Bring The Heat, Soulburner!

by kcufad

What if Yusaku wasn't the main character? What if Ai wasn't the Ignis that escaped? What if a different character was the main character with his two best friends on his back and fight the Knights Of Hanoi? Entrustshipping, Future Angelmakershipping and more. (Usage of Dub names) Cover Art: ThunderMarisol

23. The Sacred Tree

Time To Answer The Reviews:

Ken Valbrandur: Yeah it was a good idea to wait for the next few chapters. Probably they will have more, but I am not sure if they would have. Worms are a bad deck, sorry to burst your bubble, and yes it was a reference. Yup. Thanks, the duel between Ghost Gal and Varis was a fun one to write, yeah, you are going to be correct about that duel. I really enjoy to use more of the new support. For sure, they will be absolute menaces to society. For sure, I will try with Specter destroying his opponent mentally. The Shepherd will get 1 more impressive win than in Canon, Skye will get more wins than in canon and will have more screen time, the chess pieces won't be that useful until Season 3.

The duel between Specter of the Hanoi, the right hand man of Varis, between Stormrider, one of the people trying to defeat the Knights of Hanoi, has begun in a Master Duel! Frostgirl and Flame were spectating the entire time, worried for their friend, but still have confidence in his skills.

Specter though? He looked like he was about to win this duel without as so much of a yawn as the aura around him was confident to show that he wasn't afraid and they knew that he was unpredictable as they don't even know his deck. They were in Link VRAINS to stop the Tower Of Hanoi.

Specter: 4000 lp

Field: No monsters, No Spells or Traps

Hand: 5 cards

Stormrider: 4000 lp

Field: No monsters, No Spells or Traps

Hand: 5 cards

Turn Count: 1.

Master Duel!

(A/N: Play What Destiny Shows.)

"Now, since this is a duel, I will ask this question. Who shall start this duel off?" asked Specter as he looked at the three eyes as no matter what position he was in, he could handle that in his own way, especially after wiping the floor against Kitamura.

Stormrider looked backwards at Frostgirl and Flame as they knew that no matter what, Specter's deck was still a mystery so no matter what he chose, he could still shock them.

Stormrider sighed as he looked back, "You can go first." he said as he readied himself as he looked at the top 5 cards from his hand and knew that it was a good hand for this duel, but how good could it be?

"Oh, why thank you so much! This is such a great opportunity!" Specter threw his hand out to reveal all 5 of his cards as he had a grin on his face as he had the perfect defense in his hand alone, "I activate the Spell card, Sunvine Sowing!" he yelled as then a spell card materialized in front of him as they raised their brow hearing that name.

"With this card I can special summon 1 Sunseed Monster from my deck to my field for the price of 1000 life points," a card appeared on Specter's hand as he took it, "However, if I control no Sunavalon Link monster, I can only Special Summon my Sunseed Genius Loci! So appear! The seed of your end!" he yelled as he then slammed the card as then on his field appeared a new seed.

On his field was a new seed as it was brown, as there were golden vines around the seed as it was on the top of it, not to mention it looked metallic as there were green emeralds around the vines as then the handle was that of an emerald and gold. It dropped to the ground and created a small hole on the ground.

(Sunseed Genius Loci: Level 1 - Earth Plant - Attack: 0. Defense: 600.)

Specter: 4000 - 3000 lp

Stormrider: 4000 lp

"A seed?" asked Frostgirl as she tilted her head. "Not to mention, 1000 life points for a normal monster?"

"Well, you shouldn't jump to conclusions, deary, as this will be enough for me to grow my circuit!" Specter yelled out as he threw out some material to create a circuit. "The Summoning Conditions is 1 Level 4 or lower Plant monster, so I set my Sunseed Genius Loci in the Link Arrows!" he yelled as the seed went straight towards the circuit.

"Appear, the mother tree that protects its offspring! I Link Summon! Link-1, Sunavalon Dryas!" Around them, the ground began to shake immensely as then from it grew a tree, a rather large one, as it was behind Specter, like it was guarding him, as there appeared to be a woman's face on it that was wooden, as there were green pods around the monster.

(Sunavalon Dryas: Link - Earth Plant - Attack: 0. Link-1. Link Arrows: Bottom-Middle.)

"All of that… for a tree?" asked Stormrider as he looked at him in shock. All that talk… for a LInk-1 tree?

"Now, now, you shouldn't talk to someone when it is the start of the duel, wouldn't you agree?" he asked as he then took a card from his hand, "Now, I will set a card face down and end my turn." he said as then a card was set vertically in front of Specter and the mother tree.

Turn 2. Stormrider - 4000 lp - 5 cards

"It has 0 attack points, it is a Link-1, so I wonder… what was the purpose of summoning that monster?" asked Flame as Specter chuckled.

"Well, if you want to know. Sunavalon Dryas has pretty good protection. It can't be attacked, but you can attack me directly." he said as they were slightly surprised that a monster like that can't be attacked, but what was the purpose if it doesn't stop the opponent from attacking?

There was something about this that didn't make any sense, but Stormrider drew the top card of his deck, "Alright, I will start by normal summoning my Defender of Nephthys!" he yelled as then on his field appeared a woman that had a tan, with long beige coloured hair, with an orange cape, as the armour was golden and in the style of the Nephthys bird, as she held a sword that was quite sharp around the edges with an impressive held.

(Defender Of Nephthys: Level 2 - Wind Spellcaster - Attack: 1400. Defense: 200.)

"Ahh, Defender? Isn't that the one that can destroy a card in your hand to summon a monster from the hand as well?" asked Specter as Stormrider was taken aback from that.

"Yeah?" he shook his head, he needs to think straight, "I will destroy one card from my hand," one of his cards burst into flames once he took one of them from his hand as he took another card from his hand, "So I can summon Hand Of Nephthys!" he yelled as he slammed the card on his duel disk.

As then, an exotic looking lady appeared on the field. Like Defender, she had tan skin and an orange cape, but this time, she wore a hat that had the head of Nephthys on it, as there were orange cloth around her shoulders and legs, with sandals, gauntlets around her arms and legs as she showed her shoulders slightly more.

(Hand Of Nephthys: Level 2 - Wind Spellcaster - Attack: 600. Defense: 600.)

"Now, I will move in battle!" he yelled as Specter looked at him in surprise.

"What? That is all, you are not going to either Ritual or Link Summon? That is quite a bummer, I was so excited to see your monsters." Specter shook his head as they knew that this man was faking it, but the way he was acting made them feel… off about this. The entire time.

"No, I couldn't. I didn't have the best hand for that type of move." he said as he then threw his hand out, "Battle! Hand Of Nephthys attacks you directly! Religious Burn!" he yelled out as Hand Of Nephthys placed her hands out as then large amounts of fire flew straight towards Specter, not even targeting Dryas. The man shook it off as it wasn't fire.

Specter: 3000 - 2400 lp

Stormrider: 4000 lp

Specter… smirked.

They realized way too late.

Stormrider messed up.

"Thank you. Since, Dryas has an effect that he wants to show you! First, since I took damage, I can recover that amount once per turn! Not only that, but I can special summon 1 Sunvine monster from my Extra Deck straight to one of her Link Arrows!" Specter yelled out as then vines went around Specter and began to heal him.

Specter: 2400 - 3000 lp

Stormrider: 4000 lp

Then from one of the pods, came out one new monster that was a shock to see. It knelt down as the monster revealed itself, it didn't look like a plant, instead it looked like a warrior, as the monster had brown skin with armour that was gray and brown at the same time, as he had shields around the arms and legs of the new monster. It rose up and glared at the two monsters and three opponents.

(Sunvine Gardna: Link - Plant Earth - Attack: 600. Link-1. Link Arrows: Top-Middle.)

"So that is his strategy, using the damage he takes from battles or effect to summon out monsters to boost his defense to high proportion!" Flame said as Specter grinned.

"That was quite observant of you, Fire Ignis, but that is not the only strategy I have, but for now, go ahead." he said as he placed his arms behind his back.

Stormrider had to see what he could do in this situation, but he has to drop his life points to low amount for one of his monsters to deal the finishing blow now or never, "Defender destroys your Gardna!" he yelled as his Defender flew straight towards Gardna, but Specter interjected.

"Gardna has 2 effects of his own! The first being that the battle damage that I take battles revolving this card is now halved," he said as Defender sliced through Gardna like it was butter as Specter didn't seem bothered by that fact as he kept his smirk on his face, "Not to mention, the Battle Phase ends!" he yelled.

"Dang it!" Stormrider said as he gripped his hand into a ball.

Specter: 3000 - 2600 lp

Stormrider: 4000 lp

"He countered all of my moves just like that… this is harder than I thought." he said.

"Of course it is, what did you expect me to be like Faust, Genome or Baira? Well no offense to them as I respect them, but their skills don't come close to mine." he said as they gritted their teeth. If the Commanders of the Hanoi weren't strong as him, then this fight… was going to be tougher than ever.

"I end my turn after I set this card." he said as he took a card from his hand and a card was set vertically behind his two monsters. This fight… was only just starting.

When Specter drew his card, a grin appeared on his face.

INTRO!

(A/N: Play Kizuna no Kiseki from Demon Slayer.)

We see a collection of duelists' duel disk as they were shown to be drawn by different duelists such as: Soulburner, Frostgirl, Stormrider, Gore, Kitamura, Ghost Gal, Specter and finally, Varis, but when he was shown of drawing his last card, the scenery changed to Soulburner with Flame on his shoulder standing in a lone deserted town.

As then we see Soulburner at the front, Flame on his left shoulder, Frostgirl on his left and Stormrider to his right as then they went to the right with the title saying "Bring The Heat, Soulburner!"

Running through the dark night, where are we headed?

We first see a room where Seigen on his laptop trying to code with Flame looking over in interest as Kiku and Theodore are trying their best to study.

Only the moonlight is our sole guide

We then see Varis and Specter standing beside each other as Varis sees a screen looking over their strongest monsters.

Pain and sadness cannot be erased

Then we see a tiny boy looking over a screen showing 6 children around his age in an experiment known as The Lost Incident with horror on his face.

But the flames in our hearts cannot be extinguished

We see Gore sitting down in his arena, remembering those days of when he was orphan with no one there to comfort him, but he then stood up with a smile on his face, trying to show the other orphans that he is ready to take them down.

For whom do we persist with these feelings?

As then we see the backs of previous legendary duelists from before their time as slowly, but surely, it went around to see Gore, Stormrider, Frostgirl and Soulburner, which the four turned around with determined looks on their faces.

