Shadowchasers: Salvation

by Kitten Knight

[Reboot of Muru] Set in Occam's Razor's Shadowchaser universe. The city of Sydney has always been quiet in the world of Shadowkind. But when a new arrival joins the Sydney Shadowchasers, the team quickly learn that things were never as quiet as they seemed. Now playing, Round 2: Ancient Rules!

1. Eternal Drought

Kitten Knight: Okay first, I should apologise for something. Something that is already pretty obvious to most of you.

I'm sorry I'm rebooting this story, but the laptop I used to keep my work decided it didn't want to work anymore (and decided to take the backup USB with it). So with all the notes of the original story gone, I've decided to reboot this story (again) instead of scurrying to remember what I had written down. I will say though, that doesn't mean that this will be the same story, even if the events of the first few chapters will be almost the same as before, almost.

I'll keep the previous version of this story posted, just in case anyone wants to read it.

Anyway, since the rules of the game have changed so much since I began this story (checks notes) five years ago. I think I'll clarify how duels will work in this fic.

The story will use the same Master Rules set that the previous version used (Master Rule 3, I think it was). If you need a refresher on those rules; the starting player can't draw a card on their first turn, there's no such thing as an Extra Monster Zone and Monsters summoned from the Extra Deck can be summoned to any Monster Zone. Pendulum Monsters and Zone rulings are irrelevant, as I won't be using those in this fic.

However, I will be using the most recent TCG banlist (the June 2020 list), totally not because I'll have access to cards like Monster Reborn, Pot of Avarice and three copies of Wind-Up Magician (Hooray for power creep!) that I didn't have in the original.

Once again I apologise for the reboot this story.

But hey, third time's the charm, isn't it?

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Why do people commit evil acts?

Is it really as simple as being consumed by one's rage, pride or greed? Not even caring about the consequences (or at least a belief that they can escape said consequences). Are the people that do these things simply rotten to the core...

Or is there more to it?

Are they driven by fear? Desperation? Despair? A misguided belief that they're doing the right thing? A belief that the ends justify the means?

I used to think that it really was that simple, that with the rare exception people had no real reason for doing bad, if not evil, things. That any excuses brought up for one's actions were simply that, excuses.

And unfortunately, I learned the hard way that it isn't always the case.

But then again, after everything I've done, am I really someone who you should be discussing ethics with?

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Shadowchasers:

Round 1: Eternal Drought

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

The harsh morning sun shone done on the city of Sydney, the most populated city in Australia (and the continent of Oceania, if you want to get technical about it).

Compared to the rest of the world, Sydney was a fairly quiet place. Sure, Sydney had its own slew of problems but was still relatively quiet compared to the rest of the world... especially when compared to places to Japan and the USA.

However, today was the rare exception… at least locally.

The sun pierced through the narrow gap between the curtains of a beach-side home, landing directly onto the face of a grey-haired (but don't tell him that) man.

But this was not enough to wake the old man, as his eyelids merely flickered as he rolled out of the beam.

However, a series of loud bangs on his bedroom door was enough to do so.

"Oi, Rowan!" a voice called between the bangs, "get your ass out of bed, we've got a situation down here!"

The old man, Rowan if you will, sat up in bed. He muttered swears and rubbed his eyes before running his fingers through his grey and receding hairline (again, don't tell him that).

"Give me a minute Matari," Rowan groaned, "I'm still trying to sleep off that bruise I got last night."

"Oh come on," the voice complained, "normally you'd laugh a blow like that off. What? Are you slowing down in your old age, old man?"

Rowan threw the sheet off his bed in an instant, he was quite well built despite his age (for the last time, don't tell him that). "Did you just call me old?

"No, no," the voice replied, sounding as if the speaker was trying to hold back a chuckle, "you're probably just going senile in your old age."

Rowan grumbled some more words that shall not be repeated under his breath.

"I'll be down in a minute," he growled.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

A few minutes later, Rowan jerked his bedroom door open and trudged out into the hallway. The man himself was dressed in a simple brown polo shirt hastily stuffed into a pair of black jeans.

He headed down the stairs and swung around the bottom of the bannister, practically flinging himself across the hallway and into another room.

To Rowan's left was the lounge portion of the living area, with a large red sofa, mahogany coffee table and an enormous flat-screen TV (which was playing the morning news) wedged between two windows to the outside world.

To his right was the kitchen, filled with the best appliances money could buy and a large sliding glass door with a magnificent view of the skyscraper-laden centre of Sydney and surrounding Port Jackson Bay.

And right in front of Rowan was a large dining table, with a large Australian-Aboriginal man sitting at the opposite end.

"Good morning sleepyhead," said the man, nervous smile plastered on his face as he played with his curly black hair.

"What's so good about it?" Rowan grumbled, as he pulled out a chair and sat down. "So Matari," he asked, "can you tell me what's so important that you need to wake me up for?"

"Maybe you should take a look for yourself," said Matari, pointing toward the television halfway across the room.

Rowan turned his head to face the enormous television at the end of the room.

The morning news was on right now, a few news anchors talking in the studio, nothing out of the ordinary.

"What am I supposed to be looking at?" Rowan asked, turning his attention

"Are you going blind in your old age too old man?" asked Matari, "look again!"

Rowan sighed and turned his attention back to the television...

Before snapping his neck around and shouting at Matari. "And don't call me old or you'll be pushing up daisies!"

Then back to the television again as the scene switched from the newsroom to out in the field

It was circling above a hydroelectric dam, Warragamba Dam to be precise. And the source of most of the city's drinking water.

But there was something off about it, something extremely noticeable even at a single glance...

It was empty. Not summer heatwave and the city hasn't seen rain in weeks empty, but completely empty, only a few small pools of water remained in the very bottom.

"What the Hell," Rowan muttered, leaping out of his chair he quickly circled around the couch to get a closer look at the screen.

Now, an entire lake's worth of water disappearing overnight was definitely unusual, from what was being discussed

But Rowan and Matari knew that there was something more to this, something... magical if you will.

For this is a world where monsters, known as Shadowkind, and magic are real, they roamed the streets like any human. However, this magical world was segregated from the mundane one by a magical veil, that prevented humanity from even perceiving the magical... For the most part.

Rowan and Matari were two of the few exceptions, they were humans who possessed the rare ability to pierce through the veil and see the magical. In fact, they were both members of a secret organisation responsible for protecting humans from Shadowkind, and Shadowkind from humans.

This organisation was known as the Shadowchasers.

For obvious reasons, Rowan had been part of the Shadowchasers for longer than Matari. But even in his forty-odd years of service, he'd never seen something like an entire lake disappearing overnight.

Sure he'd probably seen worse things than this, but well… this was unique at least

Rowan turned back toward Matari. "What the Hell could do such a thing?" he asked.

"Well," Matari answered from the table, "I have a theory."

"What is it?"

"Uhh..." Matari shrugged, "ever heard to Tiddalik the frog?"

Rowan almost groaned. Tiddalik the frog was an aboriginal tale that had been told many, many times, even making its way into children's books and television programs. So, of course, Rowan had heard about it.

The tale was that in the Dreamtime, a time before man, that Tiddalik – a green tree frog – was one day so thirsty that he drank up all the water in the land. Without water, the fauna and flora began to wither and die. So the other animals of the Dreamtime plotted to retrieve the water from Tiddalik.

Eventually, the wise owl and the eel worked teamed up. The owl instructed the eel to tie itself into knots to entertain the giant frog, which made Tiddalik laugh hard enough that the water was expelled from his body...

Unfortunately, some versions ended with the water rushing from Tiddalik causing a massive flood that swept everything away, so maybe the wise old owl wasn't all that wise…

Rowan stared at Matari and was about to reply, but someone else beat him to it.

"He's not telling you telling you that bogus frog story he told me, is he?" asked a voice with a thick Irish accent.

"Oh, says the talking rabbit," snapped Matari.

Many would have questioned Matari's sanity at that remark, but Rowan knew exactly who he was replying to. Especially considering he felt that someone rubbing up against his ankle. The elder Shadowchaser looked down to see who that someone was, a snow-white bunny rabbit with a single patch of black over its right eye and ear.

In case you were wondering, Roscoe was a familiar. A spirit summoned by a wizard that took the form of an animal. Roscoe had quite clearly chosen a rabbit… Though the thick Irish accent was a mystery for the ages.

"Morning Roscoe," greeted Rowan, "and yes, he did."

"Hey don't take his side in this," Matari grumbled, "and besides, You got any better ideas?"

"Well..." said Rowan, "it's probably a Water Elemental or at least something from the Elemental Plane of Water, probably has the water held up further upstream."

Matari frowned. "That… that does sound more plausible," he admitted with a frown.

"Heheheh," chuckled Roscoe.

"Quiet you," Matari grumbled angrily pointing a finger at the magical rodent, "or we'll be having rabbit stew for dinner."

"Ha?" laughed Roscoe, "then you'll finally actually cook for once will ya? I'd be damn well surprised if you can turn on an oven."

"Alright cut it out you two," Rowan sighed, "I'm not in the mood for arguing, and we have bigger problems than what we're having for dinner."

