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?

44. Fade to Black

Face front, True Believers! (No, I'm not channeling the spirit of Stan Lee here; he's still around, I believe.) It's 2017, five years after the world was supposed to end (according to the most recent debunked prediction claimed by a group of doomsaying loons who said the world was going to end), and three years before it actually does (according to similar loons who believe Jean Dixon).

Anyway, I must again give credit where it is due, to 7th Librarian for roughly half of this chapter, the parts concerning the "Haremettes", as he calls them.

I apologize for not posting a Shadowchaser Files this time, but I require the space for something else important. Read it at the end of the chapter.

So… Onward!

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One thing I left out about movies of the horror genre is how much a certain element they use is also necessary for a conspiracy theory to take hold, and that is Willing Suspension of Disbelief.

This is how one can enjoy any work of fiction and not be bothered by the inaccurate, inconsistent, and at times absurd ways that such works diverge from reality.

Take, for example, the plot (I use the term loosely) of the movie series Freddy was yanked from. Supposedly, before Freddy was a demonic and supernatural child killer, he was a very mortal, human child killer.. An honest and well-meaning - but clearly incompetent - police officer finds the remains of at least twenty victims in the basement of his house and arrests him for multiple cases of murder-one, but without a search warrant. Despite overwhelming evidence, the case is thrown out and a sociopathic pedophile serial killer went free.

* COUGH *

As a result, a lynch mob storms the killer's house, and after failing to convince the angry mob to back off, the same police officer earns some redemption - for now - by lighting the match used to burn Freddy alive. Dying in agony, the monster swears vengeance….

As a rilmani who has viewed many situations where corrupt law enforcement had tipped the Balance in the favor of Chaos, I would say this system was the worst I had ever seen in a society such as yours, but if I didn't know it was a movie, I'd call it a legal impossibility. Little wonder Karen considered the movies nothing but claptrap.

But for sake of plot (and bad writers) anyone who truly enjoys this sort of movie will apply Willing Suspension of Disbelief so as not to be confused by every contradiction. You think about it too much, it ruins the point of viewing fiction.

Now, we can blame this on bad writing and low budget, a problem slasher movies tend to have, but a retcon of the series (when it was well-known) makes this worse, claiming Freddy had been caught in the act of murdering the officer's daughter, but judge threw the case out because no Miranda rights were read. (Which, contrary to popular belief, has nothing to do with unwarranted searches, and is not read during an arrest.)

Which is why conspiracy theories take hold. Willing Suspension of Disbelief can cause a weak-minded individual to believe whatever he hears, disbelieve logic and fall victim to fallacies.

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Chapter Forty-Four

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Fade to Black

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As Karen's true body groaned and thrashed in her sleep, Domino quietly watched from the shadows, standing still and motionless, not moving or even breathing. Easy for him, being an android, to do.

Domino's mind was far more active than his body was, and by his own calculations, he'd manage his timed command with quite a few seconds to spare. He knew - via Beatrice's direction - that Freddy's victims could be saved if they woke up before a killing blow was made, and seeing as he didn't want Karen dead (yet) he had to wake her at just the right second.

And fortunately for Karen, he had a way to do it that most of his victims had no access to.

Closer to her bed were his accomplices, two droids that most would find hard to mistake for human. They were spherical, lacking heads or legs, but with four arms, two large and two smaller and spindly. Referred to as Med-Ds, these odd droids were programmed with medicine and biology in mind, and could act as doctors, surgeons, interrogators, and sometimes coroners - often all four on the same subject, and not always in that order -

and the design was practical given their function; the large arms were needed to restrain a subject while the smaller ones were for fine manipulation.

When he relayed his command to them, pulling her out of the horrid nightmare would be as easy as turning on a faucet.

Then, to his surprise, the whole house was shaken by a siren as the lights came on.

"What?" he said.

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Elsewhere...

"Challengers first!" Fran snapped up her hand of starting cards and popped open her field slot immediately. "I activate the field spell card Garden of Valarian!"

A ring of light spread from her feet, morphing the cold stone into ankle-high grass in its wake and as it climbed the walls and ceiling, transforming them into towering leafy trees. Everything held a soft aura to it, a warm comforting glow that augmented by the quiet music in the background.

It was a surprise to all of them, when the guardian gave it an approving smile. "Very pleasent. Like the banks of the Nile."

"Didn't think Egyptians would be into the entire 'holy greenery' thing, but hey…" Fran twirled her next card between her fingers with a grin before slamming it into her disk. "If you liked that, you'll love this! I activate Ice Age Panic! This card summons an Earth Attribute monster from my deck because I have none in play!"

The forest around them chimed suddenly even as a equine figure began to gallivant around in the shadows of the trees. It looked to be made entirely of waning, rippling shadows with the only constant began a pair of golden eyes peering out of the dark. "This is my Phantom Unicorn!" (0/0)

She plugged a card into her disk and it materialized face-down in front of her. "He may not be much to look at now, so I'll keep you busy with this card set. End of turn!"

"Turn start." The woman waved her hand in front of her and a sixth sheet of light joined the five she already had. One of them began to glow green. "The spell card Foolish Burial allows me to send The White Stone of Ancients from my deck to the afterlife."

A mote of light appeared and then sank into the darkness of the tomb around them before being swallowed up. Another sheet of light was glowing green and it scattered into motes that formed into ring around her. "I activate the field magic Mausoleum of White!"

The ring of light exploded, blinding the four challengers briefly. When it was enough to see, the woman's half of the tomb had become a glittering white marble version of itself, the monster stones and decorates edged in blue ivory and gold metal. Behind her, the Blue-Eyes Tablet had become a full-sized statue of the monster that inhabited, roaring majestically atop its fountain pedestal.

"Well, so much for my field winning best at show..." Fran looked a little put out as she took in the new surroundings.

"Why is there so much light in a tomb?" Mora hissed out from behind her hands, snaring a pair of proffered shades from Melissa like the blessing they were.

Mai was leaning against one of the 'trees', arms folded as she watched quietly. But a glance would have shown the tightness of her face and the strength at which she was gripping her arms was leaving marks in the fabric of her jacket. All because a familiar warm-cold tingle had trickled down her back. "This is a Shadow Game… just like the Millennium Items. If we aren't careful, she'll destroy us."

"Aren't you supposed to be the optimistic one?" Mora asked with a huff, shades finally in place.

"There is no hope for those who trespass upon my Pharaoh's soul." The woman's harsh voice drew their attention back to the duel, a third eye of white light glimmering on her forehead briefly. "By the effect of my field magic, I can summon an additional one star light monster from my hand. Step forwards, Maiden With Eyes of Blue."

One of her remaining sheets of light morphed into a monster that lived up to its name. A blue-haired woman with soulful blue eyes, her sackcloth-like dress adorned in pale whites and blues. (0/0)

"That looks like you…" Fran's one flicked between owner and monster and then she tightened her stance, face drawing into a frown. "Monsters that look like their owners are never good news."

The Mausoleum dragon statue suddenly sprang to life, rearing up and spreading its wings as light spilled forth from it over the Maiden. "By sending one normal monster to the afterlife, I may empower another monster by that monster's level times one hundred. But that is inconsequential for by targeting my Maiden, I can activate her power!

The Maiden suddenly began to glow, dropping to her knees as the light erupted out of her. It grew larger and larger, becoming a translucent dragon-shape. Then, with a earth-shaking roar, it solidified into one of the game's most legendary monsters. "Behold the White God's splendor! I summon Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" (3000/2500)

"Well...we're fucked." Mora said after a long moment.

"I got this." Fran grinned cockily up at the looming majesty of the dragon.

"You're the one with a monster with zero attack points!"

"Psh. Attack points aren't everything." Fran put a hand on her hip, the misty form of her Phantom Unicorn rippling into place in front of her. "Come and get us."

"I still possess a normal summon, so allow me to call from a monster sleeping from the sealing stones around us." The woman lifted her hand regally and a fresh flare of light (and a fresh round of cursing from Mora) filled the room, resolving into a crystal dragon. It was smaller than the Blue-Eyes, but was all sharp angles and edges. No limbs save for a pair of bladed wings on and a ferocious look on its face. "Assault Wyvern, slay the trespassing spirit with your Razor Wing Slash!" (1800/1000)

With a wild shriek, the monster soared forwards with enough force to smash the Phantom Unicorn into a hundred pieces….which promptly reformed without skipping a beat. "What did you do?"

"Phantoms are really kind of hard to kill, you know. Like spirits." Fran held up her hand of cards, revealing it was now down to two instead of three. "When you declared an attack on my Unicorn, all I had to do was banish a card from my hand and your monster's attack was negated and given to my monster."

True to her words, the Assault Wyvern crashed to the ground like it suddenly weighed a hundred tons. It screeched feebly, its lustrous glow fading to a dim pulse even as Phantom Unicorn grew more solid, more there. (1800-0) (0-1800)

The Guardian's eyes narrowed. "Blue-Eyes White Dragon attacks." At her words, the dragon stomped forwards, light crackling along its jaws. Then it simply winked out of sight, leaving its master to stare up at the space it had occupied blankly.

"Cat Confusion." Fran explained and pointed to her now face-up trap card. "I have a beast-type monster, you have a monster and now it's back in your hand."

"As you like." The Guardian waved her hand and one of the sheets of light flipped down in front of her, vanishing softly behind her crippled Assault Wyvern. "One hidden card. End of turn."

"Draw!" Fran did so and the glow from the garden grew a little bright. "I'll activate one of the effects of my Garden; by banishing a card from my hand, I can call a beast back from that location!"

A card in her hand winked out of existence and light shot up from the field in front of her. It resolved into a monster that looked strikingly similar to a younger version of Fran, clad in robes of pale green and white. "This Unicorn Maiden and just like yours, she's bad news for the opponent!" (0/0)

The Maiden clasped her hands and knelt, bursting apart into sparkles that shot into the sky. Stormclouds rolled into view rapidly, lightning arcing between them. "By tributing her, I can summon special Synchro monster from my Extra Deck! Like Thunder Unicorn!"

Lightning lanced down and exploded brilliantly. (Prompting Mora to start cursing Fran's name in Drow) When it cleared, a blue/gold unicorn was standing tall on Fran's field, mane and tail crackling with electricity. (2200/1800)

Her Phantom Unicorn glided over, its solidity waning as her new monster's lightning suddenly surged violently. "By reducing its attack to zero, Phantom Unicorn can give those points to another one of my monsters!" (1800-0) (2200-4000)

"So go! Thunder Unicorn attacks Assault Wyvern with Lightning Spear!" The unicorn Synchro charged, whipping its horn back and forth to unleash a volley of lightning bolts that skewered the crippled dragon monster. It exploded like a bomb, the Guardian's floating sheets of light moving to protect her from the worst of the backlash that rocked the forest and tomb. (GLP: 4000)

Fran nodded to herself satisfactorily, snatching a card from her hand and holding it out. "With a hit like that, you'll be paying me back on your next turn, so let me stop any hope of that from happening! The spell card Cattle Call lets me tribute one of the three beast typings of monster and then summon a monster of that type from the Extra Deck! So Phantom Unicorn is gone and here comes Sumo King Dog!"

With nary a whimper, the shadow unicorn faded away to be replaced by a massive, unicorn-sized burly dog that was dressed in the attire of a sumo wrestler. (2600/2100)

"An advanced summoning technique…" The Guardian peered at the monster with only slight interest. "But that kind of monster requires the souls of others to use its abilities and it cannot attack me due your ritual calling."