We'll tear through the darkness and into the light

As then the turned to see Varis and Specter nodding to each other as they both appeared in the same city.

Until the day when we can shine

We then see Stormrider and Gore looking shocked, Frostgirl looking terrified and finally Soulburner and Flame looking determined to finally see the time of day.

Oh fire, born within our liberated hearts

We see Specter with a wild grin on his face as his Sunavalon Dryatrentiay threw out its roots at the battling Ho-Oh, The Reincarnation of Nephthys and General Edward Of The Ice Barrier as Stormrider and Frostgirl grit their teeth at him.

Rise up and surround us, toward the other side of dawn

We then see Varis unleashing Borrelsword, Borrelguard and Borreload Dragons like a maniac as Gore roared as he summoned out his Gouki Destroy Ogre, Gouki Undertaker Ogre and two more Ogres at him.

Until we can lovе this world once more

We then see Flame looking at the sky, finally realizing the true purpose of his existence as he looked like he found his inner peace.

Even if our livеs come to an end, let's stay connected

We then see Soulburner at what looked like he was covered in flames as his Salamangreat Violet Chimera, Pyro Phoenix, Blaze Dragon, Emerald Eagle and his new Synchro monster were battling against Varis who had his Borreload Dragon, Borreload Savage Dragon, Borreload eXCharge Dragon, Borreload Riot Dragon and Borreload Furious Dragon.

To the miracle woven by our bond

After the monsters were destroyed, all that left was a Soulburner who looked not angered or sad, but joyous while Varis had a smile on his face as their fields had Salamangreat Heatleo and Topologic Zeroboros, as when the two crashed…

Theodore, Flame, Kiku and Seigen were watching the beautiful coast line.

BRING THE HEAT, SOULBURNER! - THE KNIGHTS OF HANOI!

(A/N: End Theme.)

The duel between Specter and Stormrider has only just begun and only a part of Specter's strategy was revealed to three watching this duel, but judging by the way that Specter looked at his card, they knew it was only the start.

Specter: 2600 lp

Field: Sunavalon Dryas [Extra Monster Zone], 1 set card

Hand: 4 cards

Stormrider: 4000 lp

Field: Defender of Nephthys, Hand Of Nephthys, 1 set card

Hand: 2 cards

Turn Count: 3.

Master Duel!

(A/N: Play Jack Atlas Theme.)

"This card is useful for later, so I will first start off by setting this card on my field." said Specter as another card was set vertically in front of him and his tree.

"Now, I will begin by playing my Sunvine Shrine! I first have to discard 1 card from my hand to the graveyard," he said as he discarded the card from his hand as a Continuous Spell card materialized in front of him. The Shrine then began to glow in a green colour, which they knew meant something bad was going to happen.

"I activate Sunvine Shrine's effect! Once per turn, I can special summon 1 Level 4 or lower Plant Normal monster from my graveyard! So reappear, my Sunseed Genius Loci!" he yelled as then the shrine then pulled out tentacles which creeped everyone out as it went to the graveyard. It pulled out Sunseed Genius Loci.

(Sunseed Genius Loci: Level 1 - Earth Plant - Attack: 0. Defense: 600.)

"That is not all! I haven't conducted my Normal Summon yet, and what better than to do with a monster that I haven't summoned yet! Come out, Sunseed Shadow!" he yelled out as he took a card from his hand as then a new monster appeared that he hasn't summoned yet, at least if they didn't see him duel that moron Kitamura.

The monster was at first a plant that had vines wrapped all around with a brown eye at the middle as inside of the cup or handle were opened up orange metallic vines that were around the vines, as it had emeralds around the cup as the cup was more golden and turquoise.

(Sunseed Shadow: Level 1 - Earth Plant - Attack: 0. Defense: 400.)

"He has 3 monsters on his side of the field!" yelled Flame as he knew what was about to happen.

"He is going to Link Summon a Link-3!" Frostgirl yelled out in worry, but Specter laughed.

"A Link-3? Now, that is humorous dear, but you are half right about me Link Summoning! I grow my circuit!" he yelled out as then a circuit appeared on his side of the field as it up him, "The Summoning Conditions are 2 Plant monsters, including at least 1 Sunavalon Link Monster, so I set my Sunseed Shadow and Sunavalon Dryas in the Link Arrows!" he yelled out as the two monsters flew in the air to create a new monster.

"Appear, the mother tree that evolved to protect her offsprings, as her new grown power shields the very weather around them! I Link Summon! Link-2, Sunavalon Dryades!" he yelled as then from the ground, appeared two tentacles, as the monster revealed itself to be grown version of Dryas, as there were grass around the tree, several pods were around the tree as they were now orange, the leaves were prettier, as the woman inside of the tree grew out of it as it was slowly maturing. It was in the Extra monster zone.

(Sunavalon Dryades: Link - Earth Plant - Attack: 0. Link-2. Link Arrows: Bottom-Left and Bottom-Right.)

"You just summoned a bigger tree!" yelled Stormrider as Specter looked at him.

"That may be the case for you, oh troubled young one, but for me… it is the most essential part of this deck… and for myself," said Specter as he placed his hand on his chest and he closed his eyes, as he then reopened them, "Now, I will now grow my circuit for a second time!" he yelled as then a circuit appeared.

"The Summoning Conditions is 1 Normal Plant Monster! So I set my Sunseed Genius Loci in the Link Arrows!" he yelled as his only Normal monster flew straight towards the Link Arrow in high speeds as they could feel a new monster that has never been summoned before is going to appear, as then they saw the new monster.

"Come out, the warrior of the mother tree battling for her love! I Link Summon! Link-1, Sunvine Thrasher!" he yelled as then on Dryades' Left Link Arrow, appeared a monster they haven't seen yet. It was a monster that had light blue skin that wore turquoise coloured armour and gauntlets around the arms and chest, with tight black pants, wearing a green helmet with yellow lines and a green robe. He wore a massive jagged sword that he began to swing around the place as he then pointed towards his enemies.

(Sunvine Thrasher: Link - Earth Plant - Attack: 800. Link-1. Link Arrows: Bottom-Middle.)

"I understand what you just did, you covered up your defense that is your Dryades with an offensive monster… An interesting combo." said Flame as he crossed his arms.

"That's right, Fire Ignis, but I wouldn't go around complimenting my enemies, now would I?" asked Specter as he then looked as his opponent, "Now, he may not look tough, but he is certainly more of a match compared that to your Defender. Before you say anything about less attack points, Thrasher's effect goes off! I target 1 Sunavalon monster I control that points towards him and he gains 800 attack points for every Link Arrow!" he yelled as they gasped.

"Say what?!" yelled Stormrider in complete shock.

"You heard me! Sunavalon Dryades has 2 Link Arrows, which means that my Sunvine Thrasher gains 1600 attack points!" he yelled out as his monster roared in power as he glew red for a bit.

Sunvine Thrasher: 800 - 2400 attack points

"He has more than what Stormrider has combined." Frostgirl clicked her tongue.

"That's right, but before I commence battle, I am in debt of some life points, wouldn't you agree?" asked Specter as they were confused on what he said by that, "So, why not activate this card?! Sunbloom Doom!" the card he set the previous turn was now revealed to everyone in the duel.

"If I control a Sunavalon monster on my field, I can target 1 monster that I have in possession and then, I gain life points equal to the total attack points all monsters with the same type as that monster!" Specter as he pointed towards Sunvine Thrasher, "Thrasher is the only one with attack points, but that won't matter, since I will now gain a total of 2400 life points!" he yelled as then he glew red as Dryades wrapped around him as he had a smile on his face.

Specter: 2600 - 5000 lp

Stormrider: 4000 lp

"This is only the start of your pain! Battle! Sunvine Thrasher attacks your Defender of Nephthys! Slash Of The Mother Tree!" Specter yelled as then Thrasher roared in power as he then flew straight towards Defender with his sword ready in his arms as even the most trained eye couldn't keep up with him.

Stormrider gritted his teeth as his only set card revealed itself, "I show my Awakening Of The Nephthys! All of my Nephtyhys monsters gains a total of 300 attack points!" he yelled as the Continuous Trap card made the two women glew red from the short powerup.

Defender of Nephthys: 1400 - 1700 attack points

Hand Of Nephthys: 600 - 900 attack points

Specter sneered seeing that card. He recalled how much help that specific card was during his duel against Faust. He knew to avoid it only if he was sure that he would end the duel the same turn, "She may be stronger, but she is still going to be slashed!" Specter yelled out as Sunvine Thrasher continued to run straight towards her as Defender ran towards him, ready to fight back. Both swords clashed, but the sheer might of Thrasher made the poor woman lose her grip and was killed in the process.

Specter: 5000 lp

Stormrider: 4000 - 3300 lp

The battle was over and Specter looked like he was over with his turn. Or was he.

"Did you know that Thrasher has another effect?" Stormrider widened his eyes as they watched in shock, "When it destroys a monster by battle, I get to summon it next to a Sunavalon Monster's Link Arrow! Appear, Defender!" he yelled as then Dryades then shot two vines to the ground as Stormrider could only watch as from it emerged Defender, who was struggling to keep it under control, but couldn't as she was then brought to Specter's side of the field.

Used as a pawn.

(Defender Of Nephthys: Level 2 - Wind Spellcaster - Attack: 1400. Defense: 200.)

"That is his strategy?! That is… diabolically brilliant! Using comrades to fight each other in a move that can't be seen in any other deck!" yelled Flame as Frostgirl nodded.

"Yeah and thankfully, Awakening only affects monsters that Stormrider controls, not all of them." she said.

"Oh I know that, but that won't matter from Defender cutting up her comrade for dinner! Holy Slash!" Specter yelled as Defender then ran straight towards Hand Of The Nephthys as even though she tried using strong flames, it was meaningless as it was cut through like a hot knife on butter.

Specter: 5000 lp

Stormrider: 3300 - 2800 lp

"Oh, how tragic, isn't it?" asked Specter in fake mockery, "A friend backstabbing the other all because of some power, that is truly dreadful to hear, isn't it?" asked Specter as he turned to his opponent, "I hope you can pull off a combo cause I call it a turn." he said.

(A/N: End theme, but play Todo 120%.)

Turn 4. Stormrider - 2800 lp - 2 cards

Stormrider narrowed his eyes at what he is currently seeing. He has a monster that can at the bare minimum heal 2 attacks and summon out a powerful Link-1 monster that can help him be in the duel longer, a monster that can gain more and more attack points and can bring his monsters to Specter's side as well as a once per turn revive effect. He had to admit, that was a good strategy.

