Alright, Peoples! Here is the next chapter…

I'd like to thank all who read this. Just for some reason.

(Disclaimer: YouTube, ROSO, Phoenix, Tess, Larthinox, Valtor, Travis, the clones, and Yu-Gi-Oh! GX do not belong to me.)

Okay; here goes!

The Chaos of War
Chapter Two: The Offer

Emerald's POV

After dinner, we started to walk back to our Academies, but someone blocked our way. As we had all watched Revelations of the Seal of Orichalcos, we immediately knew who was in our way: A clone of Valtor. I asked, "What do you want?" angered that they dared to interrupt us as we were trying to figure out the new universe. "We need to talk." He said.

"What if I refuse?" I asked, angry that he had interrupted us.
He held up the Seal, and said, "Valtor will have you either way, but he prefers you alive, for some reason. Me; well, I'm a bit less patient."

I simmered down, aware of the Seal's effects. I motioned my two friends onward, and the clone teleported us to Valtor's HQ. I was in awe of the place, as I had never seen anything this high-tech before except for movies. Then I remembered we were basically in a movie, and mentally slapped myself before following the clone forward, my friends close beside me.

We were taken to the council table, where I recognized people. Sitting at the table were Valtor, Tess, Larthinox, Phoenix, and Shane, another friend of mine, who had evidently joined before we had. Valtor was the first to speak. "Welcome to our humble abode. My name is Valtor. May I get your names? I have so many victims I get all their names mixed up."

I smirked as I responded, "Your bravado impresses me. However, were we victims, our souls would already be in your possession. Clever façade, though. I call myself Emerald, the friend to my left is Cloud, and the other is Tyler. We are honored to be here alive, Valtor."

Valtor simply smiled maliciously, then asked, "How is it that you know so much about us, then… Emerald, was it?"

Cloud responded for us, saying, "We've seen you before… on YouTube."

The members of the Orichalcos court just stared at him as if he was crazy. I facepalmed as I translated, "The body of the person you are now inhabiting somehow got wind of your story despite the dimension gap, filmed it using advanced filming technology, and posted it on a website called YouTube, where humans from all over the world can view videos posted on the internet by other humans. Some of them are actually quite good, such as your story. However, we don't know how it ends, as we have only seen the part where you say you will leave Travis the Trainee alone while he deals with Xashin… I'm guessing this is what happens next."

Valtor smirked. "Indeed. Xashin was just the distraction we needed to initiate Dimension Fusion: now, our universes have joined, each changing the other drastically."

"We noticed." Cloud remarked, obviously miffed.

"Well, Valtor," I said, "Why has the Orichalcos master called us from across dimensions?"

"It's quite simple, really." Valtor said, "We need your help to fend off an unforeseen menace. We are no longer the only ones with the Orichalcos… These people are the Syndicate of Shadows, led by the champion of their ranks; Allison Kushala. She only lost to Ricardo because he cheated; having someone else stack the deck beforehand. Ms. Kushala's power is unmatched by any other duelist in this universe… For some reason, the champions of your universe have faded away; possibly caught up in the cataclysm that swept your world. As of now, only those at Phase, Eclipse, and Bloodmoon Duel Academies remain… and of them, I have gathered you three because you have shown exceptional skill and power.

"However, in order to prove your worth, you must defeat one of my Council members: Larthinox, Phoenix, or Tess. Your opponents have been selected based on skill level: Tyler against Tess, Cloud against Phoenix, and Emerald against Larthinox. The duels will take place as follows: First is Emerald against Larthinox, then Tyler against Tess, then Cloud against Phoenix. Should you lose, you have one "lifeline" where you can choose to duel again against a different opponent; possibly one of your comrades who have already gotten in.

"Now, are there any questions?" Valtor asked as he finished his speech.

I hesitantly asked, "Just what are we getting ourselves into, if we take these jobs?"

Valtor smiled. "You will have to obey my every command in our war against the Syndicate of Shadows, in our attempt to claim victory. Afterwards, you will join my team permanently, and aid us in our war against Travis the Trainee. That is what you are getting in to."

