Paul took in a deep breath, looking off the side of the deck. The land was so far away, and the buildings of the city they were flying over seemed merely specks of dust.

"Got something on your mind, Paul?" Kyle asked, coming up topside.

"A little. I came up here for a breather; being stuck down there with all the frustration between Jacob and Bryan was getting to me," he explained.

"That all of it?" Kyle pressed.

Paul looked again at Kyle. There before him was a reincarnation of a Duel Monster, a being that had existed for thousands of years, and he apparently had a keen sense of observation.

"I'll manage, don't worry about it," he reassured.

Richard, who had been remaining silent behind the mass watched from afar.

"So the Maigus still is bothered by what happened? He's so reserved you wouldn't expect that from him. This reunion is going to be a bumpy ride for him," Dan noted.

Just then, Justin and Josh came up on deck.

"OK guys, it's our stop, I hope you brought parachutes." Josh grinned.

"You're telling me we have to jump to get off this termite buffet?" Richard asked, clearly not believing what he had just heard.

"Fraid so. Geronimo!" Josh said, as he plunged off the side of the boat, with Justin in close pursuit.

"Are they NUTS?" Kyle exclaimed, as he ran over to the side, but couldn't see where they had gone.

"They just disappeared," Richard stated.

"Thanks for the update, Commodore Obvious, but people don't just vanish into thin air," Kyle pointed out.

"Don't worry about them. They just headed off ahead of us, probably to prepare the welcoming committee," Paul deduced. What had just happened didn't surprise him in the least.

Kyle and Rich both turned to each other, looked back over the side, then back to Paul with, "This a normal thing for these guys?"

"Yep," he stated.

Kyle and Rich turned to each other again, with the same words on their minds: "What's with these guys?"

Back in the Soul Stone Chamber, Aaron's face was sweating, and now rubbing his left shoulder.

"This is definitely getting old," he grunted between his teeth. So far his progress with the wall wasn't quite stellar. He dropped to his knees, and looked to the design he made on the floor, it was the pattern of panels on the wall.

"Urgh," he grunted, taking his hand off his shoulder. He then glanced up towards the right side of the wall, and towards the panel that had nailed him in the shoulder. He reached down towards the diagram, and wrote the number 7 on the panel. So far Aaron had nailed almost every portion of his upper, luckily not the head, and his leg. He, after pressing the center panel, realized it switched the panel that would fly out and hit him, and so far had been writing the order of the panels that came and struck him.

"I have to find a pattern; something's got to trigger the spring action!" He vowed to himself, trying to picture what the hell was making the machine fire in different times.

"All right, number 8. Let's see where you come from this time," He muttered, as he pressed the center panel, and it sunk into the wall. Aaron braced for impact, but got only some calm air to greet him. None of the panels lashed out at him.

What the? he wondered. His time to dwell on it, however, was cut short as a panel nailed him in the gut. The powerful blow to his gut sent him sliding across the ground. Aaron lifted his head to see what happened, the center panel had launched itself at him and was withdrawing itself in its standby position.

"Well…that…wasn't…nice," he groaned. He threw himself to the ground, and crawled to the diagram. He wrote with his left forefinger, and scrawling an 8 on the center panel. Aaron clinched his fists, and used them to push himself off the ground, coughing slightly as he got back on his feet.

"That does it," he said, proceeding slowly towards the wall. "No more Mr. Pushover."

Back in the human world, Paul led the way for Kyle and Rich through a very large city. People were bustling around the streets like ants in a colony, traffic was more clogged than a corked wine bottle, and the noise of honking horns were causing the glass windows of the stores to start buckling.

"Lovely. What a pleasant little town," Kyle's sarcasm was so thick in his speech that a chainsaw would be needed to find any true concern or appreciation.

"What are you? A country boy? Never would have guessed with your wardrobe," Rich sneered.

"Listen up, rich boy. I grew up in an orphanage in the Bronx, but I never had to deal with this much madness in New York," Kyle barked.

"We've got about another mile to go. You could have asked for us to be dropped off closer," Paul observed, stepping to his left and dodging a bike messenger.

