A Prehistoric Reunion

It was another day in New Domino City, and things around went as smoothly as always. And there were some excitement going on in Kaiba Dome right now. The huge crowd cheered loudly for the two duelists who were riding on their duel runners. And for once... none of them was Jack Atlas.

One of them was a guy in a black motorcycling suit and helmet, riding on a silvery duel runner that was three-wheeled, with some big exhausts that let out lots of smoke.

"Wow! Looks like things are getting hot today!" The mC commented. "This duel has gone back and forth! Who will be victorious?!"

The guy looked behind himself, smirking confidentially. It didn't seem like his opponent would catch up.

But then, he noticed a pair of red, glowing eyes glaring from the cloud of smoke his runner created. "Uuuh..." He started to get nervous.

And before he knew it, something came out of it. But its entire body was engulfed in flames. He wasn't able to tell what it was until it was too late. It collided with him, causing an explosion that made his duel runner spin out of control. And the poor guy ended up falling off his duel runner.

0800-0000

From the smoke that dissipated quickly, the other turbo duelist emerged. He was wearing a motorcycling suit, with the top being scarlet red with triceratops faces printed on the shoulders, and white pants. His helmet was red as well, with a pair of reptilian eyes above the black visor. As for his duel runner, it was two-wheeled like any regular kind. It was dark-brown with flame-like marks on the sides of the rear end. But what really made it stand out was its frame, which looked like the face of a velociraptor.

The turbo duelist stopped his runner and took off his helmet, revealing his face. He had light-tanned skin and emerald green eyes. His wavy hair was brown with some white highlights.

"And that's it! The duel is over! With a burning comeback, Eric Stone has become victorious!"

The duelist now named Eric smirked and pumped his right fist as the crowd cheered loudly for him.

While this happened, Cody and Jeremy were outside the apartment building, working on the former's new duel runner. And they sure made progress. The contraption looked more like a duel runner, but it was not complete.

"Looks like the exhausts need some adjusting." Jeremy muttered and tinkered with them, using a wrench.

"And this might need some modification in order to get the holo-display functional." Cody added while fastening a screw on another part of the runner.

As they kept working on the runner, Cindy showed up. "So how's it going?"

"Well, so far so good." Cody replied. "This might take a while, but this duel runner will become a well-oiled machine."

"Sounds good." The Harpie duelist smiled before having a serious look. "By the way, since Mimi is taking it easy inside, I figured we should take a look at this..." She brought up Jeremy's laptop and the blue box with the pad lock.

Cody and Jeremy's eyes widened. "The message." The former nodded.

"I think it's about time we move on to it."

Jeremy frowned. "Are you sure? I mean, don't you think it'll be better to wait until Cody's new runner is complete?"

Cindy shook her head. "I don't know about that. We've been through a lot to find the clues that were left for Cody. Clues that that might tell us the whole story about the Morningstar Foundation. And I bet that those black suits that attacked you two are working there."

"That's true." Cody agreed, a thoughtful expression forming on his face. "And if that's the case, it's only a matter of time before they strike again."

"And there's one more thing you should know." Cindy continued, getting their attention. "Today is my last day off. Which means after today, you guys will be on your own."

"Is that so?" Jeremy asked, earning a nod from Cindy.

"In that case, let's have a look." Cody declared.

Using the key he got along with the last message from his parents, he opened the box and found another memory card. Jeremy inserted it into his laptop and turned it on. After finding a new file, he clicked on it, making a video appear, showing Cody's parents.

"Hello, Cody. We hope you found this message. Because this is important." Cody's father, Cedric, said seriously.

"As you probably remember from our last message, we found some blueprints of vehicles in the computer belonging to the CEO of Morningstar Foundation." His mother, Sandra, reminded him. "We also noticed that file that required a password in order to open it."

"So far, we haven't been able to open it. But we're still trying to find out what's in it."

Cody narrowed his eyes while listening.

"However, something serious came up. The CEO had a little meeting with us, coming with a suggestion of sorts." Cedric continued.

"And that suggestion..." Sandra frowned. "It was rather disturbing to the least. This is how it turned out..."

The video then showed the scene of a meeting room of sorts, with a round table in the middle and a few chairs. On one side of the table, Cody's parents sat together. On the other side, was a certain man in a white suit.

"So that's him, huh." Cody said.

"The one and only." Cindy replied. "Mason Morningstar."

"First of all, I would like to thank you for taking some of your precious time on me." Mason said gratefully.

"Of course, Mason." Cedric nodded. "There's no trouble at all."

"So, what is it you wanted to discuss with us?" Sandra asked curiously.

Mason stood up and paced slowly back and forth. "Well, we have been working together for quite some time now. And I'd say that it's been very productive. With my programs, and your technical products, we've been incorporating things very nicely, making things much better for people around the world."

"Well, that is what our respective companies are for. To make the world a better place." Cedric stated.

"Indeed. Which is why I suggest that we take things to the next level." Mason continued. "Your company can make amazing machines. Like those duel runners that have been huge for years. Fantastic vehicles, I say. Speaking of vehicles, there are places in the world where military would pay for some really useful machines like tanks and jet planes."

Cedric and Sandra frowned as they listened. As Cody, Jeremy and Cindy watched this video, they became more concerned by the second.

Mason pointed to them. "Think about it. With your mechanical resources and my programming expertise, we can make war machines unlike anything that exists today. I know that you have whatever we need to..."

