Hello all. I am back. –Notices everyone pointing machine guns at me- Hey, don't kill me! I finally decided to update, and you won't get it if I die first! –Waits for them all to be put away- Whew…

Anyway, I know I can be bad at updating sometimes, but this was just terrible. I meant to update on my birthday, April 29th! Instead, I go into a state of depression and bury myself into Tales of Symphonia, barely managing to put in a line a day. The chapter itself was easy to write, but the duel took forever and a day. Or, more like two months. I am deeply sorry about it.

I must complain though, I finally got the duel done only to see I did it with tons of errors. After resisting the urge to curse non-stop, I fixed it without killing the entire duel today. Whew.

Another issue was my email account. Since when do I need parental permission to use hotmail? Morons. Anyway, I switched to gmail so all should be good.

On the bright side, I'm out of school on Tuesday. That means more writing! It should go much more smoothly without school.

John: I worry about things too much. It's my nature.

Erestor Telemnar: Pure power is not always the best choice, for sure. I am a fan of Beatdown though. Kind of odd, but in video games I am always the hack and slash type. I do like writing about complex strategies, although I'm usually not the one to make them up!

Captain Obvious: Heh, yeah. Demon Summon is cool. Always did have a special spot for him. –Points at Demon Summon action figure- And a date? Will has about next to no interest in love I'm afraid!

Kinsei: Thank you for clearing that up. I apparently misheard you about how strong Gale is; he is merely ranked as third in command among the Mavericks. That list clears things up.

Demon Fan: It was personal matters, nothing about being stuck. It shouldn't be a problem from this point.

Chapter 13: Burning Determination

"So what is the volcano like?" Claire asked as the four members of their group headed to the part of the lake shore they would set sail at.

"Very hot," Neo replied. "That's all you need to know."

"Well, yes, it is. But there's more to it than that," Will said. "There are several areas with magma inside the volcano, and lava on the outside. I advise you watch where you walk so you don't step into it accidentally. It's got an unbearably high temperature inside, but the outside is tolerable. I'm hoping the Maverick will be outside, if there is one even there. There is no guarantee for that though. The two times we went there, we ran into no wild monsters. But that doesn't mean there are none there."

"Speaking of wild monsters, I haven't seen any at all lately," Claire commented. "Why do you think the rate of them has gone down so much? When I first came, they were all over the place!"

"It might have something to do with what the Generals of Hell did to the barrier," Perseus inferred. "Maybe the officials had to take down the encounter rate when trying to deal with the problems."

"That could be true," Will agreed. "But whatever the cause may be, it helps us. The less distractions we have, the better." He looked around at the shore. "This should be a good location to launch off."

"Do you have a vessel to ride?" Claire asked.

"Yep. Ever since we had to escape via bodies of water when fighting the Commanders of Heaven, I've made sure to keep a few Skull Blood Pirate Ships with me." Will took one out and inserted it into his Duel Disk. The ship appeared instantly.

"Looks good to me," Claire said as she boarded, along with Perseus. Will and Neo followed shortly.

Will went up to the steering wheel. "Ready to go?"

"Whenever you are," Claire answered.

"Then let's set off."

A few seconds later, they pulled away from the shore, and headed towards the volcano.

…

After an uneventful trip, they drew into sight of the island with the volcano. Claire gazed at the volcano as they came closer to a landing point. "It's huge! I can see why you would not have seen Vlad's base at first."

"Yeah…" Will seemed a bit preoccupied.

"Is something wrong?" Claire inquired, noticing his lack of attention.

"I'm still just getting a bad feeling from this, that's all," he answered. "I thought my concerns would eventually leave but I continue to be worried about something."

"You might be nervous about fighting the Maverick," Neo suggested. "If he's anything like Dark Scythe, I wouldn't blame you."

"Maybe…" Will did not seem convinced, but he let the matter drop as they got off the ship, which vanished.

