The Last Rays of Twilight

by Seeker of the Soul

The Apocalypse has begun. Death itself will sweep like a plague across the lands and the only ones who have the potential to stem the tide of death are nowhere to be found. Truly it is the End of Days.

2. A Contented Peace

Author's Note: This is officially the first chapter of the final segment of this trilogy. Keep in mind that the plot won't kick start in this chapter.

Chapter One: A Contented Peace

In the old days, when things had been shockingly simple, all Daisuke Ihachi had to worry about was not ticking off his boss and stopping evil madmen bent on annihilating the universe. Yes, those were the good old days.

Upon further reflection Daisuke, often called Drake, realized that the 'good old days' had in fact sucked. Yet still, there was something about that simplicity of 'good versus evil' that cried out to him. He wished he could return to at least that sort of simplistic lifestyle, as opposed to the life that he lead now.

In those days he had been a simple punk who happened to have access to magical energies, or something to that degree. Really when he looked back on it he hadn't been that simple, but it seemed simple at the time.

While the others had been figuring out what had happened, Drake had been placed in another dimension for reasons unknown to him at the time. Later he discovered the reason, and about nine months after Eikyuu was defeated he and his friends went on what they thought would be their final adventure, getting rid of all those loose ends.

Unfortunately, Drake had discovered that upon going to the other dimension that he had returned home to a time two days after he was supposed to take his college entrance exams. So he had become a ronin, working with Kaiba Corporation in its development of new games and such at Kaiba Land.

It had taken him close to a year before he was able to enter a college, mostly because he had to juggle his studies with his work at Kaiba Corp. During that year his success at work had begun a series of promotions, some of them just because Seto Kaiba trusted him.

Drake had felt lucky that he had successfully entered Waseda University, one of Japan's most prestigious nations, being ranked 13th best. It was also the perfect university for him to attend, because it was involved in Japan Study, a study abroad program linking the United States to Japan, allowing him to work with divisions of Kaiba Corp in both nations.

He was nearly finished with his final year at the university, and he was beginning to feel the extremes of stress, and realizing exactly why Seto Kaiba was an asshole the majority of the time. "Look, if they won't listen to reason then we're going to have to show them that Kaiba Corp won't stand for that sort of crap."

The twenty-three year old student frowned into the cell phone, stepping to the side to avoid another passing student as he walked across campus. He paused to listen, and then when he had an opening he spoke. "No, they can't play the money game with us and that's the entire point. If they think their political connections will help them oust us from this section of the gaming world then they've got another thing coming."

Looking up he briefly noticed a bike speeding towards him, and he dodged it without even blinking. A look of consternation appeared on his face as he continued to argue with the man on the other end of the line. "I don't care how rich and powerful the Manjyome Group think they are, they can't force Kaiba Corporation out. Duelist Academy is ours, and they can't buy it or wheedle their way in."

Drake growled into the phone, stopping outside of the classroom that he needed to go into. "Fine, if they're going to be such assholes about it then I'll deal with them myself. I'll drive out to the usual spot and you can send a chopper to meet me. I'll fly out to the island and deal with the Manjyomes personally."

He snapped the cell phone shut, and then dropped it into a pocket of his book bag. Sighing, he entered the room and found his usual seat. "At least class is normal. Nietzsche I can handle, but the politics of busy just gets on my nerves."

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On the continent of Asia, under the supervision of his superiors, Kai Kaethen poured over the recently unearthed texts, trying to learn their exact meaning and importance to history. He had graduated from Osaka University, the third highest ranked college in Japan just one year earlier, and was now working as an assistant to a historical findings team.

Using a brush he carefully wiped away some dust that was covering part of the Chinese character. He frowned, and then looked back at the previous character. "Living death? What in the world?"

Idly he wrote down the translation on a piece of paper, and then moved back to uncovering the next character. This was proving to be an interesting discovery so far, and he was glad to have been accepted as the assistant to this division. "This is the sort of work I've dreamed of doing. I'm unearthing history itself..."

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Those that had been involved in the battle with Eikyuu, those who had come to be known as 'The Fallen', had generally led peaceful lives for roughly five years. Only one amongst them had continued on a dark path, always treading where few would go, and eliminating the terrors that occasionally threatened their planet.

