Beneath the Surface

by G.O.T. Nick

Sequel to Tokyo Tournament. A powerful force of darkness approaches, and to combat it all the forces of good must stand together...and even then, it may not be enough.

6. Matter of Business

For disclaimer, see the beginning of this story. Bastard.

New pre-chapter feature: "When I become world dictator…", because we all know it's going to happen some day. And by that I mean "I know it's going to happen some day, and if you get on my good side now I just might think about letting you live when it does happen." Anyways, I'm going to just be discussing the changes I'll be making when the day arrives. So, let the warnings begin!

When I become world dictator, the workers and owners of 4Kids will be rounded up to be used for my personal entertainment purposes. Activities involving said persons will include crowding around a shotgun-wielding vice president, swimming in boiling blood (policy is Bring Your Own Blood), and lots of things ending in "-ation".

With that said, I would now like to wish a (late) happy birthday to Time Mage, whom this chapter is dedicated to. So, let's get this baby started!

Beneath the Surface
by G.O.T. Nick

Chapter Five: Matter of Business

In a dimly lit room, Todaku reclined in his armchair, holding a glass of wine lightly in his left hand. His eyes shifted between a series of images he had summoned before him, depicting images of the three remaining followers he had sent out, as well as Kaiba, Joey, and Nick. "I find it amazing," he said aloud, "what lengths you humans will go to when given a bit of incentive."

"Yes, my lord," an answer came from behind the black-haired mastermind. The words were spoken by a crouching figure with a bowed head, who had been in that position since arriving in the room some time ago.

"Our enemies are opposing us because they want to live," Todaku continued, sipping his wine, "that's to be expected. All living things are naturally inclined to attempt to survive. But every human that I have recruited thus far did not do so because they wanted to live. No, that would have been a foolish and ironic decision. They pledged their loyalties for some of the strangest reasons… Most of them for money and power." He snorted, "What is this fascination humans have with money?"

"I do not know, my lord," came the reply.

"It is a ridiculous concept," Todaku carried on, "gold and silver and diamond…they serve no other purpose than to look pretty. The reason money exists is because some worthless piece of shit was too lazy one day to exchange anything of real value to pay a favor, so he gave them some shiny rocks and said they could be traded for something else." He took another sip of wine, "The truth of money is that those who have the most of it are just as poor as anyone else, but the rest of the world is moronic enough to think that they have power." He took a deep breath, and closed his eyes, waiting for the images in front of him to display the three remaining targets. "Some of the others agreed to fight for me for even more ridiculous reasons. Wisdom, knowledge…" he spat out the last one, "Love…"

"…" Todaku's underling paused, pondering how best to reply. "Humans are…complicated beings. We have many needs, but also many desires. In modern times, desires are typically addressed more quickly than necessities. It is simply the way the world works nowadays. And, if I may be so bold…rich wine is not generally considered a necessity…"

Todaku smirked, and took a sip of his drink before replying. "You have me there," he threw back his head and gulped down the rest of his glass. "But for some reason, it just feels right. Secretly observing my enemies…relaxing in an armchair…drinking expensive alcoholic drinks…it just seems to fit the niche, if you understand me."

"There are many things about you that I cannot hope to comprehend, my lord."

Todaku smirked, and sat back further in his chair as he watched Kaiba's jet descend. "Yes, that part feels right too."

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There are many advantages to owning a private jet that is the size of a helicopter. For one thing, you can go pretty much anywhere very quickly. In fact, if it had not been for Shaun's head start, Kaiba would have been the first to reach his destination through non-magical means. But Seto Kaiba, teenage billionaire owner of Kaiba Corp., was not thinking about these things as he and his younger brother Mokuba descended in his blue and white, dragon-shaped jet towards their destination on the large Japanese island of Shikoku. Instead, his attention was focused on the pendant attached to his white trench coat that was gradually growing brighter and brighter as the jet lowered itself to the ground. 'Weird design,' he thought to himself as he gazed upon the emblem of a pair of snakes, curling around each other. Then he turned his attention to the area outside his jet, where a crowd was beginning in the large, open field. Rather than attempting to find a landing pad, Kaiba had decided to just land while they were as close as possible to whoever it was they were trying to find.

As soon as the dragon-shaped jet touched down, Kaiba opened up the hatch, removed his headset, and leapt nimbly from the cockpit. Behind him, Mokuba slowly followed suit. "Alright, let's get this over with as soon as possible," Kaiba muttered to himself, unclipping the trinket from his coat and extended it away from his body. He experimentally moved his arm to the left and right, until he found the direction in which the icon glowed brightest, and walked that way. Kaiba found that his luck that day happened to be very good.

"Seto Kaiba?" questioned a vaguely familiar voice, spoken by a boy in his late teenage years that stood directly in Kaiba's path after the billionaire took only half a dozen steps. "What are you doing here?"

Kaiba narrowed his cold blue eyes at the person. He recognized the speaker vaguely, but couldn't recall from where or when. A quick glance at the device on the teen's wrist indicated that he was a duelist, and the pendant in Kaiba's hand was glowing to the extent that it was almost blinding. "You," he addressed the teen sharply, after a few seconds of unsuccessfully trying to remember his name, "take this for a second." Then he thrust the golden intertwined serpents into the other man's hand, causing the object to pulse momentarily, then grow dull. Kaiba grinned, very slightly, "Alright, time to go. Now I can stop wasting time with this bull shit and get back to my work…"

"Wait, what?" the black-haired teen blurted out, as Kaiba motioned for him to follow, "Go? Where? Why? What-?" And then he turned around when he felt a hand clap over his shoulder.

"Hello," greeted a man with a grin, "nice to meet you. What's your name?"

The teen, thoroughly confused already by the sudden recent occurrences, blinked his one blue and one brown eye several rapid times, and blurted out, "Kai Kaethen…Um…can I help you?"

"Actually, yes," said the man, still grinning, "first thing, get a haircut." He gestured towards Kai's black dragon-tail, which was hanging over his shoulder. Kai frowned for a minute, and flicked the hair over his shoulder. "But anyways, I'm trying to start up my own company, and I would very much appreciate it if you would make a contribution to help give me the jump start."

"Uh…" Kai blinked and quirked an eyebrow, "you mean, like a donation?"

The man smirked in response, "In a manner."

Kaiba rolled his eyes, turned, and walked back to Kai. "I don't have time to listen to worms like you beg for good will," he said sharply to the man next to Kai, "so get out of my sight before I have to make you see why you don't deserve to be in my presence."

The man simply smirked back at Kaiba, and adjusted the white tie of his otherwise completely black business suit. "Sorry, but I'm afraid you'll just have to wait, Mr. Kaiba," he said calmly, and suddenly a black mass of some kind of energy shot out of his arm, encompassing he, Kai, and Kaiba in a dome of black shadows.

Kaiba's eyes widened and he spun around in time to see the curtain of shadows fall just before his younger brother could jump under them. "Damn it!" he yelled, "Mokuba!"

"Oh, how unfortunate," the man said with a smirk, "you have emotions too. Aren't they bothersome? Especially when someone separates you from something you care about very deeply. The feeling must be very painful…"

"What do you want?" Kai cut the man off suddenly, and he slowly backed away to grant him a bit of distance from the suited man.

