It had been an hour since the climatic match of the Battle City tournament and things in the city of New York where starting to cool down, most of the competing duelists where already on their way home with a few exceptions, namely the Duel Academy students, the comatose duelists and the champion himself Eddie Roberts.
As for the students they were back at the hotel collecting their bearings, the police where done with Chloe's room, much to her relief, which meant that the three girls now had their room back, Lance had elected to go to the hospital on his own to collect Andreas's soul card after it was decided that the students should go back to the hotel in order to rest after the tournament.
"It's definitely been a hell of a tournament." Chloe thought as she sat down on the bed, her duel disk sat on the bedside table as did her deck, well her deck save for one card that is, her Silent Magician Level 8 which she was holding in her hand. "Who knows? Maybe if I had summoned Explosive Magician instead of Gaia Knight the Force of Earth I would've dueled Eddie instead of Theresa….though I doubt I would've done as well as she did." Chloe thought but her train of thought was interrupted by a knock at her door.
"Hey Chloe, what's up?" Theresa asked as she entered the room, Chloe smiled pocketed her monster card.
"Not much, just going over our last match in my mind." Chloe shrugged as Theresa took a seat next to her bed. "Not to mention kicking myself for summoning the wrong monster."
"Yeah, Brandon told me after my match with Eddie." Theresa said with a sigh. "Chloe, don't beat yourself up over it, we all make mistakes."
"Yeah but this one cost me a spot in the finals." Chloe pointed out and Theresa frowned. "At least I got one of the secondary awards." Chloe said as she glanced towards a small trophy next to her duel disk, before the students left they announced a seven secondary awards that they gave out to the competing duelists, Marcus won Best Strategy for his match against Brandon, Best Duelist was a tie between Theresa and Axel so they got a trophy each, Match of the Tournament went to the match between Eddie Roberts and Theresa Daniels and Chloe won Shock of the Tournament for making it as far as she did despite having limited experience.
"Don't remind Lance though, he's still disappointed that he didn't win anything." Theresa said with a grin and Chloe smiled.
"Speaking of Lance, is he back from the hospital yet?" Chloe asked and Theresa shook her head in response.
"Nah, he shouldn't be back for another couple of minutes at the most." Theresa said shaking her head. "Before you ask, Hamden's trying to find out where the bastards who revived the Orichalcos are hiding out as we speak."
"Good, I'll be glad to have that behind me." Chloe said with a shudder as she thought back to her first duel in the tournament. "After everything that we've been through in this tournament I'll take another shot at one of Jeff's obstacle courses over being in another Orichalcos duel."
"I'm sure that I can you out there Chloe." Jeff said as he entered the room, the Osiris Red student nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard his voice and Jeff grinned. "Sorry to barge in like this Chloe but your dad's waiting outside for you, said something about taking you somewhere." Jeff said and Chloe nodded before grabbing her duel disk.
"Thanks Jeff, I should be back by dinner time at the very least." Chloe said as she returned her monster card to her deck.
"Where are you going then?" Theresa asked and Chloe hesitated.
"It's….it's personal." Chloe said after a few minutes as she made her way towards the door. "If the others ask tell them that I went out to look for new cards at a Card Shop or something along those lines."
"You do realize the first line won't work right? Most card shops I know are completely sold out due to the tournament." Jeff pointed out and Chloe sighed.
"If I tell you guys….will you at least promise to not tell the others?" Chloe said after a few minutes of trying to think of something to tell them, they nodded and Chloe sighed again. "I'm going to visit my mom's gravesite for the first time, I couldn't do it when I originally lived in New York due to legal matters regarding where I was going to live at the time." Chloe explained and the two older duelists nodded in understanding.
"If you're sure about that we'll think of something to tell the others." Theresa reassured her and Chloe smiled before leaving the room. "Has there been any news from Lance Jeff?"
"None yet, I'm starting to get worried he shouldn't be taking this long." Jeff sighed and Theresa nodded in agreement. "Well if you excuse me I'm going to check on the others, see how their handling the disappointment of your loss after all your hard work."
"Yeah…thanks a lot for rubbing it in Jeff." Theresa said clearly annoyed by this, Jeff simply smiled and left and Theresa glanced around Chloe's room. "Looks like she's started packing already, after this crazy tournament I can hardly blame her." Theresa thought before noticing something she hadn't noticed before, an old picture, presumably around ten years old, was among Chloe's soon to be packed belongings and she picked it up out of curiosity, in the picture was what looked like Chloe when she was seven wearing a cute little dress. "Huh, I guess Chloe wasn't always the tomboy we know and love." Theresa thought before her eyes darted towards the older person in the picture, a woman who looked to be in her late twenties/early thirties who bore a striking resemblance to Chloe only with shorter hair who was wearing a jogging suit. "That woman…..is she Chloe's mother?" Theresa thought as she looked at the picture, they seemed to be very happy together which made Theresa sigh sadly. "This must've been taken during one of the few times they were able to get away from that bastard who calls himself her dad, hell it looks like it was taken in the same Mall we dueled him in." Theresa thought before returning the picture to its previous place and leaving the room. "Maybe I'll ask her about it." Theresa thought as she left the room.
*elsewhere in the city*
There was a reason Lance was taking as long as he was to get Andreas's soul card, the fact that he simply couldn't find it despite searching for it everywhere.
"Doc, are you absolute sure that no one may have taken it by accident?" Lance asked the much older and very annoyed doctor as he looked under Otto's bed, Nicola and one of the doctors where watching him mostly to make sure he didn't accidently disconnect anything.
"I've said it a thousand times and I'll say it again Mr. Alvers, yes I am sure that none of the staff at this hospital have taken it by accident." The doctor answered as the teen stood up carefully avoiding the wires as he did. "Like I said we catalogued two Duel Monster cards separate from his deck when he first arrived here, I have no idea where the other might have gone."
"Man, if Chloe had just retrieved the card during the aftermath off her duel against him I wouldn't be in this mess." Lance thought before shaking his head. "No, I can't hold her responsible for this, after her little rant her emotions where running high." Lance thought as he ran a hand through his hair. "In that case I'm stumped."
"It has to be here somewhere." Nicola protested and Lance sighed.
"Believe me, I've looked everywhere I could without interfering with the medical equipment." Lance said with a sigh of resignation, it was then that he got an idea. "Hey doc, at any point during the Battle City finals was there any odd people seen around the hospital?"
