Flare

"You can do this, Mateo! We know you can win!" Yusei called. Mateo nodded, and looked to Shiho.

But in order to do so, I have to trust in myself, and right now, I don't know if I do it… Mateo looked down at his deck, and sighed. "Shiho, I need you to summon a Tuner monster and keep it safe."

"Heh. No problem! Iiiit's my turn! Draw!"

Mateo: 300 LP SPC 7-8
Shiho: 900 LP SPC 2-3-1
Depp: 3700 LP SPC 0-1

"I summon Azurian Councillor! In Defense mode!" Shiho's monster erupted to the field and kneeled, crossing its arms to defend, with a blue hue surrounding it. "And that's all I can do this turn."

"I'm up. So I draw!"

Mateo: 300 LP SPC 8-9
Shiho: 900 LP SPC 1-2
Depp: 3700 LP SPC 1-2

"I set one card facedown! We're ready for your assault, Depp! Bring it on!"

"Ye can't be serious? Ye both have less than a thousand Life Points! And you've left yourself wide open!" Depp laughed as he drew a card. "Yar har har! It's my turn!"

Mateo: 300 LP SPC 9-10
Shiho: 900 LP SPC 2-3
Depp: 3700 LP SPC 2-3

"Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier, prepare to make a final seafaring assault on Yurigaya!" Depp's mighty Trishula arose from the ocean to attack Mateo one final time. It opened its mouth, and prepared to breath ice on Mateo. "Of course, because Azurian High Judiciary is in attack mode, I have to pay 300 Life Points, but it is of little consequence. Hailstorm Blast attack!"

Depp: 3700 LP-3400 LP

"Yar har har har! Yar finished, Yurigaya!"

"Don't be so sure!" Shiho pressed a button on his Duel Runner. "I said I would be the shield while Mateo would be the sword! And that's why I had this handy card waiting on the field this whole time!"

"What?"

"I activate the Dial 911 trap card! This card activates when a direct attack is called, and by paying half my Life Points, I can have an Azurian monster from my deck appear to the field! It effect is negated, and I take no battle damage from battles involving it!" A card slid out of Shiho's deck, and he pulled it. "Of course, the monster is selected at random. But it makes little difference! Come on out and save Mateo, Azurian Aide!"

Shiho: 900 LP-450 LP

Shiho's monster appeared to the field and immediately intercepted Depp's attack, exploding. "Grr! How dare ye keep me from me victory! Ergh! I'll set a card facedown!"

"It's my turn! Draw!"

Mateo: 300 LP SPC 10-11
Shiho: 450 LP SPC 3-4-2
Depp: 3400 LP SPC 3-4

"I'm leaving this all up to fate, Mateo! I'm leaving my Azurian Councillor in Defense Mode!" Shiho turned to Mateo. "I end my turn!"

Mateo gulped. "R-right! It's my turn!"

Mateo: 300 LP SPC 11-12
Shiho: 450 LP SPC 2-3
Depp: 3400 LP SPC 4-5

"I summon Magna Drago in Defense mode! Now I activate my facedown spell card, Speed Spell – Deceased Synchron! By paying eight Speed Counters, I can perform a Synchro Summon from beyond the grave!" Mateo called up his list of cards that are in his graveyard and frowned. "Shiho, do you mind if I use monsters from your graveyard for this summoning?"

"Go ahead, so long as you end this duel quickly!"

Mateo nodded. "Alright! So I'm gonna use the Azurians Clerk, Peacekeeper, and Attorney to perform a Synchro Summon that's gonna end this duel! So let's go! The Earth burns in this terribly beautiful display of power and might! Illuminate the path of destiny!"

The three monsters from Shiho's graveyard erupted from the graveyard in the form of three bursts of light, which took form. Clerk's two level stars flew out and encircled the other two monsters. Their six level stars flew out of them and aligned themselves in a straight line. This straight line was pierced by a green light, which expanded to the innermost edge of the Synchro rings. "Synchro Summon! My display of strength, Red Dragon Archfiend!"

Mateo: SPC 12-4

"Alright! Now you just gotta focus and use the power of your burning soul!" Jack called. Mateo nodded, and turned forwards again. He closed his eyes.

Alright. Let's do this! Mateo opened his eyes, and looked up to his dragons. "Let's go!"

"Jack, doesn't the Crimson Dragon usually help you with this?" Yusei asked.

"Oh, no! You're right! The Blazing Soul is an ability that the Crimson Dragon gave me!" Jack realized, shock spreading across his face. "If he doesn't trust in himself, the Crimson Dragon can't use his blazing soul to call upon the power of the Crimson Devil!"

"Double Tune! I use Magna Drago and Azurian Councillor!"

"Double Tune? There's no such monster!"

"There is, so long as you know how to use it!" Mateo threw his hand into the air, but noticed how much his hand was shaking. His Mark of the Dragon wasn't glowing, and the monsters weren't reacting. "Huh?"

Oh, no! I can't do this! Mateo pulled his hand down, and looked down at his dueling field. Depp laughed. "Looks like you failed to summon your monster! Is it my turn?"

