-1A/N: Do NOT get used to chapters being so long. It's only a rare occurrence.

Chapter 18: Charubids, Puppets, and a Hacker?

"Crap!" shouted May, frustrated as she flipped through the pages of a big book titled 'History of Duel Monsters'. She had forgotten to study for the rather large test that was going to be in a few minutes, so she had to cram all the information. She was just glad she arrived to class early. Meanwhile, Izual still thought about what had happened last night. He could not remember how'd it ended, he just recalled feeling a rather large hit on the head. It was all much of a blur to him. He hadn't seen Suri since. He seemed to be lost in his thoughts until a loud bang in front of him disrupted him from his thoughts and made stumble over, hitting the floor. He groaned, followed by sigh. He looked up, noticing a big pile of books on his desk and female figure above.

"Jasmine?" he asked. His senses were a bit dull, though he just assumed it was because the hit, the toxin, the fact he had a rather bad night of sleep. Jasmine smiled.

"You always seem to be falling for me." She said, offering her hand to help him. Izual chuckled.

"Hard not too." He muttered under his breath as he stood up. "Why did you drop those books on my desk?"

"To wake you up. Something tells me you didn't study, did you?" said Jasmine. Izual scratched the back of his head.

"Study for what?" asked Izual. Jasmine sighed. She was about to mutter something, but Dr. Crowler called everyone to their seat as class was about to begin. She tossed, gently, a folded paper at Izual, and winked at him. Izual was left dumb-founded.

"Class. Pull out your pencils and papers for the test." said Dr. Crowler as several questions appeared on the screen. The answers were in the A-E format, with twenty questions, making rather small for such a big test. Izual took the paper and opened it. It seemed to be the answer key to a test. Then, it seems as if Izual finally woke up, and smiled. He found Jasmine staring at him, winking and smiling. He smiled back as he started copying down the answers. Meanwhile, May struggled. She had no clue on the answers at all, then she felt a poke.

"Hm?" she turned around only to have a paper ball hit her in the eye.

"Ow!" she uttered in pain, making everyone turned to face. Crowler raised an eyebrow.
"Are you quite alright?" asked Dr. Crowler. May nodded as she rubbed her eye. She undid the paper ball. It said:

Ha! I pwned you. Similar to how misplAced cApitals can Easily net you a solid graDe in this ExAm. You Better do good, okay? Getting rather Crappy grades for somEone like yourself is Baffling, and BordErline Dumb. In anycAse, I biD you gooD luck on this tEst, and Because, if I know you, you will neeD it, more than mE.

Your "rivAl" And, I supposE friEnd, CulEx.

"What is he talking about?" May asked herself as she read it over and noticed the sentence 'similar to how misplAced cApitals can Easily net you a solid graDe in this ExAm.', could it be? She looked for an answer she knew and checked. Her assumption was correct. The answers to the exam were the same as the misplaced capitals! "Looks like I owe him one." she started writing down the answers. Meanwhile, Crowler looked at Culex with anger.

"What do you think you are doing?" he asked as he noticed Culex, leaning on the chair, almost sleeping.

"Trying to sleep…why?" asked Culex.

"If you do not get your act together I shall remove you off this island." said Crowler. He seemed to be in rather angry mood.

"I know." he said as he closed his eyes, trying to sleep once more.

"Have you no ambition?" asked Crowler, slowly losing his temper. "If you were removed from this Island, you would lose the great privilege of being recognized as duelist.

"So?" asked Culex, starting to get amused.

"If not a duelist, then why are you here? What would you like to be doing in five years?" he asked, somewhat curious and at the same time angry.

"Honestly? I'd like to be in a tropical island with some sexy dumb chick who thinks I'm greatest thing since Yugi Moto. Actually, I'd like to be doing that right now." said Culex, as he thought about it. Everyone around him started laughing. "In any case, here is my test." Crowler was infuriated and snatched the test and left.

"Talk about honesty." said May, as she shook her head, copying more answers. Dr. Crowler promptly dismissed class and student went to check the match ups for the tournaments. It seems for medical issues, the match were delays for a whole day. Culex looked at the match ups. He smiled as he noticed the name.
"Izual…" said Culex, chuckling as he left the crowd. "This gives me tonight and tomorrow for Izual to be inconveniently missing our duel." He looked up at the sun. "Yeah, he's going down tonight."