However, that was only the start of the duel. "You may have started off strong, but I have something like this! I draw!" he yelled as he drew the top card of his deck, placing the card in his hand as he then pointed towards Specter, "During the next Standby Phase after it was destroyed, Disciple Of Nephthys' effect pops off! I can add 1 Nephthys Spell or Trap card from my deck to my hand!" he yelled out as a card popped out of his duel disk as he then took it.

"I will add my Ritual Spell card, Rebirth Of Nephthys!" he said as he showed the card as Specter nodded, mentally making a note of that card in his hand, "I will then play my Angel Baton!" the Spell card materialized in front of him as he began to explain, "With this I can draw 2 cards, but I have to discard 1 card." he said as he drew the top 2 cards of his deck and then sent the last card he drew.

"The card I discarded was my Card Of Compensation, and when it is sent to my graveyard, its effect allows me to draw 2 cards from my deck!" he yelled as he drew two more cards from his deck as he looked at his hand to see if he could create a potential new combo with this and he smiled as he knew the perfect combo.

"Alright! Prepare to bring the fertilizer because I am going to destroy that tree of yours!" he yelled as he pointed at Specter as the man grinned.

"Really now? Well, call me a monkey's uncle because I can't wait! Come on, I want to show how you can destroy my mother tree! Let's see how well you can handle it," said Specter with a grin on his face.

"You are going to eat your words, creep! I first start off by playing Dian Keto The Cure Master!" he yelled out as then a plus sized woman appeared with blue and purple robes as she has green hair, "This card allows me to gain 1000 life points!" he yelled as the woman sent out a ball made out of positive energy straight at him as he glowed red.

Specter: 5000 lp

Stormrider: 2800 - 3800 lp

"I will then play the Spell card, Detour!" the Spell card materialized in front of him as it showed artwork that confused them, "This card negates the effects of 1 monster you have on the field! And I will target your Dryades!" he yelled out as Specter blinked in shock as he saw a strange, but powerful line of blue energy being shot straight towards Dryades as the tree lost its colours.

"Ahh… I see you have gotten a way to get through the defense of Dryades, not bad." he said as tried to show no reaction to any of this.

"Hey, don't forget that your monster will be chopped down when he will attack it!" yelled Frostgirl as Specter's nose twitched as he tried to show no reaction when he heard that.

"That's true, but so far, it isn't very likely that will happen." he said as Stormrider grinned.

"That's right, for now! Don't forget the second part of Detour's effect! It deals you 500 points of damage!" he yelled as then a quick star appeared from the Spell card as it flew straight towards Specter as he covered himself from that attack, but it didn't affect him much.

Specter: 5000 - 4500 lp

Stormrider: 3800 lp

The life point situation was getting closer and closer, but Specter was still in the lead, which means that Stormrider had to get serious with this, "Alright! Time to go full force against this guy! I activate Rebirth of Nephthys!" he yelled as then a purple circle appeared on the field with 12 Heads of Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys to represent the Levels.

"Ahh, I see what you are going to do… a Ritual Summon. Of what? Some Egyptian children that won't do nothing?" asked Specter.

"No, but I will sacrifice a Level 8, Fire King High Avatar Garunix, from my hand as a Tribute that either succeeds or is the exact amount for this summon, and thankfully for this summon, it exactly the amount I need!" he yelled at the top of his lungs as then a massive Phoenix appeared as it looked exotic with the colours being majestic as Flame had to admit, every time it was seen, it looked even more beautiful than the last time. It turned into data as 8 of the heads were lit up.

Stormrider then began to chant, "Sacred Phoenix, let the flames engulf your body! As the feathers of your kind will burn into a new Phoenix! I Ritual Summon! Descend, Level 8, Cerulean Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys!" as then from the circle flew out a powerful Phoenix whose strength can't be contained, as the monster's azure coloured flames burned stronger each and every second as the flames engulfed the new kind as the monster towered over everybody, as its azure coloured body was a beauty to look at.

(Cerulean Sacred Phoenix Of Nephthys: Ritual - Level 8 - Fire Winged Beast - Attack: 3000. Defense: 1000.)

"Now that is what we call bringing the heat, Stormrider! This monster will show your strength!" cheered Flame as he crossed his arms.

"Good job, you summoned a massive bird. Well it fits don't you think? With birds sitting on trees? What a coincidence." said Specter as he wasn't impressed by that Ritual Summon.

"Oh yeah, but don't you know that fire burns trees? Well, let's continue that trend! But first…. I will summon my Chronicler of Nephthys!" Stormrider slammed the card on his duel disk. The monster was a tan Egyptian woman wearing golden sandals, golden robes and gauntlets, with a large white gown with long flowing brown hair as she was reading a scroll. Once it was summoned near Cerulean, she bowed in respect.

(Chronicler of Nephthys: Level 2 - Wind Spellcaster - Attack: 300. Defense: 1200.)

"However, don't forget Awakening's effect!" he yelled as the two monsters he had on the field glew red.

Chronicler of Nephthys: 300 - 600 attack points

Cerulean Sacred Phoenix Of Nephthys: 3000 - 3300 attack points

Stormrider thought about his options in this turn. He could go ahead and deal a total of 3300 points of damage towards Specter by destroying his Dryades with his Ritual monster, but then, he couldn't handle his Sunvine Thrasher in the same turn, so he had to think about a different idea.

A one that might help him out.

"Battle! Cerulean Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys attacks your Sunvine Thrasher! Sacred Reincarnation Blast!" he yelled at the top of his lungs as then Cerulean Sacred Phoenix flew up in the air. It screeched to the point that Specter took a step backwards, but that didn't mean much as he then saw Cerulean open up its jaw to reveal a small ember being created as then it was then shot straight towards Sunvine Thrasher.

Specter: 4500 - 3600 lp

Stormrider: 3800 lp

"That is not including your precious tree over there! Chronicler of Nephthys burn it down! Sacred Breath!" Stormrider yelled as Chronicler put down her scroll and took a deep breath as then fire was then shot straight from her mouth as it reached straight towards Sunavalon Dryades.

Specter turned around to see her burning. His eyes widened and his eyes grew in pure… anger. He could hear her screaming for mercy, he could hear her yearn for peace, he could even hear his mother cry out for him to save her. However, he couldn't do anything. He could only stare at her defeat, her death.

Specter: 3600 - 3000 lp

Stormrider: 3800 lp

"Alright! He now has more life points than that creep!" cheered Frostgirl, but Flame could feel something different. Something malicious coming arise. They even noted that Sunvine Shrine exploded once Dryades left the field.

"Oh… you are going to pay for that." said Specter with venom in his voice.

"Umm… what do you mean by that?" asked Stormrider as Specter turned around to see his face and his face was something no one thought a human could do.

"You are going to pay! Sunavalon Glorious Growth! ACTIVATE!" his lone set card activated itself, "When I take damage, either by battle or by effect, I can special summon 1 Sunvine Token on my field!"

On Specter's field appeared what appeared to be an orb that had leaves all around the rod that looked like it was made out tree oak with orbs around it, one orange, one red and the other yellow.

(Sunvine Token: Level 1 - Earth Plant - Attack: 0. Defense: 0.)

"Then, I can then use it to Link Summon 1 Sunavalon Link Monster! So I grow my circuit!" A circuit appeared on Specter's side of the field. "The Summoning Conditions is 1 Level 4 or lower Plant monster, so I set the Sunvine Token in the Link Arrows!" he yelled as the monster flew straight towards the bottom Link Arrow.

"I Link Summon! Link-1, Sunavalon Dryas!" he yelled as then from the ground emerged a second copy of Dryas as this time as it appeared behind Specter, as it wrapped around him like a mother would to her child.

(Sunavalon Dryas: Link - Earth Plant - Attack: 0. Link-1. Link Arrows: Bottom-Middle.)

"What is it, mother?" asked Specter as they raised their eyebrows at that. Wind flew from the leaves as Specter nodded as he seemed to calm down, "Alright. I apologize." he said as the vines released themselves from Specter. He took a deep breath.

"Thanks to Glorious Growth," said Specter as they were heavily confused on how he had that reaction, but now he is acting like he didn't react that way, "I gain the amount I lost and whenever I gain life points, you take the same amount." he said as vines wrapped around Specter once more and one vine hit him in the sides.

Specter: 3000 - 3600 lp

Stormrider: 3800 - 3200 lp

"So he has a way to retrieve the amount he lost with a single Trap card. This deck is getting tougher to get through by the second. However… did any of you notice the way his Continuous Spell card exploded once Dryades was destroyed?" asked Flame as they noticed that. Maybe the same applies to Glorious Growth.

"Time to test this theory! I activate Cerulean Sacred Phoenix's effect! I can destroy as many monsters I want on my field or hand so I can destroy the same amount on your side of the field!" Stormrider as then Cerulean then fired blue fire straight towards Chronicler of Nephthys and set itself on fire.

"FIRE!" he pointed directly towards Specter's Dryas and his own Defender that he took. Both attacks went straight towards Specter's monsters, but the man grinned. Chronicler's fire went straight towards Defender, but Specter took out a card.

"If a card effect would destroy my Sunavalon monster by battle or by card effect, I can banish Sunvine Sowing instead." he said as he took the card from his graveyard as it then disappeared into card data. A barrier appeared that made the Cerulean Ritual monster bounce off and made it useless.

"Looks like your trick has been avoided, huh?" asked Specter as Stormrider sighed.

"I call it a turn." he said.

(A/N: End Theme.)

Turn 5. Specter - 3600 lp - 0 cards

"Now… it is time for my tu-"

"Wait." Specter looked at Frostgirl.

"Huh? What is it, deary, we are in a middle of a duel. Wait for your own turn once I defeat him." Specter said as Frostgirl looked at him.

"Sorry, I just want to know something, something about you." she said as Specter and even her allies looked at her weirdly.

"What do you mean by that?" he asked.

"Well… it is due to your reaction when your Dryades was destroyed in a battle." they said as Stormrider did see how he reacted once that happened. "Not to mention… you called your monster mother, I just want to know… is there something about that? Something so grand that you called a tree your mother?" she asked as Specter stopped for a moment.

"You want to know that?" they were all silent until they nodded. "Well, sit down folks because this will be a long one. But first, you are all familiar with the Lost Incident, aren't you?" asked Specter as Stormrider tensed up as they widened their eyes from that.

"What does that have to do with anything?" asked Stormrider with a voice that was shaky as he looked at Specter. Frostgirl was uncomfortable hearing about this, but she stayed.

"Come on, it should be basic knowledge! Do you know about the Lost Incident?" asked Specter.

"Yeah, I do. What is your point with that?" asked Stormrider as Specter grinned.

