Chapter Twenty-Three: Katan Chronicles

"Teran! Wait up!" Saria shouted. Everyone was trying to chase Teran, still in swim trunks and covered in mud, was marching down the road towards the business area. It was bustling with people waiting or watching the carnival stuff being set up. Saria would've loved to watch too, but she had to help Teran first.

"Teran! I know you can here me! Wait!" Saria shouted again. This time, Teran picked up the pace. Saria and the others quickened their own pace and soon had him surrounded.

"We're going to talk this through got it?" Saria asked. Teran shook his head.

"Nothing to talk about. Now out of my way!" But Tristan blocked his path.

"We just want to talk," Saria begged again.

"Like I said, there's nothing to talk about. You lied and there's nothing you can do to fix that now, so out of my way!" Teran again motioned to leave and this time he pushed past Tristan. Teran began to run again when Mr. Floyd, carrying Teran's pack, grabbed his wrist.

"Listen kid! I don't know what's goin' down, but we're going to your house to clean you up then we're gonna talk with your mother. Got it?" Mr. Floyd said, a parental tone in his voice. Teran looked ready to fight but he just sagged. The team followed Mr. Floyd to a two-story building with a sign of neon lights that read 'Outset Bar and Grill'. But just as they went to go in, the door flew open and two adults were thrown into Mr. Floyd. Mr. Floyd had the sense to leap back in time to avoid being landed on by a frail lady with blond hair and hazel eyes and a fat man whose body fat stuck out from a muscle shirt.

"Mom!" Teran cried. He joined her at her side and helped her to her knees.

"Teran! What has happened to you?" Mrs. Katan asked.

"Looks like he's a stick in the mud," A familiar voice joked. Teran's blood boiled as he turned to see both Butch and Cassidy in the doorway grinning.

"What? You two again!" Joey exclaimed.

"Well well well. Look at what we got here. Looks like the rookies are still chugging along. Did Yugi and Joey help you get those medals or are they giving them to you?" Butch teased. Teran rose to the bait but Saria saw through it.

"Are you kidding? I got four medals!" Teran announced.

"Correction: You had four medals. You lost to me kid. You're out of the tournament remember?" Mr. Floyd reminded. Teran merely beat his fist into the ground.

"I'm sorry sweetheart," Mrs. Katan said and the two hugged.

"I'd knew you'd fail! You're no different from your old man!" Cassidy declared. Teran glared at the villain.

"Yeah, your old man's gambling cost him your home! Your bar is now ours!" Butch announced, waving a document. Teran looked at his step dad.

"You did what? Why?" Teran asked. Mr. Katan pushed what little of his red hair out of his face.

"They were offering some good money. I tried to win with blackjack but I lost," Mr. Katan admitted.

"Yeah too bad. You really should quit your gambling. Look at where it put your step son and wife!" Cassidy laughed. Mr. Katan stared at his wife but refused to acknowledge his son.

"Hey Cassidy! Why don't we duel for who gets control of the bar?" Saria offered.

"No way! You'd have to offer me something of equal value to get me to duel you!" Cassidy said. Saria gulped as she fingered her Triforce Amulet.

"If you beat me in this duel, you can have my Triforce Amulet. It's a priceless treasure," Saria promised. Cassidy grinned.

"Taking your most prized possession would be an honor. Lets take this duel inside," Cassidy said, nodding towards the door. Everyone came inside except for the Katan family and Serenity.

"Take them to my place Serenity. Then call the cops you got me?" Mr. Floyd instructed. Serenity nodded and the four went down the street in silence. Inside the bar, the duelists were finished shuffling their decks and they were ready to go.

"Ready Cassidy? Lets duel!" Saria declared and both duelists drew five cards then Cassidy drew another.

"Rookie, lets see if you have improved! I summon Drillago (1600/1100) in attack mode then I'll place one card facedown to end my turn," Cassidy declared, her card and drill monster appearing on the field. Saria drew from her deck.

"I'll place one card facedown too then I'll play the magic card Mystical Space Typhoon and have it destroy your facedown card," Saria said, a gust of wind blowing away an Acid Trap Hole card.

