They say there are two sides to every person, and each side has their own characteristics. To the untrained eye, the two sides of the same coin, both a part of the same have only one difference on being on opposite sides.

But, even though they are the same, the two can be quite different…

…looking at another explanation to this situation, think of the principal of Yin and Yang, a key principal in Zen. There is a balance between light and dark, good and evil…the sheep and the tiger as some people would put them.

Sometimes the balance is tipped between these two opposing forces…sometimes the lines between them are easy to see, other times they are more difficult. Everyday, people are faced with choices that would determine the categories that they fall into these two sides of Yin and Yang…

…if you were to ask me, I'm more of a con-artist kind of person, I get people to do the deeds that represent my position. Even right now, as I watch these two warriors battle, each for their own reasons, my deeds are being fulfill because of them. Honestly, I wonder why I wasn't named the saint of Sloth; at times I'm lazier than Densui…

…but then again, unlike him, I actually have goals to achieve…and I will use everything and everyone at my disposal as I get closer and closer towards those goals, I don't care who I step on…

And this first step…this step will be one of the most difficult, but should it be successful…

Heh, heh, heh…well…why spoil the fun?

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Chapter 35

Trial by the Elements

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"Ugh…"

Plopping down on his bed, Garu turned his head to the side to look at the alarm clock that an old friend had given him before he was kicked out off the academy. Sitting on top of it, Garu sighed looking at the weird eye patch left behind by the same friend.

Even though his mind was racing with the new classes that he was just assigned with (man, how he hated Satoshi right about now), Garu's mind went to ease as he remembered his first friend at the academy…

'Zeff…'

In fact it was Zeff who was Garu's first opponent to duel here at the academy…they never did finish that duel, courtesy of professor Fortanu. And it was thanks to the wolf duelist who kicked Garu out of the slump.

'…why…'

But then tragedy struck, with Fomalhaut crushing Zeff in that Duel Out Program, casting the wolf duelist out of the academy along with several other students. Ever since, Garu wanted to meet up with this Fomalhaut character…trying to get a reason out of the guy, but he seemed to disappear…

KNOCK! KNOCK!

With his train of thought interrupted, Garu pushed himself up from the bed towards the door. "Hmm?"

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KNOCK! KNOCK!

"Come in."

With a loud bam, the door slammed open, causing a large break in the white wall where the doorknob had pierced the wall. "HEY! You didn't need to slam the door! It was unlocked!"

"Can it, Mustang!" Stomping into the room, Cain glared daggers at the long faced Kaiser. Ever since his duel with that freak of a person that called itself Kazuki, Cain wasn't in the best of moods. "You call me out in the late afternoon for no reason when I'm in the middle of maintenance, how am I supposed to react, huh?!"

However, as soon as Cain stepped further into the room, his eye widened at the sight of another person sitting in the room, petting a silver haired wolf pup. "Maintenance?" Rubbing his hand to his chin, Vergil began to scratch the back of Rox's head, the clay duelist thought about Cain's choice of words.

"Mustang! What the hell?!" Cain roared, searching the room, trying to find the Die Hard Duelist in the shadows. "Why the hell is Vergil here? And where the hell are you?!"

"First off, I'm coming out until you calm down." From some random location, Mustang's voice rang out with a chuckle coming from it as well. "Secondly, I called Vergil here as well since there are a few things we all need to discuss, and you two are practically the only ones I can trust in this dorm."

Placing Rox onto the ground, Vergil walked towards Cain, his arms crossed as he also tried to find Mustang. "I find that little fact a little sad, wouldn't you say?"

"Yeah…but then again, it's Mustang," Cain stated getting a nod from Vergil and Rox at the same time. "It's as pathetic as his pick up lines…"

"Hey! I'll have you know that all of those are golden material!"

Trailing his eyes towards the silver haired pup while ignoring Mustang's complaints, Cain gestured towards Rox. "So…what's with the flea-bitten runt?"

Rox growled loudly, barring his teeth towards Cain while Vergil chuckled. "I hope you realize that Rox right here still hasn't forgotten about that little incident in Garu's room. And as to answer your question, me and Taylor have been taking turns taking care of this little guy. It was just coincidence that I had him with me today."

"I see…" Cain replied taking a step away from Rox. "Anyway, Mustang, I'm cool, calm and collected…and if you get to your point quickly, I swear on my right arm that I won't smack you down."

Stepping from behind Cain, Mustang plopped his hand onto the short duelist's shoulder, making Cain jump slightly. "I'll hold you to that…"

"ACK! Where the hell did you come from?" Cain yelped brushing Mustang's hand off of his shoulder.

"Heh, sorry about that," Mustang tugged on his scarf, adjusting to showing his mouth as he walked over to the activated computer that had a screensaver of silver overcoat wearing man delivering several punches into dragon armed warrior with a golden horned helmet. "I just wanted to try something from what I've heard that a student from our sister academy did."

Tapping the mouse slightly with his hand, Mustang changed the screensaver into a dual windowed screen that had Densui and Talo's faces on the screen, all with personal data under their pictures. "But in all seriousness, I'd like to introduce you two to Talo Krys and Den Iwa…"

"Mustang…" Cain fell backwards into one of the chairs that were set up in the room, crossing his legs as he shot a glare at Die Hard Duelist. "…if you called us, just to show two pictures, I swear…"

Cain was stopped when Vergil's hand shot in front of him, making the alchemic duelist blink in confusion. "Mustang…how much do you know?"