"Ahh, so that is how everyone else reacted, how strange, well if you must know… I was one of the Lost Incident Children." he said as Link VRAINS was so quiet you could drop a pin and it would be loud.

"What?" they all asked at the same time.

"You heard me, I am one of the Lost Incident children, one of the special little kids that managed to create new Ignis, is there a problem with that?" asked Specter as Flame looked at him in pure shock.

This was one of the Lost Incident survivors and now he was standing there, right in front of them. He quickly remembered that most of the time, the Ignis is assigned an attribute. He is Fire, for Seigen, his Ignis is the Wind Ignis, but for Specter… That meant he was The Earth Ignis' Origin. That was impossible.

"Ho… wha… Why are you working with the Hanoi then?!" yelled Stormrider as he looked at him.

"Why?"

"Yes, why! Why do you think we asked that question?! How could you do that! Did they put a chip on you?!" yelled Stormrider as he couldn't imagine being a part of the group that was responsible for the worst time of his life.

"A chip? You are hilarious! They never did that to me." he said as Frostgirl looked at him.

"But why?! Why are you apart of them? Someone that is trying to kill everyone just to kill Flame." said Frostgirl.

"Because… that part of my life… was the best part of my life." Silence once more. "For you, it was the worst time of your life, but for me, it was the time when I was fully alive. I loved it." He read their expressions. "Hmm? You are confused? Well, how about I start from the beginning, shall we?" asked Specter as he began to tell the tale of his life.

Specter Daiki was an interesting boy as he was born through a way that no kid ever wanted to be born in, something that would destroy a kid if they found out the truth. Specter wasn't planned, he was an accident. He was a kid that was brought into this world by no means and he knew that was hard for his biological mother.

When he was brought into this world, he wasn't met with welcome arms, he was brought by a father that didn't plan to have a kid in his life and a mother that blamed him for ruining her. The birth was anything, but a miracle for the two parents, as even when he was young, when he was brought into this world, he knew one thing. He wasn't invited, he was like a spectre, a ghost in the real world.

He could hear their arguments, all of the horrible things that he could hear when he was just so young to be around, it was horrifying the things that the little kid was as after a month of arguing and crying, the mother decided it would be it best for to abandoned her child.

Specter lied there, on the ground on a basket, looking at the sky with his underdeveloped eyes, his body couldn't survive more than a few days at the most, as he was there, crying for safety, for food, for everything just so he could survive. The boy was a spectre, a ghost in the real world.

There was one thing that protected him though, something that would bring him joy, comfort and a sense of warmth, something that he didn't feel when he was with his biological mother, it was something different. It was something magical.

It was a tree. A tree that housed more love than any loving mother combined, it protected Specter from everything. It protected him from the cold with the hard wood, it protected him from the sunlight thanks to its leaves, it protected him from scary predators as the sheer image of it was chilling enough to make any and all wolves run away.

The tree was his mother. The tree showed more love than anyone has in his life, it was something that he could trust in, something that he can feel safe and protected.

It was the most precious thing to her, and it was the most important thing to him.

They were in almost perfect harmony, but that was all ruined in one day… when he was 'rescued' by a couple of cops that were looking around as they heard reports of an abandoned baby in the forest, making him get away from her. His mother. How could they?!

After that, they ran a DNA test with the baby, making sure to be as careful as possible with a doctor around, as they managed to get to the baby's parents, the ones that abandoned them, but made him get close to his mother. They were arrested shortly after for child neglect.

After that, Specter was brought into a nearby daycare, one of the many in Den City, as he was raised there when he was a couple of months old, as even though he was raised there, he knew that he didn't belong there, not once. It was horrifying for the young boy, but he knew that he didn't belong there.

No kids wanted to play with him, they all avoided him, they avoided talking to him, avoided when he simply wanted to ask a question, nothing, but loneliness. The boy was a spectre, a ghost in the real world.

However, there was one thing that was with him no matter what, something that can't be stopped, him going to the same forest where she was there. Her. His mother was there. His mother tree.

He went to her every day once he learned to walk, he played with her, layed down on the ground to look at the sky with her, he talked to her, he felt safe to be around her and he felt as though he was accepted only by her.

Specter didn't feel like a spectre, a ghost in the real world, with her, he felt alive with her, safe.

As then, the moment his life changed began one day.

When he walked down to see his mother tree once more, two scientists got the better off him and kidnapped him.

Once he woke up, he looked around to see a white room with nothing around him. He only saw a duel disk and a VR head set. At first he was confused, like any kid his age, as he was scared, he was alone, no one to be with and away from his mother tree.

He looked at the VR headset and thought that it would be best to start to duel. At first, he was shocked by how realistic everything was as he had a rather decent Ancient Gear Deck to start with as it focused on beatdown and Battle Phase negation with a couple of Fusions, as the duel started battling some XYZ monsters as he had fun. He had the most amount of fun he could ever have in his life.

He won the duel against the user, but that didn't mean he saw the food go down, no, he continued onwards with the duels, he was happy that someone was playing with him, someone that he can play with, someone that he could have fun with, someone that he could spend time with as no matter what kind of different deck the AI duelist played, he continued onwards.

He played for hours, relishing every single turn, draw, monster, Spell and Trap, he couldn't stop, but enjoy this, it was amazing for him. He can finally make someone proud, he could finally have fun in his life, the real joy of his life.

Even when he lost and was thrown to the wall, he couldn't stop, it was too fun for him to even think about quitting. It was the first time he ever had any help, any real joy. When he got out, he even saw the food on the tray and how much he made in one day as he ate all of it, as he continued to duel.

Months went by and Specter was still having fun dueling everyone as during the months, he had different decks like Zoodiacs, X-Saber, Warrior Equip and Superheavy Samurais, and he had fun with all of them, adapting to every situation as nothing could stop him from working with someone that he can trust, he can have fun with.

There was one downside to all of this though and it was something that bothered him and it was that he couldn't see his mother tree, not once. That was the only thing that bothered him, but that didn't mean he stopped having fun, it was something that was just one drawback to this fun fest that he was having.

He even heard a voice, a voice that he will soon become familiar hearing and that was that he shouldn't give up and that he had three reasons for. Three reasons, well that was simple, and it was something that he worked with. It didn't give him hope, it gave him enthusiasm, to continue to battle and have fun with the AI duelists.

Specter felt alive. It was the first time he felt so! He wished this never ended, but soon, it all came to an end, something that he wished never happened.

He was 'rescued' by police officers. He didn't feel like it. It looked like they were just taking away the few things that brought him joy. He looked around to see the other 5 children, one being carried by an elder brother and the 4 being carried by the police officers. Did… they not have fun? That was impossible for him.

Then he returned to the daycare and it all felt fake to him, everything around him felt fake, nothing about it was normal to him.

The kids were treating him better, but he knew that it was because of the Lost Incident. The adults treated him better, but he knew it was because of the Lost Incident. Everything was fake for him, nothing was sincere.

He hated it.

He hated everything about this.

No matter how much he wanted to go to his mother, they stopped him, they stopped him from being close to his mother.

It was a week later after he returned and he finally managed to get to his mother tree, waiting to tell her everything of what happened to him- He stopped.

His face was that of anguish. That of despair.

He looked down and saw that his mother was cut down. She was dead.

He dropped to the ground and began to bawl his eyes out, he couldn't stop, but cry and he couldn't help it. She was the only one there for him and now, she was dead and he couldn't save the only thing that he cared for.

Specter stood up and began running away, unable to watch the corpse of his mother, he was scared. He needed to be in a safe haven, somewhere where he would be safe. The Lost Incident, however.

It was closed down. The only thing that brought him joy was closed down. He dropped his head, but then he heard a voice, someone walking towards him.

Someone that he will be loyal to… Master Varis.

He was no longer a spectre, a ghost in the real world.

The entire arena was quiet as Stormrider, Frostgirl and Flame stood in shock at what they have heard from Specter as the man said everything with such a voice that made them realize that it was nothing, but a fact. He was telling the truth.

The fact he was abandoned when he was just a little baby, he was being protected by a tree of all things, he was kidnapped, but it was nothing to him as that was the time where he felt alive and then realized that his 2 things that he enjoyed, were either killed off or closed down and even be saved by Varis of all people was shocking and it was hard to hear.

"And now, you know the reason why I am here. The reason why I am with the Knights of Hanoi, the story of Specter, the right hand man of the Hanoi." he said with a smile on his face.

"I can't believe what I just heard." said Stormrider as he dropped his head down, unable to even look at him.

"Well believe it." he said.

"I… am so sorry to hear that-"

"Don't be, it is all in the past, dear. I don't really mind all of that, except for them," said Specter as he looked back at his mother tree.

"But there is something that confuses me… why are you in the Hanoi? Did they force you to join? Or was there some other reason that was there for you that was too good of a chance not to?" asked Flame as Specter laughed.

"Oh that? Well… let's just say, that he was the one that asked me to join, the one that made me realize I have a purpose. I will serve him until the day I draw my last breath," said Specter as they were in shock to hear that.

"But he could be the one that caused the Lost Incident!" yelled Stormrider.

"Weren't you listening? I loved that. If he did, I would be even more loyal until now," said Specter as he looked at them, "And before you say anything about rebelling against him… no. I won't do that, I refuse to do that! Master Varis was the one that brought me a goal! To destroy all of the Ignis, to destroy the Cyberse, I will follow him until the ends of the world! I will be at his worst call, no matter what you do, you can't bribe anywhere away from him and that is a promise." said Specter with narrowed eyes.

"Still… this isn't human!" yelled Frostgirl.

"Does it look like I care? No, I don't! I draw!" he yelled as he drew the top card of his deck as he narrowed his eyes. "I banish from my graveyard my Sunseed Shadow!" a card popped out of his duel disk as he took it, "With it, I can banish it and my Sunavalon Dryades, so I can special summon a second copy from Extra Deck! So come out, my mother tree!" he yelled at the top of his lungs as then two massive vines appeared from the ground, as then beside Dryas appeared the evolved form of Specter's mother.

(Sunavalon Dryades: Link - Earth Plant - Attack: 0. Link-2. Link Arrows: Bottom-Left and Bottom-Right.)

Specter was quiet, "This one is for you, mother. I grow my circuit!" he yelled out as then a massive circuit appeared in the air. "The Summoning Conditions are at least 2 Plant monsters! So I set my Dryas and Dryades in the Link Arrows!" he yelled out as then the two monsters flew into the Link Arrows, all of them filling the bottom Link Arrows. The two of them took steps backwards.