"If I can't summon the Red Nova, I can at least attack! Go! Crimson Flare!" Mateo's dragon turned as Trishula erupted from the ocean. Red Dragon Archfiend reared, and then breathed fire at Trishula. At the last second, a vortex erupted between the two monsters, absorbing the attack. "What?"

"I activated my Negate Attack trap card! This prevents your attack and ends your turn!"

"Oh, no! And when a monster I control doesn't attack, Red Dragon Archfiend destroys it!" Mateo looked at his Magna Drago as it exploded in flame.

Mateo: 300 LP SPC 4-5
Shiho: 450 LP SPC 3-4
Depp: 3400 LP SPC 5-6

"Trishula, at the cost of three hundred Life Points, destroy the High Judiciary!"

"No!" Trishula dropped back into the ocean and swam under the track to the other side before it rose out of the water. It breathed ice shards at the High Judiciary, obliterating it.

Depp: 3400 LP-3100 LP
Shiho: 450 LP-350 LP

"Yar har har har!" Depp gripped his railing. "You have no hope against me! I set one card facedown and end my turn!"

"We'll see! It's my turn!"

Mateo: 300 LP SPC 5-6
Shiho: 350 LP SPC 4-5-3
Depp: 3100 LP SPC 6-7

"I've gotta switch my Councillor to attack mode! That way you can't bypass my defense and strike me directly!" Shiho called, switching his monster into Attack mode. "And I'll place this card facedown, ending my turn! Come on, Mateo! Think of something!"

"My turn!"

Mateo: 300 LP SPC 6-7
Shiho: 350 LP SPC 3-4
Depp: 3100 LP SPC 7-8

"Red Dragon Archfiend!"

"Before you can even declare your attack and enter your Battle Phase, I activate my second Gravity Bind trap card!" As with before, a grid appeared on the field. Red Dragon Archfiend gravitated to the grid, and Trishula was ripped from the ocean and placed on the grid as well with the force of gravity. "This may restrict my Trishula, but it will also restrict any card you may attempt to use to defeat me! Yar har har har!"

"Damn it!"

"Mateo! We can do this! You just gotta believe in yourself!"

"How?"

"I don't know, but if you could pull off that monster like Majestic Star Dragon, then you can do anything!" Shiho answered. He smiled confidently, but that smile was not met by Mateo.

"I don't know how, though…"

"Hey!"

"Huh?" Mateo looked up and over to Shiho.

"I placed my trust in you, so don't let me down! Like the judicial, executive, and legislative branch, they are all strong on their own, but they are stronger together!" Shiho lectured. "So snap out of it! Is the mighty Terror of the Duel Tracks truly afraid of some wannabe pirate who builds his deck specifically to defeat you? How many other people tried that? And how many succeeded? So don't count yourself out just yet! So long as we have cards and Life Points, we have hope, and that's all that matters!"

"You… You're right!"

"So let's do this!"

"Right!" Mateo's Mark of the Dragon started glowing again, more intensely than it did before. The tingling sensation returned to his back.

"Mateo! The full Mark of the Crimson Dragon! It's on your back!" As Yusei said the words 'Crimson Dragon,' Shiho turned and looked at him, shock on his face at the sound of the words.

"Then it's time to finish this! I summon my Dread Dragon tuner monster!"

"Yar har har! What tha' 'ell is that supposed to do for you?"

"I'm gonna Double Tune my Red Dragon Archfiend with my level two Dread Dragon and Shiho's level two Azurian Councillor! When all the darkest fears are truly realized, and the light of the sun grows dim, a mighty explosion of radiance brings forth the power to save all! Illuminate the path of destiny!" The two tuner monsters flew up, their levels exploding out of them not in the form of level stars, but in flaming rings as red fire-like energy appeared around Mateo and his Duel Runner. He threw his hand into the air as the four fire Synchro rings centered themselves around Red Dragon Archfiend. They started spinning, enveloping the Red Dragon Archfiend in a ball of flame. "Synchro Summon! Emerge, Red Nova Dragon!

As Mateo called its name, the mighty beast exploded from within the ball of fire, the fire exploding in every direction. It spread its mighty wings and roared as it soared overhead. "You forget that because of my Gravity Bind trap card, you monster is shipwrecked!"

"Is it?" Mateo smirked. "I'll remedy that by playing my Speed Spell – Mystical Space Typhoon! By paying two Speed Counters, I can obliterate your Gravity Bind!"

Mateo: SPC 7-5

As Mateo activated the card, a large vortex exploded in the center of the field, eradicating the Gravity Bind trap card. Trishula roared, and flew over the side of the track and back into the water. "That's not all! My Red Nova Dragon gains five hundred attack for every tuner monster residing in my graveyard! By my count, there's four! Meaning my dragon gains two thousand Attack points!"

"Ha! If ye were planning on ending this duel on this turn, ye are sorely mistaken!" Depp replied, smirking. "You can only do twenty-eight hundred attack points! That may balance the duel, but when my turn comes around, I have the card I need in my hand to wipe you both out of this game!"

"Have you forgotten about my trap card?"

"Your trap card?"

"My Castle of Dragon Souls!"