Dalin Imaki Sumatin made sure that none of these threats were ever discovered. There was no need for anyone else to become involved in relatively trivial manners. He had no need of help in a situation as simple as a self-absorbed billionaire who wanted to turn the Earth into a private resort. That had been an interesting experience, but not as dangerous as Eikyuu or the Dark Spirit.

That man's words had been rather interesting though. Before he and Dalin engaged in a duel so that Dalin could stop the man's plans in their tracks the billionaire had commented about Dalin's 'save the world' escapades. He had said: "If you keep going around trying to save the world there won't be any peace. If you want peace, you have to make it, now stop it from being undone."

Dalin frowned and glanced over at the deck that sat on the corner of his night table. "Was he right? But if he is, then the only way to truly have peace is to become in part what I have fought against. That can't be the way can it?"

With no answer, Dalin was forced to get into bed. In just a few short minutes he was asleep, but what he didn't know was that his sleep would soon be interrupted by dreams. Dreams of a terrible nature.

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"Here it comes!" The speaker was a short boy in a red uniform with oddly teal colored hair. He jumped up and down with glee, pointing up at an incoming helicopter which was due to land in just a few minutes.

A large number of teenagers had gathered to watch the plan land, and they all wore uniforms of either red, yellow, or blue. This particular group that was watching had three students in red, one in yellow, and another in blue. Off to the side was an irritated looking teenager in a black trench coat. "Haaa...the representative from Kaiba Corporation, a top duelist...I'm so excited! I want to duel him!"

The black trench coating wearing teen snorted, bringing their attention to him. "Judai, you'd be crushed like a bug against such a high ranked duelist. Besides, he's not here to deal with little boys like you."

The brunette in the red uniform identified as Judai didn't seem bothered by the other teen's coarse attitude, instead he just smiled. "Thunder-san, if I can defeat Yugi's deck, perhaps I can beat this guy as well. Either way, I'd love to duel him and find out!"

Each of his other friends just shook their heads in amusement and turned back to watch the helicopter land. Principal Sameshima, the head of the school, walked right up to the helicopter as it opened, and a man in his early twenties jumped out.

He wore a red t-shirt and a long black sleeveless trench coat that some identified as his trademark. Other than that his violet eyes and his russet-brown hair were his most distingushing feature. Sameshima smiled and offered his hand. "Good to see you again Mr. Ihachi."

Drake gladly took the principal's hand and shook it, still amused on the inside that a man twice his age called him 'Mr.'. "I've told you before Sameshima, just call me Drake. Even Kaiba calls me Drake, and he's my boss."

The older man grinned and then made a sweeping gesture to the student body. "As you can see we've grown since your previous visit last year, and our student body has become more diverse and impressive. In fact, as you may have heard we had a first year represent our school against North School just a few months ago."

Drake raised an eyebrow in surprise and scanned the crowd, looking at them to see who might be new students that he hadn't seen before. "So which one was it? Before I deal with the Manjyomes I'd like to meet this rising star of Duelist Academy."

Judai and his friends stared in shock as the KC representative and their principal walked in their direction. Finally the two men stopped in front of them, with the representative standing directly in front of Judai, towering over him. "So you're Judai, Duelist Academy's rising star?"

The brown haired Osiris Red student grinned and pointed a thumb back at himself. "That's me, the number one of Duelist Academy! Soon I'll be the number one of the world too! And these are Sho, Asuka, Daichi, Hayato, and Thunder-san."

A series of bows were exchanged between the group, with a slight pause as Drake looked at the boy who had been called 'Thunder-san'. "Manjyome Jun I presume? Youngest of the Manjyome Group?"

The teenager nodded, and then folded his arms across his chest in a smug manner. "Show me the respect I deserve. It's the Manjyome to you!"

Drake rolled his eyes and shoved his hands into his pockets. 'So that's where the 'Thunder-san' comes from. Nobody told me that he was a miniature Kaiba.'

"Sir sir sir, I want to duel!" The principal looked bug-eyed that one of his students was directly challenging someone who was his boss. However, when he looked over at Drake he saw that the younger man was smiling in amusement.

