Author's Notes: Now for the conclusion of last chapter's duel and more plot development, and perhaps more dueling! Just wait and see!

Chapter Eight: To Rise Or Fall?

"You said we had a way to get back to that island. But, it's not like we have a plane or anything, and waiting at the dock won't help." This wasn't the first time Serenity had questioned him about this, but Drake wasn't bothered. He merely continued to lean forward against the bar that stopped people from falling into the water below. The dock was so similar to the one in Domino that he remembered....

"Just wait. Our ride is coming, look out there." Serenity leaned forward as well, and after a little bit of searching she managed to spot a medium sized stream-lined boat heading towards the dock. It was a simple white color, and the pilot's quarters were covered up so that the pilot couldn't be seen. But Drake knew who the pilot was, he knew quite well.

A few minutes later the thirty foot yacht came to a full stop by the dock, and the engine went off. The pilot's door opened up, and out stepped a woman with chestnut brown hair and cerulean blue eyes. She was gorgeous, or at the very least that was Drake's opinion. Serenity risked a glance at his face and saw goofy grin there. She sighed and shook her head. "Just no way to compete...."

"Huh? Did you say something Serenity?" She shook her head, and with that he turned his attention back to Kirani Kajika, the beautiful duelist that Drake had been pining over since the two first met, back before Battle City even began. He had even risked his life and his soul in order to save her. As a matter of fact, he had been clinically dead in order to save her. Actually, clinically dead twice. How could she compete with that?

"Hey there strangers! Need a lift?" Drake grinned and waved back at Kirani, the two grinning like little kids. Serenity sighed yet again and headed for the boat, knowing this was the only way to get where they were going. She casually greeted Kirani, and then waited as Drake drove his Kawazaki onto the yacht. It was time to be off.

"It's been a while hasn't it? Guess we've got some catching up to do don't we." The young brunette girl put her head in her palm and sighed for the third or fourth time in the past few minutes, she hadn't really been counting. This was going to be a long ride, that was for sure.
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"So, this plane takes us to the location given on the card, and then we do what? Is there someone else we have to meet, or something like that?" Autumn couldn't really answer Ryu's question, so she just shrugged. After they had departed, things had been pretty quiet. She had looked over Ryu's deck, and the two had discussed a few strategies that they might use, but other than that they hadn't been able to figure out anything new.

"What do you think we'll have to expect from this place?" This time it was Ryu's turn to shrug, and then all was silent again. What more could they say? For all they knew they were heading towards certain doom with no way of fending for themselves. Ryu grimaced and clenched his gauntleted fist, knowing that soon they'd confront real danger.

Hopefully he'd be able to protect Autumn. He hadn't been able to protect Hinata, he hadn't been there for her at all, and now she was gone. These people, whoever they were, were going to pay! "Soon, I'm going to get revenge." XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"All of them are so damned easy to manipulate that it's not really any fun at all. Everything falls into place without the slightest bit of real effort on our part, and what do we get? Nothing! I want to crush one of them already!" The brown robed man's companions sighed at his ranting, irritated that yet again he was complaining.

There was a slight pause as the man in black cocked his head to the side as if listening to something. Then he chuckled and spoke up. "No time to argue, the priests are calling us. It seems that they've found the first half, and they require us to be prepared. Three sendings are already on their way to try and locate and bring in the other half as well as the first half."

The one in brown blew up at this. "Three! They send a bunch of idiot sendings to do this and not us? Damnit! You know what, to make myself feel better I'm going to call Bush and tell him to pardon Saddam. That'll be all kinds of funny." The other two once again rolled their eyes.

"Get over yourself. This kind of power has gone to your head. Now let's get going." The man in brown growled but allowed his power to take hold of him, and he disappeared in a gust of wind. The one in black burst into smoke and faded away, and the white robed one dissolved into sand and slid into the ground. It took only a few seconds, and then there was no sign that they had ever been there.
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Kai couldn't believe what he was seeing. This Rose girl had just blown away the last chance for Dalin staying alive in this duel, and now she had five monsters staring down his completely empty field. And without Sanctity of the Buried in the cemetery, Dalin couldn't negate the attack in that manner. He was going to lose...and that meant his soul would be lost as well. "Dalin....no...."

"Ready sugar? This is the end of your life, and more women will be safe because of it. So say goodbye to your last life points and your very soul, because you're about to feel the forces of seventy-seven hundred attack points, way more than enough to defeat you! Now my plants, exterminate Dalin Imaki Sumatin, strip him of his life and soul once and for all! ATTACK HIM DIRECTLY!" The five sets of monsters launched their attacks directly at Dalin, and there was nothing between them and his life points. The duel was about to end.

"Have you forgotten what I said? I can't lose!" He clenched his fists and readied himself, a blue aura erupting from his body and swirling around to form a barrier between him and the oncoming attacks. At least that's what it looked like to Kai. But just as quickly as the barrier had formed, it swarmed inwards and slammed into Dalin's chest, lifting him partially off his feet.

Then each and every attack collided into him, vine whips slapping at his chest and face, a razor sharp palmetto blade slashing into his chest, and a deadly plant mouth gripping his middle and tossing him into the air. He came down hard and fast, slamming into the ground with a great deal of force. He let out a groan, blood started to appear beneath him in a little puddle. But he pushed himself back up to his feet and turned to face Rose once again.

"You really need to get over yourself. You can't lose? Ha! Just take a look at your life points, you just did! One hundred life points isn't enough to take seventy-seven hundred points of damage. It's over, you've lost!" Dalin just smirked and raised his duel disk to display the glowing numbers that indicated his remaining life points. (DLP: 300)

"But...how is that possible?! How did you survive that and increase your life points at the same time! You didn't even have any cards left on the field to stop me!" The angel duelist ejected a card from his cemetery for a moment, and then flipped it around. It showed a balance scale with Earth on one side, and a ticking time bomb on the other. The text at the top in Egyptian, just like many of Dalin's other cards, showed it's name. Justice For All.

"You made it all possible Rose. By playing Palmetto Girl you got Mystical Space Typhoon to get rid of my face down card. On the other hand you also allowed me to draw one card, and that was Justice For All." She took a glance at her Palmetto Girl, but then turned her attention back to him again. She didn't understand how drawing that one card could have saved him in this duel. She wasn't alone either. Not only did Kai not recognize the name of the card, he couldn't see the card text from here.

"I'll make it easier for you to understand. Justice For All is a quick-play magic card that allows it to be played from my hand if it's the only card I hold. By it's effect I automatically set my life points at double their starting amount. That means I had eight thousand life points when your attacks connected. Subtract seventy-seven hundred attack from eight thousand and you get the three hundred points I have remaining." With that said he shoved the card back into his cemetery slot, before continuing to explain it. Kai knew there had to be more, as no card could be that strong.