"Now, I'll play the Spell Summoner (1000/1200) which lets me special summon the Skilled Dark Magician (1900/1700) in attack mode. Then I'll use Spell Summoner as a sacrifice through the magic of Tribute Doll!" Saria added, flashing a second magic card. Her summoner resembled Saria except she wore a simple gold robe and had a jeweled scepter.

"Oh crud! That means you can summon a seven star monster by sacrificing just one monster!" Cassidy realized.

"That's right! I'll sacrifice my Spell Summoner in order to bust out my Courageous Dark Magician (2500/2100)!" Saria finished, her magician appearing at her side, grinning.

"Cassidy! Stop her!" Butch commanded. Cassidy turned to face him.

"How? I can't!"

"Lucky you, due to the effects of both Spell Summoner and my Tribute Doll, I can't attack with either monster so I'll have to let you go, but you're not going to fare well much longer," Saria warned. Cassidy drew from her deck and frowned.

Not one card in my hand can stop both of her magicians. She's got mad skills that one. But this move will end the duel right now! Cassidy thought evilly.

"I don't like the look on that moron's face," Joey mumbled as Cassidy made her move.

"I summon a second Drillago (1600/1100) in attack mode! Now I'll play a magic card, 7 Completed! I'll use it to raise my new Drillago's attack by 700 points," Cassidy said.

"A lot of good that does you. My Dark Magician still has more power than either of your monsters," Saria pointed out.

MEANWHILE, AT THE FLOYD RESIDENCE...

"Harold! Leave now! I'm through with you!" Mrs. Katan shouted.

"Fine! I never liked you anyway!" Mr. Katan shouted back.

"Then why did you marry me?"

"I needed money. You had a lot from your husband's demise and I seized the opportunity." Mrs. Katan stared in shock. Serenity had taken the opportunity to look up the police's number and she silently dialed the number.

"You're a con artist! I knew it!" A cleaned up Teran accused.

"About time you figured it out! You're so gullible, thinking anyone would love a failure like you and your son!" Mr. Katan replied. He then pulled out a semi-automatic and pointed it at Teran's head.

"Nobody moves or he gets it!" The two mothers froze.

"Leave my son alone! Shoot me instead of him! I'm the one who deserves it!" Mrs. Katan said, holding her arms out wide. While Mr. Katan kept his focus on his wife Serenity had ran upstairs.

"Stop!" Serenity refused. Mrs. Katan motioned to stop him but a gunshot rang throughout the house as Serenity went onto the roof and hopped into the chopper parked nearby. She locked it and gave the police instructions while Mr. Katan fired bullets into the glass.

MEANWHILE, AT THE BAR...

"Saria! You don't stand a chance! Drillago! Attack Saria's life points directly!" Saria gasped as one Drillago burrowed underneath her magicians and hit her, draining 1600 of her life points while the other pierced her Skilled Dark Magician, wiping out 400 more life points.

"Oh man! That wiped out half of Saria's life points!" Joey exclaimed. But Saria didn't seem worried.

"Thank you. Because of you, this duel is almost over. I now reveal Card of Sanctity, making it so both of us draw cards until we both have six in our hands," Saria said, revealing her card. Both duelists drew until they had six cards. Saria smiled at her new hand.

"I'll now draw a card to begin my turn," Saria declared, doing just that. She grinned as she stared down Cassidy.

"This duel is over. I'll first remove my Spell Summoner and my Skilled Dark Magician in order to special summon my Chaos Sorcerer (2300/2000)!" Saria said, summoning a magician with lavender skin, wore black robes and wielded both magic of light and darkness.

"Now, I'll play a card you should be familiar with, my Master Sword Ritual!" Cassidy gasped.

"That card led to my demise last time!" Cassidy recalled.

"That's right! I sacrifice from my hand two spell casters in order to summon my all powerful Hero of Time (3200/2700)!" Saria said, calling forth her ultimate warrior.

"Now I'll use my Hero of Time's special ability to cut your life points in half!" Saria said, Cassidy's life points dropping by 2000.

"My life points!"

