Shadowchasers: Conspiracy

by 0ccam's Razor

A fanfic of the Shadowchasers by Cyber Commander. Odd things are happening, and Shadowchasers all over the world are encountering criminals with strange and peculiar goals. Is a conspiracy afoot, or is some deeper plot in the works?

31. Bat Out of Hell

I promised I would give you the rilmani view on folks like Jalal Stormbringer, and I always keep my word, even if I do hold to the letter of it at times.

As I said before, Jalal has a remarkable amount of willpower and self-restraint for a man who is immortal, ageless, and holds the amount of influence he does. For a leader of such an organization, that is required. Most in his position would consider themselves superior to mortals and consider them things to be used – as fiends do – or things to be coddled and sheltered – as celestial beings do. Never on equal grounds.

For my people, willpower is also a requirement, but for a far different reason, even though even the youngest of rilmani with any amount of authority is twice as old as he is at least, and most are much older.

Make no mistake, my friends, I have seen civilizations rise and fall on many worlds, whole races rise from primordial muck and grow into sentience. It is the duty of the rilmani to moderate the Balance as they observe and ensure no side overshadows its opposite by too much.

But rilmani almost never intervene directly during their task. We disguise ourselves, we work covertly, and a rilmani must remain focused on his mission above all else, remain amoral and impartial. If he knows that that the best way to solve the crisis that has caused the balance to shift would be to kill a knight's beloved and plant evidence that it would start a war with a rival kingdom, so be it. The woman's death is a means that justifies the end…

But… Acting so callous again and again, over thousands of years on hundreds of worlds, can take a toll. Sometimes in a rilmani's life he thinks of that woman, and wonders if, maybe he rushed, and maybe he might have been able to find a better solution. That maybe she didn't have to die…

The rilmani envy men like Jalal. After all he's seen and all the similar decisions he's made, his judgment seems just as sharp as ever, enough to avoid the doubt that causes the mistakes that would cause the type of imbalance that he, much like a distracted rilmani would cause. And still give his men equal time.

And he accepted his position by choice. Rilmani have no choice. The rilmani preserve the Balance because that is what rilmani do.

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Chapter Twenty-Nine

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Bat Out of Hell

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"Where are we?"

Philip couldn't see Wells. In fact, he couldn't see a foot past the end of his nose due to the fog. He was relieved to hear the Shadowchaser's voice.

"Uh, offhand, I'd say someplace where I don't know where we are."

The fog lifted a little, slowly. Philip could see that Wells was checking a small device on his watch.

"Tarnation," he mumbled, "so that's the deal."

"What?" asked Philip. "Is this another place like Darkspine?"

"Worse, this here is an artificial demi-plane," replied Wells, "we're in the Deep Ethereal. There's your answer. The bastard clearly didn't intend to come to the mall to make the trade in the first place."

He started using the new device on his Duel Disk as the fog continued to lift and Philip looked around. "This one doesn't look like it was made with much foundation in mind either."

"Uh…" said Philip. Then he remembered Prospero mentioning how demi-planes worked. They could be anywhere from the size of a house to the size of a small country (or a rather large one). Almost all of them had been artificially created, either by powerful mortal magic or supernatural beings.

However, the only known methods to build demi-planes would create small ones. Nobody had ever witnessed even the most powerful of gods build one that was larger than a city block, at least in recorded history. So how did huge ones like Inphirblau come into being?

The answer is simple: demi-planes tended to grow and evolve over time (and indeed, the large ones have been around for eons) especially if living beings start living in them (which happens more often than one would think; such a place is like an oasis to an Ethereal traveler). As they grow, they can develop ecosystems and biospheres on their own, often until they turn into something the creator clearly never intended.

Which is why most of them are not made with permanence in mind. Beings capable of doing so often left some method to destroy – or at very least, disassemble – a demi-plane if there was no further use for it.

"Chief, can you hear me?" said Wells, into his Disk. "Dammit, who am I kidding, of course he can't."

The fog started to clear and they saw a fence in front of them. One with pickets topped by sharp spearheads and a rather – unique metal gate shaped like a ferocious dragon. It opened inward with a loud, rusty CREEAAK.

"Guy's just trying to scare us," said Wells. He looked behind them. All he saw was billowing clouds of black fog.

"Seems the portal is still back there, but it's being held shut by something. Strange magic here."

"Tell me about it," said Philip, under his breath.

"What's that?" asked Wells.

"Nothing," said Philip, quickly. He changed the subject. "It seems he's shored up his defenses."

As he pointed, Wells turned around and looked up. Indeed, more of the red Elysium crystals had been planted, embedded in the fence and hanging from above.

"Well that sucks," said Wells. "Seein' as we can't go back the way we came right now or call for help, looks like we're on our own."

He started to dig into a pouch on his belt, the one where he had stashed the Iron Flask. "Listen here, son, there are three ways to let something out of an Iron Flask. The safe way is to say the proper command words, then pull the stopper. That takes about five minutes at least, if you rush, but most folks take their time, 'cause if you say it wrong, you can't control the thing and it's gonna be pretty angry."

He took the flask and a game card out of the pouch. "The second way is to just pull the stopper, but then you can forget about controlling it, and it's definitely gonna be angry."

"And the third?" asked Philip.

"See this?" asked Wells. "Don't say the name, just look at it."

He was holding the game card up, a rather old Monster Card. Philip was a little confused, especially since Wells hadn't answered the question.

"Huh?" he answered. "That's…"

Wells made a zipping motion across his lips, and Philip stopped.

"Now do not try to say that word unless I'm killed, rendered unconscious, subjected to mind control, or otherwise incapacitated in some way," said Wells. "If that does happen, I want you to say it immediately. Think you can do that?"

Philip nodded in reply. Then Wells put it in Philip's shirt pocket.

"Just remember that," said Wells. "Now here's the plan, we gotta find out who or what is holdin' the portal shut, either turn it off or make whoever is in charge do it, and then amscray, once we bust Sofia out, sound simple?"

Philip shook his head while looking him in the eye.

"Okay, so it's not as easy as it sounds, but we still gotta do it," said the old Shadowchaser, "let's get Sofia out of there!"

The two ran through the gate, and as they expected, it slammed shut behind them. But they felt they'd have far more to worry about than that.

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Rome had long been known as place thick with culture and the arts, and evidence of it was everywhere. The Colosseum and the Arch of Constantine were two long standing reminders of the once-mighty Empire, along with smaller statues that came centuries later, like the sculpture group the Ecstasy of St Teresa, the proud and powerful-looking Statue of Saint Michael the Archangel, and the lovely Baroque-style Fontana del Tritone, which like most fountains, attracted youths tossing coins and requesting wishes, possibly of the figure depicted in the center. (Even if they didn't know it was Triton.) Museums were plentiful here too, including the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna (National Gallery of Modern Art, also called GNAM) which featured the works of, among others, Monet, Pollock, and Van Gogh, along with pretty much every notable Italian artist from the neoclassical, Romantic, and modern eras.

Being a city of such advanced age had adequate representation for Shadowkind culture and knowledge too. But as for whether the Musée Arcane – a repertoire of knowledge collected by the self-proclaimed gorgon archaeologist and explorer Althea – truly fit the bill or was mostly a collection of curiosities and fictional works put together by an eccentric was a matter of opinion.

Despite the fact that admission to the museum was free to guests (Althea got funding from anonymous donors) it was a cold and rather unfriendly place. And by that, even colder and less friendly than the typical museum. First off, like most Shadow-exclusive places, it was hard to find, despite its large size, unless you were specifically looking for it. When you did look for it, well, it might suggest some evil temple rather than a museum. The architecture had the same Greco-Roman style, but in black marble, with fiendish gargoyles on the roof that seemed to fit France better. And some might not even be gargoyles at all – no-one ever knew which might be Althea's three banshrae bodyguards watching the place.

Entering the vestibule might make you even more uneasy, especially if Althea was around. She tended to glare threateningly at anyone who came for the first time, especially if they went too near the roped-off areas, as if to warn that she might take off those sunglasses and use her gaze on them. And if they tried to steal from the museum or vandalize it, she would. Now and then, lifelike statues were displayed as proof for a week or two, proof that this was not a bluff.

Word was she had an agreement with Stormbringer that let her punish such interlopers as she pleased. (What happened to them after that "week or two"? She either used an alchemic serum to cure them for free and then let them go, cured them after someone paid restitution, or smashed them to pieces. It depended on who you asked, and what your opinion of her was, but in all likelihood, the second option was the most probable. Hopefully.)

Fortunately for Fanciullo, she didn't play favorites, even if her records room had no printers or photocopiers and didn't allow flash photography. Indeed, the old, musty place looked more like the scriptorium of an old medieval monastery, with a few accessories you'd find in a wizard's lab. There was even a skull with a candle on it on one shelf.

"What did you find, Nitro," said the mob leader. As he walked in with his other three henchmen, the diminutive Shadowkind was sitting in front of piles of logbooks, scrolls and parchments, wearing special reading glasses.

"Loads!" he replied. "First of all, good old Tranello is helping us again. Seems he kept more stuff from us than he let on. I got a message a few hours ago from – get this – an understudy at the Fortress of Disciplined Enlightenment."

Uomo let out a low whistle. Tormento coughed, then choked a little.

Fanciullo gave him a dirty look, then nodded towards a sign on the far wall, the one that had several rules printed on it (including "no food or drink allowed"). He made a small, nervous laugh, and then shoved what was left of the Slim Jim in his pocket.

"As I was saying," said Nitro, "before I was interrupted… I'm not at liberty to give this guy's name, because as he told me, he was technically bending the rules a tad by giving me this info and would get in trouble if his boss found out. But – I found out some good stuff.

"See, the Fortress keeps track of all unusual magical surges everywhere they have representatives, including most European cities, and they picked up three of the most unusual ones recently. Two of them when poor Tranello and Vince were killed, respectively, and one much bigger one during that snafu at the factory."

"Go on," said Fanciullo. He grabbed a chair, turned it backwards, and sat down.

"This guy told me, boss," continued Nitro, "that these odd surges that appeared at those times and those locations… were Axiomatic Magic…"

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"I'll say one thing for this fellah," said Wells, "he's got class."

They seemed to be in a garden variety example of a cursed graveyard. In front of them were decrepit tombstones, dead trees, and more of the eerie fog covering the ground. The center was dominated by a stone casket on an elevated hill with a statue of a robed skeleton with large, feathered wings.

"How much you want to bet this here's not only the type of cemetery that has zombies, but far more of them than there are plots?"

"I hate zombies," said Philip, looking around nervously. "Those things are wrong on so many levels."

"Calm down," whispered Wells, "He's trying to distract us. Look."

He pointed around, and even more of those red gemstones were around, mounted on most of the graves.

"If Sofia is here, she's probably too weak to even move, assuming she's conscious," said Philip, looking around. "I'm a little dizzy myself."

"If I didn't know better," said Wells, looking at them, "I'd say this guy wanted us to challenge him with water. The earth kind beats water, right?"

"Yeah, but wind beats earth, so," started Philip. "What's that smell?"