"How could we? Tobias got caught in the little spat between Bryan and Jacob, and the havoc got the Senvas rather pissed," Rich pointed out.

"Shows what you guys do to society," Paul responded.

"Heh, at least we handle corruption with less difficulty then you seem too. Although, we did appreciate whatcha friend Vaurnut did to Forester," Rich praised.

"Forester? The freak that attacked the Castle? The guy who ended up taking out a good portion of the woods? That him?" Kyle asked.

"Yep, the guy was loose cannon, as were all the others you've been dealing with this past year," Rich informed. The other two stopped walking.

"What are you saying? That all of them weren't working for you?" Paul inquired.

"Viper, her two brothers Ser and Dino, Jeni and Ken, Forester, Antsy, and even Rocky, all were members of The North Division, Roger's League," Rich answered, pausing.

"But Rocky attacked the castle with Dan," Kyle pointed out, noting Nick's encounter with him.

"Rocky was on his own tie-raid when Dan said he found him, and managed to convince him to draw out the defenses. Dan's got his own agenda, and I'm not one to pick with it," Rich countered, raising his arms. He then started walking.

"Why not? I thought you rich kids loved sticking your nose in other people's business," Paul inquired.

"Let's see you try. I recommend bringing along a chiropractor," Rich retorted. The two DDL members resumed their trek, trying to understand why only one division of the Daikai would have been broken up and why they would attack the DDL in the first place.

Back on the boat, Sarah and Amy were watching Nick and Dan seemingly doing everything they could to avoid each other. However, they were both on deck, and it was a small boat.

"Flab man, you're really starting to annoy me," Nick muttered.

"Well, you're so small I figure you can hide in a hole until we get to our stop," Dan countered.

"Small? Listen up, I'm 5'10," Nick growled.

"Am I supposed to be surprised or shocked by it?" Dan wondered. After all, Dan stood roughly the same height, but his hat and boots managed to give him a more towering presence than Nick.

"These two are getting off to a bad start," Amy watched, sighing.

"Men...Can't they take their fights somewhere else for a change?" Sarah wondered to herself.

"He started it," Dan defended.

"No, you started it when you showed up," Nick flamed.

"And what are you gonna do about it? I don't see you being stupid enough to pick a fight with anything other than words," Dan challenged.

"How 'bout I duel you, and if I win, you get your fat ass off the boat?" Nick proposed.

"Fine, if I win you shut your mouth for the rest of my stay here," Dan added.

"It's a deal then. Start up your Duel Brace!" Nick commanded, as his warmed up, unfolding for battle.

"Yo ho, Lord Helmet," Dan smirked. His own Duel Brace warmed for the duel.

"Sorry boys, but I'm afraid no duels for you!" commanded a voice from the lower decks. Kathryn and Kristin stepped up.

"Don't worry, I'll have the big guy on the ground in five moves flat," Nick assured.

"That long? I'll have you done in 3," Dan countered.

"Give it your best shot!" Nick challenged.

"While I'd like to be without one less trouble maker during your stay, I'm afraid we have no time. I hope none of you get airsick," Kathyrn warned. The boat was making a steady increase in pitch, causing the bow to rise upwards towards the sky, but also changing the flat angle of the craft.

"What the?" Dan panicked. The ship was capsizing at a rather fast rate.

"Abandon ship!" Kathryn called out. She and Kristen dove towards the ground, which were blocked with clouds.

"Sarah, grab on!" Amy held out her hand and grabbed a hold of Sarah, but called out, "SPIRIT MERGE!" The two girls were swept up in the vortex of energy as Lily appeared, with Sarah riding the syringe. The two descended into the clouds.

Nick looked to Dan as they clung to the boat.

"I can't die staring at that face of yours. I haven't been done anything bad enough to deserve it," he moaned, but smiled a second later.

"Same goes for me," Dan shot back, but gave a slight grin. Nick and Dan both let go as the boat finished its angle adjustment and was hanging upside down in mid air. Dan held up a card.

