"What are you talking about Evo?" fader asked.
"The problem my young friend is that there can only be one winner of this little tournament," Evo explained. "The fact that the two of you have drawn has created something of a difficulty for me."
"What are we supposed to do?" Serena wanted to know. "Duel again?"
"Not at all Miss Kaiba. In fact a solution has already occurred to me."
Serena went to ask what Evo meant but all that emerged from her lip was a violent scream that peirced the air. Fader's gaze instantly shot to Serena as she clutched her head in agony and collapsed to the ground. Fader rushed to her unconcious form and shook her in a vain attempt to wake her up. He took her hand, which was balled into a fist, in his and desperately tried to get her to respond. Her eyes fluttered open briefly and met with Fader's, but they seemed empty and vacant, quickly they closed once more and her entire body went limp. Her fist opened when it hit the ground and the piece of the Millennium Puzzle that she had been holding fell to the ground beside her. Fader picked it up and turned his attention to Evo.
Evo stood there staring at Serena and Fader. To say there was something different about him was an understatement. His eyes had turned pitch black and his hair was wild and out of place. What was even more shocking was that the piece of the Millennium Puzzle that hung about his neck was glowing white with energy in its glass orb.
"What the hell is going on?" Fader shouted, jumping to his feet. He rushed over to Evo and grabbed him by th collar. "What the hell did you do to Serena?"
"Unhand me right now boy," Evo said, his voice deeper and raspier. "If you don't you will regret it."
Fader released Evo and stepped back. As he did the glow of the Puzzle piece began to fade and Evo returned to his original state. Evo seemed very drained as he clutched his own forehead and collapsed to one knee.
"With out my ring," he stammered, his voice still raspy. "That was more taxing on the systems of this vessel than it should have been."
"I don't know what you are talking about Evo, and frankly I don't care. All I care about right now is what happened to Serena."
"She is dead."
"No!" Fader protested. "She can't be, her eyes opened!"
"She is no longer there Fader," Evo explained. "Her body is merely an empty vessel."
"What?"
"Mer mind has been banished to the Shadow Realm, the realm of death."
"What the hell are you talking about? You've gone nuts."
Evo shook his head as he lifted himself off the ground. "You understand so little. But if you are who you are supposed to be then all will become clear in good time."
"Evo answer my questions dammit!" Fader yelled.
"The answers to your questions will come," Evo responded. "But right now there is only one question that should be important to you. Are you willing to play your role of Mr. Hero to save Miss Kaiba once again?"
"Of course I am."
"What are you willing to risk?"
"Risk?"
"I will give you the chance to restore your friend's soul and life to her body as well as give you the piece of the Millennium Puzzle that you entered this tournament to win. If you lose though, yo forfiet the ten pieces of the Millennium Puzzle you already possess and you will join your companion in the Shadow Realm, and certain death."
"You're on Evo." Fader said with with a stern expression.
"You have no idea what you're up against. Or what you are getting yourself into."
* * *
Evo and Fader shared a tense elevator ride up to Level Four. Fader wanted nothing more at that moment than to punch that pathetic little man in the face, but for Serena' sake he was going to play Evo's sick game. There was a sense of concern he felt when Evo had mentioned the Shadow realm; as if Fader ha heard of the place before and it filled him with a sense of anxiousness. If someone had asked him a month ago whether or not he believed in magic he would have said no, but he was doubting that belief now, after all he had experienced.
The elevator came to a stop and Evo exited followed by Fader. "Welcome to Level Four, and the top of the Duelist's Tower."
"Skip the introductions and the grand speeches. Let's just go," Fader barked at Evo.
"Have it your way," Evo replied. He walked over to a desk on the far side of the room and picked up a Duel Disk. After strapping it onto his arm he picked up a deck of cards, shuffled it and then slapped it into the deviec. He then attached some kind of microchip to the Life Point counter of the Duel Disk, and he picked up another one and tossed it to Fader. "Put this on your Duel Disk."
"What is it?" Fader asked examining the device.
"It's going to change the rules a little bit," Evo answered.
