Crime and violence is a problem in some societies, including yours. I've seen such abominable behavior in humans that I don't see in some primitive races. Governments who claim to be technologically advanced have tried to define the crime of rape in recent years, and have proposed ending gun violence by making guns easier to get. In my opinion, these people look at citizens as statistics, not as people.

Thus, it is little wonder why some people are troubled by theories about some horrid crimes becoming even more horrid. Like the rumors about snuff films.

Movies can become violent at times, and often gory. Violent slasher movieshave very much become a part of culture, often combining sex and violence in ways they were never intended. But many worry that it has been taken too far at times.

The definition of "snuff film" tends to vary, but it's usually like this: A murderer – a real murderer – films his crime. The victim is usually always female, and there's usually sadistic rape and torture before the murder. The killer then markets the recording for profit, on some sort of black market medium, possibly the internet. Supposedly, there are ghoulish people who would buy such recordings.

The story behind this dates back to a 1971 book by someone named Ed Sanders about the Manson Family murders. The book suggests that the Mason Family may have recorded some of their crimes; they actually did not, but he inadvertently coined the term "snuff film".

What really started this conspiracy theory was a low-budget South American slasher movie called Slaughter. An American firm bought the rights to the movie, gave it an even gorier ending, and claimed that a real murder had been committed in its production. They claimed that this happened all the time in South America, giving it the tagline, "The film that could only be made in South America... where life is CHEAP." However, this, along with most everything they claimed about the movie, was false advertising to get people to watch something that was bad even by horror movie standards.

There have been a few legitimate and legal news footages of assassinations, executions, and fatal accidents, but true snuff films seem to be only a myth. There have been a few false alarms, like the amateur Japanese series of movies Guinea Pig. Then there was Cannibal Holocaust, a very controversial movie with graphic violence in which animals were killed in the production, but was not truly a snuff film.

There were three known cases of murderers who did record their crimes but did not intend for anyone to see the recordings, but they wound up on the internet anyway; each of these cases resulted in the murderer's arrest and conviction. This is likely the best case as to why true snuff films are not real; no one would be stupid enough to record a murder and then sell it for profit. If you do that, you might as well call the police, tell them every detail of your crime, and then where you live. Of course, conspiracy theorists don't often trust the police.

Now on that… pleasant note… It's time to continue…

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Chapter Seventeen

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Bridge Over Troubled Waters

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Addams looked at his watch as the phone rang. Four o'clock. As he held it under his ear, he looked at something odd on his desk, a small, spinning gyroscope emitting silvery sparkles.

"Yeah, it's me," he said with a bored sigh. "Yeah, yeah, she did okay… Room for improvement maybe… Keep that in mind if we hire any of your guys again. You'll get the certified check by noon tomorrow."

As he hung up, a voice – that which he had previously called "Diogenes" – spoke from the gyroscope: "IF you hire her?" it said. "Thingol's operative did an excellent job."

"I know," said Addams, putting his finger beside his nose, "but if she knows we think that, she may want more money next time. So mum's the word."

"Ah, yes, I keep forgetting about how the merchants on your world like to be so… subtle in their deceit. On most worlds, they do simply things like buy dry goods in bulk supply and sell them for profit before the storm seasons come."

"Yeah, we know about that one too," muttered Addams, leaning back in his chair, "except here it's called 'price gouging' and they throw you in jail for it. Anyway… Emily and Ferdinand should be ready to make the jump into Maagardium tomorrow."

"I also have business to attend to tomorrow," replied the voice. "I should return by five PM, local time."

Addams waited, but apparently, he had hung up.

Pushy… he thought.

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The night passed… Some of it, anyway. At the time it would be two AM in Raleigh, it was nine AM elsewhere in the world. Twenty minutes outside of Istanbul. (Not Constantinople.)

In a dark, subterranean catacombs, Philip sighed and looked at the broken skeletons around him. He often wondered how necromancers got the raw materials for these things.

He lowered his sword and pointed his flashlight ahead, moving down the corridor further. Prison cells on the walls with shackles and manacles, oubliettes in the floor… This wasn't a nice place.

"Yuck!" he exclaimed. He looked at his foot, and then at what he stepped in. "Man, this never happens to Lara Croft…"

He'd have to worry about that later. He pointed the flashlight on the wall in front of him. Oddly enough, while the symbols written on it seemed typical of the alphabet of the Ottoman Empire, like the rest of this place, the wall itself seemed much newer. As did the large, square indentation on it.

He sheathed the sword, and then gently pushed the indentation. With a low rumble, the wall lifted up into the ceiling, revealing a dark corridor behind it.

He smirked a little. Got to be careful here… he thought.

"Philip…" said a familiar voice.

He spun around with his gun drawn.

"DON'T SHOOT!" screamed Sofia, lifting her arms.

"How did you find me?" he demanded, in a tense whisper.

"Uhm, well…" replied Sofia. "You wouldn't happen to know someone named Ferdinand, would you?"

"Ferdinand?" he shouted, lifting the gun to her face.

"What?" she gasped. She lifted her hands again.

He calmed down and lowered the weapon.

"Big, muscular guy with red hair who uses an Archfiend Deck?" he asked.

Sofia nodded. Philip stopped. He thought quickly.

"That man's a criminal, stay away from him," he muttered. "He's a… mob hitman. About a week ago he… 'Whacked' some big-name mobster Green Bay…"

"Clement McMahon?" replied Sofia, in an even tenser whisper. "Whoa, whoa, back up. This is heavy, Phil. You do realize I'll have to tell this to Jalal, and if I had any reason to believe you were helping him…"

Philip started to lower the gun, but then lifted it slightly again.

"What else did he tell you?" he asked.

Sofia swallowed hard, but went on.

"He gave me the name Kho Balm and said you'd be meeting with him sometime yesterday… uh, last night… today… You know. I looked him up in the duelist database – not a very common name – and found a guy like that used a deck that used Armed Samurai Ben Kei… A common card, kind of a needle in a haystack, I know, but then I called in a favor at KaibaCorp, and since I knew Air Fortress Ziggurat was pretty rare, I had them check their satellite Solid Vision Image broadcast records and tell me if any duels with Ben Kei, Ziggurat, and Toy Soldier came up, and well…"

"Lovely, I have Nancy Drew for a girlfriend…" groaned Philip.

"…and they told me it was happening in Istanbul," continued Sofia, "so I used the portal magic at my place to get to the city fast, then I found out that the Kho Balm was an information broker, so I found his shop… Haggled a little, and he told me you were headed for this place outside of the city."

Philip held his hand over his eyes and shook his head in disbelief. She had found him a week after he had spoken to her, beating the previous record of anyone who tried to find a member of his group after just finding out it existed by well over eight years.

"You're very smart, So-So," he said. "You know, the rules say I have to kill you now…"

She tensed a little, but then he holstered the gun.

"Uh… I take it you aren't going to?" she asked.

"Just behave…" he whispered. He turned slightly. "If anyone finds out you were here. I'll tell them we fought and you escaped. You're a Shadowchaser, they'll believe it. Just promise me to be more careful around that Ferdinand person, he's bad news. And if anyone sees the two of us together… Uhm… You're a hostage and I'm taking you to Broken Reach."

"Uh…" said Sofia, as he turned back to the wall. "Works for me…" Of course, she had no idea what that was, but she figured it was best not to ask.

"I've got bigger problems right now…" he added. He shined his flashlight down the corridor again. A dry, musty smell came from it.

"What is this place, some sort of prison?" asked Sofia.

"Ever hear of the Vizier Harun Al-Sharad?" asked Philip. "Back from the 15th Century, when the city was still called Constantinople?"

"Wait, wasn't he was the one…" said Sofia.

"He thought he had a quick way to make a ton of money," he thought. "He ordered thugs to search for recent arrivals who had passed through the veil from the World of Shadow, and subdue them while still confused. The poor souls were witless and disoriented, and couldn't do much to fight back. He knew that, and knew they'd be easy to control – telling children what to do would have been harder.

"He was able to run a rather lucrative slave market for a while until the various clans of Shadowkind found out about it, and almost united to hunt him down even if they had to reduce Constantinople to a flaming wreck. But Jalal acted quickly, and caught him in a sting operation.

"The sultan insisted on punishing him on his own, and it was not pleasant. The worst part is, while many recent victims were found in his slave pens, only a very small fraction of his past victims were accounted for."

"This place…" said Sofia.

"These old catacombs is a dungeon that used to hold portals leading to far more elaborate prisons in alternate dimensions," replied Philip, nodding again. "We have reason to believe he used this place like a jail and that most victims were sold to buyers of… incredibly dark origins.

"But that was long ago… We think it might be here… The last time we saw it, we were able to follow its trail, and it probably went here. If you must stay, just follow and keep close."

"All right, let's get going," she said, as they started down the hallway. "The coast is clear…"

"Yeah, that's what scares me…" he muttered.

Sofia blinked as, despite everything that had been going on, she couldn't help but give Philip a sidelongglance.

"...you were just waiting for a chance to quote that movie at least once while in here weren't you?" she asked.

"Pretty much," he said giving her a small smile. Then he sighed, and led on with the flashlight in front of him. "Just promise me one thing. There's dangerous stuff in here. Dangerous, lethal stuff that can – and has – get a would-be explorer killed. If I'm hurt, you have to promise me to run for your life and not try to help me…"

He looked ahead again.

"Because all too often, that's the whole idea with the madmen who designed these places. A second trap comes after the first, and it's deadlier, so it kills anyone who tries to help whoever gets caught by the first one."

She stopped to take this in, but then nodded. As they started walking again, she spoke up.

"What's happened to you, Philip? You're barely the same person anymore… I mean…"

"A lot can change a person, So-So," he interrupted. "I only hope I can tell you eventually… In fact, I wanted you to come with me back then, but…" He stopped. "Don't move…"

Then he put her arm around her and held her close.

"This is hardly the time…" she said with a small giggle.

"There is a trap down this way, and I recognize it," he said. "I won't know where it will come from until the last second, so we have to dodge at the same time. You know the old 'Duck, Duck, Goose' method?"

He looked at her, and she nodded again.

"Okay… Ready…" he said.

He started to step slowly, holding her close as he did. "Duck, duck, duck," he said, saying it with each step he took. Then a red light appeared up ahead of them in the darkness.

"Duck, duck, duck…" continued Philip. The red light grew brighter. Sofia was getting a little nervous.

"Duck, duck…" Steam started to rise ahead. "Duck… GOOSE!"

A sound like a muffled explosion came from up ahead, and then next thing she knew, she was slammed against the wall of the corridor, Philip pressed against her. She barely saw the missile shoot by them, exploding against the far wall of the room they came in.

"Philip, WHAT…" she started, but stopped as he put two fingers against her mouth.

"Keep going…" he whispered, as he straightened them up.

I must be out of my mind, she thought, as they started to inch forward again, this time with him leading slightly diagonally.

"Duck, duck, duck… GOOSE!"

Again, she went limp, and this time they dropped to the floor as the projectile exploded much closer.

"You never hear the one that gets you…" whispered Sofia.

Philip nodded, and lifted her up. They were close to a t-intersection now.

"Stay on track or our goose is cooked," he said. He started walking again. "Duck, duck… GOOSE!"

This was came as a surprise to her, but he quickly moved her forward and around the corner, to the left, as the missile came from behind and crashed into the wall in front of them.

"Okay, I think that was the last of those," he said.

As Sofia took some deep gasping breaths, Philip opened his satchel.

"The traps seem a little high-tech for the Ottoman Empire," she panted.

"The Ottomans built the place," replied Philip, "someone else set the traps. Water?"

He tossed her a plastic bottle of bottled water, which she fumbled to catch.

"Afraid it's not exactly cold anymore, but…"

She was too thirsty to mind, opening it quickly and drinking it in four gulps.

"So who…" she started. Then she noticed he had taken an aerosol can out of the satchel. He looked down the right corridor, and then started to spray a misty foggy substance that quickly covered the opening. Sofia saw a grid of red light beams appear in the mist.

"Ah, the old 'use the mist to see the infrared laser lines trick', huh?" she asked.

"Yeah, and this is a problem," mused Philip, looking at the barrier. Indeed, it didn't look like either he or Sofia was thin enough to creep through any of the openings.

"The switch to turn them off should be about twenty meters down…" he said, waving his flashlight in the general direction. "Down there on the left wall, should be obvious to anyone in front of it. Reaching it, however…"

He looked at Sofia. He put the flashlight down and rolled up his sleeves.

"So-So, stand back…" he said. "You being here may actually be a benefit…"

"What, uh…" she said.

Then Philip started to chant in an odd language she couldn't understand. His pupils and irises disappeared as he held his hand in front of him.

As his eyes turned back to normal, Sofia's registered a look of shock.

"You can't see them, right?" he asked. Sofia slowly nodded. "Okay, run! Press the switch! They won't hurt you!"

Sofia did so, passing through the mist, and seriously hoping that the spell he had used wasn't what she thought it was. Still, she pressed her hand against the switch and pushed.

"Phew!" said Philip. He walked up to her. "Good work…"

"Philip, listen…" she said.

"I'll explain later," he said. "Seems our goal is within reach…"

He turned on the flashlight again, and shined the light on the wall in front of him, revealing several runes which were, again, nothing like those of the language of the Ottoman Empire. The difference here was six bumps looking like buttons, each with one of those runes on it.

He dug into the satchel again and fished out a stone, a stone that had three of those runes etched onto it.

Sofia was about to say something, but he held up his hand, motioning her to be silent. He looked at the code stone again using the light, then he tapped three of the buttons in the same order they were on the stone.

Again, with a low rumble, the wall lifted up into the ceiling, a light from the room inside illuminating the corridor. Philip turned off the flashlight, depositing it and the stone in his satchel.

Indeed, this well-lit room looked much newer and cleaner, with marble walls, pillars, and an altar on the far end…

On the altar was what Sofia assumed to be the goal he was taking about. It was a silvery crystal sphere, hovering slightly over the altar, with a calm, serene-looking face inside it, its eyes closed. Still, neither Philip nor Sofia needed the five skeletons surrounding the altar to know there was some nasty trap protecting it.

