Author's Notes: Back to the duel of revenge.

Chapter Twenty-Four: The Deserts of a Shadowed Past

"You activate the effect of Mystic Tomato. When it is destroyed in battle and goes into the cemetery I can special summon a dark monster from my deck to the field. The only requirement is that the monster I summon have fifteen hundred or less attack power." A card popped out of his deck and he caught it.

"I know just the monster, and I'm going to summon it in my rear defense. Come forth Don Zaloog(1400/1500)!" The warrior that took shape was muscular with veins bulging on its arms. It held one short sword in each hand, and had an eyepatch over its right eye.

"This is my favorite monster, and it is in fact the very first monster that I ever drew in a pack..."

Dalin grimaced as he felt the power flowing between Nick and Don Zaloog. There was a true connection there, and he was sure that getting through and defeating Zaloog would be difficult. Nick wouldn't easily allow it to die. "Very well, your favorite monster is in play. I cannot set any cards, therefore I end my turn."

Nick snapped a card off his deck, and the Seal of Vengeance began to glow. "Now is the time Sumatin! I will show you the true power of my hate, and I guarantee that the Seal of Vengeance will be the cause of your defeat!"

"To begin with, the Seal of Vengeance will generate a special type of counter on each monster you have on the field. You have just X on the field, so one counter is generated. This counter...is a Hate Counter!" A black mark appeared on X's chest, and briefly the angel's eyes lit up red.

"Soon you'll feel the power of these Hate Counters, but at the moment I have another plan in mind. It will cost me two hundred life points, but soon enough you'll see how worthwhile it is." The Seal around them started to glow, and a dark shape began to form on Nick's side of the field. (NLP: 2800)

"At a cost of two hundred life points I can create a Vengeance Token(100/100) whose attack and defense points is influenced by the number of Hate Counters on your field. Since you have just one counter my token has only one hundred attack and defense points." A black form appeared in front of him, and it was clear that it was a floating form of Kanji that read 'Vengeance'.

"What will such a weak token do? Is there an effect I should be aware of?" Nick smirked, not bothered by Dalin's calm demeanor. In moments he would show his enemy exactly what there was to be afraid of.

"Right now my Vengeance Token merely supplies me with a much needed monster. So I sacrifice my Vengeance Token and unleash another part of my strategy. Come forth, Dark Scorpion-Gorg the Strong(1800/1500)!" A powerful looking monster wielding a massive hammer was summoned up in front defense, and the symbol of the Seal of Vengeance appeared on its forehead, boosting its strength.

Dalin paused for a moment to inspect the creature. A single sacrifice for a monster with only eighteen hundred attack points. "Dark Scorpion? I've heard of such monsters. Virtually no duelist uses them because of how weak they are. Are you a person who can unleash their full potential?"

"Oh I am! Ever since I began playing this game the Dark Scorpions have been with me, and by uniting with their strength my own is magnified! Working together we become an unstoppable force, and we will win!"

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"I lost...again. If I can't make money by winning tournaments so I can get out of here and start searching then I'll never get my vengeance!" A teenage Nick punched his fist into the wall, denting the plaster. His single remaining eye was wet with fresh tears, and his body shook with frustration.

"Am I really so weak that I can't have victory? Am I doomed to forever imagine vengeance and never achieve it?" He flipped the top card off his deck, and stared at it. He had known without looking that the card was none other than his partner, Don Zaloog.

"It isn't a matter of your strength Nikolas. You simply rely too much on Don Zaloog and too little on the rest of your deck. It has no focus, no structure to it. You can't win a duel with one monster alone." The blonde teen looked over his shoulder to find the old man, the owner of the shop, coming out from the back room.

"But I swore that Don would be my method of retribution against the man who did this to me. It isn't that I haven't got good cards...its just that none of them feel right to me. None of them give me that same feeling of connection as Don Zaloog does." He sighed and slumped up against the wall, his one eye staring at the picture of Don Zaloog on the card.

"Well, this is the end of the week, so why not buy a few packs with that paycheck of yours. I know its meager and will never get you that ticket out of here that you like, but it could strengthen your deck if you manage to grab the right pack." Nick shrugged and pushed himself away from the wall.

