CHAPTER FIVE

AUTHOR'S NOTES:

No, I'm not dead. Yes, I promised to start this over Thanksgiving, but somehow… I didn't. Who knows what it was, lack of a creative bug, or something, but I do have an excuse. School stuff always seemed to slow down around winter break before, but this year? Noooooo! It's speeding up! And it didn't help that I procrastinated my second quarter science lab packet until the weeked before they're due… and I have to write a lit analysis essay for my honors English class… ugh. Anyway, I'm going to shut up now. Really. Well, not really, because technically it will still be me talking when I write the story, but… aw, forget it.

* * *

Fourth True, the Realm Miyaburu had affirmed Metsubou to currently be hiding in, was awful.

The splashdown point was on top of a high, lifeless plateau, overlooking a vast wasteland as far as the eye could see. Lightining, caused by the ominously dark and yet strangely dry storm clouds overhead, struck random points on the plateau every few minutes, cracking the dry, dusty earth in many places. The effect made the plateau look much like a poorly-fitting jigsaw puzzle. Overall, it was not the type of place Kaze thought could be considered "nice," or even "passably lacking in anything exceedingly ugly." Besides that, it was dangerous as well.

Kouten shivered. The storm overhead seemed to be intrinsically wrong at every point. There was no water, the wind was icy cold and uncharacteristically dry, and the lightning seemed somehow fake. He could feel that the power in his beloved Storm Dragon, far from receiving the normal boost from ongoing storms, was actually being drained. The sooner he found Metsubou, killed him, and got the hell out of this Realm, the better.

Yugi wasn't faring much better. The desolate lifelessness of it all seemed to press in on his soul from every side. The constant irritation of his yami warning him to avoid the lightining wasn't helping either.

//Yami, you can't avoid lightning. You can avoid being under tall things, but we're on top of said tall thing right now, and we can't get out of immediate danger. So we either get lucky or we don't.//

Frankly, Yugi was amazed that no one had been struck yet, after walking towards what could feasibly be called a way down for more than ten minutes now. But perhaps one of the party's magic users had warded them against lightning, or something similar.

Duke Devlin was eyeing Kouten warily. He had refrained from openly doubting him since Miyaburu had given him his blessing, but that didn't keep personal bias entirely at bay. He was certainly someone to watch, even if Duke couldn't exactly explain why.

Miyaburu's thoughts were also mistrustful, and they were also centered on a member of the team, but not one that any other team member would have predicted.

Yami Yugi seems extremely emotionally unstable, Metsubou thought worriedly. I can't let on that I'm getting tired from all this magical seeking and transportation. If it comes to a Shadow Game with Metsubou, or something similar, I'd rather not let Yami fight it.

Aikan, like Devlin, was unsure of Kouten, but her mind was more attuned to take an analytical approach to problems, even ones that came in the form of an uncertain ally.

Why did he even bother with that whole duel if his female partner, Ichiko, had the suggestion of joining forces the whole time? What could he strategically accomplish from it?

There were three possible solutions, as she saw them. Either Ichiko was actually working against Kouten (knowingly or unknowingly), Kouten had something to accomplish by defeating the spirit of the Millennium Puzzle, or his sense of honor was too strong in that case to be denied. Evidence supported the third explanation, but she didn't have enough of it to reach a definite conclusion.

Joey was more interested in Ichiko than Devlin.

Whoah, she's hot! Check out those-

On second thought, maybe we're better off not knowing what Joey was thinking about.

Ichiko herself wasn't quite sure what she was thinking about, or what she was doing here, or why. Her involvement in the expedition had seemed somehow automatic, as it was her idea that Kouten join up with Kaze's group in the first place. But there was more to it than that. She wanted to see the Saga Blade again, and she also wanted to see Metsubou wield it.

Part of her interest was academic, but that couldn't account for all of it. Everything was so confusing now… and here she was, suddenly torn from her home on this wild quest to bring down an inter-Realm serial killer. But it wasn't as if she had a home to go back to. Forcing back the tears that threatened to leak from the scars in her soul, she doggedly continued to put foot in front of foot.

Glancing around Kaze's form, Yugi, who was second in line, could see that the party had almost reached the path down. Or rather, the treacherous-looking ditch of loose dirt and gravel that stretched from the top of the plateau to the bottom, into what looked like an equally-desolate valley without a river.

Turning around to face his team, Kaze gave the only necessary words of instruction: "Be careful."

Nobody had any intention of ignoring his advice.

* * *

Feeling the Saga Blade's harsh glow of anger at his side, Metsubou walked out of the small cave which contained the largest village in Fourth True. The only human life in this gods-forsaken Realm had been forced to retreat into the cliffs and caves, taking refuge from the everpresent and deadly lightning by hiding in stone. The cave-villages were few and far between, and the people lacked any form of inter-village government, or even communication. Some of the smaller, out of the way villages didn't even know other villages existed.

In their own small way, these people were almost as amazing as the high-technology people of First Realm, or the intellectually sophisticated Second Realmers. They had managed to create a self-sustaining community that functioned completely without sunlight. The lichens, algae, and mosses that grew naturally in the cave were farmed for food, medicine, and even clothing. Worms, bats, and small mammals provided the small amount of meat the people ate. And of course, because it was the one thing present in every Realm, these people entertained themselves with Shadow Games.

