It's not going well for The Blades, after Jack, Serana and Drake got beaten by Empress, when Jurgen defended his home Empress ended up killing him, while that was going down Juliet and Leo got distracted by a powerful Distortion: Ren, after a hard Duel it was Ren who ended up victorious, The Blades one by one return to their headquarters but one more adversary is on their way to the hospital where Ravin is in.
4. Storm of Darkness - Part 4.
Blades headquarters.
One by one the Blades entered the room, Jill wasn't with them she went straight to the rooftop to see her father, Bruce and Miranda went with her Violet was still on her way with Rini, Jack had informed her but told her not to rush it.
Leo and Juliet were the first to arrive, they did shortly after Empress had made her escape, even with the beating they received they were unharmed. Serana was the first to be found Leo immediately dropped everything to help his girlfriend, Juliet took the stairs since the elevators were out of commission, she had found Drake aside from a headache he seemed fine, Drake had told Juliet he would take some aspirin and he would go to bed, it didn't take long for her to find Jack and Jurgen, she quickly confirmed that Jurgen was dead, Jack however was still alive though barely and in a pretty bad condition, it had taken a while for Juliet to heal all of Jack's wounds, when she was done Jack had renewed energy, Leo met up with them and with the three of them they had brought Jurgen to his house on the top of the roof none of them said anything that entire time.
Don and Michelle arrived shortly after they were done, both were pretty beat up from their confrontation with the gang members, Don had shoulder-length, black hair he was wearing a worn-out, gray shirt with a black jacket over it, his black shoes had seen better days, as did his gray cargo pants.
Michelle on the other hand looked more decent than Don did, she had grown her brown hair a bit, it reached to halfway her back now, she wore it loose, she had a small dozen studs and rings in both ears and a nose piercing which was new, she wore a long-sleeved, black T-shirt, a white, long dress with black leggings under it, for the rest she wore black boots and a white, leather jacket.
The hospital.
Ravin sat up when Kailyn entered with some sandwiches, a glass of water for Ravin and a cup of coffee for herself.
Ravin had short hair, he was wearing blue hospital clothes he had bandages everywhere, his left arm was stuck in a cast as was his left leg.
'Thank you.' The Dwemer said as Kailyn placed his order on the bedside table.
Kailyn had cut her long, black hair down after Jack had returned from his Duel against Sabrina, she had her long hair to cover her pointed ears a bit, after everything that went down she decided not to hide her identity, her left ear was still covered as her hair was longer on the left side of her head, her right ear was no longer covered.
In each earlobe she wore a small wooden ring she had made herself, a small, wooden pin decorated with fine, golden lines was pierced through the tip of her ears, she kept her hair in place with a circlet made of braided vines, the pins and circlet were made by Ravin.
Kailyn always her own clothes herself, it was the outfit she had worn when facing the Dark Signers but slightly modified, a pink coat-like dress that was closed tightly around her neck with fake fur lined around her neck and around her wrists, the skirt part was made of three parts that fell just over her knees, the bottom of each of the skirt's part had fake fur, the back of the skirt was longer than the front.
Around her waist she wore a white belt with a heart-shaped buckle and some fake fur decorating it, the dress was closed by a heart-shaped zipper. The dress had a hood which she wore down at the moment, the sides of the hood were lined with fake fur, it was shaped to resemble a heart and two protruding parts where her ears could comfortably fit in.
For the rest she wore pink boots with some fake, white fur around the top and white hearts on the tips, white leggings and normally white gloves which she didn't wear inside.
Ravin was watching some cartoons with a sigh he turned the television off.
'Nothing fun on here.' He said as he picked up the sandwich.
'Ravin.' Kailyn spoke as she sat down on the chair next to the bed: 'We need to talk about what happened, it was a traumatic experience.'
Ravin shook his head. 'No I was a fool I thought I could handle things, and I would have been able to if they didn't had those Machine Emperors.'
Ravin took his laptop which was connected to The Blades network.
'You've been working?' Kailyn sighted as Ravin booted up the program.
'Sorry I told you I needed it for entertainment.' Ravin hastily said as an apology: 'But I couldn't sit still, I've been developing a program hacked myself into the systems the FBI uses, don't worry they won't find out, my program is masked as one of their own.'
Ravin typed some commands: 'I can now watch the moves of everyone we even wanted and I can now see that...' He fell silent.
'Kailyn.' The Dwemer calmly said: 'Ghard is on his way here, they must have found out Kamdida didn't kill me he comes to finish it.'
Kailyn wanted to panic but she knew she had to stay calm.
'Contact Sector Security or whoever you deem necessary I'll buy you some time.'
As Kailyn ran down the halls she saw him Ghard the man she had seen before on the televisions when Duban announced his tournament, a giant of a man clean shaved, his face covered by many scars, his skin was slightly tinted, the last time Kailyn had seen him on television his left eye was blind now it was no longer, on his left shoulder he wore a weird device with a matching gauntlet, the only things he wore were some cargo pants that barely fit his giant posture and some combat boots, the fact it was cold and he wore no shirt didn't seem to bother him one bit.
'Move aside Bosmer, I mean you no harm.' The man spoke.
'You want to kill Ravin, I cannot allow that.' Kailyn bravely replied.
'You know what he is.' Ghard replied: 'He is a Dwemer your enemy.'