"What is that thing?" she asked.

"Something very powerful, and very dangerous," he said, ominously. "It's a device called Memory Crystal Alpha. Fully describing it could take days, but… Suffice to say it's sort of a magical mainframe, with a lot of information stored inside it. And it's a slippery bastard. Every time we spend years searching for it, we miss out chance to grab it, then it moves somewhere else and we have to start over."

"Is it alive?" asked Sofia.

"Oh, yeah…" replied Philip, with a nod. "It's asleep now, seeing that its eyes are closed, and that means that it can't hurt us itself… But… Those traps we got by are nothing. There's obviously something lethal protecting it – as you can see from those bones – and there are other really unpleasant people who want this too. If they got ahold of it, it would be bad…"

"How… bad?" said Sofia, looking over her shoulder. "Is this the thing that threatens world peace? Bad like Nazi Germany taking over the world?"

"No," said Philip, "more like America with McCarthyism as an accepted practice and habeas corpus abolished."

Sofia stopped for a minute to take this in.

"Sooner or later, someone will get it," continued Philip, "and it's not gonna be them if we have anything to say about it. We just have to figure out the trick to avoiding whatever the trap is, and grab hold of Alpha without waking it up… And I really don't think switching it for a bag of sand will work…"

"I see the trick…" whispered Sofia.

"Huh?" said Philip, turning to her.

"See in front of the altar?" she whispered, pointing. "That discolored portion is a pressure plate. If you step on it, you'll notice it quickly, and likely leap off of it."

"That… seems kind of obvious…" whispered Philip back.

"But nothing will happen…" added Sofia. "You'll be fooled into thinking the trap will be sprung if you take the idol when you stand on it. Then you'll try to take it without standing on it. If you do that, you're dead. Now, see that?"

She pointed to the left side of the room, about fifteen feet or so from the altar, against the wall. It was another discolored part of the floor.

"A second pressure point…" whispered Philip.

"Way too far from the other for one man to stand on both," added Sofia. "I think that the only way to safely take it is to do so when a person is standing on both of them."

He looked at her in the eye. He figured what she was getting at.

"So-So," he said, softly, "you do realize, if you're wrong about this, we're both dead?"

"Understood…" she said, nodding.

Then he hugged her, holding her close. "Let's try it…" he finally said. "I'll go in first, do not say a word."

She nodded again. He went in first walking slowly, and she followed behind. When they were at the center, they stopped. He moved his left arm, and she started to move towards the other pressure point.

After a few tense steps, she was in front of the one to the left, and he was right in front of one in front of the altar. He looked at her, the held up three fingers. Then two, then one…

Sofia took a deep breath as they both stepped forward. "CLICK."

They waited.

Okay, we're alive… thought Sofia. Good…

Philip could barely believe it. Memory Crystal Alpha was right in front of him. It was still asleep. This was the closest anyone had come…

He opened his satchel. One grab, and if Sofia had been right, then finally, he would succeed…

Steady… he thought, as he reached for it. Keep dreaming pleasant dreams, little guy…

Slowly, his hand gripped it. It was vibrating slightly, and warm to the touch, but still, nothing bad was happening. Slowly, he moved it towards his satchel… Into the satchel…

The sigh of relief he made when he closed the lid was the biggest he had ever made.

He backed away, and Sofia backed off her pressure point. They ran from the room, and embraced, hard.

"We did it, So-So!" he cried. "Dear God, we…"

Then the moment was ruined. The structure trembled.

"Uh… Oh…" said Philip.

Strange blue lights started to appear on the walls. Not blue lights… Blue flames.

"They've found me," he muttered. "So-So, let's go. GO!"

Sofia didn't need another reason. He grabbed her hand as they down the corridor, not looking back, until they came to the intersection and ran back the way they came.

"Keep going, So-So!" he urged, sounding happy now. "Oh, I can't believe it, you're a genius!"

"Wait, wait!" she shouted. "Who found you? Who?"

As she said this, glowing pentagrams started to trace themselves on the floors around them, with odd sigils on the borders.

"Those guys I told you about before," he laughed. "You know, the guys who want this? RUN!"

"How? Won't they…" she started.

"Cut us off?" asked Philip. "Oh they'll try! But I set up a Lloyd's Beacon in the antechamber up ahead! By the time they realize we have it, we'll be in Bangladesh!"

So that's what that thing was, she thought, as they rounded the corner.

Continuing to run, they saw it up ahead. Hovering over an old, empty basin was a larger watery sphere that undulated and shifted. Just in time too, because the summoning circles were fully drawn and ghostly chanting filled the complex.

"Deep breath now…" he said. Then they leapt into it.

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As already noted, it was still the wee hours of the morning on the East Coast of the United States. Also as already noted, Raleigh had once been a hotbed of evil supernatural activity, because much like Sunnydale, a portal to the Abyss had been purposely opened underneath it. Hidden by one of the most unlikely of places.

Historic Oakwood Cemetery had always been a beautiful, peaceful place, hardly the type that suggested undead or dark necromancy. Few residents of the city ever learned of the rituals that the dark cults were doing after the sun went down, when the idyllic place turned to a nightmarish mockery of itself.

Still, the cult was defeated, their portal was destroyed, and it was even safe to walk through the place at night.

Of course, as Terra walked towards the center with a sledgehammer over her shoulder, she almost wished something nasty would pop out of the shadows. This was going to be a boring job.

Still, even the notorious Terra Ironhoof, who, had knocked out the leader of the Shadowchasers ("Why don't you just ask him about it?" is how she'd usually respond to such inquiries) and depending on who was talking, had fought an avatar of Bahgtru to a standstill (she'd welcome the opportunity to try, but it had never actually happened) and slew the demonic Miska the Wolf Spider in an epic battle ("Oh, I wish!" is what she'd say) needed to have cash on hand, because she still had to eat. And if this guy was willing to pay five-hundred dollars simply for her to find the "headstone that wasn't supposed to be there and smash it" who was she to complain? Easy money.

"Okay, let's see…" she mused. "Headstone that isn't supposed to be there…"

Then she stopped in mid step. In front of her was a headstone shaped like a perfect rectangle, and it did not look friendly. It was about ten feet tall by four feet wide, with a glaring red eye on an orange column within two grey borders.

Terra looked at it for a tense few minutes. She might have recognized it if she knew more about Duel Chasers – which she didn't – but she figured it didn't belong.

"No idea what it is," she said, "but I don't like it."

She lifted the hammer. Then she stopped. She turned around.

Did she just hear something?

She waited for another few minutes. Then she turned back to the weird headstone and started hitting it with the hammer.

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Philip had only been joking when he had said to take a deep breath. Moving through the portal did indeed feel like moving through water, but after a few seconds, they emerged, totally dry, falling on a stone surface.

Problem was, this town they had landed in clearly wasn't Bangladesh.

Indeed, this horrible, ruined city didn't look like any place Sofia knew about. It seemed to have been demolished (well, mostly) years ago and deserted for just as long. Worse, the sky above them was blood red, with forks of lightning flashing through it. Surrounding the city to each side were mountains – for lack of a better term – shaped like rib bones.

"Uh…" said Philip. "UGH!"

Sofia grabbed him by the collar. "Where… are… we?" she demanded. "This isn't funny anymore, Philip!"

"So-So, I'm as surprised as you are…" he said. "I think maybe they figured out how to… change the end point of the Lloyd's Beacon."

As he said that, there was an eerie hum in front of them. A second Lloyd's Beacon – or one side of one – started to appear.

"Okay, now I'm sure that's what happened," he said. "Sofia, get behind me…"

She did that, as a man – she assumed – walked out of the Beacon. It was a tall, African-American man in an expensive-looking black suit and tie, with no more hair on his head than an egg did. Despite the dark haze and lack of sun, he wore sunglasses.

"You…" said Philip, his voice full of bile.

"Who…" asked Sofia.

"No-one you'd want to know…" replied Philip.

"Just call me Mack for now, Ms. Witt," said the man, "and I suggest you keep quiet while I deal with him… You might just get out of this alive if you do."

Philip held up his hand as Sofia's hand gripped her sword. The strange man took his sunglasses off and went on.

"Funny how things turn out, Mr. Lupin," he said. "That coffee shop owner who told her where you were got greedy and was only too willing to do it again."

"Balm, I'm gonna kill you…" muttered Philip.

"Too late…" replied Mack.

The expression on Philip's face turned from anger to pure rage. "Hold me back, So-So!" he shouted.

"Listen to your boyfriend, Ms. Witt," said Mack. "Like I said, I have no qualms against you, but that Beacon behind me is the only way home, and a special gate-seal makes it unusable by anyone but me… Even if he does manage to kill me – which he won't – you won't last an hour in Darkspine"

"Darkspine…" said Sofia.

"I have neither the time nor the desire to explain it," said Mack. "Just hand it over, Mr. Lupin."

"Over my dead body, you bastard," replied Philip.

"Oh, I can very easily arrange that," replied Mack. "Seriously, you must have some…"

Philip tore the satchel open and yanked Memory Crystal Alpha out of it.

"Come one step closer, asshole, and I'll break it into teeny-tiny pieces," he said, cutting his foe off.

"And just how do you plan on doing that?" asked Mack. "It's been magically enchanted to a hardness even greater than that of diamond…"

Philip tossed it from his right hand to his left, and as he did, a metal gauntlet oddly unfolded around his right hand, one with spikes on the knuckles and all around the wrist. Suddenly, Mack seemed a little less confident…

"You couldn't possibly be that stupid…" gasped the strange man. "If you use that thing…"

"…its powerful aura of Chaos and the Memory Crystal's equally powerful and directly conflicting aura of Law will destroy both of them and create a wild surge, ripping a hole in the fabric of reality?" asked Philip. "Catapulting every living being in the immediate area into a random dimension? Is that what you were going to say?"

"Philip!" yelled Sofia. "Are you out of your…"

"Calm down So-So, I know what I'm doing…" he whispered.

"You know, 'So-So'," chuckled Mack, "what your boyfriend just said has been known to be the last words of many other practitioners of wild magic. Like him…"

"Wild magic?" shouted Sofia.

"Sorry I have to confirm what you've been suspecting," said Mack, with a nod, "but that spell he used to let you get past the laser grid was, indeed, the very common wild magic spell known as There/Not There. Common to wild mages, anyway. And as you know, 'I know what I'm doing' is one of the most commonly recorded final words of deceased wild mages, along with 'trust me', and 'I can handle it'. Little wonder the practice is so… unpopular."

Sofia looked at Philip in shock. Indeed, There/Not There was one of the more commonly known wild magic spells, common enough that most ordinary wizards knew the general idea of how it worked. It couldn't be cast alone – at least two sentient beings had to be within range – and was cast on an object. The object didn't have to be composed of matter, and more powerful wild mages could use it on larger objects.

When cast, the spell randomly divided all sentient beings within range into two groups. The object would be considered "there" for the first group, but "not there" for the second. And "not there didn't mean simply invisible, intangible, or both. For the group that perceived the object as "not there", it did not exist to them for the duration of the spell, even though it did for the ones who perceived it as 'there'. For example, if cast on a bridge over a chasm, those who perceived it as 'there' could cross the bridge over the chasm normally, but for those who perceived it as 'not there', the bridge was gone, and trying to cross it would cause them to fall, likely to their doom.

That was why Sofia couldn't see the laser grid and could walk through it without being harmed; to her, it was just "not there". For Philip it had been 'there', and still a barrier for him. (It was confusing, yes, but wild magic often is.)

"I… I thought I…" muttered Philip. "Yeah, Sofia, it's just not something that comes up in casual conversation. As in, 'Hi, my name is Philip, I practice a dangerous and controversial form of sorcery'."

Mack crossed his arms and smirked.

"He's trying to turn us against each other, and you know it," whispered Philip. "I know this guy… Just let me deal with him…"

Sofia breathed hard as Philip turned to him. He held his hand up again.

"You see, baldy," continued Philip, "I'm not dumb. I hand this over, you'll kill us anyway. I break it… Well, slim chance is better than no chance, you know."

"I have a better chance of surviving wherever I'd end up than you would," replied Mack.

"And what do you calculate your chances of surviving if you have to tell your boss that Memory Crystal Alpha has been reduced to a pile of broken shards?"

So it's a game of poker, thought Sofia. Let's see who folds…

"I see you brought Duel Disks…" said Mack.

"Duel Monsters?" sighed Philip. "Honestly, baldy, I'm not like the Shadowchasers and that…"

"Well, she is," interrupted Mack. "And seeing as she was dragged into this mess by accident, I'm willing to let her in on it."

"Two against one?" asked Philip. "And you think I'm crazy?"

Mack frowned at them.

"We win, you'll let us go?" asked Sofia. "Unharmed?"

The strange man nodded.

"Fine by me," replied Sofia.

"Very well, I accept too," said Philip. "But I'll hold onto this for now…"

He stuffed the Crystal back into the satchel, and the gauntlet turned back into a glove. Then he lifted his left arm, as did Sofia, and their Duel Disks activated.

"So let's go, chrome-dome…" she dared.

"I never said I'd duel you," replied Mack.

Then his eyes started to burn, burn with ominous dark fire. Odd eldritch symbols appeared on a large rock behind him, and then, two howling ghosts flew out of it. The hovered in front of him, and slowly solidified, taking human form…

One was tall and thin, the other was short and squat. Both wore long, dark robes, and both wore masks. The tall one had a black, frowning mask over the left side of his face, while the short one had white mask with a disturbing smile over the right side.

"Lumis and Umbra?" gasped Sofia. "I thought they were dead!"

"They are," replied Mack. "And like many slain by dark magic, they were drawn to Darkspine, an in-between place that exists on the boundary of the mortal world and the Lower Planes. Many souls who end up in places like this think it's better than damnation, only to find it mind-numbingly boring. The only thing to do here is talk to the other souls who end up here, if that amuses them.

"So naturally, they're willing to do anything that anyone tells them, if it just breaks up the monotony.

"Oh, and the same thing happens to anyone who dies in Darkspine too."

"Well, it seems once again, I've been had," replied Philip. He turned to Sofia, who was thumbing through the cards in her Extra Deck.