"Justice For All is as it's name implies. It grants me the justice of increasing my life points, but grants you a similar one. This card is a two-edged sword, because at the beginning of each of my turns, before I draw, I lose half of my life points. So even if you don't inflict any life points of damage to me, I'd lose in nine turns as my life points can't be set at half a point. It also means that next turn I'll only have one hundred and fifty. Then the next is seventy-five, and so on. Can you beat me even though I have such a disadvantage, or are you not enough of a duelist?" His smirk returned as he said these words, obviously confident in his own prowess as a duelist to overcome her, even though his field was basically empty and he had no cards in his hand.

"I'll show you Dalin! Before your next turn is over I'll cut you down with ease, and I'll do it with this next card, which I set face down! I'll tell you right now that it's my Pesticide Bomb which will deal you damage equal to the number of plant monsters on my field times one hundred during each of your end phases! You can't win with only one hundred and fifty life points and a single turn, so just watch me win! It's over!" Her declaration meant the turn was over, and now it was off to Dalin.

He placed his finger tips on the top of his deck, ready to draw. As soon as he prepared to draw, the beginning of his turn was signaled, and the effect of Justice For All from his cemetery was activated. His life points trickled away even further, leaving him with the previously stated amount. "Rose, I guarantee that this duel will end in my battle phase! You won't last long enough to see my end phase appear!" (DLP: 150)

Neither Kai nor Rose could understand how Dalin could be so confident in this situation. How could one draw possibly give him everything he needed in order to win the duel before his turn could come to an end? Kai knew that Dalin was good, but could he possibly be that invincible? "What's he up to?"

"Rose. I can see it in your eyes. The pain of your past. And even through the haze of darkness that clouds my vision I can see the truth. My card is absolutely correct. Justice is for all. Not just for some. Therefore I swear to you that I will put right whatever injustice has been done to you, and I will allow you to trust again. When your soul next touches your body, I swear that I will show you that justice has been done. That is my promise, that I will grant you justice when next we meet! Now, I draw!" As soon as he pulled the card off his deck there was a pulsing, like that of a heartbeat.

The card in his hand started to take on a deep blue glow, similar to the energy that had surrounded Dalin when he had gained life points from Justice For All. The smirk gone from his face and replaced by one of supreme confidence the angel duelist raised his card up, showing it to Rose. It was a card with a blue background, and the picture was white with a blue Japanese symbol in the center. It was the symbol of, "Justice. That is my power, that is my promise. Now Go! Heart of Justice!"

The blue aura surrounded his body, placing that symbol of Justice upon his forehead, blanketing out the Seal of Orichalcos. "I refuse to accept the power of Orichalcos any longer, so I'll use the power of my Heart of Justice to transfer it to your side of the field! It will remain that way until it has been on your field for the same number of turns it has been on mine. That is justice!" Rose gasped as the entire Seal of Orichalcos seemed to rotate, and then the green energy formed the seal upon her, granting her and her monsters dark power.

"Now, I could summon one monster for every monster you've destroyed, but instead I think I'll just summon this one that I discarded with Graceful Charity. Come forth, Bright Life Giver(1000/1800)! Upon reaching the field it's effect increases my life points by seven hundred and will continue to do so in each turn!" Dalin's new monster was a sweet looking elderly woman with a holy glow surrounding her. (DLP: 850)

"Bright Life Giver, attack one of her dark Sunflower Ladies!" Bright Life Giver moved to attack, but Sunflower Lady instantly counterattacked with a vine whip barrage, shattering Bright Life Giver into pieces. Kai grimaced at the sight of Dalin's last monster shattering into pieces. Not only that, but because Sunflower Lady had gained dark power it had eighteen hundred attack points, meaning Dalin would lose more life points then he had gained from his now dead angel monster. (DLP: 50)

"Is that your plan Dalin? To defeat yourself before we reach the end phase? Have you so forgotten about my Pesticide Bomb that you think you can casually toss aside life points? No Dalin, you've already lost. Because Justice isn't blind, it has it's eye on you and the rest of mankind! And justice will be dealt!" As she spoke her trap card, Pestilence Bomb flipped up, ready to go off at the end of Dalin's turn. But it was still Dalin's battle phase, so perhaps he could still achieve what he had said before.

"Rose, Justice is blind. And I'm going to prove it. Now that you've destroyed one of my monsters while Heart of Justice is active I get to flip a coin. This coin will be the judge, jury, and potentially executioner of your monster. Sunflower Lady will be judged guilty or innocent by the flip of a coin. If heads, the verdict is innocent and your monster gets off scott free." Rose grimaced, knowing that the other outcome had to be bad for her. It couldn't possibly be simple, not with the power that Dalin had already talked about with the Heart of Justice.

"And if the verdict is guilty?" Dalin sighed and stared her straight in the eye with a look of comforting and solace. Rose gulped, trying to take in air as she desperately tried to explain the feeling of comfort that came with that look. She had never seen that look before....she had only imagined it was how her plants would look at her if they had eyes. They would all tell her that despite the pain, in the end everything would turn out right.

Those eyes of Dalin's, they didn't guarantee an absolute end to pain, just that he would be there to help ease it. He had sworn to bring her justice, and those eyes seemed to keep that promise. In that moment of staring into those eyes she already knew what the outcome of the duel was going to be, and she knew that no matter how long it took him and no matter what pains he had to endure, Dalin would deliver on his promise. Justice would be served.

"When the coin lands on tails and Sunflower Lady is declared guilty, she will automatically be destroyed, inflicting damage to your life points equal to her attack strength. With the added dark power her attack strength is greater than your life points. So you will lose." Rose nodded in acceptance, but Kai was still a little bit awed at Dalin's utter lack of uneasiness. He had just declared in that single sentence not what would happen if the outcome was tails, but that the outcome would be tails and that was what was going to happen.

Without a word Dalin drew a coin from his pocket and tossed it into the air, not even bothering to look as it spiraled through the air and came crashing down on the ground, spinning for several seconds until it teetered and fell onto one side. The outcome was clear under the light of the Seal of Orichalcos and the Heart of Justice. "Guilty."

