Emblem of the Duelist 2: Dark Era

by Timeas Revner

The Spirit Bearer was sealed away a year ago. But there is now a new force that is threatening the world. And Yami and Marik have only three people to turn to for help against Leon and the power of Dark Era

All right, for those of you that didn't read my first story, this is mainly about three boys named Karl, James and Josh. They have been gifted with an insignia on the back of their right hands. These insignia's give them the power to do some pretty cool crap.

Now, there are eight of these people in the world called the Emblem Knights. It is their sworn duty to protect the pharaoh at all costs. They will be listed in order of arrival in the last one.

Karl/ Shadow Bearer- pretty much the main character, now has a darkness deck

Water Bearer- nothing has changed about him

James/ Fire Bearer- still the same guy

Josh/ Forest Bearer-now has master deck

Nick/ Wind Bearer- no longer has Exodia deck

Joseph/ Light Bearer- also the same guy

Lightning Bearer- yeah, the same

Spirit Bearer- pretty much fucked over

Karl, James, and Josh were the only ones left when the other five went rogue against Yugi. They defeated the first four and Karl sealed the Spirit Bearer in the spire that holds his power. But now there is a new evil. Oh and by the way, in my story there is a place called Era. I am perfectly aware that Era means time period.

A dark figure looked down onto the streets from atop a building through a pair of binoculars. He had silver hair that he combed straight and spiked in the front. He was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt. It was unzipped to reveal a black Styx: Pieces of Eight T-shirt and was wearing black jean shorts. There was a duel disk on his left arm and a tattoo on his right hand. It was an insignia of a purple circle with a triangle in the middle. On each of the sides was a circle. His stunning blue eyes were glowing as he searched the busy streets for someone.

He saw a familiar boy with spiky, purple and blonde hair walking toward the building. The boy had bright purple eyes with a duel disk on his own left hand. He wore a pair of blue jeans with a black T-shirt. The most peculiar thing about him however was the necklace dangling against his chest. It was golden with an upside-down pyramid showing an eye in the middle. Alongside him was a boy with long white hair. He had dark skin and golden eyes. This guy was wearing a white tank top and black jeans. This guy was no exception to the duel disk and there was a golden stick on his belt. It wasn't very long but had a ball at the end and wing-like things protruded from it.

The figure tied the binoculars to his belt and jumped from the top of the building. He sped headfirst toward the concrete sidewalk at an increasing rate. Then suddenly, he was gone. The boy stopped and the guy turned to look at him. "What's up Yugi? Why did you just stop?" the guy asked.

"I'm not sure Marik. I just felt the strangest sense of déjà vu. There is something going on that seems way too familiar", said the blonde boy. He glanced at the ground and saw a black circle of a shadow, but there was nothing above them. He looked back at the circle and it started to move. Yugi and Marik watched as the figure from the roof began to rise out of shadow (this part kind of reminds me of when the bad guy from Hellboy rises from the pool of blood). "Karl, what are you doing here? I haven't seen you or the other Emblem Knights in almost a year. Not since that ordeal with the Spirit Bearer".

The figure looked up and pierced the two boys with the gaze of his brilliant blue eyes. "Yugi, this is important. Again, I cannot tell you anything until we get back to my place. You can bring your friend if you'd like. Your name is Marik Ishtar, you were the second place finalist in Battle City, and are the owner of the Millenium Rod, correct. Okay, let's go", Karl said. He turned and began running followed by the two boys. They ran down the crowded sidewalk. Karl being the fast guy that he was, easily dodged the pedestrians and maneuvered his way along the path. Yugi and Marik however had to go at a much slower pace so that they would run into anybody. They reached the end of the block but couldn't find Karl. "You two are far too slow. I was beginning to think that somebody had turned you around", came his voice. They looked up to see Karl standing on the top of a streetlight. He jumped down and they turned the corner. They ran down the street, which wasn't nearly as crowded and turned into an alleyway. Karl grabbed their wrists and pulled them through a concrete barrier. The came out the other side and ran to a suburban street. Yugi recognized this street. He looked at a house that was once covered with police tape and looked like hell. It was now a good house and had a For Sale sign in the front. The three of them went into the house next to it and headed for the basement. Karl held his hand up to the wall and cast a purple light from his insignia to reveal a door.

He opened it and they walked into a brightly-lit room. There were couches and chairs all over the main room and some hallways leading to other rooms. Sitting in the main room was two people. The first had brown hair that stopped slightly below his chin. He was wearing a black T-shirt that advertised Pink Floyd: The Wall with some blue jeans. He also had blue eyes and a duel disk. A red insignia was clearly visible on the back of his right hand. It looked like a flame turned on its side. The other person was a boy with black hair that dropped below his shoulders. He was wearing a Three Days Grace T-shirt with baggy jeans. He didn't have a duel disk but there was an insignia on his right hand. It was gray and portrayed a spiral with a line running down the middle. They were watching TV with a bag of Doritos between them.

"Hey James, Nick. I've got him. And he brought another one of his big tournament friends with him", Karl said. The red insignia boy stood up and walked over to Yugi.

"Hey Yug, how long has it been? A year now? It is so great to see you again. Don't worry, we'll tell you about everything in a second. Oh, and of course you remember Nick. He's with us now. Josh, get out here now!" James said. The other guy got up and shook Yugi's hand.

"Hi, I want to apologize for the whole, 'waste the Pharaoh' thing I was part of last year. If there's anything I can do to make it up, just let me know", Nick assured him. A third boy walked in. He had dirty blonde hair that came down to his eyebrows. His brown eyes were slightly magnified by his glasses. He was wearing a Green Day: American Idiot T-shirt with blue jeans. There was a Game Boy Advanced SP in his hands. There was a duel disk on his left wrist as well. His insignia was green with five crescents spiraling in.

"Damn it Josh! Will you quit playing your video games long enough to do anything?" James asked in annoyed voice. Josh stuck up the middle finger without taking his face off of the screen. "Can't you see we have company? The Pharaoh is here and he brought a friend. Look, it's Marik Ishtar, your favorite duelist".

Josh tore his face away from the screen and walked over to Marik. "It is an honor to meet you Marik. You are practically the best duelist in the world in my opinion", he said as he shook Marik's hand. James turned to Marik.

"Yes, it truly is an honor to meet a duelist of your magnitude. It's too bad none of us had a chance to face you in Battle City. But we were just novices then. You would have whipped us t. I hope we can duel when this is over. Come kitchen so we can discuss this, I'm hungry", the Fire Bearer said. The six of them walked into the kitchen part of this "underground house". James began making those cookies that come in those tubes. "So I thought you two were supposed to be on Survivor right now. Why the hell are you here?"

"Don't you know, that show is shot like a year before it goes on air. We went just after the Spirit Bearer thing. Now, what's going on?" Yugi asked. He took off the Millenium Puzzle and placed it on the table. Marik then placed the golden stick on the table as well. James put the cookie in the oven and sat down.

"Well I guess we should start with the tournament that Karl went to. Karl went to this lame ass tournament at a bookstore that goes on every weekend. He was doing his usual winning when he makes it to the finals. This kid who never makes it past round two is in the finals and he looked really determined. As soon as both of them summoned a monster, this weird magic called the Dark Era covers their game. Karl beats him and this kid actually dies. But this magic is seriously weird. It increases monsters' attack points by 500 and if you lose a monster, you lose 500 life points. And here's the worst part. Karl summoned The Winged Dragon of Ra. He came out and was followed by Obelisk and Slifer. But the Dark Era killed them, too. Some unknown force destroyed them and now they won't come out of their cards. The hologram projectors won't materialize them and they don't appear in the Shadow Realm", James told them. He stuck his hand out and touched the Millenium Puzzle and the golden stick. The insignia on his hand began to glow. The golden items then reacted by glowing as well.

"Well why am I so important in all of this?" Yugi asked.

"The kid told us everything that we needed to know. At least, It answered all of our questions. We're not sure if it is everything though. I can show you the duel. I can project the memory of it onto the TV screen. Come on", Karl said. They walked into the main room and sat down on the couches. Karl closed his eyes in deep concentration, as the room grew incredibly dark. The Millenium Puzzle glowed and Yugi seemed to be somehow different. Then the blank television started showing a flash back-type thing.

A small boy with short, curly, brown hair was standing across from Karl. This kid had a Metallica: Some Kind of Monster T-shirt with jean shorts. On his right hand was an insignia. It was a circle with a nine sided star in the middle (looks like the Slipknot symbol). It was faded and looked like a blue pen drew it on. He activated his duel disk and drew five cards. "All right, I'll star this off. I set one card face down and summon the Ultimate Baseball Kid (A500, D1000) in defense mode. Then I end my turn", he said.

Karl drew his cards as the monster formed in front of him. It was a yellow-skinned boy wearing a red baseball uniform. In his hands was a light brown bat with spikes protruding from it. "I will begin my first turn by playing the Pot of Greed magic card. This card lets me draw two more cards. Now I set one card face down and summon my Bistro Butcher (A1800, D1000) in attack mode. I'll send him to attack your monster with Butcher Slash", he said. The Bistro Butcher was a purple demon in a salmon colored chef outfit with a large knife and a golden hook for a right hand. He ran up to the Ultimate Baseball Kid and prepared to cut it to pieces when an invisible vortex stopped him and he returned to his original spot.

The kid (who is named Mut) pushed a button on his duel disk to flip up his face down card. "Reveal face down Negate Attack trap card. This card stops your attack and instantly ends your battle phase. Now I get to keep my monster", he said in a weak little voice.

Karl had a disappointed look on his face. "I end my turn", he said.

Mut drew his next card. Then the two of them slowly slipped into darkness. At first Karl thought that he had taken them to the Shadow Realm. But the same insignia on Mut's hand formed around them. The drawing on his hand started to glow a light blue to match the seal around them. "Welcome Shadow Knight, to Dark Era. I hope you don't mind that we will be continuing the rest of our duel here. In this place, my monsters will receive a 500-point boost. Also, if I send one of your monsters from the field to the graveyard, you will lose 500 life points. And you should know this, for it is the most important part of Dark Era. If you lose inside of this seal, Dark Era will make a choice of you. It can either take control of your mind if it thinks you are worthy enough. But if it doesn't think you are a good duelist, it will take away your life. Now let us continue. I summon my Cannon Soldier (A1900, D1300). First I'll offer my Ultimate Baseball Kid for my Cannon Soldier's effect. You lose 500 life points. Then my monster will attack your Bistro Butcher with Plasma Cannon. I end my turn", he said. A purple robot with large claws and a cannon on its back appeared and the yellow kid disappeared. The robot fired a blast and destroyed Karl's monster.

Karl Mut

7500 8000

Karl drew his card. He felt weak from the attacks. It felt like Dark Era was sucking the energy out of him when he lost life points. "I don't have much of a choice so I will set another card face down and I will summon Tainted Wisdom (A1250, D800) in defense mode. Then I end my turn", he said. A red brain that seemed to be rotting like a potato formed in front of him.

Mut drew his next card and grinned. "I set one card face down in defense mode. Then I will send Cannon Soldier to attack your pathetic Tainted Wisdom with Plasma Cannon. I end my turn", he said. The robot fired another blast at Karl. Karl felt the pain of his monster being destroyed.

Karl Mut

7000 8000

Karl drew his next card. "I set a monster face down in defense mode and end my turn. Tell me Mut, you used to suck at dueling. I was able to beat you in three turns. But now I can't even keep a monster on the field. How did you get so good?" he asked.

Mut smiled. "It is all thanks to my master Leon. He gave me the power to use Dark Era. He said as long as I help him use it to claim 100 lives, I can be a powerful duelist. I suppose you want to know why he wants 100 lives. Well, after 100 lives are offered, then an ancient Sorcerer named Pandora will arise and enslave us all. But he also wants the Millenium Items so that he can have more power. Now I think I have told you too much. I'll take my turn now", he said. He drew his card and his eyes narrowed but he continued grinning that large grin of insanity. "I flip up my face down Mask of Darkness (A1400, D400) to bring back my Negate Attack. Next I offer my two monsters for the Blue-Eyes White Dragon (A3000, D2500)". (As I explained in my previous book, Pegasus came out with the Legend of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon pack and with it a new Blue-Eyes that has only 2500 and dies instantly when Kaiba's Blue-Eyes is on the field). A giant light blue dragon with enormous wings took shape on the field. It spread its wings and roared. "Blue-Eyes White Dragon, attack his face down monster with White Lightning. I end my turn". The dragon opened its mouth and a wave of blue electricity covered the field, destroying Karl's monster.

Karl Mut

5900 8000

Karl stood up straight and picked the top card from his deck. "Now you're in for it. I tribute the monster you just destroyed, Tainted Wisdom, and the Bistro Butcher from the graveyard to summon my Dark Necrofear (A2200, D2800) in attack mode. Then I'll send it to attack your Blue-Eyes White Dragon with Death Spell. I end my turn", he said.

Mut made his gay little laugh again as he pressed another button on his duel disk. "I reveal my Negate Attack to stop your monster's attack. I know all about what happens when your monster gets destroyed. Now I will take my turn. I set one card face down and end my turn by switching my Blue-Eyes into defense mode", he said.

Karl picked up his card and grinned to know that he was finally on the offensive. "I set one monster face down in defense mode. Then since I can't attack, I'll end my turn".

Mut drew his next card with a worried look on his face. "I summon the Little Winguard (A1900, D1800) in defense mode. Then I end my turn". The Little Winguard was a little man completely covered in purple and blue armor. He had a sword in his right hand and tiny shield in his left. A blue cape was flowing behind him.

Karl was proud of himself that he was now in control of this duel. "I flip up my face down Magician of Faith (A300, D400) to bring back a magic card which I will use now. Activate magic card Pot of Greed. Now to take control of your Blue-Eyes by activating the magic card known as Snatch Steal". Karl's magician was a pale girl with pink hair and a purple robe. There was a golden staff with a crescent moon at the top in her right hand.

"Reveal face down Magic Jammer. By offering a card from my hand, I can destroy your Snatch Steal magic card", Mut said as he pressed button on his duel disk. Magic Jammer was a picture of a magic circle with smoke rising from it.

Karl frowned as he placed his magic card in the graveyard. "I'll end my turn by setting one card face down in defense mode".

Mut drew his card and a new grin spread across his face. "I'll offer my Blue-Eyes White Dragon and Little Winguard. But before I summon my monster, I'll activate the Dark Hole magic card to destroy all of your monsters. Now I summon Hyozanryu (A2600, D2800) in attack mode. Then I will combine him with the Big Bang Shot magic card to increase his attack points by 400. Now Hyozanryu will attack your life points with Crystal Dragon Breath. I end my turn". The Dark Hole was a picture of a black hole. Karl's monsters were all sucked into the vacuum and a large white dragon took shape before Mut. Big Bang Shot was a man kicking and a green energy forming around his foot. The dragon fired a shimmering flame at Karl.

Karl Mut

1500 8000

Karl struggled to keep on his feet and had trouble drawing his card. But he did it all the same. "Now my Dark Necrofear, rise from the grave and take control of his dragon. You must not realize that as long as you killed my Dark Necrofear, it will come back and posses one of your monsters. Next I summon the Sea Serpent Warrior of Darkness (A1800, D1500). Now my monsters will attack your life points directly. I then set one card face down and end my turn". A blue demon in purple fish armor appeared next to the white dragon that was now on Karl's side. The demon had a triton-like weapon in his hands. Both of the monsters attacked Mut.

Karl Mut

1500 3200

Mut drew his card. Karl didn't understand why Mut wasn't in pain. He just got hit with more pain than Karl had been. "Tell me Mut, how is it that you are able to withstand all of that damage? I am in the worst pain of my life and you are just standing there", Karl asked.

Mut looked up from his cards. "Oh, after being exposed to the force of Dark Era for so long, you get used to pain. Now, I don't feel it. I myself have taken the lives of three duelists. Leon said that we are nearing the halfway point of 100. It should only take a couple more days before our world falls into despair. Now for my turn. I set one monster face down in defense mode and end my turn", he said grinning.

Karl took up his next card. "I'll send Sea Serpent Warrior of Darkness to destroy your monster with Slash of the Sea. Next, Hyozanryu will attack your life points with Crystal Dragon Breath. I end my turn", he said. The two monsters attack Mut again.

Karl Mut

1500 200

Mut drew his card and he looked happy enough to piss himself. "Well I get to bring a card with 1500 defense points or less to my hand because you destroyed my Witch of the Black Forest. Next I activate my Monster Reborn magic card. This will allow me to bring back a monster that has been destroyed. I choose to bring back my Invader of Darkness (A3400, D2500) in attack mode. Now he will destroy Hyozanryu with Dark Wrath. You don't lose life points by Hyozanryu's death because he was my monster and… oh god damn it. I attacked the wrong monster. I end my turn", Mut said pissed off. His monster was a brick red demon in golden armor and a large black cloak.

Karl Mut

900 200

Karl was kneeling down because he was in so much excruciating pain. He drew his card and made a brief smile but it returned to a sneer. "I hope you didn't think because I was a peace keeper that I would have a problem with killing you. I activate my Shallow Grave magic card. This will allow us both to bring back a monster in face down defense mode. Then I flip up my monster to reveal my Magician of Faith who I will use to bring back a magic card", he said. The Shallow Grave was a monster with an axe crawling out of a hole in the ground. "Now to use the magic card I brought back, Snatch Steal. This card will let me take control of one of your monsters. I will take the Invader of Darkness and send him to attack your face down monster with Dark Wrath. Now Serpent Warrior of Darkness will attack your life points directly. This is it". Mut's life point meter struck zero and he grabbed his head and started screaming.

