Chapter III

Cargo

An old western-style jet-black train rides the iron railways between the mountains and grassy fields, the engine pumping at full speed, the vehicle shakes slightly, making a clunking noise sometimes.

Zane is alone on the double train seat, his suitcase accommodated in the compartment above him. There's a huge change in his appearance: his hair is shorter, reaching above his shoulder line and dark as ebony; his eyes are a faded grey and not the usual green and his clothes are a tailored white suit over a dark-grey shirt and white pants; his skin makes him look like he just came out of vacation at the beach.

The change in appearance is a gift from Kaiba corporation, one of their latest technologies: a watch that can make holograms and change one's semblance, the clothes were also part of his holographic disguise since he's supposed to be on a secret mission. With folded arms, from the rectangular windows with rounded borders he watches a different landscape than the one he's used to: mountains and forest.

The sunlight intercalates with shadow, sometimes blocked by the rocks on the horizon. There's a lot of greenery and angry grey clouds approaching slowly and ominously in the sky.

It's been a while since he last traveled to the countryside. The enticing city buildings were by far his favorite, he'd never leave the enchanting embrace of silvery buildings and comfort of big capitals. The more remote areas reminded him of the academy and… Of war.

"It'll rain…" He concludes, his eyes squinting slightly. "The east, huh? If the Empire is doing something shady there, you bet I'll find it out…" He vows to himself only, in his mind, his eyes blazing in determination.

Interlude II - Excerpt from the book "A Historical overview of the Dominian Empire"

The first millenia of the Empire's history was lost in the "Purging Fire", even now the imperial family holds no records of the year 1-1000 or prior of the Dominian calendar, making the origins of the Empire unknown. However it's a fact that the Harrington family has governed for the last millennium to this day. Emperor Louis Harrington III is the current sovereign.

The Empire consists of a large portion of territory in the continent of Rumir, bordering the Kingdom of Satellite at the south. Its lands are divided in 5 regions: North, West, East, South, and Central region, each governed by a representative under the authority of the Emperor.

Each region has a capital: Willow on the North; Valgaard on the South; Emir on the East; Kallúria on the West; the main region's capital carries a homonymous name that represents the Empire, the city of Domino, located where all regions converge. The regions are semi-autonomous with leaders approved by the sovereign and his council, all contribute to different areas of the economy and make the Empire prosperous.

The Empire of Domino has waged many wars in the past conquering lands and expanding, but for the last five centuries, it has been in peace with most countries, with a few exceptions as helping other kingdoms and countries, minor civil conflicts and the war against the invaders from other continents around 1707 of the Dominian calendar which ended around the year 1709 with the invaders retreating and a glorious victory for the empire. After the said invasions, the economical relations of the prosperous Empire of Domino were enhanced and now other continents profit from trades to our continent as well. This will be discussed in later chapters of this book.

An occasion here must be noted as one of the most terrible and astounding wars the Empire ever took part in. During the year 2044 of the Dominian calendar, a conflict sparked between the neighboring Kingdom of Satellite and the Empire. Due to the abundance of resources of the south region, King Rex Godwin of Satellite proposed a treaty to marry one of his princes to the daughter of the Emperor under the condition his prince was allowed to be the governor of the South, the proposal was outright refused.

The tension between the Kingdom and the Empire only grew bigger for the next couple years until the year 2046 of the Imperial calendar, an open declaration of war was made by Satellite. Starting by invading the borders at the South, the kingdom made advances to take important mining cities and the capital of the southern region, located in the inner area, Valgaard. The interests were not only economical, but political in shaving the Empire of one of its biggest sources of income by stealing the lands rich in gems and minerals.

The war prolonged for many years, with other continents avoiding to get involved and ceasing trades with the Empire, soldiers and resources were speedily getting scarce and by the year 2050 of the Dominian calendar, the Kingdom had taken half of the southern region. A harsh decision was made by Emperor Louis Harrington III: the young students - regardless of gender - who were training to be summoners in the Duel Academies all over the Empire were to be sent for war, enlisted as soldiers.