Unlike the people of First, Second, Third, and Fifth Realms, the Fourth Realmers had not sealed the Shadow Games into cards or tokens of any kind. They still played with actual monsters, summoned from the Shadow Realm by actual magicians. It felt good to play this way again. He had been so long in the pansy Realms where people were too afraid to play for real that he had forgotten the joy of summoning a powerful monster and watching it crush your opponent mercilessly.

It was really too bad he had to destroy it all, but the time for the Ninth Legend had come. The Blade was angry because the Fourth True Kernel had not been where he'd expected it to be, but he reassured it. It was only a matter of time.

He would keep searching.

* * *

Relying on instincts trained by many years of practice in Opposition training, Saguru rolled out of the mystery gunman's range just before he was hit by the attacker's fire. Glancing over his shoulder at the mark the bullet left on the wall, Saguru was surprised- it wasn't a normal bullet, but a small ball of black Shadow Realm energy, fading quickly after the impact. This was a Spirit Gun, or S-Gun, and the gunman was one of Solvaring's Special Forces, trained with the use of Shadow Magic. The S-Gun was designed for one purpose- to send its target's mind deep into the Shadow Realm upon impact.

Saguru readied his own longsword and .41 magnum pistol, ready to fight back if he had to. He was also carefully surpressing any doubts that were developing about what had happened to Kawari- they were best saved until he was out of immediate danger.

The gunman used his limited amount of Shadow Power to reload the S-Gun, and then aimed and fired once more. Saguru was well out of the way already, and this time gave return fire. The man deflected the bullet with a temporary magical shield and began to reload again.

Dis guy fights like one of the best Special Guard, Saguru thought. And probably good undercover, too, from the way he was walking earlier. Saguru fired his own magnum once more, but the man just raised the shield quickly again- blocking small bullets did not cost much power.

And I should probably just forget the gun and try to-

His mental dialogue was cut off by another blast of dark energy from the S-Gun. Saguru was trapped in a corner with a split second to think. Relying on his naturally fast reflexes that had kept him alive in the Opposition long enough to become third-in-command, he ducked just in time.

The S-Gunman spoke for the first time.

"You are truly pathetic… you weaklings may have defeated an insane fool like Yami, but there is no way you will do the same to Lord Solvaring. Your little friend could not escape from the Hand of the Shadow, and neither will you. You will spend the rest of eternity sealed in the Shadow Realm"

"Little friend… you mean Kawari?" Saguru blurted without thinking. "What happened?"

His answer was another shot from the S-Gun, and it was clear that the entire speech had been the cover the gunman needed to charge a particularly large blast. There would be no dodging this one, but it was moving slower as a result of its size, and Saguru had a few moments to think.

He ripped his longsword free from his sheath, then quickly spoke the five words to a counter-spell Kaeru had taught him for use in just this kind of situation. The sword began to glow with the aura of the limited power that non-Millennium Item users could wield. Just in time, he brought his longsword up to meet the dark ball of void, knocking it back toward the Special Guardsman.

Now, it was the gunman's turn to think fast, as his own ball of Shadow Energy raced along the reflected path back towards its origin. He hastily opened a Shadow Gate in front of himself, which absorbed the bit of energy back into the void from which it had come.

"I'll admit, you aren't as weak as I expected you to be," the Special Guardsman taunted. "You have magic, taught to you by your equally weak Opposition superiors. But you are no match for me. This S-Gun contains more power than your sword, and you can't keep dodging forever. Even now, as we speak, I am charging the S-Gun with a blast that will be too large to dodge, and too powerful for you to deflect with your magicked sword. You simply can't keep up with me."

Saguru ran wildly towards the gunman, not even bothering to hide his intentions- he would use his bespelled sword to kill the man before he could finish charging his S-Gun with the final, deadly blast. Saguru lifted his blade level with his own shoulders for an upward slice to the man's neck, but the man himself was running as well. Saguru put on more speed; he had the advantage of not having to concentrate on charging Shadow Magic while running, and managed to catch up with him.

Kawari, thought Saguru, and slashed in a seemingly uncoordinated attack. The man ducked. Saguru, expecting this, immediately turned his neck-slash into a downward chop. But the gunman had predicted him here, as well, and rolled out of the way.

"It's all over, Opposition scum," the man snarled. "Good spy through you are, I am a better one, and though you have never seen me, I have often seen you. You are Joey Wheeler, third in command to the Blue Eyes, and head of the Opposition's undercover division."

Saguru pressed another attack with his sword, but the man danced just out of range.

"I, on the other hand, am Saguru Kenji. I dropped my real family name and assumed the name Saguru when I became head of Yami's spy divisions. I supported Lord Solvaring when he took over the Hand of the Shadow, and now I stand third-in-command to his person!"

Saguru paused. No wonder this man… who bore his own assumed name… was such a good Shadow Magic user for one without an Item. He was third in the Hand leadership.

