"I can't believe my plan has failed!" Meldrick shouted. "I thought I had everything set perfectly, but the friends that weren't under my control ruined everything! They will pay dearly for this!"

"Master Meldrick, please do try to calm down." Oberin said as he tried appealing his master. "Your plan might have failed this time, but we still have a chance. Remember that you and I have the necessary points needed to enter the finals. With the two of us, Ichika Orimura and his friends won't be able to stop us."

"Perhaps you are right, Oberin. On top of that, Ichika Orimura isn't aware of my true face yet." Meldrick said. "As upsetting as it is that my plan failed, I do have contingencies in place."

"Such as your new comrade." Oberin claimed.

"Yes... There's still him." Meldrick said as he remembered he has a new friend that would like to defeat Orimura himself.

...

The Hospital

Ryu was taken to the hospital after being injured. However, Ryu is just a regular human. A much stronger and more powerful form can handle a little pain. Inside Ryu's mind, the evil spirit that controls him was now having a concersation with Meldrick. The two of them were planning their next attack.

"So, you're plan didn't work, did it?" Evil Ryu questioned. "I must say that I'm not all that surprised. When I face Ichika and the spirit inside his charm myself, I was most surprised by how powerful they are. I clearly underestimated the two of them."

"Well, now that my plan has failed, you'll have to step into action yourself." Meldrick said.

"And you will keep your end of our deal, won't you?" Evil Ryu questioned.

"Of course. I will give you my gauntlet and you can add to your little collection." Meldrick said. "However, I will only do that after Ichika is defeated, and the power and Izanagi are mine."

"Then we have a deal." Evil Ryu claimed, but the two of them were really planning to betray each other. "So, what is the plan?"

"Ichika and his friends are heading for the finals of this tournament. That is where we will fight them." Meldrick claimed. "In order for you to enter, you'll need to gain a total of four-thousand points. However, I'm not sure how you're going to do that this late. So, you better think of something."

"Don't worry. I already have some ideas in mind." Evil Ryu claimed. With that, the evil spirit inside of Ryu took control and caused him to awake. Now that the evil spirit is in control, there's really no telling what could happen.

...

The Cemetery

A cemetery when it's dark can be quite scary and spooky, but it's perfect for creeps who go looking for trouble. The feeling and effects you feel in a duel can add to it. A poor duelist ended up getting beat and scared so badly that he ended up running away like his life depended on it.

"Someone get me out of here!" The guy shouted as he ran out of there with two others.

"What a wimp."

"You can say that again. The poor guy didn't know what hit him." The two that were actually behind all the scares were none other than Ben and Ghoul, the same ones that worked with Bane back during Peggrin's tournament. "Whatever. At least we got some points. Now we both have over two-thousand points."

"We're halfway to the finals." Ben said. "So, who else should we freak out and take their points?"

"Hold on." Ghoul said as he looked through the cemetery. "I think someone is already on their way."

"Well, it sounds like you two have certainly made some progress." The one stepping in was Evil Ryu, something much scarier than anything in that cemetery, but those two don't know that.

"Look at that. Another brave fool just walks in the cemetery when it's dark." Ghoul said.

"The poor guy. You think he came here on a dare?" Ben taunted.

"You think I'm the fool? I wouldn't be so sure about that." Evil Ryu said. "Say, didn't you two worked with some other guy named Bane."

"Bane?!" Ghoul said as that name made both of them angry considering what Bane did to them last time. "That jerk... If we see him, he's going to wish he never crossed us."

"Yeah, we got a score to settle with him. Once we win this tournament, we're taking him down." Ben said.

"You two sure sound confident in yourselves, or maybe that's because you don't know what real fear is." Evil Ryu taunted. Ben and Ghoul didn't understand, but they were getting a little nervous around him.

"Ghoul... There's something about this guy I don't like." Ben said.

"Me either. Let's take this chump down and show him why he should be afraid of us." Ghoul said as he stepped forward. "Come on, pal! Let's duel! That's why you came here, isn't it?"

"It is." Evil Ryu said as he turned on a duel disk and was ready to go. "Of course, you two won't be leaving this graveyard when I'm done with you." Neither of them got it, but figured he was just trying to sound tough. Ghoul got his duel disk ready and was set to go.

"Let's duel!" They both said and started with them having 4000LP.

"I'll make the first move, and I know just what to start with. I summon Pyramid Turtle to the field!" Ghoul said as he summoned out his first card, a turtle with a pyramid for a shell and it had 1200atk points. "I would think carefully if I were you. If Pyramid Turtle is ever destroyed, I'll be able to summon a zombie to the field. With that, I end my turn."

"Yeah, Bone. Just wait until this guy sees what you pull out." Ben said.

"Playing just one monster? That's an amateurish move." Evil Ryu claimed. "Of course I'm well aware of your turtle's ability, but that can easily be countered. I will show you what fear really looks and feels like."

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Ghoul questioned.

"By having you become completely helpless. It's my turn!" Evil Ryu said as he drew his card. "I'll begin my turn by playing Nightmare Steelcage!" He played his spell and that was when a cage formed around Ghoul and Bone.

"What is this?" Ghoul said.

"Ghoul, I don't really like this." Ben said as he was getting a bit anxious.

"This is an example of what I'm talking about. That cage will prevent either of us from attacking for the next two rounds." Evil Ryu claimed. "At least, you won't be able to. I summon Cloaked Fiend to the field!" Evil Ryu summoned out a figure that wore a black cloak, but it did show the face of a fiend with it's teeth sticking out and it had ominous red eyes. It also had 1500atk points. "Your Pyramid Turtle's ability is useful, but you overlooked something. It's ability only works when it's destroyed by battle, not by effects."