The day the students departed to the south became known all over the continent as "The dawn of lament" as the cries of the parents pierced the dawn while watching their children be sent to war.

Young summoners aged between 15-18 were sent to the front lines, many of which died or disappeared in action. The public was divided with the decision of sending children and youngsters to war, however the losses of soldiers decreased the Imperial army to the point in which the empire was cornered.

The young summoners proved to be more talented than expected, with their help, the Empire established a supply line for the older soldiers and could maintain the fight, reclaiming back the stolen area of the Empire, this turned the tide of the war to the Empire's favor.

The survivors were rewarded with medals of bravery for coming home alive and helping the Empire and became known to the world as the "generation X", a proud, young generation of talented summoners who fought for their people and shone amidst the crisis. They were also given special permission to graduate without taking any more classes and training at their respective academies after they returned from the war, thereby recognized officially as professional summoners.

The war destroyed most cities at the south and to this day, the region has not completely recovered. Many of the citizens who used to live there either died in war or moved away to other regions, the ones who remain can tell the stories about the war and live mostly working as miners in smaller villages or undeveloped cities.

After the region was reclaimed, the Emperor hired many summoners and soldiers from other continents and held the borders until the year 2052, in which the Satellite Kingdom finally offered peace and retreated their soldiers officially from the territory of the Dominian Empire. Although the south never recovered, the retaking of the lands was seen as a magnificent victory, thus the support to the current Emperor grew strong.

There are those who disagree with this, including historians who debate over who started the war, claiming it was the Empire who sent recognition troops to the borders of Satellite first and the refusal of the proposal was but the last flick. There are controversial rumors about the Empire employing underhanded methods and morally questionable tactics during the war, such as hiring dark-summoners and creating human catalysts to supply the lack of gems for summoners. None of which are confirmed officially. While human catalysts do exist, there's no factual evidence that ties their existence to the Empire.

East lands, afternoon time

The fast train stops on its rails upon the arrival at its final destination, the port city of Emir. A lukewarm wind blows past him as he gets off the vehicle. The old pillars colored like mud sprinkled with white grains are not as welcoming.

"It's as tepid as the rumors says…"

"Mr. Lane Woods?"

A young, beautiful woman with long brown hair approaches him, she's dressed in a formal pink suit and pants, a tag with "Manager" attached to her upper chest. Her eyelashes contrast with her blue eyes as she inspects him. He shows her a picture of herself, she nods with a sharp glance.

He was told someone would be waiting for him there and he should present her this picture as a code, in return, she shows him a picture of him with his original appearance, he also nods, she tucks the photo inside her pocket again.

"I'm Serenity Wheeler, representative of your client." She bows elegantly. "You must be tired, the trip took two whole days."

"I'm fine, thanks. And you're the sister of… Joey Wheeler."

Her eyes meet his but for a second, then she turns around, he follows behind leading him out of the station.

"You're correct, Mr. Woods. Currently, my brother is still recovering from his last mission."

Her voice is placid and he can see she was trained to not let on nervousness, but after staying long in the underground, he learned how to read the signals and developed an instinct to feel people's emotions as if they were tangible within his grip.

"Is your brother fine?"

"He'll be after some rest."

"Did you find out whoever did that to him?"

"We have suspicions. You met them too, the Shadow Riders."

"I thought they were terrorizing the main region, wasn't your brother in the west defending some mines from bandits?"

She stops on her tracks, midway to a cab, then whirls around to face him, her eyes wandering on their surroundings before she comes a step closer, talking in a low tone.

"This is what has been said officially. Truth is, my brother was in the south."

He lets out a deep sigh. He knew there was something dubious about Mokuba's story, so they were doing something suspicious there after all.

"Those lands are devastated, full of miners, scoundrels and slaves, what in the world would your brother need to do there? Don't tell me he was defending the cargo that was lost?"

His fist clench slightly. As much as he hates being deceived, Joey Wheeler was an important figure in the wars at the south, he went from a rank SR summoner to rank UR during the conflict, this all alongside Yugi Muto, his friend.