Raising an eyebrow, Cain's interest in listening just increased. '…if Vergil is showing concern for these two…then that can't be good…'

"Not much really." Mustang tapped the screen directly above Densui's picture, "But, if you two would recall the incidents and rumors that were floating around our academy about a couple of months ago about the Drunken Duelist…"

"…I found out that Mr. Iwa's full name was Densui Iwa, and from a witness from the red dorm confirming it, I learned that there was something fishy about these two characters..."

Vergil scoffed to the side tapping his forehead. "While that is true, and the name may be rare, you still can't rule out the fact that there could be another Iwa who turned out to be the Drunken Duelist."

"Hence why I made had a little research done." The Kaiser held up a few papers that had the crest of Duel Academy – Atlantic. "Courtesy of one of my good friends, the Kiasaris of the Atlantic…she sent me the records of Iwa, and according to the paperwork, Mr. Iwa was gone for a few weeks at the beginning of the semester, matching up with the weeks the Drunken Duelist had appeared…sure there were a week's length difference when Mr. Iwa disappeared from the Atlantic Academy, the appearances of the Drunken Duelist, and when Den reappeared on the Atlantic academy…"

"…But I figured it would be a good idea to investigate anyway…"

"Hmm, and here I thought you didn't put your mind to anything useful," Cain snickered crossing his arms. "So let's say hypothetically that this dead drunk guy was the Drunken Duelist…so what? Are you going to report him to Daigo? And are you ready to tell me why exactly you needed to call me out here for this?"

"This isn't something Daigo would be good to talk to with," Mustang replied crossing his arms slightly. "Remember Cain, last year when we had both the Majestic Four and those five weird duelists there as well…Daigo didn't really do anything to stop that…that, and Daigo's a little preoccupied with trying to make up with the students by planning a festival as an apology for Mr. Legendz misdeeds…"

A sweatdrop rolled down the side of Vergil's head. "…I'm guessing that this school is pretty lax with security and employees…"

"…regardless, here's a little tidbit that you might find interesting," Mustang lifted the papers up to his face, ignoring Vergil's comment. "Before coming here, Mr. Iwa was a roommate with Mr. Krys, and both of them decided to transfer here at the same time…and toss in the fact that they're both roommates now and you've got…"

"Sounds like coincidence to me," Vergil stated rubbing his chin in deep thought.

"…more like a pattern," Cain corrected. "But, what even so, what are you getting at Mustang? Are you thinking that they might be something going on with the Drunk Duelist appearing again?"

"I can't say for sure," Mustang sighed tossing the papers to the top of his desk, scattering them all over. "But, there definitely something rotten here…"

Pushing his glasses up to cover his eyes, Vergil waved his hand up into the air to gather the attention of the other two blues in the room. "…I'll assume that you're referring to the rumor that's been spreading like wildfire in the academy…the one about that mysterious cloaked phantom."

'…a mysterious cloaked phantom?' That thought slowly echoed through Cain's head…

"You'd be correct on that," Mustang replied moving the mouse to allow two more pictures to appear on the screen under Densui and Talo's...one of them was Fomalhaut and the other was Madoka. "Students all over the island have been seeing the cloaked person; at first people thought it was nothing more than a specter created by the stress of their schoolwork…"

"However, when the cloaked specter was found talking to these four students, people actually found that he was real…however when these four students were questioned on the matter, they all just denied that they even came in contact with this cloaked specter…and would you look who two of the four are…"

"Densui and Talo…" Vergil muttered. "…and Fomalhaut…"

"You know him?" Mustang asked tilting his head to the side.

"Of course," Vergil answered narrowing his eyes as Rox growled looking at Fomalhaut's picture. "He's the guy who dueled against Zeff to kick him out…"

With a loud cough to clear his throat, Cain stood up abruptly. "That's not all…earlier today, I met with this Fomalhaut guy, but then again, I met him once before, as well when I met with him today, he was with a freak that seemed to know me somehow who went by the name of Kazuki Rae…"

Now Mustang was even more curious, and as he turned to his computer he pulled up a list of names that were color coded by red, yellow and blue. "Was he a student?" Mustang's eyes raced up and down the list, looking for that name…

"I don't think so, I know that people can get customized uniforms," Cain stated crossing his arms, trying to forget about the duel he had with Kazuki. "But, there's no way that the school would allow a uniform like that…I also think he was a year or two older than you Mustang…so unless he was held back for a few years…"

"You're suggesting that there might be outside help with whatever could be happening here?" Vergil questioned looking down at Rox who looked puzzled with what the three blue students were discussing.

"…not only that…but…" Cain looked out the window, gazing over the island that was displayed gracefully through the sight of the window. Then with a swift spin on his heel, Cain glared at the two. "…about that cloaked specter you two were talking about…was his cloak adorned with several red clouds with white borders on them?"

Both Mustang and Vergil stepped backwards at that information, and Cain growled with a shake of his head. "…from the looks on your faces, I'll take that as a yes…"

"And here I thought that you didn't keep up with the local gossip," Mustang chuckled flicking some of his hair out of his eyes.

"I don't," Cain growled crossing his arms. "I think you two remember when Garu had to face against that armored freak…" Getting a nod from the two other blues, Cain turned his eyes slightly to the right. "…well, the night beforehand, I was in Garu's room, training the monkey to at least lose gracefully."