"No, this wasn't how it was supposed to be. I can't lose. Dark Era, I have already brought you three lives. Spare me and I won't fail you again. Just give me another chance", he cried. The blue seal enclosed around him and slowly got smaller until it had collapsed around him completely and he was gone without a trace. The darkness dissipated and Karl was left with a tear running down his cheek.

The TV screen shut off and the group that was watching the vision was shocked at what they had just seen. James turned to Karl who was sitting next to him. He was that the same tear was running down his face now. "Hey guys, he is out cold. That must have been hard work showing us that. Look, the Shadow Realm is fading away. I'll take him to his room", he said and carried Karl to his bed. He came back and sat down with the rest of them.

Yami looked puzzled. "I don't get something James. I thought that the Spirit Bearer was the only one sealed away. Where are the Water, Lightning, and Light Knights?" he asked.

James frowned. "You see Pharaoh, Josh, Karl, and myself have remained loyal to you ever since we found out that you were the person we had to protect. Nick, and the others were intimidated into following the Spirit Bearer so they unwillingly turned away from you. After Karl sealed him away however, they came back. But they thought that they were unneeded after nothing happened for awhile. And they didn't want to be Emblem Knights anymore so they just quit. They gave up their Emblems so that they wouldn't have to duel against the darkness. They will be replaced, but only once they die. But us four are here to help you. And as far as I can see, that's not going to change. Now do you see why we need you two here? Those guys want the Millenium Items. So we need to keep you here so they can't get the Millenium Puzzle or the Millenium Rod", he explained.

Yami nodded his head and then his eyes got real wide. "I just remembered, the Millenium Necklace is at my grandpa's card store. We have to go and get it. My grandpa's business is in danger", he said in a panicking voice.

"Relax Pharaoh. Your grandpa's card shop is safe as long as nobody knows that the Necklace is there. Besides, it is way too late for you to be running out in the streets when those guys are looking for you. It's like ten-o-clock. Get some sleep and Karl and I will take you to your grandpa's store. Josh, god help me if you stay up all night again tonight, I'll kick you in the ass so hard your nose bleeds.

James was the first one to wake up the next morning. He made himself some eggs and ate breakfast. Marik and Yami woke up and walked into kitchen and James made them some eggs. "Okay Pharaoh, today we'll go to your grandpa's store and get the Millenium Necklace. I'll go wake up Karl and Josh", James said as he served the eggs. He walked down the hallway to Josh's room and opened the door. Josh was sitting on his bed playing his Xbox. He had bloodshot eyes and little bags under them. "God damn it Josh, I promised you last night. Come here!" he shouted. Josh moved when James ran at him and got out of the room. Josh ran down the hallway and banged on Karl's door. James came up to the door as it opened. A large black hand grabbed James by the neck and held him up to the wall.

Karl walked out with an exhausted/ pissed off look on his face. "Can't you guys keep it down in the morning. I smell eggs. Make me some now", he said and put James down. The two of them walked down to the kitchen and James made some more eggs. Josh walked in with a satisfied grin on his face but James ignored it. After they had some eggs, they got dressed. Karl, James, and Yami went outside and started running to the card store owned my Yugi's grandfather. They arrived in about a ½ hour. The store was empty and said closed. Yami took a key from his pocket and opened the door. They went upstairs. "Hey Pharaoh, is your grandpa supposed to be gone? I'm just checking because of what happened last time", Karl asked.

Yami turned to him. "Yeah it's okay. He's gone out of town for the weekend to visit his friend Professor Hawkins. Oh no, the Millenium Necklace isn't here. But that weird seal that is in Dark Era is in its place. Look", he said. Karl and James saw that the nine-sided star was carved onto a wooden shelf.

"This isn't good. Pharaoh, we need to know if you know where any of the other Millenium Items are. Do you have any idea who has the other four", James asked.

Yami thought for a second and said, "A kid from my class named Bakura Ryou has the Millenium Ring. And Maximillion Pegasus has the Millenium Eye. Oh, and this guy in Egypt named Shadi has the Millenium Key. Those are the only one I know of. Pegasus can take care of himself. And Shadi has these weird powers. But Bakura might need some help. I can show you where he lives". The three of them headed for Bakura's house.

"James, I just though of something. The magic of Dark Era is supposed to kill all of humanity when enough people die. But Mut didn't seem scarred about it. That kid was a wimp. It doesn't make sense", Karl said.

James' eyes grew wide. "Could it be possible that Dark Era is like the Ninth Emblem spell and rids the victim of fear and free will. Like it won't let Mut be afraid to fulfill his job. Dark Era might just make people insane and want to kill everybody like the Seal of Orichalcos", he responded.

"But Mut also didn't seem himself. It was like he was evil to the heart. I sensed nothing but darkness and anger and hatred in him. What if Dark Era didn't take control of his mind, but take all the darkness from it and give it a body?" Karl asked.

"You may have something. The Dark Era is apparently the darkest magic in the world. Maybe it can create the darkest people in the world by taking it out of people. Mut must not have been afraid because he would safe if Dark Era wants to eradicate the world and leave nothing but darkness. If that's all he was made out of, he might survive", James guessed.

"Whoa, I just got another idea. Hobo fighting. If we possessed Hobos with our Ninth Emblems, than we could make Hobos fight, videotape it, and sell it for more than it'' worth", Karl said.

James had a skeptical look on his face. "You were watching American Dad again weren't you?" he asked. They didn't talk again until they arrived at Bakura's house. Bakura was walking out of his house when they arrived.

He looked up and laughed. "Yugi, what a pleasant surprise. I was just about to head to your grandfather's store. It looks like you've saved me a trip", he said. Bakura had long white hair and dark green eyes. He was wearing a white shirt with large blue stripes and a blue shirt that buttoned in the front. The shirt was unbuttoned and he had a pair of blue jeans. Around his neck was a golden necklace of his own. It was a circle with an eye in the middle. Surrounding the circle was a ring with five needles tied to the bottom, which were dangling as he walked. His voice surprised Karl and James. They expected him to have a soft voice. But it sounded dark and cruel. There was a duel disk on his left wrist.

"What were you looking for me for?" Yami asked puzzled. He suspected there was something up with Bakura.

"I wanted to duel you. I was hoping to duel you for your Millenium Puzzle. I hope you don't mind me challenging you", Bakura answered. A black cloud began forming around the four people. Bakura held up his right hand to show the seal from Dark Era burning a blue light on his hand. The same circle and star started to form around Yami and Bakura. James ran up and pushed Yami. Yami fell out of the circle and it stopped, trapping James inside with Bakura.

"Stupid boy. It doesn't matter if you saved him now. I will kill you and then the Pharaoh is all mine. Now, I will take the first turn. I set two cars face down and summon Ryu-Kishin Powered (A2100, D1200) in attack mode. I end my turn", Bakura said. His monster was a red beast with spikes sticking out of his back. The monster's attack points increased by 500 by the power of Dark Era.

James drew five cards and then a sixth. "I set one card face down. Then I summon my Goblin Attack Force (A2300, D0) in attack mode. I'll have my monsters attack your Ryu-Kishin Powered with Stone Maces. I end my turn", he said. An army of green goblins in yellow armor appeared and began smacking Bakura's monsters with gray maces. Then for some reason, they all fell asleep.

James Bakura

8000 7800

Bakura flinched and drew a card. "I summon the monster known as Newdoria (A1700, D800) in attack mode. Then I will activate my Dark Energy magic card to increase his attack points to 2000. Newdoria, attack his goblins with Bite of the Wicked", he said to an orange demon. It was dressed in black armor that had spikes and green pants. The demon bit one of James' goblins and they all shattered. "You should remember that you lose life points when a monster of yours is destroyed. And when your monster is forced to switch into defense mode with zero defense points, well it's just common sense. I end my turn".

James Bakura

7500 7800

James was startled at how much pain he felt after only 500 life points. He drew his card and grinned. But before he could make a move, Bakura pressed a button on his duel disk. "Reveal trap card Destiny Board. Every turn I can bring a spirit message to the field. Once the word is complete, the duel is over", he said.

"It won't matter, I can defeat you before then. I summon Breaker the Magical Warrior (A1600, D1000) in attack mode. When he is summoned, he gets a spell counter that increases his attack by 300"James said.

"So what. Your warrior is still too weak to destroy my Newdoria. In my next turn, I will kill it", Bakura interrupted.

"Not when I combine him with the Axe of Despair and Black Pendant. His attack is now 3400. But I'll offer the 300 points from the spell counter to destroy your Destiny Board. Now Breaker will attack with Enchanted Sword Strike. I end my turn", James said. A warrior in red armor and a short sword swung its blade and killed Newdoria. The magic cards were a regular axe with a wooden handle and the other was a golden necklace with a purple stone.

James Bakura

7000 6400

"Because you attacked Newdoria, I got to choose a monster on your side of the field to die. And because your monster was equipped with the Black Pendant, I lost 500 life points", Bakura explained. He drew his card and began his turn. "Now, I set one card face down and summon the Skull Knight #2 (A1500, D1200) in attack mode. Now my knight, attack his life points directly with Nightmare Blade. I end my turn". A skeleton in silver armor and a red sword appeared in front of Bakura. It swung its sword and hit James.

James Bakura

5500 6400

James knelt down for a second to hold his stomach. It felt like he had the wind knocked out of him. He stood up and drew his card and looked disappointed. "I summon Gear Golem the Moving Fortress (A800, D2200) in defense mode. Then I play this card face down and end my turn", he said unhappily. Before him formed a machine made out of gold and silver.

Bakura drew a card and didn't look happy. "I will set this monster face down in defense mode. Next I will set this card also face down and end my turn", he said.

James drew his next card. He was happy to see this card. "I set this card face down. Then I set the Sinister Serpent (A300, D250) in defense mode and end my turn", he said. An acid green cobra took shape on the field next to Gear Golem.

Bakura was scowling as James took his turn. But his expression changed when he drew his card. "Ah, this is much better. I offer my Skull Knight #2 to summon the Earl of Demise (A2500, D1500) in attack mode. Next, I flip up my face down Mask of Darkness (A1400, D400) to bring back a trap card. I set my trap card face down and send my earl to attack you with Stiletto of the Underworld. Next my Mask of Darkness will attack the snake with Blind Fury. I end my turn", he said.

James Bakura

4500 6400

James held his stomach and drew the card on the top of his deck. He looked at his card and grinned. "I reveal my face down trap card Michizure. When I lose a monster, I get to choose one of yours to destroy. I'll get rid of your Earl of Demise. Next I will set this card face down and summon the Sinister Serpent that returned to my hand when you destroyed it. I end my turn", he said.

Bakura was furious that his strong monster was destroyed. He drew his card. "I flip up my face down Destiny Board trap card. Next I summon my Twin-Headed Wolf (A2000, D1000) in attack mode. I'll have my mask attack your Sinister Serpent again", he said. A devilish wolf with two heads burst out of nowhere and howled.

James grinned as he pressed a button on his duel disk. "Reveal face down card Curse of Anubis. This will switch all of your monsters that have effects into defense mode and reduce their defense points to zero", he said proud of himself.

Bakura pushed a button as well. "I activate my Raigeki Break trap card. I can offer a card from my hand to destroy a card on the field. I will destroy this one to stop your Curse of Anubis', he said.

James hit another button revealing a second card. "Not when I activate Judgement of Anubis. When you activate a card to destroy one of my magic or trap cards, I get to destroy it and then choose a monster on your side of the field and it attacks life points directly. I pick your Twin-Headed Wolf".

The wolf ran up and bit Bakura. Bakura held his leg where the wolves bit him. He managed stand up. "I end my turn", he said.

James drew a card. "I have nothing to do so I will end my turn", he said.

Bakura drew his next card. "I am tired of waiting for you to attack. I play the Spirit Message I to add to the word. Next I will have my wolves attack my Mask of Darkness. Now I can offer three fiend from my graveyard to summon the Dark Necrofear (A2700, D2800). Dark Necrofear, attack his Sinister Serpent with Death Spell. I end my turn", he said.

James Bakura

4000 6400

James drew his card. "There's not much I can do. But will do what I can. I summon my Sinister Serpent in defense mode. Next I will activate Soul Exchange to offer your Dark Necrofear. I end my turn", he said.

Bakura laughed as he drew his next card. "You have just killed yourself. I needed you to destroy my Dark Necrofear so that I could activate this magic card. First I play Spirit Message N. Then I activate my Dark Sanctuary field card. This is a special field card that lets me have no limit to my magic and trap cards. Plus, at the beginning of your turn, I get to choose one of your monsters to be possessed by a ghost. If you attack with the possessed monster, the monster will attack you instead and I will gain life points equal to half the damage. Now my wolves attack his pathetic serpent. I end my turn", he said. The wolf with two heads bit the snake as a dark cloud filled with eyes formed around them. Also, the third letter of Destiny Board took its spot on the field.

James Bakura

3500 6400

James drew his card. He was getting a little dizzy from the pain. "I summon my own Newdoria in defense mode. I end my turn", he said. Newdoria took its place on the field.

Bakura drew another card. "I offer my Twin-Headed Wolf for the Fiend Megacyber (A2700, D1500) in attack mode. But let's not forget my Spirit Message A. All I need is one more card and I will win this duel", he said. Then he laughed maniacally.

James drew his card. "Just to let you know, I've been letting you place those Spirit Message cards this entire time. But if I wanted to, I could have destroyed them with this, my Harpie's Feather Duster. This clears your magic and trap card zone. I end my turn", he said.

Karl and Yami watched as James and Bakura continued their duel. Yami was watching the duel while Karl stood quietly and concentrated. The emblem on his hand was giving off a strong purple light. Then he opened his eyes to reveal that they were also purple. He held his hand up to the duel and the seal that encircled James and Bakura flickered a few times before disappearing completely. His eyes returned to normal and he grinned to see that he succeeded in destroying the seal. "How do you expect to kill us now that the magic of Dark Era is gone. It is just as powerful as the Shadow Realm now. Your monsters can't get that power boost. James will hand your ass to you Bakura", he said.

Bakura began to laugh. He got a hold of himself and said, "It isn't that easy to destroy Dark Era. So were able to make the seal fade. But it is the most powerful force in the world. You cannot defeat it". Then the Millenium Ring around his neck started glowing and the needles stuck up straight. They fired light blue beams of energy, which drew the outline of the seal. When they were done the circle and nine-sided reformed and let loose a wave of energy that hit Karl and he flew backward until he hit an invisible wall. "Now for my turn, I summon my Dark King of the Abyss (A1700, D800). I end my turn".

James drew his next card. "I offer my Newdoria for Freed the Matchless General (A2300, D1700) in attack mode. Next I activate my Swords of Revealing Light to prevent you from attacking for three turns. I'll end mine. Three swords flew from the sky to block the Fiend Megacyber and a three-eyed skeleton with long nails from a man in silver armor with long blonde hair.

James Bakura

3000 6400

Bakura drew his card. He was not too excited about waiting three turns. "I will offer my Dark King of the Abyss to my Dark Ruler Ha Des (A2950, D1600). But since I can't attack, I'll end my turn", he said as a green man wearing royal robes formed on his field.

James picked up a card and did one of those things where you swing your arm and say yes. "I play my Pot of Greed magic card so that I can draw two cards. Next I summon Blazing Inpachi (A1850, D0) who I will combine with Mage Power. This card will increase him by 500 for every magic and trap card on my side of the field. Now Blazing Inpachi, Burning Fist on the Fiend Megacyber. I end my turn", he said. A giant burning statue punched the Fiend Megacyber and killed it.

James Bakura

3000 5750

Bakura drew a card and was getting angry again. "I set this monster face down in defense mode and set this card face down. It is only a matter of time before you lose. I switch Dark Ruler Ha Des into defense mode as well and end my turn", he said.

James picked the top card of his deck up. "I set one monster face down in defense mode. Blazing Inpachi, attack his Dark Ruler Ha Des with Burning Fist. Now Freed will attack your last monster with Sword of the Master", he said as his monsters attacked. The burning statue destroyed Ha Des but Freed stopped halfway there and a ghost flew from his back and hit James in the stomach.

"Ha ha. Obviously you forgot about the spirit of Dark Sanctuary. He possessed your matchless general and hit you with an attack that strong. Now I gain half of your damage", Bakura said gleefully.

James was knocked to the ground and was trying desperately to get up. He finally managed it. 'Another hit like that and my ass is done for', James thought. "I end my turn", he said weakly.

James Bakura

700 6900

Bakura drew enthusiastically. "All I have to do is attack you matchless general and you will die. So I switch my dark ruler into attack mode and send him to attack your general with Fist of the Underworld", he said maniacally.

Dark ruler went to punch Freed when James pushed a button. "Your monster won't even scratch Freed when I reveal my Magic Cylinder trap card to send it into your life points directly". The attack was sucked into a pretty can and shout out at Bakura by another.

Bakura was pushed to the ground but he easily got up. "I hope you don't think you can win just because of that. I end my turn for now", he said angrily.

James Bakura

700 3950

James drew his card and a grin spread across his face. "I flip up my face down Mask of Darkness to bring back a trap card which I will set now. Next I set another card face down and will send Blazing Inpachi to attack your Dark Ruler Ha Des". The ghost erupted out of the statue's back and flew at James. But James pushed a button on his duel disk. "Reveal face down Magic Cylinder. I send your ghost back at you and straight into your life points. Freed, attack his face down monster. I end my turn", he said.