Fader stuck the chip on his own Life Point counter and instantly the number jumped from 4000 to 8000.
"You have first play Fader," Evo informed him.
"How generous of you," Fader replied sarcastically. "Let's duel. I'll lay a card face down and then a moster in defense mode. Your turn Evo." Right after he said this his Life Points dropped.
Fader: 7900, Evo: 8000.
"What the hell?" Fader said in shock.
"I told you that we were going to change the rules," Evo explained. "This is going to be a Countdown match."
"Countdown?"
"Not only will we be fighting against each other, but time as well. At the end of each of our turns we will lose 100 Life Points. At the end of the next turn the amount increases to 200 points, then to 300 and so on."
"Fine then," Fader replied with a calm expression. He knew it was important to keep a confident exterior. On the inside though he knew that this duel was going to get more an more difficult as time went on. He thought he was going to have a bit more breathin room with 4000 extra Life Points but now those points were going to dissappear really quickly.
"I'll summon the Gravekeeper's Spearman (1500/1000) and attack your face down monster," Evo announced.
"You destroyed my Angel of the Balancing Scales (800/900) Evo," Fader announced as he put his monster in the graveyard. "Now I draw a card whenever you do."
"But you lose 600 Life Points from my Spearman's special ability. I'll lay a card face down and end my turn."
Fader: 7300, Evo:7900.
"Alright, I'll summon the Gemini Elf (1900/900) and attack your Spearman destroying it. Your turn Evo."
Fader: 7100, Evo: 7500
"Well draw your extra card from your Angel Fader, it will be the last one you get."
"What do you mean?"
"You'll see in a second. First I'll activate my face down card, Monster Reborn to revive Gravekeeper's Spearman. Now prepare yourself Fader, you're about to expreience the land of death. I play the Sleeping Valley of the Pharoh - Necrovalley! You'll soon find that there's no where you can hide from death now. A fitting scene don't you think? Considering that once I win this duel you will be banished to the dark reaches of the Shadow Realm and be just as dead as the spirits that haunt this place."
"The problem my young friend is that there can only be one winner of this little tournament," Evo explained. "The fact that the two of you have drawn has created something of a difficulty for me."
"What are we supposed to do?" Serena wanted to know. "Duel again?"
"Not at all Miss Kaiba. In fact a solution has already occurred to me."
Serena went to ask what Evo meant but all that emerged from her lip was a violent scream that peirced the air. Fader's gaze instantly shot to Serena as she clutched her head in agony and collapsed to the ground. Fader rushed to her unconcious form and shook her in a vain attempt to wake her up. He took her hand, which was balled into a fist, in his and desperately tried to get her to respond. Her eyes fluttered open briefly and met with Fader's, but they seemed empty and vacant, quickly they closed once more and her entire body went limp. Her fist opened when it hit the ground and the piece of the Millennium Puzzle that she had been holding fell to the ground beside her. Fader picked it up and turned his attention to Evo.
Evo stood there staring at Serena and Fader. To say there was something different about him was an understatement. His eyes had turned pitch black and his hair was wild and out of place. What was even more shocking was that the piece of the Millennium Puzzle that hung about his neck was glowing white with energy in its glass orb.
"What the hell is going on?" Fader shouted, jumping to his feet. He rushed over to Evo and grabbed him by th collar. "What the hell did you do to Serena?"
"Unhand me right now boy," Evo said, his voice deeper and raspier. "If you don't you will regret it."
Fader released Evo and stepped back. As he did the glow of the Puzzle piece began to fade and Evo returned to his original state. Evo seemed very drained as he clutched his own forehead and collapsed to one knee.
"With out my ring," he stammered, his voice still raspy. "That was more taxing on the systems of this vessel than it should have been."
"I don't know what you are talking about Evo, and frankly I don't care. All I care about right now is what happened to Serena."
"She is dead."
"No!" Fader protested. "She can't be, her eyes opened!"
"She is no longer there Fader," Evo explained. "Her body is merely an empty vessel."
"What?"