Sunflower Lady screamed out just once as she exploded into a million pieces, spraying both duelists with digital fragments. Rose dropped her head at the sight of her plant monster in such a state, and let a tear drip down her eye as the rest of the cards on the field faded, with the Seal of Orichalcos all that remained along with the Heart of Justice. And now the Seal of Orichalcos was going to claim her soul. (RLP: 0)

She approached Dalin as the seal came in around her, and stood just a few inches away from him. Then she reached up and put a hand around his neck and pulled him down, pressing her lips against his. The symbol on his forehead glowed brighter than before as she continued to kiss him, sharing this one last moment with the man she felt was her savior. And then the Seal was gone, and so was her soul. She fell limp in Dalin's arms and he slowly settled her down on the ground, in his lap. "She truly suffered Kai. Suffered more than any person I've ever met." XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The moment that the two duelists lips met a connection was made. Every moment that one shares with another causes a slight echo upon that person. An shadow form that stands forever in that person's soul. It was using this concept that Daisuke Ihachi had been able to reconstruct his soul even after having it obliterated by the spirit that possessed Taichi Nobuki.

The echo can be used for many different purposes, depending on how aware one is of it. It can literally contain part's of that person. Enhanced by two differing powers in the last moments of the soul departing the body Rose's soul left behind a very specific echo upon the soul of Dalin Imaki Sumatin. Her memories.
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"Bitch! When I say cook dinner I don't mean heat up some dog shit you found on the side of the road! What the fuck is this?" A skinny red haired girl cowered away from a large red haired man in a white wife-beater who was holding a bowl of what looked vaguely like meatloaf. Snarling he tossed the bowl aside, letting it shatter against the wall, spraying fragments across the room. The girl whimpered and pulled away.

"When I ask you a question I want a fucking answer! Did you hear me you little shit?" Grabbing her by the arm he pulled her closer, glaring at her, his fetid breath wafting into her face, blurring her vision more than her tears did. She struggled to get out an answer, but fear clutched her, and she found she couldn't speak at all.

"Damn trash! This is the kind of crap I get stuck with when your worthless mother dumped you here! I didn't ask for you, and you stand there and refuse to not answer me? I deserve some respect you stupid bitch!" His backhand knocked her into the kitchen sink, bruising her back and bloodying up her mouth. She slid to the ground, crying and trying to keep the blood from reaching the ground. If the floor got dirty she'd just have to clean it, and nothing was ever good enough.

Grunting obscenities the older man stomped out of the room, roaring back to her and saying that she had to clean up the mess she had made. Unable to respond she merely sat there and sobbed. It had been this way for two months, and she couldn't take it anymore. She just wanted it all to end.
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Dalin let his gaze fall upon the man in the white robe who had previously confronted them, who now stood several feet away from Rose's body. Behind him were about a dozen men dressed in army fatigues and with pistols at the ready. All those pistols were pointed straight at the two of them. Kai stood with his fists up, but he knew they couldn't fight guns. Dalin on the other hand seemed to think they could.

"You won't touch her, I swore that I would set everything right, and to do so I must make sure no harm befalls her. Now stand aside or suffer the consequences." The group of soldiers chuckled at Dalin's declaration, but the man in white merely stood there, staring at him from under his hood. Dalin looked closer at the one shadowed section and wondered if he was seeing things right. It looked as if he was....no, that couldn't be.

"It doesn't matter what you want. Get out of our way Sumatin, because we have a corpse to retrieve. We'll deal with you soon enough. Till then, stay out of our way. We will take that corpse, even if we have to beat you down to do it." Gesturing with his right hand he brought two of the men out to the forefront, pistols at the ready. He motioned for them to move onwards and the cautiously approached Rose's prone body, guns still pointed straight at Dalin.

"I told you that you wouldn't touch her. And I'll make sure that you never even get within a foot of her!" In a shocking display of speed Dalin charged at the men, his muscles bunching as he crossed the distance in just a few seconds of time. The men snapped off a few shots, and though one bullet grazed his right arm, it wasn't enough to stop him. In moments his right hand was gripping the first soldier by the throat, bodily lifting him off the ground.

Kai stared in amazement. He had never seen Dalin actually use the great strength he seemed to possess, so seeing the large muscular duelist manhandling trained soldiers with ease was all the more frightening. He watched as Dalin let out a roar of anger and smashed his left fist into the soldier's face, sending him flying backwards a couple feet into his companion. The soldier's face was a bloody mess just from one blow.

Dalin roared again and turned on the other soldiers, racing in with his fists at the ready. He heard the sound of bullets firing, saw the looks of fear in the eyes of the men he was charging at, and he then there was a flash, and he was racing back in time, to memories that weren't his, and that echoed this moment.
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"Plants? Is this what you've been doing? What the fuck is wrong with you? We need that money for food and you go and waste it on taking care of a bunch of roses and shit? Jesus, it's annoying enough dealing with on Rose. Get rid of these fucking plants before I come back, or you'll regret it." Fourteen year old Rose was tougher than she had been in years past. Under normal circumstances she wouldn't stand up to him, but these were her plants, and they were all that mattered to her.

"You won't touch them. I won't let you get within even a foot of them!" Screaming she threw herself at the larger man, swinging away with her small and dainty fists. She got a lucky blow across his face before he recovered from his surprise and grabbed her by the neck, holding her out at arm's length. She gurgled, trying desperate to get air as the seething father-figure of her life choked the life out of her.

"Bitch. Dying is too good for you. So I've got a better idea." He let her drop to the ground, gasping and panting as she tried to get air into her lungs. Casually he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small rectangular object and flicked open the top. Rose's eyes shot wide open as she saw the flame leap into existence at the end of the lighter. He leaned down and held it to the first rose in her row of plants, watching as it burst into flames.

With no air in her lungs and no strength in her body Rose was only able to watch helplessly as the man who had become her father burned her precious garden flower by flower, plant by plant. The embers danced in the sky, taking with them the last ray of hope she had in life that all would ever be right. The comforting voices of her plants were gone, and she was all alone in the world, alone to suffer. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The group of soldiers were scattered across the park, the grassy ground beneath their bodies matted red by blood. The only three living people left in the park were Dalin, Kai, and the man in white. Dalin stood tall over the fallen soldiers, his fists red, flecks of blood across his face. He turned his cold gaze upon the man in white, and the robed one returned that gaze. "This is Game Punishment for those who falter under any Darkness Game that I initiate. Remember that the next time you try and get past me."

"Darkness Game? What darkness game?" Dalin sneered, and raised the hand that held the silver four-fingered Icon of Osiris. Only, it wasn't Dalin, not at all. Dalin resided in a small corner of his own mind, watching Rose's memories play out in front of him. As soon as he had slipped into those memories the spirit that resided within him, that of Ammut the Devourer of Souls, had come out to play. With vicious strength it had beaten down and broken each of the soldiers, tossing them around like they were rag dolls.

