Author's Note: I generally don't name chapters by part, but I found this necessary. Keep in mind; about half of this chapter is purely exposition. And about half of the next one will be as well.

Chapter Seven: The Midnight Meeting, Pt. 1

Big. That was the first word that popped into Ryu's mind as he stepped out of his car and looked over at Dalin's home. Ryu had never been a very big money earner, never wealthy, so he had lived in apartments his whole life. Which made stepping up to this house all that more impressive, especially considering that homes like this were getting rare in Japan.

It was just two stories, but for a person used to apartments, it seemed massive for a single person to live in. Property prices were also exorbitant in Japan, so that didn't help. Of course, Dalin was wealthy enough to afford it, being one of the most successful gamers in the world, if not the most successful gamer in the world.

After taking in the house in a few glances, he took the chance to take a glance at his watch, which currently read 11:53. He was early, and knowing Dalin the meeting wouldn't start until exactly midnight. So now was the time to go in and wait.

A few moments before he was going to open the door, it swung out on its own, revealing a massive figure in the doorway. Had he not previously known Dalin, he might have freaked out to discover the six and a half foot man of muscle standing right there. "Come in, we're just waiting on two more."

He stepped inside the house and Dalin closed the door behind him. As soon as he got a good look at the interior of Dalin's home, he felt a little bit surprised. Covering nearly every space available were filing cabinets.

They lined the hallway that led into a living room, which included a television, a couch, and a coffee table. But pushed up against the walls all around the room were even more filing cabinets. Ryu was almost afraid to check the kitchen, or worse, the bathrooms.

After his initial surprise faded, he was able to get a good look at the others in the room. The three people sitting on the couch were Takuya Shinomori, Hikari Ihachi, and Kai Kaethen. Autumn sat in an armchair off to the side, giving Ryu the barest of nods as he walked up.

Had time not passed, this might have bothered him, but he had gotten over their break up years ago, and had moved on. She was always curt with him though, and there was always a slight sting at that. "Hey. Anybody else curious about the cabinets?"

This brought a smile to the others, even Autumn. Of course Dalin didn't smile, but that was just how he was. Had he not seen Kai two years previous, he would have been surprised at the man's somewhat lightened demeanor. He was still a very serious person, but he no longer shut people out as completely as he used to. "That will be answered in due time, once our final guests arrive."

Ryu accepted Dalin's word, knowing that in this house he was in charge, and in general he seemed to be the leader. But the way Dalin said it gave Ryu an impression of some evil host waiting for his guards to bring in some captives that had been trying to sneak in for a rescue. 'You watch way too many movies Ryu.'

A giggle ripped his attention away from pointless lines of thought involving himself, a camera, and a world wide audience. It was at this point that he noticed that the object in Hikari's lap that he previously thought was a blanket was in fact…a baby. "Awake at last huh? Hungry?"

Ryu stared blankly at her as she lifted the bundle up, making silly faces at it. Yes, it was in fact a baby, one that couldn't have been even a year old. The baby was clearly a he, and had little curls of black hair at the top of his head. "I didn't know you had a kid."

Hikari smiled brightly, still cooing at her baby. "I do, he's eight months old. This is my little baby Masue, my pride and joy. He's even interested in Duel Monsters already, he grabbed a pack off a rack while we were at a card shop just a few weeks ago. Maybe some day he'll even be a world class duelist."

Again Ryu was surprised, this time by Kai's actions. The dark haired man leaned back in his seat, folded his arms behind his head, and smirked in a very knowing manner. It was simply seeing Kai smirking that threw Ryu, as it was an expression he was sure he had never seen cross the younger man's face. "Hikari, I can pretty much guarantee it. Some day, he'll be at least as strong a duelist as I am."

"Trying to make her depressed or something?" There was a flash of anger that crossed Kai's face, but it was gone in an instant. All focus in the room then turned to the man that had just walked in behind Dalin.

Wearing a pitch black trench coat that hung nearly to the floor, with his russet-brown hair done back into a dragon tail, was none other than Drake Ihachi. Arms folded across his chest he looked down at Kai, looking very amused. Ryu had to hold back a laugh. 'Man, if ever a duelist went out and said "You suck" that was it in a subtle way.'