"Thousand Dragon!" he called out, as in a brilliant flash of energy, his Duel Brace dragon appeared under him as he descended to the bottom. Nick however, folded his arms to his side and shot down past Dan's dragon.

"With all that weight you're falling awfully slow!" Nick spat with glee.

"So young, so naïve. Sophomores," Dan shook his head, as he flew below the cover of the clouds.

Back with Rich and the DDL, they finally arrived at their destination. It was a large sky-scraper, well over 70 stories tall. It seemed to be the largest building in the city. The walls were of a glass composite, a one-way mirror reflecting the outside, while keeping the inside hidden. Atop the structure was a strange architectural spire. A work of metal and glass combined into a sort of pyramid, with a large spike at the point.

"So this is where the SDL hangs out." Richard said in mild tone.

"It's a lot more than I'd expected, but then again, we're talking about them, aren't we?" Kyle commented.

"Yeah, I suppose so," Paul agreed, but pointed up ahead. "Hey, look!"

Josh the Rising Duelist came down from the front door's steps and meet up with the 3.

"Welcome to the Silver Liner Complex, this will be your base of operations during your stay," he greeted.

"It hasn't changed much, eh?" Paul asked.

"Nope, just a little lonelier," Josh replied, with a small reservation in his voice.

After a moment or two of uneasy silence, Rich broke it up with, "Well I don't know about you people, but now that I know where this place is, I'm gonna get something to eat. Seeya."

As he started to get away, Paul shouted, "Hey, I'm keeping my eye on you! Wait up!"

"Are you sure? I don't think your wallet's big enough to keep up with me," Rich teased. He soon blended into the crowd, getting too far ahead.

"Don't worry about me," Paul shouted to reach him, then turned to the other members of the SDL. "Sorry, but I still don't trust him."

"No problem, but you won't be alone. Justin will go with you, just be careful out there," Josh told him.

"I'll be all right. Kyle, take a look around the place till I get back," he said, dashing after Richard.

Kyle watched as his friend vanished into the crowd. Just don't get yourself in trouble; Richy is going to be enough for you to deal with, he worried, almost as though expecting Paul to hear him.

Back on the boat, Jacob and his group waited alongside Bryan and Eva. The ship was coming to a landing on a large body of water.

"We gonna have to swim?" Dalin asked.

"Keep ya mouth shut and you'll see," Bryan snapped.

"'Scuse me, Josh what's his deal?" Dalin inquired.

"Bryan is always up tight; don't let it get to you. He's right, our ride we'll be here any minute," Josh responded. Jacob and Dalin looked around the boat, but couldn't see anything other than water as far as the eye could see. Just then, the boat began to rock violently, the water splashing and quaking. Josh braced himself against the mast, while Jacob and Dalin grabbed onto the side of the boat.

Something black and gray emerged from the churning waters. It was a sleek looking vessel, well over a football field in length; its shape almost resembled a harpoon with its arrow shaped bow. On the aft there appeared to be a powerful looking thruster, and extending out the sides were a pair of gigantic fins. The submarine's hull opened up, a hatch appearing from under the steel plating at the entrance. An officer in a military uniform saluted with "Welcome back to the Dominance, sir."

"As you were, Neil. What's our situation?" Bryan inquired.

"All hands are standing by for your orders; our course is set to the coordinates you specified." Neil informed.

"Excellent, escort our passengers to their quarters till I summon them later. Place Tobias in the brig 'til I call for him as well," Bryan ordered, pointing over his shoulder. Tobias had been sitting on the bow of the small boat, reading a paperback, and hadn't even budged during the events that had just transpired.

"Fine with me. I could use some peace and quiet around here," he agreed, immobile in his seat.

"Get up or I'm gonna drag you to the brig," Eva threatened, but the Strife Horseman apparently wasn't in a listening mood. More so apparent was the fact she didn't like being ignored.

"Why you-!" she growled, reaching out to grab him by the neck of his shirt. However, she stopped in mid-sentence when she felt a left hand groping her right butt cheek.