"I guess it wouldn't hurt to try. Even now I can't understand why you chose to let me work here instead of just letting my hand get cut off for stealing from you." The old man chuckled at this, watching as the teen searched through the packs that lined the walls, sifting through them to find one that felt right.

"Still don't understand? I suppose it's just because of how different we are. I saw how desperate you were, stealing just to survive, taking only things that would keep you alive. So I showed mercy on you like the gods would have liked. It's something that is hard for you to understand because of the pain you feel." Nick nodded absentmindedly, his eye settling on a single pack of cards.

"I'll start small old man. This pack, I'm buying this one." The shop keep smiled and went to the register. He rang it up, and then leaned up against the counter, hoping for Nick to open it then and there. It was always interesting to see what a young aspiring duelist got in their draw from a pack.

Nick peeled the corner off, tearing the foil away so that the brown backed cards could be revealed. He had deliberately done it upside down so he could reveal them each in turn. He turned the top card over, revealing a purple and ugly dragon. "Crawling Dragon. This one doesn't feel right either."

He proceeded to turn over Beaver Warrior, Barrel Behind the Door, and Curse of Aging. Finally there was just one card left to be revealed. "Let's see if my luck has improved any. After those four draws I doubt it."

He tipped the card over, and it revealed a five star monster with a meager eighteen hundred attack points. He snorted and began to brush the card aside, but the shop keeper's sudden drawing of breath made him stop. "What is it old man? You see something I don't?"

"That card...Dark Scorpion-Gorg the Strong. That name...its straight out of history." Nick raised his eyebrow, not understanding what the old man was going on about.

"Back at the turn of the century there was a group of thieves, the best in the world. They raided the tombs of kings and the ancient pyramids. No trap, whether new or old, could keep them from their success. Before they vanished they amassed great wealth, and rumors abound about the whereabouts of this wealth. They were called the Dark Scorpions." Nick's interest was peaked at just the word thief, and he took a closer look at the card.

The moment his hand touched the card he felt something. Like a deep inner connection. It wasn't the same or as powerful as what he felt from the Don, but it was similar all the same. "This card feels right to me for some reason."

"After Pegasus created Don Zaloog I should have expected this. It appears he is well versed in Egyptian history, because the leader of the Dark Scorpions was Don Zaloog. There were five of them altogether, and when working as one they could not be defeated." Nick stared at the card, and then placed it next to his Don Zaloog.

"Working as one? Five as one...no...six as one. The Dark Scorpions and myself. I will gather the other three cards to me and I will create a deck that unites them together to form an unstoppable force. Together with the strength of the Dark Scorpions...vengeance will be mine."

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"Now, the power of my Vengeance Tokens will activate. When one of them leaves the field I inflict damage to your life points equal to its attack. So feel the power of vengeance!" Dalin cast one hand up to block the bolt of dark energy that shot out of the seal, but he wasn't quick enough. It slammed into his shoulder and knocked him backwards. (DLP: 3300)

"So your intent is to keep increasing the number of Hate Counters on my field to increase the power of your Vengeance Tokens for more damage. You drain your own life points in the process." He recovered himself, and stood strong once again against Nick. Now was no time for weakness of any sort, despite the pain his body felt.

"You think so do you? Well vengeance is a panacea to me, so whenever I deal damage to you with a Vengeance Token I gain an equal amount of life points. So fairly soon I'll be gaining back more than I pay for my tokens!" Power flowed into him from the Seal that he stood on, and his life points rose up to match that power. (NLP: 2900)

"I see, well let us see whose power is supreme. The power of your vengeance, or my power. Continue your turn and we can find out." Nick shook his head, knowing it would be futile to continue. Even with the power bonus Gorg the Strong couldn't defeat X, Angel of Fear.

"My monsters can't defeat yours...yet. So I'll just end my turn." He slid two of the three cards in his hand onto his Duel Pod, then his turn was complete. Dalin looked at the cards on Nick's field, feeling the connection between them. This duel was going to more dangerous than he had anticipated.