Cloud grinned, ready to take the deal, as was Tyler, although Tyler was a little hesitant. Emerald looked at his two friends and sighed, saying, "Alright. We're in."

Valtor laughed, "You have made a wise choice, Emerald. We expect you to be ready to duel tomorrow.""

Emerald nodded, "As I will be." Emerald walked away, leaving his two friends to the Orichalcos Council.

Cloud and Tyler soon followed Emerald. Cloud yelled, "This is awesome! I get to be a part of the Orichalcos council!"

Tyler remarked, "Yeah, but then we have to fight Travis the Trainee. Isn't he supposed to be the good guy?"

Cloud disregarded his remark, saying, "I wonder if I'll get to be in the show once we get our universe back?"

Tyler sighed and walked over to the living quarters, where he found Emerald sitting on a couch with a bottle of water, watching reruns of Yu-Gi-Oh! GX on Hulu.

Tyler looked at Emerald and asked, "You heard the part where we have to join Valtor, permanently?"

Emerald nodded and said, "Well, who says we'll obey that?"

Tyler stared at his friend in confusion. "Wait… what?"

Emerald nodded. "As soon as this feud with the SoS is over, we'll just hightail it back to Phase. I'm sure I can find a way to restore universal order while the Guardianites buy me time."

Tyler said, "Are you sure? Valtor seems pretty powerful."

Emerald nodded, "I know. But we can take him, no sweat. The only problem is that Cloud may want to stay here forever, even if he has to fight Travis."

Tyler nodded, "Yeah. I noticed."

"Well, we might as well get some sleep. I mean, we have a big day tomorrow. I'll be there as soon as this episode is over." Emerald said, changing the subject.

Tyler shrugged and walked back to the living quarters.

Cloud walked back into the room he, Tyler, and Emerald shared. It was quite a large room, with a flat-screen TV, two beds, and a couch. Emerald had insisted on the couch, so that meant he and Tyler got beds.

Emerald was surfing the web on his laptop with earphones plugged in, and Tyler was watching TV. Cloud shrugged and pulled out his iTouch, and started to listen to music as well.

All of a sudden, however, a bright light appeared in the center of the room, blinding all who saw it. Once their eyes had adjusted to the brightness, they were able to see a figure. It was a woman with long, flowing, brown-blonde hair with golden streaks throughout, bright blue eyes, and a toned figure. She wore a crown on her head, and had a white, divine-like dress on, and she carried a spear that shone with power at both of its razor-sharp ends. She had three rings of golden energy around each wrist, and had a golden waistbelt as well as a golden necklace that shone, even throughout the atmosphere of light.

She said, "My name is Divina. I am the Master of Radiance, and I am here to help you."

Tyler muttered, "What do you mean?"

Divina responded, "Well, you all have doubts on facing your next opponents, and the Syndicate of Shadows."

The three of them sadly nodded.

Divina continued, "So I am here to give you the power that you seek. Not only because you have powerful enemies to face in the future, but because the fate of this universe is on your head."

Their eyes widened. Cloud asked, "What do you mean, 'The fate of this universe?' "

Divina saddened. "As you have already noticed, this version of the universe is not supposed to exist. I believe the three of you that passed over into this dimension are the only ones who can save us."

Tyler said, "So wait a second… We're supposed to save the world?"

Divina nodded. "So, here is the power I promised you; one deck apiece." She then looked at Emerald. "I believe your imagination created strength enough for these two. I request two decks, Metallic and Dinomech."

Emerald nodded, and pulled out the two decks from his jacket pocket. He then said, "But what about me?"

Divina looked at him, smiled, and said, "You'll see."

Divina started to glow in an almost holy glow, causing the three of them to shield their eyes once more. Once they could see again, they saw three decks. One deck was completely glowing, but the other two only had one card that glowed; on the top.

They each took their respective decks and looked through them.

Tyler said, "Whoa! This is epic!"

Cloud smiled. "Sweet! Emerald, you invented all this?"

