Soul of a Duelist

Turn 5: Poison of the Mind: Cure

(Iris: 3800 Aegis: 5100)

"Don't underestimate me!" Aegis fired back at Iris with one more outburst before he slammed a new monster card onto his duel-disk.

Aegis looked up at the field with apprehension at what had done. By calling off the wager he started against Iris she had no reason to hold back against him. Worse was his wager didn't serve to benefit himself as Iris remained untouched and as a result Aegis couldn't find out how or what Iris knew about him. Iris however bashed his life points slowly to extract as much as she could, causing Aegis' resolve to shake and crumble as he was forced to recall on more painful memories relating to Noah.

His body had been severely rattled and Aegis' head was become heavy from trying to focus on so many tasks at once. Trying to keep his body upright and operational was difficult. Trying to hold back the strange things his mind was trying to make him listen to was stressful. Trying to keep himself from falling to pieces was near impossible. And trying to beat Iris seemed like it would be difficult even after distracting her with the wager. Still he had promised all of the people at the drop-in center he would win, and after raising their hopes so high by making it to the finals there was no other option but to win. "Just a bit longer…If I just keep it together for a bit longer this will be over!"

"If I control a spirit monster I can summon this spirit monster as well, some come forth, Heroic Spirit Freya! (2300/0)" On the other side of Orpheus a second female figure appeared. She was about the same height and build as The White Lady Aegis had on the field, but she was armed with much more robust equipment. Covered in crimson armor from head to toe, looking at the summoned monster was like looking at a knight from King Arthur's court. With a round shield in her left hand, she carried a long spear in the right hand. She also had a finned red helmet which covered her face from view, thus the only way to know the gender would either to understand the connotation of the card's name, or to see traces of blond hair peaking out from the back of the helmet. As a last detail Freya also had a pair of beautiful white feathered wings that were at rest and furled when the monster was summoned; Aegis feeling slightly serene when looking at them.

"First, I'm attacking your Venom Basilisk (1900/0) with my White Lady! (1800/400)" Iris immediately noticed the disparity in attack strength and slowly raised an eyebrow at Aegis. "Obviously I wouldn't do this unless I knew I'd win! When my White Lady attacks the opposing monster loses five hundred attack points, so attack with Feast of Souls!" Aegis' monster vanished from the field after the command. Suddenly a simulated wind picked up and the White Lady reappeared behind Iris' gigantic hydra (1400/0). With a spine-chilling cackle the apparition reached out and touched the serpent, the beast screaming in pain before it shattered.

(Iris: 3400 Aegis: 5100)

"Any damage my White Lady causes you in battle is transferred to my life points." Aegis' addition didn't provoke the reaction he wanted out of Iris; it appeared she had become just as serious as he was.

(Iris: 3400 Aegis: 5500)

"Orpheus, you're next! (1900/1600) Attack Venom Basilisk! (1700/1000) Requiem!" Orpheus prepared his instrument with one arm and with a moment to let his clunky mechanical fingers wiggle in anticipation, he struck a sorrowful melody on his harp, the tune causing Iris' monster to explode in flames. Aegis still gave himself a pat on the back for what he had accomplished, even though the monster was in defence mode when it was destroyed the act of destroying it was good enough.

"Last one up, Freya will get rid of one of your Venom Snakelets (100/0), attack with Divine Wrath! (2300/0)" Aegis smiled broadly as he watched the crimson-clad warrior charged across the field, wings at their maximum size, shield up and spear aimed straight at one hapless egg shell. "Unfortunately for you my monster can deal damage to you even if your monster is in defence mode." Aegis had finally caused a reaction from Iris, though it was a small twitch the damage was still done.

(Iris: 1100 Aegis: 5500)

"I didn't think you were this tenacious, Aegis…" Iris spoke calmly as always, though Aegis swore that she sounded slightly annoyed.

"You should know there was a reason I was in the spotlight years ago for my dueling! It was in all of the-" Aegis halted himself in mid-sentence when all of the pieces of the puzzle had just slid into place. His mouth hung open for a moment as he appeared to mimic The Scream, until he realized his own state and finally shut it. He began to slouch suddenly, lazily raising his right arm to his head and ruffling his hair.

Iris watched attentively to see what would happen next with Aegis, but he simply redid his hair to cover his right eye. Finally he removed the white handkerchief from his collar, folded it up and placed it back into his pocket casually. The crowd began to wonder what was going on as Aegis seemed to stop for no reason, yet he wasn't bothered as he leaned on his podium and then sighed heavily.

"Why the change again, Aegis?" Iris couldn't help but wonder at the cause of the sudden behavior. Aegis looked over at the woman lazily with his left eye and then shut it slowly. He gave up the false persona he had tried to use against Iris. The reduced load on his mental capacity was like a refreshing splash of water against his face; Aegis's body relaxing a bit and simply savouring the feeling of blood rushing back to his extremities.