'Previously when I attacked he had kept his field free of traps to lure me into destroying his Mystic Tomato in order to summon Don Zaloog. Now that he has his monsters on the field he has no intent to keep them undefended, so at least one of those cards is a genuine trap.' Dalin didn't even blink as he drew his card, analyzing the situation.

"I shall summon Uranus, Angel of Good Will(1800/0) in attack mode. After that I will merely end my turn." His strong level four angel took shape, giving off a feeling of benevolence. At this point he couldn't use its effect, and the purpose for summoning it was not attacking.

Nick narrowed his eye at his opponent, uncertain what the duelist's plan was. It seemed unusual to leave a weaker monster in attack mode, especially when you didn't place any cards on the field and the opponent had stronger monsters. 'Is he trying to bluff me, or does he have a card that he can play from his hand?'

He wasn't able to get anything out of Dalin, as the muscular duelist was still as passive as ever. His green eyes were cold and distant, not betraying any of his inner thoughts. 'Still no magic or trap cards. At this rate I won't be able to keep the advantage of power for much longer.'

Finally realizing that he wouldn't be able to learn the truth of Dalin's play just by looking at the man, Nick decided to start his turn off. "Let's get this going shall we? My turn, draw!"

He didn't bother to look at the card yet, instead he pointed at Dalin's field and began to laugh. "Now each of your monsters is infested by a Hate Counter! That brings the total on the field up to three!"

Another dark mark appeared on X, while the first one appeared on Uranus. "Next up, I generate yet another Vengeance Token, this time with three times as much attack and defense power!" (NLP: 2700)

The black kanji form took form in front of Nick, and the knight finally took the time to look at the new card he had drawn. He smirked at the sight of it, and slammed it down on his Duel Pod. "I sacrifice my Vengeance Token to summon Freed the Matchless General(2300/1700)!"

A tall blonde warrior in shining armor now stood next to Gorg, but instead of a hammer this warrior had a sword in hand. Freed brushed his blonde hair out of his eyes and stared at Dalin with deep hatred as the mark of the Seal of Vengeance granted him increased power. "With the added strength my Matchless General is stronger than your angel!"

Dalin was about to respond, but was halted as three bolts of energy slammed into his chest. He grimaced, but remained standing despite the force of the blows. On the other side dark power was flowing into Nick. "Since my Vengeance Token was fodder for Freed, its effect activated inflicting three hundred damage to you, and restoring that many of my life points." (NLP: 3000, DLP: 3000)

"We're even Selket. Impressive." That was the last thing that Nick wanted. Compliments he didn't care for when they came from the man he hated above all else. Nothing could have been worse.

"Don't patronize me you bastard! Freed, cut his X in half! Then Gorg will follow suit and crush Uranus' head in!" The two mighty warriors hefted their weapons, and then caught the look that X sent their way. Both warriors shrank back from that gaze and didn't move any further.

"What's wrong with you cowards? You're stronger than him, so attack him already!" His rage was cut off by the sound of Dalin's voice. Dalin was chuckling, even as he slid two cards from his hand into the cemetery.

"Your monsters aren't cowards, they were merely overcome by the power of my X, Angel of Fear. By discarding half of my hand I was allowed to use X's special ability known as Terror Counterstrike. Your monsters are now too paralyzed by fear to attack me at all." He folded his arms over his chest and awaited Nick's next move.

"So be it! I may not be able to go after your monsters this turn, but I'll get past your creature soon enough! Until that moment, my turn is over!" He knew somewhere within himself that to win this duel he would have to gain control of his rage, but being in this man's presence enraged him so much that it would be difficult.

Dalin paused for a moment in the middle of his draw and then shook his head slightly, as if brushing off a thought. "I summon Venus, Angel of Creation(1600/0) in defense mode!" A beautiful angelic woman was summoned, three little spheres surrounding her, floating in a lazy arc about her body.

"Next I move Uranus, Angel of Good Will into defense mode." The happy angel drew his wings around himself, falling into a crouch. Now the only monster he had left in attack mode was X, Angel of Fear.