"What do you mean?" Ghoul said as he didn't like the sound of that.

"I'll show you by playing Tribute to the Doom!" Evil Ryu said as he played another spell. "All I have to do is send one card to the graveyard and your monster is destroyed!" He discarded a card and his spell took in effect. Bandages came around Ghoul's turtle and it ended up being dragged into the ground. "With it gone, there's nothing protecting you."

"What are you talking about? You said so yourself that neither of us can attack." Ghoul reminded.

"That's where you're wrong. My Cloaked Fiend is unaffected by spells, so he can attack!" Evil Ryu claimed, and that wasn't good for Ghoul. His fiend leaped right at Ghoul and passed right through the cage. It passed right through Ghoul and caused his life points to drop to 2500. Ghoul was getting a little freaked on what was happening.

"Ghoul? You okay?" Ben asked.

"I... I don't know... I just got a weird sense of the chills." Ghoul said.

"It's just as I told you. I'm showing you what real fear looks like. For now, I'll just end my turn by placing one card face-down." Evil Ryu said, but Ghoul seemed a little scared.

"Ghoul? What's wrong?" Ben questioned.

"I don't know. It's just... There's something not right about this guy. I feel like I'm looking into a bottomless pit of darkness." Ghoul said as he can't shake this feeling. "I better draw something to defend myself or I'm done for."

"More than you might know." Evil Ryu claimed. That didn't sound good at all. Ghoul drew his next card and just hoped it would be something that could help him.

"Hey! This could help." Ghoul said as he liked what he saw. "First, I play my Call of the Mummy! Since I have no monsters on my field, this allows me to special summon a zombie to the field! Come on out, Zombie Tiger!" He summoned out his monster as it came out with 1400atk points. "This kitty won't be staying long. I sacrifice him to summon Ryukoki!" He released his monster as the ground began to shake and out of the ground came a creature made out of skulls and had 2400atk points.

"Not bad, but my cage still prevents you from attacking." Evil Ryu reminded.

"I know, but I have something else that can help." Ghoul claimed. "I play Zombie Grasp! Since I summoned a zombie, this spell destroys one of your monsters and you take damage equal to half of it's attack points!" When he played that spell, a couple zombies came out of the ground and grabbed the Cloak Fiend and was dragged down. He was gone and Evil Ryu's life points dropped to 3250. "Let's see you slip your way out of this! I end my turn!" He said as he was starting to feel better.

"Ha! He won't be able to get around your monster that easily!" Ben said.

"Is that so? It will be great to prove you wrong." Evil Ryu said as he didn't seemed scared or concerned. That left an unsettling feeling in both of them. "My turn." He drew his next card and had something planned. "First, I'm going to activate my face-down card. It's called Call of the Haunted. With this, my Cloaked Fiend is coming back." When he played that, a black coffin emerged out of the ground. It opened up with the Cloak Fiend rising up like he was a vampire. "Next, I summon my Mirroring Fiend." He summoned out a new monster. A grey one with shards of glass and crystals around its body. It also had 1100atk points.

"I don't get it. What good can either of those monsters do?" Ghoul said.

"You're about to find out." Evil Ryu said. "First, I activate Mirroring Fiend's special ability. With it, he can copy the effect and attack points of one monster on the field, and I choose my Cloaked Fiend." A reflection of his other monster could be seen and his fiend's attack points rose to 1500. "Next, I play the spell known as Midnight Hour." When he played that spell, they could hear the chiming of a bell going off and added to the eerie feeling. "Thanks to this spell, all my dark fiends will be destroyed at the end of the turn."

"Wait. Why play that spell?" Ghoul said.

"Because it also gives them 1000atk points!" Evil Ryu said. Both of his monsters were infused with dark power as their power rose to 2500. Now that they have the same ability, that cage can't protect Ghoul. "Nothing can save you! You were completely helpless! Mirroring Fiend, destroy his Ryukoki!" His fiend unleashed some of its power as it unleashed blasts of light and blasted against Ghoul's only monster and destroyed it with his life points dropping to 2400. "With him out of the way, nothing can save you! Cloaked Fiend, attack!" His fiend jumped at Ghoul again and attacked him. That caused all of his life point to drop to zero with him dropping to the ground.

"You okay, Ghoul?" Ben questioned as he helped him up.

"I... What is that guy?" Ghoul said.

"I am a servant of the everlasting, ever expanding darkness." Evil Ryu said as he walked closer to them, towering over them with fear filling them. "Would you like a demonstration?"

"No... Please..." Ghoul said as he and Ben were scared.

"Too bad." Evil Ryu claimed as he used the power of his pendent. When he did that, a strange fog began to flow beneath the two of them. Then, something began to pull the both of them down. They screamed and pleaded for help, but nothing could really save them. Soon, they were completely swallowed and their duel disks were all that was left. "There go two other souls completely lost to the darkness forever." He claimed as he took their duel disks. "Well, now that I have their points, I can enter the finals. Soon, I shall have all the artifacts!" He laughed as he could just envision his victory. Darkness is approaching the finals.

...

The Harbor

"No way. Forget it. There's just no way my car can fit all of us. It's not safe." Hector said as he could not use his car to get everyone to the arena for the finals.

"That's okay, Hector. We can just walk there." Houki said. "We should get going. We might have all the points, but if we aren't among the first eight to get there, we won't be able to qualify."

"Good idea. Let's get going." Ichika said as they all started walking. None of them were aware of the danger that awaits them, but Ichika did had a feeling. For a moment, he could hear Evil Ryu's laughter, like something was trying to warn him of the danger that is ahead.

"Ichika? Are you okay?" Charlotte said.

"Yeah..." Ichika said, but his mind was thinking about what he just felt. He just knows there's trouble waiting for them.