"You see, we are exact opposites of each other," the enemy Saguru taunted. "Spies, third-in-commands… but soon, we shall see exactly who is the faster thinker, the more resourceful, and the quickest on the draw! We shall see who is the superior spy!"

The enemy Saguru leveled the Spirit Gun with Saguru's eyes in less time than it took to blink. In seconds, it would be fully charged, the trigger would be released, and Saguru would spend the rest of his days in the Shadow Realm.

There was no longer time to think. Hoping that his lessons with Kaze and Kaeru had taken him far enough to save his life, his hand moved to his last resorts- the throwing daggers concealed in his wrist sheaths. With practiced motions that Kaeru had made him practice over and over again, he lowered one knife into his hand and let it fly.

The gunman sunk to the floor, unable to fire his gun, with a knife embedded in his head. Grimly, Saguru lifted his magnum, pointed it at the man's temple, and fired. Lifeblood poured out of him like like water from a breached dam.

This man may have been equal with Saguru in his speed, resourcefulness, and reaction time, but Saguru had far more of the spy's most important quality. Saguru had luck, and lots of it.

And in the confrontation, it was luck that had saved him.

* * *

The team had been walking for about forty-five minutes in relative silence. Those who had them kept their weapons at the ready; those who had it kept their Shadow powers and Millennium Items ready as well. The path downward from the plateau was steep and treacherous, and everyone had to be careful of loose gravel just waiting to send the owner of a misstepping foot down to his death in the valley below.

/Yugi, look. If you can't ever let me out because of these Negative people, how am I ever going to keep you safe? They'll have to come to terms with me at some point./

//But that point doesn't have to be now, Yami!//

/Better now then later, when we're all at the point of someone's sword,/ Yami retorted. /There won't be time for it then./

//They did okay during the duel, didn't they?// Yugi gave a mental sigh. //Look, Yami, if you pop out to use Shadow magic during the heat of battle with a serial killer, it's a bit different from if you're just walking along next to them! They'll get unnerved!//

/I'm getting unnerved,/ Yami grumped, but he shut up after that.

The team had nearly reached the valley floor when Kaze held up his hand in a silent gesture to halt. There were scattered whisperings at first, but Kaze again gestured for quiet, and the whisperings stopped. And then, the whisperers heard it, too.

Footsteps, not their own, moving across the valley toward them.

"Who's there?" Kaze asked.

"I am a weary traveler, come from a village far away," came the tired response from a figure still too distant to see. "I have been avoiding the lightning using an incredible new invention that the people of my village have made, but I must rest. Will you give me shelter for the night?"

This seemed to stop Kaze in his tracks. The possibility of Fourth Realm natives had seemed so remote, considering the shape of the landscape, that it hadn't really crossed his mind to form a plan for dealing with them.

"Uh… we're… actually, travelers also," Joey quickly jumped in. "We come from the village of Domino, far away!"

"Ugh, stupid kid," Devlin muttered. "I've never heard a more obvious lie."

"Actually, Dukie-boy, it wasn't a lie, if you think about it," Miyaburu responded with a grin. "But let's see how our traveler reacts to that."

"Travelers also?" came the confused response. "But… I am the only…"

And suddenly, the man was close enough to see.

Kouten and Ichiko both screamed "YOU!" at the same time, and the expression on the newcomer's average-looking but somehow not-quite-sane face confirmed what Kaze already knew to be true.

This was no Fourth Realm native. This was Shinwaa Metsubou.

Behind him, Kaze briefly saw Pegasus's Millennium Eye glow as he held up a Duel Monsters card.

"Raigeki!" shouted Pegasus. The lightning storm overhead, already violent, became extreme. Bolts of electricity began raining down, rapid-fire, at least twenty at a time, striking dangerously close to Metsubou. The blade he held was shaking with electrical energy, as were Kaze's concealed throwing knives and Kouten's glaive.

Kouten rushed forward, unsheathing said glaive, and Metsubou raised his own blade to meet him. The two crossed blades for a several seconds, neither seeming to gain the advantage, with lightning still crashing all around in a darkened sky.

Ichiko raised her own Rod of 1,000 Minds and began muttering an incantation. Her powers did not revolve around Shadow Magic, like the Millennium Item users' did. Her powers were the channeled energy of her own mind, and her spellcasting ability was the result of many years of study.

Finishing the incantation, Ichiko raised the Rod, now glowing red, and swung it in an outward arc towards Metsubo, shouting "Megiddo!" A large, burning chunk of rock was spat out of the end, targeting Metsubou precisely. The man barely managed to avoid both the meteor and Kouten's thrusting attack, but was pressed backward into an unsteady position. He couldn't counterattack.

Yugi was still refusing to let Yami out.

//Look, Yami, they have it under control! Metsubou's losing! Ichiko's practically setting him on fire, and Pegasus's magic lightning is making it hard for him to control his sword! They don't need your help!//

/Fine, be that way, aibou,/ he sulked.

Kaze decided to join the action by using a throwing knife. He was slightly worried about hitting Kouten, but not too much. His aim was nearly perfect, and even if he did miss his target, it was unlikely Kouten would be more than grazed.