Fran just grabbed her Extra Deck again. "That Memory Crystal has certainly taught you a lot, but not enough! Sumo King Dog is an Xyz monster and that means I can use him for an even more advanced summoning! Xyz Evolution!"

Sumo King Dog became a small sphere of light even as the surrounding light generated by the two field spells dimmed considerably. (Prompting Mora to swear eternal nightmares only on Fran's second child as opposed to the first born) What looked like a cloud formed out of the fresh shadows, thick and solid yet gaseous and vaporous at the same time. It took the form of a fierce-looking unicorn, lightning arcing and zipping faintly through its body. "Stormcloud Unicorn in defense mode." (0/0)

She plugged a card into her disk and it appeared behind her monster briefly before fading away. "My turn is over! You're up…"

Fran blinked and then laughed, putting a hand on her hip. "Would you mind telling us your name? I feel rather rude just going 'hey you!' all the time."

"Trespassing upon this tomb means that all lesser sins cannot compare." The woman said coolly, that white eye flashing on her forehead briefly. "But it would be sin upon my part to not let you have a name to tell the gods when they judge you in the afterlife. I am Kisara."

Everyone looked at her, then turned their heads towards Melissa. The assimar just shrugged. "The hieroglyphs say the same thing. But nothing I've ever read has mentioned that name to me before. I have no idea who she is beyond what she tells us."

"Then I tell you I am the Blue-White Dragon, guardian of my Pharaoh, and she who will cast judgement upon you." Kisara's harsh words snapped their attention back to her again even as a fresh sheet of light materialized in front of her. "My turn now begins!"

One of them began to glow, splitting apart into two new sheets. "Treasure of the White God lets me add two more to my hand because I control the Blue-Eyes White Dragon."

One of them flipped around, revealing the image of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon. Then a second followed suit, Blue-Eyes White Dragon emerging from it with a triumphant roar. But it was more angular, harsher and seething with white energy. "By revealing Blue-Eyes, I can summon Blue-Eyes Alternative Dragon from my hand!" (3000/2500)

"Wait, Alternative Dragon?" Fran gaped at it and felt some of her confidence sink. (Did that Memory Crystal give her the ability to create new cards?)

Kisara wasn't paying attention as her doppelganger on the field stood up and the Blue-Eyes statue behind her began to shift and shine again. "I move my Maiden to attack stance and then use my Mausoleum to empower her and therefore, call out the Blue-Eyes White Dragon!"

The sheet of light she had revealed earlier morphed back into the legendary dragon, taking its place alongside its two brethren. (3000/2500)

Fran's good eye narrowed in concern. "This is where I comment that my Thunder Unicorn is stronger than all three of your dragons, but experience says you don't care about that."

"No." Her Alternative Dragon reared up, lighting surging into its body and Mora swore violently as it unleashed a blazing ball of fire and lightning that incinerated Thunder Unicorn so fast that it didn't have time to scream. "Alternative Dragon can destroy any face-up monster you have if it does not attack this round."

Kisara's set sheet of light glowed purple, revealing it to be at trap card that spilled out light and then, the last Blue-Eyes White Dragon. "Immortal Dragon revives my remaining monster from the afterlife!"

One of the other Blue-Eyes shouldered Alternative Dragon out of the way, already charging up and unleashing a torrent of White Lightning at Stormcloud Unicorn. The unicorn snorted dismissively at the oncoming attack, lightning lancing from its own horn and intercepting it violently. Both attacks shot skywards, vanishing into the air. "Your monster's ability…"

"One of them." Fran corrected casually. "It can't be destroyed in battle."

"Your confidence is refreshing, but futile." Kisara commented as her four dragons took up positions behind her throne, all of them looking quite lethal. "End of turn."

"Four Blue-Eyes White Dragons…" Melissa shook her head even as Fran drew for her turn. "We've got our work cut out for us…"

"What? You don't think Fran can turn those iguanas into fashionable handbags?" Mora retorted, having taken shelter behind one of the remaining columns not affected by either field spell. "Blue-Eyes aren't as powerful as they once were, you know. "

"Then why does she have four?"

"It's more than that." Mai overrode Mora as the drow opened her mouth. "This is a Shadow Game, just like the ones the Millennium Items produced. Which means everything here is on a level of real that can be lethal. And if we lose, she can inflict Penalty Games on us."

"Then we won't lose." Mora countered, poking her head out enough to give Kisara a glare. "I'll crush her and her nightlights in one turn."

"Your overconfidence is your weakness…" Melissa said just loud enough for the drow to hear.

"Your faith in your friends is yours!" Mora returned immediately and winced as both of the blondes gave her expression with lifted eyebrows. "Eli's fault. Stop judging me!"

Fran ignored the background conversation and gestured to her Stormcloud Unicorn. "During my Standby Phase, my monster can attach another beast from the Extra Deck to it as Xyz Material." A fresh mote of light joined the first in orbiting her monster.

A card slid free from her graveyard and she moved it to a different slot. "Next, by banishing a Unicorn monster from the graveyard, I can revive Unicorn Maiden."

Her lookalike reappeared with little fanfare, simply rising from a pool of light that opened on her field. "Nothing in my Extra Deck can overpower your dragons, but that's fine. I've got all I need in hand. I tribute both Unicorn Maiden and Stormcloud Unicorn to summon out Champion of the Storm!"

The two monsters faded away, replaced by a monster that looked identical to Fran as she was - down to the eyepatch and scar. Regal armor of gold, blues and greens covered her from the neck down, somehow protected from the lightning that was apparently woven into her hair. She drew forth a massive scimitar from the sheath at her side and swept it back and forth, lightning arcing from the tip. (2800/2200)

"Always knew I looked good in armor. Honestly, works better than a mirror." Fran commented as she held up her Stormcloud Unicorn card. "By the way, when he leaves the field with Xyz Material, I can call forth Unicorns from the graveyard equal to that number, albeit they can't attack! So cover your ears and hide your eyes, Mora, because I summon Thunder Unicorn and Lightning Tricorn from the graveyard!"

Lightning flashed in the garden, resolving into the blue Synchro Monster she had used previously whereas the new one stood a good foot and a half taller than the counterpart. A unicorn comprised entirely golden armor, with electric blue mane and three pink horns that sparked with power. (2800/2000)

Her Champion raised her blade and then drove it into the ground, lightning blasting into the soil. It cracked and vented in response, spewing forth darkness that resolved into the cloudy form of her Xyz Monster. "Champion of the Storm can revive any of my unicorn monsters once per turn."

That task accomplished, the Champion swept her blade up and all three Unicorns crossed their horns together. "And the other power is that she destroy cards equal to the number I have in play! Storm Surge!"

Light erupted from the conjoined horns of her Extra Deck monsters and tore across the field, splitting into three arcs of power that blew through Kisara's Maiden and then punched holes in the torsos of two of her Blue-Eyes White Dragons. The dragons roared weakly and exploded while the Maiden simply crumpled to her knees, fading into nothingness.

Her Champion was was charging up the field right behind the destruction, sword already crackling with lightning as she lept at the remaining traditional Blue-Eyes. "Rush Recklessly means my monster is strong enough to destroy yours in battle!" (2800-3500)

There was the sound of metal against scales and then the dragon's head was flying through the air before it and the body both blew apart and pelted Kisara with energy and debris. (KLP: 3500)

Her eyes narrowed dangerously as she straightened and watched Fran set a card on her field. "You are too powerful to let you live."

Without waiting for Fran's response, she gestured and a sheet of light appeared before her. "Dark Factory of Mass Production allows me to retrieve two of my Blue-Eyes from the afterlife."

One of the cards glowed green, splitting into Blue-Eyes cards even as Kisara pointed at her Alternative Dragon. "I use the effect of my monster to destroy Champion of the Storm!"

"It can do that without being summoned?" Fran gaped as her Champion was obliterated in an instant, leaving her three Unicorn monsters stamping and pawing at the ground angrily.

One of Kisara's 'cards' flipped around, revealing a swirling vortex with the Millennium Scales sitting in front of it. "Polymerization fuses my three Blue-Eyes White Dragons into Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!"

The three monsters were pulled together, the light they were emitting vanishing and plunging the tomb into reasonable darkness and it soon became apparent why as three Blue-Eyes heads loomed out of the light behind Kisara's throne. The Ultimate Dragon was simply too big to fit in the space provided. (4500/3800)

They began to charge up attacks, light being sucked towards them like inverted black holes as a green glow suffused one of Kisara's sheets of light. "The Spell known as Neutron Blast allows Ultimate Dragon to strike three times in battle and the special powers your cards posses are denied activation!"

Fran joined Mora in swearing up a storm as all of the women shielded their faces as the attacks were launched. It wasn't three separate streams- it was just a solid mass of energy that tore Fran's Unicorns to pixelated ribbons like they were made of tissue paper.

"Shit…" Fran recovered first, her body aching from the backlash at being so close to the impacts and grimaced at the smoking remains of her playing field. "And I'm too powerful to let live, lady!?"

"Yes."

Fran's head shot up, her expression morphing into fear as the Ultimate Dragon's heads suddenly lumbered free of the light behind Kisara, revealing them to be individual Blue-Eyes again. "You...used...De-Fusion…" (3000/2500x3)

"Yes." Kisara pointed at her. "White Lightning."

White light swallowed up Fran's vision...and then Fran herself.

(FLP: 0)

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"Any last requests kid?" asked Freddy.

"Yeah, I request you and your big ugly monster kiss my ass," she said.

As tough as she talked, it was hard to stay strong in the face of the colossus in front of her. It was like a giant, hulking statue sculpted out of solid darkness, featureless and seamless, dark eyes and no mouth on a face below hair that had been arranged to resemble flames. A shell (sort of) was on its back ringed by blades, and had it stood up straight, rather than hunched over, it might have been even taller than Obelisk. As it was, it loomed at least thirty feet over her and her monsters. (5,000 ATK)

"I'll pass," said Freddy. He turned to Dystopia and pointed at Akz. "Attack -"

"I use the Trap Card, Graceful Tear!" exclaimed Karen. One of her two Traps flipped up, and the angel of Graceful Charity appeared behind her, softly sobbing.

"I get 2,000 Life Points, and in exchange for that, you get this, choke on it!"

She grabbed one of her cards, and threw it, hitting him in the forehead. (A disqualifying act in tournament play, but she really didn't care.)

He picked it up from the ground, grunting a little, obviously annoyed. "Cute," he grumbled. "Attack that guy with Crushing Fist of Spite!"

Karen almost panicked as the giant fist thundered towards him. She actually fumbled with her Disk controls. C'mon, c'mon you stupid… she thought.

Then she shrieked again and fell on her rump as Akz was flattened.

(K: 4,700) - - - - - - - - - - (F: 1,700)

"I'm still here," she said. "My Nutrient Z card increased it again by 4,000."

Freddy frowned and started to read the description of the card she had given her. "Smart, but it ain't gonna work for long," he said. One of his set cards lifted up and revealed an only too familiar Continuous Trap Card, Final Attack Orders.

"By the way, don't pray for drawing a card that can stop its attack either, because it can survive those cards if I banish a Level 1 monster from my Graveyard, and I got six of them there right now."

"Amazing, you can count," she mused.

"Here," he said. "Just in case, I'll set two more cards face-down, and then end my turn."