Kai stood up from his seat, staring across the room at Drake, their eyes meeting. Even for those who knew of the rivalry between them, its origins, and the various times they had competed, this seemed rather odd. There was a lot more tension than normal. "If you want to say something about me Drake, say it directly. Don't be a coward and try to use veiled words."

"Why? Because you don't have the brains to understand them?" Sparks flashed between their eyes, and Ryu wondered if Dalin had any fluorescent lighting installed in his house. He had heard that was a problem with lights like that.

Nobody else moved, because somehow they sensed that if they said anything it would make the situation worse. As tense as these two were right now, it seemed like if anything even touched the now tangible tension, they would cause an explosion. Or maybe a fist fight, or a duel, or something violent.

The pause was very brief, because Kai's return comment was almost instantaneous. "So, where's Kirani? Didn't want to be seen with you or something?"

The corner's of Drake's mouth curled up into what at first looked like a smile, but on closer inspection was most certainly a sneer. "Oh she's around. She wasn't feeling well, so she stayed home. What about you Kai, have you managed to get laid yet, or are you still a panty-waist loser?"

Kai's left arm lifted up, his DD3 snapping into position in seconds. "Perhaps you'd care to back up your words about my abilities in areas of life with a duel. Or maybe you've gotten weaker recently?" (KLP: 4000)

Drake's sneer widened and his own left arm rose, with his DD2 immediately in position. "You should have learned by now that you're too pathetic to actually manage anything. Hell, if we duel, you won't even touch my life points. And when I grind you into the dirt, I'll make sure you stay there." (DLP: 4000)

"That's enough!" Both men shot glances over at Dalin, who stood with his arms folded, watching them both with those cold, sharp green eyes of his. Slowly the two lowered their arms, deactivating their duel disks.

"We're here to discuss something very important, and your bickering is merely a waste of time. Now, the clock strikes twelve in approximately five seconds." True to his word, a chime went off about five seconds later, indicating that it was indeed midnight. Now it was time for the midnight meeting to begin.

There was a brief respite before the beginning of the meeting as each of those present stood and gathered around Dalin, who was preparing to speak. Once they were settled into place, he began. "Two days ago I had a vision. Its meaning and importance are not fully clear, however with the aid of Isis Ishtar, who was unable to come from Egypt in time, I know that the event happened."

For the next several minutes he described the dream he had. In it, there were two forces that fought, one a gigantic army, and the other a much smaller force led by several people who were nearly invincible. At the end he described what he saw as it could only be described. "I had an image of Death, not as an incarnation or anything similar, but as if it was the absolute nature of Death itself. Not a true image, more of a feeling."

"And exactly what does this mean?" They all glanced over at Takuya, to see him looking very curious about this. He had of course asked the question that they wanted to ask themselves.

"That is an uncertainty, however I do know one thing. The world is treading towards something darker than previous. Something…wrong. Allow me to explain." He reached down to the coffee table and grabbed up a piece of picture. He held it up to them, showing that it was a picture of a yin-yang symbol.

"Now, yin-yang represents how the world normally is in terms of "good" and "evil". At most times these portions are essentially evil. However, this is what the world looks like right now." He grabbed a pen and started scribbling on the piece of paper, working away at it. Finally he stood back up and showed the altered picture to them.

Instead of two even halves separated by a sinuous line, this was different. The black side had invaded the light side, and at least a quarter of the white side was now gone, replaced by black. "Darkness is spreading, the night is coming. I can feel it growing, even at this very moment."

Hikari frowned and leaned in, looking at the altered image. "What does this mean? And what do you mean you can feel it growing?"

Dalin pulled back the paper, and then seemed to steel himself for something. "It's growing, quite literally. The amount of darkness that replaces the light is steadily increasing. I estimate that at the current rate this will be the world in five months."

Again he took the picture and worked on it. Then he lifted the changed version, and what they saw made almost too much sense to them. It was a single circle of one solid color. Black. "At the current pace, the darkness will consume the light completely in approximately half a year's time. The world will enter eternal night."

Ryu scratched the back of his head, staring at the image intently, his eyes completely focused. Finally he got up the nerve to ask. "Okay, so why is that a bad thing? Sure people with myctophobia will have a bad time of it, but eternal night wouldn't be that big a deal. Vegas would be fine at the very least."