"Don't worry, I'll set up some ground here," continued Mack. "We'll play by the rules established by KaibaCorp for team duels, and because I'm so generous, Philip may make the first move, then Lumis, then Sofia, then Umbra, and back to Philip."

Generous, right, thought Sofia. She looked at them as she manually shuffled her deck. Umbra will have the first attack that way. Ah, well…

"You know the rules for team duels, So-So?"

"Sure I do," replied Sofia. She fit her D-Gazer over her eye and somehow, it started working. "And calm down, I read the files on these guys… We might as well be dueling Abbot and Costello."

Mack frowned and turned to the two Rare Hunters.

"I take it you two know what she's talking about," he said. "Let's have a decent duel this time… Not like last time."

"What?" asked Lumis. "You say that as if it was my fault we lost that duel, and not this idiot who walked blindly into Yugi's Mystical Ref Panel."

"I'm the idiot?" shouted Umbra. "I did that because you told me to attack, you runt! Let's not forget how you believed Kaiba's stupid, 'Oh, you could defeat Yugi right now if you attacked his Magnet Warrior with Des Gardius, but leaving my Dragon on the field might be a mistake you may regret making'!"

"QUIET!" boomed Mack. Lightning crashed from the sky, hitting the two henchmen on the seats of their pants. "It's been almost fifty years, can't you simpletons get over it?"

"Y-yes… sir…" gulped Umbra.

"Is he always like this?" asked Sofia.

"Uh-huh…" muttered Philip. "Still… You know, So-So, suddenly I feel more optimistic…" He adjusted his own D-Gazer, and the whole terrain changed to the digital VR.

"Game on!" all four of them said.

(Sofia/Philip: 16,000) - - - - - - - - - - (Lumis/Umbra: 16,000)

"As promised," said Mack, looking at Philip, "the first turn is yours…"

Philip was already drawing, he decided what cards to use quickly. Toy Soldier appeared first, aiming its musket. (800 ATK)

Is he going to start this duel the same way? thought Sofia. He'd better have a plan to protect that guy a little longer than usual.

"I'll set two, and play the Continuous Spell Card, Supply Squad."

Two face-down cards and a face-up one appeared, the face up one with two of the goblins from Goblin Attack Force struggling with a cart.

"This card's effect comes into play once per turn if a monster is destroyed, letting my side draw once."

"Phil, that's a pretty rare card!" shouted Sofia.

"I have connections," he replied. "Your move, shorty."

"Who are you calling short?" relied Lumis, drawing. "I'll set one card, and then summon Melchid the Four-Face Beast."

A face-down card and a rather familiar monster appeared, a floating demonic head made of four masked soldered together, the one in the front yellow with a leering grin. (1,500 ATK.)

"I can't attack yet, so you're up, kid," he said, turning to Sofia.

Kid? she thought, getting upset. I'm 31 years old!

"I'll summon Mist Valley Hunter first," she said.

She played a card, and an off looking teenage girl with traditional Native American leather clothing and skin tone appeared, wearing a cotton blouse and skirt with Moccasins. (400 ATK)

"Since I Normal Summoned her and you have a monster, she defends…"

Hunter squatted down, kneeling on one knee. (1,600 DEF)

"And this, and this," she said as she said two cards, "and I'm done."

"My move!" said Umbra, excitedly.

He can attack this turn, said Sofia, with a look of worry as he drew.

"I know most duelist usually save their best cards for last," he said, "but this time, I'm gonna give the finger to tradition and go for the gusto first."

"Oh great," said Sofia when she saw the Spell he was playing. "Advanced Ritual Art!"

"You got it," he replied. "I just have to send eight Levels worth of Normal Monsters to my deck…"

Two cards – both of them copies of Grand Tiki Elder – flew from his deck, into the discard pile, and then foul-smelling smoke came from the spot in front of him. There was a loud roar as the hulking, muscular, deformed monstrosity with a mask welded to its face called the Masked Beast stepped out of the smoke. (3,200 ATK)

"Looks like their decks haven't changed much, So-So," said Philip, with a small laugh. "And that's not exactly the best Ritual Monster these days."

Umbra put his hand on his hip and frowned. "I haven't had a lot of chances to go shopping for new cards lately, okay?" he snapped. "And besides, it's still four times as strong as yours."

"Well, since you Special Summoned it…" replied Philip. One of his two set cards lifted up as he spoke. "The Quickplay Spell Demise of the Land lets me activate a Field Spell from my deck!"

There was thunder, and the ruined city underwent a drastic change of design, turning in a still-ruined but very modern metropolis. The ominous temple appeared in the distance as Sofia looked down the street she remembered too well.

"City of Eternity…" she said, slowly. "You used this in our duel…"

Then she covered her head and ducked as a taxi with the engine on fire sped dangerously close to her, crashing into the building behind. A siren went off in the distance.

"Uh… uhm…" said Lumis, trembling. He turned to Umbra, who was just as nervous.

"Oh, cut it out, you two!" ordered Mack, crossing his arms. "I've seen him use this dumb card so often, the novelty has kind of worn off. Just keep playing, and he might regret it this time."

"Right…" said Umbra. "Masked Beast, flatten his Toy Soldier!"

The demon raised its club and howled, only for it to be halted as Philip's Trap Card sprang up.

As the Fiend withdrew, they saw Philip was flipping a coin and chuckling.

"Heh…" he said. "Won't be that easy, gruesome. I had my Silver Dollar set, just in case. You know the old urban legends… How someone survives a gunshot wound that should have killed him because he happened to have one of these in his shirt pocket?"

The Trap dematerialized as his fist closed around the coin. He stuffed it in his pocket.

"Hmm…" said Umbra. He tilted his Duel Disk upwards, and dropped a card in the slot. A reversed card appeared. "That's my turn for now…"

"All right, you two asked for it!" shouted Philip, as he quickly drew. "The effect of my Toy Soldier now lets me summon a small squad of them!"

He threw two more cards on his Disk, as two of the first Soldier's comrades appeared. (800 x2)

That's it, Philip, do it! thought Sofia. You do have…

Philip turned to her and nodded, flipping another of his cards to show her. Then he held it up high.

"I sacrifice these three Soldiers!" he shouted, as they flew into the sky. "With the mighty power of Sky Union, I bring forth…"

Then the flourish was cut short, as the three Soldiers collapsed back to the ground with a crash.

"What?" said Philip.

"Almost hated to ruin your big moment," said Lumis. "Almost, that it."

"His Trap Card…" gasped Sofia. "Mask of Restrict… It prevents sacrificing monsters… These guys aren't dumb…"

"Yes, and all for the better," continued Lumis. "I wouldn't want to mess with that airship of yours anyway."

As the three Soldiers groaned and got up, Philip made a quick glance at the two cards he had left, then at the cards Sofia had set.

"Turn end…" he said.

"Don't forget, Philip," added Mack, "because you had monsters on the field this turn that were summoned in previous turns, and you made no attacks, the effect of your City now works against you, placing a Blighted Counter on your monster with the highest Level. That means Ms. Witt's Level 4 Mist Valley Hunter, unfortunately."

A dark orb flew out of the street, and hit Hunter in the chest.

"Which means that as soon as Ms. Witt takes her turn, your side takes 800 points of damage… Assuming that Soldier lasts that long. Proceed, Lumis."

"With pleasure," replied Lumis, "because I have lots to do."

He drew a card, and then the Trap Card Umbra had set lifted up.

"I'll start with this…"

"Trap Stun?" yelled Sofia.

"Yep," said Umbra. "And it not only prevents you from activating those Traps this turn, but it also shuts off Lumis' Mask of Restrict for the rest of the turn."

"Meaning I can sacrifice monsters all I want," added Lumis. "And I will, too! But before that, I'm going to use Mask of Brutality and equip it to… your Toy Soldier!"

"Say what?" said Philip.

At first he thought Lumis was kidding as he used the card, but indeed, the ugly, iron mask appeared on the left Toy Soldier's face. (1,800 ATK)

"And just why are you being so nice to me?" asked Philip. "I know it's not the most flattering accessory, but still…"

"I'll show you why," replied Lumis. "By sacrificing a monster with the word 'Mask' in its name, like Melchid here, I can Special Summon the Death Mask Tiki."

Music like loud and ominous tribal drums started to echo over the street as Melchid vanished, and a diabolical witch doctor wearing a far more elaborate version of Grand Tiki Elder's mask, holding a staff with burning flames at both ends, appeared doing a horrid ceremonial dance. (1,800 ATK)

"Okay, so I guess you have changed your deck a little…" said Philip.

"You two haven't seen anything yet," laughed Lumis, the left side of his mouth grinning as widely as the one on his mask. "You see, when this monster is summoned, he can hypnotize a monster wearing an Equip Spell with the word 'Mask' in its name."

Death Mask Tiki stopped dancing, and starred at the masked Toy Soldier, sending out a ripple of energy, drawing it towards Lumis like a tractor beam. Philip grumbled a little.

"And now that I have a monster who's equipped with such an Equip Spell," continued Lumis, as the soldier vanished, "I can sacrifice him to summon the Masked Clubber!"

The monster that appeared looked horrid. And by "horrid", not in any way that would be considered "cool" or "neat", this thing was disgusting. It looked like a tall, heavily muscular man that had been skinned, its muscles exposed. Its only clothing was a rotting breechcloth, some pieces of metal worn here and there that may have once been parts of armor, and a mask, a mask made of rusty green metal that seemed bolted to its face. It had eyeholes, but no eyes could be seen behind the dark holes. True to its name, it did have a club, a huge, metal club that seemed to have taken the place of its right hand and most of its forearm. (2,600 ATK)

"Eww…" said Philip.

"You like that?" asked Lumis. "I think I'll bring out the regular Grand Tiki Elder too…"

There was more ominous chanting, and the original fiendish witch doctor appeared. (1,500 ATK)

"Well, at least I'm used to that," said Philip.

"Still so optimistic now?" asked Lumis. "Death Mask Tiki, Chaos Elemental Burn!"

The shaman's chanting turned loud and full of vile obscenities as dark magic flowed in Philip and Sofia's direction. They covered their ears as one of the remaining Soldiers burst.

Then the Mask Clubber lunged, and hit the last Soldier with a smash so hard that the whole street shook, knocking Philip down.

(S/P: 11,400) - - - - - - - - - - (L/U: 16,000)

"Hold on!" shouted Philip. "We shouldn't have lost that many!"

"Masked Clubber deals twice as much damage to you when it attacks one of your monsters," answered Lumis. "Fortunately, for you two, it can't make direct attacks."

He cleared his throat.

"Now then, my Grand Tiki Elder can't make a direct attack with her there," he pointed to Mist Valley Hunter, "but he can attack her, so…"

Sofia looked at him bitterly…

"Look on the bright side," chuckled Umbra, "at least now you don't have to worry about that Blighted Counter!" Then he threw back his head and laughed…

Then lightning flashed again, hitting him on the behind in mid-laugh.

"OW!" he shouted.

"I just hate maniacal laughter," said Mack, shaking his head. "People who do it these days… They have no idea how idiotic it makes them look…"

He turned to Lumis. "Well?"

"Uhm, yes…" replied Lumis.

A dark swirl of black magic spun from the Tiki's hands, slamming into the Hunter and blowing her to little pieces…

…and then, to the Rare Hunters' shock, Hunter leapt up out of nowhere, with a net snagging Death Mask Tiki and yanking it over in front of Sofia.

"HUH?" shouted Lumis. He watched as Hunter hoisted the netted Fiend up over her, still struggling. (400 ATK)

"Why do you think she's named 'Hunter'?" asked Sofia. "You attack her, the snare she set up is sprung, and grabs one of your monsters. What this means is she comes back, and becomes Equipped with your monster, gaining its Level."

"Wait…" said Umbra.

"Yes, there's a downside, or maybe even a couple," she interrupted. "But we'll only get to them if you have any more attacks."

"Uh, So-So, nice job," said Philip, "but…"

"I know, I know, you think I should have aimed for the Clubber, right?" she asked. "Don't worry, this will work."

"Well, I'm out of attacks," growled Lumis, "So to conclude my turn…" He played a Spell Card, and a shimmering, vaguely female-shaped being of light appeared, holding two swords.

"I'll use Fairy of the Spring to get Mask of Brutality back. I can't use it this turn, but I'm in no rush… It's your move…"

"So-So, we gotta do something before he can equip that card to that… ugly whatever it is," said Philip, looking nervously at Masked Clubber.

Mack crossed his arms and smirked as Sofia drew a card. I suppose I could tell him that card effects can't make Masked Clubber's Attack Score higher, he thought, but what he doesn't know won't hurt him.

Humans are so easy to manipulate, it's barely worth the challenge. These two simpletons don't even realize that they're in a lose-lose situation. I never told them they'd succeed in using the Lloyd's Beacon if I let them. Unless they're strong enough to smash through, the Gate Blocker on the other side of it will make their trip through it rather short…

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Meanwhile, Terra was hammering away at the weird monument – which again, had she ever seen the game card "Gate Blocker", she might have recognized – and not making much progress. She had been able to chip away at it a little, but had not yet managed an actual crack.

She stopped for a minute to wipe her brow.

What the hell is this made of, granite? she thought. Not sure if this…

She stopped. All of a sudden, that noise she "didn't hear" before… She "wasn't hearing" it again…

Then she was definitely hearing something. There was some sort of squeaking, like a very rusty grate, but steadier, and getting progressively closer.

She turned around… The source of the squeaking was clear – sort of. Someone had tried to sneak up on her and was about twenty feet away. Exactly what had caused the noise, she wasn't certain, but the thing she was sure of was that he was holding a military-issue flamethrower, and pointing it at her.

"JESUS!" she shouted, as she dodged aside, just as he fired. Her overcoat caught fire and the Gate Blocker was scorched a little, but she had noticed just in time.

"Aw, shit," muttered the man, looking down. "Should've oiled ma joints before comin' here…"

Terra slammed her gloved hand against the burning part of her coat, and the fire died fast; fortunately it wasn't all-too big. She discarded the glove, then looked at the assailant, who clearly couldn't be defined with the word "man" at all. Man-shaped, perhaps, but far-too bizarre. His outfit consisted of a tattered, black duster covered with straps, buckles, and belts, and a fedora with a gaudy feather in it. But one thing stood out more than anything else… An iron mask over his face shaped like a demonic skull.

