This story was done in collaboration between me, Jriddle41 (Sodormatchmaker on DeviantART), and DaveMan1000 (both here and on DeviantART), and we own the OCs that are used in the story. AaronCottrell97 (known as stevecottrell on DeviantART) provided the Duel Layouts and additional ideas. Everything else belongs to their respective owners:
Thomas and Friends (c) Hit Entertainment and Mattel
The Railway Series (c) Rev Wilbert Awdry
Yu-Gi-Oh! (c) Konami
Gundam SEED characters, Orb, Blue Cosmos, M1 Astray, Strike Rouge, Murasame (c) Sunrise
Character of Lisa Drake (c) DaveMan1000
Character of David Xadashi (c) DaveMan1000
WARNING: Once again, this story is rated T for violence, some blood, suggestive themes, and some language. Reader discretion is advised.
WARNING 2: If you haven't read "Yu-Gi-Oh! The Sodor Chronicles Season 2", "Yu-Gi-Oh! The Sodor Chronicles Season 4", "Yu-Gi-Oh! The Sodor Chronicles (Pyramid of Light", "David Xadashi", "Lisa Drake", or "Team 4D's", you might want to do so before reading this story
On a stage inside the Orb Duel School, five face-down cards were lined up on a large blackboard. On cue, David Xadashi and Lisa Drake both showed up and began speaking to the audience.
"Hello again, everyone, and welcome to another exciting segment of the 'This week's noteworthy cards'!" announced David.
"In case anyone's forgotten, this is where we both go over the most important cards that are to be used in duels throughout our adventures," added Lisa, before she and her friend motioned their arms to the blackboard, "We have five new cards to show all of you! And here they are!"
The five face-down cards on the blackboard all automatically turned over and revealed themselves to be:
-'Follow Wing' (Trap Card)
-'Assault Wheel' (Effect Monster Card)
-'Pot of Desires' (Spell Card)
-'Nightmare Wheel' (Trap Card)
-'Archfiend Interceptor' (Effect Monster Card)
"Wow! Lisa-chan! That's one of Juri-san's cards!" cried David, looking at the middle card ('Pot of Desires'), "Look!"
"Banish 10 cards from the top of your Deck, face-down; draw 2 cards," Lisa read, before smiling, "Yup, that's definitely one of Juri's cards. It's really risky to activate and you can only use a single copy per turn, but the risk can definitely reward you."
"Right," agreed David, before he resumed talking to the audience, "Who knows what else you all will get to see!"
"We bet you'll love to see them and tons more!" finished Lisa, also talking to the audience once more. She waved goodbye, "Have a good night, everybody!"
The audience cheered and clapped in response.
Title: Undercover Duelist
Opening up in the city of Hartford, repairs on the city from Matt Fudo and Sergey Volkov's Turbo Duel were nearing completion. To make things even better, no people had gotten hurt by the rampage of Sergey's 'Earthbound Servant' monsters despite their destructive capabilities.
(elsewhere…)
Outside the Orb Duel School, the building had finished being repaired and repainted after its hostile take over last month. The headmaster, Patrick Zimmerman, was shown shaking hands with the painters and lead construction worker in thanks for their servitude in getting the school back to show it was before being attacked. Afterwards, Mr. Zimmerman turned to face his dueling school and smiled at it, glad things were returning to a state of normalcy once more—the fact that Discord J. Crawford and his adopted children were staying for the summer, too, which no doubt would help keep Orb safe and secure for the foreseeable future.
(inside…)
Inside Orb's docking bay, Fudo Go, Wheel of Fortune, and Blackbird each were lined up in the middle of the area. Currently, Matt, Michael, and James R. were busy tuning their respective Duel Runners up. Assisting them were Kojiro Murdoch and his crew.
"Pretty good," smirked Mr. Murdoch, handing Michael a wrench, "You three sure know how to handle your Duel Runners."
"We should; to remain on the top of the dueling world, we have to keep these things in tip top," Michael uttered, not looking up from his work.
"Right," acknowledged Matt, "And that sometimes includes our own Duel Disks."
"But you know," cut in James, while wiping his hands with a towel, "we were kinda hoping Carlie would have stayed to do some tuning on her Bloody Kiss," He then shrugged with a sigh, "Unfortunately, she would rather go out shopping than to work on her Duel Runner," Before long, he picked up another wrench and got back to work, "I guess it can't be helped."
"Well, that's entirely not her fault," The voice of Mr. Murdoch chuckled, which caused James R. to look up. He was seen folding his arms while closing his eyes, "Asagi and her two best friends were the ones who dragged Carlie away to take her to the Hartford Mall. Apparently, they insisted that they should go out and buy new summer clothes."
"Summer clothes shopping?" pondered James R..
"Pretty much that," confirmed Mr. Murdoch, before opening his eyes and looking upward with amusement, "I can only wonder what they're gonna buy in our fair city's mall?"
(elsewhere…)
Outside, somewhere in downtown Hartford, cars, vans, and trucks were driving on the roads, entering/exiting parking lots, or turning onto different streets, and people were walking on the sidewalks or crossing the streets. Basically, it was a busy day, especially at Hartford Mall, where voices could be heard coming from inside the building.
"Come on, Carlie, keep up with us!" The voice of Asagi was saying.
(inside…)
Inside a clothing store within Hartford Mall, Asagi Caldwell, Mayura Labatt, and Juri Wu Nien each were carrying a few shopping bags filled with clothes and footwear for the upcoming summer. To their disappointment, they couldn't bring Lisa Drake with them since she had school to finish (exams) and ultimately graduation to attend. So, instead, they took Carlie Izayoi with them, claiming she needed a new outfit for the summer. Originally wanting to stay at Orb to work on Bloody Kiss, Carlie got dragged with them, anyway. Currently, the brown-haired young woman only had one shopping bag on her right arm. Rather than think about the shopping trip, she was busy thinking about the events of last month.
FLASHBACK
Clips of Carlie dueling and defeating the sarcastic punk, the punks attacking her and Matt, then Sherry LeBlanc showing up to save them, were shown.
"It's been only a month since that horrible attack on Orb," narrated Carlie, "Sherry even showed up to help us stop Sergey."
Clips of the newly formed Team 6D's, plus Zack, were inside Rex's secret chamber learning all about the Dark Signers and the 'Earthbound Immortal' monsters were then shown.
"Then Rex took us to a secret underground passage inside his family mansion to show us the Dark Signers and the 'Earthbound Immortals'."
Clips of everyone at Bradley International Airport seeing off David Xadashi, his friends, and his family were shown.
"And then, Dave and everyone else had to leave for the United Kingdom," Carlie went on, "I wonder if we will ever see them again? Matt said it isn't truly goodbye and that our bonds are connected, but-"
"Carlie?" The voice of Juri interrupted, "You okay there?"
END FLASHBACK
The flashback abruntly ended with Carlie blinking before looking nearby. She (Carlie) could see Juri looking at her with some concern on her (Juri) face.
"Huh?" peeped Carlie, "I-I'm sorry, Juri, what were you saying?"
"I was trying to tell you that Asagi and Mayura both found something they say is perfect for you," frowned Juri.
"Thaaaat's right!" sang Asagi, "We did find you the perfect outfit—great for summer, fall, you name it… You wouldn't believe how lucky we were in finding it. It's even on sale for today only," She then giggled with excitement, "Trust me, you'll love it!"
Grinning big, Mayura held the new outfit up; it appeared to have Victorian influences, and consisted of a high-collared, low-cut red corset with short, light green puffy sleeves worn underneath a sleeveless, magenta trench coat that seemed to flare from behind, being shorter and pleated in the front, and black, elbow-length, fingerless gloves with gold bracelets above them; below that, there were also red high-heeled pumps, black thigh-high stockings, and a red skirt. Mayura also held up, in her left hand, a small bag full of jewelry like a red neck choker and an emerald crested, golden cross-shaped medallion.
"Tada!" announced Mayura, "What do you think? The outfit looks sexy, right?"
"And the jewelry goes with it!" whooped Asagi.
Upon seeing it, Carlie couldn't help but blush slightly, since while the outfit itself looked pretty nice, it was also a little on the revealing side and also came with a corset.
"Well, it does look pretty… but…" stammered Carlie, stopping when she noticed the puzzled looks on Asagi and Mayura's respective faces. She then tried to find the correct words to say next, "Err… I mean… The outfit does look nice, but why…does it come with a corset?"
"What's wrong with wearing a corset?" wondered Asagi innocently.
"N-Nothing's wrong, but it's just I never-"
"Oh, come on! At least just try it all on!" pleaded Mayura, "If you don't like the outfit, then you don't have to buy it."
Carlie remained silent for a few seconds before she threw her hands in the air and let out a defeated groan.
"Alright!" surrendered Carlie, "You both win, I'll try it all on."
Both Asagi and Mayura let out girly-like squeals of joy.
"If it makes you feel any better, I'll try to at least help get the corset on for you," offered Juri.