"I'll place this trap card face down. With this card on my field any attack would only assist me." With only one card remaining in his hand, Dalin's turn was over. Nick sneered at this last comment and began his own turn.

"I won't fall for such a pathetic bluff. Now, pay for your mistake of summoning an extra monster as the total Hate Counters on your field triples to six!" The deadly marks emerged on each of Dalin's creatures. Dalin didn't even blink an eye as the potential damage increased so greatly.

"You probably think my only method of damage is the destruction of the Vengeance Token. Well, you'll learn differently shortly. First I'll generate one of those nifty little tokens." His token formed, giving him yet another weapon to use against Dalin. Now all he needed was a method to make him leave the field.

"I'll continue be revealing that I didn't draw at all this turn. Freed the Matchless General lets me skip my draw phase to add a level four or lower warrior to my hand. Unluckily for you each of the Dark Scorpions is a warrior, so with him on the field I can quickly assemble my deadly army!" He brandished one of the cards in his hand, and then slid it into one of his m/t zones.

"Thanks to the power of Seal of Vengeance I'll summon one of the most faithful of my Dark Scorpions in rear defense. Cliff the Trap Remover(1200/1000)!" A blonde haired man with a gray top and red pants now stood next to the purple-haired Zaloog, and greeted his leader with a slight bow.

Dalin felt the flicker, and then in his mind's eye he saw a glowing line connect Nick to Cliff. The power was there, greater than it was with Gorg, but not quite to the degree that it was with Zaloog. 'He has a true connection with his Dark Scorpions. If I don't stop him he'll soon have all five together, and from what I know that can be devastating.'

"Can you feel the hate your monsters have for you? Well for each Hate Counter on them that feeling increases, and when they get a total of three then something happens. They go berserk!" X threw back his head and released a primal roar, frightening the other two angels.

"All I have to do is sacrifice those three counters and that monster will attack its controller, in this case that means you. So I sacrifice all three Hate Counters on X, Angel of Fear in order to have it attack you directly!" X turned towards Dalin, a look of hate in its eyes, and raised its fist, gathering together energy for a deadly strike.

"I warned you that attacking me would only assist me in this duel. Learn this now, I don't bluff! Open trap card!" He snapped his fingers, and the face down card went face-up. A red line of energy connected it and X's attack, stopping it completely.

"This trap is known as Energy Absorption! First it stops an attack!" The anger around X's hand faded away, leaving it as no threat. With the hate counters gone it returned to normal, and now he turned back to face Nick again.

"Secondly it increases my life points by half of the attack points of the attacker. I now gain twelve hundred and fifty life points." The red soul rope curled back around and shot into Dalin's duel disk. A crimson glow issued forth from it, and the disk began counting up his new life points. (DLP: 4250)

"Finally my trap card ends your battle phase immediately! You haven't entered it yet, but the effect remains. You now can't attack with any of your monsters." The Knight of Earth quivered in rage at having been denied his chance to attack and having the effect of his Seal of Vengeance turned against him.

"You may have denied me my chance to crush you this turn, but it won't last forever! My turn is done, so take yours and let's get this over with shall we?" He folded his arms to await Dalin's next move. He was perfectly prepared for whatever attempt Dalin might make against him, and he still had a spare card in his hand.

The angel duelist cast his eyes upon his deck and then stopped in the midst of drawing. "What in the world?"

His attention had been drawn away from the act of drawing a card by the sudden dark presence he felt. Nick seemed to feel it too, and now their gazes were drawn upwards. What they saw was shocking. "Impossible..."

The ceiling above them was wavering, rippling like a wave. It was as if it were being destabilized by something. Dalin recognized the feeling he was getting, and realized precisely what was happening to the ceiling. "The boundaries of reality are collapsing inwards as one reality invades the other, expanding past its limits. Something is feeding the Darkness Realm, allowing it to bleed into our world."

"That's all very intriguing, but honestly I don't care. So long as you die, I'm fine with it. Now continue your turn!" Dalin returned his attention to the duel, and placed his fingers on his top card.

