Legends of the Demon Duelist Rival Schools Arc

by Wolf General

Third arc of Legends of the Demon Duelist. The Duelist Academy and North School. Two places of learning that focus on their students learning the game of Duel Monsters. Not everything is as it seems though. Can Ichigo figure out how to defeat Vincent

4. Lightning Strikes

Disclaimer: No I do not own Yugioh.

Legends of the Demon Duelist-Rival School Arc

Chapter 4: Lightning strikes

Ichigo's ears perked up his sleep and he slowly opened his eyes. ("There's someone in this room…") He slowly slid out of bed and glanced around the ground nervously. "Who's there?"

"Just a friend." Something heavy and made of fabric landed in the half demon's arm. "A friend who has brought a gift so that we can duel."

Rolling his eyes, Ichigo adjusted to the darkness so that he could see his 'friend'. "Sorry buddy, but having one arm kind of puts a damper on one's ability to duel."

"Open the bag."

Ichigo held the bag with her elbow and unzipped it. What he removed looked exactly like a regular arm, if it was made of metal. "What is this thing?"

"A special device called a Duel Arm. Just hold it over your stump."

Ichigo quivered as he stared the device. ("A chance to be able to duel again…but at the same time, this guy is a stranger. Can I really trust him?") "What's the catch?"

"If you want to keep the arm, then you have to defeat me in a duel."

Willpower lost out and Ichigo held the device up to his stump. For a few moments there was blinding pain, and then like that it was gone. He looked down…and stared in awe as the arm responded to his every thought. "Wow…" He couldn't actually feel anything with the Duel Arm, but he could manipulate it with the simplest thoughts. It was not a replacement for a real arm, but it would do.

"So are we going to duel?" The voice grew a little impatient, and Ichigo could swear that he heard a duel disk turn on.

"Sure…I'll duel you. Let me just get my…" His new forearm and upper arm shifted, turning into an odd version of a duel disk. There were monster slots along the grooves in the arm, and magic/trap card slots along the inside. The hand itself whined and folded down, leaving a slot for a deck to be inserted. Shivering at the sight, Ichigo picked up his deck from his bedside and slid it into the slot. The arm reconfigured and left him with a functional hand. His deck was now out of sight.

Within the darkness of the room, the 'friend' chuckled. "I am Bolt. Now let's begin!"

Bolt- 4000

Ichigo- 4000

Ichigo ran his living hand along the length of his new arm…and blinked when something stuck to his hand. He blanched and shook it off by snapping his hand towards the window. "Sure…let's go!"

Bolt's shadowed form moved its arm in a drawing motion. "I draw and set a monster in defense mode. End turn."

While Ichigo thought this was a rather cramped place to be dueling, he wasn't going to argue with someone who has offered him a chance to duel again. "It's my turn! Draw!" He snapped the top card off of his deck and added it to his hand. "Cyber Shadow-Strongarm in attack mode!" (1900/1300) A burly warrior appeared on his field. "Brute Force Fist!" Howling out a battle cry, it slammed its fist down on the set card and blew it apart.

Bolt slid the card into his graveyard and chuckled. "You just triggered the effect of my monster. It was called Thunder Mirage (600/400) and when it is destroyed as a result of battle I may special one Mirage Swordsman (1700/700) from my deck to the field." A gold-armored warrior with a single curved scimitar in its hand appeared on the field.

Ichigo expected something to that extent. "I set one card face-down and end my turn."

Bolt drew. "You made a mistake by letting one of my Mirage Swordsmen make it to the field. For now I offer my monster as a tribute to bring out my mighty Zaborg the Thunder Monarch!" (2400/1000) A white-armored monster appeared on his field, electricity crackling along its body. "When this monster is tribute summoned, I destroy one monster in play! Divine Lightning!" Lifting its hands, Zaborg released a blast of lightning that hurtled towards Strongarm.