The offer caused Carlie to look over at her and flash a smile of thanks. Before long, Asagi and Mayura both were waiting patiently outside a changing room, where Carlie, with help from Juri, was busy changing into the new outfit. While waiting, Asagi and Mayura could hear some short grunts of pain and a few comments from Carlie and Juri inside the room. Soon the door opened, and Carlie and Juri stepped outside with the former now wearing the Victorian-styled outfit and the jewelry, as the latter joined with her two best friends. Asagi was very happy that Carlie tried on the outfit, and was just about to remark on how awesome, and even hot, Carlie looked when she (Asagi) stopped herself from speaking. Looking in a little closer, Asagi noticed that while Carlie was wearing the new outfit, she (Carlie) also appeared to be wearing a small black undershirt to conceal any possible breast cleavage the corset might have accentuated despite her being only a tiny bit above average in cup size. Speaking of whom, Carlie looked towards the mirror to get a good look at herself and became impressed. She had to admit, she actually looked really good in the Victorian-styled outfit. With that thought on hand, the brown-haired young woman turned to face the three Astray girls and did a girlish pose for them with a big smile on her face.
"Wow! You were right, Asagi, I do love the outfit," admitted Carlie, "It fits me so well, that I think I'll buy it."
"Wonderful!" cheered Juri, clapping.
"That's great and all, but what's with the black undershirt?" pressed Mayura, causing Carlie to raise a puzzled eyebrow as she (Mayura) continued, "I thought you only wore it with your motorcyclist suit?"
"Eh?" gawked Carlie.
"Yeah! You're not showing off your stuff!" complained Asagi, before pointing at Carlie (specifically towards the chest), "You'll never attract a super handsome guy without at least doing that!"
"I hate to break it to you, Asagi, but I'm someone who prefers to not show off much skin unless I'm at the beach," Carlie pointed out, before briefly looking down at her chest (mainly the corset) before looking back up at the person she's speaking to, "That corset alone would have given me more trouble than I would have wanted," She (Carlie) then made a mention of Juri as she (Juri) listened, "So before Juri helped me get it on, I added in a black undershirt to help cover certain bits up."
Mayura smiled, "Oh really? Is that what you think?" she remarked playfully, with her right hand touching her chin, "Or, perhaps, the 'real' reason you like to cover yourself up is because, deep down, you're unhappy that you're not 'big' like, say, Sherry or Ms. Misty?"
Asagi giggled in amusement, while Carlie found herself cringing and blushing (again, but this time more fully) in embarrassment. Sure she wasn't 'big' like how a few other female friends she had were, but that was no excuse to be teased about it.
"S-So what if my-?!" stammered Carlie, indignantly and argumentatively, "And beside, that's some real irony coming from you, Mayura!" She folded her arms in a huff, "Both you and Asagi are not entirely that 'big', either!"
"And who says we 'need' to be 'big' to get cute boys to notice us?" taunted Asagi, unfazed.
"We're both just fine in body structure, thank you very much," agreed Mayura cheekily, "That is, unlike you."
Carlie fumed, "Why you-!"
"Okay, okay! That's enough from the three of you," interrupted Juri, stepping in to halt the argument from getting any further, "Mayura, it wasn't very nice of you to make fun of Carlie like that. I believe she's pretty just the way she is," As she (Juri) continued scolding her friend, Mayura listened while simply pouting, "And besides, it's Carlie's own decision on what she wants to wear."
"Thanks…" sighed Carlie, feeling thankful for being defended. She then turned around and went back into the changing room, "I guess I'd better get out of this so that I can go and pay for it."
Once Carlie emerged in her current outfit, the four young women proceeded to the checkout counter to buy their new purchases. Once that was done, they decided to go and get some lunch at the food court before resuming their day at the mall.
(elsewhere…)
At the food court, Carlie and the Astray trio were seated at a table enjoying their meals while talking about things other than fashion or women blessed by puberty.
"I can't wait until it's announced," commented Juri joyfully, "Don't you three remember? Discord and Zack both are working on a special project to further improve upon Turbo Dueling."
"I know!" squealed Mayura, "It's supposed to be amazing! I heard they plan to announce it in the coming days."
Asagi and Carlie both nodded in agreement. All of a sudden, they all heard a familiar voice calling out to them…
"Hey, it's you four!" The voice of Megan Haw echoed, causing the four friends to look nearby, "It's me, Megan Haw!"
Megan then talked into frame with a tray of food in her hands, and she looked very happy to see some friends of hers.
"Hi, Megan!" greeted Carlie, "Please come and sit down with us!"
And that's what Megan did. They all started talking about why Megan's currently in Hartford when she lived in New York City and worked for Daily Writer's Group.
"So, what brings you out here?" asked Mayura.
"Is it for a well-earned vacation?" added Juri.
"Actually, I'm here on assignment," replied Megan, taking out some papers from her bag, "I'll be here in Hartford for at least a few days."
"What's the assignment about?" pressed Asagi, interested.
"Well, have any of you four heard of the Junk Guild?"
The wavy blonde-haired young woman became confused, as did both Mayura and Carlie. So, Megan began explaining what the Junk Guild was. As she explained away, Juri appeared to be visibly unsettled, making it seem like she had some knowledge on the Junk Guild from somewhere or another. Thankfully, nobody else seemed to notice.
(elsewhere…)
Later in the evening, after Megan had left to find Ken before driving to the hotel, Asagi, Mayura, Juri, and Carlie all emerged from the mall with their purchases in-hand.
"Boy, I can't wait to start wearing the new outfit full time," commented Carlie.
"I'm glad you're excited to do that," Asagi said back, before turning to face Juri, "What do you say, Juri? How was our day at the mall? Are you ready to head back to Orb?"
"Oh yeah, it was a pretty good day," answered Juri, "But, actually, I'm not going back to Orb with you three just yet."
"Why not?" pressed Mayura.
"I'm actually going to go visit my parents first," Juri remembered, "I haven't seen them in over two weeks and I want to see how they are doing."
"Understandable," nodded Carlie understandingly, "In that case, we'll see you a little later tonight."
With that said, Juri turned and began walking in a new direction to the nearest bus stop, leaving Asagi, Mayura, and Carlie to walk all the way back to Orb.
(elsewhere…)
In another part of town as the sky darkened considerably, Juri was walking down the street after taking a short bus ride to reach the area. Her parents weren't very far now, and it was just a five-seven minute walk to the house.
"I hope Mom and Dad have been holding up well," thought Juri, "They might be incredibly smart individuals, but without me to help out with the chores around the house, they'd be so hopeless! Hmhmhm…" Before turning to a new street, she shook her head, "Well, I'd better make sure they haven't caused any big messes lately."
As the street lights started lighting up, Juri walked down a street that had a TV store, which sold TVS from the 1960s, the 1980s, the early 2000s, and also HD TVs. While approaching, she saw the front door of the store opened, catching her by surprise.
"The store's still open?" mumbled Juri, "That's weird… It should be closed at this hour."
She then saw some rough young men emerging from the store while carrying some TV sets and bags of money, causing her to gasp upon realizing that those men were part of the Junk Guild. Quietly, she started to follow them to a large truck in a nearby alleyway.
"Here are the goods," One of the young men told the other Junk Guild members near the back of the truck, "Load 'em up quickly."
"Aye aye," Another Junk Guild member agreed.
"Man, the boss will be mighty pleased," bragged a third Junk Guild member, "This has to be our best heist yet."
"Shut up and load the stuff into the truck!" snapped a fourth Junk Guild member.
Outside the alleyway, Juri hugged the wall and peeked in, carefully watching the members of the Junk Guild load the stolen TVs and money into the truck. Unfortunately, she wasn't hiding all that well, since two more Junk Guild members carrying some stolen goods from the TV store were approaching the alleyway when they spotted her looking inside.
"Hey you!" One of the two Junk Guild members hollered.
"Oh no…!" winced Juri, realizing she was caught.
Unfortunately so… Inside the alleyway, the other Junk Guild members all heard the shout from one of their fellow members.
"Did you guys hear that?" asked the first Junk Guild member.
"Sure did, I believe someone's spying on us!" replied the second Junk Guild member.
Before long, Juri was approached by a large number of angry members of the Junk Guild, both already on the street and coming from the alleyway. There was no doubt about her situation, she was surrounded and trapped like a rat in a maze. Very quickly, one of the members roughly smacked the bags Juri was carrying out of her arms and spilled its contents onto the sidewalk.
"Hey!" cried Juri.
"You won't be needing those anymore," warned the second Junk Guild member.
"Where you're going, clean clothes won't ever matter," The fourth Junk Guild member pointed out.
Juri, with her back against the wall and several grinning members of the Junk Guild surrounding and approaching her, looked very, very scared of what was about to happen. But before the large group could begin inflicting great harm upon her, the roar of a Duel Runner could be heard in the distance.
"That's a Duel Runner!" realized the third Junk Guild member, "And it's getting louder, too."
Indeed, it was. The sound of the Duel Runner got louder and louder, until, emerging from one street and making a sharp turn, was Wheel of Fortune. That meant Michael had shown up in time to make a rescue.
"Scatter!" The first Junk Guild member ordered.
The young men all ran off to avoid the possible wrath of Michael Atlas. Soon, Michael pulled up beside Juri.