"Who the hell…" said Terra. The strange man took off the flamethrower and dropped it.

"Y'know, this may actually be better," he said, with his deep, gravelly voice sounding clearer. "Had to use that thing because I couldn't hurt the Blocker… But now that yer away from it…"

He extended his hands, and something started to unfold on his wrists. Two odd, cylindrical devices that looked like…

Tommy guns? thought Terra.

"I know it's a little dated," chuckled the man, but say hello to my little friends!"

She started to run just as he started firing, and she heard cackling laughter as the bullets chewed through the trees behind her.

He paused and looked around, smoke pouring from the barrels.

"Heh, heh," he muttered. "So, Terra Ironhoof, eh?" He took a cigar from his pocket as he looked around.

"You know…" he went on, as he lit it, "they used to call Joka the meanest damn bastard that the Shadow Slayers had…"

Shadow Slayers? thought Terra. She peaked at him from behind the tree where she was. So they are real?

Indeed, very few Shadows had heard of this gang whose sole purpose, for reasons that tended to vary, was to oppose the Shadowchasers, and fewer believed in them. Some said they were a branch of the League of Assassins, some thought they were a group organized by a mate, sibling, or offspring of Malys, the greedy dragon who had plotted to kill Jalal's father, and others thought they had no real organization at all. But one thing they had in common was, they weren't fighters; they were killers, and they fought like such.

"But I thought of something," he said. "You're the bitch who they all say knocked out Stormbringer… Not easy to do… So if someone was to ice the one who did that…"

"Is that all I am to anyone?" screamed her voice from behind him. "A footnote in Stormbringer's record?

He turned around, just in time to see her fist, which slammed into his jaw. The assassin fell over…

"At least I was drunk when it happened…" she said with a scowl as she backed up. "What, pray tell, is your excuse?"

Terra quickly realized how much a mistake doing that was. She rubbed her now-bruised fist in pain.

"Not as easy as you think it is, huh?" he replied.

As he got up, Terra started running again, and none too soon, because apparently, he had only stopped to reload. As he started firing again, Terra started taking in what she had seen on that mask of his… Six very distinguishable scars. And they may have answered the question for her.

She knew what those were too. The Indelible Imprint. A scar caused by an centuries-old curse cast by Incantifers allied with Stormbringer, which would mar a criminal's face forever if he murdered a Shadowchaser, making him recognizable as such a murderer to all Shadows and Awares. They couldn't be removed, and couldn't be hidden, not with makeup, not with cosmetic surgery, not even with a mask. It was hard for such a killer to escape justice if he had one…

But this Joka fellow… Six?

"You can't hide forever, lady," he threatened.

"Yeah, well," replied Terra's voice from up ahead, "it's kind of easy for me to keep track of you, bonehead. That has to be the foulest smelling cigar I've ever smelled."

"Bonehead?" replied Joka.

"I know, what is with you goons and skulls?" asked Terra. "Same thing with orcs, I have yet to see an orc war standard that doesn't have a skull on it. Don't you guys even know what skulls do? They protect the brain so you don't turn into morons who are obsessed with skulls."

"You're pretty talkative, considering I'm the one with the guns…" growled Joka, not as amused now. "Where are you? Don't tell me you can see in the dark?"

"Sure I can," said Terra's voice from the other side.

Joka turned, and fired ten rounds from each gun.

"I can see a whole lot of dark," she said from the front. "Still, I am rather good at multitasking in a fight… All minotaurs are, it's something they take pride in… So I can move from one side of this grove to another, while arming myself, while telling you about it at the same time…"

"Wait, what…" said Joka. Then he stopped cold. He slowly turned around… Then he screamed, and fired his guns again, and again and again, the spent cartridge shells flying from the chambers…

The guns clicked twice. Joka looked through the haze, and saw that he had been shooting at her overcoat, which had been slung over a tree branch. Most of his rounds had hit the trunk.

"Just like a guy to burn out before the girl's had any fun," said Terra. He turned and saw her standing to the side. Then the sledgehammer she had brought smashed into his jaw, knocking him over again.

But he was already starting to get up…

What the Hell is he made of? she thought.

She dropped the tool and took off towards the center of the cemetery. She had stunned him and dented his jaw a little, but he'd get up again. And all of a sudden, she wondered if she should be asking for even more than five C's for this…

Joka got up, rubbing his jaw. "I like her…" he chuckled.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

What's she up to? thought Mack.

"I'll summon Mist Valley Windmaster," exclaimed Sofia, playing another card. There was a cold gale, and a strange bird with blue feathers and a crest that looked like a peacock's tail emerged from the mist. (400 ATK)

"A Tuner!" shouted Lumis.

"Good, So-So!" urged Philip. "A Synchro Summon should get around that Mask!"

"Or maybe a couple," replied Sofia. "And because Hunter is now Level 5, I can Tune her and Windmaster, taking your Death Mast Tiki with them.

The Warriors threw her netted quarry upward and spread her wings as the Winged Beast joined her, and the rings appeared… Lightning flashed.

(*2 + *5 = *7)

"I Synchro Summon the Mist Valley Thunder Lord!"

A huge monster landed with a crash, and then took a step forward, making the City street quiver. It was an ogre with colorful feathers all over its body, crimson, green, and purple, with huge, black wings. (2,600 ATK)

"Before he struts his stuff, I'm using Call of the Haunted to summon Hunter again…"

The trap flipped up, and the winged Warrior stepped onto the field again. (400 ATK)

"And by sending her back to my hand, I can Special Summon Mist Condor from my hand!"

Hunter dissolved into fog, while the buzzard with purple feathers flew behind her, hovering in mid-air. (1,400 ATK) –) (1,700 ATK)

"Calm down, you two!" scolded Mack. "Mist Valley Hunter can only use that effect once, I have no idea what she plans to do with it now."

"Nothing comes to mind at present," replied Sofia, "but now I can use the big guy's effect,"

Electricity started to appear in the ogre's hands as she continued. "I can send one of my cards back to my hand and increase his Attack Score by 500."

The face-up and now unused Trap became surrounded by green haze.

"Calm down, Lumis," said Umbra, "my Masked Beast will still be just strong enough to beat it."

"But the thing is," said Sofia, "before that happens, I'm using this other Trap…"

The card next to the hazy card lifted up.

"Treasure Map. Because I'm sending a card back to my hand, I can draw twice…"

She picked the two cards off the top of her deck.

"…so long as I discard once…"

As she discarded Mist Valley Baby Roc, the card with the haze vanished from the field and appeared in her hand, and Thunder Lord flexed its muscles. (3,100 ATK)

"And because I just discarded Baby Roc, it comes to the field too!"

With a chirp, the much smaller bird with a skull as a mask flew upwards, hovering above the ground. (400 ATK)

"Now for another Synchro Summon, and I'll use Baby Roc and Mist Condor!"

She started to chant as the two birds soared skyward.

"From the loftiest heights where the eagles cry, come down from your perch and cleanse your domain of whatever foul taint that invades it…"

(*2 + *4 = *6)

"Synchro Summon… Mist Valley Divine Gryphon!"

A shadow passed from overhead, and the large Beast turned in mid-air before landing proudly and gracefully. It was, indeed, a Gryphon, the sacred monster with the body of a lion with golden fur, and the head and wings of an eagle, but larger than any mortal lion. It looked to the sky and let out a bold cry. Lightning flashed again. (2,500 ATK)

"Show those Fiends some real fury! Attack!"

Thunder ripped over the sky, and blasted from Thunder Lord's fists and Divine Gryphon's jaws, the first hitting Masked Clubber and blowing it into a pile of scorched and charred bones, the second hitting Grand Tiki Elder and vaporizing it.

"Good riddance," grunted Philip, "that guy was really starting to stink up the place."

(S/P: 11,400) - - - - - - - - - - (L/U: 14,500)

"Didn't hurt," said Lumis, still smirking. "We're already dead, after all."

"Then why bother doing this?" asked Sofia.

The two former Rare Hunters just looked at him. For a minute, it looked as if neither was sure how to answer her question.

"Really, I don't think Mack here is forcing you to duel for him," added Philip.

"Uh…" Lumis finally said. "It… Gives us something to do?"

"Oh, sure," replied Sofia. "And then what? This place is like the Asphodel Fields, eternally dull. I mean, seriously, if you have spent all your time here arguing over whose fault the mess in Battle City was, I don't blame you. Not much else to talk about, right?

"Now while you think about that, I'll set these cards…" Two face-down cards appeared in front of her. "And that will be that."

"Very well," said the taller Rare Hunter, making a draw, "I draw… then my Masked Beast attacks!"

The Fiend thundered across the field, and walloped Thunder Lord with its club, literally smashing the top half of its body apart from the bottom.

(S/P: 10,800) - - - - - - - - - - (L/U: 14,500)

"Ugh…" said Sofia. "I can use the effect of Supply Squad…"

She drew as Umbra took two more of his cards.

"Well, before you think about using them," he continued, "I'm using Mask of Accursed and Mask of Dispel! The first one on your Gryphon, the second on your Field Spell."

He played the first Equip, and an ugly iron mask with nails driven into it slammed onto Gryphon's face. As he played the second Spell, which was Continuous, a haunting, blue mask appeared overhead.

This is getting worse by the minute, thought Philip. Now they've got two burn cards in play, and my own Field Spell might as well be a third…

Umbra fit the last two cards into his Disk, and they formed in front of him, set.

"That's all for me," he said. Then he turned to his partner. "You know, Lumis, maybe the guy's right… Water under the bridge. I… I'm sorry for all those nasty things I called you last time."

Oh, brother… thought Mack. Not exactly the time nor the place…

Lumis was about to say something, but stopped for a second.

"Well, in that case…" mumbled Lumis. "I am sorry for the… eleven times I ratted to Marik about something you did…"

"You did that twelve times," replied Umbra.

"Yes, but I'm not sorry about one of them!" snapped Lumis. "You know, the one where…"

"Can the two of you save that for later?" shouted Mack. "We've got a duel to finish!"

The expressions on the two Rare Hunters' faces turned sour, and no-one noticed Philip's sly smirk.

It's working… he thought. He made a draw. Then he grunted and closed his eyes tight as a burning feeling tore through his chest.

"That's the… 500 points of damage from the Mask of the Accursed," he muttered. "Okay, come on out Stryker-Bot Model X-9!"

He played the card, and there was another gust of wind as misty fog rose over the street. An android stepped out of the fog, one with a metal, featureless face with a glowing, red eye, wearing a trenchcoat and fedora, holding two high-caliber automatic pistols. (1,200 ATK)

"He may look scary, but he's not very strong," commented Lumis.

"Yeah, well, he can be a real blast if you use him right," laughed Philip, "and so long as he's in Attack Mode, he can survive up to two attacks in a round, or five attacks total. I'll end my turn there…"

"And with mine starting now," said Lumis, drawing a card, "you lose another 500 Life Points from Mask of Dispel!"

Philip groaned again.

"First, I'll activate Umbra's Trap Card, Birthright," continued Lumis, "using it to summon Grand Tiki Elder from the Graveyard…"

The set card lifted, then shimmered, and the diabolical shaman appeared again. (1,500 ATK)

"Next I'll use Mask of Brutality again, this time on my monster…"

The iron mask appeared, fitting itself over the Fiend's face this time. (2,500 ATK)

"Now… My Masked Hamadryad!"

He played the card, causing the whole ruined city to darken…

"Something's coming…" said Sofia.

A lone figure walked out of the mist… It looked like a young girl at first, but then the feature that stood out most became visible – a white, nearly featureless ceramic (apparently) mask with only two dark eyeholes and a slit for a mouth. This ghostly stoic image was clashed considerably with her hair, which was hot pink and tied in pigtails.

The rest of her outfit clashed even worse. A weird combination of black leather and pink lace, as if someone had taken the outfit of a dominatrix and lingerie that suggested someone more gentle, and given them to some infernal seamstress to combine together. It didn't even look physically possible. (1,000 ATK)

"That is not a hamadryad!" cried Sofia, getting frantic.

"So-So, calm down!" shouted Philip.

"Philip, come on, you remember Monique, right?" cried Sofia. "If she saw that…"

"Look, I wish I cared, but I don't," said Lumis, with a shrug, "and this monster gains 500 Attack Points for every face-up Spell and Trap with the word 'Mask' in its name."

(3,000 ATK)

"I should probably also mention, even if you do manage to summon a monster that's stronger than this one, she can survive if I get rid of one of those Masks. But for now… Grand Tiki Elder, attack Stryker-Bot Model X-9!"

The demon chanted, then cast its dark hex at the robot. It shuddered, and its chest plate cracked a little, but it still stood up.

(S/P: 8,200) - - - - - - - - - - (L/U: 14,500)

"Like I said before…" said Philip, through his teeth, "you need to hit him six times total to destroy him that way."

"Then let's put some more punch behind this next hit," said Umbra. "I'm using my Quickplay Spell, Tailor of the Fickle!"

Quickly, the Tiki removed the Mask of Brutality and tossed it to Masked Hamadryad, who caught it and fit it over her own mask. (4,000 ATK)

This is gonna sting… thought Philip, as she looked at him and his robot, the eyeholes in her mask glowing green.

Twin pulsating beams shot at the robot, and it staggered backwards as its chest plate cracked more and its overcoat was burned to shreds.

(S/P: 5,400) - - - - - - - - - - (L/U: 14,500)

"Six times, huh?" asked Lumis. "He might actually last longer than you two do."

"Philip!" shouted Sofia.

"I'm okay!" he shouted back. "I'm still standing, and so is he…"

"Barely…" replied Sofia. She looked at Stryker-Bot Model X-9, which was still functioning, even with smoke pouring from its chest and sparks crackling from its joints.

Philip must have some plan, she thought, but I'll be damned if I know what it is…

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Back at the cemetery, Joka had switched to a different firearm, and was looking around for Terra.

"Come on out, will ya?" he yelled. "Where are you?"