"Like I said, it might be from not sleeping last night. Or maybe from being haunted by my own demons for so long. All of that caffeine and chemicals in me might've been the reason too when I think about it. But somehow I missed all of the obvious connections." Aegis spoke slowly and quietly, his head swaying from side to side slightly as he began to relinquish fine motor control.

"You don't know anything special about me, do you Iris?" Aegis watched Iris for a moment for a reaction. She sighed and shrugged her shoulders lightly. Aegis chuckled to himself and shook his head sluggishly, he was disappointed in himself.

"Anyone that was around five years ago would know me and Noah because of all that publicity I got. All Iris did was pull on some of that common knowledge and gave it her own twist to make it sound like she knew more than what she really did. Because of this deteriorated mental state of mine I blew things way out of proportion, just as she hoped. If I was more rested I might've picked up on this sooner, but it doesn't matter now."

Aegis raised his head slightly and eyed the woman as she stood quietly and watched the scene unfold. "You're very good at manipulating people. I really can't get over how good you are at it. My problem was I tried to play your game which is exactly what you wanted. Yet in the end I feel like you're not going to be a big problem after all. When I look past your reputation and that attitude of yours, you're just human like me, and you can be beaten." With a heavy sigh Aegis lifted himself off of his podium and began to stand on his own two feet once again.

For whatever reason Iris began to smile warmly at the speech, Aegis found himself hard pressed to evoke an outward reaction at another off topic comment waiting for him. "I'm only good at mind-games because I like to learn about people. So far you're the only person that I've faced who doesn't like to show himself for who they really are. A thousand different masks but never your real face." Aegis listened deafly to the words, feeling a bit tired again.

Iris chuckled at the lack of enthusiasm and put on her smile again. "Let's keep this dance going for a bit longer, I want to know who the real Aegis Hallow is after all of this." Aegis frowned at the words and shook his head disapprovingly. "I told you, I'm not having any part in more mind-games." Aegis grumbled, running a hand through his hair as a modified form of his hat adjusting reflex. He shot another glance up at Iris, she appeared satisfied with the situation, confidence simply overflowing off of her as she played with the edge of her hat. No matter what happened Iris seemed to remain unfazed by whatever came her way, actually turning most situations around in her favor.

"Alright, I'm ending my turn, returning both of my spirits to my hand and gaining a thousand life points due to my Spring of Rebirth." Aegis' ranks thinned out leaving just Orpheus standing in the desolate foggy road. The stone fountain positioned just behind Orpheus began to radiate green light and for the first time in a long while, Aegis' life points could be heard increasing.

(Iris: 1100 Aegis: 6500)

"At this time I'm also activating the ability of my field card. Whenever a spirit monster returns to my hand a Headstone Token takes its place, so two tokens in defence mode (0/0)." Two simple stone tablets then emerged from the dirt. He nodded his head approvingly and then turned his attention at the field. "Iris has a single Venom Snakelet on the field, and she doesn't have enough life points to keep summoning them now. On my field I still have Orpheus and those new Headstone Tokens to protect me. I'm also backed up with my field card, my Spring of Rebirth and my facedown card. Well even though it cost me a fair bit of sanity it seems Iris is too late to get back into this game."

The crowd watched with great attention, especially with such a huge lead over Iris it seemed like Aegis would come out as the victor shortly and make dueling history. Still, Aegis didn't feel confident in a premature victory dance as Iris was still calm as she lightly picked up her card for the turn. She held it for a moment in one hand and looked closely at it before adding it to her other cards. Slowly she looked over at Aegis and gave him another chilling smile before she began her turn.

"I'm bringing back another Venom Snakelet from my graveyard." The declaration took Aegis by surprise. She had less than a tenth of Aegis' life points yet she was still throwing them away haphazardly.

(Iris: 600 Aegis: 6500)

The crowd however didn't share the same sentiments. A hushed whispering went throughout the masses, one that didn't appear to wonder why Iris was bringing herself so close to an early end. A second tiny eggshell wearing snake appeared next to the first. And as usual a purple snake was spat out and latched onto Orpheus' silver body promptly.

"Next I'll tribute my two monsters to summon Vennominon, the King of Poisonous Snakes! (0/0)" Iris' voice became much more powerful as she gave the command, Aegis taking a few steps back at the sheer force of her voice. Suddenly it didn't seem like his defence would be enough to withstand Iris' coming storm.