A series of incredulous looks shot his way, and Drake snorted. Kai just rolled his eyes at the older man, barely holding back amused laughter. "You have no idea what a metaphor is do you?"

Ryu shrugged, not wanting to admit that he could never quite get the hang of metaphor's and similes. What was the difference anyways? "Okay, so if it's a metaphor, what does it really mean? What are we saying is going to happen in five months?"

"The Apocalypse." This was obviously not what they had been expecting. But what Dalin hadn't been expecting was the various shrugs and noncommittal looks he got in response.

Takuya shoved his hands in his pockets and kicked a foot against the ground, scoffing at this announcement. "Okay, well we stopped the dark spirit, a fragment of a god from causing the Apocalypse. We stopped Eikyuu, an actual god, from causing the equivalent of one. So what's to keep us from stopping this one?"

To their surprise, it wasn't Dalin who spoke in response, but rather Drake. With a dark expression on his face he gave them an answer. "Because this time, it's really Armageddon isn't it? The absolute power of darkness that's growing…it'll sweep away the light and consume the world completely in an eternal night. The Dark Spirit said it was inevitable, that it was merely the nature of the universe to come to an end. And now…this isn't a forced ending, but rather the ending that has been coming for a long time."

Hikari stepped in front of him, clutching her child to her chest and looking both angry and frightened. "How can you say that? What you're saying is that the end of the universe is coming and we can't stop it, no matter what, just because that's the natural order of things? Well I for one refuse to accept that the universe has to end!"

"Even if you refuse to accept it, the truth is the truth. The end is coming for us, and there's nothing that can be done to stop it. Perhaps we should just relax and enjoy our remaining time in this life before it's swept away." Hikari took a step back, seeing the intense look in his eyes. There was something…different about him.

"Perhaps, but perhaps not. I too feel that this darkness is natural, as if this is the desired order of things that the universe ceases. However…there is something odd. I have felt them as I have traveled, hot spots of negative energy." He reached his hand out, sweeping it through one spot in the middle of nothing.

The others looked at him in confusion, but he gestured for them to do the same. One by one they passed their hands through this spot, and each of them came to the same conclusion. "It's like…a patch of polluted water coming up from a well of darkness."

Dalin nodded, appreciating that they had seen what he had. "This is not the first patch of darkness I have felt, and I doubt it will be the last. Yet were this coming Apocalypse completely natural, I would be unable to do this."

Once more he placed his hand into that area, but this time his hand took on a silvery glow. After a few seconds, he pulled his hand backwards. "Feel the area now, and you will see what I have seen."

Following suit the rest of the group did as they had done less than a minute earlier. But each of them had a completely different reaction this time. Kai stared down at his hand in complete surprise, not quite understanding how it was possible. "The darkness is…gone? You removed it."

Drake tapped a finger against his chin, and then his eyes widened in understanding. "The darkness is welling up from somewhere else…this coming Apocalypse is being brought from another place to this one…and pure magic can remove these patches, purify them."

Ryu, finally catching up with the rest of them, managed to get a word in edgewise. "So what you're saying is that if we go around the world and find these patches of darkness, we can stop the end of the universe or something like that?"

Dalin shook his head, and Ryu sighed in disappointment. He was sure he had been on to something there. "Unfortunately, all that would do is delay the coming darkness. No, what we must discover is the source of this corruption and put a stop to it. And I believe I know who we must locate to learn the truth."

There was a pause as Dalin tilted his head to the side, almost as if he were listening to something that the others couldn't see. Or at least so they thought, because Drake shortly after turned to listen in. "Somehow they know, and they're coming to stop us."

Purple fog began to roll into the room, coming in from the windows, and under cracks in doors. They were all experienced enough to recognize exactly what this meant, so that there was no need to comment on it. "We'll continue this discussion later. For now, every be ready to fight."

They were all prepared, giving nods of acknowledgment, just moments before the darkness covered them. The Darkness Games were just getting started.

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Ryu frowned, looking around at the surrounding darkness. He had been in his share of Darkness Games, the last one just a few years previous. This, while similar, didn't feel the same. It didn't feel as strong. "Come one out so we can get this over with."

"You're an impatient guy, but I don't mind that. I was told that I should pick out Ryu Shigeru and kick his ass in a duel, and make sure he can't do anything afterwards. So, with the power of my deck, the power of Blood, and the power of the Darkness Game, I'll crush you!" The sound of a duel disk being activated brought Ryu's attention to his left, where a man was walking out of the darkness.