"Who's going down where?" asked May as she poked him from behind. He jumped forward in surprise.

"Don't sneak up on me." said Culex. "By the way, did you enjoy my letter, mocking the fact you failed to study?"

"A coded version of cheating. It was rather clever." said May. "I suppose I do owe you one."

"Of course you do…" said Culex

…

Izual walked out of that exam, smiling. He couldn't complain. An easy A is always nice. He noticed Jasmine waiting for him. They started walking together through the forest. "Thanks for the paper there. I had completely forgotten about that exam." said Izual, honestly.

"It's cool. You needed the help anyways. Another F wouldn't look nice eh?" said Jasmine. Izual laughed.

"Yeah. Knowing Crowler, however, he'll find a way to make me miss one, somehow." said Izual.

"Nah. He is not THAT mean. Shouldn't you check who your next match in the tournament?" asked Jasmine. Izual seemed uninterested.

"I can wait 'till later." said Izual. Then, he gave a small smile not looking at her. "Besides, I rather spend time with you." Jasmine reddened a bit.

"Thanks. Spending time with you is nice as well, though there is one thing that bothers me." said Jasmine. Izual was caught by surprise.

"What is it?" asked Izual, curious.

"Why did Culex trapped you and left you there that night?" asked Jasmine as she recalled the night where she found him hanging on a branch, tied to a puppet. Izual chuckled a little embarrassed.

"Culex is a trickster, and rather clever. He is also a jerk most of the times." said Izual. "Incredibly enough, I don't know much about him. Shade knew more about him." The thoughts of Shade came to his mind but he tried his best to push them aside.

"Shade?" asked Jasmine, not recalling anyone named that.

"He's an old friend," said Izual "and let's leave it at that." said Izual. Jasmine wondered who this Shade person was, but figured she would ask some other time.

"Well if you say-Ah!" was saying Jasmine, but she was interrupted as two figures hidden in the forest jumped and surprised Jasmine, making her move towards Izual's side in a rather unorthodox way, making her stumble with her own feet, falling towards Izual. He noticed the movement and position himself so he wouldn't stumble as he caught her, making her fall in to his arm into a sort of embrace. He wrapped his arms around her, as if making sure she wouldn't fall.

"Whoa! Careful!" said Izual, making sure she wouldn't fall for from his grasp. Alexis and Mindy, the two figures, exchange glances as they smiled.

"You okay Jasmine? We didn't mean to surprise you." said Mindy. Despite Jasmine being able to recover her stability, she still remained in Izual's grasp. She looked at her hands which were being held by Izual, subconsciously.

"That's…okay." said Jasmine, smiling. "What's up?"

"It's our turn to clean the wading pool. The one where he watched us." said Alexis as she pointed at Izual. He opened his mouth to complain then noticed he was holding Jasmine still. She turned her head to face him and smiled. Her smile, and the fact of his realization, made him slowly drop her hands. She giggled as she joined Mandy and Alexis but not before whispering.

"Meet me later tonight?" she said, in the form of a question. Then, she and her friends left, leaving a dumbfound Izual.

…

"You never did quite finish that story." said May. Culex turned around. He was to busy in his thoughts.

"Hmm?" he said, not having paid attention.

"Yeah, you never finished your story." said May. Culex tried to remember.

"Where did I leave off?" asked Culex, not being able to recall.

"Something about a fake peace." said May. Culex remembered.

"Ah, yes, after Lilith made an agreement with the angels. Lilith went to seek for a mate. With our imperfections, Lilith seem like goddess to men, which caused great distress between her relations with humans. Those who could see her true colors were almost hypnotized by her appearance, as she was remarkably beautiful. Several of the people of the earth were doubting her goodness and decided it was best to seal her away, and prevent any more trouble. They prayed to God, and God answered them. They were granted an object that had enough power to seal Lilith. A blue stone, titled the Soul Stone. The believers in Lilith and thus separated from the others. Thus diving the world into two sides. The West Side and the East Side. However, this wasn't enough and attack occurred. In the end, a single group, lead by the Charubid Sen-"

"Charubid?" asked May. Culex looked at her, chuckling.

