Okay, here we go with chapter 5.

Everyone already knows about Marie's opponent in this chapter, so I see no reason to explain it in this opening note.

So, let us begin.

Disclaimer: I own nothing that I did not create myself.

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"It's always darkest before the dawn.

So if you're going to steal your neighbor's

Newspaper, that's the time to do it."

-Todd Tolansky (Red Witch's fanfiction,

Misfit Wisdom.)

I still find it hard to believe that the Orichalcos is back, even after seeing two duelists using it, but there is no denying that it has lost none of its power over the last 30 years.

My mom never hesitated to tell me about what happened when she was seduced by the Orichalcos, I'm of course glad that she eventualy quit.

My mom wasn't the first member of my family to turn to the dark side, even temporarily. My Great-Grandparents where both Mutant Terrorists, I have members of my family that are far from good guys.

My grandmother, who was one of those that vanished in the Rapture, made her share of mistakes, but I know things from what my mom has told me, things that no one else should know...

Now, my opponent not only uses the Orichalcos, but he is also the dark side of one of the most famous duelists to ever come out of Duelist Academy.

Well, like Jaden Yuki said a lot, its time to get my Game on...

Before its permanently turned off.

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CHAPTER 5:

DARKEST BEFORE THE DAWN

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In her room in the Chicago Downtown Marriot, Marie is twisting and turning in her sleep, in the middle of a nightmare...

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Marie's Dream...

Marie is floating over a cityscape of New York City, the Statue of Liberty has colapsed, its great torch now pointing out of the ground, an eternal testiment to a fallen country.

Marie knew for a fact that this wasn't Modern Times, even in the heat of World War III, the Statue of Liberty had stood as a beacon of hope, and had never been destroyed.

But as she floated down to the city streets, she realized just where she was, or more important, when she was.

Plastered onto the side of the Empire State Building was a huge poster of a young woman with a similar hairstyle and coloring to Marie's, as well as an obvious family resemblence.

Marie recognized the woman from pictures, it was her own grandmother, Rogue.

This was an alternate timeline, a timeline where there was no Strongheim, no GC, nothing of the sorts, there was the Mutant Nation. In this timeline, Magneto had won, and Rogue had become his puppet, becoming the image of the Mutant Race, but Magneto controled in the Shadows.

Marie remembered that few people actualy knew about this, only Marie, her mother, the old friend of the family Jessica Roland (who is also the Grim Reaper), and regretfuly the current leader of the Acolytes, Caleb LeBeau, Marie's uncle.

Marie watches as a group of soldiers in black, armed to the teeth with more weapons than she could count marches down the street, bearing an image of a red and white flag, with a golden sickle and cross, surrounded by three stars. They marched through the streets with the percision of a trained army, prepared to fight whatever stood in their path, heading for their goal.

A motorcade is behind them, an SUV with the same flag emblazened on the doors, and they stop, blocks away from a skyscraper in the middle of the city.

Out from the SUV steps the imposing figure of a woman clothed all in black, with her long white hair tied back. Marie knew that this was Jessica Roland, better known in this time period as Ruin, the leader of the revolutionary movement.

From the other side, steps another woman, this one looking to be about 18, wearing the uniform of a soldier in the massive army, but with an aura of power radiating from her...

And also, a little streak of white hair poking out from underneath her hat...

Mom... Marie thinks in realization.

Jess stands before the revolutionary army, taking a deep breath as she begins to give a speech. "My comrades in the Global Neo Socialst Party, we have gathered here today to finaly bring an end to what has been going on for the last 22 years," she says, the soldiers standing at attention, holding on to her every word. "We have worked hard to be standing here on this day, for we are not just a band of mutants and humans united, we are a realization of a dream, a dream that one day, all people of all races, of all religions, of all creeds will stand shoulder to shoulder in the name of brotherhood. I want you to take a good look at the person standing next to you, because someday you will tell your children and grandchildren that you fought for the future of this earth, side by side with such men and women. You will all have your own stories of what happened on this day, but the one thing that shall always ring true is that we where victorious on this day because of all of you. History shall remember us as the victors on this day, the victors against Fascism, the victors against hatred, but above all, the victors against the Mutant Nation!"