"Mike!" The intelligent, dark blue-haired young woman exclaimed, "What are you doing here?"
"Well, besides having to save you, I was out for a ride," explained Michael, "During my ride, I found a TV store being robbed. One idiot was still inside claiming to be looking for only the best stuff," As he went on, a few faded clips of what happened on his end were superimposed over him, "I beat the guy up, and then got him to reveal all he knew about the Junk Guild to me," As the clips ceased, he then handed Juri a helmet, "Come on, let's return to Orb before everyone gets worried."
Juri agreed as she put the helmet on and climbing aboard Wheel of Fortune, which then drove off.
(elsewhere…)
Back at Orb, Wheel of Fortune pulled up in the parking lot, with both Michael and Juri removing their helmets and climbing off the Duel Runner once the engine had stopped.
"Look, as much as you want to do something about them, I would request that you stay out of the Junk Guild's business, Juri," said Michael firmly, "They're very dangerous, and it's best to let the police handle that gang, okay?"
"Yeah…" muttered Juri, before looking up while smiling, "Anyway, thanks for rescuing me."
Michael silently grinned slightly, and then two friends approached the big building.
(inside…)
Later that night, Juri, wearing some sleepwear, was asleep in her room—or at least trying to sleep. No matter how hard she tried, she was tossing and turning before opening her eyes and sitting up.
"Oh man, it's like no matter how hard I try, I can't fall asleep," groaned Juri, before grabbing her glasses off the nearby nightstand and putting them on, "Is it because I can't stop thinking about the Junk Guild?" She laid back down on her bed with a discouraged expression on her face, "I know Mike told me to not get involved and let the police deal with them, but it's like a part of me feels the police are gonna have a difficult time dealing with them. I just got to do something to help out! But what?"
Juri stared long and hard at the ceiling until the nearby clock eventually struck '12:25' and an idea came into her head, which was one such idea that would surely help out. As soon as she got the chance tomorrow, she would put her plan into motion.
(later…)
The next day, after sleeping in until it was very late into the morning, Juri finally woke up and went into her dorm's bathroom to take a quick shower. After her shower was done, she, while clad only in her yellow bra and panties, gathered some clothes from her closet and laid them onto her bed. They included a blackish blue shirt with sleeves that reached the middle of the forearms, a small blue jean jacket with white edges and sleeves rolled up, gray jeans with a black belt, high-heeled shoe-like boots, and a pair of pink goggles. Nodding carefully, Juri first removed her glasses and put on the contact lens before changing into the clothes she picked out, and then stylized her hair into a ponytail of sorts, and, finally, slipped the goggles around her forehead. Upon finishing getting dressed, Juri checked herself out in the mirror, liking what she saw.
"Perfect," Juri remarked to herself with a sly grin on her face, before doing a quick spin and remembering one more thing she needed, "Now all I need is access to a powerful Duel Monsters Deck to cement my reputation as an expert duelist, and I know just who's Deck I should use…!"
(elsewhere…)
In one hallway, Juri quietly emerged from behind a corner, wondering if the coast was clear. It appeared to be, and she fully emerged and slowly tip-toed towards Michael's temporary room. The second Juri reached out to grab the door handle…
"Hey, Juri!" greeted Matt, as he stepped into frame.
Cringing, Juri nervously turned and stared at Matt in the eye. Matt, with his right fist at his side, was shown standing tall while smiling calmly, which probably helped sooth Juri's nerves a little bit.
"Well, that's a new look for you," remarked Matt pleasantly, "What's the occasion for it?"
"Um, well… Err… You see…" stammered Juri fearfully, wondering what to say next, "I'm trying…find Mike! Yeah!" When Matt tilted his head sideways slightly, she continued, "Today, he and I are gonna go out for a ride on our Duel Runners, and I'm going to see if he's ready for it."
"You and Mike? Going out?" Matt repeated thoughtfully, bringing his left hand to his chin, "Hmm… In all my years knowing him, I've never taken Mike for one to be interested in girls in that sort of way," A fearful-looking Juri listened to him making the explanation, "Even though he has a number of female friends like Carlie, Lisa, and the likes, he often focuses more on Turbo Dueling than pursuing a girlfriend," He then smiled once more and winked, "But all I can say is good for you, Juri."
Hearing that made Juri greatly relieved, glad her little fib was convincing enough. However, she felt a little sting in her heart and immediately felt guilty on the inside, seeing as she really didn't like to lie to her own friends—even if it what she's doing was for a good cause. Juri was then about to try knocking on the door when Matt stopped her.
"Unfortunately, Mike isn't in his room at the moment," The dirty blonde-haired young man said regretfully, before he turned around and started to leave, "He's somewhere in the building though. Just wait right there; I'll go find him for you."
Juri waited until Matt had gone around a corner to another part of the hallway. Once she was absolutely sure she was alone, she turned, grabbed the door handle, twisted it, and opened the door, going inside the room and closing the door carefully behind her.
(inside…)
Inside Michael's room, there wasn't much there besides a bed, TV, a table, a closet, and a bathroom next door. What was on the table, meanwhile, was what Juri was after, and it was Michael's Duel Monsters Deck—a Power/'Red' Deck focused on both Burn and Beatdown strategies, with its main headliner being 'Red Dragon Archfiend', which was one of the six Signer Dragon servants of the Crimson Dragon.
"Mike's Deck…" whispered Juri, picking up the Deck and looking at the bottom of it. The bottom-most card was the 'Red Dragon Archfiend' Synchro Monster Card, "With this, my disguise is officially ready, and I can head out to find the Junk Guild to see if they'll allow me to join them."
With a determined look, she left the room for the outdoors.
(outside…)
Outside the school and in its parking lot, Juri was shown climbing aboard her M1 Astray, putting on her helmet, revving the Duel Runner up before driving out of the area to begin her search for the hideout of the dreaded Junk Guild.
(elsewhere…)
The search took her all across Hartford, but she was not having any luck with finding the Junk Guild's hideout.
"This is ridiculous! I've been searching almost all of town, but nothing!" thought Juri, driving onto another street, "Maybe if I try finding a robbery going on, I might be able to-" Her eyes widened when she saw something ahead, "Wait, over there! I see some of them!"
Stopping her M1 Astray behind an alleyway a very good distance from a Deli, Juri found some Junk Guild members emerging from the building and loading the stolen cargo into another big truck nearby. Luckily this time around, they were just finishing with their heist, meaning there was less of a risk getting caught by them. When they were finished loading, two Junk Guild members locked the doors before climbing into the front of the truck, which, after a few seconds, rumbled away. Narrowing her eyes, Juri revved her M1 Astray again and began to follow the truck, hoping it would lead her to the hideout of the group she was seeking.
(elsewhere…)
The drive took Juri one mile outside Hartford, which surprised her a little bit, as she was expecting the hideout to be found somewhere within the city. Regardless, she finally arrived at the Junk Guild's hideout, which was an abandoned factory.
"An abandoned factory?" muttered Juri, looking very puzzled at the choice of location, "Why's it always abandoned factories or warehouses the thieves like to stay at?"
Before long, she heard the sound of metallic doors open, and, sure enough, members of the Junk Guild had opened the back of the truck and started unloading the things they stole. As she watched, a small, determined smile appeared on Juri's face, aware that she now knew the location of the hideout. However…
"Hey you!" The voice of a Junk Guild member called out, "You with the Duel Runner!"
Sweatdropping, Juri looked comically freaked out as turned around and saw that the nearby young men were now staring at her with hard looks on their faces. They even started to approach.
"What the hell do you think you're doin' here?" The first Junk Guild member pressed.
Juri tried her hardest to not show fear on the outside, but she was seriously panicking on the inside because there was nobody here to help her if her disguise did not fool those guys. Was Juri doomed? Don't bet on it.
"So, tell us…" said the second Junk Guild member, "Are you here to sign up for this group? Is that the reason for looking so nervous?"
Juri recoiled, but relaxed a little bit soon after. Good. Those guys did not suspect a thing. Taking a deep breath, she got off her Duel Runner, removed her helmet and set it on the seat, and smiled brightly at the duo.
"Yuppers!" confirmed Juri, speaking in a perky fashion, "My name's Marlin, and I want to learn the ropes of being a member of such a totally cool-sounding guild."
The two young men stared for a few seconds, before looking at each other and shrugging. Although this young woman was really cute, she was also pretty hyper. Whatever. They would at least give her a chance to show them what she was capable of. Finally, they faced her once more.
"Alright, we'll give you one chance to prove yourself," accepted the first Junk Guild member.
"To that end, we ask that you remain here for a few minutes," The second Junk Guild member requested, "We first want to introduce you to our group's leader."
As soon as the two members turned and approached the factory, Juri smiled to herself once more. She figured things would go more smoothly from here on out—at least, that's what she was hoping for.
(elsewhere…)
Back inside Orb, Matt was busy searching for Michael when they accidentally bumped into each other upon turning a corner, throwing Matt to the floor.
"Hey! Watch where you're…!" growled Michael, before realizing it was Matt he (Michael) bumped into, "Oh, it's only you, Matt."
"Sorry about that, man, but I've been looking all over for you," grimaced Matt.