"It's a terminology for a warrior angel. Anyhow, the Charubid Senoy lead the group to Lilith's chamber. It is unsure of what exactly happened in the chamber, but few men died, Senoy was harmed, but the Lilith was trapped within the Soul Stone. A great defeat for the West Side. Lilith has remained trapped ever since. She has only been able to communicate with us through our dream. It seems the stone was not fool proof, and Lilith's energy leaked. This lead to various of the East Side members seeing the light and joining the West Side. We are currently looking for a way to break the stone. It seems to be too powerful for regular means, though if we can enough of a power source, we can free her indirectly."

May was amazed by this story, and a little scared.

"So why are you here?" asked May. Culex sighed. He looked up. The sun was setting.

"To retrieve the biggest power source at my reach that I could think of." said Culex as he started walking away.

"Which is?" asked May. Culex as from his back, a small tear on his shirt was made, and from it, several mechanical spiders at her.

"Bosom buddies." said Culex. May jumped back, stepping away. Culex chuckled as he ran through the forest. "Time to find you, Izual."

…

Izual walked through the forest. "Strange day…" said Izual, scratching the back of his head. "Though I really can't complain." Jasmine's words still lingered through his head. "Meet me later tonight?" He could only assume she meant in the wading pool. This brought other thoughts to his head, like the last time he was in there. Just thought of it made him chuckle.

"Something funny, Izual?" asked Culex, standing on a tree branch.

"When did you get here?" asked Izual, looking at Culex.
"I've been here. By the way, you are my next opponent in the tournament. You know what that means, right?" asked Culex. Izual sighed.

"You will forfeit the match and you came to tell me so?" said Izual, sarcastically. Culex smiled.

"A comedian eh?" said Culex as the reflection of the sun beaming shone from the strings. The strings moved and from the bushes a human-sized puppet came out. It looked liked regular puppets, which were very similar to the ones the Magical Marionette used, which were basic designs of human puppets, with no hair. They seemed to be connected by joints. The puppet held two knife-like weapons. Culex moved his hands forwards the puppet moved like a real human being, charging straight at Izual. Izual pulled his dagger.
"Not long enough." he said as he jumped back, dodging the slices of the puppet. Considering the fact that these was a puppet, the swipes were amazing. Izual had just barely enough time to do a bigger jump and lifted his hand, making his palm face the puppet. Then, from his palm, a large concentrated sound blast struck the puppet, sending him crashing into a tree. Culex pulled him back. "Bye puppeteer!" He lifted his hand to blast then noticed, from the corner of his eye, another puppet coming from behind. This one was identical to the one before it. Izual had barely enough time to jump back, barely dodging the slash.

"Close one Izual." said Culex as the other puppet rose and the two stood together.

"Two puppets at once?" asked Izual and he was responded by charging puppets. Izual jumped to one side, and blasted the puppets with sound blast, pushing them away from Culex and himself. Then he faced Culex with his palm up and a sound blast came, hitting Culex and knocking him off the branch. Izual took advantage of the momentum and rushed to strike Culex while he was down. However as he ran, he felt a sphere hitting his right foot from behind, making him trip and fall backwards.

"What the hell?" he asked and noticed Culex had commanded the puppets to removed their spherical heads and threw them at Izual. Izual was highly impressed with the level of control Culex had over his puppet. However, Izual knew that this was no time for acknowledging skill. He rolled on to one side, dodging the knives being thrown. He stood up and noticed the puppet were disarmed, however, he also noticed Culex had stood up. He quickly slashed the puppet strings , cutting the connection between Culex and his puppet. Izual grinned as he headed straight at Culex. Culex had only enough time to block the several punches by Izual. The puppeteer quickly jumped to one side to avoid the onslaught. Izual quickly responded by sending a sound blast Culex, knocking him. Culex smiled as he pulled one of the puppets, making the puppet hit Izual, knocking him down. Culex quickly stood up and the strings from his right hands shot out into the nearby bushes. Then, they immediately shot out poison-tipped darts at Izual. Izual quickly used the puppet's body to block. Some of darts passed, ripping some of his shirt, but nothing to badly. He was too distracted with the darts that he didn't noticed the other puppet behind him. The puppet kicked him in the back, inflicting great deal of pain to Izual. He lifted him and threw him against a tree causing more pain. Culex chuckled as the darts were sent at Izual, but were deflected by a sound wave from Izual's palm. He growled. How could he control THREE puppets? He only had two hands! He noticed that from his left hand, the strings had divided themselves into three. Izual quickly stood up with some pains, and zigzagged his way to Culex, dodging the darts. Then, before he could struck Culex, a fourth puppet got in his way, and he started to exchange hits with the puppet. The puppet, backed up with other puppets, made Izual retreat. Then, Izual felt a hit on his back. He regretted not wearing his chain mail anymore. He looked behind him, another puppet. How the hell was he controlling five puppets!? Where his Izual's thoughts. He was enraged and quickly managed to run through the forest. The puppet's ran behind him.