"…but that's when we got a visitor…a certain cloaked visitor with red clouds gracing the outside to make him standout even more…"

Pushing up his glasses with his right hand, Vergil hid the smirk on his face. '…I knew that there was something going on…it looks like the DED didn't need to investigate fully, the students here are smarter than what the Chief first thought…especially these two. When this is over I'll have to recommend these two to the Chief…'

'But before that…' Pushing up his glasses a little more, Vergil's glasses reflected some light that made Rox nod slightly.

"Mustang…if you're the Kaiser," Cain stated walking up to the Die Hard duelist. "You are more than qualified to access duel disk records if I'm not mistaken…"

"You're not," Mustang smirked as he spun around in his chair, and began to type furiously onto the keyboard, bringing up several screens that had pictures of several students. "And I'm one step ahead of you!"

"Either of you two mind filling me in with what's going on?" Vergil replied while keeping his eyes on at Rox who was slowly pulling the door open enough for him to exit the room. "Like, what exactly is a duel disk record and why you left me out of that step…"

"And you're in Obelisk Blue, but since you're a freshmen, I can understand," Cain stated with the click-clack of the keyboard began to echo through the air. "Basically a duel disk record is an electronic list that determines a student's rank. It records rank, wins, loses, draws…but what we're more interested in, are with the recorded opponents that are left in a duel disk."

"I see, we're checking the duel disk records of those four students," Vergil pieced together tapping on the side of his glasses. "But…why exactly are we doing that?"

Cain looked down at his right hand, clenching his fingers in anger before he looked up towards the clay duelist. "…call it duelist intuition…because I know that at least one of those duelists dueled today…"

"Okay, done!" Mustang announced sliding away from the computer screen, showing three pairs of pictures across from each other. "And I kinda wished that you told me that Ami had dueled against that Fomalhaut guy!"

"When was I supposed to do that?" Cain snarled narrowing his eyes as he turned towards the screen of the computer. "Let's see…Talo Krys defeated Yae Nanako, Madoka Swartz dueled against Takashi and was interrupted…what the hell, didn't that dead drunk guy duel?"

"Apparently not," Mustang stated crossing his arms. "But what does this mean?"

"Skipping over Densui," Vergil coughed tapping his foot slightly. "These look just like normal duels…is there some sort of connection or something?"

"…a connection…" Cain muttered closing his eyes…but immediately snapped them open as it hit him. 'No…no it couldn't be! That damn monkey!' Slamming his right hand into the table, Cain scared both Mustang and Vergil. "Mustang!"

Jumping in his seat slightly, Mustang leaned backwards trying to get away from the white haired shorty. "EH!?"

"As much as it pains me," Cain growled, the vein on his neck popping out. "I…I need you go to A-Ami's room…right now…"

It was as if something clicked in his head, making Mustang leap from his seat with a sparkling grin plastering on his face as he placed his thumb and pointer finger on his chin. "I see! Because of my impressive detective skills, you have finally accepted me as the proper person to take care of the lovely Am…"

He didn't get a chance to finish; Cain had slammed his foot directly into the side of Mustang's head, making the Die Hard duelist fly out of his seat and crash into his bed. "Not like that you idiotic Kaiser!" Turning towards Vergil, Cain noticed that the freshman Obelisk blue had broken out in a cold sweat at the sight of the short man's attack.

"Uh…" Vergil stuttered just as Mustang appeared next to him, looking as if the kick didn't really affect him. "ACK! You two aren't human!"

"We prefer extraordinary," Mustang replied not taking his eyes off of Cain. "Alright then Cain, if that's not what you meant, then…"

"Look, just go there!" Cain growled walking past Mustang and Vergil towards the door, his right fist raised up. "Vergil, I'd like you to go there as well, I'll have my cell phone on so give me a holler if something happens…"

"Where are you going?" Vergil asked as Cain snapped open the door.

"…I'm going to visit a monkey," Cain replied earning a couple of weird looks from the other two blues.

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Garu raised an eyebrow as Lucian stood in the middle of the doorway, his cloak billowing in the wind to show his suit. "…uh, can I help you?"

Crossing his arm over his chest, Lucian flicked some of his hair that was in the way of his face. "As a matter of fact, yes…I've come to collect payment for those cards I gave you…"

"Um…what cards?" Garu just blinked blankly at Lucian a few times, making the Saint of Greed fall face first into the ground out of embarrassment.

Standing up to dust off his cloak, Lucian coughed a few times to remain calm. "…y-you don't remember me the night before you had that match with the steel fist?"

"I think I'd remember someone who dressed as tacky as you," Garu replied crossing his arms.

The Saint of Greed was now twitching his right eyebrow, it wasn't the fact that he wasn't memorable to this moron of a duelist, but to insult his taste in fashion, that was stepping over the line. 'Fine…if he won't remember me like that, I'll just have to move to the contingency plan…' Flicking his hair out of his face, Lucian gave a suave look while raising his hand into the air. "Alright, then how about this…I'm a new student teacher here at the academy…"

"But you just said that you helped me out," Garu pointed out only to have Lucian lift his hand up to his face.

"…let me finish," Lucian interrupted lowering his hand to cross his arms across his chest. "You see, I was employed by Daigo before Mr. Legendz came into power…but when Legendz came into power with that stupid Duel Out Program, I decided to help the underdog students…unfortunately, I wasn't fast enough to help the first victim of that program…but I help several other students to create strategies that would end the duel out program matches into draws."