'Whatever is causing this must be set aside for the moment. I cannot deal with it while locked with this Seal of Vengeance, therefor to stop the expansion of the Darkness Realm I must win this duel. The stakes have just been raised.'

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"Even the powers of darkness that I possess cannot halt the expansion of this Darkness Game. I can slow it down or even prevent it from reaching us, but I cannot stop it. Had I caught it earlier I might have been able to, but it is beyond my control now."

D'harim grimaced beneath his hood and stalked away, not making sure that the person he spoke to was following him. He knew that he was being followed, he could feel their presence. 'Something inside of me has made a connection with...but yet that should be impossible.'

The first knight of order scowled and lengthened his strides, forcing his companion to speed up to keep pace with him. Things were not supposed to happen as they were, and at the moment he couldn't stop them.

'So much must be accomplished, and yet there is so little time. Things are moving too quickly, I must find a way to slow it all down.' The pair turned a corner and stepped out onto the stairs. It was time to head upwards.

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Down in a shattered room where two bodies lay untouched and barely alive, something was happening. A bright golden glow was beginning to cover them, and it seemed to sweep upwards and outwards, covering the building in its light.

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The boy slowed his breathing, making sure it wasn't making too much noise. He had learned by now that when things were tense your breathing always sounded louder than it actually was, but he still tried to quiet it down. 'Time to strike...'

He moved in swiftly and quietly, completely undetected. A deft hand reached out and plucked a loaf of bread out of a small bag that hung from the arm of an elderly man. The boy cheered silently for his catch and moved to slide into the crowd and become unseen.

It wasn't the first time he had stolen something, and he had become quite proficient at it. It was if he had been born to be a thief, even though it had been forced on him. So far in his career as a thief he hadn't been caught, and it was good he hadn't. The price would be one of his hands.

This time was different though. His normally practiced routine and adept body motions were ruined as the flow of the crowd, which was almost always the same, was interrupted by someone not going with the flow.

Two bodies collided, and they both hit the ground hard. The cries of shock from both youths was enough to alert everyone in the area, and all eyes turned down on them. The thief realized that if he the elderly man realized the bread was his, at this point there would be no escape for him.

The thief, his hair covered by a turban with a small extension that covered half of his face, was startled to see that he had knocked over an older foreign girl. She was startlingly attractive, and appeared to be Asian.

"Itai..." The girl groaned and sat up, rubbing her shoulder. Immediately another Asian was at her side, this one being a boy about Nick's age, perhaps slightly younger. He put his hands on her and spoke in rushed urgent tones.

"Anegimi...kimi kenzai?" The girl nodded, and so he helped her to her feet. Then the boy turned towards the thief, his violet eyes glaring daggers at him. Then he swung a fist, catching the boy in the jaw. Caught off guard he took the blow hard, and fell to the ground, his lip split and bleeding.

The boy glared down at him, pointing his finger. "Zamawomiro! Hiretsukan..." He turned back to his elder sister, once again smiling. The girl gave him an admonishing look and gave the thief a hand up.

She smiled at him and then spoke to him in lilting broken English, obviously realizing from his skin tone that he wasn't Egyptian. "I apologize for brother. Sometimes very protective. Means well, overdoes it however. Apologize greatly I do. I am called Hikari."

Although he was a bit thrown by her awkward command of the English language, he found himself somewhat smitten by her beauty and her kindness. "I'm Nick. Nice to meet you, and don't worry about your brother, I've taken worse hits before."

The brother scowled at him, and then shoved his hands into his pockets. "Nannari..." Although Nick didn't know the language, he was able to understand tone of voice. He could understand being protective about family, especially considering he no longer had one.

Hikari gave him another smile, and then turned away with her brother. "Goodbye, have a sunny day!" She waved, and the two departed, weaving through the crowd.

It occurred to Nick quite suddenly that throughout all that the attention of the crowd had drifted, and he would have been able to make a getaway. Not only that, but the girl had been wearing a pendant that looked to be solid gold, and would have been worth quite a bit. But he had been distracted, and had missed his opportunity to get away. "Damn it..."