Taking the place of her creatures was a single entity that stood at twice the size of a normal person. Iris' monster had the lower body to a serpent but wore red and purple robes that were attached to a large chest piece formed from the bodies of coiling green serpents. From beneath the cloak masses of coiled serpents emerged, the structures resembling arms with fingers formed by the heads of the serpents that had wrapped around each other. The chest piece also had a golden headpiece that was fashioned to resemble a serpent with its mouth open, within the opening was the creature's true head, a small green reptile face with fangs and slit red eyes.

The crowd had resigned themselves at the monster's summoning, Aegis felt like he was back in the duel against James when he had summoned Death to the field, except the situation was reversed. He found himself worrying again at the mass reaction as he didn't know what the implication meant for him. So he looked to his opponent for the answers, though that was also nerve-wracking.

"From the look on your face it seems you don't know this card." Aegis nodded silently, his face a bit red from embarrassment. "The first thing you need to know is that Vennominon gains five hundred attack points for each reptile in my graveyard. With eight of my serpents in there, well, you can figure out the rest, can't you?" Iris smile suddenly appeared to have a bit of a sinister feel to it. Aegis nodded his head slowly at the news; it meant he was staring down something with 4000 attack points (4000/0).

"As I'm still curious, Aegis, the wager can still continue in which case I will give you a few more turns in this duel. If not then…" Iris laughed quietly, her hand tracing the rim of the hat she took from Aegis. The man leaned on his podium once more and then promptly stuck his tongue out and blew a raspberry at Iris.

"I told you! I'm sick of your mind-games! I don't care what you have up your sleeve, but I'm going to beat you, put an end to your spotless record and without you prying into my business!" Aegis felt proud of himself for standing his ground, though he felt somewhat concerned when Iris actually looked unhappy for the first time in the entire duel.

"Tenacious indeed. Or maybe this is who you are without all the masks. First I play my Venom Blast spell card. By discarding a card from my hand I can destroy a card on your field, so I will cut off your life-line and destroy Spring of Rebirth. To activate this card I'll discard my last Venom Snake." From the ground below the fountain on Aegis' field, purple mist began to seep out furiously. Without any other warnings the fountain burst into flames, its serene grace being consumed in fire before it shattered. "As a novelty if I discarded a reptile monster to activate thus card I can place a number of Venom Counters equal to the discarded monster's level on any monster on your side of the field." Three more phantom serpents burst from the ground where Aegis' fountain was and dug themselves into the Orpheus' back, though if it bothered Orpheus there was no reaction on his face to indicate so.

"Are you sure you don't want to reconsider, Aegis?" Iris parted her lips as she smiled to reveal her teeth to Aegis. Though he felt his knees starting to shake under her gaze he still shook his head, much to Iris' disappointment. "As another serpent ended up in my graveyard Vennominion gains five hundred more attack points (4500/0). Now attack Orpheus (1900/1600) with Snake Legion!" Iris' beast literally shot its left arm at Orpheus. The serpents unwound in mid-flight and latched onto Orpheus' body with their fangs out, digging into the silver metal and cracking it. In a mighty explosion Orpheus was wiped out from the field. Vennominion's arm quickly grew back after the attack, or perhaps more serpents just took their place where the arm was.

(Iris: 600 Aegis: 3900)

"I'll set a card facedown and end my turn." Iris took to leaning on her podium, elbows resting on the metal surface and fingers interlaced together. Aegis nodded his head and drew his card quietly. In all honesty he was exhausted from straining his mind with ways to play the mind-games and other paranoid scenarios that varied in the extent of how much Iris really knew about him. As a result his body began to feel heavy, his legs weighed down in spot and his arms screaming in exhaustion to be dropped limply to the side. Aegis let out a pained breath and did his best to keep his body and mind combined, lest the two fall out of synchronization and Aegis collapse to the floor.

"What's wrong? Why so quiet?" Iris still seemed keen in provoking some kind of reaction to exploit. Aegis sighed heavily and then closed his eye, a hand going to the bridge of his nose and massaging it.

"No more mind-games." Aegis muttered blandly, Iris laughing and shrugging her shoulders lightly. "I'm summoning my White Lady (1800/0) and then I'm summoning Heroic Spirit Freya by her effect as well! (2300/0)" Beside the tombstones on Aegis' field the two ghostly entities reappeared. "Next I'm going to activate the effect of my Sacred Burial Grounds! Even though I control two Headstone Tokens which allow my spirits to stay on the field, I can also send one back every turn. So I'm recalling Heroic Spirit Freya to my hand to create a new Headstone Token." As the crimson knight vanished a third headstone sprouted out of the ground to take her place.

"Now that I have three Headstone Tokens I can tribute one of them to bring back a spirit monster from my graveyard and put it into my hand. So I'm returning Spirit of the Betrayer!" Aegis reached into his duel-disk to pull the card from his graveyard, feeling a strange kinship with its image. As a result he took a moment to study the image on the card. On it was a man dressed in red armor with his arms out and head rolled back howling to the heavens above. A strange portrait, but one that appeared as generic as any other card.