Problem is, he's got a point, she thought. Her hand now consisted of Axe of Fools, Backup Reverse, and Pot of Acquisitiveness.

She had one idea on how to turn this around, but pulling it off would take a miracle. It was Jeb's idea, something he had mentioned in one of his magazine articles.

She lifted her arm to draw, then stopped for a few seconds. For a minute, prayer didn't sound like quite a bad idea, but she couldn't think of one right now.

She drew a card, looked at it… Then she set two of her cards on her Disk, and then turned the one she had drawn forward.

"Dragged Down into the Grave," she said. "Let's see 'em."

Freddy's expression suddenly got rather serious, but then his smirk - showing sharp fangs - returned. "You got that backwards, kid, I'm the one who does that."

She felt them grabbing at her ankles, hands from below weakling tugging at them. It took all she had not to scream. "I'm serious, let's see 'em," she said.

He shrugged, and turned his hand around. She took note of the cards (the ones she recognized) then pointed to Pot of the Forbidden.

"Well that's a surprise," he muttered. He discarded it, and she turned her last card around. "Heh, tough choice," he said. He pointed to it, she discarded the Equip, and they both drew once...

...and she almost squealed with joy before she remembered where she was. This card, along with her set cards could be the miracle, so long as she made it happen.

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Domino quickly realized that there was more to this alarm then a siren and the lights. Radios and a television came on in a room down the hall. While it would take more than noise to wake Karen from Freddy's grasp, it was obvious that the noise would likely attract the attention of anyone who was already awake. Which of course, was the point.

He shook his head and took his gloves off, hearing Beatrice again. "Domino?" she screamed. ""What the hell is going on?"

"It would seem, a burglar alarm," he replied. "One which has doubtlessly alerted the local constabulary, and probably her allies too, if not one they've activated themselves. Simply put, we've been discovered."

He waved his hand, and two of the droids let go of the arm they were holding and backed away.

"What do you mean?" she demanded. "How -"

"We'll investigate later," he said. "As soon as I apply plan B."

What she said next was muted as he switched off the receiver. He gripped Karen's arm himself...

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Contrary to popular belief, screams did not always herald great pain. This is usually because something, like the pain itself, prevented someone from find the energy to scream.

Or in Fran's case, vomiting blood.

Everything hurt, including that, but all she managed was a weak coughing spluttering and sagged against the stone wall she'd be buried into. She reflexively began to take stock of the damage she'd taken, but all her body would tell her is: 'You're fucked up.'

Her companions, however, had a bit more to say.

"Easy hun," Mai was at her side in an instant, slipping her arms under her friend and helping her up, heedless of the amount of blood now pooling beneath her. Both Melissa and Mora hovered overhead, both wanting to help, but at the same time, not wanting to get in the way.

"Camaraderie is admirable. Please. Endure the separation just a little. You will be reunited soon." Kisara's voice was laden with regal command, but there was harsh, cold edge to it. "Trespasser's Memorial."

Fran gaped, then faded from Mai's grasp like a ghost. Above the point where she had crashed into the wall, a stone tablet formed. And within its borders was Fran.

"You bitch!" Mora whirled, drawing a throwing knife from her belt in preparation to throw it. "That was my friend! Let's see how well you can sit on that throne with my knife up your-"

"Don't!" Mai's hand clamped down on the drow's wrist like a vice. Mora glared and tugged, but Mai wouldn't budge. "If you attack her, and you're next!"

"Correct. The Shadow Games are challenges, not petty violence." Kisara remarked from her throne. The white Eye of Horus was gleaming on her forehead sharply, its harsh edges matching the hard look in her blue eyes. "I warned you, trespassers. Lose and you will guard this place until the end of time."

"You're not through all of us just yet!" Mora let Mai relieve her of her knife, already producing her duel disk and shoving it onto her wrist. (MLP: 8000) "You bet I'm next, so it's my -"

"Actually, petulant child, my current turn is not yet done." Kisara's Eye of Horus faded even as one her remaining sheets glowed and split into two. "I activate another Treasure of the White God to draw twice."

One of the new ones flipped down in front of her and the other became a tall woman in ornate robes of gold and blue. Another Kisara doppleganger, this one looked far more mature and wise. "Priestess with Eyes of Blue." (0/0)

Kisara lifted a slender finger to point skywards. "I tune Priestess with Eyes of Blue with Blue-Eyes Alternative Dragon. An enduring white spirit, aged with love and time, gifted to guard your hope for all eternity. Come forth, Azure-Eyes Silver Dragon!"

Unlike a traditional Synchro Summon, no rings of light formed. Instead, Kisara's two monsters faded away and in the space of the actual tomb above her one of the tablets glowed. Light emerged from it, forming into smaller Blue-Eyes White Dragon. True to its name, it was completely silver and had blue-eyes...but it looked no less dangerous as it roared a challenge at Mora. (2500/3000) "My turn is over."

"Finally! Sick of looking at those giant lizards!" Mora practically ripped the card free from the top of her deck and slammed another one down. "I summon Edge Imp Saw in attack mode!"

Her monster was strange, a series of saw blades linked and looped together to form a ball shape. But its center was completely black, save for a pair of glowing red eyes visible between the metal. "When this monster is summoned, I can discard a Fluffal monster and draw two cards! I discard Fluffal Wings." (500/1000)

Mora dropped the card into her graveyard and picked up two more from her deck. Grabbing another one from her, she slid it back on top. "Afterwards, I have to put one card from my hand on top or bottom of my deck. But the top works the best because it goes great with my Toy Vender continuous spell card!"

Another card landed in her graveyard. "I discard one card and check the top card of my deck. If it's a Fluffal monster, I can summon it." She picked up that top card and slapped it onto her disk. "As if there was any doubt. Fluffal Mouse in defense mode." (100/100)

With small 'poof' of colorful smoke, a cartoony plush mouse appeared on her field. Barely bigger than her saw, it drifted around on a pair of tiny cute wings and was nibble on a chocolate donut. "And since he's so sickeningly cute, why not have more? I use his effect to summon two more mice!"

Two more poofs of smoke heralded the arrival of two more mice, all three completely oblivious to the roaring dragons across the way as they were absorbed in eating their donuts.

Kisara regarded Mora's monsters with skepticism. "Your ba and ka do not seem to be in alignment if this is what your duelist soul produces."

"And your sweet and innocent face doesn't match with the giant scaly reptiles up there - but I'm polite enough not to say anything!" Mora held out a spell card. "Frightfur Patchwork lets me add Polymerization and one 'Edge Imp' monster from my deck to my hand!"

Catching the two cards her deck spat out, she immediately slammed Polymerization into her disk. "I fuse Edge Imp Saw, two Mice and the Fluffal Penguin in my hand to fusion summon Frightfur Tiger!"

A plush, blue penguin joined her mice on the field and squawked happily. Then all of the plushes expression turned to terror as the Edge Imp Saw began to buzz its blades dangerously. They scrambled for safety, but found none as the Saw descended upon them all and shredded them viciously, leaving nothing but a pile of stuffing behind.

What emerged from it was frightening. It it was a torn and tattered stuffed tiger...but its upper arms and legs were gone, the limbs attached to the body via the points of scissors being jammed into place. A larger serrated pair made up its waist and the dark toy laughed obnoxiously as it stared up at the dragons. (1900/1200)

"When I use Penguin to fusion summon, I draw two cards and discard one." Mora promptly did so and pointed at her Tiger. "And since I used a total of four fusion components...well, you'll see."

Her Tiger's scissors grew massive and it laughed stupidly as it slashed through the pillars supporting the Mausoleum and then the Blue-Eyes statue behind Kisara. There was a heady groaning and the entire thing caved in, crashing down on Kisara's side of the field in avalanche.

Then light poked free of the debris and the three dragons shouldered their way free, the strength of their bulk just shoving aside everything. Kisara herself was unhurt, the dragons having shielded her with their bodies. "Until the start of my next turn, Azure-Eyes prevents all dragon monsters from being destroyed by card effects."

"...shit. Alright, you got lucky. Also, Frightfur Tiger gains three hundred attack for every toy I've got in play." Mora pointed at Azure-Eyes as her Tiger ground its scissors together hard enough to generate sparks. (2500)

"Azure-Eyes was summoned in defense mode." Kisara informed her smoothly.

A lesser person might have screamed in frustration. But Mora had children and was used to being defied, so she just settled for slamming a card into her disk and growling the next words. "End of turn."

"Draw." Kisara waved her hand and her Azure-Eyes roared suddenly, a pillar of light erupting from the ground nearby and morphing into the final Blue-Eyes White Dragon. "During my Standby Phase, Azure-Eyes revives a normal monster from the afterlife."

Said monster stood taller as it moved to attack mode and lighting surged in its jaws. "Azure-Eyes attacks your Fluffal Mouse."

Mora braced herself as the monster was blown into stuffing that caught fire as it rained on her field, her set card flipped up. "Fluffal Crane lets me add that monster back to my hand and then draw one more card, so thanks for that!"

"But it weakens your Tiger." The toy fusion was still giggling as one of the Blue-Eyes craned its head enough so it just incinerate Frightfur Tiger at point blank range. (MLP: 7200)

Mora watched as the other two Blue-Eyes stepped forwards, already charging up blasts in their mouths. She did brace herself, but it was a fruitless measure. There was no stopping the combined torrent of energy that ripped the ground and hit her like a freight train.

"Mora!" Melissa was already running towards the impact point before the attack even finished, only Mai's iron grip at her waist stopping her. "Mai! Those attacks totaled Fran! Mora won't fare much better!"

"I know, but if we interfere, we'll be put in stone slabs, too." Mai's voice was hard as her grip. "Being reckless won't get any of us out of this situation alive. We have to beat her."

Then her expression morphed into a cynical grin, like a cat that eaten poisoned canary, but found it too delicious to care. "And Mora's tough. She's a survivor. And she won't let some no-name ancient history goddess smack her around for kicks. Right, Mora?"

"Sure...whatever. I'll just lay here and let my bones knit back together...by all means, keep pep talking. It's really helpful." The drow was muttering as she endeavoured to pull herself up from the ground. Smoke was wisping away from her body, red staining the tattered edges of her clothing. "Jesus fuck, this really hurts…"

"You survived better than your friend." Kisara committed even as her dragons retreated to her side of the field.

"Not really…" Mora's words were accurate. Cuts and burns were visible even against her pitch black skin and her hair had been ripped and burnt. Her limbs were trembling to the point one good push probably would have sent her sprawling. "But like the blondes said, I've had worse." (MLP: 1200)

"As you like." Kisara seemed indifferent to Mora's plight and nodded once. "End of turn."

"I draw." Mora gingerly pulled the card free, trying to ignore the bloodstains she was leaving. "I activate Seam Reborn, returning Fluffal Penguin to play."

With a poof of smoke, the colorful penguin appeared, squawking and clapping its flippers together happily. (1600/1100)

Mora ignored it and held up another spell card. "Fusion Recovery picks up another Mouse and my Polymerization card."

Adding the two cards to her hand as they were spat out of her graveyard, she held up four cards at once. "Since the last one didn't work, let's try this once more with feeling! I fuse Penguin, my mice and Edge Imp Sabres to summon Frightfur Wolf!"