"Is that what you three are talking about? Dinner, you three realise there are more important things than your stomachs," another voice scolded, it sounded feminine, but with a dour, nagging ring to it.

Both Shadowchasers and Roscoe looked to the source of the voice, a woman who had just entered the house through the sliding glass door in the kitchen.

She was quite tall (though not as tall as Matari) had pale skin and long, wispy hair that was tied back into a long ponytail, which, most unusually, could be best described as pale green in colour.

She also held a large leather saddle in under her arm, but that was probably not as unusual as the green hair.

The woman closed the door behind her and glared at her two fellow Shadowchasers.

"I can't believe you three are thinking about what to what to have for dinner instead of what's happening right now," she scolded, "seriously can anyone else on this team get their priorities straight for once?"

Rowan sighed. "Wendy we discussing what happened, we just got off-topic for a sec..."

But he was drowned out by Matari. "Well, what were you doing?" he shot back at Wendy.

"I told you," Wendy answered, holding up the saddle and glaring at Matari, "I needed some more thread to repair Zephyr's saddle after I used the last of it to sew someone's shirt back together."

Matari looked down at his shirt, which had three parallel sets of stitches running across the chest. "Hey, this was my favourite shirt."

"I told you to just buy a new one!" Wendy snapped, "I've seen that same shirt plenty of times at the market!"

"You're the one that bitches and moans every time we spend money on anything. It's not like its even our money, it's the boss', and it's pretty much endless."

"You know," said Rowan, interrupting the ensuing argument before it could get too far "one of you two could've investigated this? But instead, you dragged me out of bed."

Wendy lifted the saddle in her hands. "I can't do anything until I get my saddle repaired," she said, "it should only take an hour or two once I get started...

"Unless I ride bareback, but that would be suicide."

Matari chuckled to himself. "Oh, I'd just love to see to plummet right out of the..."

But Rowan cut him off. "So what's your excuse?"

Matari nervously poked his index fingers together as sweat began to pool on his forehead. "Well… I… uh…"

"I just wanted to discuss this with you before rushing headfirst into it. It could be dangerous you know because we don't know what we're up against."

Rowan and Wendy just narrowed their gazes at Matari, it was very unusual that Matari wouldn't rush into something without even thinking of the danger first, so there was no way in Hell that could be the truth.

"What's the real reason?" grilled Rowan, glaring daggers at Matari.

Matari averted his eyes and looked out the window. "The footy's on this afternoon," he muttered.

Wendy sighed and buried her head in her hand as Rowan restrained the urge to strangle him.

"And I have to go on patrol this afternoon," he added defensively, "Warragamba's at least an hours drive away, I'd never get back early enough to start my shift on time...

"And," he added, shifting his gaze to Wendy, "I know how somebody hates it when I skip patrol shifts."

"Skip patrols shifts without reason," corrected Wendy, "which you've done plenty of times."

"Hey I've only skipped shifts a couple of times," Matari protested.

"Six times in the last month alone," he quietly added, "almost half as many as Arika."

Arika was the currently not present fourth member of the Sydney Shadowchasers, who ironically was actually doing her scheduled patrol right now... As far as any of her fellow Shadowchasers knew.

"Well, why don't you go nag her then," Matari grumbled, "go climb on good old chicken legs out there and go find her."

"As I said before," Wendy replied with a scowl on her face, as she lifted the saddle once more, "until I repair this thing I can't go anywhere outside of walking distance."

"Well maybe if you got a D-Wheel license."

Rowan pinched the bridge of his nose and drowned out his teammates arguing. It was too early in the morning to deal with yet another argument between Wendy and Matari. They were likes cats and dogs… No, they were far worse than cats and dogs, who finally agreed that both Shadowchasers should shut their traps...

Hell, it actually happened once, they'd been dragged into a tag-duel with a were-wolf and were-tiger, who by the end of it were begging to be arrested just to get away from their bickering…

"You know what," said Rowan, "I'll go and check this out. You two stay here and make sure nothing else happens while I'm gone."

While Sydney did have multiple sources of freshwater (to reduce the impact of droughts), Warragamba was still the main source of water for the city. Without it, panic could easily be stirred in the city, affecting both humans and Shadowkind.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" asked Wendy, crossing her arms, "we don't know what we're up against. It could be an army of Water Elementals for all we know."

"Or an army of giant frogs," Matari chimed in, earning himself another glare from Wendy.

"Idiot," muttered Roscoe.

Rowan rolled his eyes. "Matari, if a giant frog drank the water, I'll eat my duel disk."

"Don't rule it out, old man" Matari grumbled under his breath.

"And you can consider what I'm doing reconnaissance," Rowan added, "if I'm not back by this afternoon, you should probably call Jalal."

Jalal was both the founder and the still current leader of the Shadowchasers. A half-dragon who gained immortality, he decided to use his immortal life to maintaining the fragile peace between humans and Shadowkind via the eponymous organisation.

Rowan then marched out the room, leaving his fellow Shadowchasers and their furry familiar behind.

He quickly crossed the hallway and entered another room, a large two-car garage, but it wasn't used to house cars.

Instead, it held the Sydney Shadowchasers D-Wheels, as well as various other equipment.

The first was Matari's, it was an older model of the standard-issue D-Wheels used by law enforcement around the world (the team had purchased it from the Sydney Police). Though, it had been repainted bright red and decorated with flame decals (Matari claimed they made it go faster).

Rowan's D-Wheel, however, was modelled after an old Harley Davidson motorcycle, through a little bulkier. Its body painted a shiny black colour with the exposed metal of the framework and engine an equally shining sliver (and God – or Gods if you prefer – help anyone who scratched or dented it).

The Shadowchaser grabbed a black leather jacket from a hook next to the door and quickly slipped it on.

Then grabbed a helmet off a second hook and gave it a good shake. Then another for good measure. (you never want to find a spider in your riding helmet, especially if you lived in Australia)

And finally, he took a black duffle bag full of equipment from a third hook and slung that over his back.

Then he jumped on his D-Wheel and sped out of the garage.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

About an hour later, Rowan arrived at Warragamba Dam. It was a long drive, but at least it was easier once you got out of the city…

Until you actually got to the dam, then everyone and their mother seemed to be here. Whether it was a journalist looking for a bite of the hottest scoop, or just some curious citizen,

The police were also there, having already blocked off public access to the dam and were attempting to dissipate the crowd.

Then, Rowan spied a brown-haired and stone-faced policewoman ordering the crowd back. By the look of the insignia on her uniform, she was the most senior ranked officer present.

"Yeah..." said Rowan, reeling back at the sight of the woman," gonna avoid that like the plague," Rowan mumbled as he turned his D-Wheel around and rode away from the

After a bit of searching, Rowan found a nice shady patch of grass (every single parking spot was taken) under a tree.

He hopped off his D-Wheel and quickly tore off his riding equipment, despite all his years serving the Shadowchasers, he never got used to wearing that stuff in the summer heat.

Rowan leaned back on his D-Wheel and scouted out the area. Nothing seemed too out of the ordinary here (well aside from the empty lake and the crowd of nosy gawkers). Besides whoever was responsible for the disappearance of the water probably wouldn't hang around in such a crowded area.

Which meant that Rowan had to explore deeper if he was going to find out what was behind this. He looked around, quickly spotting a dirt trail that led out of the parking lot and into the wilderness.

Glancing over his shoulder to make sure nobody was looking, he rushed over and ducked into the scrub.

Rowan muttered swears under his breath as he pushed low hanging branches. After a minute or so of forcing his way through the trees, he came to a stop, as the trail led down a steep muddy hill.

"Eeeh," Rowan groaned, looking down to the bottom of the incline, "looks like the world's most dangerous slip and slide. Better be careful."

He pulled his sword out his duffle bag, intending to use it as a walking stick to aid his descent.

But as fate would have it, upon Rowan's first overly careful step the slippery ground gave away from underneath his feet, and the Shadowchaser was sent tumbling down the trail, screaming expletives the entire way down.

Rowan came to a stop in a heap at the bottom of the fifty-metre-or-so trail.

"Nothing broken," he groaned as he propped himself up on one arm. Decades of service in the Shadowchasers had made him quite sturdy and accustomed to pain, and this was nothing compared to some of things he'd experienced over the years.

But still, it hurt like crap, man.

"I knew I should have stayed in bed," Rowan grumbled.

And then his bag full of equipment fell right on top of him.

"Of course," he groaned, tossing the bag off of him.

Then his eyes almost popped out of his head as he saw his sword spinning through the air, landing tip first in the ground just mere centimetres from Rowan precious jewels.

He let out a sigh of relief, only to practically suck it back in several spear tips were shoved in his face.

Are you kidding me? The Shadowchaser thought as his focus slowly slid up the spear until he saw his assailants; four figures, each a little over a metre tall, with slimy green skin and black beady eyes.

"Bullywugs," said Rowan.

Bullywugs were a frog-like species of Shadowkind that often inhabited wetlands around the world. They normally stayed away from humans, to see them a literal tumble away from even the outskirts of Sydney was unusual.

Well, they're an amphibious Shadowkind, thought Rowan, and probably need the water as much as we do. Maybe they're looking for whatever done this as well.