"My, what a firm buns you have! You really must work out," Tobias quite casually stated, his eyes not lifting off the page. Jacob, Dalin, and Josh looked at the sight and watched. They knew what Pandora's Box Tobias had just unleashed.

"Why…you… LECHER!" she roared. She smacked him upside his face over 20 times before hurling him inside the sub.

"What's with that guy?" Dalin wondered.

"Yeah, didn't he used to be jerk that only cared about fighting?" Jacob added.

"Now he's stealing Jordan's act. Must be too much of a Jacob influence," Josh surmised.

"You saying I did that?" Jacob gasped. "I must be more of an influence than I thought." Sick and perverted thoughts began to swirl through Jacob's mind, as he wondered what he could get out of this new found power, but his day dreaming was cut short by a crushing grip on his right earlobe, and was slowly dragged into the sub by Eva.

"Come on, you're taking forever!" she ordered.

"OWW! That's still attached you know! OW!" he wailed as he clutched his aching appendage.

"I feel for him," Dalin said, as the wailing became an echo inside the vessel.

Course you would. You go through that with Sarah and Kuro on a weekly basis, Josh thought to himself. The two got onboard, and the hatch sealed behind him as the vessel prepared to dive.

Back in the City, Paul and Justin were covering their eyes. A blinding light reflected off the golden sign of the restaurant they had followed Richard to. The place was clearly a place for the rich and shameless, even with the song from Good Charlotte playing from speakers spread around the main entrance.

"He would choose this place for a snack wouldn't he?" Justin asked.

"Rich people," Paul muttered as he and Justin stepped inside the building, immediately halted by a crack team of waiters. Each was about six feet tall and clean cut.

"Reservations?" he inquired.

"We don't have any, and neither did the young man who got in about a minute ago," Paul answered. Evidently, there was more to this place than met the eye.

"He cleared our spending requirements. Now, if you petty commoners don't mind, we want you to leave our property immediately," a man in a gray suit and tie scoffed. It was not too hard to figure he was the manager of the shack.

Paul looked at Justin, asking, "Did you bring it?" Justin gave a slight grin, taking out his wallet and presented a silver plated credit card. A faint hologram of Black Flare Dragon Horus was present on it.

"Check our balance." Justin told the manager, handing over the card.

The manager looked at the card for a moment, but nonetheless walked back to a card reader and swiped the card. Paul and Justin both gave a slight grin as they watched the manager's jaw drop to the plush carpeted floor. The card's account was well into the trillions.

Justin pried the card out of the manager's hand and said, "Now that we meet your client base, direct us to Richard Lucre."

The manager snapped out of his shock and snapped his fingers. Waiters lined up in along the sides of the doorway towards the dining area, and a trio of scantily dressed waitresses awaited the 2 Dragon League members.

"Follow us, please," they ushered, turning around and heading into the fine dining area.

Paul and Justin followed inside, and were quickly disgusted by the behavior displayed by the occupants. One old rich man was dining on some filet mignon with a few green beans atop a naked woman's body, while another served him some wine straight from the bottle. A little further down the halls, a young woman and old woman, both filthy rich and gaudy, were being served alcohol by muscular young men. Said men were wearing black bow ties and not much else.

"Rich people," the two hissed under their breath, as their guides lead them to Richard.

Sure enough, he wasn't any better off then the others. A pair of waitresses had their backs turned to the DL members, but a third was giving the rich kid a lap dance, as he waved to the guys.

"Hey there! They let you in?" he laughed. A waitress plopped a grape into his open mouth a few seconds later.

"We're not exactly paupers, Rich. Now, why the hell did you pick this place to eat?" Paul demanded.

"It's like being back home, and they always bring me the good stuff," he grinned. The waitresses stepped aside, and the two looked down at what he had ordered, and were starting to quake.

"BWUHAHAHAHA!" The Dragon League members started laughing; he had ordered a cheeseburger, fries, and a little plastic toy. A kids meal, served with orange juice.

"And what's so funny?" Richard asked, apparently not getting the point.

