Disclaimer: No I do not own Yugioh.

Walking Another's Path

Chapter 5: Sealed? Cyber Dragon Lockdown!

"Huh? Hey, where'd that cute girl go?"

Amarai opened his eyes slowly and fixed his molten bronze gaze onto the guy sitting next to him. "Disappear please."

"Y…Yes sir." Leaping out of his seat, the man ran into the next car, leaving Amarai with this entire subway car to himself.

Rubbing his eyes with his hand, Amarai felt so frustrated. ("This is all the fault of that old librarian…ancient power of the moon…") A low growl left his throat and he punched his fist the metal seat next to him. "What a joke! Hahahahahaha, hilarious!" From within the punched chair the sound of metal tearing could be heard. ("Yeah sure, power of the moon goddess, absolutely perfect indeed…god damn it!")

It seemed like so long ago. Back when he was living with his family, they held one of the world's greatest libraries of demon literature and history ever made. Amarai would spend hours upon hours pouring over each and every book, learning all he could about the world's past. And then one day he came across a legend about the eight elemental spirits who created this world. Earth, Wind, Water, Fire, Darkness, Light, Moon and Life. Each of these eight, according to the book, existed in different hidden places across the planet.

When the old man who took care of the library heard of Amarai's interest in these Seals, he told him a rumor of an ancient statue some humans found in Italy that was called the Moon Goddess. Interested, Amarai went there and sure enough found the statue.

But from that point onward he was living in hell. ("My body absorbed the statue's energy completely…I contain the ancient essence of Luna, goddess of the moon. With such extra power I would be able to match my eldest brother…but…") His fist clenched so tightly it started to bleed. ("Then it began. Every time I would see any kind of bright circle…anything like the moon…I'd pass out. I'm still not sure what actually happens to me, but all I know is I keep waking up and passing out at the worst times. I have no choice but to run, and search for a way to break this power before it ruins my life!")

There was a loud ding noise as the subway train came to a stop. "Orange Station! Next stop after this one is Green Station, but that's a ways away so if you want to get some snacks for the ride then now's your chance."

Scoffing, Amarai sat back and tried with all of his willpower to keep his eyes closed. ("As long as I don't see the representations, I'm absolutely fine.")

A few minutes later the train was moving again and he felt a lot better. ("It could be a million times worse…") A tingle ran up his spine. ("Great, something's about to…") There was a loud screeching noise as the brakes of the subway activated and brought everything to a halt. ("We stopped? Why?")

"Attention ladies and gentlemen…" A voice crackled over the loudspeaker. "This should only take a moment. The police simply need to make a quick check for a dangerous criminal that might be on board your train, so please bear with us until we are sure he isn't on board."

Amarai dead-panned at nothing in particular. ("They're not even trying anymore.") He heard the sound of approaching feet from the car before him and sighed. "It can't be helped, but this time I'd rather fight than deal with these annoyances in the normal retreating fashion."

The door slowly opened and a rather laidback man with a cigarette hanging out of one side of his mouth walked into the car. "Yo."

Amarai nearly face-fell, his momentary fear of a possible threat gone. "What…are you really a Shadow Tracker? Are you one of them?"

"Yup." The man brushed back some of his lazy black stringy hair and readjusted his sunglasses. "Name's Rioge Mario, and it's a pleasure to finally meet you, Amarai." Taking the unlit cigarette out of his mouth, he flicked it behind a nearby seat cushion and took a deep breath. "So…shall we get this done with? I've been paid a nice sum of money to tear you apart."

Amarai narrowed his eyes slowly. "Don't flatter yourself so easily, or have you forgotten that I could, with ease, utterly destroy you with a single blast of my power." Flexing his hand, he smiled darkly to try and play the 'evil demon' part as best he could. "Would you like to taste my fire, human?"

"Not before you taste mine." Rioge held up a small black device that his fingers were laced into. "This is a detonator, and if you so much as look at me the wrong way I'll blow up this whole subway train, the forty plus people on board, and you."

"You'll die as well."