"Now that you mention it yes, I do remember seeing a fellow I didn't recognize; he was tall, had dark hair and was in a surgeon's uniform right down to the mask which was odd since surgeons don't usually walk around the wards." The doctor said after he thought for a moment, it took a moment for the implications to set in and as soon as it did the doctor's eyes widened. "Are you suggesting a thief broke into the hospital just to steal one Duel Monster's card?"
"After everything that's happened in this damn tournament I'm willing to believe that Santa Claus not only exists but lives with the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy, let alone that someone would go to all this trouble just to steal a duel monsters card." Lance said with a shrug just as he heard his ringtone, Bye-Bye Beautiful by Nightwish, go off. "Err; yeah I'm going to leave the hospital so I can answer that." Lance said as furious blush flushed over his face, before the doctor could say anything Lance legged it for the entrance and as soon as he was out the door he answered it. "Whoever's calling has the patience of a turtle!" Lance thought as he waited for an answer. "I could've sworn I turned this damn thing off." Lance thought.
"Hello Mr. Alvers, I was wondering when you'd show up to collect your friend's soul card." An unknown voice that sent shivers down Lance's spine said and Lance's eyes narrowed.
"Who are you? And what have you done with that card?" Lance demanded and the voice on the other end chuckled.
"You're hardly in a position to be making demands Lance." The voice said threateningly and Lance's eyes narrowed. "You want your friend's soul freed alongside all the other victims of my organization? Meet with your friends back at the hotel, tell them to come by the docks at the earliest convenience and go to a ship docked at Pier 17, Andreas's soul depends on it!" The voice said before hanging up.
"Hello? HELLO!" Lance yelled into the phone but no answer came, he checked caller ID and frowned. "He used a Disposable Cell Phone, just fucking great!" Lance thought before calling Martin. "Martin, it's me and I need to be picked up from the hospital."
"Were you able to find the card?" Martin asked and Lance shook his head.
"No, look I'll explain when I get back, besides it's a long story and I may just end up sounding crazy reciting it out loud and in public." Lance responded and Martin paused.
"All right, I'll have the driver pick you up." Martin said with a sigh and Lance grinned. "Where are you at the moment?"
"Outside the ER wing at the hospital, I'm standing opposite a parked ambulance." Lance answered and Martin hung up, Lance pocketed the cell and sighed. "God, this is going to take a lot of explaining on my part!" Lance thought before the automatic doors opened and Nicola stepped out.
"Who was that?" Nicola asked and Lance shrugged.
"No clue, but he claimed to have a way to free the imprisoned souls from the Orichalcos so I'm going back to the hotel to meet with the others and figure out what to do about it." Lance explained as he rubbed the back of his head nervously. "I think it's a safe bet that the caller is the same guy who stole Andreas's soul card."
"You think he's telling the truth?" Nicola asked and Lance frowned.
"Honestly I don't know, for all I know it could be a last ditch effort by those bastards to capture our souls." Lance said with a shrug and Nicola's eyes narrowed.
"Lance, I want to come with you guys and get revenge for Andreas." Nicola said assertively and Lance frowned.
"Nic, don't get me wrong you're a talented duelist but so is Chloe and she more experience than you, no offense but I don't see how you could help us here." Lance said honestly and Nicola folded her arms with a pout. "Here's an idea, when we beat them maybe you can call us to confirm whether or not Andreas has woken up?" Lance suggested and Nicola thought for a moment before nodding.
"Yeah, I can do that." Nicola said as she went inside the hospital. "Just promise me one thing Lance." Nicola said as she glanced over her shoulder. "That no one else gets hurt by those bastards." Nicola asked and Lance nodded without hesitation.
"I'll try." Lance said as he watched Nicola enter the hospital, he heard a car pull up and turned around in time to see Jeff stepping out of the car. "Hey Jeff, I bet your wondering what I have to tell you huh?"
"Yeah, you could say that." Jeff said as he held the door open for the teen, Lance got in without hesitation and Jeff quickly followed him. "I'm guessing you'll tell me and the others when we arrive at the hotel?" Jeff asked as he and Lance put their seatbelts on.
"Yeah, that way I can save myself the trouble of repeating myself." Lance said as he folded his arms, the driver started driving away from the hospital and Lance looked out the window as he waited. "Can't believe I'm saying this but after all the crazy shit that's happened in this tournament I'll take a month's worth of homework over another duel." Lance said getting a laugh out of Jeff.
"We'll discuss that when we get back to the hotel." Jeff told him as the car drove off. "We'll have to wait for Chloe to return first though; she had something that she wanted to do before we go back to Duel Academy."
*elsewhere in the city*
After a brief stop by a florist's to buy some flowers to put on her mother's gave Chloe and her stepdad arrived at the cemetery where Chloe's mother was buried, even as she entered the cemetery Chloe had butterflies in her stomach as she was incredibly nervous going into this.
After passing a few gravestones the two of them stopped at the bottom of the hill, Scott turned to his daughter and pointed towards one at the very top of the hill. "That's where she's buried?" Chloe asked and Scott nodded, Chloe gulped as she started climbing up the hill. "Dad, you mind waiting for me down here? I…I'd like some privacy." Chloe requested as she started to get choked up.
"Sure, just call me when you're ready to leave." Scott told her as he sat down on a nearby bench, Chloe nodded and made her way up the hill before kneeling in front of the gravestone and she dusted off the gravestone, she saw her mother's name and the surname that Chloe hadn't used in ten years, Sarah Graham.
"Hi mom, I know it's been a while since I last saw you." Chloe said sadly as she put the flowers on the grave. "I've grown a lot, both biologically and as a person, since I last saw you and I managed to kick some ass in the Battle City tournament." Chloe added with a smile; however she was quickly overcome by emotion as tears started streaming down her eyes and she fell to her hands and knees. "I….I miss you…..I miss you much!" She stammered as she wiped away a tear from her cheek, it took her a few moments but she finally stood up and dried her eyes on the sleeves of her jacket. "I…I guess I'll see you around." Chloe sighed before making her way down the hill, she walked up to the bench her dad was sitting on and sat next to him. "Dad…..thanks for bringing me here."
"It was my pleasure Chloe." Scott reassured her and Chloe smiled. "Tell me when you want to go back to the hotel and I'll take you back, I'll understand if you want to have a few minutes to calm down." Scott said just as his cellphone went off; he answered it almost immediately after checking the caller ID. "Jeff? Is there something wrong?" Scott asked catching Chloe's attention, she watched her stepdad for a few minutes as he listened to what he had to say. "I understand, I'll bring Chloe back to the hotel as soon as possible," Scott said before hanging up.