"Behind you," said Terra's voice.

Joka spun around, and fired, the gun firing a single mighty blast that hit a tree where the voice had come from, smashing through the trunk and knocking the whole thing backwards. Joka watched as the whole tree fell with a crash.

"Heh…" he said. "Timber…"

"What do you have against trees anyway, fellah?" asked Terra's voice again.

He turned again, and that was what she was waiting for. "CATCH!" she shouted, right before a stone brick – one of the stepping stones from the scenic path – hit him upside the head.

The next minute, she was on him. Her fists – each one armed with one of her iron knuckle-dusters, fit around her fists like brass knuckles – slammed into his face and chest, which also seemed mostly metal, putting serious dents in it…

…then Joka kicked her, hard. Terra backed up…Then she let out a loud holler.

Blood – hers – was dripping from a Bowie knife he had somehow managed to draw from his coat.

"So… just how much of you is human?" she asked, trying very hard to ignore the wound in her torso.

"Does it matter?" he asked.

As he lunged, Terra took off again, and he fell on his face.

"Dagnabbit!" he shouted. He took off his satchel and quickly dumped the contents on the ground. Then he stabbed the knife into the ground.

"When I find you again I'm gonna…" he started.

Terra watched from behind the tree she had ducked behind as he quickly started to fit assemble the contents into something. A long, cylindrical object. And she could see where this was going.

I've gotta get outta here and get this wound washed and bound before it gets infected, she thought, but I'm not about to give this guy the satisfaction…

Wait… I got an idea…

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

"Philip, the Trap Card!" urged Sofia, "the Trap Card!"

"Huh, the Trap Card?" said Philip, looking down.

Hey… he thought, looking at the card Sofia had set. Good idea, So-So…

"I'm using Hope for Escape," he announced, as it lifted up. "Appropriate name, wouldn't you say? Because we're losing by at least a thousand points, I can reduce them by one-thousand more, and then draw once for every tw0-thousand times the difference in our Scores!"

"That's five cards!" shouted Lumis.

Philip grabbed five of his cards and held them up and forward.

"You got it," he said. "Thanks, So-So…"

"Well then it's 'So-So's' turn, because I'm finished," grumbled Lumis.

(S/P: 4,400) - - - - - - - - - - (L/U: 14,500)

Mack rubbed his chin and watched Sofia closely as she drew a card.

"Don't forget, Ms. Witt," he said, speaking up for the first time in a while, "not only do you lose 500 Life Points from the Mask of the Accursed, but because no attack was made on your partner's last turn, 800 from the Field Spell."

Sofia held her chest as a very familiar and pounding burning sensation hit her.

"Yeah, I remember that…" she muttered. "But this is going to solve both problems… The Spell Card, De-Synchro!"

As she played the card, Mist Valley Divine Gryphon dissolved into seven stars which flew into her Duel Disk, the Mask it had been wearing falling to the pavement with a clatter before shattering into triangles. Then both Mist Valley Baby Roc (600 DEF) and Mist Condor (400 DEF) appeared standing and folding their wings.

"That's one Mask down, which means she loses Attack Points," she continued, as Hamadryad sank to a Score of 3,000. "And I think I'll just use Roc and Condor again…"

The birds flew into the sky again, and while there was less of a show this time, Mist Valley Divine Gryphon appeared again with just as much flourish. (2,500 ATK)

"Now I'm going to use… Double Spell!" he said, triumphantly, holding up a Spell Card.

"She's not going to…" gasped Lumis.

Sofia grinned, and fit the card into her Disk as she discarded her copy of Battle-Tuned.

"Oh, but I am!" she laughed. "I'm doing this to use Umbra's Tailor of the Fickle!"

The right side of Umbra's face registered complete shock as the Quickplay Spell flew from his Duel Disk and darted to Sofia's hand. She played it, and Masked Hamadryad quickly tore off the Mask of Brutality and threw it to Divine Gryphon, who leapt to receive it. (3,500 ATK)

"Ugh, it's hideous," said Sofia with a sigh. "But beggars can't be choosers… Tear The Masked Beast a new one! Heavenly Rage!"

Lightning crashed again as the hybrid monster flew upwards, and then made a dive combined with real burning lightning, smashing the foul Ritual Monster to minute pieces and knocking Umbra over.

"Ugh…" said the man in the Dark Mask. Meanwhile, Mack had continued to watch Sofia with curiosity.

Clearly this woman is a crafty one, he thought. Not only was she able to plan ahead wisely and switch for that Trap Card, but she thought up a clever strategy quickly…

These… Shadowchasers are even more complex than we had at first believed…

Meanwhile, Sofia simply set another card and turned to Umbra. She looked at him for a minute. "Well?" she snapped.

"Pushy little…" he said, as he drew a card.

"Don't forget, Umbra," said Lumis, with a bitter tone, "we either pay 1,000 Life Points to keep that Mask of Brutality – despite the fact her monster is using it – or we destroy it."

Umbra looked at Gryphon, then at Dryad, and mumbled something under his breath. This was a rock and a hard place, especially given the card he had just drawn; it could help him if he were able to attack Gryphon, which he couldn't. With no monsters to attack with keeping the Mask would help his opponents, but getting rid of it would hurt Lumis' monster.

"I choose to pay the 1,000 Life Points," he said quickly. "But that still means you two lose 500 points from Mask of Dispel. I'll just pass for this turn."

(S/P: 2,600) - - - - - - - - - - (L/U: 13,500)

"We're still far in the lead, Umbra," said Lumis.

"Not for long," replied Philip, "it seems So-So just set it all up for me!"

He drew a card, and then pointed to the sputtering and broken Stryker-Bot Model X-9.

"I didn't mention that this guy not only resists the damage, he takes, he stores it."

"What in the world are you talking about?" asked Lumis. "Monsters don't take damage, players do."

"True," replied Philip, "but when you were pounding away at him last turn, he 'stored' it in the form an Overload Counter, one for every thousand points of damage I took.

"But before I use them, I'll summon Stinging Swordsman."

There was a shrill battlecry, and a pint-sized childlike Warrior, barely two feet tall, wearing Japanese armor with a hairstyle to match and holding what looked like an oversized bobby pin leapt next to the android with a flip. (300 ATK)

"Mmph!" squeaked Lumis, covering his mouth with his hand to try to stifle a laugh.

"Yep, that's the typical reaction," said Philip. A Spell Card activated in front of him. "I use Secret Pass to the Treasures so this little guy can attack directly. Get 'im!"

It looked ridiculous to say the least. Lumis may have been a short guy, but he was still twice as tall as the tiny Warrior who was savagely charging at him with the pin. He barely even moved as the weapon jabbed into the thick of his robe.

"Am I supposed to be impressed by that?" he asked.

"No, by this," replied Philip. Then he blew and a wind started to rise, which slowly got stronger, turning into a storm. Mask of Restrict, Mask of Dispel, Mask of Brutalist, and Birthright were swept up and blown towards the two Rare Hunters' side of the field before being blown to pieces. Grand Tiki Elder – having been summoned by the Trap Card – was blown into black squares and rectangles.

"What…" said Lumis.

Then the two Spells and two Traps appeared in his hand.

"That's Stinging Swordsman's effect," replied Philip. "You've just been unmasked, and so has she."

He pointed to Masked Hamadryad. (1,000 ATK) Stryker-Bot Model X-9 aimed its weapons at the Dark Fairy…

"Now I can finally get to this guy," said Philip. "For every Counter he gained, for this one attack, I can boost his Score by 1,000 points!"

(5,200 ATK)

"MEGA FLASH BLASTERS!

The twin guns fired, eradicating Hamadryad. Only her mask remained, falling to the ground and wobbling before disappearing.

Then Sofia's Call of the Haunted opened up again, and a fist punched through the pavement. Mist Valley Thunder Lord's two strong arms tore their way through, pulling himself above-ground. (2,600 ATK)

Then it roared even louder, and burning lightning bolted from his palms, throwing the short and portly Rare Hunter backwards and on his stomach, and his face.

(S/P: 3,100) - - - - - - - - - - (L/U: 6,200)

At this moment, Philip felt his satchel trembling a little.

Memory Crystal Alpha… he thought, looking down.

Inside the dark hammerspace container of the magical satchel, the Memory Crystal's eyes started to open…

It was waking up…

Philip could feel it, and as the artifact that he and generations before him had searched for came fully awake this time, a feeling of warmth energized him.

My deck… he thought.

He looked at his Duel Disk, then towards the temple in the distance way past the ruined bridge created by his Field Spell.

"Ahem…" he said. "Because I did that, Stryker-Bot Model X-9 is now destroyed…"

The robot simply burned up, evaporating into soot.

"Finally, because of Sofia's Gryphon, I can make an extra Normal Summon this turn, so long as it's a Wind Monster, so I sacrifice Stinging Swordsman to summon Cyber Tech Alligator."

The little Warrior disappeared, and a tall, cybernetic-alligator-man with scarlet armor and wings. (2,500 ATK)

"I'll end my turn…"

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Joka lifted up the assembled weapon, which looked like nothing less than a hand-held rocket launcher, and looked around.

"I know what yer thinkin', babe," he shouted. "Yer thinkin' the guy's got a freakin' bazooka here, and he'd have ta be nuts if he's willing ta torch this whole cemetery to get some broad. Well, wouldn't be my first time…"

He reached into his overcoat and took out a bottle of something, uncorking it with his teeth. He spit the cork on the ground, then took a swig of the liquid before walking in Terra's direction.

"Of course, from what I've heard, not everyone buried here was a nice guy… Some a'them were even nastier than I am, if ya can believe that…"

He took a larger swig and then spit on the ground, wiped his mouth with his sleeve, and turned his head back and forth.

Ooh, she's close, thought the assassin.

"See, a long time ago," he continued, "there was a band of screwballs, the type who liked to wear spooky robes and chant while singing creepy stuff… Really bad people, y'know. They opened up a gate in this town that led straight to Hell! That's what they did. They wanted Raleigh to serve as a hunting ground for demons while they prepared some great-big-huge curse…"

Just keep talking, lead head, she thought.

"With fire raining from the sky," continued Joka, "earthquakes, plagues of locusts, incontinent pigeons, demons building mini-malls, every firstborn son growing up to be lawyers, Reaganomics, market-researched sit-coms…"

"Oh, SHUT UP!" shouted Terra.

Joka turned to see her hurl an entire tombstone that she had lifted out of the ground, hitting him in the chest, and almost knocking him over…

Almost. But not quite.

He aimed and fired the weapon at Terra's back as she fled, the flaming blast of plasma hitting another tree as she made a sharp turn.

Another tree bites the dust, she thought. Let's hope he falls for it.

She glanced behind, then covered her head to duck another blast. Joka paused, reloading his weapon, and she ran towards the center of the cemetery.

"Son of a bitch," he thought, as he followed her into the wide-open cemetery plot, "like fish in a barrel…"

He aimed carefully as a crosshairs unfolded over an eyepiece and he snapped a switch to up it to max setting. Terra was directly in his line of fire, running towards a headstone in the center of the plot…

But as he squeezed the trigger, the she-minotaur leapt over said headstone, revealing it to be the Gate Blocker one.

"OH, SHIT!" shouted Joka, but it was too late. The blast thundered towards the Gate Blocker, blowing it into little pieces of rock as Terra landed on her side and rolled with the impact.

As she looked up, a blue sphere – one side of a Lloyd's Beacon – appeared in its place.

"Nice going…" said Terra, out loud. "I believe you were trying to keep me from wrecking that thing?"

"Crap, the boss is gonna…" he started.

Then Terra was on him.

He dropped the weapon as her steel-shod fists slammed into his metal plated face again and again, rattling it and knocking him a little backwards with each one.

"Be a good little psycho and go… down!" she shouted. The last punch was hard, but it still didn't knock him over.

"Ah, screw this…" he said. As Terra lunged for him again, he replied with a head-butt to her forehead. It made her a little dizzy, and he turned the other way, fast.

The boss can deal with it himself, he thought. I'll get even with her later…

Terra rubbed her forehead, and then looked at the Beacon, wondering what it was all about…

Slowly, she walked to where the tombstone that she had thrown at him was lying on the ground. It was still intact, thank goodness. She lifted it up, carried it back to where she had gotten it, and placed it upright again.

Then she crossed herself over the chest.

Sorry about that, Mr. Potts, she thought, looking at the name on the rather old stone. It had to be done.

Then she turned and ran.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Lumis stood up, and felt his mask, which was badly damaged, a lengthwise crack made from the impact.

Of course, Mack knew what had happened to the Gate Blocker, and he was not happy.

"You two simpletons have already dragged this on too long," he snapped. "You'd best finish it before I regret wasting the resources to help you."

"Uh…" said Umbra.

"You guys are gonna take that?" asked Sofia. "What are you, slaves?"

"Well, yeah, we…" said Lumis. "If we don't, he'll…"

"Kill you?" asked Philip. "You two are already dead, what more can he do?"

"Don't listen to them!" ordered Mack.

"You know, it was like that way when you were alive too," added Sofia. "Marik was a terrible employer who treated you guys like garbage, but you stood there and took it. Just how many Rare Hunters were there? I'm no expert on ancient Egyptian artifacts, but I doubt he could have used that Rod on all of you."

"Well, uhm… Maybe not…" said Umbra, somberly.

"I mean, did he come right out and tell you, 'I need two guys to duel the current King of Games and the CEO of KaibaCorp in a deathtrap and they have two of the most powerful cards ever made between them, go do it' and you two said 'yes sir', never considering the danger?"

"Well, when you… put it that way…" replied Lumis.

"Know what I think?" continued Sofia. "You two talked tough and mean and all during that duel, but it was all an act. Inside you had no confidence and no self-respect. That was why you couldn't cooperate. You were expendable lickspittles to Marik, you knew it, and you didn't care! Just like Pandora and Seeker and all the other Rare Hunters."

"We were not!" shouted Lumis. "We… We had some… self-confidence."

"Okay, prove it," demanded Philip. "We'll continue the duel, if you face us like men…"

He pointed at their faces.

"Real men don't hide behind masks. I understand how powerful masks can seem sometimes… When you use a false face to conceal your own, you project an image of someone you aren't, and maybe for a while you feel stronger, because people see the mask, and not your real face.