"However, when I was aware of your match, I made an exception to give you the tools you required to win against Ashton."

"Oh, that makes sense I guess," Garu stated scratching the back of his head a few times, still not getting the full idea of the concept. "So…uh, what brings you here then?"

"Heh…you remember when I said I couldn't help the first victim?" Lucian chuckled lowering his head to allow his hair to cover his eyes. "I believe he was one of your roommates in here…and that his name was…Zeff Bates was it?"

"Well…I have some good news for you then…"

Garu's eyes widened at the words Lucian was speaking, his eyes widening and his jaw slowly dropping…

A few minutes later…

With a swift kick to the door, Cain had burst into the red dorm room his eyes slightly covered with his drooping hair as he scanned the messy room. "Garu! Where the hell are you, you damn monkey!?"

Looking around the room, it was obvious to see that even though Garu was definitely in the room at some point…but that point had long since passed. And with a slam of his right fist into the nearby wall, Cain caused several cracks to web up the side of the wall. "Damn it!"

That's when a small tune echoed through the air in the room, making Cain reach for his belt pulling up a small silver cell phone up to his ear. "Talk to me…"

…

"What?! What do you mean Ami's not there!?" Cain shouted into the phone, crushing the small piece of plastic in his right hand. "And yeah, I'm here in Garu's room, looks like the monkey and Yae aren't in here…"

"…look, I don't know what's going on, but we need to find them ASAP!" Cain said into the phone not noticing that Rox was right behind him, standing in the doorway...

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Darkness…

That's all she could remember last before she woke up now, trying to rub her sandy blonde hair…

CLANK!

…only to have her hand stop halfway to her head, making Yae open her eyes immediately. "Wh…what the?!" Turning her head left and right, Yae saw that her wrists and ankles were chained and shackled to what appeared to be the top of a pillar like structure.

"Well, well, well, look who's finally awake," A slurred voice chuckled from below the pillar.

As Yae looked over the pillar she saw that on the ground at least a good ten feet was someone she never expected to see again, what with his greasy hair and his plastered face. "D-Densui?!"

"How ya doing there doll-face?" Densui chuckled before taking a swig from the gourd he was usually carried with him. "Enjoying the view up there with your mates?"

"Huh?" Yae questioned turning left and right once more, her eyes widening seeing Takashi, Ami, and Kara on different pillars than her, each of them bound in the same manner as she was. "What the…?" Turning back to the still drinking Densui, Yae glared down towards the dead drunk duelist. "Tell me what's going on right now!"

"Say the magic words," Densui chuckled wagging his gourd a few times at Yae.

"…Fine…please," Yae growled rolling her eyes.

"Those aren't the magic words," Densui chuckled once more with a crooked smile. "The magic words are 'Oh! Densui, you are so handsome and righteous, please take me and tell me what is going on'…aw yeah…"

"…you've got to be kidding me…" Yae growled lowering her head slightly.

In response, Densui lifted the gourd up once more, taking a large gulp of his mysterious drink, and immediately sighing in relief as he lowered the gourd. "…I'm sorry did you say something Doll Face?"

Twitching her right eyebrow a few times, Yae tightened her jaw slightly before swallowing her pride. "O-Oh, Densui, you a-are so ha-handsome and r-righteous, p-please take me and t-tell me what is going on…" Then under her breath… "…you bastard…"

"Ah, sweet music to my ears," Densui chuckled putting a cork into the gourd's opening. "So prepare to have your mind blown Sweet-Cheeks!"

"You see, as you're no doubt aware, you're kinda trapped here thanks to yours truly and a few others. Nothing personal against ya…although I do enjoy seeing girls bound…but, we gotta make sure that you five up there don't go running off until we…"

"There's only four of us up here," Yae interrupted making Densui stop abruptly, blinking a few times.

"Uh, excuse me?" Densui gulped doing a double take at Yae's statement.

"Yeah, there's only four of us, me included," Yae stated once more, making Densui blink a few times before falling face first into the ground.

Lifting his slightly bruised face up, Densui growled as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Damn it Kazuki…you were supposed get that shorty here by now!" Jumping to his feet, Densui coughed slightly, lifting his gourd up once more. "Uh, anyway…that doesn't matter…and I can't really get you know this too much, so you'll have to go back to sleep…"

Popping the cork from the gourd, Densui began to pour the mysterious liquid into his mouth, making Yae question what he was doing. Then, with a force propelling him into the air, Densui began to perform many hand signs, making his hands a blur until he reeled his head back. Erupting from his mouth, Densui spurted forth an eerie white mist that engulfed Yae…

…but, before she was able to react, Yae lofted to the top of the pillar, her eyelids growing heavy and her breathing being relaxed as Densui's feet crashed into the ground…his hand up to catch the gourd he had thrown into the air. "…I love doing that sort of thing…"

"And yet it describes you so perfectly." Densui turned his head around, seeing Fomalhaut trot towards the drunken duelist, the tails of the blue leather overcoat billowing in the wind. "Now what was that I heard you babbling about that sparkling freak?"