"You went halfway across town for this?" Justin asked when he finally caught his breath.

"Must have cost a fortune," Paul chuckled.

"I'm glad I could be of such entertainment. Now, what business do you have with me?" Rich spat, reaching down and snatching a fry.

"We're keeping our eyes on you, and that's all you need to know," Paul informed as he sat down. Justin followed suit.

"All right, enjoy the show," he invited. The waitress continued to dance.

Justin rolled his eyes, but suddenly felt a pair of hands massaging his shoulders. He glanced over to see Paul was in the same predicament. The waitresses that had been serving Rich earlier had gotten behind them and granted them a dual massage.

"We're so busted," was the general thought on their minds.

Back at the Silver Liner Complex, Kyle was getting the tour. Josh had already explained the function of the first 20 floors, and was now getting up to the 21st. Kyle was borderline conscious. Every few seconds the sand man paid him a visit. Somebody, please kill me, he silently prayed.

"I'm not boring you, am I?" Josh asked.

"Oh no, of course not. Learning about the functions of the water cooler was a real eye catcher," Kyle spout. He was too tired to make the sarcasm more apparent.

"OK then, now onward to…" Josh started, only to be interrupted.

BRING! BRING! BRING! A loud alarm rang throughout the building. Josh's Duel Brace hummed a few seconds, before a face appeared on the screen. "What is it Mike?"

"We're picking up strange signals from inside the city, and one is converging on Paul and Justin's location. ETA is 20 seconds," Mike's face replied.

"Warn them immediately. Kyle, come on!" Josh commanded as they ran towards an elevator.

At the restaurant, Paul remained immobile as the waitress worked her way down from his shoulders to his chest.

"Yo Paul, loose up," Richard called out to him. He was getting similar treatment, but obviously had more experience in the matter.

"You know something, why don't you shut the-" Paul started when he felt his Duel Brace vibrate. A rumble came from outside the restaurant. Justin noticed it too, and realized it was coming from the north wall.

"GET DOWN!" he exclaimed as he jumped off his seat. Without even thinking, he pushed the waitress over and covered her up as the wall exploded. Paul and Richard both got to their feet as they ran over to Justin.

"You OK?" they both asked, grabbing Justin by the hand.

"I'm fine, but what the hell is that?" he pointed behind them towards the hole in the wall.

It stood about 8 feet tall, and probably weighed in about a ton. It was a large machine, standing on two large legs that bent out until the knee joint. There they folded back till they reached the ground with heavy and pointed feet. Its chest was extended outwards, probably containing an engine. Its arms were long and loaded with powerful motors, and at the end of each arm was a 3 clawed hand that seemed to have a gatling gun in the palm. Atop its metal frame and body was a head, oval shaped, with a single red lens poking out at them. The lens telescoped outwards, and rotated, like a single eye trying to get proper focus.

"That's... Not a Duel Monster," Richard pointed out.

"But then what kind of robot is that?" Justin wondered. "Some daikaijuu fan's newest creation?" Just then, the robot raised its arms, and the barrels of the guns protruded outwards.

"Shuddup and run!" Paul shouted. They ducked for cover behind a wall, while bullets came flying out like a metal hail.

"Cover me," Richard hissed. He took 3 cards from his Duel Brace, dove from behind the wall, and ran towards the robot.

"Richard! Get back!" Justin called out.

But Richard didn't heed. He jumped passed the robot and over the couch he had been sitting on earlier. He ducked as a rain of bullets flew over his head.

"INABA!" he called out as he slammed the 3 cards onto his Duel Brace.
Appearing before the robot were 3 spectral rabbits, armed with their rocket posts. Their engines roared as they shot towards the robot and slammed against it, however the second they touched the machine, they shattered. The force of the impact sent the robot crashing against the wall, however.

"What the hell?" Richard wondered.

"A Rema dispersive field," Justin theorized.

"Great, Spirit Merges won't work in that kind of interference," Paul noted.

"So what do we do?" Richard asked, as the robot started to get back up.