"Is there something wrong dad?" Chloe asked as the last of her tears dried up, Scott turned to her with a look of seriousness on his face.
"I'll explain on the way back to the hotel, if you're up for going back now." Scott told her and Chloe stood up.
"Let's go." Chloe said simply before following her stepdad back to the car.
*sometime later at the hotel*
"Yeah, that's basically it." Lance said as he folded his arms, he had just finished telling the other students and the teachers what had happened at the hospital and, as he had expected, he had been met with skeptical looks. "After everything that's happened recently is it that hard to believe that something like that happened?"
"It's not that Lance, it just seems too good to be true." Theresa said with an annoyed sigh and Lance frowned. "And like I said Disposable Cells can't be traced even if we had the technology to do so, for all we know it's an elaborate trap."
"I don't know about you guys but I think we should go anyway." Chloe chimed in and the others turned to her. "You know, for Andreas's sake."
"What if our souls get trapped Chloe, did you even think about that?" Theresa pointed out and Chloe stiffened up at her tone of voice. "Look I want to find a way to free Andreas and any other victims of the Orichalcos as much as you guys but we need to think about this!" Theresa added and Kimberly frowned as she turned to Theresa.
"I'm siding with Chloe Theresa." Kimberly said plainly. "Don't get me wrong, I hear you about the risks involved in doing this but those guys have been a pain in our asses throughout the tournament, hell they captured my brother's soul before the tournament even began, I'll be happy to have those bastards out of my life."
"Sorry Theresa but I'm siding with Chloe as well." Brandon said and Theresa turned to him looking at him like he had just grown an extra head. "Don't forget I still have the Yubel cards in my deck, their effects will give us an edge."
"Is anyone going to side with me?" Theresa asked and the others shook their heads, Theresa sighed in resignation and stood up. "Since I've been outvoted we'll go to this ship in an hour, in the meantime I want everyone training extra hard, do I make myself clear?" Theresa asked and the others nodded without hesitation. "And remember guys, this may be our only chance to bring back Andreas so when we get there be ready for anything."
"We will be, count on it." Chloe said assertively and the others nodded in agreement. "So, where will we meet for training?"
"Outside the hotel, we'll be reusing the rules we came up with during our training sessions for Battle City." Theresa said after thinking for a few moments, she stood up and left the room after saying that and the others followed her.
*elsewhere in the city*
"So, the fools should be here soon." Michael said as he entered the boss's office on board the ship. "I assure you that my minions are ready for anything."
"Have you given them the Orichalcos cards as I requested?" The boss asked and Michael nodded. "Good, just remember that I am to deal with Lance Alvers personally, understood?" The boss asked and Michael frowned under his hood.
"Yes, off course." Michael said without hesitation. "And if my minions fail I'll get my deck ready, you can never be too careful." Michael said before leaving the room.
"And if he fails, god forbid, I had better prepare myself." The leader thought before reaching into a desk draw and retrieving a deck. "I may have founded the organization but that doesn't make me a weakling, I am by far the best duelist in it and those foolish children will soon see that fact first hand!" The leader thought before standing up and leaving the room.
*an hour later*
"Pier 16…..and here's pier 17!" The foreman said as he led the students to the pier, the students had arrived twenty minutes ago and had asked the foreman to take them to Pier 17, he only accepted because he had been following the Battle City Tournament religiously and had recognized the students, he appeared confused however as he saw the ship. "That ship shouldn't be there."
"It doesn't have a docking permit?" Theresa asked and the foreman shook his head.
"No, it's been over a year since the last docking permit was given out." The foreman said before frowning. "I'd better call the cops; god knows what illegal activities are going on in there!" The foreman said before walking back to his office, the teens shared a look before looking towards the ship in question.
"So…should we go in?" Lance asked as he rubbed the back of his head nervously; however his eyes narrowed as a familiar figure, well familiar to him and Chloe that is, approached them.
"What's the matter Lance? Don't you recognize me?" The youth that was approaching them asked, he was tall with a shaved head, piercings all over his face and brown eyes, he was wearing a red jacket with a black muscle shirt underneath, blue jeans and black boots but what caught the other Duel Academy student's attention was the Orichalcos Duel Disk on his arm.
"You know him Lance?" Brandon asked and Lance frowned.
"You remember that story I told you guys about that gang leader I beat the shit out off?" Lance asked and Brandon, Theresa and Marcus nodded whilst Chloe shivered at the memory and Kimberly stared at Lance like he had just declared war on himself. "You're looking at that gang leader."
"You mean former gang leader!" The gang leader said with a scowl. "After that incident no one in my old gang would take me seriously so I quit whilst I was ahead, I was approached by my new boss and well the rest is history!"
"Then why didn't we encounter you during the tournament?" Theresa asked and the former gang leader frowned.
"I was eliminated before I had the chance, thought I'd test my deck out against the German National Champion, in fact every duel you'll have from now on will be against someone who was either eliminated early from the tournament or withdrew for other reasons." The former gang leader said before smirking. "Here's the deal kiddies, see that ship? My boss and his second in command are held up in there but to get there you have to defeat me and the rest of the cronies first."
"And what's to stop us from telling you to fuck off and storm the ship?" Lance asked the youth smirked.
"Two things, first is quite simple." The youth said before opening the right side of his jacket open and revealing a holstered gun, he closed the jacket and smirked. "We are all armed and the guns are fully loaded and if that somehow doesn't scare you then this will, my boss is watching the proceedings on those cameras." The youth said before pointing to a pair of security cameras. "If you even think about doing that then he will rip up your friend's soul card."
"He wouldn't dare!" Chloe scowled and the youth smirked.
"Always knew you had a mouth on you babe!" He smirked evilly. "You can thank your daddy for that bit of information!" He added and Chloe clenched her fists in anger at the mention of him.
"All right, that's enough you gigantic piece of shit!" Lance growled as he activated his duel disk. "As tempting as it is for me to reintroduce my fist to your already ugly face I don't like getting shot for some reason so I'll duel…."
"No, I will." Chloe said as she brushed passed the others, Lance looked at her with a look of surprise on his face and she turned to him. "His grudge is against both of us; after all it was him thinking that it would be okay to grope me in public that started the whole mess in the first place."
"Hey, not my fault you have a habit of dressing like a hooker." The youth shrugged and Chloe grit her teeth in anger.