"Eh?" said Wells, surprised by the odd change of subject. However, there was, indeed, an odd smell, like bitter incense, along with a thick, eerie mist in front of them, congealing into more fog.

Here goes, thought Wells.

A man walked out of the green mist. A very old, very gaunt-looking man. Gaunt and withered, more like it. His skin looked sickly pale and sallow, stretched tight over his face in a way, that almost made it look skull-like. He had bloodshot eyes and hair that was grey and unkempt. He wore a dirty pair of overalls, torn trousers, old shoes, and carried a shovel slung over his shoulder.

"Punctual as ever, I see," he said in a grating, raspy voice.

"I suppose you're the gravedigger?" asked Wells.

"No, I'm a creepy old man who hangs out in graveyards," said the strange man, "and has a thing for shovels."

Wells looked at him with a twitch.

"Yes I'm the gravedigger!" he snapped.

"Let's get right to the point, ugly," demanded Philip, "where's Sofia?"

"Over there," said the gravedigger. He pointed to the evil-looking statue with the shovel, and the casket lowered into the ground with a loud WHIR (clearly a mechanical device) followed by several clicks, and then the casket shown in the three deviations rising to the surface, standing upright.

Philip flinched a little as the statue moved its arms and held onto it, but only a little. Wells looked at casket and then the watch-like device again.

"Yup, she's in there," he said with another nod.

Philip lifted up a small item, the gear from his desk. "I think this is what you want. Let her go."

"In due time," he replied. "First, there's one thing to take care of."

"WELLS!" shouted Philip.

Wells had almost grabbed the Bowie knife (or so it appeared) strapped to his belt, but he wasn't quite quick enough; a pair of strong arms grabbed his from behind, pinning his arms.

"What in tarnation," he grunted. "A robot?"

It couldn't have been more obvious what it was. A vaguely humanoid, bulky, squat robot, about Wells' size but wider, with a lot of emphasis on upper body strength, it seemed. Wells tried to force out of the grip, although it was clear the thing was designed to grapple a foe.

"All right, gramps, what's the story?" he snapped.

"Backup, Mr. Dawes," replied the gravedigger. "It helps to be prepared, as Mr. Lupin no doubt told you. Hand over the Iron Flask and you may leave unharmed. Simply tell me which pocket it is in and the grappler droid can take it."

"That wasn't part of the deal!" said Philip, his voice starting to rise. "You never –"

"Neither was Mr. Dawes," said the gravedigger, interrupting, "therefore, I'm free to deal with him as I wish. Now hand it over, Mr. Dawes. I should warn you, I have nothing against you personally right now, and you were better off minding your own business. As much as I hate resorting to such – undignified methods –"

"None of my business?" asked Wells. The knife on his belt started to quiver a little, despite the robot holding his arm about two feet from it. "What about Sofia?"

"Horrible judge of character, but as I told Mr. Lupin, I'm willing to cut your organization slack, for now."

Wells couldn't help but smirk a little at this. "Let me get this straight, gruesome," he said, "kidnapping and making threats that suggest, uhm, okay, I'll come right out and say it. Crimes against humanity ain't exactly something we brush off. And besides…" He smirked again. "Why exactly do you want it so badly? I'd almost think you're afraid of it."

"I have no desire to explain myself, Mr. Dawes," replied the gravedigger.

"Yeah, right," said Wells. "I've seen folks like you, and you know what I call 'em? Control freaks. You're just upset I have something here you didn't think of."

"Break his neck," ordered the gravedigger.

It was obvious that the command was given to the grappler droid, and that negotiations were over. Not that Wells expected the guy to listen. The knife – which was half-again larger than a standard Bowie knife and crackling with eerie flecks of dark magic – flew to his hand, and as it did, he wrenched himself free of one of the droid's arms as it shifted it to do as it was told. Naturally, this made the droid – which seemed pretty much mindless as far as actual AI went – shift the other arm to reestablish the hold, which gave Wells the opening he needed to driving drive the weapon deep into its abdomen – but while it seemed to stop the automation, it also sprayed some sort of oily grease in his face.

"Eww…" he grunted. He gave the thing a kick to free the weapon, and it fell over.

"Give me that Flask or I'll take it," said the gravedigger.

"Ah'd like to see you try it," replied Wells.

Not Wells he truly expected him not to, but his eyes were on the gravedigger, and at that moment, the ground erupted as the tombstones fell over and, well…

Creatures started to climb out of the ground, but not exactly the ones Wells expected.

"Okay, guess I was wrong about the zombies," he mused. "Lucky us."

Of course, while these were, indeed, more robots, they were a different design than the grappler, and looked like the type that fit a place like this – sort of. They were each two meters high, and while clearly armored with steel plating, were built in slender way that made them resemble robotic skeletons, complete with skull-like heads.

"Phil, you ever stop to think maybe this guy planned to set you up?" asked Wells.

"Thought crossed my mind once or twice," replied Phil.

He ran his hand over his weapon, and the nasty blade turned even nastier, becoming longer with a scimitar-shaped blade. He struck the robot that rushed him, severing it at the chest with a diagonal cut. Again, the foul oil splashed on him.

He turned around, and saw that Philip was wearing that odd gauntlet he had used to threaten Diogenes in Darkspine.

He was surprised to see it, and even more surprised to see Philip throw a punch to one of the robots that not only crushed it, but threw it backwards from the blow with such force that it knocked over two more of the droids with a loud clap of what sounded like imploding air, pulverizing two tombstones in the process. Oddly enough, Wells was even angrier now.

"Phil, you idiot!" he yelled. "That's a Fist of Chaos! Do you have any idea how many laws you're breaking just by owning it?"

"Fine, Wells, arrest me later!" shouted Philip. "Just get Sofia so we can get out of here!"

Wells turned, and saw two more of the drones between him and the gravedigger. He shifted his grip on the blade of his weapon, and after four more swings, they fell into piles of metal with more of the grease splattering on him. Still, the gravedigger himself was between him and the coffin.

"I'm getting her out of here even if I have to go through you to do it," he warned.

"You would find that a very unpleasant experience," replied his foe.

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"OOWW!" shouted Dunstan. He sucked on his finger, having cut it after the screwdriver slipped. "Stupid thing…"

"Need help?" asked Oswald. "I'm bored…"

"Believe me, Oswald," said Dunstan, "I'd get this done faster if you didn't help."

He looked at his progress so far. Four of the five necessary gemstones had been socketed in place, and the fifth one would be a little harder. Still, the gems were just axles for the actual gears, which would be harder.

"How's it going?" asked Addams' voice.

Dunstan stood up, and turned on the intercom. "Slow," he said. "And Oswald isn't making it easier for me."

"Not my fault I'm bored out of my skull," exclaimed the assassin.

"All right, all right," said Addams. "I have to go somewhere for a while, take a break and turn the monitor in the garage to wave-2. You should find that interesting. Just do not take your eyes off the Device until I get back."

Dunstan wiped his brow, then looked at the security monitor. "Wave 2, huh?" he said. He fumbled for the control switch for it on the workbench, and the footage switched.

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Wells, of course, had expected the old man to be stronger than he looked and for the shovel to not exactly be store-bought. Even so, he had underestimated both factors.

Not only were the two locked in a parry that had started with the gravedigger blocking Wells' weapon with the handle, but the veteran Shadowchaser found himself struggling just to keep from being pushed off balance.

"Pretty strong, aren't ya, gramps?" he asked. "Been takin' vitamins?"

Finally, both weapons flew from their owners' hands, embedding themselves in the ground several feet away.

Ever one to take advantage of a situation, Wells slugged him in the face…

"Ow…" said Wells. He held his hand. "Ow, ow, ow…"

He backed away from his foe as Philip crushed the last robot. "Phil," he said. "This guy is metal."

Philp's head spun quickly. "What's going on, Diogenes?" he demanded.

"Diogenes?" asked Wells.

"Yeah, I know him," replied Philip. "We've known him for years, but we thought he was some shapeshifter or illusionist or –"

"Alas," said the gravedigger, in a different tone, sounding more articulate, "I had hoped to keep the charade longer."

"Yeah, yeah," said Wells. "I'm not in the mood, so I'm pulling the plug."

Diogenes turned towards him, seeing that he was holding the Iron Flask with his left hand gripping the stopper.

"Crush her," ordered Diogenes.

"What?" replied Wells. He was going to ask what he meant, but unfortunately, his answer came quickly. The demonic statue holding the coffin started to constrict its arms tighter. It didn't seem strong enough to truly break it but it did start to shudder and strain.

"STOP!" shouted Philip. "Wells, please…"

Wells slowly put down the flask. The statue relaxed its grip, slightly.

"True, Mr. Dawes, I never planned for this," said Diogenes, "but that doesn't mean I'm not capable of improvising. Originally, the statue was simply meant to keep you from removing it using magic. But now, well, I see another way to use it."

Yeah, thought Wells, the coffin is made of pretty hard stuff, but Sofia herself is a lot softer. The elemental would destroy the coffin, and she'd be a goner. So I have to take out the coffin and Diogenes at once.

"Tell you what, Ebenezer," said Wells, "fighting is gonna get us nowhere, you have something we both want, Philip has something you want, and I have something you want. Now I remember you saying you didn't like resorting to such, uhm, 'undignified' methods, right?"

"Correct," replied Diogenes.

"You also said this was none of my business, right?"

"To paraphrase, yes," he replied.

"Well then, let's make it my business and let me in on the bargain, and then we wouldn't have a reason to fight. Well, not on your end at least."

Of course, Wells was pretty sure his plan had been to kill Philip all along, even if he eventually let Sofia go, but he wasn't going to make such an accusation now.

Diogenes rubbed his chin. "What did you have in mind?" he asked.

"You folks know about Duel Monsters, I take it?" asked Wells.

"Of course," replied Diogenes. "We've grown accustomed to it since it was introduced to Obligatum XXV."

Obligatum XXV? thought Wells. Now there's a familiar name.

"I assume you're proposing a battle of Duel Monsters?" asked Diogenes. "A simple task, I suppose. But place your two antes on the ground first."

Wells made a gesture to Philip. "Wells, you don't actually trust him?" asked the elf.

"Not for a second," whispered the burley Shadowchaser back, "but don't worry, just watch and pay attention."

Philip handed him the cog, which Wells carefully placed with the Flask on the ground while squatting, never taking his eyes off of Diogenes. Then he got back up.

The odd man – if that term could still apply to him – held his left arm aloft as the illusion covering his body retracted partially, the part over his arm disappearing and revealing a mechanical arm of strange design, sort of a brown frame covered by a bull bronze armor plating with a strange etching over the surface. The hand had long fingers that ended in sharp, blade-like points.

Then a Duel Disk appeared on it and activated, or rather assembled, as it was the same strange model that several Shadowchasers had encountered recently. Three cogs on his wrist started spinning in concordance, producing a long, segmented strip that grew until it was three feet long until a flash of metallic light turned it into a Disk with a sword-shaped tray.

Of course, Wells had to be a little more conventional with his, along with his Gazer, which fortunately, still worked.