Kailyn spread her arms to further make clear she wouldn't step aside.
'Ravin is my friend, and not just a friend he would give his life for me and I would do the same for him.'
The massive Ghard let out a sigh. 'I won't change your mind I can see that, fine I'll play with you a bit.' He said with a grin.
The air shimmered, the white hospital halls quickly made place for the Spirit Realm, a lush, peaceful place ruled by Ancient Fairy Dragon, many lush trees stood around a huge, circular lake with crystal clear water, many colorful flowers stood in the grass between the many trees.
The hospital was still visible as if they were looking through a thin veil, Kailyn's and Ghard's bodies were still there their souls were transported.
'The hell did you do?' Ghard growled.
'I didn't do anything.' Kailyn calmly replied.
'You're lying! Our intel says you're not this strong!' The Dwemer bellowed.
'There are higher powers than you and me.' The Bosmer replied, a figure started to appear behind her a beautiful snake-like dragon with smooth, blue skin, she had long thin arms and snake-like head on a long neck, her chest was covered in beautifully adorned, golden armor, her long, green hair flowed in the wind, slowly her beautiful, multicolored wings unfolded from her back.
'I did this.' The creature behind Kailyn spoke, her voice was soft yet stern, it sounded almost as if she was singing.
'So Ancient Fairy Dragon.' Ghard spoke as a grin formed on his face.
'It takes guts to show yourself, knowing that I hold the power of a Synchro killer.' The Dwemer hit his shoulder piece with his fist, wires slowly came out wrapping around his arm, the wires connected to the gauntlet he wore, the gauntlet buzzed to life, a blade of blue energy shot out from both sides forming the blade of the Duel Disk, then a small slot opened at the bottom of the gauntlet where he placed his Deck in, then more, smaller wires came out of the shoulder piece which connected to several small holes in his skin around his left eye, Kailyn now knew why he was no longer blind, he had his eye replaced by a cybernetic one.
'This is my realm.' Ancient Fairy Dragon spoke, then she looked down on Kailyn. 'I will protect you, I brought you here to protect everyone in that hospital.'
Kailyn nodded: 'I won't let you down.' She spoke to the dragon, then she faced Ghard, her Duel Disk and D-Gazer sprung to life. 'Duel!' Both shouted.
(Kailyn: 8000) - (Ghard: 8000)
'My turn.' Kailyn stated as she drew her opening hand, Ghard didn't object as he did the same.
'I call upon Fairy Archer.' Kailyn stated out of one of the trees a small woman appeared landing gracefully in front of Kailyn, she had fair skin her brown hair was tied in a bun, four small, yellow wings spouted from her back her deep, green eyes were fixated on Ghard, she wore a purple blouse-like garment with a matching bikini bottom with leaves tied around her waist, she wore matching knee-high boots and white gloves, in her hands she held a golden bow, the arrow she had drawn had a ruby tip. (1400 ATK)
'Since I cannot attack I use Fairy Archer's effect, I deal four-hundred points of damage for each Light monster I control!'
The small fairy leaped into the air, she quickly unleashed one of her arrows, it bounced off of Ghard's chest.
'That hurt so bad, I think I'm about to die!' The Dwemer dramatically yelled in a sarcastic way.
(Kailyn: 8000) - (Ghard: 8000- 7600)
'I end my turn.' Kailyn stated ignoring her opponent's comment.
'My turn.' Ghard maliciously grinned.
'Since you control a monster and I don't I special summon Cyber Dragon!'
Small bubbles appeared in the lake, Ghard crossed his arms as behind him a mechanical, serpentine burst out of the water, it had metal spikes on the top part of it's neck, the water fell off of it's sleek body, the metal shone in the sunlight. (2100 ATK)
'And when I special summon a Cyber Dragon I can special summon Cyber Dragon Vier!' Out of the forest appeared another mechanical, snake-like dragon, this one was about half the size of the regular Cyber Dragon, it's metal body was less polished and it had less spikes, yet it looked similar to the regular version.
'Which I now release so I can advance summon!' Ghard shouted, cracks appeared in the body of Cyber Dragon Vier, in an explosion the smaller dragon disappeared, when the smoke cleared a second Cyber Dragon flew around the field. (2100 ATK)
'My Cyber Dragons attack!' Ghard roared both dragons spiraled around each other, when they were ways in the air one went left the other went right, both started to charge their laser blast, the first one fired annihilating Fairy Archer, the second beam approached Kailyn, Ancient Fairy Dragon folded her wings around the Bosmer deflecting the attack which hit a tree, but no damage was done.
(Kailyn: 8000- 7300- 5200) - (Ghard: 7600)
'You'd have to do better than trying to destroy me with cutesy monsters.' Ghard stated as he signaled the end of his turn.
'I can do better, like you wish.' Kailyn stated as she drew her card.
'I activate the ritual spell: End of the World!' A blue beam of light shot up from out of the lake, it quickly spread through the sky forming a seal with a difficult pattern, blue fire slowly rained from out of the seal.
'I send the soul of Ma'at into the void!' Kailyn shouted, quickly she discarded the monster card a soul made of pure light got swallowed by the blue fire, slowly a figure started to descend from the center of the seal, it was a woman with silver-colored hair nearly reaching the ground, she looked young with her fair skin, her eyes were full of wisdom betraying she was older than she looked, her armor was shaped like a dress, mostly red and black with golden accents, she wore black, arm-length gloves, when she gracefully touched the ground she held out her hand, a double-bladed axe appeared out of thin air with a golden hilt and a red blade with golden edges.