The small army lets out a cheer, as Jess motions to quiet them down.

"Now go, and let us bring this war to an end!" Jess shouts, and the army starts marching...

End Dream...

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Marie shoots awake, hearing the chorus of "American Pie" playing, and it takes her a moment to realize that her cell phone is ringing. She fumbles to take it out of her trench coat pocket, before opening it, and saying a groggy "hello."

"Marie Huebner, is it not?" A voice on the other line says, sounding somewhat familiar to Marie, but at the same time evil. "Yes, I've heard a lot about you, the National Champion of the United North American States, ranked third in the world behind Katie Motou and Ariel Kaiba, among other things."

"Its three o'clock in the morning, who are you and what do you want?" Marie asks.

"I am one who uses the same power your mother once wielded," the voice says. "Meet me in the indoor pool in 10 minutes, bring your duel disk, and come alone."

"Fine, fine," Marie says with a yawn, and hangs up.

She gets up out of bed, and grabs some clothes, and heads into the bathroom to change out of her nightgown.

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10 minutes later, Marie steps out into the indoor pool of the hotel. She had no idea exactly who she was going to face here, just that whoever it was would most likely be using the Orichalcos.

"All right, I know your in here, show yourself!" she shouts, getting closer to the pool.

On the other side of the room, a man steps from the shadows, cloaked completely in black, with long spiked blue hair, and stroking a slight goatee.

"Hey wait, your Zane Truesdale, the pro duelist!" Marie exclaims. "What the heck are you doing here?"

"I'm not exactly Zane, Miss. Huebner, you might say that I am more of his dark side," Dark Zane says. "I was supressed years ago, then when my master gained power, he allowed me to permanently take control of Zane Truesdale's body, forever!"

Marie remembered hearing about this, Zane Truesdale, years ago, had become an evil version of himself. While it was true that he overcame this evil eventualy, it seemed that it was never truly destroyed.

"And let me guess, you are here under orders to duel me," Marie says, and activates her duel disk.

"Thats right," Dark Zane says, activating his duel disk. "Getting right to the point, I like that."

"LETS DUEL!" The two say in unison.

"Ladies first," Marie says, and draws. "And I start with one card face down, and summon my A Man with Wdjat (1600/1600), in attack mode!" She says, and a cloaked man with the eye of horus glowing on his forehead appears. "And its your move."

Dark Zane draws. "I start by summoning Bomber Dragon (1000/0), in attack mode!" He says, and a black dragon appears as he opens his field slot. "And now I activate, the Seal of Orichalcos!" he shouts, and the wicked seal falls down around them, branding itself onto Dark Zane's forehead.

So, this is what it feels like to be in a seal duel... Marie thinks, her headache starting to grow again. I wonder if this could mean that as the seal's power increases, my headaches will get worse and worse...

"I'll place this card face down, and end my turn," Dark Zane finishes.

Marie draws, and glances at Dark Zane. "I activate the effect of my Man With Wjdat, so I can take a look at your face down card!" She says, and the image of a trap card with a cyborg on it appears. "Hmm, a Samsara Dogma trap card, not bad. I now activate the continuous spell card, Path of Illumination!"

Path of Illumination? That must be one of those icon cards that Dartz warned me about, and I have nothing to counter it, Dark Zane thinks.

"Now Man With Wdjat, attack his Bomber Dragon, Millenium Magic attack!" Marie commands, and the sorceror blasts away at the dragon, then they both explode.

"When Bomber Dragon is attacked, both monsters are destroyed, and neither of us take damage," Dark Zane says.

"Fine with me, you activated the effect of my Path of Illumination card, so I can take one specific card out of my deck," Marie says, searching through her deck before choosing a card, and adding it to her hand. I need to get 3 more cards, I can only hope that this will work, she thinks. "I'll set this monster in defense mode, and call it a turn."

