Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh, but I do own the characters that you don't recognize.

Chapter 8: The return of the Harpie Duelist

"Are you sure this is the guy?" a man wearing a black cloak faced another man, one with silver hair, and asked this question.

"Perfectly sure, that boy is no doubt the Savior of your people, all you have to do is challenge him and you'll see." the silver haired man smiled as he relayed the information to the cloaked man.

Both of the men were discussing the matter of the Savior of the "Perfect" race. It was directly after the match that Shisei Aragashi, the best friend of the "Savior," Kou. And the silver haired man, as most would expect, was none other than Higentaka Osmos, one of the top 20 duelists in the world, he was somewhere around number 14. The cloaked man, who sounded extremely disgruntled at the fact that the Savior was such and idiot, was about 5'6'' or so, with nothing visible on him other that his hands and a duel disk.

"Alright, just make sure you tell him to go to the area, then I'll test him, and if your wrong about him, then it'll be your life on the line as well!" the man threatened, but it was an empty threat, the man knew it he just hoped Higentaka didn't know about the mystical magic that could evoke a Shadow game. Higentaka only smiled and stood up, not seeming to hear the other man's threat.

"Trust me, you won't lose your "race"." he stated. And with the smallest bit of acknowledgement to hearing this, the clad in cloak figure left into the darkness of the night.


"Alright every one, as you can see, the next few matches have been posted…. "

Mai vs. Samos- Round 42 (note, there are side rounds after the first three matches, but they involve insignificant duelists… insignifigant in this story, anyway.)

Stopper vs. Clan- Round 43

Namia vs. Underground- Round 44

"And now that you've seen the next three matches, you shouldn't be surprised that we are beginning to cycle back through, soon only two duelists will be left, until that time, make sure you stay in the stadium." the announcer stated. "And now let the next match begin… as soon as the duelists enter the arena!" the announcer finished sheepishly. Samos was already there, looking extremely disgruntled, having to wait for the female duelist.

"Just disqualify her, she's taking to long!" he shouted angrily to the official rule man (forgot what their called, but the guy/girl that tells what will work and makes sure the LP adjustments are good)

"We have to wait the full 10 minutes, if she's not here in 3 more minutes, she's disqualified." stated the man, looking disgruntled himself.

"Sorry for making you wait, boys." An exact replica of the perfect model, only with slightly less expensive clothing appeared. The woman known as Mai Valentine, in her usual purple and white attire, hopped into the duel arena, smiling as her duel disk sent out the holo projectors. "But now I'm ready to duel." she finished. Both men had forgotten about the duel as the "goddess" walked into the arena, but now Samos was ready and waiting.

"Hey, I'd hate to make such a pretty chick lose, so why don't you just forfeit, and I'll meet you up in my room!" Samos winked at the blond. Some people booed, others (mostly other guys) cheered and clapped. But Mai only narrowed her eyes.

"I'm going to make a deal with you." she stated mischievously. Samos raised an eyebrow. "If you actually manage to deal me some LP damage, and I still sustain it by time the duel ends, then I'll humor you after the match." she winked a bit of her own before continuing. "But if you don't… then I want your rarest card, got that?" she questioned. Samos looked at her for a moment. He was nothing special, just your average jersey wearing college student, he was average height for his age, about 5'6" and had a bowl bang haircut. So this deal sounded incredible to him.

"Your on!" he smiled, and the duel began.


Meanwhile, Kouichi Nandao was waving a fan over his best friend's face, and hoping to revive him. "Sei, hello, anybody in there, Sei?" he questioned the body of a blond, shorter than most boys his age, boy. He was about to call it a lost cause and just leave him fainted outside of the stadium, but suddenly, Sei's eyes snapped open, looking directly into Kou's. "AGGH!" Kou yelled as he stumbled back from the shock of seeing the boy revive in an instant. "Whoa, warn me before you do something like that." he stated, but smiled none the less.

"Osmos." Sei said, sitting up. Kou cocked his head to the side, wondering why Sei would so suddenly say the name of his own personal rival (or at least that's how he thought of him.) Then Kou was practically forced to jump out of his skin again, as he heard and icy voice from behind him.

"Hello there, Mr. Nandao, Mr. Aragashi." the voice, as Sei had said, belonged to none other than the silver haired man himself. Shisei got up and glowered at the man. Ever since Shisei had seen Kou beaten and a man dragged into the Shadow Realm (though he didn't know that's what it was) he had the worst opinion of the crafty man.

"Hello, Mr. Osmos, how may we be of service to you?" questioned Shisei, with a tone of equal coldness.

"Do I detect a hint of malice, Mr. Aragashi?" he questioned, he leaned forward, getting right in Sei's face. Shisei's confidence seemed not to stretch far enough to respond, fortunately, Kou was brave enough to lend him a hand.