"Should we go into it?" Perseus asked.

"Perhaps. I would like to look around outside first though," Will said.

They walked up towards the base of the volcano, silent and tense as they did so. Nobody seemed to be there, though.

"It doesn't seem like there is one in this location…" Claire said. "Should we try going inside now?"

Before Will could respond, Perseus turned, looking in the direction they had come. "No need to. They're out here."

They looked over to see their new opponent. He was a very large man, standing at least six feet tall. He was big enough so that a person could easily perch on his shoulders. He wore a red chest plate that covered his body from just below his neck to his waist. He also had shoulder pads made of the same smooth, red armor, along with black, fingerless gloves that had red, shackle-like wristbands. His light brown pants disappeared into greaves made by the same red armor along with knee guards that matched the rest of his ensemble. His skin was tanned, and his red hair was in a flat top cut. His eyes were a startling orange, and his expression was a stern one. Across his back, a buster sword that looked like a flame was strapped. Overall, he was quite intimidating.

The monster beside him was no less frightening though. It was a huge purple dragon that had the bottom of its neck, a few arm and leg parts, and its stomach colored light orange. Its large wings were the same purple as the rest of its body. It was completely covered with glowing red designs that seemed as though they were on fire themselves. It had five silver, sharp claws on its hands and three of the same color and quality on its feet. Its white teeth were just as keen for tearing apart its enemies. A row of purple spikes ran down the back of its neck, and it had two ears of similar shape and size as the spikes. Its black eyes glared at them, daring them to try attacking.

Perseus stepped back, watching it nervously. "A Meteor Black Dragon! I've heard of the card before, but never seen what it looked like."

"How strong is it?" Neo asked, drawing his sword.

"Too strong, especially if it is a Soul Monster, which seems to be the case here," Perseus stated. "Even if we weren't in an area it was comfortable with, it would be very highly above us strength wise. The only thing we can hope for is that it isn't an enemy."

"What are the chances of that?" Claire asked.

"Too low for my liking," Perseus admitted.

The Meteor Black Dragon looked at his companion for instructions. Although he did not say anything, the Meteor Black Dragon seemed to understand what to do. It instantly took flight, soaring above the group to spit a large fireball from its mouth, which sped towards the group.

"I'd say it's definitely an enemy!" Neo exclaimed as they dashed into the volcano, barely avoiding the explosion from the fireball.

"Indeed. So now our only option is to flee," Perseus stated. "We must go further into the volcano."

"See? We should listen to Will next time he says he has a bad feeling about something!" Neo said as they ran through the volcano, hearing the Meteor Black Dragon's heavy footsteps behind them.

"We'll keep that in mind if we get through this alive!" Claire assured.

After several twists and turns through the narrow pathway, they came into a large area that Will and Neo instantly recognized.

"This is where Max had to duel Madura!" Will said, stepping onto the edge of the rock platform. "But that means we've reached a dead end!"

"Looks like our only option is to stand and fight," Neo stated as the other three joined him on the small amount of ground.

"That won't work!" Perseus protested. "We rely on close range combat, so it can just stay at a distance while attacking us!"

"Do you have any better ideas?" Neo asked.

Perseus was about to answer, but was cut off as the Meteor Black Dragon entered, with the man following him.

Claire looked around the area. "We've trapped ourselves by coming to this ledge. Our only way out is now blocked by the Meteor Black Dragon!"

The Meteor Black Dragon seemed to have already realized that its prey was trapped. With a roar, it released another fireball.

Will got in front of the others instantly, inserting a card. A barrier sprung up in front of them as the fireball came closer. "It may not last us forever, but using Attack Nullification might buy us enough time to get out of here!"

But as the clear barrier came up, before the fireball even connected with it, a yellow circle with a red pentagram in the middle appeared below it. Yellow smoke emerged from it as it consumed the barrier, shattering it.

"A Trap Jammer? No!" Will exclaimed.