"Looking for me?" quizzed Michael, helping his best friend/rival back up, "Why's that?"
"To remind you that Juri's waiting so that you and her could go out for a ride on your Duel Runners," answered Matt, before shaking his head, "Don't tell me you've forgotten about your plans with her."
"Plans? What are you talking about?" Michael demanded, clearly very confused by such a statement, "I never agreed to go out with Juri; sure, she's my friend, but I don't like her in that sort of way," Matt listened carefully to the remainder of the sentence, "More to that, I haven't even seen her for most of the day."
"What was that?" gasped Matt, before going into his thoughts, "This is all so puzzling… Juri… Why in the world would she lie to me like that?" He spoke up once more, "She's waiting outside your room for you, which means we should be able to get an answer from her about what she's really up to."
Michael nodded, and both young men started to make their way back to Juri and find out what's wrong with her.
(elsewhere…)
Upon arriving at Michael's room, he and Matt noticed that not only was Juri completely absent, but the door to the room was also left open. Fearing for the worst, they rushed into the room.
(inside…)
Inside, Matt and Michael looked around. Unfortunately, Juri wasn't there, either. And while everything appeared to be untouched, except, on the table, Michael found that his Deck was missing from its spot—confirming that very fear.
"My Deck! It's gone!" hollered Michael, not happy one bit, "Juri must have taken it! I can't believe her!" He slammed his hand on the edge of the table, "What is she thinking by stealing my Deck?!"
Before Matt could answer, he and his angry best friend/rival heard a knock on the door, and they turned and saw Asagi standing outside the room looking a little concerned.
"Hey, you two, can we talk?" asked Asagi.
(outside…)
As soon as Matt and Michael emerged from the room, they both started talking to Asagi in order to find out what the problem was.
"Have either of you seen Juri around?" continued Asagi, "I can't seem to find her anywhere."
"I saw her not long ago, and I think she just stole Mike's Deck," said Matt grimly, causing Asagi to become surprised, "As much as I want to kid around, it's all true."
"Are you sure?" Asagi seemed to object, sounding slightly more worried than confused, "That isn't like Juri, since I know she would never do something like that!"
"We know that," acknowledged Michael, before folding his arms, "It's something that's bugging the both of us. What's gotten into her? She's not one to steal another duelist's cards."
Matt, Michael, and Asagi each stayed quiet as they tried to figure out what's wrong with the intelligent young woman. Michael then started to remember the advice he gave Juri about staying out of the Junk Guild's business, and began getting a bad feeling as to what she would possibly do. From there, he started to leave his two friends behind.
"Mike? Mike, where are you going?" called Asagi.
Michael ignored her as he ran as fast as he could to the docking bay to get Wheel of Fortune; he had to go out and find Juri before it was too late.
(elsewhere…)
Back outside the abandoned factory, Juri was looking through Michael's Deck, shuffling through card after card when she heard footsteps. Approaching were the same two Junk Guild members, and they were accompanied by a young man in his early-twenties. He had rather tall brown hair with a blue headband and also had rough brown eyes, and his attire consisted of a sleeveless black shirt, blue jeans, and black boots. The way he was grinning at Juri signaled he found her to be very attractive.
"So, you're that newcomer? I'm Lowe Barlow, leader of the Junk Guild," greeted Lowe, as he was named, "What's your name?"
"Oh, it's Marlin!" replied Juri, using her fake name.
"Marlin, huh?" mused Lowe, not losing his eager smirk, "Hmm… It sounds like a lovely name, just like yourself."
"Is he seriously trying to hit on me?" thought Juri, sounding a little uncomfortable in her mind. She then recovered and smiled (weakly) back, "T-Thanks for the compliment, but to get back on track, yes, I'm eager to join the Junk Guild."
Lowe raised an eyebrow before taking a peek at the sweet-looking M1 Astray Duel Runner right behind Juri
"Daaaamn! That's a sweet-looking ride you have there," whistled Lowe, "A great shade of purple… Riding a Duel Runner must mean you're a Turbo duelist."
Juri continued to smile as she listened to the words of praise she and her Duel Runner were receiving—at least until a question about the latter was thrown in by Lowe…
"So, where did you get the Duel Runner?"
The intelligent, dark blue-haired girl cringed as a big sweatdrop appeared on the side of her head. How was she going to answer a question like that without jeopardizing the mission or herself? It didn't get any better when the same two Junk Guild members started making comments of their own about the M1 Astray that Juri rode.
"You know something, I might have seen that Duel Runner from somewhere," recalled the first Junk Guild member, "Oh yeah! It was from that dueling school Orb!"
"Good memory on your part," said the second Junk Guild member, "The Duel Runners there are known as M1 Astray, and the Duel Runner Marlin rides is actually one of those."
Lowe and the two Junk Guild members eyed Juri suspiciously.
"Great, now what do I do?" thought Juri, completely certain her identity had gotten found out this soon, "There's no way out of this. I'm so doomed."
As a result of the awkward silence, Lowe and his underlings began to get slightly more suspicious of the person who wanted to join the group.
"Well?" urged Lowe, "Aren't you gonna tell us how you stole that M1 Astray?"
Juri was surprised, "Say what?"
"It's so obvious," put in the second Junk Guild member, "You wanted to both become a Turbo duelist and aquire such a cool Duel Runner so much, that you snuck into Orb and stole it for yourself. Well? Are we right or wrong about that?"
Mentally, Juri was breathing a big sigh of relief, glad that those guys still hadn't figured out her identity. Suddenly, she had an idea; for the first few minutes of being at the abandoned factory, she heard the Junk Guild members, along with their leader, using rough and colorful language. As wrong as it was to her, she decided to 'blend in' and try to match their way of talking. Then, without thinking properly, Juri finally said something very unexpected that caused the three members to jump…
"Hell yeah!" blurted Juri, before comically freezing in place, "Wait, did I…really just say something like that? Gross! What on Earth am I thinking?!"
Lowe and the two Junk Guild members stared at Juri as though she were crazy. They cast a glance at each other before they looked back at her and let out a jolly laugh over how humorous she appeared to be.
"I like you, Marlin!" chortled Lowe, approaching and cheerfully smacking Juri on the rear and making her jump with a yelp, "You're both beautiful and funny! Come on inside, we'll show you around the place!"
Although very unhappy of having her butt smacked by the Junk Guild's leader without her consent, a scowling Juri, after briefly clutching her backend and glaring firmly, was still very pleased she would be let inside the hideout.
(inside…)
Inside the abandoned factory, there were numerous Junk Guild members hanging out at various tables and pool tables either chatting, eating, drinking, playing cards and gambling, and a few were even playing pool. There was also a huge conveyor belt, which Juri took notice of. What got her attention, however, was many of the stolen items in some of the corners of the building.
"I'm finally inside," thought Juri, "Now, I just need to blend in for a little while longer, then I can leave this place and go call the police," She started walking around before stopping at a table when she was offered an unlit cigarette and a lighter by a Junk Guild member, "Err… No thanks, I don't smoke or drink."
The member blinked a few times when he heard the refusal before shrugging it off and simply lighting the cigarette for himself. Juri started to leave for another table when Lowe idled up beside her.
"Say, babe, how about you and I stay at this table for a game of cards?" flirted Lowe.
"S-Sorry, but I'm just mingling for the time being," declined Juri, still feeling uncomfortable around Lowe, "Maybe I will in a little while."
"Oh, come on, you must be feeling bored," insisted Lowe, not letting up with the advances, "You know, I heard that gambling can help get newcomers energized."
Despite Juri's initially polite attempts to get the Junk Guild's leader to leave her alone, Lowe simply kept it up. Eventually, Juri got fed up with the harassment and raised her voice in defiance while, once again, adding in a word she never liked using in her speech.
"Just stay the hell away from me, you creep!" snapped Juri, before scampering away.
Lowe blinked in confusion for a few seconds, but closed his eyes, smiled, and shrugged as though him being rejected was no big deal.
"Ah, playing hard to get?" said Lowe absentmindedly, "I like that in a woman," He was then approached by another Junk Guild member, "Yes, what is it?"
The member whispered into his leader's ear. When the explanation finished, a dark smile appeared on Lowe's face as he then looked mockingly shocked.
"Geez! How could I have forgotten that little detail," Lowe cried out, before calling out to the newcomer nearby, "Hey, Marlin, we need you over here!" As he continued speaking, Juri looked over her shoulder, "There's something we need to tell you!"
"What is it, now?" asked Juri suspiciously, walking over to Lowe.
"Well, I was just reminded of something important," replied Lowe, "All new members who join the ranks of the Junk Guild have to go through a little test to see if they are worthy enough to become full-time members."
"Test?" repeated Juri, while in her mind, "I don't like the sound of this…"
Lowe, understanding that Juri had no idea what the test was, simply snapped his fingers and summoned another Junk Guild member. The young man was also carrying a Duel Disk with a Deck inside.
"It's simple really," answered Lowe, "The test is a game of Duel Monsters."
"Winning a game of Duel Monsters?" Juri blinked, feeling a little bit at ease, "It doesn't sound so hard to me."