"Kaze, don't!" shouted Miyaburu as he saw the familiar motions Kaze's arm was making, but it was too late. Lightning from the magically-enhanced storm struck the throwing knife about to leave Kaze's outstretched hand, sending the lightning through his whole body and electrocuting him. His scream of pain reached up into the darkness. Aikan and Miyaburu rushed toward him, Miyaburu shouting for Devlin to grab Kaze's fallen knife before it got lost in the confusion. Joey snatched it first.

Once Devlin had ascertained that Kaze was alive and even actually still conscious, he returned his attention to the sword battle. Metsubou was continuing to lose the fight; between the lightning, Ichiko's continued back-row magical support, and Kouten's bladesmanship skills, he was outmatched. But he was also becoming angry.

"Little devil, where is the Kernel?" he shouted at Kouten. "I know you know where it is, you spawn of demons!"

"I don't know what you're talking about, murderer," snarled Kouten. "I will kill you now!"

Metsubou staggered back from Kouten's powerful onslaught, the dark contours of his worried face illuminated suddenly with each flash of lighting.

"The blade was right to tell me to kill your father," he spat. "I'll return for the Kernel soon, but I have a little something for you before I go!"

He pointed the Saga Blade at Miyaburu, who had just drawn a Spellbinding Circle card and was beginning to activate it. A small, bullet-like form of magic shot out of the end of Metsubou's weapon and lodged itself in Miyaburu's head. He let out a howl of agony, more mental than physical, as the spell worked itself deep into his psyche.

"I'll be back!" shouted Metsubou, and with a wave of his sword, he had vanished yet again.

Kouten could only growl as lightning flashed all around.

* * *

Kawari looked about him nervously as he approached the highest levels of the tower, readying himself to react at the slightest movement, sound, or even smell. There was no sign of Saguru, but that was understandable. The frightening aspect of the current situation wasn't the lack of Saguru, it was the lack of enemies. He knew that he was getting very close to the beating heart of the Hand of the Shadow. It would make sense that Solvaring would place more guards here than on lower floors, not fewer!

He ran over the mental map of the top floors in his mind again. The third floor from the top was a barrier floor, a single room filled with traps and magical blocks that would supposedly stop anyone from going further up the building unless they knew what they were doing. The second floor from the top contained the communications and records centers, his target in this mission. The very top floor contained the living quarters and planning rooms for Solvaring.

Also on the top floor were the living quarters of Solvaring's second, a skilled swordsman and strategist, and his third, a thief and spy. Both were powerful Shadow-magic users, though the Opposition was unclear exactly where their powers came from. Yami had supplied his Special Guard with magic by infusing them with Shadow power tapped from his Puzzle, but Solvaring had no Millennium Item.

Now isn't the time to re-ponder tired, unsolved mysteries, Kawari thought, angry with himself for letting his mind wander. I have work to do.

He had long since recovered from the shock of his close brush with death, and was feeling quite ready to take down some Special Guardsmen- if only there were any Special Guardsmen to be found.

Maybe… they're all out doing missions or something? But even that theory seemed unlikely, as Solvaring wasn't stupid enough nor undernumbered enough to fail to leave a large guard near his person.

Or… maybe Solvaring isn't actually here, and he's taken his guard with him. This was more likely, and if it were true, would mean good news for Kawari. But wouldn't he leave at least some to protect his communications centers?

There must be some explana-

Two guards with armed with submachine guns jumped out of two small, almost invisible alcoves in the wall and opened fire. Only Kawari's careful mental preparations and reflexes saved his life as he dropped to the floor and rolled into one of the man's legs, toppling him and sending him crashing into the other man. Drawing the Gin Hebi, Kawari quickly stabbed them both in the neck, killing them.

However, as Kawari looked up, he suddenly saw two more guards jump out of similar alcoves up ahead… and two more behind them… and two more behind them… in fact, there were six sets of two alcoves, for a total of twelve guards including the two he'd already killed.

The next two closest to Kawari began firing their submachine guns, but he used the same trick of falling to the floor and rolling forward again. Funny how slowly they learn, Kawari thought as the two fell over each other, totally off-balance, and landed right on Kawari's dirk-point. But that defensive technique certainly wouldn't work on the next pair, who were aiming at the ground instead of at Kawari's head.

Without time to think, Kawari raised the Gin Hebi and activated a relatively simple spell that Kaeru had helped him place on the blade. Time seemed to freeze as an aura of black energy quickly pulsed out from the dirk's tip, reaching the end of the hallway before disspating.

The guards ahead were clearly still attempting to open fire, but Kawari's spell was one that Kaeru had designed just for this purpose- a spell that disrupted certain simple machines (namely, those used by machine guns and certain other firearms), rendering them useless. Grinning at their obvious confusion. Kawari ran right up to the guards and past them, but they were still too confused by their failed weapons to give chase.

The next pair, however, had more time to figure things out, and realized that Kawari's spell had wrecked their guns before he could actually slip by. Both of them had drawn small blades, and they were motioning to the pair of confused guards ahead of them and the six guards still behind them, silently asking for reinforcement.

However, they were clearly far from adept swordsmen, and Kawari was very quickly able to kill one guard and wound the other badly enough that he couldn't follow. Almost scornfully going through the motions, Kawari wounded the next pair. He'd have to either kill or knock out every guard in this room eventually, so they wouldn't give the alarm, but he had to move quickly now to beat the remaining six guards, who would all converge upon him at about the same time.

