Folks, I made some errors in nineteen. I suggest that you go back and reread it, or you might not understand some things here. However, I DID post the changes a while back, so some of you might not notice any difference. Oh well.

LunaticChaos: I personally like her deck, but you're right-it is only good against certain decks.

=P: …o_o;;; Charming. And I assure you that some officials are indeed bright, no matter how stupid most of them look. -_-

John: Heh, I guess you could say that.

Whispering Hope: Thanks. And you'll have to read on to find out. _

Demon fan: Genocide King Demon? He's a monster card, with some fancy effects that I'm too lazy to waste chapter space on providing. _ Thanks for reading!

*Chapter 20: Desire for Revenge*

Olympion stepped out of the airport. The sign in front of him said, to Olympion's relief, "Welcome to Illinois!"

Finally, something had gone right. He could feel Max's wild emotions even closer now. With a snarl, he set off.

*****

Abby sighed. It wasn't the most enjoyable experience, sitting in the waiting room for the official to call her in. She had asked Matt to take the kids home, saying she would come as well when she had finished her report.

This could take hours…

A top official with dark brown hair and much lighter brown eyes walked in. "Ms. Driger? I'm ready for your report."

Or not.

She followed him into his office. He took out a pen and sheet of paper.

"All right, I'm ready. So how did the barrier work?"

"Very well. None of the monsters were able to get attacks through. It was perfectly safe."

"For a first test, not too bad," the man muttered, writing something on the paper. "Were there any negative effects?"

Before Abby could reply, an urgent knock sounded on the door. The official gave the door a look of annoyance.

"Please hold on."

He got up and opened the door, showing a lower ranking official.

"Sir! We have a problem."

"Yes, what is it?"

"Malady is gone! Her signal just disappeared!"

"What?! She's dead?!"

"It seems that way, sir."

The top official ran his hand through his hair. "I'm sorry Ms. Driger. I must check on this. I'll be busy for a long time. Go ahead and leave for now; I'll call you when I need your report."

Abby nodded. "Ok, I understand."

The top official waited for Abby to come out, but she seemed distracted.

"I'm sorry that I'm taking so long. I seem to have misplaced my purse…"
The top official looked at his watch impatiently. "I really can't stay. Just close the door behind you, it will lock automatically." He ran after the other official.

Abby smiled as she pulled the purse from under the desk. Now's my chance to look around.

She looked over his desk, searching for anything that could help her son and daughter, along with their friends. A paper folded in half, under a paper weight, caught her eye. She quickly looked it over.

The following can, and will interfere. Eliminate them, and their Soul Monsters, in any way possible. To be captured is preferred, but kill them if necessary.

Hope Gales

Rue and Claire Klaus

Max and Brandi Driger

Will Brown

Draken Drayfall

Miles-Last name unknown

Fell and Larka-Specimen, last names unknown

Cyborg #0001-Model number, real name unknown

Malady Stillwell

Abby carefully slid the paper in her purse, and then walked out, closing the door behind her.

It looks like I found what I was looking for.

*****

The first thing that Miles was aware of was that he felt uninjured. Why didn't that seem to make sense though? He looked down at his chest, and saw that his shirt was soaked with blood.

What happened? Gen and I made it off the mountain… we were attacked!

His eyes darted around the area he was in. It was a cave of some sort, but there wasn't anything special about it. Just plain rock walls, with only one way out. There seemed to be some kind of barrier covering it though. Gen was laying to his left, still unconscious.

Miles staggered up, running his hand over the area where he had been wounded. He was surprised to find that the skin was closed.

So whoever did this wasn't trying kill us... then why attack?

He knelt down again, shaking Gen's shoulder. "Hey, wake up! We've got trouble."

Gen got up immediately, looking at him with concern. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah. Whoever did this healed us too, I'm guessing… or are you in pain?"

Gen shook his head. "Strange indeed. If this was the work of a Commander of Heaven, why take us here? We may be trapped, but this just doesn't seem to be a likely area to be held in for long."

Miles eyes the barrier with disgust. "True. Support cards could break that thing down in an instant-too bad ours are off limits. Any ideas?"