"No!" Cedric interrupted with a stern tone.

Mason was a little confused. "No?"

"No, Mason. We're not going to make any war machines. That's way out of the question."

"We're making our products to make the world a better place." Sandra added. "That doesn't mean making something people can wage war with."

Mason simply smiled. "I don't think the two of you are seeing the possibilities..."

"There are no possibilities!" Cedric interrupted. "We don't want to hear anything about this again!"

At that point, the video stopped showing the meeting and changed back to Cody's parents. "There you have it." Cedric said. "It's clear that Mason wants to produce war machines to sell to military."

"Which should explains those blueprints we found in his computer." Sandra added.

"We're going to keep investigating to see if we can find something more. And if we do, then you'll find out in the next message."

"And we decided to entrust it to your cousin, Eric." The video briefly showed the image of a little lightly tan-skinned boy with emerald green eyes and wavy brown hair with some white highlights. "We made sure that he won't reveal it to anyone except you. So just go to him and he'll give it to you. Good luck, Cody." At that, the video reached its end.

"I... I don't believe it..." Cody muttered in disbelief.

"New Domino Techno Corp... used as a facility to produce war machines?" Jeremy realized.

Cindy scowled. "That settles it. Mason Morningstar is nothing more than a greedy criminal!"

"I can't believe he would do that to my parents' company." Cody clenched his fists in anger. "Mason... he's gonna pay!"

"And we'll make sure that he'll face justice." Jeremy assured him. "We just have to keep searching for the clues your parents left behind."

Cody took a moment to calm down before nodding to him. "Right." He then frowned. "But there's the issue with my so called cousin."

"Oh yeah. I didn't know you even had a cousin, or any family left."

"If it wasn't for my amnesia, I would have known." Cody lowered his head. "If I could remember anything about him, we might be able to find him."

Cindy smirked. "You may not remember him, but I recognize him anywhere."

"You do?" The boys asked, turning to her.

"You bet. Follow me."

Moments later, they found themselves inside Beth's apartment, where they watched the spectacled girl typing on her computer.

"The person you're looking for is known as Eric Stone." Beth explained as pictures of the one named Eric appeared. Some of them showed him holding trophies, while others showed him riding his duel runner and stuff. "He's a pro duelist who won three national championships around the world. And rumor has it that he's one of the few duelists who got really close to defeat Jack Atlas."

"So he's a pro duelist, huh?" Cody muttered thoughtfully.

"And a really good one." Cindy added. "In fact, he actually won a dueling competition that took place in Kaiba Dome a little earlier today."

"So where do we find him?" Jeremy asked.

"Just a moment." Beth grabbed a sticky note from nearby and wrote something on it. "This is his address. You'll find him there."

"Thanks." Cody grabbed it. "At least now we know where to look first."

"Would you guys like me to come with you?" Cindy asked.

Cody shook his head. "No thanks. Jeremy and I will be fine on our own. Plus, someone needs to keep Mimi company."

"Good point. Then good luck. Hope that he'll recognize you."

"Yeah. Me too."

Meanwhile, Eric was on his duel runner, driving on the streets of New Domino City. The drive went on for a while until he reached a tall, white building. He took off his helmet and looked up at it, a solemn look on his face.

"I'm home." He muttered to himself as he entered what could have been his apartment. It seemed relatively luxurious, but not quite on the same level as Jack's place. There was a big living room with a brown couch standing against one wall with a black table standing in front of it, facing a big plasma TV that was standing at the opposite end of the room. At another wall, there was a shelf full of trophies and medals. Plus a few photos with him.

There was a doorway leading to a kitchen with an oval-shaped table in the middle, surrounded by stuff like a silvery stove, a sink, and a pretty big, white refrigerator.

Eric walked into the living room and was headed to the couch when his eyes landed on one particular photo in the shelf. It showed him as a younger boy, standing together with a younger Cody, both of them smiling together.

Eric approached the shelf and picked up the photo, staring at it. "Cody... it's been over 10 years since I last heard of you. I still can't believe that you're gone."

Flashback

A younger Cody and Eric were inside a room full of toys and stuffed animals. Each of them were facing each other, equipped with duel disks.

"I can still remember all the times you and I played together. Especially when we played Duel Monsters."

Eric laughed and placed a card on his duel disk, making a red triceratops appear.

Cody thrusted his palm, making the trap card, Call of the Haunted flip up, causing Grasschopper to appear.

Another time, the two of them were messing around in the park, laughing a lot.

Flashback end

Eric smiled fondly. "Those were the good times." He then sighed and put the photo back in its place. "That is until that day came."

Flashback

Young Eric was approached by Cody's mother, Sandra, who was holding a small green box. "Here, Eric. Take this." She kneeled down and handed it to him.

"What is this, Aunt Sandra?" He asked curiously.

Sandra simply smiled. "It's something that I made for your cousin, Cody. It's a little surprise. I want you to take care of it. You're only allowed to give it to him and no one else."

Eric tilted his head with a curious look before he smiled. "Okay! I'll keep it safe!"

"Good boy."

Flashback end

Eric closed his eyes hard. "And that was the last time I ever saw her..."

Flashback

Young Eric was standing among some people who gathered in front the entrance of a building where Security officers were investigating the area. There was an ambulance standing nearby, where a few people loaded with two (presumably) people that were covered in blankets. The rain fell down almost heavily as the Sector Security looked over the place.