Outnumbered, outnumbered… hm. Kawari touched his Millennium Ring, tapping into the Shadow magic which Kaeru had been teaching him to use. Quickly attaching a strand of the dark energy to his dirk, he whirled and parried a blow from the sword of the nearest guard. The guard's sword suddenly, inexplicably, vanished.

Two other guards attempted to strike at the same time. Kawari did a quick spin with his blade, being sure that it touched both of the guards' weapons. They, too, vanished.

This was almost too much for the poor guards. Failing submachine guns, they could accept. Vanishing swords, no way! So great was their denial, that the three remaining guards were stupefied into repeating the mistake of their predecessors and attacking. Kawari parried all three, and their blades were all sent directly to the Shadow Realm.

Kawari grinned as he waved a hand over his dirk, dissipating the spell. "Some Warrior-type monster in the Shadow Realm is thanking you all for his new swords," he taunted. Then, he stabbed each of them in the stomach, quickly, before any could react.

Removing his bag of potent drugs from his kit, he knocked out the wounded guards, then tried to treat their injuries as best he could. As much of a rush winning was, Kawari had to live by the first rule of the Opposition- no killing that isn't absolutely necessary. Otherwise, Kaze insisted, we were no better than our enemies.

So that explains the guard question, Kawari thought. That trap could have stopped just about anyone… I mean, twelve submachine guns!… it would have stopped me, had I not had Shadow power, or had they actually known how to fight with swords, or had they realized the effect of my sword-banishing spell in time, or had they- wow, I guess I was pretty lucky, cause without my Shadow power…

But there was no time to THINK! He had to get going, or somebody was bound to spot a few of the bodies somewhere.

"Most impressive," spoke a voice from behind Kawari, making him jump. "I fully expected to watch you die in Saguru's Gauntlet Hall. It seems that he's not the great defensive genius he thinks he is."

"Saguru?" Kawari asked without thinking, not registering any other word of the man's sentence. He had turned around, and saw that the man he addressed wore elaborate gold armor, inlaid with designs of men killing each other with swords on a battlefield. In a scabbard around his belt hung what looked like the handle of a broadsword, but Kawari couldn't see closely enough to tell for sure.

"Yes, Saguru Kenji, my subordinate, the head of our undercover operations. Such a slimy man. He prefers shooting people in dark alleys to honest dueling."

Kawari took about five seconds to process the fact that he wasn't talking about Joey, but some other Hand of the Shadow member named Saguru. What are the odds of that?

"My name is Katana, Katana Takeo, the second-in-command of the Hand of the Shadow. I was Lord Solvaring's strongest supporter, even back in the time when Yami controlled the organization. I am also quite the strategist, as I'm sure you've heard."

Kawari backed away slowly. If it came to a confrontation with this man, he'd just as soon avoid it. So much for "In and out without anyone noticing," he thought wryly. His only hope now would rely on speed, and on the escape team that should be waiting right outside the highest window in the building right now.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm not through talking to you yet." The man- Katana Takeo, he had said- threw up his hands and opened two Shadow Gates, one at either exit to the room. There was no way out.

"This will be sort of like an amusing game," Katana began, grinning. Suddenly, the floor beneath Kawari began to move, slowly, mechanically. Panicking, he looked around him wildly, and saw that the entire hallway, alcoves and all, was morphing into what looked like a giant chessboard. Miniature, blue-colored monsters, sort of like Duel Monsters, but unlike any Kawari had ever seen, began appearing in the ten squares closest to Kawari. He could see similar monsters appearing next to Katana.

Meanwhile, his own section of the floor had risen above the main room's, as had Katana's, so that they were above the chessboard-like grid down below. The Shadow Gates were still open and whirling behind him. A half-formed idea began chasing itself around Kawari's mind. Whatever the cost, he had to escape this weird room and twisted man.

He touched his Millennium Ring, causing it to glow, and accessed the spell that would normally close a Shadow Gate. However, too late, he realized that the Gate was one of the kind that sucked all magic into it, like a black hole, or quicksand.

Katana laughed as Kawari fell to his knees from the mental blow that the magic-sucking void had dealt him.

"Oh, did I forget to warn you? There's only one way to make these Gates disappear- to win the game. Of course, whoever loses will be sucked in, to spend the rest of eternity in the Shadow Realm."

Kawari just stared. When was his Yami when he needed him? Where was Kaeru? Or couldn't he handle this bastard on his own?

In a wild rush of rage, Kawari leapt off his section of the floor and jumped up to Katana's. Drawing the Gin Hebi, he pulled out some of the best sword moves he knew. But Katana countered each one expertly with his broadsword, which had been in his hand from the moment Kawari jumped off the platform, and then dealt him a shattering blow with the flat of his blade against his unguarded knees, bringing him once again to the floor.

"If you would prefer to have a sword battle," Katana said quietly, "I would be only too happy to accept. You may rest assured, however, that you would lose. I have a much more powerful weapon than you do, and I have all of your speed and skill plus more to spare. I am far your superior in swordsmanship. I am giving you a special opportunity to play my game instead. I suggest you accept." With that, he kicked Kawari off his platform.