"Something is definitely strange about this card…I never saw Noah use it either so where did this come from anyway? Not like I'll need it if things go well, but I might as well keep it ready." Aegis gave the card one more look before he finally placed it into his hand. "Alright I'm going to activate Binding Ritual from my hand to bring back my Dark Dust Spirit! (2200/1800)" Aegis grinned weakly but at the same time with a quiet confidence. However he noticed the crowd did not cheer or gasp at the defining moment of the duel, something was wrong but he continued regardless.

As Aegis' spell card appeared on the field the chains shot down into the earth instead of into the sky, dragging with them the red spindly body of the creature as it continued to struggle against its restraints. A sandstorm began as the spirit settled, sand and dust hurling through the stadium and engulfing Iris' beast. "Even though I destroy all of my monsters in the process, I'll deliver the final blow and end the game, Iris!" Aegis still felt like something was wrong as the crowd began to mutter amongst each other.

However Aegis' progress remained constant, Iris' monster shattering in the sandstorm, nothing disastrous presented itself. When the sand vanished from the air Aegis got a clear view of Iris, only to shrink under her marvellous smile.

"Even if you don't want to play my games, you still seem to wind up in all of my traps. By destroying my Vennominion you've activated my trap card, Rise of the Snake Deity!" Aegis knew that there were only a few instances when effort was made to actually create machinery that could shake the dueling field. Only high end stadiums would have such equipment, and only the most devastating cards in the game would actually invoke the machines to make the stadium rumble. Judging from how he felt like he was in an earthquake Aegis was fairly sure he would see one of the few cards that could meet the criteria of game-ending.

"By the effect of my trap card I can summon Vennominaga, the Deity of Poisonous Snakes (0/0). Prepare yourself, Aegis Hallow. I wonder if your burning soul can overcome this." Iris voice was completely sincere, her smile was gentle, face pleasant, yet Aegis felt horribly afraid.

From the earth a mass of royal blue serpents emerged, writhing and twisting through the air. As more of the creature emerged it was revealed that the serpents were attached to the head of the monster in a similar fashion to Medusa. The head was mostly covered by a large golden band with an emerald in its center. Two large red eyes rested under the piece of jewellery, an eerie inhuman glow came from them. Still more of the creature was rising from the ground, now two thick arms formed by thick ravelled snake bodies appeared. Instead of hands two massive scaled serpent heads were in place, hissing and snapping their jaws. Finally the rest of the body pulled itself from the abyss, the creature's body being a massive winding thick serpent's tail that coiled up.

"Alright…You made me seasick with it, what's that thing do?" Aegis was hunched over his podium with sweat rolling off of his face, feeling ill and somewhat intimidated by his elegant opposition.

"Like Vennominion, Vennominaga gains five hundred attack points for every reptile in my graveyard (5000/0). But that's not all, you see my deity cannot be affected by any card, and if you somehow can overcome my monster in battle I can remove a reptile monster from the game to bring my deity back." Iris appeared to find the explanation somewhat boring and had taken to examining the back of her hand in boredom. Aegis looked up into the air at the towering monster in front of him, yet despite the impending danger he couldn't help but feel interested in trying to beat something so gargantuan.

"Indestructible with 5000 attack points…" Aegis straightened up, stretched out his arms and gave a yawn. "I think I could take it." A small faction in the crowd suddenly burst out in cheering and hollering at Aegis' reaction, and for once Aegis was pleased with his audience. "I can't do anything about my Dark Dust Spirit now, so I'm going to end my turn."

"That stubbornness of yours is charming, but ultimately rather annoying." Iris mused quietly as she drew a card. "You know what's coming, so Vennominaga, the Deity of Poisonous Snakes (4500/0) attack Dark Dust Spirit (2200/1800) with Fatal Ichor!" Iris' titan raised one of its snake arms, pointing it at its victim. The serpent at the end of the arm opened its mouth, releasing a blast of purple miasma which engulfed the tethered spirit. A howl of pain came out of the poison and then traces of polygons could be seen coming out of the gases, Aegis bracing himself for the overflow of damage.

(Iris: 600 Aegis: 1100)

Aegis grunted as the stadium gave another lurch from the attack. However he also noticed that his podium had become covered in almost vein-like structures that pulsated a deep crimson light. He placed a hand on the veins and found his hand passed right through it, Aegis felt relieved at his discovery. "I thought something like last time was happening again…Still whatever this is it can't be good for me." Aegis looked up at Iris for an explanation. She noticed his gaze and then chuckled lightly; apparently there was something she left out of her explanation when the monster was summoned.