"Will! Get out of the way!" Claire shouted, seeing him in the direct line of the attack.

It was too late for Will to react though. He froze as the fireball came straight at him.

Neo sprang before he even knew what he was trying to do. He lunged at Will, knocking him out of the way of the attack. But in doing this, he was now in the fireball's path. He had no time to get out of the way before it struck him, sending him flying off the land.

Will barely knew what had happened as he fell over, feeling the heat of the attack cross over him. He forced himself to rise swiftly, and barely had time to see a last glimpse of Neo before he fell into the magma.

"Neo!" Will cried, running to the edge of the land. "NEO!"

But there was nothing left besides the magma, which smoothed over and looked as though it had never been disturbed.

"That can't be… Neo can't be dead!" Will said in despair, falling to his knees as the shock overtook him.

"Will…" Claire sat down next to him, covering her eyes with her hands. "It's no use…"

Perseus looked at the magma, stunned. "It's so sudden. I never expected this to happen… never would have thought…"

"No!" Will stared at the area Neo had fallen before bowing his head. "That's not possible… it isn't!"

Claire shook her head as she forced herself to look over at Will's form. "I'm sorry, Will…"

"N-no… why… Neo…" he managed to say before he stopped speaking, shaking silently as his tears fell.

…

All Neo could feel was a burning pain throughout his entire body. He felt as though he was completely on fire, and the heat made him unable to think of anything except that soon he would be dead. Soon nothing would remain of him, as all traces of him were burned away.

But something was not right. He had forgotten about something important, much more important than the fact that he would soon be gone. So with tremendous effort, Neo forced himself to recall what had just occurred.

Instantly, he remembered one individual.

Will… I let myself be killed while saving Will… but it wasn't enough! He's still in danger! And there's nothing I can do… since I'm going to die anyway…

No! Neo thought fiercely, furious at himself for giving in so easily. I've already failed Will twice! I let him be slain by Juno, and then watched him nearly die to the Black Snake Sickness. Two times I should have protected him, and I was too weak to do it! Each time, I told myself I would grow stronger to be ready for the next occasion. But it never works! Even now, when I have saved him from instant death, I'm unable to prevent him from being killed.

No… I can't die now! I can't die while Will still needs me! I have to live… for his sake!

With that thought, the heat all around him grew even more intense. Neo felt it enter him, and spread as it destroyed him, bringing even more agony.

But throughout all of it, he kept his mind focused on one thought.

I have to live for Will! I have to!

Neo managed to keep that thought with him even as he felt the pain reach its highest point, and as he felt his body finally be burned completely away.

Then the agony began anew, as he felt the particles of himself recombine.

…

The Meteor Black Dragon had turned to the man, awaiting his next orders. Once more, the man remained silent, watching the three of them remorse. But then he nodded, and the Meteor Black Dragon went back up to its position, where it was a safe distance from them, and shot another fireball at them.

Perseus stepped back, holding out his sword futilely. "There's no way to block this one either! We're done for!"

Claire leapt up, staring at the attack as it came towards them. "Will!"

Will barely even heard her comment. But he still forced himself to look up from his kneeling position, to watch the fireball fly at them.

Suddenly, they heard something behind them. Before they could react though, a glowing orange barrier appeared in front of them. The fireball slammed into it, and dissolved.

Will turned instantly, as did Claire and Perseus, to see the new arrival. He was a humanoid monster, who wore a brown shirt, which had torn, short sleeves. He also had a long red skirt that also seemed like it had several decorative tears. Matching it was a cape that draped from his neck to his legs. He had brown boots that went up to his knees and a purple helmet that covered the top of his head, which had several spikes going down the center of it. His red hair went below his shoulders, and his orange eyes seemed as though they were on fire themselves. In his right hand, he carried a light purple staff that had a glowing orange orb at the end of it that seemed to have flames dancing in it.