"You dropped your bread." Nick looked over his shoulder, and nearly coughed up a lung in shock. Standing in front of him holding out the bread he had stolen was the same elderly man that he had taken the bread from in the first place. The knowing smile on the man's face told Nick that the old fellow knew exactly where the bread came from.

"You can have this bread along with all the other things that come with a home, provided you're willing to help me run my shop. My old body gets tired easily, and some things are easier for a youth such as yourself. I need a pair of young hands to help out around the shop." He smiled and patted Nick on the head before picking up his groceries and starting to walk away.

"But I..." He stopped, uncertain of what to say. The old man turned around, a quizzical look on his face.

"Well, are you coming or not?"

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Dalin completed his draw, his eyes widening in shock as he realized what had just occurred. Somehow he had just witness an event from Nick's past, and though it didn't tell him much about the teen, it did tell him that some of the boy's life had been hard. 'But how did I see all that?'

He contemplated what he had seen, ignoring the impatient looks he was receiving. 'Is so much connected? And what happened to leave the boy without a family? Is that what he blames on me?'

"I set one card face down. Turn end!" He barely seemed to notice as Nick started his own turning, ejecting a card from his deck according to the effect of Freed the Matchless General. His mind was focused on that moment in the past.

"Take the pain Sumatin! Each Vengeance Token can only last one turn, so now that my new turn has started my old token dies, inflicting a total of five hundred life points damage to you and restoring that much to me!" Dark energy rushed through Dalin's body, and Nick got his recharge. (DLP: 3750, NLP: 3300)

"Time to bring out another one. Here's my next Vengeance Token(500/500)!" The black kanji of vengeance appeared, and this time it was stronger than any previous one. If it blew up next turn, then Dalin might just lose eight hundred or more life points. (NLP: 3100)

"Now for the fourth of the five Dark Scorpions, taken by the power of my general! I summon Dark Scorpion-Chick the Yellow(1000/1000), who now gains a five hundred point boost!" A skinny little blonde fellow with a wooden hammer now stood next to Cliff, nearly completing the set.

"Now, Freed the Matchless General will attack your X, Angel of Fear!" Dalin nodded, and casually slid the last card in his hand into the graveyard. X gazed upon the monsters on Nick's field, and each of them cowered away from him in fear.

"Once more I discard half my hand rounded up to prevent your attacks for the turn according to the effect of X, Angel of Fear. My hand is now empty, so if I set a card next turn you become safe from the Terror Counterstrike ability." He appeared completely confident, even though his next draw would determine whether he could survive the next turn or not.

"Your turn Sumatin, see if you can make it count. If you fail to do so, I certainly wouldn't care." He was confident in his chances at victory. After all, he had two set cards, two monsters with over two thousand attack points, and three other monsters to boot. Not only that, but he had the immense power of the Seal of Vengeance.

All Dalin had was a single set card, one monster with over two thousand points and two weaklings that couldn't get past his front defense. His hand was also empty, meaning he had no options to draw from. 'The advantage is mine, and soon the duel will be as well!'

The angel duelist, the Duel King himself, didn't draw. Instead he stared into Nick's lone eye, and asked the question that he had to have the answer to. "What did I do that has caused you so much pain and made you hate me so much?"

The response he got was far from positive, not that he had expected a positive response. Nick's anger caused his energy to burn off his body, and the ground beneath their feet shook as his power was unleashed. "DO NOT PASS YOURSELF OFF AS AN INNOCENT!"

Dalin didn't bother to respond. It was best to let his opponent rage and eventually get to the point. "You...you act like you're innocent of any crime, but you're the wicked one here! You took everything I had from me and cast me into the abyss to flounder, grasping for a ray of hope!"

"And you found that ray of hope in your path of vengeance. Your past is shadowed from me, so I know not what grievance I have done to you. But know this: my past is also shadowed away from myself. All that I once was is gone, and I remember nothing of it."

"You say that, but I know it's just another lie! You're trying to make me doubt, but I know in my heart that it was you, I know no matter what that my target is Dalin Imaki Sumatin, the bastard who murdered my parents before my very eyes!" The burning fire in Nick's eye told Dalin all he needed to know. Nick believed what he was saying.