'Meet Ruin, Supreme Queen of Oblivion!' Kailyn spoke the woman swung her axe around a few times. (2900 ATK)
'Attack Cyber Dragon!' The Wood Elf shouted Ruin slowly reached out with her left hand towards one of the mechanical dragons, by some invisible force the dragon was pulled towards the woman, when the dragon was near Ruin quickly sliced it's head off then she cast the body and the severed head in the lake.
(Kailyn: 5200) - (Ghard: 7600- 6800)
'Now that's more like it!' Ghard bellowed as he drew his card, quickly he placed two cards on his Duel Disk, one appeared as a face-down monster next to the remaining Cyber Dragon, the other one appeared face-down behind his monsters.
'Now Monster Reborn!' Ghard continued, the holy symbol appeared on the field, a repaired Cyber Dragon came up from the lake, it's head was reattached to it's body by some wires and rope, it curled up and laid in the grass. (1600 DEF)
'I change the other Cyber Dragon to defense mode as well and I end my turn.' The Dwemer stated, the second Cyber Dragon wrapped itself around a tree and rested it's head on one of the branches. (1600 DEF)
'Ghard, you could do better than this. Defending? You disappoint me.' Kailyn said with a sneer Ghard growled something as a reply which Kailyn assumed wasn't nice, quickly she drew her card.
'I activate Cycle of the World!' The Bosmer stated another ritual spell card appeared on the field. The seal that had appeared in the sky earlier now appeared under Ruin, it glowed yellow this time instead of blue.
'I shall offer the soul of Ruin, Supreme King of Oblivion to the void!' Kailyn shouted black mist erupted from the seal quickly it dragged Ruin under. 'Now I call forth Demise, Supreme King of Armageddon!'
Slowly out of the seal rose a mighty warrior clad in heavy, black armor decorated with thin lines of gold, he had massive horns on his shoulders, elbows, kneecaps and helmet in his hands the knight held a massive dual-bladed battleaxe with nasty spikes on one side. (3000 ATK)
'I activate Threatening Roar!' Ghard shouted, his face-down card opened up, the roar of a mighty beast sounded through the area.
'I'm fine with not attacking.' Kailyn said. 'I use the effect of Demise, and since all monsters I used to summon him were Ritual monsters I do not need to pay the cost to activate the effect which normally costs two-thousand Life Points!'
The warrior grabbed his axe with both hands and heaved it above his head.
'Once per turn I can clear the field of all other cards and you take two-hundred points of damage for each card you controlled.' Kailyn calmly explained, then Demise brought down his axe with an earth-shattering blow, creating a massive earthquake, the ground broke open first both Cyber Dragons fell in then Ghard's face-down monster appeared: A white mechanical egg decorated with red lines, the egg broke open revealing the golden center with a blue, glowing orb in the middle.
As the egg fell down Demise leaped forward bringing his axe down on a laughing Ghard.
(Kailyn: 5200) - (Ghard: 6800- 6200)
The infinite symbol appeared beneath their feet each Duelist standing in one of the circles.
'You're too predictable Kailyn.' Ghard calmly spoke, the water in the lake behind him started to stir.
'We knew you had changed your Deck, we've been monitoring you Blades for a while now, we also knew you'd be in the hospital. I knew I'd be fighting you and I knew that if I put too many monsters on the field you would use Demise to wipe them out, and since you destroyed Wise Core through that effect you gave me the chance to summon this!'
Ghard spread his arms five mechanical parts slowly rose up from out of the lake. 'I special summon Machine Emperor Wisel Infinity, Wisel Top, Wisel Attack, Wisel Guard and Wisel Carrier!' First an oval-shaped white drone-like machine appeared, it had the infinity symbol on the center, the lower half of the machine was gray, it had two gray plane-like wings. The second part that appeared was shaped like a small cobra, this was the head of the monstrosity, a hatch on top of the first machine opened, the tail of the snake-like machine clicked into it, then the front of the snake machine opened revealing a red eye The next thing was another drone-like machine with three bolts on the bottom and two on top, the thing broke opened in the middle changing into a large shield, an arm with a human-like hand came out of the middle of the shield, the arm connected on the right wing of the body with the shield being a shoulder pad. Next was a smaller machine with a nasty knife attached to it, quickly the machine unfolded revealing another arm the knife was now attached to the wrist it connected to the left wing of the drone that formed it's body. The last part were two horn-like objects connected to a small platform, the thing split in two revealing it were two, thin legs the gray part of the body opened up allowing the legs to connect, since the legs were too thin to stand on the Machine Emperor hovered in mid-air. When all parts were connected the infinity symbol on the machine's chest opened up revealing the glowing, blue orb that was inside the egg earlier floating around in the machine's chest. (2500 ATK)
Some sweat run down Kailyn's brow quickly she wiped it away.
'I can beat this thing, as long as I don't use Synchro's I can win.' She muttered to herself.
'Since I cannot attack due to your Threatening Roar I shall end my turn.' The Bosmer stated.