"As long as you're too weak to stand," Katana continued loudly, "this would be a good time to explain the rules. We have exactly the same units. You can find out what each unit is capable of in the book on your platform." A book slowly emerged from an electronic door in the floor of Kawari's platform.

"We will take turns moving and attacking with our units," Katana told him. "Each unit moves and attacks differently, and most can do so one per turn. Some units cannot attack at all, but provide other benefits to your side. Units also have different amounts of endurance. When all of the endurance of a unit is used up, that unit dies." He grinned viciously.

"The first person to kill all of his opponent's units is the winner." Another wolfish grin.

It was Kaeru who was good at this kind of thing, not him. Kaeru, and Kaze, and… what chance did he, did Kawari stand, without his Ring, without his yami?

"Alright, I accept," he shouted from the floor, immediately standing up and walking back to his platform. "And I will defeat you!"

It was only too late that he remembered that Katana was Solvaring's strategist as well as his swordsman.

* * *

They had been waiting for about forty-five minutes. Aikan had picked out the hiding places herself, after Miyaburu assured him that he would probably reappear in the same place he vanished from. The terrain, littered with large boulders, ditches, and mounds of earth, had not been hard to find hiding places in. She had analyzed it from the perspective that Metsubou would want to leave in a hurry, and would give the surrounding area only a cursory first glance.

The stillness was far from complete. Yugi shifted to prevent his leg from falling asleep, Joey scratched an itch, Miyaburu tried to make his position even slightly more comfortable. Only Kaze remained absolutely still, his gaze scanning the same area over and over again.

And then... a slight movement in the earth. A slight change in the wind. A sudden disturbance in the air, and in the quieting stormclouds.

Metsubou had reappeared, and as expected, did not look too closely at the ground around him. He gave only the quickest of attention to the surrounding dust and dirt before concluding that he was alone. He began to walk down the path.

Silently, Kaze signaled to his team. As one, as though they were her own team of American spies, Yugi, Joey, Devlin, Miyaburu, Kaze, Kouten, Ichiko and Aikan herself rose in rehearsed silence.

Only Joey, who seemed to share his Negative's gift for sneaking, would actually follow Metsubou directly down his path through the ruined earth. The others would wait until he was almost out of sight, then quickly rise again and re-settle in new hiding places that Aikan pointed out, much closer to Metsubou's retreating figure. Then, the process would repeat.

Kaze and Aikan had both insisted that they practice this technique for a good portion of the limited time they had, and though it was far from perfect, it was passably far enough from impromptu as well. She was rather surprised at the potential some of the group members showed, particularly Yugi, whose Negative self had always been rather helpless and fond of inane talking. At least, he had been, until he had been murdered by his own yami.

At last, Metsubou reached the entrance to a cave. Aikan had expected something like this, and she knew her team knew what to do. Taking hiding places very close to the cave's mouth, she held her posture ready to spring.

Metsubou seemed to analyze the cave, making sure it was the right one. When he nodded to himself and walked toward the mouth, Aikan signaled to Joey.

"Hey there, buddy," Joey began casually at Metsubou's retreating back. As she had predicted, he whirled around to face the source of the voice.

"What are you doing here?" he snarled, again just as she had predicted.

"Making sure you don't get what you want," he replied casually. That was the first signal. Making no sudden movements, the seven hidden people rose once again and slowly moved to encircle Metsubou, who hadn't yet noticed their presence but was glancing around wildly, looking.

"You have no idea what I want, fool," Metsubou scoffed.

"That don't bother me a bit," Joey replied confidently. "You're going down!"

That was the second signal. Instantly, Kouten lashed out with the Storm Dragon, slicing the belt that held the Saga Blade's sheath. Ichiko, waiting with him, grabbed the scabbard from the ground. Kaze and the others immediately jumped in to from a circle around the helpless man, and those who had them were drawing their weapons.

Aikan looked across at Kaze. "Operation complete, Blue-Eyes," she told him, a bit unnecissarily.

* * *

"I'll move my Mercenary Swordsman two units forward, then attack and kill your Axe Bandit!" Kawari winced as yet another of his units vanished from the grid in a puff of smoke. Things were not going well for him.

He thought through his possible moves. I could move my Attack Mage one square forward and attack from a distance, but that would probably get it killed by moving it into the range of his Crossbow Guard. Or, I could move my own Crossbow Guard forward three and take out his Crossbow Guard, but then there's his Mercenary Swordsman there still, and in almost full health! I'm out of moves!

But he had to do something. He would take a risk, and with luck, it would pay off. "Attack Mage forward one square, and attack your Mercenary Swordsman with his long-distance spellcasting ability!"

The miniature model mage moved forward and waved its arms pathetically, sending a bolt of lightning down on the swordsman's head. He looked injured, but was not dead.

Now, to finish off the move. "And then, my Crossbow Guard will move forward two and attack your Swordsman, and my Mace Raider will move forward five and attack your Crossbow Guard!"

The enemy swordsman was near to death, but not quite there. The enemy crossbowman was in similar condition.