The fire of conviction is always powerful. Yet conviction does not make something true. Dalin had no way of knowing if Nick was simply placing this upon him as a scapegoat, or whether in truth Dalin Imaki Sumatin was responsible. The trouble was, outside of a dead man's word, Dalin had no way of knowing if that was even his true name.

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"I activate my magic card, Necromancy, raising four random monsters from your cemetery to the field in defense mode!" A deep but muffled voice intoned these words, and four monsters, each one a rodent, were placed down on the other side of the field.

Nick Selket, appearing about sixteen, stood on the sidelines, watching the duel take place. On one side was the man who had defeated him in the semi-finals, a duelist who used an Earth Deck. The man had gotten lucky with one draw, winning by a bare margin.

This man's opponent in the final match, the one who had just played Necromancy, played an obscure deck type. So far he had merely defended and played cards that destroyed the opponent's monsters. He had four cards in hand and no monsters on the field, while his opponent now had four defense monsters and a Millennium Shield(0/3000) as well.

"Prepare to feel my power. I activate Stop Defense, forcing your Millennium Shield into attack mode." The Earth Deck user reached down and shifted his monster from a horizontal to a vertical position. With no cards face down the man was now in danger, but he had all 2000 of his life points remaining.

Nick had come to this duel once again seeking the murderer of his parents. All the same people from the tournament that took place when his parents were killed were also here. However, Nick had his eyes on the strange duelist. Wrapped in white cloth that covered everything but his eyes, he was an imposing figure of greater than six feet in height.

His eyes were a piercing green color, and seemed to freeze his very soul. It was those eyes that made Nick believe this might be the man. He had no way to know for sure, but those eyes felt familiar.

"Now, I activate Defense Breaker and Tide of Weakening. This card combo will show you just how powerful I really am." He placed the two magic cards down in front of him, and the ref took note of this. The man's opponent looked nervous, as he didn't know what was coming.

"Tide of Weakening is a continuous magic card that allows a monster to lose any number of attack points, no matter what. Defense Breaker destroys all face-up defense monsters on the opponent's field." The Earth user nodded and picked up his four newly summoned monsters and placed them into his cemetery pile.

"When a monster revived by Necromancy is destroyed I can reduce the attack power of one monster on the opponent's field by six hundred points. Since I destroyed all four, and I have Tide of Weakening in play, I can now reduce Millennium Shield's attack power by twenty-four hundred." Nick now realized what was intended. With a shockingly weak power of negative twenty-four hundred, any monster could crush and destroy Millennium Shield for the win.

"There's more. I play Kingdom of Undeath, which lets me take one undead monster from my deck and play it on the field, regardless of costs for it." He fanned his deck out and deftly picked the card he wanted. He reshuffled his deck and returned it to the normal position.

"I summon Berserk Dead Dragon(3500/0). His effect would have let me blow away all your monsters anyways, but I wanted it to really hurt. So Berserk Dead Dragon now destroys Millennium Shield for a total of fifty-nine hundred damage." The man's opponent dropped his head in shame, having been defeated by such a wide margin in the final round of the tournament.

The referee stepped up and lifted the big man's hand into the air and intoned in a clear voice: "And the winner is Dalin Imaki Sumatin!"

In that moment those green eyes met Nick's, and Nick swore he saw the man smirk. There was a spark of recognition in those eyes, and of amusement. "Dalin Imaki Sumatin..."

His world seemed frozen until the older man brushed by him and whispered as he passed. "If you pick a fight you can't win, you're bound to lose something you can't get back. Like an eye."

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Dalin closed his eyes for a moment, letting the image fade away. The voice had been too quiet and too muffled to be recognized. The eyes could be anyone's. There was still no way for him to know if that man was him, but he did know the reason Nick believed he was responsible.

"I'm beginning to understand at last. But not everything can be easily resolved, and without the knowledge of my past I cannot be considered the same person, even if I am responsible! And I must win this duel, so forgive me as I unleash the vengeance of my own angels upon you!" He snapped his fingers, and his face down card snapped up.