Like the Tiger before it, Wolf was a dilapidated stuffed toy missing parts that someone had felt pointy metal instruments were good replacements for. In Wolf's case, it was knives. Knives that connected its paws to its body, head to torso and made up its tail. And in the vein of Tiger, it still sported a goofy grin and dark giggling. (2000/1500)

"And since I used Penguin to fusion summon again…" Mora drew two cards and discarded one. Then she held one of the new ones up. "I activate Hidden Armory, discarding the top card of my deck to add an equip spell from there to my hand. And I'll give my new Fusion Weapon to my wolf!"

A rail-launch appeared on the toy's back, nearly crushing it with the sudden weight. "This raises its attack power by fifteen hundred and since his own special ability means he can attack a number of times equal to his components, all four of your lizards are going to die!" (2000-3500)

Laughing like a hyena, the Wolf braced itself on the ground and the rail launcher began to fire. Volleys of knives hisses through the air and perforated the dragons one after another. They all crashed to the ground, exploding into pixels that barraged Kisara like a hailstorm. (KLP: 1000)

Mora swept her last card into her disk. "I set this card face-down and end my turn."

"Draw." Kisara waved her hand and a new sheet of light appeared. "I banish Ancient Stone of Legend from the afterlife to add Blue-Eyes White Dragon to my hand."

She did so, one of the sheets glowing green before winking out alongside another and then two more reforming. "Trade In sends Blue-Eyes to the afterlife so that I may draw twice more."

One of them flipped around, revealing a mirror surrounded by dragons. "Dragon's Mirror banishes two Blue-Eyes White Dragon and Alternative Dragon to fusion summon Neo Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon."

"What? Neo!?" Mora couldn't control her surprise as once again, the three great heads of the fusion emerged from behind Kisara. But unlike before, they were more crystalline, harder and angular with lethality and promises of pain. "This is the biggest load of crap I've ever heard!"

"Burst Stream of Annihilation."

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

"I'll set two more face-down cards," declared Karen, "and because this last card is the only card in my hand, I can Special Summon the Carrier Sentinel!"

As she played the card, there was an odd siren, like the motion alarm a big truck made when it backs up. It seemed that was exactly what was happening. Sort of. The truck that was backing up behind Karen looked like a large military-issue troop carrier with tank treads, the high-power strobe headlights cutting through the inky darkness of the swamp. (1,000 ATK)

"This card's effect gets me another Beast-Warrior from my deck," she said, "and -" She stopped. Freddy seemed to think this was the funniest thing he had ever seen. "What?" she demanded

"A Machine monster that searches for a Beast-Warrior," he snarked. "I can't imagine what it could be! I mean, you really think I'd fall for that? I invented the whole 'turn the opponent's plan against him' trick!"

As Nancy found out, thought Karen.

One of Freddy's two set cards lifted up. "It's a Trap called Cloak and Dagger," he said, evilly. "I get to name any monster I can think of, and if you summon it, BANG, he's had it. So I think I'm gonna name... Beast Machine King Barbaros Ur!"

Now she was far more annoyed than she was afraid. She looked at the card she had grabbed from Carrier's effect - not Beast Machine King Barbaros Ur, as he expected, as she had something else in mind now - and pointed to Carrier Sentinel, whose lights went out as it was sacrificed.

"I summon Panther Rager!"

There was a bellow, and a new Beast-Warrior joined Mina and Caninetaur. It was obviously Panther Warrior, but he was a little younger, gruffer, had changed his outfit to a deerskin, and was now carrying an axe. (2,000 ATK)

"And it's your move."

Freddy was clearly unimpressed, but clearly a little disappointed too, likely looking forward to using that Trap. He drew a card, chuckling as he looked at it. "You know, I had a cat once. That whole thing about them having nine lives ain't true." The smile disappeared. "Now, let's see here…"

He looked at Panther Rager, then at Caninetaur. Finally, he pointed to the latter, and Dystopia's giant fist plunged towards it.

"I activate Pot of Acquisitiveness!" shouted Karen.

"Now what?" yelled Freddy.

The Quickplay Spell lifted, and a jar floated from the card with a silly, guttural chuckle. It looked like the Pot of Generosity in shape, but wider, and its face was more like that of the Pot of Avarice.

"This Spell sends three banished monsters back to my deck," she explained, "then I reshuffle and draw twice"

"Yeah, so what?" asked Freddy. "Wait -"

"It means I can use Caninetaur's effect again and discard Barbaros again!" shouted Karen.

(2,400 ATK)

The giant fist loomed down on the small Beast-Warrior, and as it was crushed, Karen's cry was weaker and shriller, even with the small buffer.

(K: 2,100) - - - - - - - - - - (F: 1,700)

Karen could feel the bruises, the sweat running down her face was mixed with blood, her teeth ached, and she was almost certain she had lost at least one.

Still...

"Got any more?" she asked.

"Just this," he grumbled. He fit another card in his Disk, and a new set one appeared.

"Course, this monster has a downside, he's the only one I can attack with. So you go now. I can't wait to see what comes next."

"Oh, I just bet you can't," she said. "I draw, and then, I'll Gemini Summon Panther Rager."

"Say what?" he yelled.

"That's right," said Karen with a nod, "he's a Gemini. And his effect is a potent one. By giving up 1,000 Life Points, I can switch his Attribute to that of the strongest monster on the field, meaning that one." She pointed to Dystopia. "And then, I sacrifice him, and all monsters on the field with that Attribute lose 400 Life Points times their Level!"

"Eh, math stinks," sighed Freddy.

The goliath demon groaned and fell on one knee as Panther Rager disappeared. (200 ATK) Mina lifted her sword, and at full gallop, charged at it…

Then, Dystopia disappeared in a loud BAMPH of smoke and the smell of sulphur.

"What happened?" gasped Karen. "You..."

Freddy pointed to his Trap Card. "Altar for Tribute, kid, a little insurance for just such an emergency."

Mina looked as surprised as Karen was, but reacted well, slamming her sword into the beast for the second time. He barely seemed to care.

(K: 1,100) - - - - - - - - - - (F: 4,300)

"I'm, uh, I'm finished," said Karen.

"That's right," said Freddy. He drew a card. "I'll summon Duston Custodian!"

The card disgorged a tall, lanky man with orange skin, a bald head, and long, pointed ears that would make any elf jealous. He wore overalls and work boots, and held a mop. (400 ATK)

"Know what he does? He brings those three Dustons back, so long as I give up 1,000 of my Life Points"

Karen didn't know what to make of this, even as the three little Fiends appeared again. Then, they and the Custodian disappeared again…

Dystopia rose from the ground again, no longer weakened, and clearly enraged. (5,000 ATK)

Karen bowed his head. She had nothing. Nothing at all. The Trap Card she had set… The worst part was, it had been part of her miracle combo, but she hadn't used it right.

She had panicked. Just like everyone else he had killed. And he was powering up to finish her.

To her complete shock, she felt a blow to her stomach even before the actual attack came, knocking on her side. She looked up and saw Mina nodding at her...

The blow had come from her hoof. Mina was trying to spare her the brunt of the attack...

"MINA!" she screamed, looking up as the giant fist thundered towards the Synchro…

Then she felt something new. Like she was being grabbed by unseen hands. Grabbed and shaken.

What was happening? Freddy and the giant Fiend started to melt away, and she heard Freddy's voice like a distant echo, getting more and more distant as she strained to hear…

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

"Shit! Mora!" Mai scrambled to her feet, ignoring the aches and pains from the shockwave that had just thrown her off her feet. The drow had been knocked out by the initial impact and was sailing across the room. Mora wasn't Fran - if she hit the wall, the wall was going to come out on top. "No!"

There was the 'whoosh' of wings and suddenly Melissa was snatching Mora out of the air gracefully, skidding to a halt with a beat of her wings.

Melissa was already taking stock of Mora's injuries - at least a concussion, blood running down her body in rivulets and burns everywhere. Then she felt Mora's body grow lighter in her arms and her eyes widened. "Oh no…"

"Trespasser's Memorial." Kisara watched dispassionately as the drow vanished, a stone slab near Fran gaining her image. "Which one of you will step forward next? The game must be finished."

"I will take you on!" Melissa reacted before Mai could even open her mouth, flying through the air to land hard on the arena.

"You are all angry, though you less so than the petulant one." Kisara seemed almost confused by Melissa's fierce expression. "You broke into my Pharoah's tomb, trespassed upon his soul and violated the territory of the gods. Surely you are all aware that failure would be the natural result of such a thing. Justice is swift."

"I am aware of exactly what we have done." Melissa said curtly, drawing herself up. She looked every inch as powerful and regal as Kisara did even as she activated her duel disk. "However, that thing behind you does not belong here and when I leave, I will be taking it and my friends with me."

Her eyes narrowed in determination. "Are you ready?" (MLP: 8000)

"Yes. You, however, are not." Kisara raised her hand and her Neo Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon's heads began to lift and charge up an attack. "It is still my attack round and by sending another soul to the afterlife, my monster may attack again as it is the only face-up card I control."

"What? She hasn't even drawn her hand!" Mai was scrambling forwards over fallen debris even as the blast of light slammed into Melissa and detonated. "Melissa!"

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

An hour after Karen's duel had been thankfully cut short...

"Looks like your tipster was on the money, Wells," said Hank.

The veteran Shadowchaser was still watching Eden as he listened over the phone, and right now, so was Jalal. Hank, however, was in Karen's room, which had been thoroughly destroyed. The bed's frame had been broken, and bloodstains were on the sheets.

Jennifer and another young recruit were sifting through the mess while two others were downstairs doing their best to keep the press away.

"Whoever got in here messed the place up, and was clearly in a hurry to leave," he said. "Nothing valuable was stolen so it's pretty obvious what they came for."

"No sign of Ms. Taft?" asked Wells.

"Well, I don't think there's enough blood to confirm she was killed, at least not here. Whoever did this left a strong variance trail, but it's gone cold."

"Yo, Hank?" said a voice.

The call came from Curt, who had come into the room while he was talking. "Think we found something. Well, it found us." He lifted an evidence bag with an envelope inside. "And no, there's no return address."

"You getting this chief?" asked Hank. "You want me to zap it to you or give it the scan test here?"

"Give it the quick scan then open it," said Jalal. "Don't think safety is much of an issue now."

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

Meanwhile...

Beatrice was still in her control room, nervously biting her nails. The screens were set to three other projects her boss was working on, but she wasn't paying much attention to any of them.

"She's here," said Domino's voice over the intercom.

The Damned Magician Girl made a sigh of relief. "Fine, have the Med-Ds bring her in."

"They are trying," replied Domino.

Beatrice was about to say something in response, but was interrupted by a loud crash, followed by, "Get your fucking hands off of me, you oversized can-opener!" This in turn, was followed by a broken Med-D being hurled into the room, with smoke pouring from a gash in the side.

She leapt to her feet, dropping her reading glasses in the process, as two more droids - also damaged, but still functioning - started to drag their captive into the room. Karen was wearing torn and blood-stained pajamas but it was clear she had put up a fight on the way here, and they were losing.

"What did you expect?" asked Domino. He stepped backwards, taking the display with cold indifference. "You specifically said 'no sedatives'."

Of course, it was doubtful now that DMG heard him. A second of the droids was even more broken than the first now, with its destroyed motor on fire, the third barely hanging onto the raging young Shadowchaser. It wasn't easy applying calming magic to a struggling foe, but Beatrice tried the best she could.

"Karen, Karen, STOP, calm down!" yelled Beatrice.

Slowly, the magic started to kick in, and Karen's anger started to fade, her wounds healing quickly. "There, there," said the sorceress. "Feel better?"