"We wait until someone comes."

"That's the best idea you could come up with?"

"Unless you want to alphabetize your deck, yes, it is."

"You're the master at coming up with the most useless, boring activities, you know that?"

"You asked."

*****

There was silence after Larka finished reading the note. The sun was just beginning to rise, but nobody really noticed. After a few seconds, Rue spoke up.

"So Miles was ambushed?"

"It looks that way," Hope said grimly.

Malon was now pawing at the grass, whining. They looked over at him, and saw that much of the grass was red.

"Blood," Will realized. "Is he dead?"

 "Let's hope not!" was Draken's response.

Malon was still searching the area, sniffing more areas until he stopped walking. His ears went up as he examined the land he stood on, and he sunk his paws into the earth, digging frantically.

"Malon? What is it?" Larka asked.

Malon looked up at her and barked urgently before going back to his task.

"What are you doing?" she inquired to her Soul Monster.

He didn't even look up from his work.

"He seems pretty intent on finishing whatever he's trying to do," Hope noticed. "How about we let him? We don't even know where to start looking for Miles-Malon is our best bet at finding him. Besides, we need to look after the ones who were wounded."

Larka nodded, lying Fell down. Brandi did the same for Mana, as did Gaston and Darche for Zack.

"Our main problem is that they can only heal naturally," Will commented.

"I'll look after Mana. She will be fine after some rest," Brandi assured.

"Fell will be too. He heals much more quickly than many," Larka said.

"That just leaves Zack, and we can't do much to help him," Rue pointed out. He had also lain down-he was still tired from having Demon Rue take over him.

"I guess all we can do is wait," Draken sighed, joining his companion on the grass.

*****

"I'm going to die of boredom before I die of lack of food, water, or oxygen," Miles complained to Gen after about an hour of being in the make-shift prison.

Gen was about to reply to that, when he heard something. "It looks like someone is coming."

"About time!" Miles exclaimed. "I don't care if it's a Commander of Heaven or the Easter Bunny who's coming-I just want something to happen!"

 A man stepped through the barrier. He wore a white long sleeved shirt and white pants as well, with white fine shoes. His blonde hair went down to his shoulders, and his green eyes were hardened with hatred. At his side was a silver sword; Miles was glad to notice that it was sheathed-for the time being at least.

"So, we finally meet again," the man said.

"Huh? What do you mean again?" Miles asked, confused. "Have we seen each other before?"

The man gave him a look of disbelief. "You mean you don't recognize me?"

Miles pretended to be concentrating on recalling a past event. "Oh yeah! You're that guy who works at McDonalds, aren't you?"

The man shook his head. "You haven't changed at all. I remember that you could make any situation light-hearted. Well, get serious. This is a matter of life or death for you-most likely death."

Miles shrugged. "I can be serious when I want to be. Alright, refresh my memory. How have we met?"

"How could you forget?" the man wondered. "After all, I was the one who gave you the scar on your neck. Does that remind you?"

Miles stared at him in shock. "You… you inflicted this on me?! Tell me! Why did you do it?! What do you know of me?!"

The man growled in disgust. "I can't believe it. I've searched for three years… three years of endless looking, only to find that the one I swore revenge upon doesn't even know why I am doing this! How did you forget?"

"It's none of your business!" Miles snarled. "All I know is my name, ok? Now just tell me who you are, what you want to do with me, and why you want to!"

The man smirked. "Very well. My name is Robin. I plan on slaying you, but unlike the cowardly deaths you have dealt, I will kill you honorably. I know how pathetic you are physically, so we will duel. If you refuse, you will die immediately. What is your decision?"

"I'm guessing there is no option C? If not, then I'll duel you! But don't come crying to me when you lose!"

"As if I will lose." Robin held up a Soul Card, and a monster emerged instantly. It was a machine with green armor and a pink head. On its head was an iron band that went around and over, and a most curious device where its mouth should have been. Its glowing red eyes spoke of death.

Miles looked at the monster in dismay. "An Android Psycho Shocker; just what we needed."

"I thought you would have that kind of reaction. I'm sure that my Soul Monster, Android, will be of most use."

"Some name that is," Miles muttered.