"You know what? That misogynistic asshole is all yours." Lance said as he took a step back and deactivated his duel disk. "But just as long as I get to take out the next guy."
"You have a deal." Chloe said as she activated her duel disk, the youth smirked before activating his duel disk and both duelists drew their opening hands.
"I doubt you care but the name's Ramon, and I'm going to do what my associates couldn't." Ramon said as he looked over his hand. "Defeat you in a duel!"
"We'll see about that." Chloe scoffed as she looked over her hand. "So who's going first?" Chloe asked and Ramon smirked.
"Well I'd say ladies first but I figured out long ago that you aint no lady!" Ramon said as he drew his opening card. "And to open things up I summon Giant Orc in attack mode!" Ramon played the card and a giant muscular grey ogre appeared on the field wielding a bone like club (4/2200/0000) and Chloe smirked when she saw the monster.
"I've heard of dogs looking like their owners but duel monsters as well?" Chloe mocked him and Ramon growled.
"Laugh all you want bitch!" Ramon said angrily as he picked up three cards. "I set three cards facedown and end my turn." Ramon set the two cards and Chloe drew her first card. "Encase you're getting any ideas about setting a monster don't, I activate my trap card Final Attack Orders!"
"That won't stop me from setting monsters." Chloe quickly pointed out and Ramon grinned before activating one of his other cards.
"No but this will, I activate Light of Intervention!" Ramon activated the card and grinned. "As long as these cards are on the field your moves are pretty limited."
"Well in that case I set two cards facedown and summon the Tuner Monster Torapart in attack mode!" Chloe played the card and the strange, magician like warrior appeared on the field (2/600/600) and Ramon scoffed when he saw that.
"You summoned a tuner monster on your first turn? It seems that you're dumb as well!" Ramon mocked her and Chloe's eyes narrowed.
"This is coming from the guy who didn't even make it to the Semi-Finals, if you knew how to read you'd know that that's a little thing called irony." Chloe mocked him and Ramon growled. "Besides I'm far from done, since I have a Tuner on my side of the field I can Special Summon Boost Warrior in attack mode!" Chloe played the card and the futuristic red haired warrior appeared on the field (1/300/300). "Normally I would only be able to Special Summon him in defense mode but you're little combo prevents that, but on the plus side however my Warrior gives 300 attack points to every other warrior on my side of the field and I have two." Chloe added as Boost Warrior and Torapart's attack points rose to 600 and 900 respectively.
"Who cares? They are no match for my orc!" Ramon scoffed and Chloe grinned before picking up two of her other cards.
"Funny, I seem to remember you saying the same thing about Lance prior to your asskicking, well with a few words changed at least." Chloe countered and Ramon growled. "I set two cards of my own facedown and end my turn." Chloe set the two cards and Ramon drew a card.
"That's the same move she did in our match." Theresa whispered to Brandon who nodded in agreement. "Think Ramon will fall for the same bluff?"
"Well he obviously isn't the sharpest knife in the draw." Brandon whispered back as he folded his arms. "And he can't risk something like Heavy Storm because that would destroy his trap cards as well leaving his Giant Orc vulnerable as soon as he attacked."
"Well we'd better hope that he doesn't have anything to prevent her from using traps." Marcus added before noticing the smirk on Ramon's face. "Oh great, knowing our luck he's just drawn the Seal!"
"No but I may as well have drawn it!" Ramon said before playing his drawn card. "I activate my Spell Card Terra Forming, now I can take one Field Spell from my deck and add it to my hand!" Ramon played the card and Chloe's eyes widened as she realized what he was up too, he added the card to his hand and as soon as he reshuffled his deck he played the field spell. "I activate The Seal of the Orichalcos!" Ramon played the card and the infamous seal quickly surrounded the two duelists, Ramon chuckled evilly as the pentagram appeared on his forehead as well as Giant Orc's forehead increasing his attack to 2700 at the same time. "Don't worry; I'll make this quick and painless! Giant Orc, attack Torapart now!" Ramon ordered and the Orc charged towards the tuner monster…
"Not going to happen, I activate my Trap Card Waboku which protects my monsters and my life-points!" Chloe activated the trap and the three priestesses blocked the path of the orc, they were subsequently smashed to pieces with one swing of Giant Orc's club before the monster returned to Ramon's side of the field. "I know that thing's side effect as well; if he attacks he is forced into defense mode after Damage Calculation." Chloe added before her eyes narrowed. "But your Final Attack Orders trap card prevents that."
"Naturally, it seems you're not a dumb slut after all." Ramon mocked her as his Orc tried to kneel down but was forced back to his feet, Chloe growled at that comment as she sent her trap card to the graveyard.
"Are you done yet?" Chloe asked impatiently and Ramon nodded, she quickly drew her card and looked at it. "First I activate Reinforcement of the Army; this lets me add one Warrior Type monster from my deck to my hand!" Chloe played the card and picked up her deck, one quick search later and she found the card she was looking for, added it to her hand and shuffled her deck. "Now I sacrifice Torapart so I can summon Salvage Warrior in attack mode!" Chloe swapped out the cards and Torapart vanished from the field, in its place stood a large muscular purple ogre wearing a metal backpack with chains dangling off of it, chains which he was holding in his hand, an orange jacket with a blue jumper underneath, green pants and black boots (5/1900/1600) and even as his attack increased to 2200 thanks to Boost Warrior's effect Ramon burst out laughing.
"Are you serious? You sacrificed the only decent monster on your side of the field for a Level 5 monster with 1900 attack points?" Ramon scoffed….but his laughter soon died down when he saw Torapart emerge from the backpack, power boost from Boost Warrior and all. "What the hell did you just do?"
"Use Salvage Warrior's effect, that's what!" Chloe grinned as she folded her arms. "When I successfully tribute summon him I can special summon a tuner type monster from my hand or graveyard and since the only monster in my hand is a non-tuner monster I had to make do with this!"
"Okay, that was pretty clever." Theresa admitted as she watched the duel. "Now she can use those three monsters to Synchro Summon a Level 8 Synchro monster easily."
"I'm not done yet Theresa!" Chloe added as she retrieved her spell from her graveyard, pocketed it and picked up a card. "For my next trick I'm removing Reinforcement of the Army from play so I can Special Summon Spell Striker in attack mode!" Chloe announced as the small warrior in Viking armor appeared on the field (3/600/600) and his attack increased to 900 thanks to Boost Warrior's effect. "I have bad news for you Ramon, when Spell Striker's summoned in this manner he can bypass your monster and attack you directly!"