Will was not sure he could believe what he was seeing, but hope rose within him instantly. "…Neo?"

"Yep! Glad I could make it back in time," Neo grinned.

"But how is this possible?" Claire asked. "We saw you fall into the magma… and thought you were dead…"

"You gave up on me that quickly?" Neo said, stepping in front of them in case the Meteor Black Dragon tried attacking again. "As if I would let myself die when you guys were still in trouble! I should be offended by the very thought of it."

"But you aren't a Magical Swordsman Neo anymore, are you?" Perseus inquired.

"Nope. I had to give up that part of me to come back," Neo explained. "Now I'm Legendary Flame Lord! Please continue to call me Neo though. I may look different and I may be a lot stronger, but I'm still the same person that you knew inside!"

Will got up, wiping away the remains of his tears with the back of his hand. "Neo…"

"Yeah?" Neo looked over at him.

"…Thank you… for living…" Will said.

Neo seemed a bit surprised, but then he smiled before turning back to the Meteor Black Dragon. "Happy to be of service!"

The Meteor Black Dragon eyed its new foe before launching another fireball.

"That's not going to work this time!" Neo shouted as the orb in his staff began to glow with an intense light. He brought it up, and with a slash through the air, sent a fireball of his own flying at the Meteor Black Dragon's attack.

The two collided, causing a large explosion in midair. The Meteor Black Dragon did not waste any time in pressing on the attack though, and spat out another fireball. Neo counter attacked again, and again the fireballs exploded. A third attack held the same results.

This time, the Meteor Black Dragon paused, and then spoke. "This is getting us nowhere."

"Glad you noticed," Neo said sarcastically.

"So, you can talk," Perseus stated, before turning to the man. "But can you? You've been silent this entire time, but I'd like some answers now. Are you a Maverick?"

"…Yes," the man replied, in a deep, calm voice. "I go by Flame Buster…"

"Flame does not prefer to talk," the Meteor Black Dragon explained. "Nor do I for that matter, but I will serve as the spokesperson here. I go by the name of Moltan."

"As you probably guessed by what he said, he's Neo," Will said. "I'm Will. Since it seems physical battles will get us nowhere, how about we duel this out?"

Flame thought for a moment, then shrugged and turned on his Duel Disk.

"Alright. If that's the case, let's begin," Will stated, walking up to the larger area of land with Neo following. Claire and Perseus came as well, but stayed at a fair distance to watch.

Will: 8000

Flame: 8000

Before Will could inquire as to who would go first, Flame laid down a monster in defense mode.

"Hey! You could have at least asked!" Neo protested.

"It doesn't matter," Will stated. "I assume you are done? If so, I lay one monster of my own. That's it."

Flame glanced at his card before laying it down in defense mode.

"I will lay two cards down, and end my turn," Will said.

Flame showed Will a magic card from his hand before playing it. A wind storm instantly appeared, shattering Will's two magic or trap cards.

"Tempest!" Will realized. "You destroyed my Black Power Stone and Hidden Tomes…"

Then Flame proceeded to play another card, one that Will recognized instantly.

"Angel's Gift. You'll draw three cards and discard two," Will said.

Flame nodded, revealing a Charred 18 and Super Hot-Blooded Batter before placing them into the Cemetery. Then he removed the Charred 18.

A flame burst up on the field. Then it grew larger, and suddenly opened its eyes.

"I've heard of this monster…" Will said. "Inferno, isn't it?" (1100/1900)

"Correct. It can only be special summoned by removing one Fire Main-Type from the Cemetery," Moltan replied.

Then Flame removed his Batter, and another Inferno sprang out.

"Double the fun," Neo said sarcastically. "Will, do you have us covered?"

"I hope so," Will responded. "But Flame isn't done yet, so I can't promise that."

Flame summoned another monster. This one was impossible to describe; at best, it could be said to be a dull, red, round creature, with a single eye in the center of it. The eye bore into them unblinkingly.