"Don't be so sure about that," warned the first Junk Guild member, "It actually isn't as easy as you think it is."
Juri gulped. Just what 'was' this Duel Monsters test supposed to be? She found out only a minute later when she found herself standing on one end of the conveyor belt with a Duel Disk equipped on her left arm and with Michael's Deck placed in the holder. Lowe was on the other end of the conveyor belt.
"Wait, why are we dueling up here?" pondered Juri.
"I'll explain how this recruitment duel works," offered Lowe, "We both start with 4000 LP, and for every 1000 LP lost, the belt moves us backwards towards the edge. Should either player's LP fall to 0, the winner would go free—but the loser would fall off and get smashed by the crushers below."
Juri gasped in shock, and it only got worse when she heard a locking sound. Looking down, she found two Junk Guild members locking a cuff to her left ankle and the conveyor belt, preventing any sort of escape.
"Hey! What's-?!" panicked Juri.
Two more Junk Guild members then locked a cuff to their boss's right ankle and the conveyor belt. Now nobody was allowed to escape the duel until a winner was declared.
"Only the craftiest duelists are allowed in our group," Lowe said gleefully, "And if ya can't duel to match your attitude, you'll wind up flatter than a pancake."
"You're crazy!" accused Juri angrily, "You'd wager our lives in the name of someone becoming a member of the Junk Guild?!"
"It makes it all the more exciting," commented Lowe, "It's a part of life to take crazy risks, and I'm used to taking such risks," He then got into a dueling position, "Now, enough talk, let's begin our duel!"
With that said, both duelists drew their opening hands and started their match (LP: 4000) x2.
"Now then, the lovely ladies get to go first," offered Lowe, flirting with his opponent.
"Grr…" scowled Juri, before drawing a card, "I draw!"
Turn One: Juri Wu Nien (LP: 4000)
Deck: 54
Current Hand (6): "Big Piece Golem", "Nightmare Archfiends", "Vice Dragon", "Mad Archfiend", "Pot of Greed", and "Archfiend Interceptor"
On cue, the 'Pot of Greed' Spell Card materialized face-up on the field.
"From my hand, I'll activate the Spell Card, 'Pot of Greed'!" began Juri, before drawing two more cards (one at a time), "I must draw 2 cards."
Lowe merely kept smirking smugly. Meanwhile, Juri saw she drew two cards known as 'Polymerization' (Spell Card) and 'Follow Wing' (Trap Card). She would save those cards for later if possible. For now, she added them both into her hand and took another out to play.
"I Summon 'Mad Archfiend'!" The voice of Juri declared, placing her card onto a Monster Zone on her Duel Disk.
Appearing onto the field was a Fiend monster with crazy, red hair, and a skeleton in its midsection (Level: 4/ATK: 1800/DEF: 0). The sight of this monster brought some "Oohs!" and "Aahs!" from the group of Junk Guild members watching the match from below the conveyor belt.
"And then," Juri went on, as she swung her right arm a bit and made a face-down card materialized on the field behind 'Mad Archfiend', "I'll Set one card face-down and end my turn."
Below the conveyor belt…
"'Mad Archfiend'…" uttered a Junk Guild member, "Where have I seen that card before?"
"Hey, it's a pretty common card nowadays," Another Junk Guild member pointed out, "Many duelists with skill levels ranging from moderate-to-low use it."
Back on the conveyor belt, Lowe smiled to himself, figuring the duel would be tons and tons of fun—for him, that is.
"It's my turn!" declared Lowe, drawing a card, "Draw!"
Turn Two: Lowe Barlow (LP: 4000)
Deck: 34
Current Hand (6): "Nightmare Wheel", "Block Dugout", "Cannon Wheel", "3D Bio Scanner", "Plunder Decoy", and "Assault Wheel"
Without wasting any time, he held his drawn card out.
"I Summon 'Assault Wheel' in Attack Position!" began Lowe.
Appearing onto the field was a red, robotic creature on a giant wheel, with rocket launchers mounted on its shoulders (Level: 4/ATK: 2300/DEF: 0)
"2300 ATK?!" frowned Juri.
"Battle!" continued Lowe, entering the Battle Phase, "Assault Wheel, attack 'Mad Archfiend'!" As 'Assault Wheel' started to move in to attack, he continued speaking, "This will activate the second effect of your 'Mad Archfiend'!"
Juri flinched.
"If this face-up Attack Position card is targeted for an attack: Change it to Defense Position," explained Lowe smugly, goping over the effect himself "Well? Is that how it works?"
True to Lowe's word, 'Mad Archfiend' changed to a defensive stance (ATK: 1800 → DEF: 0), and 'Assault Wheel' finally reached and started attacking it viciously.
"And the first effect of 'Assault Wheel'!" laughed Lowe, bringing his right hand near his throat and using the thumb to make a slicing motion, "If this card attacks a Defense Position monster, I must inflict piercing battle damage!"
Juri cried out, just as 'Mad Archfiend' shattered into shards of glass. She braced herself as some of those shards flew past her and her LP took a very big early hit (LP: 4000 → 1700). It didn't get any better, since the conveyor belt started moving Juri more closely to the edge, where the crusher was busy smashing into each other.
(outside…)
While everything was going on inside the building, outside was more quiet. Before long, the roar of a Duel Runner could be heard, and Wheel of Fortune soon pulled into the area before stopping near the purple M1 Astray. Stopping Wheel of Fortune, Michael removed his helmet and looked at the lone M1 Astray.
"Juri's Duel Runner…" he murmured, "She must be around here somewhere."
Upon getting off Wheel of Fortune, Michael took a quick look around before spotting a light in the nearby window. Curious, he approached the window and looked into it, seeing two people (a young man with brown hair, and a young woman with dark blue hair) dueling on a conveyor belt. Michael carefully watched the young woman in particular and recognized her dark blue hair, immediately figuring out who she was.
"Juri," whispered Michael, "And you're locked in a duel while using my Deck."
As much as he wanted to break in and save her immediately, he at first wanted to see how his friend would fare in a duel while using not her own Deck—but, rather, the King's Deck.
(inside…)
Back inside, Juri sweated fearfully as she looked over her shoulder at the edge of the conveyor belt.
"My side of the conveyor belt has moved me closer to the edge," thought Juri, "I have to win lest I fall and get crushed into a pancake."
"Hey now, it's not all bad for you," reassured Lowe falsely, "Since I attacked using 'Assault Wheel', its second effect activates," He held up the 'Assault Wheel' Monster Card for a few seconds as he went over the effect, "If this card attacks, at the end of the Battle Phase: Its ATK becomes 0 until my next Standby Phase."
The ATK of 'Assault Wheel' immediately became depleted for the time being (ATK: 2300 → 0).
"Then I'll Set two cards face-down and finish my turn," finished Lowe, while slotting two cards into his Duel Disk.
Two face-down cards materialized on the field.
"Draw!" announced Juri, drawing a card.
Turn Three: Juri Wu Nien (LP: 1700)
Deck: 51
Current Hand (6): "Big Piece Golem", "Vice Dragon", "Archfiend Interceptor", "Follow Wing", "Polymerization", and "Medium Piece Golem"
Her drawn card was the 'Medium Piece Golem' Monster Card, and she also had the 'Big Piece Golem' Monster Card and the 'Polymerization' Spell Card in her hand.
"Yes!" Juri thought happily, "I've got the winning move right here in my hand!" Before going through with it, she took another card ('Vice Dragon') from her hand and held it out, "If my opponent controls a monster and I control no monsters, I can Special Summon 'Vice Dragon' (from my hand), but its original ATK/DEF become halved!"
Appearing onto the field was a purple-scaled dragon—who grew weaker the second it hit the field (Level: 5/ATK: 2000 → 1000/DEF: 2400 → 1200).
"What can you do with a weakened monster?" snorted Lowe.
"There's more to come!" As she said that, Juri held her next card ('Polymerization') out, "I activate the Spell Card, 'Polymerization'! I'll use this to fuse the 'Big Piece Golem' and the 'Medium Piece Golem' in my hand together!"
From there, the two golems briefly appeared onto the field before diving into the Fusion Vortex.
"Appear now, 'Multiple Piece Golem'!" commanded Juri.
Appearing out of the Fusion Vortex and onto the field, was the giant golem made from many stone components (Level: 7/ATK: 2600/DEF: 1300).
"And from there, I'll Normal Summon…" Juri went on, placing one more card ('Archfiend Interceptor') onto a Monster Zone on her Duel Disk, "…'Archfiend Interceptor'!"
Appearing onto the field was a four-armed fiend wearing a Football player's outfit (Level: 4/ATK: 1400/DEF: 1600).
"Oh? You control three monsters capable of defeating me," remarked Lowe snidely, "But I wonder… Do you even know how to use them properly?"
"I'll show you I can use them!" Juri offered, recklessly entering her Battle Phase, "'Multiple Piece Golem' attacks 'Assault Wheel'!"
''Multiple Piece Golem' obeyed, walking towards 'Assault Wheel'.
"Think again!" interrupted Lowe, as one of his Set cards flipped face-up and revealed itself, "Continuous Trap, 'Nightmare Wheel'!"