"Don't worry, your podium won't explode. Whenever Vennominaga damages you a Hyper Venom Counter is placed on my monster. If three of them are on my card then I automatically win the game." Aegis didn't appear too distraught over the news; it would only take one more hit from Iris' monster to finish the game anyway. "I'll set a card facedown and end my turn. Do your best now, Aegis."

Aegis mumbled something under his breath, doing an exaggerated imitation of Iris as she gave her last words of good luck. Iris laughed playfully at Aegis; apparently she didn't feel offended in the slightest at his gesture, which only furthered Aegis' annoyance.

"Are you always so calm about everything?" Aegis couldn't help but ask the question that was trying to leap off of his tongue for the entire game. Iris laughed and smiled, tilting her head slightly as she did so.

"Of course, aren't you?" Aegis grumbled at the response and drew his card in silence. He studied the card he had drawn and then looked onto his field. His only cards were his Sacred Burial Grounds field card which produced the scenery for him, but was ultimately useless. Then he looked at the card that he had set at the very beginning of the duel. It had lay forgotten hovering over the field at least until Aegis drew his card.

"Indestructible, with more attack points than any card I've seen so far, and it can automatically end the game in three turns. Somehow I feel like something like that would take away all of my hope to win…" Words were slowly coming out of his mouth without any control or intervention from his own body, a quiet confidence had taken over him and was making his body operate by a will outside of his own. "But maybe it's just my luck this one time, so I'll go with it. I'm going to activate my facedown card, Grave Marking! For the three spirit monsters in my graveyard, I can summon three Grave Marker Tokens to my field (0/0)."

Three small obelisks came out of the earth, Aegis grinned slightly as he looked at what was the start of his final counterattack. "By sacrificing my three tokens I can summon Spirit of the Betrayer! (2900/2500)" "I didn't need to use this card, but there's something strange about it. Noah never used it in our duel, but here it is. I need to see it for myself." Aegis tuned his sense into his right eye to see if any change had occurred in it. As he placed the card into his duel-disk he expected his eye to begin to hurt, or even bleed, but nothing.

The three stone obelisks faded away, their demise bringing a thick shroud of fog to the field. It was impossible for Aegis to see Iris any longer, or even the audience around him, he had been completely isolated from the rest of the world by the fog.

"Aegis, what have you done?" Iris called out curiously through the fog; however she still seemed perfectly calm and not worried in the slightest. Aegis grumbled to himself at her willingness to accept anything that happened and found himself a second short of responding when a heavy footstep stopped him.

Another footstep followed the first one, Aegis becoming acutely aware that the sound was coming from directly behind him. Though he knew he was in the real world where only holograms existed, Aegis found himself hesitant as he turned his head back to see what he had actually summoned.

From the mist a tall man came walking out. Dressed in red eastern armor that resembled a dragon the warrior slowly approached his position on the field. His armor was worn and had many notches and cuts through the material, however it still maintained a regal appearance. The armor was a bright red with golden chains running across the man's chest ending in a golden dragon's head on the left shoulder. On his back was a single blade with a handle attached to it, it appeared to be a rather simple sword. A second sword was attached to the man's waist, resting horizontally against his lower back.

The warrior came startlingly close to Aegis, striding right next to him but not doing anything else. Yet Aegis was reeling as the hologram passed him, his face etched with horror. The fog thinned out to its original levels, allowing all to see Aegis' prize monster. The warrior had assumed his position on the field and stood in place silently, arms folded and waiting for a command like the true soldier he embodied.

Aegis could barely conceal his distress, his face tense and a desperate scowl carved into his face. Iris noticed it immediately and was rather confused, until she looked at the monster Aegis summoned. She tilted her hat forward slightly to only leave her smile in view and then pointed out an observation that many others in the audience were starting to notice.

"He has the same face as you, Aegis." Aegis' spirit stared straight forward coldly with his one good dark brown left eye; his right eye had been injured somehow and was a milky white, a large scar tracing a gash which ran down the right side of his face. The warrior even had the same hair as Aegis, an ebon black that lay in strands which fell over his face.

"It's your imagination." Aegis had thought the same thing as Iris, and he found it difficult to cover up that fact. Aegis' mind began to race wildly, the implications of the card to have such a name, to look like him, it meant something much more. Aegis found himself running out of breath rapidly, his head flooding with the tormented thoughts he had struggled so long to force out of his mind.

Aegis' body felt numb the entire day. He had done his best to avoid feeling the impact of his memories and even went as far as numbing his own perception of the importance of the duel he was in. At the same time he found himself able to fight Iris with his own two feet he found it felt empty without being able to find solace in Noah's memory. He had even tried to pull on his old friend's memory to lend him strength at the beginning of the duel, but his mind betrayed him and the act was rendered impossible. Aegis had some inclination as to why his body would betray him in such a way, but he never pursued the thought. However, with that final card in his duel-disk he couldn't deny why he found it impossible to recall Noah.