Ghard drew his card he quickly glanced over it before he placed it on his Duel Disk, it appeared as a face-down card on his field.
'That will be all for now.' The Dwemer stated.
Kailyn drew her card. 'What's wrong Ghard? Can't win because I have no Synchro on the field?' Kailyn said with a sneer.
'Anyway I use the effect of Demise once again!' She stated.
Ghard chuckled: 'Not this time, I activate Cybernetic Overflow!' Ghard's face-down card opened up. 'I can banish Cyber Dragons with different levels from anywhere I want, for each one with a different level I can destroy one card you control.' The Dwemer retrieved a card from his Graveyard, it was the original Cyber Dragon, a Cyber Dragon made out of electricity shot forth from the face-up trap it wrapped around Demise the electric dragon dragged the mighty warrior into the lake with an explosion Demise came to his violent end.
For a second Kailyn looked over her hand then she picked a card and placed it, the face-down card appeared in front of her as a monster. 'I end my turn.' The Bosmer stated.
Ghard said nothing as he drew his card, the Duel had been calm, not much battling he preferred it that way.
When people normally saw Ghard they saw the dumb muscle but Ghard liked a calmer Duel trying to outsmart your opponent before starting one big battle that would decide the outcome.
Ghard knew that even with a Machine Emperor he was well aware he could lose, Kamdida on the other hand was what people would expect Ghard to be, Kamdida wanted as much destruction and explosions as soon as possible, she often brushed away strategy in favor of rushing down the opponent, whenever she brings out Skiel she thinks herself invincible.
Then there was Duban, Ghard and Duban respected each other, Duban had a strategic mind same as Ghard but where Duban showed himself as the intellectual one Ghard didn't mind that people thought he was the dumb muscle, this could mean that people would underestimate him.
'Machine Emperor Wisel attack!' Ghard commanded the mighty machine flew forward then it struck the face-down card with the blade on his wrist, the card disappeared Wisel's weapon was stuck in ground around the blade hovered two cute fairies, one had a greenish color, it had a large, egg-shaped head with a tuft of purple hair on top and two large, blue eyes, it's body was tiny in comparison with very tiny limbs, it's small arms held onto a glowing halo this allowed the creature to hover, the second fairy was pink, it also had a large head with big, blue eyes and tiny body just like the other one it held onto a glowing halo, the head of the pink one was shaped like a boomerang on each of the points it had a tuft of blue hair. (0 DEF)
'This is Gellenduo.' Kailyn stated: 'It cannot be destroyed by battle, instead it destroys itself whenever I take damage.'
Ghard picked a card from his hand, seconds later the card appeared on the field as a face-down card. 'I figured something like that, but your hand is empty, even if you draw now you won't be able to summon a Ritual monster, you can stall with cards like Gellenduo but it won't help you.' The Dwemer replied.
Kailyn said nothing as she drew her card she looked at Ancient Fairy Dragon behind her. 'I can help you my child.' The voice of Ancient Fairy Dragon echoed through her head. 'You can't, he can deal with Synchro monsters.' Kailyn thought knowing that her Signer Dragon would hear it.
'I can grand you the power you need to take out his Machine Emperor, target the main body without that part it will fall apart.'
Kailyn took a deep breath. 'I summon Counselor Lily!' From between the trees came a woman, she wore a white doctor's coat with red accents, she had angel wings spouting from her back she had curly, pink hair in her hands she held a clipboard and a pen. (400 ATK)
'I tune level three Counselor Lily to level four Gellenduo.' Kailyn stated with her pen Lily tapped her clipboard a few times before she changed into three green rings, the two fairies flew through them each one changed into two stars. 'Guardian of the forest, protector of life become the light that pierces the dark! Synchro Summon! Dream, Ancient Pixie Dragon!' Kailyn chanted.
A loud cry sounded through the air, a dragon came into view it looked like Ancient Fairy Dragon but there were some differences, this dragon was slightly smaller, it had shorter arms and fingers, where Ancient Fairy Dragon's skin was smooth the skin of Ancient Pixie Dragon was covered in small scales the dragon had extra skin over the tops of it's wings. (2100 ATK)
'I use the effect of Counselor Lily until the end of my turn for only five-hundred Life Points the attack points of Ancient Pixie Dragon increase by a thousand.' Kailyn explained, a warm light first enveloped Kailyn then her dragon. (2100- 3100 ATK)
(Kailyn: 5200- 4700) - (Ghard: 6200)
'Next I activate Luminous Spark!' The Bosmer continued quickly she played her spell card, a bright light quickly covered the area the only thing the Duelists could see was the bright light everywhere Ancient Pixie Dragon became stronger once more. (3100- 3600 ATK)
'Since the field spell has resolved I can draw one card due to Ancient Pixie Dragon.' Kailyn explained as she drew her card, she immediately placed it in her Duel Disk, the face-down card appeared behind the dragon.
'And this Ghard is how I'm going to win, the effect of Ancient Pixie Dragon allows me, when I control a field spell to target one face-up attack position monster and destroy it, I target Machine Emperor Wisel Infinity!'
Ancient Pixie Dragon let out a cry, it's wings started to glow.
'Go trap! Divergence!' Ghard bellowed his face-down card opened up.
'Divergence, when a Machine monster I control is the target for an effect I can change the target to another appropriate monster I control, the new target for your Ancient Pixie Dragon's effect is Wisel Carrier!'