Or considering what Matari said earlier, maybe they have something to do with where the water went.

He then tasted the cold metal and crunchy plastic of a duel disk in his mouth.

But they won't.

The four Bullywugs swapped glances between themselves and Rowan.

"A human," said one of them, "and he's an Aware."

"No, worse," corrected another, "a Shadowchaser. Look at the mark on his face"

Upon all Shadowchasers were given that mark upon

The four Bullywugs looked uneasy,

Rowan raised an eyebrow. "So I'm guessing you bunch know something about where the water's gone?" he asked

The four Bullywugs exchanged nervous glances.

"I'll take that as a yes," said Rowan.

Goddammit, he though.

"Can't we just kill this guy," asked the third Bullywug.

"Yeah, if you want a dozen other Shadowchasers coming after us," the fourth Bullywug replied, "and one's bad enough right now."

"So what should we do with him?" the second Bullywug asked.

"How about you let me go?" Rowan suggested, "I've got investigating to do."

One of the Bullywugs scratched its chin. "Hmm," it mused, "that sounds like… an absolutely terrible idea! No!"

"We should take the Shadowchaser to our village," another Bullywug suggested, "our leader will know what to do with him."

The other Bullywugs nodded their heads in agreement.

Rowan sighed, today had been one long trip downhill (both figuratively and literally) ever since he got out of bed.

"Get up human," said the Bullywug, poking Rowan with its spear, "we're taking you back to our village."

"You know," said Rowan, standing "I always dreamt that a bunch of lovely Shadowkind women would say that to me, like some Succubi or Were-wolves or something.

"Not a bunch of little green men like you."

"Stop with your jokes Shadowchaser," ordered one of the Bullywugs, jabbing Rowan's arm with its spear, "you are coming with us."

"At least you guys won't probe me..." Rowan muttered.

He then looked at those four sharp spears and winced. "I hope."

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Another hour passed as Rowan was led through the bush. Two of the quartet of Bullwugs lead the way through the dense shrubbery, while the other two followed behind the Shadowchaser, to make sure he didn't try anything funny.

Though Rowan wouldn't, he had seen no signs of magical activity so far, so the Bullywugs were his best lead for the moment...

That metal taste in his mouth was starting to come back.

"Should've just told Matari to do this," he mumbled, swatting another low hanging out of his way, "screw the football, he can just tape the damn thing.

"Or Wendy, you could finally get a D-Wheel and drive yourself out there instead of riding that g...

"Eyouch!"

The Bullywug directly behind Rowan jabbed him with its spear. "What are you even blithering about human?"

"A bunch of things," Rowan answered, shoving another branch out of his way. "Can you at least remember that I'm taller than you, so don't lead me under all these low hanging branches."

"Well maybe you should stop being so tall human," one Bullywug spat.

"Hold on a minute. I'll just use my sword to saw my legs off," Rowan muttered.

"Stop your complaining, human," the lead Bullywug ordered, "we have almost made it to our village, it is just around the shrubbery."

Rowan stepped around a large shrub and found himself on the outskirts of a small village...

If you call really call it a village, there were a few small humpys (tent-like shelters made from plants, sticks and bark) scattered around, with a small pool of water in the centre of the village, the largest humpy sitting a few steps away from it.

Immediately Rowan's imposing presence caught the attention of the entire tribe. They quickly went back to their business, however, but occasionally kept giving nervous glances over to the Shadowchaser.

"You, go tell our chief," ordered one of the Bullywugs guarding Rowan ordered another.

The other Bullywug nodded and made a beeline for the largest humpy and darted inside.

"So this is your village," said Rowan, trying to break the ice with the Bullywugs, "seems pretty peaceful here."

"Was pretty peaceful," said the lead Bullywug, giving Rowan a light jab in the rear.

"Hey watch it, I don't need another asshole" Rowan growled, rubbing his backside. "I'll be out of your non-existent hair as soon as I get the not-so-little problem of an entire lakes worth of water disappearing sorted out, and then you can all go back to peacefully jabbing each other in the butt all you like."

"That's… that's the problem," the Bullywug muttered.

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Rowan.

"It means that we know exactly what happened to the water," croaked a voice.

Rowan turned his head to the source of the voice, where he was met by another Bullywug. It looked much older than any of the other Bullywugs, seeing as his green skin had wrinkled and faded to a greyish green colour. He held a wooden staff longer than he was tall, and had a small possum-skin bag slung over his shoulder.

"Greeting Shadowchaser," the elderly Bullywug greeted, "my name is Gula, and I am the elder of this tribe.

"Honestly, I have been expecting that one of you would wind up in our village today."

Rowan folded his arms. "Some kind of psychic are you?" he asked the elderly Bullywug.

"No," Gula admitted with a small cough, "but just some foresight and common sense."

Rowan raised an eyebrow. "Foresight and common sense? And that's supposed to mean?"

"I knew a member of your organisation would come to investigate the disappearance of the lake," Gula answered, "and I am here to explain to you what happened."

Explain. Thought Rowan. I'm really not liking the sound of that right now.

Gula then turned to the rest of the tribe. "You all go about your business as ordinary," he said, "this is between myself, the Shadowchaser and Master Tiddalik."

Tiddalik, the Shadowchaser, I remember hearing that name, but where?

And then he remembered.

Oh no.

"You're joking," pleaded Rowan, as he tasted metal once more, "please tell me you're joking right."

"I do not joke, Shadowchaser," said Gula, "follow me, and I shall prove it to you."

The elderly Bullwug plodded down a dirt trail that led out of the small village.

Matari was actually right about this, wasn't he?

Then, realising that Rowan wasn't following, and he turned back. "Are you coming Shadowchaser?

Rowan snapped out of his stupor with a depressed sigh. "Still can't believe Matari's little story was right all along..." he muttered, following the Bullywug down the trail.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

It hadn't been all that long since Gula and Rowan left the Bullywug village...

But it felt so much longer to Rowan, as he had to put up with Gula moaning and bitching...

The elderly Bullwug let out a deep sigh. "Honestly, I told that idiot that nothing good would come of this. But the giant idiot would not listen to me, would he?

"It's just like the time he decided to go around and eat all that poison ivy, he was sick for a week. Or the time he decided to see what a boat tasted like…

"Oh don't worry, he didn't eat the occupants, but he was coughing up… fibreglass is what you humans call it? Well, he was coughing that up for a week.

"The guy might be huge, but I guess his brain is normal frog sized that's for sure."

This is almost as bad as listening to Matari and Wendy argue… Rowan thought, as he just smiled and nodded at every one of Gula's complaints.

"He seems like the kind of idiot who thinks with his stomach and not his brain," said the Bullywug.

"Brings a few people to mind," Rowan agreed, with a not-so-innocent whistle tacked on.

Matari. Matari. Matari. His mind chanted.

Then Gula held up a hand, signalling for Rowan to stop. "We are almost there," he said.

"Also don't tell Master Tiddalik that I called him an idiot," he quickly added, lowering his voice to a near whisper, "he doesn't like it when others insult his… limited intelligence."

"Right," Rowan nodded, as he ducked under another branch.

After rounding another enormous and ancient tree, the two came to a clearing just by the bank of the now-empty lake.

Rowan looked around the small clearing, the grass was knee-high, the lake was still empty a few fallen trees were lying around (though there were still plenty standing tall).

And a green frog the size of two (maybe even three) storey house staring right at him.

…

Rowan shook his and scoped out the area again.

Knee-high grass, empty lake, fallen trees... Giant frog...

I saw it. It happened. Matari was right.

Cue the flying pigs.

While Rowan was doing his double-take, the giant frog kept its beady red eyes fixated on Rowan. The Shadowchaser breathed a sighed of relief when the giant frog, better known as Tiddalik, moved its glare from him to Gula.

"Gula," Tiddalik grumbled in a voice so deep and loud Rowan could feel the earth beneath his feet shake, "why have you brought this human into my presence?"

Gula stepped forward with a nervous look on his face. "Apologies, Master Tiddalik, but I do believe that I warned that this might happen when you decided to… indulge yourself on the lake last night."

"What do you mean, Gula?" Tiddalik asked.

"This man is a Shadowchaser," Gula answered, "as I said, one of them would most likely appear if you followed through with your idea."

"Oh..." Tiddalik hiccuped.

"Well, tell him to go away."

A huge bead of sweat rolled down Gula's forehead. "I can do that, but I don't think he will.

"Well, I think I should let the Shadowchaser speak for himself."

Gula motioned to

"Uhh..." Rowan stammered, not sure of what to say, "I'm Rowan uhh… The unofficial leader of the Sydney Shadowchasers..."

He offered a handshake… before realising that offering a handshake to a twelve-tone frog wasn't his best idea (though nor was it his worst).

"I'm here about the water in the lake you drank..."

"Yes?" Tiddalik grumbled.

"So could you… urr… give it back?"

Tiddalik just eyed Rowan. "No," he simply replied.

"Uhh… Please give it back?"

"I said no!"

"Pretty please with a cherry on top."

"NO!

"Well there goes plan A," Rowan sighed.