"True, but die by your hands or by mine would be my options if it came to violence." Rioge removed his duel disk from his coat and slid it onto his arm. "Then again, if you play along and duel me there won't be a problem at all, now will there?"

Amarai snarled and a silver and bronze duel disk appeared on his forearm. "Very well, I accept your challenge. However, you must…"

Rioge held up his hand. "Hang on there. There's no need for a darkness game."

Amarai was a little surprised by that. ("Normally these men activate darkness games so they can enforce their rules on me, but in this case…") "Why not?"

"I can tell a man of honor when I see em." Rioge activated his disk. "I win, you come with me. You win, I'll take a hike and the bomb will be defused. Deal?"

"Sure, sounds like fun." Amarai dueled for his life more than he dueled for pleasure, yet this seemed like some kind of odd fusion of the two. ("How bizarre…this is the first of the Shadow Trackers who have ever been…worthy of some meager respect. However, I'll take him out with my ultimate killer combo…Cyber End Civilization…")

Rioge- 4000

Amarai- 4000

"I begin." Rioge drew the top card of his deck and turned it over to reveal a smiling green jar. "First my Pot of Greed card lets me draw two extra cards, which is pretty handy." Adding two cards to his hand, he inserted one of those cards into his disk. "Now then, let's get this over and done with. I play Dark Designator. I declare the name of one card and if that card is in your deck you place it into your hand, got it? I'm calling Cyber Dragon."

Amarai narrowed his eyes but didn't complain as his deck spat out a card and he added it to his hand. ("That's one Cyber Dragon…")

"I play another two Dark Designators, so if you please…Cyber Dragon." Rioge calmly watched as Amarai added two more of his trademark monsters to his hand. "And now then, the pinch maneuvers which will leave you out of the battle." Taking three of his remaining four cards and inserting them into his disk, he watched as they appeared on the field face-down. "I set three cards face-down on the field."

Amarai wasn't sure what this man was doing, but he felt nervous about it. ("He's too calm…so calm I'm worried as to what cards he is holding. Why give me my Cyber Dragon Trio so easily?")

Rioge held up the last card in his hand. "Now for the magic card Coins from Heaven."

Amarai gasped in surprise. "That…that forces us both to draw cards from our deck until we're holding six…"

"Right." Rioge drew the top six cards off of his deck. "Of course, with the eight cards you're holding it's kind of moot point, huh?" Fanning out his new hand, Rioge lazily slid a card into his disk. "One continuous magic card, Dimensional Sealing Portal." A glowing blue gateway appeared on his field. "During this turn, all cards that are removed from play are sealed into this gateway and cannot be accessed until the gateway is destroyed."

Amarai frowned at how strangely his opponent was acting. ("He's doing this so methodically I'm not sure what to say to him.")

"Reverse cards open." Rioge snapped his fingers and his three face-down cards flipped up. "D.D. Designator lets me declared one card name and if that card is in your hand it is removed from the game. Triple Cyber Dragons."

Amarai paled to a near white as his three key monsters vanished in a burst of crystal blue light. ("No!")

Rioge stretched out his back. "Now that we're done with that annoying little piece, let's move on to the next part. Since your Cyber Dragons are no longer a threat, let's neutralize the rest of your carefully laid out plans. I play the magic cards Grasping Hands of Nightmare. One card at random will be discarded from your hand at the cost of 500 life points apiece." Three disembodied hands appeared in front of Amarai and snatched three cards out of his hand.

Rioge- 2500

Amarai- 4000

Amarai just looked at the last two cards in his hand. ("Terraforming and Cyber Serpent…both useless without the other three I had.")

"I'm not done yet, so don't space out over there. Delinquent Duo, at the cost of 1000 life points, forces you to discard one card at random from you hand and then discard a chosen card from your hand, meaning the cards you're holding are grave food." Rioge inserted his magic card into the graveyard, leaving him with only one card in hand.