Clad in street clothes, this consisted of jeans with a rip in one knee and a plain black t-shirt, was a man no older than nineteen. His black hair hung limply to his waist, having no body to it at all. But there was a duel disk proudly on his arm, and he seemed confident, brown eyes shimmering in the darkness. "Ryu Shigeru, weakest of his fellow companions…you're my target. Prepare to lose to Imoto Yutaro!" (ILP: 4000)

Clicking his own duel disk into the on position, Ryu couldn't help but smirk slightly. "The weakest of my companions? Maybe I am, maybe I'm not. But what you have to remember is that when comparing me to them…it's like comparing a firefly to the sun. Drake and Dalin…those two are gods among duelists, and so I could never hope to match them. Even Kai is beyond me…but I'll fight on no matter what, and that's my strength!" (RLP: 4000)

Imoto chuckled as he drew his opening hand, mimicked by Ryu. "That's your strength? Openly admitting that compared to your friends you're a weakling? Fine, but being the bottom of the top of the ladder is still the bottom! So I'll defeat you easily!"

Immediately he grabbed another card off his deck and added it to his hand. Then he placed a card onto his duel disk. "Come on out and start us off, Marauding Captain(1200/400)! And with your effect I'll summon Goblin Elite Force(2300/1500)!"

First came a callous looking blonde man in blue armor, wielding two swords. Then following him was a group of a dozen or so green goblins in polished armor, holding shining shields and swords. "I set one card face down and end my turn."

Ryu took one swift look down at his hand of cards, and then chose his play. "You think the power of your monster will save you? Let's let Amberite Dragon(1400/2100) prove you wrong!"

A small dragon with amber colored skin formed from the darkness, its eyes bright red orbs. "Now, Stamping Destruction!" Imoto's eyes widened as a Godzilla-eske foot slammed down from above on his set card, flattening it. (ILP: 3500)

"I'll follow that up by playing Dragon's Gunfire! And using it's effect I'll destroy Marauding Captain!" A ball of flame shot out of the dragon's mouth and shattered the captain as if he weren't even there.

"Amberite Dragon's special ability activates! By forfeiting its attack for the turn I can shift one of your monsters into defense, and while in defense it can't protect your life points. In addition, as long as Amberite Dragon remains in play that monster can't switch modes. So, Goblin Elite Force goes to sleep!" The dragon's eyes turned a golden color, and the goblins instantly turned to stone.

Imoto looked truly panicked at this, but started to calm down when he had a realization. "I'm wide open, but your monster can't attack and you've already summoned this turn. So I'm all good for now."

"Nobody said you were fine, because you aren't! Go, Surprise Attack From the Darkness! Using its effect, despite Amberite Dragon's drawback, it now gets to attack you directly!" Golden flame sprayed forth from its mouth, washing over Imoto and driving him backwards. (ILP: 2100)

"End turn." Ryu slid the final two cards in his hand onto his duel disk, emptying out his hand and bringing his turn to its conclusion. Though it had taken nearly all of his hand, he had still managed a deadly assault that nearly cut his opponent's life points in half.

Imoto drew, seeming a bit surprised by Ryu's power. "I'll admit that I wasn't expecting that much strength…but you're still falling into my own trap. Activate magic card, Obligatory Summon! Now summon as many dragon sub-type monsters as you can from your deck to the field!"

Ryu didn't quite know what his opponent was up to, but he figured he should play it safe just in case. "I summon Diamond Dragon(2100/2800) in defense mode! Emerald Dragon(2400/1400) in attack mode! Crystal Dragon(2500/1900) in attack mode! And last but not least, Sapphire Dragon(1900/1600)!"

Four monsters, each one the color of the gem it represented, took shape in front of him. They were of varying shapes and sizes, but none of them was hideous or unimpressive. "You've got balls, bringing out some of your big guns like that. Not that it'll help. Activate magic card, Emblem of Dragon Destroyer!"

A card ejected from his deck and he placed it amongst the other cards in his hand. Then he slid two cards from his hand into the graveyard. "Cost Down lets me discard a card to reduce all monsters in my hand by two levels for this turn. Now, I tribute Goblin Elite Force for Buster Blader(5100/2300)!"