Zane remembers that had it not been for Joey and Yugi wiping an entire enemy platoon and defending the students who were thrown into war, he himself could have died before having the chance to grow as a summoner. They had never seen so much blood splattered before that and also such a magnificent display of what summoning is capable of doing.

Atticus' passion for the Red-Eyes started there, when the black dragon flew in front of the students and started fending off for them, but he never acquired a Red-Eyes during war time, though.

"No. He was on a special mission to investigate some rebel groups making strange movements in the south. That until he was attacked by a powerful dark-summoner. The strangest of it all is, he says he can't remember the face of that person, we believe they employed some technique to make his memory confused."

"They can even mess with people's memories nowadays?"

"They do. Which is why your presence here is essential. You dealt with dark-summoners before, didn't you?"

"Yeah. A couple times. It's been long since I last saw one."

"Good. I'll handle the files to you once we arrive at your lodge. But be advised that whoever that person was, it's possible they may be involved with the case of our cargo ship."

"You said he was investigating strange moves of rebel groups… Aren't there many extremist groups' bases in the south? They mostly arose due to the war, and the south is practically only a hideout for them nowadays… If you'd go investigating there, I would suggest asking for Lady Kisara's aid, she knows the region like the palm of her hand."

"Our president does not wish to receive help from the leader of a rebel group. Plus, he was investigating one faction in particular: The Shadow Riders. This is also why we consider they're behind this. According to our sources, members of the Shadow Riders have spread out to many regions, to gain more influence and recently, the members that were spotted at the south were mostly gathering resources."

"Resources? For what exactly?"

"We do not know, but it doesn't bode well. This is where our cargo ship enters, if they indeed were gathering many resources, our ships could become a popular target for ransacking."

"And they're probably using the materials for their troops… I don't like this."

"If you understand the urgency of the matter, I'd like to ask you to be careful and give us any information you can find. Of course, if they attack you, you're free to defend yourself, but if possible, we'd like to capture one of their members alive so we can interrogate them."

"Capturing people alive is not my specialty, but I'll see what I can do."

"Thank you for your attention."

She proceeds to the car and opens the door of the taxi for him. The ride ends at the Starchip Hotel, a non-popular hotel in a quiet and reserved zone of the city. It seems the corporation is making sure his stay is as secretive as possible, he's posing as a simple executive of the company that came to oversee administrative procedures in some factories the KC owns.

Once he's left at the simple hotel bedroom, he plops onto the soft, white bed sheets, sitting down. His fingers press both side buttons of his expensive watch at the same time, the holographic image flickers erratically before disappearing, showing his true appearance, the blue hair and dark clothes. Taking a PDA from his pocket, he initiates a video call.

"Zane?" Alexis's big brown eyes stare closely at the camera, she then positions her face away. "I'm on my lunch break now, did something happen?"

"I just called to tell you I got caught in the middle of something now, but before you scold me for not taking care of what you asked me first in the underground, this could be related…"

"You don't mean…"

"I was hired by the Kaiba Corporation to investigate a case in the east. You said the Shadow Riders were recruiting members in the capital, right? Well, it seems this isn't all they're doing, they apparently are involved in hijacking a ship… I'm gonna find out what's happening, and you keep your eyes peeled."

"You said east? Chazz was doing some job around there too…" She pauses, pursing her lips. "What do you think the Shadow Riders are planning? First they destroy the stadium and take Neos, now they're in the east too and hijacking a ship?"

"I'm yet to find out, but we better discover it soon, this smells like they're setting up for a big rebellion. They are a very extremist group with destructive tendencies and last I heard they were spreading some bullshit about releasing all duel monster spirits into our world and raising hell like a cult…"

"Zane, you be careful. If they are involved, that means you can expect UR summoners like you to be in this, dark-summoners too. I will contact everyone else to ask if they know more about it. Syrus might be able to fish something new about them too."

"Thanks. See you later."

He ends the call with a click, his brows furrowing together. It was a long trip, but tonight he will go to the port and observe the movement.