"But it only works a short time. No-one is fooled for long. If anything, those masks were proof of insecurity, and a reflection of what you were… Two guys who actually preferred to serve the man who thought reigning in Hell was better than serving in Heaven."

There was a long silence for a minute. Then Lumis slowly lifted the broken mask from his face – underneath which was really nothing that looked marred or deformed – and then looked at Umbra.

The taller man acted quicker, grabbing hold of his unbroken mask, stopping for a few seconds, then lifting it from his face.

The two Rare Hunters looked at the headgear for a tense few seconds, then dropped them on the ground.

"You know…" said Lumis. "That did feel kind of… Invigorating…"

(S/P: 2,600) - - - - - - - - - - (L/U: 6,200)

"And I think it's my turn…"

Showing far more enthusiasm, he drew a card as Philip and Sofia watched.

Hopefully, it will all turn out best in the end, thought Philip. He looked at Mack, who looked rather angry now.

"I'm using the Silent Doom Spell Card to revive Melchid from the Graveyard," said Lumis, as the card followed by the Four-Face Beast appeared. (1,200 DEF) "Then I set a monster, and four face-down cards."

Playing all his remaining cards caused a monster and four set cards behind it to appear. Philip and Sofia looked at them strangely.

One of them is obviously Birthright, and another is Mask of Restrict, thought Sofia, but why did he set Mask of Dispel instead of using it?

Lumis turned to his no-longer-masked partner and nodded, and Umbra nodded back. Then they nodded to Sofia, who drew. The card she drew was Mind Trust, not bad, but not useful now.

"Gryphon, demolish…" she started, pointing to the two monsters. Her finger went from one to the other, but even without the masks, her opponents had good poker faces.

"The set monster!"

The powerful winds from the Gryphon stormed towards the set monster, which briefly revealed itself before shattering; it looked like a grinning, one-eyed face on a metal high-tech satellite vaguely shaped like a long-necked jar. It grinned wider right before it exploded, and Sofia's set card and all four of her opponents' blew up.

"Thank you!" exclaimed Umbra, with a huge grin. "The Flip Effect of Absorbing Jar destroys all set monsters, and lets each player draw one card per card destroyed!"

He snatched four cards off his deck.

"Yeah, well I get one too," said Sofia, making one draw. "And while you can't set any cards the turn you use that, I can. So I'll set one, and I'm done…"

Umbra watched the hidden card appear, then made another draw, giving him six cards total. Philip was starting to regret being the Good Samaritan and offering to help them…

"My first move will be to summon Rogue Doll," said Umbra.

A very weird Spellcaster appeared next to Melchid, a doll-like creature with a face embedded on the front of its headless torso. It wore a violet robe over said torso, and held a long wand in one of its spindly arms. (1,600 ATK)

"Which means I can sacrifice it and the Four-Face Beast…"

The two monsters were consumed in shadowy fog, and three masks appeared in mid-air accompanied by a roar like that of a creature out for blood…

Masked Beast Des Gardius had arrived. (3,300 ATK)

"No wasting time picking a target this time," ordered Umbra. "Get that Thunder Lord!"

The savage Beast swiped with its claws, and the feathered ogre let out a roar as two bloody wounds were made across its chest. Then it shattered.

(S/P: 1,900) - - - - - - - - - - (L/U: 6,200)

Good thing we still have our Supply Squad card," said Sofia, as she made a draw.

"And I have my Greed Grado card…" continued Umbra.

The Spell Card appeared and formed the Pot of Greed floating in mid-air with a smug look on its face, six Level stars orbiting around it.

"Because that was a Synchro Monster, I get to draw two more cards," he said, as he made two draws. "I'll set two, and you're up, Phil."

"Philip," corrected Philip, making a draw. "I'm moving my monster to Defense Mode, then setting this card, and ending."

A reversed card appeared behind Alligator, while Alligator itself lowered itself on one knee. (1,600 DEF)

"Yeah, I know, that means my Field Spell adds another Counter to my highest-Level monster, which means Cyber-Tech Alligator… What are you gonna do?"

"I don't know what you're going to do," said Lumis. He drew. "But I'll use this…"

One of the Trap Cards Umbra had set flipped up.

"It's called Greed Pact, and it means we both draw once."

Philip grimaced a little, then made a draw as his opponent did. Then he winced as his opponent played a rather familiar – but very powerful – Spell Card.

"My partner and I have just enough Dark Monsters in our combined Graveyards for me to use The Beginning of the End," he said. Five monsters – Grand Tiki Elder, Melchid, Masked Clubber, Masked Dryad, and Death Mask Tiki – appeared behind him and then turned into a dark fog that dissipated. He made three draws.

Then he played a new card, and a giggling goblin wearing a mask, a stocking hat, tattered trousers, and little else on its body that had green, rubber skin, sauntered forward. (1,600 ATK)

"This Masked Gremlin isn't all too strong," he commented, "but he's a little tougher than he looks at first…"

He smirked, and whipped his arm from left to right, causing two more set cards to form in a flourish.

"That's all for me…"

Sofia drew slowly…

"Don't forget Ms. Witt," said Mack. "You now take 800 points of damage from your partner's Field Spell."

Sofia quickly looked at Philip, and he nodded.

"I don't think so, creep," she shouted, "thanks to Philip's Rainbow Life!"

The set card stood up and rotated forward, and Sofia discarded a card as a multicolored globe surrounded her.

"You activated Rainbow Life just to gain 800 points?" asked Umbra.

"And to discard my Dandylion," replied Sofia.

As she said so, the two Fluff Tokens sprang up with a "POP!" But Sofia wasn't done. She fit another card on her Disk, and Mist Valley Hunter appeared again. (400 ATK)

"Remember her?" she asked. "Next, I play Mind Trust, which I can use to sacrifice my Level 4 Mist Valley Hunter, and recover a Tuner from my Graveyard that's Level 2 or lower."

Hunter dissolved like mist in the wind, and her mistress took Mist Valley Windmaster from her Disk.

"And again, thanks to Gryphon, I can make a Special Normal Summon of a Wind Monster," she said, as Windmaster appeared again. (400 ATK)

"Then I'll Tune Windmaster, one Fluff Token, and Mist Valley Divine Gryphon…"

"Nine Levels!" gasped Umbra in shock as the three monsters flew into the sky. As they slowly turned to stars, Sofia chanted:

"Let the four winds meet and create a gale that sweeps the world clean!Throw your enemies into the mists and scatter them!"

(*2 + *1 + *6 = *9)

"I Synchro Summon… Mist Wurm!"

There was a thundering, rolling sound as a monster the size of a bus rushed through the mist that appeared behind Sofia, knocking over two cars parked on the ruined street as it did so. Indeed, it was a huge worm-like creature with a blue carapace, dozens of legs, a huge mouth, and mist pouring out of chimney-like vents on its back. (2,500 ATK)

"With this card I can blow up to three of your cards off the field!" she shouted. "So I'll…"

"…do no such thing," replied Lumis, "I use Forbidden Chalice!"

His Quickplay Spell lifted up, and the mist stopped rising, even as the huge monster's Score rose to 2,900.

"I suppose you can still attack the Gremlin," he said, "but it's no big deal…"

"I…" said Sofia. She took hold of another card from her hand, but just gripped it for a minute.

"So-So, is that something that can make it stronger?" asked Philip. "Stronger than Des Gardius?"

"Well… Maybe," she replied. "But the thing is…"

Des Gardius growled.

"Do it," replied Philip. "Strike the beast down."

"But…" said Sofia. The two Rare Hunters and Mack were looking at her closely.

"Trust me!" yelled Philip.

The Spell Card Blustering Winds flew up over Mist Wurm, and an invigorating wind cascaded over it. It bellowed again as its Attack Score went up to 3,900.

"Destroy Masked Beast Des Gardius with Freezing Fog!" she shouted.

The huge creature exhaled a blast of super-cold vapor at the Fiend. It grunted and cursed as frost and ice started to cover it, and finally, it simply collapsed into icy shards. Its three masks, however, remained.

"I use the effect of Mask of Remnants!" announced Umbra.

"It seemed victory was short-lived, because as the three masks vanished, another one made-from stitched-together skin, bones, teeth, and horns latched to Mist Wurm's face, and pulled it over to Umbra's side of the field.

Dammit, I hope you know what you're doing, Phil, thought Sofia. She had one card left, which she fit into her Disk's Spell Zone.

"I'm done…"

(S/P: 2,700) - - - - - - - - - - (L/U: 5,200)

"Very well then…" said Umbra. He made a draw, then looked at Mist Wurm. "Let's get the hard part out of the way first… Mist Wurm, blast his Cyber-Tech Alligator!"

Again, the freezing mist spouted from the Wurm's jaws. Alligator grit its teeth as it iced over, and then shattered.

"At least it was in Defense Mode," said Sofia, "and there's still Supply Squad." She drew a card.

"Well, we've saved the best for last," said Umbra. "I'll use the Ritual Foregone Spell Card. I'll pay 1,000 Life Points to summon the Mask of Shine and Dark from my hand without a Ritual Spell."

A large, creepy-looking oval-shaped fancy mask that was black on the right and gold on the left. (2,000 ATK)

(S/P: 2,700) - - - - - - - - - - (L/U: 4,200)

"And now, I'll banish this Dark Ritual Monster," he continued, "to summon this!"

The Mask of Shine and Dark crumbled and a new mask appeared, one that Sofia and Philip didn't like at all. It was a blood-red face with snake-like eyes, and two mouths, one below the eyes, one above, both filled with sharp, needle-like teeth. The eyes pulsed menacingly. (2,000 DEF)

"What in the name of…" said Philip. "I'm sorry, So-So, but I have no idea what this is."

"Just great," replied Sofia.

"I'm sure you'll find out soon," said Mack. "In the meantime… Your move, Mr. Lupin."

Philip drew, and the card flashed in the dim light. "I use Double Cyclone!" he yelled, drawing another. "Now I can destroy one of my cards, and one of yours! So I choose to destroy my Field Spell and the Mask of Remnants!"

Twin tornadoes spouted up as he played the card, and the buildings around him started to crumble…

"I activate… Destruct Potion!" responded Lumis. His Trap lifted, and Mist Wurm blew into a freezing cloud of vapor. "I may have to destroy that monster, but we gained 2,500 Life Points.

"We're stronger than ever and it seems like you destroyed your Field Spell for nothing…"

(S/P: 2,700) - - - - - - - - - - (L/U: 6,700)

"I disagree…" said Philip.

A card slipped slightly out of his deck, and he inched it out and looked at it.

"Because now, with but a fraction of Memory Crystal Alpha's power and the great knowledge stored within, City of Eternity's destruction opens a formerly inaccessible path…

"I activate Bridge of Eternity!"

He played the card and a new Field Spell rose around them. To Sofia, it looked like they were on that ruined suspension bridge she had seen in the last Field Spell, its torn and fraying cables swinging dangerously. Ahead of them, in the distance, she could see that strange temple in the sky, which seemed somewhat closer now.

"They say a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step," said Philip, turning to Mack and lifting his fist, "but for four whole generations, the journey that the Grid once started has barely even gotten to the first step.

"And now… We've gone more distance in a couple of hours than we have in the past century!"

"Philip…" said So-So.

"Don't worry, So-So," he laughed, "I'm feeling much better of our chances now! You're the best thing that's happened to me in years!

"Now, first of all, because I was able to take it from my deck with the previous Field's effect, I get to draw once." He made a draw. "Next, I'll banish a Wind Monster from my Graveyard to summon Silpheed."

A tall, gaunt man with white, unkempt hair, wearing a white overcoat and holding a wand appeared. (1,700 ATK)

"Then, I summon Top Runner."

The sound of rapid footsteps scampered towards them as a thin, spindly robot dashed down the bridge, then up the side of the bridge support, then leapt with a corkscrew spin before making a perfect landing next to Silpheed. (1,100 ATK)

"Then I can Tune together Top Runner, Silpheed, and the other Fluff Token…"

The two former Rare Hunters watched as the three monsters flew upwards, fading into the starlight up above…

(*4 + *1 + *4 = *9)

"So, uh… where's this Synchro Monster?" asked Lumis.

Then the waves in the filth-strewn bay below them started to thrash and stir violently, and the bridge started to shake. Then, with a powerful surge of dirty water, a huge medieval style castle perched on a floating rock rose out of the bay.

"Behold Cloudcastle!" he shouted.

(0 ATK)

"And simply by summoning it, I can Special Summon a Level 9 monster from my Graveyard."

Mist Wurm crashed onto the field again, dozing through stones and gravel as it did. As Sofia watched, Philip's plan was starting to make sense. (2,500 ATK)

"Now for my surprise," he continued. He quickly shoved Vala the Chaser's card into his Graveyard slot with the palm of his hand. "With this discard, the Attack and Defense Scores of every monster on the field switch for one turn."

(Cloudcastle: 3,000 ATK, Mist Wurm: 1,500 ATK, Masked Gremlin: 1,200 ATK, Crimson Mask of Cyttorak: 0 DEF)

Cannons and ballista appeared on the balconies of Cloudcastle. Masked Gremlin squeaked in fear as they opened fire and Lumis covered his head…

When the dust cleared, both Lumis and Masked Gremlin had fallen on their behinds, but the Fiend was intact. Lumis got up picking up a Trap Card, Mask of Restrict.

"Like I said before…" he mumbled. He placed them inside his robe. "He's tough. By banishing this mask card, my Gremlin is unharmed. Of course, it's not that easy, my opponent also gains 1,000 Life Points."

(S/P: 3,700) - - - - - - - - - - (L/U: 4,900)

"Well, let's see how tough that other one is," said Phil, "especially since it has no Defense Score at all now!"

Mist Wurm blew its freezing gale at the foul thing, and it simply shattered.

"Didn't look so tough…" said Sofia.

She looked at Philip, who looked just as worried. Deep down, they knew that thing had to do something else.

"Ahem…" said Philip. "Cloudcastle also prevents all Level 8 or lower monsters from attacking the turn they're summoned, but just in case…"

He played a Spell Card that Sofia recognized.