"I invoked a Darkness Game as soon as I attacked. The objective was simple. Get past me. If they didn't do that they would suffer the punishment of their failure. And the failure of my Darkness Game was death. Do you wish to challenge me to a Darkness Game?" The man in white turned his back on Dalin, and at last responded.

"I have no interest in playing a game with you Ammut. All I'm here for is the shell, and I will get what I want." Dissolving into sand the mysterious man reformed right beside Rose, and threw his robe over her. Together they faded into the nothingness of the dirt, leaving only Dalin and Kai remaining, Ammut still in charge of Dalin.

Ammut snarled and turned towards Kai, beckoning him forwards. "It's time we get going. Because I know our destination, I can feel it. We're going to end the first part of this charade by going where they want. From there, we'll know the truth." He stalked to the table and grabbed Dalin's things, and then started walking back towards the docks where their bi-plane was.

A confused and slightly frightened Kai pulled his courage in around him and followed after the seemingly deranged duelist. Whatever was happening to Dalin it didn't bode well for the success of their mission. He'd have to snap Dalin out of it, or something bad was bound to happen.
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"Now I'll sacrifice my set monster and Kaiser Seahorse to summon Gilford the Lightning(2800/1400) in attack mode. And since I sacrifice three monsters, two being Kaiser Seahorse thanks to its effect, all monsters on your field are destroyed." Serenity quailed as Kirani placed down the eight star monster in place of her two others monsters. Since it's effect came into play Serenity had to pick up her four monsters from the dueling field and place them on top of her cemetery field. (KLP: 2900, SLP: 1200)

"Well, it's still not over. I've got two face down cards, so it'd be risky to make an attack with your strongest monster when you've got no set cards of your own." This was their third duel since they had started off. Although they had begun the trip by setting the course and then doing some catching up, including some interesting conversation between the two girls, they were now locked in battle again. If Serenity could turn it around it'd be her first win against the older duelist. If not, that would make three losses in a row.

Kirani chuckled and took one of the three cards she still held from her hand and placed it onto the far right magic zone of her dueling field. Serenity gasped as she recognized the name that was displayed on the card. "I guess I don't have to worry about your set cards since my Heavy Storm can blow them away. And now I attack with Gilford to deplete your remaining life points." (SLP: 0)

Serenity sighed and picked up her cards, shuffling them back into her deck. Despite some further tips that Kirani had been giving her she wasn't that much better of a duelist than she had been back when everyone parted ways. She had been practicing and dueling with friends at school, but she didn't feel like she was much of a duelist. Then again, Kirani was a highly ranked duelist who Drake had barely beaten.

"Don't worry about it Serenity. You've got plenty of time to become a world-class duelist. I mean, people like me and Drake won't be on the dueling circuit forever. Soon it'll be the newer generation's turn to step into the spot light. Duelists like you. And don't tell Drake, but I think sooner or later you'll be able to out duel him." The auburn haired girl giggled at this, unheard by Drake who was busy watching a large island come into view.

"Kirani, I think we need you up here. I can't really pilot this thing myself, and we're just about to reach our destination." The girl with the chestnut brown hair rose from her seat across from Serenity and headed up to the front of the yacht. She stopped before she reached the helm and stared out at the huge temple that covered most of the island they were heading towards. Gulping she stepped up to the helm and started guiding the yacht up to it.

Drake grimaced and held up a single card, no longer paying attention to their approach to the island where they would find Dartz waiting. He had searched his deck several times over in order to find the Heart of Darkness card, but had discovered that whatever magic it held, it didn't want to show up unless it felt like it. It was nowhere to be found. The card he held in his hand was a different story.

The green background identified it as a magic card, but the image was completely blank. The card text was there, but there was no image at all. This used to be the Seal of Orichalcos, but after he had shattered the Seal and it's powers using the Heart of Darkness in his duel with Yami the image had faded and the stone he had gotten from Dartz was shattered as well. "At least I don't have to worry about this thing bringing out my darkness again."

"Looks like we've got company." Serenity's voice snapped Drake out of his daze, and the duelist look up from the former Seal of Orichalcos and found three men in suits standing in front of them waiting on the edge of the shore. Drake's keen eye noticed a strange thing about each of the three men in Armani suits. Each one had a gold pin in the shape of the infinity symbol on their left lapel.

Before the yacht came to a complete stop Drake took a running leap and soared off the end of the boat, his trench coat flaring out behind him. He landed in a crouch on the beach, right in front of the three men. Slowly he stood up, finding that each man was about even in height with him. The one on the left had green eyes and a brown buzz cut, the same hair cut that the other three had. The middle one was distinguished by brown eyes and a rough beard, and the last one by long sideburns. "What do you three want? Do you work for Dartz?"

Mr. Green Eyes spoke up first, raising his right arm which held a pitch black duel disk. "We have nothing to do with Dartz. We were merely using his island as a waiting place for you. You and the girl will be our opponents. We want to see just how strong a duelist you really are." The other two duelists raised their own duel disks, each pitch black like the firsts, and expanded them, inserting decks.

Serenity hopped down from the boat to join Drake, and stopped in time to catch a duel disk that was tossed to her by the one in the middle. She looked at it quizzically but finally put it on after a bit of hesitation. She put her deck in and activated the disk, ready to begin the duel. "This will be cool. My first for fun duel with a duel disk where nobody's life is on the line." (SLP: 4000)

Drake glared at each of the three suited men in turn, wishing he could know what they were thinking. He could tell what they were feeling if he dipped into the power of the Millennium Disc, but right now he was afraid to use it. He didn't want to unleash its power for fear of what it might do. What would he do if it brought out the Heart of Darkness? "I'll accept your challenge and I'll finish you all off in record time!" (DLP: 4000)

"Very well. I am Emilio Damer. My two partners are Tokime Edamare and Sebushimi Tatawara. You cannot defeat us when we battle together. Now you shall begin, followed by the young girl, then I shall take my turn, followed by Tokime and then Sebushimi. Let the duel begin!" The three duelists raised their disks, life points counting up as the duel started. It was Drake's move first thing off the bat, and he'd have to make it count. (ELP: 4000, TLP: 4000, SELP: 4000)

"I'll start this duel off with just a monster in defense mode and one card face down. Serenity, take it away." His two cards appeared in front of him, and then his turn was over, leaving him with four cards in hand. The auburn haired girl drew her sixth card and quickly chose her move, undaunted by Kirani jumping down onto the beach behind them. She folded her arms and watched as the duel got going.

"I know we can't play defense the whole time. So I set one card face down. Then I summon Spirit Warrior Girl(1000/1000) in attack mode! End." Serenity's first monster was dressed in white and black armor, and carried a glowing blue energy sword. Drake recognized the monster and knew it's ability. But in this case he somehow doubted it would be very useful. He didn't know how he knew, but he anticipated that these three were powerful duelists. He'd have to make sure Serenity didn't get taken down too fast. That might crush her dueling spirit.