"You can detect whatever you want, doesn't mean its right!" Kou stated, he, for the first time in a while, prepared to unsheathe the blue dragon blade that he always carried with him, and had deemed, Blue Sorrow.

"Now now Mr. Nandao, please be civil, I'm not meaning to raise arguments are anything of the sort, I just wanted to inform you two of the extreme danger that your friend Namia is in." Higentaka stated, as calmly as though he was requesting a drink at a restaurant.

Kou immediately removed his hand from the sword, and Shisei stood up, glaring at the taller man angrily. "What- Did- You- DO!" Shisei questioned. He then did something very odd for him, he grabbed the man's collar, with mad, crazy thoughts in his head.

"Put me down, and I'll tell you." Higentaka stated, though he already had both of his feet on the ground (Shisei just isn't strong at all!) he liked to show exactly how much power he had to the foolish mortals, even when they had some ability. Sei obliged and backed up, looking a slight bit taller that before, he glared at the man named Higentaka Osmos.

"Alright, were listening." Kou said, rejoining his best friend.

"Now your female friend is being held hostage by a certain cult-" he was interrupted by and angry comment from Kou.

"You founded it, right?" he glared, Higentaka only smiled and continued.

"And because this cult thinks that you, Mr. Nandao, from watching your duels, are the savior of their dying race, they wish to test your leadership skills, so if you go to the Railway on the old Shinto pass, you'll find their leader, awaiting a duel." Higentaka stopped smiling. "I just thought I could be of some help." he flipped his silver hair, and turned and left the surrounding area.

"Well, I know where the Railway is, now the question is whether to believe him or not." Sei stated, he had been making a mental map of the place as he arrived on the bus the afternoon before. "But then again, if Namia is in danger, we should be able to save her in a duel." he pondered, not noticing that Kou had already started for the Railway. He looked up to ask Kou's opinion… "HEY, KOUUU!" he yelled running after his best friend.


"I'll start by summoning Harpies Brother (1800/600) in attack mode, and I'll set two cards facedown, now try and get at my life points!" Mai stated, as she readied herself for her opponent's, Samos', attack. "Oh, before I forget, I'll also activate Pot of Greed." she finished by nonchalantly sliding two cards from her deck

"With pleasure, toots, Now I'll Summon, Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer (1800/700), in attack mode, and I'll lay one card face down." he motioned for Mai, the "toots" to make the next move.

Mai drew, then she smiled happily. "Alright , buddy boy, now meet my second Harpies Brother (1800/600) in attack mode, and now I'll activate, Aqua Chorus!" she continue the almost evil smirk at the poor unsuspecting Samos.

"So what, did you forget, I set a card as well, and it just so happens to be the card that can save me from your monsters." he stated.

"You don't even know what my trap card does, do you?" Mai questioned with a frown on her face. When Samos thought, for a while, he came up with the answer… no. Mai sighed. "I'm going to have to tell you then, now won't I?" she smiled once again and motioned to her Harpies Brothers. "Whenever there are two or more monsters of the same name on the field, each and every one of those monsters… Get a 500 attack point boost!" she smiled as both of her monster's attack power jumped up. "Now get ready for another great card, one I like to call, Harpie's Feather Duster!" she slid the card into her duel disk and let its effect pass over her opponent's facedown card, which was immediately destroyed. "Next, I'll play the field magic card, Rising air Current, Increasing the attack of all wind monsters by 500 points, though it decreases their defense by 400 points." A gale suddenly picked up, and the duelists were left trying to hang on to their cards as much as possible. "Finally, I'll play fissure, destroying your last defense, now my monsters, direct attack!" Mai shouted triumphantly. The monsters charged in, and gave a few good slashes and pecks to their mistresses' opponent, and smiled while doing so.

Mai-8000

Samos-3200

Samos gulped, and drew his card.


"This has got to be it." stated Shisei, as he looked up at an old, rickety railway station, it had numerous faults and was falling apart, but the boys had found it.

"Welcome, our dear Savior!" came a voice, suddenly, light filled the area, and the two boys realized they were surrounded by men in dark, dank looking cloaks. "I wouldn't try and escape, if I were you." a certain cloaked figure walked from behind a couple of barrels, he was the only one of the lunatics that wore a duel disk. Kou, seeing this, readied his own. "Ah, you've heard of the situation, no doubt?" said the man, as he stepped closer.

"Yeah, and if I win our duel, then you let Namia come with us, to the safety of the tournament, got it?" it was stated as though a demand, not a question. The figure smiled maliciously, suddenly, Kou and the figure were alone, in a sphere of darkness. "WHAT THE FU?" this was a loud question, but a question none the less.