"Now now, my boy," the man replied lightheartedly with a wave of his hand, "introductions first. Didn't your mother ever teach you to always introduce yourself when you meet a person for the first time?" A thought seemed to strike him just then, and he appeared to look at something off in the distance for a moment before turning his attention back to his audience, "Well, I suppose you did introduce yourself, it was just me who didn't. How rude of me…" He cleared his throat, and ran a hand through his slick silver hair and dusted off his suit for a few seconds before continuing, "My name is Nobuyuki Sono. I believe we've met in the past, Seto Kaiba."

Kaiba quirked an eyebrow for a moment, "Have we? I don't recall."

Nobuyuki sniffed sharply, "I should've expected this. Feh, it doesn't matter now, anyways. It's a stroke of luck for me that you happened to show up instead of someone else. Now I can accomplish my short-term and long-term goals all in one day." He turned his attention to focus on Kai again. "Boy," he said sharply.

Kai sneered back at Nobuyuki, "It's Kai."

"Whatever," Nobuyuki said with a dismissive tone. Then he held out his left arm, which became encompassed in a black aura that morphed and shaped itself into a Duel Disk that was jet black in color yet was so lustrous that it had a highly reflective surface. The Life Point counter lit up, displaying Nobuyuki's starting total in bright green numbers (Nobuyuki LP: 4000). "You wear a Duel Disk, so you must play the game," Nobuyuki expounded, "so let's get this over with." With that, he drew five cards in one swift motion, then stood with his arms crossed, waiting for Kai to respond.

And respond Kai did, by activating his own, normal Duel Disk and sliding his deck into its respective slot while the Life Point counter ticked upwards (Kai LP: 4000). "I draw," Kai announced, swiping six cards from the top of his deck to start his turn. "I begin by summoning Breaker the Magical Warrior (1600/1000)!" Immediately, the well-known mage stepped onto the field in front of Kai, covered in deep red armor with gold lining and bearing a sword in his right hand and an ornate shield in the right. "When Breaker is Normal Summoned, he gains a spell counter, which grants him three hundred extra attack points," Kai stated, even as his spell caster's attack rose (1900/1000). "I then set three cards facedown," he concluded, more than half of his hand disappearing into his Duel Disk, "End turn."

'Odd…' Kaiba thought to himself, 'I've seen Breaker's holographic image before, but…this seems far more realistic…'

Nobuyuki smirked as he drew, fingering one of the other cards in his starting hand. "Breaker?" he questioned, half-addressing himself, "a good card to spring after the opponent has set a card hoping to defend themselves, but hardly a good choice for a starting move." When he noticed that Kai wasn't paying heed to what he was saying, he frowned and continued, "I activate Cheap Production. This card allows me to discard any number of cards from my hand and summon that many Machines whose levels are four or under from my hand to the field. So here come two of my Cyber Soldiers (2500/2500 x2)!" As he slipped three cards into his graveyard, two of the other cards from his hand landed on his Duel Disk, and a pair of humanoid robots covered in shimmering white plating appeared in front of him.

"Twenty-five hundred attack points?" Kai exclaimed in shock, as the pair of androids turned their heads to look at his weaker Breaker.

"Yes," Nobuyuki replied, offhandedly, "but each Cyber Soldier loses five hundred attack and defense for each card in my hand (2000/2000 x2). Don't worry though, the Machines summoned with Cheap Production cannot attack the turn they are summoned…Oh, unless I activate Quick Attack from my hand. That would change things, wouldn't it (Cyber Soldiers: 2500/2500 x2)?" The last card in Nobuyuki's hand suddenly disappeared into his graveyard, and both his creatures roared towards Kai's field. The first clamped its hands over Breaker's body, then suddenly sent a stream of electricity through the mage so intense that it killed him instantly. The other ran forward, and reached for Kai as well.

'Something's wrong,' Kaiba almost jumped in surprise when he heard the words, but then realized that they were from his own thoughts, 'Kaiba Corps. has never invented anything so realistic…it's almost as if…' His eyes widened, and suddenly he shouted, "Kaethen! Get out of the way!"

Kai, however, had already experienced the Duel Disk's ability to provide realistic impact when a powerful blow landed directly. He didn't hesitate to duck as Nobuyuki's remaining Cyber Soldier swung a large metal fist over his head (Kai LP: 900).

"Most impressive, Mr. Kaiba," Nobuyuki stated, applauding slightly as his mechanical soldiers returned to his field, "you're obviously an expert on your own products to have noticed the added realism our battleground provides to this duel."

"It's not just because of that," Kaiba rebuked, "I've already experienced this crap before, and every single time you idiots pull the same redundant trick. Making the duel more realistic, and then saying if you lose your soul is taken. Really, everyone who tries to launch an evil plot must attend some sort of Wannabe Villain's Convention. That's the only way to explain why no one can come up with an original idea."

Kai narrowed his eyes at Nobuyuki, "I see. It's the same as the tournament in Tokyo. Everything's real now. It's no longer a game, it's a battle, just like it's supposed to represent."

"Yes yes yes," Nobuyuki said quickly with a wave of his hand, "please just take your move already. Now that we've gotten the big revelation out of the way, we can move on to the good stuff."

"That's fine with me," Kai complied, snapping a card from the top of his deck. "I summon Life Breaker (1600 + 300/1000), who gains a counter just like his fellow Breaker." Another mage, almost identical in appearance to Breaker the Magical Warrior except with burgundy armor instead of pure red, appeared as he spoke, wielding the same sword and shield as its predecessor.

"Hm…" mused Nobuyuki, chin in hand, "'fellow Breaker,' you say? Does that mean that there are even more Breakers besides these last two?"

"That's exactly right," replied Kai, "now, I activate Life Breaker's effect! By sacrificing his counter, I can deal you 200 damage times the level of your strongest monster!" Life Breaker's (1600/1000) sword began to glow the same shade as its armor, and the mage fighter swung its blade in an elegant arc, sending a burst of burgundy-shaded energy shooting through one of Nobuyuki's Cyber Soldiers and then into the duelist himself (Nobuyuki LP: 3200).

Nobuyuki snarled, and ripped off his charred and ruined tie. "Lucky hit, and you've left a weak monster in play. I'll soon make you pay for ruining my best suit!"

"If you want to make me pay," Kai stated, setting a fourth card facedown, "come and make me."

Nobuyuki snapped a card from his Duel Disk, giving him just that one card in hand. His Cyber Soldiers temporarily lost attack points, but that was fixed immediately when he slid the drawn card into his Duel Disk, and two large machines with broad, bat-like wings shimmered into play flanking the two stronger machines. "I pay one thousand Life Points (Nobuyuki LP: 2200) to play Bonds of Brothers, summoning two level four or lower monsters of the same type as any I already have in play. My choices are two Cyber Demons (1000/2000 x2) in defense mode." The left corner of his mouth then quirked up a bit, "Of course, they're probably not necessary, but getting the last card out of my hand does make my Cyber Soldiers as strong as possible. So with that said, Cyber Soldier attacks!" One of his two mechanical soldiers leapt into action, and raced towards Life Breaker with its arm poised to strike.