Think Rowan, think, the Shadowchaser thought, gripping his chin between his index finger and thumb, how can I get the water back? Since asking didn't work, should I try the usual way of doing things?

But, would he even do that? The Shadowchaser scoped out the oversized tree frog. Could he even do that?

Probably not, need to think of some other way.

He started to pace around. Could I pop him like a balloon? Maybe just poke a hole in him and let the water drain out? Bail it out with a bucket?

How does he fit that much water inside him anyway? Is it like the TARDIS? Bigger on the inside?

What am doing? I need to focus.

But are those ideas really the best I can come up with? Oh come on, Jimmy Neutron made this look easy.

Gula and Tiddalik watched on as Rowan sunk deeper and deeper into his own thoughts.

"Gula, what is the Shadowchaser doing?" Tiddalik asked.

"Thinking I believe, Master Tiddalik," Gula replied, "though he appears to be not very good at it."

Back inside Rowan's head, the Shadowchaser was completely oblivious to the mockery in the outside world. Okay, can I come up with a plan that doesn't involve getting eaten?

Oh, How did Matari's little tale go again...

That's right, make him laugh. He'll spit up the water if he does that.

He clicked his fingers as an idea popped into his head. "I've got it."

"Hey Tiddalik," called Rowan, catching the giant frog's attention.

"Yes human," said the giant frog.

Rowan grinned, trying not to laugh himself. "Three men walked into a bar.

"Don't you think the third man would've ducked?"

Rowan startled chuckled but quickly petered out once he realised he was the only one who was.

"Human," asked Tiddalik, "why are you laughing?"

"Because I told a joke," Rowan replied, his face turning red in embarrassment, "didn't you get it?"

"No human, I don't get it," the enormous frog replied.

"Because the first two walk into the bar and hit their heads, but the third man still didn't duck," Rowan explained, "you see it's a bait and switch..."

"Why would anyone willingly walk into a bar and hit their head?" asked Gula, "and humans say we are the primitive ones."

"He was trying to make me laugh!" Tiddalik growled, "so I spit all the water out. Just like that owl and that eel!"

"In… in my defence," Rowan stammered, flinching in the glare of the house-sized frog, "it was a terrible attempt."

"Yes," Tiddalik agreed, "maybe if you were an eel that may have worked, but you are not an eel."

"Kinda glad about that," Rowan muttered, "eels are gross."

The Shadowchaser sighed. "Gonna have to do this the old fashioned way, aren't I?

"Alright then," he said, reaching into his duffle bag, "if you won't give back the water and I can't trick you into giving it back. Then I guess we'll have to do this the usual way.

"A game of Duel Monsters."

Tiddalik stared at the Shadowchaser.

Now, Rowan's idea of challenging a giant frog to a 'children's card game' over the contents of the lake may seem so insane that this very sentence may never be uttered ever again. But there were methods to his madness… Somewhere in there.

"A simple duel," Rowan suggested, "I win and you return the water, you win and I'll leave

Tiddalik continued to stare at Rowan.

Then he eventually answered with a quick and stern "no".

"No?" Rowan's jaw dropped open, "What, surely you've heard of Duel Monsters before? The Great Treaty?"

"We've heard of Duel Monsters and your treaty," Gula replied, "we're not that primitive you numbskull!

"However, do you think he can read a Duel Monsters card?" asked Gula.

"Err… Good point," Rowan agreed, realising how frog the size could read text that even normal people would need to squint to read (why were newer cards so complex and wordy these days anyway?).

"However," the elderly Bullywug continued, "I am willing to serve as a proxy for Tiddalik, his he agrees."

Gula looked up "Yes Gula," the giant frog replied, "you may serve as my proxy in this regards.

"However should you lose…"

"I know, I know," Rowan answered, "I'll leave here empty-handed."

And send that big meathead back here to try and get the water back himself, he added mentally.

Rowan then looked down at his diminutive and green opponent. "One question how do you plan to duel me? I don't see a duel disk on you."

"Shadowchaser," said Gula, "I have already informed you that we are not that primitive.

"I have ventured into your humans' territory to fetch some necessities, from time to to time," said Gula, producing a deck of cards from his robe, then pulled a duel disk from his satchel.

Rowan couldn't help but snicker at the child-sized duel disk. It was one of those newer models with a large touch screen and a few buttons near the deck slot.

"Ah yes, insulting my stature," chided Gula, as he clicked a button on the underside of the device and a thin slab shot out of it, forming a duelling field. "Would you please act the age your hairline implies."

Rowan's jaw dropped wide open and his eye twitched, he was rather sensitive to his receding hairline even berating his teammates for bringing it up. "Y… you're one to talk," he stammered back, "you don't even have hair."

"I'm an amphibian," Gula replied, "I shouldn't have it. You on the other hand."

Ugh, where this silver tongue suddenly come from? Rowan wondered.

He took a deep breath. Watch it, he thought, he's trying to get me angry and throw off my game.

Rowan quickly fished his duel disk, an old, dinged and scratched model from way back in the days of Battle City, and attached it to his arm.

He then pulled a deck of cards from his pocket and slammed it into the deck compartment his duel disk. The device quickly sprung to life as several lights lit up around it, and the arm snapped into place.

"Oh good," Rowan commented, "that still works."

"Oh yes," Gula chuckled, "my fellow tribesman was more than happy to inform me about your little tumble..."

"Jeez, tell the neighbourhood," Rowan muttered.

"I believe he did," Gula snickered.

"Can we just get on with this frigging duel already," Rowan muttered, "the sooner it's over the sooner I can deck Matari… then have a bath... Then I might deck Matari again, just for the Hell of it."

"Very well Shadowchaser," Gula replied, "I do believe I have important things to do as well. Best get things over with."

"Duel!" both of them announced.

(Gula LP:8000/Rowan LP:8000)

"You had better not disappoint me, Gula," Tiddalik growled.

"I shall not, Master Tiddalik," said Gula.

The elderly Bullywug then turned toward Rowan and drew five cards from his deck. "I hope you do not mind, but I shall take the first turn.

"Knock yourself out," Rowan replied.

Gula scowled at Rowan's remark. "I shall not, that would be considered a forfeit."

"It... it's a figure of speech," Rowan stuttered, surprised at the reply, "you don't really have to knock yourself unconscious."

"But feel free to do so anyway," he added with a grin, "the less work for me the better."

"I certainly will not do that, and don't be sol lazy Shadowchaser," the Bullywug replied as he glanced through his starting hand. "I think I'll start off with something simple."

The black and brown spiral backing of a Duel Monsters card, placed horizontally, materialised in front of Gula.

"Your move Shadowchaser."

"Very well," said Rowan, drawing a sixth card, then plucked another from his hand, "I summon Blue Dragon Summoner."

In a flash of light, a blue-haired man in a dark robe materialised in front of Rowan. He twirled around on one leg before striking a pose. (1500/600)

"Blue Dragon Summoner take out that face down Monster," Rowan ordered with a wave of his hand.

With a cocky grin on his face, the Spellcaster clasped his hands together, as heavy winds battered Gula's set Monster.

The card then flipped over, revealing a small round creature, with a small tail and red marking between its eyes. (0/0)

The creature was battered by the winds and quickly shattered like glass.

"That was my T.A.D.P.O.L.E.," said Gula, as two cards poked out of his deck, "which when destroyed by battle, lets me add two more copies of it to my hand.

Gula snatched up the two cards and added them to his hand.

"Heh," Rowan chuckled, "a Bullywug using a frog deck, it's so stereotypical that it almost loops back to being surprising."

Gula frowned. "I like to stick to what I know."

"Yeah, yeah," said the Shadowchaser as he plucked two more cards from his hand, "I'll end my turn by throwing down these face downs."

Two face down cards appeared behind Blue Dragon Summoner.

Throw down some face downs? thought Gula, there are people who say that?

With a shake of his head, Gula snapped back to reality. He's just trying to lull me into letting my guard down by saying stupid things.

"My turn," said the Bullwug, drawing a card.

"I activate the effect of Swap Frog in my hand," he said, slipping a T.A.D.P.O.L.E. into his graveyard, "discarding a Water Monster to summon itself from my hand."

The ground beneath both duellist's feet seem to turn to liquid as a small yellow and red frog with devilish horns hopped out. (1000/500)

"And when Swap Frog is summoned," Gula continued, "I can send a card like Ronintoadin from my deck to the graveyard."

Another card poked out of Gula's deck, which the Bullywug quickly discarded.

"Then I'll bring out my Submarine Frog."

Another frog leapt out of the seemingly solid ground. The new frog was more humanoid than Swap Frog, wearing a scuba mask over its eyes, a yellow wet-suit, blue shorts and flippers. It was armed with a short spear with a propeller at the handle tip. (1200/600)

Rowan crossed his arms and smugly grinned. "Neither of your frogs are powerful enough to take on my Summoner," he said.

"Aren't you forgetting about a certain Field Spell?" Gula replied with equal smugness.

Rowan's grin disappeared. "Oh, that card."

But only on the outside. That's what you think, that Field Spell may be powerful, but it's helpless against my Mystical Space Typhoon, thought Rowan.