"Let me out of here, you -" she started.

"Calm down, calm down," said Beatrice, gently. "Coffee?"

Her tight grip slowly relaxed into more of a shoulder hug, and she pointed to a table where a tempting pot of steaming hot coffee and some cups sat.

Karen's stomach rumbled at the admittedly desirable aroma, but replied, "Up yours."

"Want to leave?" asked Beatrice. "Fine." She turned them both around. "Third door on the right. The portal will bring you back to your room, and your allies will be there to comfort you, I'm sure."

"Seriously?" she asked.

Beatrice nodded. "Of course, should you fall asleep again… you-know-who is waiting."

Karen didn't know whether to believe her or not, but she couldn't argue. She sat down quickly and started gulping the coffee.

"But you can't stay awake forever," added Beatrice. She sat down at the other end, where she could easily make eye contact. "Caffeine can only do so much, as most of his victims know."

"So why bother?" she asked, between gulps.

"Most believe that Freddy can only attack sleepers," answered Beatrice. "That's only partially true. He can actually only attack dreamers. If you can't dream, he can't hurt you. If androids did dream of electric sheep, he could decimate an army of them, but he'd be nearly powerless against even one of the Abber Nomads."

"So you can prevent dreams?" asked Karen, clearly doubting. "Who the hell are you?"

"Our nano-technology can let you sleep without dreaming, yes."

It slowly sank in, the realization as to why this Duel Spirit had saved her, then grabbed her and dragged her here. It was blackmail. Freddy had been a rather unsubtle motivator. Of course, figuring that out didn't exactly make her less worried, either about herself or its repercussions.

"And if I tell you where you can take your treatment and stick it?" she asked.

The sorceress' smile turned wicked for a brief moment. "Should you leave here before you do, said treatment would simply stop working, being separated from its power source, leaving you at Freddy's mercy. Or rather, lack of it thereof. You'll have to finish the duel where you left off."

Karen started to speak but the Spirit answered her: "The time passes in the dream realm differently, child, a second there can equal years here. It's all explained in your contract, which I suggest you sign."

It was then that Karen noticed a paper and pen on the table next to her, along with a small pine box. As she picked it up and tried to read, her head felt woozy, her vision blurring.

Probably drugged the coffee, she thought.

Her hand shook as she picked the pen up.

"Good girl," said Damned Magician Girl. She watched as the Shadowchaser wrote her name on the space slowly.

This one should be easy to manipulate, she thought. So long as we can keep the threat alive – and contained.

She opened the box, revealing a pendant similar to the one they had made Sofia wear, but green rather than red.

She slowly picked it up.

"Good girl," repeated Damned Magician Girl, slowly.

Karen placed it around her neck, and heard it fasten with a soft snap. Right away, she felt warmer as a soothing feeling spread over her bruises and wounds

But somehow, it made her feel worse than the noose he had tried to hang her with.

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

Usually, Jalal would have felt safer had the forensics lab studied the sealed envelope thoroughly, using the standard curse and spell detecting methods before opening it. Possibly even used less traditional methods in this case. The "quick scan" was a shortcut that took only ten minutes, but not as efficient, and likely would contaminate the note as far as finding any actual evidence.

And it wasn't solely the kidnapping of one of his men (something that seemed to be happening far more than ever now) being the reason he was willing to break protocol, even though that was a big part of it.

"Okay, doesn't seem to have anything the junior set can find," said Hank. "So here goes."

He slipped the letter open, and found he had presumed right. Whoever wrote it was clearly in a hurry, having written a brief message with a ballpoint pen: "Illsensine's Pardon offered, Gold Clover, 15:00 UTC".

"What in the world does that mean?" asked Jennifer.

"Chief, you getting this?" asked Hank.

"Loud and clear," said Jalal. "Gold Clover probably means the casino in Monte Carlo, and 15:00 UTC means three o'clock Coordinated Universal Time, which is," he stopped to check his watch, "about four hours from now, but I have no idea what Illsensine's Pardon is."

"And he's the guy in charge?" asked Curt.

"I heard that," grumbled Jalal. "Well, Ilsensine is obviously a god worshipped by the illithids, but I have no idea what -"

"It's not a pardon, it's an ultimatum." The voice came from Eden, who was bowing her head, not lifting it to speak. "Ever hear the legend of the Mad God Diinkarazan?"

Nobody said anything for a minute, as that was even less familiar.

"Diinkarazan," said Wells. "Diinkarazan, wait, wait, that sounds kind of like…"

"Diirinka," answered Eden, "a derro who was once regarded as a hero by his people, much the same way Robin Hood was." She lifted her head. "He was a thief who stole from misers and despots, using his spoils to benefit his people. Thing is, the myths tend to leave an important part of his life out. He and his brother Diinkarazan made the mistake of trying to steal divine treasures from Ilsensine's vaults."

"I kind of doubt Robin Hood would be that foolish," added Wells.

"Oh, it was very foolish," continued Eden. "They were caught in the act, and Diirinka stabbed his brother in the back, fleeing and leaving Diinkarazan to die in his stead. Thing is, Diinkarazan didn't kill the poor bastard, to this day, he suffers the punishment that, by all rights, his brother should have gotten, unimaginable torments in the Far Realm, his screams of anguish and terror sounding in the derro's nightmares. This is what made them fudge the ritual they used to open the portal to that place that drove them mad. Ironic, seeing as the magic they used was what Diirinka had stolen.

"So why did the heroic thief Diirinka never try to rescue his brother? Because the myths that called him a hero were all lies were all lies. He was a selfish asshole who figured anything a guy could take was rightfully his. No matter who he had to betray."

"So, uhm, Ilsensine's Pardon is…" asked Wells.

"It's a threat, Wells," replied Eden, "as in, a threat to deliver a comeuppance upon Karen they intend for someone else. If Ilsensine had been the type to barter and negotiate, he might have made such a threat.

"To complete the analogy, I'm Diirinka, Karen is Diinkarazan. The message means that unless I'm at Gold Clover Casino in Monte Carlo to surrender at 15:00 UTC, the comeuppance Karen faces at that time is death."

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

"Crazy bitch, stupid, knows so much…" grumbled Oswald.

He was in the employee lounge at Copek again, shifting through the large stack of magazines, comic books, and manga again, grumbling and cursing as he perused them. He looked through a magazine with pictures of Tommy Lee Jones, Drew Barrymore, and Debbie Mazar in Batman Forever, then one with Aeon Flux, then one with Xena, Warrior Princess.

"You break up with Rosie Palms, Oswald?" said Emily's sly voice.

Oswald looked up and saw her with that "come hither" look, having changed outfits again, this time to a "sexy pirate costume", the plunging neckline and revealing midriff including a short skirt and buccaneer hat

"Go away," he growled.

"Aw, what's wrong?" she asked. She slid over beside him on the couch. "Tough guy not so tough?"

She was trolling him, of course, and he knew it, but it was hard for anyone to ignore an emordenung's deep, husky voice.

Inside, he was screaming.

She had told him once that she was the method Sylvester would use to get rid of him, if need be, and had promised at the time she'd wear something new if it came to that. This was a new one, at least one he'd never seen. And worse, she made it a point to always do this when she did have a new one. Just to scare him and remind him to behave. She had always backed down, but it would only take one time…

"That whole thing with the gryphon won't look good if the boss finds out," she whispered into his ear. "Just so you know…"

"Must you?" he asked.

Then her voice turned irked and annoyed. "I'm practicing for Ferd," she said. She pushed him over and got up. "When he gets back, let him know that, okay?"

As she walked away, he exhaled. Then he looked at her behind as she sauntered off...

Then he hit himself on the side of the head to clear it. Bitch, he thought. He went back to the stack he was looking through, with renewed thoughts getting even with her and he others.

Chicken fingers, he thought. Real funny. He lifted one of the magazines and smiled evilly. Well, you know what they say, to make a great omelette, you gotta break a few eggs…

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

Speaking of which…

"Stay back!" the Shadow Spawn of Light hollered. The roiling blue light was scattered as a golden sheen pushed through it, revealing Melissa still standing inside a shimmering barrier. It rippled and faded, the assimar's wings being ruffled showing the only effect of the attack besides her tumbling life points. (MLP: 3500)

"I send another monster to the afterlife to allow my monster to attack again." Kisara pointed and her dragon charged up another blast. "Your barrier will not protect you this time."

"My friend will! I activate Fran's set card!" Melissa snapped her fingers and it flipped up. "The quick-play spell Quick Summon lets me immediately summon a monster from my hand!" She slapped a card down and it appeared just in time to catch the Burst Stream. There was a scream inside the explosion, but Melissa was protected from the backlash.

She smiled as a small rain of feathers scattered in the around her. "You destroyed my Shining Angel and when it dies in battle, I can summon a creature of light from my deck that has fifteen hundred or less attack points."

Her deck shot out a card and she caught, twirling between her fingers dramatically before slapping it into place "Legendary Demon Slayer- Dante!"

A figure flipped out of the treeline, landing dramatically in front of Melissa in flash of billowing red leather. A cocky grin flashed out from underneath his white hair and blue eyes and he seemed to regard Kisara and her dragon as a challenge. (1500/1500)

"When Dante's summon, I can give him a Devil Arms from any location! Rebellion is yours!" With a 'shing!', a massive broadsword crashed into the stone in front of Dante. It had a skull-crossed hilt and despite its size, Dante wrenched it free casually and twirled it like it was a baton before resting over his shoulder. "This raises his attack by one thousand." (2500)

"Very well." Kisara idly reached up and stroked one of the massive monster's heads. "End of turn."

"Draw!" Melissa did so and plugged a card into her disk. "I activate Star of Devil Blood. This means I can place a Devil Counter on Dante. And then I can expend that counter to activate Rebellion's Devil Trigger! This doubles his attack points for the round!"

Dante's eyes flashed red and he grinned again before energy exploded around him. When it cleared, his features had a charcoal-gray demonic cast, highlighted by even his coat having morphed into demonic style and glowed with energy along its edges. "Dante, attack and destroy her dragon! Danse Macabre!" (5000)

Her monster vanished, reappearing in the air in front of the throne. Arcs of light traced the path of his sword as he spun, flipped and twirled like a ballerina around the snapping dragon heads. Landing on the top throne, he twirled the weapon in front of him and then flipped away. Even before he landed, slash marks were opening up on the heads and with a defiant roar, all three of them crumbled apart in an explosion of furious light. (KLP: 500)

Dante reverted back to his human form, mockingly saluting Kisara while Melissa just smirked coldly. "Your dragon is gone."

"And it shall be avenged." Kisara responded and a deep, musical roar echoed about the chamber. "Since you destroyed a Blue-Eyes monster, the dragon with eyes as deep as stars descends to cast its rage upon you. Appear now, Deep-Eyes White Dragon."

The 'ceiling' began to part, white-blue light spilling forth as a dragon descended through the gap. It was far more slender and sinuous than the traditional Blue-Eyes, lacking forelimbs entirely. But it made up for it in sheer presence, two massive wings sprawling out to either side. Not entirely scale, not entirely feathers, they shone with light and connecting the two was a massive arch that sparked with energy. It let loose another musical roar and fixed a endless gaze upon Melissa angrily.

"You've gone well out of Egyptian mythos by now." Melissa said, even as she and Dante both braced themselves.