"Your turn," Kawari challenged, though his voice belied his own dread that all hope was lost.

"Cleric Healer, forward, and heal my Mercenary Swordsman!" His unit obeyed, and the formerly near-death unit was now fully back in the game. "Forward, and attack his Mace Raider!" The Mace Raider was strong and fast, but not particularly adept at defense. The Swordsman did a lot of damage.

"Now, Crossbow Guard, finish him off without even moving!" crowed the nearly-victorious Katana. "I'll now send my Knight Lancer to attack your Crossbow Guard!" The miniature crossbowman, weakened already, was destroyed. Kawari had only three units left- his Attack Mage and Flying Knight, which were both close to death, and his Cleric Healer, which couldn't defend itself.

Why did I ever agree to this stupid game? Kawari lamented, too late. I'm on his home field! I'm powerless against him in a contest of tactics!

What would the others do, when faced with such a situation? What would Yugi, Kaze, Saguru, and even his own yami do, when faced with an impossible contest on an opponent's home field?

Yugi would trust in himself, and his friends, and do his best. This often worked, but it wasn't working this time, and he had no friends left.

Kaze would think of some brilliant strategy at the last minute, and implement it perfectly. But that kind of thing only worked when you were Kaze, which unfortunately, Kawari was not.

Saguru would cheat, all in the name of a good cause, of course. But Katana had been so careful in his setup that there was no room for cheating.

Kaeru… what would Kaeru do? He would move it on to his home field, of course. He would make it his game.

Maybe… maybe he could combine everyone's crisis strategies and actually get himself out of this mess. Kawari's game wasn't a contest of strategy. What was he doing here? Kawari's game was a contest of wits, and of speed. And in boldness. And in unconventianality.

Okay, let's see. I need to think of some weird, wild idea, a way to cheat, that could never work because it's just too damn stupid. Then, I have to put total faith in the fact that my idea WILL work, and then flawlessly execute it, thus turning his game into my game. Not that hard, when you stopped to think about it.

Kawari's gaze roamed over the battlefield, taking in the remaining units on both sides. He looked around the room, at the Shadow portals behind him and Katana, and at the platforms, and at Katana himself. The self-satisfied smirk on his thin, bony face, framed by his long, shockingly orange hair. The large broadsword on his belt. And then, the solution occurred.

"Alright, Katana, I will make my final move," he said, in what hopefully passed as a voice resigned to the worst. "I'll make one last try. Attack Mage, move two squares forward." The book-wielding unit did so, even though this put him right in the path of the freshly healed Mercenary Swordsman. Katana's grin widened, the taste of victory beginning to form on his lips.

"Now, Attack Mage, use your long-distance thunder magic attack on the enemy commander."

Confusion delayed Katana's response, a certainty Kawari had been counting on. "What? There is no enemy commander-"

BAM. The lightning struck him hard, knocking him out quickly Katana slumped to the ground from the mage's attack. The stupidest idea Kawari could come up with had worked like a charm.

"Now, Knight Lancer, forward, and use the blunt end of your lance to knock him backward."

The Knight Lancer obeyed, Katana's body was pushed off the back end of his platform. The Shadow Portal, seeking magic to fill its ever-hungry maw, responded. Still unconscious, Katana Takeo, second-in-command of the Hand of the Shadow, was sucked through the swirling vortex, to spend the rest of his days in the Shadow Realm. The portal closed as the last glimpse of brilliant orange hair vanished into darkness.

Kawari heard his own Portal vanishing behind his platform, and the game units had vanished as well. Slowly, mechanically, the room reverted to its previous state, with the alcoves in the walls (minus the dead and wounded submachine gunmen, which had fallen through the floor when the room first changed). Nothing had ever happened here.

The door behind Kawari burst open, giving way to a familiar voice.

"Kawari, Kawari, you OK buddy?" Saguru frantically asked. "Anything happen while I was gone?"

Spinning around to grin at his friend, his face flushed with victory, Kawari responded, "You have no idea."

* * *

"I will tell you nothing. Give me back the Saga Blade or you will face the consequences."

Kouten pressed the blade of his glaive closer into Metsubou's neck. "You will tell us something," Kouten said, "or you will die a very slow, very painful death. That sword isn't going anywhere on its own, and you're helpless without it."

Indeed, it wasn't. Miyaburu and Yami Yugi sat together in one corner of the temporary interrogation camp they had set up inside the cave's entrance, pouring over Metsubou's sword with every spell either of them knew. Miyaburu, however, seemed distant, and reserved- he wasn't talking more than was absolutely necessary. Kouten, Ichiko, and Kaze had taken charge of the interrogation operation, while Joey, Devlin, and Aikan were exploring the depths of the cave that Metsubou had picked out for them.

"What are you doing?" Ichiko asked. "You said some very weird things to me during that duel we had, and you wouldn't go around hopping through Realms, killing people and burning libraries, unless you had a pretty good reason."

"I do what the Saga Blade tells me," Metsubou replied evenly. "And right now, it's telling me that you will not survive this encounter."

Ichiko made a disgusted face. This guy was clearly a few pages short of a book.