A large drop of sweat began to trickle down the side of the dead drunk's cranium, there was no right way to say this, and as much as Densui wanted to say what he had heard from Yae…but then again, he wasn't in the right sync of mind. "Eh…his sparkles are gay…"

"…that's a given," The Zodiac duelist snatched Densui by his collar, dragging the fellow saint of sin into the air, levitating the dead drunk off of his feet. "Now tell me you little bastard…what the hell…"

"Fomalhaut…Densui…" A cold voice chilled both of the Saints of Sin, sending shivers down their spines, so much so, that Fomalhaut released the dead drunk duelist to fall hard on his ass. And his hand racing through his crimson hair, Talo shook his head freely with his arms crossing over his chest. "…as much as I would enjoy watching you two kill each other…its about time, we need to make sure that no one else will interrupt this little ritual of ours…Madoka is already stationed in her part of the forest, and I refuse to keep a lady waiting because of you two idiots…"

"Fine…" Fomalhaut sighed trotting past the ice wielder duelist, a sharp toothed smirk curling on his face. "If we're lucky, we'll get someone to help fight against us…then I can kick someone's ass…"

"Heh, I never thought I'd say this." Densui caressed his stinging neck, trying to ease the pressure that was inflicted to himself. "…but thank you Talo…" The dead drunk stuck his tongue out as if he just tasted something extremely sour. "…Eew, I think I need more sweet rice wine…"

"You're going to ruin your health…" Talo sighed walking away from the madly drinking Drunk duelist. "…idiot…"

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"Hey! You mind telling me where we're going?" Garu asked dodging a branch that Lucian somehow easily dodged, only to get whacked in the face by another branch. "OW!"

"Patience my blue haired friend," Lucian stated whacking away another branch that was in his way, making it snap directly into Garu's face right after, making the duelist jump yelp in pain…and yet Lucian just continued forward. "…in fact, patience is an essential to many things in life, whether it's in travel, or in duel monsters…remember that…"

Rubbing his nose slightly, Garu looked up slightly lowering his head to dodge another branch to hit him. "That's all well and good, but, patience has its limits…" Just before Garu was about to continue, with a loud smack to the face by another branch, Garu was sent to the ground. "DAMN IT!"

"Heh…this is entertaining…" Lucian chuckled stopping to watch Garu attack the tree branch.

A few minutes later and several more branches smacking up against a certain ninja's face…Lucian and Garu were now standing in front of the weird structure that had appeared over the island, a mysterious mist lofting in the air as the twilight lit up the sky of the island. With the five pillars in front of him, Lucian lifted his arms up, allowing his cloak to billow over his shoulders. "…and here, our patience has rewarded us…"

Coughing a flurry of leafs out of his mouth; Garu tossed a discarded twig out of his wild blue hair to the ground. "Peh…about time…" His eyes racing all over the freaky area, Garu couldn't help but stare dumbfounded at the five tall pillars, each adorned with a lettering he'd seen in the temple. "…uh, I may not be the most informed about the island, but I don't think this was here before…"

"It was recently made," Lucian replied taking a step to the side, his right arm lifted up to the large platform, or more specifically the person standing atop of the alter, the cloak over the person's body whipping in the breeze that seemed to pick up. "…and wouldn't you know it, we've got a familiar face that's just waiting for you…"

Garu's eyes widened, taking a step forward, noticing that the cloaked person had his back to him. "Z-Zeff? Is…is that you?"

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"Bored…Bored…Bored…I'm so bored!"

His back slamming up against the tree, Fomalhaut just snapped his head. "Well then Madoka, I don't know why you're even here if you're bored."

Madoka twirled her hair as she sat to the ground with a heavy sigh. "Humph, I would like to leave and hang out with my academy students…" And with puffed out cheeks, Madoka huffed away from the blinking Fomalhaut. "…buuuuuuuuuut, no! Lucian needs all of us here…"

"I have to concur with the lovely lady," Talo sighed hanging upside down from the tree branch above with his arms crossed, how his pockets didn't empty was beyond the other two Saints of Sin. "The plans I had with a lovely lady I meet earlier this week are ruined…in fact I got slapped earlier…"

The Star Duelist rolled his eyes at the comment and slapped his forehead. "Oh no, the world is now doomed…Talo didn't get his date, whatever shall we do?"

"You're just upset," Talo snickered flipping down from the branch, gracing the ground with his feathered footsteps. "…all because you can't get a date yourself…that's no need to bite my head off…"

"W-What?!" Fomalhaut shouted with a streak of crimson racing on his face. "I-I can get a date if I wanted to…it just so happens that I'm not really interested in any of the girls that I see on the island…"

"Hmm, hmm, hmm," Placing her hand to her mouth, Madoka waved Fomalhaut off, making him redden even further. "Or maybe, you haven't found the right age for girls? For your information, girls don't really dig pedophiles…"

Snapping his arms up and down a few times, Fomalhaut jumped up and down, erupting as if he was a volcano going off. "God damn it! I'm not a…"

"WWWEEEEE!" Densui laughed loudly, throwing his arm around Fomalhaut, shocking the Star duelist as if he was just struck with lightning. With dulled over eyes and an almost sickeningly sweet aura, Densui shook the large gourd in his free hand, spilling the sweet all over the place. "I jus vanted ta smay, you muys are mais bwest fwends…Oh, and laddleies too! Bwa ha ha ha!"

"Uh…I read novels and movies of the horror genre," Madoka blinked a few times as Densui released Fomalhaut, dancing to the music that thumped in the head. "…but Densui's scarring me even more than usual…"

"Oh dear," Talo sighed shaking his head. "Looks like Densui's had too much again…surprisingly, for his age, he's able to hold his liquor down quite well…besides his dueling, that's his only redeeming quality…"

"I can just see him winning several drinking contests in my head right now," Fomalhaut snickered turning his head to the side.