"You've certainly got a great love of the game, I'll give you that. However, don't expect me to simply go easy on you. If you want to become the number one of the world, you'll have to really show true power and a true duelists' heart. So go ahead, show me your strength." Drake grinned and slid his deck out of his back pocket, and then motioned to Manjyome. The teenager scowled and handed him his DD3, which Drake fitted over his arm.

In a similar fashion Judai grinned, bouncing from foot to foot as he settled his DD3 on his own arm, and then pressed the activation button. At once they cried out the acceptance of the challenge. "Duel Start!" (DLP: 4000, JLP: 4000)

Judai drew six cards as fast as he could, and then looked them over. Finally he settled on a move. "I summon Elemental Hero Clayman(800/2000) in defense mode, and then I'll set one card face down. End move!"

Drake continued to smile as he casually drew, and looked over his hand of cards, deciding what method he could use to counteract the defense power of Clayman. Elemental Heroes were an interesting set of monsters, but required great skill to use effectively. "Get ready Judai, because I'm coming at you fast. Muse of Light(1400/1500) in attack mode!"

An attractive woman in an elegant white toga was instantly produced by the holographic matrixes of the Solid Vision System. She stood across from the brown bulky warrior who crouched in a defensive position. "Muse of Light attacks, activating her special ability!"

The woman extend her left arm, and light exploded from the tips of her fingers, shining over Clayman. The hero rose from his crouched position and stumbled backwards, crying out as the light burnt him to ashes. Judai stared at his empty monster zone in surprise. "Huh? What happened to Clayman?"

"Muse of Light can switch the mode of any monster on your field once per turn, so I attacked Clayman and changed him from defense position to attack position. Since Clayman had a weaker attack, he was destroyed. Pretty simple." Judai met Drake's grin even as his life points fell. (JLP: 3400)

"I set one card face down, and that completes my turn." Judai immediately drew, ready to make a comeback with his next move.

"I play Warrior Returning Alive, and pick up Clayman from the cemetery. Now I activate Polymerization, the ultimate power of the Elemental Heroes. By combining Clayman with Elemental Hero Sparkman(1600/1400) I can create Elemental Hero Thunder Giant(2400/2000)!" A powerful looking warrior with a bulky upper body and smaller lower body now replaced both monsters, and held up a crackling fist.

"Elemental Hero Thunder Giant can instantly destroy one monster in play with a lower attack strength than it, so Muse of Light dies!" The hero punched Drake's muse in the chest, blowing her into a million different fragments.

"Now I normal summon Elemental Hero Burst Lady(1200/800) in attack mode!" He slapped down the monster card, and instantly a red suited female hero jumped out into play, landing right next to the much larger hero.

Drake just continued to grin, not bothered by the theatrics as his two monsters posed together. "Thunder Giant attacks you directly! Thunder Fist!" A blast of electricity shot for Drake, who swiftly depressed a button on his duel disk.

"Sometimes the simplest methods are best. Magic Cylinder negates your attack and deals your monster's attack as damage to your life points!" A pink tube appeared in front of Drake and promptly absorbed the attack. Then a second tube appeared, and the energy fired out of it and slammed into Judai's chest. (JLP: 1000)

"That's okay, Burst Lady attacks you directly!" With flaming fists the female hero attacked Drake, slamming one burning hand into the duelist's cheek. Drake slid backwards slightly, but immediately shook it off. (DLP: 2800)

"Good play Judai, however you forgot one thing. You burned out virtually your whole hand, and now you have a weak monster in attack mode with few life points left. I on the other hand have most of my life points, and four cards in my hand. What will you do?" Drake smiled, wondering whether this kid was really as good as the principal implied.

"I'll do this! Activate face down card, Mirage of Nightmare! Then I set the last card in my hand face down and end my turn!" Drake sighed and shook his head, then he drew. He recognized the potential combo, but he wasn't impressed.

"Everybody and his uncle uses that combo kid, but don't expect it to work against me. Now, I start by summoning Angel Magister(900/1900) in attack mode!" A heavenly looking man with widespread angel's wings appeared wearing magician's robes.