The massive buster sword wielding monster in purple armor now emerged, gathering energy from each dragon into its blade, granting it even more attack power. "The card I just discarded is called Farewell Message, and when discarded for a card cost it destroys all other magic and trap cards in play!"

Ryu threw up a hand to shield himself as both of his face down cards shattered, revealing a Burst Breath and a Dragon's Rage. "With nothing to stop me, I'll kill Amberite Dragon in one slash. Buster Blader, attack with Bastard Blade!"

A single cleave of the curved sword detached the younger dragon's head from its neck. The rest of the body collapsed without the mind to support it, the stump of the neck spurting blood out onto the black ground. "Let's see you recover from that." (RLP: 300)

The dragon user looked down at his deck, and then back up at his opponent. "So you prepared to face me specifically? Regardless of that, it doesn't matter. It's time I show you that even as a firefly amongst stars, I still outshine you by far!"

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Takuya sighed as his opponent threw another card onto his duel disk. "Zone Control lets me select two magic or trap zones and make you unable to use them. So you're one farthest out and the one closest to your deck are gone!"

He nodded, not really bothered. Right now he had four of his magic zones unusable thanks to Zone Controls, and four of his monster zones unusable thanks to two Ground Collapse cards. He had King's Knight(1600/1400) on the field and one card face down, while his opponent had those four continuous cards, plus two set monsters.

"Next up, I flip summon Man Eater Bug(450/600) to destroy King's Knight!" A gigantic green bug leapt at his warrior and using its clawed hands, shoved the knight into its waiting maw. Takuay didn't even flinch at seeing his monster vanished.

"Then, I flip summon Crimson Ninja(300/300) and use his flip effect to blow away your set card!" Takuya's final card on the field was also blown apart, leaving him completely vulnerable at the moment.

"Now…to continue my combo, I tribute both of my monsters to summon Controller of the Mind's Eye(1800/1400)! Whenever this monster deals damage to the opponent, I can select one of their zones and make it permanently unusable! Mind's Eye Crush!" Takuya felt an assault on his mind, but his own natural mental barriers kept him safe. (TLP: 2200)

"I think I'll choose your monster zone to be worthless. Without your monsters, there's absolutely nothing you can do to stop me. So, I end my turn there." Takuya smiled slightly, impressed by his opponent. Despite the fact that the younger man had defended most of the duel, his strategy overall was fairly effective. If he could lock down Takuya completely, then it was all over.

"You're good kid…I'll admit that much. But your strategy takes way too much effort to set up…and far too little effort to knock it down! Go magic card, Reins of Power! At a cost of half my life points our fields are swapped for one turn!" The teen's eyes went wide as Controller of the Mind's Eye and the four continuous magic cards drifted over to Takuya's field. (TLP: 1100)

"If it means defeating my opponent's, I can accomplish anything. I've come along way over these past years from a duelist whose deck was merely a jumble of cards that he liked to a duelist who has true power. Now, with that true power, I'll finish you off!" He flipped around another of the cards in his hand, and his field started to glow.

"A Knight's Tale lets me sacrifice one monster on my field to special summon three monsters from my deck with 'knight' in their title. All that costs is half of my life points. So goodbye to your monster, and hello to Burn-Up Knight(1400/1200), Knight of Youth(700/300), and Forever Knight(1000/1000)!" His three monsters began to appear, but they were barely visible long enough for it to matter. (TLP: 650)

The glow continued to build, the three knights consumed by the energy as he took another card from his hand and held it out. "The monsters summoned by A Knight's Tale cannot attack during the turn they are summoned. So I'll replace them by summoning this monster…a monster of which only ten exist. Take your place at my side, The Once and Future King: Pendragon(3500/3000)!"

His opponent appeared absolutely terrified as the dignified man in majestic armor replaced the three lesser knights. He held a sword that seemed to gleam like the moon and a shield with an emblem of a dragon on it. "When summoned Pendragon destroys all face-up magic and trap cards on the field!"

The four continuous magic cards shattered into nothingness. "But that's barely important right now. Your field is empty, thanks to your own efforts, and so is your hand. There are no cards in your grave I don't know, and none can stop me. So…direct attack!"