James Bakura

700 600

Bakura was lying on his back. He worked as hard as he could to stand up but fell back down. He tried again and was able to maintain balance. "I set this monster face down. Then I set this card face down in defense mode. I end my turn", he said hoarsely.

James drew a card and grinned widely. "I activate my Monster Reborn magic card. This lets me bring back your Fiend Megacyber in attack mode. Now, Fiend Megacyber, attack his monster with Fist of Agony", he said now enthusiastically.

Bakura snickered as one of his cards flipped up. "You have just sealed your life in Dark Era. I reveal my face down Dark Spirit of the Silent to change the attacking monster. Now Freed, attack me with Sword of the Master".

"I don't see how you expect me to lose when the ghost doesn't attack me. I reveal a Raigeki Break so my own so that I can destroy a card of yours. I'll send this card to the grave to destroy the Dark Sanctuary. Now my monster isn't threatened". Freed slashed his sword through the face down monster. "Now Blazing Inpachi, attack with Burning Fist and wipe out the rest of his life points". Bakura howled in pain as the giant statue punched him.

"You may have defeated me. But you will all meet the same fate. All you have to do is release the evil within yourselves", Bakura said and laughed. Then three needles on the Millenium Ring pointed at Karl, James, and Yami. Each needle fired a light blue laser at them and forced them to the ground. The seal closed around Bakura and slowly crushed him into oblivion. When the darkness cleared, all that was left was the Millenium Ring. Karl walked over and picked it up.

"It's a shame how many people are going to die before we stop Leon. We already are responsible for two. And Leon needs 100. Come on, we got to get home", Karl said. The three of them began running back to the hideout when they heard someone speaking into a megaphone.

They looked over a fence to see a fair. There were rides and stands and other crap. There was a stage with a small crowd gathered around it. On the stage were two ladies. One was wearing a smock to show that she worked there. The other was wearing a black T-shirt with pink stripes. She also had tight blue jeans. Her long golden hair was transfixing and she had a cute face. "Come on folks, we need a challenger for our Duel Monsters champion Sabrina", said the lady in the smock.

James did everything to restrain himself from laughing. Yami was about to speak to Karl when he noticed that Karl was gone. "James, isn't that girl Karl's girlfriend?" he asked.

James took a deep breath to get control of himself. "Yeah, that's Karl's girlfriend. Look, up there on stage", he said.

Karl was standing up across from Sabrina with a smirk on his face. He took the megaphone and said, "I'll challenge the champion". Sabrina had a shocked expression on her face.

Sabrina readied herself and drew five cards. She started by saying, "I hope you don't think I'll go easy on you". When she looked at her hand she laughed at her joke. She knew that Karl was a far better duelist than she was. So were James and Josh. Even Nick could win against her. She wasn't afraid to admit it. "I'll start by summing my Water Magician (A1400, D1000) in attack mode. Then I will set a card face down and end my turn". A purple-haired woman in blue clothes appeared on the stage. A silver scepter tipped with a green plant was in her right hand.

Karl smiled at the girl and she blushed. He raised a card in the air, "I'll start with Dark Blade (A1800, D1500) in attack mode and I'll end by having him attack your magician with Dark Blade Attack". A man in black armor with silver spines sticking out formed and swung one of its mighty swords at Sabrina's monster. It hit the monster and slowly lifted his sword.

Sabrina giggled as she pressed a button on her duel disk. "Reveal trap card Princess Protection. As long as this card remains on the field, you cannot destroy any female cards in battle. Try beating me now", echoed her sweet voice. "Now for my turn. I summon my Karate Man (A1000, D1000) in attack mode so that I can activate his effect. I will increase his attack points by 1000 for this turn so that I can destroy your Dark Blade with Black Belt's Chop". A black man with a large Afro wearing a yellow robe assembled and did a karate chop on Dark Blade. Then the black guy shattered. "Oh well, I end my turn".

Karl Sabrina

7800 8000

Karl kept smiling as he drew his card. He enjoyed dueling with Sabrina. The last time he got the chance, her soul depended on him winning. "For my turn, I set this card face down in defense mode. And that'll do it for me", he told her.

She giggled for she too enjoyed dueling with him. It made her feel like she was dueling with the world champion. "Okay, I summon my Robotic Knight (A1600, D1800) in attack mode and I'll have him attack your face down card with Knight's Stiletto. Next my magician will also attack you. That's all for now".

Karl Sabrina

6400 8000

Karl laughed and said, "I'm sorry to tell you this Sabrina, but that monster you destroyed was my Trap Master (A500, D1100) which destroys a trap card when he is flipped up. So your Princess Protection is gone. Next I will set a monster face down in defense mode and another card face down to join it. I'm done".

"It doesn't matter if you destroyed that card because I offer both of my monsters for my most powerful card, the Red-Eyes Black Dragon (A2400, D2100) in attack mode so he can destroy your face down monster with Inferno Fire Blast. I end my turn", she said.

Karl chuckled again before saying, "You should learn to think before you attack. Because you attacked my Wall of Illusion (A1000, D1850), your Red-Eyes is returned to you hand. Now, I reveal my face down Destiny Board. In five turns, I will win. Now I summon my Skull Knight #2 in attack mode and attack your life points directly with him. That ends my turn". The same card that Bakura summoned came out of the hologram projectors and attacked Sabrina with its sword.

Karl Sabrina

6400 7000

Sabrina drew her card and giggled. She loved this card. "My Witty Phantom is strong enough to take down your knight. So I will send hi to attack your monster. That's all I can do so I end my turn", she said. Her red goblin with long blonde hair took his position in front of her. He was dressed in a purple suit.

Karl Sabrina

6000 7000

Karl placed one of the Spirit Messages on his duel disk. "This is Spirit Message I. Every turn I will get to place another one. Now say hello to my Giant Orc (A2200, D0). He is one of the strongest monsters in the game that doesn't need a sacrifice. I won't have him attack however. I'll just end my turn", he said as a big gray troll wearing a loincloth appeared on the field. A club made from a done was in his hands.

Sabrina looked in awe at Karl's monster. It was stronger than all but one of her cards. "I set two cards face down and set a card face down in defense mode. I end my turn", she said.

Karl watched as she began to defend herself. He drew his card and said, "Now for Spirit Message N. Next I offer my Giant Orc for the Summoned Skull (A2500, D1200). Attack her Witty Phantom with Lightning Strike. I end my turn".

Karl Sabrina

6000 5900

Sabrina shielded her eyes from the dust of her monster. "I set my monster face down in defense mode. That's all I can do. I end my turn", she said.

Karl picked up a card. "Now to play Spirit Message A. My word is almost complete. You know have one turn to beat me. Now go my Winged Minion (A700, D700) in attack mode. But it doesn't matter; he won't be here for long. I activate his effect and offer him to increase my Summoned Skull to 3200. Now my skull, lightning Strike", he commanded. The enormous, muscular skeleton charged electricity and fired it at the face down monster.

Sabrina drew her card and would normally be excited. "I play my Change of Heart. This will let me take control of your Summoned Skull for one turn. Next I play Polymerization to combine your monster with my Red-Eyes Black Dragon to form the mighty Black Skull Dragon (A3200, D2800). Now my dragon, attack his life points directly with Molting Fireballs. Well, I did all I could in those five turns", she said as her dragon blasted Karl.

Karl Sabrina

2800 5900

Karl placed a card from his hand onto his duel disk. "And Spirit Message L finishes my message to you; FINAL. You did very well Champion Sabrina. I am glad you honored me with such a good match" he told her as he picked up his cards and put them into the green deck box on his belt. He walked off the little stage and Sabrina followed him. She ran up and gave him a hug.

"You just don't know how to let me have any fun do you?" she asked playfully. Karl placed his hands on her hips and kissed her gently on the lips. She looked up at him and smiled

"Well what kind of Knight of the Darkness would I be if I went around just letting anybody enjoy themselves", he joked and kissed her again.

She looked up into his piercing blue eyes and blushed. "You're no Knight of Darkness, just shadows. And since when am I anybody. Last I knew I was the Queen of Darkness", she said.

"No, just shadows. And I didn't say you were anybody. The Knight of Darkness wouldn't let anybody have fun. The Shadow Knight just restricts you. You know, I've missed you", Karl said now beginning to sound serious.

James and Yami walked up to the two. "Hey Sabrina. You might want to watch yourself. You're kissing a cold blooded killer you know", James said. Karl's eyes flashed purple but quickly stopped and James flew backward and landed on his ass.

Sabrina looked back up at Karl. "What does he mean about you being a killer?" she asked with a hint of fear in her voice.

Karl smiled innocently and said, "It's a joke. I'll tell you about it later. Come on before James opens his mouth again". The two of them walked by a real stage with lights and a big crowd. Up on stage was Ozzy Osbourne and he was singing his classic song Bark at the Moon.

'Screams break the silence,

Waking from the dead of night.

Vengeance is boiling,

He's returned to kill the light.

Then when he's found who he's looking for

Listen in awe and you'll hear him,

Bark at the Moon

Years spent in torment,

Buried in a nameless grave.

Now he has risen,

Miracles would have to save.

Those that the beast is looking for

Listen in awe and you'll hear him,

Bark at the Moon.

They cursed and buried him along with shame,

And thought his timeless soul had gone.

An empty burning Hell- unholy one,

But he's returned to prove them wrong,

So wrong, yeah baby

Howling in shadows,

Living in a lunar spell.

He finds his heaven,

Spewing from the mouth of Hell.

Those that the beast is looking for

Listen in awe and you'll hear him,

Bark at the Moon."

At the end, everybody applauded Karl stuck his hand in the air and produced a lighter that he used to show that he was satisfied. He looked up at the lighter and saw that the flame was out of control and flying around weirdly. He began searching the crowd for James. He found him standing perfectly still and his eyes were emitting a red glow that matched the one coming from his emblem. "James, what the hell are you doing. Are you even aware that you nearly burned my hand off? Pay attention!" Karl said in a loud whisper.

James snapped out of it and said, "Whoa sorry, I didn't even know what was going on. All of a sudden I felt real cold like all of the heat was leaving my body". Karl looked confused at James as Sabrina jogged over to them followed by Yami.

Karl turned to Yami and said, "You keep an eye on James. He's acting weird lately. He almost set me on fire without knowing it". Karl took Sabrina's hand and they walked off again.

She looked a little worried when Karl looked at her. "What's the matter. I thought you would be happy to see me. Tell me what's troubling you", he said to her.

She looked up into his blue eyes but couldn't keep them their for long because it was almost like they were burning her eyes. "I want to know what James meant when he said that you were a killer. Why would he say something like that? I want you to tell me if it is really a joke", she told him.

Karl looked down at her and said, "I want you to know first that I did it without any other option. There's this guy with a magic emblem like mine. But his can take him and a person that he is dueling to a place called Dark Era. It's is kind of like the Shadow Realm but it helps him in duels. But if you lose in Dark Era and you are an incredible duelist, then it posses your mind and makes you work for it. But if it thinks you are weak or you lose again, then it will actually kill you. Well, I had to duel a few people in Dark Era and they did die. I didn't even know about it until I was already in a duel. Please understand that there was no other way. The Shadow Emblem isn't even strong enough to stop Dark Era. I can only shatter the barrier-like seal that it creates. But it can just form a new one".

Sabrina had tears forming in her eyes. "I don't know what to think. I was hoping that once the Spirit Bearer was gone that there would be nothing that you have to get involved in. If you could, would you destroy the magic of Dark Era? And would you use the power of Dark Era to stop this guy if you mastered it?" she asked as the tears ran down her cheeks.

Karl couldn't bear seeing her like this. He would have given up the Shadow Emblem to make her never need to cry again. "I have tried to destroy Dark Era. But it is just too powerful. But I will stop Leon as soon as I can. But no, Dark Era is pure darkness and I would never use it for anything. I would be risking everything I fight to protect if I gave into Dark Era and used it", he told her.

She ran into him and cried for a little bit. Everything grew dark around them. She looked up to see that his eyes were glowing purple, as was the emblem on his hand. "What is going on? Where are we Karl? Is this the magic of Dark Era?" she asked nervously.

"No. I have simply taken us into our shadow. This way, you can cry or say what you want without drawing attention to yourself", Karl told her. "I think it's funny that I have the power to do this, yet I cannot destroy a magic like Dark Era. Are you okay now?" Sabrina nodded and they rose out of the shadows on the ground. It was now nearly 2 in the afternoon. The two walked by a Ferris wheel. Karl stopped suddenly and his eyes began to glow again with his emblem. A streak of black energy shot from his hand and hit the axle on the Ferris wheel. It fell into the ramp it was held above and two people fell out.

"What are you doing Karl!" shouted Sabrina as he stood completely still. Karl snapped out of his daze and looked up to see the two people falling.

Karl grabbed a card from his duel disk and shouted, "Go my Patrician of Darkness. Fly up and stop them from falling". A blue-skinned man with silky blonde hair leapt from the card. He had red wings attached to his arms the protruded from the black armor covering his chest. The monster flew up and caught the two people and put them down in front of his master. One of the people was a man with brown hair and dark blue eyes. He wore a black vest and gray pants under a large white coat that reached the top of his shoes. The other was a blonde woman with purple eyes. She had a white tube top under an unbuttoned purple shirt. She also had a short purple skirt and long boots. There was a duel disk on their arms.

Yami and Josh came running up. "Kaiba? Mai? What are you two doing together? I thought you guys didn't like each other. What are you guys up to?" Yami asked.

Kaiba sneered when he saw that Yami was there. Mai blushed and said, "Well you see Yugi, we uh… well we've decided that we wanted to see each other more often than just in tournaments, we now we're going out". Yami's jaw dropped.

Kaiba now felt kind of embarrassed. "Mai honey, don't you think we should be going. We did after all just die. And I am feeling a bit crowded here. Come on", he said forcefully. They turned to walk away when they noticed that darkness had fallen over them. A blue circle began to enclose them. James and Karl told everyone to get out of the seal. The circle closed around the two of them.

Karl looked worriedly at James. He was afraid that he would have to duel his friend. Then two figures walked out from the distant shadows and entered the seal. Karl and James were shocked to see that the people to walk into the seal were themselves with one exception. They had the seal from Dark Era instead of the emblems.

"It is so great to be free from that cramped space of the Shadow Emblem", said the copy of Karl. "Look Fire, they are confused. And they should be".

James' hand issued a blinding red glow that also shot from his eyes. "Who are you two. There's no way that you are who you look like. You look just like us, but you don't have the markings of the emblems".

James' counterpart chuckled and said, "Of course we don't have the emblems because we are the emblems. We are the embodiments of the magic that is released by the emblems. But we have other powers as well. We can use the Dark Era. That surpasses anything that being an Emblem Knight could give us. Enough talking, we have been sent to retrieve some things by our master Leon. And we're not leaving without them". The two embodiments held their left hands up. Karl and James' decks began to glow and a white light shot from them into their counterpart's duel disks.

"What did you do to our decks? As a matter of fact, where are our decks?", Karl asked.

His twin laughed and said, "We simply took what is ours. These are our decks. You must use the decks that you had before you became the Emblem Knights". Karl looked at James and saw that he had a worried look on his face. Karl didn't meet James until after they became the Emblem Knights. But Karl new that before then, James sucked. New decks formed in their duel disks.

Karl drew an opening hand. "I set three cards face down. Then I'll set a monster face down in defense mode. I end my turn", he said.

The evil Karl (who from this point on will be called Lrak because I said so) drew his first five cards. "Ah, I set two cards face down and summon the Twin-Headed Wolf in attack mode. I end my turn", he said. Karl watched as his wolf with two heads charged out of the card.

James picked up his cards. "I set this monster face down in defense mode. Next I set one card face down and activate my Umi field card. This will increase all of the water monsters by 200. That's it for me", he said as a flood of water spilled up to their knees.

Semaj (guess who) drew his cards. "Feel the burning wrath of Blazing Inpachi (A2350, D0). Next I set three cards face down. Blazing Inpachi, attack Karl's face down monster with Burning Fist". The burning statue swung its fist at Karl's monster.

Karl pressed a button and flipped up a card. "I activate my trap card called Raigeki Break. If I offer a card from my hand, I can destroy a card on your field". Bolt of lightning struck down on the statue and it was reduced to cinders. "I'll start my second turn. I set my Newdoria in defense mode. And that'll end my turn".

Lrak drew a card from his duel disk. "I don't have a summonable monster, so I'll set this card face down and activate my Destiny Board to end this duel quickly"

"Wrong, I activate my Seven Tool of the Bandit. For the cost of 1000 life points, I can stop one of your traps", Karl said.

Lrak laughed as he too flipped up a card. "Mystical Space Typhoon says otherwise. I'll have it destroy your Seven Tools of the Bandit", he said.

Karl pressed the last button on his duel disk. "Reveal face down card Dust Tornado. I'll use this instead to destroy your Destiny Board".

Lrak glared at Karl before resuming his turn. "Twin-Headed Wolf, attack his face down card. I end my turn", he declared. The two heads of the wolf bit and destroyed Karl's monster.

