(Chapter 5)

With a loud cry, Nephthys flapped her wings and thrust herself towards Ayra.

Seeing this coming, Ayra began to whisper something to herself. She then placed a hand on Denierure's head and her eyes began to glow. A green haired and finned mermaid formed in front of her- A small crown rested on the mermaid's head. She put herself between Nephthys and Ayra.

"I'm sure you don't want to harm her Ka, since it is a main part of her soul" Ayra laughed.

Nephthys stopped her charge and attempted to move around the mermaid, but it seemed that she wouldn't let Nephthys pass.

"She's protecting Denierure. If Nephthys attacks Ayra, then Denierure will also be hit" Yuugi spoke up.

Saratu nodded as she looked on. 'Denierure won't be able to move like that, so she can't get out of Ayra's grip so Nephthys can attack her. What do I do?' she wondered to herself.

"Oneechan? What's going on?" Kuri asked worriedly. Saratu glanced back at her.

"This is why I ran away Kuri. People are after my Ka" Saratu explained, gesturing to Nephthys.

"Saratu, look out!" Yuugi called out. Saratu looked ahead again and another Ka had appeared. It was a monster that looked similar to Dark Necrophia.

Nephthys noticed the Ka, but wasn't able to dodge before it attacked her. It charged up an energy blast and fired it at her. Nephthys took the hit, and fell to the ground, but was able to get herself back into the air. She raised her wings and flapped them with great force, creating a raging flame. It hit the Dark Necrophia, but did no damage.

"You know your Ka cannot hurt mine Saratu. Why must you keep on resisting us?" Ayra questioned.

"I know that Nephthys and I are one being. One can't live without the other. If I let you take Nephthys, I'll die. I'm not going to just sit back and throw my life away" Saratu answered.

"At the cost of the lives of the others that have tried to help you?" Ayra asked.

This surprised Yuugi and Jyonouchi. They both turned to Saratu. "They won't hesitate to do whatever it takes to get what they want." Saratu told them.

"Yet you keep eluding us. We will get you eventually Saratu" Ayra replied

Denierure's Ka leapt towards Nephthys. Surprised by this, she was taken off guard and the Dark Necrophia attacked again. The attack slammed into Nephthys, and Saratu screamed as she felt a sharp pain in her heart. Her Ka was destroyed. She fell to one knee, panting heavily.

"Back off! Holy Surge!" a voice called out. Green energy bolts struck the Dark Necrophia, forcing it to back away from Saratu.

"What was that?" Jyonouchi questioned as another monster hovered down towards them.

"That monster is... Archangel Zerato!" Yuugi answered as the winged monster touched down on the ground.

'I don't have the strength to defeat Zerato. She got lucky again...' Ayra thought as she recalled her own and Denierure's Ka, then took off.

Saratu manged to get to her feet, with Jyonouchi's aid. "T-thank you, but why are you here?" she asked.

The Archangel turned to face her. "I couldn't let them take your Ka" he answered.

Saratu gasped. "T-that voice... Niisan!" she said.

Zerato nodded. "It's good to see Kurisutaru found you" he replied.

"So you're the brother that she was crying about earlier?" Jyonouchi asked.

"I had to use my Ka. That guy killed my body. I don't have much strength left to stay..." Zerato answered as he fell to one knee.

"You're weak, save your strength" Yuugi told him.

Zerato shook his head. "It doesn't matter. Saving my energy won't give me anymore time" he replied. He noticed Kuri was standing a little way away from him, behind Shizuka, a few tears in her eyes. "What's the matter Kuri?" he questioned.

"I don't know what's happening. I thought that you were gone Rianu-niichan" Kuri answered.

"I only had the strength to help Saratu this one time Kuri. I am dead, but I will watch over both of you" Zerato replied as he turned back to Saratu. "Keep each other safe, since the two of us have strong Ka, I don't doubt Kuri might have one too" he told her. Saratu nodded as he faded away.

(Back at the Game Shop, minutes later...)

Saratu was working on a laptop that she had brought with her. She looked up from what she was looking at. "So now you see why I have to stop them. They're not just after me" she told everyone present. Jyonouchi had filled Shizuka in about what was happening, since she had witnessed his duel with Denierure.

"I thought you only cared about getting them off of your own back" Jyonouchi replied, getting a glare in response from Saratu.

"The only way I'm going to do that is defeating all of them, and shutting down their operations. They've ruined enough lives as it is, you saw what they did to Denierure" Saratu explained. Jyonouchi nodded.

"You seemed quiet during the duel Saratu. Is something bothering you?" Yuugi asked.

Saratu sighed. "Both Ayra and Ademu have been chasing me for the last few months. The first time Ayra came after me, she had one of her victims duel me. I almost lost the duel and became one of her dueling dolls. The only reason I was able to win was because I drew Nephthys at the time I needed her" she answered. "I just hope Denierure can free herself of Ayra. She doesn't deserve having her Ka extracted, just because she probably has a strong one." she added.

"If she can keep her mind off of Ayra during her next duel, I think she will." Jyonouchi replied.

Yuugi took out his deck. The Black Magician Girl card was on top. "I just can't believe they'd do what they have, just to get people's Ka. We've been sealed in cards before, but that was just for one duel. I can't imagine what Anzu is going through now" he spoke up.

"We'll get her out of there eventually Yuugi" Saratu replied as she looked back down at her laptop's screen and scrolled down. She gasped as she noticed something. "I was just looking at a site that had a few of the announced cards for the next Duel Monsters booster, and it looks like a card was just made of Denierure's Ka." she said.

"How would Pegasus' card designers know about her Ka?" Jyonouchi questioned.