"So, have you found anything?" One of the officers asked.

"No sir." Another one replied. "No trace of the perpetrator at all. Whoever did this did a really great job to erase their tracks."

"Damn." The first officer cursed. "Didn't think that they'd get away so easily." He then looked at some papers. "These are the names of the victims. Hmm..." He read through it a moment before noticing something. "So they have a son... Cody Cooper... Any idea where he is?"

"No sir. Other units are currently searching for him, but no sign of him so far."

"Man, poor kid. To lose his parents like this. He must be devastated."

Overhearing this, Eric just stared with a blank expression... with tears slowly running down his cheeks.

Flashback end

"To think that they died like that." Eric clenched his right fist. "And no one has seen Cody for years. Not a single sign of him."

He then walked over to a drawer and opened it. The object he found inside was the same box he was given years ago. "I've been keeping this for a long time, hoping that Cody would return someday." He closed his eyes again. 'But I'm starting to wonder if he's still alive.' He closed the drawer and eyed on the photo. After a moment, he shook his head and walked away. "I need a smoothie..."

At the same time, Cody and Jeremy were walking together, with their hoods on. After a while, they saw the tall, white building right in front of them.

"Okay, according to Beth's description, his apartment should be in that building." Jeremy said, glancing at the sticky note.

"Yeah..." Cody replied, staring at the building with a hopeful look.

"What's wrong?" Jeremy asked with concern.

"Oh!" Cody snapped out of it. "Sorry, I'm fine. It's just... well, given what happened to my parents, I never imagined that I'd still have some family left. And now, we're about to meet my cousin."

Jeremy smiled. "Yeah, that's understandable. I mean... if I found out that I still had family left, I'd feel the same way." He then looked solemn. "Too bad I'm not that lucky."

Cody turned to him. "I wouldn't say that. Even though we had no parents, we had each other, as well as Yusei, Crow, Rally, and everyone. To tell you the truth, you've always been like a brother to me."

Jeremy smiled again. "Thanks."

"No problem. Now let's go and find Eric." At that, they began walking again, heading towards the entrance.

The moment they were about to enter, the door suddenly opened. They quickly moved away to let whoever it was to pass. The person was a guy with wavy brown hair with some white highlights and emerald eyes, wearing a red shirt and white pants. They recognized him immediately.

"Oh! Sorry." He apologized as he walked past them.

"Eric!" Cody called out.

Eric stopped upon hearing his name and turned back to them. "Hm? Yes? Can I help you?"

Cody hesitated but started to move his hands toward his hood. "I was hoping to find you, Eric."

The pro duelist raised an eyebrow. "How so? Are you one of my fans? Sorry, but I'm not giving autographs today."

Cody was now ready to take his hood off. "No. What I meant is that I was hoping to find you because my parents left you with something for me."

"Huh?!" Eric's eyes widened.

At that moment, Cody revealed his face. "It's been a long time, Eric. It's me, Cody."

"Ah!?" Struck by shock, Eric stumbled. His eyes were focused on the face that stared back at him. "C-Cody?" Memories of his childhood with him popped up in his mind. "Is it really you? But... how?"

"It's a really long story. But to make it short, I woke up one day in the Satellite with no idea how I ended up there..."

"Satellite?" Eric interrupted. "The one place where many criminals live?"

"Whoa! Slow down!" Jeremy intervened. "Not all people in the Satellite are bad guys. There are actually good people there as well. Although they're mostly without a home or family."

"The point is, I've been stuck there for many years." Cody continued. "But then, I found a recorded message my parents left for me, telling me about those who killed them and have been after me. I escaped the Satellite so I could find the clues they hid away. And according to their latest clue, you're the one who's got the next message. That's why we came here to find you. I know it's a lot to take in, but you have to believe me. I really am your cousin."

But Eric scowled. "You know? It hasn't gone one day without me missing my cousin. My cousin who I played with when I was a kid. My cousin who would always face me in a game of Duel Monsters. My cousin... who disappeared to who knows where and hasn't been seen for over 10 years. You kind of look like the Cody I remember, but..." He pointed a finger to him. "How can I be sure you're really him? You could be one of those bastards who killed my uncle and aunt for all I know!"

Cody frowned. "I'm not lying. I really am Cody Cooper."

"Alright, then how about you tell something you know. Something the real Cody would know."

Cody lowered his head, thinking hard. "I... I... I'm the son of Cedric and Sandra Cooper, the owners of New Domino Techno Corp."

Eric scoffed. "Many people have been aware of that. You need to come up with something more personal.

Cody frowned. "i... I can't come up with anything. Because... I have amnesia."

Eric's eyes widened again. "Amnesia?"

"When I first woke up in the Satellite, I had no memory of who I was, or where I came from, or anything. That's another reason I've been searching for my parents' clues. Because they might help me get my memories back."

Eric stared at him with a solemn look. But that look changed to a scowl. "You almost convinced me there. But that's not enough to prove to me that you really are Cody Cooper!"

Cody gritted his teeth in frustration. "What's it gonna take to make you believe me? I really am Cody Cooper! It says so right here!" He pulled up his deck case and showed him his name written on it. "I first remembered my name thanks to this deck. And also from finding my favorite card!" He pulled a card and showed it to him. It was Black Brutdrago. "You said that we used to duel each other, right? Then you should have known that this is my best card!"

