Yin

"Azurian Prosecutor! Attack Mateo directly, again!"

"AGH!" Mateo, once again, was struck by the Prosecutor, and the shockwave caused the walkway to creak again. "What was that?"

Mateo: 2100 LP-200 LP

"I thought you were the unbeatable Mateo Yurigaya?" Shiho goaded. "This is the last thing I was expecting when I thought about the prospect of dueling you! And now I've almost defeated you by my second turn! Ha ha ha ha!"

"I can't allow you to win, Shiho! It's my turn!" Mateo drew a card from his deck. "I'm gonna activate my One for One spell card! By discarding the Blue-Eyes White Dragon from my hand, I can special summon my Flamvell Guard! Next, I summon Bright Star Dragon! With his special ability, I can raise my Guard's level by two, making him level three! And finally, because I normal summoned a monster, I can special summon my level one Turbo Booster!"

"Trying to make a comeback, are you?"

"You'd better believe it! I'm tuning my level three Flamvell Guard to my level four Bright Star Dragon and level one Turbo Booster!" Mateo called as his Flamvell Guard vanished in a burst of flame, leaving behind three level stars. His other two monsters floated together as the three level stars from the Guard created glowing green Synchro rings around them. Mateo raised his hand into the air as the level stars of the monsters in the rings appeared and aligned themselves in a straight line. "Clustering starlight, flow, and give form to this mighty creature! Illuminate the path of destiny! Synchro Summon!"

In a flash of light, the Stardust Dragon card appeared between Mateo's fingers. "Take flight, Stardust Dragon!"

"No way!" Adachi called as radiant light glowed off the mighty dragon. "I thought only Yusei Fudo had that card!"

"Mateo is known as the 'Signer of Unification,'" Shiho explained. "The Crimson Dragon allowed him to use the strength and power that the other Signers have, namely their dragons."

"Really? Well. Looks like we can use this as a golden opportunity."

"To do what?"

"To learn what we're up against!"

"What?"

"Enough! Stardust Dragon! Attack the Azurian Peacekeeper with Shooting Sonic attack!"

"Whoa!" Shiho brought his arms up to block the light from striking him as his monster was obliterated. "That was a good move, Mateo. But not good enough."

Shiho: 4000 LP-2700 LP

"Shiho, why don't we stop for a moment and talk about things?"

"No! Believe it or not, but I am an agent of Darkness. We are destined to destroy each other!"

"You may be an agent of darkness, but that doesn't mean you don't have any essence of Light within you!" Mateo countered. "Yin and yang aren't absolutes, they're the outer shell, with their opposite hidden away within! So, what if you believe that working for the Darkness is the only way to go, I know there's still Light within you, just like I know that there's darkness in me, with my fears and doubts!"

"Heh. That's your play? That I'm good on the inside? Sorry to break it to you, Yurigaya, but I'm not quite that soft." Shiho replied. He looked to Adachi and added; "Contrary to popular belief."

"Then I'm gonna have to force you to see it!"

"Fat chance! My turn! Draw!" Shiho pulled the top card from his deck. "I'm gonna use the special ability of my Prosecutor! I can target one monster on the field, and that monster cannot attack next turn! Next, I'll change my monster into defense mode! When my Prosecutor is in defense mode, I can special summon a level three or lower monster from my deck, and I'm choosing my Azurian Juror in defense mode!"

"Is that all?"

"It is."

"It's my turn, then!" Mateo activated the card he just drew. "My drawn card is Pot of Greed, allowing me to draw two cards! And now, I can equip my Stardust Dragon with my Silver Wing equip card, which allows it to give my Stardust Dragon the ability to prevent its own destruction in battle up to two times!"

"Just what is that supposed to accomplish?"

"This! Because by sending my Silver Wing to the graveyard, I can prevent the equipped monster from being destroyed by card effects!" Mateo explained as the light of Silver Wing surrounded Stardust with energy. "I activate my spell card, Dark Hole! This will destroy all monsters on the field! Luckily, because my Silver Wing's power was protecting my Stardust Dragon, my dragon is safe on the field! And luckily for you, your Prosecutor's effect will prevent my dragon from attacking you directly!"

Shiho growled as a black hole appeared in the middle of the field. Shiho's monsters struggled to stay, but they were yanked away by the destructive power of the black hole. The white light of Silver Wing was pulled into the black hole, but Stardust was left behind as the black hole vanished. The mighty dragon roared, the only monster left on the field. Shiho drew a card from his deck. "Draw!