"Well lucky for you I haven't drawn it yet," Gula continued, "but unfortunately for you I have the next best thing. I activate the third effect of Swap Frog, returning it to my hand to bring out my Beelze Frog."

Swap Frog dove back down into the ground, as another frog hopped out. The new frog was clearly the adult version of T.A.D.P.O.L.E. with the same red markings between its eyes, green underbelly and a pair of bat-like wings protruding from its back. (1200/900)

"And just to let you know," Gula chuckled, "Beelze Frog here gains three-hundred extra attack points for every T.A.D.P.O.L.E. in my graveyard..."

Gula quickly slipped his third T.A.D.P.O.L.E. into the graveyard, and Swap Frog leapt out of the ground once more.

"And that makes three," said Gula as he discarded another Ronintoadin with Swap Frog's effect, "making him more than a match for you Summoner."

Beelze Frog gained a pitch-black aura. (ATK:1200-2100)

"Beelze Frog," Gula ordered, "wipe that smile off of Blue Dragon Summoner's face."

Beelze Frog did indeed wipe the smile off of Summoner's face, crashing headfirst into the Spellcaster with a quick pounce and shattering him. (Rowan LP: 8000-7400)

"When my Summoner is sent from the field to the graveyard, I can add a Normal Monster from my deck to my hand, as long as it's a Warrior, Spellcaster or Dragon," said Rowan, as a card poked out of his deck.

The Shadowchaser plucked out the card and flipped it around. "I think I'll take my Tune Warrior."

"A Tuner Monster eh?" mused Gula, "but that can't protect you from my other Monsters attacks."

Rowan grunted and dropped to one knee as Swap Frog rammed into him. (Rowan LP:7400-6400)

Quickly followed by a nasty jab from Submarine Frog's spear. (Rowan LP:6400-5200)

"Not again," the Shadowchaser groaned.

"Ready to forfeit?" asked Gula.

"I've had worse than that over my forty years as a Shadowchaser," Rowan answered, dusting himself off as he stood back up, "Hell, I've been one-turned killed at least three times now.

"But that's a story for another day," he continued. "And since you've finishing attacking I activate Reinforce Truth to bring out Jutte Fighter from my deck."

The Trap flipped up and a cartoon-ish looking man in a plain kimono and crimson sweater appeared, he wore a pair of thick round glasses perched on his button nose and armed with a small jutte. (700/900)

Gula gave Rowan a confused glance. "You could've protected yourself with that card," he noted.

"Using my Monsters as a shield? Na, not my style." Rowan answered

"But getting tackled and stabbed is?" Gula replied with a grin.

"That's just the tip of the iceberg," Rowan replied out of the corner of his mouth.

"Even sliding down a muddy trail like an idiot," Gula chuckled.

"That's… that's the really big underwater part of the iceberg..." Rowan spluttered out, a large bead of sweat rolling down the side of his head.

"Err… my turn," said Rowan, drawing a card. "I'll start by using my Jutte Fighter's effect to switch your Beelze Frog to defence position."

Jutte Fighter rushed over toward Beelze Frog and jabbed its stomach with its jutte, the frog let out a high-pitched squeal and crouched down defensively.

"Beelze Frog's defence is still higher than your Jutte Fighter's attack points."

"Then I'd better summon some reinforcements," said Rowan, "and who better to start with than Marauding Captain?"

In a flash a rugged warrior appeared, he wore armour that had been scratched and dented through many battles and wielded a pair of equally battered swords. (1200/400)

"And with his effect, I can bring out even more reinforcements! Like my Tune Warrior."

Alongside the captain, another Monster appeared. A warrior clad in red armour, with various gauges around its upper body, headphone jacks for forearms and a pair of antenna sticking out of its helmet. (1600/200)

"Great, he's got that Tuner Monster out," Gula grumbled.

Rowan chuckled. "Who would've thought a Monster named Tune Warrior would be a Tuner?

"But let's not ponder about that and do what Tuners do best! I tune the level three Tune Warrior with the level three Marauding Captain!"

"Synchro Summon! Six stars align to bring forward the Lizard-God who crafted mankind, Mangar-kunjer-kunja!"

The two Monsters flew high above the trees, turning into six shining stars.

"Mangar-kunjer what?" Gula gasped, "sounds familiar, but I don't think it's a Duel Monster card..."

"Well, Duel Monster cards do draw inspiration from a lot of places," Rowan answered, "Pegasus and the people at Industrial Illusions weren't picky when designing cards."

Then, a monster jumped down from above the trees...

A brown-scaled lizardman in dirt-stained ragged robes jumped down from the skies above. It held a small carving knife in one hand, and a walking stick made from a carved tree branch in the other. (2000/2000)

"This here is my Mangar-kunjer-kunja," and he has a pretty neat effect," Rowan explained, as he took his Blue Dragon Summoner card from his graveyard and slipped it into his jacket pocket. "When he's brought out, I can banish any level six or lower Monster and I get a Rella Manjella token, with the exact same stats as the banished Monster."

Mangar pulled out a lump of clay from its robes and began whittling away at it with its knife. Eventually, the reptile produced a small clay doll that resembled Blue Dragon Summoner and gently tossed it aside, where it quickly grew to match the original's size. (1500/600)

"But I'm not done yet, said Rowan, "because now I'm using my level two Jutte Fighter and my level four token to Synchro Summon another Monster."

"Jutte Fighter's a Tuner too?" Gula croaked.

Like their predecessors, Jutte Fighter and the clay model flew above the threes, turning into six shining stars.

Then another Monster landed beside Mangar. It was reptilian, like Mangar, but crocodilian as opposed to lizard-like. It was clad in wooden armour held together with twine and wielded a long wooden spear in its claws. (2300/1300)

"Meet I'wai," said Rowan, "who is about to send Beelze frog back to Hell!"

I'wai raced forward, aiming its spear at the defending frog.

"And when I'wai attacks a defence position Monster, you take piercing damage!"

Gula's eyes widened as I'wai thrust its spear straight through the defending Beelze Frog. (Gula LP:8000-6500)

"Mangar take out Swap Frog!"

Mangar threw its dagger at Swap Frog, striking it right between the eyes. The amphibian dropped to the ground and shattered. (Gula LP:6500-5500)

"I think I'll end my turn with that," said Rowan.

"My turn," said Gula, as he drew a card.

"First I'll switch Submarine Frog to defence position.

Submarine Frog crouched down and held its spear defensively.

"You sure you want to do that with I'Wai's effect?" Rowan asked, with a wide grin on his face.

"Yes," Gula answered,

Damn, Rowan thought, if I'wai battles an attack position Monster, any damage he inflicts would be doubled, I thought the piercing effect would make him keep it in attack position. Oh well.

"Then I activate the effect of Ronintoadin in my graveyard," Gula grumbled, "banishing Beelze Frog to revive it."

Another frog leapt out of the ground, it was blue with black spiral tattoos spiralling around its body, it held a small bamboo sword in its hands and had a small leaf stuck on its head. (100/2000)

"I set this Monster face down."

A reversed Monster appeared between the two defending frogs.

"That ends my turn Shadowchaser," Gula grumbled.

"Not much use defending when I have a Monster like I'wai out," said Rowan, as he drew a card.

"Let me bring out another Monster like that," he said, slapping his drawn card on his duel disk.

"First up Clear Effector."

In a flash of bright light, a young woman joined Rowan's ranks. Her long dark-purple hair flowed in the gentle breeze, she wore a peach green dress with a large green ribbon attached to the back. (0/900)

"Then, I'll activate my face down card, Back to the Front, which lets me bring back a familiar face."

The Trap card flipped up and Tune Warrior reappeared on the field.

"Then I'll tune the level three Tune Warrior with the level two Clear Effector!"

Tune Warrior and Effector flew above the trees, turning into five shining stars.

Then a loud cackle echoed through the trees, as everyone looked up to see a wicked creature standing on a branch high in the air. It had the head and body of a spotted quoll, complete with glowing red eyes, but had entirely human limbs. (2100/1000)

The creature leapt down to the ground with inhuman agility, cackling evilly as everything else on the shuddered in discomfort from its presence.

"That thing is what I see in my nightmares," said Gula.

"Yeah..." Rowan agreed with a nod of his head, "it's not exactly the friendliest of Monsters."

Kinie Ger hissed at its master over that remark, not even bothering with the fact that hissing would do anything other than prove his point.

The shrugged it off, having summoned Kinie Ger dozens of time by now, he got over how creepy it looked. "But getting back to the duel, first off, Clear Effector allows me to draw one card as she was used for a Synchro Summon."

The Shadowchaser drew a card and looked at it.

I'll keep this for later, he thought, adding it to his hand.

"And now Kinie Ger has two effects," Rowan explained, "the first activates when its Synchro Summoned, letting me discard a level five or lower Monster from my deck."

A card popped out of Rowan's deck, and he quickly slipped it into the graveyard.

The Shadowchaser then pointed toward Ronintoadin, and Kinie Ger rushed at it, tearing it to pieces.

"And the second is when it defeats one of your Monsters, you take a thousand points of damage!"

Gula gasped for air as a sickly black aura appeared around him. (Gula LP:5500-4500)

"Mangar take out Submarine Frog!"