"The White God is one of its own." Kisara responded evenly and her monsters began to gather light in its wings. Images of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, Neo Ultimate, Assault Wyvern, the traditional Ultimate Dragon, Azure-Eyes and a two-headed Blue-Eyes appeared alongside it. "When this card is special summoned by its effect, for every differently named dragon in the afterlife, six hundred points are stripped away from you. Wrath of White!"

"What!?" Melissa's eyes widened and then she shrieked as the floor erupted in pillar of white light. It swallowed her up like a storm, drowning out her cries. (MLP: 0)

Kisara and Mai watched, one calmly and the other with wide eyes, as the light faded and Melissa swayed on her feet, wings shedding smoldering feathers and sparks of energy arcing over her twitching form.

Then she blinked and her stance tightened, slamming a foot into the ground so hard it cracked the stone. "Damnation...I lost…"

She glanced towards Mai and shook her head soberly. "Sorry. It wasn't enough."

"Take five, hun." Mai swallowed the lump in her throat and produced her duel disk, slipping it onto her wrist. "I'll take it from here."

"Trespasser's Memorial." Kisara didn't let Melissa get a chance to respond, the half-angel fading away and reappearing alongside her two defeated comrades.

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

Karen had expected them to use shackles, or some other form of physical restraint. Still, while this - device (it was hard to describe it otherwise) was humiliating and degrading, she couldn't help but be a little intrigued.

It consisted of gloves (or rather, mitts), shoes, a belt, and a large collar that covered her shoulders, and it all was neither leather nor metal, but some sort of substance that seemed oddly in-between. It also had flexible cords that bound the belt to the gloves and shoes, the shoes together, and the shoulders to the gloves.

She had once tried to stop the strange Med-Ds from placing it on her, but trying to move her arms after putting the pendant on seemed to take effort. Now, it was hard simply to move.

Beatrice was watching four of them working with some sort of IV device that had been plugged into the back of the collar.

"Is this really necessary?" snapped Karen.

"Actually, this is the most recent innovation in nano-technology," explained Beatrice. "We're working on a less encumbering version, but for now, it allows us more direct control of the nanos. And with that, more control of you."

Before Karen could reply to that, she was interrupted. "Here, eat this before you nod off."

Karen felt something being fed to her - after a few seconds, her eyes shot open. Chocolate-covered coffee beans.

"Behave yourself and you can leave in a week," replied Beatrice. "We should have what we need then."

"So why me?" she asked.

"It's not personal, child," she cooed. "Our employer analyzed you and a few of your allies on the best chance of a successful defeat and capture." Again, she held Karen in a grim facsimile of a friendly hug. "Yours was highest."

"He was right," mumbled Karen. "Math stinks."

Her voice was slower and sluggish when she stated that. Beatrice shoved another of the candies into her mouth, but it was clear caffeine alone wasn't going to keep sleep at bay much longer.

"I used to be a justicar, years ago," she went on, raising her voice and getting closer. "It's like bounty hunting, but when you absolutely cannot bring back a corpse. You have to learn to fight and restrain but not kill. Harder than it looks sometimes."

It was clear that she was trying to keep Karen's mind focused so she'd stay awake, but it was hardly working. As she started to nod off again, she barely heard Beatrice yell, "Hurry up!" to someone other than her.

"We're going as fast as we can," answered Domino's voice. "This is a new process."

Normally, hearing that during a medical procedure would make the subject scream. But she was too tired now to be scared.

Then it was too much. She fell dead asleep.

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

Kisara's dark stare focused on Mai. "You alone remain. Will you plead for mercy?"

"No." Mai strode up to the spot her teammates had been standing in with steel in her stride. "We're going to get that Memory Crystal from you. Once we have a job, we either win or go until none of us are standing. Failure is not an option." (MLP: 8000)

"Strong words." Kisara nodded in agreement. "I do not fault your courage."

"In a moment, you aren't going to fault my skill. I'm nearly one hundred years old, hun." Mai drew her opening hand. "And I've been playing this game since the start. That crystal may have taught you the rules and the cards, but it will never give you the experience."

"Events have proven otherwise."

"Not really. You've got a lot surprises. But…" Mai gave Kisara a knowing look. "We've destroyed them all without really trying. And you can't use them forever."

"Believe as you like." Kisara rewarded Mai's chiding words with a harsh scowl. "The turn is still yours."

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

"Boy, that was close," said Beatrice's voice.

Karen slowly woke up. She saw her captor through cell bars.

"Now what?" she groaned.

"We managed to get the program activated just in time, Karen. Sleep, the nanos should prevent dreams. Just don't try anything stupid. The nanos have several other programs we can activate any time we want, and they have a few that can activate on their own. In certain conditions."

Karen tried to open her eyes a little, but it was pointless. She collapsed, in a deep slumber.

Damned Magician Girl watched anxiously. It seemed to be working - no sign of any fitful nightmares.

Thank God, she thought. Now for stage two….

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

For the first time in a while, Jalal really had no idea how to handle this. Deciding whether one of his men lived or died due to the demands of an enemy was a decision he had thankfully only have to make a few times in his career. But never had such a decision required sacrificing someone else, much less an ally, and on such a short time frame. He assumed.

Eden was leaning against the wall with her back to them, wondering how this could have happened.

"Four hours,," sighed Wells. "Terrific."

"Actually, it's more like three hours, forty minutes now," added Eden.

"You're not helping." snapped Wells.

Jalal was searching for something to say. Fortunately, Jabels picked that time to speak.

"Typical," he said with a frown, "this being of Ultimate Law has no respect for them whatsoever, and he's getting away with it."

"Hey, hey, this ain't the Good Ship Lollipop, fellah," said Eden. She sat down at the table as she spoke. "This is a varakhut we're talking about. Not 'law', but LAW. This guy eats, sleeps, and breathes it, his motor is fueled by it, literally." she barely even noticed the alarmed look from Jalal as she spoke. "Laws you have on the books in the town hall were thought up by mortals,and they see them as expendable when dealing with the big stuff. Kind of like how the restaurant critic at the New York Times wouldn't bother wasting paper on some third rate hash-house in Newark."

"Speaking of the big stuff," said Jalal, "I don't believe anyone ever claimed a varakhut was involved."

Eden didn't reply right away this time, but the expression on her face showed everyone she really regretted saying that.

"I'll make it an easy choice for you," she said in a meek tone. "I'm surrendering." Noticing the look on his face, she resumed her normal tone. "I take it I'm allowed to do that? You think I don't deserve it? I've done some bad things in my time, Jalal, made money as a hired gun, mercenary, thief, and sometimes a slaver. If I thought I could get more if I let Karen take the fall for me, I'd do it in an instant. Problem is, I can't get what I want that way this time. Believe me, it's better for all involved if you do what they say."

"We can at least try to barter with them," added Jalal. "Jabels, Wells, meet me in my office. We need to have words."

Better be damn quick ones, thought Wells.

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

"Here's my move," said Mai, "and she's been in the game as long as Blue-Eyes has, Harpie Lady!" I'll summon a monster who has been around as long as those Blue-Eyes have. Harpie Lady!" In a flurry of a feathers, the iconic winged woman appeared with a screech and struck a pose. "Of course, this is the #1 version, so she gets to raise all of the attack of my wind monsters by three hundred." (1300/1400-1600)

Mai flipped around a spell card. "But like many things, one sexy lady is good and two is better. Elegant Egotist calls out a second Harpie Lady #1." Her monster glowed and in a kaleidoscope of colors, split into a blue-haired and orange haired version of itself. Dante, for his part, eyed the two female monsters up and wolf whistled. (1900x2)

"I set one card face-down and activate the field spell Harpie Performance Aviary!" The forest of Valarian crumbled away and in its place rose what looked like a dance club stage. It was, appropriately enough, placed in what appeared to be a giant tree. Pulsing lights flashed in time to the techno beat it generated, though thankfully at moderate levels so the duelists could hear themselves think. "My turn is over."

"Draw." Kisara watched as the sheet of light appeared before her and gestured. "Deep-Eyes White Dragon attacks Dante with White Shine!"

Light began to gather in the arch between its wings and the dragon's maw, but Mai just pointed at her set card and it flipped up. Her two Harpies alighted the stage of her field spell and took a joint pose. "Harpie Lady Sparrow Formation negates your attack and ends your battle phase!"

Golden red flames ignited around her monsters and then flew into the air, the light from the shining dragon scattering harmlessly as it impacted against the flames. The backlash sent both Harpies crashing back to the ground, but they were unharmed. Mai, meanwhile, was catching a card her deck spat out. "And since I activated a Formation card while the stage is in play, I can add another one from my deck to my hand."

Kisara looked nonplussed that her attack had been defeated and it was easy to tell why. She had plowed through the other three duelists in short order and to her mind, her last victory would come just as easily. "End of turn."

Mai drew and then tossed another card from her hand onto her disk. With a more melodious cry than the others, a new Harpie flew down on the stage. White wings, harem pants and top gave her an exotic look and she held a tambourine in one hand. "Harpie Dancer, in attack mode." (1200-1800)

The three Harpies struck another joint pose as they took to the stage again. "And with three dancers, comes a more powerful performance. Harpie Roc Formation lets me summon an animal typing of monster from my Extra Deck, so let's give this performance piece a leading lady!"

Golden-white flames ignited around her monsters this time, transforming into a bird shape that let out a soundless cry and folded its wings around itself. When they opened, standing in front of the other Harpies was a monster that looked almost identical to Mai. She was clearly human, a butterfly-themed Harpie mask adding to her allure, while a thorn-covered whip added to her edge. Still, the other Harpies gave her bows of respect as she strutted forwards to the edge of the stage and gave Deep-Eyes a mocking smile. "Harpie Empress!" (2600/2800)

The Empress cracked her whip and the Harpies all fell in line beside her, energy flowing between them. "Though she has no Overlay Units, my Empress' personal power strengthens all Harpie Ladies by three hundred for each one in play. As she counts as one among the many, that is a twelve hundred point bonus!" (1800-3000) (1900-3100x2) (2800-4000-4600)

Mai slid a spell card into her disk. "Thanks to Performance Aviary, I have another Formation card to use and this one is bad luck for you! Harpie Raven Formation negates the effects of all cards you have in play, which means Harpie Empress can total your dragon and your life points!"

Her three standard Harpies took to the air and black fire formed around, becoming a screeching raven that flew toward Kisara's field and bathed in flames. Her dragon roared and staggered, crumpling to the ground as its light faded away. Harpie Empress shot towards the crippled beast, taloned hand draw back to strike.

Kisara's last sheet of light broke apart into pixels and flew into her dragon. Suddenly revitalized, it reared up and began to charge an attack even as Mai's monster slashed its head apart into ribbons. "Honest increases the power of my monster by yours. And when Deep-Eyes dies, it avenges its own death destroying all monsters in play. Endless Wrath!"

Mai didn't even have time to shield her face as the Deep-Eyes White Dragon just exploded violently, light flying everywhere and her monsters be vaporized where they stood. The shockwave slammed into her and she dug her heels in. The stone cracked beneath her boots, giving way as she was forcibly moved backwards. But she didn't fall and when the light cleared, Kisara was regarding her with an appraising look. "You are quite formidable."

"I've been doing this a long time. And Potions of Eternal Youth don't hurt." Mai replied and moved back to her spot, wincing at the smoldering, scoured playing field. "I set one card face-down and end my turn."

