Salvation

In the middle of the duel arena, Shiho picks himself up off the ground as a white light hits him, and as it subsides, Mateo stands before him. He outstretches his hand towards Shiho. "Give me your Duel Disk."

"Mateo?" Shiho asked, confused. "Where the hell have you been?"

"I'll tell you later. For now, give me your Duel Disk."

"What? No! You've been missing for days, now you show up in the middle of a duel and ask to take over?"

"I've been granted a chance to save you from the Dimension of Light." Mateo replied, matter-of-factly. "For me to help you, I must take over. It's one of the Ancient Laws."

"I don't care. This is my duel!"

"You're at 400 Life Points and you haven't scratched him at all." Mateo declared. "You can't understand a word he's saying, and therefore he can wipe the floor with you like you're nothing."

"And like you can understand Japanese?"

"I can, actually."

"Of course you can."

"Can I have your Duel Disk now?"

"Fine." Shiho unclipped his Duel Disk as Mateo walked over. He took it and clicked it on awkwardly, not used to wearing a Duel Disk on his right arm.

"Looks like you're off the hook, Shiho Bengo. With four hundred life points to spare, if Mateo Yurigaya fails as I know he will, his mind will be lost forever!" Nakahara laughed. "You are in the same position as he is! You won't see my tactics coming due to my encrypting strategy!"

"I don't think so, Nakahara! See, unlike Shiho, I actually understand Japanese!" Mateo declared. "Well, shall we continue?"

Nakahara growled a little at the fact that his strategy would not work on Mateo, but nodded. They both shouted out: "Let's Duel!"

Mateo: 400 LP
Ambassador Nakahara: 4000 LP

"I do believe that it was your turn last, so it's my turn!" Mateo drew a card and looked at it. "I summon Azurian Secretary in Defense mode!"

The Ambassador watched as a woman appeared sitting at a large ornate desk appeared in a flash of light. A blue hue replaced her regular colors as she gasped and hid under the desk, peeking out from underneath it. "Your monster may have an impressive defense, but it is in no way powerful enough to stop my Poison Emperor!"

"I never said she would be, at least not on her own. I activate the spell card Plea Bargaining! By targeting an Azurian monster I control, that monster cannot be destroyed by battle until the end of your next turn!" Mateo called as he activated the card, surrounding the Secretary in glowing sparkles. "This will ensure that my Secretary will survive to see the next turn!"

"My turn! Your plan will fail, for I've drawn the card I need to wipe you out!" Nakahara revealed the card he drew as another Stop Defense. "All I have to do is activate Stop Defense and it will be all over! It will force your Secretary into Attack mode! While she might be able to survive an attack, you'll still take the battle damage! Now, go! Stop Defense!"

"Not quite! Azurian Secretary's special ability activates! When she's in Defense mode, she can negate the effect of a card targeting a face-up Azurian monster once per turn!" Mateo called. The Secretary looked to Mateo as he nodded to her, and she popped up for a moment to click a few keys on the computer on her desk.

"So-orry. Looks like there's no Stop Defense on file." The Secretary called as she clicked the enter button, and the Stop Defense holographic spell card shattered. She then dropped down under her desk again.

"Don't forget my Skill Tax. It forces you to pay three hundred life points to activate a monster's special ability!"

Mateo: 400 LP-100 LP

"Mateo, no!"

"Don't worry! All I need to do is protect my remaining life points until I've got my field set up."

"And on my End Phase, your Secretary will no longer be protected by Plea Bargaining." The Ambassador grinned evilly. "Then you will die."

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

"That was a good move, Mateo. I guess it pays to learn other languages."

"In some cases, my friend." Mateo grinned to Shiho, who is still standing next to him. "Now then. I summon Azurian Juror! I'll place one card facedown and end my turn!"

"You've most certainly lost all hope now! My Poison Emperor has 3900 Attack Points, and you summoned a monster with only 1300 Attack to face it!" Nakahara laughed darkly, the Poison Emperor laughing in response. "Poison Emperor, end this! Attack the Azurian Juror with Arsenic Sword Slash!"

"Mateo!" Shiho looked over to Mateo as he saw a smile curl across his friend's face.

"You've fallen right into my trap! The Civil Disobedience lawsuit!" Everything stopped, and Mateo looked over to Shiho. "What the hell was that?"

Shiho shrugged. "Technically not wrong."

"I suppose." Mateo agreed. He then focused back on the duel. "This card allows me to change the battle position of your attacking monster, and then I can change the battle positions of up to two Azurian monsters I control!"

"Not quite! My facedown trap card, Dark Bribe, will force you to your death!"

"Objection! By changing the battle position of an Azurian monster I control, I can negate the activation of a spell or trap card!" Mateo countered. The Secretary stood up, only to crawl back under the desk, with the Juror taking a defensive position as well due to the effect of Civil Disobedience.

"Gah! This duel was simple before you joined! Back when he couldn't understand what I was saying!"

"Well, you'll have to deal with it! My turn! I summon Azurian Paralegal!" Mateo called as his monster appeared. "Now, I activate Right to an Attorney!"

"But that card was already played at the beginning of the duel!"

"What kind of duelist doesn't include copies of his most useful cards?" Mateo inquired. "If I recall, you've used two Stop Defenses in this duel."