"Now I activate Quick-Play Thief, which lets me name one quick-play magic card, and if it exists in the opponent's deck they place it into my hand. In exchange I have to sacrifice one monster." He pointed at Angel Magister, and the monster faded away. (DLP: 4700)

"When Angel Magister goes from the field to the cemetery I gain its defense as life points. Now, I name Defusion." Judai frowned and searched through his deck, then tossed Drake the Defusion card that he kept.

"Activate magic card, Defusion! I'll split Thunder Giant down into his base components, stripping you of your strongest attacker!" Sparkman and Clayman reappeared, and Judai gripped his four card hand tightly.

"I bring back Sparkman in attack and Clayman in defense. Also, during your standby phase Mirage of Nightmare let me draw four cards." Drake nodded, and then held up another card from his hand.

"I play the magic card Unity Power-Darkness, which lets me select one dark type Unity Magician and add it to my hand, however that monster can't be summoned during this turn." He too searched through his deck before discovering the card he wanted.

"Next I set two cards face down and end my turn." Drake slid two of his remaining three cards onto his duel disk, and then confidently folded his arms, awaiting Judai's move.

Judai drew, and then pointed to his face down card. It flipped up, revealing a quick-play magic card. "Emergency Provisions lets me sacrifice magic and trap cards to gain one thousand life points, so I sacrifice Mirage of Nightmare to gain one thousand life points and keep my hand!"

Drake immediately pointed to one of his two set cards, and it flipped up. "Negative Morality costs one thousand life points, but it instantly negates one effect used by the opponent! So Emergency Provisions fails, and you have to randomly discard four cards from your hand!" (DLP: 3700)

The brown haired Osiris Red frowned, but dumped four cards into his grave anyways. Then he looked at his hand and grinned triumphantly. "You're good mister, but not good enough. My luck and skill is just too good for that to matter, because I activate the effect of a monster in my grave!"

A sinister looking red formed monster appeared behind Judai, its body covered in spectral purple light. "I use Element Hero Necro Darkman's ability to special summon Elemental Hero Edgeman(2600/1400) from my hand to the field!"

A golden armored hero with serrated arm blades now stood beside the three other heroes, and each of them struck a pose. "Here we go, Edgeman attacks directly!"

"Like I said before, the best methods are often the simplest. Reveal trap card, Mirror Force!" Judai's eyes went wide as his three attack mode monsters were obliterated, leaving him with only Mirage of Nightmare and Clayman on the field. With nothing else to do his turn was over.

Drake held up his drawn card and then flipped it around for all to see. "Mystic Box now encloses your Clayman in a special box."

A box with question marks on it appeared, and then a second one. Clayman entered the first, and then Drake motioned to the second. "Now, swords will rain down!"

Just as he said it, dozens of swords slammed into the empty box, leaving the watchers blinking in confusion. "Let's open it shall we? A magician's most basic trick is slight of hand, and in the blink of an eye I transferred your Clayman from its box...to mine."

The door opened, revealing Clayman skewered by dozens of swords. He shattered into a million pieces, and then the boxes faded away. Manjyome smirked as he watched his rival's eyes go wide with the sudden realization that he had nothing between him and his opponent.

"Demon Magister(1900/700) is my method of attack. Go, finish the duel!" A horned magician appeared, and jumped straight across the field, slamming his bladed staff across Judai's chest, knocking the Osiris Red backwards. (JLP: 0)

Judai blinked as a hand dropped in front of his face. He took it and was quickly hauled up by Drake, who smiled and patted him on the shoulder. "You did good kid, you've got a lot of potential. Keep on dueling and one day you just might become number one."

The younger duelist grinned right back, and gave Drake a thumbs up. "What a fun duel!"

"So, this is the Director of Special Projects at Kaiba Corp, the young Daisuke Ihachi. You're more impressive than I would have guessed, but you're still just a lackey." Drake rolled his eyes and then turned on his heel, discovering two well-groomed black haired men in suits.

"Chosaku and Shouji, some of the top men in the political and corporate sectors respectively. And now I hear you want to have your little brother Jun worm your way into the gaming world. Well, Duelist Academy belongs to Kaiba Corporation, so back off or we'll reveal the sort of scum you are. And you aren't well-liked enough to survive that sort of blow." The two brothers frowned, and then leaned in to consult with each other.

