsters crouched down.
"You realize that you just summoned two tuner monsters, right?" Max asked with a scoff as Sophia picked up two cards. "What good will that do you?"
"If you'll give me a moment, I'll show you." Sophia responded before pocketing a card. "I banish a Spell Card from my hand to Special Summon Monoceros!" Sophia announced as she played the card and the large, single horned beast appeared on the field (3/1000/1000). "Now I activate the second effect of Dimension Switch, I send that trap card to the graveyard to return Protect Wolf to the field!" Sophia announced as she played the card and the wolf returned to the field. "In case you haven't figured it out yet, I'll spell it out for you, I'm about to Synchro Summon two monsters! And I start by tuning Protect Wolf with Key Mouse!"
"And I think I know exactly what your about to summon!" Max responded as he grit his teeth whilst the two monsters leapt into the air for the Synchro Summon, once the bright flash faded the familiar unicorn appeared on the field. "Just as I thought, Thunder Unicorn!" Max said through gritted teeth (5/2200/1800).
"Why go against what works? Now I activate Thunder Unicorn's effect! I have four monsters on the field counting Thunder Unicorn himself, that means your knight is about to lose two thousand attack points." Sophia added as lightning shot out from Thunder Unicorn's horn bringing Toon Knight's attack points down to 400. "He's the only one who can attack if I use that effect but that's not a concern right now, next I tune Elephun, Unifora and Monoceros together!" Sophia announced as the three monsters leapt into the air for the Synchro Summon.
"Synchro Summon what? There aren't that many level six Beast Type Synchros!" Max demanded but quickly got his answer once the bright flash faded. "But off course the I2 CEO has a copy of it!"
"Tell me, where you this impatient when you were champion?" Sophia asked but Max remained silent as she played the card. "Suit yourself! I Synchro Summon Lion Warrior Mufasa in attack mode!" Sophia announced as she played the card and a tall humanoid lion in green armor appeared on the field ready for battle (6/2300/2100). "Before you cry fowl and point out that Obedience Schooled restricts me to summoning Beast Type Monsters after activating it, don't, despite looking like a Beast-Warrior, he is a beast type monster! Now before I attack Monoceros' effect activates, Special Summoning Elephun back from the graveyard!" Sophia announced as the Tuner monster returned to the field. "Thunder Unicorn, attack Toon Knight!" Sophia commanded and the unicorn charged forward.
"Such a pity that all that build up will go to waste! I activate my Trap Cards Toon Briefcase and Toon Ramparts!" Max announced as his facedown cards flipped up and Sophia frowned. "As you have targeted a Toon Monster, I control for an attack Toon Briefcase will instead turn it into a direct attack, whilst Toon Ramparts will make you take all the damage from direct attacks against me as long as Toon World is on the field!" Max added and Sophia's eyes widened as Thunder Unicorn changed course and struck her instead bringing Sophia's life-points down to 5800. "And both of my trap cards are continuous so feel free to keep trying!"
"I'd rather French kiss a cactus than defeat myself that way!" Sophia responded as her eyes narrowed. "But more to the point, Toon Ramparts isn't due for release for months, how do you have it in your deck and how is it working on your Duel Disk?"
"My master is very generous, after all, you've met him before." Max responded and it took Sophia a second to realize what he was talking about.
"You work for the demon that's been making my life hell ever since I started this tournament?" Sophia asked and Max nodded. "That explains how that dark card got in the system, would you care to divulge who else is working for the demon?"
"Wouldn't you like to know?" Max scoffed and Sophia frowned.
"I set one card facedown and end my turn." Sophia announced and once Toon Knight's attack points had returned to normal Max drew his card.
"And before you get any ideas about destroying Toon World, I activate this!" Max announced as his facedown card flipped up depicting Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon protecting several other Toon Monsters and the Toon World book. "Toon Protector protects Toon World from destruction as long as I have at least three face-up cards with the word "Toon" in it! Now Toon Knight, attack Elephun!" Max commanded and the knight charged towards the weaker beast….
"I activate my trap card Pack Instinct!" Sophia announced as her facedown card flipped up depicting several beast type monsters marching together. "I have three beast type monsters on my side of the field with different levels, since you just attacked the weakest of the three this trap card ends the battle phase immediately!"
"Nice try but not good enough, from my hand I activate Toon Effect Veiler!" Max announced as he discarded the card and a cartoonish version of the classic hand trap appeared on the field. "The original Effect Veiler can only negate the effects of monsters but with Toon World on the field, Toon Effect Veiler can negate any effect like Pack Instinct!" Max explained before Toon Effect Veiler got out an oversized mallet and smashed Pack Instinct to pieces. "And since I activated the effect of a Toon Monster, Toon Knight can inflict piercing damage!"
"I'm going to feel this in the morning!" Sophia thought as the knight continued its charge before piercing Elephun with his lance bringing Sophia's life-points down to 3700. "You may have widened your lead over me but you forgot one thing, I still have Thunder Unicorn and Lion Warrior on my side of the field and whilst I won't be able to damage your life-points as much as I'd like, five hundred life-points is still nothing to sneeze at!"
"I'd like to see you try! I end my turn!" Max announced and Sophia drew her card.