Emilio added another card to his hand and then let out a loud laugh. He slipped the first card into an activation slot and raised his arms to the sky, gesturing as a floating skull appeared high above them. "I'll begin my turn with a card that will be the end for one of you! Final Countdown! It costs me a mere two thousand points, and in twenty turns one of you will lose the duel. And since it's a normal magic card you can't defeat it without defeating me first." He smirked and slipped three more cards onto his disk before finishing his turn. (ELP: 2000)

Tokime glanced at his full hand, and then spoke up, his voice deep and gruff. "I begin by playing Graceful Charity. I know a skilled duelist like Drake would know the effect, but for the benefit of the little lady I'll explain. I draw three cards and then discard two." He snapped three cards off his deck and glanced at them briefly before choosing two cards in his starting hand to discard. He held a total of six cards still, and his move was just getting going.

"I set one card face down and play a monster in defense mode. For now, that's all I can do." His two cards appeared on the field, mirroring Drake's own field. Tokime motioned for his partner to take it away, leaving Drake wondering about his strategy. He knew Emilio's strategy now, and he could only hope his initial guess at the other two strategies weren't right at all.

Now Sebushimi drew his sixth card and surveyed what he held. He shrugged, obviously not seeming to be satisfied by it. Finally he settled on what he wanted to play, and slid two cards into his disk, watching as they appeared face down in front of him. Then he announced his next move, his voice nearly as deep as Tokime's. "I believe I'll activate this special magic card. Terraforming! Using it's magic I can search my deck for a field card and add it to my hand."

He pulled his deck free and then fanned it out in front of him, his eyes scanning it for the card he wanted. Finally he let out a deep belly laugh as he saw the card and snatched it out. Lastly he reshuffled his deck and placed it back where it belonged. "Witness the field card that I have chosen. SEAL OF ORICHALCOS!" He slapped the card down in his field zone and smirked as the seal began to form.

"Damn....this is just what we didn't need. Now I have to make sure that Serenity doesn't lose, because if she does...her soul will be taken. Fine! If you want to use the Seal be prepared to face the consequences. I've broken it before and I'll do so again!" With that said he pulled free the next card of his deck, giving him a total of five cards to use. He glanced at his new card and then at another on his field.

"I set up one card and then summon Ghost Magician(1700/1700) in attack mode. And Ghost Magician will attack Tokime's set monster and wipe it out! Go, Spectral Blast!" The magician in faded black robes raised his golden staff and unleashed a beam of nearly see-through gold energy. It smashed the face down monster apart, briefly revealing a very ugly looking creature that Drake knew of.

"Thank you. The effect of my Big Eye activates since it was flipped, so I draw five cards. Now that I've got these new cards I can rearrange their order and then place them back on top of my deck." He pulled free five cards and looked through them all, finally deciding on moving just two of them. It seemed odd that he would barely change the order, but Drake had no way of knowing exactly what had been drawn, so he couldn't make a guess. Though this did help his theory. Tokime replaced his card, and Drake motioned for Serenity to go.

She took one look at her next card and then slapped it onto one of her monster zones. "Come on out Neo(1700/1000), you and Spirit Warrior Girl are up to bat. Speaking of my warrior, she's got a special ability I'm gonna activate now. For every warrior or spellcaster I discard from my hand she gains one thousand points till the turn is over. So by discard a second Neo from my hand she gets set at two thousand points!" The sword that Spirit Warrior Girl carried blazed into life, doubling in size instantly as Serenity dumped a monster into her graveyard.

"Serenity, wait a second!" The rookie duelist didn't listen to Drake, she was too busy believing that she was about to grant them the advantage and maybe take down one of their opponents and even things up. By her account three on two wasn't fair, but she intended to make things more fair.

"Spirit Warrior Girl, attack Emilio directly!" Drake grimaced as her monster shot forward, right into the waiting jaws of Emilio's field of traps. With three cards face down he was bound to have something to stop the attack, particularly in a deck focused around ending the duel without the use of an attack. And Serenity had just recklessly rushed in.

"You've triggered my trap card, Savage Nation! By it's effect the attacking monster is destroyed, along with any monster you control whose attack is less than the destroyed monster's power. And since you so helpfully boosted your Spirit Warrior Girl in hopes of defeating me in one strike, your Neo the Magical Swordsman is also destroyed!" The warrior girl cried out as the effect of the trap blew her away, turning both her and Neo into nothing but digital powder.

Serenity groaned, knowing she had screwed up and just cleared her field. "I'm sorry Drake, I should have waited and thought it out." She sighed and placed a card down on the field. Since that was all she could do it was back to Emilio, who had all the opportunity he could need to recover and place a new trap. And yet another turn for Final Countdown would be passing.

"I'll place a monster in defense mode. Now I'll invite you to take a look up, where you'll find that there are six balls of fire floating above us." Drake, Serenity, and Kirani all took a look up and saw that there were indeed six balls of fire. Drake had a bad feeling that he knew exactly what they were. And this was just a form of taunting.

"Each ball of fire you see in the sky above us represents a turn counter. At the moment there are six, meaning this is the sixth turn of Final Countdown. When you see twenty overhead the end will have come for one of you. Since there are five duelists playing, that means one rotation is five more turns, so in only a few more rotations you'll be finished! But I doubt you'll both last that long, this is just insurance." Drake shot Emilio a glare and was treated with harsh laughter in return.

Tokime cleared his throat, meaning that he was going to take his turn. Snatching another card he showed the card he had drawn with a very familiar image on it. Drake had first seen that card when he dueled Taichi, and it had given Taichi the combo to defeat Obelisk the Tormentor in one turn. "Payment of Debt allows me to draw three cards, going through four of the five I checked in just one turn. But that's not all, my Pot of Greed card will let me go through the last one and get to a new card." He pulled free another two, giving him a total of eight cards in hand. And with that Drake's suspicions were confirmed. There was no way it was anything but the strategy he thought it was.

"Now I'll clear my hand up a bit by placing two magic or trap cards on the field and then setting a new monster. That should keep me in fair fashion for a little while shouldn't it? Sebushimi, looks like you're up." The duelist with the big sideburns drew another card, and then brushed imaginary dust off his expensive suit. Drake scoffed at that, folding his arms and waiting for the duelist to make his move. He was pretty sure he knew what strategy this guy was playing with as well, and he wasn't impressed.