The shocked Juri watched as a large torture wheel fell from the ceiling and landed on 'Multiple Piece Golem', stopping it from attacking or defending itself.
"I must activate this card by targeting 1 monster my opponent controls; it cannot attack or change its battle position," explained Lowe, "When it leaves the field, I must destroy this card."
Juri gritted her teeth, and, once more, did something that was very, very out of character for her, but a way to keep her disguise up; she swore out loud (again).
"Damn you!" hollered Juri, but, fortunately, her Battle Phase wasn't over, "'Vice Dragon', attack 'Assault Wheel'!"
'Vice Dragon' obeyed, charging a blast of fire. But all of a sudden…
"I activate a Trap, 'Plunder Decoy'!" declared Lowe, as his remaining Set card flipped face-up and revealed itself, "When a monster I control is targeted for an attack by an opponent's monster: I must take control of a Level 4 or lower monster my opponent controls, except the attacking monster," He then held her left hand out tauntingly, "Your 'Archfiend Interceptor's' a Level 4 monster, so I'll be taking over it, if you don't mind."
From there, 'Archfiend Interceptor' went over to Lowe's field.
"Ha! Since 'Archfiend Interceptor' is another common card, pretty much everybody here knows what it does," continued Lowe, "While I control this face-up Attack Position card, when an opponent's monster declares an attack: I must inflict 500 damage to my opponent. Are you willing to risk taking any more damage?"
"I will!" exclaimed Juri, "'Vice Dragon', continue your attack on 'Assault Wheel'!"
'Vice Dragon' obeyed, firing a blast of fire towards 'Assault Wheel'.
"In that case, take your 500 damage!" growled Lowe.
'Archfiend Interceptor' formed a ball of energy in one of its arms, and threw it towards Juri, hitting her head-on and making her cry out as her LP dropped again (LP: 1700 → 1200).
"But 'Assault Wheel' will be destroyed!" reminded Juri, recovering.
The blast of fire reached 'Assault Wheel', struck it, and caused the enemy monster to explode from its destruction. Lowe braced himself and winced as his LP took a moderate hit (LP: 4000 → 3000). The loss of 1000 LP caused his end of the conveyor belt to move towards the edge and the crushers below.
(outside…)
Back outside, Michael had finished making a quick call using his cellphone as he put it away and resumed watching the duel. Unknowingly to him, he was about to be attacked… Three Junk Guild members were outside in the dark to search for any intruders, and they found one in Michael Atlas. By the time Michael saw the reflection of the three members in the window and turned around, it was too late; he was viciously punched in the face and fell to the ground unconscious by the feet of the three Junk Guild members, who chuckled darkly over who they found.
(inside…)
Back inside the building, Juri looked at her hand one more time before taking a card from it.
"I Set one card face-down and end my turn," she finished, slotting the card into her Duel Disk.
A second face-down card materialized on the field beside the first Set card. Just then, the nearby doors burst open, causing everyone else, including Juri and Lowe, to look nearby. The same three Junk Guild members entered with the unconscious Michael being brought inside.
"Hey, boss!" One of the Junk Guild members called out, "Look who we found snooping outside without our say so!"
Juri took a look at the beaten up young man with lime green-colored hair and white motorcyclist suit, instantly recognizing who it was in an instant.
"Mike!" called Juri, worried.
Michael slowly regained consciousness, before he weakly looked up and, when his vision became clear again, found a ton of smirking Junk Guild members staring at him as though they were eager to beat him up some more.
"Welcome, Michael Atlas!" greeted Lowe, "You're just in time for the show! A game of Duel Monsters between me and Marlin here!"
"Marlin…?" muttered Michael, before looking further up at the conveyor belt and boxing Juri looking at him with great concern. Once he remembered what happened, his current weakness instead became anger instead, "Juri, you! Why the hell did you steal my Deck and try infiltrating the Junk Guild when I 'requested' that you stay out of their business?!"
"Mike, I…" stammered Juri, being unsure on how to answer the question, "I…"
"Juri, so that's your real name and not Marlin?" The voice of Lowe interrupted, causing Juri to look back over. The way he was smiling signaled the very thing his opponent had been fearing this whole time, "Juri Wu Nien of Orb… I honestly can't say I'm surprised to see that it is you. Why? Because I, and the rest of my guild, knew all this time it was you… And we knew that the cards you're using aren't your own, but rather the belonging of the 'Former King'!"
That unfunny crack caused some of the Junk Guild members to quietly laugh at Michael's expense.
"You bastard!" roared Michael, struggling in a rage against the strong grip the three Junk Guild members had on him, "How dare you?! I'll make-"
Unfortunately, what all the struggling got him was a fist to the stomach for his troubles by a fourth Junk Guild member.
"Mike!" cried Juri in concern.
"Hehehe… Hey now, just relax," joked Lowe, with a confident chuckle, "And besides, aren't we in the middle of a duel? A duel you have to win?"
Juri looked back over as she listened on to the sadistic words of her opponent.
"As of now, you'll have to win if you wanna save yourself and your boyfriend," continued Lowe, before motioning his right hand out, "Of course, there's no way for you to even win if you don't know how to properly use somebody else's Deck," He then drew a card, "It's my turn! Draw!"
Turn Four: Lowe Barlow (LP: 3000)
Deck: 33
Current Hand (4): "Block Dugout", "Cannon Wheel", "3D Bio Scanner", and "Urgent Tuning"
Just then, the torture wheel on top of 'Multiple Piece Golem' started spinning.
"And there's the effect of 'Nightmare Wheel'!" The voice of Lowe reminded, who then pointed upward, "During each of my Standby Phases: I must inflict 500 damage to my opponent. That monster must be on the field to activate and to resolve this effect."
The large wheel began to grind against 'Multiple Piece Golem' more forcefully, causing Juri to cry out as she took damage (LP: 1200 → 700). Then, without wasting another second, Lowe placed a card ('Cannon Wheel') onto a Monster Zone on his Duel Disk.
"I Summon 'Cannon Wheel'!" The voice of Lowe proclaimed.
Appearing onto the field was a huge wheel with a machine gun mounted on each side (Level: 2/ATK: 500/DEF: 700).
"A Tuner monster?" recoiled Juri.
"And 'Archfiend Interceptor' is a Level 4 monster!" added Michael.
And so, the deadly move came…
"I tune Level 4 'Archfiend Interceptor' into Level 2 'Cannon Wheel'!" announced Lowe, just as 'Cannon Wheel' turned itself into two Synchro Rings and 'Archfiend Interceptor' jumped into the air, "Prepare to be sent to Hell, you damned fool!"
'Archfiend Interceptor' entered the two Synchro Rings and turned itself into four orbs of light as a Summon Chant echoed.
"Unexpected chaos! Explosions! Carve your tracks, fighting in the wasteland of cards!" chanted Lowe, as the symbols 4 + 2 = 6 were shown briefly just before the four orbs of light turned into a massive beam of light, "Synchro Summon!" The beam of light slammed onto Lowe's field as something started to come out of it, "Roar your engines, 'Combat Wheel'!"
Appearing out of the beam of light and onto the field, was a large, armored robot with two giant wheels behind it (Level: 6/ATK: 2500/DEF: 1200).
"Now for me to use the effect of 'Cannon Wheel'!" Lowe jeered on, pointing at his opponent's field with malice intention, "If this card is used as Synchro Material, I must inflict 500 damage to my opponent."
From there, a spirit of 'Cannon Wheel' appeared and fired shots at Juri, causing her to yell out again (LP: 700 → 200). One more hit like that, and it was all over for her.
"Plus, with 'Combat Wheel's' second effect, you will never defeat me!" ranted Lowe, "Monsters my opponent controls cannot attack other monsters I control, except this one," He entered the Battle Phase, "'Combat Wheel', attack 'Vice Dragon'!"
'Combat Wheel' obeyed, aiming its cannons towards the weaker dragon.
"Once your monster is destroyed, your LP will be fully wiped out!" bragged Lowe, "And then, you will fall off the belt and become flat as a pancake!"
The cannons started firing, making it look certain that Juri would lose the duel. However, it was not meant to be…
"I activate a Trap, 'Nightmare Archfiends'!" announced Juri, as one of her Set cards flipped face-up and revealed itself, "I must Tribute 1 monster; I must Special Summon 3 'Nightmare Archfiend Tokens' to my opponent's field in Attack Position."
'Vice Dragon' faded away in blue streaks as three, shadowy fiends appeared on Lowe's field (Level: 6/ATK: 2000/DEF: 2000) x3.
"Tch! You got away from that attack, huh?" grunted Lowe, "I cancel my Battle Phase and move onto my Main Phase 2!" He then took and held another card ('Block Dugout') out, "Continuous Spell, 'Block Dugout'!"
The mentioned Spell Card flipped face-up and revealed itself.
"If the combined Levels of all face-up monsters my opponent controls is less than the combined Levels of all face-up monsters I control, my opponent's monsters cannot declare an attack," After explaining his card's effect, Lowe started mocking his opponent for giving him everything he needed to win the duel, "Thanks a bunch for giving me those three Level 6 presents, you damned fool!"