A wave of holy energy swept aside his opponent, and seemed to burn away the darkness as well. "Well fought kid, but not good enough." (KLP: 0)

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Drake looked around, a sneer coming to his face as he studied the darkness. "This weak stuff again? If you're going to give me any sort of enjoyment I'm going to have to make things more interesting. Step one: Negate the Darkness Game."

He snapped his fingers and the darkness around him and his opponent faded. His opponent could only stare at him in horror, having been told that such a feat was impossible. Briefly he saw a black Kanji symbol burn on his opponent's forehead, but then it was gone like a trick of the light. "Now I replace your game with one of my own, a level six Darkness Game!"

"What…what's going on?" Drake's opponent, a young man of seventeen who had called himself 'Thrasher', was at this point just two steps away from having a nervous breakdown. He had felt all powerful since he had started using Blood, but he felt like a fly while he was near this guy. And the Darkness was so much more intense now as well. (DLP: 4000, TLP: 4000)

"Runt, I won't give you a chance to do anything at all. I'll kill you here and now, because there's no point in me wasting my time! Activate magic card, Assemblage of Darkness! At a cost of five hundred life points per card, and shuffling one card into my deck from my hand, I can add an equal number of cards to my hand from my deck, provided they aren't monsters." He smirked and held up four cards, then reshuffled them into his deck. (DLP: 2000)

Thrasher gulped, feeling true fear for the first time since he had begun using Blood. "Even if you try to kill me, Blood's connection to me will let it be burned up in place of my life. So even if I lose, I'll still live."

Drake paused, looking at the four new cards he held. His eyes narrowed slightly as he contemplated something, and then finally he broke into a grin. "You're a weakling but…you just gave me the answer to a riddle. So let me thank you by burning away your life quickly! Death Meteor!"

The punk screamed as a ball of fire slammed into him, ripping away his right arm, leaving him with a bleeding stump of a shoulder. He couldn't think of any words to express his pain, so he screamed louder and louder, just staring at the place his arm used to be. "Stop being such a crybaby. Death Meteor number two!" (TLP: 2000)

The second meteor took Thrasher's left leg off at the knee, and without that added support he fell over, lying face down on the ground, blood pooling around him. "At this rate your nickname could be Stumpy McGee. But when my last card is played there won't be anything left. Death Meteor number three!" (TLP: 1000)

The other arm was blown away, leaving Thrasher with only a single limb remaining. His sobs not intermixed with groans of suffering. "Fear not, the suffering is just about over. Final magic card…activate! Armageddon Meteor, and with three Death Meteors in the grave it now deals five thousand damage!" (TLP: 0)

Thrasher's flesh boiled away before the meteor even hit. When it did hit, the rest of Thrasher's body was incinerated. "Although you were hardly a challenge, you did give me an answer to an important question. Now…all that's left is to discover just what Dalin intends to do next."

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Back in his apartment, Daisuke Ihachi stared blankly ahead at the television set. It was off, and all the lights in the apartment were off. Unfinished ramen sat unattended in a pot on the stove. Everything was just as he had left it before the previous afternoon.

'But it's not the same. I can still feel her, like a shadow of her presence…but she's really gone, isn't she?' His thoughts remained on the woman that was gone, far away from the meeting he was supposed to be attending.

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The first thing Kai heard upon reorienting to the darkness was a man's voice. "I though I was getting Drake Ihachi? Who the hell are you?"

Kai's left eye twitched slightly at this. "I'm Kai Kaethen."

A tall man of about 6'3 emerged. He had dark skin and curly black hair, along with a silvery DD2 on his right arm. "Yeah? Well I'm Colin Allanzo, and I ain't never heard of you before."

"I placed second twice in the Japanese National Championships. I placed in the top eight last year at the World Tournament." Colin eyed him blankly, still not getting the connection.

"Sorry, I still don't recognize the name. Damn it, and I was hoping to face one of the world's top duelists. Defeating a guy like that would be a true test of my abilities, but I guess in the end I'm just going to have to settle for a nobody." Sighing in frustration he activated his duel disk. (CLP: 4000)

Kai's left eye continued to twitch at a machine gun pace, and his right fist was clenched so tight that his knuckles had gone white. 'This guy…he's not kidding at all. He's got no clue who I am…and he's treating me like a half-rate duelist. If it weren't for those Drake comments it wouldn't be as bad but…I just can't tolerate this!'