"Begin," said Diogenes.

(Wells: 8,000) - - - - - - - - - - (Diogenes: 8,000)

"So what exactly do you look like under there?" asked Wells.

"You humans ask so many questions," replied Diogenes. He made his first draw, and then carefully went over the six cards, shifting them a couple of them from one part of the hand to another.

Yeah, it would help if you folks gave a straight answer now and then, thought Wells. Still, this guy looks like he's serious. You don't see many duelists outside the Pro League being that careful.

"I summon Cyber Dragon Core," said Diogenes.

"Oh great, Cyber Dragons," moaned Wells, "I can't stand Cyber Dragons."

Still, Cyber Dragons had a reputation for being large, threatening, and menacing. The one Diogenes had summoned had none of those qualities, being rather pathetic. It was a small Machine that brought to mind a mechanical segmented worm more than anything else. The one thing that made it stand out was a circular segment at the halfway point with two spokes pointing outwards and a dull red light in the center, but even then it had four red wires that were hanging limply. It looked broken. (400 DEF)

"By Normal Summoning this monster, I can take a Spell or Trap Card with the word 'Cyber' in its name from my deck," explained Diogenes. He paused as a card shot out of the deck and he caught it."Next I use the Field Spell, Extra Net."

Despite the fact that it was a Field Spell, playing the card didn't create much of a backdrop.

"The effect of this card allows each player to draw once, should his opponent Special Summon a monster from the Extra Deck."

"Uh, I don't get it," replied Wells.

"You will," replied Diogenes. He set two reversed cards, and they appeared with a brown haze. "I set these cards, and my turn ends."

"Boy, this is gonna be fun," sighed Wells. He drew a card, then his smile returned. "Still… I use the Spell Card, The Flute of Summoning Kuriboh!"

As the Quickplay appeared, the sound of woody panpipes played over the cemetery. "And it does exactly what it says on the tin."

A small Kuriboh appeared, hopping up and down with a "Kuri!"

"Cute little guy, huh?" he asked. (300 ATK)

"Ugh, I hate 'cute'," muttered Philip.

"Phil, y'know," said Wells, sounding a little annoyed now, "one of the biggest reasons that glove of yours is illegal is because it has a tendency to drive people insane. I'm no psychiatrist, but you do seem to be have been getting quite an attitude since we got here."

He turned around slightly, and Philip sat down on a broken tombstone.

"Now where were we?" continued Wells.

"I believe you were about to do something with that Kuriboh," replied Diogenes.

"Indeed," continued Wells, "I sacrifice him, to summon Junk Collector."

The tiny Fiend disappeared, its place taken by an odd-looking – well, person who popped up out of the ground. "He" looked like a slim, rickety, and possibly broken marionette made of both wood and metal with a human-like face and ragged, white hair, wearing a long overcoat and oversized, floppy hat. He held some sort of tool or weapon; it was a sledgehammer on one end and what looked like a pliers on the other, the whole thing about two meters long. (1,000 ATK)

"Next I'm using my Five Star Twilight to sacrifice him."

As the Spell Card appeared, Junk Collector started to fade away as five stars, colored gold, pink, blue, purple, and green floated out of him. As he disappeared completely, the stars changed shape into five little Kuribohs, one normal one and four multicolored ones, pink, purple, white, and blue. (300 ATK x5)

"Kuri, Kuri!" they squeaked.

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Meanwhile, as Dunstan picked up the socket wrench again, Oswald was still watching the monitor, which was showing, of all things, the duel between Wells and Diogenes. Neither of them knew how they did it, but they knew better than to ask.

"Oh wow, watch out, Diogenes!" laughed Oswald. "The guy is packing a bunch of Tribbles!"

"In case you didn't notice, Oswald," grunted Dunstan, as he struggled to push the wrench, "Cyber Dragon Core's Attack Score is barely any better." The wrench turned with a loud click. "There we go." He wiped his brow. "Keep watching. This might get interesting."

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Wells took a Trap Card from his hand and discarded it. "Cyber Dragon Core may be a little too much for my guys to handle," he said, "but by getting rid of this, Kuriboo can use its effect, and well, problem solved."

The white Kuriboh's eyes turned feral, and it glared at the Machine, which rusted over as its Attack Score fell to zero.

Then Kuriboo made a rush at Cyber Dragon Core, head-butting it and smashing it into little shards.

"Impressive," started Diogenes, "but… URK!" He was cut off as Kuriboo's four friends rushed and mobbed him, biting with tiny little teeth. Philip couldn't help but chuckle a little.

(W: 8,000) - - - - - - - - - - (D: 6,500)

"BEGONE!" he roared, waving his free arm violently to shoo them away. The Kuriboh's squeaked again, flying back to their lined-up formation.

Diogenes cleared his throat. "Clever, but I know how that strategy works. If I attack one of them, the Kuribee can deflect the attack." The pink one closed its eyes and cooed. "But only once per turn."

"Seems you did your homework, eh?" said Wells. "I'll set one card, and then use The Dark Door."

A face-down card appeared, and then a Continuous Spell. "And this door imposes an admit one per turn limit, as far as monsters attacking goes. So I'm done for now."

He looked at the casket holding Sofia, then at the device again. He was getting worried. She was still there, and the worst part was, she was probably awake, given how strong her vital signs were. Not that it was necessarily a good thing.

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

"So what happens if Diogenes loses?" asked Oswald.

Dunstan muttered something under his breath, then looked up. "Well, seeing as this thing I'm working on doesn't work without that gear, it would become no more useful than a big doorstop, one which I just ruined five six-figure gemstones preparing. That would mean, best case scenario, we'd file for bankruptcy and in the process, get rid of any frivolities around here. Including you. So try to think positive."

"Yeah, God forbid you start buying off the rack," mumbled Oswald under his breath. Then he spoke out loud. "Where did the boss say he was going?"

"None of your damn business," replied Dunstan.

"HEY!" shouted Oswald.

"No, seriously," added Dunstan. "That's what he told me. I've learned sometimes it's best not to pry."

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

"So you see," started Nitro. "When he said it was Axiomatic Magic, I –"

"Nitro, slow down, you're losing Drago," interrupted Uomo.

"Yeah," added Tormento. "I mean, what the hell is Axiomatic Magic?"

"Well, uh, this might take a while," answered Nitro.

"We have nowhere to go, Giuseppe," said Fanciullo. He tapped his foot a little. He had heard of Axiomatic Magic before, but not enough to know how it worked, or why it was important.

"Uh, right," said Nitro. He pushed his glasses up again, then opened a chart on the table, spreading it out. A diagram of the Great Wheel (the arbitrary "structure" of the planes beyond the Astral) was sketched on it.

"As you know, of course, the planes where most souls are drawn to after they die – the afterlife, so to speak – can be defined by metaphysical forces, Good and Evil, Law and Chaos." As he said the four words, he pointed to the upper, lower, left and right parts of the chart, respectively. "These forces are in a state of conflict. Good versus Evil, Law versus Chaos, and in many cases, two of those forces combine, like Law and Evil here," he pointed to the lower left, where the Nine Hells was positioned, "or Chaos and Good here," he pointed to the upper right, where Arborea was.

"And in many ways, magic is similar. Elemental forces are in conflict, like Fire and Water, Earth and Wind. Dark Magic is magic of Evil, which opposes Light Magic, which is –"

"Magic of Good, we get it!" interrupted Drago.

"Let the man speak," said Uomo. "This is getting interesting."

Fanciullo nodded, so Nitro went on. "Now, Wild Magic is a little rarer, more dangerous, and if used right, more powerful than those types. It's drawn from here." He pointed to the part on the chart far right, where Limbo was marked. "It's magic that harnesses pure, unspoiled Chaos. Or at least tries to.

"Axiomatic is even rarer, but just as strong."

He pointed to the part of the chart opposite Limbo. "A powerful force derived from Mechanus, the Plane of Ultimate Law."

"So why haven't we heard about this more often?" asked Fanciullo.

"Simple," replied Nitro. "Wild Magic is pretty easy to learn, and some wizards who want a 'shortcut' to learning powerful spells consider it. But it's very, very hard to master and control, and can cause disasters if used unskilled. Because, well, that's the nature of Chaos.

"Axiomatic Magic is different. It's easy to control, so long as you're able to learn it. But learning it is the difficult part. It takes years, often decades to master it, requiring knowledge of advanced mathematics that would make academy-level calculous look like remedial arithmetic.

"In a nutshell, Wild Magic is easy to learn, and hard to control, while Axiomatic Magic is hard to learn but easy to control."

"So?" asked Drago. "Don't all wizards hafta be smart?"

"Of course, Drago, but in this case, you have to prove that you're smart," replied Nitro. "These three uses our friend documented were cases of unlicensed use of Axiomatic Magic."

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

"My draw," said Diomedes. He drew from the odd Disk again, then moved his three cards slightly to the left before putting the fourth one with it.

"Because I have Cyber Dragon Core in my Graveyard and no monsters on my field, I can banish it to summon a real Cyber Dragon."

Indeed, there was no mistaking the ferocious-looking, limbless, dragon-headed Machine that came with a familiar ear-splitting shriek. (2,100 ATK)

"Next I summon Proto Cyber Dragon," he continued, as the smaller prototype version appeared next to the larger one. (1,100 ATK) Then the Spell Card, Fusion Substitute."

"What the sam-hill is that?" asked Wells.

"Like your Spell Card, exactly what is says," explained Diogenes. "A substitute for Polymerization."

The familiar spiral formed, and the two Machines broke into small particles before being swept up like dust and drawn in.

"I fuse my monsters to summon the Chimeratech Rampage Dragon!"

"Rampage Dragon?" said Philip, standing up again.

Of course, seeing as he knew about the Overdragon and Fortress Dragon, this one came as less of a shock. It was a dark monstrosity (that was probably the best name) consisting of a vaguely box-shaped metal torso covered with red circuitry, with three non-matching Cyber Dragon heads and two tails soldiered to it in a jumbled, disorganized mess. Exactly how the thing was standing upright with no legs, he had no clue. (2,100 ATK)

"That means I get to draw because of your Field Spell!" laughed Wells. He drew. "Thanks!"

"You're welcome," replied Diogenes. "I activate Appropriate."

"I just had to push him," muttered Wells. "

Of course, looking at the Continuous Trap his foe had just activated, he had kind of expected it was something like this. Diogenes drew twice, which he could now do any time Wells picked up even one extra card.

That combo is going to keep him way ahead of me, thought the Shadowchaser. He ain't dumb.

"It only gets worse from here," continued Diogenes. "I can use its effect to discard two more Cores from my deck." Two cards appeared in his hand, which he deftly threw into his Graveyard slot. "Which gives this monster an extra attack this turn for each one."

"Uh, Roark, not that I'm complaining," said Wells, "but in case you didn't know, Chimeratech Rampage Dragon's other effect could have destroyed The Dark Door."

"I have my reasons," replied Diogenes. His other Trap lifted and revealed. "Bad Reaction. This Trap requires you to draw at least once, but enables you to do so up to three times."