Justin looked to Paul, and said, "Paul, I'll handle this one, you don't-"

"No Justin, I got to face this now or never, so let's do this," Paul countered. His Duel Brace grew to full size.

Justin paused for but a second, then agreed, "Let's do it, then."

The two got on their feet and raised their Duel Braces, and shouted, "C.A.S. ENGAGE!" The two Braces began glowing brightly, lighting up the room.

Back at the complex, Josh and Kyle had entered the command center. Mike couldn't believe what he had just received.

"Josh! We've got a Converge Armor Signal from Justin…and Paul," he stammered, almost too quickly for Josh to comprehend. Josh looked a little shocked, but quickly recovered.

"Activate the T.A.S. immediately," he decreed. Mike nodded and watched two units from the armory vanish from the security monitors.

"Good luck Paul," Josh wished.

"Hey, what's the deal?" Kyle wondered.

"Bring it up on the monitor." Josh called out, as a large monitor lit up with video coming from Justin's Duel Brace.

"The Silver Dragon League has more financial power than any of the other leagues, so we have used it to come up with a means for us to battle with out relying on Spirit Merging. We've developed powerful armor units. Each is powered by a small fusion core, and are stronger than the skin of a Valkryion. Each is designed after a card designated by the user. With the Converge Armor Signal and Transmit Armament System, we can send the armor to our members anywhere they are," Josh explained.

Twin lights began to swirl around Paul and Justin as the transference began.

Justin was first, appearing before him briefly was what looked like a Moke Moke. The block spilt apart into portions. The top quarters spread apart and landed atop his shoulders, while the bottom clamped to his legs. Spreading from the shoulder guards, ivory white metal flowed down his arms, becoming gauntlets and gloves. A similar process happened to his feet as they were incased in thick metal. Thick plating spread from the shoulder guards, becoming breast plating, then wrapping around his waist. The final parts remaining attached as the wings grew to match his size. The red question mark that hung above him stretched outwards, and landed on the space between the wings. Metal plates extended from the shoulders and encompassed his head, forming a helmet.

Paul's was next. The form of a monster appeared briefly; a creature that had a resemblance to the Spellcaster family, but looked more like a warrior. A breast plate snapped on him, lightweight and thin with black and red colors. Spreading down from it was a loose around his waist. Thin black plating formed around his shins, and black sandal-like foot wear appeared. Shoulder armor clapped on, sliding down the arms like ancient samurai style armor. Black gauntlets with gloves of black leather slid over his hands. A black helmet clamped around his head, leaving his face exposed. The helmet resembled the trademark high class Spellcaster headwear of say the Dark Magicians, but it was sleeked backwards, with red trimming. Lastly, appearing on his left side was a blade and scabbard. The design was clearly Japanese, probably 17th century, and a long staff that had a headdress shaped like a shell appeared on his back.

"Is that what I think it is?" Kyle asked.

"Yes, the second card," Josh confirmed. The two armored warriors looked at the robot, which had gotten back to its feet.

"You want this one, or should I?" Paul asked.

"I don't mind either way," Justin shrugged.

"Attention, scanners are picking up additional signals coming from your area," Mike's voice streamed over the communications system in their helmets. Indeed, four sudden explosions came from the rear. Emerging from the smoke were more of the same model of robot, their guns already drawn.

"Oh, this is going to be fun," Paul said, his right hand already on the hilt of his sword.

"Don't get carried away now, you just came out of retirement remember," Rich jeered from his couch.

The robots released a steady stream of lead slugs straight at them. Justin lowered his shoulder and his wings turned. Where one would expect feathers, there were small ports, each of which released a powerful blue thrust. The sudden acceleration sent Justin flying straight at the original robot. With the bullets bouncing right off the metal missile, he slammed his shoulder into its chest, crushing the engine and causing the mechanical being to explode into a pair of smoking hulks.

"That was nice," Rich praised, applauding as though it were part of the entertainment. The remaining robots split apart from each other, flanking the two in the crossfire.