"This is Explosive Mass-Gaia Soul," (2000/0) Moltan told them. "It is a powerful force on its own, but its true strength comes from its effect."

Flame picked up his two defense monsters, revealing them to be two Prominence Dragons. Then he placed them into the Cemetery. The Gaia Soul began to glow, and absorbed the energy of the two monsters that had just vanished.

"Flame can sacrifice up to two Fire Main-Types," Moltan explained. "Gaia Soul's attack raises by 1000 times the amount of monsters sacrificed." (4000/0)

"That isn't good," Neo noted.

"You could say that," Will agreed. "My monster should protect me for this turn at least though."

Flame indicated to Will's defense monster, and the Gaia Soul immediately engulfed it. Will barely had time to see the figure of his monster before red smoke concealed it, destroying it.

"That was my Apprentice Magician," (400/800) Will said. "When it is destroyed in battle, I am allowed to special summon a level two or lower Magic User from my deck in face down defense mode. I will do so."

"An interesting way to defend yourself," Moltan stated. "But you did not account for Gaia Soul's trample ability. You lose Life Points equal to the difference of Gaia Soul's attack and your monster's defense."

"Now that I hadn't accounted for," Will winced, looking at his Life Point counter.

Will: 4800

Flame: 8000

"Nope, not good at all," Neo said.

Flame waved his hand towards an Inferno, and it reacted instantly. His new Apprentice Magician was burned to a crisp.

"The Infernos also have an effect that make your monsters do little to help," Moltan said. "For each monster Inferno destroys in battle, you lose 1500 Life Points."

"Argh… that means I'm going to lose 3000 Life Points," Will winced as he placed another Apprentice Magician face down on the field.

As that one was destroyed by the other Inferno, Will said, "I'm not special summoning another monster. It's too risky."

Will: 1800

Flame: 8000

Neo looked over at Will's Life Point counter as well, and whistled. "Ouch! I'd say that if we are going to make a comeback, we had better do it pretty quickly."

"No, really?" Will muttered sarcastically.

"Fortunately for the two of you, Gaia Soul is destroyed during the end phase," Moltan said as the monster dissolved. "Go ahead and take your turn."

Will looked at his hand. "We got lucky that I had those monsters, nevertheless. That could have finished me off if I hadn't had them."

"It won't mean much if we can't eliminate those Infernos post-haste," Neo pointed out.

"Which is why I will do just that," Will said. "I summon Blood Magician -Magician of Purgatory-!" (1400/1700)

A magician in blood red armor appeared before them, carrying a staff. His pale skin was barely visible from underneath his curved helmet, but his eyes were concealed. He carried a double-bladed scythe-like weapon with a red jewel in the center of the blade.

"I've never seen you use that monster," Claire commented.

"He's a recent addition, but a very useful one at that," Will told her. "Just watch. I'm going to activate a magic card now, Jar of Greed. I draw two cards. Then I use Clarity of Mind, to get another from my deck. That means my Blood Magician has two magic counters, so now I can use his effect. I remove both of my magic counters. Each magic counter counts as 700 attack points added to a total. So multiply that by two-it equals 1400 attack power. That means I can destroy one monster on your field that has 1400 attack points or less, so your Inferno is toast."

"Nice pun," Neo joked as the Inferno vanished.

"Be quiet," Will muttered, before raising his voice again. "I'll then activate Power of Magicians, raising my Blood Magician's stats by 500 for every magic or trap card I have on the field. I lay one card face down. (2400/2700) He attacks Inferno! I end my turn at that."

Will: 1800

Flame: 6700

Flame pondered for a moment, and then summoned a UFO Turtle. (1400/1200) Then he laid two cards down, and ended his turn.

"I don't trust this," Will stated as he drew. "It would be better off if we could eliminate that thing using Blood Magician's effect, but he does not have enough magic counters."