Mangar produced another knife from its sack and flung it at Submarine Frog, striking its target right between the eyes and shattering its mask, while its wearer quickly followed suit.

"Why didn't you attack that with I'wai?" Gula asked.

The Bullywug was answered by I'wia spearing his set Monster, revealing a small purple frog wearing an appropriately sized mortarboard. (100/2000) (Gula LP:4500-4200)

Rowan shrugged "Honestly I was hoping that Monsters was something weaker, like Poison Draw Frog, but better than nothing," he answered.

"So I guess it was a somewhat intelligent move," Gula admitted, "however, you did overlook Dupe Frog's effect to add any other Frog Monster from my deck to my hand.

Another card stuck out of Gula's deck, and he turned it around to show Rowan.

Des Frog.

"Aw crap," the Shadowchaser swore, the was only one reason why Gula would search that card. It was probably the easiest way to activate Des Croaking, a powerful Spell that could clear the opponent's field, but required three Des Frogs to use.

Rowan looked over his field, there was nothing hew could do to stop Des Croaking if Gula Mystical Space Typhoon, internet memes be damned.

But while Rowan didn't seem calm on the outside, he was on the inside. He thinks he's got me in a corner with that card, he thought, but since I used Clear Effector to bring out Kinie Ger, it's immune to destruction effects, and I used Kinie Ger's effect to send Necro Gardna to the graveyard, so I'll be just fine.

"Guess I'll end my turn there," said Rowan, gritting his teeth.

"My turn, said Gula, drawing a card. "First off I activate Surface, reviving my Swap Frog in defence position."

Swap Frog sprung out of the ground once more, while Gula slipped another card from his deck into his graveyard.

"And I'll discard Treeborn Frog with its effect."

"Then, I'll tribute my Swap Frog to bring out Des Frog!"

Oh boy here it comes, Rowan thought.

Swap Frog disappeared, being replied by what simply looked like a large green tree frog with black beady eyes. (1900/0)

"And," Gula continued, yanking two cards from his deck, "when I normal summon Des Frog, I can bring out as many more from my deck as I have T.A.D.P.O.L.E.s in my graveyard."

The Bullywug slapped the two cards onto his duel disk, and two more copies of Des Frog appeared alongside the first.

"And finally the dreaded Des Croaking!"

The Spell card flashed onto the field, and all three Des Frogs began to loudly croak.

All three of Rowan's Monsters clutched their ears (well, ear-holes in the case of I'Wai and Mangar) as the dreadful melody reverberated throughout the marshland. Eventually, two of Rowan's Synchros succumbed to the song's effect and shattered like glass, as did Rowan's set Mystical Space Typhoon.

However, Kinie Ger remained on the field, pulling its hands away from its ears as the dreadful croaking ceased. The creature stood upright and cackled at the trio of frogs.

"What!" Gula growled, "how did that thing survive?"

"Sorry pal," said Rowan, "but a Synchro Monster that uses Clear Effector as one of its materials is immune to destruction effects, and last time I checked that includes Des Croaking.

"And seeing as none of your Des Frogs can overpower Kinie Ger, I guess that's it for your turn."

"Oh you think you're so smart Shadowchaser," said Gula, "but I'm not done yet! I banish, Swap Frog and Submarine Frog from my graveyard to bring back both copies of Ronintoadin!"

The Bullywug pulled the four cards from his graveyard, and two copies of Ronintoadin joined his army of frogs...

"You think you're safe with that overgrown… whatever that thing is," Gula chuckled, "think again! I overlay my two level two Ronintoadins!"

Rowan's eyes bugged out. "Overlay, don't tell me..."

The two Ronintoadins turned into blue energy and shot off into the sky.

"I Xyz Summon, Toadally Awesome!"

Then, a spiral galaxy-esque vortex opened up on the ground, and the two energy forms raced down from above and dove inside the swirling portal.

Then, a pair of cream-white frogs, the smaller one precariously stacked on top of the larger one, hopped out of the vortex and landed next to the trio of Des Frogs. (2200/0)

Rowan sighed. "Of all the Monsters, it had to be that one."

"Did you seriously think that I would be so primitive that I would forego a Frog Monster so powerful that it had to limited to one copy per deck?" Gula asked, a smug grin plastered across his slimy face.

"To be perfectly honest," Rowan answered, "I was at least hoping that you wouldn't have it."

"Well too bad," Gula laughed, "now to end this! My, as you humans say, my totally awesome Toadally Awesome will attack your Kinie Ger! Get that monstrosity out of my sight!"

The two white toads leapt at the demonic quoll warrior.

"Please don't put it like that," Rowan grumbled, "also I activate the effect of my Necro Gardna, banishing it from my graveyard to negate your Monster's attack!"

A ghostly warrior appeared in front Kinie Ger, its stringy white hair flowing in the wind as it crossed its arms over its body, attempting to intercept the oncoming attack.

"Oh no, you don't!" Gula growled, "I use my Xyz Monster's effect, tributing one my Des Frog to negate your Necro Gardna's effect.

A Des Frog disappeared into golden lights, and the stringy-haired warrior disappeared, letting the charging Xyz Monster's tongue through.

"Yeah," Rowan nodded, "but it still forces you to get rid of one of your Des Frogs. So at least I won't lose this turn."

"This turn being the keywords here, aren't they Shadowchaser?" Gula chuckled, as the larger toad of Toadally Awesome rammed into Kinie Ger.

The Synchro Monster hissed and roared in anger as it staggered backwards and shattered like glass. (Rowan LP: 5200-5100)

Rowan looked down at the three cards in his hand. Not yet, he thought, eyeing one in particular.

"Des Frog, let's continue what our brethren started direct attack!"

Des Frog leapt at Rowan, who shielded himself with his arms, but was still knocked onto his back by the blow. (Rowan LP:5100-3200)

Rowan grit his teeth and grunted in pain.

Damn it, he mentally swore, landed right my keys.

"Alright Shadowchaser," Gula chuckled, "any other tricks?"

"Not really from me," said Rowan, grabbing a card in his hand, "but I'll let these two speak on my behalf."

He slapped the card on his disk and a pair of Warriors appeared; a knight in shining armour with a large blonde Afro, holding a woman in his arms, who was dressed in a red armour bikini, flowing orange skirt and armed with a scimitar. (2300/2100)

"Let's PAR-TAY!" the male knight declared with a twinkling smile.

"Wait? Where did they come from." Gula screamed.

"These two are my Parry Knights," Rowan answered, "and I can bring them out whenever I take damage from one of your Monster's attacks."

"And don't think you can negate that with dumb and dumber over there," he added, pointing a finger at Toadally Awesome, "I know you can only use that effect once per turn, and you wasted it on Necro Gardna."

"So that's why you used it," Gula growled, "lucky bastard."

"But they also have another effect," Rowan added, "when I bring these two out with their own effect, they can bring out out another Monster with an attack power less than the damage I took.

"So say hello to my Command Knight!"

In a flash of fire another Warrior appeared, a woman wearing intricate armour, complete with cape and feather-decorated beret. Her appearance caught the male Parry Knight's attention and he wolf-whistled to her…

Only to receive a slap from his female companion, Command Knight didn't give him lick of attention. (1200/1900)

"And while she's on the field, all of my Warriors gain a little boost!"

Both of Rowan's Warriors gained a fiery aura. (ATK:1200-1600) (ATK:2300-2700)

"Just… brilliant," Gula grumbled, crossing his arms and pouting.

"And don't think you can take her out with your other Des Frog either," Rowan added, "because while I have another Monster out she isn't a valid attack target."

Gula looked down at the last card in his hand, which he couldn't even use right now. "I end my turn," he muttered.

"And now it's mine," said Rowan, drawing a card.

"First up I'll summon a new Monster, Chaos-End Master."

In a heavenly flash of light, another Warrior appeared. He was reminiscent of an angel with his shining white armour and had a pair of feathered wings sprouting out of his back. (1500-1900/1000)

"Then I'll have him give my Command Knight a little tune up!"

"Another Tuner?" gasped Gula, "how many of those things do you have?"

"Enough," Rowan said with a shrug, as Chaos-End Master and Command flew high into the air and turned into seven shining stars.

"I tune the level three Chaos-End Master with the level four Command Knight to Synchro Summon a new Monster, the Wati-Kutjara!"

A bright light shot through the air, and two figures nimbly leapt down from the trees.

They were a pair of lizardmen, with dusty brown scales and 'dressed' in little more than a loincloth, with several wooden tools dangling from the belts around their waists. In their clawed hands, they each held a carefully carved wooden boomerang. (2500/1400)

"Alright then guys and gals, let get to it! Parry Knights," Rowan ordered, "take out that monstrosity of a Monster!"

The two knights raced at Toadally Awesome and slashed at it with their weapons, the two toads toppled over and shattered on contact with the ground.

Gula scowled as the remains of his best Monster rained down on top of him. (Gula LP: 4200-4100)

"When Toadally Awesome is sent to the graveyard," the Bullywug grumbled, as he fished out a card from his graveyard, "I can add a Water Monster from my graveyard, like Des Frog.