Karl James Lrak Semaj

7500 8000 8000 8000

James drew a card. "I'll flip up my Man-Eater Bug to destroy the Twin-Headed Wolf. Next I offer him to summon my Summoned Skull. Summoned Skull, attack Semaj's life points directly with Lightning Strike. I end my turn", he said. The bolt of lightning flew at the copy of James and struck him.

Karl James Lrak Semaj

7500 7500 8000 5500

Semaj picked up a card. "Go my Goblin Attack Force (A2800, D0). Attack his giant skeleton with Stone Maces", the army of goblins marched toward the Summoned Skull and raised their maces.

"Activate Tornado Wall. As long as this card is in play with Umi, I can't sustain any damage to my life points", James said.

Semaj activated a card of his own. "I use my Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy your Tornado Wall. Now you're defenseless". The goblins beat the Summoned Skull until it shattered. "I end my turn".

Karl James Lrak Semaj

7500 6300 8000 5500

Karl drew a card. "I summon my Harpie's Brother (A1800, D600) in attack mode. Next I'll switch my Newdoria into attack mode and send them both to attack Lrak's life points directly. I and my turn", he said. His new monster was a man with spiky black hair and white eyes. He had large red wings growing from his back and a big red metal claw attached to his wrist. Both he and Newdoria attacked Lrak.

Karl James Lrak Semaj

7500 6300 5000 5500

Lrak drew his card. "I'll offer both Harpie's Brother and Newdoria for the Lava Golem (A3500, D2500). It may sit t your side Karl, but every one of your turns will take away anther 1000 of your life points. I end my turn by setting this card face down". A giant blob of lava holding a cage formed on the field.

Karl James Lrak Semaj

6500 6300 5000 5500

James drew his next card. He was getting nervous. His usual cool was gone. He knew that the deck he was using was the worst off them. And now Karl just got caught in a trap. 'This might be it. If we lose, it's up to Josh. Josh is a great duelist, maybe even better than Karl and myself. But he could never protect the Pharaoh by himself. If we die, he would have to find the new Shadow and Fire Bearers. And if he couldn't, he would be all by himself'. "I summon my Seven Colored Fish (A1800, D800) in attack mode. Now my fish, blast he Semaj's monster with Torrent Stream". Semaj's goblins were in defense mode because of their effect. The blast of water from James' fish eroded all of his clone's goblins.

Semaj drew his card. "I summon the Luster Dragon (A2400, D1600). Next I will play this card face down. Now my dragon, attack the Seven Colored Fish with Luster Flames", he said. A blue dragon appeared in front of him and blasted away James' rainbow scaled fish. "I end my turn".

Karl James Lrak Semaj

6500 5200 5000 5500

Karl picked up the top card on his deck and placed it in his hand. He picked out a different card and said, "I set this monster face down in defense mode. Now Lava Golem, attack Lrak with Lava Flow". Semaj pushed a button on his duel disk and chuckled.

"Reveal face down Negate Attack trap card. This stops your attack and instantly ends your battle phase", he said.

Karl looked at his life point meter and saw that his life points had dropped an entire thousand. "I end my turn" he said. Negate Attack looked like a spiraling vortex.

Karl James Lrak Semaj

5500 5200 5000 5500

Lrak picked up his card. "Go my Dark Blade (A2300, D1500). Attack James' life points directly with Dark Blade Attack", he said.

"Lava Golem, intercept the attack", Karl shouted as the knight in black armor charged at James. The giant blob moved in front of Dark Blade and blasted a pool of lava at him.

Lrak looked furious. "I end my turn", he said.

Karl James Lrak Semaj

5500 5200 3800 5500

James drew another card. "My next monster is Gearfried the Iron Knight (A1800, D1600). I'll send him to attack Lrak's life points directly with Iron Blade. I end my turn". Gearfried was a man in black armor and a large blade n his right wrist. He swung the blade at Lrak.

"Protect Lrak my Luster Dragon", Semaj shouted. The dragon blasted shimmering red flames at Gearfried and melted his armor before shattering him. "We too can work as a team. Now for my turn. I offer my dragon for Vampire Lord (A2500, D1500). Attack his life points directly with Blood Draining Fangs". The blue skinned vampire bit James on the neck and he quickly grew slightly pale. "I end my turn".

Karl James Lrak Semaj

5500 1600 3800 5500

Karl looked at James as he drew his card. James had just taken a lot of damage and was kneeling down from the pain. "I flip up my face down Cyber Jar. This destroys every monster on the field. Then we draw five cards and summon every level four or lower monster on the field. I set one monster face down in defense mode. Then I summon La Jinn the Mystical Genie of the Lamp, Opticlops, and Gearfried the Iron Knight". All of the monster formed on Karl's field.

James- Two face down monsters

Lrak- Face down monster, two Skull Knight #2

Semaj- Breaker the Magical Warrior, Freed the Brave Wanderer

"Now I summon my Hysteric Fairy (A1800, D1000) in attack mode and set this card face down. I'll send my Opticlops to attack a Skull Knight #2 with Horn Thrust". Opticlops was a muscular Cyclops with yellow skin and a horn on his forehead.

"I block your attack with my Waboku trap card. This will block your attacks for one turn", Semaj said. Three women in dresses formed in front of Opticlops and took the damage.

Karl James Lrak Semaj

5000 1600 3800 5500

Lrak drew a card. "I offer my Skull Knights for the Dark Magician (A3000, D2100). I'll send him to attack your La Jinn with Dark Magic Attack".

Karl pushed a button on his duel disk. "Reveal face down Mirror Force trap card. This will reflect your attack back at you and destroy all of your monsters in attack mode", he said. A card portraying an energy shield flipped up and blasted the attack back at all of the monsters in attack mode.

James drew a card and frowned. "I have no monsters, so I will set a card face down and end my turn".

Semaj drew his card. "Perfect. I summon the Spear Dragon (A2400, D0) in attack mode. He has a special ability. When he attacks a monster in defense mode, the lose life points anyway. And I think you've got the perfect target James. I'll attack one of your monsters with Tornado Breath", he said excitedly. The dragon was blue and had a long beak-like mouth. The monster that was attacked flipped up and revealed the Man-Eater Bug before being destroyed.

"I choose to destroy your Spear Dragon with my monster's effect. Karl, I'm sorry that I lost. And Pharoah, I'm sorry that I failed you. Tell Josh and Nick that I said goodbye", James said. His life point meter dropped until it hit zero. The seal around them almost made a copy of itself. While one still surrounded the duel, one closed in around James and disappeared with him.

The spectators (Yami, Kaiba, Mai, and Sabrina) were all shocked at first until Yami shouted, "You monsters. How could you? You are pathetic cowards using that seal. If it weren't for that giving you so much power, you would have never made it this far". He was now in tears of anger. Mai and Sabrina were also crying. Kaiba however was shocked at what had just happened. Karl was the worst of them. Tears were streaming down his cheeks. His eyes emitted a purple light that was more intense than fire. His hands gave off the appearance of being covered with purple flames (like the guy on Duel Masters when he draws a good card).

"You bastard. I will kill both of you", he shouted. Black lightning began to fly from his hand and strike the walls of the seal. The lightning subsided and he drew a card. The card was in a golden case. "I offer Hysteric Fairy, Gearfried the Iron Knight, and Opticlops for one of my most powerful monsters, the Winged Dragon of Ra (A, D?) who is at 5400. Next I offer La Jinn to increase his attack points to 7200. Finally, I activate his effect. By offering 1000 life points, I can destroy all of your monsters. Winged Dragon of Ra, attack Semaj with Burning Dragon Breath". The monster was a gargantuan dragon with a bird's head and golden scales. It had flames lapping at the inside of his mouth. Its mouth opened and blasted the flames at Semaj. When the fire stopped, another seal came and took him away as well.

Lrak look surprised. "How! Dark Era killed the God Cards. How could you possibly summon him? It's not possible. Leon will want to know about this at once. I must go, but we will meet again. And I think I'll take a prize. It looks like someone else got trapped in the seal with us. Another seal broke off and headed for the edge of the seal. Karl looked to see it form handcuffs around Sabrina.

"No! Leave her alone. Lrak, get away from her", Karl shouted. The seal from Dark Era enclosed around him, sealing him off from everybody else.

"Until we meet again Karl", Lrak said. He grabbed Sabrina and ran off into the darkness. Karl dropped to his knees. The seal didn't disappear.

"Karl, get up. You have to get up so we can catch him. Karl please get up. You can't die Karl, we need you", Yami cried. He began pounding on the seal. Karl remained kneeling. "Karl, get out of the seal. As the Pharaoh, I order you to get out of there immediately.

Karl looked up and said, "I can't. The seal has trapped me here and I am not powerful enough to break the seal. It is stronger now that it has taken two more lives". Tears were still in his eyes. He turned around and squinted his eyes from a golden glow. The Winged Dragon of Ra was still in front of him. "Ra, attack the seal and break the barrier with Burning Dragon Breath". The giant godly dragon blasted a stream of fire at the seal, only to have it diverted in different directions. "You see, the power of Dark Era is too strong. I wish I could get you guys out of here, but I don't know how".

Kaiba looked angry now. "Please, you're going to just quit. That guy just ran off with your girlfriend. If anybody did that to my girlfriend, I would hunt them down. You just need a stronger monster", he said. Yami's eyes grew wide.

He turned to Kaiba and said, "Kaiba that's it. What is the strongest monster that you have? Think back to when Anubis took control of your mind. What monster did we use to stop him?"

"Of course. I activate my Pyramid of Light trap card. Next I summon all three of my Blue-Eyes White Dragons", Kaiba said. The same godly dragon that Mut had summoned was now flying in front of Kaiba, only there were three of them. "Next I play Polymerization to fuse them together and create the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon (A4500, D3800). Now my Pyramid of Light will change my all powerful dragon into the Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon (A3000, D2500)". The three dragons combined into one dragon with three heads. Then they transformed into a cross between the Blue-Eyes White Dragon and Lugia from Pokemon. The Pyramid of Light was a giant golden pyramid and Polymerization was two monsters flowing into each other. "Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon, use your Shining Nova to destroy the seal". The dragon started to glow and emit a pale blue aura and it exploded, firing a blast of blue electricity at the seal, but to no avail. Then the seal made a fourth copy of itself, which flew at the Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon. Both the monster and its card issued a glow that was the same shade of blue as the seal. Then they stopped.

"Look Seto, your dragon looks different", Mai said in amazement. She grabbed his arm, but he was too preoccupied looking at his card. It looked pretty much the same. Except for now, the dragon had devilish horns sticking out of its head and its scales were an almost black shade of blue. Lastly, the title of the card read Blue-Eyes Darkness Dragon (A6500, D5700). "Whoa honey! Were did that godly card come from?"

"I don't know. It was just there for some reason. Well this is more powerful than my Shining Dragon, maybe it can blast through the seal. Blue-Eyes Darkness Dragon, attack the seal with Negatron Blast", Kaiba ordered. The new monster had trouble keeping such an attack in its mouth long enough to charge it up completely. If fired the blast of black electricity at the seal. The seal did not budge for a few seconds, but it eventually gave way. The blast continued for Karl. He closed his eyes and braced for impact.

When nothing happened, he opened his eyes and saw the golden wings of Ra in front of him. The attack shrunk until there was nothing left. The winged Dragon of Ra laid down next to Karl. "It's great to see you again my friend. But I have terrible news James is gone and won't be coming back. Come on guys, let's get out of here", he said. The darkness dissipated and they were all back in the fair. It was starting to grow dark as the sun was going down. The fair wasn't very crowded anymore. The walked to the exit.

Mai walked up to Karl and Yami. "It was nice seeing you again Yugi. Tell your friends hi the next time you see them. I hope the next time we meet, it will be more enjoyable", she said. Then she looked at Karl. It was the first time either of them paid attention to the other's appearance. Karl looked up at her and thought that she was the most beautiful person in the world. She had a sympathetic look on her face. "Listen hon', I don't even know your name. But I understand that what you are going through right now is hard. Your friend just died and your girlfriend was kidnapped. I hope things work out for you. I have a feeling that the next time you and that guy meet, he's in for a world of hurt". She bent down and kissed Karl on the cheek. She stood up and walked back to Kaiba as she started crying. He looked surprised at Karl. "Oh relax Seto. Leave him alone or else you won't get one". He put his arm around her and the walked out of sight.

Yami turned to his friend. "Karl, this is all my fault. If I had never said that Bakura needed help, then we would have never come out here and James wouldn't have been killed. I am terribly that I'm to blame for the death of your friend". Tears were running down his cheeks from his eyes again.

Karl looked at Yami with a hint of anger in his lamenting eyes. "No Pharaoh, you are not to blame. It was his own decision to make. He was doing his job and happened to die in the processes. He died nobly and fought all the way up to the end. Even after he lost his life points, he did all he could to make things easier for me. If only I had drawn Ra one turn earlier", he said.

Yami then looked puzzled. "I don't get it Karl. How is it that Dark Era killed all three god cards and yet, you were able to summon the Winged Dragon of Ra?" he asked.

Karl looked at the ground. He removed the deck from his duel disk and put it into his deck box. "I'll tell you later Pharaoh. I hope you have enough energy for a sprint home". Yami looked a little worried about keeping up with Karl. Karl grabbed his wrist and took off. He began tearing through the city, even outrunning cars. They arrived at the house in only minutes. When they walked in, Marik and Nick jumped out of their chairs to speak with them. Karl handed Nick the Millenium Ring and walked passed him.

Josh walked him from the kitchen and asked, "Where's James?" Karl ignored him and walked down a dark hallway. He opened a door and walked in. After shutting and locking the door, he focused on eight tall candles against the wall. Three were burning with ordinary fire. One had a brilliant green flame. Next to it was a purple burning candle. On an end was a solid orange flame. But the eighth candle was not burning. There was smoke rising out of the black wick. Karl collapsed in front of them. He began crying for his friend. But it wasn't long before he passed out from the pain he suffered from dueling in Dark Era.

He awoke the next morning before everybody else. He went into the kitchen and began making waffles. The rest of them walked in with glum looks on their faces. Karl served them breakfast and they ate most of it in silence. It was broken by Yugi turning to Karl and asking, "So Karl, how is it that you were able to summon The Winged Dragon of Ra inside of Dark Era. You said that Dark Era destroyed the Egyptian God Cards and they wouldn't come out anymore".

Karl swallowed the food in his mouth. "I don't know why, but when James died yesterday, I finally understood the secrets of Dark Era. Dark Era doesn't control people, it creates bodies of their darkness and uses them as physical extensions of itself. But so nobody finds out, the dark copies kill the originals. The Millenium Items are the only things strong enough to stop the barrier that forms in Dark Era. However, when the copy of Bakura fired the attack at us, he used the spell that makes the copies on me and James but disabled your Millenium Powers inside of Dark Era. His too were disabled. I'm sure the only one that we've had that still work is the Millenium Rod. But we can't risk setting your dark side out Marik. As for the Egyptian God Cards, yesterday when Kaiba summoned the Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon, it was changed into the Blue-Eyes Darkness Dragon. The transformation more than doubled its power and made it dark. Well when James died, I grew angry and let the darkness in me rise high enough that Dark Era helped me and more than doubled my power and made me strong enough to release the Winged Dragon of Ra. I just wonder how powerful the God Cards could get if they are boosted by Dark Era. I just wish we had a power that could survive anywhere", he said.

Yugi suddenly had an idea. "I know what might help. This card, The Eye of Timeas. This card was used to stop the dark powers of the Seal of Orichalcos. It actually dispels all of the darkness around it. My friend Joey has another one of these cards. He has The Claw of Helmos. Oh, but he's out of town visiting his sister Serenity. Kaiba! He has the third one. Kaiba has The Fang of Critias. Maybe he could help us. It's worth a try".

Karl thought about it for a second. "Okay, let's try it. Wait! Nick, Josh, do either of you feel that?" he asked. Josh and Nick paused and closed their eyes. They shot wide open in surprise. "Everybody, out", Karl shouted. The five of them ran for the door and ran up into the main house. Once outside, they dove into the yard as they felt a heavy shaking. Karl walked back to the house and looked inside. The interior of the home was burned completely. "Guess what guys, our home is gone. It's been burned out".

Nick stood up and brushed himself off. "God dammit. That was the one place in the entire city that protected us from Leon and his guys. Now they will be able to hunt us down no matter where we go", he said angrily.

Karl turned back to him. "No, there is another. There is one more place in this city where Leon would never find us. Follow me", he said. They began running back into Domino City. They arrived at an all too familiar street in about a half-hour. They ran into a building and came out on the roof. "There, that's where we could stay. The Castle of the Spirit Bearer". A purple ball formed in the sky and disappeared. A purple light formed around the group and they floated across the street and then they too disappeared. They were in a dark chamber, the same chamber that led Karl to his fight with the Spirit Bearer a year ago. They explored the castle and Nick showed them what was where. They climbed a staircase in a spire and found a locked door. "This will be my room while we're here. Nobody is to enter it without an invitation. As far as we know, I'm the only one that can survive in it. Now, if you'd excuse me". Karl held his hand up to the door and it opened. He sat in the throne in the room and looked at the small spires surrounding it. Just like the candles, there was one spire of each of those colors. But there was some not glowing. The purple, green, gray, and orange were all glowing, but the white, blue, and yellow were not. Then he looked at the red and saw that it too was illuminated. He sat in the dark thinking.

