Troy is in the middle of a job. Despite the events of the prior night, he still has debts to pay and needs to earn a living. Dressed in his shop's uniform of a navy jumpsuit, and a vest, he's just finished acting as a courier for an online store.

Entering the city, he rides his motorbike to the front entrance to one of the tallest skyscrapers and lets himself in through the front. He casually waves at a few members of staff, they wave back, familiar with him as he comes to the front desk.

"Morning. I have a package for Aaron Frost," he sets the package down on the desk with the clipboard. After acknowledging him, the receptionist calls the top to inform the recipient of the delivery.

After a few minutes, a secretary exits an elevator and waves Troy over. He takes the package to her, and she signs for it.

"Boss man busy?"

" has a meeting at 10, so he wanted me to sign for this," she fills out the clipboard and hands it back over. "And what about you? I didn't know you worked this early, or on Fridays."

"I'm doing some overtime. I have a big expense coming up, and I want to be prepared." He hands her the package and heads out.

Outside, Troy calls his boss to confirm the delivery of the package. After hanging up, he spots a trio of cloaked figures approaching the same building from the back. Curious, he goes after them and finds them entering through the fire exit without setting off the alarms. He rushes after them, shoving something in the door before it closes. Luckily they didn't notice him hiding behind the door.

He follows after them, chasing them up the stairs, even with their headstart. He reaches them at the top, but it's already too late. Coming to the door at the top, he sees a familiar emerald green light shine through the cracks in the door. Kicking the door open, he fines the department manager having their soul taken from him by the cultists.

Once the light dies down, Troy rushes to the side of the defeated victim and catches them as they fall. "Aaron!" He checks their pulse and opens their eyelids. It's the same as last night with the defeated cultist. "You..., what did you do to him?" He addresses the cultists.

"He wouldn't cooperate, so we sent him to join the others who don't fall in line." While one of them speaks, the other two talk between themselves before speaking to the one who spoke out. "I've just been made aware that you are Troy West. Good to know you're taking a break from searching for your master. But, I'm afraid we can't let you continue on knowing what you do."

The cultist activates their duel disk, ready for a second duel after just defeating the manager. Troy takes the duel disk from Aaron's arm, and replaces the deck inserted with his own, "This time I expect some answers for who you think you are."

Cultist 4000LP

VS

Troy 4000LP

The cultist starts the duel. "I'll play these two cards of mine facedown, and then," he pulls out their trump card, "I activate The Seal of Orichalcos!" The seal forms around the two duelists. The hexagon creates itself before appearing on the cultist's forehead.

"We'll leave this matter to you. Be quick, and return swiftly," the other cultists walk away, going around the seal, knowing that Troy is unable to exit the barrier of the seal. He tries to go after them, but his hand receives a shock upon touching the barrier.

"There's no leaving the confines of the seal. Only one of us may leave. I end my turn. Hurry up, so I can add your soul to the others."

"Tssk, I'd rather not add any more to your 'collection', but if someone has to join it, it won't be me. My turn!" Troy draws and smiles. "I summon Thoroughbred Elf in attack mode." [Level 4/Light/Warrior/ATK 1800] Troy summons a strong monster, an elf of pure descent, and a strong heart. "I attack you directly with Thoroughbred!" Troy's monster punches the cultist across the floor, knocking them into the barrier hard.

[Cultist 4000 - 2200]

The cultist starts laughing. Clutching their chest, they let out a creepy, unnaturally sounding noise from their cape. "Thank you for that. Because of your attack, I can activate my trap card, Damage Condenser. By discarding a card from my hand, I can summon a monster from my deck with equal attack points as damage I took, or less."

The cultist searches their deck for their preferred monster. "With my trap, I summon Cannon Solider to the field." [Level 4/Earth/Machine/ATK 1400] The cultist summons a bi-pedal robot with a cannon for a face. "With the Seal of Orichalcos in play, my monster gains an additional 500 attack points." [ATK 1400 - 1900]

"I don't know what you're planning with that card but don't think it will put me down. I place one card face down on the field, and end my turn."

"It's my move. I draw. From my hand, I activate the spell card, Scapegoat. With this, I special summon four sheep tokens to my side of the field." The cultist summons four different coloured sheep to their field. [Level 1/Earth/Beast/DEF 0] "These tokens cannot be used to summon a monster, and I can't summon anything else this turn. However, their use is for my solider."

"What?!"