"Your petty insults will not anger me, or my ally. Now prepare your deck!"

Miles: 8000

Robin: 8000

"You were the one to challenge me, so I'll make the first move," Miles declared. "I will first use Gen's Soul Monster ability. Go ahead Gen."

Gen vanished in a twirl of his white cape. Robin looked around frantically for him, then at his hand.

"You're as dishonorable as ever!"

"I love you too," Miles said as he examined the card Gen had stolen for him. "This looks like a good one… I'd best save it though. I'll now play Confiscate. By paying 1000 Life Points, I choose one card from your hand to discard."

Miles: 7000

Robin: 8000

"Take your pick then. I have Landmine Spider, Giant Orc, Cyclone, and Sand Tornado."

Miles groaned. "Well, I can deal with magic and trap destruction, as long as you have no monsters. Now I lay one monster in defense mode and two cards face down. It's your turn."

"Hm… not bad. I lay two cards of my own down, and summon Giant Orc in attack mode. (2200/0)"

"Do you dare attack?" Miles taunted.

"No, I do not. It's your turn."

Miles gave him a doubtful look. "Ok then… I lay another monster in defense mode."

"When you do that, I activate my trap card. My Sand Tornado will destroy the face down card to your left."

"Drat! That was my Gravity Bind…"

"I will use Sand Tornado's other effect to lay another magic or trap card face down. Then I activate the other card I had put down last turn, my Cyclone, to destroy your other one."

"Come on! That was my Thieving Goblin… oh well. I end my turn by laying one card down."

"Excellent," Robin smirked. "I will activate my trap card, Skill Drain!"

"Not that!" Miles groaned. "I still remember what that does, from when Fell used it on me. You pay 1000 Life Points, and all of our monster's effects are negated, right?"

"Exactly the point. Do you now see why I use Giant Orc and Landmine Spider?"

That's when it dawned upon Miles. "Of course… all of my good effects are negated, along with your bad ones."

"You're a quick study, aren't you?"

Miles: 7000

Robin: 7000

"First I play Jar of Greed, to draw two more cards. Now I play Raise Dead, to revive my Landmine Spider. I also summon Dark Elf. (2000/800) Normally it costs 1000 Life Points to attack with her, but not anymore. Now I will have Dark Elf attack your first defense monster!"

"Oh no, my Falcon Knight, (1000/700)" Miles said sarcastically.

"Then Landmine Spider attacks your other."

"That one is a problem," Miles admitted. "It looks like my Soul-Hunting Spirit is dead. (300/200)"

"Very good. Now I will have my Giant Orc attack!"

"I activate Destruction Ring! Now your Orc is destroyed, and we both lose Life Points equal to its attack!"

Miles: 4800

Robin: 4800

"Damn it… at least that trap is out of the way. It's your turn."

Miles seemed relieved by his next draw. "You may have all of my monsters effects negated, but at least I can still destroy them! I summon Surprising Matasa! (1300/800) Then I equip him with Demon Axe, raising his attack by 1000! (2300/800) Surprising Matasa destroys your Landmine Spider! Then I lay one card down, and end my turn."

Miles: 4800

Robin: 4700

"Good, but not good enough! On my Standby phase, I choose to activate Android's Deck Master ability! All of our trap cards are negated until my next Standby phase."

"Joyful," Miles muttered.

"Since you only have Matasa out, I'll just deal with not having Skill Drain. And I drew the perfect card to defeat Matasa. I summon Goblin Strike Team (2300/0) and attack Matasa, killing both! Then I pay 1000 Life Points for Dark Elf to attack! After that, I end my turn."

Miles: 2800

Robin: 3700

Miles looked at his deck. "So we both have no cards in our hand… top decking sucks. Oh well, here it goes." He examined his next card. "Well, it looks like I drew a life saver. I play Jar of Greed, to draw two more cards. Whew, good draw. I lay one monster in defense mode, and one other card down. It's your turn."

"That's fine. I'll draw…"

"And I activate Lost Property! You're forced to discard the card you drew!"

"Damn! My Berserk Gorilla (2000/1000) is gone…" He looked at Android. "I can't risk your monster's effect. I won't have Android use his effect again."