Multiple magical beams shot out of the dragon's wings they homed in on the bottom of the giant machine, each beam got deflected automatically.
'Wisel Carrier cannot be destroyed by card effects.' Ghard simply explained.
'In that case Ancient Pixie Dragon attacks Machine Emperor Wisel Infinity!' Kailyn shouted, again the dragon's wings started to glow.
'I redirect the attack to Wisel Guard with it's effect!' Ghard stated his machine turned it's shielded shoulder towards Ancient Pixie Dragon, the machine blocked each of the beams more and more cracks appeared after each beam hit, with the last beam the entire arm of Wisel was blown off, sparks of electricity came from the torn off wires together with a bit of smoke. 'There is no way.' Kailyn stammered.
Her Ancient Pixie Dragon became a bit weaker. (3600- 2600 ATK)
'This was fun.' Ghard spoke as he drew his card.
'I replace Wisel Top with Wisel Top 3!' The snake-like machine that formed the head of Wisel disconnected, as it flew away a new machine appeared, this one was shaped like a small dragon with four legs, a small tail and two wings, the tail connected to the main body, the wings became ear-like extensions, Wisel became slightly stronger because Wisel Top 3 had more attack points than the regular Wisel Top had. (2500- 2600 ATK)
'And now I shall take your Synchro!' Ghard shouted as he spread his arms, the chest of Wisel opened up many wire-like tentacles came out wrapping all around Ancient Pixie Dragon slowly the dragon was dragged into the chest of Wisel, immediately the machine started to glow from the power. (2600- 4700 ATK)
'Wisel attack directly!' Ghard shouted.
The machine rushed forward prepared to strike with it's blade.
'I activate Mirror Force!' Kailyn shouted as her trap opened up.
'Wisel Top 3 once per turn allows me to negate the activation of a spell or trap and destroy it!' Ghard roared Kailyn gasped as her card exploded into many pixels, Wisel leaped back to Ghard's side.
'Now end it.' Ghard said with a growl.
Kailyn closed her eyes, she heard the machine charging it's attack then she felt the warmth of Ancient Fairy Dragon's wings around her, she heard the machine fired it's powerful beam.
The wings of the Signer Dragon caught most of the blast, the air was still knocked out of Kailyn's lungs, the screams of pain from Ancient Fairy Dragon sounded through her head then it all became quiet.
Slowly Kailyn opened her eyes, her mouth was open she was drooling a bit, they were back in the hospital when Kailyn realized this she fell to her knees.
(Kailyn: 4700- 0) - (Ghard: 6200)
It didn't take long for an officer to help Kailyn up, before she knew it she laid on a stretcher, she had told the officer who was Aware and was informed over the situation what Ghard was planning, he couldn't do anything to arrest Ghard but he had him removed from the hospital and increased security, when they brought Kailyn into Ravin's room at her request Jack was already there.
'Kailyn you okay?' Was the first thing Jack asked when he saw his friend and teammate.
'I'm fine.' Kailyn replied: 'Ancient Fairy Dragon protected me, it was Ghard he was here to kill Ravin.'
While Jack was checking on Kailyn it was Juliet who checked if Ravin was okay and Leo was talking to Sector Security.
'There's nothing we can do guys.' Leo spoke as he watched the officer leave. 'Kailyn pulled them into the Spirit World, though it was only their minds, Sector Security kicked Ghard out, Dueling in the hospital isn't forbidden it's just frowned upon. That Ghard left means he didn't broke any law.' Leo retold what the Aware officer had told him.
'So what?' Jack wondered: 'Ghard came here to kill Ravin, when it took too long and Sector Security appeared he bailed?'
Leo nodded. 'He did, The New Government want to appear genuine, if Ghard could reach Ravin he could have killed him without leaving evidence, even if we knew one of The New Government was behind it we couldn't prove it.'
Leo turned to the laptop they brought in for Ravin, he logged into The Blades network, seconds later he opened a folder with some text documents and photos.
'This is what was found at the site where Kamdida attacked Ravin.' Leo said as he opened a photo, it showed some heavy explosives.
'This.' Leo stated: 'Is what their explanation was for the damage on the Duel Lane, explosives tied to the support beams, of course we know it was the Machine Emperor but the damage created by the monster pans out with the damage the explosive would cause, of course due to the explosion from the Machine Emperor the explosive looked as if it had detonated, Kamdida on the other hand states in an official statement that someone tries to frame her by making it look like she caused it.' Leo closed The Blade's private network.
'She even gave the Machine Emperor cards to the authorities so they could check the cards.' Leo continued: 'As we found out earlier Machine Emperor cards have no magic, the Duelist can use something to make the damage real, so the cards turned out clean, and without proof her official statement is what they went with.' He concluded.
'So if she would have killed Ravin, the explosion would have done it?' Jack asked, Leo confirmed by a simple nod.
'When she was done Sector Security arrived and she retreated, now Ghard pulls the exact same trick?'
Jack stood up. 'We need to increase security but we can't, like Leo said we have no proof, they're clever, Ravin would be much safer in our own headquarters.' Jack muttered as he left the room.
'Jack?' Juliet asked: 'Where are you going?'
Jack looked back. 'I'm gonna force a transfer, we have a big enough room in our headquarters and the doctor and nurses can stay as well if they need to.'