Ichigo pointed at his set card. "Reveal Shadow Barrier! This trap card negates one effect that targets a Cyber Shadow and destroys the creator of the effect!" A glowing barrier of silver energy appeared around Strongarm and blocked the lightning, bouncing it right back at Zaborg and blowing it apart.

Bolt gasped in surprise. "How in the…" He went silent for a few moments. "I set one card face-down and end my turn."

Ichigo drew. "I summon Cyber Shadow-Berserker (1900/1200) in attack mode!" A warrior holding a curved double-handed sword appeared on the field. "Now both of my monsters attack you directly!"

Bolt snapped his fingers and his face-down card flipped up. "Wrong. I activate my Light's Revival trap card. Now I must discard one card from my hand for every light attribute in my graveyard. If I cannot, then this trap is destroyed." He discarded three cards. "Now Zaborg, Mirage Swordsman and Thunder Mirage return!" Three monsters appeared on the field. Zaborg wasn't crackling with electricity though, and the Mirage Swordsman was in a crouching position, as was the Thunder Mirage.

Ichigo ground his teeth as his two monsters slammed into the defense mode monsters and destroyed them.

Bolt's shadowed form laughed. "Big mistake. Now I use the effect of Thunder Mirage to special summon one of my Mirage Swordsmen from my deck." A new gold armored warrior appeared on the field in a standing position. "Also, when you destroyed my other Mirage Swordsman as a result of battle I may draw one card." He slid the top card off of his deck and laughed again. "Perhaps you should reconsider your strategy."

"Perhaps you should worry about yourself." Ichigo looked at his hand and frowned. "End turn."

Bolt drew. "I play the continuous magic card Thunder Buildup. When activated this card will raise the attack of all Thunder monsters in play by 400 points for each Thunder monster in play." Electricity crackled between the Mirage Swordsman and Zaborg. (2500/700) (3200/1000)

Ichigo's eyes widened and he gulped. ("Oh man…")

"Zaborg! Unleash your Thunder Crash upon Strongarm!" The white-armored monster lifted one hand and a ball of electric energy hurled across the field, destroying the burly monster on contact.

Bolt- 4000

Ichigo- 2700

"Now Mirage Swordsman, Mirage Slash!" The gold warrior faded away and appeared behind the Berserker. With ease it slashed the warrior apart and reappeared on Bolt's field. "End turn."

Bolt- 4000

Ichigo- 2100

Ichigo gulped again and looked at his empty. ("Okay Ichigo, you can stop playing around with him anytime now and show your stuff.") He drew slowly, his eyes calm. "I summon Cyber Shadow-Shifter (800/1200) in attack mode." A black-clothed ninja appeared on his field. "Then I play the magic card Shifter's Trickery. When there is a Cyber Shadow-Shifter on my field I draw three cards." He slid three cards off of his deck and added them to his hand. "I set one card and end my turn."

Bolt drew. "You were a fool to summon that monster in attack mode. Go Zaborg, Thunder Crash!"

"Not so fast!" Ichigo pointed at his set card. "My quickplay magic card Alert Tripwire negates all attacks during this turn and lets me draw one card from my deck for every Cyber Shadow monster I have in play." He drew one card.

Bolt frowned deeper and slid a card into his deck. "I knew I should have used this card first. I activate Tempest Zone. This continuous magic card makes all Thunder monsters immune to the effects of my opponent's magic cards. End turn."

Ichigo stared at the Special Operative Weapon-Stinger card that he had drawn with Alert Tripwire. ("Great…that won't work.") He drew. "I switch Shifter into defense mode and one monster face-down. End turn."

Bolt drew. "You're nearly finished. I summon Thunder Matrix (200/1300) in attack mode." A crackling ball of lightning appeared on his field. "I union this card with Zaborg to raise its attack by 300 and make it immune to trap card effects." The lightning ball slammed into Zaborg and the Monarch's attack power leapt upwards. (3500/1000) "Now Mirage Swordsman, destroy his Shifter!" The warrior glided forward and slashed the ninja in half. "Zaborg, Thunder Crash!" The monarch's mere prescense on the field was enough to blow the set card apart.