Eric's scowl remained as he stared at him. 'That may be. But the Cody I knew would also have the card that I gave him a long time ago...'

Flashback

A younger Eric gave Cody a card, who smiled happily after receiving it.

Flashback end

Eric closed his eyes. "Alright..."

"Huh?" Cody blinked.

"If you're going to insist that you're Cody Cooper, then there's one way for you to prove it to me."

"What is it?" Cody asked, almost fiercely.

He and Jeremy waited for Eric to respond. It lasted for a while until the pro duelist opened his eyes.

"...You and I... are going to duel!"

"Huh?" Their eyes widened.

Unbeknownst to them, someone was watching them from around the corner. A certain brown-haired woman with glasses.

A short time later, they were led to the top of the apartment building. It had pretty high fences that surrounded the area and one single door leading downstairs. Jeremy was standing near the door, while Cody and Eric were facing each other from each end of the roof.

"So, you're saying that dueling you will allow me to prove to you that I really am your cousin. Is that it?" Cody asked.

"There's more than just that." Eric replied. "You see, there's a certain Duel Monsters card I gave my cousin a long time ago. If you duel me, and use that card against me, then I might consider to believe in your words."

"A card?" Jeremy repeated. "What kind of card is it?"

Eric turned to him. "Only the real Cody Cooper would know." He then faced Cody again. "So, are you game?"

Cody closed his eyes in thought. 'Guess there's no choice.' He then looked up. "Fine. If that's the only way for me to show you I'm telling the truth, then so be it." He inserted his deck into his duel disk and activated it.

"Then let's get this started!" Eric announced and activated his own duel disk.

"Good luck, Cody." Jeremy muttered.

Both duelists drew their opening hands. "Let's do this!"

Cody: 4000

Eric: 4000

"The first move is mine!" Eric drew. "And I'll start by special summoning Gilasaurus to the field!" From a flash of light, a thin, brown dinosaur appeared and roared. (ATK: 1400 DEF: 400 LV: 3)

"Did he say special summon?" Jeremy questioned.

"I know I heard it." Cody replied.

"And you heard me right." Eric confirmed. "Due to its special ability, I can special summon it from my hand. Under normal circumstances, summoning it through this method would allow you to summon a monster from your graveyard. But for obvious reasons, that's not gonna happen. For my next move, I summon Jurrac Protops in attack mode!" The brown dinosaur was joined by what appeared to be a blue and orange triceratops with flames on its back. (ATK: 1700 DEF: 1200 LV: 4) "Then I'll place one card facedown and end my turn." A card appeared near his feet.

"My turn then!" Cody drew his sixth card. "I summon Gemini Summoner in attack mode!" The dark-robed magician appeared. (ATK: 1500 DEF: 0 LV: 4)

"And this is when Protops' ability kicks in!" Eric intervened. "You see, for every monster you have on the field, it gains 100 extra attack points." The flames on the triceratops' back intensified. (ATK: 1700-1800)

"I'm not targeting that monster, anyway. Now attack his Gilasaurus!" The magician chuckled and fired a ball of blue energy from his palm.

"I activate my trap!" Eric's facedown card flipped up. "It's called Survival of the Fittest. Once this card is activated, I can equip it to one of my dinosaur monsters and increase its attack strength by 1000 points. And I choose Gilasaurus!" The trap card released some orange energy that entered the brown dinosaur's body. (ATK: 1400-2400)

Cody gasped as the dinosaur spun around and hit the energy ball with its tail, sending it back to the magician. It exploded and knocked him over.

Cody: 4000-3100

"You may have stopped my attack, but my Gemini Summoner can survive in battle once per turn." Cody inserted two cards into his duel disk. "I'll end my turn with two facedown cards.

"Then it's my turn again." Eric drew his next card and looked at it. "This will do." At that, his field spell tray opened up, allowing him to place his card into it. "I activate the field spell, Lost World!" The rooftop changed to a forest with palm trees and volcanoes."

"Whoa!" Cody muttered, looking around.

"Due to its effect, any monster on the field that isn't a dinosaur type loses 500 attack and defense points."

"What!?" Cody exclaimed and turned to his magician who became weaker. (ATK: 1500-1000)

"Next I summon Jurrac Stauriko in defense mode!" The monster that appeared and crouched down was a lizard-like creature with green feet, head and tail-tip, with most of its body being purple with some red and three flames on its back.(ATK: 500 DEF: 400 LV: 2) "And this is when I get to activate another effect of my field spell. Whenever a dinosaur type monster is normal or special summoned, I can summon a Juraegg Token to your field in defense mode."

"Huh?" Cody's eyes widened as an egg nest rose up on the field. (ATK: 0 DEF: 0 LV: 1)

"Of course, that means my Protops gains another 100 points." (ATK: 1800-1900)"And now, it's battle time! Jurrac Protops, attack his Gemini Summoner!" The triceratops roared and charged forward. The magician waved his hands and formed an energy barrier around him, which kept the dinosaur from ramming him. But the force behind the attack caused him to slid back a bit.

Cody: 3100-2200

"And now, Gilasaurus! Your turn!" The brown dinosaur rushed at the magician.

"I activate the trap card, Defense Draw!" One of Cody's facedown cards flipped up and created a barrier.