Specter began to chant, "The Tree of nightmares has almost fully grown, as it protects the younglings from hars as its madness will make her enemies dread life! I Link Summon! Link-3, Sunavalon Dryanome!" he yelled at the top of his lungs as several large tentacles appeared from the ground as they were in shock as the surrounding buildings were turned into nothing, but data for the Tower of Hanoi.

The tree was well development compared to the other two as the leaves were green as emerald, there were orange pods around the entire tree that housed the Sunvines, the grass around it was getting bushier, there were purple tentacles coming out of the new tree as the woman was almost getting out of the tree.

(Sunavalon Dryanome: Link - Earth Plant - Link-3. Link Arrows: Bottom-Left, Bottom-Middle and Bottom-Middle.)

"Holy macaronis! It grew a lot!" yelled Frostgirl as she took several steps backwards as even Flame was in complete shock to see a monster this strong from Specter.

Stormrider looked at it, "It is still a tree that I will burn down!" he yelled.

"Oh yeah?! Let's see if you can handle that! I activate Spell Book From The Pot! We both draw 3 cards!" he yelled as both of them drew the top 3 cards from their deck silently as they observed the new cards. Both of them nodded.

"Ahh, I see you want to go off, won't you? Well, who am I to say no to? I normal summon my Sunseed Twin!" On his side of the field appeared two kids wrapped in vines. One of the kids had pink skin with green eyes as it looked like a wisp as the other was blue with orange eyes. They were both hugging each other.

(Sunseed Twin: Level 2 - Earth Plant - Attack: 0. Defense: 800.)

"Now, my two twins have an effect! When they are summoned, I can target 1 Level 4 or lower Plant Normal Monster from my graveyard and special summon it if I control a Sunavalon Link Monster, so appear! Sunseed Genius Loci!" he yelled as then from the ground appeared Genius Loci once more.

(Sunseed Genius Loci: Level 1 - Earth Plant - Attack: 0. Defense: 600.)

"That is not all! I send from the top card of my deck known," he said as he watched the top card from his deck and sent it to the graveyard, "So I can once per duel, summon this famous Plant monster, Glow-Up Bulb!" he yelled as everyone else paled once they heard the name of possibly the most famous Plant Tuner monster in the entire game.

It was at first a small bulb with an eye inside of it as from it, it began to bloom a small, but beautiful flower that had white and green petals. It was a shame being used by this man.

(Glow-Up Bulb: Level 1 - Tuner - Earth Plant - Attack: 100. Defense: 100.)

"From one card… you managed to summon all of them?!" yelled Stormrider in complete shock as he couldn't even believe what he was even seeing as the man's entire field just oozed off power and oppression. Especially when it connected to the fact that he can now at the most Link Summon 3 monsters with those monsters, but knowing him. That was just the start.

"That is right, you don't become Master Varis' Right Hand man being sitting on a chair and playing video games." he said as he chuckled. "Well, why are we stopping to talk? Let's go on, shall we?! I grow my circuit for the second time!" a circuit appeared on the field, "The Summoning Conditions is 1 Level 4 or lower Normal Plant monster! So I set my Sunseed Genius Loci in the Link Arrows!" he yelled as the monster flew to downwards Link Arrow.

"Link The Circuit! I Link Summon! Link-1, Sunvine Thrasher!" as then, in the middle of Dryanome's Link Arrow, appeared a grass warrior that was ready to strike down his opponent.

(Sunvine Thrasher: Link - Earth Plant - Attack: 800. Link-1. Link Arrows: Bottom-Middle.)

Everyone backed off as they knew whenever that monster is summoned, trouble arrives, but luckily, he has no monsters on his side of the field to worry about anything.

"Now… this is a monster that I usually never would use, but it was simply too good to pass up! As it fits with my Sunavalon cards! I grow my circuit for the third time!" he yelled out as then a circuit appeared on the field for the third time this duel. "The Summoning Conditions are two Plant monsters! So I set my Sunseed Twin and Glow-Up Bulb in the Link Arrows!" he yelled as two of his monsters flew.

"The senses of smell shows healing, as the soothing tone relaxes one's mind! I Link Summon! Link-2, Aromaseraphy Jasmine!" he yelled as a new monster appeared and they were quite shocked to see what it looked like. It was a monster that was around Specter's age as it was a girl with long flowing white hair with blue eyes, as she wore black boots, blue jeans, a white jacket as she had 4 angelic wings and a blue staff. It was on the Left Link Arrow of Dryanome.

(Aromaseraphy Jasmine: Link - Light Plant - Attack: 1800. Link-2. Link Arrows: Bottom-Left and Bottom-Right.)

They were in quite surprise for several reasons, but the one is that they were shocked that a monster that didn't quite fit into his playing style or look. They heard of the Aromages, but never the Aromaseraphies.

"I have to admit… that monster is really pretty." Frostgirl said as the two nodded.

"I have to agree, but she isn't just nice to look at, she is a fierce warrior! But first…. Sunvine Thrasher's effect activates! He gains 800 for every Link Arrow!" he said as his Link-1 glew.

Sunvine Thrasher: 800 - 3200 attack points

"Those are enough for-"

"For Stormrider to lose the duel." said Flame as Specter threw his hand out.

"Battle! Aromaseraphy Jasmine and Sunvine Thrasher will attack you directly! Heal Of The Mother Tree!" he yelled as the two attacked the same time, but Stormrider wasn't going to lose just yet.

"I am not done! I destroy from my hand my Believer Of Nepthys!" he yelled out as then one of his cards were burnt to a crisp as then a small barrier appeared around Stormrider, as he was ready to get through with

"However, you still take the damage, even when halved!" he yelled as the attacks still went through, but the attacks hurt way less.

Specter: 3600 lp

Stormrider: 3200 - 1600 - 700 lp

"My, my, how impressive. You survived for one more turn. I have to congratulate you for that, but that has to wait. He raised an eyebrow as two cards appeared in Specter's hand, "Because your turn is up. I set these two cards." two cards were set vertically behind Thrasher and Jasmine as they disappeared.

(A/N: Play Tornado Man Theme.)

Turn 6. Stormrider - 700 lp - 2 cards

Stormrider took a deep breath, he knew that this turn was important. A one that has to be defeated, or at the very least, depleted at the end of the turn as this entire field was filled to the brim of power.

"My turn! I draw!" he yelled to the top of his lungs as he drew the top card of his deck. He looked at his hand and nodded, "Alright! Several effects go off at the same time! The first, thanks to Believer, I can draw 1 card from my deck!" he yelled as he drew the top card from his deck. "Then I can now add a Nephthys monster from my graveyard thanks to Chronicler." he took a card that popped out of his duel disk.

A card was then burnt to ashes as he took out the remains, "Thanks to Defender, a card was destroyed from my deck and is sent to the graveyard." he said, but then, the entire arena began to shake as they could something powerful being summoned. "Now… when Cerulean Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys is destroyed, I can special summon it! ARISE!" he yelled as then from the ground emerged a certain Phoenix.

The fire was hotter, the skin was tougher and shinier as the entire thing looked like it was about to burst into energy. The monster roared in power.

(Cerulean Sacred Phoenix Of Nephthys: Ritual - Level 8 - Fire Winged Beast - Attack: 3000. Defense: 1000.)

"Ahh, your strongest monster, isn't it? Oh… wait, I am sorry, was that the one fire bird from the Cyberse replaced it? Sorry, I got those confused sometimes." he said with a condescending grin on his face as Stormrider knew he did that to make him mad.

"Well, yeah, but that doesn't matter for now as I have new friends to work with! Starting with this! Mystical Space Typhoon!" he yelled as then the card materialized in front of him as then a strong gale began appearing from the Spell card, "With this one spell, you can say goodbye to your Glorious Growth!" a strong whirlwind appeared as it flew straight towards Specter's field and the card was destroyed.

"Now, he doesn't have to worry about Specter's Dryanome gaining life points effect no more." sighed in relief Flame as Frostgirl kept looking at her friend to find a way to get away from this turn.

"Now, I will summon my Defender!" on his side of the field appeared the same old monster that appeared in his first turn and betrayed him on the 3rd turn of the duel.

(Defender Of Nephthys: Level 2 - Wind Spellcaster - Attack: 1400. Defense: 200.)

"I will now activate Defender's effect!" he yelled out as then a card was burnt to a crisp as he took the other card from his hand. "Come out, a second copy of Hand Of Nephthys!" he yelled out as he slammed the card on his duel disk.

On his field, appeared Hand that was beside Defender and Cerulean, as she bowed when she saw the Ritual monster.

(Hand Of Nephthys: Level 2 - Wind Spellcaster - Attack: 600. Defense: 600.)

"Don't forget Awakening's effect!" he yelled out as all of his monsters began to glow red.

Cerulean Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys: 3000 - 3300 attack points

Defender of Nephthys: 1400 - 1700 attack points

Hand Of Nephthys: 600 - 900 attack points

"Oh? How interesting, you almost have the same field as before! I am getting deja vu! Hey, how about you try using that effect of yours to try and destroy my field for old time sake?" asked Specter as they grittted their teeth.

"He is getting annoying and fast." said Frostgirl as Flame nodded.

"Nope, but what I am doing is cycloning my circuit!" as then around Stormrider's hands appeared wind as he then threw straight towards the air as then a massive circuit appeared on the field. "The Summoning Conditions are 2 Nephthys monsters! So I will set my Defender and Hand in the Link Arrows!" he yelled at the top of his lungs as his two monsters flew straight towards circuit.

"I Link Summon! Appear, Link-2, Nephthys, The Sacred Preserver!" he yelled at top of his lungs as from the circuit appeared a massive statue that was behind him. The statue was made out of gold and on top of a podium, depicted that of a golden Phoenix that was actually rivalring Dryanome in height. Frostgirl moved out of the way so she could watch the monster that was in his Extra Monster Zone when summoned.

(Nephthys, The Sacred Preserver: Link - Fire Winged Beast - Attack: 1200. Link-2. Link Arrows: Bottom-Middle and Bottom-Left.)

"Ahh, I see. So you are using a monster that helped you defeat The Shepherd, huh? That is an interesting idea. Let's see if it can work for you." he said as Stormrider clicked his tongue.

He did remember it was negated thanks to his Continuous Trap card, but still, he had a way to get out of this jam. "When this card is Link Summoned, I get to add a Level 8 WInged Beast monster from my deck and then a Ritual Spell card from my graveyard." he said as then a card popped out of his deck as he then took it, including the card that was out of his graveyard. He eyed the two cards as he thought they were great.