"No! I completely forgot about that!" Depp replied as his mouth opened in shock. If he uses that, I'm finished! How can this be?

"So by giving my Red Dragon Archfiend residence within the castle, I can grant my Red Nova Dragon an additional seven hundred attack points, giving it sixty-two hundred!" Mateo called as wind generated from the spirit of Red Dragon Archfiend blasted his coat and his hair around. "And now, the stage is set! I'm about to sink your battleship, Depp! Red Nova Dragon, attack with your Burning Soul attack!"

"No!" Red Nova Dragon flew up and turned to Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier. It roared as it emerged from the water, before it decided to swim back in, even deeper, as Red Nova Dragon blasted downwards, ripping through the water, obliterating Depp's dragon. How could we have let two targets slip between our fingers?

Depp: 3100 LP-0 LP

"Noooooooooooo!" Depp screamed as the CPU of his submarine failed, and he started sinking. He clicked a button, but nothing happened. "Come on, retract!"

The hooks started to let go of Mateo and Shiho's Duel Runners, but Mateo grabbed them, and tied them together. He drove over to the side and looked over as Depp started sinking, his platform being unable to descend back into the submarine. He spun the hook like a lasso, and threw it, grabbing on to Depp's wrist and he dragged him up just in time, as his submarine sank. As the Duel Arena touches the water, it short circuited as the water hit power lines inside the sub, and it exploded. Mateo and Shiho stopped their Duel Runners, and Mateo threw Depp onto the track as Speed World 3 and Red Nova Dragon vanished. "You and your gang are finished."

"N-noo…" Mateo turned around and faced Yusei and Jack as they stopped and climbed out of their Duel Runners. He raised his hand out in a fist, and Yusei and Jack did the same, making a triangle. Depp pulled a knife and stood up, about to grab Mateo and stab him from behind.

"Mateo!" Jack called in panic as Depp approached with the knife. Mateo turned as Shiho used his gavel to knock the knife away and then he cracked Depp over the head, causing him to collapse to the ground, groaning.

"Shiho! You saved my life!"

"Well, you saved mine a couple of times."

"Heh. I suppose that's true."

Yusei and Jack smiled and looked to each other. Yusei stepped over to Mateo. "I called Trudge, he should be here soon."

"Good. I need to talk to him about something important." Yusei nodded, as they all leaned against their Duel Runners.

"And, well, that's pretty much it."

"That's all?" Trudge asked. "Alright, thank you Mateo. I'll turn off the microphone now."

"Okay, you can go now."

"Wait. There's something I need to say."

"Okay, go ahead."

"I don't care what the threat is. You can't take all the members of security and take them out of their main duties to find whoever took all those people and slaughtered the rest. Me and Mr. Bengo were almost captured by bounty hunters simply because you needed everyone on the case." Mateo said. "I understand that this is a pressing issue, but you can't let criminals overrun the city while you search for someone using magic."

"How do you know they're using magic?"

"Come on. Of the seven people who have survived so far, how old did they look?" Mateo inquired.

"Fifty or so?"

"And according to their files, they were in their twenties, or younger. This is an issue involving magic." Mateo replied. "It's obviously not gonna be that easy."

"Are you saying you'll take up the case?"

"Ha! Funny. I'm just saying that if you insist on going after them, to be careful. And to keep the rest of the city in check. Dangerous people lurk everywhere, as evidenced with today's duel." Mateo stood up and headed over to the door, opening it. "Keep that under advisement, Security Director Trudge."

"Uh… Alright." Trudge replied as Mateo closed the door. Immediately outside it is Shiho, who was waiting.

"Don't you just love security screenings?"

"So much." Mateo sarcastically remarked. He and Shiho turned and started heading to the door. "So spill. The glowing blue mark. What is it?"

"What, this?" Shiho rolled up his sleeve to reveal the blue mark etched into his skin, of what seemed to be a dragon body, not unlike Mateo's mark. "To tell you the truth, I have no idea. And yours? I mean, that Yusei guy said it was the Mark of the Crimson Dragon, but what does that mean?"

"I'm a Signer. A servant of the Crimson Dragon, a mighty being that fought the Earthbound Immortals five thousand years ago, as well as ten years ago. It strives for the salvation of Earth." Mateo replied. "You are a Signer, too. But I have no idea what you are a Signer of."

"Huh. Well, maybe we should work together to figure out this mystery."

"Indeed. I think it would be a good idea. We should also keep our guard up. Whoever is slaughtering people and kidnapping famous ones could have their sights set on us." Mateo explained. "We have to be sure we are ready for anything, so I want you to take extra care. Understand?"

"Of course. Let's meet up again in a few days to report what we've found."

"I agree." Mateo and Shiho exited the Security building and were swarmed by reporters who asked them tons of questions as they calmly walked to their Duel Runners. "Come to Yusei's shop. We can have the damage caused by the duel fixed up."

"Will do." Shiho gave Mateo a thumbs up before he started his Duel Runner up, as did Mateo. Mateo smiled for a brief moment, before looking to a dark alleyway and seeing a young woman watching him before she vanished into the dark. His smile faded as he looked around to see if anyone else noticed it happening, which they did not. He revved his Duel Runner.