"Hey wait a minute…" Ramon began to protest as Chloe pointed at Spell Striker.
"Spell Striker, attack his life-points directly!" Chloe commanded and the small warrior leaped straight over Giant Orc, no small feat given the size difference, and slashed him with his sword.
R: 7100
C: 8000
Ramon grunted as he got to his feet, however once he was on his feet he grinned. "You should've tuned your other three monsters together first ya dumb broad! Everyone knows you can't do a Synchro Summon during your battle phase!"
"With my trap card I can!" Chloe countered as her trap card flipped up. "I activate Urgent Tuning; this lets me perform a Synchro Summon during either of our Battle Phases but don't take my word for it, please allow Torapart to demonstrate with help from Salvage and Boost Warrior!" Chloe said as the three monsters leapt into the air, Torapart vanished and two golden rings surrounded Salvage Warrior and Boost Warrior. "I tune Torapart with Salvage Warrior and Boost Warrior so I can Synchro Summon Colossal Fighter in attack mode!" Chloe announced as a bright flash enveloped the field, once the flash faded Ramon looked up and his eyes widened as he looked at the mighty warrior in front of him (8/2800/1000). "Oh and it gets better, for me at least, this big guy gains a hundred attack points for each Warrior type monster in either of our graveyards, like the three monsters I just used to Synchro Summon him!" Chloe added as Colossal Fighter's attack increased to 3100. "Oh and one more thing, Torapart's effect will prevent you from using your trap card to prevent Colossal Fighter's attack since I used him in a Synchro Summon."
"Err; is it too late to apologize if I offended you in any way?" Ramon gulped as he looked at Chloe's Synchro Monster.
"In a word, yes, Colossal Fighter I command you to attack Giant Orc now!" Chloe commanded and the warrior charged towards the orc, it tried to defend its self but it was no use as the monster was quickly pummeled.
R: 6700
C: 8000
"It feels so good to be the dominating one for once!" Chloe said with a grin…but quickly blushed upon realizing how wrong that sounded before turning her head to the other students. "Not a word to anyone at Duel Academy about what I just said, okay?" Chloe asked and the others quickly nodded whilst Marcus and Lance tried to suppress their laughter, Chloe shook her head before regaining her composure and setting the last card in her hand. "I set a card facedown and end my turn." Chloe announced and Ramon drew his card.
"I activate Monster Reincarnation so I can return Giant Orc to my hand!" Ramon played the card and, after discarding a Spell Card, he returned the monster to his hand. "Now I activate the card I just drew, Allure of Darkness, this lets me draw two cards as long as I banish one Dark Type monster from my hand and thanks to Monster Reincarnation I have just that!" Ramon pocketed Giant Orc and drew two cards from his deck; he looked at them briefly before activating his facedown card. "Next I activate Emergency Provisions, in exchange for sending Final Attack Orders and Light of Intervention to my graveyard this card will add 2000 life-points to my score!" Ramon said as he sent his traps to the graveyard, once he did his life-points increased to 8700.
"It seems like he predicted that his monster wouldn't be on the field for long, even with the Orichalcos backing him up." Theresa commented and Brandon nodded in agreement. "Let's just hope that Chloe doesn't repeat the mistakes of our match by getting overconfident too early."
"Wouldn't be the first time that's happened, just look at what happened during her match against Otto." Brandon pointed out with a frown. "Let's face it; Chloe's overconfidence has been her downfall in the past."
"You know I can hear you, right?" Chloe asked and the two Obelisk Blue students winced.
"And I still have a move to complete!" Ramon said before picking up the cards he just drawn. "I set this card facedown and a monster in defense mode, it's your move." Ramon played the cards and Chloe drew her card.
"Not that I'm complaining but why didn't he target Spell Striker? If he had then I would've lost a lot of life-points…..but by doing so he would've strengthened Colossal Fighter even more!" Chloe thought as realization hit her. "Well, better not take any chances." Chloe thought before switching Spell Striker to defense mode and pointing at Ramon's defense monster. "Colossal Fighter, attack his defense!" Chloe commanded and the massive fighter let out a mighty roar before charging at Ramon's facedown monster, the former gang leader smirked however as his monster was revealed to be Dark Resonator (3/1300/800) and to no one's surprise it's attack rose to 1800 thanks to the seal, however to Chloe's surprise Dark Resonator survived the attack.
"Surprised? Don't be, on top of being a Tuner Monster Dark Resonator can survive one attack per round." Ramon explained and Chloe frowned at that piece of information.
"Which will leave you open to do a Synchro of your own on your next turn." Chloe said with a frown and Ramon smirked at that.
"You catch on fast, pity you never took me up on my offer when we first met." Ramon said with a cocky smirk and Chloe scoffed.
"Did you just say offer? Is that what you call being an annoying pest and trying to grope a girl at every opportunity you got just because she may have dressed appropriately for a hot day?" Chloe accused him and Ramon growled when he heard that. "Even if I did take up on your so called offer it wouldn't have done you much good unless your goal was to become a registered sex offender, I was 16 at the time and I happen to know that your 21."
"So I like them young, who cares?" Ramon scoffed before noticing the angry looks he was getting from the other duel academy students. "How about we just forget I said anything and move on?"
"It's too late for that scumbag!" A familiar voice, to the duel academy students at least, rang out and Alex stepped out of his hiding spot. "To answer your questions, I've been here since before the match started and heard every word from that piece of shit's mouth."
"I swear you old folks never mind your own business." Ramon said as he rolled his eyes, he turned his attention to Chloe and scowled. "I'm still waiting for you to end your turn sweet-cheeks." Ramon said the Chloe growled in annoyance before looking over her hand, she set a card facedown and motioned for him to take his turn.
"I end my turn but call me that again and I'll shove your duel disk right up your ass!" Chloe growled and Ramon drew his card.
"Is it even possible to do that?" Marcus asked as he scratched his head in confusion, Brandon quickly intervened as a massive sweat-drop rolled down his head.
"No one answer him, I have no intention of losing my lunch!" Brandon said quickly and Marcus gulped before quickly shutting up.
"Okay, but here's something I don't get." Alex said as he folded his arms. "I thought that punk Otto was the last of the Orichalcos duelists."