At the destructed stadium

There are "Keep out" tapes stretched on the whole perimeter, the muddy footprints of the imperial soldiers are left on the whole ground. Aster squats down, looking at the burn marks scattered sequentially.

"They exploded the main energy reactor, the mass explosions downed half of the stage at once, and the other half crumbled to the flames… The Trakodon headbutted the ruins and tried to kill more people… Zane's Cyber Dragon avoided more deaths, but many had already died to the explosions by then."

A shadow lands far behind him, he stands up upon noticing its presence and turns around. It's a very slim man in a dark suit, a grey scarf covering the lower half of his face and a black hat; he kneels on the ground, his eyes lifting to look at his master.

"Double Dude, you're back."

"Hm!"

He nods with a firm and grave voice, taking out of his pocket a dark scale, it looked like it belonged to a dragon.

"Where did you find this?"

The Destiny Hero turns his eyes towards the main stadium field, where people have said to spot a Red-Eyes Black Dragon. Aster rubs the piece of solid scale with the tip of his finger, it's hard and resistant like a cuirass. The marvels of summoning, even after a monster dematerializes, it's possible some of its remains stay in this world because they were brought in flesh and bone in this dimension.

"So it belonged to that main attacker… I can understand a theme going here with the monsters that appeared… The Trakodon is a dinosaur type and Red-Eyes is a dragon, both similar enough… I believe this indicates that Rex Raptor might be involved, he just broke out of prison another day and everyone says he had external help… But I thought he had lost his Red-Eyes to Joey Wheeler when they fought in the past… What do you think, Double dude?" He looks at his investigative partner that stands up promptly.

"It's possible there is another summoner with a Red-Eyes or Rex Raptor simply could have found another Red-Eyes, albeit rare in the spirit world, there are a few nests of them…"

"It's always interesting to hear about the spirit world, thanks for your insight… You're correct, this could be another summoner, couldn't it? But who? People said the one they spotted had brown hair, and Rex also has this hair color… Well, he does have connections to the Shadow Riders, I suppose that can be done with the snap of a finger, however the descriptions of who people saw don't fully match him, not only his 'doppelganger' is taller, he also doesn't have the lavender strand of hair that defines Rex. A pity the footage was lost."

"May I search for more vestiges, Aster?" He bows, putting a hand in front of his chest cordially.

"We don't need formalities, you're a friend helping me with the case, not a slave, Double Dude. I need some time to think about things, you can go back. Ah, and say hi to the others for me in the spirit world."

The hero smiles briefly before his body disperses into specks of a yellowish light that float fast in a line, converging into Aster's chest, where his card is kept.

"Who is the Red-Eyes master? And why would the Shadow Riders want Neos? Are they attempting to force him to obey them, or… Are they just making sure other summoners won't have the help of Neos?" He ponders with a hand to his chin.

A tricky question, nevertheless, to find an answer, he'll need to investigate the matter further. From behind a wall, a shadow observes him, their cunning eyes glimmering dangerously.

At the port in Emir,

Past midnight

The gelid, salty wind dances past, almost forming a whirlwind, scattering some grains of sand. Zane's black cloak flutters heavily, his eyes squinting a bit, prickling with the coldness, he folds his arms. The port has some containers waiting for new ships to pick it up, but no men are around at this hour with the exception of a few that cackle loudly.

A line of dim lamp posts illuminates the borders of the harbor in the distance and the rocky lighthouse at the margin of the pier guides the ships. Overall the ambience is dark, mostly revealed by pure moonlight. He casts a glance around and can barely see shadows as the silhouettes of the workers, fishermen who came back from a trip boasting about their pick.

Then, his eyes catch a glimpse of it: under the clear sky, a sumptuous cargo ship drifting with the billows. Its front is the head of a Blue-Eyes White dragon, baring its teeth to the ocean; the silvery metal shining, on its side there are thin structures that resemble wings, cutting the savage waves.

"I thought it would arrive the next morning… I suppose this tells me they sped up the trip to come at a time no one would be here…"

He approaches, hiding behind a container and keeping an eye on the scene. The ship is quickly there, they anchor at the pier and start disembarking. There are many people in uniforms, both marine uniforms and the Kaiba Corporation ones from what he could see of the long-sleeved overalls with 'KC' embroidered on the chest.