A loud snap echoed through the air, making three of the four Saints of Sin stand up to the feet straight, all three of them raising their fists up ready for anything that may come out at them…while the fourth was do busy trying to keep his balance while balancing the gourd on his forehead. "Hey! Hey muys! Look! Look me can du!"

Everyone remained silent, keeping their eyes at the many bushes, wondering where the sound came from until…

"Arf! Arf!"

"AAAHH! It's a potomos!" Densui screamed pointing towards the small wolf cub with a scarf over its neck. Suddenly calming down, the drunken duelist rubbed his chin. "Uh…w-wait…dat's not wight…whasn't it calleded da…"

"It's a wolf cub," Madoka answered watching as the oddly familiar wolf cub slowly trotted past the four with a snide look plastered all over its face. "Although…It's rare to see a wolf here on this island, I only thought monkeys, bugs, and snakes inhabited the island…"

"Wait a minute…" Fomalhaut rubbed his hand against his chin. "There's something about that wolf…" That's when he snapped his fingers and his eyes widened at his mind finally hit realization. "…oh, crap…"

A roaring battle cry echoed through thick brush and a white and blue blur flew from the bushes, spinning around ready to strike whatever got in its way. "Out of my way!"

With his eyes widening, Fomalhaut stood back as a black clothed leg was about to make contact with his face…

…only to be blocked by Densui's surprisingly flexible leg, slamming into the opposing leg, sending its owner spinning backwards. "It's Vorld Var Sewen!"

The blur landed onto the ground, slamming his right hand into the ground to prevent him from skidding backwards. And lifting his head of white hair up, Cain stood up straight raising his fist up towards the weirdly moving Densui. "…get out of my way…this is your last warning…"

"Uh, did I just get saved by Densui?" Fomalhaut asked turning his head towards Talo and Madoka, both of them who had nodded in perfect sync. "…now I feel the need to bathe myself…"

"HEH! HEH! LUK AT DA SHORTIE!" Densui slurred charging forward, leaning forward to place both of his hands on the ground, sending his leg blazing towards Cain. Lifting his right arm up at the last second, Cain quickly turned his arm to wrap around Densui's leg, sending the drunken duelist to the ground.

A few seconds later however, Densui was back on his feet (well as best as he could) throwing a slurred fist towards the white haired Obelisk Blue student. "HRRURHAH!"

"…he stopped using real words," Fomalhaut sighed slapping his forehead as the two duelists continued fight each other, counter their opposing moves rather easily. "Uh, anyway, should we help?"

"Probably, but, it's not a good idea," Talo replied waving his hand slightly, shaking his head before smirking broadly. "You see, Densui's good at one more thing, however, it only appears when he's hammered. He's a master of the Dead Drunk Fist, a powerful and unpredictable martial art technique. The drunker he gets, the stronger he gets."

"As long as he keeps that shorty distracted, I don't really care," Madoka sighed. "And if we're lucky, we'll be able to get him to fight anyone…"

"Damn, who knew that shorty's small legs could carry him that fast?"

"You'd be surprised the shorty can do…"

All three of the non-distracted Saints of Sin craned their heads towards the bushes where Cain had erupted, catching the sight of Mustang and Vergil walking up to the same area. With a single second disappearing, both Blues witnessed Cain and Densui brawling like there was no tomorrow. "…Cain? What the hell?!" Mustang's eyes narrowed down as he leapt out of the bushes.

"Mustang…haven't you noticed yet?" Vergil asked slipping out of the bushes, pushing his glasses up on his nose to allow what little light was floating into the forest. "…these people…"

"…I know," Mustang replied with his eyes trailing over the three faces of the Saints of Sin, landing his gaze upon Madoka's face. And with a suave smile creeping onto his face, Mustang slid right next to Madoka, allowing a small sparkle to glisten from his teeth. "Why hello there…I don't believe we've met before…"

Everyone (except Densui and Cain) just starred blankly as Mustang placed his hand onto Madoka's shoulder. "Hi…Mustang's the name…"

Madoka gleamed cheerfully, slowly placing her hand onto Mustang's. "Sorry…but, I don't like it when people touch me without my consent…" Then with a powerful twist, Madoka managed to lock Mustang's arm behind his back, making him wretch in pain. "…So please…don't touch me."

"Okay…now I confused even more," Fomalhaut blinked with several question marks popping over his head at Madoka's surprising strength and handling of subduing Mustang.

Walking past the confused Fomalhaut, Talo began to stretch his arms over his head. "Hmm…it's not your job to be confused Fomalhaut…" Strutting in front of Vergil, Talo crossed his arms. "…I'll deal with this one; you'll have the pleasure to inform Lucian that we're currently dealing with these three…"

"What?! But if I stay, then I can," Fomalhaut protested snapping his arms to his sides.

"This isn't up for discussion," Talo snapped, sending an icy cold glare scanning directly into the Star Duelist's back. "We'll handle these three…"

"Grr…since when did I become a lap dog?" Fomalhaut snarled with his teeth barred as he stomped off.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0

"Zeff?" Garu questioned, escalating atop of the alter, blinking at the cloaked person's back. "Is…is that really you?"

"…" Slowly turning around, the cloaked person's face was hidden by the shadows of the night colored hood, save for the person mouth that curled into a small fanged grin.

