Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh.

Author's note: I can't believe the amount of mistakes I made in the last chapter It's already corrected and replaced. Take note that some cards are custom made. Sorry for not updating lately. I have a very important test this Saturday and I needed to study. I promise I'll update soon.

john: Yeah, George uses a machine deck. But his opponent isn't really stupid, just overconfident.

Rex the emerald dragon: Thanks. And you might have a point but it isn't really weird. In almost every show I've seen the bad guys always seem to take delight in punishing their subordinates : P


The remainder of the journey was continued in silence. Nobody said anything. Nobody knew what to say. Lyn was still over the fact she just witnessed a murder. George was shocked that he had caused the death of a man and Ryan-well-was just being Ryan.

"So why are you guys going to Georgia anyway?" Kain asked suddenly, breaking the silence.

"It's a long story," Ryan answered, relieved that someone had decided to start conversations again. Briefly he told Kain about the murder at Serk, summarizing what he could. Then he had George repeat the conversation between the two detectives. He didn't know what he expected from Kain. Sympathy for the family of Tracy McAdam perhaps. Or maybe even the feeling of rage he had experienced. Instead Kain drew his head back and laughed.

Lyn stared at him. Shock came first, but then an unexplained outrage rose and took over. "What's so funny?" she demanded.

"All of you are," replied Kain, still laughing. "From what I understand from your friend's story you are going to try to find and stop a trained killer, one who had a woman murdered without being detected and still expect to come back alive? Truly amusing. A girl who has no experience in combat, a guy who is pretty much the same and a cyborg with a recording arm. I can see him shivering in fright alright," said Kain sarcastically.

"Hey, this arm can do more than just record you know," protested George. To emphasize his point he bent and slid his arm under the bed and tried to lift it.

"If you're trying to lift the bed, don't. It's bolted to the floor," Kain told him. George pulled his arm clear. "Besides, it doesn't really matter how strong you are. Being an assassin isn't about strength, it's about speed, dexterity and occasionally the element of surprise-though trained assassins don't rely on it. Try and block me." Before George could reply he held his right hand high and swept it down to strike him. George brought his arms over his head to block it but Kain's left hand snapped forward, the index finger lightly resting on his throat. "If that was a knife you'd be pumping blood by now," Kain told him.

"How do you know so much about assassination anyway?" Lyn asked. Her eyes had narrowed suspiciously at Kain's last statement. "Doctors and assassins aren't exactly on the same side of the fence."

"True, but the skills required to be good at either are ironically similar. I knew a lonely man once. He was dying and I tried to nurse him back to health-futile as it was. I was the first and last to do so. And-in exchange for my help I suppose- he told me the story of his life. Apparently he loved to sew shut bloody wounds as a child. His parents took this as a sign that he was to be a doctor to help people and encouraged him. After graduating he became a surgeon at an international hospital-and a good one at that. All his surgeries were successful. But after years of working he discovered that it wasn't helping people he enjoyed." He calmly gazed at each of them noting that they were paying rapt attention to his story. "He enjoyed the feel of warm blood staining his hands." They gasped. "And to quote him, 'There is no wine as heavenly as that of blood upon my lips and no touch as warm as the congealing blood in my hands.'" Lyn gagged. "He quitted and became an assassin for hire. He was as good an assassin as he was a surgeon."

Lyn shuddered.

"However, that is beside the point. How do you people expect to confront this assassin and live?"

"Using the I.R.D. program," answered George.

Ryan and Lyn gave him a puzzled look. "I.R.D. program?" they echoed.

"Illusion Reality Damage program," Kain informed her. "A program which enables you to inflict pain to your opponent as you decrease his Life Points. There's no wound, but the pain is very real." He looked at George. "Interesting idea. But have any of you used the program before?"

George shrugged. "No, but why does it matter? It's not like we have to do anything but tell the system in the Duel Disks to initiate it."

"It matters because the I.R.D. program applies to both players. How confident are you that you'll be able to stay conscious while taking damage? It isn't exactly a pat in the face." He stood and opened a compartment below his bed. Bringing out a Duel Disk, he fastened it to his wrist and activated it. "Don't bother answering me; I know all of you have no experience with it. So why don't you show me how you plan to confront this assassin?" he taunted.

Someone needs to be taught a lesson, thought Lyn. She rose and activated her Duel Disk, summoning Silphatos at the same time. "Bring out your Soul Monster and let's get the show going."

"Don't have one and don't need one. You can go first. The outcome will still be the same."

Kain: 8000

Lyn: 8000

Lyn bit back an angry retort and drew her cards. "One set monster card and end turn." A brown-backed card shimmered into view.

Drawing his cards, Kain smiled and held up his hand with three fingers folded in. "Two turns."

"What?"

"I'll finish this duel in two turns." He slapped a card onto his Duel Disk. "Shadowslayer (1400/200) in attack mode." A dark fiend carrying twin knives appeared on the field. "This monster can attack you directly if only you have your monsters in Defense Position. Go!" The fiend melted into his shadow. Moving past the set monster, it stopped before Lyn and its arm suddenly emerged from the shadow, plunging its knife into her stomach. Lyn cried out as pain shot in her stomach. The monster retreated back to Kain's side of the field.

"Are you alright?" Silphatos asked worriedly. Lyn nodded weakly. The pain was so real she had to check and double check to make sure she attained no visibly wounds.

"What's the commotion all about?" A guard suddenly came into the coach. Recognizing the use of I.R.D. program he gave them a disgusted look before returning to patrolling the other coaches.