"Need a plan. Need a plan. Need a plan." he repeated then he turned around and blasted the incoming puppets. "Have to hit Culex." Izual ran towards the puppets, then skillfully zigzagged them, and actually managed to attack Culex. Culex had no choice but to use his palms to defend himself from the fast fury of punches. One hit got him on the stomach, which made double-over. This was Izual needed. He quickly took advantage and lifted his knee, making it connect with Culex's chin lifted his head. He took a swing at Culex's face with his fist, then with his left and finished his hit combination with a large blast of sound, sending Culex rather far, at fast speed, ending with him crashing into a tree. Culex twitched from the pain. His puppet seemed to collapse. He was bleeding from his lip.

"Damn it." said Culex, then he noticed a charging Izual at fast speed. His eyes were glowing red. "He's drawing power from Lilith? But how?" Izual grinned almost like a madman. There were no defenses, nothing between him, and that which he was approaching rapidly. Just as it seemed to be won, a sharp force burrowed deep into his side, knocking him off his feet from surprise, and sending him sprawling to the ground. His world seemed to revolve as he regained some of his scattered wits, and searched the area for whatever had struck him. At first he saw nothing, but then a previously hidden small lithe form caught his attention. It was decidedly female, despite the semi-concealing black cloak that was draped about her shoulders. She was looking down at him, steel gray eyes seeming to laugh at the comical position he had fallen in. A dainty hand half covered her mouth, stifling what seemed to be a quiet giggle that set her shoulders shaking. The movement disturbed her short black hair which was threaded loosely with two white ribbons. The ribbons weren't tight, so they did not restrict the movement of the strands, which only seemed to intensify as the laugh became audible. "You…" Her voice was very soft, but still quavered with laughter, "are far too funny." Izual barely managed to stand up and recognized the image.

"Katreal." said Izual. His body ached in pain. Culex chuckled as Izual noticed the connection of a few strings that connected from his right hand to Katreal. Katreal had always been Culex's masterpiece. Everyone knew this. Izual was even afraid of the puppet. Even Shade commented on the power of the puppet, and Shade never commented on things that weren't powerful. If you didn't know better, you could even mistake Katreal for a living, breathing human. The origins of Katreal still puzzled Izual, and, from what he could tell, also Shade. He would never completely say where it came from, but rather chose not to talk about it, despite Izual always asking.

"The one and only." said Katreal. The puppet strings moved and she charged straight on. That was the one thing Izual never understood about that puppet. It talked. He was never sure if it was a puppeteer's trick or if it actually talked. Either way, he could tell the strings controlled her movement. He rapidly lifted his palm and shot a strong blast of sound at Katreal. She seemed to place her own palm before Izual had fire the sound blast. Then, when the sound blast came out, it seemed to go into the palm of Katreal.

"What the-" said Izual, but couldn't finish as a sound blast came from the palm of Katreal sending him against the tree. He started panting. He couldn't take her.

"She…she…" said Izual, panting, unsure of what to say.

"Is better than you." said Katreal. Culex chuckled as he stood up from the tree.

"Finish him." said Culex as he moved the strings and Katreal rushed to attack. Izual chuckled.

"Damn." he said as he noticed Katreal turning her hand into a fist, extending her arm back as she went for the hit. Izual quickly moved from the tree. "Have to strike her. One hit is all I need." He said to himself as he focused his energy, his eyes glowed red. He ran, faster than before. Then just before they encountered, both jumped to the same side, as if copying each other's strategy. However, Izual took the first chance and deliver rapidly fast hits, all in the air. Katreal blocked them and as she landed jumped diagonally to the side, unlike Izual who jumped to the right. He used the momentum to charge again.

