"Alright then, my move!" Fay announced, picking up her card.

I hoped I would be able to try out my deck properly before getting thrown into the deep end but nooo! I have to be challenged by someone who wants to "seal my Fate" and is going to win in 5 turns unless I do something! Ugh, this pressure is not good for me.

"I'll start by activating my magic card, Bait Doll! It allows me to force the activation of one of your face down cards, and if the timing is wrong, your card is destroyed! So let's see what your face down is!" Marie gave a shrug as her Sakuretsu Armour was destroyed. "Even better, after the card has resolved its effect, Bait Doll goes back into my deck, so you'll be seeing it again!"

"Your little Bait Doll may have a special trick, but zis changes nothing! My Destiny Board is face up, so you cannot destroy eet, and once 5 of your turns are gone, I win!" Fay gave a wide grin.

"I know. That's why I'm now activating Mystical Space Typhoon, allowing me to destroy your Destiny Board!" A cyclone encircled the giant letter floating on Marie's side of the field, only to retract a few seconds later with the letter still there. "What? Your card should have been destroyed! What's going on?" Marie smirked and showed Fay a card in her hand.

"I activated ze effect of my 'erald of Green Light!" Fay's eyes widened in shock as she recognised the card.

She's using Herald of Green Light? That means she's using a Fairy deck just like I used to have! Marie had not noticed Fay's reaction as she was too busy explaining the card's effect.

"My monster 'as a unique effect. By discarding 'erald of Green Light and one other Fairy type monster from my 'and, I can negate ze activation of your magic card! Even better, I can only use zis effect on your turn! Now, are you finished?" Fay shook her head.

"I summon Sangan (1000/0600) to the field, and it will attack you directly!" The three eyed fiend curled up into a ball and leapt at Marie.

Marie: 1000
Fay: 4000

"I'll finish by setting one card face down."

"And now Spirit Message I joins my Destiny Board!" Marie announced. "You only 'ave three turns left. I suggest you use zem wisely. My move!" Marie picked up her card. "I will play Graceful Charity, allowing me to draw three cards and zen discard two from my 'and." Marie did so. "Now I play Celestial Transformation! Zis allows me to special summon a Fairy type monster from my 'and, but eet ees destroyed at ze end of zis turn and it 'as only 'alf of eets attack points. So I summon my Majestic Mech - Ohka (2400/1400 - 1200/1400)!"

"Wait. Why didn't you just normal summon it? Majestic Mech - Ohka's effect means you can summon it without a tribute. It would have had full attack points and still been destroyed at the end of the turn." Marie gave an evil grin that made Fay recoil.

"Because, little girl, I am now activating Inferno Reckless Summon, which I can only activate when a monster with 1500 or less attack points is special summoned to my side of ze field. Do you see now why I used Celestial Transformation? I can summon two more Majestic Mech - Ohkas at full strength!"

"NO!" Fay yelled, quickly calculating how much damage she would take.

She can wipe out all of my life points with this! And I can't use Inferno Reckless Summon's side effect that would let me summon more monsters, because I only have one Sangan! Damn she's smart!

"Zis is ze end. Now my monsters, attack her and end zis duel!"

Marie: 1000
Fay: 4000

"What? Why were you not destroyed?" Fay was breathing heavily.

That...was too close.

"I activated my trap card Gravity Bind, meaning that level 4 or higher monsters can't attack." Marie shrugged.

"Eet ees of little consequence. My Destiny Board will still finish this. I end my turn, so my weakest Majestic Mech - Ohka ees destroyed." Fay picked up her card.

"I'll set a card face down, switch my Sangan to defense mode and set a monster as well then end my turn." Destiny Board activated, with Spirit Message N being added to the field.

"Two turns left," Marie announced. "I shall end my turn."

Please be something good, please be something good... Fay thought to herself as she reached for her card. It wasn't. Fay cursed inwardly and ended her turn, letting Spirit Message A appear.

"I did not zink eet would be zis easy!" Marie laughed. "When I 'eard from my superiors 'ow you kept escaping us, I zought eet would be much more difficult to find you!"

"Why does Begia want to capture me so badly?" Fay asked. "What's so special about me?" Marie shook her head.

"Eet ees your final move. For your sake and mine, you 'ad better 'ope zat you don't get ze Death of Fate card." Fay picked up her final card. "I do 'ave one last question for you, Fay. What kind of deck are you using? My superiors told me eet would be a Fairy deck, so I created one myself, but you have changed eet." Fay nodded.

"That Fairy deck reminded me too much of losing to people like you. You've been chasing me for years, dueling me and beating me and always making me run! This deck is different. This is the deck which will help me beat people like you." Marie shook her head slowly.

"I am sorry little girl, but you 'ave lost. Eet ees as clear as day." Fay smiled sadly.

"My new deck is all about chains. The bigger the chain, the more I benefit." Marie was curious.

"Chains? You mean magic and trap chains?" Fay nodded. "But I 'ave not seen you use a single one zroughout our duel!"

"I got a bad opening hand. But now I have the cards to defeat you! I reveal my face down card Chain Detonation! This inflicts 500 points of damage to you! Then I activate from my hand Chain Strike, which I can only activate at chain link 2 or higher. Chain strike inflicts 400 points of damage to you multiplied by its position in the chain, so in this case it deals 800 points of damage, so in total you lose 1300 life points!"

Marie: 0000
Fay: 4000

Marie had fear in her eyes for the first time since Fay had seen her. Marie looked like a lost child as the fate cards were now choosing HER fate. The 5 cards were laid out in front of her, waiting for Marie to choose. She hesitated, then pointed to the far left card. It revealed itself to be...

The Death of Fate.

The picture on the card was horrific enough: a woman was dangling from the air as though strangled by a noose, all the colour drained from her. In real life it was worse. Marie gave several loud screams as she was lifted from the floor, struggling against an invisible noose that was tightening around her neck. After a minute or so the screaming stopped and Marie crumpled to the floor. Fay had been unable to look away and had been screaming with Marie. When she crumpled to the floor, so did Fay, shaking violently and curled up into a ball. She was vaguely aware of a voice that sounded like Arlene calling her name before she passed out.

Arlene had woken up to find that Fay had gone. She had left the hotel when she heard screams and found Fay and a strange woman who was clearly dead. Arlene had carried Fay back up to their Hotel Room, telling anyone who asked that it had been a long day and Fay had fallen asleep. Arlene decided to join her.

It would be no good asking her about it just now. The memory would be too fresh. She looked at Fay, who looked peaceful before going to bed.

Fay woke up early the next morning, consumed by the events of the previous night.

She looked so scared when she lost, and I was so helpless...I wonder if there's any way to stop the Fate cards from working. I don't want anyone else to die because of them, or worse... She suddenly had a vivid image of Chester and Ethan leering at her. She shook her head quickly to get rid of it. How are we going to get Chester and Ethan back? I've never seen anything like it before... Fay rolled over and tried to get to sleep again, though she knew it would be hopeless.

There are still vacancies for anyone wanting to submit a character to swell the ranks of Begia. Just put in the following details into a review:

Name, age, gender, appearence, character traits, background, deck type and where you want them to be situated (Duel Academy or outside world). They can also be infected as well, just put that after all the other details. Thanks and keep reading!

New cards...

The Death of Fate
Quickplay Magic
Image: A woman dangling from the air as though strangled by a noose.
Effect: If this card was chosen by your opponent due to the effect of "Fate" your opponent dies in 1 minute.