Their caps hide mostly their faces and they operate machines to put the many crates the ship was carrying on a free port area reserved for them. Zane pulls the summoning turquoise out of his shirt, inconspicuously running fast from crate to crate.

As soon as the first container lands safely, The workers guiding the procedure move away and prepare to bring the next. There's an eerie suspicion in the air, he can't see their faces, but there are a few people who aren't wearing uniforms, a few of them stay on the ship and some are near the workers.

"Are those their summoners? Whoever they are, they certainly don't look like KC workers…"

"Check the rest of the port!"

He hears a man giving orders and assigning some groups to seal the perimeter while they put the crates in the protected space. They have guns, small and long, with some guards watching the area at all times.

"Those seem to be normal soldiers, but I can see at least four summoners, one on each end of the perimeter." His analytical glance calculates mentally. "Given the security, are they really trafficking raw materials? Or did they somehow smith it into goods before bringing it here? No, he said the ship wasn't delayed… They wouldn't be able to… Would they? Then, what in the world are in those crates? With a small stop off course in the south… It couldn't be… Weapons, could it?"

He sneaks near one of the large recipients, using it as cover from the sights, pulling the lock that's as big as his hand. He knocks it once to test the durability of the walls, it would be no match to a duel monster, suddenly, he hears a buzzing noise of insects wings.

On the skies, a swarm of Pinch Hoppers and Armored Bees hover, so many, the Hoppers came down and held each corner of crates, lifting it effortlessly while the Bees stood still watching over them.

"Hihihi! Go my insects, bring all the goods to the market!"

A drop of sweat delineates Zane's face, the man coming into the shed of moonlight illuminating the port is none other than Weevil Wonderwood. His bob cut green hair, yellow frame glasses, tall silhouette and green coat with an insect stamped on it were his symbols.

"That's… Weevil… Isn't he the one suspected for helping the criminal Rex Raptor break out of jail? The news said the way the guards were left was horrendous, his face was devoured by his insects…"

His hands close tightly, he should be investigating first, but at this rate if he doesn't take action, all the crates will be lost and he won't find out what's going on. It's time to act, clutching the gem tied to his neck, he concentrates his power, a grainy, bluish aura flowing towards the gem.

The crate he was using as cover is lifted, he opens his eyes in a second, the workers see his dark silhouette as her turns around, surprising them, a dire glint into his eyes as creatures materialize behind him, towering over his human figure: Three Cyber Dragons, Cyber Dragon Vier and Cyber Dragon Drei.

The men run away in fear for the amount of monsters he just summoned effortlessly and how angry the machines of mass destruction looked, roaring around and stretching their heads to instill fear. Weevil scowls, a smirk playing on his lips, he points silently towards Zane, a monster materializing behind him too: Ultimate Insect LV7.

"It seems we have a rat, but even rats can be devoured by my insects!"

"Your insects are just falling into my trap!" Lifting a Polymerization card, a rift materializes behind his monsters, twirling them and dragging them inside. "Come forth, Cyber Twin Dragon! Chimeratech Rampage Dragon!" The turquoise pendant glows, a crack opening a crevice on it after the summons.

Two fusion monsters arise, the Twin-headed Cyber dragon already charges a strident blast, attacking the dangerous insect. A summoner skids his feet ahead of Zane, bringing into the battle a Man Eater Bug that darts towards him.

The Man Eater Bug opens his mouth, howling voraciously, his drool so thick it plops to the ground like it's a thick slime. With its claws, he dashes to grab the teal-haired man, a single move is made, Zane side-steps the attack, swiftly supporting his hands on the arm of the bug, jumping over it as if it was an obstacle in a running contest.

The summoner is struck by surprise as he makes his way, the Man Eater Bug swirls around furiously, Zane casts a sharp glance over his shoulder, pulls a card from his chest pocket, summoning yet another monster: Cyber Dragon Zwei, it bites off the arm of the creature that howls in pain and bites the machine monster, a metallic groan spreading as both monsters disintegrate.