Paul dove to his left and with lightning swiftness, slashed one the machine's legs, then spun around and swung upwards as the machine's heavy top fell forward. The engine was sliced in two, and exploded in a fireball as it crashed beside him.

"Whoa," Mike gasped, astounded.

"So, this is the second card of Paul, the Silhouette Breaker," Kyle noted, looking at Paul on the screen. An image of the card was seen on the computers in front of Mike. "I heard of it, but only as a rumor among the castle."

"Yes, Paul's soul created two cards formed instead of one. One was the Light Magician, the second was the Silhouette. He chose the Silhouette for his armor, and has mastered it to its maximum potential. Observe," Mike demonstrated.

One of the Robots jumped into the air, intent on crushing Paul in a single bound. However, Paul reached to his back, and grabbed a hold of his staff. With a singular thrust, he smashed the sharpened point right into the head of the robot. Around the point of the weapon, a recoil shockwave fired from inside the head, causing the heap of steel to fly towards the wall and combust.

Now with two robots remaining, Paul returned the staff to its spot and held the blade with only his right hand. The two remaining trash cans with attitudes came at him with blinding speed, bullets blazing.

Paul jumped into the air towards the closer incoming machine. With his left hand he reached over his shoulder and held up two fingers. He kicked with his right foot, nailing the machines center frame, but also slicing through the engine and causing it to explode in a pile of flaming debris. The final robot was firing with both weapons, trying to hit Paul as he was flipping, however.

"Forgetting someone?" Justin asked. A blast of highly charged plasma hit the upper torso of the machine, incinerating it, leaving a pair of wobbling mechanical legs standing with nothing to hold up.

Paul landed back on the ground, and looked over his shoulder.

"Nice shot, could have jumped in sooner though," Paul thanked.

"Wanted to see if you still had the touch. Besides, it's no fun if I have to do all the work around here," Justin stated, red cannon in hand. The punctuation mark of the Moke Moke had changed into a handheld beam cannon.

Richard stepped out from behind the couch and proceeded to the rubble of the first robot. Immediately, he picked up the remains of the head. Its metal was scarred and smoking, but was otherwise intact.

"I think we have some evidence here, got a lab?" he wondered.

"Then back to the SLC; we're a little overdressed to go anywhere else," Justin pointed out. Paul nodded in agreement.

"OK then, we'll be awaiting your arrival A.S.A.P. Nice to see you back in action, Paul," Mike said, as the screen blanked out.

Josh turned to Kyle with, "So what do you think of our Armor system?"

Kyle gave him a slight grin, and only had one thing to say: "Does it come in Dark Magician?"

Back on the boat, below deck, Kuro stood beside a wall, watching as Vic kept an eye on Ashley. She watched out a porthole in the side of the ship staring out to the vast extend of forests of the DM world. Kevin and Joseph stood on opposite ends of the vessel; they weren't getting along any better than Jacob and Bryan. All the while, the Senvas watched the final team as their journey came to an end.

Vic stepped back towards Kuro, and asked, "You ok? You've been silent since we got on the boat."

"I've been keeping my sights on our possible problems. One is Kevin. He maybe an ally, but he's an SDL, and they don't play by the same rules as we do. Another is Joseph; he's been hostile since we met at the castle, no telling what kind of crap he'll pull. And lastly…" she listed, her focus solely on Casey. The Senva's gaze was as icy as it ever was, and met the Tsubasa Duelist's eyes with no apparent change. Kuro could feel something else, however, and it filled her with a fire felt only a long time ago. "My teacher."

"You think she'll try to pull something?" Vic wondered.

"Not likely, she's too focused to break away from her orders and try and finish what she started. But that doesn't mean I'm any safer," Kuro observed.

"Hey, you're still alive. That's more than I can say about everyone else she's gone after," Vic laughed.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Kuro smiled. He really has no idea, she thought.

Ashley suddenly spoke up, a welcome break in the tension.

"Um, is it me or we descending?" she asked. The tree line was starting to get closer. Vic looked out and realized something else.

"Why are we in a dive?" he wondered.