"Is it?" Garu stated standing up straight as the cloaked person raised the cloak up, revealing a tanned hand that snatched the side of the cloak.

"EEHH! WRONG YA BLUE HAIRED FREAK!" The cloak flew high into the air, sending the cloth floating off the cliff where the structures sat atop of. "It's me!"

A little angry, Garu took a step back in defense, but then his face of anger shattered like a broken puzzle as his head tilted over the side. "Uh…not that I'm not surprised, but, who are you again?"

"Satsuki! Satsuki! Satsuki! My name is Satsuki!"

Leaning against one of the pillars, a deep sigh left Lucian's lips and he flicked back a lock of his hair in annoyance as he watched Satsuki kick the alter a few times. '…I realize that this is a stretch, but still, if my calculations are correct, my experiments will finally bore into fruition…'

"What the hell is going on?!" Garu shouted turning his attention from the enraged Satsuki to glare at Lucian.

Lucian threw his cloak's tails up, wrapping them into the air as he spun a duel disk in the air like a Frisbee, flying the device towards Garu who managed to catch it before it crashed landed into his face. "…what's going on? You're dueling, that's what…now, ready your dueling deck this instant…"

"Look, I'm for a duel and all," Garu replied waving the duel disk in his hand a few times. "But how about you actually ask me instead of dragging me out here with a fake excuse!"

"Okay…" Lucian muttered rolling his eyes slightly as the cloak lowered down back over his shoulders. "…then how about we gave you a legal excuse?" With a snap of his fingers, the mysterious mist began to recede into the air, revealing four downed forms that sat atop of the four of the five pillars. "In fact…I'll give you five of them…"

Garu's eyes widened, he was able to see the faces of the four forms. "Yae!? Takashi!? Ami!? Kara?!" Glaring daggers of ice aimed at Lucian. "What the hell is going on here!? Why are these four here?!"

"…I think someone needs to recheck their math," Lucian chuckled lifting his hand up, his fingers extended out. "There are five people there…count them, five pillars, five people…"

"Uh, Lucian, as much as its fun to see you make a fool of yourself," Satsuki chuckled shuffling a deck of cards furiously. "The dork's right, there's only four people on the pillars…heh, someone screwed up…"

"W-What?" Lucian gulped taking a look at all five of the pillars, making a double count. And even though he had a calm demeanor, inside the head of the Saint of Greed was another story. 'DAMN! DAMN! DAMN! CRAP! CRAP! CRAP! Someone dropped the ball here! There are supposed to be five sacrificial psyches here, and there are only four! I have to think, will the experiment still work if we have only four?

'…the calculations did dictate that I needed at least four point five psyches to have the revitalization process to be a success without a irregularity…but at this point we don't have much of a choice…'

"Honzou," Lucian grimaced as he turned towards the two duelists standing on top of the alter that stood in the center of the five pillars. "…you will duel with Satsuki…you will fight with all your might…and if you win, your friends will be freed…but should you lose…"

"…your friends will be sleeping with the fishes…"

"What the hell did I do to you to deserve this?" Garu asked snapping the duel disk on his wrist.

"Enough mindless questions!" Satsuki snarled grabbing the brown back cards from the deck that rested in the duel disk. "I hope you're an actual challenge here. Otherwise, you won't stand a chance!" (SLP: 8000)

With a determined smirk, Garu lifted up his deck. "Was that supposed to be a threat? Cause since you've got my friends involved in whatever is happening, your threats are meaningless!" (GLP: 8000)

'…looks like the first stage is going good…his anger is starting to rise since his friends are in trouble…' The dark haired saint smirked. 'But that's the basic reaction I figured we'd get…we still have the real procedure to worry about…'

Flicking a card from the deck of brown backed cards, Satsuki lifted up a single card. "Then if their meaningless, you won't mind if I go first you blue haired dip wad…" Fitting the card into the duel disk, the card materialized before the enraged duelist, making a smirk appear on Satsuki's face. "And for my turn…I'll just set this card face down, and throw it over to you."

"Huh?" Garu muttered reaching for his deck. 'I would've figured that Satsuki would have a direct attack sort of thing…guess not…' Then with a loud snap, Garu's eyes trailed over to the pillars as he snapped off his next deck. '…but don't worry guys…I'll get you out of this…'

Garu threw the card onto his duel disk, making the card materialize in front of him until it shattered into a black clothed ninja, a red scarf coiled around his neck as he lifted the sharp kunai (1700/1200). "I call the Strike Ninja out! Strike Ninja! Attack Satsuki directly!"

Leaping into the air, the Strike Ninja spun around; throwing several shuriken that flew directly at the smirking Satsuki who had raised the duel disk like a shield. Surprisingly, a powerful barrier appeared around the enraged duelist's body, sending the several shuriken bouncing into the air. "Heh…I can't believe you fell for the oldest trick…Draining Shield not only negates your attack, but I gain life points equal to the attacking monster's attack…" (SLP: 9700)

"…fine, I'll have card face down," Garu growled as his ninja graced the alter along with the set card behind the dark warrior. "Turn end…"

"…turn end? How about the end?" Satsuki chuckled snapping off the next card from the deck…only to growl, barring sharp fang like teeth… 'Damn it! Is that card at the bottom of my deck or something? Oh well…I'm pretty sure that Lucian needs a little more time…' Throwing a card onto the duel disk, making it appear horizontal in front of the Enraged Duelist. "I set a monster in reserves, and that's all for me."