"It's my fault you're dead."

Aegis collapsed on his podium, eyes shut tightly as he could no longer hold back the torrent from breaching the forefront of his mind. Waves of sorrow crashed back and forth in his heart, his body limp and lifeless.

"They call this the Shadow Realm. Here the intangible becomes real, Aegis. Here you can give form to even your soul!"

He finally knew why the card never appeared when Noah used it, that single card was the form Aegis' very own soul had taken. Aegis could feel hot tears forming in his eyes, streaking down his face. The salty liquid feeling like it could burn his skin off until his entire face was scarred.

"Aegis…If you do this…"

"It's over, Noah! DIE!"

Aegis felt hollow. His only friend in the world, the only person that would stand by his side throughout all of the trials and tribulations, and it was his fault Noah was dead. Lost to the shadows forever, left to suffer. He had done all he could to deny he was the murderer. It took all of his willpower to run away from the past and to block it out of his mind. But time caught him and was crushing him with the weight of his actions, the proof rested in the small card in his gauntlet. The anguished scream that Noah gave when the final blow was delivered, it was horrific and haunted Aegis like Death's icy grasp. He could feel himself being consumed by the darkness in his heart, a sensation that froze every nerve in the body and claimed all trace of life for the abyss. The world around him became blunted, the sound of the confused crowd was becoming quieter, the warmth of his coat was foreign to his skin and his own breath had become nonexistent.

"You are forgiven." Iris' tranquil voice suddenly broke through the torment in Aegis' mind, all of his senses instantly restoring themselves at hearing such strange words.

For whatever reason Iris seemed to say something that was almost prophetic in how accurate it was. Aegis wiped his face off with his left sleeve and then lifted his head up enough to look at his opponent. She had taken off Aegis' hat and placed it on the podium. Her arms were folded and she had her eyes closed rather peacefully.

"What…Did you say?" Aegis swore that Iris had lied to him last time and really did know something more about him. A familiar feeling of panic began to mix into the depression and sorrow that was churning in the depths of his heart.

"You said those cards came from your deceased friend. For whatever reason one of them came out like this." Iris motioned towards Aegis' warrior with a lofting motion from her left hand. "I'm sure that there is a very interesting story behind it all, maybe you two argued and you said something you didn't really mean and then Noah died. But from where I stand you can be forgiven." Aegis hated how well Iris could read anything about him, almost figuring out everything from a single glance. Still he began to piece together his sanity with her reassurance.

"Leaving the dueling world so suddenly and then coming back to it when it clearly tortures you immensely. It can only mean you're here for a very good reason." For the first time in the duel Aegis found Iris' smile welcoming and as a result he could feel the cold hand gripping his heart loosen.

Aegis nodded his head stiffly, starting to become aware of his dramatics and how the crowd was chatting feverishly. Pleased with herself, Iris opened her eyes slightly and replaced the dark blue hat on her head. "Don't disappoint me now."

Even though Iris didn't understand the whole situation, the advice was the support Aegis needed to bring himself back onto his feet. His body still felt numb and lacked any real feeling. It felt like it was by the will of some supernatural force that his body could lift itself off the edge of the podium and back onto its own feet. Aegis looked at the back of his monster as it stood on the field. "I said I could withstand a bit more for the sakes of everyone counting on me. I can worry about this…Later."

"I'm grateful for your advice, but I'm afraid this is where I end this duel, and this entire tournament!" It took considerable strength to muster a collected voice, but Aegis surprised himself with how powerful his voice was. "I'm activating the spell card, Light from Beyond!" The instant Aegis played his card a blinding light came rushing out from behind him that caused Iris to hide her eyes with the edge of her hat.

"By discarding a spirit monster I can give one spirit monster on my side of the field the ability to attack your life points directly! It doesn't matter how powerful your monster is when it can't protect you!" Iris appeared to remain emotionless at the turnabout; however Aegis assumed it was because she had the majority of her face covered due to the light.

"No matter how much you've suffered that love of the game still burned in your soul, didn't it?" Iris spoke quietly, Aegis suspecting some unhappiness from Iris. He nodded his head instead of giving a verbal response. Parts of him still wanted to find a reason to duel again. Aegis laughed quietly to himself at how paradoxical of a person he was; it was nearly impossible for him to keep track of all the contradictions he had made in the last forty-eight hours.

"Spirit of the Betrayer (2900/2500), with the power of Light from Beyond, attack Iris' life points directly! Twin Blades of Torment!" Aegis' warrior gripped the handles to each of his swords, pulling them out of their sheaths with a masterful motion. He paused momentarily, assuming a battle stance before whipping the blades free from their restraints. The spirit grunted and began to charge forward, right at Iris' deity. A moment before the two would have made impact the warrior vanished.