Ichigo caught a card that was spat out of his deck. "When Cyber Shadow-Apprentice (200/300) is destroyed as a result of battle I may special summon one level four or lower Cyber Shadow from my deck to the field." He slapped a card down and a short cloth-covered warrior appeared on his field in a crouching position. "Cyber Shadow-Assassin (1000/800) in defense mode."

Bolt shrugged. "I'm still far in the lead in every aspect. End turn."

Ichigo drew. "You're not completely right. From my hand I play the equipment magic card Electric Animators." The form of his Shifter appeared on the field in a crouching position. "When played this card can special summon one monster from my graveyard to the field in defense mode. It cannot switch modes, so you're in no danger…from it at least."

Bolt narrowed his eyes. "Then why summon it?"

"Because it's time to bring out the big boys!" Ichigo held up a card from his hand. "Activate Polymerization! This magic card will fuse Cyber Shadow-Assassin and Cyber Shadow-Shifter together to create Cyber Shadow-Smoke Assassin!" (1500/800) The monster that formed was literally so vague that its real body was impossible to distinguish. All that could be told was that it was humanoid.

"That creature is so weak that why would I fear it?" Bolt pointed at Zaborg. "My Thunder Monarch alone is nearly completely immune to all effects."

"Almost doesn't mean all." Ichigo slid a card into his disk. "I activate the equipment magic card Special Operative Weapon-Breakdown Bow!" A sleek black bow appeared in the hands of the smoky being on his field. "This card will raise my monster's attack power up by 700 points." (2200/800)

"Not enough to be a threat." Bolt repeated.

"You're dead wrong. I discard one magic card from my hand to use the effect of Breakdown Bow! Now I destroy one magic or trap card in play!" The Smoke Assassin pulled back the bowstring and a glowing arrow appeared in it. It let loose and the arrow flew across the field to pierce the Thunder Buildup card and blow it apart. "Smoke Assassin special ability activate now! When any equipment card equipped to this monster destroys a card on my opponent's field, I may destroy one more card of the same type!" The Tempest Zone card shattered. "Smoke Assassin, attack Mirage Swordsman!" The Assassin dissipated and the Mirage Swordsman fell to the ground dead. Then it reappeared back on Ichigo's field.

Bolt- 3500

Ichigo- 2100

Bolt grimaced and drew a card. "As before, when a Mirage Swordsman is destroyed as a result of battle I draw one card."

Ichigo nodded and played a card onto his disk. "I end my turn by summoning Cyber Shadow-Relay (0/1600) in defense mode." A robot on tank treads with a satellite dish on top of its head appeared on the field.

Bolt drew. "It's time to destroy you already. I discard one card from my hand to activate the magic card Lightning Vortex! Now all attack mode monsters on your field will be destroyed!" Bolts of lightning rained down from the sky and blew Ichigo's two monsters apart, covering his field in a veil of smoke. "Now feel the wrath of Zaborg! Thunder Crash!" The monarch lifted its arms and released a wave of lightning that flew into the smoke veil.

When the smoke cleared Ichigo brushed his shoulder off. "Did I forget to mention that during the turn that Smoke Assassin is sent to the graveyard that all battle damage to me is zero?"

Bolt growled and slid a card into his disk. "I set one card face-down and end my turn."

"It's my turn now! Draw!" Ichigo snapped the top card off of his deck. "Activate Pot of Greed! I draw two cards." He looked at the four cards in his hand and then inserted two into his arm slot. "I set two cards and play the continuous magic card Mirage of Nightmare. Then I summon Cyber Shadow-Shield Bearer (0/2400) in defense mode. End turn." A warrior holding a huge riot shield in front of it appeared on the field in a crouching position.

Bolt grimaced and drew. ("I already know that one of those two face-down cards must be Emergency Provisions.")