"Ya know, I didn't expect you to be this defensive," Garu stated pulling another card from his deck. "I'd expect powerhouses…"

Unbeknownst to Garu, Satsuki was smiling darkly at the ninja duelist. 'Oh…just you wait…just you wait you idiot…'

"Then if you're not going to make a powerhouse, allow me!" Garu shouted slapping the card onto his duel disk. "I summon Shinobi-Zue!"

A large burst of red smoke, the staff wielding ninja appeared on the field, spinning the staff in his hands a few times with his white bandana whipping in the air (1200/900 + 300/0). Even the Strike Ninja seemed to be empowered since the young ninja began spinning the staff in the air (1700/1200 + 400/0). "And now, Shinobi-Zue! Attack that face down card!"

Spinning the staff behind him, the Shinobi charged forward. A powerful crash sound echoed through the slowly darkening sky as the staff slammed into the back of the face down card, forming into a large yellow and red dragon that roared in pain before shattering (1400/1100).

"And I'm not done! You may have gained life points from Strike Ninja," Garu snarled throwing his hand up towards Satsuki. "But he's going to collect with interest! Direct Attack!"

Snapping a kunai to his hand, the Strike Ninja charged forward, and with a spin, the Japanese warrior was about to slash the steel into Satsuki…

"I activate Masked Dragon's effect!" Satsuki shouted as another red and yellow armored dragon flew directly into the fray taking the slice to its neck instead of Satsuki (1400/1100). "When its destroyed as a result of battle, I can special summon another dragon from my deck with fifteen hundred attack points…and my second Masked Dragon counts…"

Before Garu even had to blink, a third dragon erupted onto the field roaring loudly into the air (1400/1200). "…and since technically you destroyed another Masked Dragon…well, why not just cut out the middle man and summon the final one."

"Great…" Garu looked to his hand, none the cards he held were going to help him at this moment. "I have no choice to end my turn…"

'I can feel it…' Lucian's eyes loomed over towards Garu, focusing on something that wasn't there, as if something had erupted over the ninja duelist as Satsuki had draw the next card. '…stage two has appeared…frustration is now coursing through his veins…'

And with a flick of his hair, Lucian closed his eyes.

"Heh…show time…" Satsuki smirked lifting another card up, this time sliding it into the duel disk. In a crash of light, a powerful vortex appeared over Satsuki's head. "Alright! You wanted a powerhouse? Well you're going to get one! I activate the spell card, Future Fusion!"

Five cards shot out of Satsuki's deck, allowing the Enraged Duelist to fan them in front of Garu's face, each of them a dragon monster. "By tossing the proper fusion material monsters from my deck to the grave, I get a fusion monster in two of my Standby Phases…"

'…five cards for a fusion? I'm not that big on Fusion…' Garu didn't even have a fusion deck; the only fusions he'd seen were the fusions that the shorty had performed with the alchemic fusions.

All five of the cards were vacuumed into Satsuki's graveyard slot, allowing the enraged duelist to lift up another card. "But since I'm not a duelist of patience, I'll activate the spell card, Dragon's Mirror!"

The alter began to quake and rumble, debris and dirt floating off of the top of the structures as a large silver mirror began to rise up from behind Satsuki. Only instead of reflecting the duelists, it looked like the mirror had imprisoned several dragons that were roaring in pain. "…this is a handy spell when you run dragons…all I have to do is remove fusion material monsters from my field and graveyard, and I can fusion summon my true powerhouse!"

The Masked Dragon on the field roared loudly as its two brothers appeared in the mirror as well, along with a large black plated dragon with a horn on the bridge of its nose and a dragon that looked to be made entirely out of diamonds. "So, I'll remove all three Masked Dragons, Rare Metal Dragon and Hyozanryu from the game…"

Light began to shine from the mirror behind Satsuki, sending webbed cracks through the mirror until the mirror shattered into a blinding light that had erupted behind Satsuki. The wind began to whip around, the waves that caressed the cliff's edge were now crashing into the landscape and the ground trembled, as if the land itself was afraid of what was happening at the very second.

As soon as the light died down, Garu slowly opened his eyes, only to blink twice at the being that had materialized behind the cliff's edge…

"…Holy…" That was all Garu could say at the sight of the being that now overshadowed the entire weird structure.

"HA! HA! HA!" Satsuki bellowed loudly, arms crossed and eyes closed. "Meet the powerhouse of my deck…"

The twilight sky began to get clouded, making Garu and his two ninjas look around in confusion until they got a better look at the creature behind Satsuki. Its pale yellow skinned body was pulsating with the muscles that were hidden underneath its skin…but what really made Garu take a step back, were the five heads that were attached to the dragon's shoulders.

Each one had a different element, fire…water…forest…earth…and metal…all five of them roared loudly, the trembling earth causing Garu to fall backwards onto the alter.

"FIVE GOD DRAGON!"(5000/5000)

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Garu: Grr…wh-what is this thing?!

Satsuki: Heh, heh, that's right, tremble! Tremble at my power!

Garu: I…I can't let my friends down, but can I hold that promise against this creature?

Satsuki: Ha! Not bloody likely!

The action continues next time! With one of the most deadly creatures in all of Duel Monsters starring him down, will Garu be able to hold out onto his luck streak?

Next time on Duelist Open Destiny! – Chapter 36: Trial by the Elements Part 2

Lucian: …the Saint of Wrath…is…

BORN!