"Tsk, I hate those effect monsters…"

When he is about to fight the summoner in close combat, an Armored Bee tosses its poisonous needle to hurt him, he leaps back in reflex. This time, it was Weevil who intervened, hands on pockets and a conceited, malicious grin.

"Hihihi, you can't deal with all of them! Fly my Hoppers, bring all the crates to the place they should be!" He opens his arms, summoning a bunch of Ultimate Insects LV7. "You shouldn't have come alone, dumbass!"

"Rampage Dragon, focus on the Pinch Hoppers that are flying away."

He commands with an arm and a frown, the dragon growls with its parted jaw in return, its heads attacking simultaneously, the blasts are blocked by the Ultimate Insects.

"Cyber Twin Dragon, let's make sure those things can't even serve as a meat-shield!"

His order is fulfilled, the two heads of his dragon shooting powerful beams and eliminating the numbers, but they keep getting blocked, just like there's a true swarm of insects, other monsters from different summoners also appear, Big Insects and Beetrons.

"They're stalling for time… He's using the effect of his Pinch Hoppers to increase their numbers…" He snarls, the laughter of the Insect summoner echoing through the dark night.

Not wasting time, he summons another Cyber Dragon Zwei, it fends off the Armored Bee. The unknown man ahead him uses a white cloak, occulting partially his face, it doesn't take a second to figure out he's not much of a fighter, his feet sliding back, he raises a gem with his hand, however, in a speedy movement, Zane grabs his arm and pulls it to dislocate his shoulder.

His scream joins the symphony of blasts and flying insects, swallowed by the noise, without his gem, Zane takes him down by hitting his hand on the man's neck, making him fall unconscious.

A sudden shiver runs down his spine, his eyes flash to the side, another needle flies towards him, Cyber Dragon Zwei floats in front of him, using its body as a shield, weakened by the effect of the Armored Bee.

"Now, don't think they're weak just because they're insects…" Weevil shouts from the distance.

"Who cares!" He summons two Cyber Dragon Viers that increase each other's attack and three Proto-Cyber Dragons to take care of the smaller fleas. "Cyber Twin and Chimeratech, concentrate on killing the ones carrying the crates in the air, forget about the small fry!"

His dragons both send blasts towards the furthest away group of insects that struggled to take a crate out of sight, still above the pier, the hit cannot be avoided, they explode into pieces and the crate falls with a thud to the ground, bending out of shape and opening slightly.

"You-!" Weevil gnaws his teeth. "Don't think you can escape now! Doom Dozer!"

A gigantesque centipede-like creature howls, its voice causing a sound wave to spread and make the bodies of the men tremble in fear. The creature crawls at an astounding speed and instead of attacking the monsters, it stops creepily standing in the air and sending a soundwave in Zane's direction, the voice attack sends him flying, his back crushing against one of the crates, bouncing off and falling face-down on the stone ground.

"Shit…"

He rolls before supporting his arms, the stitches on his wound must have opened by now. One of his legs makes the effort to kneel as he stands up with wobbling feet. The Doom Dozer comes at him, but is blocked by the Cyber Twin Dragon, engaging in a fight. He can see the Cyber Twin being suppressed by the centipede, almost crushed by it.

"Chimeratech, blow those insects up!" His voice comes out hoarse.

His small army of monsters is occupied in a battle of flashes and cuts exchanged while the insects try to grab the containers. Zane is done with all that playing, his teeth gritting as he takes two cards from his pocket.

"Cybernetic Fusion Support! Power Bond! Time to get out of the graveyard, Cyber Dragon Zwei!"

One of his Cyber Viers blows into pieces, and his Cyber Drei, the teal-haired narrows his eyes looking at Weevil that smirks defiantly under his glare. The cracks on his turquoise expand, small shards of it falling off, the pieces of metallic armor shake restlessly, as if they're magnetized, then in a second, they bash together into the air, more and more metallic pieces and parted silver armor join, ahead of him Cyber End Dragon takes shape and roars, sending an energy beam concentrated onto Doom Dozer.
The impact is so huge, crates are blown away in a chaotic fashion, no one knows where to look. He can hear yells of the nearby observers as well as the dozens of monsters that were destroyed by the aftershock, the crates flew over the place as if they were made of paper, tumbling with a repeated and deep metallic clunking, one of them bursts open.