"Mer mind has been banished to the Shadow Realm, the realm of death."
"What the hell are you talking about? You've gone nuts."
Evo shook his head as he lifted himself off the ground. "You understand so little. But if you are who you are supposed to be then all will become clear in good time."
"Evo answer my questions dammit!" Fader yelled.
"The answers to your questions will come," Evo responded. "But right now there is only one question that should be important to you. Are you willing to play your role of Mr. Hero to save Miss Kaiba once again?"
"Of course I am."
"What are you willing to risk?"
"Risk?"
"I will give you the chance to restore your friend's soul and life to her body as well as give you the piece of the Millennium Puzzle that you entered this tournament to win. If you lose though, yo forfiet the ten pieces of the Millennium Puzzle you already possess and you will join your companion in the Shadow Realm, and certain death."
"You're on Evo." Fader said with with a stern expression.
"You have no idea what you're up against. Or what you are getting yourself into."
* * *
Evo and Fader shared a tense elevator ride up to Level Four. Fader wanted nothing more at that moment than to punch that pathetic little man in the face, but for Serena' sake he was going to play Evo's sick game. There was a sense of concern he felt when Evo had mentioned the Shadow realm; as if Fader ha heard of the place before and it filled him with a sense of anxiousness. If someone had asked him a month ago whether or not he believed in magic he would have said no, but he was doubting that belief now, after all he had experienced.
The elevator came to a stop and Evo exited followed by Fader. "Welcome to Level Four, and the top of the Duelist's Tower."
"Skip the introductions and the grand speeches. Let's just go," Fader barked at Evo.
"Have it your way," Evo replied. He walked over to a desk on the far side of the room and picked up a Duel Disk. After strapping it onto his arm he picked up a deck of cards, shuffled it and then slapped it into the deviec. He then attached some kind of microchip to the Life Point counter of the Duel Disk, and he picked up another one and tossed it to Fader. "Put this on your Duel Disk."
"What is it?" Fader asked examining the device.
"It's going to change the rules a little bit," Evo answered.
Fader stuck the chip on his own Life Point counter and instantly the number jumped from 4000 to 8000.
"You have first play Fader," Evo informed him.
"How generous of you," Fader replied sarcastically. "Let's duel. I'll lay a card face down and then a moster in defense mode. Your turn Evo." Right after he said this his Life Points dropped.
Fader: 7900, Evo: 8000.
"What the hell?" Fader said in shock.
"I told you that we were going to change the rules," Evo explained. "This is going to be a Countdown match."
"Countdown?"
"Not only will we be fighting against each other, but time as well. At the end of each of our turns we will lose 100 Life Points. At the end of the next turn the amount increases to 200 points, then to 300 and so on."
"Fine then," Fader replied with a calm expression. He knew it was important to keep a confident exterior. On the inside though he knew that this duel was going to get more an more difficult as time went on. He thought he was going to have a bit more breathin room with 4000 extra Life Points but now those points were going to dissappear really quickly.
"I'll summon the Gravekeeper's Spearman (1500/1000) and attack your face down monster," Evo announced.
"You destroyed my Angel of the Balancing Scales (800/900) Evo," Fader announced as he put his monster in the graveyard. "Now I draw a card whenever you do."
"But you lose 600 Life Points from my Spearman's special ability. I'll lay a card face down and end my turn."
Fader: 7300, Evo:7900.
"Alright, I'll summon the Gemini Elf (1900/900) and attack your Spearman destroying it. Your turn Evo."
Fader: 7100, Evo: 7500
"Well draw your extra card from your Angel Fader, it will be the last one you get."
"What do you mean?"
"You'll see in a second. First I'll activate my face down card, Monster Reborn to revive Gravekeeper's Spearman. Now prepare yourself Fader, you're about to expreience the land of death. I play the Sleeping Valley of the Pharoh - Necrovalley! You'll soon find that there's no where you can hide from death now. A fitting scene don't you think? Considering that once I win this duel you will be banished to the dark reaches of the Shadow Realm and be just as dead as the spirits that haunt this place."