"Activate facedown card," Kai replied immediately, one of his set cards flipping up and striking the charging soldier with a bolt of lightning. The soldier struggled for a fraction of a second against the blast of electricity, then exploded in a burst of molten metal and circuitry. "Blitz Counterattack destroys one attack monster and lets me draw a card," he added a second card to his hand from his deck, "however, I have to pay 500 Life Points (Kai LP: 400)."

Nobuyuki simply shrugged, as his second machine began to trudge forward, "The other Cyber Soldier will finish it, then."

"Don't be so hasty," Kai countered, pointing at one of his remaining set cards, "I activate Emergency Provisions, sacrificing Blitz Counterattack while it's still on my field, along with two facedown cards, to gain 1000 Life Points for each card sacrificed." Blitz Counterattack and the indicated set cards shattered, bathing Kai in a blue glow and leaving him a clear field (Kai LP: 3400). "One of my facedown cards was Repayment of Losses," Kai continued, "since it was sent to the graveyard, I draw one more card."

Nobuyuki scowled, "Impressive." Even so, his one remaining Cyber Soldier quickly lunged forth and fired a bolt of energy from its palm at Life Breaker, destroying the mage instantly (Kai LP: 2500).

Kai narrowed his eyes at Nobuyuki as he drew a fourth card, and looked his hand over. "You've got a very strange strategy," he commented as he mentally went over his available moves.

Nobuyuki grinned, "What, because I'm not preserving my hand or setting up defenses with facedown cards? Don't underestimate me, boy, I can easily crush you without attempting to coincide with your ideas that preserving resources leads to victory."

"We'll see," Kai muttered, before announcing his next move, "I summon Monster Breaker (1600 + 300/1000)."

Kaiba's eyes narrowed as he observed the entrance of Kai's latest Breaker, this one having black armor. 'It seems that this guy's changed his deck strategy a bit since the Tokyo Tournament. I never saw him even use the original Breaker, but now it looks like his entire deck is made up of them… Breaker the Magical Warrior is one of the cards that Yugi has used several times, but it's far from the focus. I remember, though, that the Breakers were given a large amount of support somewhat recently. Is this kid someone who can unlock their full potential?'

"Monster Breaker's effect is as its name suggests," Kai stated, as his monster's sword became surrounded in a black aura, "I can sacrifice his counter to destroy on monster on the field. And of course, I'm targeting Cyber Soldier!" Monster Breaker swung his sword in a wide arc, launching a burst of black energy that struck Nobuyuki's machine and destroyed it. Nobuyuki merely frowned in response, while Kai smirked in triumph at his small victory, "Since I can't get past either Cyber Demon, I'll just set a card facedown and end my turn."

Nobuyuki drew to begin his turn, then grinned and pointed to his monsters, which were both glowing with a purple aura, "The effect of Cyber Demon activates during my Draw Phase. If, at the start of my Draw Phase, I have no cards in my hand, each Demon lets me draw an additional card," with that, he quickly snapped two more cards from the top of his deck, giving him three total in hand to Kai's two. "I set two of these cards facedown," Nobuyuki quickly decided, placing one card behind each Cyber Demon. Then one of the machines vanished, and a taller, humanoid form was left in its place. The monster seemed similar in appearance to the commonly-played Jinzo, but instead of wearing green it was covered in the same metallic silvery-white plating as all Cyber monsters, and had a scarred blue head with goggled eyes. "Meet Cyber Shocker (2400/1500)," introduced Nobuyuki with gusto, "I sacrificed one of my Cyber Demons to summon him, of course. You should be more familiar with the Psycho Shocker, or Jinzo. These two monsters are very similar, but while Jinzo is easier to use, Cyber Shocker's effect is more refined." He held up his hands and flexed his fingers a few times, indicating that they held no cards, "As long as my hand is empty, Cyber Shocker negates all traps activated by my opponent!"

Kai grimaced, instinctively glancing at the two facedown cards on his field as the Cyber Shocker suddenly emitted a set of purple beams of light from its eyes, striking each of Kai's spell and trap slots, which began glowing the same color. "Cyber Shocker, attack Monster Breaker!" Nobuyuki commanded, and immediately the tall machine complied, forming a ball of black energy in its metallic palms before thrusting it forwards. The sphere struck Kai's mage, immediately engulfing the black-armored Breaker and destroying him. "Cyber Demon, attack directly!" Electricity sparked along the wings of the stockier machine, then cascaded outwards and struck Kai in an immense and painful impact that caused the bi-eyed duelist to scream in pain before collapsing to the ground.

Nobuyuki smirked and crossed his arms over his chest, staring down at his semi-conscious opponent. "I end my turn, boy," he stated, "let's see if you can find the strength to get up and fight back." With that, he suddenly sat down, folding his legs up on the ground, and pulled up the sleeve of his jacket to look at his watch. "Oy, bastard," he said suddenly, calling to Kaiba, "rules are if the opponent can't make a move for five minutes I win, right?"

Kaiba snorted, possibly towards Nobuyuki and possibly towards the unmoving Kai, and said, "Yeah." There was a short period of silence in which neither of them spoke, the quiet being interrupted only by the minute ticks of Nobuyuki's watch. Eventually, Kaiba spoke up again, "What exactly do you have against me? I've made quite a few enemies in the past few years, but I don't remember you being among them."

Nobuyuki grinned a bit, and locked gazes with Kaiba. "I'm not terribly surprised," he said, extremely calm, "we never really met in person. I was a designer at Kaiba Corp. before you took over, little Seto. I was talented, and the job paid well. Of course, then a certain brat decided to take over his father's company. Which was fine, at the beginning, because I didn't care who I worked for so long as I got my paycheck. But then you decided Kaiba Corp. shouldn't make weapons anymore, and should instead focus on gaming." He ran a hand through his hair, and sneered before continuing, "Of course, designing war machines is far different from designing a holographic projector. It was less than a week after you took over before I was let go."

"So this is about vengeance, huh?" Kaiba questioned, though he didn't feel too interested in the subject, "Feh, you're one of thousands of workers that lost their jobs when Kaiba Corp.'s goals changed. Don't be such an idiot, it's how the corporate world works. You fit in the system, or you get thrown out."

Nobuyuki narrowed his eyes, and smirked dangerously. "You're one to talk. I know just how personally you involve yourself when your company is in danger. Don't be such a hypocrite," he paused, "not that it will matter how you act soon enough. Once I'm done here, I'll get my reward. I've been promised the ability of foresight, though only in one limited area. And that area is the stock markets. I'll invest my entire life savings in the stocks, and shift it about so that I make the optimum amount of money. With this ability, it will hardly take any time before you're the one who's cast aside in favor of your new boss's interests."

"You business-types are annoying," mumbled a weak voice. Nobuyuki jerked his head to look at the prone Kai, who was slowly standing up. Nobuyuki's eyes widened as the teen placed a hand on his deck, and drew a card before continuing, "You talk about money like it's the only thing that matters, and you keep on talking about plans for future profits and expansion." (Kai LP: 700). "In case you haven't noticed, this duel isn't over, so that puts a hindrance on your plans, Nobuyuki." He slipped a card into his Duel Disk, causing Breaker the Magical Warrior to suddenly re-emerge onto the field, "My suggestion is that you learn to enjoy the present, and quickly, because I doubt that your plans for the future are going to turn out as well as you think they are. I play Breaker Revival, which summons a Breaker from my graveyard and places a counter on them (1900/1000)!"