"One of them might be involved with the people after Saratu" Yuugi suggested. "What does it say about the card?" he asked.

"Let me take a read" Saratu replied as she read over the card's information. "Okay, the card's name is Mermaid Queen Aquaria. It's attack points are 2300, and it's defense points are 1900. It's a Level 6, Water, Fish type monster. To summon it, you have to sacrifice a monster with mermaid in it's card name, or a Princess Ningyo. While it's on the field, while the field is Sea, it's owner is allowed to regain 500 life points every time they draw a card" she explained. "That'd be a perfect card for Denierure's deck" she commented.

"Yeah, but isn't there only five cards in the whole game that have mermaid in their card names?" Jyonouchi questioned.

"Maybe more will get released to make summoning this card easier" Yuugi suggested.

(Elsewhere...)

"You're almost done with Denierure?" her boss asked. He was sat in a large chair, facing away from Ayra.

Ayra nodded. "The duelists never notice the handicap that comes as part of the curse. No matter who Denierure duels, even with her own deck, she'll lose. Her Ka is almost ours" he replied.

"Though you went after another, with no knowledge of his Ka. You were supposed to go after Saratu" her boss said.

"I let Denierure choose her opponent. I was hoping she would choose Saratu, but this gives us the chance to lure him to us if he has a strong Ka. I think he became attached after Denierure explained her story" Ayra explained.

"Stronger duelists do tend to have strong Ka. Keep an eye on him Ayra, and go tell Ademu I need him to get Saratu as soon as he can" her boss told her.

Ayra nodded. "Hai, Kimura-sama" she said

(At the City Square...)

Even though no tournament was going on, there were still people around dueling.

One such person sat on a bench, knees pinned to his chest. His hair was shoulder-length, messy, and black with red highlights in back. He was wearing a white undershirt, over which he wore a tight, red blazer. His belt's excess leather hung loose at his side. His jeans were dark blue, and there were dark circles under his brown eyes. He had earphones in his ears, and was listening to music. A Duel Disk was on his arm.

'He had a powerful dragon, but he didn't handle it too well. Most of his monsters looked to be warriors, I don't see why he's using a card like the Darkness Dragon, if he only has two other dragons in his deck, his opponent handled her's a little better, even though it is a Sea Dragon' he thought to himself.

'Something had to be wrong with her. She could've ended that duel sooner and won, if she used her Levia-Dragon's effect, instead of the Sea Dragon King's, and she'd have still had a hand to work with' he thought as he got up.

One of the duelists around had just finished a duel, and was looking through the cards he had won. He had forced his opponents to play an Ante duel. He noticed the boy's Duel Disk. "Hey! I challenge you to a duel!" he yelled.

The boy just kept on walking. This annoyed the older duelist. "I just challenged you to a duel, don't just walk away from me!" he yelled at him.

The boy stopped and turned around. "I've been watching you, challenging duelists to Ante duels. What will you wager?" he asked.

The older duelist took out his deck and shuffled through. He held up a card. "My rarest card, King of the End - Demise" he called out.

The boy reached into his pocket, and pulled out a card. "I'll wager this" he said calmly. The card he was showing was Five God Dragon.

"That card is one of two cards that possess the highest base attack points. I'll be glad to take it from you" the duelist replied.

"Never underestimate an opponent. My name is Hanabi Ryuuga" Ryuuga told him as they both readied their duel disks.

"I begin my Turn, Draw!" the duelist called out as he began his turn, and the duel. "I summon a monster face down, Turn End" he said. (5 Cards In Hand)

"My Turn, Draw" Ryuuga said, beginning his turn. He smiled a little at his hand before he started playing. "I summon Lord of Dragons, attack mode" he said, laying down the familiar Magic User. (Dark/Magic User. ATK: 1200/DEF: 1100. Effect: When this card is on the Field, Dragon Type Monsters cannot be targeted with Magic, Trap or other effects.) "I'll then play the Continuous Magic Card, Future Fusion" he added. (Continuous Magic. Effect:Choose Fusion materials from your deck for a Fusion monster and send them to Graveyard, and choose a Fusion monster from your Fusion deck. At the 2nd of your Standby Phase after this card is activated, special summon that Fusion monster onto your field (this special summon is treated as Fusion Summon). When this card is not on the field, destroy that monster. When that monster is destroy, destroy this card.). "I sacrifice two Spear Dragons, two Mirage Dragons, and one Masked Dragon, to summon my Five God Dragon" he explained.

"But you have to wait two turns to summon your monster by the effect of Future Fusion" his opponent told him.

"I don't" Ryuuga replied as he discarded the five dragon cards to his graveyard. He slid another card into his duel disk. "Magic Card, Dragon's Mirror! This card allows me to remove from play, cards from my field and graveyard for a Dragon type fusion monster. So, I don't have to wait to summon my Five God Dragon" he explained as his card activated, and the five dragons fused into the dreaded Five God Dragon. (Dark/Dragon. ATK: 5000/DEF: 5000. Effect:This card can only be special summoned by Fusion Summon. Use 5 Dragon type monsters as Fusion material to fusion summon this monster. This card does not receive battle damage from monsters with Earth, Fire, Wind, Water, or Dark type.)

"You've summoned him in a turn!" the duelist exclaimed- Ryuuga smirked slightly.

"Lord of Dragons, attack the face down card!" Ryuuga ordered as the Lord of Dragons prepared a spell, and shot a fireball at the face down card. A Man-Eater Bug was flipped and it ate the Lord of Dragons before it was destroyed.

"One Turn Kill. Five God Dragon! Direct Attack!" Ryuuga called

out as the Five God Dragon powered up it's attack, and hit him. (LP: 0)

(End of Chapter)