"Come again?" asked Wells.

"In return, it increases my Life Points by 2,000 per draw," replied his foe. "But again, I get two more draws."

"This duel is getting weirder by the minute," said Wells. "Still, at least I can catch up a little." He made three draws, then looked at the huge Fusion Monster again.

"Now, my monster attacks your Kuribee," continued Diogenes. "Rampant Strident Blast!"

"Kuribee! Star Defense!" shouted Wells.

As the blazing, dark energy streamed from the giant Machine's jaws, the pink Kuriboh cooed and calmly closed its eyes as a rotating pinwheel of stars started spinning in front of it, blocking the blast.

"I may only be able to attack with one monster," said Diogenes, "but as I said, this one can attack more than once!"

Kuribee it opened its eyes and looked at Diogenes and his monster. It was pissed. Still, Chimeratech Rampage Dragon shrieked and made a second blast, obliterating the little guy.

"Ugh…" said Wells.

(W: 6,200) - - - - - - - - - - (D: 12,500)

"Third time!" ordered Diogenes. "Destroy Kuriboo!"

The third Strident Blast thundered towards the tiny white Fiend…

"I activate Call of the Haunted!" exclaimed Wells. His Trap opened, and Junk Collector leapt onto the field again, spinning its odd weapon. (1,000 ATK) Rampage Dragon paused momentarily.

"It won't help you," replied Diogenes. He pointed, and the huge Machine prepared to continue its assault.

"Wrong on that," replied the Shadowchaser, "see, Junk Collector can activate a Trap from my Graveyard for me, and the one I tossed when I used Kuriboo's effect happens to be the type that goes off when you attack."

"Wait…" said Diogenes.

"CHAOS BURST!" bellowed Wells. Junk Collector pointed his device, and a violent kaleidoscope of mismatched and terrible clashing colors spewed from it, overpowering and consuming Chimeratech Rampage Dragon.

Junk Collector faded into haze, but he went cleaner than Diogenes' monster, which had been reduced to a steaming puddle of bubbling sludge.

"Chaos Burst also does 1,000 points of damage, and because Junk Collector activated it, didn't cost me a thing."

(W: 6,200) - - - - - - - - - - (D: 11,500)

"Then perhaps it is a good thing that I waited before summoning Cyber Krait," replied Diogenes. "Which I can do by sending your Dark Door and my Appropriate to the Graveyard."

It came so sudden, that even Wells was caught off guard, a huge, hissing, cybernetic snake that lunged at the Spell Card with vigor and snapped it up in its fangs. Then it slithered back to its master's side and snapped up the Trap Card too, before coiling up in Defense Mode. (2,100 DEF)

"Not only does my Krait have 2,100 offensive and defensive points, but because I summoned it using one of my cards, it can resist being destroyed by battle once per turn.

"Finally, I use the Spell Card, Cyber Repair Plant." As he played the card, what looked like old fashioned black and white footage of car factories started to play behind him, but with a big difference – the cars were replaced by Cyber Dragons.

"This card has two effects; I can either take a Light-Attribute Machine-Type monster from my deck, or send one to it from my Graveyard. However, with at least three Cyber Dragons in my Graveyard, which I have, due to the effects of my Cores, I can do both."

The remaining monsters in his deck appeared as holographic images in front of him, while the ones in his Graveyard appeared below them. He touched the actual Cyber Dragon's card, and like a computer mouse, dragged it from one set to the other. Then he "clicked" on another card in the row with the deck cards.

The two rows vanished, taking the one he "clicked" on the group from his deck, with the one he moved there going with the others.

"I set three more cards, and then you go," he said, as the cards fused to the floor in front of him, back sides up. "My turn may be over, but this duel is far from it."

I know, thought Wells. Hold on in there Sofia…

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"So why do you need a license to use this crap?" asked Drago.

"Gee, I dunno, Drago," said Nitro, with a sarcastic tone, leaning on his hand. "You think it's for the same reason you can't go fishing without a permit? Or maybe it's because harnessing the magic of Ultimate Law has the potential to change landscapes? Or erase cities from existence?"

"Uh, it's that powerful?" asked Fanciullo. There was a slight nervous stutter in his voice.

"Oh, yeah," said Nitro, his voice sinking to a whisper. "Potentially even more so than Wild Magic. See, we're talking about the Laws that govern the universe here. You know, like physics, chemistry, biology, and forces. If you perfect the Power of Law, you learn how to manipulate the Laws of the universe that govern these sciences, possibly even control them, and then maybe even create some. Someone who masters Axiomatic Magic who should never have learned it could become so powerful, he could…"

He stopped. The looks of absolute horror on the faces of the four mobsters told him that maybe it was a little too much to take in there.

"Of course, that would be the worst case scenario," he said, quickly, "which is why Mechanus has laws governing everything. There's a story in recent history about one guy who was arrested there for smoking in an area where it wasn't allowed. When he insisted that he was in an area designated for smoking, as proven by a clearly marked off sign, it turned out he was in the cigarette smoking area. You had to be somewhere else in the building if you wanted to smoke cigars."

"Doesn't seem like a nice place," said Tormento.

Nitro wiped his brow. It seemed like the anecdote calmed everyone a little. Still, he shivered. What he had said was kind of scary.

"It isn't," replied Uomo, turning to Tormento. "Extreme order is just as unpleasant as complete anarchy, just in a different way."

"Can we not get sidetracked?" asked Fanciullo.

"Right," continued Nitro. "That's why I came here." Again, he started spreading out records. "See, our friend Althea did some extensive research on Primus. You know, the ruler of the modrons and, by extension, one of the most powerful embodiments of Law, if not the most powerful. See, in her essay on the theoretical 'Quintessentials', she claims that he's not only one of them, but the only one who's identity is obvious. She claimed –"

"Nitro…" grumbled Fanciullo.

"Right, back on subject," said Nitro. "By the decree of Primus, you need authorization from at least one of the bureau chiefs of Regulus to use Axiomatic Magic, and good luck even getting to see one of them. Like the man said," he motioned to Uomo, "extreme law ain't good"

He cleared his throat and went on.

"Imagine having to camp out in line like kids used to do for a Rolling Stones concert. But there's no concert at the end, only waiting area that's like a DMV, only a hundred times larger, busier, and noisier. No scalpers here; only really stupid con artists ever try to convince anyone they can sell a fast way in, and those guys are arrested quickly. Modrons don't tolerate petty crooks. It usually takes a week to get in, minimum, and once you're there, you'd better have all the forms you need filled out, typed, in triplicate, in proper format, without a single spelling or grammar error, because these guys do not like folks who waste their time with shoddy work. If everything is in order, then after two weeks or so of this hell you'll get on a waiting list that might enable you to skip this part when you they tell you to come back for the written test. If they do."

"So what if some wizard just says 'Screw this, I'm gonna do it anyway'?" asked Tormento.

"Usually not a good idea," replied Nitro. He was far more visibly nervous now. "See, given his position, defying a decree made by Primus is considered defying Law itself, and doing that would usually result in a squad of platonics showing up to stop you. Usually wizards know better."

"You seem to be using the word 'usually' a lot there," noted Fanciullo.

"Well, that's where it starts to get a little, uhm, bad," started Nitro. "See, cases of unlicensed use of Axiomatic Magic on this world have been rare, and most perpetrators have been caught.

"These records here –" he motioned to the logbook, "go back a little over one millennia. From 1,000 AD to 1,500 AD, cases of unlicensed use happened at most, once every five years. Then from 1,500 to 1,700, it increased a little, about one case every year. Up until fifty years ago, it's was steadily increasing, until up to ten years ago it was happening about seven times a year, and not all perpetrators were apprehended.

"And the number of cases in the past decade, well –" He adjusted his glasses again.

"Yes?" asked Fanciullo.

"Uhm, one-thousand, three-hundred and fifty-seven. And all are open cases."

There was dead silence for about a minute.

"Uhm, that means they haven't caught whoever's been behind them – yet."

"Whoa," said Drago.

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At least I still have Call of the Haunted left, thought Wells. He took the card he had drawn and put it with the other four. He must have thought I had no use for it. Well, his loss.

"I'm sending my Call of the Haunted card to the Graveyard to Special Summon Traplin," he said.

He played the card, and a funny man walked between the Kuribohs with an odd gait. He was wearing baggy pants, a rather tight jacket, a battered old bowler hat, and a cane, sporting a toothbrush moustache. (300 ATK)

"Traplin," said Philip, quizzically. "Trap – lin… Urm…"

"Yeah, I know," replied Wells. "Now, I use him and my four Kuribohs to build the Overlay Network and Xyz Summon twice."

As the portal opened, the monsters in front of him turned to five spiraling stars spinning in a circle that exploded into multicolored streamers.

"First, Slacker Magician!" he shouted.

There was a loud yawn, and he waved his hand to produce, off all things, a couch. A young woman on it rolled forward to look at Diogenes with a bored expression. She had blue hair with what looked like goggles on her forehead, a maroon tank top, cutoff jeans and no shoes.

She frowned, and then turned back to a magazine she had been reading. (2,000 DEF)

"Somewhat lackluster for such a dramatic announcement," replied Diogenes.

"She just needs something to help her wake up," said Wells. "Good thing Baby Tiragon is here too."

From behind the couch hopped a tiny furry creature with oversized ears on an oversized head with nervous, puppy-dog eyes. (900 DEF)

Indeed, Slacker Magician perked up a little, sitting up when she saw it and it yipped happily when she did, hopping into her lap. She gently stroked the little creature.

"How cute," said Diogenes, although his tone showed he really didn't agree with the opinion. "Don't forget, you summoned two monsters from your Extra Deck, so I draw two cards due to Extra Net."

Baby Tiragon started to growl at him and Slacker Magician looked at him dirty as he made the draws. "Seems they don't like you any more than Philip does," noted Wells.

"I couldn't care less," answered Diogenes.

"Well, tell it to Copycat, bub," added Wells. He added another card to his Duel Disk's tray, and a jester in blue and green, with eyes printed on its gloves and hat, covering its face with a hand mirror, appeared next to Slacker Magician's couch. She and Baby Tiragon seemed a little nervous at the sight of it, as it did seem a tad menacing. (0 ATK)

"Yeah, he creeps me out too, but he gains the Attack and Defense Points of your monster."

Cyber Krait looked at the weird Spellcaster, seeing its reflection in the mirror, and eerie colors spewed from the glass, rotating around the creature in a mesmeric pattern. The creature turned into a blur, then into an extra-shiny copy of Krait. (2,100 ATK)

"But even though it has your monster's Scores, it's still Level 1, meaning I can remove an Overlay Unit from Baby Tiragon for it to attack directly."

The little creature coughed a tiny ball of light, and the duplicated Cyber Krait snapped it up. Then it turned to Diogenes and, ignoring the Machine it copied, blasted its Strident Burst.

"So how d'ya like them apples?"

(W: 6,200) - - - - - - - - - - (D: 9,400)

"Are you quite done?" asked Diogenes.