"Ah, yes. The one card in my deck that matches the theme without being an Azurian card. Behold, Mateo Yurigaya, my Nightmare Steelcage!" Shiho activated the card, and the walkway around Mateo rumbled a little bit before a sleek black cage erupted from the metal, completely encapsulating both Mateo, and the Stardust Dragon. "It's another of my recent additions to my deck, I hope you like it!"

"Grr!"

"Anyways, I'm gonna summon my Azurian Paralegal to my field in defense mode!" Shiho called as his monster appeared to the field. "I'm safe for two turns, Mateo. I've got the cards to prove it. I'll set one other card facedown to end my turn."

"Then it's my turn." Mateo drew a card from his deck. He looked up at Shiho's field. Shiho must have set a card facedown in order to negate any cards I can activate. His new deck strategy is more offensive than it was before, and I wasn't expecting that. However, as long as I can defend and prevent him from summoning Justiciar Dragon, I should be okay. Then again, both times that he's attacked me, I felt a definite shift in this walkway. How is he doing it? The floorboards under this platform are weak, and if I fall, it might be the end! This card I drew should keep me safe for one turn, let's hope I can continue to draw defense until I can mount a true counterattack.

"Hello? Are you gonna make a move? The Steelcage stays in effect until the end of your second turn, so waiting isn't gonna help you at all!" Adachi snickered, but Shiho shushed him.

"I'll set one card facedown, and end my turn!"

"And as your turn ends, the effect of my Azurian Paralegal activates! Because he was in defense mode, I can tribute him in order to special summon my Azurian Attorney!" Shiho's monster glowed brightly, transforming into a different monster. "Now it's my turn! And I summon my Azurian Councilor in defense mode!"

"My turn!" Mateo looked at his card. He's almost got everything he needs to summon Justiciar Dragon. I need to do something to keep my monster safe. I have one card in my deck that can do that, but if I can't draw it, there'll be no way I can win!

"I'll set another card facedown, and end my turn!"

"And on this turn, you sealed your fate!" Shiho smirked as the Nightmare Steelcage started to dissolve. It shattered, freeing Mateo and the Stardust Dragon as Shiho drew a card from his deck. "I summon another Azurian Attorney! Next, I tune my level two Azurian Councillor to my two level three Attorneys! Law. The defining force of our society. I summon forth a dragon who is Law Incarnate! All rise, for court is in session! Synchro Summon!"

Shiho's two Attorneys floated together as the Councillor's two level stars created glowing green Synchro rings around them. The six level stars of the monsters inside the rings appeared and aligned themselves in a straight line as a green light pierced them and expanded to the innermost edge of the Synchro Rings. Shiho drew his gavel and pounded it on the monster zone he was planning on summoning his monster. "The Supreme Judge, Justiciar Dragon!"

"So you summoned your strongest monster, did you?"

"That's right! And his attack increases by five hundred points for every WATER-attribute monster in my graveyard!" Shiho's monster roared as it powered up. "And by my count, that's seven Azurians! So my dragon gains a whopping thirty-five hundred attack points, giving him more than enough attack points to wipe you out! Now, Justiciar Dragon! Attack! Justice Wave!"

"Not quite! See, I've got a facedown trap card known as Waboku, which prevents monsters I control from being destroyed, and it also keeps me from taking battle damage!" Mateo's card activated, causing a trio of women in blue cloaks to appear in front of Stardust Dragon, protecting it from the blast. However, the walkway creaked again, and Mateo saw some of the metal bending under the stress. "How are you doing that, Shiho?"

"Doing what?"

"Never mind." Mateo looked down to the bending metal. He noticed that Adachi had seen it, too, but he was smiling. Shiho doesn't know about this. This walkway is definitely deteriorating. But Adachi knows what's happening. Maybe this is his doing!

"Well, with your dragon safe, I suppose all I can do is end my turn."

"Then it's my move. Draw!" Mateo looked at the top card of his deck. Yes! Everything that I need is here! "I summon Golem Dragon in defense mode! With this monster, you can't target any other Dragon-type monsters for an attack! And next, I'm going to add the equip spell card Dragon Shield! With this equip card, my equipped monster cannot be destroyed by battle or card effects, and neither player will take damage from battles involving it, so I'm gonna equip it to my Golem Dragon, making him the only monster you can target, and indestructible!"

"What?" Shiho watched as the back of the Golem Dragon transformed into a shield comprised of dragon scales. The Golem Dragon retreated into it like a shell, and blocked Stardust Dragon from being attacked by Justiciar Dragon.

Yes! Mateo thought to himself. With this, I can begin to make a comeback!