"During your standby phase I draw…"

"You draw nothing!" Bolt pointed at his set card. "Reveal Raigeki Break! By discarding one card from my hand I can destroy a card on the field. So I destroy Mirage of Nightmare before you can draw any cards!" A bolt of lightning flew out of the face-up trap and shattered Ichigo's card. "Then I play the field magic card Thunder Zone! This raises the attack power of all Thunder monsters by 500 points!" (3200/1000) "Thunder Crash!" Zaborg released a blast of lightning that blew the shield-carrying monster apart. "End turn."

Ichigo stood there quietly, his eyes wide. That was the first time ever that someone had stopped him from using Mirage of Nightmare. ("This guy isn't any ordinary duelist…") He looked down at his deck. "Here goes nothing. Draw!" The drawn card shimmered in the night. ("Alright…let's see how you deal with this.") "I activate Card of Sanctity! Now we both draw until we hold six cards in our hand!" He snapped six cards off of his deck and so did Bolt. "Now it's a whole new ball game! I activate The Warrior Returning Alive to pick up Cyber Shadow-Assassin!" He caught the card as it was spat out of his graveyard and added it to his hand.

Bolt narrowed his eyes. ("Why bring that piece of trash back?")

Ichigo held up another card. "Activate Fusion Return! This magic card lets me pick up one Polymerization card from my graveyard and add it to my hand!" He caught the said card and added it to his hand.

"So you plan on fusing another monster?" Bolt growled. "I'll crush it like all the others."

"We'll see about that!" Ichigo's Duel Arm opened a slot near the elbow joint. "I activate the field magic card Fusion Gate! As long as this card is in play we both can fuse without Polymerization! So I remove Cyber Shadow-Assassin, Cyber Shadow-Soldier (1600/1600) and Cyber Shadow-Blademaster (2000/1600) to special summon Cyber Shadow-Lord of Knives!" (2800/2300) A black trench-coat wearing warrior with a beard appeared on his field.

"Lord of Knives?" Bolt remembered that this card had been mentioned to him once.

"That's right! One of my most powerful fusions! Lord of Knives' special ability destroys one magic or trap card and one monster when he is summoned!" The warrior flicked his hands and both the Lightning Matrix and Zaborg were destroyed.

"Zaborg has been destroyed?" Bolt couldn't believe that his mighty monarch had fallen so easily.

"I'm not done yet! Lord of Knives attacks your life points directly!" The warrior struck a pose and then snapped his arm towards the other duelist.

Bolt was pummeled with knives and sent to his knees.

Bolt- 700

Ichigo- 2100

Ichigo slid a card into his disk. "I set one card face-down and end my turn."

Bolt slowly stumbled to his feet. "You're good…but I'm better! Draw!" He looked at the drawn card and started to laugh crazily.

"What are you laughing about?" Ichigo narrowed his eyes slightly.

"I'm laughing because you're finished! First I play the quickplay magic card De-Fusion!" Bolt slammed the card into his disk and snickered. "This card will force your fusion back down into its base pieces. But since those pieces are in your removed from play pile, all you do is lose the fusion!" Lord of Knives turned into a ball of light and then blew apart.

Ichigo clenched his fist. ("He's prepared for me. I doubt De-Fusion is part of his normal deck.")

Bolt chuckled and slapped a card down. "I summon Thunder Nyan-Nyan!" (1900/900) A cat-girl with a drum appeared on the field. "And then I play the equipment magic card Thunder Drum! This card only can be equipped to Thunder Nyan-Nyan!" The drums around the cat-girl's neck doubled in size. "This card allows her to attack twice and also deal damage through defense! Double Drum Roll!"

Ichigo gritted his teeth and pointed at one of his set cards. "I reveal the quickplay magic card Safeguard! This will protect me from one attack!"

Thunder Nyan-Nyan meowed cutely and started beating on the drum. A steel shield appeared in front of Ichigo and blocked the first wave of destructive sound, but the second blew the shield apart and it washed over Ichigo.

Bolt- 700

Ichigo- 200

Bolt shrugged and slid two cards into his disk. "I set two cards face-down on the field. End turn."