"Increased stamina, increased dexterity, and increased speed? How the hell is pulling all this out of Lilith?" asked Culex, himself, as he couldn't puppeteer at the speed Izual was hitting. However, it seemed at one point, the strings were going faster than Culex could. Then, from Katreal's legs, big spheres came and struck Izual on his legs making him topple over, completely destroying his attack, and allowing Katreal to retaliate. As he fell, she connected her knee with his chin, lifting him up again then grabbed his collar.

"Nice try." she said, then threw him at fast speed at a tree. As he crashed into a tree once more, he groaned. The glowing stopped. He had used his energy in an "all or nothing" maneuver. Essentially, he accomplished the "nothing" part of the expression. Then, from Katreal's hand, a slot opened and a dagger came out of it. It was held tight as she positioned the dagger at Izual's face.

"Let's finish him." said Culex as he moved the string and Katreal charged, straight for the kill. Izual closed his eyes, then heard a loud blocking sound. He opened his eyes to see a white-cloaked figure standing in a way where his body could adjust to the momentum of the hit. The figure had his fist piercing Katreal's abdomen, holding her back.. She growled.

"Who are you? Why are you intervening?" asked Katreal. He pulled his arm back a bit, then used both his hands to quickly hoist her and threw her back. The event was too quick for Culex to notice it, thus making Katreal unable to respond. He quickly lifted his feet kicked her in her abdomen, pushing her back. Before the cloaked figure could strike her again, Culex pulled back on the strings , causing an immediate retreat. The cloaked figure chuckled.

"Playing with dead bodies is not fun." said the cloaked-figure and Culex turned pale. Izual wondered what the strange person meant, but due to Culex's reaction, it must have been something horrible.

"You. It can't be you." said Culex, taking steps back. The figure merely took step forwards. Katreal switched glances between Culex and the figure. The figure charged straight at Katreal. She blocked his fast hits, faster than those made by Izual. Then, she jumped back and from her arms, poison darts trigger heading towards him. The darts seemed to hit the cloak directly, but it seemed as if there was something between the cloaked-figure's cloak and his skin and the dart was easily removed and the poison dripped off, falling right of the cloak, not even tainting it. Culex growled. He moved the strings, triggering a command on Katreal. Her eye was actually a video camera, and Culex had just triggered. It started recording. "Let's try this." He moved the strings and Katreal charged the directly at the cloaked-stranger. He looked at her charging then started running towards a nearby tree. "There he goes…if he does it…" said Culex, to himself then noticed him stepping on the using the momentum of motion. It was a tactic used by someone who Culex was very familiar with, however, this individual did something different. Rather than do the typical back-flip and strike from behind, he used the momentum to quickly touch the lowest branch with his foot and use counterforce. Due to the momentum carried over it held him for about two seconds, giving him just enough time to take a swing at Katreal's face, making her stumble backwards. Then, he fell on his hands and kicked her, knocking her on the floor. Culex pulled on the strings, making Katreal skid to him. Then, out of nowhere, Izual appears and kicks Katreal on her side, tossing her to one side. She managed to stand up while the air, but barely enough time to block the shots from the cloaked-assailant. She lifted her leg, kicked him stomach with enough force to knock him back. However, soon after another attack by Izual came. Culex couldn't keep up with the double teaming, so he made Katreal jump back and in the air, reeled her in with the strings. "I'll be back. You will pay." said Culex as the Katreal was reeled and a giant smokescreen occurred, granting them safe passage to exit. Izual blasted the smoke away and noticed everyone was gone.
"Stranger. Show yourself!" shouted Izual as he looked around. No sign of anyone. "Where could he have left?" Izual checked the surroundings then himself for injuries. He seemed to be fine, except for backs from all the crashing into trees. He sighed, and started walking.

…

Alexis sighed. She looked at the work done by Mindy, Jasmine, and her. She smiled. The place did look rather clean. The girls had changed from their white obelisk to old white shirts and short shorts. It was more efficient and easier to clean this way, and it would save the troubles of having to clean their uniforms.

"I think we are done." said Alexis, but Mindy and Jasmine were still cleaning their parts. They were scrubbing the floor of the area. Mindy shouted in joy as she finished.