Right after that, the brown dinosaur sank its teeth into the magician's abdomen, making him cry out before he exploded. (ATK: 1900-1800)

"Thanks to my trap, the battle damage from your attack is reduced to zero. And as a bonus, I get to draw a card from my deck." Cody drew.

"I end my turn." Eric concluded.

"Hold that thought!" Cody interrupted. "Before I'll let your turn come to an end, I activate Call of the Haunted!" His remaining facedown card flipped up. "This trap card lets me summon a monster back from my graveyard. Meaning my Gemini Summoner returns!" The magician appeared again. (ATK: 1500-1000 DEF: 0 LV: 4)

"You just let my Protops regain a few points." (ATK: 1800-1900)

"That may be, but I get something too. Since it's still your end phase, I can activate Gemini Summoner's special ability. First of all, I pay 500 life points..."

Cody: 2200-1700

"After that, I can summon a Gemini monster from my hand. And I summon Skelesaurus in attack mode!" The ground cracked open, allowing a living dinosaur skeleton crawl up to the field. (ATK: 1700-1200 DEF: 1400-0900 LV: 4) (ATK: 1900-2000)

Eric raised an eyebrow. "It's obvious that your new monster is not a dinosaur type. You're gonna have to do better than that."

"Alright then." Cody drew his next card, looked at it. 'Scapeghost. I could use it to bring out one of my synchro monsters. But which one? Eric's field spell makes any non-dinosaur type 500 points weaker.' His eyes widened. 'Wait a minute! Weaker... That's it!' He looked up. "First I summon Scapeghost in attack mode!" The little sheep with dark fur and glowing eyes appeared. (ATK: 0 DEF: 0 LV: 1) (ATK: 2000-2100) "And guess what. I'm gonna use this tuner monster to give that Juraegg Token a tune up!"

"A synchro summon?" Eric muttered as the sheep's body turned into one single star and circled around the egg nest before turning into a ring of light.

"That's right. So thanks to these two monsters, I can summon the synchro monster, Puralis, the Purple Pyrotile!" One of eggs cracked and released one star that created a beam of light. Moments laters, the light died down and revealed the brown-scaled lizard in purple flames. (ATK: 800-300 DEF: 1400-900 LV: 2) "With my two monsters replaced by one monster, your Protops becomes weaker." (ATK: 2100-2000) "And that's not all. My Puralis is no ordinary synchro monster. It happens to be a synchro AND tuner monster."

"Tuner?" Eric repeated.

"You heard me! So now I'll tune my Puralis with Gemini Summoner in order to synchro summon Mighty Warrior!" the lizard turned into two stars that circled around the magician and turned into rings of light. Gemini Summoner's body turned transparent and revealed four stars that lined up and created a beam of light. "Mighty Warrior, time to accelerate!" The light died down and revealed the blue armored warrior that flexed his mechanical right arm. (ATK: 2200-1700 DEF: 2000-1500 LV: 6) (ATK: 2000-1900)

"An impressive monster." Eric admitted. "But my field spell makes him too weak to stand up against my dinosaurs. And why did you go through all the trouble with two synchro summonings if that's the best you could come up with?

Cody smirked. "Good question. While thinking about your field spell's weakening effect, I was inspired and decided to play Puralis. You see, thanks to its special ability, as soon as it's sent from the field to the graveyard, every monster you currently have in play loses 500 attack points!"

"No way!" Eric exclaimed as pillars of purple flames erupted from the ground and damaged his dinosaurs. (ATK: 500-000) (ATK: 1900-1400) (ATK: 2400-1900)

"That should even the odds a bit. Sure, your Gilasaurus is still stronger than my Mighty Warrior. But he can at least take out your Protops. So go, Mighty Warrior! Attack with Heavy Metal Slam!" The warrior dashed forward and raised his mechanical arm before slamming on the triceratops right on top of its head, making it explode.

Eric: 4000-3700

"And that's not all!" Cody continued. "Mighty Warrior's special ability activates! You take damage equal to half of your destroyed monster's original attack points!" The warrior slammed on the ground so much force that the ground shook and caused Eric to fall over.

Eric: 3700-2850

"Awesome!" Jeremy cheered.

"And I'm not done yet! I still have Skelesaurus, and I'm gonna let it attack your Jurrac Stauriko!" The dinosaur skeleton roared before charging forward. It then spun and slammed the fiery lizard with its tail, causing it to shatter into pixels. "And that leaves you with only one dinosaur."

As he got back up on his feet, Eric smirked. "Not exactly..." At that, two new fire pillars erupted from the ground, from which two eggs in flames emerged. (ATK: 0 DEF: 0 LV: 1) x2

"What are those?" Cody wondered.

"These are called Jurrac Tokens. As soon as Jurrac Stauriko is destroyed in battle, I get to summon them to the field in defense mode."

"Not good." Jeremy muttered worriedly."

"Of course, since these monsters were summoned during the damage step, my field spell won't let me summon a new Juraegg Token this time."

'That's a relief.' Cody thought. 'Because I have a feeling that he didn't summon one to my field just to boost that Protops I just destroyed.' He then inserted two cards into his duel disk. "I place two cards facedown and end my turn."

"Then it's my move!" Eric drew. "There's one thing you should know about my Jurrac Tokens. They can't be sacrificed for an advance summon, unless it is for a Jurrac monster."