Nobuyuki snorted, and crossed his arms over his chest, "You may have that monster back, but what good will it do? And really, what's gotten into you, reviving the Magical Warrior? You should've summoned Monster Breaker. At least then you could've destroyed Cyber Shocker."

"I'm aware of that," Kai responded, "but you shouldn't question your opponent's strategy, because in the end it'll make you look stupid. I summon Soul Breaker (1600+300/1000)!" Next to Breaker, a new mage emerged, wearing the robes and armor of the Breakers in an elegant green. "Now, I activate Soul Breaker's effect by sacrificing his counter," Kai continued, and the new Breaker's purple-bladed sword became surrounded by a green aura, which gradually turned to a shadowy black.

Nobuyuki blinked, noticing this change, "What's with the color? Before, when your Breakers used effects, they were the same color as their armor. But Soul Breaker's effect doesn't match…" his eyes suddenly widened in realization as Soul Breaker swung his blade, launching a burst of black energy at Cyber Shocker, "it's the same color as Monster Breaker's effect!" The black orb struck his humanoid machine, causing it to explode impact.

"Exactly," Kai stated, as Breaker's sword began glowing with a red aura, "Soul Breaker does not have an effect of his own. Instead, he activates the power of one of his fallen brethren, from the graveyard. And now Breaker the Magical Warrior activates his effect to destroy one of your facedown cards!" The red-robed mage swung his sword, launching a blast of energy that blew apart one of Nobuyuki's two set cards and leaving him with only one.

Nobuyuki scowled, as suddenly his Cyber Demon's color dimmed, and it crouched close to the ground, "I activate Systems Shut Down in chain to its destruction. This switches a Machine on my field to defense mode and prevents you from attacking this turn. The second effect doesn't matter too much, considering Cyber Demon's defense is too high for you to overcome (Soul Breaker, Breaker the Magical Warrior: 1600/1000)."

Kai narrowed his eyes, and swept an arm at the card in front of him, his single remaining set card from last turn. "Because a monster on my field lost attack points," he stated as the trap flipped up, "Card of Last Will now lets me draw five cards." In a single motion, he did so, now giving himself a full hand size of six cards. After a brief glance over his options, he simply set one card into his Duel Disk, causing it to appear facedown in front of him, then played another card, "I set one card facedown and play Poison of the Old Man. I choose its second effect, increasing my Life Points by 1200 (Kai LP: 1900). End turn."

Nobuyuki drew, then drew again from the effect of Cyber Demon. "Destroying Cyber Shocker once isn't enough, boy," he said with a sneer, "I'm far better than that. Activate Monster Reborn, reviving Cyber Shocker!" Kai's eyes widened as the pale-armored machine rose up from the ground, and glared at him through the odd blue lenses mounted on its face. Nobuyuki grinned, and slid the other remaining card from his hand into his Duel Disk, causing his Cyber Demon to suddenly break apart into a pile of spare parts. Then he drew two cards from his deck, explaining, "Disassemble lets me sacrifice a machine to draw one card for every two levels of the sacrificed machine. Cyber Demon is a level four, so I draw two. And now, I set one card facedown before activating the card I already have facedown." One of the two cards in his hand appeared next to the previously set card, which flipped up, revealing a turret filled with missiles. "Full Burst forces me to discard my whole hand, then deals you two hundred damage per card I discard." A single missile shot from the turret, flying towards Kai and blowing up in the bi-eyed teen's face. Kai stumbled, but managed to prevent himself from falling over (Kai LP: 1700). Nobuyuki looked extremely satisfied with himself as he waved Cyber Shocker forward, and the machine launched a laser from its eyes, incinerating Soul Breaker (Kai LP: 900).

Kai cringed, but didn't cry out. It had been pure chance that he had drawn Poison of the Old Man last turn, otherwise he would have lost thanks to Nobuyuki's most recent assault. He swiftly drew, determined to fight back despite the wear and tear on his body. His determination was quickly rewarded. "I play Breaker's Stealth Attack, and then summon Dimensional Breaker (1600+300/1000)!" he declared, slapping down the newest Breaker, which appeared in front of him, wearing robes that shimmered across the entire spectrum of colors. "I sacrifice Dimensional Breaker's counter now, removing Cyber Shocker from the game!" Nobuyuki's eyes widened at this declaration, as the newest Breaker launched a shimmering wave of energy that slammed into the tall machine, forming a vortex in the cyborg's torso that sucked the being into itself in mere moments. "And Breaker's Stealth Attack then activates. Whenever a Breaker activates their effect, Stealth Attack will deal you two hundred damage!" Nobuyuki grimaced as a pale blue glow surrounded his body, sapping away a small bit of his energy (Nobuyuki LP: 2000).

Nobuyuki growled, and slammed his finger on a button on his Duel Disk. Immediately, his set card flipped up, and a large, golden, quadruped machine rose from the ground. "I activate Call of the Haunted to revive the monster I discarded with Full Burst. Come forth, Mechanical Hound (2800/1500)!" The gold-plated machine let out a faux howl, then lowered its head to sweep its gaze over the two much smaller mages. "Mechanical Hound is the counterpart to Cyber Shocker: when I have no cards in my hand, Mechanical Hound prevents you from activating spell cards!"

Kai grimaced, and looked at the unused cards in his hand. "I see…then I'll just switch Breaker to defense mode." Breaker lowered himself into a kneeling position, and as he completed the movement, a portal suddenly appeared in front of Dimensional Breaker, and the mage stepped into it before it disappeared. "Dimensional Breaker is removed from play at the end of the turn his effect is activated," Kai explained.

"Whatever," Nobuyuki said dismissively, drawing a card and immediately playing it, causing a large, white and orange-plated mechanical bird to appear next to the larger Mechanical Hound. "Cyber Phoenix (1200/1200) prevents any machines on my field from being targeted by effects. That means this duel is over, since your facedown card can no longer stop Mechanical Hound. Speaking of which, my hound attacks Breaker!" The immense robotic canine opened its mouth and let out a bark, at the same time launching a burst of flame that swept over the field towards Kai's Breaker.

"You should know better than to think that you're safe if my cards can't target your monsters," Kai stated, as his set card flipped up and a massive, reflective barrier swept in front of his mage, knocking the wave of flame back at Nobuyuki's monsters and incinerating them, "after all, Mirror Force is one of the best traps in the game, and it doesn't declare a specific target." He crossed his arms over his chest, and smirked in triumph, "And now you're out of cards."

Nobuyuki, however, was grinning, "Not quite. Cyber Phoenix has one other effect in addition to the protection it provides machines." He drew a single card from his deck, and looked at it before slipping it into his Duel Disk, "When it is destroyed, I draw one card. And since I drew it, I'll now play Return to Power, which returns all monsters to the field that were on the field at the beginning of the turn." A mechanical growl echoed across the field, as Nobuyuki's Mechanical Hound reared back into view. And with no cards in Nobuyuki's hand, Kai couldn't activate spell cards.