The New Government Secret Hideout.
'The big man returns.' Kamdida said with a sneer as Ghard came through the door.
'I thought I told you to kill the traitor?' She asked, Duban was watching from the back of the room from behind his computer.
'I couldn't.' Ghard simply replied as he dropped himself down on the couch.
'So you are becoming soft, I knew it.' The female Dwemer sneered.
'No I mean I literally couldn't kill him.' Ghard replied annoyed.
'What happened?' Duban asked finally interfering.
'That Wood Elf happened.' Ghard looked away clearly ashamed of himself.
'According to our information she's the weakest of the Blades, the application files for the teams for the tournament places her as their fifth member, she's also a Signer mainly using Synchro monsters and you have a Synchro killer.' Duban looked back at his screen.
'I won the Duel Duban, girl didn't stand a chance, but when the Duel started she pulled us to some sort of different realm, clearly time moved differently there, I beat her in about ten minutes, when we got back to this realm the place was crawling with Sector Security, they kicked me out.'
Kamdida snorted. 'You? Kicked out? By mere humans?' She laughed.
'Silence both of you.' Duban spoke as he stood up.
'Ghard that realm, was the sky different? Was it green with a lot of colorful flowers? Clean rivers around? Cries of happy creatures?' Duban asked, Ghard nodded.
'She pulled you to the Duel Monster's Spirit Realm, or at least Ancient Fairy Dragon allowed her to, this could prove problematic.'
Ghard and Kamdida both were watching Duban.
'You did the right thing Ghard, with Sector Security there you couldn't make the kill, they need to believe we are clean, had you killed someone in front of all those people our cover would have been blown.' The Dwemer took three beers from the refrigerator he handed one to the other two.
'So now what?' Kamdida asked.
'Nothing.' Duban simply replied as he opened the bottle and took a sip.
'Dueling in a hospital isn't a thing normal people do, it's disrespectful but not forbidden, when you left when Sector Security demanded it you didn't brake the law. The Blades know why you were there but they have no proof, Ravin thought himself safe in the hospital now he and the rest of The Blades know that's not the case.' The Dwemer took another sip.
'It keeps them on edge, we can kill Ravin after the tournament, let it rest for now we have more pressing matters after all.'
Blades headquarters.
The evening was setting in. Most of Jack's team were just in the main living room minding their own business Jack had called Ushiwaka he knew his Japanese friend was joining the tournament, although he had no concrete proof of what Empress was but he wanted to brainstorm with someone outside of his group, then the door opened Violet stepped through the door closely followed by a shy Rini.
Violet had cut her burgundy hair to shoulder length, she was wearing a red vest which she wore unzipped, under it she wore a black, leather top matching black, leather pants and dark-red, high-heeled boots, around her right ring finger she wore a ring shaped like a feather, in her ears she was wearing earrings shape like small roses next to that old set of earrings she wore a new set shaped like feathers she had bought those for herself and she had given a set of rose earrings to Rini.
Rini's once long, black hair was now cut to shoulder length like Violet she was wearing a ring that Violet had bought for her, a rose-shaped ring with a gem in the center, a set of feather earrings she had owned since she was a child and the new rose-shaped earrings she got from Violet. She was wearing a dark-blue, sleeveless, leather dress with straps over her shoulder, in was closed with a feather-shaped zipper, over the dress she wore a white, fake-fur coat. For the rest she was wearing light-blue leggings and black boots with a zipper on the side.
'Rini, Violet so good to see you.' Jack said as he stood up, Violet gave her friend a hug. 'I was worried out of my mind.' She said then she looked at Rini who was still standing in the doorway. 'Rini kept me calm, is everyone okay?'
Jack looked around him. 'Giving the circumstances yes.' He replied.
Violet let out a sigh of relieve. 'Do you still need us?' Violet asked.
'No, I can see you two are tired, take it easy Violet take your time to process everything that happened, you can say your goodbyes tomorrow.'
The next day.
'So Jack why did you call us here?' Violet asked Rini was sitting next to her, her arms loosely around Violet.
'It's the upcoming tournament, we need the team compositions ready, we need to fill them out in order strongest to weakest, with the number one being the team's leader.
Drake then cleared his throat: 'I'm having my own team with Michelle, Don and Serana, we're The Daggers.'
Jack shook his head: 'You need five people Drake.' He replied.
'I know, I asked Harkon but he refused, he said that he didn't have time to satiate the needs of the masses with a useless display of power.'
Drake stood up he walked to the kitchen to get a beer. 'I did ask if Lyla would join, but Harkon made it explicitly clear that he would kill me himself and then burn my remains so that not even a Necromancer could bring me back.'
Jack suppressed a chuckle, that was typically Harkon, overly protective over Lyla who he saw as his own daughter.
Drake then sat down on the chair in front of the couch Violet and Rini were sharing. 'So Rini, how about it? You're practically a Blade and I need a team member.'
Rini started to blush, she quickly looked at Violet then she looked at Jack, Jack pretended he didn't saw it, he wanted to see how she would react to a sudden thing like this.
Violet gently took Rini's head between her hands, she softly kissed her on the lips. 'Why don't you say yes?' Violet spoke: 'It would be good for you, get you some confidence.'