However, he had a different idea for them. "I now activate the Spell card, Graceful Charity! With this handy spell card, I get to draw 3 cards from my deck!" he yelled out as he drew the top three cards from his deck as he took the 2 cards he added thanks to his Link Monster and sent them to the graveyard.

"Clever idea. Graceful Charity is a good card that has a drastic downside, so to see a way to get out of the downside and even manipulating the effect is something to be admired by." Flame said as Frostgirl remained quiet.

"I will then play the Spell card, Weak Man!" A card materialized in front of him. It had the image of Marauding Captain kneeling down in a battle, as Gagagigo The Risen protects him from Kozaky and his experiments.

"With this one Spell card, one of your monster's effects can not be activated this turn as it was negated! So your Sacred Tree won't be activating her effects!" he yelled as Dryanome's whole body was changed into a more of a gray colour. "However, it can't be targeted by card effects or by battle!" he yelled as Specter nodded.

"Ahh, I see, so that is your way around to actually deal me damage? How Clever." he said as Stormrider gritted his teeth.

"Well, yeah! However, I will now cyclone my circuit for the second time!" he yelled out as then he created a strong gale as he threw his arm out as then, they saw him creating a circuit, "The Summoning Conditions is at least 2 Monsters, including a Ritual monster! So I set my Cerulean Sacred Phoenix and the Link-2 Nephthys, The Sacred Preserver in the Link Arrows!" he yelled as The LInk-2 split into two as it flew straight towards the bottom Link Arrows.

Stormrider then began to chant, "From the ashes comes out a majestic Phoenix, holding the power of that of a Supernova as the enemies bask in its beauty! I Link Summon! Link-3, Nephthys, The Sacred Flame!" he yelled out as then from the Link Arrows came out a monster that Specter recognized as the monster that helped Stormrider defeat Faust.

It was a large Phoenix that was the same size as the Cerulean Sacred Phoenix that he summoned this turn, as the flames were that of the Sun, the skin was that of a ruby as it was shiny and beautiful to look at. The monster unfolded its wings as the monster screeched in power. It was in his Extra Monster Zone.

(Nephthys, The Sacred Flame: Link - Fire Winged Beast - Attack: 2400. Link-3. Link Arrows: Bottom-Left, Bottom-Middle and Bottom-Right.)

"Not a bad monster you have there. It is a shame that it isn't as strong as my two monsters, but I don't blame you for that." said Specter as he kept his grin up.

"Yeah? That maybe correct, but I still have cards in my hand! The second to last card is my Monster Reborn!" he yelled as then the Spell card materialized in front of him as then from the ground up, a being flew from the ground behind him as it then landed straight towards Stormrider. "The monster I am bringing back is my Cerulean Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys!" he yelled out as Cerulean and Sacred Flame all roared in power as Thrasher and Jasmine took a step backwards.

(Cerulean Sacred Phoenix Of Nephthys: Ritual - Level 8 - Fire Winged Beast - Attack: 3000. Defense: 1000.)

"Don't forget Awakening's effect!"

Cerulean Sacred Phoenix Of Nephthys: 3000 - 3300 attack points

Nephthys, The Sacred Flame: 2400 - 2700 attack points

Frostgirl and Flame all looked at what their friend had managed to make in just a short amount of time and with cards. "Nice one, Stormrider! You managed to summon out so many monsters in one turn!" cheered Frostgirl.

"Yes, not to mention the fact that he was able to make a couple of his new monsters in one turn." said Flame as even though Stormrider had the lead, something about this didn't seem right.

"Battle! Cerulean Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys will attack your Sunvine Thrasher, while Nephthys, The Sacred Flame will burn away your Aromaseraphy Jasmine! Duo Sacred Ritual!" he yelled out as the two massive birds flew up in the sky as the four looked up to see the Phoenixes charge up powerful balls of fire.

Cerulean's was as blue as the ocean, but it was as hot as the surface of the Sun, while Sacred Flame's was more of a red shade of colour. The two monsters charged up their massive and powerful beams of pure fire as they blasted straight towards the two monsters, as Thrasher tried to protect himself and Jasmine by cutting the fire, and Jasmine tried to put up a barrier, but it was too powerful for the both of them. Luckily, Specter remained untouched.

Specter: 3600 - 3500 - 2600 lp

Stormrider: 700 lp

"Ahh, that was so hot! I could've switched out my avatar with swim trunks, but you did all of that… for just 1000 points of damage? I am so sad to hear that." said Specter as his grin was still on his face.

"Shut it." he said as the two monsters flew straight towards their master as he took the last card in his hand, "I will end my turn by setting this card face down." he said as the card was set vertically behind the two Phoenixes.

(A/N: End Theme.)

Turn 7. Specter - 2600 lp - 0 cards

Specter was looking at the field and then back to Stormrider. In their mind, it was nigh impossible for him to get through this field as even if he were to be attacked, his monster won't be destroyed by battle. Even with the two face downs…

It was tough not to notice Specter's reaction once he drew the top card of his deck.

For Specter, it was though he felt a heartbeat inside of the card. "Oh… So, mother. You want to come?" he asked as he turned back to see Dryanome as even though it was silent, Specter knew what was she going to say. "Yes? Well, I can't disappoint mother now, can I? I activate Link Supply!"

The Spell card materialized in front of him as the image showed a girl drawing 4 cards since she had Saryuja Skull Dread as 4 Link Arrows were around Saryuja. "I target 1 Link Monster I have on the field, and I can draw cards equal to its Link Arrows! Since Dryanome has 3 Link Arrows, I can draw 3 cards!" he said as he drew the top 3 cards from his deck. "However, I have to banish the cards in my hand if I didn't play them this turn."

Specter then saw his hand and nodded, "This hand is perfect! I activate Altar Of Restoration!" A spell card materialized in front of him as he began to explain the card's effect, "I banish the top 2 cards from my deck," he said as he drew the top 2 cards, which were Sunavalon Burial and Sunseed Maiden, "So I can add 1 card from my graveyard straight to my hand!" a card popped out of his duel disk as he then took it.

"He refreshed his entire hand?!" yelled Frostgirl as Stormrider groaned.

"Are you kidding me?!" yelled Stormrider as Flame looked at the man and knew that something bad is going to happen.

(A/N: Play Declan Duel Links Theme.)

"This will be a good start. I summon my Sunseed Twin in attack mode!" Specter yelled as the familiar pairs of twins appeared on the field.

(Sunseed Twin: Level 2 - Earth Plant - Attack: 0. Defense: 800.)

"Don't forget their effects! I can revive 1 Level 4 or lower Normal Plant monster from my graveyard! Come out, Sunseed Genius Loci!" he yelled out as the Normal Plant plumped down on the ground as it nearly pierced the ground.

(Sunseed Genius Loci: Level 1 - Earth Plant - Attack: 0. Defense: 600.)

"My apologies, but this will be a long stream of Link Summoning, so I hope you don't mind me growing my circuit!" a circuit appeared on top of Specter as he threw out his hand, "The Summoning Conditions is 1 Plant monster! So I set my Sunseed Twin in the Link Arrows!" he yelled as Sunseed Twin flew towards Specter's circuit.

"Link The Circuit! I Link Summon! Link-2, Sunvine Gardna!" he yelled out as on the left Link Arrow of Dryanome, appeared Sunvine Gardna.

(Sunvine Gardna: Link - Plant Earth - Attack: 600. Link-1. Link Arrows: Top-Middle.)

"Now, it is time for me to grow my circuit for the second time!" he yelled as then a circuit appeared over them as all of them what was going to appear next. "The Summoning Conditions is 1 Level 4 or lower Plant Normal Monster! So I set my Sunseed Genius Loci in the Link Arrows!" he yelled as the normal monster flew straight towards the lone bottom Link Arrow.

"Link The Circuit! I Link Summon! Link-1, Sunvine Thrasher!" he yelled as on Dryanome's Middle Link Arrow, appeared Sunvine Thrasher as he looked straight towards Cerulean Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys with narrowed eyes. Ready to take down his killer.

(Sunvine Thrasher: Link - Earth Plant - Attack: 800. Link-1. Link Arrows: Bottom-Middle.)

"I just got rid of that thing!" cursed Stormrider as he didn't want to handle that annoying Galaxy Thrasher-looking monster.

"And I am afraid that things will be getting worse for you!" he grinned as Dryanome looked at Stormrider with eyes that spelled out Death.

"What… what do you mean by that?" he asked as Specter chuckled to himself.

"Well, let's just say that you are going to see my Sacred Tree's true form! I will now grow my circuit for the last time!" a circuit appeared on the field, but this time, it was beneath Dryanome. "The Summoning Conditions are at least 2 Link Monsters! So I set my Sunvine Gardna and my Sunavalon Dryanome in the Link Arrows!" he yelled as Dryanome became the bottom Link Arrows as Gardna flew up to the top. Everyone watched in horror.

Then from the ground, two massive tentacles shot up from the ground as everyone had to cover themselves as the streets around them were practically non existent as everything around them were turned into data material for the Tower Of Hanoi. Then the tree then fully stretched out, as they saw in horror the monster that Specter was carrying around.

The monster dwarfed Stormrider's Phoenixes as they saw the true form of Specter's mother. The tree's trunk was that of an old tree that was ancient, there were Sakura flowers that were leaves for the newly formed tree, as there were tentacles all around the new monster. The woman that was inside of the tree has been fully awakened as the monster had purple skin, three red eyes and long flowing black hair. Once it looked at Specter, her eyes softened. Specter chanted, "The Sacred Tree, the mother tree, show, to protect your loved one from harm and show everyone that harms him true pain! I Link Summon! Connect the worlds, Link-4! Sunavalon Dryatrentiay!"

(Sunavalon Dryatrentiay: Link - Earth Plant - Attack: 0. Link-4. Link Arrows: Top-Middle, Bottom-Left, Bottom-Middle and Bottom-Right.)

Everyone standing in the duel were in complete awe and fear of the powerful monster that Specter summoned in this duel. Flame was shocked to see a powerful monster being summoned that wasn't a Borrel, Cyberse or Gouki monster, as Frostgirl looked at the Sacred Tree in complete shock at sheer power and Stormrider began sweating just looking at the monster.

Specter, though? He was admiring her.

He was admiring his mother.

"Mother… I am so glad to see you again." he said as Dryatrentiay looked at him and smiled. He closed his eyes as he turned back towards his opponent, "I suppose, I will thank you for making me summon my mother, so how about this?! Sunvine Thrasher will gain a grand total of 3200 attack points for every Link Arrow Dryatrentiay has!" his Link-1 monster glew red from power.

Sunvine Thrasher: 800 - 4000 attack points

"Oh byte! He has 4000 attack points!" yelled Flame.