"Honestly we've never been too sure about they're numbers either." Theresa answered with a frown. "On the first day of dueling we were challenged by and we defeated seven Orichalcos Duelists, including two of them in a tag team match, but the day afterwards more of them cropped up."
"And on the second day we eliminated five of them, however two duelists from the first day managed to escape." Brandon informed him with a frown. "And I don't think Chloe will appreciate being reminded of the fifth duel."
"No, I won't." Chloe said almost immediately as she waited for Ramon to make his move, he looked at his drawn card and played it.
"I activate the Spell Card called Card of Sanctity, sure it helps you as well but it has its own benefits for yours truly as well!" Ramon played the card and both duelists drew until they had six cards in their hands, Ramon sent his spell to the graveyard and looked over his new hand. "Yeah, this should do nicely; first I sacrifice Dark Resonator so I can summon something a bit more useful for my upcoming move, the mighty Metal Guardian in attack mode,"
"Metal Guardian, are you serious!" Every other duelist present questioned him as Dark Resonator disappeared from the field, in its place stood a large metallic being that seemed to be more at home defending rather than attacking (5/1150/2150) and it's attack increased to 1650 as the symbol of the Seal appeared on its forehead.
"Who in their right minds has a card like that nowadays?" Brandon questioned once the move dawned on him. "Summoning it defense mode I could understand due to its high defense power but in attack mode! Why not summon Dark King of the Abyss whilst you're at it?"
"Watch and learn rich boy! First I activate the trap I set last turn Revival Gift; this brings back Dark Resonator as long as I give you two Revival Gift tokens!" Ramon activated the card and the fiend reappeared on the field as did two shadowy figures alongside Spell Striker and Colossal Fighter.
"Great, now you can do a Level 8 Synchro Summon of your own!" Chloe said clearly annoyed by this; however her annoyance quickly turned to confusion when Ramon shook his head.
"Actually no, what I instead have in mind is a Level 7 Synchro Summon." Ramon said as he picked up a card in his hand. "First I equip Metal Guardian with the Spell Card Demotion; now that he's equipped with it this will reduce his Level to 3!" Ramon played the card and like he said Metal Guardian's level was reduced by two.
"It seems you can't count Ramon." Chloe mocked him with a smirk. "As it stands you can only bring out a Level 6 Synchro with that combo."
"Actually I can count, which is why I activate this next Spell Card!" Ramon played the card and Chloe's eyes narrowed when she saw it. "One for One requires me to send a monster from my hand to the graveyard but in exchange I can Special Summon one Level 1 monster from my deck, in other words exactly what I need to make my Synchro Summon possible!" Ramon explained as he picked up his deck and searched through it, he found the card he was looking for, played it and shuffled his deck before returning it to his slot, the monster appeared soon afterwards revealing it to be Battle Fader (1/0/0) and Ramon didn't seem to care that the fiend's attack increased to five hundred thanks to the Seal. "Normally I use this card to save myself from a direct attack but it works just as well in this scenario!" Ramon said before pointing at his three monsters, Dark Resonator put its tuning forks together and the three monsters vanished. "I tune Dark Resonator with Metal Guardian and Battle Fader to Synchro Summon Chaos King Archfiend!" Ramon played the card and Kimberly's eyes widened as a blight flash enveloped the field, once it faded Chloe looked up and saw that a new monster now stood in Metal Guardian's place, it was a blue gaunt fiend who's arms where covered in armor, it red hair, flaming wings and a yellow mask the latter of which was covering its face (7/2600/2600) and it's attack increased to 3100 thanks to the Seal.
"Something wrong Kimberly?" Brandon asked upon seeing the look on her face, Kimberly's eyes narrowed as she nodded.
"Yeah, I use that monster myself; hell if I had another turn to spare in my match with Otto I would've spent it trying to summon that thing." Kimberly admitted as she watched the duel. "As strong as Colossal Fighter is it's no match for Chaos King Archfiend."
"I can hear you Kimberly!" Chloe pointed out with a frown. "And to be quite frank I don't know what you're talking about, if he attacks Colossal Fighter with Chaos King then both monsters will be destroyed and if he does that then he just wasted a Synchro Summon." Chloe pointed out and Ramon grinned.
"Well, if you're that confident about it then let's test your theory by having Chaos King Archfiend attack Colossal Fighter!" Ramon commanded and before Chloe could protest the fiend disappeared from the field only to reappear behind Colossal Fighter, however before the warrior could retaliate Chaos King's eyes glowed and to Chloe's shock it's attack and defense points where swapped around and before she could utter a word of protest Chaos King slashed Colossal Fighter down the middle with its claws.
R: 8700
C: 5900
"What the hell just happened, that should've been a tie?" Chloe protested as she got ready to use Colossal Fighter's other effect.
"That was Chaos King's effect, basically when I declare an attack with him the opponent's monsters get their attack and defense points switched around." Ramon said with a cocky smirk. "You'd know that if you paid attention to your friend over there."
"Yeah, well Colossal Fighter has another effect." Chloe said as she retrieved the cards in her graveyard. "Since you destroyed him in battle I can Special Summon one Warrior type monster from my grave, and guess what monster type Colossal Fighter just so happens to be?" Chloe asked rhetorically as she went to pick up Colossal Fighter.
"Chloe wait! Summon the Tuner monster you used to bring out Colossal Fighter instead." Silent Magician's voice rang out in her head and Chloe hesitated.
"Why? Colossal Fighter's much stronger…" Chloe thought before realization hit her. "Off course, why didn't I think of that?"
"Are you bringing back Colossal Fighter or not?" Ramon said impatiently and Chloe glared at her opponent before picking up Torapart.
"No, I'm not; instead I'm summoning Torapart back to the field." Chloe said as she played the card and the mysterious warrior reappeared on the field.
"That's gotta be the dumbest move I've seen!" Ramon scoffed as Chloe returned her other cards to the graveyard. "Even if you do another Synchro Summon all you'll be able to do is a Level 5 Synchro and nothing more!"
"I don't know about that, your last move definitely qualifies. "Chloe countered and Ramon blinked….before his eyes widened as it dawned on him.
"My Revival Gift Tokens, how the fuck did I forget about that?" Ramon wondered as it dawned on him, however he set a card facedown before motioning for Chloe to take her turn and she smirked as she smirked as she drew her card.