"Sucker," Miles smirked.

"Shut up. Dark Elf attacks!"

"Tough luck," Miles said, flipping over his trap card. "I activate Destruction Ring."

"What?! That's impossible! You can only use one Destruction Ring in your deck!"

"That's true… but did you forget that Gen got to pick a card from your hand? It's a random choice, but I got lucky to get such a valuable trap card."

Robin swore. "I didn't get a good chance to examine my hand, so I didn't know… until it was too late…"

"Yep. Sucks to be you."

Miles: 800

Robin: 1700

"So you're done? I assume so, since you have no cards in your hand." He looked at his face down monster and groaned. "Damn it! My Critter (1000/600) isn't strong enough to kill you by himself, and I have no monsters in my hand!"

"Then you're dead," Robin sneered.

Gen had been silent up to this point. But now he had an idea. "Miles! Do you remember what Mana did in Brandi's duel?"

"What she did? Yeah, she used her effect… oh! That's right! You can move your Deck Master to the playing field to act as a normal monster!" Miles exclaimed.

"That's right, so what are we waiting for?"

"Too true!" Miles grinned. "I'll flip summon my Critter, and have Gen move to the playing field! (1000/700) Critter attacks, then Gen finishes you off!"

Gen slammed his fist into Robin, causing the man to fall to the ground.

Miles: 800

Robin: 0

"Damn it… damn it… damn it!" Robin cried, rising. "Why? Why did it have to turn out this way?! Raven… I'm sorry! Allow me to join you, no matter how dishonorable I do so!" Then he drew his sword, stabbing himself through the heart. Android grasped his head with his hands and allowed them to charge with energy. Miles was dimly aware of Gen jumping in front of him before the explosion went off, and then he lost consciousness.

*****

Malon finally stopped digging, barking several times.

Larka walked over to him. "What did you find boy?" Then she saw the hole he had made in the ground. "No way! You dug a hole that deep in that short of a time?"

Will examined it. "I don't think he could have. It looks like the hole had already been there, but someone covered it with earth. I don't know what support card could have done it, but it's obviously there for a reason."

Without hesitation, Malon leapt down into the hole.

"Malon! Get back up here! It might be dangerous down there!" Larka protested.

Ignoring his master, Malon ran down the tunnel.

"He must sense something," Hope suggested. "Let's follow him. Draken, can you stay here? Everyone else is exhausted."

"No problem. Will, are you going?"

"I might as well," Will shrugged. "Neo, want to come?"

"Yeah, of course."

"I will too," Gaston volunteered.

They jumped down, and followed Malon. It was a straight tunnel, with no huge turns, so it was impossible for them to get lost. It was pretty dark, but Neo lit up the area, so they found no trouble in proceeding.

Soon, they came to the end of the tunnel, to a cave of some sort. Since Neo was in the lead, he was the first to see the corpse of Robin. He quickly blocked Larka and Hope from coming in.

"You don't want to see this," he warned. "It looks like he's stabbed."

Malon whimpered, sniffing the sword that was lying beside Robin. His hackles went up and he growled at the smell of the blood that was on it.

"You two stay here," Will told Hope and Larka. "I'll survey the area and be right back. Neo, Gaston, and Malon can help."

He stepped inside, casting his eyes around, until he saw two other figures.

"Miles and Gen! What the heck are they doing here?" Gaston exclaimed, examining them.

Will shook his head at the sight of the blood on them. "Only they can answer that. Let's see what he has to say for himself." Will shook Miles' shoulder.

"Five more minutes…" he muttered.

Will wasn't about to deal with waiting for him to get up. He slapped Miles across the face.

"OW! What the heck was that for?!" Miles yelped, coming around. Then he looked around the area. "Wait, what happened?"

"We were hoping you would know," Gaston told him.

"That Robin guy… he said he wanted revenge on me, but I have no idea why," Miles explained. "He challenged me to a duel, which I won. He stabbed himself, and his Soul Monster, an Android Psycho Shocker, blew itself up. That caused us to go flying into a wall."

Malon was nudging Gen, whining softly.