'This is my entire fault. James gets killed and Sabrina is kidnapped. And my darkness is out running around somewhere. Plus the house is gone. All because I couldn't draw the Winged Dragon of Ra a turn earlier. Now we are down a guy. Those three lazy bastards. Who are they to say that they are done protecting the Pharaoh? I don't see how we could possibly hope to stop Dark Era with three guys', he thought. He got up to leave the room, when he noticed that the door was gone. He felt dizzy. He turned around and couldn't believe what he saw. The orange spire levitated off of the ground and flew to where the door should have been. Then the seal of Dark Era came down and enclosed them.

A sinister laughing filled the chamber. "Shadow Bearer, it is an honor to see you again. Tell me how long it has been. Time seems to stand still when you're trapped in a spire. I've been waiting for a chance to do this. I've been learning while I've been in here. I challenge you to a duel Shadow Bearer", the spire said. Karl recalled his terrible memories of the voice. It belonged to the Spirit Bearer.

Karl grinned as he activated his duel disk. "Alright. But I must warn you, I'm in a bad mood. I can be a real pain in the ass when I'm like this. Let me start this. I activate my Pot of Greed so that I can draw two more cards. Next I summon my Luster Dragon. Then I will place one card face down and end my turn". The dragon formed in front of Karl and roared.

Five cards flew up in front of the orange spire. Each one was nearly as big as Karl was. "I summon my Sonic Bird (A1900, D1000). Now feel the pain of Hinotama. I will also end my turn by playing a card face down", the Spirit Bearer's voice said. The cards that he said flipped around and the pictures came to life. Sonic Bird was an eagle with goggles and rockets on its back. The fireballs flew out of the Hinotama and crashed into Karl. The last card just kinda fell.

Karl Spirit Bearer

7500 8000

Karl drew his next card. "First I will set another card face down. Then I'll summon a monster face down in defense mode. That'll do it for now", he said calmly.

Another card formed in front of the Spirit Bearer. "I'll set a card face down. Now I summon my Yaranzo (A1800, D1500). Sonic Bird, attack his Luster Dragon with Rocket Tackle. This will destroy both of our monsters. Next my Yaranzo will attack your face down monster with Surprise Slash to end my turn". Sonic Bird ignited its rockets and crashed into Luster Dragon, destroying them both. Then Yaranzo jumped at Karl's other monster and scratched it. The monster ended up being Man-Eater Bug and it destroyed Yaranzo.

Karl Spirit Bearer

6500 8000

Karl took a card. "I set one monster face down and end my turn". A card appeared in front of him.

The spire made another card appear. "I summon my Magical Ghost (A1800, D1300) in attack mode. I'll have it attack your monster and finish my turn. Magical Ghost, blast it with Spell of Lightning". A green phantom wearing a purple shirt and hat blasted electricity from its hands at Karl's new monster.

"Ha ha, I'm sorry but your attack won't work. My monster is the indestructible Spirit Reaper (A300, D200). This little monster can't be destroyed in battle. Now I summon my Inpachi (A1600, D1900) in defense mode. I end my turn". Two monsters occupied Karl's field. One was a golden skeleton wearing a purple robe with a scythe in its right hand. The other was a giant wooden statue, but not on fire.

The Spirit Bearer played a new card. "For this turn, I'll defend with my Dark Scorpion- Meane the Thorn (A1000, D1800). Take your turn". A woman in black leather wielding a thorned whip sat next to the Magical Ghost.

Karl drew his card. "I activate my second Pot of Greed and draw two more cards. Now I summon Newdoria in defense mode. When Newdoria is destroyed in battle, it takes a monster with it. Go". Newdoria took its place on the other side of Inpachi.

Another card formed for the spire. "I tribute my two monsters to summon the Tri-Horned Dragon (A3350, D2150). Attack the Inpachi with your Unworthy Dragon Flames and incinerate it". The mighty blue dragon with three golden horns appeared on the field and spat scarlet flames at Inpachi.

Karl Spirit Bearer

6000 8000

Karl drew a card and grinned like a madman. "I summon my Opticlops so he can attack Newdoria with Horn Thrust. Then I choose to destroy the Opticlops. I end my turn", he said quickly. The horned Cyclops took shape and rammed through Newdoria and they both died.

Karl Spirit Bearer

5000 8000

The Spirit Bearer was silent for a few seconds. He couldn't imagine why Karl would have done that. "Ok, I'm not sure why someone would kill two of their own monsters and lose 1000 life points. But I have nothing so I end my turn now".

Karl drew another card. "I'll lay a card face down and end my turn', he said impatiently.

The Spirit Bearer drew formed a card and looked disappointed. "I once again have no playable cards, so go".

Karl picked up his card and sneered at the spire. "Prepare to face an extremely powerful card. I activate my Raigeki Break trap card. By doing this, I can offer a card from my hand to destroy a card on your side of the field. I throw away my Lava Golem to destroy the face down card on the left. Now I offer Opticlops, Newdoria and Lava Golem to bring out the Dark Necrofear in defense mode . I end my turn", he said.

The Spirit Bearer understood Karl's actions now. He wanted to bring out a strong monster. "Your monster is strong, but mine beats yours by more than 1000 points. I'll set one card face down in defense mode. Tri-Horned Dragon, attack with Unworthy Dragon Flames. So much for your monster", the voice said.

Karl Spirit Bearer

4500 8000

Karl laughed as the Tri-Horned Dragon walked over to him and turned to face the spire. "You see Bearer of the Spirit Emblem, when Dark Necrofear is destroyed, it takes one monster from my opponent and gives it to me. As you can see, I chose your dragon. For my summon, I choose Gearfried the Iron Knight, attack his face down monster. Now attack his life points directly with Unworthy Dragon Flames. I end my turn".

Karl Spirit Bearer

4500 5650

The spire made a card to begin its turn. "I hope you enjoy taking damage from losing monsters, because I activate the Dark Hole magic card to destroy every monster on the field", he said.

Karl pushed a button. "Reveal face down card, Dust Tornado. This stops your Dark Hole and destroys it". Dark Hole was a picture of a black hole.

"I set a monster face down in defense mode to end my turn", the Spirit Bearer said.

"I will set a monster face down. Then I'll attack your monster with Gearfried and you with your dragon. I end my turn", Karl said. The two monsters attacked the spire again.

Karl Spirit Bearer

4500 2300

The Spirit Bearer was getting nervous. One more attack and he would lose. That fear strengthened when he saw his new card. "I set on card face down in defense mode. Then I set a card face down. Let's see you win now", he bluffed.

Karl drew the last card of the duel. "Gearfried, attack his monster with your Iron Wrist Blade. Next Tri-Horned Dragon will finish you off". The two monsters attacked once more and the Spirit Bearer's life point meter ht zero. The seal closed around the spire. The spire flashed for a second then stopped. It rose up again and returned to its original spot.

"I'm impressed. That was much quicker than the last time you fought him. But then again, your power has been increased by more than double", came a voice from the throne. Karl turned to see a man sitting in the seat. He wore a black robe and had long black hair. His eyes were a stunning shade of green.

"So which one are you? The second Shadow Knight?" Karl asked. He remembered back to when he defeated the Spirit Bearer the first time. The Shadow Emblem was on this guy's right hand.

"No, I'm afraid not. My name is Sentosham, I am the Shadow Knight that defeated Pandora. I've been sent here to help you. Now, you want to know how you are going to beat Pandora. You are not even going to duel him. You must stop Leon before he can resurrect Pandora. But as you know, Leon is the World Champion Chaos Duelist, so he will be hard to defeat. Here is what you must do. Use Dark Era against him", the man said.

Karl looked at the ground. "I can't. I promised someone very close to me that I would never use Dark Era. And I have to keep that promise to her, now that she is dead. And besides, Leon is the master of Dark Era and he would still use it better than me", he said.

Sentosham laughed. "The girl, she is not dead. She is just fine. Leon cannot kill her because Pandora needs her. Pandora can't come back without a host body to invade. But he can't take a host body into Dark Era without it being corrupted by the dark magic. So he needed a host body that has no darkness, your girlfriend. And Leon is no master of anything. He has no more control of Dark Era than you do. That means that you can use Dark Era if you are angry enough and it will make you stronger. But here, I want you to take this card. It is a trap card called Seal of Breaking Darkness. If you activate this card in a duel, your opponent will lose half of their remaining life points. If you use it when you are inside of Dark Era, then it will shatter the seal and drive Dark Era away. If you use it in Dark Era while dueling Leon, it will not only shatter the seal, but it will bring everybody killed by Dark Era and they will stand in the exact places they died as if nothing happened".

Karl's eyes grew wide. "You mean if I use that against Leon, then it will bring back James?" he asked hopefully. Sentosham frowned.

"I'm afraid not. What you must understand is that James is dead for good. There can only be one Fire Knight. When James died, a new person became the Fire Knight. If James were to come back, it would make there be two Fire Knights and that would throw the balance of the world off so much that it could burn the planet to ashes. I'm sorry that you lost your friend, but perhaps you could become friends with his replacement". Sentosham handed Karl the card and faded away. Karl left the throne room and went into the main chamber. In there he found Josh, Nick, Marik, and Yami with a fifth person. Karl observed him before entering the room. He had curly black hair at the top of his scrawny body. He was wearing a Black Label Society T-shirt with baggy jean shorts. There was a duel disk around his left wrist and on his right hand was an emblem. The same red Fire Emblem that was on James' hand. Karl walked into the main room and over to the group. They looked at him and the kid with the Fire Emblem stuck his right hand out to shake. Karl didn't take the kids hand but just stared at the kid. It was feint, but the members of the group could all see a hatred for the kid in Karl's eyes.

"Hi, my name is Mitch. I guess I'm your new teammate. A guy came to me in a dream and told me I was a Fire Knight because an old one died. Did you know him?" the kid asked. Karl narrowed his eyes.

"Yeah, I knew him. He was my best friend. And he didn't die. He was killed while he fought valiantly in a battle. I see that you're a duelist. At least that means you're useful. But James was an expert duelist and lost. I want to test your strength right now", he said.

Mitch took cards out of his blue deck box. "Alright, I accept. Oh, but before I forget to tell you but I'm sorry about your house. I was trying to sense you guys and I guess I accidentally caused an explosion", he said and laughed nervously. The rest of the groups' jaws dropped. Karl locked his deck into place.

Karl drew his five cards. "I'll start this duel by playing Pot of Greed. This will let me draw two cards. Now allow me to introduce you to my Inpachi. Then I'll increase his power with an equip magic card known as Horn of the Unicorn, giving him 700 added attack points. And I'll end my turn by setting a card face down". Karl's wooden statue materialized with a golden horn sprouting from its forehead.

Mitch drew six cards of his own. "I'll summon Beta the Magnet Warrior (A1700, D1600) in defense mode. Then I'll place my own card face down to end my turn". A yellow…thing with black dots for eyes and magnets for hands appeared in front of the scrawny kid. There was also a magnet for horns.

Karl drew a card and studied it intently. "I'm going to have to guess that you were having a pretty good day. You woke up to realize that you were the Keeper of Fire and you made a bunch of new friends. If that's true, then I'm sorry to bring an end to your great day. I activate the Raigeki magic card. This card destroys every monster on your side of the field", Karl said. A bolt of lightning struck from the ceiling (which by the way is up in so much darkness that it is impossible to see). "Next I summon my Dark Blade to the field. Attack his life points directly with Dark Blade Attack. Next I'll attack you with Inpachi. That finishes my turn". Dark Blade swung its sword at Mitch and Inpachi punched him.

Karl Mitch

8000 3900

Mitch's eyes were huge when he watched his life point meter drop so steeply. He drew a card and said, "Alright, I won't let you do that again. I set one monster face down in defense mode and end my turn".

Karl drew a card but was too distracted with another one in his hand. "I offer Inpachi and Dark Blade to summon the Dark Magician. This is my most prized monster. Next I'll play Swords of Revealing Light to reveal your face down monster and stop all of your attacks for three turns. Not that you'll still have life points then. Now Dark Magician, attack his Trap Master with Dark Magic Attack. I end my turn". The man in purple armor pointed his staff at the Trap Master and blasted it to pieces.

Mitch grinned as he looked at his new card. "I activate my magic card Crypt Tribute. This card will let me offer a monster in my graveyard to summon a monster. Next I activate my Soul Exchange to offer you Dark Magician for one of my monsters. Now say hello to my mighty Zoa (A2600, D2100). But since your Swords of Revealing Light and my Soul Exchange both prevent me from attacking, I end my turn". Mitch's monster was a big blue fiendish creature.

Karl drew his card. "I'll set my Giant Orc in defense mode. That'll do it for me", he said.

Mitch drew his card and looked as if he couldn't be happier. "I play my magic card known as Back to Square One. This sends your Giant Orc back to the top of your deck, leaving your field clean. And this is the second turn of your swords". The magic card portrayed a board game and one of the pieces moving onto a space that said the name of the card.

Karl drew the Giant Orc. "I'll set my Prevent Rat (A500, D2000) in defense mode. That'll end my turn", he said. The Prevent Rat was a green rat with blue fur that resembled a turtle shell.

Mitch drew his card and said, "I play my Opticlops in attack mode. I still can't attack, but on my next turn Zoa will rip right through you".

Karl drew his card as he watched the Cyclops form on the field. "I'll start this turn by playing Graceful Charity. This grants me three new cards as long as I discard two. So I'll send Kuriboh and Mystical Elf to the graveyard and end my turn by summoning Giant Orc in defense mode". The Graceful Charity was an angel.

Mitch drew his card. "I summon Gearfried the Iron Knight and I'll have him attack your orc. Next my two remaining monsters will attack your life points directly, ending my turn", he said. After the Giant Orc was obliterated, Zoa and Opticlops struck Karl.

Karl Mitch

3600 3900

Karl drew the top card. "Perfect. I reveal my face down Call of the Haunted Trap card to bring back the Dark Magician". Karl's card was a cemetery with fog hanging over it.

Mitch looked puzzled at Karl. "So, my Zoa is still stronger than your Dark Magician", he said.

Karl grinned and said, "Not when I combine him with the Horn of the Unicorn. When this card is destroyed, it returns to the top of my deck. Now my magician has 3200. Next I'll take your Zoa with my Snatch Steal. I'll attack both of your monsters. Here ends my turn". The Dark Magician grew a horn and he attacked with Zoa.

Karl Mitch

3600 1700

Mitch's life points went up as he drew his card. "I can't do anything that would help me win this duel. I surrender", he said. The holograms faded away.

Karl looked at Mitch. "And you want to be the Fire Knight. Not only did you give up, but also I was in control of that duel the entire time. James wouldn't have given up and he probably would have won", he said and stormed off. He was closing the door to the throne room behind him when it started glowing green. The door opened and Josh walked in.

"You don't have to be so hard on him. It's obvious that he's younger than we are. And he's new at being an Emblem Knight. We have been Knights for almost two years. It's easy to see that you're mad at him for replacing James. But it wasn't his fault. James was killed by his darkness and Mitch woke up with the Emblem. I'm sure that if he knew that saying no could have meant James coming back, then he would have. So try and take it easy on the kid. The Pharaoh wants to go and talk to Kaiba. We need you now that your stronger and you have that card that stops Dark Era". Karl seemed happier but was confused.

"Hey Josh, I didn't say anything about James not being able to come back or me being able to stop Dark Era. How did you know about those? You were listening through my door again", Karl said. The two of them walked back to the main room. "Hey Nick, Marik, I'm sorry that you have to stay behind again. But Nick doesn't have a deck and Marik is the only one with a working Millenium Item. So Pharaoh, Josh, Jam… I mean Mitch, you guys come with me". Karl opened the door and lowered them onto the street where they headed for Kaiba Corp. Headquarters.

They ran into the deepest part of Domino City where they found a building that towered above all others. It had sparkling blue glass. At the top of the building the words Kaiba Corp. were glowing in orange and yellow. But they weren't paying attention to those features. They were all distracted by the seal that was carved into the door. And waiting for them in front of the door were three duelists. One of them was a short little kid with blue hair and a bowl cut. He was wearing big glasses with a green button up shirt and blue shorts. The second had long brown hair underneath a ski cap. He had blue jeans and a yellow shirt under a brown button up shirt. The last guy was wearing a gray robe and had long black hair that was tied into a ponytail (sort of like Duke Devlin's).

Yami's eyes narrowed when he saw them. "Weevil, Rex, what are you guys doing here?" he asked. The three of them grinned.

"We've been waiting for you Yugi. We've been hired by the Duel Monsters Champion Leon to guard this door. He's paying us each $5000 to make sure that nobody gets inside. Then he did that to the door. He said that if somebody beats us in a duel, then the cuts in the door will go away and the door will open. So if you want to get passed us, you'll have to duel. Who's first?" Weevil asked. Karl stepped forward and activated his duel disk. Then the man in the robe stood to oppose him.

"I will be the one to face you Karl. I look forward to crushing you", he said. Karl grinned at the guy in the robe but didn't say anything.

Yami turned to Josh and asked, "Do these two know each other?" Josh nodded his head.

"Yeah, Karl and Dom have been dueling ever since they started playing the game. They had a duel in a tournament when they were rookies. It was their first junior tournament and Karl stomped Dom. But at the next tournament. He must be the only person to ever beat Karl. But they haven't each other in a little over a year, so chances are that Dom doesn't know about Karl's Egyptian God Cards", he said.

Karl drew six cards to signal his first move. "Judging by my opening hand, this duel won't take long. But just in case you've got a powerful monster, I'll defend using my Mystical Elf (A800, D2000). Then I'll end my turn". His monster was a blue woman with flowing golden hair and a green dress.