Kai drew a card, and bit his lip before adding it to his hand, "I set one monster in defense mode, and end my turn." With Mechanical Hound's effect active, he couldn't do anything else.

Kaiba narrowed his eyes at this turn of events, 'I should've expected this. Kai's Breakers are a family of spell casters, and many themed spell casters rely on a large number of spells to reach their maximum capability. Without this option available to him, Kai is on the defensive, even more so than a duelist with a different strategy would be.'

Nobuyuki smirked, drew a card, glanced at it, and immediately set it behind his Mechanical Hound so that its effect could remain active. Without needing his word, the beast let loose another burst of flame, hitting the set monster and revealing it to be a gray-armored Breaker with a more curved sword than the previous ones.

"You destroyed Breaker Blader (1600/1000)," Kai stated simply, before drawing to begin his turn. He bit his lip again when he glanced at it, but said nothing. Still, it was obvious that he could do nothing as he silently fanned his cards together and crossed his arms over his chest.

"This is getting slightly boring," said Nobuyuki, though he was still grinning as he drew a card, "but I don't care too much, because it won't take me much longer to end this. I play Heavy Storm." A twister swept across the field quickly, tearing up Kai's Breaker's Swift Strike along with Nobuyuki's own set card. Another blast of flame swept from the Mechanical Hound's mechanical maw, incinerating Kai's last remaining defense. "And I end my turn."

Kai drew, and felt a surge of relief come over him before placing the new card on his Duel Disk. A Breaker wearing ocean-blue robes stepped onto the field, its sword already glowing the same deep blue shaded. As it took up its position on Kai's field, the Breaker swung its blade, launching a burst of energy that sent the Mechanical Hound stumbling backwards. Nobuyuki gasped in surprise as the golden armor covering his machine dulled, and began rusting over. "What's going on?" he demanded.

"This is Effect Breaker (1600/1000)," Kai declared, eyes blazing as he fingered the four remaining cards in his hand, "during my Main Phase, I can remove his counter to remove the effect of a monster on the field. Therefore, Mechanical Hound can no longer prevent me from activating spells." He pressed a button on his Duel Disk, opening a slot at its side before he placed a card in it. Immediately, a large, ornate building composed of white marble rose behind him. Much of the structure was hidden behind an immense wall, but two towers capped by triangular roofs could easily be seen jutting up behind it. "Activate Field card, Breaker Temple!" Declared Kai, as the two towers of the Temple began glowing, and Effect Breaker raised his sword to the sky, its blade glowing in tandem with the towers behind its wielder. "While my Field card is active, all Breakers on the field gain three hundred attack points. In addition, I can add a counter to any Breaker on my field that currently possesses no counters, though this effect can only be activated once per turn per Breaker (Effect Breaker: 2200/1000)."

Nobuyuki scowled, instantly realizing that this Field card presented Kai a tremendous advantage. "Still…" he said, partially to himself, "your Effect Breaker is too weak to stand against Mechanical Hound. In my next turn, I'll simply crush it!"

Kai smirked, his eyes flashing in contrasting colors as he selected another two cards from his hand and placed them in his Duel Disk. "You're forgetting how many cards I have in my hand, and that I can use all of them now that Mechanical Hound's effect is gone. I set one card facedown and activate the Equip card, Breaker's Blade!" Effect Breaker's sword suddenly glowed, and its shape began shifting, from the plain purple blade into a heavier, more ornate broadsword. When its shape finally settled, it looked as large as a two-handed sword, though Effect Breaker appeared to be wielding it one-handed without any trouble. "Breaker's Blade can only be equipped to a Breaker, and increases the equipped Breaker's attack by five hundred points," Kai explained, "and also, when activated, a counter is placed on it, which acts just like it's a counter on the equipped monster. Therefore, overall Effect Breaker's attack is increased by eight hundred points (3000/1000)! Effect Breaker, destroy the Mechanical Hound!" The blue-robed mage leapt gracefully through the air, coming level with the Hound's head and then slashing with his blade through its neck. The immense robot crumpled to the ground, and then the remnants shook the arena with a powerful explosion. "End turn," (Nobuyuki LP: 1800).

Nobuyuki grimaced as he top-decked, but a brief glance at his drawn card set his face back into a confident smirk. "If you thought you had the advantage because I'm top-decking, you were wrong. My deck and my strategy are at their best when I have no cards in my hand, and now I'll demonstrate that by playing Twilight Renewal! If it's the only card in my hand when I activate it, I can immediately draw five cards!" He confidently swiped five new cards from the top of his deck, giving him a large number of options to work with. "Hm…it seems it's time for me to change strategies," Nobuyuki announced, placing one card from his hand onto his Duel Disk. Immediately, a large, serpentine machine appeared on the field, and poised like a snake preparing to strike.

Kaiba's eyes widened at the sight of the creature, 'That's one of the most powerful cards from the latest set!' he realized as the machine roared in challenge at Kai.

"Cyber Dragon (2100/1500) in defense mode!" declared Nobuyuki powerfully.

"Twenty-one-hundred attack…" Kai murmured, then spoke up, "but how could you summon such a powerful monster without a sacrifice?"

"Cyber Dragon's effect," Nobuyuki declared, "allows it to be Special Summoned from my hand if I have no monsters on the field and my opponent does."

Kai narrowed his eyes as he looked at the Cyber Dragon, and thought this over, 'Effect Breaker can remove the effect of a monster on my turn, or at any time negate the effect of a monster. But it doesn't destroy the monster whose effect it negates, so if I try to negate Cyber Dragon's summon effect, it'll simply return to Nobuyuki's hand. From there, he can just summon it again, and the cycle will repeat until Effect Breaker has no counters left. Which means I can't stop him from summoning it… But he's summoned it in defense mode, meaning he won't use it to attack in any way, so I should be safe.'

Nobuyuki flipped around one of the remaining cards in his hand, "I activate Bonds of Brothers, paying a thousand Life Points (Nobuyuki LP: 800) to summon two Proto Cyber Dragons (1100/600)." Two machines similar in appearance to the Cyber Dragon appeared flanking it. Their plating was rounded as opposed to the Cyber Dragon's edged shape, and was also a darker color. "These monsters are treated as being named 'Cyber Dragon' while face-up on the field."

Kai frowned as Nobuyuki said this. "What's the point of having them, then?" he asked, "They're just weaker versions of the normal Cyber Dragon."

Nobuyuki chuckled, and slid a card into his Duel Disk, "You obviously aren't familiar with some of the latest cards in the game. The Cyber Dragons have some very powerful support cards, but many of them require that the duelist have at least one Cyber Dragon already in play, and in most cases at least two. Now, I activate Photon Generator Unit, which requires me to sacrifice two Cyber Dragons from my field. I am then allowed to summon Cyber Laser Dragon to the field (2400/1800)!" The two Proto Cyber Dragons disappeared in a flash of light, and in their place a longer version of the Cyber Dragon, with spines jutting from various parts of its sinuous body, green streaks running along its otherwise white armor, and a barb-like laser cannon attached to the tip of its tail. "Unfortunately, Cyber Laser Dragon was in my hand, so that leaves me with just one card left in my hand," Nobuyuki stated, "in addition, I'm summoning it in defense mode, since I can't destroy Effect Breaker. However, that doesn't stop me from activating its effect. Once per turn, Cyber Laser Dragon can destroy a monster on the field with a higher attack or defense than its own!"