"Yes. By tributing a monster, Cannon Soldier inflicts 500 points of damage to my opponent. And I tribute all four of my tokens." The tokens glow before turning to dust. Cannon Soldier absorbs them into its body before charging its special attack. It fires its attack directly at Troy.

[Troy 4000 - 2000]

"Next I activate the magic card, Jam Breeding Machine. It's a continuous spell card that remains on the field." A large machine appears behind the cultist. "With that, I end my turn."

Troy is confused. "Why didn't he attack me with his monster? He must be planning something," he thinks to himself. Drawing from his deck, the cultist springs another surprise.

"Trap card open, Gravity Bind! While this card is face up, all monsters level 4 or higher cannot attack. So even if you surpass my Soldier, you will never get the chance to swing over it."

Ticked by the trap, Troy doesn't let it get him down. Instead, he continues with his turn. "I summon Sapphire Dragon from my hand in attack mode, and end my turn." [Level 4/Wind/Dragon/ATK 1900] Troy summons a beautiful dragon of luster.

"It's my turn again. I draw," the machine starts making noises. "During the standby phase, my breeding machine special summons a Slime token to the field." [Level 1/Water/Aqua/ATK 500] It gains attack from the seal. [ATK 500 - 1000]

"So this is your plan. You restrict us from attacking each other, while your machine summons monsters for you to tribute for your soldier."

"Well done. I'm glad you figured it out so fast. But I'm not done. I also have this card, Dark Room of Nightmare. It's another continuous spell. Each time you take effect damage, you receive another 300 damage to boot. Watch." On that note, Cannon Soldier absorbs the slime token, and blasts Troy again. As he receives the 500 points of damage, he feels another 300 being taken from him.

[Troy 2000 - 1200]

"This is not good," Troy thinks to himself. "Next turn, his breeding machine will pump out another token. Plus, if he tributes his own Soldier for the effect, that's more than enough to defeat me. I'll lose!"

"I end my turn. Be thankful you still have one turn left," the cultist is confident in their assured victory.

Troy looks at the cards in his hand, and then on the field. His face-down card is Mirror Force. Something he planned to use if he was attacked, but wouldn't work against the cultist's strategy.

"I'm finished...," he says under his breath in defeat. His eyes snap open for a second, "No. This can't be how it ends." He thinks back to how his mentor had taught him. "My mentor used to go on about this duelist she fought. A man who could will any card he needed when he needed it. Just be believing in his cards." He looks down at his deck. "I believe I will find her again, and get my answers. And I know this deck will see it through. So I'll believe it right here, right now!"

Troy draws the last card of the game, being overly dramatic with it as he turns it around. His heart skips a beat upon seeing it. "I activate Stamping Destruction!" The cultist is shocked at the sight of the card. "Because I control a dragon-type monster, I can destroy one of your spell or trap cards, and then burn you for 500. I choose...Gravity Bind!" Sapphire Dragon shoots its fire attack on the trap card, destroying it. The flames are caught on the cultist's cloak.

[Cultist 2200 - 1700]

"Why destroy that? If you took down my breeding machine, you could have survived longer?"

"This isn't about surviving till the next turn. No. This is about winning this turn. Without your trap card, my monsters are free to attack you again. Sapphire Dragon, attack Cannon Soldier!" The dragon and the machine battle. Due to their equal strength, they destroy each other, both hitting the other with a timed attack. With no monsters left on their field, the cultist is wide open. "Thoroughbred, attack him directly!" Troy calls the attack. His monster closes the distance, and once again punches the cultist in the face, this time putting them down for good.

[Cultist 1700 - 0]

The seal begins to close around the two, intending to take the cultist's soul. Realizing what's about to happen, Troy rushes over to them and grabs them. He shakes them violently while screaming, "Where is she? What did you do to her? Just who are you?"

The cultist remains quiet. Troy can feel them shaking through the robes. They're scared. "Genesis is coming." They grab Troy by the collar and pull him close. "Be prepared. Your master tried to stop us and paid for it with their soul. If you want to save her, and everyone else, you'd need to defeat the great beast...," Before they can finish, the seal snatches their soul away from them, leaving them cold and lifeless on the floor.

There's a sudden knocking at the door. "This is security! We've received some noise complaints, as well as sounds of a struggle. Are you alright in there?"

"I best go," Troy retrieves his deck, and removes the disk, leaving it on Aaron's person before fleeing out the way he came. He makes it out the backdoor without hassle and quickly gets on his bike to flee.

The remaining two cultists watch him leave on his bike, "It would seem she has trained him well. To think a former member of Doma would give us the ultimate thorn in our side."