Suddenly the light produced by Aegis' card ceased, Iris looking up from her podium and into the face of Aegis' monster. The spirit had both of his blades poised and ready to cleave through Iris, looking down on her with his emotionless gaze. Iris looked intrigued and slightly amused as she studied the many scars on the battered holographic face. Finally she laughed to herself just as the warrior sliced through her body with his false swords.

(Iris: 0 Aegis: 1100)

Aegis collapsed onto his podium once more, this time out of relief. Somehow despite his poor mental state, all of Iris' mind-games and the tortured memories he was trying to escape from, somehow he had beaten the very best.

"I'm afraid no matter how kind I am, I am still the best for a reason, Aegis." Iris seemed jubilant, smiling radiantly at Aegis, making him recoil and sweat profusely.

"I activate my trap card, Cross Poisoning." Iris tipped her hat to show Aegis the malicious glint in her bright yellow eyes. "Whenever I take battle damage, you take the same amount. I'm afraid you won't be the one that hands me my first loss. Albeit I will give you credit for making me settle on a draw." Iris appeared slightly annoyed at the idea of having something other than a win on her record; as a result her gentle features twisted for a moment into a chilling glare that made Aegis' knees shake momentarily. "Don't be too proud, right?"

After being struck by Aegis' monster a tidal wave of purple liquid came rushing out of the earth on Iris' field. Aegis found himself shrinking at the torrent that approached him and instinctively covered his head with his arms as the tainted water engulfed him.

(Iris: 0 Aegis: 0)

The crowd's reaction was mixed. A portion were cheering for Aegis' accomplishment, others were unsatisfied with a result that was anything but a decisive victory for one side, and some simply remained mute as they tried to figure out their own opinion of the situation.

Aegis' stomach twisted in dread. He was so close to winning against Iris, but she made sure to have a contingency plan ready if Aegis had a way to topple her deity. The duel had already taken a heavy toll on Aegis as he could feel the effects of the caffeine and stimulants wearing off and the full extent of his body's exhaustion was taking hold of him. On top of his bodily handicaps Aegis' shaken mental state made it difficult for him to carry out a simple play, there would be no possibility for him to plan out entire strategies or defend against Iris' mind-games if she decided to play them again.

"Well…This sure is unexpected, folks!" David's jittery voice came on the intercom, the crowd not paying any attention to him and continuing their own discussion.

"But as this tournament was already extended by a day we may not have the time for a rematch." David received a blast of booing and even a few thrown concession packages at his head; apparently no one felt like giving the messenger a break. "H-However! If the duelists truly wish to continue than we can try-"

"This is acceptable." The crowd instantly silenced itself as Iris spoke. Even Aegis was shocked to hear Iris was alright with the results. However Iris seemed uninterested and was examining something on the sleeve of her black jacket instead of acknowledging the countless stupefied looks from the stadium. Considering how she nearly made Aegis faint from her glare he felt that Iris would press for a rematch. However he didn't want to press his luck further and promptly nodded his head; fearful that if he spoke it might change Iris' mind for whatever reason.

"Well look at that, she's pretty and a real good sport too! A real class act, don't you think so everyone?" David recovered his status with the crowd as quickly as he lost it, working the audience into a blind frenzy of shouting and cheering. Aegis leaned on his podium, grumbling to himself about the audience.

It was all over and Aegis had no more control on the situation. It dreaded him to think of what to do about the drop-in center's plight as he never expected a draw. The distribution of the prize money would be decided by the judges he assumed, which made him feel awful. All of his work could be for nothing if the judges decided unfavourably. Aegis shut his eyes wearily and listened weakly to the noise from the crowd, entertaining as many paranoia induced scenarios his mind could come up with.

An hour later the stadium had been cleared out. David had gotten both Iris and Aegis to wave and smile at the crowd to keep the people satisfied. After it was over the duelists were taken to a waiting room in the lobby. Aegis felt absolutely dreadful and took the time to rest, falling asleep the instant he let his body rest in a chair.

David then came for the two, giving Aegis a good shake to jolt him out of sleep. Aegis frowned at being woken so quickly, but the act of sleeping seemed to fix all of the loose connections in Aegis' mind. He was his usual self, face stoic, talking in his flat tunes and moving a little slower than the world around him. More importantly his mind had set itself in order and was clear of the tortured thoughts that had persisted for nearly two days.

"Alright, no one really planned for the finals to end in a draw so you two will have to come to an agreement in how the prize money for first and second place will be distributed. The easiest way would probably be to-"

"Give the money to Aegis." Iris wasted no time to cut off David, and strangely she didn't appear the slightest bit hesitant either in handing the sum of money away. Aegis thought he had enough surprises for a day but he had been dumbfounded and had his mouth gaping wide open.