"I'll flip my set card, Defense Seal. Now that I've played it I can't be attacked directly for a total of three of my opponent's turns. Now I'll finish my turn by placing a monster and a trap card on the field. Looks like it's back to you Ihachi." Drake grimaced at being called that, as it only served to remind him of the psychotic pseudo-goddess who in a past life had been his sibling.

"Damn, you guys sure are cowards. Hiding behind such paltry strategies. If you were real duelists you wouldn't have to use such pathetic methods to win duels. I'll show you a real duelist soon enough, so I sacrifice my two monsters to summon Dark Magician(2500/2100)." The deadly spellcaster in purple robes hit the field, his twenty-five hundred attack points making him easily the most powerful monster in play. Then again he was the only face-up monster in play at all.

"I'll bring down your defenses piece by piece, and I'll start by attacking Emilio!" The Dark Magician fired off a beam of energy, only to be deflected by a swirling barrier of energy. It was Emilio's set quick-play magic card, Weakening of Attack. It was just the quick-play version of Negate Attack, so Drake's battle phase was over, not that he had any other monsters to attack with anyways.

Serenity glanced at her newest card only briefly before placing it onto her duel disk. It appeared in the form of a woman in white and black armor with an energy sword. The second Spirit Warrior Girl(1000/1000). "I know it may seem reckless, but we can't avoid attacking otherwise we'll lose. So I'll attack Emilio's set monster." Spirit Warrior Girl's energy weapon ripped through the set monster, briefly revealing a Skelengel, which let Emilio draw a card because it had been flipped.

Emilio didn't seem to happy with the card he got from Skelengel, nor did he seem happy as he drew. His hand may have consisted of four cards, but each card was completely useless to him. but at least his turn counted for yet another piece of his victory. "I pass for now, but keep in mind that in only nine turns one of you will lose the duel!"

Tokime glanced at his newest card and then started laughing. Whatever it was it made him happy enough that he was practically rolling on the floor. "Witness the ultimate in draw power! Tiny Pound Hammer! It may seem puny, but I can shuffle it and any other number of cards from my hand into my deck to draw an equal number of cards. That means I can keep using it over and over again! Now watch as I shuffle it and two others into my deck." He took the three cards and slid them into his deck and then shuffled it, before drawing three new cards to replace the three he had lost.

"Ah, how helpful. It seems that everything is nearly ready. Until then, I'll set a magic or trap card on the field. Now I pass the turn to Sebushimi." His card appeared face down, next to his three other set cards. With that many cards to defend himself with it made getting to his life points really difficult unless Drake or Serenity drew some kind of magic removal.

Sebushimi added a third card to his hand, and then he too burst out laughing. He took his newest card and practically forced it into his duel disk, watching as it appeared face down in front of him. "This card will be your demise! For with it I can spell out your end, and there's no way that you can stop me! Turn End!" On the outside of the seal Kirani grimaced, having figured out exactly what Tokime and Sebushimi were up to. Sebushimi had particularly given himself away with the last thing he had said.

Drake drew another card, and watched as Sebushimi flipped up his newest face down card. "Reveal the ultimate trap card, Ouija Board! During each of your end phases it will automatically grab another Death Message from my deck and put it into play. And since the Seal of Orichalcos allows me to use my zones interchangeably I'll easily be able to complete it. More than that, it will happen in each of your end phases!" The hovering board of flame appeared, and the hand moved the little magnifying glass over the D, the first part of the message that would defeat one of them.

"Just like I thought. Final Countdown, Ouija Board, and then Exodia. The three methods of instant victory all rolled into one duel. You three are just as pathetic as I assumed earlier. It didn't take me long to figure out what you three were up to, and it won't take me long to crush your strategies either! Dark Magician, go after Emilio again!" The purple beam of energy that the magician unleashed was caught by a group of robed men, product of the trap card Waboku which prevented battle damage to Emilio for that turn.

"Just you guys wait. I'll set a monster on the field and that's all. It won't take long before you guys are finished. Remember Emilio, you've got one card left on the field, and it's doubtful your partners will help you out. And my next turn is turn nineteen, and you won't get past that turn! Just you wait!" Emilio gulped, realizing that Drake might be right. He had nothing useful in his hand, only one card left to defend himself with, and neither of his partners would help him. That had already been said between the three of them.

Sebushimi laughed as Drake's turn ended, gesturing up at the floating Ouija Board card. The hand was moving yet again, this time coming to rest on E, spelling out the second part of the five letter message. "That's another piece, and as soon as your little girlfriend ends her turn, the third will be put into play!

Serenity swiftly set up a card right after starting her turn. She knew she had to make this turn count. Drake had said it on his own without letting the others know he was helping. By pointing out that he had only one more set card and his partners wouldn't defend him he pointed the way for her. "Spirit Warrior Girl, attack Emilio directly with Flash Saber Strike!"

Spirit Warrior Girl jumped straight up into the air, and then pointed back down. She fell like a comet towards Emilio's exposed life points, ready to bring him down by a further one thousand points, cutting him down to a fourth of his starting points. "I won't die yet! Negate Attack!" The energy field neutralized Serenity's assault, leaving Emilio safe for another round. But unless he drew a way to stop Drake in the punk duelist's next turn, he was utterly finished.

"Remember little girl, as I said, now that your turn is over the third piece of the message is put into play. Death Messages D, E, and A are now in play. Only two remain and then it's over for you! And as soon as Tokime draws the final piece of Exodia you're going to lose!" Serenity gulped, and she wasn't alone. Kirani saw that it seemed fairly hopeless as well. Only Drake stood confident and ready, waiting for the oncoming power to be unleashed.

Emilio stared at his newest card with a wide-eyed face. "This is it! I've just drawn the card that will end you once and for all! With it I'll make sure that you don't get a free turn to attack me, because it's going to wipe you out here and now! Go TIME JUMP! It's power will advance time by three turns, meaning that as soon as my partners draws one of you will lose!" His magic card appeared, with an image of a clock on it in a sandy background.

Suddenly Drake threw back his head and roared with laughter. None of the present duelists seemed to have a clue why he found this funny, after all, it meant his defeat. "I knew you'd make a mistake sooner or later. And you've just made it. Open face down card, Wisdom of the Ancients! This quick-play card lets me pay seven hundred life points in order to use the effect of any trap that I can name and give the effect of. So I'll play my life points to activate a special trap called Tick Tock!" (DLP: 3300)

"The effect of Tick Tock can only be used when a card is used that changes the turn count of the duel. And Time Jump qualifies. Tick Tock then negates that change, and reverses it, so say goodbye to three turns! Not only that, but I activate Instant Replay to use Tick Tock's effect again! So now you've lost six turns!" Emilio gasped in horror as six of the fireballs up above faded away, leaving only ten. That meant that Drake and Serenity had more chances to defeat him, and he had no way to defend himself!