Dom looked at the six cards in his hand as he formulated a plan. "I summon my Warrior of Zera (A1600, D1600) in attack mode. Then to end my turn, I'll set this card face down", he said. Dom's monster was a brown demon with green armor and blue pants. The sword in his right hand had a fiendish face and talons at the top of the hilt.

Karl drew his new card. "I summon my La Jinn the Mystical Genie of the Lamp. Then I'll combine him with the Horn of the Unicorn. La Jinn, attack the Warrior of Zera". The green genie formed a ball of magic in its hands and flung it at Dom's monster. Dom pushed a button on his duel disc.

"I activate my trap card called Monster Shield. This will shield my monster from one of your attacks by using a different monster as the shield. So I'll choose your La Jinn".

Karl held his arms in front of his face to avoid the dust. "I end my turn". Dom's trap card was a monster hiding behind another monster as an attack obliterated it.

Dom drew another card. "I tribute my Warrior of Zera to summon my powerful Swordstalker (A2000, D1600). He is a special monster. You see, he has 2000 attack points, and he gains a 400-point increase for every one of his fallen allies (warrior monsters) in the graveyard. Now Swordstalker, attack the Mystical Elf with Reaper Blade. I end my turn". The purple fiend with wings and a goldenrod sword clutched in his hands leaped at the blue elf and cut right through her.

Karl drew a card. "I summon a monster face down in defense mode. Then I'll set a card face down behind it to end my turn", he said.

Dom laughed maniacally when he saw the card he drew. "If you thought my Swordstalker was strong before, then you'll shocked to know that he's about to become even stronger. I combine him with the magic card Dragonic Attack. This will transform my monster into a dragon type card and increase his attack by another 500 points, shooting him up to 2900. Now attack the face down card with Reaper Blade". Dom's monster attacked and destroyed Karl's monster again.

Karl drew his card and thought for a second before getting an idea. "I reveal my face down Call of the Haunted to bring back La Jinn. Then I play Monster Reborn to bring back the Warrior of Zera. Now I offer both of my monsters for the Dark Magician. Now that you have no warriors in your graveyard, your monster's attack drops to 2500, equaling the Dark Magician. I end my turn", he said.

Dom drew a card. "I'll place a card face down in defense mode and end my turn".

Karl drew his card. "I too will use my turn to only summon a monster face down in defense mode. Next I'll attack your face down monster with the Dark Magician to finish". The man blasted away the face down monster.

Dom drew his card for this turn. "The monster you just destroyed was Hane-Hane which will send the Dark Magician back to your hand. Unfortunately he was only half warrior so he didn't help my Swordstalker. But that doesn't mean I can't attack. I'll summon my Celtic Guardian (A1400, D1200) in defense mode. Then Swordstalker will attack your face down monster to end my turn", he said. The Swordstalker attacked as soon as an elf in brown and green armor. He also had long blonde hair and wielded a sword made of diamond in his left hand.

Karl watched with anticipation as the Swordstalker vanished. "You just attacked my own Hane-Hane. Now I can't play anyhing nut this card face down, so I'll do so and end my turn".

Dom's eyes grew wide as he placed his card with the rest of his hand. "I'll summon my Possessed Dark Soul (A1200, D800) in attack mode and switch Celtic Guardian to attack mode. Now my monsters, attack his life points directly. I end my turn".

Karl Dom

5400 8000

Karl drew his card and played it. "I activate my Swords of Revealing Light. This will prevent you from attacking for three turns. But I have no playable monster, so I'll end my turn". Three swords flew in front of Dom.

Dom drew his card. "This is it. Prepare to see what true power is. I offer the Possessed Dark Soul and Celtic Guardian for the Buster Blader (A2600, D2300). He gains 500 points for every one of your dragons. Next I'll strengthen him with the Lightning Blade. This gives him 800 more points and weakens every water monster on the field. I'll end my turn".

Karl drew his card. "I can only summon my Giant Orc in attack mode. Then I'll end my turn". The ogre monster appeared next to its master.

Dom drew a card. "I call my Red Archery Girl to join the Buster Balder. But because I can't attack, I'll end my turn". His monster was a green-haired mermaid with a bow sitting inside a clam.

Karl drew his card and took his turn to laugh. "You think that Buster Blader of yours is true power. That's pathetic. I'll show you a monster of unstoppable force. First I play my Snatch Steal magic card. This will give you 1000 life points every turn and give me one of your monsters. Then I'll reveal my face down Polymerization magic card. This will combine your Buster Blader with the Dark Magician in my hand to create the Dark Paladin (A2900, D2500). Since a fusion monster counts as two monsters in one. So I'll offer the two monsters of Dark Paladin and the Giant Orc to summon my all mighty Obelisk the Tormentor (A4000, D4000). Obelisk is known as an Egyptian God Card. That means he incredibly strong and almost indestructible. The only things that can stop him are attacks from monsters. Obelisk, attack the Red Archery Girl with Fist of Fate. I end my turn". Obelisk was a gargantuan monster with blue skin and a giant muscular torso and spikes on the shoulders. There were also spikes on his head and he had the face of Exodia.

Karl Dom

5400 5400

Dom was scared of the might beast on Karl's field. He drew his card but couldn't hold his hand steady. "I summon the Baby Dragon (A1200, D700) in defense mode and end my turn.

Karl drew a card, starting a new hand. He watched his Swords of Revealing Light fade away. "I play my Graceful Charity card so that I may draw three new cards as long as I discard two. Now I play the Pot of Greed and draw two more cards. Now Obelisk, attack with Fist of Fate. I end my turn".

Dom closed his eyes as Obelisk's fist formed an orange aura and punched his Baby Dragon. "I set my Battle Footballer (A1000, D2100) in defense mode and end my turn". His monster was covered with armor to look like a football player.

Karl drew his card and his eyes grew extremely wide. "I'll set this card face down and summon my second Mystical Elf in defense mode. Attack his monster my Obelisk the Tormentor". Another blue elf stood next to the attacking Obelisk.

Dom drew his card. It was easy to see that he was very frightened of Obelisk. "I'll summon the Dragon Manipulator (A700, D800) in defense mode. I end my turn". This monster was a small armored man riding a tiny gray dragon.

Karl drew another card. "I summon the Luster Dragon in defense mode. Then Obelisk will end my turn by attacking". Obelisk attacked Dom's monster again.

Dom drew a card from his deck. "I still can only summon a weak monster, so go my Headless Knight (A1450, D1700) in defense mode. I end my turn". Dom's monster was a white suit of armor without a head. In its right hand was a sword and a shield in the left.

Karl drew the top card on his deck. "I'll summon my Dark Blade in defense mode. Attack the Headless Knight, Obelisk". The warrior wearing spiky silver armor appeared and swung its two swords.

Dom drew yet another card. "I summon the Mystic Horseman (A1300, D1550) in defense mode. I end my turn". The Mystic Horseman was a Centaur monster with a scythe in its left hand.

Karl drew a card. "This turn, I'm just going to attack your monster with my god". Obelisk punched with his fist glowing orange.

Dom was now fretting about Karl's three other monsters on the field. "I'll set the Giant Soldier of Stone in defense mode. That'll be all".

Karl drew his card but ignored it. "Look Dom, you put up a good duel at first, but now I'm just getting bored of blasting away your cards over and over again. Why don't you just give up now and save us both a lot of time. No, okay. Obelisk, attack the statue". Obelisk did as he was told.

Dom drew his card. "Oh crap, I don't have any monsters. All I that I can play is this card face down. I end my turn", he said.

Karl drew the fourth card in his hand. "This is getting very old. But now that you have no monsters protecting you, I am free to hit your life points directly. Obelisk, attack him with Fist of Fate", he said. Obelisk swung his fist at Dom who pushed a button on his duel disk.

"You forgot about my face down card. I'm sure you remember what the card named Monster Shield does. Since Obelisk can only be destroyed by attacks, why not hit him with the strongest attack possible: himself. Now your strongest monster is destroyed", Dom said.

Obelisk's attack bounced back at him. Karl glared at Dom. "I end my turn", he said.

Dom grinned as he drew a card. "Now you're in for it. I play my Monster Reborn magic card to revive Obelisk the Tormentor. Now your great and all-powerful monster works for me. Obelisk, attack his Luster Dragon with Fist of Fate". Obelisk didn't budge.

"Too bad for you, Obelisk can't attack on the turn that he is revived. And also, Monster Reborn only works for one turn with him. So it looks like you wasted that magic card. I'll take my turn since you can't do anything", Karl said. He drew his card and couldn't hold in his laughter. "I'm sorry Dom, but you are so fucked. I offer Mystical Elf, Luster Dragon, and Dark Blade for another Egyptian God Card, Slifer the Sky Dragon (AX000, DX000). This monster gets 1000 attack points for every card in your hand and I have four. Next I reveal my face down trap card, Seal of Breaking Darkness. This cuts your life points in half. Now Slifer, finish him with Lightning Breath Cannon". Slifer was a third gargantuan monster. It was a red serpent dragon with two mouths and enormous wings. There were spikes in various areas of his body and he had claws. He opened his mouth and blast a concentrated charge of electricity at Dom.

Weevil looked annoyed. "Alright, that's one of us down. Rex would you like to go next?" he asked. Rex looked ready to duel.

"Sure, I'll go. Which one of you wants to take on the great Rex Raptor?" he asked.

Mitch took the spot opposite him. "I'll duel you. I start with my Time Wizard (A500, D400) in defense mode. Next I set two cards face down. Take your turn", he said.

Rex drew a card from his deck. "Ha, I'll start by playing this card. It's a magic card called Golden Dinosaur Egg. This allows me to draw two cards every turn instead of one. Next I'll summon my Uraby(A1500, D1200) in attack mode. Then I'll set one card face down and attack your little clock with Uraby".

Mitch drew a card. "I set one card face down in defense mode and one card face down. Then I play Change of Heart to take control of Uraby for one turn". The black raptor leapt from Rex's side to in front of Mitch. Now Uraby, attack Rex's life points directly. Then I end my turn", he said.

Mitch Rex

8000 6500

Rex drew his two cards. "I offer my Uraby for the Twin-Headed Fire Dragon. Next I'll set this card face down. Twin-Headed Fire Dragon, Dou Flame Attack on the face down monster". A red dragon with a single claw and two heads blasted a stream of fire from each mouth at Mitch's monster.

Mitch hit a button on his duel disk. "Reveal face down Sakuretsu Armor. This will negate your attack and destroy your dragon", Mitch said. The flames stopped and the dragon shattered.

Rex clenched his hands in fists and said, "I end my turn".

Mitch drew his next card. "I set one monster face down in defense mode. Next I reveal my face down Armed Ninja. When he is flipped up, he destroys a magic card on the field. I choose your Golden Dinosaur Egg. I end my turn". A ninja in black armor with a golden belt formed on the field. There was a staff with a silver crescent moon blade on the top in its right hand.

Rex drew a single card. "I summon my Twin-Headed Behemoth (A1500, D1200) in attack mode. Now attack his Armed Ninja. I end my turn". A monster with two headed fired a pink laser at the ninja.

Mitch drew his card. "Alright, I start by setting two cards face down. Then I flip up my Cyber Jar. This will destroy every monster and let us place new ones on the field"

Mitch- La Jinn the Mystical Genie of the Lamp, Berserk Gorilla, face down monster.

Rex- A second Uraby, Ankelodon, Pterodactylus

(A/N- the last two of Rex's monsters are one I made because the only dinosaur cards that I know of suck)

Mitch resumed his turn. "I set one monster face down in defense mode and send Berserk Gorilla to attack Uraby. Then I end my turn", he said.

Mitch Rex

8000 6000

Rex drew a card. "Alright I summon my Terroraptor (A1900, D1400) in attack mode. Now for my monsters' special ability. When Terroraptor, Ankelodon (A1750, D1500), and Pterodactylus (A2000, D1100) are on the field at the same time, I am able to summon Brontozilla (2800, 2100). Now each of my monsters will attack you and leave you defenseless. Brontozilla, attack the Berserk Gorilla. Next Pterodactylus will attack La Jinn. Finally, my remaining monsters will attack you face down cards. I end my turn".

An Ankelosaurus with metal plating, a Pterodactyl with razor sharp wings, a robotic Raptor, and an enormous red Brontosaurus all attacked Mitch's monsters.

Mitch Rex

7000 6000

Mitch laughed as his two face down monsters flipped up. "My two face down monsters were Man-Eater Bug and Swarm of Scarabs (A500, D1000). Both of these monsters destroy one of your monsters when they're flipped up. I choose your two strongest monsters", he said.

Rex did that evil little grin that he always does. "Sorry to disappoint you, but Brontozilla protects my monsters from your effects. He lets me direct them at two other monsters. I choose to destroy my two weaker monsters", he said.

Mitch looked annoyed and sighed deeply. "I set my Little Momonga (A1000, D100) in defense mode. The I end my turn", he said.

Rex drew his card and smiled. "Yes, now I can finally summon my ultimate monster. I summon The Great Tyrannosaurus of Darkness (3400, 3000) in attack mode. This monster not only has attack points that are stronger than Kaiba's Blue-Eyes White Dragon, but it can also attack twice in one turn. And all I have to do is offer a monster on my standby phase. Now my Great Tyrannosaurus, attack his monster and then his life points", Rex shouted ecstatically. The monster was nearly as big as the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon. It bent down and swallowed the Nimble Momonga whole. Then it stood up and released a fireball from its mouth at Mitch.

Mitch Rex

3600 6000

Mitch searched through his deck and summoned another Nimble Momonga. "Because you destroyed my first one, I get to summon all other Nimble Momongas in my deck and I gain 1000 life points. Now, I offer my Nimble Momonga for my Helpoemer (A2000, D1400). Next I play my Graceful Dice to make my monster stronger. Then I activate my face down Skull Dice to weaken your monster.

Graceful Dice- 4 (Helpoemer- 2400)

Skull Dice- 3 (The Great Tyrannosaurus of Darkness- 1130)

"Now my Helpoemer, attack his dinosaur with Curse of the Damned. Then I end my turn". Two dice flew through the air and made the attack of the monsters change. Mitch's mutated blue demon blasted a blue burst of energy at the dinosaur.

Mitch Rex

3600 4730

Rex drew his card and grinned. "I can't do anything, so I end my turn by playing this card face down"

Mitch drew his card. "I set one monster face down in defense mode. That'll end my turn".

Rex pressed a button on his duel disk after drawing his card. "I reveal my favorite trap card known only as Chain of the Underworld. This will bring back a monster from the graveyard, only it will reduce their attack points by 700. But my Great Tyrannosaurus doesn't need that much to beat you. So I bring back my strongest monster". A spiky chain shot into the ground and pulled the gigantic T-Rex with spike on its head out. "Attack the Helpoemer my beautiful dinosaur", Rex said with excitement again. The monster ran up and ate Mitch's monster. Then it blasted another fireball at him. Mitch lost life points, but then the seal on the door surrounded Mitch for a second and he lost 700 more points. Rex laughed at the look on Mitch's face. "Remember that Dark Era helps out monsters of darkness and strengthens them. It was hitting your with my monster's missing attack points.

Mitch Rex

3200 4730

Mitch drew his card while he waited for his face down Man-Eater Bug to kill the Tyrannosaurus. Then Rex laughed and said, "I'm sorry to tell you this, but my Tyrannosaurus is immune to effects of monsters".

Mitch sneered and looked at his new card. "I play my Graceful Charity magic card. Then I reveal my face down Pot of Greed". Then said to himself, "There is only one card that I can draw that will be able to stop his monster". He drew his card and grinned wider than ever. "I play Monster Reborn on my Red-Eyes Black Dragon. Then I offer him to my most powerful monster, The Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon (A2400, 2000). He starts off weaker than your monster, but he gets 300 points for every dragon card in my graveyard. That gives him 3000. Then if I'm right, the seal on that door should make him stronger because he is a card of pure darkness. Now he has 6500. Now my Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon, attack him with Inferno Darkness Fire Blast. I end my turn".

Mitch Rex

3200 1930

Rex drew his quivering. "I summon a monster face down in defense mode. Then I end my turn".

Mitch summoned his card. "I summon the Kaiser Sea Horse (A1700, D1650) in attack mode and I'll send him to attack your monster. Now my dragon, attack his life points. You lose Rex".

Rex was so angry that he swung his left arm and all of his cards flew out of it and into the street. "Oh dammit", he said.

Weevil stepped up to where Rex was as Rex picked up his cards. Josh walked over to the opposing spot. "Alright you punk, you still have to beat me. And only once you have can you get into Kaiba Corp".

Yami turned his head to Karl and said, "You know, come to think of it I've know you guys for a year but I've never seen Josh duel. Is he good?" Karl didn't take his eyes off of the two duelists. Mitch walked to Karl's other side. "James and I have never had a duel with Josh, but we're pretty sure that even if we teamed up on him, he'd beat us in under ten turns. I really miss James. I actually knew he was going to die when we were told we had to use our old decks. When I first met James, I beat him in two turns".

Yami's expression became a saddened one and he looked back at the duel. Josh was staring the duel. "I summon my Spear Dragon. Then I end my turn".

Weevil drew his card. "I summon my Drill Bug (A1100, D1000) in attack mode. Next I'll equip him with a magic card called Invisibility. This will let him sneak past your monsters and attack your life points directly. Next I place a card face down and end my turn by attacking your life points directly". Weevil's tape worm-looking monster with three blades for a face slithered up to Josh and stabbed him.