Kaze glanced over at where Yami and Miyaburu were stripping down the said sword. It looked perfectly dormant, not glowing, or emitting power auras, or anything that would mark it as anything other than a perfectly ordinary (albiet well-made) sword.

"You do what the sword tells you to," Kaze repeated. "Why?"

"I am the one destined to bring forth the Ninth Legend! It is obvious!"

Kaze glanced at Ichiko and Kouten, who looked as blank as he felt. He turned back to Metsubou who gave an exasperated sigh.

"Okay, fine," he said. "I'll give you ignorant fools a little history lesson. This very sword was present at the creation of the Realms, the First Legend, and was the cause of every other Legend so far. But there have only been eight Legends in history up until now, and the prophecies of long ago tell of nine. The Ninth Legend, the one that I have been chosen by Fate and the Saga Blade to bring forth… the Ninth Legend is the destruction of creation. With the Ninth Legend, everything that has been created from the First Legend onward shall end. Every Realm, one through six, positive and negative, will be obliterated, along with the Shadow Realms. Only that sword will survive, to start the process all over again."

Silence greeted Metsubou's strange speech. Ichiko voiced what all three of the interrogaters were thinking.

"You're insane."

Miyaburu stood up, leaving Yami without a word, and walked over to the interrogators. "Ancient Egyptian legend tells of the destruction of the world at the hands of its creator."

"Of course the prophecies of old say that there will be nine Legends," admitted Ichiko. "But prophecies are not fact, and the idea that this sword was present when the Realms were created is insane! This sword couldn't have existed from the dawn of creation, no matter what special powers it has!"

"It exists in every Realm simultaneously," Metsubou continued dully. "That's how I can Realm-travel so easily. Because it created the Realms, it is omniscient as long as it remains inside them."

"What about the Shadow Realm?" Kaze wanted to know.

"It created that, too," Metsubou told him. "There are fourteen Realms in all- six True, six Negative, and a True and Negative Shadow Realm. They were all created by the Saga Blade. In order to bring about the Ninth Legend, you need a piece of the "soul" of that Realm… think of it as Realm DNA, for you scientific types. It's called the Kernel, and I've been collecting the Kernels of every Realm. Even now, as we speak, there are only three that I am missing. One of them is from the very Realm we sit in now. One is from the Fifth True Realm. The last… is from First Negative, but I believe that is already secure. I left it in the care of an organization I believe loyal to me, the Hand of the Shadow."

Kaze and Miyaburu glanced at each other, but refrained from making any visible sign of their costernation at this news.

"Where is the Kernel of this Realm?" Kaze asked.

Joey's voice came drifting distantly from a long way down the tunnel he was exploring with Devlin and Aikan. "Hey guys, there's something really weird down here… it looks like a… like a tiny universe or something!"

"Guess that answers your question," Kouten remarked, his face a mixture of amusement, curiosity, and lingering doubt. "Bring it out here, so we can see."

"So the Kernels do exist," Ichiko breathed. "I'd always wondered… after that research…"

"And you!" Metsubou shouted at her. "You don't know what part you play in this yet. But I'll give you three clues; this isn't the first time someone tried to bring forth the Ninth Legend, the last time it happened your thingy was involved, and you are an EVIL WITCH!"

With this last attempt at insult, a loud explosion rocked the cave from the area where Yami sat with the sword. Metsubou was over to him in an instant, before even Kaze could react. He and Miyaburu were not far behind, though.

But they were too late. Metsubou grabbed the Saga Blade, which was now emitting painful-looking sparks into Miyaburu's face. He quickly waved it in a circle and shouted "Fifth True!" and was gone.

Silence ruled in the cavern. It was broken by Miyaburu, who leapt for Yami's throat.

"You imbecile!" he shouted. "How could you let something like this happen! This is all your fault! You're working with Metsubou!"

"Get off me, Miyaburu," Yami snarled, attempting to break the stranglehold on his throat.

"MIYABURU, GET OFF!" Kaze shouted, turning his voice into pure authority. Almost from shock alone, the white-haired man desisted. "It wasn't Yami's fault, or anyone's fault," Kaze explained. "He had that planned the whole time… stored defense spells, triggered to activate at long-distance… but he missed the Kernel. I'm fairly sure that everything he told us was true. He'll probably come back for the Fourth True Kernel that we have."

Joey had crept back in amongst the commotion in Metsubou's escape, and once he had ensured it was safe, he motioned Devlin and Aikan out. Devlin looked disgruntled to be taking signals from Joey.

"So we're following him to Fifth True?" Devlin asked.

"No," Kaze replied. "We're headed to First Negative… my own Realm."

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Whew, massive chapter over. I think the quality is steadily improving, and the length certainly is. Heh, sorry about that whole Kawari game scene… that's what you get for playing too much Fire Emblem before you write these things. Good game, go play it if you like strategy RPGs or excellent stories and characters. Anyway… heh. Running low on time, I know, but, we'll see. There's not much left to write but the climax and resolution, which I can hopefully get done in one chapter. So, unlesss I seriously change my plans, Chapter Six (next chapter) will be the last. It's been fun, and exhausting at times, but… hey, it's my first completed story, so that's got to count for something. Seeya!