Ichigo looked down at his deck….and drew. "I don't know who prepared you for me, but let's how you deal with something you've never seen before. Reveal Return from the Different Dimension! This card requires half of my life points but lets me special summon as many removed from play monsters as I can!" The forms of Assassin, Soldier and Blademaster reappeared on his field. "Go Polymerization!" The three monsters were pulled into a vortex and the Lord of Knives emerged. "Lord of Knives special ability go!" The warrior flicked its wrist and the Thunder Nyan-Nyan and one of the two set cards were torn to shreds.

Bolt shook his head sadly. "You just did exactly what I knew you would do! Reveal Emergence of the Thunder Monarch! This trap triggers when a Thunder monster on my field is destroyed. I may discard a card from my hand to special summon Zaborg the Thunder Monarch to my field from the graveyard. Also, I may discard an additional card to activate its effect." A blast of lightning exploded from his graveyard and slammed into the Lord of Knives, blowing it apart. Then the lightning arched around the field and slammed down onto his monster zone, where it turned into the Thunder Monarch. "You're finished. Just surrender and I'll be taking back my arm and all things in it. This of course includes your deck. Don't worry though, because that deck is a hindrance to you. After all, I knew how to counter everything you used in it."

"Are you so sure about that?" Ichigo smirked and held up the drawn card. "My card combo is almost done! But first let me show you my physical avatar!" He slapped the card onto his disk. "Come out now, Brave Wolf Swordsman!" (1400/1200) The warrior that appeared on the field looked just like Ichigo, except it was dressed in archaic armor and had a longsword at its side.

"Brave Wolf Swordsman?" Bolt stared at the new monster. ("I was never told he had anything like that in his deck…")

Ichigo pointed at his remaining set card. "Reveal Hero's Shield!" The card flipped up and blew apart, reforming into a mirror-like shield around the arm of the Brave Wolf Swordsman. "Now attack his Zaborg!" Lifting its sword, the warrior charged.

"Are you out of your mind?" Bolt frowned. "My monster will crush yours." Zaborg lifted a hand and lightning arched out of it towards the Brave Wolf Swordsman. "You're finished."

The Brave Wolf Swordsman skidded to a stop and lifted the shield. It caught the lightning blast and reflected it back at Zaborg, blowing the monarch apart. Then the shield itself exploded into dust.

Bolt nearly face-fell. "What the hell was that?"

"Hero's Shield destroys whatever monster Brave Wolf Swordsman battles with." Ichigo smirked and his physical avatar smirked as well.

"But why wasn't your monster destroyed?"

"Because Brave Wolf Swordsman cannot be destroyed as a result of battle! Now Hero's Shield allows my monster to attack once more when it is destroyed! Go Hero's Slash!" The warrior leapt into the air with an echoing battle cry and came down right in front of Bolt.

The lightning duelist turned pale as the Brave Wolf Swordsman smirked at him right before it slashed its sword across his chest.

Bolt- 0

Ichigo- 100

Bolt fell to his knees and stared up at the ceiling of the room. "How could I have lost? My deck was fully prepared for nearly every card you had…"

Ichigo removed his deck from the Duel Arm and shuffled it, placing it in his shirt pocket. "Sorry if you thought that pre-planning would help you beat me. Maybe that'll teach you to just go into a battle with your own personal cards rather than some cards just because they are necessary for you to 'win'." He waved with the metal Duel Arm and grinned. "And thanks for the gift, by the way."

Bolt growled and held up a small remote. "If you think I'm letting you take that, you're wrong." He pressed down on a button on the remote.

Ichigo was sent stumbling forwards as the window and wall behind him exploded. "What in the hell was that?"

Bolt's eyes widened. "But the explosive charge I stuck to the arm…"

Ichigo thought for a few seconds and then snapped his new steel fingers together. "Oh yeah! That thing caught on my finger and I flicked it away. Doesn't that stink?"

The boy hopped up and shoved Ichigo back a couple of steps. "DIE!" He pressed another button and Ichigo heard a beep come from the back that he was now standing on. And then everything went up in an explosion of flame and dust.