"No…!" uttered Juri, while clenching her right hand into a fist, "I… I can't let myself go down like this!"
"Juri!" The voice of Michael called out, which got her attention. Despite being mad at Juri, he wasn't going to give up on his friend like this, "No matter what these guys say, you do have what it takes to win using my Deck! You just need to listen to the cards and your soul as a duelist!"
"Hey, 'Former King'!" The voice of Lowe shouted, getting Michael's attention. He could be seen looking down at the prisoner with distain, "If you know what's good for you, we'd appreciate it if you'd shut your trap and stay out of our duel unless you want the wrath of the Junk Guild coming down on your head!"
"Why don't you learn to shut up instead?!" The voice of Juri retorted, getting the brown-haired young man's attention, "Mike is someone you could never hope to be, and if he says I have what it takes to win using his cards, then I'll believe in his words!" She then drew a card, "It's my turn!"
Turn Five: Juri Wu Nien (LP: 200)
Deck: 50
Current Hand (1): "Pot of Desires"
Upon seeing her drawn 'Pot of Desires' Spell Card, Juri realized she had to use it in order to get what else she needed to hopefully win the duel. The risk it posed was very high, but it needed to be taken if she was to win the duel and save both herself and Michael.
"I activate the Spell Card, 'Pot of Desires'!" announced Juri, holding her final card out.
"What?!" cried Lowe.
"That card was never in my Deck!" added Michael.
"That's because before I met with Lowe, I added a few cards of my own to this Deck," explained Juri, before looking down at the Deck in her Duel Disk, "I believe these new cards will serve me well in winning this duel," She turned her focus back towards Lowe, "I must banish 10 cards from the top of my Deck, face-down; I must draw 2 cards."
"Banish ten of your cards face-down? You know the cards you seek might be in that pile, meaning you'd risk throwing them away without knowing what they even are," Lowe pointed out, "You sure you wanna take that risk?"
"It's a part of life to take crazy risks," Juri reminded, "It's something you said so yourself. And if taking such risks is the only hope I have of saving myself and Mike, then so be it!"
Lowe silently complied, while Juri braced two fingers on top of her Deck, shutting her eyes tightly as she drew the top ten cards of her Deck and made them fade away into oblivion without seeing what they were. With ten of her cards banished, she was able to draw two more cards in hopes of getting something that would help her out.
"Please!" thought Juri hopefully, with her eyes still shut tight, "Let these cards be what I need!"
She slowly drew her remaining two cards with a Destiny Draw. From there, she opened her eyes and took a glimpse at what they were, which caused her eyes to widen in what appeared to be a mixture of shock and relief.
"So, did you get the cards you need?" questioned Lowe.
There was a long silence as Juri continued to stare at her cards. Eventually, she looked up at Lowe with studying eyes…and smiled at him. The sight disturbed Lowe a little bit, causing him to wonder if his opponent did draw what she needed.
"To begin," began Juri, placing one of the cards onto her Duel Disk, "I'll Summon the Tuner monster, 'Sinister Sprocket'!"
Appearing onto the field was a black chain-like monster (Level: 1/ATK: 400/DEF: 0).
"I tune Level 7 'Multiple Piece Golem' into Level 1 'Sinister Sprocket'!" continued Juri, just as the torture wheel on 'Multiple Piece Golem' shattered into shards of glass and both it and 'Sinister Sprocket' went into the air, "Mike, please lend me your power for this one monster!"
'Sinister Sprocket' turned into a single Synchro Ring which 'Multiple Piece Golem' dove into, turning it into seven orbs of light as the symbols 7 + 1 = 8 were shown briefly. The orbs of light then turned into a massive beam of light which slammed onto Juri's field as she began a very familiar Summon Chant.
"The ruler's heartbeats will now file through here! Take witness to its creation-shaking power!" chanted Juri, before holding her right hand upward, "Synchro Summon!"
It was then the claws of a very familiar monster started emerging from the beam of light from the sides, followed by its wings, and, finally, the head and the rest of the body.
"My friend's soul, 'Red Dragon Archfiend'!" finished Juri.
Now on the field was none other than Michael's ace monster, 'Red Dragon Archfiend' (or 'Red Daemon's Dragon'), who let out a demonic roar to signal its arrival to everyone in the factory (Level: 8/ATK: 3000/DEF: 2000). The sight of that mighty dragon left most of the Junk Guild in shock and awe.
"You've gotta be kidding me!" One Junk Guild member complained.
"Only Michael Atlas knows how to use that monster to full effect!" added another Junk Guild member.
Back on the conveyor belt, Lowe watched as his face-up 'Nightmare Wheel' Trap Card shattered into shards of glass since 'Multiple Piece Golem' left the field.
"Grrr! With 'Multiple Piece Golem' gone, 'Nightmare Wheel' has been destroyed, huh?" grumbled Lowe unhappily.
"And that's not all, there's also the effect of 'Sinister Sprocket' for you to worry about," The voice of Juri interrupted, causing Lowe to look up. She looked ready to continue putting the heat on her opponent, "If this card is sent to the GY for the Synchro Summon of a DARK Synchro Monster: I can target 1 face-up Spell/Trap on the field; I must destroy that target!"
From there, several dark coils wrapped around the face-up 'Block Dugout' Spell Card, and crushed it to dust.
"My 'Block Dugout'!" cried Lowe, before easing up, "But do you really believe you can win using 'Red Dragon Archfiend' alone?"
"I have plenty of faith in Mike's soul," retorted Juri, before pressing a button on her Duel Disk, "Face-down card, open!"
Her final Set card flipped face-up and revealed itself to be…
"Continuous Trap, 'Follow Wing', activate! I must activate this card by targeting 1 Synchro Monster I control; it cannot be destroyed by battle or my opponent's card effects."
"Aw double crap!" cursed Lowe, "That effectively makes 'Red Daemon's' invincible!"
Sadly so, 'Red Dragon Archfiend' found itself being energized by a new power and became stronger than ever before.
"Battle!" declared Juri, entering her Battle Phase, "'Red Dragon Archfiend', attack 'Combat Wheel!" As she announced her monster's attack name, 'Red Dragon Archfiend' lit its right claw on fire and hurled a punch towards the opponent's field, "Absolute Powerforce!"
'Red Dragon Archfiend' looked certain to take down 'Combat Wheel' and reduce Lowe's LP to 2500. However, the Junk Guild's leader still had a few dirty tricks left over, and now was the time to use said tricks.
"You sure are a sad sap," dismissed Lowe, taking a card from his hand, "The first effect of 'Combat Wheel' activates!" He discarded the card ('3D Bio Scanner'), "Once per opponent's Battle Phase (Quick Effect): I can discard 1 card; until the end of this turn, this card gains ATK equal to half the total ATK of all other face-up monsters I currently control, but I must…" As he finished explaining, Juri merely listened on, "…destroy all monsters I control when this card is destroyed."
Juri gritted her teeth when the explanation ended, remembering she gave her opponent three 'Nightmare Archfiends Tokens' (ATK: 2000) x3. From there, the three 'Nightmare Archfiends Tokens' started donating red energy to 'Combat Wheel', causing it to grow even more powerful (ATK: 2500 → 5500). With his monster even stronger than 'Red Dragon Archfiend', Lowe burst out laughing in triumph as 'Red Dragon Archfiend' stopped its attack at the last second and returned to Juri's field.
"Your friend's soul can no longer defeat 'Combat Wheel'!" yelled Lowe boastfully, "It's all over for you!"
"Don't be so sure about that," cut in Juri, causing Lowe to ease up. She then held out her 'Follow Wing' Trap Card for the rest of the explanation, "The second effect of 'Follow Wing' activates here! At the start of the Damage Step, if it battles an opponent's Level 5 or higher monster: I can destroy that opponent's monster, and if I do, the targeted Synchro Monster gains ATK equal to the original ATK of the destroyed monster, until the end of this turn."
Lowe cried out in horror, watching as 'Combat Wheel' shattered into shards of glass, which were then turned into particles that were absorbed by 'Red Dragon Archfiend' and caused it to let out a roar and grow stronger (ATK: 3000 → 5500). The worst part for Lowe, was also the destruction of all three of the 'Nightmare Archfiends Tokens' as per the effect of 'Combat Wheel'.
"You haven't forgotten 'Combat Wheel's' first effect, have you?" joked Juri, with Lowe wisely not saying a word, "Since you used its effect and it was destroyed, your 'Nightmare Archfiends Tokens' are also destroyed, causing you to take 800 damage per Token."
"GAH!" wailed Lowe.
The three 'Nightmare Archfiends Tokens' exploded, causing Lowe to holler some more as his LP dropped closer to the empty zone (LP: 3000 → 600). The loss of that much LP also moved him closer and closer to the edge of his side of the conveyor belt.
"The boss is about to lose!" exclaimed one of the Junk Guild members.
"Chill out, the girl can't attack again," reminded another Junk Guild member, "This will give our boss one more chance to win."
Back on the conveyor belt, Juri had one final card ('Final Cross') to use—which she held up, turned over, and revealed.