"Then you..." Cody trailed off while narrowing his eyes.

"Yup, I'm gonna summon a new monster. But not in the way you think I'm going for." Eric held up a spell card. "I activate Big Evolution Pill. And in order to activate this spell, I have to get rid of one my dinosaurs. So I'll ditch one of my Jurrac Tokens." One of the fiery eggs vanished as the spell card appeared on the field. "And now, for the best part. This card remains on the field for three turns. And while it is in play... I can summon any level 5 or higher dinosaur without a sacrifice."

"What?!" Jeremy exclaimed while Cody widened his eyes.

"So now, come on out, Jurrac Tyrannus!" A mighty explosion occurred, letting Eric's field being swallowed by a cloud of smoke. Cody and Jeremy waited patiently until a mighty roar was heard before the smoke cleared and revealed the new monster. Like the name suggested, it was a tyrannosaurus rex with a red body, blue limbs and black claws. It also had blue markings on its body and some green fur on its head, back, and around its neck. (ATK: 2500 DEF: 1400 LV: 7) "And now, I can use the effect of my field spell, and summon a new Juraegg Token to your field." A new egg nest rose up on Cody's field. (ATK: 0 DEF: 0 LV: 1)

But Cody was too focused on Eric's new monster to care about that. "Incredible."

"If you think that's impressive, then let me show you what Tyrannus can do. By releasing a dinosaur type monster, I can increase its attack strength by 500 points. So I'll use my Token to give it a power boost." The other burning egg cracked and became a fireball before being sucked into Tyrannus' mouth. (ATK: 2500-3000) "And that should be enough to finish you off. Guess you were not the one I hoped you were. Jurrac Tyrannus, attack his Skelesaurus with Volcanic Breath!" The tyrannosaurus opened its maw, conjuring some fire.

"I activate the trap card, Rising Energy!" Cody discarded the remaining card in his hand as one of his facedown cards flipped up. "This trap card lets me increase a monster's attack points by 1500 for one turn. So my Skelesaurus will overpower your monster!"

Eric shook his head. "That won't work."

"Huh?" Cody's eyes widened.

"Your trap card won't be able to give your Skelesaurus a boost. Know why? Because my field spell has another effect. As long as you have Tokens on your field, you can't target any monster on the field with card effects, except Tokens."

Cody gasped and eyed on the egg nest. "So that's why you summoned that Token to my field."

"Of course. How else would I have an advantage against you? Now, because of the limitations my field spell gives you, you can only do one thing with your trap card. And that's increasing the Juraegg Token's attack strength." Blue energy came out of the trap card and enveloped the egg nest. (ATK: 0-1500) "So that means my attack continues!" The fire coming out of Tyrannus' maw intensified.

Cody gritted his teeth. "Then I'll play my other trap!" His other facedown card flipped up. "Curse of Anubis. This trap card forces all effect monsters on the field to switch to defense mode. Of course, my Skelesaurus is a Gemini monster, and can only become an effect monster after I normal summon it while it's already on the field. And since I haven't done that yet, it counts as a normal monster. But the point is, my monsters are safe from yours."

Eric watched as Tyrannus stopped its attack and lowered itself and turned blue. And so did Gilasaurus. And Mighty Warrior kneeled down.

"And what's more, their defense points are reduced to 0 until the end of this turn." (DEF: 1400-0) (DEF: 400-0) (DEF: 1500-0)

"I end my turn with a facedown." Eric concluded and inserted a card into his duel disk. (DEF: 0-1400) (DEF: 0-400) (0-1500) (ATK: 1500-0)

"My move!" Cody drew. "First off, I gemini summon Skelesaurus." The dinosaur skeleton roared as it was enveloped in light. Eric covered his eyes because of how bright it was. Moments later, it died down, allowing him to open his eyes. When he did, he was surprised to see that the skeleton has become an actual living dinosaur. Its skin was dark-grey, and it had golden claws. It also had a few blades sticking out of its body, including golden ones on its knees.

"Now my Skelesaurus has become an effect monster." Cody explained. "And one of its effects is that it's now an earth dinosaur type monster. Which means it's no longer affected by Lost World." (ATK: 1200-1700 DEF: 900-1400)

Eric smiled a bit. "Not bad. However, this means that you technically summoned a dinosaur type monster, meaning another Juraegg Token is summoned to your field." Another egg nest rose up on Cody's field. (ATK: 0 DEF: 0 LV: 1)

"I'm not worried. Not with what I have in store for you. First I'll switch Mighty Warrior to attack mode." The armored warrior stood up. "Now attack his Jurrac Tyrannus!" The warrior leaped up and threw his mechanical fist at the tyrannosaurus, hitting it right on its back, making it roar in pain. "And don't forget! When Mighty Warrior destroys your monster, half of that monster's original attack points come out of your life points." At that, Tyrannus exploded.

Eric: 2850-1600

"And now, Skelesaurus! Attack his Gilasaurus!" The reborn dinosaur charged forward and tackled the brown dinosaur, shattering it into pixels. "And now I activate Skelesaurus' second ability! When its destroys a monster in battle and sends it to the graveyard, I can summon that monster to my side of the field in defense mode!"

Eric gasped as a beam of light shot out of his graveyard slot and hit a spot right next to Skelesaurus. "Huh?" He was then surprised when Gilasaurus was revealed... and it looked different. It no longer had flesh on its bones. It was now a living skeleton.