Rini gave Violet a quick kiss on the cheek then she looked at Drake. 'I do it.' She replied.
'Then that's settled, Jack I'll go now gonna fill in the forms, see you later.'
When Drake had left the room Jack's focus was back on the computer screen. 'So I have filled myself in as number one, Juliet is number two and Leo is number three. That leaves two more there are three more Signers but Ravin is in no condition to participate so I wanted Violet as number four and Kailyn as fifth, any objections?' He asked nobody said anything.
That evening.
'So Ushiwaka thank you for coming on such short notice.' Jack spoke as he placed some bottles of beer on the table before he sat down, besides Jack and Ushiwaka Rao, Juliet and Leo were also present.
Ushiwaka had changed a lot since Jack had seen him last, looking more mature he had short, black hair that was styled with some gel, he was wearing a gray sweater, black jeans and black shoes.
His sister Rao had her long, brown hair tied in a ponytail, she had left her bangs long, she was wearing a black, long, fluffy dress with a cape-like garment wrapped around her shoulders under the dress she wore some black, cotton pants and black, winter boots.
'It sounded urgent.' Ushiwaka replied to Jack's thank you. 'I haven't forgotten you broke the spell Orochi had on me during the Elder Scrolls Tournament, but you must know that my Demon Hunters aren't quite off the ground yet and those demons you face here are very different than the ones over in Japan.' Ushiwaka stated.
'And that is exactly why I contacted you, this was anything unlike we've seen.' Jack took a thick book with a black cover and a red pentagram on it from a small table behind him.
'I've been digging through some books depicting all sorts of monsters and demons, but the closest I could find was a Shapeshifter, but Empress doesn't quite fit that description.'
Jack opened the book at the Shapeshifter page, there were no images, he shoved the book over to Ushiwaka.
'So this Empress tell me about her.' The young man said.
'The first time we found her we thought she was a Daedra one of our demons, she went to a Daedric Realm to regain her power, once we found her there it turned out she was using a host body of a young woman, she said her own body was weak and dying so she had to leech off of a host, when we Dueled her she separated herself from that host body, with magic she could control the host body, which turned out was dead for quite awhile.'
Ushiwaka looked up from the book. 'I see why you found Shapeshifter but Shapeshifters use no host body, there are some Japanese demons, or Yokai as we call them that do, but I need more specifics.'
Jack closed the book and put it back on the small table.
'After we defeated her she retreated, she said it was to test us, a few days ago she attacked here, our home this time she didn't use a host body she said she could live without one for a little while, but she needed something with incredible magic to keep herself from falling apart.'
Jack took his beer and took a sip. 'Empress killed Jurgen the embodiment of a literal god she said that soul would give her enough power.'
Ushiwaka shook his head. 'Could be a lot, could be a Yokai, could be a god not classified as a god worshiped by a big religion, she could be a demigod, I'm sorry Jack but I need more specifics.' Ushiwaka said as he took a sip from his beer.
'Well she said something in Japanese, what I assumed was a cuss, but a lot of people use Japanese words.' Jack replied.
'There might be something that could help.' Leo then spoke: 'During the attack of the Dark Signers they had help from escaped criminals, one of them was Ren an ex lawyer of Japanese origins he is what you classified as a Distortion, the Distortion got beaten by Drake's team and Ren was left in a brain dead state, while Empress was attacking us Juliet and I found Ren's Distortion he claimed that Empress had given him the power to take control over the body.' Leo concluded.
'Then there was the shadowy tail we saw behind him, it didn't seem to be part of Ren's body.' Juliet added.
Jack nodded: 'Empress attacked us at the right time, she said she had planned several things, whispered ideas to people, she knew exactly when barely any Blades were left in the headquarters and on that day she struck.'
Ushiwaka stood up. 'That tail? Did this Empress had similar tails?' He asked. 'A bunch.' Jack replied: 'Didn't count them, she had about ten of them.
Ushiwaka slammed his fist on the table. 'She had nine tails, guys this is very worrying.' He sat down again.
'Among the Yokai some of the most powerful are the Kitsune powerful foxes with paranormal abilities, some people regard them as good some as evil, one thing is sure they are tricksters, among the most powerful of them are the Kyūbi no Kitsune or the Nine-Tailed Fox, they are malicious entities, they are Shapeshifters as well often taking the form of a human, some make deals in trade for your soul, they are often bad news.'
Jack sipped his beer. 'So how do we stop one?' He asked.
'The weaker ones can be killed by pretty much anything, as long as you can get them to get their guard down for a second, the stronger ones must be purified, a ritual that only a select few can do.' Ushiwaka concluded.
'I'm one of those select few.' The normally shy Rao softly spoke: 'If you can get it close to me I can use a spell to bind it and then purify...' Ushiwaka interrupted her. 'You can't Rao, this one Jack said it himself snacked on a soul touched by a god, the fact she managed to bring a Distortion into the real world and then those tails.' He shook his head.
'I'm afraid we're not dealing with an ordinary nine-tailed fox.'
Ushiwaka stood up as he started to pace around the room, to Jack it was clear he was nervous, afraid even.