"While the Daikai may have given us passage into their territory, that doesn't mean that Roger is going to welcome you with open arms. You're landing just short of his detection range, and will proceed on foot," Patrick ruled calmly.

"You mean out there with all the monsters?" Ashley pointed, seeing that there was a Berserk Gorilla bounding through the trees.

"'Fraid so, and in order to prevent further exposure, this vessel will be destroyed in about 50 seconds, so I recommend abandoning ship." Roy said, calmly as a portion of the port side slid open, causing wind to fly into the chamber.

"Good luck on your journey," Casey bare farewell, getting a glare from Kuro. The 3 Senva jumped out the opening and began free falling outside.

"What's with people today? Everyone's jumping ship!" Kevin exclaimed.

"Never mind, look!" Joseph shouted, sticking his head out and pointed straight ahead. A massive tree, the size of a 10 story building, was directly ahead, with plenty of the same kind of tree to blocking off view of anything else.

"We're gonna crash!" Vic shouted.

"Everyone bail!" Kevin commanded as he dove out, Joseph right behind him. Ashley looked at Kuro.

"How are we gonna make it to the ground?" Ashley inquired.

"Follow my lead, I got a plan," she assured, looking at Vic, "Hope it works." She took out her deck and loaded it into her Brace, and drew 3 cards, placing them on the dueling field.

"RISE!" She called out, as 3 streamers of energy flew from the cards. Vic looked at the rate of plummet, and waited for just the right moment.

"Time to GO!" he shouted, shoving the two and himself out of the boat as it sailed straight into the thick bark of the tree. There, it shattered itself into hundreds of wooden planks.

The 3 plummeted with incredible speed, Ashely and Vic were screaming for dear life, but Kuro keep her eyes to the sky. Come on babies, I know you can make it, she willed.

The next thing they knew, each fall was cut short, leaving them dangling in midair.

Ashley looked to her shoulders and saw aquiline talons. She looked up to see that she was being held up by an emerald-winged Harpy Lady #1.

She gasped, and said, "Thanks," in a somber voice.

Vic was being held up by a black-feathered Cyber Harpy, who was looking at Ashley like fresh meat. Then he looked to Kuro, who was being held up by none other than Megami.

"You still got it, K," he praised.

"It's all in the approach," she smirked, as the 3 Harpies slowly lowered their altitude, heading straight towards the forest floor.

Meanwhile, in the Soul Stone Chamber, Aaron now lay on the ground. Bruised and beaten, he looked up to the wall, with the utmost contempt.

On the ground, the drawing he had made was now a smear. Aaron had realized it after his 12th hit, when he had thought the cycle was through, the panel to the lower left had hit him again. However, once he had pressed the center panel again, he prepared to block the blow that would come from his second hit, his left kidney. Instead, the top middle panel had fired and nailed him in the face.

Now lying on the ground, on his back, Aaron looked once more at the wall. He could make a shadowy figure, the silhouette of the card he desired.

"I know I was unworthy of your power the last time, but I have learned, and I have paid," he told the shadow. His nose was streaming with blood, his face drenched with sweat.

"But I swear, I won't stop, I will not give in. I've got too much to lose," He started to pick his beat and battered body up. "I've come this far, and done all that I could to get this far, so I'll be damned if some wall stands between me and the people I care for. So listen up, I'm coming for you! I WILL BEAT THIS WALL!"

He got on both feet, and started at the shadow with his broken glasses with blood shot eyes. He drew in a deep breath and with all his spirit, he shouted,

"VALKYRION!"

To be continued…

Next Time on the DDL:

An image of Aaron being dragged out of the cave, unconscious and bloody, by a careful Erin.

"It never ceases to amaze me that a wall can wail on someone so hard," she comments.

The scene changes to show Nick and Dan outside of a temple gate, both having their Duel Braces armed.

"You're going down Dan," Nick vows.

"Let's see if you can make it happen," Dan challenges.

The scene changes to show Amy and Kristin opening a fire-scorched door.

"Oh my god!" Kristen gasps.

DDL Chapter 37: The Blades of The Holy Dragon.