This guy must be made of the same stuff the Dragon is, thought Wells. He set one of his cards, and it appeared behind his two Xyzs with the same dull aura. Well, he tries anything, Xyz Tribalrivals should do the job.

"Go ahead," he said. "You know, for someone named after a famous cynic, you seem pretty sure of yourself."

"My name has a quite appropriate meaning," said Diogenes. He made a draw. "One which I have no desire to explain to you at this time. I use the second effect of Fusion Substitute. By banishing it, I can make another draw, so long as I first send Cyber Rampage Dragon back to my Extra Deck."

As the Fusion Monster Card appeared in front of him and flew to the upper part of his Disk, be made a second draw.

"Then, because Cyber Krait is considered a Cyber Dragon because of the way I summoned it, I can use… Evolution Burst!"

He lifted the Spell Card as the huge robotic viper hissed. "This card destroys your Slacker Magician!"

Slacker Magician let Baby Tiragon down and looked at Krait defiantly, even as a sharp blade of energy darted towards her.

But even as it hit her, she was just knocked over, landing on the couch. She grunted a little, but was still in one piece.

"Not going to work," said Wells. He discarded Kuribee's card. See, Slacker Magician isn't as slow as she looks. She can dodge any effect you aim at her if I ditch an Overlay Unit. And don't forget, 'cause you used that card, you can't attack this turn with him or any Cyber Dragon."

"Indeed," said Diogenes. "I use a Spell Card she can't negate, Card Rotator."

He used a Spell Card and discarded another. There was a demonic cackling, and all three of Wells' monsters looked dizzy and confused. He looked up. A jester – one that was obviously menacing – was manipulating them like marionettes.

"Take note, Mr. Dawes. This card's effect is simple, it changes the battle positions of your monsters. Still, the sight you are seeing, well, consider it a metaphoric representation of what your species and every other you share your world with might have seen had they been able to see clearer."

Slacker Magician put Baby Tiragon down, and stood off her couch, while the "fake" Cyber Krait coiled as the real one was. (Slacker Magician: 100 ATK, Baby Tiragon: 900 ATK, Copycat: 2,100 DEF)

"What the hell are you yammering about?" asked Wells.

"I next use the Spell, Pianissimo," continued his opponent, not answering.

At least the evil jester disappeared, and Wells' monsters snapped out of it, Slacker Magician shaking the fog out of her head. Still, some ominous piano music started to play, while Cyber Krait calmed down and looked sleepy. (100 ATK)

"Huh, you know what they say music does to a savage beast," said Philip.

"Indeed, it reduces my monster's Attack Score to only a hundred," replied Diogenes, "a price for making it invincible for a round. But there's another benefit."

"WAIT," said Philip. He stood up suddenly remembering the reason Card Trooper tended to go up and down so much as far as Limited status.

"Exactly, Mr. Lupin," said Diogenes, "a weak Machine-Type monster can often be worse than a strong one, because a low enough Attack Score allows use of Machine Duplication."

He played the well-known Spell Card. "And Cyber Krait's effect makes it more powerful still."

"If its effect makes it count as a Cyber Dragon," said Wells.

As they watched, not two, but three real Cyber Dragons appeared as Baby Tiragon leapt into Slacker Magician's arms in fright. (2,100 ATK x3)

"There's far more to be afraid of," continued Diogenes. "I'm not going to Fusion Summon, yet. Rather, I Overlay one regular Cyber Dragon and my Krait to summon Cyber Dragon Nova."

As the Overlay Network opened this time, the dark vortex looked darker than ever, like a menacing black hole. The two monsters where stretched, bent and twisted and were pulled into it, through a twisting event horizon.

A giant mechanical beast emerged, a metal serpent with a mouth full of sharp ridges that suggested teeth, and huge, metal wings that were bladed and serrated in a way that resembled feathers, the whole thing more than twenty feet tall. (2,100 ATK)

"Now that's what I call a monster," said Wells, looking at the huge thing. There was a small beep, and the message, "Draw one" appeared in front of him, courtesy of the D-Gazer.

Oh right, the Field Spell, he thought. He drew a card, and Diogenes went on.

"Actually, I call it a foundation." The huge Xyz broke up into small pieces, which were again sucked into the Network. "One which I will use to build an infernal engine of death with potentially limitless power!"

"Bein' little overdramatic there, aren't ya?" asked Wells.

Then he saw the monster come out. "Uh, my apologies," he said, quickly. His hand fumbled on his deck a few times before he managed to make another draw. He couldn't take his eyes off the huge Xyz.

Clearly, Diogenes had not been exaggerating. It was like Cyber Dragon Nova was a baby monster and this was its mother. It was nearly three times as large, the black steel armor covered with spikes and knives, and the wings covered by blades half as big as Wells was. (2,100 ATK)

Baby Tiragon was shivering as Slacker Magician held it to her chest in terror.

You know, he thought. Days like this, early retirement starts to look better and better.

He quickly glanced to where he had set the Flask and the gear, then turned back to the monster.

"To start with," said Diogenes, "Cyber Dragon Infinity gains 200 Attack Points for every Overlay Unit it has, including Cyber Dragon Nova." (2,700 ATK)

"And it's about to get another, because once per turn, I'm able to take one of your monsters in Attack Mode and assimilate it as another Overlay Unit, and seeing as she's the one likely to cause me the most trouble."

The giant Machine bent down slightly and looked menacingly at Slacker Magician. Its jowls opened, and a fierce suction started to pull at her. She struggled, and held her hair as Baby Tiragon yipped helplessly.

"Oh no you don't," said Wells. "Remember Slacker Magician's little trick? She can use it more than once per turn, you know?"

The Spellcaster's eyes glowed violet, and a mote flew from her abdomen, turning into a small swirl of light. Then it turned into a glowing arrow and shot towards the huge construct.

"Unfortunately for her," replied Diogenes, "Cyber Dragon Infinity has a similar effect, so I can use one of my monster's Overlay Units to counter her attempt to counter."

The suction stopped and was turned into a mighty roar that shook the whole demiplane, smashing Slacker Magician to bits that blew past both sides of Wells.

(Cyber Dragon Infinity: 2,500 ATK)

"Oh, that is wrong on so many levels," he said. "At least she stopped its effect."

"That may be so," replied Diogenes, "but unlike my regular Cyber Dragons, this monster can attack this turn! Attack Baby Tiragon with Strident Genocide Wave!"

CRAP! thought Wells. If I use my Trap now, it would protect HIS Xyz Monster more than it would mine!

Baby Tiragon whimpered a little, but it was hard to hear anything else. A second later, there was an energy ray so intense, Wells was almost knocked down. Almost.

"And I thought the old stuff that Hell Kaiser had was bad," he remarked.

(W: 4,600) - - - - - - - - - - (D: 9,400)

"As you said," continued Diogenes, "my other Cyber Dragons can't attack, and because my Dragon can only assimilate one monster per turn, your Copycat is safe, for now. But be advised, it still has two Overlay Units."

And I don't know what worries me more, that, thought Wells, or the fact that Philip has been pretty quiet for a while.

"My turn is over," said Diogenes.

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

Right now, Nitro was looking through other books and scrolls on a shelf.

"So what you're saying is," asked Fanciullo, "there have been hundreds of cases unlicensed use of this magic that they know of in the past ten years, but they haven't been able to put a stop to it?"

"Afraid so," said Nitro, with a nod. He tugged his collar. "My guess is, they can't find whoever is doing it because, uhm, well…"

"Forgeries?" asked Tormento. "Falsified records? Bribes? Paper trails that lead to dummy corporations? Wonderful, the Realm of Ultimate Law itself is falling for that stuff. We could get sent to Dog Heaven if we get shanked tomorrow because some paper pusher at the Pearly Gates got the wrong memo!"

"You're not helping, Tormento," grunted Uomo.

"Actually, he's not far off," added Nitro. He spread more books on the table. "This would likely be a horrible embarrassment for Regulus if word got out, and unlike the typical bureaucracy, modrons can't just blame mistakes like this on underlings, seeing as they have racial telepathy."

"Guess we can't blame Althea for being such a prude with security," said Drago. He looked over his shoulder.

"Mmm," said Nitro. He nodded and sat down again. "Thing is, these incidents are increasing in frequency. Look at this!" The logbook he had opened was a very modern notebook, the dates corresponding to the past month.

"It started early this month, the same day as your, uhm, confrontation with Antoine. A couple of Stormbringer's men confronted some criminals in New Mexico the same day one of these surges happened."

"Stormbringer?" said Fanciullo. He rubbed his chin.

"Yes, and they were seen near other locations where these surges occurred, while apprehending or otherwise dealing with criminals in Chicago, Green Bay, and even this wilderness area in Russia. Then there was a huge surge involving incredibly dangerous use of necromantic magic in Philadelphia later that week. And then on this date it –"

"Nitro!" interrupted Fanciullo. Nitro stopped and listened.

"Can we assume the evil Dark Magician Girl helping Antione is in league with whoever is using Axiomatic Magic?" he said, softly.

Nitro nodded.

"If I wanted to hide something from somebody who used such magic, how would I protect it?"

"Uhm, well, possibly with a Magic Circle against Law, Cloak of Chaos, or if you were really serious, uhm…"

He stopped. Fanciullo had taken the strange journal from inside his coat.

"Hey, HEY!" said Nitro. "YEAH! Maybe if that's how the script is concealed – give me fifteen minutes."

Fanciullo checked his watch as Nitro opened his briefcase.

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

True, Philip had been quiet. He was concentrating.

He had run into Diogenes frequently ever since he had joined the Determined, and the others claimed he had been a thorn in their sides for most of the organization's history. Seeing as that was longer than the average lifespan of human he usually appeared to be, he was obviously hiding something.

Still, after over a century, they had never managed to see just what he truly looked like under that illusory – he assumed – disguise. The magic he used was too strong.

This revelation that he might be some sort of android or robot was incredibly valuable. He was wondering if maybe, just maybe it would be enough to convince Viola to let him live.

Diogenes was always so full of himself, mocking the use of Wild Magic and calling him a fool for using such an unstable and unpredictable school of wizardry. But Diogenes wasn't dumb, which was why Philip was concentrating, hoping he would be distracted enough to let his guard down. Then he shook his head.

No good, he thought. Still can't see through it. He may even have reinforced the block this time.

"My move!" shouted Wells. He drew a card, adding it to his hand and giving him a total of five.

"Seems that Field Spell of yours wasn't that bright an idea after all!" he laughed. "First, I move Copycat to Attack Mode." The fake Cyber Krait stood up, its eyes blinking. (2,100 ATK) "Then I'm using the Dark Core Spell Card! By tossing one of my cards, well, see for yourself."

He discarded one of the cards as he played the Spell, and another black hole appeared in midair above the field.

"This here banishes one monster. Guess who?" He pointed to Cyber Dragon Infinity.

"Amusing," said Diogenes. "Foolish, but amusing. I use one of my monster's Overlay Units to counter your Spell Card."

Cyber Dragon Infinity roared, and the Dark Core somehow shattered like glass, the shards falling upon the ground before dissolving.