Emerald nodded. He then looked through his cards and said, "Wait… I invented these too! This is awesome!"

Divina smiled, "Truly, the best weapon in this world is an open mind and a great deal of imagination."

He then bowed before the Master of Radiance. "Truly, we are in your debt, Divina."

Divina smiled, then said, "Arise, my ally. I only exist to help you in your quest to free this world, even if it means working with the enemy for now. Also, there is more power that I will give to you, but only at the designated time. I will send my emissary when the time is right."

Tyler wondered, "How will we know if it's your emissary?"

Divina smirked, then said, "Trust me. You'll know."

She then frowned, "My time here is just about up. I can only take physical form here for a short time… Just know that this world, and all the people you know are in danger and will never return unless you do this. Now, goodbye, my friends, and best of luck."

They waved to their newfound ally as she disappeared in a burst of light.

All of a sudden, Phoenix kicked the door open, frightening them all.

He looked around and said, "Sorry. Camera's been out for the last few minutes and I was just making sure you kids were alright."

Cloud said, "Well, Thanks, I guess."

Phoenix responded, "Don't be. It was Valtor's orders. I personally wouldn't have cared if you three were dying." before walking away.

Emerald commented, "He seems friendly."

He continued, "Well, we should all get to bed. I mean, you two can stay up and practice if you want, but no legitimate dueling.; only the regular card game.

"On second thought, scratch that. They're recording us, and will see our every move, and figure out our strategies before we duel them. I suggest we keep them a secret. You guys can watch Yu-Gi-Oh! GX reruns if you want; I'll feed them into the TV if you want."

Tyler gave a confused look. "Seriously?"

Emerald nodded. "Ah the magic of an HDMI cable. "He then plugged a cable from the laptop into the computer and set it on Hulu, so he put the episode of Yu-Gi-Oh! GX on where Jaden was dueling Jesse for the first time at the beginning of Season 3.

Tess stared at the two of them through the camera video, watching their Hulu shows. Emerald was already asleep, and Cloud now had control of the computer.

Tess turned to his leader. "Master Valtor?"

Valtor turned to him, "What is it, Tess?"

He asked, "Why did you set Larthinox up to duel Dynamo? His skill set would be a better match for Phoenix."

Valtor glared at him. "You dare doubt my judgment?"

Tess glared back. "No, but I want to know. Phoenix just seems like a better match for him."

Valtor smirked. "Two reasons, actually. The first is that we need this 'Emerald Dynamo' on our side. He seems like the greatest duelist of the three, and has impressive strategic ability. Dueling against Larthinox should be a piece of cake for him, despite the fact that he has Tengoku."

"And Cloud?" Tess asked.

"He will be a faithful warrior to our cause." Valtor answered. "We must test his loyalty, however, by matching him up against our best duelist.

"You and Tyler both have a decent amount of power, however, it will be a test for both of you. We need to test the strength of both of you; thus we are pitting you against each other. Since you are both about the same skill level, it should be quite the duel."

Tess nodded. "You think of everything, don't you."

Valtor nodded, but frowned at the same time. "Almost."

Tess was puzzled. "What do you mean?"

Valtor said, "This Emerald kid is actually pretty intelligent; concealing the decks that they have until the duels. Also, I think he hacked into the camera for a couple minutes so that they could discuss strategy."

Tess said, "You seriously think he can do that?"

Valtor shrugged. "If he can, it will make our lives a lot easier. If not…"

Tess asked, "Then what?"

Valtor responded, "Then there will be a reckoning with whoever did do that.

"Is that all you wanted, Tess?"

Tess nodded before smoke bombing away. Valtor looked at the sleeping Emerald and wondered, "What secrets do you have, Dynamo?"

Yeah… no duels this chapter; just a story advancer. It took me a while, and I'm sorry.

…

My next update will be for Radiant School of Pokemon (I think). So, stay tuned to Dynamo Writings, inc. for the next chapter of "The Chaos of War!"

…

This is Emerald Dynamo, signing off for now.