"Good question, but I'm not going to let you get away with that mistake!" Chloe said before pointing to Torapart. "Are you up for doing another tune up Torapart?" Chloe asked and in response Torapart, Spell Striker and one of the Revival Gift Tokens leapt into the air, Torapart vanished and the two green rings quickly surrounded Spell Striker and the Token. "I tune Torapart, Spell Striker and the Revival Gift Token that you were kind enough to give me in order to Synchro Summon an old friend of ours!" Chloe said just as a blight flash enveloped the field.
"What do you mean by old friend?" Ramon demanded but his impatience quickly turned to fear as a second Colossal Fighter appeared on the field, and with an additional warrior in her graveyard its attack increased to 3200.
"Why did she bother with all that if she just intended to bring back Colossal Fighter?" Marcus asked as he scratched the back of his head in confusion.
"If she had then her monster would lose to protection offered to it by Torapart, that and with Spell Striker in the graveyard her monster's now strong enough to take out that Archfiend." Kimberly pointed out and Marcus nodded in understanding. "Why is that girl in Osiris Red again? If she isn't considered for promotion to Ra Yellow next month I'll eat my Archfiend Empress!" Kimberly thought as Chloe pointed to Chaos King Archfiend.
"Colossal Fighter, attack Chaos King Archfiend now!" Chloe commanded and the fighter charged towards the fiend…
"Yeah, sorry but no, that aint happening!" Ramon said as he activated his facedown card. "Before you ask, well, whilst Torapart prevents the activation of traps and not quick play spells but don't take my word for it, please allow my Shrink to do the demonstrating for you!" Ramon said as his card flipped up and before Chloe's widened eyes Colossal Fighter shrank in size, and attack power, all the way down to 1600, until it was half as big as it once was, the miniature Colossal Fighter was quickly torn to shreds by Chaos King Archfiend.
R: 8700
C: 4400
"Great, if I use Colossal Fighter's effect to bring back Torapart again I won't be able to do another Synchro, and if I bring back Colossal Fighter he'll lose Torapart's protection." Chloe thought as she looked over the contents of her graveyard, she picked up one of the cards and played it. "I'm using Colossal Fighter's effect to bring back Salvage Warrior in defense mode." Chloe announced and the purple warrior returned to the field in a crouching position, she returned her monsters to the graveyard and looked over her hand before picking up four cards, she set three of them facedown and a monster in defense mode. "That ends my turn." Chloe announced and Ramon drew his card….and smirked evilly when he saw it.
"Defense, mefense, the card I just drew will render defending pointless!" Ramon said before playing the card. "I equip Chaos King Archfiend with the Spell Card Big Bang Shot! Not only does this Spell increase Chaos King's attack by 400 but it gives Chaos King the ability to inflict piercing damage." Ramon said before his evil grin grew wider as he activated his trap. "Oh and it's getting worse for you bitch! I activate Meteor Flare; all I need to do is toss two cards…" Ramon said as he discarded two cards from his hand. "And…..well see for yourself!" Ramon said before pointing to the sky about the field, Chloe looked up and her eyes widened in horror as a large meteor came crashing towards her. "In the real game this trap inflicts 2000 points of damage to my opponent but in the Orichalcos it's going to squash you flatter than a bug on a highway!"
"Don't worry Chloe, I'll protect you!" Silent Magician's voice rang out and before Chloe could respond she was surrounded by a magical dome, the meteor impacted against the dome and self-destructed however the dome saved Chloe's life, however the impact shattered the dome and sent her flying before she hit the wall of the Orichalcos.
R: 8700
C: 2400
"What….what the fuck just happened?" Ramon stammered as he stared at Chloe is disbelief. "Your friends should be scraping your remains off of the ground by now!"
"I'm not that easy to kill dumbass." Chloe said as she got up, she felt pain in her rib area and she felt up her ribs to see if any of them had been broken but was relieved to see that that wasn't the case. "Silent Magician, remind me to buy you a beer for that, once I'm old enough to do so that is."
"I'm a duel spirit, I don't drink alcohol nor do I have a need for food or drink." Silent Magician responded before pausing. "Not that I don't appreciate the thought though."
"And guess what Ramon? You can now add attempted murder to your list of charges." Theresa pointed out and Ramon growled.
"You'll never take me alive!" Ramon scoffed before pointing to Chaos King Archfiend. "Chaos King Archfiend, attack Salvage Warrior now!" Ramon commanded the massive fiend and it disappeared briefly before reappearing behind Salvage Warrior, the warrior turned around just in time to see Chaos King's claws slashing him to pieces.
R: 8700
C: 500
"You may have dealt damage to me with that attack." Chloe said as she activated two of her facedown cards. "But my two cards will soften the blow, first up Numinous Healer which restores my life-points by one thousand since I just took damage, next up is Emergency Provisions, since you used it earlier I'm pretty sure you don't need reminding." Chloe said as her life-points increased to 2500.
"So fucking what? Even with the extra life-points the difference between our life-points is immense!" Ramon scoffed as he folded his arms. "You may as well surrender…"
"Are you seriously suggesting that I surrender? Because if you are suggesting that then hell no!" Chloe interrupted him as she glared at him. "First off I won't surrender as long as I have life-points left, second even if I didn't have that no surrender police there's no way in hell I'd surrender in an Orichalcos Duel and especially not to you!"
"Suit yourself; it's only a matter of time before I defeat you anyway." Ramon growled as he looked over his hand." I end my turn." Ramon announced and Chloe drew her card. "Oh yeah, one more thing, Meteor Flare has another effect." Ramon said and Chloe's eyes narrowed. "If it's in my graveyard during my next draw phase I can add it to my hand rather than drawing a card." Ramon said before he looked over at the remaining Gift Token. "Your little combo may save you from Chaos King's next attack but Meteor Flare will finish the job."
"Chloe, I won't be able to save you if that happens." Silent Magician's voice rang out and Chloe's eyes widened. "My Protection Spell taxed my abilities."
"You should've sent the other facedown card to the graveyard as well Chloe." Ramon grinned and Chloe frowned before looking at her drawn card.
"I activate my own Card of Sanctity!" Chloe activated the card and both duelists drew until they had six cards in their hands, Chloe looked at her new cards and then towards her facedown card. "It's over Ramon."
"Why? Have you come to your senses and surrendered the match?" Ramon scoffed and Chloe shook her head.
"No I haven't, far from it actually." Chloe said as she played the card she drew last. "I activate Mystical Space Typhoon and I use it to destroy Big Bang Shot!" Ramon's eyes widened as a tornado ripped through the field before shattering Big Bang Shot's hologram; too Chloe's surprise however Chaos King Archfiend was sucked into a portal which closed as soon as it arrived.