"Three cards face-down. End turn." Three cards appeared on the field.

Kain: 8000

Lyn: 6600

"My turn, draw." She gave the card a brief glance and activated it. "Let's see if you can back up those words. Card Destruction forces us to discard our hands and draw the equal amount of cards we discarded." They both did so. "And I'll flip summon Vampire Lady (1550/1550) in attack mode. Attack." The vampire appeared on the field appeared on the field and grinned seductively at Kain. She made to move but stopped as if she was hit by something. Her look became dreamy and there was a vacuous smile on her lips. Purring softly she curled on the floor.

"Illusion of Shadows shifts your monster into Defense Mode for the rest of the game," said Kain holding a card up. Lyn grimaced and set a card face-down, signaling the end of her turn.

Kain drew. "So you play a D.D.D.?" Lyn gave him a blank look. "Short term for Deck Destruction Deck." She nodded. "Not a theme I favor, but whatever floats your boats I guess. I'll play the field magic card Shadow Temple." A sudden darkness appeared out of nowhere and enveloped them. Lyn was suddenly afraid. Everything around her was black; the grass under her feet, the sky she was under, even the temple which was standing in front of her. It was a plain temple, with no real artistic designs on it, merely a giant door which marked its entrance. She calmed immediately after seeing Ryan and George, whose clothes' color totally clashed with their surrounding. Kain's black clothing made him difficult to place and she would have totally missed Shadowslayer if it wasn't for his gleaming knives.

"Shadow Temple-a place where the borders of reality and illusion doesn't exist." He noticed their confused look. "Try and touch it."

Lyn placed her left hand in front of one of the extension walls and pushed. Her hand passed through it like knife through butter. She withdrew her hand and placed her right hand over the same spot, trying to repeat the action. It encountered a solid mass. Frowning, she braced herself and kicked at the wall. Her leg passed through. Repeating the maneuver several times, she finally found herself clutching her foot and yelping in pain.

Kain chuckled. "Shadow Temple has numerous abilities. One of which I will reveal now." One card flipped up. "Originally, the quick play magic card Shadow Clone was supposed to create only one clone. However, with Shadow Temple in play, I can create as many clones as I have free monster space. So you can say Shadow Temple boasts the effects of most of my cards with the word 'Shadow' in it." Four clones rose, each identical to the original. "They attain his stats, but not his effect, not that it matters." Shadowslayer cloneX4 (1400/200). His other card revealed itself. "Exploding Shadow Clone takes the attack points of my clones and deals direct damage to you."

"Reveal trap card. Barrel Behind the Door reflects the damage back to you instead." The card flipped up but the clones merely slashed it into two and fanned around Lyn. They exploded. The pain was so intense this time Lyn would have fallen if Silphatos hadn't caught her.

"I did say Shadow Temple boasts the effects of most of my cards with the word 'Shadow' in it. Exploding Shadow Clone is no exception. You cannot counter it when Shadow Temple is in play," Kain said with an impassive expression. "Let's see if you can stand it when your Life Points drop to zero." At the unspoken command his monster dashed forward and slashed Lyn's stomach. She gave a choked cry before fainting.

Kain: 8000

Lyn: 0

Their Duel Disks shut down. "Well," said Kain, "at least you can count on her to fight until the end."

"How can you be so heartless?" Ryan exclaimed. "Aren't you at least going to check on her to make sure she's fine?"

"That's not necessary. The I.I. is very careful to make sure their products don't kill anyone. But if you insist." He knelt by her and examined her closely. "She's fine. She'll wake up in a moment or so." True to his words Lyn's eyes opened and she struggled to her feet, only to stumble down again. Kain caught her and gently guided her to his bed. "Rest for a while and you'll be all right again." She nodded weakly. "And I'm not as heartless as I am a realist. I have seen hundreds of people die in my arms Ryan. Some of them I could have saved, the others were just victims under the mocking jaws of fate. I stopped badgering myself over things I couldn't control years ago."

There was a sudden rumble, causing all of them to lose their balance. Ryan fell and soon felt George's weight on top of him. Lyn managed to grab onto a rail, while Kain swayed unsteadily for a moment but he too fell. The rumbling continued for several moments before the train screeched to stop.

The intercom beeped and the conductor's voice came through. "Ladies and gentlemen, there appears to have been an earthquake 3 miles from here, along the way of our destination. For your safety, the train will not continue its journey to Georgia." Even from here Lyn could hear the groans of a number of passengers. "Because of our inability to provide the services promised, your money will be refunded-" There were several cheers at that. "-and, if you still desire to travel to Georgia, we will provide you with another means of transportation to there. Thank you."

There was silence for several moments before Ryan suddenly groaned. "George, do you mind getting off me? You weigh a ton."

George got up sheepishly and helped Ryan up. He looked around. "Is everyone okay?" he asked.

Kain got up and brushed himself. "We're intact, if that's what you mean," he said. Helping Lyn to her feet, he asked, "So, are all of you still going to Georgia?"

"Hell yeah," shouted Ryan. "We're not going to let a minor setback like this stop us." Lyn nodded, while George gave him a thumbs-up. "No jaws of fate is going to mock me," he declared impudently.

"Exactly what I was talking about," said Kain as he pulled on his trench coat. "Let's see what means of transportation they provided us with." His voice was nowhere far from usual but inside he was frowning. A group of seismologists checked and assured the trail was nowhere near the Fault Line. So what is this all about? Curious, definitely curious.

They filed out.