Finally they turned and smirked at Drake. "We anticipated you might say something like that, so we in turn have prepared a few statements about you and your boss, statements that will bring to light some unpleasant factors of your past."

"So we're at a stalemate then aren't we? Then again...you challenged your little brother to stop you buying out the academy, only to lose and have your attempt to purchase the academy halted by our efforts. So what else do you think you can do?" The youngest Manjyome snorted in amusement at the look on his brother's face.

"Fine. You want a solution, then I've got one, prepared just in case. If you or any other representative of Kaiba Corporation can defeat our representative in a duel, then you don't have to worry about us making further attempts on Duelist Academy. But if our representative wins, then allow us one further attempt on Duelist Academy with no opposition." There was a slight pause, and then finally Drake smirked.

"Some people just have weird business methods, but if it's a duel you want, then it's a duel you'll get. Who's the representative, and when do we duel?" A sudden burst of laughter brought everyone's attention to the right, where a man about Drake's age was walking towards them.

He had shockingly white blonde hair, blue eyes, and wore a navy blue jumpsuit that made him look rather foolish. "I shall be your opponent Daisuke Ihachi! Prepare to face your ultimate opponent on the field of battle once again!"

He raised his duel disk clad arm into the air, posing as if he was expecting lightning to strike at the sound of his voice. All he got were crickets. "Ummm...again? Do I know you?"

The man fell flat on his face, and then jumped back up, clenching his fists and shouting with rage. "OF COURSE YOU DO! I AM YOUR ULTIMATE OPPONENT, LUCAS BRAUNHAM!"

Lucas released the breath he had been holding in, and his face began to return to a normal color. However, the color started to come back when he saw that Drake didn't have a look of recognition on his face. "I'm sorry but...whoever you are you're just not important enough for me to remember."

"Bastard! You ruined my life when you defeated me in Battle City! I became the laughing stock of my nation, defeated by some unknown punk! My name was soiled, and it has never returned! Now I'm going to crush you for that loss, so let's duel!" He extended his arm, and his DD3 slid into position. (LLP: 4000)

Drake blinked, and finally it dawned on him exactly who he was facing. "You're Lucas Braunham, the guy whose ass I kicked in my first Battle City duel? I didn't recognize you without your really thick accent. Your Japanese is much more understandable now, you sound like a civilized person. But if you're my opponent, I'll be glad to beat you down again." (DLP: 4000)

Lucas snarled and slapped a card from his hand down onto his duel disk. "You can't defeat me because I'm five times better than I was in Battle City. Witch of the Black Forest(1100/1200) in defense mode and that's all."

The former punk sighed and picked up his next card. "That's a pity, because I'm ten times the duelist I was back when we last dueled. Now, Hell Spell Striker(2200/1500) emerges. His special ability lets me add one monster to my hand which can't be normal summoned or set during the turn I get it, and this happens when my striker kills a monster. So now I attack!"

His powerful magician unleashed a blast of unholy energy that consumed the pasty faced witch that his opponent had been used. Because she was in defense mode no damage was done. "Just like you I search for a monster, this one with less than fifteen hundred defense points."

A card popped out of each player's deck and they added those cards to their hands. "The difference is that my monster has a power that will deal some damage. I selected Magic Saint(1700/1300) which can be special summoned from my hand at any time!"

A smiling man in everyday clothes and a halo over his head appeared next to Hell Spell Striker. "Since I special summoned him during my battle phase, Magic Saint now attacks you directly!" (LLP: 2300)

The German duelist stumbled, cursing in German as his life points dropped. "Now that we've gotten that out of the way, I set two cards face down. Back to you Lucas."

Drake's opponent snarled and immediately held up his drawn card, and a massive gust of wind began to surge around the field. "Heavy Storm blows away all magic and trap cards in play!"

Drake frowned, but otherwise didn't seem bothered that his two face down cards had been destroyed. Lucas smirked and threw another card onto his duel disk. "I'm sure you'll remember this card. Spinning Top of Doom(700/600)!"

A giant black spinning top with spikes poking out of it was Lucas' new monster, but it didn't look very threatening. "Now I activate Share the Pain, and select my top to be destroyed. Now pick one of your monsters!"