'Only one of them is that powerful, many tried to purify her without success, eventually they managed to kill her, she simply resurrected in a different age, different country as well. She's been active for many centuries always hiding in the shadows, always whispering ideas to people with wicked hearts, whenever a world war starts she's behind it.' He paused for a second, picked up his beer and drunk the entire bottle in one go. 'She always hides in the shadow of a powerful man, as their wife, a consort, their right hand woman you name it.'
Jack stood up. 'With world wars you mean?'
Ushiwaka nodded: 'Last time anyone heard from her was the Second World War, she sided with the Germans, when the German army lost their leader killed himself, his wife possessed by the nine-tailed fox spirit did too, the spirit escaped and the Japanese Demon Hunters tracked it down, weakened by the sudden departure from the host, the Hunters cornered the beast and managed to manifest it's true form, they bound the spirit and cut of the tails to reduce her power, each of her tails was sealed away in a tube, the spirit herself got killed, silver blade through the heart and decapitated for good measure then her spirit got sealed before it could return to whatever hell it came out of.'
Jack finished his beer. 'So is Empress that same spirit?' Jack asked.
'I'm afraid so, someone must have broken her seal, without magic and without her tails she was weakened, when magic returned to this world she must have been stuck in that host body you found her in the first time you faced her, she jumped to that Daedric Realm to get some of her magic back.' Ushiwaka sat down again.
'She must have found her tails, those tubes were meant to slowly drain the tails of magic so that nobody could use them if they were found.' Ushiwaka sighted: 'The tails must have not been drained completely, she gave a tail to this Ren, the magic in those tails is powerful, powerful enough to give a Distortion control of the body, but they also leech magic from their target, Ren's magic is slowly charging that tail, once that tail is charged it can return to the original owner, with each tail she regains she gains more power.' Ushiwaka paused as he stood up and walked to the window.
'Revealing herself like she did, she took a huge risk, it shows she's desperate, she has enough from the soul to sustain herself until at least one tail is charged, that being said one one tail can be charged per person, she need nine people to charge all of them, that's why she's here, in Japan she would have had Demon Hunters all over her, here she can move freely.'
Jack walked up to the same window Ushiwaka was staring out of.
'Can we find her?' He asked.
'Not in the state she's in now, she's crafty, hidden.' Ushiwaka replied.
'Does she have a name?' Jack asked.
'She does.' Ushiwaka replied: Tamamo no Mae.'
'Tamamo.' Jack muttered.
'Jack?' Juliet asked, the Blade looked up.
'What's your plan?' She asked.
'I want to ask Ushiwaka to keep an eye out for Tamamo, tell us if he learns anything.' Jack looked at his Japanese ally, he nodded. 'Will do Jack, but we're preparing for the tournament as well.'
Jack nodded as a thank you. 'We do like Ushiwaka's team prepare for the tournament, deal with The New Government and when that's over with I'd say we team up with Ushiwaka and deal with Tamamo.'
Next time:
The Blades can finally take a small break after all the violence, Ghard has retreated and The New Government has been quiet, Empress who was revealed to be the powerful Tamamo no Mae while they are on the lookout she seem to have vanished.
Rini who wants to become a Blade herself needs to complete a trial, a Duel against her girlfriend. ''The New Blade'' coming next.
Card details:
Wise Core
Type: Machine/Effect
Attribute: Dark
Level: 1
ATK: 0
DEF: 0
When this card is destroyed by a card effect and sent to the Graveyard, destroy all monsters you control. Then, Special Summon 1 "Machine Emperor Wisel Infinity", "Wisel Top", "Wisel Attack", "Wisel Guard", and "Wisel Carrier" from your hand, Deck, or Graveyard.
Machine Emperor Wisel ∞
Type: Machine/Effect
Attribute: Dark
Level: 1
ATK: 0
DEF: 0
Other monsters you control cannot attack. Once per turn, you can select and equip 1 face-up Synchro Monster your opponent controls to this card. This card gains ATK equal to the combined ATK of all Synchro Monsters equipped to it and all other face-up "Wisel", "Skiel", and "Granel" monsters you control. When this card is destroyed, destroy all monsters you control.
Wisel Top
Type: Machine/Effect
Attribute: Dark
Level: 1
ATK: 500
DEF: 0
If you do not control a face-up "∞" monster, destroy this card.
Wisel Guard
Type: Machine/Effect
Attribute: Dark
Level: 1
ATK: 0
DEF: 1200
If you do not control a face-up "∞" monster, destroy this card. When another monster you control is selected as an attack target, you can switch the target to this card instead.
Wisel Attack
Type: Machine/Effect
Attribute: Dark
Level: 1
ATK: 1200
DEF: 0
If you do not control a face-up "∞" monster, destroy this card.
Wisel Carrier
Type: Machine/Effect
Attribute: Dark
Level: 1
ATK: 800
DEF: 600
Destroy this card if you do not control a "∞" monster. This card cannot be destroyed by your opponent's card effects.
Wisel Top 3
Type: Machine/Effect
Attribute: Dark
Level: 3
ATK: 600
DEF: 0
If you do not control a face-up "∞" monster, destroy this card. Once per turn, you can negate the activation of a Spell/Trap Card and destroy it.
Divergence
Continuous Trap card
If a Machine-Type monster you control is targeted by an opponent's attack or card effect, you can switch the target to another appropriate Machine-Type monster you control.
Note: The above cards were mostly used by Primo on several occasions during the Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's anime, all credits go to the creative writers of those episodes.