Bolt was thrown against the back wall. He quickly got back onto his feet and sneered calmly. "Farewell. And I bet that Nevan has finished off that demon bitch too. North School will reign supreme at the meet, since the best duelists of this school will have been disabled." He threw back his head and laughed wildly.

His laughter died short when he heard footsteps within the smoke cloud that had been caused by the explosion. "Impossible…"

Ichigo, his hair and irises night black, stepped into view. "What was that about Eri?"

---

Nevan smiled coldly and whispered into Eri's ear. "I suggest you bite your tongue…or have you forgotten that you just lost a darkness game to me." Placing one of her spiked heels on Eri's back, she used the demoness as leverage to pull her whip tighter.

Clutching at the whip, Eri closed her eyes and felt everything start to go dark. ("Ichigo…")

Nevan tapped her chin with her free hand. "Perhaps I should turn you into a dog? Or maybe I'll just flay you apart?"

Eri choke-snarled and dug her claws into the whip, trying to tear it apart.

Nevan noticed this and her eyes turned cold. "Never…ever….mess with my whip!" Her spiked heel removed itself from Eri's back and she pulled the demoness onto her back. Without the slightest hesitation Nevan slammed her heel down into the center of Eri's chest, the heel piercing through skin and muscle. It only stopped when it tapped the bone of Eri's ribs. "Do I make myself perfectly clear?"

Eri gasped in pain and tried to make a move against her attacker…but found all of the strength in her limbs gone.

"You can't fight me. I beat you in the darkness game, so you are unable to physically injure me if I will it." The blond-haired girl pushed her heel in deeper. "I've decided what I am going to do with you. Let's see how well you do without something that I'm sure has kept you alive for all of this time."

The demoness felt pain spike through her body in ways that she never had through possible. It was like every inch of her was being drained of its life.

Nevan shuddered at the delicious groans of pain she heard. "Keep it up…I love the sound…of your…" Suddenly she screamed in pain as she felt her back actually indent into a tree. Something like a steel clamp was squeezing her neck roughly. "What…." Her eyes came back into focus and she met a pair of cold, dark irises.

Ichigo held Nevan against the tree, which was located about twenty feet from Eri. "Are you going to remove your penalty game now? Or will I get the pleasure of tearing out your fingernails one at a time?"

Eri slowly rolled over and coughed up some blood, her eyes watching Ichigo. ("Is this the Dark Halo that I heard my father talk about? It's made him so cold….so angry…") The pain in her chest was forgotten as her heart fluttered at the dark tone in Ichigo's voice.

Nevan gasped for air and kicked Ichigo in the ribs a couple of times. The half demon responded by slamming her body much harder against the tree. ("What is this guy?")

Ichigo heard Eri's breathing and felt slightly more relieved. "Since she seems unharmed I won't torture you…much. Maybe you'll get off with nothing if you undo the damage I know you have caused."

Nevan smirked enough to reveal a glistening elongated canine tooth. "Kill me and what has happened to her will never be repaired. Then again though, why would you even want a girl like her? She's soft. I on the other hand am very powerful." Her hand snapped up and grabbed Ichigo's metal wrist, squeezing.

The half demon lifted his eyebrows slightly as her actually heard the servos in the arm strain to fight back against the girl's grip. He waited a few moments, and then stopped her efforts by throwing her to the ground at his side. "What did you do to her?" A glowing bead of energy charged up at his fingertip. "I suggest you tell me now. Or else I'll blow that pretty head of yours right off."

Nevan stood up and brushed herself off. "Why don't you take a look at her for yourself? I promise to be a good girl and not run away." She lewdly winked at him, and his reply was to grab her by the throat and lift her up into the air. Then he turned around to look at Eri.

And he nearly dropped Nevan in surprise. The girl who was still kneeling on the ground was nearly Eri…except that she lacked that energy that Ichigo knew too well. Her ears were gone…her claws were so short they could almost be…

Nevan was suddenly flying through the air, before she hit the ground and skidded out of control. That stopped when she hit a boulder. A few moments later she stood up and brushed herself off. "I see you figured it out." Her new blond wolf ears perked slightly and she calmly smiled.