"Yup." said Mindy as she stood up and stretched. Jasmine was, however, not done.

"Hey, wait! I'm not done!" she said, placing the scrub aside and standing up.

"It's just a little left. You can finish it quickly." said Alexis as she tossed the keys to Jasmine. "Close up when you finish." Jasmine took a few quick steps to the grab the key. She sighed.
"Bye…" she said as she turned around and slipped on the scrub, making her fall into the wading pool. She sighed, making some air bubbles come out. She raised her head and most of her body out of the pool.

"Taking a dip in the water?" asked Izual, grinning as he walked, a bit unorthodox due to the fight. She turned around and saw Izual. She smiled as she got out of the wading pool and smiled.

"Wow. You actually came." said Jasmine, happy for him to have come. Izual chuckled.

"Did you expect not to come? I can still leave if you'd like." said Izual. Jasmine shook her head.

"No, no. You can stay." she said, keeping her smile. Then, she noticed his strange walking. "You okay?"

"Yeah, just had an encounter with Culex." said Izual. Jasmine shook her head.

"He beat you up again?" asked Jasmine, laughing a bit. Izual glared.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, but no. He got pretty beat up, which is why he had to retreat. I couldn't chase after him due to a smokescreen." said Izual.

"It's okay. At least you are fine." said Jasmine. "Don't want to go save you again." It was Izual's turn to sigh.

"That won't be needed. So what's up with you? Were you taking a break from cleaning, by swimming?" asked Izual. Jasmine glared.
"No. I tripped on the scrub and fell into the pool." said Jasmine, scratching the back of her head, then sneezed.

"You should dry yourself up. Before that sneeze becomes a cold." suggested Izual, as he looked around for towels but failed to see one.
"There is none around. Only towels you'll find are ones left by people. Otherwise, you have to bring your own." said Jasmine, she smiled. "I would take the wet shirt off, but you are too much of a pervert for me to do so." Izual looked surprised.

"I thought we went over this, countless of times?" said Izual. "Besides, I wouldn't look." Jasmine let out a short laugh.

"I'm sure you would. Most obelisk guys do." said Jasmine. Izual gave her a stare.

"I swear I wouldn't. I'm man enough to control my instincts." said Izual, giving her a confident look.

"Care to wager on it?" said Jasmine with a grin. Izual was caught off guard by this.

"A wager eh? Sure. What's it going to be?" asked Izual, curious as to what Jasmine would wager.

"Since I'm sure of my victory, I'll make it something easy. If I win, you have to kiss my feet." said Jasmine. Izual's only reaction was some laugh.

"Good thing that won't happen. And what if I win?" asked Izual, amused by this wager.

"Then…hmm…I'll do your laundry for about…sixth months?" said Jasmine. Izual was intrigued by this. Doing laundry wasn't all that difficult, especially with the accommodations of Ra students. However, taking the clothes front back did get annoying at times. Six months was a rather long time.

"Sounds fair." said Izual. Jasmine chuckled. An easy win, was all she thought.

"Take a good look as you won't get anymore." said Jasmine, then removed her shirt, leaving her in a gray sports bra. "Now, let me finish my work okay?" Izual rose an eyebrow and couldn't help but smile. He could see the why guys stared, and fought his instincts and looked up.
"Go for it." said Izual. Izual only grinned. This would be very interesting.

…

"It is an outrage!" shouted the chancellor from the girl's school. "You have not found that thief, at all!" Shepard sighed. He was sitting in his office, discussing matters with the Chancellor from the other school.
"It's alright. We shall find the culprit. It will not take long until the tournament is over." said Chancellor Shepard, then a knock on the door occurred. "Come in." A young girl about Izual's and Culex's age stepped in. She had her hair tied in a bun and wore glasses. Her skin was tanned, which was quite rare in this part, thus giving her an exotic appearance, skin-wise. She wore a pair of big glasses, which, overall, gave her the typical Secretary-look.

"My apologies but there seems to be a problem." said the young lady. Shepard looked at her.
"What is it?" he asked and she placed a laptop in front of him. It seems like a lot of the files had been deleted, as well as many files corrupted. Even the background had changed "3y3 4m w4tch1ng." and the option to changed had locked. "What is this?" The lady took a deep breath and said.

"We got a hacker."