Dark Zane draws. "I special summon my Cyber Dragon (2100/1600 + 500)!" He says, and a mechanical serpent dragon appears. "And now I activate Nobleman of Crossout, which will remove your face down monster from the game!" He continues, and a feminine knight appears, and slashes at the face down monster.

That was my Sangan... Marie thinks, knowing that it was worthless at this point, but still she removed her deck, and took a card out. Just two more...

"Now Cyber Dragon attack her directly, Strident Blast!" Dark Zane commands, and the mechanical dragon blasts at Marie, and her life points fall to 5900. "Your move."

Marie draws. I have a fire monster in my hand from the first card, and then I have a wind monster from the second card, so I'll have to bring number three with something different, Marie thinks. "I activate Monster Reborn, and revive A Man With Wdjat!" She says, and the spellcaster appears again. "And now, I activate Dark Hole!" She says, and a black hole appears above them, and sucks in both monsters. "Which activates my spell card again, letting me add another monster to my hand," She says, taking another card out of her deck. Fire, just one more... she thinks, taking another card out of her hand. "I'll set this monster in defense mode, and end my turn."

Dark Zane draws, and shrugs. "I activate Pot of Greed," he says, and draws two cards. "I'll place this card face down, and set a monster in defense mode, then activate Future Fusion!" He says, and takes 3 cards out of his deck, and places them in his graveyard before taking another card out of his pocket. "And thats it for me."

Marie draws. Since he already used one Cyber Dragon, and discarded 3 monsters, there is very few cards that he could summon. Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, Cyber End Dragon, some of the Elemental Heroes, and... Oh no, she thinks, and glances over her cards. "I activate the spell card Tremendous Fire, I take 500 life points, and you take 1000 points," she says, and fire burns into her body, lowering her life points to 5400.

"Go trap card, Fusion Guard, so I discard one random fusion monster from my fusion deck, and negate the damage," Dark Zane counters, taking a card out of his fusion deck, and showing it as a Five Gods Dragon, discarding it to his graveyard.

"Okay, I activate Share the Pain, so I sacrifice my face down monster, and destroy yours in return!" She says, and a sword slashes at her facedown monster, then at Dark Zane's, and they both shatter, and a fourth card slips out of Marie's hand. "And I activate Emergency Provisions, and I will get rid of my Path of Illumination card!" She says, and a mouth devours the spell card, raising her life points to 6400.

"And what is the point of this?" Dark Zane asks.

"This card is based off of Angels and Demons by Dan Brown," Marie says. "The Path of Illumination is the path they had to follow in order to find the Church of Illumination, with each death comes a new element, earth, wind, fire, and water. Then, when the Path is sent to the graveyard by my own card, I can remove it from the game, and special summon 4 monsters from each attribute to the field from my hand, the same 4 monsters I took out of my deck. So first, lets welcome to the field the monster of earth, Velociraptor, Terror of the Cretacious (2500/2200)!"

A dark skinned dinosaur with a curved claw on the foot appears.

"The monster of wind, Helmaroc King (2600/2300)!"

A huge bird appears with a gust of wind, and a loud squack.

"The monster of fire, Volvagia, the Subterranian Lava Dragon (2500/2100)!"

A huge serpentine red dragon appears, letting out huge bursts of fire.

"And finaly the monster of water, Angel, Shark Queen of the Abyss (3400/3000)!"

A huge white glowing shark appears, diving into the water.

"But I can't attack yet, so I'll just set this card face down, and call it a turn," Marie says.

Well, she's not bad, I'll give her that, 4 powerful monsters in one turn, but I have to win... Dark Zane thinks, glancing down at the white glow of Angel, who is currently circling around the pool. "I activate Mischief of Goddess Time, which goes automaticaly into my next turn, skipping yours. So now, I can summon this fusion monster, the all-powerful, Cyber Dark Dragon (1000/1000 + 500)!" He says, and a huge black mechanical dragon appears.

Okay, that is not good... Marie thinks.

"So first, I equip the Five Gods Dragon from my graveyard to my Cyber Dark Dragon, raising its attack to 6500, then to 7100 from his other effect!" Dark Zane continues, and the huge dragon appears as the black dragon latches onto it. "And now I activate a Card of Damnation known as Orichalcos Thunder!" He shouts, and huge burst of energy strikes Marie's field, causing her monsters to shatter.