"Oh right. Since it was summoned by Skelesaurus' effect, it became a zombie type. (ATK: 1400-900 DEF: 400-0 LV: 3) "To end my turn, I place one card facedown." Cody inserted a card into his duel disk."

"Then it's my turn!" Eric drew his next card and looked at it. He nodded. "First I summon Jurrac Guaiba!" Another fiery dinosaur appeared. It was some kind of raptor with a blue head, and a red and yellow body. (ATK: 1700 DEF: 400 LV: 4)

"All my monster zones are occupied, so no more Tokens for me." Cody pointed out."

"I know that. However, I'm to activate the trap card, Meteorain!" His facedown card flipped up. "Thanks to this, if my monster attacks a monster in defense mode that has less defense points than my monster's attack points, you'll take the difference as damage!"

"Don't think so, Eric! I reveal my trap card!" Cody interjected and revealed his own card. "Trap Stun! With this in play, the effects of all other traps on the field are negated."

Eric gasped as his trap card turned dark before vanishing. "Well, you've got me there. Then I'll go with plan B, starting with this! Guaiba, attack Gilasaurus!" The raptor rushed over to Cody's field and slammed the Gilasaurus skeleton with its tail, tearing it to pieces. "And now I activate Guaiba's special ability. After it destroys a monster in battle, I'm allowed to summon another Jurrac monster from my deck, as long as it has 1700 or fewer attack points. And I choose the tuner monster, Jurrac Monoloph!" A portal opened, letting another fiery dinosaur emerge. This had a yellowish head with red marking. It's claws and feet were also yellowish, while the rest of its body was blue, with a red tail tip. (ATK: 1500 DEF: 1200 LV: 3)

"A tuner monster?" Jeremy repeated.

"Not good." Cody said, grimacing a bit.

"You got that right. While I can't attack with this monster due to Guaiba's effect, I can use Monoloph to give it a tune up!" Monoloph's body turned into three stars that circled around Guaiba before turning into rings of light. And then, the raptor's body turned transparent and revealed 4 stars that lined up and created a beam of light. "And the monster I synchro summon is Jurrac Giganoto!" The light died down and revealed a new, fiery tyrannosaurus. This one was a little bigger than Tyrannus. And it had a yellowish head with red markings, as well as yellow claws and feet, while the rest of its body was red and blue. (ATK: 2100 DEF: 1800 LV: 7)

"Great, another giant lizard." Jeremy muttered.

"I suggest you prepare yourself. Because my Giganoto has a pretty hot ability. It makes the attack points of all Jurrac monsters on my field increase by 200 for every Jurrac monster in my graveyard. And I count 5 of them." The spirits of the fallen Jurrac monster appeared briefly. (ATK: 2100-3100) "And that ends my turn."

"Then here goes." Cody drew. 'It seems defeating Eric is harder than I thought. Especially since he just summoned a monster with over 3000 attack points.' He eyed on his new card for a moment before inserting it into his duel disk. "I place one card facedown. Then I'll switch Skelesaurus and Mighty Warrior to defense mode and end my turn." His dinosaur lowered itself and turned blue while the warrior kneeled down again.

"Alright then, my move." Eric drew. "Jurrac Giganoto, attack his Mighty Warrior!" The tyrannosaurus rushed over to Cody field and stomped the warrior with its left foot. After it returned to his side, Eric glanced at the card in his hand before inserting it into his duel disk. "I place one card facedown and end my turn."

"Then I'll start my turn with this!" Cody drew. "I activate the trap card, Jar of Avarice!" His facedown card flipped up. "This lets me take 5 cards from my graveyard, shuffle them into my deck and then draw one extra card." He took the 5 cards that came out of his graveyard slot and put them into his deck. And after letting it shuffle itself, he drew his new card and looked at it. He smiled. "Bad news, Eric. I just drew a field spell! And it's called Catalyst Field!"

"Oh no!" Eric said as the jurassic world changed back to the roof top. Additionally, the sky turned purple while the field crackled with red electricity.

"I'm afraid so. Now I get the field advantage here. Thanks to my field spell, I can make two normal summons each turn, as long as one of those summons includes a Gemini monster." Cody held up a card. "Like this one, for example. My Gemini Soldier in defense mode!" The small green soldier appeared and kneeled down while turning blue. (ATK: 500 DEF: 300 LV: 2) "And then I'll gemini summon him." He glowed white for a short moment. "From now on, he can survive in battle, once per turn. That's it for now."

Eric narrowed his eyes and drew his next card. "Okay, that's it. You're forcing me to go extreme! First I'll play my own Call of the Haunted!" His facedown card flipped up. "And I'll use it to bring back Jurrac Stauriko!" The familiar green and purple lizard with flames appeared again. (ATK: 500-1300 DEF: 400 LV: 2) (ATK: 3100-2900)

"Next I summon the tuner monster, Jurrac Aeolo!" What appeared next was another egg that flame patterns on its shell. Moments later, it started to crack. The first thing that came out was a yellow tail with blue spikes and grey stripes. And then, a pair of grey legs with yellow strips and purple feet came out. And the last thing that came out was the monster's head, which was blue with yellow markings. (ATK: 200-1000 DEF: 200 LV: 1) "And now it'll tune with Giganoto and Stauriko!" It then turned into one single that circled around the tyrannosaurus and turned into a ring of light at the same time, Stauriko floated in the air and took its position right above Giganoto.