Josh Weevil

6900 8000

Josh drew his next card. "I summon the Opticlops to join my Spear Dragon. Then I end my turn". The Cyclops appeared next to the slender-faced dragon.

Weevil drew his next card with a puzzled look on his face. "I set one monster face down in defense mode. Then I flip up my face down DNA Surgery. This will change every monster that you have on the field into insects. Then I'll send my Drill Bug to attack you again. I end my turn".

Josh Weevil

5800 8000

Josh drew his next card. "I place one card face down. Now I'll show you why my deck is called a Master Deck. You see, there are four Master Cards in duel monsters and they are very powerful cards. Allow me to show you. I offer my Opticlops for the Master Tempted By Water (A2500, D2100). Then because of the special powers of the Master Cards, I can summon a second monster this turn. So I'll offer the Spear Dragon for the Master Tempted By Lightning (A2500, D2100). Now when the Master Tempted By Water is summoned, he turns all of your monsters into water creatures. And the Master Tempted By Lightning can attack and destroy every water monster on your side of the field. Now my mighty creature, attack with Armageddon Thunder. Now for my other master, attack with Armageddon Flood. I end my turn".

Josh Weevil

5800 4100

Weevil's were huge behind his glasses. His jaw dropped when he saw his monsters killed the way they were. He drew his monster. I summon my Cocoon of Evolution (A0, D2000) in defense mode. Then I'll equip it with the Petit Moth and the Horn of the Unicorn, increasing its defense to 2700. I end my turn". A large pink cocoon appeared in front of two monsters both wearing black robes.

Josh drew his card. "I set this monster face down in defense mode. Then I end my turn", he said.

Weevil drew a card but didn't play anything. "In three turns, my Petit Moth will grow into a Great Moth. Now, I end my turn".

Josh drew his card. "I flip up my face down Old Vindictive Magician. This will destroy you Cocoon of Evolution. Now I equip the Master Tempted By Lightning with a card called My Master's Armor. This will allow him to show his true weapon other than that bolt of lightning. Now he can concentrate the electricity at a single target. Shoe him the Sword of Storms. He gains 2000 points, giving him 4500. Now Master Tempted By Lightning, attack with Sword of Storms. And that is my quickest victory".

Weevil began screaming about losing to nobodies. The seal on the door faded away and Weevil and Rex ran away in shame. Dom looked at Karl. "Next time we meet, I will beat those God Cards of yours". He turned and walked away.

Karl made a grin that was unmistakably familiar, but not for him. Yami looked at him and shouted, "Hey bitch, that grin is trademarked. Quit it".

A/N- just practicing some humor.

The opened the door when they heard someone shouting to wait up. The looked to their left and saw Mai running toward them. Mitch's eyes grew wide. "Hey, who's the chick?" he asked.
Karl pushed him inside and said, "She's taken".

Mai ran up and said, "Yugi, other kids, did Seto call you guys as well? He called me and said that I can't come near his office because it's too dangerous. But I just had to see if he's all right".

The five of them walked quickly to an elevator and rode it to the top level. The door opened into Kaiba's office. The chair at Kaiba's desk was turned around so it faced the window. "Seto, is everything all right. You sounded troubled when you called. The chair turned around slowly, but there was nobody in it. The evening sun shone through the window making the shadows long. Karl stiffened up as a tingling went up his spine.

Then he quickly watched the floor and began muttering, "Where are you? Where are you?" The room was filled with an evil laugh as Lrak rose out of the ground.

"I'm sorry, but your lover Seto is currently and permanently a victim of Dark Era. But if you'd like, I can let you join him".

Karl jumped in front of everybody else and said, "We are going to duel right now. If I win, you tell us where Leon is so we can go and stop him".

Lrak grinned and said, "Fine, but to tell you the truth, you won't win". The room was flooded with darkness and the seal on Lrak's hand began to glow. Then the same seal began to fall over Karl and Lrak. But before it hit the ground, Karl was pushed out of the way by Mai.

"No, you've had your revenge for your friend. No it's my turn". She activated her duel disk.

Lrak held up his hand, signaling her to wait. "We're not going to have any ordinary duel. We're going to play a little game I've come up with. Here's how it goes. Select ten monsters from your deck to use. Then remove all others from your deck. Place the ten monsters on the field. If they are face up, then they are vulnerable to attack and magic and trap cards. But if their face down, then they are safe. If you don't have any monsters up when you end your turn, then your opponent is free to attack you and then you lose. Also, if you run out of monsters, you lose. You can only have three cards in your hand and at the end of each turn, you must discard a card. But you can use a magic or trap card whenever you like. Now let's begin. You go first".

Mai summoned ten cards face down to match Lrak. "I flip up eight cards, Amazon Chain Woman (1500), Harpy's Brother, Amazon Archer (2000), Amazoness Paladin (1700), Dunames Dark Witch (1800), Harpy Lady (1300), Dark Witch (1800), and Wing Weaver (2750)".

Lrak drew three cards and moved one monster to the face up position. "Behold my only monster, Twin-Headed Wolf. Next I activate Raigeki to destroy all face up monsters on your side of the field. I end my turn". Lrak discarded a card as Mai's monsters were blown to bits by a lightning bolt.

Mai Lrak

2 10

Mai flipped up her last two monsters. "I summon my Harpy Lady Sisters (2150) and Harpy's Pet Dragon (2000). Harpy Lady Sisters increases my dragon to 2900. Now attack the Twin-Headed Wolf. I end my turn".

Mai Lrak

2 9

Lrak laughed as he flipped up another monster. "Now for the card that will finish you, the Lava Golem. Attack her Harpy Lady Sisters. I end my turn".

Mai Lrak

1 9

Mai drew a card and was in a state of shock as she noticed there wasn't a card in her hand that could stop the Lava Golem. "I end my turn", she said.

Lrak grinned and said, "Good girl. Lava Golem, attack her final monster". The giant blob spat a ball of magma and destroyed Mai's final monster. The seal enclosed around Mai and disappeared with her.

Karl was beyond pissed. "Now Lrak, this is our duel. I've already chosen my ten monsters so I'm ready. I'll start. I'll summon the Giant Soldier of Stone (1300). I end my turn".

Lrak drew three cards to start his turn. "I summon my Summoned Skull. Then I'll have it attack your statue".

Karl played a card from his hand. "Activate Mirror Force. This will destroy your Summoned Skull".

Lrak clenched his hand into a fist. "I end my turn".

Karl Lrak

10 9

Karl drew a card. "I combine Giant Soldier of Stone with the Horn of the Unicorn, increasing his attack to 2000. Giant Soldier of Stone, attack with Rock Blade".

Lrak activated one of his cards. "I play my own Mirror Force, destroying the statue.

Karl sneered. "I summon four monsters this turn. I summon Dark Magician, Luster Dragon #2, the invincible Spirit Reaper, and Dark Necrofear. I end my turn".

Karl Lrak

9 9

Lrak grinned when he saw how many monsters Karl summoned. "I summon Suigen (2500), Jinzo (2400), mmy own Spirit Reaper, and Judge Man (2200). I'll have Suigen attack the Luster Dragon #2. Then Jinzo will attack the Dark Necrofear. Next Judge Man will attack the Spirit Reaper. I end my turn".

Karl Lrak

6 9

Karl drew a card. "My Dark Necrofear will take your Suigen, giving it to me. Next I'll send them to attack your other monsters, leaving you with the Judge Man.

Karl Lrak

6 6

Lrak drew a card and grinned. "I play Dark Hole, destroying everything on the field. Then I'll summon my Dark Necrofear. I end my turn".

Karl Lrak

5 5

Karl drew a card. "I'll summon my two Lava Golems. I'll send one to attack your Dark Necrofear. Then I activate the Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy the Dark Necrofear once and for all.

Karl Lrak

5 4

Lrak drew his card. "Now to show you the newest editions to my deck. I summon all three of my Blue-Eyes White Dragons. Yes, these are the same ones that Seto Kaiba uses in his deck. But I'm not done. I use the Polymerization magic card to create the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon. Blue-Eyes, attack the two monsters with Neutron Blast. I end my turn".

Karl Lrak

3 4

Karl drew a card but didn't look at it as he moved his last three monsters to the field. Karl was furious at Lrak for not only killing who could be the only duelist that could help them, but also using Kaiba's cards against him. His eyes were flaring purple and a purple aura was flowing around his entire body. "I summon Slifer the Sky Dragon, The Winged Dragon, and Obelisk the Tormentor".

Lrak quickly activated a card. "I use the Pyramid of Light, transforming the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon into the Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon. But Dark Era will transform it into the Blue-Eyes Darkness Dragon (6500). It's Shadow Nova is strong enough to kill you Egyptian God Cards and still leave me with the three original Blue-Eyes White Dragons. So Say goodbye".

Karl was still releasing the purple energy, but it slowly turned black. "There has never been a time that I've wanted to do this more. I activate my own Polymerization to fuse my three Egyptian God Cards. I combine Ra, Slifer, and Obelisk into Anubis the Forgotten One (X000, X000). Anubis is the strongest monster that anyone has ever seen. But Anubis wasn't the strongest of the Gods. Allow me to explain.

Anubis must be dark if Dark Era is going to unleash his full power. The God of the sun was named Ra, the very Ra that is master to my Winged Dragon. But Ra was a troubled God. He was constantly torn between the forces of light and dark. So he killed himself and split his power and created two cards. The one you see before you is the famous one, Anubis. Anubis was believed to be the God of Darkness because he would take spirits to the underworld. But he was actually taking them to his other half. Taking a monster of equal power and flooding it with darkness is the only way to create this other half. So the power of Dark Era will now combine with Anubis. Say hello to the strongest monster in all of duel monsters, Set. Now to finish you off. Set, attack with Dark Wrath of Set". I win."

Anubis was a monster with the torso, arms, and wings of Obelisk. Its body was the serpent body of Slifer. And it had the Winged Dragon of Ra's Head. But Set, was a copy only masked by shadow. Lrak began screaming at the top of his lungs, for he was finally feeling the pain of Dark Era. The seal closed in around him and vanished.

Karl let the aura fade away. "Aw dammit. Now we don't have any good duelists left to help us. Shit!" he said. He walked over to the desk. There he found a green deck box exactly like his. He opened it up and pulled out a deck of cards. He spread them so he could get a good look at each of the cards. He pulled out five cards. "Nobody will ever be allowed to use these cards ever again", he said. He put the five cards into his deck box and closed the remaining cards of the deck so they formed an even stack. Then a purple fire leapt from his hand onto the deck of cards.

Mitch ran over to him. "Wait Karl, if a good duelist is what you're looking for, than you should have said something. I know a guy in Riverside, California that would have kicked Kaiba's ass. Just let me tell him to come out here and then you'll have all of the dueling power you need". Karl reached into the pocket of his sweatshirt and puled out a cell phone. Mitch dialed a number and waited for someone to answer. Mitch turned on the speakerphone so everybody could hear.

"Hello", came a voice from the other end of the line.

"Hey man, it's Mitch. You know, Matt's little brother. Hey, I need you to fly out here to Domino as soon as possible. There's something going down and we need your help. Don't worry about tickets or money, we have it all covered. Just come on the next flight. And meet me at this address". Mitch replied. He then told the other guy the address of a building on the street that they were now staying at. Then he hung up.

Yami walked over to the elevator and pushed a button so that it would come up. "Come on, let's get back to your place. It's getting really late out". The group which, was back to four now that Mai was gone stepped into the elevator and rode it down. They left Kaiba Corp. and started running to the new hideout.

"Can you believe this shit. We head over to Kaiba Corp. and have to duel three tough guys so we can get inside. Then the only thing that ends up happening is some hot chick dies", Mitch said. They arrived back at the hideout and Karl headed straight to the throne room where he fell asleep from the strain of dueling Lrak and commanding a force as strong as Set. Mitch and Yami explained what happened to Nick and Marik. Josh however went into his room and began to think.

'That monster that Karl used against his dark side was far more powerful than all of my Masters combined. It was the God Cards combined with darkness. Karl is using the power of Dark Era to his advantage. But that doesn't mean that he won't fall victim to its power and turn on us. Mitch and I have to look out for Karl' A man dressed in green appeared next to him.

"Don't worry about your friend. He is perfectly safe from Dark Era. In fact, he may actually be darker than that of the dreaded dark magic (Dark Era). And as he showed today by using Set, he is powerful enough to overcome its darkness". The man faded away and Josh smiled faintly. Then he laid down and went to sleep.

Mitch was the first one to wake up the next morning. He ate his breakfast as Marik walked in. Nick, then Yami, and finally Josh then joined them. Mitch kept them busy by asking Marik and Yami a bunch of questions. Karl however, remained in the throne room until he felt a new but familiar presence enter the hideout. He walked down to the main room and saw someone that he could never forget.

"Trunks! Whoa man, what are you doing here?" he asked in amazement.

"Hey Karl, Mitch called me yesterday and said that he and his friends needed some help with something. I had no idea that it was you guys". The two of them gave each other a high five. Then Mitch walked over to them.

"Wait a minute, how do you two know each other, you live on completely opposite sides of the world", he said.

Trunks looked down at him. "Well Mitch, remember about a month ago when the ultimate battle between Duel Monsters and Pokemon took place? Well Karl and I fought alongside each other in the battle. How do you know these guys?" Mitch responded by raising his right hand and showing him the Fire Emblem. "Wait, that's James's emblem. That means that James… but how".

Karl's head sank as he looked at the ground. "Two duelists used a weird magic that ended up killing James. But don't worry about it, I've already taken care of both of them". Trunks put a hand on Karl's shoulder to console him.

Mitch interrupted by saying, "So Trunks, can you help us stop Leon?"

Trunks looked over at him. "Leon? We have to duel the world famous Chaos Duelist? But he's the champion of the world. I can help, but this guy's deck is packing some serious shit. How do you plan to stop him?"

Karl looked up. "When I defeated Lrak, he psychically told me where Leon is and how to get to him. There is a warehouse at the docks that is never used. The keyhole is shaped like the seal of Dark Era. The warehouse is always unlocked and there is nothing in it. But if you use a source of complete darkness, then you can find a secret entrance to his lair. But there is a catch. Only three people can get inside. Also, the warehouse door will only open once one of the three remaining minions of Dark Era is defeated. Yes, Leon only has three guys left. Aaron and Terrance are always in the lair with Leon. But a duelist named Dante is always out running around. Now Dark Era only needs two more lives until it can reborn Pandora. But I have a plan. Trunks, Nick, Yami, and Marik will go and look for Dante. Nick, you stay with Trunks just incase he needs any help whatsoever. Also because you don't have a deck. I will take the Millenium Items you have along with Josh and Mitch and wait at the warehouse until the seal is broken. Everybody got that", Karl explained. Karl then explained to Trunks how Dark Era worked and the seven heroes left. Karl, Mitch, and Josh arrived at the warehouse in about an hour. The rest of them looked all over Domino City for Dante. At about five in the afternoon, he was caught.

"You there, freeze. I challenge you to a duel", Trunks shouted. Dante turned around. The guy had white hair that covered his eyes. His clothes were all covered by a long red trench coat. He grinned and Dark Era began to form around them. Nick stepped backward to avoid getting caught in the seal. Trunks drew five cards to begin his turn. "I summon my Celtic Guardian in attack mode. Then I set two card face down to end my turn".

Dante drew his cards. "I'll set a card face down and a monster face down in defense mode. I end my turn".

Trunks drew his next card. "First I activate the Swords of Revealing Light to prevent your attacks for three turns. Next I offer the Celtic Guardian for the Earl of Demise (A2000, D1500). Now Earl of Demise, attack his monster with Earl's Saber". The decaying blue-skinned man lunged at Dante's monster as he pushed a button on his duel disk.

"Reveal face down card, Magic Cylinder. This will send the attack back at your life points", Dante said.

Trunks blocked his face as his monster hit him. He was shocked to realize that he felt pain from the attack. "I end my turn".

Trunks Dante

5500 8000

Dante drew his next card. "I summon my Dancing Fairy (A2200, D1000) and end my turn". Three gay looking fairies appeared in white robes.

Trunks drew his next card. "I set one monster face down in defense mode. Then I end my turn".

Dante drew his card. "I offer both of my monsters for Seiyaryu (A3000, D2300) in attack mode. I end my turn", he said. A pink dragon with feathery wings and a pincer-like jaw flew onto the field.

Trunks drew another card. "I sacrifice my two monsters to summon my Dark Magician. I end my turn here", he said.

Trunks Dante

4500 8000

Dante drew his card. "I set one card face down. Now Seiyaryu, attack his Dark Magician with Mystic Flames". The dragon blasted a flame that had a magical glow to it at the Dark Magician.

Trunks activated one of his cards. "Reveal face down Negate Attack card. This will block your attack and end your turn instantly. Now 0for my turn. I play my Knight's Title magic card, transforming my Dark Magician into the Dark Magician Knight (A2500, D2100). Now when this monster is summoned, I get to destroy one card on the field and I choose Seiyaryu. Now my knight, attack his life points directly with Dark Magic Sword. I end my turn". The Dark Magician's armor became more warriorish and its staff became a sword. It swung its sword and a wave of dark magic flew out of it and at Dante.

Trunks Dante

4000 5500

Dante drew the card on the top of his deck. "I set one monster face down in defense mode. Then I activate Raigeki Break on your Dark Magician Knight. All I have to do is offer a card from my hand to destroy it. I end my turn". He said.