"Draw." Kisara did so and the sheet of light glowed green. "Revival of Dragon is a spell that can call back a Blue-Eyes White Dragon from the afterlife." The sheet morphed into the roaring Blue-Eyes and without waiting for an order, it fired a blast of White Lightning across the field.

It blew over Mai, but when it cleared, she was merely wincing from the damage. (MLP: 5000)

Kisara didn't comment, but her eyes narrowed pensively. "End of turn."

"Told you. You're running out of tricks." Mai drew for her turn and then slid a card onto her disk. "I set one monster in defense mode. End of turn."

Kisara drew and the sheet of light immediately flowed into her Blue-Eyes. "Megamorph empowers my monster by double because my life is lower than yours." Her Blue-Eyes crackled with fresh energy, arcs of it lancing away dangerously. "White Lightning." (3000-6000)

"Activate Floral Shield!" A giant metal rose appeared in front of her monster, unfolding just in time to completely block the super-charged attack. "Your attack is negated and I draw one card."

Kisara's face tightened again and her lips thinned. "End of turn."

"Draw." Mai did so and snapped her fingers, the lights of her Performance Aviary centering on her. "I can shuffle any five Formation cards from my hand and graveyard into my deck to draw two cards!"

She swiftly did so and then pointed at her set monster. It vanished, replaced brawny blue-haired woman dressed in tiger themed clothing and wielding a broad scimitar. "I sacrifice my set monster for Amazoness Queen." (2400/1800)

Grabbing another card from her hand, she plugged her into disk. "I activate Amazoness Bloodlines! I give up one thousand life points and tribute my Amazoness Queen! Depending on the attribute of a monster you control, time and space give way and I can call one of her descendants!"

Of course, the irony of what came next was not lost on Mai; the monster that popped out of the card - the Time Wizard - had been one that caused her trouble long, long ago, a memory that now seemed so distant. But there was no time to reminisce. It lifted its staff, and magical numbers spilled from it as the hands started to turn, numbers that formed into dates, that started to increase, slowly at first, then at high speed.

Mai smirked as Amazoness Queen was engulfed in white. "Since the only monster you have is light, I can reach far into the future. Father than your Memory Crystal probably shows!

"Athens may crumble, Olympus may tumble, but bloodlines may endure, and by endurance become legacies!"

The tomb seemed to melt away, as the dates spun faster, decades, centuries, and finally, millennia passing, until coming to a rest on 3299 AD as a far more modern arena took its place. A spotlessly clean metallic walls and floors, odd canisters along the walls, and most notably, a glass panel behind her with a spectacular view of stars and a large planet.

"I summon Legacy Amazoness Epoch Dawn!"

Light bloomed briefly around her monster, clearing to reveal someone else entirely. Ragged black hair was pulled back in a loose ponytail. Unlike her now-distant ancestor, she was clad in solid-looking armor. Her right arm was the only thing bare and that was because it was entirely metal itself. She eyed the Blue-Eyes and casually flexed her right hand. The hilt of a sword appeared in her hand with a "click-snap", and she brandished it at the Dragon, a 'snap-hiss thrum' causing it to ignite and turn into a laser sword. (2400/1800)

"Don't think I'm done, though- like I said before, one sexy lady is good, two is better! The spell card Amazoness Beast Mastery lets me summon a Beast, Winged-Beast, or Beast-Warrior from the deck or graveyard, so let's give a warm return to Harpie Empress!"

Epoch Dawn hit a button on her wrist and with a flash of feathers and light, Harpie Empress descended from the darkness above the stage. She took a sexy pose and cracked her whip, clearly pissed at having been destroyed.

Kisara's expression grew more openly concerned, though her dragon simply roared at the two women, clearly not intimidated.

Mai grinned broadly as she slid one more card into her disk. "This card was a gift from a dear friend of mine! I activate the continuous spell card Unity of Earth and Sky!" The card materialized in front of her, depicting Harpie Empress clasping hands with an Amazoness that also looked strikingly similar Mai upon a back of forest and sky. "This card means all Harpies now also count as Amazoness monsters and vice versa! Which mean this trap might be just as old as I am, but does exactly what I need! Aqua Chorus activates!"

The trap card flipped up, both of her monsters suffused with a blue glow. At the same time, Harpie Empress' green glow spread to Epoch Dawn. "Since they're both Harpie Ladies, Empress gives them both six hundred points and Aqua Chorus gives them five hundred more!" (3500) (3700)

As both monsters charged, Harpie Queen seized Epoch Dawn's wrist and with a roundhouse spin, hurled the other woman like a rocket towards the Blue-Eyes. "Epoch Dawn can add the attack of all other Amazoness monsters to another on the field once per round, meaning your dragon and your life points are finished!" (3500-7200)

Kisara closed her eyes as Epoch Dawn slashed her Blue-Eyes in two, the dragon spilling forth light from the wound. But unlike previously, it simply expended itself into nothingness. Blue-Eyes faded away into sparkles and the Shadow Game around them ribboned away into the ether.

"I am defeated." (KLP: 0)

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

"I've been doing some research on platonics and Mechanus in general," said Jalal as he and the other two stormed into his office, leaving the door open as he went to his desk. "I was really hoping it wasn't this bad."

An old tome was on the edge of the desk, which he promptly opened to a dog-eared page, then turned a few. "This is the guy you saw, I assume?" he asked.

"Yeah, that's him, that's Diogenes," said Wells. The illustrator clearly hadn't done the platonic justice, seeing as it was a pencil sketch, but the resemblance was clearly there. It was on a page opposite one that looked like something from a college mathematics textbook, the formulae and equations interspersed between words in confusing handwriting.

"Well, that's a quarut," continued Jalal, "and this," he turned the page, "is a varakhut."

Even Wells flinched when he saw this illustration. It was a… thing that defied the basic humanoid shape.

If you could imagine a being made of three-dimensional geometric shapes, segments of the body connected in a way that didn't truly physically connect, you might have the general idea. Its torso was like an inverted obelisk perched on a downward-pointing cone, and its arms were of similar shape. Each part of the blocky-looking being had uncomfortably sharp points and edged rims.

"As Eden said, a platonic enforces the natural laws of the universe, and they tend to be pragmatic. The less powerful ones deal with laws that are broken more often, seeing as such constructs are needed more often and are easier to replace."

"And consequently," said Jabels, "more powerful ones deal with more dire problems."

"Yes," replied Jalal. "Obligatum was a kolyarut, which is penny-ante to such beings, dealing with enforcing oaths and contracts. Stronger ones punish beings who try to defy laws that govern nature and life, and in the case of a quarut, those that govern the structure of space and time, punishing those who defy such laws.

"A varakhut is one of the rarest types of platonics, mostly because it enforces a type of Law that is rarely broken and rarely challenged, at least not successfully. They protect the integrity of divinity, punishing those who attempt to usurp the power of the gods or challenge their authority."

"That's a bad thing?" asked Wells. "Some of them could stand to be humbled a little. Given all that Zeus supposedly did…"

"True, Zeus was an arrogant, egotistical, lustful, tyrant with a bad temper," said a voice from the shadows. "And he may indeed have deserved to be knocked from his high horse. But, had it happened, the consequences could have been cataclysmic."

"Glad you could make it, Voltaire," said Jalal, not seeming to be that bothered by how Voltaire had, yet again, suddenly appeared in the corner of the room as though he had been there all along.

"Yeah well I'd be a lot gladder if you wore a bell or something so we know when you're about to drop in!" Wells said having nearly leapt straight up in the air a second ago. But he was even more startled now, as whenever Voltaire used that tone, it meant something really dire was afoot.

Oh please," continued the old Shadowchaser, "a little case of rattled nerves once in awhile is good for you! Keeps a fellow on edge and considering the circumstances we had best start learning to walk on our tip-toes."

"Anyway, back to what I was saying, while I'm sure everyone in this room can make a potent argument over why one or two particular gods could have used a good whack upside the head-"

"Not least of all you Voltaire," Jalal said in a tone as dry as dead grass." The Knights of Domiel have made it perfectly clear to you in the restraining order they filed."

"And as I have told you time and time again, at no point did I actually insist on having Father Gasglione renounce their order and take up a (very successful I might add) career in running an animal shelter. I simply visited him every day in the hospital and had long civil conversations as to the drawbacks of working for a god who is less the embodiment of Justice, and more apparently the embodiment of 'Justifiable Homicide'."

Jalal was sorely tempted to bring up the fact that Voltaire had been the one to put Father Gasglione in the hospital in the first place courtesy of a lead pipe after finding him attempting to kill a newborn litter of hellhounds, but conversations with Voltaire were like snakes, unless you cut the head off it would just keep right on going.

"You were saying something about the drawbacks of attempting to remove deities from power Voltaire?" interrupted Wells.

"Hmm? Oh! Rightrightrightso sorry, ahem. Yes, while I'm sure we all have moments where we would like to see a god or two knocked off their high horse, the consequences for doing so can be nothing short of apocalyptic.

"Gods are not simply powerful beings with an affinity for a concept they govern, Wells, They embody those concepts. A perfect example of this is the video game that was mentioned yesterday, God of War, I believe? The protagonist ascends Mount Olympus en route to his inevitable final battle with Zeus, but not before killing every other resident of the Mount in his path, and with each one slain the world starts to tumble into 's death causes violent storms, Helios' decapitation casts the world into darkness, Hades' death causes the souls of the dead to run riot among the living. And Hermes...causes a plague of flies for some reason,"

Voltaire paused and tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Never really did understand that one, but then again, he wasn't really representing anything as fundamental as the oceans or the afterlife."

"The point being...?" Jalal urgently rolled his hand in a gesture for Voltaire to get to the end of his train of thought before it jumped clean off the rails.

"Er, well pretty much to sum things up, the gods may not be perfect, but we'd be in one HELL of a mess if people suddenly decided to start bumping them off left and right. Which is why varakhuts exist in the first place. Thing is I've never even heard of a Platonic in this weight class going haywire. Even the one that ran amok in Satellite was almost unprecedented in this neck of the cosmos. How a varakhut could become so misguided is completely beyond me."

"How do you know it did?" asked Jabels.

"Pardon?" asked Voltaire.

"How do we know it is misguided?" asked Jabels. "Maybe it does have a legitimate reason for going after Eden."

"I don't like where this is going," said Jalal.

"Well, think about it," said Jabels, "so far, here's what we know. Philip's group doesn't like this guy either, and Philip practices Wild Magic and uses an illegal and highly dangerous magic item. We also know that someone in the Feywood has tried to pass something to us simply to avoid attention. Why should we trust them over these folks."

"Excellent question Jabels," Voltaire piped up having been mulling this new line of thought over in his head. "Things are rarely ever as cut and dry as we might like. After all despite Eden's background and taste in cards-"

"This coming from a Wight duelist," Jabels muttered under his breath.

"- she has done the best she can to cooperate with us thus far. Whereas while it's possible the varakhut isn't in fact malfunctioning, thus far it's organization has resulted in several deaths and seen fit to operate using demonic assassins and, whatever the hell Joka is."

"Look, let's not be so quick to judge Eden," added Wells, "I'm starting to like her."

"Quiet!" ordered Jalal. "We only have a few hours left, and I don't think this is a bluff. Wells, I have a pretty good idea what at least part of their plan is."

He tapped a switch underneath his desk, causing the top to become covered with a holographic 3D world atlas. It zoomed in on Africa four times, then zoomed in further on Monaco, then once more on Monte Carlo.

