I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh or any of it's characters.

"I hope you don't mind my going first, Clown." Anna said.

"I'd never begrudge a lady her due privilege." Lazar bowed slightly.

Turn 1: Anna

Anna: 4000

Lazar: 4000

Anna drew a card and immediately launched into a flurry of activity.

"I send Hecatrice from my hand to the graveyard to add Valhalla, Hall of the Fallen from my deck to my hand. Then I activate Valhalla and use it's effect to special summon Darklord Asmodeus from my hand." the red draped hall opened itself behind her and from behind one of the curtains a white angel in black armor with purple wings flew onto the battlefield.

Darklord Asmodeus: 3000/2500

"And since I still have a normal summon left this turn, I summon Freya, Spirit of Victory!" Anna said as an odd looking cheerleader rose onto the battlefield. "And due to Freya's ability, All of my fairy Type monsters, including herself, get an additional 400 attack and Defense points."

Freya, Spirit of Victory: 0500/0500

Darklord Asmodeus: 3400/2900

"And while Freya is cheering others on, she can't be selected as an attack target, so I'll just play things safe for now use Asmodeus' effect to send a fairy type monster from my deck to the graveyard, and I choose Darklord Superbia!" a card was jutted out of Anna's deck and she quickly moved it to the graveyard. "Your move."

Turn 2: Lazar

"Hmm… Very well then, I will set two face downs and a monster. Your move." Lazar sighed as though there wasn't a time crunch.

Turn 3: Anna

"What?" Anna asked as she drew a card.

"It is simple, I said that it is now your turn, and seeing that you've already drawn a card you might as well use it." the clown smiled.

"Fair enough. I activate Heavy Storm!" a whirlwind spread all over the battlefield, destroying the Hall and Lazar's face downs.

"Perhaps I shouldn't have been so hasty…" he said. "Very well, in response to that, I activate Waboku. My monsters can't be destroyed this turn!"

"That's alright, but for now I'll just activate another Valhalla," Anna replied. "Asmodeus, attack his set monster!"

The angel rose up and then flew towards the unknown monster like a hawk. The card flipped over to reveal some sort of court jester.

"Say hello to my Jester Lord, my dearest companion." Lazar laughed.

"Even though it has no attack of defense?" I asked from the sidelines.

"He gains 1000 attack and defense for every spell or trap card on my side of the field," Lazar explained.

"Ah. Then it is unfortunate that you have none." Anna said.

"Yes, very. Are you done yet?"

"Yes, actually. Your move."

Turn 4: Lazar

"So be it, I'll set two more face downs and end my turn," Lazar said upon drawing a card.

"Are you just stalling for time?" Anna asked.

"So what if I am? Just make your move."

Turn 5: Anna

Anna drew a card and smiled a little bit. "I activate Soul Exchange. I sacrifice your Jester to summon my Darklord Edeh Arae" Another dark angel flew onto the battlefield.

Darklord Edeh Arae: 2700/2400

"But due to Soul Exchange's effect, I can't attack this turn. Your move." Anna said.

Turn 6: Lazar

Lazar drew a card and mulled over his situation. "I activate Dark Eruption, which allows me to add my Jester back to my hand. Then I'll set a monster and a third face down. Your move."

Turn 7: Anna

"You've done well so far, but I doubt that will continue much longer," Anna said when she drew a card. "I set Freya to defense position and attack your monster with Asmodeus." Asmodeus rose up into the air, but quickly found itself stopped and bound in chains to a wheel.

"I activate Nightmare Wheel!" Lazar laughed. "Stopping your monster from attacking ever again, and during each of my standby phases you get 500 points of damage."

"How unfortunate." Anna seemed unfazed. "Now I attack your monster with Edeh Arae." The second dark angel rushed forward like a flying boxer and readied a punch before it got stopped.

"Negate Attack." Lazar flipped up a trap card.

"Then you really are just stalling for time." Anna sighed.

"So it would seem, and this gate will only open if I tell it to, so don't even think about threatening or killing me." Lazar chuckled.

"Then I enter my second main phase. I sacrifice Darklord Asmodeus for Darklord Desire, destroying both my monster and the wheel that it was bound to." Anna smiled and Lazar just frowned. An angel entirely clad in black and gold armor with red wings and gigantic claws flew onto the field.

Darklord Desire: 3400/3200

"Your move." Anna grinned.

Turn 8: Lazar

Lazar drew a card. "I end my turn." he finally said.

Turn 9: Anna

"So shall it be." Anna drew a card and smiled a terrifying smile. "I summon the Herald of Orange Light, but then I tune him with Edeh Arae!" A tiny orange winged ball flew in, but then it separated itself into two rings and Edeh Arae turned into five stars. The rings enveloped the stars and out of the light came a gigantic white dragon.

"Say hello to Ancient Sacred Wyvern!" Anna laughed.

Ancient Sacred Wyvern: 2500/2400

"But why go through all of that effort for a weaker card?" Lazar wondered out loud.