"Then let's make it so that he does!" Neo said, waving his staff. A stream of fire emerged from it, encircling the Blood Magician before vanishing. The Blood Magician grew red briefly, and then returned to normal.

"Of course… now that you're a new monster, you have a different Deck Master ability," Will stated.

"Right!" Neo confirmed. "Each one of your standby phases, you have the choice to add a magic counter to a card that uses them."

"Simple, yet effective," Will said. "I remove both of my magic counters to destroy your UFO Turtle. Then… I'll take the risk of attacking directly!"

Flame flipped over his trap card, revealing an oversized red pot with a sneering face.

"Vase of Greed?" Will said.

"It allows Flame to draw one card," Moltan stated as Flame did so. "Your attack goes through."

Will: 1800

Flame: 4300

"Why use Vase of Greed?" Will wondered, shaking his head. "I end my turn by placing one monster in defense mode."

Flame laid a card down, and then activated Cry of the Living Dead bringing back UFO Turtle. Then he gestured, signaling that his turn was over.

"That's why you didn't worry about me destroying it before," Will realized. "This time, I have no way to destroy it except by battle. Well, I'll still give Blood Magician a magic counter with Neo's Deck Master ability. Then I'll flip summon my Skilled Black Magician, and summon another one. (1900/1700) Blood Magician attacks your UFO Turtle!"

Flame flipped over his card as the Blood Magician hacked apart the UFO Turtle. A ball of fire came out of it, slamming into Will.

"Will! What was that?" Neo exclaimed.

"A permanent trap card called Backfire," Moltan said. "Every time you destroy a Fire Main-Type, you lose 500 Life Points. Also, UFO Turtle was destroyed in battle, so Flame can special summon a Fire Main-Type with 1500 attack or less." Another UFO Turtle appeared on the field.

"This is not going to end well…" Will stated. "But I have to do this! Skilled Black Magician attacks the second UFO Turtle!"

"Will, stop! We don't have the Life Points to gamble like this!" Neo protested.

As he was hit again, another UFO Turtle appeared. Ignoring Neo, Will said, "My other Skilled Black Magician will take that one out!"

Will: 300

Flame: 2300

This time, a Little Chimera emerged. (600/550) Its attack suddenly rose though. (1100/550)

"Little Chimera's effect raises all Fire Main-Types' attack strengths by 500," Moltan explained.

Will regarded it warily, and then said, "I end my turn."

Flame glanced at his card, and then pointed at a Skilled Black Magician. The Little Chimera sprang at it with a yowl.

"What is he doing?" Claire asked. "That's suicide!"

"And it will be the end of Will if it dies," Perseus said grimly. "Backfire will finish off his remaining Life Points!"

"Not this time!" Will declared, flipping over his card. "I activate Magic Cylinder, to negate the attack and deal damage equal to its strength to you!"

Will: 300

Flame: 1700

Neo wiped his forehead. "Whew, that was close. Sorry for criticizing you, I had completely overlooked that."

Flame laid another card down and ended his turn. After Neo added another magic counter to Blood Magician, Will looked over at the Backfire card. "That needs to go before I do anything else. I'll summon Hannibal Necromancer! (1400/1800) When normally summoned, it gets a magic counter. I can remove that counter to destroy a permanent trap card, so I will have it destroy Backfire! I'll first have Blood Magician's two magic counters removed, to destroy Little Chimera. Then Blood Magician attacks!"

As the Blood Magician lunged forward, three women in blue surrounded Flame, causing the blow to do no harm. Will raised an eyebrow. "Emissary of Harmony?"

"That doesn't really fit you," Perseus commented.

Flame shrugged as Moltan said, "Juno made this deck. We had no say in it."

"Juno would put a card with the word Harmony in it in a deck? Hard to believe," Neo commented. "Will, is that all we're going to do?"

"Yes, I'm done," Will said.

Flame thought for a moment, and then summoned another Little Chimera. (1100/550) He also played a magic card. The magma inside the volcano suddenly began to glow a violent red.