"That's not all! I'll now use Chaos Sorcerer's special ability to remove your stronger Drillago from play!" Saria added. Everyone watched as Chaos Sorcerer opened up a vortex of both light and dark energy. Drillago could do nothing as it was sucked in and the vortex vanished.

"Now I'll use Quick Attack to make my sorcerer attack your remaining Drillago! Chaos Sorcerer! Attack with elemental magic strike!" Saria commanded. Chaos Sorcerer promptly blasted the machine with fireballs of both light and dark energy, shattering it to pieces.

"My life points are wide open!"

"This was a disappointment! I expected you to be better but you just got worse! Oh well, I'll be taking another rare card from your deck as well as the bar deed! Hero of Time! Use the Courageous Dark Magician's power in combination with your own! Destroy Cassidy!" Saria commanded. The magician sent all of its power to the Hero of Time, raising its stats by the amount equal to the Dark Magician's attack and defense. In a bright flash of white light, Cassidy was wiped out.

"It's over!" Saria declared and she took back the bar deed and then searched Cassidy's deck and took out a Red Eyes Black Dragon.

"Now I have a dragon to call my own..." Saria murmured when sirens filled her ears.

"What's going on?" Yami wondered.

"It's the cops!" Butch exclaimed.

"Lets get out of here! Until we meet again Saria!" Cassidy declared. Before anyone could do anything, Butch and Cassidy vanished in a swirl of smoke.

"Those sirens aren't coming here. They're going away," Saria thought as she concentrated.

"They sound like they are headed for your place!" Joey realized.

"Lets hurry!" Yugi urged. The teens exited the bar, deed in hand in time to see an ambulance boat rush by in the canal towards the island.

"Not good! Mr. Katan probably cracked," Saria mumbled as she ran towards her home. By the time the group arrived, they saw Mr. Katan being led away in handcuffs and Mrs. Katan being led towards the ambulance in a stretcher. In her right shoulder, was a gunshot wound. A group had gathered to see what was going down. Saria quickly rushed towards a female police officer taking an eyewitness statement.

"Officer McCain!" Saria called. The officer, whose eyes and hair were red in color turned to face the teen.

"Saria. Why is it that you Floyd's attract trouble every time I come by this neighborhood?" McCain asked. Saria blushed.

"I'm kidding! Well, I just finished getting a statement from your mom and Teran," McCain announced.

"What happened?"

"Sounded like Katan drunk too much again. Threatened to kill Teran and his mom stepped in and took the shot. Call came from someone named Wheeler. Anyone you know?"

"Serenity," Joey breathed. It was then she came running up to him. Joey accepted her in open arms.

"Serenity!" Joey said, hugging his frightened sister.

"Joey!" Serenity whispered.

"All's well that ends well I suppose. Some night," Saria said exasperated.

"What's going on? Something you not telling me?" McCain asked.

"Bust out your notepad. I have a lot to tell you," Saria said. Taking turns, the group explained what happened at the bar and then Serenity explained what happened at the Floyd residence.

"I knew this tournament was a bad idea. I'm going to have to speak to Mr. Kaiba about dropping Outset from the gym leader island list. He ain't going to like it, but it will be done," McCain said, "Watch TV tonight understand?" It was then a beeper on her belt went off. She went to her patrol boat and after some communication through the radio she faced the group.

"We've got more trouble. I have to go but later kid," McCain said, hopping in her boat. A siren filled the air as the boat raced down the canal. Mrs. Floyd walked up to the group.

"Lets go indoors. We need to watch the three o'clock news," Mrs. Floyd said. No one felt like arguing. It wasn't long before everyone, including Rush who had stayed at home, was watching the holo-TV. Officer McCain was on TV with a reporter.

"Due to incidents beyond our control, this year's Winds of Light Festival will be cancelled. Stay tuned to OINN, Outset Island News Network for further developments for Great Sea Island Tournament updates," McCain announced. The news then launched into the incident at the Floyd home but Mr. Floyd shut it off at that.

"I have to go to a council meeting. Stay out of trouble OK?" Mr. Floyd announced.

"But Dad? Challengers?" Saria asked.

"My gym burned down. It'll take all night to prepare a new arena. Relax OK? We'll duel first thing in the morning."