Yes! she thought. His Toy Robot Box!

Philip discarded another card, and the three man-sized action figures appeared, defending. (0 DEF x3)

"So long as I have these guys, you can't touch any of our other monsters," he said. "I'll set one more card, and end…"

The reversed card appeared in his Spell Zone, and he took a deep breath as he wiped his brow. (Mist Wurm: 2,500 ATK, Cloudcastle: 0 ATK)

"LUMIS!" boomed Mack, as Lumis went to draw.

"Yes?" said the short Rare Hunter, sounding a little angry.

"I don't care what you two have to do," he ordered, "stop them!"

"Why certainly… 'master'," replied Lumis, the sarcasm clear. He drew, and used the card to point to Cloudcastle.

"Usually it's hard to wear a mask without a face," he grumbled, "but this should work…"

"Huh…" said Philip. Then a bolt of pure darkness shot at the Cloudcastle, bolting a mask that resembled an iron relief of Dark Ruler Ha Des' helmeted visage to it.

"It's called the Mask of the Underworld," continued Lumis, "and it keeps your monster from using its effect.

"Now that I've solved that problem…"

He pointed to Masked Gremlin.

"With the Crimson Mask in my Graveyard, all I have to do is pay 800 Life Points and sacrifice a monster…"

An ugly claw broke out of the ground, and grabbed the Gremlin, squeezing it until it shattered. Then, the Masked Beast pulled itself out of the ground. But…

"It's wearing the Mask of Cyttorak!" exclaimed Sofia.

Indeed, the ugly mask was on the Fiend's face.

"I'm not sure," said Philip. "It might be a question of who is wearing who here…"

(3,200 ATK)

"Indeed, that is a good question," replied Lumis. "The Mask of Cyttorak revives the Masked Beast as an undead abomination, with the Mask itself equipped. Even better, should you manage to destroy the Masked Beast with a more powerful monster, I can repeat that trick again.

"Unfortunately, I still have to smash through those Tokens before I can reach your Synchros, but fortunately, I have Shining Abyss to help me."

He flipped another card on his Disk, and the weird, legless, faceless, mechanical Fairy appeared in a beam of light. (1,600 ATK)

Then a powerful flash came from where its face would be, and one of the three Tokens crumbled into dust.

"One down…" he said. Nonetheless, Philip made a draw as the Supply Squad card sparkled.

Then Masked Beast lifted its foot, and stomped on a second Toy Robot, crushing it.

"Humph…" said Lumis. "I guess that's all for me… Heh… You know Umbra… Maybe this isn't so bad after all… Just like the old days… I end my turn."

(S/P: 3,700) - - - - - - - - - - (L/U: 4,100)

"You heard him, So-So," said Philip, as Sofia drew. "Now show them the move you taught me!"

She turned to him and smiled with a thumbs up.

Then she looked at her three cards nervously… Then even more nervously at the Trap she had set last turn.

Then she closed her eyes as it activated.

"Reckless Greed…" she said. "I give up our next two Draw Phases to draw twice now…"

She turned to Philip as she made two draws. He said nothing. Then he smiled as he saw the twinkle in her eye.

"I summon the Tuner Monster Mist Valley Sky Warden!" she exclaimed as she used the card.

And elderly man appeared that, again, seemed to have Native American ancestry and clothing style, with a medicine bag slung over his shoulder and a simple wooden staff; he had the same talons as Mist Valley Watcher and the feathered wings of Mist Valley Falcon, but they were a little ragged and molted. (0 ATK)

"This guy has a unique effect," she explained. "His Level starts out as three, but when I summon him, I have to choose one other monster on the field and either raise or lower his Level by that monster's Level. Here's the tricky part; his Attack and Defense Scores are both equal to 400 times the Level, and if he's destroyed outside of battle, well, let's just say that's bad.

"However… I'm going to choose the last Toy Robot Token to lower his Level by 1, to 2." (800 ATK)

"Then I'll Tune him and the Token…"

As amazing as it seemed, the old resident of Mist Valley could still fly, and the Toy Robot Token took his hand as he did so. They both flew into the dark clouds over the bridge as thunder rumbled.

(*2 + *1 = *3)

"That's only three Levels…" said Umbra, nearly in disbelief.

"Bigger isn't always better, guys," added Philip. "Although, it's very often even harder to Synchro Summon a low-Level Synchro monster than a high-Level one."

"So I hope you two are ready for Mist Bird Clausolas," said Sofia, as a new Winged Beast alighted before her. It was a vicious-looking creature with emerald-green feathers and keen eyes over a sharp beak, with scythe-like talons. (0 ATK)

"Next, I'll send this card to the Graveyard to use the effect of the Field Spell," she said. She discarded a card, and Clausolas shot up to 2,300 while the Masked Beast fell to 1,800.

"But I can still use Clausolas' effect, and reduce the Attack Score of one monster on the field all the way to zero!" she continued. "So thank you so much for using that mask to turn off Cloudcastle's effect, this would never have worked otherwise."

The Ritual Monster dropped its club with an "Urk!" as its offensive capabilities were reduced to noting. Then a stream of bright, green mist blew from Clausolas' beak, and the Masked Beast collapsed with a crash, turning into a steaming pile of ash.

The Crimson Mask of Cyttorak hit the ground second, wobbled a few times, and disappeared.

(S/P: 3,700) - - - - - - - - - - (L/U: 1,800)

"Times like this, I have no idea why Kaiba always spoke badly about Yugi's little 300-Attack Point Kuriboh…" moaned Umbra.

"He had… issues," said Sofia, rolling her eyes. Two sets card appeared behind Clausolas, and she nodded. The Winged Beast fell to its original, nonexistent Attack Score.

"They've got two monsters on the field with zero Attack Points!" yelled Mack. "How hard can it be for you two pathetic losers to finish them?"

Umbra stopped in mid-draw. He shivered for a minute, but it wasn't because he was cold or frightened. It was because he was angry.

I just realized something… he thought. The "old days" weren't all that pleasant!

He looked at Lumis, who seemed just as upset, and at their opponents.

Maybe these two had a point… I may be wrong, but I doubt that stupid Millennium Rod he had could have controlled every single one of us…

Finally, he drew.

"The Masked Beast was sent back to my deck when you destroyed it," he said, "a small side effect of the Mask of Cyttorak's effect. But I can still use it again…"

His Life Points dipped to 1,000, and again, a gruesome claw reached up, grabbing Shining Abyss.

"He's back…" muttered Sofia, as Des Gardius rose to the surface again. (3,300 ATK)

"Just to be safe," he said, "I'm also summoning Card Guard."

The card he played produced a rather hideous Fiend. It looked like a walking manta ray with two horns under its face (or rather, where a face would be, as it didn't have one) and claws on the end of long arms that dragged on the ground. It had a blood-red top-side and bone-white underbelly. (1,600 ATK)

"When this monster is summoned, it gains a Guard Counter that increases its Attack Score by 300 points." (1,900 ATK)

"However, I can transfer that Counter to any other card on the field, in which case that card can resist being destroyed, once."

Card Guard sank back to 1,600 points as a glob of pulsating green plasma floated out of it and hit Des Gardius in the chest.

"Now, seeing as that bird is going to be a problem in case this doesn't work…"

Card Guard spread its wings, and claws sprouted from the tips. It leapt off the ground, and soared towards the Winged Beast…

"I use Philip's Spell card!" screamed Sofia. "Battle-Tuned!"

The card flipped up, and Mist Valley Soldier appeared behind her.

"By banishing a Tuner, like the one I discarded last turn, Mist Bird Clausolas gains Attack Points equal to the Tuner's Attack Points!"

The Soldier threw a punch at the Fiend as Clausolas rose to a score of 1,700. A pneumatic burst hit Card Blocker, breaking it into pebbles.

"Sorry…" muttered Sofia to Philip. "Should have asked…"

"Don't worry, you're doing great!" laughed Philip. Then he and Sofia let out two yelps as the larger Fiend's twin claws raked against Clausolas, tearing it in half.

(S/P: 2,100) - - - - - - - - - - (L/U: 900)

"I think Des Gardius is still a little frisky," said Umbra, as his set card lifted up. "I'm using Desperado Battle. It's a powerful Trap that lets my monster attack a second time, so long as I cut his Score in half."

(2,300 ATK)

This is gonna hurt… thought Philip. Wait… So-So's Trap Card…

"I activate Half or Nothing!" he exclaimed as it lifted. The hulking Fiend stopped. "Now you have a choice, Umbra…"

Not that I don't already know what he'll choose…

"You can either end your Battle Phase right now, or continue your attack, but with your monster's Attack Score further reduced, by half what it is now."

"I can live with that," said Umbra. "Keep going!"

As Des Gardius assumed an attack stance again, the Judge Man appeared in mid-air above Philip holding a golden axe, and made a cut downward, making a large scar across the Fiend's chest. (1,150 ATK)

Still, that didn't stop it, or barely even slow it down. Des Gardius ran down the Bridge and launched itself at Cloudcastle.

It seemed to defy the laws of physics, but the huge structure shuddered violently as the Fiend punched it hard with its closed fist. Then the flying castle started to crack as fire erupted over it. Still, it held, even though the bridge started to rock and sway. Philip and Sofia grabbed hold of each other as the sky turned red. Flames erupted over the structure as it started to go down…

"Hold on, So-So!" he yelled over the din. "So long as he have Life Points left, the Bridge will hold!"

An explosion lit up the twilight as Cloudcastle crashed, sending water and burning residue falling like a hellish rain.

(S/P: 950) - - - - - - - - - - (L/U: 900)

"You may not for much longer," said Mack. "Are you done, Umbra?"

"Mmm," said the former Rare Hunter.

"So what now, Mr. Lupin?" asked Mack. "You can't even draw this turn because of your partner's Reckless Greed, Mist Wurm is outmatched by Des Gardius, using the Field Spell will only make it more outmatched, and if you do manage to strike down Des Gardius…"

"I'd have to deal with the Mask of Remnants again, I know," replied Philip. "And you'll likely sacrifice Mist Wurm to summon something else. The thing is, I have the solution right here.

"Or rather… So-So does…"

Sofia's other Trap turned upwards and around.

"Wicked Rebirth," he said. "This card costs 800 Life Points to use, and we have just enough. I get to summon one of my – sorry, I mean our – Synchro Monsters from the Graveyard…"

Slowly, Cloudcastle rose from the bay behind him, somehow good as new. (0 ATK)

"You thought you had me when you foiled my attempt to summon the Ziggurat…

The Overlay Network opened behind him and Sofia, and both Cloudcastle and Mist Wurm turned into green, misty orbs.

"Well I'll just have to summon something with even more destructive power than that! I Xyz Summon the epitome of military aircraft…"

A shadow loomed over the field as something huge started to fly out of the vortex…

"Presented for your consideration," he said, folding his arms, "the Phantom Fortress Enterblathnir!"

The craft that was flying over the bridge was even bigger than Air Fortress Ziggurat, but flatter. It was a flat-topped, flying behemoth with giant engines underneath with spinning turbines, missile launchers on the sides and front, and on the top, fighter planes poised to take off. (2,900 ATK)

"Dear God, that's a…" gasped Lumis.

"It's a fucking flying aircraft carrier!" screamed Umbra.

"Whoa, watch the language you two!" snapped Mack.

"Oh, I'm sorry, did I offend you?" asked Umbra, turning to him with a snide look.

"You two had best brace yourselves because I'm ending this now," said Philip. "Omega Flash Cannons!"

Two rays of pure light honed in on the trembling Masked Beast Des Gardius, striking it, then dissolving its flesh, then its skeleton, and finally its three ordinary masks, reducing it to dust. The Crimson Mask of Cyttorak fell with a crash and shattered.

"But…" said Lumis.

"The Phantom Fortress has four different effects," explained Philip. "Once per turn, it can use an Overlay Unit to banish one of your cards on the field, in your hand, in your Graveyard, or on the top of your deck. So I used it on Des Gardius… And I don't think its effect is any danger now…

He held up a small detonator control with a button.

"Just as well… I'm tired of this anyway…"

He hit the button, and rockets launched from the giant airship. Lumis and Umbra turned and ran, but they honed in on them; still, Sofia and Philip did hear Mack scream as the projectiles impacted, meaning some good had come from it.

(S/P: 150) - - - - - - - - - - (L/U: 0)

"Get… OFF!" cursed Mack, as he stood up. "Can't you morons do anything right?"

Then he saw Philip and Sofia running for the Lloyd's Beacon, Philip pulling her by the hand.

"Oh no you don't…" said Mack.

He pushed aside his coat, where a long, nasty-looking golden dagger was tucked in his belt, and was about to grab it…

Then, to his shock, his arms were grabbed. He looked, and saw that it was Lumis and Umbra.

"Unhand me you cretins!" he said, struggling to get free.

"NO," replied Lumis. "I'm going to do something that Yugi Muto should have told me to do a long time ago!"

"We may be just 'two pathetic losers'," grunted Umbra, "but maybe we do have some pride…"

"Run, run, don't look back!" warned Philip.

Sofia knew enough not to look back, but judging from the foul curses she was hearing from Mack, it was like he was about to explode. The two dove through the Beacon…

Flames erupted throughout all of Darkspine as they did, blowing the remains of half the buildings to melted slag. The Beacon imploded in the process, but it was too late… The two had escaped.

The man – Sofia assumed – called Mack stood there, his suit torn and burned. The shredded remains of Lumis and Umbra's cloaks were around him, along with their cards.

He calmed down, and picked one up.

It was The Beginning of the End.

It's not the Beginning of the End yet… he thought. It isn't the End… nor is it the Beginning…

He placed the card in his coat pocket.

But I do believe it is the End of the Beginning…

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Sofia slowly lifted her head. She was in the cemetery, and quickly noticed there had been a fight here. But…

"Oh, shit!" she shouted.

Philip was gone.

But…

She felt her pocket. Something was inside it. A note.

She unfolded it, and read it quickly.

So-So,

What happened today cannot be ignored. I could tell my allies that I deserve all the credit for recovering Memory Crystal Alpha and fighting that bastard off, but we both know it would be a lie.