"Angelic Rage! Now my angels are allowed the ability to attack you directly, even if you have monsters in play. Farewell Nikolas Selket, and sleep well in shadow!" The three monsters launched their individual attacks at Nick, ready to burn away his life points.

Uranus used a wave of good energy, while Venus struck out with a tri-focused beam of light, and X unleashed a blast of darkness. All three attacks converged on Nick, and if they connected this duel would be over.

"I'm not so easily destroyed as you seem to think. I activate one of the strongest abilities of my Seal of Vengeance. Vengeance Death Strike!" All around them the Seal began to glow, and the attacks faded away. Dalin's three angels began to shake violently as the counters on their bodies lit up.

"Vengeance Death Strike will destroy every Hate Counter in play, and destroy every monster that has one attached! Let's see your monsters burn!" The angels shattered into pixels, barely getting a chance to scream in agony. But as Dalin knew from earlier in the duel, their deaths were about to be avenged.

"I'm sure you remember the effect of Seal of Vengeance. Since your monsters were destroyed, their spirits will now seek vengeance against you. Total up their levels and you'll know just how much pain you're about to feel!" Three angelic spirits, with eyes shadowed and red, now flew in a circle around Dalin.

"Uranus was a level four, Venus was a level three, and X was a level eight. Therefore I receive fifteen hundred points of damage." The moment he completed saying this the three spirits rushed through his body, taking him to one knee as they drained his life force away from him. (DLP: 2350)

"How pathetic. Now that you've failed at that, would you care to end your turn?" Dalin slid a card onto his disk, and it appeared in front of him. It was now the only thing between him and each of Nick's monsters.

Nick placed his hand next to his deck, and it proceeded to spit a card out of his deck for him in place of his draw phase. This was it, the moment that Dalin had known would be coming. "Thanks to the effect of Freed I now have the final piece of the puzzle. Not that it matters."

He threw the card down onto his Duel Pod, and the monster was summoned up. Clad in similar gray armor and red pants, this warrior was different than the other three. This one was a woman, and had long black hair and a whip in her hands. "This is Dark Scorpion-Maenae the Thorn(1000/1800)."

A bond of soul energy now created a circuit between Nick and his five monsters, connecting each one of them together. Freed seemed an outsider to this, and the now united Dark Scorpions glared at Dalin with glowing red eyes. "With the power of the Seal of Vengeance my monsters now have nearly twelve thousand total attack points."

"I had something all planned out for you, but it appears it isn't even needed. You can't handle the strength of the Seal of Vengeance let alone the strength of the Dark Scorpions. In just one moment all six of my monsters will attack you, and no single set card can stop them all! Face it Sumatin, you're going to lose, and I'm going to have my revenge." The scorpions and Nick all began to laugh, anticipating the soon to be achieved revenge.

"Nikolas Selket, I am a sending of justice, and therefore I am protected by the powers of the light. Strive as hard as you wish to defeat me, but in the end it is I who shall claim victory. I am prepared for your attack, and I do not bluff." Nick sneered, feeling the energy flowing off Dalin.

"You're no sending of justice! The justice to be dealt is mine, and I am its sending! I am a weapon of justice, sent to strike you down for the sins of your past! Now greet your forebears as you reach your deserved resting place. GO TO HELL!"

And six monsters began their charge towards Dalin's life points.

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Author's Notes: I'm cooking people with gasoline here...

Translations(by sentence)

1st: Ouch...

2nd: Big sister, are you well?

3rd: Serves you right! Bastard...

4th: Whatever...

WolfGeneral: See, sometimes it's fun to root for the villain.

Time Mage: It was either Yami Bakura or a random civilian, and Yami B. is always cooler than a random civilian.

The White Mage: D'harim didn't get a new deck...

G.O.T. Nick: Bah, not Toons.

VoidTemplar: Yep, Taichi is a cheap little bastard.

Original Cards

Dalin: Uranus-Angel of Good Will, Energy Absorption, Angelic Rage

Mystery Guy: Kingdom of Undeath, Tide of Weakening, Defense Break