"That is just the start! I will equip him with Rainbow Veil!" A veil appeared around Thrasher that was colourful, "This card allows my monster to negate the effects of the monster it is battling!" their eyes widened from shock. "That is not all! I activate Forbidden Substance!"

A massive syringe appeared on the field as it went towards Thrasher and injected it. The fluid went straight towards the Plant Link monster's veins as the monster roared in power as he grabbed his sword and pointed it straight towards Stormrider. "This card has a unique effect in that… it can make the monster affected by it to gain an additional attack!" he yelled as they gasped.

"WHAT?!" they all yelled so no matter what, no matter what monster it attacks, Stormrider will lose the duel right here and now. Stormrider gulped as he looked at him.

Specter's grin grew bigger and bigger to the point that normal human exceptions wasn't possible. "This is the end for you. BATTLE! Sunvine Thrasher! Destroy his Cerulean Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys and Nephthys, The Sacred Flame! Slash Of The Mother Tree!" he yelled as Sunvine Thrasher charged forward as he readied his sword straight towards the powerful monsters.

They all watched in horror as the monster got closer and closer as Frostgirl yelled out, "SEIGEN!" she yelled out as Stormrider narrowed his eyes.

"I am not going down! Go, Impenetrable Attack!" he yelled as his lone set card revealed itself, "This card has two options and the one that I choose is not to take any damage!" he yelled out.

"But… your monsters will still get destroyed!" yelled Specter as Sunvine Thrasher continued to run straight towards the powerful opponents as the two Phoenixes tried to burn it away as they sent strong bursts of energy straight towards him, but he evaded them, as he then jumped up and slashed Cerulean into ribbons. Sacred Flame tried to avenge his comrade as it shot a powerful flame, but Sunvine Thrasher turned around and slashed the attack away as he went towards it and kicked the bird so hard that it began to fly downwards, which gave him the time needed, to draw out his sword and slash the powerful bird in the jaw.

Luckily, a barrier was formed that made the attack not affect him, but Stormrider still took a knee.

"Don't forget. Your monsters are now mine! Thanks to Sunvine Thrasher's effect not being a once per turn, I can summon your two monsters!" he yelled out as tentacles flew straight towards the ground and pulled out Cerulean and Sacred Flame, right at Dryatrentiay's Left and Right Link Arrows.

(Cerulean Sacred Phoenix Of Nephthys: Ritual - Level 8 - Fire Winged Beast - Attack: 3000. Defense: 1000.)

(Nephthys, The Sacred Flame: Link - Fire Winged Beast - Attack: 2400. Link-3. Link Arrows: Bottom-Left, Bottom-Middle and Bottom-Right.)

"In the myths, whenever a Phoenix is killed off, from the ashes, it gives birth to a new one, creating a cycle of immortality and now, two of them are on my field. Isn't that fitting?" asked Specter with a grin on his face. Stormrider gritted his teeth as Specter said, "I end my turn, however, I doubt with your skills, you can do anything of value." he said.

(A/N: End Theme.)

Turn 8. Stormrider - 700 lp - 0 cards

"What did you just say?" asked Stormrider as he narrowed his eyes straight at him.

"What? You lost your hearing? I said that with your skill, I doubt you can do anything of value." said Specter.

"What do you mean by that? I defeated a Liutenant of the Hanoi! That isn't an easy task and you should know it!" yelled Stormrider as Specter nodded.

"That's true, but I will say this. Of the Hanoi's deck, Faust's was the weakest, not saying that he was weak, but his was the weakest. An even with that, you were barely able to win even with your new Cyberse card." said Specter as they then remembered the duel and they hate to say this, but he was right.

"Think about it. Gore was able to defeat Doctor Genome with his own skill and new cards, Frostgirl was able to win a duel even though her deck was affected the Card Virus cards and getting a new monster, but you? You didn't have anything of value and it was a fair duel and you were losing hard against him." said Specter as Stormrider gritted his teeth. "So by all the means, I am not even trying hard to defeat you and you are still losing. You are a loser."

Stormrider gripped his fist into a ball, "You are wrong! Yes, I did have trouble against Faust, but that doesn't mean I am weak! His deck was unpredictable and I didn't even know what to expect next. Even with all of those powerful monsters, I was still able to win! None of us are weak, we all have our different strengths and powers and that is nothing to be ashamed of!"

"Excuses after excuses, well, if you do truly mean that, then go for it! Show me that you aren't weak and that I am wrong." Specter said as Stormrider nodded.

"Alright then, it is, my turn!" he yelled as he drew the top card of his deck and narrowed his eyes.

(A/N: Play Impossible Victory.)

"During the Standby Phases after they are destroyed by card effects, I get to revive two monsters from my graveyard! Arise! Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys and Matriarch of Nephthys!" he yelled out as then two pillars of flames blew up in front of him as Frostgirl and Flame had to cover themselves from the powerful sets of pillars while Specter stood there watching this with indifference.

One of them was a woman with tan skin wearing Egyptian style of clothing as only her face and hands were the only parts of the skin visible as she wore a beige coloured dress, golden gauntlets with long black hair. The other one was a monster that was weaker than the Sacred Flame and Cerulean, but it still meant it was powerful, as the Phoenix's body was that of pure gold with fire all around the monster. The monster screeched.

(Matriarch Of Nephthys: Level 2 - Wind Spellcaster - Attack: 600. Defender: 600.)

(Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys: Level 8 - Fire Winged Beast - Attack: 2400. Defense: 1600.)

"Hmm… I wonder, how did you get those monsters destroye- Ahh, I see. You used Defender's effects to do that, didn't you?" asked Specter as Stormrider mentally groaned.

"Damn it, he got it right." he thought as he then smirked as he pointed at his Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys, "When this bad boy is summoned on the field thanks to his effect, all Spells and Traps on the field are destroyed! Sacred Shooting!" he yelled as then from the maw of the Sacred Phoenix fire began to open as it then shot towards his Awakening of Nephthys and burned it alive, but for Specter…

He grinned. "Not so fast, I activate my Continuous Trap card, Sunavalon Healing!" as then his left set card revealed itself, as the image showed Sunavalon Dryatrentiay using her tentacles around Sunvine Healer, Thrasher and Gardna as they felt better. "Now, with this card, my cards in the Spell and TRap zones can not be destroyed at all!" he yelled.

Sunavalon Dryatrentiay used her tentacles to cover up the two cards in his Spell and Trap zones as even though it hurt Sunavalon Dryatrentiay by covering it, the flames didn't burn the cards. Once they were safe, she returned the tentacles back.

"Are you seriou- Fine! I summon Diva Of Nephthys in attack mode!" he yelled as then on his field appeared a woman with tan skin, wearing sandals, black leggings, an egyptian styled dress that was golden at the top part, but slowly went down in red colouring as it went down, as her necklace was that of the head of Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys as she wore golden gauntlets on each of her arms and had black hair.

(Diva Of Nephthys: Level 2 - Wind Spellcaster - Attack: 1000. Defense: 500.)

Frostgirl and Flame stopped as they knew what was going to happen. "Flame… it is coming."

"Yes… His Link-3 Cyberse monster!" Flame readied himself for the summon.

"Now, I have enough to cyclone my circuit for the last time!" a strong gale appeared in Stormrider's hand as he then threw out his hand as then a circuit appeared in front of him, "The Summoning Conditions is at least 2 monsters, so I set my Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys, Matriarch of Nephthys and Diva of Nephthys in the Link Arrows!" he yelled out as then the three monsters flew straight towards the Link Arrows.

Stormrider began to chant for his strongest monster as Specter readied himself, "Come out, the legendary Phoenix who arises from its death, to create flames that your reincarnation will burn throughout eternity! I Link Summon! Link-3, Ho-Oh, Reincarnation of Nephthys!" he yelled as then a monster flew to Stormrider's field and towards his enemies. It was in his Extra Monster Zone.

The monster had orange eyes, with 4 sets of orange hair at the top, with an orange beak, with a green stripe on its neck, as the wings were red, but the feathers were a combination of green and white, as the claws were blue, the feathers at the bottom was orange, while the body was red, but on the bottom was white.

(Ho-Oh, Reincarnation of Nephthys: Link - Fire Cyberse - Attack: 2700. Link-3. Link Arrows: Bottom-Left, Bottom-Middle and Bottom-Right.)

The atmosphere was quiet the entire time as they looked at the newly summoned Link monster, but Specter just looked at it as his eyes were narrowed, "So this is the monster that helped him defeat Faust and it is a Cyberse monster. Well, time to kill two birds with one stone." he thought to himself.

"That is a nice chicken you got there. Too bad it won't scratch my Sacred Tree!" he yelled as Stormrider grinned.

"Or will it? Because this card is the reason why your buddy is asleep! This monster can do two things, but the first one is where it really shines and that is: Total Destruction!" he yelled as Ho-Oh began overheating as it was covered in flames. "This monster can destroy every monster that we have on the field!" he yelled as the monster began to glow red.

"Purge The Field, Ho-Oh!" roared Stormrider as Ho-Oh flew upwards as the monster looked down at Cerulean and Sacred Flame in disgust, "OVERHEAT!" he roared as his Cyberse monster roared in power as the monster exploded like the Sun as everyone had to cover themselves.

Specter however, grinned, "Not bad, but this will stop you from attacking my mother! Go, Sunavalon Protect!" he yelled out as then a Continuous Trap card revealed itself. The image had Sunavalon Dryatrentiay using her tentacles to wrap around a boy that looked like Specter, "This card protects my mother tree from being destroyed!" he yelled as Stormrider gritted his teeth.

"That is fine to me! Your other monsters will bite the dust!" he yelled as the heat still went towards Specter's field as Dryatrentiay wrapped her vines around Specter to protect him, as Sunvine Thrasher, Cerulean and Sacred Flame all roared in pain as they were cooked to oblivion as the only remains were the ashes.

Once it was done, practically everyone had to breathe in and out from that powerful attack and effect as the only things that are left after that massive attack is Dryatrentiay and the 2 Traps, "Wow, you did all of that, and you haven't even touched my mother tree. I think my point has been proven."

"Or is it?" they all looked Stormrider as he had a massive grin on his face.

"What do you mean?" asked Specter.

"Ho-Oh's effect then goes off! When it is destroyed, I can special summon exactly 1 more Nephthys monster from my graveyard," a card popped out as on Specter's field, the ash began to evolve, "Come out! Cerulean Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys!" he yelled as he slammed the card on the duel disk.

As then, from the ash, a small cerulean coloured chick appeared, before evolving right into the majestic bird.