Strange of all the cards he could pick, thought Rowan, normally one would want that card to recycle itself. Oh well.

"Wati-Kutjara," Rowan ordered pointing at one of Gula's frogs, "take out that Des Frog!"

The lizardfolk brothers both drew their boomerangs and hurled them at the opposing frog, both smacking the amphibian in the face and shattering it like glass. (Gula LP: 4100-3500)

"And since they can attack twice per turn, I'll have them take out your other Des Frog!"

The boomerangs reappeared in the brothers claws and the hurled them at the remaining Des Frog, smacking it right between its eyes and shattering it as well. (Gula LP. 3500-2900)

"Looks like this duel is all but wrapped up," said Rowan, slipping the final card in his hand into his duel disk, "I'll end my turn by setting this guy face down."

"It's not over until the last card is played Shadowchaser," Gula grumbled, as he drew a card bringing his hand size up to three.

Gula looked at the two cards in his hand, Des Frog and the Spell Card Polymerization, then at his drawn card.

Damn it! I knew I should have played it last turn, he cursed, but at least I can still use it.

He grabbed the two Des Frogs and two Ronintoadins from his graveyard. "I banish both of my Des Frogs to revive my Ronintoadins."

He pocketed two cards, while the two samurai toads reappeared on the field in a puff of blue smoke.

"Then I activate the Spell Card, Polymerization," he continued, as a swirling vortex of blue and orange appeared behind him, "fusing the Des Frog in my hand, with the two Ronintoadins on my field."

A Des Frog materialised between the two Ronintoadins,

"Oh yeah..." said Rowan, rubbing the back of his head, "I forgot those two treat themselves as a Des Frog while they're on the field.

"I'll be sure that you won't forget that again," said Gula, as the three frogs were pulled inside the swirling vortex.

Then a giant green frog (the second-largest Rowan had seen today) with a cream underbelly jumped out the vortex. Landing on the field with an earthshaking crash, the massive amphibian shook its wart-covered body and, much like a biped would, flexed its front leg, which had the Japanese kanji for 'ultimate' tattooed on it. (2500/2000)

"And for every Treeborn Frog in my graveyard, my Monster gets five-hundred points stronger!" Gula added, "count your lucky stars that I can only have one Shadowchaser."

A ghostly yellow and black-spotted frog with a set of feathered wings circled around D.3.S. Frog. (ATK:2500-3000)

"And don't think I'm done yet either Shadowchaser!" the Bullywug continued, playing his last card, "I activate the mighty Spell, Frog Squash!"

The Spell card flashed into existence on the field.

Rowan raised an eyebrow. "Never heard of it."

"This is quite a powerful Spell," Gula said with a grin, "but first of all I must banish one Aqua Monster from my graveyard."

He took Toadally Awesome from his duel disk and slipped it into his robe with the other banished Frogs.

Oh, thought Rowan, so that's why he didn't recycle it.

"Then one Monster I control gains attack equal to the banished Monster's attack."

Rowan's eyes shot open. "But combined with your Fusion's attack points, that's..."

"Five-Thousand two-hundred," said Gula, "I told you not to underestimate me Shadowchaser."

Rowan balled his fist. Damn it, even if I powered up Wati-Kutjara with my Trap Card it still would be enough to overcome that thing.

The Shadowchaser looked down at his deck. Looks like it'll all depend on this next draw…

Just like almost every other duel...

"Are you going to ponder your place in the universe?" Gula asked, forcing Rowan out of his own thoughts, "or are you going to take your loss like a man?"

The Bullywug raised a green finger, trying to decide which Monster to attack. "I think I'll have my Monster take out your knights! As a little punishment for taking out my best Monster."

3.D.S Frog leapt high into the air and belly-flopped back down on top Parry Knight's, who could only scream as they crushed flat by the giant amphibian.

Rowan shielded himself with his arm as he was struck by the winds kicked up by the attack. (Rowan LP: 3200-300)

"Still got some life points," he said, straightening up.

"Only a morsel," Gula replied, "and I have a gut feeling my next card is Unifrog, which would wipe that morsel right out."

"I know what Unifrog can do," Rowan replied, looking down at his deck and wondering whether he should pray.

"So enjoy your final turn, Shadowchaser. Turn end.

"Oh," Gula added, "I also forgot to mention that the power boost from Frog Squash is permanent, so don't even think for a second you can overpower 3.D.S. Frog."

"Yeah, yeah," Rowan replied as he drew a card, "I've heard it all, 'my Monster is invincible', 'you'll never defeat my ace card' all that crap. You'd think they'd take the hint and not tempt fate like you just did, but they never do."

He then flipped his drawn card around and looked at it. "Funny that you should say that I can't overpower your Monster, because that's precisely what I'm going to do!"

He slapped the card onto his duel disk. "Let's go! Jet Synchron!"

In a flash, a new Monster appeared. It resembled a white jet engine with short stubby arms and legs, and a pair of eyes in the centre of the fan. (500/0)

"And I don't think I need to tell anyone that a Synchron Monster just happens to be a Tuner, do I?"

Jet Synchron and Wati-Kutjara flew into the air, turning into eight shining stars.

"Now," said Rowan, "this guy I'm about to summon is so powerful that any non-tuners used to summon him need to be Synchro Monsters.

"But right now, he's just what I need."

A brilliant light shot across the sky, engulfing the eight stars flying above.

Then with a thunderous crash, a new monster landed on the field, tearing out several branches on its way down. The creature in question was a dark-skinned humanoid that rivalled D.3.S. Frog in size, it was dressed in little more than a dirt-stained loincloth, its weapons nothing more than a wooden club and a thick, still-smouldering branch.

However, the most outputting thing about this creature was its singular eye right above its nose. (2000/2000)

"Ya know," said Rowan, "If I was up against Toadally Awesome and a beatstick like the big guy there at the same time, maybe I'd be in a bit more trouble than you put me through. But on its own its just glorified target practice."

"How?" Gula smugly asked, "my frog is almost three times stronger than that thing."

"Attack points mean nothing to Papinijuwari," said Rowan, pointing a finger at Gula, "as when its Synchro Summoned, it halves the attack power of one of your Monsters and adds it to its own."

The greyish-green drained from Gula's face. "You… you... could you not activate that effect?" he fruitlessly asked.

Rowan put a hand to his chin to mull the idea over. "No," he simply answered.

Papinjuwari inhaled deeply, as red specks of blood were sucked right out of D.3.S. Frog without even leaving a single wound. Drained of its blood, the behemoth frog swayed from side to side struggling to keep its footing. (ATK:5200-2600) (ATK:2000-4600)

"But even that isn't quite enough to finish you off," Rowan added, "so I'll use my Synchro Baton card to power it up even further. Six hundred points for each Synchro Monster in my graveyard to be exact."

Rowan Trap flipped up, and the spiritual forms of I'wai, Mangar-kunjer-kunja, Kinie Ger and Wat-Kutjara appeared behind Papinjuwari, as the flames around the giant's fire stick spread to rest of its body. (ATK:4600-7000)

"Papinjuwari attack!" Rowan ordered.

"Oh…" Gula's jaw dropped as the realisation set in, he wouldn't have a life point to his name after this blow. "Phooey."

Papinjuwari shoved its fire stick right in D.3.S Frog's face, then the giant bashed the frog's skull with its wooden club. The giant frog let out a high-pitched squeal as it struggled backwards before shattering into pixels.

Gula looked on nervously as pieces of D.3.S. Frog rained down around him. (Gula LP:2900-0)

Sirens blared, as the duel disks shut down, making Papinjuwari disappear.

Gula dropped to one knee. "Damn it," he swore, "I was so close."

"Eh, don't beat yourself up too bad," said Rowan, as he packed his duelling equipment away, "I've one-turn killed better players."

"I don't know if that makes me feel better or not," Gula replied.

"Uhh.. it was supposed to make feel better," said Rowan, as a large bead of sweat rolled down his forehead. "I mean though, you probably should have summoned Toadally Awesome earlier in the duel, that card is better at stopping plays than as a finisher."

"But how I duelled does not matter now," said the Bullywug, "as per our agreement, master Tiddalik shall return your water.

"Will you do so now, Master Tiddalik?"

Tiddalik didn't respond.

"Uhh..." Gula stammered, worried that his loss had enraged Tiddalik and was now in danger of being eaten alive, "master Tiddalik?"

But Tiddalik was not beside himself in fury, quite the opposite in fact...

He'd fallen asleep, as seen by the giant bubble of snot pulsating from one of his nostrils.

"Wonder why he went quiet," Rowan muttered.

And it happened not too long after we started duelling too...

Gula grabbed the bridge of his nose.

"MASTER TIDDALIK!" Gula yelled at the top of his lungs, making even Rowan jump.

However Tiddalik did even budge, he just continued snoring.

"Fine have it that way," Gula said between deep breaths as held his staff over his head.

"Shadowchaser, you might want to stand back."

Rowan nodded and took a few steps back.

"I'm going to regret this," the Bullywug muttered. It was how they lost their last chief (and how he subsequently became the tribe's current one), and he wasn't sure Tiddalik had learned his lesson.

"Wake up," Gula screamed, bringing the staff down on Tiddaliks toe.