We will meet again, soon. I promise.

Until then… Again, I don't recommend you dealing with that Ferdinand guy more than necessary. I don't like him and the feeling is mutual. But…

Well, I hear there's a place he likes to hang out on Sundays. If you must mess with him, I wrote the address on the back.

I love you.

Philip

Sofia stopped. She looked around. No doubt about it, this place looked like a small war had occurred.

"Philip…" she whispered. "What the Hell is going on?"

She turned the paper around, and looked at the number. Then she tapped her Duel Disk, hitting the "Audio Only" option.

"Yes, Ms. Witt?" said a voice.

"Dolores, I've got a number for you to trace…" said Sofia, standing up.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

SILVER DOLLAR (Trap Card)

Normal Trap

Image: The tails side of what resembles a U.S. dollar coin. (But does not match any real ones in circulation.)

Effect: When your opponent declares an attack against a monster you control with 1,000 ATK of less, you may activate this card; negate the attack.

Note: "Silver Dollar" was first used by Jonouchi in the original anime episode "Merger of the Big Five (Part 2)".

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

GREED PACT (Trap Card)

Normal Trap

Image: Two hands holding cards in front of the Pot of Greed.

Effect: Both players draw 1 card. (This is not optional.)

Note: "Greed Pact" was first used by Edo Phoenix in the "Yu-Gi-Oh GX" episode "Ultimate Destiny".

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

DESPERADO BATTLE (Trap Card)

Normal Trap

Image: A young child in boxing training gear standing up to a tough-looking adult boxer.

Effect: Activate only during your Battle Phase. Select 1 face-up monster you control. It loses 1,000 ATK until the End Phase of the turn, and may attack a second time this turn.

Note: "Desperado Battle" was first used by Chronos in the "Yu-Gi-Oh GX" Episode 167.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

MASK OF THE UNDERWORLD (Spell Card)

Equip Spell

Image: A bronze mask depicting Dark Ruler Ha Des' face, with helmet.

Effect: Negate the effect of the equipped monster. The controller of this card can destroy it to draw 1 card.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

MASKED CLUBBER (Monster Card)

Fiend/Dark/Effect/Lvl7/2,600DEF/2,400DEF

Effect: You may Special Summon this card (from your hand) by Tributing a monster you control that is equipped with a "Mask of Brutality". If summoned in this manner, when this card battles an opposing monster, battle damage is doubled. The ATK of this card cannot be increased past its base ATK

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

MASKED HAMADRYAD (Monster Card)

Fairy/Dark/Effect/Lvl3/1,000ATK/900DEF

Effect: Increase this card's ATK by 500 points for each face-up Spell or Trap Card you control with the word "Mask" in its name. If this card would be destroyed, you may send a face-up Spell or Trap Card with the word "Mask" in its name to prevent it from being destroyed. You may only control 1 "Masked Hamadryad".

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

MASKED GREMLIN (Monster Card)

Reptile/Dark/Effect/Lvl4/1,600ATK/1,400DEF

Effect: If this card would be destroyed by battle or by a card effect while in Attack Position, you may banish 1 "Mask" Spell or Trap Card from your Graveyard to prevent it from being destroyed. If you do, your opponent gains 1,000 Life Points.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

DEATH MASK TIKI (Monster Card)

Fiend/Dark/Effect/Lvl5/1,800ATK/1,800DEF

Effect: This card may be Special Summoned (from your hand) by Tributing a "Mask" monster you control. If Special Summoned this way, you may take control of 1 monster equipped with a "Mask" Equip Spell; if that monster is no longer equipped with a "Mask" Equip Spell, return control of it to its original owner. You may only activate the effect of "Death Mask Tiki" once per turn.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

CRIMSON MASK OF CYTORRAK (Monster Card)

Fiend/Dark/Effect/Lvl8/0ATK/2,000DEF

Effect: Cannot be Special Summoned from the deck. You may Special Summon this card (from your hand) by banishing a DARK Ritual Monster you control. If this card or a monster it is equipped to is destroyed by battle, you may, during your next Standby Phase, Tribute a monster you control and pay 800 Life Points. If you do, select 1 monster in your Graveyard and Special Summon it, equipping this card to it as an Equip Spell. (Ignore any summoning conditions of the Special Summoned monster.) If a monster Special Summoned in this manner is destroyed, return it to your deck.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

MIST VALLEY HUNTER (Monster Card)

Warrior/Wind/Effect/Lvl4/400ATK/1,600DEF

Effect: When this card is Normal Summoned and your opponent controls at least 1 monster, move it to face-up Defense Mode. If this card is destroyed by battle and your opponent controls more monsters than you do, you may Special Summon this card from the Graveyard in Attack Position and select 1 monster your opponent controls, which is then equipped to this card as an Equip Spell. This card's Level becomes that of the monster equipped to it. If this card is destroyed while equipped with a monster, you take damage equal to the equipped monster's ATK. Each player may only use the effect of "Mist Valley Hunter" once per duel.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

MIST VALLEY SKY WARDEN (Monster Card)

Spellcaster/Wind/Effect/Lvl3/0ATK/0DEF

Effect: When this card is Summoned, select 1 monster on the field other than this card, and either increase of decrease this card's Level by the selected monster's Level. If this card leaves the field via any means other than being used in a Synchro Summon, you take damage equal to 300 times its current Level.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

MIST VALLEY DIVINE GRYPHON (Monster Card)

Thunder/Wind/Synchro/Effect/Lvl6/2,500ATK/1,900DEF

"Mist Valley" Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters

Effect: You may make 1 additional Normal Summon per turn; the second Normal Summon must be of a WIND monster.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

STRYKER-BOT MODEL X-9 (Monster Card)

Machine/Wind/Effect/Lvl4/1,200ATK/1,100DEF

Effect: This card cannot be destroyed by battle if it is in Attack Position; if you take damage from a battle involving this card, place 1 Overload Counter on it for every 1,000 points of damage you take (max. 6). If this card has 6 Overload Counters on it during an End Phase, or acquires 3 or more during a single Battle Phase, destroy it. If this card has Overload Counters during your Battle Phase and it declares an attack against an opposing monster, increase its ATK by 1,000 per Overload Counter during the Damage Step only, and destroy this card after Damage Calculation. (This is not optional.) You can only control 1 "Stryker-Bot Model X-9".

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

BRIDGE OF ETERNITY (Spell Card)

Field Spell

Image: The same evil-looking temple on a rocky peak in the background of the "City of Eternity" card, but seen from the view of a ruined and broken suspension bridge.

Card Description: If this card was added to your hand from your deck by the effect of "City of Eternity", place 1 Pilgrimage Counter on it when it is activated, and then draw 1 card for every Pilgrimage Counter it has. During each Main Phase 1, the turn player may discard 1 card from his hand to switch the ATK and DEF of all face-up monsters on the field. If this card is destroyed, you may add 1 "Eternity" Field Spell from your deck to your hand except a "Bridge of Eternity".

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Jemorille: You really had to feel sorry for Lumis and Umbra. With nothing to lose, but nothing to gain either, they had accepted Mack's offer on only vague promises that they suspected he'd never keep. But even if there was nothing for them but some dark afterlife limbo, they had made it clear that they would not be used like walking cannon fodder any longer.

Sofia's quest to find the truth about her old boyfriend had indeed given her answers, but they were mostly bad news. First and foremost, she had found out he was not some looney conspiracy theorist. He seemed to have been telling the truth back in Memphis.

She also discovered that he had taken up practicing wild magic, a very dangerous and unpredictable school of wizardry that, if used incorrectly, could harm a practitioner even more than anyone who fought him.

She had found out he had been risking his life constantly, and had a very powerful enemy.

And it seemed that he was telling the truth when he said he was staying away from her because he was a risk… But now he had promised to see her again…

And she didn't even know if that was a good thing.

She didn't realize that what had happened today had raised the stakes dramatically…

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Shadowchaser Files

Organization: The Blood League

When most Shadows think of minotaurs, they think of brutish thugs, the dumb muscle type that's not very subtle and a very violent fighter, maybe a step above ogres in any positive traits. A few exceptions exist (and rumors persist of highly developed societies of them on other worlds where leaders are intelligent enough to become wizards). Still, a few examples who are able to shake off the stereotype and become upstanding members of the community…

This file is not about those examples.

The Blood League is a group that's even worse than typical minotaurs. Dumb, strong, violent, unsubtle, and the most bloodthirsty in existence, these beasts are the products of a now-defunct cult who received powers that give Shadows and humans nightmares, four specific races worse of all. These dark creatures gain power by hunting down and slaying their chosen victims, not for their blood, but for the organ that drives it through the body, which they devour, fresh and still beating.

While the Shadowchasers will not allow testimony at trial obtained via "fruit of the poisoned tree", so to speak, other high-up Shadows who are willing to use such methods of interrogation have learned a few things about the origins of the Blood League. Originally, a collaboration between cults of Baphomet (the demon lord who claims to have created minotaurs) and Torog (an ancient abomination often listed among the "Elder Evils" whose power may come close to that of Tharizdun, but like him, is imprisoned) recruited the most depraved and vicious minotaurs they could find, and bestowed on each of them one of four rituals.

A minotaur of the Blood League can gain powerful abilities by murdering a specific type of creature and then eating the victim's heart, and must also do so on a regular basis to keep the powers. That is the only prerequisite. The demonic influence on the minotaurs gave them a special predatory nature that made them prefer victims who were exhausted and terrified after being hunted down. The cultists quickly obliged, and it soon became standard practice to kidnap the prey first and cast them into an extensive underground labyrinth built by the cult, where their test subjects could do so at their leisure.

The five known types are:

Stonehooves: Minotaurs who choose gorgons as victims gain this moniker should they succeed. Not only do they gain the ability to petrify with their gaze (though not at the range of true gorgons) their breath is poisonous.

Shardhorns: By preying on unicorns, a shardhorn can phase in and out of reality, teleporting up to twenty feet away instantly. It uses the horn of its first victim like a dagger, and its most common strategy is teleport behind a foe and knife him in the back.

Blood Shadow: Spawned by Torog's enmity with Lolth (some legends say he regards her and the dark elves as trespassers in lands that he once dominated) weaver fiends prey on dark elves, the more powerful, the better. As a result, they are nearly invisible in darkness and can move with scarcely any more noise than mice, able to take foes in dark caves and labyrinths by complete surprise.

Pale Bloodfiend: The rarest, as their victims are a declining race (but their current masters try hard to find victims) a pale bloodfiend seeks vampires as prey. As a result, every wound they inflict on an enemy (whether by claws, teeth, or even manmade weapons) heals them through a type of vampiric draining, which sickens the victim even if he escapes.

All four have similarities; enormous strength and the ability to ignore pain. One police officer who survived an attack by one of these things claimed that emptying his revolver into its chest only made it angry. Once one of these beasts picks up a prey's scent, it pursues until one of three things happens – it succeeds in bringing the prey down, the Blood League minotaur is killed or otherwise unable to continue the hunt, or the victim escapes using some sort of magic that puts at least twenty miles between him and the minotaur. (At which point it loses the scent and has no choice but to give up.)

All went well until a pre-emptive strike from one of the cult's enemies (and they made them fast) eradicated all members who weren't minotaurs and many who were. Which of the four races brought the cult down? All five would love to take credit, but no-one knows for sure.

That was about a thousand years ago, and the survivors fled to remote locations, hiding frightened and scared, suffering a painful cross between a withdrawal and a curse. But in recent years, these survivors were round up by a cabal of illithids who were able to renew the rituals and start again.

The Blood League is now a greater menace than before. Previously, about one in ten minotaurs who went through one of the rituals survived the first hunt due to the dangerous nature of the prey. Now, magical aid supplied by the illithids has improved it to about fifty percent. (So far.) Also, the illithids have psychoportation skills that are powerful even when compared to other illithids, able to move the entire organization (which is actually rather small from what is known, consisting of four known illithids and about twenty minotaurs) if they have to evacuate. It is known that they have made their lair in the deepest, darkest parts of Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico, Son Doong Cave in Vietnam, and Krubera Cave in Abkhazia, Georgia, but have evacuated each when in danger of being discovered.

Some officials wonder if the fact that Louis DaPen's two henchmen Vincent and Albert Schumer being paroled at roughly the same time had something to do with the illithid's motives, but it makes sense, even if their ultimate goals aren't known. Illithids tend to make allies with flesh eaters often, seeing as brainless corpses left to rot is a dead giveaway as to who the occupants are. The fact that illithids despise vampires and dark elves gives them motivation too. And the Blood League minotaurs are happy to take orders from them; despite their strength they seem about as smart as a box of hammers (possibly a side effect of the ritual) and could never survive on their own.

Still, powerful leaders of all four races, including Dracula and Queen Morwel (who unicorns answer to) consider this group mortal enemies and have huge bounties on their heads (dead or alive). Terra Ironhoof is known to hate them with a passion. (Some of her detractors say it's because they never even considered inviting her to join, but if you value your life, never say it when she's within earshot.)

Of course, there is one loose end: Just who is conducting the actual dark rituals. One very… unpleasant rumor states that whoever is doing it is trying to add more rituals to the original four to add more variation. God knows what might happen if he succeeds.

Story Ideas: A fic involving the Blood League would be perfect to illustrate the second half of the goal of a Shadowchaser, where he must protect Shadows from those who wish to exploit them. While the illithids' mad scheme likely involves subjugating humans in some way, the innocents who will die at the hands of their merciless enforcers are not human, and can't be abandoned.

Such a fic would put dueling on the backburner, possibly whenever the illithids were adversaries, but the actual Blood League would lack the comprehension and patience to fight that way. To get an idea of how a battle with such a creature would work, try watching the old Alien and Predator movies. The heroes would face the same challenge, tracking the villains into their labyrinthine caverns, only to find that they've become the hunted quickly, and that these savages are playing a sadistic game with them.

If the four types don't work for you, feel free to add a couple. But the Blood League wouldn't consider hunting something all that weaker than a minotaur – way too easy – and it likely wouldn't bestow any useful powers on them anyway.

Still, one must realize that nothing good can ever come from this group. Use them only when you want one of the darkest of fics.