"That's Big Bang Shot's side effect, if it's removed from the field in any matter the equipped monster is removed from play." Ramon explained as he pocketed the Synchro Monster. "But who cares if you destroyed my monster? All you've got left to attack me with is that wimpy Gift Token I gave you when I Synchro Summoned Chaos King and I have plenty of life points to spare."
"Not after my next move." Chloe said as her facedown card flipped up. "First I activate Call of the Haunted to bring back an old friend of ours, the first Colossal Fighter I summoned!" Chloe played the card and the mighty warrior returned to the field (8/2800/1000) and his attack increased to 3300 thanks to the amount of warriors in Chloe's graveyard. "Now I activate Double Summon, this lets me conduct two normal summons in the same turn as long as I don't mind only activating one and here's Summon Number 1, Silent Magician Level 4 in attack mode!" Chloe played the card and one of her ace monsters appeared on the field (4/1000/1000). "Now I activate another Spell Card, go Level Up!" Chloe played the card and Ramon's eyes widened as the magician glow and grew into her adult, not to mention pissed off, form (8/3500/1000).
"And let it be known that I don't appreciate you trying to take advantage of my underage master or trying to kill her!" Silent Magician said bluntly and Ramon blinked in confusion. "Chloe, are you hurt from his Meteor Flare?" Silent Magician asked and Chloe shook her head.
"My sides hurt but I think it's just from me hitting the Orichalcos Wall." Chloe said and the magician nodded before turning her attention to Ramon.
"Yeah…the fact that her magician can talk still confuses the hell out of me!" Alex said as he scratched his head in confusion.
"Trust me, it's a long story." Theresa told him and Alex nodded deciding to not ask about it.
"Who cares? You still don't have enough firepower to defeat me!" Ramon shouted at Chloe and Chloe grinned before picking up another card.
"Bad news Ramon, I still have a Normal Summon left thanks to Double Summon." Chloe said as she played a card. "I sacrifice the Revival Gift Token you gave me so I can summon Magical Marionette in attack mode!" Chloe played the card and the shadowy figure vanished, in its place stood the red robed puppet master ready for battle (5/2000/1500). "Do the math Ramon, you're finished!"
"That….that's a combined total of 8800 attack points!" Ramon said as his eyes widened. "Please, have mercy."
"Sorry but any mercy I would've shown you went out the window when you tried to kill me!" Chloe said before pointing to her three monsters. "Finish him off!" Chloe commanded and the three monsters launched their attacks, Magical Marionette was first striking him with the magical puppet strings and bringing his life-points down to 6700, Colossal Fighter was next as he slammed Ramon against the Orichalcos Wall bringing him down to 3400, Ramon looked up just in time to see Silent Magician cast a Spell at him finishing the job."
R: 0000
C: 2500
Ramon didn't make a sound following that not even as the Orichalcos sealed his soul, concerned Chloe walked over to his unmoving form and checked for a pulse. "He's alive; he'll be out for a while though." Chloe said as she stood up.
"What happened to no mercy?" Marcus asked and Chloe frowned.
"Do you really want me to go down for murder?" Chloe asked and Theresa shook her head.
"Chloe, he attempted to kill you first." Theresa explained as she walked up to her. "As far as my mom's concerned that would've been self-defense."
"And I'm right." Theresa blinked before turning around, indeed her mother was standing there, the resemblance was pretty much uncanny though Theresa's mother's hair was slightly lighter in color and cut short, she was wearing a t-shirt and jeans and Theresa smiled when she saw her.
"Mom, not that I'm unhappy to see you but I thought you couldn't make it?" Theresa asked and her mother smiled.
"I had some vacation time and my daughter was competing in her first tournament, you couldn't keep me out of this city if you tried." She smiled before turning to Brandon. "I hope your treating my daughter well Brandon."
"I have been Mrs. Daniels." Brandon said with a smile and she smiled back.
"Brandon, how many times must I remind you that I prefer being called Sarah?" Theresa's mom reminded him and Brandon blushed a bit.
"Sorry, force of habit." Brandon admitted before Sarah made her way over to her daughter.
"You're not disappointed that I lost, aren't you?" Theresa asked sheepishly catching Chloe by surprise; Sarah smiled reassuring and put a reassuring hand on her daughter's shoulder.
"Theresa, I'm just proud you made it as far as you did, if you had won I would've been overjoyed." Sarah said and Theresa smiled at that, she removed her hand from her daughter's shoulder and turned to Chloe who made an effort to hide her surprise. "You're Chloe, right? Theresa's told me a lot about you."
"Yeah, that's me." Chloe said with a smile. "Though I have to admit that out of the two of us it's usually me that's the sheepish one."
"Yeah, Theresa mentioned that." Sarah said before glancing over at Theresa who was blushing at that moment. "She's always been shy when out in public with me, no idea why, anyway I watched your duel against that guy from the start, nice one turn kill."
"Yeah, like I was going to let him use that trap again." Chloe said honestly before glancing over at the ship. "So, what will we do now?"
"Well I'm dueling next like you promised." Lance said stepping forward. "Sarah, I know you're a cop and all but this could get dangerous….."
"I hear you kid but don't worry, I'll let you guys handle it." Sarah said before rubbing the back of her head nervously. "I'd join in this little raid but I left my duel disk back home, but I can do the next best thing."
"And that is?" Chloe asked and Sarah smiled.
"I have some friends in the local police force, left over from when I worked here prior to giving birth to Theresa, I'll give them a call and have them round up the rest of the cronies as Ramon called them once you're in the ship." Sarah said plainly as she started walking back to where she came from. "I'll be waiting out here in the meantime and Theresa…" Sarah paused as her daughter looked up at her. "Be careful out there." Sarah said and Theresa nodded before leading the others away.
*meanwhile on the ship*
As Ramon said earlier the leader of the Orichalcos organization was watching the duel over the cameras as was Michael, the leader however was fuming over Ramon's attempted murder. "The fool broke the oath! I made it clear to all recruits that no murder attempts where to be committed during an Orichalcos Duel but he did so anyway."
"Do you want me to rip up his soul card?" Michael asked and the leader paused before shaking his head.
"No, let his fate serve as a warning to those who might try the same thing." The leader said as he took a sip of wine. "Is the next duelist ready?"
"Yes, he is." Michael said as he turned to the screens showing the footage from the cameras. "And Mr. Alvers will regret ever coming here!"