Tiddalik awoke with a loud scream. It sounded like a normal frog cry (if you'd ever heard one) but about a hundred and twenty decibels higher and thirty octaves deeper.

"As if my eardrums haven't suffered enough already," Rowan muttered, recalling the dreaded tune of Des Croaking.

Tiddalik glared down at his toe and then to Gula.

"We have finished our duel," said Gula, his face twisted into a massive frown.

"And?" Tiddalik asked.

"I lost," the elderly Bullywug muttered out of the corner of his mouth.

Tiddalik let out a low frustrated grumble…

"We should just give the water back, master Tiddalik," said Gula, "

Tiddalik dragged his angry glare from Gula to Rowan. "What's stopping me from just swallowing you whole, Shadowchaser?

"Well..." said Rowan, as nervous sweat poured from his brow, "that would earn you what is called an Indelible Imprint. And you most definitely do not want that."

Tiddalik narrowed his gaze further. "Explain... Shadowchaser."

"Well," Rowan continued, "an Indelible Imprint is a mark that identifies you as someone who killed a Shadowchaser, and that mark won't go away no matter what you do."

"I am not scared of a mark," Tiddalik growled.

"Well that's your loss," Rowan replied, "because gaining a mark would mean that you've violated the Great Treaty," Rowan added, "don't expect whoever they send to be happy to duel any of you."

"Hell, depending on who they send, none of you would even walk away alive."

Gula flinched at that remark, but Tiddalik remained unmoved.

"I've even seen some of my co-workers throw around Dragons like it was nothing."

Of course, none of my team, he thought, but they don't know that.

Gula was frightened by this threat, a dragon would probably tear through the entire tribe, Tiddalik included, in five minutes, with time to spare. Someone, or something, that could effortlessly defeat one was more-than-likely 'bring my brown robes' frightening to something as low on the Shadowkind food-chain as a Bullywug.

"Please," Gula begged, "Master Tiddalik, honour the Shadowchaser's agreement and return the water."

But to his horror, Tiddalik still seemed unmoved. "You are lying Shadowchaser."

"I've been a Shadowchaser for over forty years," Rowan stepped forward pointed a finger at Tiddalik, "I've dealt with bigger threats than you."

Of course, he mentally noted, I had a bit more than a sword and a duffle bag full of potions with me at the time.

"And I'm just one Shadowchaser," he continued, "this entire organisation is over a thousand years old, we have around thousand members and countless allies. We've stopped bigger threats than some greedy little frog like you.

"So I very well suggest that you hop on over to the crater that was the lake you drank and - quite literally – cough up that water!"

Tiddalik just glared at Rowan, as if he was contemplating whether to grab the Shadowchaser with his tongue and swallow him whole.

Rowan half-expected him to do just that, judging by the sweat pouring down his brow.

But Gula stepped in front of Rowan, arms spread as wide as his small frame would allow. "Master Tiddalik!" he yelled, "listen to this man! You're putting not just yourself, but our entire tribe in danger with your selfishness, but an entire city of others as well! The Shadowchasers will not let this stand, they will keep coming until you return the water!

"Don't you remember how much the other spirits despised you the first time you did this? They all conspired against you, every last one of them! You are lucky the Owl and the Eel used trickery instead of force, but you will not be so lucky with these Shadowchasers anymore."

Tiddalik just continued to glare at his two lecturers. Rowan was sure that Tiddalik would just swallow them both whole

But to Rowan's surprise, Tiddalik didn't. "Very well Shadowchaser," Tiddalik huffed, "I shall return your water."

The giant frog shuffled around on the spot, making the earth shake with even his slightest movements.

Then Rowan was almost thrown off his feet as Tiddalik launched himself away just like a normal-sized frog would, knocking over a few trees and landing with a thunderous crash.

"Oi!" Rowan yelled, realising how Matari's little tale ended, "and let it out slowly! Don't flood the place! I'm not a strong swimmer!"

Tiddalik didn't respond, presumably because he was well out of earshot after two or three hops.

However, Rowan heard the sound of retching through the trees, followed by the sound of gushing water.

Gula dropped onto his backside and held his head in his hands. "I honestly swear he was going to swallow us back there."

"Your not the only one," Rowan admitted, "of all the ways I thought I'd die in duty, I never thought that being eaten by frog would ever happen."

Gula let out a deep sigh. "Honestly… I have been expecting it for a while now, that was how we lost our last chief."

Rowan just stared at Gula with an awkward look on his face. "Well, I'm gonna get out of here

"Also I've got a long walk ahead of me… And that's just to get back to my D-Wheel."

"Really should've made Matari do this..." he muttered under his breath.

"Wait!" Gula called, catching Rowan's attention, "aren't you going to arrest us?"

Rowan stopped in his tracks and held his chin. "Well I don't think we have a cell large enough to hold the big fella, and since he's pukin - I mean – putting the water back. We have nothing to arrest him for anyway. And I guess I can't really lock you up for anything since all you did was step in as his proxy...

"But I guess I can do this."

He bent down so that he eye level with Gula, and with a quick movement of his hand flicked the Bullywug right between his beady eyes.

"Ouch," the frog squeaked, rubbing his face.

"Don't let him do that again," said Rowan, shaking his finger at Gula as if he were a child.

"Do you think we could stop him if he tried?" asked Gula.

"Well… uhh… Just remind of what will happen if he does," Rowan answered, standing back up.

"Right," he said to himself, "gonna go home have a shower and head straight back to bed…"

He looked down at his soaking wet and mud-covered clothes.

"And probably beg Elanora to wash these stains out."

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

An hours trek back through the wilderness and Rowan had finally found his way back to where he had parked.

There was still a large crowd gathered at the top of the damn, though they now wondering just how the water was coming back.

"Looks like the veil gonna be working overtime today," he said, "eh, probably for the best. Don't think they'd be too happy to find out what's in their drinking water.

"Also note to self, only drink bottled water for a month, maybe two."

He strolled back to his D-Wheel only for his phone to start vibrating in his pocket.

"Whoops, must not get any reception out there."

He pulled his phone out of his mud-covered pocket.

"Nine messages," he gasped, "what the Hell did I miss?"

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Synchro Baton

Normal Trap Card

Target one Synchro Monster you control, it gains 600 ATK for each Synchro Monster in your graveyard, until the End Phase.

This card was used by Yusei Fudo in episode 63 of Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's, creative credit goes to the writers of that episode.

Frog Squash

Several members of the Frog Archetype falling onto a group of soldiers.

Banish one Aqua-Type Monster from your graveyard and target one Monster you control, the target gains ATK equal to the banished Monsters ATK.

Mangar-kunjer-kunja

Reptile/Synchro/Effect/Earth/LV:6/ATK:2000/DEF:2000

[1 Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuners] If this card is Synchro Summoned, you can banish 1 level 6 or lower Monster from your graveyard, Special Summon "Rella-Manerinja" token, with the same ATK, DEF, Level, Type and Attribute as the banished Monster.

I'wai

Reptile/Synchro/Effect/WATER/LV:6/ATK:2300/DEF:1000

[1 Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuners] If this card battles an attack position Monster, double any battle damage your opponent takes from that battle. If this card attack a defence position Monster, inflict Piercing damage to your opponent.

Kinie Ger

Fiend/Synchro/Effect/DARK/LV:5/ATK:2100/DEF:1000

[1 Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuners] When this card is Synchro Summoned, send 1 level four or lower Monster from your deck to the graveyard. When this Monster destroys an opponent's Monster by battle, inflict 1000 damage to your opponent.

Wati-Kutjara

Beast-Warrior/Synchro/Effect/EARTH/LV:7/ATK.2500/DEF.1400

[1 Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner Monsters] This card can attack twice per Battle Phase.

Papinijuwari

Fairy/Synchro/Effect/FIRE/LV:8/ATK:2000/DEF:2000

[1 Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner Synchro Monsters] If this card is Synchro Summoned, you can target one Monster your opponent controls; halve its ATK, then this card gains ATK equal to the lost ATK. If this card on is destroyed by battle or by an opponent's card effect, target up to 2 cards on the field; destroy them.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

While Rowan was away dealing with the missing water…

Making his way through one of the many shopping complexes that dotted the city, was a young boy. Though he wasn't quite as young as he looked, (fourteen was the usual guess, fifteen tops), but was actually seventeen.

The so-called seventeen-year-old stopped in front of an electronics shop and peered at the television on the other side of the shop window. Squinting to see past the reflection of his blonde hair and bright blue eyes in the glass, he focused on what was on the screen.

It was the news, which had been playing non-stop since he woke up this morning. It was still showing Warragamba Dam, but now as opposed to showing it bone dry, it was quickly filling back up.

"Well," he said, with a shrug of his shoulders, "I guess I can cross getting bottled water off my shopping list," he said and continued on his way.

Still, he couldn't help but wonder just how the water disappeared – and then returned – so quickly. He decided that it didn't matter to him, the water was back now, so what was the point of wondering what happened to it? Ignorance was bliss... Right?

Right?

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Kitten Knight: Well that's the first chapter done… for the third time.

Once again, I'll apologise for rebooting this story.