"First off, the effect of the Spell Card I banished last turn resolves." Sophia announced as she retrieved the card from her pocket. "Card from a Different Dimension! It returns to my hand one turn after I banished it and we both draw two cards." Sophia announced and Max nodded before they drew their cards. "So, tell me, how does your lead look now?"
"Pretty damn good, why do you ask?" Max asked as Sophia played a card which caused Max's eyes to widen. "Time Bomb Delay?!"
"This card is about as situational as it gets so bear with me." Sophia responded as she grinned broadly. "Depends on my life-points really, if I have more than five thousand life-points, it destroys all monsters on the field, less than five thousand and it destroys all Spell/Trap Cards, I can only use this once per duel so count your blessings." Sophia announced and Max's eyes widened as his Spell Card/Trap Cards were destroyed ending with Toon World. "Now let's see if my theory is correct." Sophia commented dryly before Toon Knight shattered into a million pieces. "Thought so, same weakness as the classic toon monsters, and as I just destroyed several Spell Cards/Trap Cards at once Lion Warrior gets to attack once for each card."
"Wait, what?!" Max asked as the lion let out a roar. "Can we talk about this?!"
"No, not after you impersonated my father for god knows how long." Sophia responded before pointing to Max. "Lion Warrior also shares Thunder Unicorn's weakness, if I use this effect he's the only one who can attack, but it's still more than enough to wipe out your life-points unless you happened to draw another hand trap." Sophia added but one look at the panicked look on Max's face told her everything. "Just as I thought, Lion Warrior, finish it!" Sophia commanded and the warrior charged forward before slashing Max multiple times and bringing his life-points down to zero. "I hope your in a talkative mood." Sophia said as she walked up to her defeated opponent. "Because my security staff will want a word with you."
"Get bent!" Max snapped at her as he lunged at Sophia, however she easily side-stepped his attack and he stumbled to the ground at which point Sophia restrained him with a judo hold. "What the hell?!"
"What? You thought I can't defend myself because I'm a CEO? Or a woman?" Sophia asked as she shook her head, Max struggled to get free, but Sophia's grip was too strong. "Save your energy, I take self-defense classes weekly from one of the best martial artists in the world and this isn't the first time I put down a man who is larger than me, that and you telegraphed that attack from a mile away." Sophia added and Max stopped struggling. "Don't bother trying this with Raven and Jade either, they are part of that same self-defense class."
"Ms. Pegasus!" Sophia looked up and saw several of her men running towards her. "There's a situation at the castle, we were sent by Raven to fetch you."
"I noticed." Sophia responded with a nod before releasing her hold on Max, standing up and folding her arms before motioning to Max. "This man has been impersonating my father for god knows how long, poorly I might add, take him back to the castle and see what he knows."
"Off course ma'am." The guard who had spoken up nodded before they grabbed Max and dragged him to the castle with Sophia trailing behind them.
*back at the castle*
"I had better end this quickly! Fortunately, his priest is weaker than both of my monsters." Raven thought as she looked over the field. "Obsidian Hawk Joe, attack Priest of the Forbidden One!" Raven commanded and the hawk flew forward before decapitating the priest and bringing Emil's life-points down to 6100. "And now for the rest of your life-points." Raven announced before noticing that Emil was chuckling. "Is there a joke I'm missing?"
"When Priest of the Forbidden One is destroyed, all monsters with the words "Forbidden One" in their name go to the top of my deck in any order." Emil explained before he rearranged the cards in his hand. "This was my plan all along! You are finished."
"Am I?" Raven asked cockily and Emil paused. "Tell me, do you have any stall cards in your hand? Or cards that will allow you to draw those cards quickly, like say, Card of Demise? Shield of the Forbidden One is only good as long as you have an Exodia Piece in the graveyard, right now you only have Mystic Tomatoes in your graveyard." Raven asked and Emil started to get nervous. "There's one big flaw in your plan, until you get all five pieces of Exodia the individual pieces are nothing but dead draws, my two monsters have a combined attack power of 5100, do you really think you'll survive long enough to say "Exodia, Obliterate!"?"
"I will not be denied!" Emil responded angrily and Raven's eyes narrowed. "Dear sister!"
"And that's enough out of you, Armor Master, attack!" Raven commanded and the armored Blackwing flew forward before slashing Emil and bringing his life-points down to 4600. "Anyone who was a decent duelist would throw in the towel now, but your overreliance on Exodia casts a lot of doubt on your abilities as a duelist."
"I will not surrender, and it's my move!" Emil responded as he drew his card. "I end my turn."
"Just as I thought." Raven nodded before drawing her card but they both knew it was a formality. "Finish him off!" Raven commanded and her two Synchro monsters flew forward before slashing Emil and bringing his life-points down to zero. "We were brother and sister once." Raven said as she walked up to the misty figure with her arms crossed. "And I'm going to say the same thing I said to you in that fateful day, stay out of my life Emil!" Raven added and without another word Emil vanished, Raven slowly turned to the others and sighed. "I'm sorry you had to see that, I'll explain later but for now, help me get Rachel to the infirmary."
"There's an infirmary?" Chelsea asked and Raven nodded.
"Sophia's the CEO of I2 and whilst Duel Monsters is a non-contact sport, she knows better than anyone that accidents happen." Raven responded and the other duelists nodded before picking up Rachel's unconscious body and carrying her out. "This isn't over dear brother." Raven thought as she glanced at where Emil was before putting her hood back up and leaving the room.