The laser on the Dragon's tail started to charge up, but Kai cut it off with a wave of his arm towards Effect Breaker, who swung his sword immediately, launching a burst of energy from his blade that struck the laser before it could go off. "I sacrifice the counter on Effect Breaker to negate your monster's effect (2700/1000)."

Nobuyuki nodded, "I anticipated such. I set one monster in defense mode, and end my turn." A third monster appeared next to his two coiling machines, hidden from view because it was facedown.

Kai drew sharply, and motioned to the structure of the Breaker Temple behind him, "I activate Breaker Temple's effect, adding a counter to Effect Breaker, as currently his only counter is attached to Breaker's Blade, and not directly to him (3000/1000)." He flipped around a card from his hand, and suddenly Effect Breaker's attack began decreasing again (2400/1000). "I activate Counter Bid, sacrificing counters from my field to a maximum of three in order to draw that many cards, plus one. I sacrifice two counters, therefore I draw three cards." The cards slid easily in his hand alongside the one he was already holding, and he looked over his options quickly before selecting a card. "I summon Attack Breaker (1600 + 300 + 300/1000)," he declared, a Breaker in tan robes appearing next to Effect Breaker. "Next," Kai continued, "I play Breaker Archives. This sets all Breakers on the field to the maximum number of counters they can hold."

Nobuyuki blinked, somewhat confused, "But each Breaker can only hold a maximum of one counter. Why would it be worded that way?"

Kai smirked, and pointed up at the Breaker Temple behind him, "Breaker Temple increases the maximum number of counters all Breakers can hold from one to three. That means that both my Breakers now possess three counters, and Effect Breaker has a fourth because of Breaker's Blade (2800/1000) (3600/1000)!" Both Breakers raised their respective swords in the air, each blade surrounded by a brilliant aura of energy matching the color of its wielder's armored robes. "Breakers, attack Cyber Laser Dragon and the facedown monster!" The two mages complied, charging towards Nobuyuki's field and swinging their resonating blades through the two machines. Nobuyuki's facedown monster turned out to be another Proto Cyber Dragon, which was visible for only a split second before it was cleaved in half and disappeared. "I set one card facedown to end my turn," Kai concluded, the card appearing next to the single facedown already present on his field.

Nobuyuki drew, and smirked as he played it, "Treasure of Slashing Life lets me draw until I hold five cards. On my fifth turn after activating the card, I discard my hand." He grinned as he added five cards to his hand, once again quickly replenishing himself after using up all of his resources. He immediately slapped a card into his Duel Disk and chuckled while declaring, "This card is the beginning of the end. Activate Renewal of Triplets!" All three Proto Cyber Dragons immediately rose up before him, surrounding the Cyber Dragon. "Because all three Proto Cyber Dragons were in my graveyard, I can summon them to my field." He activated one of the four cards remaining in his hand, and a familiar swirling vortex appeared just above his monsters, "And now I activate Polymerization, fusing all three Proto Cyber Dragons into the mighty Cyber End Dragon (4000/2800)!" The three Proto Cyber Dragons floated up into the vortex, shifting and merging until an immense, three-headed version of the Cyber Dragon emerged in their place. Each of the heads was slightly differently designed, and large metal wings sprouted from the creature's back.

Kai's eyes widened in fear as he stared up at the behemoth of a machine, 'I've never…seen something like this before…'

Kaiba frowned, 'I see…Cyber End Dragon is the equivalent of the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon for a Cyber Dragon deck. It's weaker, but easier to summon, and also has the ability to deal damage through defense. Still, I doubt I'd have much trouble defeating it. This Kai guy, on the other hand…I can't be so sure about him.'

"Cyber End Dragon," Nobuyuki commanded, pointing at Attack Breaker as the three-headed machine opened all of its mouths, which crackled with energy, "Final Evolution Burst!" Three identical blasts of orange energy surged from the mouths of the Cyber End Dragon, their powers merging into a single wave of destruction that swept towards Attack Breaker and smash into it in a devastating explosion that sent smoke and flame everywhere. Nobuyuki smirked, "The blast from that attack should have been enough. The game is mine, and your body must've been torn apart, boy."

"I told you," Kai's voice resonated from within the smoke, causing Nobuyuki's eyes to widen, "don't call me that! Attack Breaker's effect lets me sacrifice a counter on him to negate one attack!" The smoke and dust finally settled, revealing that Attack Breaker had planted his sword in the ground and a transparent, tan-shaded barrier was standing in front of Kai's field. As Kai finished speaking, the mage tore the blade out of the ground, and the barrier fell.

"Damn it…" Nobuyuki muttered, "you just can't be a good little insect and die, can you? Fine, I end my turn." For the first time, he actually had cards in his hand at the end of his turn.

"I draw," Kai declared, doing just that as he spoke. "I play Tiny Pound Hammer, which allows me to shuffle it and any number of cards in my hand into my deck. I then draw an equal number of cards." Kai quickly did so, shuffling his entire hand of two cards into his deck before sliding the stack back into his Duel Disk and drawing a new pair of cards. He quickly slid the chosen cards into his Duel Disk, completely filling up his back field. "I set two cards facedown, and end my turn." In his mind, he was trying to come up with some plan to destroy Nobuyuki's monster. 'I've already used one Breaker Revival, along with Monster Breaker, Soul Breaker, and Dimensional Breaker. There are a few more Breakers left in my deck that can get monsters off the field, but…'

Kai looked up to see that Nobuyuki was laughing at a card he had drawn and just played. In the midst of his laughter, a second Cyber Dragon appeared next to the one already on his field, and the two shimmered before merging into one. "Power Bond allows me to fuse my two Cyber Dragons into Cyber Twin Dragon (2800/1500), whose attack is doubled from the effect of Power Bond!" Nobuyuki declared delightedly as a two-headed Cyber Dragon appeared next to the three headed one, and roared in challenge at Kai's two Breakers (5600/1500). Nobuyuki's laughter soon died down, and he jerked a finger at Kai's field. "Cyber Twin Dragon, destroy Attack Breaker!" One of the mechanical dragon's two head opened its maw, and let out a burst of energy that surged towards the tan-robed mage.

Kai snapped his fingers, and Attack Breaker's sword plunged into the ground, summoning a transparent barrier that blocked the attack before fading. "I sacrifice one of Attack Breaker's (2200/1000) counters to negate the attack."

Nobuyuki simply smiled. "Cyber Twin Dragon can attack twice during the same Battle Phase. Go again! Twin Evolution Burst!" The Dragon's other head immediately let out an identical blast of power, which slammed into another barrier that Attack Breaker (1900/1000) summoned. "And now Cyber End Dragon will finish it off now that it has no counters! Final Evolution Burst!" The larger dragon let loose its own attack, this one not as powerful as the two previous ones in attack power but with far more physical forth and size.