"I'll select Magic Saint, whose special ability activates when he goes from the field to the cemetery through destruction he lets me pick up one card in the grave. And I choose him!" He held the card upon and then threw it out onto the field, allowing his monster to reappear in defense mode.

"So bet it, but remember the power of my top. When it goes from the field to the grave I can instantly special summon one level six or higher monster from my hand. So arise, Twin Mages(1400-1400/1000-1000)!" Two brown cloaked wizards appeared, their eyes glowing from underneath their hoods. Drake recognized the card as he had gotten one from Lucas' in their first duel, and now it seemed Lucas had gotten a replacement.

"I discard the top card of my deck, which happens to be Repayment of Losses, to add the totals of my monsters attack points together to annihilate Hell Spell Strike! Twin Magic Attack!" A double barrage of magical energy blew Drake's attack mode monster away. (DLP: 3400)

"I set two cards face down and end my turn. Against the strength of Twin Mages you cannot hope to win, not this time!" He snickered and placed his hands on his hips, sneering at his Japanese opponent.

Drake finally began to get serious as he drew, realizing that Lucas was perhaps better than he had been giving him credit for. "I play Monster Reincarnation and discard one card to bring back Hell Spell Striker."

He held up the recovered monster, and then took it and another card from his hand and held them out. "Time for some serious power. I play Mystic Energy Twister, which requires I discard a spellcaster from my hand. Then half that monster's attack is deducted from your life points. Go, Mystic Energy Twister!"

Lucas cried out in shock as a vortex of magical power slammed into his chest, sending him careening backwards. Drake just smirked as he returned Hell Spell Striker to the cemetery, it having fulfilled its purpose. "I set one card face down and end my turn." (LLP: 1200)

"Fine you runt! I activate both of my set cards! Rising Energy lets me discard a card from my hand to boost one of my monsters by 1500 attack for the turn. Then Meteorain allows that monster to deal damage through defense. Finally I discard the top card of my deck to combine for one finishing strike. Annihilate!" The two mages combined their attacks together, sending it at Drake.

"Activate trap, Shield of Shadow Magic! By removing one dark type spellcaster from my grave I can destroy all face-up monsters on the opponent's field with a lower base attack than the removed monster. So I remove Hell Spell Striker, and your Twin Mages goes up in smoke!" The energy attack curled backwards and slammed into the two magicians, blasting them apart.

Lucas grimaced and set a monster face down, completing his turn. Drake drew and then pointed to his Magic Saint, which rose up from its crouched position. "Magic Saint destroys the set monster."

The creature shattered, and then Drake nodded for Lucas to start his own turn. Lucas drew, and then began to laugh again. "I play Monster Reborn, reviving Twin Mages(1400-1400/1000-1000)! Then I combine it with Dimensional Sabre, which lets it remove a monster it destroys from the game. Twin Magic Attack!" (DLP: 2300)

Drake frowned and placed the monster into his pocket. Since his opponent had no cards in his hand, he knew that it was his turn, and by the two cards in his hand he knew exactly what he could do. "Get ready Lucas, because I'm going to crush your monster once again. Muse of Darkness(1500/1400) appears and attacks Twin Mages!"

A handsome man in a black toga instantly appeared and fired a blast of darkness at the Twin Mages. They launched a counterattack, but were instantly blown into a million pieces. "But how? My Twin Mages were much stronger!" (LLP: 1100)

"Any monster that Muse of Darkness battles with loses its effect so your Twin Mages remained at their weak fourteen hundred points, letting my Muse win the battle. Since I've once again defeated your favorite monster, I think I'll end my turn." He folded his arms across his chest to await Lucas' next move.

"You think that will help? Well think again! Goblin Spell Force(2300/100) comes out, and it will attack your monster, losing its effect and letting it stay in attack mode!" A small group of green goblins with wands appeared in front of him, and then they proceeded to beat the Muse down with their wands instead of using magic. (DLP: 1500)

"You're a weird guy Lucas, but I'm far from bothered. I summon Unholy Spell-Master(2800/500) who can only attack if I discard a magic card from my hand. So I discard Repayment of Losses to let him blow away your monster!" A towering creature hidden by a black cloak stood over the goblins and snapped his fingers. Instantly the group of goblins exploded, leaving Lucas with no field. (LLP: 600)

Lucas' entire body quivered as he saw what remained of his life points and the mighty creature that Drake had in play. He had no cards in his hand while Drake still had one, and neither had any magic or trap cards in play. Chosaku snarled and shook a fist at him. "You said you could beat him! So do it already!"