He gulped, but with no other cards to play his turn was over, and now it was Tokime's time to shine. And as had already been revealed in his hand of six cards he held four pieces of Exodia. That meant that all he needed was one remaining piece and he'd have instant victory. "It would appear I can't win this turn and I can't set any cards. But believe me, it's going to end soon. Sebushimi, show them what we can do."

Sebushimi smirked as soon as his turn came up, and he flipped around his newest card, revealing a very familiar image. "It doesn't matter how skilled you are Drake, because unless you can defeat me next turn, which I doubt, you'll lose the duel. At the end of your turn the message will be completed because I play Spirit Message T from my hand! All that's left is H, and that comes at the end of my turn!" He let out another laugh, causing Drake to grimace.

Kirani took a good look at the situation and couldn't come up with any way for Drake to make it through the next turn. "Next turn is the last turn that Sebushimi can't be attacked directly. And without the ability to attack directly he can't bring down Sebushimi. If he loses, the Seal takes his soul, just like he told me about. So what can he do?" Sebushimi smirked and declared the end of his turn, giving control to Drake, who had just one more chance to win the duel or he'd lose.

Drake drew his card and didn't even bother to look at it. Instead he closed his eyes and shook his head. "You guys really are pitiful. I don't even have to look to know that I've drawn the card that will take you apart. I've got that much faith in my deck! So I'll play my card without looking!" He inserted his new card into an activation slot, and it appeared on the field. Sebushimi was busy laughing so much that he didn't see the image of a tornado with a lightning bolt appear.

"What are you laughing about Sebushimi? The card I've just activated is Mystical Space Typhoon. And I'm targeting Ouija Board because when it goes to the cemetery the other messages go as well. Now say goodbye to your entire strategy!" Sebushimi couldn't believe his eyes as he watched the lightning bolt shatter his deadliest trap card, his strategy breaking apart in just a single move. Drake hadn't even looked!

"But that...that's impossible! Nobody could have done that!" Drake smirked and reached for his duel disk, and grabbed hold of his face down monster. Then he swiftly flipped it face up, revealing a man in golden robes holding a wand with an hour glass at the top of it. The power of his set monster was about to be revealed.

"I'll flip up my set monster, Time Magician(500/400)! When flipped I name a phase, and in this case I'm naming Draw Phase. Now I get to roll a die." The Time Magician aimed his wand and shot a die out of it, which bounced around until it stopped in the center of the field, four pips facing straight up. That meant that Drake had rolled a four, and now they'd discover exactly what effect the Time Magician possessed that made Drake so confident.

"Based on the roll of the die I take damage. So I take twelve hundred damage since for each number rolled I take 300 damage to my life points. But in return I get to skip that many of the named phase for the opponent. Now neither Tokime nor Sebushimi gets a draw phase for the next two turns. With that I've defeated all three of your strategies! Without the ability to draw Exodia cannot come out, I destroyed Ouija Board, and now I'll defeat the user of Final Countdown." The three duelists grimaced at this great display of power that allowed Drake to make such a come back. (DLP: 2100)

"Now, Dark Magician, attack Emilio directly!" The beam of black magic struck Emilio dead center in the chest and blew him backwards into the seal, a burn mark on his chest in a neat little circle. He slumped to the ground, his life points depleted and his soul drained away by the power of the Seal of Orichaclos. Now only two opponents remained to defeat. (ELP: 0)

Serenity started off her turn by pressing the buttons for activating set cards. Her two cards flipped up, revealing exactly what they were. "I'll use Jar of Greed to draw one card and counteract this other card, Offerings to the Doomed. This card will destroy Tokime's set monster at a cost of my next draw phase." Bandages shot out of the card and dragged Tokime's monster to the graveyard, briefly revealing it to be a Sage of Everlasting Light, a card that Drake also possessed that could allow for drawing five cards or discarding five cards, depending on the luck of a coin flip.

"Next I'll activate Monster Reborn to call out Neo(1700/1000) again, and I'll have his companion join him. Come out Nia the Magical Swordswoman(1300/1400)!" Her two monsters appeared on the field next to Spirit Warrior Girl, both in armor and wielding swords, one a blonde woman the other a blonde man. These two cards Serenity had used quite commonly since she had discovered that Drake had often looked at Neo as a card very similar to him because it was both a warrior and a magician.

"Don't think that's all, because I play Ties of Sisterhood! At a cost of one thousand life points I can special summon two female monsters from my deck with level four or lower! So here I go!" She flipped through her deck since she couldn't hold it all like some other duelists could. After a few moments of searching she came across the monsters she wanted and slapped them onto the field. Two identical female monsters appeared, both in leather with black staffs in their hands.

"These are my Tempest Magician Girls(1800/1600) who pack quite a punch. You might even get a chance to see their effect if you live long enough. But I doubt it. All five of my monsters are about to finish you off here and now!" Drake's eyes went wide at this declaration and he shook his head in denial. Not Tokime....he had too many traps in play!

"Witness my trap card, Barrier of the Meek! This lets me bring out monsters from my hand or deck with one thousand or less attack points. And I get as many of them as you have monsters. Since you have five monsters, I get five weaklings to block the attack. Now witness these five monsters! Exodia the Forbidden One(1000/1000), Left Arm of the Forbidden One(200/300), Right Arm of the Forbidden One(200/300), Left Leg of the Forbidden One(200/300), and Right Leg of the Forbidden One(200/300)!" The five named pieces appeared, looking like severed body parts hanging in thin air.

"Your pathetic pieces may save you, but they'll only die and leave you with no defenses and no chance at an instant victory!" Her five monsters unleashed their attacks, blowing the five pieces of Exodia into smithereens. Nothing was left of them at all, and now every last piece was in the graveyard. Drake grimaced, knowing exactly what was going to be next. He knew what one of Tokime's set cards was, and it was going to make this duel more difficult than he thought it would be.

"Thank you little girl, you've given me a chance to bring out my ultimate creature! Reveal Pact with Exodia, which will now unleash Exodia Necros(1800/0) onto the field! I'll follow that up with my set card Terraformer! This card automatically becomes a named field card, so I choose Seal of Orichalcos!" The seal formed upon his head, but no change was made to the field as a Seal was already in play. However Exodia Necros did gain a boost in power, sending it's attack strength rising to twenty-three hundred.