"This field card, called Burning Blood, raises all Fire Main-Type's attacks by 500 and lowers their defense by 400," Moltan said. (1600/150) "Normally, the field would change, but it seems we are already in the perfect conditions for it."

Then the Little Chimera ran up to the Hannibal Necromancer, slicing it apart with razor-sharp teeth and claws.

Will: 100

Flame: 1700

Moltan suddenly raised his head, and spat out a huge fireball. It engulfed Will's three other monsters, burning them to ash instantly.

"What was that?" Neo exclaimed.

"My Deck Master ability can be activated if a monster of yours is destroyed in battle," Moltan said. "By paying 1000 Life Points, all of your monsters with that same Sub-Type are destroyed. The battle phase also ends, but in this case that did not matter."

Will: 100

Flame: 700

"Hm… are you done?" Will asked.

Flame nodded.

"I summon Magic Warrior: Breaker. (1900/1000) He attacks Little Chimera! Then I remove his magic counter to destroy your Burning Blood. (1600/1000) I lay two cards face down and end my turn."

Will: 100

Flame: 400

"This is too close!" Claire said nervously.

"It has been close for a while," Perseus pointed out.

"Yes, true, I just didn't bring it up until now…" Claire replied, clasping her hands nervously. "I can barely bring myself to watch…"

Flame played Jar of Greed, and drew two cards. Then he played Rebirth of the Dead, discarding a card in his hand to take a monster from his Cemetery. He summoned it instantly.

"Prominence Dragon," (1500/1000) Moltan said.

"Does it have an effect?" Will asked.

"Yes. It deals 500 damage to your Life Points each End Phase Flame has," Moltan replied.

"…In that case, you are not getting away with that," Will said. "I activate Tidal Wave, destroying all of our monsters. I assume you are done?"

Flame showed him an empty hand before gesturing.

"Nothing left for you to do. Same here…" Will said, looking over his final two cards. "I can't summon anything…"

"What am I, chopped liver?" Neo asked crossly.

"Oh, right," Will said, shaking his head. "I should have remembered sooner. I'll summon Neo to the field! He attacks for the win!"

"Time for revenge!" Neo yelled, shooting a large fireball at Flame. He stumbled back, but regained his footing swiftly.

Will: 100

Flame: 0

"…Well done," Flame stated, shutting off his Duel Disk.

"Did he just say something? I'm dreaming," Neo said.

Flame turned, and walked out of the room. Moltan remained behind though. "It has been a while since Flame has had such opponents. To be honest, he seemed a bit skeptical about playing with cards. It seems that even games such as this have many emotions wrapped in it though. We will not come up against you again, but others will. Stay prepared for them."

"Thanks," Will said. "Farewell to both of you then."

"Same to you," Moltan replied, leaving as well.

When he was gone, Claire and Perseus went up to them. Claire looked over them. "You're both ok?"

"Yes," Will answered. "It could have been a lot worse."

"Like having Neo be dead for good," Perseus said dryly.

"No kidding," Neo shuddered. "I don't want to go through that again."

"How did you survive?" Perseus asked.

"Determination alone. I've failed twice; I couldn't let Will down again," Neo said.

"You felt so strongly about that that you could avoid death?" Will said in amazement.

"That's the only way I can explain it," Neo replied. "Now that I'm in this form, maybe I'll be worthy of some faith."

"You've got it all wrong," Will said, eyes glistening. "I had complete faith in you from the start. This only served to reinforce it."

"…Thanks. That means a lot," Neo said softly.
There was an uncomfortable silence that Claire soon broke by indicating to the exit. "Should we leave too?"

"There's no reason to stay here," Will agreed. "We got the Maverick in this area. Let's go to the town. It would be safer than remaining in the open. Don't worry about the cost, I'll pay."

"All right," Claire said as they left the room.

To be continued…