Ichigo calmly walked across the thirty foot expanse between them with murder in his eyes. "Return her demon blood before I rip you open and manually get every drop back."

The new demoness giggled and pouted. "But don't I look…" She went silent as a small ball of energy flew past her head and turned the boulder behind her into dust particles.

"One…" Ichigo moved his hand slightly so that it was pointing directly at her. "Two…." A new bead developed at the tip of his finger. "Three…." The bead grew bigger. "Four…."

Nevan's tail curled around her waist and she shivered. She didn't want to give back what she had earned fair and square. "I don't want to!"

Arches of electricity crackled along Ichigo's form. "Five." The bead fired from his finger with the force of a bullet.

Nevan flinched…but blinked in surprise when she saw someone step in front of her and casually backhand the blast away.

Ichigo looked just as surprised. "And just who are you?"

The interfering person was a young man in a black muscle shirt with long jacket and black pants. His eyes and hair were both a strange reddish-black color. "I am Vincent."

Nevan clapped her hands together excitedly and glomped onto the boy. "Vincy!"

Vincent smiled slightly. "Looking good babe."

Nevan grinned and hugged him tighter.

Ichigo growled low in his throat and cracked his knuckles. "I don't know who you are…but I suggest you tell her to restore Eri's demon blood."

Nevan slid off of Vincent and the dark-clothed boy slid into a fighting stance. "I'll tell you what…if you can make me move five feet from this spot, I'll tell her to restore the bitch's blood."

Ichigo closed his eyes and sighed. "Don't cry when I make a fool out of you."

To be continued…

Author's Notes: Excuse that this chapter is a little later than the first three. I'm still accepting character submissions, by the way.

To Raine Vindicare: Indeed…Nevan is North School's Eri.

To Grizzly Under There: Meh…..

To D.D. Dragonknight: It's a good set of cards….but I'm not sure if I really want to use it. I'll put it in the candidate files.

To queenofgames90: Maybe….I'm not sure.

To Justin: In his duel against Kenshin he used Hell Envy (One of the sins) and Hell Vanguard (Not a sin but part of that family).

To Dais: You could make that your catch phrase…but it isn't that original. I've heard many people use it before.

To Vyser Adept of Dragons: An annoyance deck? Errr……that's stall. Writing stall gives me headaches and clogs down the chapter.

To scapegoat: Going straight to the candidate folder. Scapegoat deck is a funny thing.

To omegadramon: I'll consider it, but Replica still takes the cake for deck copying….

To Esyphelon: It isn't that. It's the fact that those two don't make any thematic sense in the same deck.

To Seeker of the Soul: Characters from you are always welcome.

To Hogwarts-Knight: Chaos did kill her. You have been corrected.

To whitewolf: Disabled duelists are hard to do….and not in the hard way that makes them interesting. I prefer for someone's personality to highlight them, not their disability.

To Aremen: Exactly right. The Extraordinary Eight are very tough.

To Gryphinwyrm: He's gone into the candidate files. I'm not sure whether I could run that deck though…just because it is a totally original deck that I didn't make up.

To G.O.T. Nick: I received Giyan and will see if I can use your Balance cards.

To WOLFY: Sestros cannot die. Hence you waste your efforts trying to do so.

To Rex: Ichigo's a cowboy?

To Grisham: This guy sounds so quirky that he's going into the candidate files.

To adanaC: Another entry for the candidate files.

To Isumo: One of these days Daniel will settle the score with Kaiba. I don't know when…or where….but it will happen.

To Botox: No. I named him that because it was suggested by a good friend. I later learned what it meant.

To falcon demon general: She's gotten jacked….that she has.

To Sinisterlaw: Rebecca moved to New York and became a famous clothing designer. Her son Richard Pilkington believes that Ichigo's Cyber Shadows are the prime rivals of his Divine Agents.