Growling in annoyance he pressed the activation button for his duel disk, triggering it immediately. "You may not know who I am, but that won't stop me from walking all over you. I'll show you my power and you won't walk away from it at all."

Colin sneered, already assessing his hand. "Ken, you don't stand a chance. Let me show you exactly what I mean!" He drew, and smirked at whatever he saw.

"My name is Kai!"

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Dalin's expression was completely neutral. But then again his expression was pretty much always neutral. "I have no time for games. Show yourself."

"Sure. I have to say though; this isn't what I was expecting. I knew I'd be facing a tough duelist…but the world's best? This is a treat indeed." A woman with long jet black hair approached him from the darkness, her facial features more masculine than feminine, with strong lines.

She smirked in a cocky manner and her black duel disk locked into place. "I'm Ebony by the way. It may seem clichéd, but that's not really a big deal. So, Dalin Imaki Sumatin, the Duel King…can you defeat me?" (ELP: 4000)

The muscular duelist activated his DD3, not even blinking in surprise at her confidence. He had heard many confident duelists before, and most likely at least half of them were better than she was. "Let's begin." (DLP: 4000)

Ebony smirked and immediately slammed one of the cards she was holding into her duel disk. "You won't last to the end of your first turn! Bury the Dead lets me send three monsters from my deck to my grave!"

Her duel disk scanned for the cards she had chosen, and then they popped out, letting her take them and slide them into the grave. "Next, I summon Soul Absorbing Bone Tower(500/1500)!"

Stretching up into the darkness was a terrifying structure that was dead as night, and constructed from corpses of the dead as well. Piled around it were skeletons. "As long as there are other zombies on my field this monster can't be attacked, and if I special summon a zombie from the grave you have to discard the top two cards of your deck."

Dalin didn't seem very interested in her first monster. He was as casual as he had been at the start. "You still seem confident, so let me treat you to a surprise. Silent Dead brings back a monster I sent to the grave in defense mode, my Eternal Dead(800/700)!"

A rotting corpse with a red aura around it dragged itself out of the ground. Immediately a ball of black fire slammed into Dalin, sent by the giant tower. In compliance with its effect he held up his top two cards, Rise to Heaven and Pluto, Angel of Weakening, and discarded them.

"The time has come to introduce you to the Infinite Deck Drain Combo! I sacrifice Eternal Dead to special summon a level three or lower zombie from the cemetery to the grave. Using its effect I special summon another Eternal Dead(800/700)!" The zombie was replaced by an identical one, and Dalin lost two more cards.

"Do you see it? By continuously sacrificing my Eternal Deads I can drain every last card off your deck, leaving you with nothing to draw! In a straight out duel I doubt I could beat you…but even you can't win now! It's impossible!" She smirked coldly as the last cards in his deck went to the cemetery, leaving him with an empty deck tray and only five cards in his hand.

Ebony folded her hand of cards together, signaling the end of her turn. That meant that Dalin's turn was about to start, and as soon as he tried to draw his fingers would touch nothing, and he would automatically lose. Yet despite that, he was just as calm as ever. 'Flinch damn you!'

With his hand hovering over his empty deck tray, Dalin's eyes met hers and she felt like they pierced directly into her soul and read every aspect of her being. "There's something you should understand right now. When I'm involved…nothing is impossible."

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Author's Notes: And now, for dueling.

Next Time: The meeting has been interrupted, and duelists under the influence of the mysterious mystic drug "Blood" have attacked the group. Dalin stands one draw away from defeat, and Kai faces an opponent who needs to be taught respect. Though danger looms before them, their goal has yet to be revealed. What task does Dalin have for them? Such a question can only be answered if he survives.

See it all in, The Midnight Meeting Pt. 2

Review Response

Time Mage: Keep in mind, just because a character says something doesn't mean it's true. The truth will ultimately be revealed, but it isn't always true the first time you hear it. And now you see that you interpreted Kirani's mistaken Punishment Game basically right. Dark Drake is alive, well, and has his own body.

G.O.T. Nick: Thanks for the compliment. But, as a matter of fact, Drake going dark was not really her reason for leaving. At least not completely.

The White Mage: Poor Kirani? Your logic for that one escapes me. Weren't you hoping for her to die just a chapter ago?

WolfGeneral: Perfectly understandable.