Zane's turquoise breaks apart, only the tie around his neck is left. The smoke of the attacks dissipates, Weevils is even more nervous by now, exchanging a glance between him and the container that burst open.

He affords a glance there, what is making the insect summoner so worried? Were they carrying menacing weapons after all? As the smoke disperses, his lips open, he's astonished, his mouth opening unwillingly, at loss for words.

"There are… Humans coming out of there?"

The people coming out of there have worn out clothes and are scared, are they slaves? But why? Why were those crates with people inside the Kaiba Corporation ship? Is it true the criminals substituted the cargo and stole the original or… Were those people here from the beginning? Weevil, Kaiba Corp. and those slaves being trafficked, this is getting worse than he thought, but now that he is here, he needs an answer.

Zane and Wonderwood exchange a scowl of despise at each other, the green-haired acts immediately, now that he saw the cargo, they can't let him leave alive.

"Quick, grab the crates and don't let those slaves escape!" He desperately orders and takes a fistful of gems from his pants' pocket, raising it to summon hundreds of Battle Wasps, the gems cracking at the amount of energy needed.

"It seems that you're treating people like insects, Weevil, I'll show you who the real insect here is! Chimeratech, obliterate those wasps! I don't care how much energy you need for that! Cyber Twin Dragon, help him! Against this little bug, you and me are enough, Cyber End…"

"Ugh, you-"

Explosions pollute the air with smoke as the dragons make a clean line spitting their light beam and purge the insects that are trying to approach the crates, holding off their numbers. Zane takes another gem out of his pockets, using it to maintain all his army of high level monsters, but that too, cracks subtly.

Impatiently, his feet rush to the other side to confront Weevil in close quarters, he grabs a nearby Proto Cyber Dragon, taking a slight ride on it, and drops to the ground, running with the impulse, his shirt soaking in blood underneath his cloak.

Wonderwood may be able to distract his monsters, but in a one-on-one fight, he's pretty convinced he can win. Weevil was known for his slicky tactics, not for his physical prowess as some other summoners are.

The green-haired braces for the advance, summoning more of his insects to cover for him, and another strong spirit materializes:

"D-Don't come, you animal! Insect Queen!"

The bulky creature darts at inhumane speed at him, trying to cut him off in half with one of its sharp and thin legs, he avoids it effortlessly and from behind him, without a command Cyber End shoots a beam of energy, the light engulfing the whole Queen.

While the light is extinguishing, still dazzled by the brightness his instincts drive him to a halt and bend backwards, a blade draws a cut in front of him, just a centimeter distance from his neck, his blood runs cold.

"What-"

A humongous shriek pierces the air, where the Insect Queen used to be, now stands a Metamorphosed Insect Queen, it's bigger and stronger than the previous one, its claw almost reaped his life.

"Hiehie, you thought I was scared? And here I thought you were smart!" He mocks, a muffled laughter making his shoulders tremble.

"He… He pretended that his Queen was destroyed by my Cyber End, but in truth, he released her to bring his new monster, such impeccable timing… This guy just looks like a joke, but he's certainly as treacherous as rumors say."

"Whatever, it's still weaker than my Cyber End!"

He stretches his hand, giving the permission for the destruction of the monster, his Cyber End Dragon shoots the next blast, the light ceasing after a few second, a time which Zane used to approach even more the other summoner.

Continuing his rush, he's about to take down Weevil, but monsters appear in front of him, blocking his way: two Insect Knights and two of the other summoners coming at him, while the other summoner continue to try and escape with the slaves.

"No matter how many monsters you bring out, as long as my life is burning, Cyber End will destroy you all!"