"Card of Damnation? What in the name of all that is holy is that?" Marie demands.

"The evil counterpart of Cards of Divinity, naturaly," Dark Zane says. "Not all Orichalcos duelists are given cards of Damnation, only special ones, and I happen to be among them. And now I can draw a card for every card destroyed by this effect," he says, and draws 4 cards. "Now Dark Cyber Dragon, attack her directly!"

"Go spell card, Scapegoat!" Marie counters, and 4 sheep tokens appear on her field, and a blue one takes the hit.

"Fine, your move," Dark Zane says, crossing his arms.

Marie draws, and glances at her card uneasily. This card, its the riskiest card to use in my deck, and not to mention rather unorthodox, but if it works, I can win this duel in a matter of turns, she thinks. "I activate Heavy Storm, destroying your monster's equip!" She says, and the five headed dragon shatters.

"Fine, you lowered my dragon's attack a little, but not enough," Dark Zane says.

"True, but now I activate the spell card Vase of Unholy Blight!" She says, taking a card out of her deck, and putting it in her pocket, then drawing 3 cards. "And then I activate Different Dimension Burial, to return it to my graveyard," she continues, and places the card in her graveyard. "And I think I'll follow up with a Gracefull Charity," she continues, and draws 3, then discards two, and laughs. "Sorry Zane, but I activate, the Ultimate Unsealing Ritual Technique!"

"What? Thats impossible, you can't have that card! Only one duelist..." Dark Zane stutters.

"Has ever used it, I know..." Marie says. "Yeah, this card and the monster that it summons are even rarer than the Exodia pieces themselves. As to how I got this card, about 20 years ago my mother competed in a tournament hosted by my father's company, thats where they met actually, and in the tournament she dueled against Adrian Gecko, this was before the Icon monsters, so she was using her Dragon/Exodia deck. Naturaly, she won the duel and afterwords, Adrian gave her both of these cards, and she passed them on to me, but lets move on. I shuffle 3 Exodia pieces into my deck from my graveyard..." She says, and takes 3 cards out of her graveyard, and shuffles them into her deck. "And then discard two from my hand, and I can summon, Exodios the Ultimate Forbidden God (!"

A huge gold and orange monster resembling Exodia appears.

"First, Exodios gains attack equal to the number of Exodia pieces in my graveyard times 1000," Marie says, and Exodios' attack rises to 2000. "Now Exodios attack his Cyber Dark Dragon, Obliteration Magic!"

"Whats the point? Your monster is weaker..." Dark Zane says, then his eyes get wide. "His effect..."

"When Exodios attacks, I can discard an Exodia piece from my deck to the graveyard!" Marie says, taking a card out of her deck, and putting it in her graveyard, and Exodios' attack rises to 3000, then blasts through the dragon, lowering Dark Zane's life points to 7200. "Two cards face down, your move."

Dark Zane draws. "I activate Card of Sanctity!" He says, and they both draw until they have 6 cards. "Now, I activate Power Bond, and fuse together my two Cyber Dragons to summon my Cyber Twin Dragon (2800/2100 + 3300)!" He says, and a two headed mechanical dragon appears. "Now attack Exodios, Double Strident Blast!" He commands, and the mechanical dragon sends a burst of energy at Exodios.

"Go trap card, Dimensional Confinement, which will remove your monster from the game!" Marie counters, and the monster gets sucked into a portal. "Is that it?"

"One monster in defense mode, your move," Dark Zane finishes.

Marie draws. "Exodios, attack his face down monster!" Marie commands, and the dark god blasts through a Proto Cyber Dragon as Marie discards another card. "And thats it for me."

Dark Zane draws, and shakes his head. "I set this monster in defense mode, and its your move," he says.

Marie draws. "I activate Pot of Avarice, and shuffle five cards back into my deck, including the Exodia pieces I discarded for my ritual," Marie says, shuffling the cards into her deck, then drawing two. "Exodios, attack his face down monster!" She commands, and the dark god smashes through the face down monster, and another card is discarded, raising Exodios' attack points to 3000. "One card face down, your move."