Trunks Dante

3500 5500

Trunks drew a card. "I toss a monster of my own in defense mode as well. I end my turn".

Dante drew his card but didn't look at it. "I'll offer my monster to the Luster Dragon #2. Now my monster, attack his face down card. I end my turn". The great green dragon fired a tornado from its mouth and destroyed the monster in front of Trunks.

Trunks Dante

3000 5500

Trunks drew his next card. "Alright, this is the end. I summon my Giant Soldier of Stone. Then I play Change of Heart on your Dragon so that I can use it. Now, I play Monster Reborn on my Dark Magician. I attack your life points directly with all three of the monsters on my field". The three monsters on the field surrounded Dante and attacked him. Then the blue seal collapsed on him and disappeared. Trunks walked over to Nick and the darkness faded away.

"Come on Trunks, let's head over to the warehouse and try to help Karl", Nick said. The two of them took off for the warehouse.

"Hey look, the seal is gone", Mitch pointed out. The seal on the door faded away. Karl's eyes flashed purple and the door blew off its hinges. They walked into the room and it became completely purple. A door on the floor became visible. They opened the door and jumped down the hole. The room was glowing blue and there was green and black lights everywhere.

A man wearing black, spiky clothes (like Kaiba's white jacket) and had spiky silver and black hair walked to them. "So Karl, we finally meet. Lrak told me a lot about you before you killed him. I really wish you hadn't done that. He was one of my best duelists. But no matter, I will avenge him now". The man jumped back and a dueling arena (like from Duelist Kingdom) rose from the ground. Then two other guys stepped up to the first man's side. Karl and the man climbed up the two competitor's stands.

"Leon, where is Sabrina. I want to see that she is okay before I duel", Karl said. Leon raised his right hand and the seal of Dark Era started glowing. A rock began to lower from the ceiling. Shackled to the stone was Sabrina. There was a number 99 engraved above her head and a bunch of weird symbols surrounding her. Karl drew five cards. When he did, the seal of Dark Era formed around him and Leon.

A/N- Because I won't be able to make this a good duel unless I do this, I'm going to make up a bunch of cards for Leon to use

Leon drew his opening hand. "I start with Demon Wolf (A2300, 1400). Then I place two cards face down. Now I'm going to tell you something so it doesn't surprise you later on. I have such control in Dark Era that I will gain 300 life points for every monster summoned. Now I end my turn". He said. An overgrown wolf with spiky black fur and looked like it had rabies formed before Leon.

Leon Karl

8300 8000

Karl drew a sixth card. "I activate my Graceful Charity so that I may draw three cards. But I must then discard two. I discard Gearfried the Iron Knight and Kuriboh. Then I play a card face down. Now feel the power of my Bistro Butcher (A2300, D1000) in attack mode. I end my turn", he said. The purple butcher with the rusty knife appeared on the field.

Leon Karl

8600 8000

Leon drew his card. "I'm quite surprised at this Karl. You're using the power of Dark Era to strengthen your own monsters. Well I'm sorry to say that it will only work on your dark monsters. I play the magic card, Underworld Moon. This will increase my Demon Wolf's attack points by another 500 points. Next I flip up a magic card called Wolf Pack. This will create two Wolf Tokens, each with 2800 because of my Underworld Moon. Next I offer one of them for the Chaos Command Magician (A2900, D2100). Now my Demon Wolf, attack his Bistro Butcher with Poison Fangs", the chaos master said. His new monster was like the dark magician only with gray armor. The first wolf ran at the Bistro Buthcer, but before it could reach the monster, Karl pressed a button on his duel disk.

"I block your attack by revealing my Mirror Force trap card. This will send your attack back at you and destroy your monsters", Karl said. A blue energy wall formed and pushed against the wolf.

Leon pressed a button of his own. "Reveal face down Negate Attack to stop the Mirror Force. Negate Attack can even block attacks that are sent back at me. But it ends my own battle phase. I end my turn", he said.

Leon Karl

8900 8000

Karl drew a card to make five in his hand. "Activate Pot of Greed magic card, allowing me to draw two more cards. Now I destroy all of your monsters using the Raigeki magic card. Next I summon Newdoria (A1700, D800) in attack mode. Then I'll send my monsters to attack your life points directly. I end my turn". A lightning bolt struck down on each of Leon's monsters, destroying them. Then Karl's monster attacked Leon.

Leon Karl

5200 8000

Leon wasn't hurt by the attack. In fact he looked like he still had all of his life points. "Well, if you're quite finished attacking me, then I'd like to take my turn. I play the magic card Bark at the Moon. This will bring back my Demon Wolf and both of my Wolf Tokens. It will then increase my life points by 500 for each monster that I reborn. Next I'll activate Demon Wolf's special ability. I offer him and my two Wolf Tokens to summon Black Wolf of Death (A3500, D3200). He then gains 500 from the Underworld Moon, giving him 4000. Now my wolf, attack with Breath of Decay. I end my turn". The new wolf was considerably bigger and the fur on its head stuck up to look like a crown. It opened its mouth and a pale green gas shot forward at the Bistro Butcher and it shattered.

Leon Karl

5500 5800

Karl drew his card while holding his arm. "I set one card face down. Then I summon a monster face down in defense mode and end my turn".

Leon Karl

5800 5800

Leon laughed as he drew his next card. "Only three turns in and I've got a monster with enough power to battle your Obelisk the Tormentor. But do you know what I find funny? You told the lovely lady hanging above us that you wouldn't use the power of Dark Era, even to kill me. And here you are relying on it for what, the third time now. Once against Semaj, once against Lrak, and now me. We must be the three people you hate most. You broke your promise to her. But here's the funny thing. The card I just drew is called Broken Promises. I'll activate it so that you may take any three cards from your deck", he said. Karl took three cards from his deck. "Now discard two of them. You see, I promised your three cards, but you only got one".

Karl pulled two cards up and said, "I discard my Raigeki Break and Amphibian Beast".

Leon resumed his turn. "I summon my Bat Minion (A900, D300) in defense mode. Then I'll attack your face down monster with Breath of Decay. I end my turn".

Leon Karl

6100 5300

Karl drew his next card. "I set one card face down. Then I summon the Gemini Elves in defense mode. Then I end my turn", he said.

Leon Karl

6400 5300

"You see Karl, you can't possibly win. My life points are almost halfway done recharging. Now, I summon a weak little monster called Mind Slave (A1300, D700). Then I play a card face down and end my turn by attacking your elves with Breath of Decay", Leon said. The wolf blasted away the elves when a man with no face of hair or any other features appeared on the field.

Karl pushed a button on his duel disk. "Reveal face down trap card Waboku. This will negate your attack. Now for my turn. First, I tribute my Gemini Elves and Newdoria to the Dark Magician (A3000, D2100) in attack mode. Then I'll combine him the Horn of the Unicorn, increasing him to 3700.Next I'll reveal my face down Mystical Space Typhoon, destroying your Underworld Moon and lowering your Black Wolf to 3500. Now Dark Magician, attack his wolf with Dark Magic Attack. I end my turn".

Leon Karl

6500 4300

Leon drew a card and grinned. "I activate my magic card called The Cheerful Coffin. This let's me discard up to three cards, but I'll only discard two. Next I play the Dark Cave magic card. This will let me summon a monster be removing three bat cards from play. I get rid of my Bat Minion, my Dark Bat, and my Meta Bat to summon Lord of Blood (A3200, D2500). Now I play the Black Pendant, increasing him to 3700. I end my turn", he said. His monster was a blue vampire dressed in a black tuxedo. There was a long bloody saber in his right hand.

Leon Karl

6800 4300

Karl drew his card. "I'll set this monster face down in defense mode. Then I end my turn", he said.

Leon Karl

7100 4300

Leon drew his next card. "I play a magic card called Of Wolf and Of Man. This will transform my Mind Slave into a monster that is a close cousin to the werewolf. This monster's name is Jackal, The Chupacabra (3700, 3200). He is a very special monster because when he destroys a monster, it then gets half of the monsters attack points. Now Jackal, attack the face down monster. Ah, the Mystical Elf. That increases my monster to 4100. I end my turn". Leon's new monster resembled a mutated brown wolf.

Leon Karl

7400 3800

Karl drew his card. As he did, he thought to himself, 'Come on let's make this one count. If I don't draw something good, then my Dark Magician along with me will get blown away next turn. YES!'

"You have a very powerful monster there Leon. But I will destroy it. I activate my Mystical Space Typhoon magic card to destroy your Of Wolf and Of Man magic card, reducing your monster back to a Mind Slave. Now Dark Magician, attack his monster with Dark Magic attack. Then I summon my Opticlops in defense mode. I end my turn", he said. The Dark Magician blasted the Mind Slave to pieces.

Leon looked annoyed. "Consider yourself lucky to have made it this far. But your luck is about to run out. I summon my Phantom Shadow (A2300, D1400) in attack mode. Then I'll have the Lord of the Blood attack the Dark Magician. Then Phantom Shadow will attack Opticlops, leaving my monster alone on the field. I end my turn". A black misty spirit floated through the Opticlops and it fell over and shattered. Then the Dark Magician and Leon's vampire attacked each other and died.

Leon Karl

7700 2800

Karl drew a card and had a hard time controlling himself. "I play my Monster Reborn magic card on your Black Wolf of Death. Then I'll combine him with the Horn of the Unicorn, to strengthen him to 4200. Now my beautiful wolf, attack the Phantom Shadow with Breath of Decay. I end my turn". The wolf that Leon had summoned earlier was now on Karl's side of the field with a golden horn protruding from its forehead. It blasted the gas from its mouth and destroyed Leon's monster.

Leon Karl

6200 2800

Leon drew a card. "I play Card Destruction, sending our hands to our graveyards and then we draw new ones. Ah, now I play my Double Trouble magic card. I get to bring two monsters from my graveyard to my field and your get 2000 life points. I summon my Chaos Emperor Dragon- Envoy of the End (A3500, D2500) and Black Luster Soldier-Envoy of the Beginning (A3500, D2500) in defense mode. I am force to end my turn, but on my next one, I'll have at left one monster left over and both of them can destroy that wolf".

Leon Karl

6800 4800

Karl drew a card. "I'll set one card face down. Then I offer both of your monsters to summon the Lava Golem. Now you will lose 1000 life points every turn. I'll let you begin.

Leon drew his card. "Foolish boy. Not even this can prevent me from defeating you. I activate my Riryoku magic card. This will take half of my wolf's attack points and give them to the Lava Golem. Now attack the Black Wolf. Do you now see? On my next turn I shall grasp victory and the girl become the new host body for Pandora. And you will die, along with all of your little friends. Now Aaron, Terrance, strip him of the Millenium Items. He won't be needing them". A black aura formed around Karl but before he could stop the other two duelists, there was a red flash on his left and a green to his right. He looked and saw an aura on Josh and Mitch as they fired an energy beam at the attackers.

Trunks and Nick were in the warehouse that was no longer empty. There were tons of duel monsters all over the place. Nick had a gray aura around him and the Wind Emblem was glowing away as he began firing tornadoes from his mouth. Trunks however was blasting monsters using The Blue-Eyes White Dragon, The Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon, and the Dark Magician of Chaos. Then a dragon with five heads stepped forward and blasted a different type of attack from each mouth. A fire, a water, and an earth hit Trunk's monsters. But a wind and dark blast sent Trunks flying against the wall. Nick turned around as he was now out of breath. He looked up at the dragon and quickly ran over to Trunks and took his duel disk. He took out the only five cards he still owned.

"I summon Exodia the Forbidden One (A unlimited, D unlimited). Now Exodia, clear the room. Obliterate!" he shouted. A monster that resembled a golden Obelisk only smaller and without spikes appeared. A yellow ball of energy formed in its left hand and destroyed every monster in the warehouse. Nick helped Trunks up but was jumped from behind by three small duelists. It was Rex, Weevil and a little girl with a cowgirl out fit, long blonde hair, freckles, and big glasses.

"Oh fuck no, not you", Trunks said. He pulled Weevil off of Nick and began punching him in the face. He then hung the unconscious Weevil from a hook. He then did the same to Rex. The little girl tried to run away, but Trunks caught her. "You're not getting away from me". He gave her a wedgie and lifted her into the air. He walked outside in a blinded rage. He then swung the little girl around and threw her at the ocean and over the horizon. "Take that Rebecca, you dumb wise-ass bitch" he said. As he ran back into the warehouse.

A/N- Hey Shortstop189, I remembered you saying that you couldn't stand Rebecca so I put that part in

Leon Karl

5800 1300

Karl drew his card and held his breath. "I play my second Pot of Greed magic card. Now I set one card face down and summon Bazoo the Soul Eater (A1600, 900). I can remove up to three cards per turn and Bazoo will gain 300 attack points for each one. So I'll discard three, increasing him to 2500 and I'll boost him again with the Horn of the Unicorn to 3200. Now Bazoo, attack the Lava Golem. I end my turn".

Leon Karl

6000 1300

Leon drew a card and was now getting agitated. "I play a two cards face down and end my turn".

Karl drew a card. "I summon another Newdoria in attack mode. I'll send it to attack your life points directly", Karl said.

Leon pushed two buttons on his duel disk. "I reveal two trap cards. The first is called Generous Offering. This will allow me to offer one of your monsters. The second is called Havoc Magician. It's kind of like a ritual card. It will create a monster called the Havoc Magician and it will copy your Bazoo's attack, effect, everything. It will be stronger though. Now you've put up a good duel, but now it is time to die".

"Wrong. I reveal my own face down card, Seven Tools of the Bandit. For the cost of 1000 life points, I can stop your Generous Offering card. Now I end my turn", Karl said.

Leon Karl

4600 300

Leon drew his card. "Now I will win. I summon Zombyra the Dark (A2600, D100). And you forgot to offer cards from your graveyard last turn so Bazoo is at only 2200. Now Zombyra, attack his Bazoo". The fiendish creature leapt at the purple monkey on Karl's side of the field.

Karl pushed a button on his duel disk. "Reveal face down card…Seal of Breaking Darkness. This card is going to do three things. First, it's going to cut your life points in half. Next it will destroy Dark Era and revive everyone that was killed by Dark Era. Thirdly, it will lower Zombyra the Dark back to 2100, making him weaker than Bazoo. You have nothing left to do, so I will take my turn". The seal of Dark Era flickered and then shattered. The number on the stone Sabrina was shackled to dropped to three. Those three were Lrak, Semaj, and Dante.

Leon Karl

2350 300

Karl put his hand on his deck to draw a card but paused. "Before I take my turn, I think a change in scenery is needed", he said. The Shadow Emblem and his eyes both gave off a purple glow as a dark cloud surrounded the room and everybody in it. "Welcome to my battlefield Leon. Welcome to the Shadow Realm. This place is far worse than Dark Era. Here, you don't die. But your mind will be trapped here, wandering for eternity. Now, I sacrifice Newdoria and Bazoo the Soul Eater to my second Dark Magician. Attack his life points directly with Dark Magic Attack". The Dark Magician attacked Leon.

"What…what's happening?" he asked. Then the Shadow Realm faded away, taking with it Leon, Aaron, and Terrance. Karl concentrated and lowered the rock above him to the ground. Then he blasted off the shackles and let Sabrina down. She grabbed him right away and before he could say anything she kissed him and wouldn't stop until she saw something on his left hand.

"Karl, what is that?" she asked nervously. He looked at his left hand to find that the seal from Dark Era was glowing there. He didn't say anything but he put his right hand up behind it. The Shadow Emblem started glowing and blasted an energy beam through the seal of Dark Era and into the stone. The stone crumbled to pieces and the seal faded from Karl's hand. He the put his arm around Sabrina's waist and lifted them, Josh, and Mitch out of the room and back into the warehouse. There, Nick and Trunks were sitting around with bored looks on their faces. They jumped up and followed the others back to the hideout. Karl lifted them up and they all fell asleep moments after arriving. The next day Trunks had to fly back to California. Mitch, Josh, and Nick were all sitting in the main room with Yami and Marik.

"Is there any chance that the magic of Dark Era will ever come back?" Marik asked.

Josh shook his head and said, "No, Karl destroyed the rock, which is the source of Dark Era's power. I guess he truly was darker than the darkest magic. Well, we got your Millenium Necklace back Pharaoh. And you should probably take the Millenium Ring back to Bakura. Hm, that's odd. It was here earlier".

Yami looked puzzled. "That thing tends to show up and disappear all the time. We'll find it eventually".

Karl stood in the throne room with his arm around Sabrina. In front of them was a transparent image of James. "You have to stop holding a grudge against Mitch for replacing me. It's not like he knew what was going on. Just take care of the Pharaoh. And her, take good care of her, too", he said. Karl pulled Sabrina closer to him.

He looked at James with tears in his eyes. "I'm really going to miss you man", he said. James spread his arms and they gave each other one last hug goodbye before James faded away. Karl wiped the tears from his eyes and put his arm back around Sabrina as the left the throne room to join the others.

The End

Epilogue

An airplane was nearing its destination spot in Riverside, California. On board, Trunks was asleep. A woman told everybody to wake up and prepare for landing over the intercom. But Trunks couldn't hear anything outside of his slumber. Then he heard a voice say, "Wake up Trunks". His eyes shot wide open. "We have work to do", the voice said. A grin then crossed Trunks face and the view pans down to Trunk's chest where a golden necklace with a large ring and five needles appears.