"He blocked the worst of it… damn, I hope he's ok." Miles placed his hand on Gen's right hand. "Gen? Are you ok?"

The sword descended upon him. He tried to move out of the way, but he felt frozen. His neck exploded with pain, his scream of agony a terrible thing to hear.

Blood loss was effecting him, but he could still make out the dim outline of Robin, his green eyes showing sorrow and a mad desire for vengeance.

It filled his heart with a fear he had never felt before. He couldn't think. He was sure he would die.

Miles fell backwards, gasping, shaking in terror. He still felt panicked, and the scar on his neck burned.

"What… was… that…?"

 "Miles? Are you ok?" Will asked. "You looked terrified."

"I'm… fine…" He got up, leaning against the wall for support. "Just… after effects of… the explosion, that's all…"

"I see." Will beckoned to Gaston. "Would you assist Gen? I'll help Miles. Neo, go to the front to light up the tunnel."

Gaston easily lifted the White Thief as Will lent Miles his shoulder to hold on to. They went back to Hope and Larka, Malon following.

"Wait… how did you find us?" Miles asked.

"It was Malon. He found the tunnel," Will informed him, nodding to the energetic puppy.

"I guess the barrier that was over this cave was blown to kingdom come when the Android Psycho Shocker committed suicide," Miles figured. "Hey Malon, I owe you one. Thanks for helping."

Malon yipped at him.

"Miles! What happened to you? You're bleeding!" Hope exclaimed.

"Nah, my opponent sealed the wounds," Miles assured.

"Who was that man anyway?" Gaston inquired.

"He called himself Robin." Miles frowned at the memory of him stabbing himself. "His last words… he said something about Raven? Who's that supposed to be?"

"We'll never know," Larka said, picking up Malon. "You did great Malon."

He licked her face.

They soon arrived at the tunnel entrance, and with Draken and Darche's help managed to climb out.

"Typical. Now we have five of our group injured," Brandi noted when they finally came out. By this time, Miles had gotten over his shock and was able to climb out on his own. Rue also seemed to be doing better after resting.

"The best thing would be to get under cover, and to wait for everyone to heal," Will suggested. "That tunnel below… we shouldn't go to the cave, since there's a dead man there and such. But the tunnel itself would be good shelter. How about we wait there?"

"It's a logical suggestion," Draken agreed. "Let's get down there."

*****

"Where were you?" Matt demanded. "I thought you'd be back much sooner than this!"

"Sorry. My report got interrupted-apparently, one of their important leaders died."

"Score!" Matt grinned. "I shouldn't feel happy about someone dying, but I just can't help it."

Abby nodded. "I know what you mean. I also found something that I think can help clear their names." She handed him the sheet of paper she had taken from the official's desk.

Matt scanned over it, a grim smile on his face. "That's perfect. Excuse me, I'm off to get my motorcycle. I'll be back once I've visited Supreme Court."

*****

Olympion stopped in front of what he assumed to be Hope's house. Normally, he would not have known, but the fierce energy was coming from this area. It called him like a beacon.

He didn't want to cause too much attention, so he snuck around to the back of the house to find a window that was still open. He climbed in easily, looking around the family room. When he was sure nobody had noticed him, he silently climbed up the stairs.

Claire was sleeping on the chair in the living room. She had been relieved to see that Max appeared to be recovering, and wanted to give him some time alone.

The moment of peace was broken by a cry for help. She leapt up instantly, running up to the room where Max was. The door was not completely closed; she pushed it open the rest of the way, and froze.

Olympion was snarling violently, his expression ferocious and deadly.

"Olympion?! Is that you?!"

He hissed at her, eyes glowing. She backed away slowly, looking over at Max. To her shock, he was not moving.

"Max? Max, what's wrong?"

Olympion stepped away from the bed, still growling, allowing Claire to walk over to him. She checked his pulse, relieved to see that it was a still steady. She tried to shake him awake.

"Come on… answer to me! Max… Max!"

Still he did not respond.

"Forgive me for this," she whispered, and slapped him across the face.

And yet he slept on.

She had heard of this happening, but had never seen it before.

"My God… is he in a coma?"

To be continued…