"Activate trap card!" Kai declared, and one of the four facedown cards flipped up, causing the orb on Attack Breaker's shield to glow. "Breaker's Shield adds a counter to one Breaker on the field upon activate (2200/1000). That counter can be sacrifice for the Breaker's effect, or to negate one attack. Of course, with Attack Breaker that doesn't matter, but still…" Attack Breaker (1900/1000) once again called forth a barrier, holding back the massive blast of energy and protecting Kai's Life Points. As soon as the attack had dispersed, another of Kai's facedown cards tilted up, revealing a second Card of Last Will. "Because Attack Breaker's attack fell, I can now draw five cards," he stated, going from no cards in hand to five immediately.

Nobuyuki did not appear to mind this turn of events in the slightest. "Idiot boy," he stated, "do you really think you can stop me that easily? I activate the quick-play card from my hand, Twin Evolution Burst! This grants all Cyber Dragon monsters on my field an additional Battle Phase this turn!" He cackled insanely as the two machines' combined five heads total roared as one and fired a barrage of energy from their mouths, the blasts combining into one single wave of power the size of Kai's entire field.

Kai grimaced and jerked a hand towards Effect Breaker, who raised his sword and sent up four surges of magic into the sky. "I sacrifice all four of Effect Breaker's counters!" Kai declared, one of his two remaining facedowns flipping up. "Breaker Light lets me sacrifice three counters in order to prevent any Breakers from being destroyed this turn!" He then slammed one of the five newly-drawn cards in his hand onto his Duel Disk. Immediately, a small ball of brown fur wearing orange robes in the style of the Breakers bounced onto the field, carrying a miniature sword and shield. "By sacrificing one counter, I can then summon Breaker Kuriboh (300 + 300/200) to the field, who when summoned this way negates all Battle damage to my Life Points this turn!" Just as Kai finished saying this, the torrent of orange energy impacted on his field, blinding everything from view for almost twenty seconds before the dust kicked up by the blast finally settled.

Nobuyuki coughed up a bit of smoke he had breathed in, and slammed the final card in his hand into his Duel Disk. "Avoid Payment can be activated when one of my own cards would cause my Life Points to decrease," he stated, "Instead, I gain double the amount I would lose. Power Bond deals its player damage equal to the base attack of the monster summoned by its effect at the end of the turn it is activated. By activating Avoid Payment, I now gain fifty-six hundred Life Points instead of losing twenty-eight hundred (Nobuyuki LP: 6400).

Kai grimaced, gasping slightly from the exertion his body was going through. Even when Attack Breaker's effect was blocking Nobuyuki's attacks, they had so much force behind them that Kai's body was being affected by the aftershock. He drew a fifth card, and sighed with relief. He knew what he was going to do now. "Breaker Temple activates," he declared, as the structure behind him glowed, "all three of my Breakers now gain a counter (Effect Breaker: 2700/1000, Attack Breaker: 2200/1000, Breaker Kuriboh: 900/200)." He slid two cards into his Duel Disk, and then began manipulating the monster cards that were placed on it. Each of the three monsters dipped into a crouching position, indicating they were in defense mode. "I set one card facedown and play Effect Economics. Following that, I switch all of my Breakers to defense mode."

Nobuyuki merely shrugged, "Cyber End Dragon can deal damage through defense, so that's hardly an iss-" He suddenly cut himself off and realized his own mistake. Behind Kai, Kaiba smirked in some degree of amusement.

"In that case, I activate Effect Breaker's ability," Kai stated, as the Cyber End Dragon was struck by a burst of blue energy, "your Dragon's effect has just been removed, so that's nothing to worry about (Effect Breaker: 2400/1000). With that, I'll end my turn."

Nobuyuki huffed, and drew a card before immediately playing it. "Tune-Up lets me draw one card for every machine on the field," he stated, pulling two cards from his deck, "meaning I draw two more cards." He smirked as he looked the cards over, and looked up at the crouching Breaker Kuriboh. "I'm guessing Breaker Kuriboh can sacrifice its counter when you're attacked to activate that damage negation ability, right? It wouldn't have the ability to hold counters for any other reason."

Kai didn't say anything in response, but his expression was enough to tell Nobuyuki all he needed to know. "I thought so. Which means I'll just have to destroy it without attacking it. And I had the perfect card for the job…" He slid one of his two cards into his Duel Disk, and the Cyber Twin Dragon suddenly let loose a burst of flame that burned Breaker Kuriboh to ashes. "Evolution Burst can destroy a monster on the field when Cyber Dragon or one of its evolutions is on my field," Nobuyuki explained, as he pressed a button on his Duel Disk. Kai's eyes widened as he realized that the Field card slot of Nobuyuki's Duel Disk was opening. Kaiba bore a similar expression on his face as Nobuyuki slammed the final remaining card in his hand into his Duel Disk, and a column of green energy erupted around him.

"Activate Field card," Nobuyuki declared, as the Breaker Temple crumbled and a large green ring encompassed the field, "Seal of Orichalcos! With this in place, the loser of the duel will lose their soul. In addition, my monsters all become Dark in attribute and gain five hundred attack points (4500/2800) (6100/1500)!" His machines roared collectively as their combined five foreheads became adorned with the symbol of Orichalcos, identical to the design of the arena and the one that was now present on Nobuyuki's own forehead. "Cyber End Dragon, Cyber Twin Dragon…" he cast his hand forward violently, a sadistic grin plastered across his face, "crush him! Genocide Evolution Burst!" A deafening scream resounded from the mouths of the dragons, their generators whining as each of the creatures released ridiculous amounts of energy in a single strike, nearly consuming Kai's entire field and drowning out his voice as he commanded Attack Breaker (1900/1000) to negate one of the attacks. The sheer force of the resulting explosion picked up Kai bodily and flung him against the wall of the Seal, which shocked him for the attempt to leave the arena and thrust him face-first into the ground.

And then, there was silence. When those present were capable of seeing again, Kai's monsters were gone, completely obliterated by the combined attacks. Kai was knocked nearly unconscious from the force of the blow, and was groaning weakly in pain. Still, his Life Points were untouched, and he was still in the duel. Nobuyuki was panting slightly, catching his breath following his enthusiastic laughter and yells. "I'm going to win, boy…" he breathed out, "I'm going to win, you're going to die…it's inevitable…I'm better than you, stronger than you, smarter than you…With the Seal of Orichalcos on my side, this is the equivalent of me firing a rocket launcher at a cockroach. You've done a good job of running for cover, boy, but your time's run out…Now I'm going to kill you…"

"No…" Kai gasped out, shifting unsteadily and pushing weakly against the ground. Eventually, he heaved himself up, uncertainly poised on his legs. "I'm not going to die…" his eyes were fierce, as if they possessed an energy that the rest of his body did not. He slowly moved a hand to his Duel Disk, and pressed a button on it. One of his set cards flipped up, and suddenly his deck spat five cards out at him. "I activate Breaker Council, to add five Breakers from my deck to my hand. They cannot be summoned in the turn Breaker Council is activated, but that doesn't matter since I'm activating it during your turn." He turned his head, gesturing to the face-up Effect Economics, "Because of my permanent spell, neither player has to pay Life Points to activate effects, which negates the normal thousand-point cost of Breaker Council."

Nobuyuki sneered, "So what? You're going to sic some more of your weak little Breakers on me? Get it through your head, boy, no matter how many effects your monsters have, the pure power that my machines and I possess will simply crush them."