"I was hoping you'd do that," said Wells. "See, because I discarded Winged Kuriboh to use that there card, I can banish it, along with Kuriboo, and my two regular Kuribohs to Special Summon Sky Scourge Norleras."

He can't possibly be serious, thought Philip.

There was a billowing cloud of shadow mixed with an unpleasant jumble of colors as Wells played the card. It sloughed onto the ground like oil, and a frightening demon rose from it, a muscular Fiend with a skull-like head with horns, tattered wings, and a misty black haze in place of legs. (2,400 ATK)

"Wait, if you use that creature's effect," gasped Diogenes.

"Don't worry, I'm not gonna," replied Wells. "Not yet. Negate this. Norleras, attack Cyber Dragon Infinity with Chaos Elemental Storm!"

"What?" said Diogenes. Then what happened next, well, it was hard to describe. It was like a high-pressure stream of blood red vapor with an electrical charge with superheated flames, with evil eyes and fanged mouths within, turning into a wide cloud that covered Cyber Dragon like a huge hand, crushing it. The machine made a chilling shriek which was quickly silenced.

Small pieces of broken machinery – what was left of Cyber Dragon Infinity – clattered on the floor. Norleras hadn't moved an inch or made a sound.

"Forgot he could do that, eh fellah?" asked Wells.

(W: 4,600) - - - - - - - - - - (D: 9,300)

Of course! thought Philip. Wells played Dark Core to force Diogenes to use an Overlay Unit, which reduced Cyber Dragon Infinity to an Attack Score of only 2,300, meaning Norleras was just strong enough to best it without using its effect!

"By the way," continued Wells, "I didn't forget about them either."

Copycat fired a Strident Blast at one of the two Cyber Dragons, who responded with its own, and the two blasts collided in midair, causing both the monsters to explode in a draw.

"Go on, Stinkmeaner, I'm done."

"More with the name calling," sighed Diogenes, rolling his eyes as he drew. "You humans can be so lowbrow at times. I use the Spell Card, Hologram Projection."

He played the Continuous Spell, and a beam of light emitted from it, forming what looked like a three dimensional translucent image of another Cyber Dragon. (2,100 ATK)

"As the name suggests, this is nothing more than a holographic image of the monster I have on the field, and thus cannot attack."

"In other words," said Philip, "your card just created a hologram of something that is, itself, a hologram."

Diogenes stopped for a minute, and looked at the Spell Card, then at the "real" Cyber Dragon. Philp and Wells smirked.

"Wow, recursive reality there!" laughed Wells.

"Whatever!" shouted Diogenes, sounding annoyed. "It's still useful in other ways. Next I use Instant Fusion. I simply relinquish 1,000 Life Points to summon Panzer Dragon!"

The card appeared, and there was rumbling as an odd Machine rolled into position, one that looked like a steam shovel on tank treads with draconic features on the claw and a cannon in the "mouth". (1,800 ATK)

"Did I ever tell you how happy I am you used that Field Spell?" asked Wells, grinning as he drew.

"Next, I Overlay my three Level 5 monsters," said Diogenes, ignoring him, as the portal opened again, causing Cyber Dragon, Hologram Projection, and Panzer Dragon to be absorbed into it.

"I can hardly wait," said Wells, sarcastically. "Another Cyber Dragon Xyz, I assume?"

However, this one was much different. The monster that appeared, while still a Machine, seemed very humanoid. It looked like a bare-chested, muscular, bald man sculpted out of shiny, shimmering brass, with a black, featureless face. It held only a long scimitar. (0 ATK)

"Uhm, I get to draw again," said Wells, doing so.

"Cyber Aleax is totally impervious to Spell Cards," said Diogenes, "and any time it battles, I can use an Overlay Unit to transfer all of the opposing monsters Attack Points to Aleax."

"Wait just a gosh-damn minute," said Wells, "that's –"

Diogenes didn't let him finish. Cyber Aleax lifted its scimitar and moved like a blur, zigzagging towards Norleras as the Fiend's Attack Score fell to nothing and Aleax rose to 2,400. There was a loud clap that sounded like imploding air as the Chaos Demon broke into slivers of darkness.

(W: 2,200) - - - - - - - - - - (D: 8,300)

"Heh, not bad Gramps," said Wells.

"Still with the name calling?" shouted Diogenes. "Aren't you humans ever serious?"

"Well it's kinda hard to be serious when a guy who looks like a malnourished old man who hasn't combed his hair in months is threatening me, you know?" replied Wells. "I mean, come on, did you really think this would be intimidating? Halloween is in a few days! I saw an elementary school on the way here with a better haunted graveyard!"

Diogenes rubbed his chin.

"Very well," he said. "Seeing as I have indeed found this challenging for a change, I suppose letting you and Mr. Lupin see my true face couldn't hurt –"

Philip almost gasped as the illusion started to fade away, melting off of him starting at the head and moving down. And both Philip and Wells were dumbstruck where they saw Diogenes for what he truly was, or rather what it truly was – using a male pronoun just didn't seem to fit now.

It was human-shaped, but that was the only thing it had in common with the disguise it had just cast aside. Its body was covered with the same bronze armor that was on its left arm, and underneath it, they saw gears and pistons in a constant state of movement, surrounded by flickering green fire. The armor itself was covered by symbols that neither of the humans recognized.

Its head, however, was the most bizarre part. It was an hourglass. And hourglass held in a reinforced metal frame. Sand that looked like pulverized silver slowly trickled down from the top to the bottom.

"Now you know," replied Diogenes. "I hope it was worth it, for you won't share this knowledge. Your move."

"Eh?" said Wells.

"Your move," repeated the strange robot. "This duel will continue. I loathe leaving something unfinished."

Wells drew, still trying to get over the shock. Philip said nothing, and started digging into his front jeans pocket.

Better stop the wisecracks and try to focus, thought Wells. Because I think he may be more focused than ever now.

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

"Hmm," said Nitro. "Intriguing."

The mobsters were now in a private reading room with the door locked. He was looking through the apparently blank pages of the book with the same jewelers' glass device that Tranello had used, turning them slowly.

"Is that a good intriguing?" asked Fanciullo.

"Seems like you were even more on target than you thought you were, chief," replied the alchemist. "It seems there are several Chaos Wards protecting each part of this book, and some parts are more heavily warded than others."

"Can you dispel the magic?" asked Fanciullo. "I can rent this room out all night, but Althea might get a little suspicious."

From is tone, it had been clear that "a little" had been an understatement. "I can try," said Nitro, with a shrug.

Beside him were three mason jars; two of the jars had simple materials, gum arabic in one, potash in the other. The third was empty. He took some of the material from each jar and put it in the third one.

"Drago, go stand in front of the door," said Fanciullo. "The last thing we need is Althea walking in on us."

Drago nodded. As he went to hold it shut, Nitro tightened the lid on the jar, and started to shake it, slowly crumbing the two and mixing them.

"Cross your fingers everyone," he said.

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

"Okay, fine," said Wells, "I have no idea what you are, and frankly, I don't wanna know. I summon Kurivolt!"

As he played the card, there was a shock of electrical energy and a small squeak as another Kuriboh – sort of – appeared. It looked like a shiny metal orb with two eyes, a crest on top shaped like a lightning bolt, two more where paws would be, and circuity on its sides. (300 ATK)

"That's right, it's an electric Kuriboh, one which can rip an Overlay Unit out of an Xyz Monster," he said.

Sparks darted from the small monster, hitting Cyber Aleax and tearing out Cyber Dragon's card, blowing it apart.

"Plus it can use that to summon one of its friends," he continued, flipping another card on his Disk, as a second Kurivolt appeared. (300 ATK) "And why stop with two?"

The second Kurivolt did the same thing, its sparks hitting Aleax and extracting Panzer Dragon's card, the pieces of it turning into a third Kurivolt. (300 ATK)

"Now that these little guys have disarmed your monster of Overlay Units, I'll use them as Overlay Units!"

The three little Thunders burst into showers of sparks, and a very tall, bulky, and strange creature appeared. It had a huge body with stubby arms and legs, wearing a black robe over a golden tunic with a large, ruby sunburst design on the chest surrounded by a white field. It also wore very large boots, a belt with a huge buckle, and a very small helmet with tiny horns. Its face was expressionless, with a strong jaw, sharp nose, and big eyes, and it had long, blue hair. It also carried a staff made of silvery metal, topped with the same starburst design. (1,100 ATK)

Diogenes didn't say anything.

"Uh, you get to draw a card, y'know," said Wells.

"Wells," said Philip. "Whose side are you on?"

Diogenes drew, then looked at Mira again. "You are quite – resourceful," it said.

"Not sure if that was a compliment," answered Wells. Mira aimed its staff at Cyber Aleax, "but I'll take it. Attack with Shining Comet Burst!"

A spiral of burning sparks flew from the staff, striking the now-powerless Aleax in the chest. It fell over, flames erupting from the ruptured chest before the rest of it broke into a pile of tarnished bronze.

(W: 2,200) - - - - - - - - - - (D: 7,200)

He placed another card in his Disk, and it appeared set, beside the other one, his Xyz Tribalrivals, which he hadn't used yet.

"I'm ending my turn now," he said. "Let's finish this already."

"Before I draw, two Trap Cards," replied Diogenes. "First, Cyber Network."

As the Continuous Trap lifted, lines of energy covered and intersected the ground and around them, creating a type of grid.

"We'll get to that later," he said, as the second Trap, a Normal one, lifted. "I also use Jar of Avarice."

He took two Cyber Dragons, Panzer Dragon, Cyber Dragon Nova and Cyber Dragon Infinity, combined them with the remaining cards in his deck, and shuffled. Then he drew once.

"Now for my turn," it said, as it made the draw that started its Draw Phase.

"First off, I again banish a Cyber Dragon Core from my Graveyard to summon a Cyber Dragon from my deck. As you can tell, I'm summoning one of the two I just sent there."

"Your deck is one big merry-go-round for your monsters," said Wells, watching as the large Machine appeared again. (2,100 ATK) "They go from your deck to the field, to the Graveyard and back!"

"Next I use the effect of Cyber Network," continued Diogenes, ignoring the remark, "and because a Cyber Dragon is on the field, banish a Light-Attribute Machine from my deck."

The other Cyber Dragon's card floated in front of him, then faded away.

"Now, I'll summon Cyber Dragon Drei."

This new monster looked like a model of Cyber Dragon that was an improved prototype, a little better than Proto Cyber Dragon. It was larger, more streamlined, and didn't look as crude. Still, it was svelte, not quite giving the overbearing appearance of the true Cyber Dragon. (1,800 ATK)

"Attack Mira the Star Gazer!" he commanded, as the bigger Machine readied its Strident Blast.

"I activate… No Entry!" shouted Wells.

One of his two Traps lifted up, and two armed security guards appeared, holding their right hands forward. Cyber Dragon stopped and crouched in Defense Mode, while Cyber Dragon Drei and Mira followed suit. (Cyber Dragon: 1,600 DEF, Cyber Dragon Drei: 500 DEF, Mira the Star Gazer: 1,000 DEF)

"To end my turn," said Diogenes, "I'll set these two cards."