"Quick-Play Spell, 'Final Cross', activate!" commenced Juri, causing Lowe to completely panic over his incoming loss as he listened to the explanation, "If a Synchro Monster(s) my opponent controls is destroyed and sent to the GY: I must target 1 Synchro Monster I control that attacked this turn; it…" The intelligent, dark blue-haired young woman smiled while speaking on, "…can make a second attack during this Battle Phase."
"T-This can't be!" wailed Lowe.
"Go forth, 'Red Daemon's! Attack Lowe directly!" declared Juri, pointing at her opponent with her right hand, while, near the ceiling, 'Red Dragon Archfiend' growled and started to charge fire in its mouth, "Blazing Crimson Hell Flare!"
The blast of powerful flames was unleashed, causing Lowe to scream in horror as the attack collided with him. When the attack ended, Lowe collapsed onto a knee as his LP completely ran out through complete overkill (LP: 600 → 0).
DUEL RESULTS: Juri Wu Nien wins!
With the duel won, the cuff on Juri's left ankle was immediately removed on its own, but Lowe had earned himself a one way ticket to the crusher.
"I'll be okay!" thought Lowe, with a pained smile on his face, "I secretly had a stopper installed onto my section. Any second now, I'll be saved!"
Unfortunately, when it looked like the stopper near his edge would take effect, it suddenly shorted out, meaning Lowe was about to fall and get crushed by the crushers. Below the conveyor belt, the remaining Junk Guild members all watched in shock as their leader was about to die. Taking advantage of the distraction, Michael shook hard and got his arms freed, allowing him to roughly elbow the members holding him captive and get released. Without wasting a second, he ran towards the conveyor belt, climbed onto it, and ran to where Lowe was. Speaking of Lowe, the brown-haired young was screaming as he reached the end and started to fall, but was grabbed by the shirt collar by Michael, although he needed a little bit of assistance. And since she was freed from her shackle, Juri ran to where Michael and Lowe were and started to help the former bring the latter back to safety.
"Yo-You two saved me…? But why would you-?" groaned Lowe tiredly.
"You know something? You're absolutely crazy for wanting to risk the lives of others and yourself just for the sake of testing newcomers to your group," scolded Juri, just as she got Lowe free from his shackle, "It's just wrong on so many levels!" While standing back up, she softened up slightly, "However, even somebody like you doesn't deserve a fate like that. That's why we saved you."
Lowe said nothing in response, but Michael still had some unfinished business with him and whole the Junk Guild. To that end, he lifted up the leader and viciously slugged him in the face sending him flying off the conveyor belt and onto a pool table, completely knocked out.
"The boss was-!"/"Bastard-!"/"Why you-!" The various Junk Guild members were saying.
The way they all were speaking was either in response to Lowe being knocked out, or in anger towards Michael for attacking him like that. Michael, with an absolutely evil expression on his face, only cackled quietly and wickedly! Oh yes, he was going to really enjoy getting his revenge on those guys very much.
(outside…)
Outside the building a few minutes later, police sirens were echoing before cars started pouring in, and they were followed by Fudo Go, Blackbird, and two M1 Astrays.
(inside…)
Back inside the building, the doors were burst apart by four police officers carrying a large wooden ram of sorts, and soon more police officers were entering the factory. Entering last were none other than Matt, James R., Asagi, and Mayura.
"Mike! Juri!" called Asagi.
Juri, hearing the voice of one of her best friends, carefully climbed down from the conveyor belt and ran towards the arrivals. Michael, standing before a pile of defeated Junk Guild members, hurled his final victims onto the pile before turning around and addressing the arrivals.
"Oi! You're all late!" exclaimed Michael.
"Mike!" cried James R., "Did you fight off the entire Junk Guild all by yourself?"
"Hmph! Some of these guys are cowards," huffed Michael gruffly, casting a quick glance to the nearby Junk Guild members still conscious, "They surrendered rather than fight."
Once she finished climbing down the conveyor belt, Juri ran to meet with Asagi and Mayura, being very happy to see them.
"We were so worried about you!" cried Asagi, deeply relieved of her friend's safety, "What were you thinking doing something so reckless?!"
"You could have been killed!" added Mayura, "Don't you 'ever' scare us like that again!"
The three young women shared a hug out of great relief of Juri being safe and sound.
"I'm sorry, you two" apologized Juri, ashamed, "I only infiltrated the Junk Guild to try and gather some information on them, but I got tricked into participating in a duel-to-the-death. During the duel, I initially struggled because I was using Mike's Deck—which I stole beforehand—instead of my own cards," While speaking about her scheme, Asagi and Mayura looked up and listened on, "When Mike arrived to save me, he got captured, and if I didn't win the duel, he and I would have died," She then withdrew from the hug and undid her ponytail, shook her head to let her hair down, and smiled weakly, "I guess the whole ordeal would have never happened if I had just listened and stayed out of their business."
"It doesn't matter to us, right now," wept Asagi, starting to cry, "What matters is you're safe."
"We're very disappointed in you over going through with this reckless plan of yours, but at the same time we're happy nothing bad happened to you," finished Mayura.
"So you actually won the duel using Mike's Deck?" pressed James R., looking pretty impressed, "Well now, that's pretty good."
"That also means you likely used 'Red Dragon Archfiend' at some point, too," put in Matt positively.
Juri felt proud of being praised like that by the two ultimate duelists. Before long, the police, in addition to gathering the stuff stolen by them, began taking the Junk Guild outside to be loaded into police cars outside the building. The last one to be led away was the now conscious Lowe.
"Hey, you," Lowe called out weakly, mainly getting Juri's attention, "I've been doing some thinking about how everything could have gone," He smiled slightly, "Had this been a different time and place, you and I could have actually become friends instead of becoming the enemies we are today."
The intelligent, dark blue-haired young woman glared, but, rather than dismiss the notion, she appeared to remain neutral over it and nodded in agreement. Once Lowe was gone from the factory, Mayura looked towards her friends and started to make a suggestion to them.
"Guys, what do you say we get out of here and head back to Orb?" suggested Mayura, "I think I had enough excitement to last for at least a few days."
"You're telling me," agreed Juri, doing a few stretches with her arms and legs, "I could use a nice hot bubble bath."
(outside…)
As the group started to leave, they saw one more car show up. Getting out of the driver's section was Megan, and getting out of the passenger side with the camera was her assistant and friend Ken.
"Megan? Ken?" blinked James R..
"Oh! I hope we're not too late!" wailed Megan, "My boss will chew me up if I fail to cover the story regarding the Junk Guild!"
"Not to worry," reassured Matt, before pointing nearby, "You've just barely made it."
Police officers were shown loading various Junk Guild members into police cars to be taken away. This brought great relief to both Megan and Ken, and, without wasting a second, began their broadcast of the arrest.
"This is Megan Haw of the Daily Writer's Group live outside the Junk Guild's hideout near Hartford," reported Megan, "The deadly and elusive Junk Guild has finally been brought to justice."
Matt, Michael, James R., Asagi, Mayura, and Juri all watched the scene for a minute before turning and returning to their Duel Runners.
(elsewhere…)
Soon, everyone returned to Hartford and, most importantly, Orb. While Matt, James R., Asagi, and Mayura all immediately went inside after getting off their respective Duel Runners (Matt: Fudo Go, James R.: Blackbird, Asagi: M1 Astray, Mayura: M1 Astray), Juri and Michael both stayed behind so they could try to talk things out between them.
"Here you are, Mike," Juri offered, handing Michael back his Deck, "This belongs with you."
Michael gladly took his Deck back without speaking.
"I should 'never' have taken it and gone undercover the way I did," continued Juri, "I know what I did was wrong, but I was just trying to help bring the Junk Guild to justice. I'm so sorry for disobeying you like that…" She looked downward, "You have every 'right' to be angry with me."
Michael, continuing to stare at his Deck, still said nothing. A saddened Juri turned to leave, but then stopped when she felt a hand touching her shoulder.
"Hold on a moment," The voice of Michael requested.
Surprised, Juri turned around, where she saw Michael looking at her with an expression on his face that was not grumpy, cold, or smug-like like it often was. Instead, he appeared to be smiling genuinely (which was rare of him).
"I admit I'm a little mad at you for stealing my Deck and going after the Junk Guild," admitted Michael, "But even then, I can still forgive you for your mistake. There have been times where people have made 'worse' mistakes than that," As he continued speaking, Juri listened to every single word, "Not to mention you used my Deck pretty well in that duel. I'm actually impressed."
Juri simply blushed to herself due to infatuation, believing that she and Michael actually made a pretty good team in stopping the Junk Guild. Suddenly, she remembered something else she did during the infiltration and put a disgusted look on her face before turning to leave.
"Juri?" blinked Michael, noticing the look for a moment, "Where are you going?"
"I just remembered; I think I'm gonna be spending the next hour or so in the bathroom of my dorm," answered Juri, before turning around with a sweatdrop on the left side of her forehead, "I have a mouth of mine to clean out—namely with lots and lots of soap and water."
Michael didn't say anything back, but he was left wondering what that even meant. I betcha we all knew what Juri meant by having to clean out her mouth, right?