Dark Zane draws, and sighs, knowing it was almost over. "All right, I'll admit that you are good, you've gotten past just about every good card I have, so I'm going to take a risk, and summon Cyber Vary (0/0+ 500) in defense mode!" He says, and a mechanical monster appears. "Your move."

Marie draws. "I activate, Exodios' Rage, this lets me discard an Exodia piece from my hand, and it qualifies as being sent to the graveyard by Exodios' effect," Marie says, discarding a card. "Now Exodios, attack his monster!" She commands and the dark god attacks the machine as Marie discards one card.

"By removing Vary from the game, I can end your battle phase!" Dark Zane says.

"Too bad, I still got Exodios' effect, which means I got to discard Exodia piece number 5..." Marie says, and a pentagram forms behind her. "Which means, I win!" She continues, and the huge form of Exodia the Forbidden One appears on the field. "Now Exodia, OBLITERATE!"

"No, I was close..." Dark Zane says as the huge blast wipes out his field as the seal closes in around him, and he colapses onto the concrete.

"What a shame, such a great duelist wasted..." Marie says, gathering up her cards before walking out of the pool, and taking the elevator back downstairs.

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Five Gods Dragon was used by the Big 5 throughout the two virtual reality sagas.

Any cards that aren't real where used by Dark Zane in Season 2 of GX.

Exodios, Dimensional Confinement, and Ultimate Unsealing Ritual will be used by Adrian Gecko later in the series, Exodios is up for change when it will be made into a real card.

Volvagia first appeared in "A Divided Heart."

Angel first appeared in "Dimension of Shadows" as "Megalodon, Shark Queen of the Abyss."

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Path of Enlightenment

Continuous Spell

Image of 4 buildings with burning brands of "EARTH," "AIR," "FIRE," and "WATER" on each. When a monster is destroyed by a card effect by either player, add a earth monster, a wind monster, a fire monster, or a water monster to your hand, in this order. When the owner of this card destroys it by a spell or trap effect, special summon all monsters added to your hand by this effect. If this card isn't destroyed 2 turns after monsters of all 4 attributes are in your hand, destroy this card and all other cards on the field.

(This card was based off of Angels and Demons by Dan Brown, all credit goes to him.)

Velociraptor, Terror of the Cretacious

Earth

7

2500/2200

Dinosaur/Effect

This monster was created in honor of the book "Jurassic Park" by Michael Crichton. When this monster destroys a non dinosaur or reptile, it may attack again.

Helmaroc King

Wind

8

2600/2300

Winged-Beast/Effect

The loyal servant of the King of Evil, this feathered fiend has been known to terrorize heroes, and kidnap girls with pointed ears. When this monster is summoned, destroy all monsters on your side of the field other than this one, and special summon normal monsters with attack less than the attack of the strongest monster destroyed this way.

(This card was based off of "Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker" all creative credit goes to Nintendo.))

Exodios' Rage

Spell

Image of a huge burst of energy coming from Exodios. This card can only be activated when "Exodios the Ultimate Forbidden God" is on the field. Discard a card from your hand with "The Forbidden One" in its name, this card counts as being discarded from Exodios' effect.

Orichalcos Thunder

Spell Card/Card of Damnation

This card can only be activated as long as the "Seal of Orichalcos" is in play. When this card is played, destroy all face up monsters on the opponent's field, and draw one card for each monster destroyed.

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New Card Type: Card of Damnation

Because of the release of the Cards of Divinity by the light, the forces of darkness have opted to unleash their own cards, the Cards of Damnation.

These cards usualy have extremely broken effects, and are always tied in to the Orichalcos. No one is entirely sure if you can use them if you do not use the Orichalcos.

These cards feed on the purest darkness, and must not be taken lightly.

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Well, thats it for another chapter.

Next chapter, its Darren's turn, and he's dueling against an opponent with a powerful, but dangerous, deck type. Can he win against the "Jewels of Nature?"