"Uh oh!" Jeremy muttered.

'That makes whatever he's about to summon a level 10 monster!' Cody thought grimly.

"Now my prehistoric creatures join together to bring out the power of ultimate destruction!" Giganoto and Stauriko's bodies turned transparent, revealing a total of 9 stars that lined up and created a beam of light. "I synchro summon Jurrac Meteor!" The light died down right after that.

But... to Cody and Jeremy's confusion, there was nothing on Eric's field. "What is this?" Cody glanced around before facing his opponent. "Where's your monster, Eric?"

The pro duelist simply smirked and pointed up. Cody and Jeremy looked up to the sky. And then, they were shocked.

"A me-me-me-me-..." Jeremy stuttered nervously.

And the reason to that was what they saw in the sky. It was a big, flaming meteor hurtling in their direction. There were a greenish dinosaur head and limbs sticking out of it. (ATK: 2800 DEF: 2000 LV: 10)

"What in the..." Cody muttered in disbelief.

"As you can see, my Jurrac Meteor lives up to its name." Eric said nonchalantly. "As soon as this monster is synchro summoned, it destroys everything on the field."

Jeremy paled. "In other words... TAKE COVER!"

At that, both he and Cody jumped away right before the meteor hit the field and exploded. The explosion was extremely powerful and destroyed all monsters. As well as the field spell.

Cody coughed as he got up on his feet and turned to the field. Everything was covered in smoke. He waited for half a minute before it dissipated. Everything was wiped clean. "Damn..."

"Told you I would go extreme." Eric said. "And there's more. After my Meteor destroys all cards on the field, I'm allowed to summon a tuner from my graveyard. And I think I'll bring back Jurrac Monoloph again." The yellow and blue dinosaur appeared once again. (ATK: 1500 DEF: 1200 LV: 3) "Now attack his life points directly!" The dinosaur rushed over to Cody and clawed him, making him cry out.

Cody: 1700-0200

"And that's all for this turn." Eric concluded and crossed his arms, a disappointed look forming on his face. "So now you're down to 200 life points, and you've got no cards on the field or in your hand. I've been waiting patiently for you to play the one card I once gave to the cousin I knew. From the way I see it, I'm starting to think that you're really not Cody."

Cody recovered from the last attack and stared at his deck. 'If only I could remember which card it was. I wish I could remember.' He closed his eyes. 'In any case, I can't give up now. I made a promise to find the clues my parents left behind and stop the one responsible for their death.' He clenched his right hand. 'So no matter what, I'll keep fighting. I'm really gonna accelerate!' He looked up with a newfound determination. "This duel is still on. And it's my move!" He drew his next card.

'Come on, Cody. You can do this!' Jeremy thought hopefully.

Cody looked at his new card and revealed it. "I play Pot of Avarice! This spell lets me return 5 monster cards from my graveyard to my deck and draw two new cards!" He took his five monster cards from the graveyard. And after letting deck shuffle and drew his extra cards. He paused briefly before looking at them. His eyes widened before smiling. "This is it!"

"Hm?" Eric raised an eyebrow.

"First I summon Goggle Golem in attack mode!" The goggle wearing stone golem appeared. (ATK: 1500 DEF: 500 LV: 4) "This guy is a Gemini monster, meaning he currently counts as a normal monster. And it's exactly what I need."

"Why is that?" Eric asked.

"Because it lets me play this card!" Cody held up his remaining, which released a bright light. The light was suddenly blocked by something big that appeared. When the light died down, everyone could see clearly what it was. It was a big, blue whale with some golden accents around its body. And an interesting feature of this creature was that it had what appeared to be windows lined up on its body. "Eric, meet my Submareed Tour Ride!" (ATK: 2200 DEF: 0 LV: 6)

Eric couldn't help but stare at the new creature with a shocked look on his face. He was completely frozen. 'That... monster. It's...'

"You played well, Eric." Cody spoke up. "But I'm afraid it's the end of the line."

Eric gasped as something popped up in his mind.

Flashback

"I draw!" A younger Cody drew a card from his deck and looked at it. He then grinned widely. "Aw yeah! End of the line for you!"

Flashback end

Back in the present, Eric smiled fondly. "There's no doubt about it now." He whispered.

"Now to end this duel!" Cody declared. "Submareed! Goggle Golem! End this!" The whale cried out before charging forward. It opened its mouth and swallowed Jurrac Monoloph whole. Right after, Goggle Golem jumped over to Eric and gave him a right hook that made him fall down on the floor.

Eric: 1600-0000

As the holograms vanished, Jeremy rushed over to Cody. "Nicely play, Cody!"

"Thanks." He smiled to him before walking over to Eric, who started to get up. "Well, Eric? Did I show you what you needed to see?"

Eric didn't say anything. He was completely silent. And then... he suddenly gave him a half hug, surprising them both. "You did. You sure played well using your Gemini cards. But it was the Submareed Tour Ride I was waiting for." He backed away and smiled to him. "Welcome home, Cody."

Cody smiled back. "Thanks. It's good to be back."

Jeremy smiled as well, glad for Cody and his reunion with his cousin.

But little did they know, was that someone was watching the scene from the doorway... Mason's secretary.

And that's that! Took me long enough, but I hope the wait was worth it. Until next time.