"Grrr…"

"As I was saying. With my Right to an Attorney spell card, I can special summon an Azurian monster of level four or lower from either my hand or my graveyard, and I'm choosing the Azurian Bailiff!" Mateo watched as the monster appeared to the field. "Now, I activate the trap card Right to Remain Silent! This card prevents you from activating any more spell or trap cards, and any current cards face-up are negated! Therefore, I can use the special abilities of my monsters without having to pay for your Skill Tax."

"What?"

"Azurian Bailiff's special ability! When he is in attack mode, I can lock one of your monsters away for one turn, so therefore, your Poison Emperor cannot attack!" Mateo called as the Bailiff locked the Emperor away. "I'll end my turn by placing one card facedown!"

"My turn! You'll pay for this, Yurigaya! I'll tear all those monsters limb from limb, and then your minds will be forfeit to the Darkness!" Nakahara screamed. "I summon The Six Samurai – Irou! Attack Azurian Bailiff!"

Mateo smiled as the enemy's Six Samurai monster appeared and immediately leaped to action. Shiho turned to look at him, a worried expression on his face, as Mateo clicked a button on the Duel Disk. "I activate my facedown trap card, Decisive Trial! By changing the targeted monster's battle position, your attacking monster is obliterated!"

"Aggghhh!"

"And since your Poison Emperor is locked behind bars, he won't be able to make an attack."

"Make your pitiful move. Likely, you will not be able to stop my monster again, so it makes little difference."

"We'll see. See, I not only play with every strategy, but I place my faith in the cards, and combine that faith with the strength of the Crimson Dragon!" Mateo held his right arm out as a blinding red light began to glow through the entirety of Shiho's duel disk in the shape of his Mark of the Dragon, before it faded to a lower intensity. "I draw! And it's just the card I need to win!"

"There's no card you could have that could turn the tides in your favor!"

"If that were true, then I wouldn't be holding the spell card Reversal of Hope!" Mateo called as a large judge's stand rose out of the ground behind him, a judge appearing on the stand. "At the cost of half of my life points, Reversal of Hope will obliterate all cards on the field!"

On cue, the judge pounds his gavel onto the stand, causing a shockwave to be cast out, obliterating the entirety of the field, save for Reversal of Hope itself.

Mateo: 100 LP-50 LP

"I hardly see how that can turn the tide in your favor!" The Ambassador stated. "There is no way for you to summon a monster that can defeat me before I can deal you 50 damage!"

"Ah, but you haven't let me finish! See, Reversal of Hope has destroyed all cards on the field." Mateo pointed back to it. "So why is it still here?"

"Huh?"

"Of course!" Shiho realized. "Reversal of Hope has a secondary ability!"

"That's right!" Mateo replied. "At the cost of another half of my Life Points, I can special summon all Azurian monsters from my graveyard that were destroyed by the effect of Reversal of Hope!"

The judge on the judge's stand pounded his gavel again, and explodes into four bursts of light that retake the form of the Azurian monsters destroyed by Reversal of Hope.

Mateo: 50 LP-25 LP

"True, these monsters are banished during the End Phase, but I have all the monsters I need!" Mateo called as the glow faded, but not entirely, from the monsters. "I have one last card to play. Guilty as Charged! With this card, I can tribute all but one Azurian monster, and then add the tributed Azurian monster's attacks to the one remaining. So I tribute all Azurian monsters except the Secretary in order to increase her attack by the combined attack of the tributed monsters!"

Mateo swung his arm out as the other three monsters shattered, with their energies fusing into the Secretary's attack.

Azurian Secretary: 100 ATK + 1400 ATK + 1600 ATK + 900 ATK = 4000 ATK

"Now, Azurian Secretary! Attack!" Mateo called as the Secretary launched forward off her desk with a stamp. As she reached Nakahara, she slammed the stamp into his face, and he is launched backwards, bouncing off the edge of the Dark Seal and landing on his face. He picks himself up off the ground and looks up, with a holographic stamp on his forehead reading "LOSER" on it. He groans.

Ambassador Nakahara: 4000 LP-0 LP

"Nooooooo!" The Ambassador screamed as the Dark Seal began to pulsate and move in a serpentine fashion. The Seal broke from its pattern and started to make its way up the Ambassador's body as he tried to rub it off. It reached his head and the entirety of the blackness forced its way into Nakahara's eyes. He screamed as a wave of dark energy blasted off him and he collapsed, his Duel disk shattering, the cards disintegrating. Mateo and Shiho ran over to him as his eyes open. He looks around.

"Ambassador, are you alright?" Shiho asked.

"Where am I? Who are you?" The Ambassador asked. He looked around, worriedly.

"Do you know who you are, Mr. Nakahara?" Mateo inquired.

"Where am I?!" Mateo and Shiho stood up.

"Watch him, Shiho. Make sure he gets to the NDCPD station." Shiho nodded, and he helped the Ambassador up, and they walked away. As soon as they were gone, he began shouting. "ENOUGH ALREADY! ANYA! ARE YOU SO MUCH OF A COWARD THAT YOU'D SEND OTHERS TO THEIR DEATHS IN ORDER TO SAVE YOURSELF? FACE ME!"

"Is that truly what you wish, Mateo Yurigaya? To die at my hands?" The dark voice of Anya echoed across the plaza from everywhere. "Very well. Meet me at the Duel Stadium in three days' time. There, we will end this silly battle with the feeble Light once and for all!"

"We'll see." Mateo turned and ran into Yusei's garage.