Didn't miss a beat, thought Wells.

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

"You sure you know what you're doing?" asked Fanciullo.

He was tapping his hands nervously while watching Nitro, who was spreading the odd alchemic powder on the front page of the book causing an odd violet mist to rise.

"Actually, boss, that purple stuff means the powder is working!" he exclaimed.

He put the jar down, and then blew the chalky substance off the pages. Indeed, it had changed, and there was now writing on it.

"Hey, it worked!" said Tormento.

"Partially," said Nitro. He removed the gloves he had been using, and deposited them in the briefcase. "I think I broke the ward on the first chapter. I might need something stronger for the others."

"Can you read it?" asked Fanciullo, anxiously.

"Hmm, let's see," said Nitro. He adjusted his glasses again as he ran his finger down the front page. "Handwritten elven language, which fortunately hasn't changed much in the past few centuries. No prologue or introduction. Let's see here…"

The proceeding are select passages from the journal of Queen Ehlissa of L'Trel, presumed dead, taken from a very tired and famished wolf that appeared at the temple, assumed to be Ehlissa's companion. Penned by Savus Maan, chief scribe in service to Ambar the Blessed of the Great Shantari Empire.

"Shantari Empire?" asked Drago.

"Quiet!" ordered Fanciullo. "Keep reading, Nitro. This is getting interesting."

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

"I activate the Spell Card, Reasoning," announced Wells. "This is usually where I'd go into a detailed explanation of how the card works, but you seem smart enough."

"Yes," replied Diogenes. "I choose Level 1."

"Well, let's see here," said Wells. He picked one card from his deck, then a second, then a third – then he stopped. He turned it around. "Eh, rats, you're right."

"Wells, what were you thinking?" asked Philip. "What else would he have –"

"Philip, shush!" said Wells. He discarded the monster, along with two other cards, then picked another from his hand.

"I use the Spell Card, That Wacky Magic!" he shouted. As he played the Spell, strange wisps rose from the ground as lines started to trace around Diogenes two monsters. The wisps turned into Spells Cards: The Flute of Summoning Kuriboh, Five Star Twilight, The Dark Door, One for One, Detonate, and Reasoning, all undulating and bending with ghostly howls.

"First I banish every Spell Card in my Graveyard, then I take the total number of those Spells, and multiply by 300. If any of your monsters have a Defense Score less than the total, they're kaput."

The lines being draw completed, turning into large pentagram around the two Machines, which then constricted around them and crushed them like tinfoil.

"Hey, not bad!" said Philip.

"Yes, excellent," replied Diogenes, "you saved me time."

Both its facedown cards lifted up at once. "I first use Crevice into the Different Dimension, a Trap that allows me to name an Attribute, and banish two monsters of such from either Graveyard. So I choose Light, and banish both my Cyber Dragons.

"Then my Mystical Space Typhoon destroys my Cyber Network."

The odd Trap Card shattered, and the odd grid slunk into the floor.

"When that happens, I can Special Summon every Cyber Dragon that I banished."

The Dark Core appeared again, this time behind Diogenes, and all three Cyber Dragons flew out (2,100 ATK x3) followed by two Cyber Dragon Cores (1,500 DEF x2)

"And because I did that, all cards in my Spell Zone are destroyed." The Extra Net was blown apart. "A useful way to summon multiple monsters at once."

"Ah, heh, heh," said Wells. "Silly me…"

"Figures," said Philip, with a sour tone in his voice. "It's like Prospero said, you guys just love studying rules with a fine-toothed comb so you can learn how to break them."

"Nonsense, Mr. Lupin," it replied. "We never break rules. However, by studying them we can avoid rules that hindrance us and if necessary, manipulate them to our benefit."

"Let it go, Philip," said Wells. He turned Mira's card, and the Spellcaster knelt down, holding its staff in its lap while defending (1,000 DEF) and Wells set two more of his cards into his Spell Zone.

Hope this does the trick, he thought, 'cause I really don't got many ideas left.

He nodded to Diogenes, who had clearly been very anxious to start its turn. "Hmm, three facedown cards?" it said. "Maybe one is Mirror Force? Dimensional Prison? Magic Cylinder?

"I really don't care, actually. I use Power Bond!"

Here we go, thought Wells.

"I fuse together two Cyber Dragon Cores and one regular Cyber Dragon," said the android, to the loud hissing sound of soldering irons and acetylene torches as the three Machines were dismantled in front of him, taken apart quickly piece by piece. "And Fusion Summon the Cyber End Dragon!"

"I did not need this today!" shouted Wells.

Familiar as it was, the Fusion Monster was nonetheless terrifying. It wasn't the most powerful monster used by Marufuji Ryo, but would forever be the card he was identified with, and was the biggest reason he was such a powerful, and feared duelist. Normally, this three-headed Fusion of three Cyber Dragons was three times the size of a normal one, but via the use of Power Bond, it was bigger still. (4,000 ATK) –) (8,000 ATK)

"You don't seem to be as chatty now, Mr. Dawes," said Diogenes.

No answer.

"Very well… I attack Mira the Star Gazer with my first Cyber Dragon! Strident Blast!"

"I use the Trap Card, Xyz Tribalrivals!" shouted Wells. His Continuous Trap opened. "My monster can survive this battle by ditching an Overlay Unit, but because that still leaves Mira with two of them, yours won't be so lucky."

The blast fell back on itself, smashing through the Cyber Dragon and sending burning cinders falling on the underbrush. What little grass there was started burning.

"I don't care!" cursed Diogenes. "I use my second Cyber Dragon!"

This time it was different. Again, the Dragon shattered from the deflected attack, but so did Mira.

What? thought Philip. Why didn't he use its effect again?

Cyber End Dragon prepared to attack, but then another of Wells Traps opened.

"I use Tri and Guess!" he shouted. The giant Machine froze as the surroundings turned grey.

"Here's the deal," he said, his voice lowering. "I name one type of monster that's kept in the extra deck, then each player sees what the other has in his. Whoever has more of that type, gains 3,000 Life Points. You good with that?"

"No, but if I must," replied Diogenes.

"Fine," said Wells. "I choose Xyzs."

Diogenes tapped the top of its Disk, and seven cards appeared, two each Cyber Dragon Nova, Cyber Dragon Infinity, Tiras, Keeper of Genesis, and two that Wells didn't recognize, the nine remaining spots taken up by Fusion Monsters. Wells, however, had two copies of Slacker Magician, two of Tiragon, one of Mira, and three of Downerd Magician. (The rest were Synchros, including Jalal's card.)

"Yeah I figured as much," he said.

(W: 5,200) - - - - - - - - - - (D: 7,200)

"Have it your way," replied Diogenes, as the color came back. "Attack him directly with Eternal Evolution Burst!"

"Wells!" shouted Philip. He leapt to his feet.

The three streams of lethal energy formed a deadly wave that started to thunder towards the portly Shadowchaser, as his remaining Trap opened up.

"This is gonna smart, but," he said. "I use Ground Capture!"

A huge hand made from the soil itself rose out of the ground in front of him, "catching" the deadly beam in its palm – or rather, trying to. "This Trap cuts the damage from your attack in half!"

Finally, the hand burst as the stream broke free, hitting Wells who finally lost balance and fell, rolling over and scraping against the surface as he did.

"Wells!" shouted Philip, leaping to his feet.

(W: 1,200) - - - - - - - - - - (D: 7,200)

"I suggest you stay clear of him, kid," said Diogenes.

"Listen here, you bastard," said Philip.

"Philip, he's right," groaned Wells.

He grunted and pulled himself up. He had a black eye, was bleeding from his lip, and his clothes were torn and dirty, but it didn't seem like he was seriously injured. He fumbled for his hat as he got up.

"You can't interfere with the duel. OW. Gimme a minute." He rubbed his back. "Because I took more than 1,000 points of damage anyway, I get to draw once."

As he drew, Diogenes yawned. (At least it kind of sounded like a yawn.)

"Am I boring you?" asked Wells, a little angry now.

"You humans are such a bother," came the reply. "Trying to locate the Concordant Gear has set our schedule back enough already, and now this snafu with you Shadowchasers has made it worse."

Wells looked at him for a few seconds. Then he spit some saliva mixed with blood on the ground, and threw the hat aside.

"Bother," he said, looking at him. Now he was really angry. "Right, right, this has all been a 'bother' for you, whoever or whatever you are.

"And because of this 'bother', there have been unprovoked attacks on both us and civilians, a zombie horde has been set loose on a city, there have been at least seven murders we know about, use of dark magic, and lord knows how much property damage. Now you kidnap Sofia, we learn you might be into human trafficking, and –" he stopped to catch his breath. "And you just ruined my best hat on top of it."

"Are you quite done?" asked Diogenes.

"You don't even care, do you?" asked Wells.

"Not in the least," replied the creature, and it's still my turn." It took a card from its hand and turned it around to reveal it. "This was why I didn't care about your facedown cards, the Quickplay Spell Card, Cybernetic Zone, which I use now."

The giant beast blurred, and vanished in a ripple of light.

"Wait a second," said Wells. "Isn't that the card that –"

"I set one more card facedown, and my turn ends," said Diogenes, as a new reversed card appeared.

"That means you take damage from Power Bond's backlash, wise guy!" snapped Wells.

He was right, of course. It looked like something had kicked the droid in the gut, and if it had eyes, they might have popped out.

(W: 1,200) - - - - - - - - - - (D: 3,200)

"It also means," it said, its voice a little slower and weaker, "that Cyber End Dragon returns."

Then it seemed like the whole cemetery started to shake. Cyber End Dragon rose out of the ground behind Diogenes. And rose, and rose, and rose higher!

"Great Corellon," whispered Philip, looking up at the Duel Monster that was now the size of a house.

(16,000 ATK)

"Don't, don't worry," said Wells. He gulped. "Everything, everything under control. Er, ahem. Sure, he – doubled its Score again, but it goes away on his next turn."

I hope, he thought. He drew a card, never daring to take his eyes of the huge thing.

"I use this Trap Card," said Diogenes, as the one he had set flipped up.

"Solomon's Lawbook?" asked Philip. "Wait, that sounds familiar –"

"It's a very old card," said Wells, "I'm not sure –"

"By using this card, my next Standby Phase is skipped," explained Diogenes. "And because my next Standby Phase is when the effect of Cybernetic Zone would banish Cyber End Dragon, it will not be banished.

"You see? There are ways to get around every drawback, once you study them long enough."

"Where have I heard that before?" asked Wells. "You think you can play lawyerball? Win by manipulating rules?" He threw two cards into his Disk, and two set cards appeared in his Spell Zone. "Well I can play that game too, so make your move, and we'll see who's better."

I don't know what Wells' plan is, thought Philip, but it better be a damn good one!

"I never turn down a challenge, Mr. Dawes," said Diogenes. He drew. "Not that it's too difficult. Attack him directly!"

"From my Graveyard, I activate the effect of Rainbow Kuriboh!" shouted Wells. "Which happens to be the monster I discarded when I used Reasoning. I summon it in Defense Mode!"