Rioge- 1500

Amarai- 4000

Rioge saw the look on Amarai's face, a look of slight hope. "You're thinking that I don't have anything left? Sorry, but Research on the Pot of Greed lets me draw two cards during the turn Pot of Greed is played." Adding two cards to his hand, he looked at them both and smirked. "I'll do you a favor Amarai. I'll let you have the first draw. I play Reverse Cost. By discarding a card from my hand, I can return my life points to the total they were at the start of the turn."

Rioge- 4000

Amarai- 4000

Amarai just stood there, his eyes wide in amazement. ("What a surprising guy…he's…what was the purpose of this? The only advantage he has now is that my three Cyber Dragons are sealed. It's a painful disadvantage, but considering he has no monsters in play my drawing one would be a waste of a draw.")

"Something the matter?" Rioge lifted an eyebrow and adjusted his glasses. "It's your turn, ya know?"

"Yeah…sorry." Amarai drew, truly unnerved by how calm this man was. ("It was interesting at first, but after his masterful drawing I'm not sure what it means.")

"I'm sure you're wondering how I managed to do all that in one turn…it's a matter of a true duelist." Rioge crossed his arms across his chest lazily. "I like to call my little talent Flash Draw. Essentially, it's the power of the perfect draw. There's no cheating behind it, I just always draw the right cards for any game I play. I'm not a gambler though, and I'm normally the kind of guy to up and start hunting guys I know aren't bad."

"Then why are you doing this?" Amarai was worried now, because this opponent seemed beyond professional. This kind of calm dueling style came with a true heart of a darkness game player. ("He's played in darkness games obviously, but I still worry as to what plans he might have in the background. Just because he has no cards in his hand doesn't mean he isn't a threat, since he placed himself in this position.")

"Why?" Rioge shrugged a little bit. "Honestly, I heard you were a good duelist and I needed the help of the guy after you to find you. Was it all to duel you? Kind of…because I heard a few rumors about your talents as both a duelist and as a fighter."

"You want to fight me? Seriously, tell me what you want!" Amarai wasn't in the mood to play this man's dodging game. "Come on…"

"Sheesh, fine fine." Rioge took off his glasses to reveal a pair of brown hardened eyes that didn't reflect his body's laziness at all. "I wanted to see your firepower, hence why I sealed away those Cyber Dragons at the start of the duel. I know of the style of demon arts you do, Amarai Reiki. Flash Style…a series of rapid movements that make the user appears as if they had disappeared into thin air."

"Why challenge me to a duel if you wanted to see me fight? I don't understand you at all, human." Amarai was at his last straw, and if it broke he was pretty sure he'd beat the crap out of this guy. "Quit toying with me…"

"Who said I was toying with you?" Rioge closed his eyes slowly. "It's a simple matter really…I want to see your Flash Duelist skills. That's all."

Amarai closed his eyes and frowned. "Oh…I see….very well…" His hand rubbed the top of his deck. "I'll give it to you…I'll show you my Flash skills. That's what you wanted…that's why you cleared the field. A duel of Topdecking, with the winner being the one with the better Flash Draw, right?"

"I wouldn't call what I heard about you Flash Draw, but you pretty much hit the nail on the head." Rioge closed his eyes. "Please don't disappoint me. If you succeed…I'll help you out with your little problem."

Amarai's eyes widened at that declaration. "You…you can remove this problem?"

"Right. That is of course if you can defeat me." Rioge pointed at the dragon demon. "It's your turn, right?"

"Yeah it is…and I know just the strategy to beat you with now." Amarai drew, the card flickering gold for a moment when he drew it. "I play Side Deck Breaker. At this time both players may access their side decks and replaced cards located there with cards from their deck." Removing a small set of fifteen cards from his pocket, he took out his deck and made a few adjustments to it before replacing it. "Alright, Flash Duel preparations complete."

Rioge slid his deck back into place. "Yeah, I was hoping you were ready for this…now then, let's get this duel started for real."

They both smiled slightly, eager to test each other's ability at drawing. "Duel!"

To be continued…

From the mind of Seeker of the Soul…

In this world there are those who are the hunted and those who are the hunters. However, at one point in a hunter's journey does he cease being the hunter, and become the prey? Juushin descends to Kyoto, ready to deliver this answer.