With nothing left she could do Serenity had to end her turn with five defenseless monsters on the field. And Drake had no set cards either, so he couldn't stop the next attack. "Now that my standby phase has come Exodia Necros gains 500 more points. Now watch as I increase it's power more with Shattered Bonds! This will break the bonds it shares with it's past self and the spectral chains that held it fast. Now it gains new abilities for each piece of Exodia with the cemetery and it won't die if one of them leaves! Now watch as I unleash the first one as I destroy Spirit Warrior Girl!" Exodia Necros unleashed a stream of jet black flame, burning Spirit Warrior Girl into cinders and making Serenity's life points take a severe drop. (SLP: 1200)

"One of the effects Exodia Necros has gained is that when it battles a monster it gains one thousand attack strength, so now it has thirty-eight hundred! During my next standby phase that will become forty-three hundred and so on. It's stronger than ever and it's strength is limitless. Pity I couldn't draw a new card, otherwise I might have been able to grant it more power. In two turns I will, and then you'll be finished. End!" Drake grimaced, knowing that they were in trouble. He knew how deadly Exodia Necros was, but at least he knew that there was nothing to fear from Sebushimi.

"My partner has already showed you his full power, now let me show you mine. First I need to play Graceful Charity so I can get new cards and dump a card into the cemetery." He slipped three cards off the deck and then quickly shoved two of them into the graveyard. His hand size stayed steady at two, so nothing new seemed to have happened other than he changed one card from Graceful Charity to something different.

"As my partner unleashed his ultimate monster, so shall I unleash mine. I play Veil of Death, which sends all cards on my field to the cemetery. Luckily Seal of Orichalcos can't go to the cemetery like that, so it remains. This allows me to unleash a mighty creature that can only be born when all five death messages are in the grave. Come out Embodiment of Death(?/?)!" The creature that appeared was like a walking flesh pile with bandages holding it together, and souls trying to push their way out from underneath the bandages. Drake had never even heard of this beast.

"For each piece in the cemetery my mighty Embodiment of Death gains another ability, meaning he has five effects. Let's activate the first one shall we? Deathstrike Attack!" The creature extended its arms, shooting bandages straight out and striking Serenity in the chest and arms, cutting through her clothing and into her skin. She cried out fell to her knees, blood welling up from the wounds and dripping down her shirt. Drake immediately ran to her, helping her stand and putting a comforting arm around her. (SLP: 700)

"Think that by giving her comfort you're helping her? It won't do anything to stop her or you from losing. Witness another ability of my beast. By discarding a card I can destroy a monster on the field, so I dump one card to destroy Dark Magician." Embodiment of Death raised its arms and sent bandages right at the Dark Magician, ripping him in half with a brutal amount of force. Drake kept Serenity from seeing the gory spectacle. He didn't want her exposed to that.

"Now I activate the third power of this ultimate monster. I can remove two magic cards from my cemetery to revive a monster destroyed by it's second effect on my side of the field. However that creature can't attack. So I remove Graceful Charity and Terraforming to bring back Dark Magician on my field." The death creature plunged its bandages into the ground beneath its feet and pulled out from beneath the ground a zombie-like Dark Magician with pale and rotting flesh.

"Next I use the fourth power to sacrifice Dark Magician and grant my Embodiment of Death half of it's attack and defense strength. That means that with the bonus of the Seal of Orichalcos my Embodiment of Death(1750/1050) is strong enough to deal some real damage. Embodiment of Death, destroy Nia!" The female magical warrior defended herself against the oncoming bandages valiantly, but in the end she was speared through the heart by them, and destroyed. (SLP: 250)

"I just realized something. I never explained Deathstrike Attack did I? You see, during each of my turns I deal damage to the opponent equal to the number of death messages in my cemetery times one hundred. So each turn I'll inflict five hundred damage to one of your life points. And guess who I'm targeting next turn?" He threw back his head, laughing evilly at the fact that there was seemingly no way to stop him.

Drake rose up to his feet, standing in front of the weakened Serenity. He held his duel disk up and put two fingers on the top of his next card. He held it there for several seconds, contemplating the situation. He had no cards on the field and three in his hand. Serenity had three monsters left, but she couldn't draw and had no set cards. Worse yet, Embodiment of Death could deal her enough damage to drain her life points without ever attacking.

No...that wasn't the worst thing. The worst thing was that it was all his fault. If he hadn't been afraid of the Millennium Disc and his own potential darkness he would have been able to tell that these guys were up to no good, and he could have stopped Serenity from participating. Now he was left with one last chance to either defeat Sebushimi, or have Serenity lose her soul. "I swore that I'd protect her, and I have to keep my promises. I won't let her down, so it all comes down to one draw! That's the only chance there is, if I can't find the method to defeat him right now, the duel will be over!" XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The five robed men stood in their circle, watching the conflict between the four duelists continue. They also watched Ryu and Autumn's ride coming in to stop there, as it would arrive in about five minutes. Dalin and Kai would arrive in about eight or ten minutes.

"Before the duel is over he will once again release darkness. And to pull him back from the edge the girl will unleash her power, that of her Heart of Man. When Light and Dark are unveiled we will have all that we need to bring Order to the world. Soon our lord and master will come forth to spread order across the lands."

"Now it all depends on whether they can rise to the challenge, or fall prey to the strength of our sendings. Soon we will know the truth." XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Author's Notes: And there you have it, another two part duel. Surprising from me isn't it with my habit of really long single chapter duels. Well expect to see more long and deadly duels as this story continues. Mwuahahahahahhahahahaha!!!!!!

Time Mage: Dalin said it best himself. "When I'm involved nothing is impossible."

G.O.T. Nick: She does need help indeed, but obviously it's not her fault.

The White Mage: Ooo, two mages reviewing my story. It must be magically inclined.

VoidTemplar: Honestly I just sort of make em' up off the top of my head. Once I think of a name the effect is pretty easy. Other times I think of an effect I'd like to put in and just make the name and card around the effect. However I do it, it works.

WolfGeneral: Rose? Scary? What were you hmming about anyways?

Original Cards

Dalin: Justice For All, Heart of Justice, Bright Life Giver

Rose: Pesticide Bomb

Drake: Ghost Magician, Wisdom of the Ancients, Tick Tock, Instant Replay, Time Magician

Serenity: Spirit Warrior Girl, Ties of Sisterhood, Tempest Magician Girl

Emilio: Savage Nation, Weakening of Attack

Tokime: Payment of Debt, Barrier of the Meek, Shattered Bonds

Sebushimi: Defense Seal, Veil of Death, Embodiment of Death

Anime Original Cards

Emilio: Time Jump

Tokime: Seal of Orichalcos, Tiny Pound Hammer(from Genex)

Sebushimi: Seal of Orichalcos

Submitted Original Cards

Tokime: Terraformer(by Vaurnut)