"You've been brought into the Shadow Realm, a dimension where the stakes of the duels can become incomprehensible, are you sure you still want to duel?" he snickered a bit at the look on Kou's face.

"Yeah, I'll duel you, no matter what, I will get Namia back!" he stated, as fierce as a lion in this matter. "So get ready, cause I'm going to chop you down!" he drew his five cards.

"Yes, and if you lose," he removed his hood to reveal a skull. "THEN I GET YOUR BODY AND SOUL!" the skull screeched. Kou yelped in surprise, and then steadied his cards as the skull prepared to duel.


"Whoa, I really didn't expect you to do this badly, badly, yes, but this is just shocking." Mai stated, watching the boy struggle with his decision of what to do.

"If you continue to mock me, I'll just have to finish you off, I'll activate, Cost down, and summon Labrinth Wall (0/3000) in attack mode, and I'll equip him with Magical Labyrinth, and set one card face down, your move." Samos stated, confident that this strategy would work.

Mai drew. "Sorry to disappoint you, but your plans are going to go down hill, now I'll summon, Cyber Harpie (1800/1300), and the bonus gives her a higher attack, combo that with Cyber Shield and Black Pendant, and my monster has a total attack of 3300!" the audience stared in awe as Mai finished her power ups, and got ready for her onslaught. "Now my monsters, devastated him!" she shouted in enthusiasm.

"Nice try toots but I'm activating my Negate Attack trap, now your battle phase is negated!" Samos breathe a sigh of relief as he drew his next card. Mai only shrugged and tapped her foot impatiently as Samos drew. "Aha! Now I have the card that can defeat you! Behold, Shield and Sword!" he smirked at his "incredible move", and the attack and defense values of the monster's switched. "Now I'll activate and equipment magic card of my own Twin Swords of Flashing Light – Tryce!" two glowing blades, crackling with lightning, embedded themselves into the labyrinth, and glowed with energy. "Now my Labriynth can attack twice in the same battle phase, at the cost of 500 of it's attack points, and now I'll summon, Great Angus (1800/600) in attack mode, now my Labyrinth Wall shall attack your two Harpies Brothers (200/2700)!" the glowing swords sent surges of lightning down the path of the arena, towards the brothers, who jumped the lightning, but were cornered as the Wall stretched limitlessly to the sky, and they were soon crushed, trying to escape. "Now my Angus (1800/600) will tear your Cyber Harpie (900/3200) apart!" the beast ferociously slashed the female harpie into cold cuts. "Looks like I'll be in the finals and get some action, huh?" he smirked and ended his turn. Mai didn't seem to care though, she just drew.

Mai-2500

Samos-3400

"Alright, laughing boy, now I'm really going to show you!" Mai drew, she slapped the card down emotionlessly. "Now I play Replay, and split my LP to reuse Pot of Greed!" she drew twice more, silently hoping… She smiled so widely that she could have split her face that moment. "Now I'll summon, White Magician Pikeru (1200/0) in defense mode, and then I'll activate, Card of Demise, which lets me draw five cards, only in five turns, I discard my hand, not like it matters." Mai stated, she drew and the smile only grew. "Now I'll activate, Dian Keto the Cure Master, and Poison of the old man, to increase my LP by 2200, and end my turn with one card facedown." Mai smiled as the duel seemed to be going her way again.

Mai-3750

Samos-3400

"It won't matter, you'll lose your midgician (get it, midget, and magician? HAHAHAHA! I crack my self up!) as soon as I attack!" Samos drew and set the card. "Now my creature, attack that Pikeru!" the Angus rushed forward, only to be met by a symbol of a hero.

"What's your rush, you don't want to play a little?" Mai asked maliciously. "Now I activate, A Hero Emerges, this trap means you get to pick a card from my hand, and if that card is a monster, its summoned and can take your attack, if not, then I discard it." Mai stated simply. Samos swore under his breath and chose the right card. "Sorry sugar, but you chose my Harpies Pet Dragon (2500/2100) and he also gets the bonus!" Mai blew a kiss as Great Angus was blown away by the dragon's furiously beating wings. "Now its my turn, and you'll see the true power of my deck!" Mai stated, as she drew her next card, not caring about Samos switching his Labyrinth Wall (0/3000) into defense mode. "And since Pikeru's effect gives me 400 LP for each monster I have during my standby phase, your not going to see me after the match!" she laughed hysterically as the score readjusted.

Mai-4550

Samos-2800

Samos gulped once again.

To be continued…

Next time: Kou starts the match against a man that has deemed himself "The Skull" and is immediately in the lead, but the dark power of the Shadow Realm has a few surprises for Kou. Plus, Mai and Samos continue, the duel being locked in fierce LP gain and Drop, who's going to win? Find out next time on Duel Monsters Maximum!