The Insect Knights both deal a coordinated thrust towards him, hissing at his attempts of defeating their masters, he doesn't move, instead his Proto Cyber Dragon bites off both their swords, crushing it under his jaw and turning the swords into metal shards.

His eyes look down on the summoners who tremble in fear, this utmost trust he places on his monsters just makes his aura more imposing as he threads heftily, they fall to the ground, shuddering and crawling away, getting up in as much of a hurry as they can to run away, unfortunately for them, other Proto Cyber Dragons catch their drift and wrap around their bodies, constricting their movements.

"Weevil! What are you doing here?! Terrorizing villages in the south and helping a criminal break out of prison were not adventurous enough for you?! So you wuss decided to traffic slaves now?!" He shouts angrily at his opponent.

"Slaves?" He's stunned for a moment, his smirk vanishes but a second, then creeps back into his face, he declares victoriously: "As the king of the Underground of Domino, you should know better! Slaves are profitable!"

"We will have a good talk. Just the two of us, I'm not even gonna need my monsters for this."

He crackles his knuckles threateningly, as if he'd been expecting for this moment. He was telling the truth, but part of it was also a bluff, in fact, if he tried to summon more monsters, his body would crumble right there.

Weevil jolts in place, taking a few steps back, stopping upon hearing the small rocks dipping into the ocean, his feet losing its stand, he has nowhere else to run, literally cornered like a small insect.

"Come here you little bug, I'll smash you!"

The green-haired man screeches when his opponents comes at full throttle, his deceit works once again, his daunted expression turning into a grin. His arm raises into the air, an Ultimate Insect LV7 hovers above him, he grabs its leg and hangs onto it as it flies.

"You can't catch me, loser!" He looks at some Pinch Hoppers who successfully start carrying a crate away.

"Cyber End, pulverize all those insects!" Gnarls form on his forehead as he orders. "Don't let them take a single crate!"

Weevil flies away as the blasts direct towards his army, he guffaws, knowing that even a summoner like Zane could do a thing merely by the fact of his stupid mission of saving people. Such an easy way to sway a man's attention.

With his enemy's triumphal escape, Zane concentrated on saving what wasn't lost yet, his heart races so fast, it could crush his ribs at any moment. The adrenaline rush mitigates, the pain reaching his senses again, he puts a hand to his reopened wound. Looking around and watching the flames cripple the insects and a mayhem of people running desperately to escape with their lives.

His eyelids are so heavy, struggling to keep open, his balance bending forth and back, he tries to walk towards the eye of the storm, where some crates were opened, taking some sort of phone out of his pocket, he initiates a call.

"It's me… Zane… You have to send your people here to the port quickly, the cargo has arrived, but everything is burning down to ashes…"

Ending the call, he grimaces. A thunderous sound roars in the sky covered by grey clouds, a drop of rain falling onto his cheek, sliding down quickly followed by many other drops that quickly wet the ground.

Stumbling another step onwards, he loses footing, when his body tumbles to the side, his Proto Cyber Dragon stands by his side, emitting a mechanic scream, supporting his weight and helping him straighten as rain drenches them both.

"We've gotten ourselves into a fine mess…" He pats it a few times, his hand gliding down on the metallic structure due to the water, a wry smile sprouts on his face. "I don't think I can keep you guys here any longer. Thank you."

The agents of Kaiba Corporation arrive soon, using helicopters, they contain the hostages, Zane sees but a blur of silhouettes as his consciousness threats to fade, he releases his monsters, his second gem is already falling apart. Among the soldiers helping people and tending to them, a woman's voice calls out to him:

"Mr. Truesdale? Mr. Truesdale, are you alright?"

"I'll be better when I know what's happening here. You owe me a big explanation, miss."

His worn out glares doesn't lose any of its dreadful effects, Serenity gulps dryly, her eyes lowering, contemplating possibilities, it's a harsh decision for her.

"You'll hear it once we settle this situation."

Slaves, the Shadow Riders and all their suspicious moves in all regions. Are they really preparing for a war? But why trade slaves? Wouldn't they want the gems and resources instead, like weapons? His eyes sharpen, that final hole in the puzzle is yet to be filled.