There was no cute squeaking this time. The Kuriboh that hopped up in front of Wells was a violet orb with eyes on the front, tiny limbs, and a rainbow-colored crest on top, surrounded by a multicolored pattern. It was translucent, sort of like a mirage. (100 DEF)

"Fool," shouted Diogenes. "My monster can finish you no matter what Battle Position it's in. Cyber End Dragon, crush it."

"Heh, a little anxious there, fellah," said Wells. "Too bad."

"Wait, your Trap Cards –" said Diogenes, almost stammering as they both lifted.

"Forgot about them, didja?" asked Wells. "Too late now. The first one is Gamushara! Which means Rainbow Kuriboh ain't defending anymore."

The tiny Fiend's expression turned fierce, and it flew upwards, looking the giant beast face to multiple faces as it roared. (100 ATK)

"And the second is Unbreakable Spirit! Because I only have one monster, it gains Attack Points equal to the opposing monster with the lowest Attack Score."

"Wait," said Diogenes. "That would be –"

"Yup, the only monster you have," said Wells, "Cyber End Dragon, although its name is going to be 'toast' in a few seconds."

The colors around Rainbow Kuriboh started to glow with overwhelming intensity until it became a white hot flame, and its Attack Score grew, and grew, skyrocketing past 1,000, then 5,000, then past 10,000, until finally settling on 16,100.

"Dear God," said Philip.

"Burning Celestial Giga Beams!" commanded Wells. Explosions echoed over the dark cemetery lighting up the dark sky the roar of Cyber End Dragon cut short as it was reduced to dust by the powerful counter-strike.

(W: 1,200) - - - - - - - - - - (D: 3,100)

When the light subsided, Diogenes was still standing, but its armor was dented and there was a crack in the glass in the hourglass that served as its head.

"I'm not through yet…" it said.

"Oh? Rainbow Kuriboh thinks otherwise," said Wells. "You see, because I used Gamushara, you take damage equal to your monster's base Attack Score."

Looking up, Diogenes saw Rainbow Kuriboh glowing with rage, powering up for another blast.

"You lose, bolt brain. Rust in peace."

(W: 1,200) - - - - - - - - - - (D: 0)

Sadly for Wells, as he realized later, he had wasted a perfectly good wisecrack. His foe could barely hear him now. Others could… Not that the humor would be appreciated.

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

FIVE STAR TWILIGHT (Spell Card)

Normal Spell

Image: The five Kuriboh siblings shyly hiding behind multicolored stars.

Card Description: Tribute 1 Level 5 monster you control to Special Summon as many Level 1 "Kuri" monsters with different names as possible from your hand or deck.

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

KURIBAH (Monster Card)

Fiend/Dark/Lvl1/Effect/300/200

Effect: You can banish this card you control along with 1 "Kuriboh", 1 "Kuribee", 1 "Kuriboo", and 1 "Kuribeh" to Special Summon 1 "Kuribabylon" from your hand, deck, or Graveyard. This card cannot be Tributed for a Tribute Summon.

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

KURIBEH (Monster Card)

Fiend/Dark/Lvl1/Effect/300/200

Effect: You can banish this card you control along with 1 "Kuriboh", 1 "Kuribee", 1 "Kuriboo", and 1 "Kuribah" to Special Summon 1 "Kuribandit" from your hand, deck, or Graveyard. This card cannot be Tributed for a Tribute Summon.

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

KURIBOO (Monster Card)

Fiend/Dark/Lvl1/Effect/300/200

Effect: You can discard 1 card from your hand to reduce the ATK of one face-up opposing monster by an amount equal to the combined ATK of all "Kuri" monsters you control. The effect of "Kuriboo" can only be used once per turn. This card cannot be Tributed for a Tribute Summon.

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

KURIBEE (Monster Card

Fiend/Dark/Lvl1/Effect/300/200

Effect: Once per turn, if a "Kuri" monster you control is targeted for an attack, you may use this card's effect to negate the ATK. This card cannot be Tributed for a Tribute Summon.

Note: The proceeding five cards first appeared in the anime episode "Fate of the Pharaoh (Part 2). Their effects detailed here are educated guesses based on their use in the episodes.

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

GROUND CAPTURE (Trap Card)

Normal Trap

Image: A large hand with a glowing orb in the palm reaching out of the ground.

Card Description: Activate when your opponent declares an attack. Reduce the Battle Damage you take from the attack by half. If you take 500 or more points of damage from the attack, draw one card.

Note: "Ground Capture" was first used "Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's" episode "Truth and Consequences (Part 2)".

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

TRAPLIN (Monster Card

Fairy/Water/Lvl1/Effect/300/200

Effect: You may Tribute 1 face-up Trap Card you control to Special Summon this card from your hand.

Note: "Traplin" first appeared in the "Yu-Gi-Oh Zexal" episode "Duel of Destiny (Part 2)".

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

HOLOGRAM PROJECTION (Spell Card)

Continuous Spell

Image: Solar Wind Jammer flying through a void projecting several colored holographic copies of itself in front of it.

Effect: To activate this card, select 1 face-up Machine-Type monster you control. Upon activation, Special Summon this card as a Machine-Type monster with the same Attribute, Level, ATK and DEF as the selected monster. (This card is also still a Spell Card.) This card cannot attack, be Tributed or used as a Synchro Material Monster. If this card is targeted for an attack or card effect, destroy it. You can only activate 1 copy of "Hologram Projection" per turn.

Note: "Hologram Projection" first appeared in the "Yu-Gi-Oh Zexal" episode "Now or Never (Part 1)".

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CYBER KRAIT (Monster Card)

Machine/Light/Lvl5/Effect/2,100/1,600

Effect: You may Special Summon this card (from your hand) by sending 2 Continuous Spells or Traps on the field to the Graveyard. If you do, this card is considered a "Cyber Dragon" while face-up on the field. If this card is Special Summoned by sending at least 1 Spell or Trap Card you control to the Graveyard, it cannot be destroyed by battle once per turn. You can only control 1 "Cyber Krait".

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CYBER ALEAX (Monster Card)

Machine/Xyz/Effect/Rank5/Effect/0/0

3 Level 5 monsters

Effect: When this card battles a monster, you may detach 1 Xyz Material from this card; if you do, the ATK of this card and the opposing monster switch until the end of the Damage Step. This card is not affected by Spell Cards so long as it has at least 1 Xyz Material.

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Jemorille: As Philip watched his longtime foe's Life Points drop to zero, he was both relieved and worried at the same time. What now? What would he say to Sofia? And even worse, what the other members of the Determined? For all he knew, Viola would be waiting to put a bullet between his eyes the instant he set foot on terra firma.

The answers will come next chapter, which will come soon. The first arc of "Shadowchasers: Conspiracy" ends, and I'm as eager to turn the page as you are.

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Shadowchaser Files: Eldritch Locations

The Styx Oarsman Tavern

"Sometimes you wanna go where everyone knows your name. The Styx Oarsman is an okay place to drink, but when I go there, I keep my real name to myself."

Glasgow, Scotland has a reputation for having a lot of tough neighborhoods with a lot of violent folks, and a lot of tough bars. The Styx Oarsman is, at first glance, a place like that, a pub where the town's working class and shadier folk go after hours to get plastered and relieve their tension, something which often breaks out into fights or all-out brawls. But on second glance, you might want to be more careful in this one, as the brawls can get a little too hot for humans to handle, or survive. Unlike most seedy bars, this is a "wretched hive of scum and villainy" like none other, and that suits the owners just fine. In short, there are bars for every type of Shadowkind, and for tieflings, half-fiends, and honest-to-goodness fiends, this is the place.

If the hulking bouncer outside doesn't discourage you just from his looks, trying to deal with him might. Jarkman Vires is a half-giant whose giant-half is obviously hill giant. He's a surly, foul-mouthed, cigar-chewing brute who doesn't like humans (but then, he really hates everybody) and does his best to keep out police or anyone with Upper Planer influence. (The place favors demons over devils.) He rarely lets humans in at all, unless they bribe him

Once inside, a newbie visitor might realize that getting past Jarkman was the easy part. One glance around the darkened common room confirms the tavern's sinister reputation. Only a few candles illuminate the bar area, and a visitor can only just make out the shadowy outlines of the menagerie of fiendish Shadowkind that patronize this place. (Most of the regulars can see in the dark anyway.)

The bartender is a guy named Zegonz Vlaric (don't feel bad if you can't pronounce it, nobody can) a very old spriggan who coughs frequently. Most of the work is done by the two serving maids. The first is named Salya, a raven-haired beauty who puts Aware customers on edge, given her horns and uncomfortably-long nails. Whether she's a half-fiend or tiefling isn't known, but you should be on edge around her. Two rules to follow if she waits on your table. The first one is keep your hands to yourself and don't hit on her. The second rule is, if she hits on you, then run. FAST. Don't worry about paying for your drink, someone will cover you. Her boyfriends tend to come to bad ends.

The second one is actually Zegonz's "pet" a quasit Yap. This creature has an even fouler mouth than Jarkman and tends to spit at the patrons as it serves them. Why do they take it? Well, they do spit back, but everyone who frequents the Styx Oarsman doesn't want to get on Zergonz's bad side for the sake of a measly quasit. The enforced amnesty here is too valuable.

Why? Well, the food and drink served is nothing special (to the patrons, that is), and it's not something humans should try. (Drinks include everything from cheap ale to an expensive ale called Carcerian bitter, to curdled aasimar blood, demon equivalent of champagne. The last known special of the day was something called Retriever Pie in Viper Tree blood sauce, clearly not fit for human consumption.)

For one thing, the Styx Oarsman sells information. Old Rule-of-Three is often here, and he gives out his usual advice for his usual price, three related objects, the value of which vary.

The place sells unique poisons too, imported from various locales in the infernal regions, which are usually only available to certain cults. If Pollinix – an arcanoloths who works for whoever runs Torch – you might be able to fence something valuable without having to go there or Broken Reach.

Then there are mercenaries. There are always a few here. You might be able to find Jezebel or Rhul the Battle Mage here, or someone who can contact them. If you need something illegal done, this is the place.

Jalal would love to shut this place down, and he has, but casualties often occur whenever the Shadowchasers raid the place, and it always reopens. Until the mysterious owner is found, the Styx Oarsman might stay in business a long time.

Story Ideas: Need a "bad guy bar"? This is the place. There's no reason why any of the worst Shadowkind villains wouldn't be found congregating here over brews. Red Shroud would likely frequent this place a lot, and Da Penn was probably a regular.

It's also a good place to serve as a "neutral ground" for such Shadowkind, or to have the typical "auction of evil", should a bad guy get ahold of a priceless artifact – or a hostage – that they want to auction off. Of course, the good guys aren't welcome in a place like this, and as said, fights in this place tend to be very, very violent.

To get ideas on how to depict the Styx Oarsman Tavern, movies like The Clockwork Orange (the Korova Milk Bar scene), The Matrix Revolutions (Club Hel scene), and naturally, Star Wars: Episode IV (Mos Eisley Cantina scene).