"Because my Wyvern gains attack points equal to the difference in our life points, assuming that mine is greater." Anna smiled.

"Ah, but you forget, there is no difference between our life points…" Lazar said.

"Which is why I use Desire's effect. He loses 1000 attack points and I get to select and destroy a monster that you control. And I choose the only monster you have." Anna said as Desire poured power into the set monster card, shattering it. "And now you are completely unprotected. Desire, attack him directly!"

The dark angel flew forward and slashed across Lazar's face, adding real scars to the strange paint already on his face.

Anna: 4000

Lazar: 1600

"And now Ancient Sacred Wyvern gains that many attack points…" Lazar groaned.

"And he'll attack you with them!" Anna said gleefully. The Great Wyvern released a stream of white energy at Lazar, forcing him to the ground.

Anna: 4000

Lazar: 0000

"Very well, I'll uphold my end of the bargain. Open the gates." Lazar commanded some unseen entity.

Anna ran up to me and hugged me, despite the awkwardness that our armor gave the motion.

"Did you see that? That is how my deck is supposed to work!" she said.

"And eventually use Athena with Superbia to bring back a mass of monsters, dealing 1200 damage before even starting an attack?" I asked.

"Precisely! You finally saw it work!"

"That's all well and good, but what about Yusei and the others?" Akiza asked us.

"Oh yeah, we sort of forgot that you were there…" I sighed. Anna and I separated and we all ran into the courtyard. We got there and there was a massive tremor.

"Look, Goodwin's Mansion!" Akiza said.

"Whos' whatsit?" I asked.

"Just look up!" Anna told me. Then I saw it, a massive temple coming out from underneath the mansion. That was when we saw Yusei in front of us.

"Yusei!" Akiza ran straight into him.

"Hey, Aki. Do you have any idea why the temple is surfacing?"

"No…" she said. Then I saw that Jack and Crow were there as well.

"So the Enforcers are together again?" Jack grinned.

"Yep, we're here to take our revenge on that guy," Crow said, pointing to a figure at the top of the pyramid. Then we heard a voice bellow over everything.

"I see not everyone is here yet. Oh well, I'm sure they'll arrive at the appointed time. Unfortunately for all of you, it is too late for you to stop the gate of the Underworld from opening."

"Goodwin?" Jack asked.

"Wait, but that means…" Crow started saying.

"Yes. This world is finished." Goodwin's voice said.

Akiza and the rest were all in a sudden panic.

"The King of the Underworld is heading towards this temple at this very moment. I have summoned him here."

"But why?" Yusei asked.

"This temple is the site of the sacred ritual used to welcome him."

"Goodwin! You slimy bastard!" Jack yelled up at the figure.

"Then you see it now? Yes, Mr. Atlas, everything is going precisely according to plan. To successfully perform the ritual, I used the power of the Crimson Dragon to summon you Signers here. Unfortunately, the Crimson Dragon's power has been dispersed and is therefore currently incomplete." Goodwin continued his monologue.

"Why are you doing this?" Akiza yelled.

"I'm afraid it's too soon to divulge that just yet. You will see when the King of the Underworld arrives. However, if you take a look at this, maybe then you'll realize…" Goodwin thrust his arms out and a dark energy began to swirl around him. We all heard wicked cackling coming from all around us.

"So he's a Dark Signer too?" Anna asked.

"Apparently," I said.

Eventually, the energy stopped it's franticness, and there stood Goodwin, his entire body twice the size that it had been previously and covered in purple tattoos of some kind

"Shall we begin?" he asked. He raised one arm and purple fire lite all around the city. "I shall commence the ritual right away!"

"No!" Yusei yelled as he, Jack and Crow all boarded their Duel Runners. The fire started morphing into a path, though a treacherous one, for the three Turbo Duelists to race up to face Goodwin. I started back towards Pitch, but then I heard Pitch say, No, Captain. Our role in this conflict is of a different variety.

And what exactly do you mean by that?"

You don't have a Turbo Deck, not yet. We wouldn't be able to properly support them in a duel even if we tried. Besides, they've already started.

I looked up and saw that my comrades were preparing racing up and had already summoned monsters and were battling the things that Goodwin was bringing out.

Alright, so what do we do instead?

The Gentle Darkness is with you in this. The tools are in your deck.

Then let me know when and what card to grab. I don't plan on needing it. I drew my swords and started walking up the ancient temple. It was going to be a long march up, but I had time and at least half of a plan.

"Where are you going?" Anna asked me.

"To help my friends, and I have no intention to waste any time," I replied.

"But, Willie…" Anna said.

"Yes?"

"Just… Come back to me this time, ok?"

I turned to face her just as I had reached the tenth step. "As you wish." Then I continued my long march up, just in time to see one of Goodwin's monsters unleash a devastating attack against the main group.

Perhaps this should go without saying, but I picked up the pace after that.