Kai grinned, the motion causing a narrow cut on his lip to open up and send a trickle of blood falling down his chin. Then he drew, his posture straightening with the beginning of his turn. "You want some power?" his eyes narrowed, still sparking with an internal strength. And then he summoned a monster. Just like all of his monsters, it was a Breaker. However, this mage was different. While all Breakers, save Kuriboh, had visible blue faces covered by the hoods of their armored robes, this one's head was completely hidden by the shadow of its robe. Fierce red eyes glowed from within the hood, accentuated by the color of its robes, a flowing crimson and black that looked very much like blood. It had no shield, and its sword was not a straight, slim purple blade but a long, silver broadsword. A curved blade also extended from the end of the hilt, perpendicular to the larger blade. The Breaker also wore a cape, the same shade of its robes, so that it blended in perfectly except when the wind blew, and it flapped out. "This," Kai introduced, as the Breaker flipped its sword about and planted the main blade into the ground before resting its hands on the hilt. And Nobuyuki realized that from this angle, the sword looked exactly like a scythe, "is Necro Breaker (1600 + 300/1000)."

Nobuyuki shook his head, and with the motion shook off the fear that had gripped him as a result of the Breaker's intimidating appearance. "It's too weak to do anything," he said dismissively, "just like you, boy."

"I'm going to make sure you never get the chance to call me by that annoying title again," Kai promised, as his remaining facedown card flipped up, "I activate Breaker's Sword Dance, which would normally cost one thousand Life Points but costs nothing because of Effect Economics. During this turn, one Breaker on my field has no limit to the number of counters it can hold. And my choice, of course, is Necro Breaker."

Nobuyuki narrowed his eyes, "I don't see the point to any of this. It doesn't matter if you can put a bunch of counters on Necro Breaker if you don't have the means to do so."

Kai scowled, "Idiot. I activate Necro Breaker's effect (1600/1000)!" The mage spun on his heel, in the same motion kicking his sword up into the air as his cape swept about his body. The mage completed the turn facing Kai, and caught the sword by its blade, gauntlets protecting his hands, and wielded it now like a scythe. The Breaker swung the scythe blade in a practiced, elegant movement towards Kai, sending out a blood-shaded burst of energy that struck the graveyard slot of his Duel Disk. A single card floated out of the slot, and Kai caught it out of the air. "By sacrificing Necro Breaker's counter, I can 'break' the barrier between life and death. That is…" he slipped the retrieved card into his Duel Disk, causing Necro Breaker to become surrounded by a crimson aura, "I can add a spell or trap from my graveyard to my hand. Therefore, I can play Breaker Archives, and when it affects a Breaker with no counter limit, it adds five counters to that Breaker instead of setting it at its maximum (3100/1000)."

"Thirty-one hundred?" Nobuyuki quirked an eyebrow, "that's still far too weak, bo-"

"Idiot," Kaiba cut the man off, realizing what was about to happen, "haven't you ever heard of an Infinite Loop?" Nobuyuki's eyes widened as he finally realized what this meant. He shifted his gaze back to Kai, who met his fearful eyes with a determined look of two different colors.

"That's right," Kai stated, as Necro Breaker slashed towards his Duel Disk again, allowing him to pick up and replay Breaker Archives (Necro Breaker: 4300/1000). "With no limit to the number of counters Necro Breaker can hold, I can play Breaker Archives to add a net gain of four counters at a time to him, an infinite number of times." Necro Breaker held his sword-scythe out, and fired a continuous stream of crimson magic at Kai's graveyard slot, and Kai responded by pushing the Duel Disk out, the spell/trap zone he had been playing Breaker Archives in launching a green stream of energy back at Necro Breaker, completing the loop.

Nobuyuki was on his knees now, staring in awe and horror of Kai's monster. Kaiba, though very much surprised to see such a combo pulled off, was calmer. 'There's more to this combo than an infinitely-powerful monster,' Kaiba realized, 'because Kai can also pick up Breaker Revival and Breaker's Sword Dance. He could have an infinite burn combo with Life Breaker, or an infinite number of infinite-strength attacks with Breaker Blader's multiple-attack ability. This Kaethen guy…he has potential…'

"It's over," Kai declared, the loop of energy between himself and Necro Breaker (Infinite/1000) suddenly breaking. Necro Breaker turned around and flipped his sword over, grasping it by the handle and wielding it as a sword once again. "Necro Breaker, attack!" Kai yelled, and the mage leapt into the air, and effortlessly swung his sword. An immeasurably mighty flash of power ripped through the air, all substance in its path simply ceasing to exist. Both of Nobuyuki's machines were torn apart instantaneously, and Nobuyuki screamed in pain as the number displayed on his Duel Disk plummeted (Nobuyuki LP: 0) before the device simply shattered, impaling Nobuyuki's body with shrapnel.

The Seal closed rapidly around Nobuyuki's body, and as it did so, he managed to speak quietly through a mask of pure shock. "How…how could someone like you…do something…that completely eclipsed anything I could ever do…"

Kai's eyes narrowed as he looked down on Nobuyuki. "Because you were wrong about which of us was the weak little boy," he said. And then Nobuyuki was gone. The shadows surrounding them vanished, leaving all three of them surrounded by a shocked crowd of onlookers. Kai nearly collapsed to the ground, but managed to remain on his feet.

"Seto!" Mokuba cried out, running towards his older brother with a relieved expression on his face.

"I'm fine," Kaiba stated calmly. He glanced about quickly at the surrounding crowd. "Let's move, I don't think it'd be wise for us to stay here much longer." He looked over his shoulder at Kai, "Kaethen, let's move!"

Kai nodded, and slowly began to follow the Kaiba brothers back to their jet.

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Author's Notes: Ah, it's good to be back in the writer's chair. I've been busy for awhile, and I had a writer's block. Yeah, I know it's the same excuse I have all the time. Deal with it. For those of you who didn't notice, I think Necro Breaker is a really cool card. Hence I gave it a really cool physical appearance.

Kai Kaethen was created by Time Mage, so it's fitting that this chapter be dedicated to him.

Original cards this chapter:

Cards by me: Cheap Production, Cyber Soldier, Cyber Shocker, Systems Shut Down, Disassemble, Dimensional Breaker, Return to Power, Breaker's Blade, Counter Bid, Breaker's Shield, Twin Evolution Burst, Breaker Kuriboh, Avoid Payment, Tune-Up, Breaker's Sword Dance

Cards by Time Mage: Life Breaker, Blitz Counterattack, Breaker Revival, Soul Breaker, Breaker's Stealth Attack, Breaker Temple, Attack Breaker, Breaker Light, Breaker Council, Necro Breaker, Breaker Archives

Cards by Seeker of the Soul: Quick Attack, Repayment of Losses, Monster Breaker, Breaker Blader, Effect Breaker, Twilight Renewal, Renewal of Triplets, Effect Economics, Evolution Burst

The first leg of the journey is two-thirds complete, but danger still lies ahead for the story's heroes. Nick travels to America to find the final non-Japanese guardian, but is too late to prevent a confrontation with one of Todaku's most loyal followers. Can the newest member of the group defeat this overwhelming strategy?

Next Time: Rise Up From the Depths