"The Gold Clover is part of the city's ten-year £50 billion renovation product, which also included an amusement park, several nightclubs, theaters, and restaurants, and a D-Wheel track that spans the entire city in a double cloverleaf pattern. It has multiple off-ramps, can accommodate multiple Riding Duels simultaneously, and the casino itself is directly in the center of the hub. It's possible to view riding duels from the casino's dining rooms and game floors, and often some of the guest rooms. And there are four other off-ramps that provide routes out of the city."

"So your assumption is,I assume," said Wells,, "that they're planning an ambush, seal the area with the same magic they used to prevent escape via teleportation last time, and use the D-Wheel track to bypass said magic after grabbing Eden?"

"Exactly," replied Jalal. "And while you are doing that, we have a few perps to sweat…" He opened a folder in front of him, and revealed several newly processed files of arrests made in the past few days. The mug shots of Ezekiel, Toadpipe, and Aysis looked back at him.

Somebody knows something, he thought, and the key to all this involves us knowing it to...

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

Epoch Dawn closed her eyes as the space station around her faded, right before she did. Mai opened her mouth to start to demand something, then turned around as there was a few sharp cries and the sound of bodies crashing to the floor, along with a voice that, to Mai, was a relief.

"What happened...I remember kind of... dying...and then now I'm not...not complaining...just...ugh.." Fran was atop the pile, apparently pointedly using the other two women as braces to haul herself to her feet. She was indeed uninjured and merely looked exhausted. She caught sight of Mai standing with her Duel Disk and smiled a bit. "Ah. Grandma got a chance to duel. That explains that."

"You make it sound so easy, like we should have let her go first." Mora groused as she got to her feet. "Don't thank the rest of us who got stuck in stone trying to avenge you."

"Hey, I would have done the same." Fran shrugged and then gave Mora a hug. "But thank you for trying to murder something for my sake."

"I won't make it a habit." Mora deadpanned as she pointedly didn't return the hug."Avenging you, I mean. Murdering people is my job."

Melissa dusted herself off and shook out her hair. "Please save your loving bickering until we have retrieved the Memory Crystal and escaped the tomb with the god who wants to destroy us."

"No, I will honor our arrangement." Kisara said strongly. "You have defeated me and so this treasure is yours. It is not owned during my Pharaoh's life and arrived on its own, so parting with it is not altogether troublesome."

Her features took on an icy cast and all four women felt chills down their spine. "Disturb nothing else. Take nothing else. Or the shadows will devour your body and soul."

"Got it. Thank you." Fran carefully stepped over to the Memory Crystal and reached for it, pausing when the eyes suddenly shifted around a bit. "Oh crap...right. If we bother it, it's going to teleport away. Really don't want to wake it up."

"I have a solution." Melissa approached the crystal, nudging Fran gently out of the way. She held out her hands carefully and closed her eyes. There was dead silence for a minute and then green light emitted from her hands. It coated the crystal before fading away. It's eyes opened and zipped around wildly in a panic.

"Melissa. Great. You didn't scare it…" Mora produced a knife and then backed away as the thing began to rock violently. "You pissed it off!"

"Also have a solution for that." Melissa produced a moderately sized drawstring bag and opened it. Despite the disparity in size, she was able to drag it out over the crystal entirely and zip the drawstrings shut with not a problem. "I have cast Dimensional Anchor over the Crystal and this Bag of Holding will make it easier to transport."

"Right. So we get to leave now." Fran glanced warily at Kisara, who nodded and she began to usher the other women out. "And put your haz suits back on. We didn't survive fighting a deity just to screwed with that dust out there!"

The other women groaned mildly.

"Do not forget the other half of your promise." Kisara called warningly after them. "This tomb must never be disturbed again. If it is, the consequences will be dire."

"Right...forgot about that bit. What are we supposed to do?" Mora asked out of the corner of her mouth as the women exited.

Mai smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry, hun. I've been doing this job long enough to bring all the essentials."

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Jemorille: Alpha Crystal Delta was now in safe hands, so ironically, Eden's plan was actually ahead of schedule. And as the four partners made plans to deliver their quarry, a new addition to the plan was starting to form for her.

She had not been lying about her willingness to turn herself in, nor were her claims of her lack of concern for her own life. Her intentions however, were a bit more complex than she led on.

For now, she had to go along with Jalal's idea.

"Joyride" is next. Riding Duel, Acceleration!

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For sake of space this time, I'll omit the anime only cards. Email me if you need info on them:

Garden of Valarian

Field Spell Card

Effect: Once per turn, you can banish one card from your Hand. Special Summon one Beast, Beast-Warrior or Winged Beast-type monster that is banished. If this card is destroyed, you can select one Beast, Beast-Warrior or Winged Beast-type monster that is banished and add it to your Hand.

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Phantom Unicorn (Effect Monster)

Beast/Earth/Lvl6/0/0

Effect: Once per turn, if this card is targeted for an attack, you can banish one card from your Hand; negate that attack. Then reduce the attacking monster's ATK to 0 and add that amount to this card's ATK. During your Main Phase, you can reduce this card's ATK to 0; add that amount to one face-up monster you control.

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Unicorn Maiden (Effect Monster)

Beast/Earth/Lvl 1/0/0

Effect: You can tribute this card; Special Summon one 'Thunder Unicorn', 'Voltic Bicorn' or 'Lightning Tricorn' from your Extra Deck. (This Special Summon is treated as a Synchro Summon). If this card is in your Graveyard, you can banish one '-corn' monster; Special Summon this card. You can only activate each effect of 'Unicorn Maiden' once per turn.

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Stormcloud Unicorn (Xyz Monster)

Beast/Dark/Rank5/0/0

2 Level 5 Beast-type monsters.

Effect: You can also Xyz Summon this card by using one Beast-type Xyz Monster you control that has no Xyz Material as the Xyz Material. During your Standby Phase, you may add one Beast-type Monster from your Extra Deck to this card as Xyz Material. When this card is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard, you may Special Summon '-corn' monsters from your Graveyard (excluding Stormcloud Unicorn) equal to the number of Xyz Material this card had when it was destroyed. Monsters summoned by this effect cannot activate their effects or attack during the turn they are summoned. This card cannot be destroyed as a result of battle.

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Champion of the Storm (Effect Monster)

Warrior/Earth/Lvl8/2,800/2,200

Effect: Once per turn, you can Special Summon one '-corn' monster from your Graveyard. Once per turn, you can destroy a number of cards on the field equal to the number of '-corn' monsters you control. If this card is in your Graveyard, you can tribute monsters you control; Summon this card from your Graveyard.

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Legendary Demon Slayer- Dante (Effect Monster)

Fiend/Light/Lvl4/1,500/1,500

Effect: When this card is Summoned, you can select one 'Devil Arms' card in your Deck or Graveyard and equip it to this card. When this card destroys a monster as a result of battle, place two 'Devil Trigger' Counters on this card.

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Devil Arms- Rebellion (Equip Spell Card)

Effect: May only be equipped to a 'Legendary Demon Slayer' monster. Increase the ATK of the equipped monster by 1000. Once per turn, you can remove a 'Devil Trigger' Counter from the equipped monster; double the equipped monster's ATK until the End Phase.

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Star of Devil Blood (Normal Spell Card)

Effect: Place 1 'Devil Trigger' Counter on a face-up 'Legendary Demon Slayer' monster you control. If a 'Legendary Demon Slayer' monster you control destroys a monster as a result of battle and this card is in your Graveyard, you may add this card your Hand.

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Harpie's Performance Aviary (Field Spell Card)

Effect: Once per turn, if you activate a 'Formation' Spell or Trap card, you can add one 'Formation' Spell or Trap card from your Deck to your Hand. Once per turn, you can shuffle 5 'Formation' Spell or Trap cards into your Deck from your Hand and Graveyard, then draw 2 cards. If this face-up card is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard, add one 'Harpie Performance Star' from your Graveyard or Deck to your Hand.

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Harpie Roc Formation (Normal Spell Card)

Effect: Activate only if you control 3 or more 'Harpie Lady'. Special Summon one Beast, Beast-Warrior, Winged Beast or Dragon-type monster from your Extra Deck, ignoring its Summoning Conditions. If the monster summoned by this effect has a Level or Rank of 7 or higher, negate its effects.

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Harpie Raven Formation (Normal Spell Card)

Effect: Activate only if you control 3 or more 'Harpie Lady'. Negate the effects of all face-up cards your opponent controls until the End Phase.

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Amazoness Beast Mastery (Normal Spell Card)

Effect: Target 1 face-up 'Amazoness' monster you control. Select 1 Beast, Beast-Warrior or Winged Beast type monster from your Main Deck or Graveyard with a Level or Rank equal to the Level or Rank of the targeted monster, and Special Summon it.

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Unity of the Earth and Sky (Continuous Spell Card)

Effect: All 'Amazoness' monsters you control are also treated as 'Harpie Lady' and all 'Harpie Lady' monsters you control are considered 'Amazoness' monsters. This face-up card cannot be destroyed or targeted by your opponent's card effects. (Can only be activated by Mai Valentine. )

The proceeding 13 cards were designed by 7th Librarian

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Now, a few words (maybe more than a few) before I close, about the first lady I ever fell in love with. I was four years old, the year was 1978.

The second movie I had ever seen, I believe, was Star Wars, and the first few minutes of the film introduced a villain who would give me nightmares for years. I averted my eyes when he angrily crushed that poor rebel's throat, and then bellowed the order to his men. For years (until the end of the second movie) this man known as Darth Vader would be the embodiment of Evil to my young mind. I was worried most about those two bumbling droids at the moment…

And then I saw her.

A woman in white, who stood in stark contrast from the fiend in black I had seen a few minutes ago, whose goon squad was after her, an impossibly designed hairstyle, and fair, unblemished skin.

My thoughts were, dear God, run, run for your life, but she did not, she tried to fight back, but it was hopeless. I almost cried when she was dragged before that same villain who had terrified me in the last scene. But to my complete and utter shock, she actually stood up to that villain, with no fear at all.

I suspected then that Princess Leia was no helpless damsel in distress, and an hour of scenes later, when she grabbed Luke's blaster and shouted "Somebody has to save our skins!" it had been confirmed. I was in love.

Her clearly unconventionally badass methods continued through Empire; although this sequel suggested that my initial analysis of the dark villain as a soulless abomination had been incorrect (leading to a full debunking later), my view of the heroine was only enhanced by the scenes where she rescued Luke from certain death at the climax. Following through into Jedi, it was enhanced further when she viciously choked Jabba (another villain who gave me nightmares) to death with the slave chain that held her prisoner. I was hooked; I had found a heroine to admire and love.

As I got older, and my ability to decipher fiction from reality fully developed, I started reading about the woman behind the heroine. A young girl from a broken home whose deadbeat father left her and her mother with nothing, she drowned her misery in books and writing, hobbies I can appreciate myself.

Carrie Fisher and her swashbuckling alter-ego were my Hermione Granger, my Katniss Everdeen, a powerful combination of brains, beauty, and bravery. Struggling to overcome mental illness, drug addiction, and her weight, she endured and evaded paparazzi and struck back at her haters with wit and ease. She weathered personal storms fiercer than any Hoth blizzard, escaped personal prisons far stronger than the Death Star, and defeated inner demons darker than any the Dark Side could devise. She did it all with pride.

She was a hero I could relate to. One who inspired me.

Rest in peace, Ms. Fisher. The Force Will be With You. Always.