"T-that's real nice of you, Iris, but why are you giving away all that cash?" David asked the question that filled the room's atmosphere. Iris chuckled and folded her arms casually, she appeared proud of herself for confusing the two.

"Before the match a few kids approached me." The implication of Iris' explanation was not lost on Aegis as his eye widened for a moment as he pieced together what Iris would say next. Iris shrugged her shoulders lightly, turned to the side and folded her thin arms together. "I thought they wanted my autograph or something like that. But instead they told me how you were trying to win the tournament to keep a homeless shelter open throughout the winter, so they asked me to lose on purpose. I must admit their pleading faces moved me. I might use a deck full of poisonous snakes, but it doesn't mean I don't have a heart."

Aegis was speechless, the goddess of fortune had smiled on him many times that day, and it seemed that Iris' smile would be very similar to what that goddess' smile would look like. A warm feeling rushed through his body and he returned the best smile he could muster in return. "I…Don't know what to say…"

"I didn't plan to keep the money even if I won, but I wanted to see what kind of person you were, Aegis. So I hope you don't mind that I indulged myself a bit." Suddenly Aegis felt that Iris' smile was a bit less than sincere. Then a thought occurred to him and he began to rifle through his pockets. Finally he produced the white handkerchief that he had won in the wager against Iris.

"Here." Aegis offered the cloth back to Iris. She looked carefully at it for a moment, and then took it from Aegis' open hand. Iris placed it back into her jacket, appearing pleased with the transaction. Aegis wasn't, his hand still out and clearing his throat slightly.

"Yes, what is it, Aegis?" Iris' voice found a new innocent tone as she replied. Aegis flinched for a moment, in the back of his mind a bad feeling had sprouted and was spreading its roots to other parts of his mind.

"My hat. I gave you your handkerchief back, so I want my hat back." Aegis eyed the hat on Iris' head the entire time he spoke. Iris hummed thoughtfully and leaned in closely to Aegis, her face entering an inch of his own. Aegis felt himself blushing, a churning feeling returning to his intestines. It wasn't a brief encounter either; Iris stared for a long time with her bright yellow eyes at Aegis' face. Then she parted the hair covering up the right side of his face with her hand, studying the entirety of his worn face. Aegis didn't know what to do as his mind blanked out on him, his body freezing up like a statue.

There were many finer points and feelings that a man would experience had someone else been in his position. Iris was a lovely looking lady, yet Aegis had something completely different on his mind. In coming so close to him, Iris had also brought his hat back in arm's reach as she still had it on her head. While she was distracted Aegis decided it would be his best chance.

Just as Aegis made a swipe for his hat, Iris spun away from him to avoid his grasp. And before Aegis was aware of what was happening Iris had armed her duel-disk and pressed its blade-like attachment against his neck. Aegis froze instantly at the cold sensation against his jugular, lowering his eyes to watch the device nervously. Aegis began to wonder if Iris had the old Battle City styled duel-disk made for the one purpose of threatening people. The model's production ceased because people had begun to use its weapon like appearance as an actual weapon.

"My, my. Didn't I win your hat in your wager? No one said we had to give back our prizes, it just so happens you did, isn't that right, Aegis?" Iris' smile was as serene as always. Aegis desperately wanted to protest, but his body would not let the words come out of his mouth, instead remaining fixated in place and sweating.

"Yeah…Funny how that works out…" Aegis exhaled his compliance very quickly. Iris chuckled to herself and then removed the duel-disk from his neck, the device separating and becoming dormant. Aegis collapsed into a heap on the ground, actually panting to try and catch his breath.

Laughing to herself, Iris readjusted her hat smugly, just to infuriate Aegis. However he had a feeling that unlike with Iris' situation, David would restrain him if he drew the blade on his gauntlet's duel-disk. That and he wasn't sure if he had the energy to try and duel-disk duel someone that looked like they could be a professional fencer.

"Oh, Aegis?" Iris paused as she walked away. Aegis' gut instinct told him something strange was about to come out of her mouth. "If it makes you feel better I got a good look of your spirit's face. I think you're right, it was my imagination. You look much better than that." Aegis found himself only able to make slight utterances that resembled words, but nothing that could be considered coherent language. Something strange and unrelated came out of Iris that made Aegis feel horridly conflicted as it usually did.

"Well…Aegis." David decided to make himself known after Iris turned a corner and vanished from sight. "Look at it like this; you just sold your hat for a lot of money." David laughed at his own joke, though it ceased rather quickly as Aegis stared up at him mutely.

"It's still my hat, and I want it back." Aegis grumbled under his breath, burying his face in the collar of his trenchcoat.