(Cerulean Sacred Phoenix Of Nephthys: Ritual - Level 8 - Fire Winged Beast - Attack: 3000. Defense: 1000.)

"3000 attack points…" began Frostgirl and she remembered the amount of life points that Specter has, "If this attack connects…"

"Stormrider won!" cheered Flame as they were ready to see the defeat of the Knights of Hanoi right here and now!

"THIS IS OVER, SPECTER! My monster has more than enough attack points to wipe away your life points!" yelled Stormrider as Specter gasped.

"What?! No way! Oh no! How foolish of me!" yelled Specter as he placed his two hands on his head as he reeled his head backwards, "How could this happen?! I am sorry, Master Varis! I failed you!" he yelled.

"Oh yes you did! BATTLE! Cerulean Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys! Attack and defeat Specter! Azure Sacred Burn!" he yelled as Cerulean flew upwards and opened its maw as they saw azure coloured flames that were hotter than anything ever seen before as then it was shot straight towards Specter.

Specter who looked at his near defeat, peaked down towards one of his Continuous Trap cards. "Oh? It appears while I am crying down at my defeat…"

(A/N:: End Theme, but play Sad Duel.)

Specter then grinned darkly, "That I completely forgot about one of my Continuous Trap cards! You see, Sunavalon Protect deals you damage if I ever gain life points thanks to a card that wasn't a Trap card and Healing… what do you think it does?" he asked as Stormrider dropped his guard.

"No…"

"Yes! I gain 300 life points for every Link Arrow my Sunavalon monster has!" he yelled as he glew red for a bit before he was nearly burned alive by Cerulean Sacred Phoenix's flames.

Specter: 2600 - 3800 - 800 lp

Stormrider: 700 lp

"He… wasn't defeated?!" yelled Flame.

"That's right and thanks to Dryatrentiay's effect, when I lose life points… I gained the amount I lost." he said as Stormrider looked at him in horror.

Specter: 800 - 3800 lp

Stormrider:700 lp

"No…" said Stormrider as he watched in horror as Specter's grin stayed on.

"Say… what did you say about the retirement plan being named after me? It turns out, it will be named after you." said Specter as Dryatrentiay threw out one of her tentacles straight towards Stormrider as then, Frostgirl watched in horror.

"SEIGEN!" she yelled out.

Specter: 3800 lp

Stormrider: 700 - 0 lp

SPECTER: WINNER!

(A/N: End Theme.)

Stormrider flew straight towards the floor as he managed to jump from the ground and then fall to his back.

Frostgirl began running towards him, "ARE YOU ALRIGHT?!" she yelled out as she had wide eyes as Flame was worried to death of one of his friends.

Before they could reach, Specter said, "Mother." as then Dryatrentiay used her tentacles to make a wall of her tentacles so that Frostgirl won't be getting near them.

"NO!" yelled Frostgirl as she began slamming her hands on the wall as nothing she did managed to make a single dent on it. Even with Flame's fire, it wasn't strong enough.

"Well well well, look what I have told you. You couldn't defeat me, how shocking is it not?" asked Specter as he walked towards Stormrider who couldn't even raise his head he was so hurt and tired. Specter then stopped as he then took a single card from Stormrider's graveyard and he looked at it.

"Ho-Oh. The Cyberse card that defeated Faust, well, looks like I have avenged one of the Commanders, didn't I?" he smiled as he looked at the card, "You know, there is something bothering me ever since I saw you. That is: Why do you play Nephthys?" Stormrider looked at him and just opening his mouth hurt him.

"You see, I like to think about why certain users play certain decks. For example, Genome playing Krawlers makes sense as he does research DNA and Krawlers are named after parts of DNA, Baira uses a Virus deck since she created the The Deleted Virus and was a doctor, Faust playing Worms because of the fact that he is a nematologist, I play Sunavalon after my late mother and Varis plays Borrel monsters to show off his power and might against the Cyberse." said Specter, "I can even see why Soulburner and Frostgirl play their decks: Soulburner because of the reason of reincarnating into a new self and Frostgirl because of her love of the snow and the colouring scheme, but why do you play them?" he asked.

Specter continued to look at the card, "Phoenixes are mythological beings that are immortal as they rise from their ashes, but nothing about you fits that. Is it because… you want to change whom you are as a person? Or is it something that fits you because of a new change personality? That is a question that I want to know. What is it?"

Stormrider was almost unconscious and was too tired to speak, but he had to say this, "It… is because it is the last deck that my parents gave me before I went to the Lost Incident, alright? It is my way of showing my love and respect for them, and I… miss them." he said as Specter looked at him.

"Ahh, a way to mourn your loss. I can respect that, to a degree. So I will make sure that you spend your last remaining time to say goodbye to your precious little friend." Specter snapped his fingers as then his mother tree disappeared, along side his two Trap cards, as Frostgirl finally managed to get through, only to see him still on the floor.

"Seigen, are you alright?!" yelled Frostgirl as Stormrider shook his head.

"No, I am not. This guy is too tough, but I believe in you." said Stormrider as Flame widened his eyes when he saw him almost becoming into data, "He may be tough, but still… I believe that you can take this guy down."

Frostgirl almost teared down seeing him become into data as then Specter grabbed Ho-Oh, "Ahem, if I may have your attention please?" they all looked Specter putting the Cyberse card in his palms as they widened their eyes. "Thank you. Now you see this little Cyberse Card? Well. I hope you enjoyed seeing it as it will be destroyed!" he yelled as they saw him squash the card into pieces, into data as it will most likely never been seen again.

"NO!" yelled Stormrider as Frostgirl stood in shock.

"NOT THE CYBERSE CARD!" yelled Flame in shock.

"Oh, yes, the Cyberse card. Our mission is to destroy any and all Cyberse cards we come across, so this will be the last time any of you will see one." he said as he then turned his attention to Stormrider, "Now, it seems that you are disappearing and I have one thing to say to you: Hope you enjoy going to your own personal Limbo." he said with a maniacal look on his face.

They were quiet as Specter looked at them. Stormrider was becoming into data and saw his strongest card being destroyed. "Kiku." Fros- No, Kiku turned to Stormrider.

"Yeah?" she asked.

Stormrider became data around his head as he said his last words, "Crush him." he said as he was now gone.

Kiku's friend was gone.

Her best friend.

The person she was friends with ever since she was a small little girl.

Flame could feel the energy around her being that of the when she was possessed by The Knights of Hanoi. But this time, it wasn't directed towards him, but rather, towards Specter.

"Specter." Specter looked at Frostgirl. "You are going to pay!" she yelled at him as Specter raised an eyebrow.

"You? The girl that was used by the Hanoi? Well, what do you know, new things do happen." said Specter as Frostgirl looked at him.

"You are going down! Enough games! You understand?!" the calm, gentle, nice Kiku was not this, it was never this. Specter wasn't afraid.

"Well, since you asked so nicely, how can I say no?" Specter raised his duel disk as did she as a Master Duel board appeared around them.

"DUEL!" they yelled.

Specter: 4000 lp

Frostgirl: 4000 lp

Master Duel!

At Varis

Varis and Kiyoshi watched as the two were impressed and proud that Specter managed to defeat Stormrider in a duel and avenged Faust in this duel.

"1 down, 3 to go." said Varis as Kiyoshi nodded.

"Right. He did something that no one else could, but Varis, do you think he can defeat her? Her power seems off." said Kiyoshi as Varis narrowed his eyes.

"That… is something that I am not sure about, but no matter what, even if I am the last one standing for the Hanoi," Varis turned to see Gore and Soulburner cross a bridge to get to the Tower Of Hanoi, "They will be crushed."

To Be Continued!

Authors Note:

AND DONE! FINALLY! AFTER A FLIPPING WEEK, I AM DONE WITH THIS DUEL! Anyways, hope you guys enjoyed the duel! I know I have as this was a difficult as hell to write as Specter's deck was not much completed IMO and some of the cards are hard to write with, including the fact that Dryatrentiay doesn't have Dryanome's effect.

Now for the duel, I think I cooked hard with the deck as this was one of the more fun duels, including the fact that this did replace a fun, but a massively flawed duel that is Blue Angel vs Specter. I like the duel in Canon, but it was the turning point of Skye's character and for the worst. I did decide to write Specter's backstory in here. Why? Well, it is to show a different LI victim and how it differs from the others and I gave it extra flare, if you know what I mean.

Specter is actually a character that I really enjoyed as the guy had legitimately really fun duels and this was the first one to show his power, but his duel with Playmaker and Lightning are some top tier stuff man, they have been cooking the entire time. I do feel bad that he did nothing in Season 3, but I feel like it was mostly because of the fact his VA wasn't available, like Declan. I do want him and Earth to be friends in the later parts of this fic.

Poor Seigen, he was absolutely disrespected the entire time as he didn't have the best counters the entire time, and I realized something. Him using Nephthys was a suggestion by someone I didn't know that stole other people's work, but now, it works really well. What do I mean by this. It was a way to show that like Theodore, he wants to change into a different person as well as being the reason why his Pyro Phoenix is Soulburner's strongest Link-4 monster and taught him how to Ritual Summon Emerald Bird.

Next up is Frostgirl vs Specter and let me tell you, it is going to be fire, or the opposite of that. As when the Yugioh Chronicles Trailer dropped, expect me to make an impression out of that for a certain Synchro monster. If you know, you know that he is being summoned.

I am at around Episode 226 of Bleach and I am loving it. I think that is about it so see ya'!

Made Up and Altered cards:

Sunseed Shadow: Man… I feel like a moron not properly reading this card, so I changed it.

Sunavalon Dryatrentiay: Basically made it work like the other Sunavalon monsters.

Weak Man: Normal Spell - One monster on the field can not activate effects during the turn it is activated, but it can not be targeted for attacks and effects.

Link Supply: Normal Spell - Draw 1 Card for every Link Arrow 1 Link Monster you control in the Extra Monster Zone. Banish the cards in your hand if you haven't played them in the turn you drew them.

Sunavalon Healing: Continuous Trap - Target 1 Sunavalon Monster, gain x 300 life points for every Link Arrow. Cards in your Spell and Trap zones can not be destroyed by your opponent's card effects. If there is no Sunavalon monster, destroy this face up card.

Sunavalon Protect: Continuous Trap - If there are no Sunavalon monsters while this card is face up: Destroy this card. A Sunavalon monster in the Extra Monster Zone can not be destroyed by card effects while this card is face up or can be targeted by Spell or Trap cards. If you gain life points thanks to a Sunvine or Sunavalon monster, your opponent loses life points equal to the amount that it gained.