The German nodded and drew. Unsteadily he held the card up...and then burst out laughing. "How perfect! By removing Twin Mages from the cemetery I can summon Fallen Kin(2000/2000) who gains double points during the turn he is summoned through his special effect!"

A monster in a brown robe identical to that of the twin mages appeared, only he was taller and apparently older than his brethren. "For destroying his two younger siblings Fallen Kin will punish you. Strike of the Fallen!"

Drake held up an arm to shield himself from debris as the magician slammed his foot into the ground, sending a wave of dark energy at his monster and blowing it into billions of digital particles. He glanced down at his duel disk and frowned. "Lucky draw there Lucas, but I'm still in." (DLP: 300)

"You see! You cannot defeat me because I am your ultimate foe! My revenge is soon to come, so this next turn is your last!" He roared with laughter, and the two elder Manjyomes joined him, happy that they would once again get a chance to take Duelist Academy for themselves, this time with no outside interference.

"I'll admit that you're good, but not good enough Lucas. Like I said, I'm ten times the duelist I was when we last dueled. Activate magic card, Shot From the Dark! I'll use it to activate Mystic Energy Twister, and I'll discard Black Magician of Chaos(2800/2600) as the cost!" Lucas dropped to his knees in horror as the energy vortex came right at him and then bowled him over. (LLP: 0)

Drake flashed the two elder brothers a smirk and tossed the DD3 back to the younger brother. "Sorry boys, but it looks like Kaiba Corp wins again. Now if you excuse me, I have a class to get to in an hour. But if you have any complaints at all, please feel free to address them to the Offices of Nobody Gives A Damn."

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Drake sighed as he hopped onto his motorcycle and headed back to the apartment that he shared with Kirani. Today had been amusing, but irritating. The brothers had taken his comment seriously, and had proceeded to bombard him and his office with phone calls, claiming that he had cheated. "Damned good for nothing sons of...oh not again!"

He snatched the cell phone out from his pocket where it was receiving a phone call. He flipped it open and pulled his helmet off, stopping the motorcycle so he could talk. "Daisuke Ihachi speaking. Who is it?"

A deep gruff voice spoke on the other end. "We need to speak. Meet me tomorrow at midnight at the established place. Trouble is brewing."

"Wait! What sort of...damn it! He hung up." Drake slid the phone back into his pocket, put his helmet back on, and then started the motorcycle back up. Today had definitely been annoying, and now it seemed that it was going to get worse.

"Dalin...whenever I see you or here from you it seems that my life turns to crap. But at least for today I can relax and not worry about any other crap happening."

There was just one problem with that theory. And that was that he was forgetting Murphy's Law. Anything that can go wrong will go wrong, and he was about to experience it first hand.

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Author's Notes: Hope you enjoyed the first chapter. I enjoyed throwing in Judai and the others, even if only briefly.

Next Time: Daisuke Ihachi has forgotten Murphy's Law and several other aspects of law. Now something he had hoped to forget from his past will return to cause him hell. But Kirani has no intention of letting it happen, so she steps in to aid him and all hell breaks loose!

See it all in, From the Past; Hell's Cat Fight!

Review Response

WolfGeneral: Hope this starts us off more.

NeoArkadia: Yep, five years.

G.O.T. Nick: And this would be more now wouldn't it?

Time Mage: This is where we go. Don't worry, it'll begin to heat up soon enough.

Original Cards

Drake: Muse of Light, Angel Magister, Quick-Play Thief, Unity Power-Darkness, Negative Morality, Demon Magister, Hell Spell Striker, Magic Saint, Mystic Energy Twister, Shield of Shadow Magic, Muse of Darkness, Unholy Spell-Master, Repayment of Losses, Shot From the Dark

Lucas: Spinning Top of Doom, Twin Mages, Repayment of Losses, Dimensional Sabre, Goblin Spell Force, Fallen Kin