THE RUNAWAY

"Answer me!" the girl yelled. "Who are you?"

"Hey, calm down," Hugo said, holding his hands up to show he wasn't a threat. "We didn't know we were following anyone. Look, just let me get my friend down from there and we'll be on our way and leave you alone."

"So you can go and tell your little buddies where I am? Forget it," the girl said.

"What are you talking about?" Yuka asked.

"As if you didn't know," the girl answered.

"No, we don't know!" Hugo yelled. He was starting to get frustrated. "How about you tell us and stop being cryptic, and we can all get on with our lives!"

"Do the names Hector and Marisha Cavanaugh mean anything to you two?" the girl asked.

"No; should they?" Hugo asked in response.

"Well, what about the Cultura Mortis?" the girl asked.

"Is she talking about those goons we dueled back in town the other night?" Yuka asked.

"I knew it! You do know them!" the girl shouted. "You're with them, aren't you?"

"If we were we wouldn't have dueled them, and no, it wasn't for fun," Hugo corrected her. "They were trying to hurt people, and we stopped them."

The girl activated her duel pad. "If you're really not with them, then prove it. Duel me now."

"And why would I do that?" Hugo asked.

"To prove to me that you really are travellers and not part of the cult," the girl replied. "I know how they duel. So if you're really not with them, then I'll know by how you duel. But you still haven't answered my other question - who are you two?"

Hugo facepalmed as he let out a frustrated sigh. "My name is Hugo, and the one hanging out back there is Yuka."

"Hanging out? Really?" Yuka snarked at him.

"And what's your name? You can't ask us our names without telling yours."

"It's Shelly. Shelly Cavanaugh."

"Okay, Shelly. If dueling you is the only way to get you to understand that we're not with those dorks, then fine," Hugo said as he activated his duel pad.

"Make it fast, Hugo," Yuka said. "I'm starting to feel the blood rushing to my head."

"I'll make it as fast as I can, Yuka," Hugo said.

Hugo and Shelly both turned to each other, their life points set to 8000, their opening five cards drawn, and said " Let's duel!"

"I'll start us off by summoning Megalosmasher X in attack mode," Hugo announced. The monster that appeared was lizard like in appearance, with a long crocodillian head and four flippers with a powerful tail. "Next, I'll activate the spell card Big Evolution Pill." A red and white pill emerged on the field behind Megalosmasher X. "This card remains on the field until your third End Phase, but while it is, I can tribute one dinosaur monster to Normal Summon a Level Six or higher dinosaur monster from my hand. That'll end my turn."

"My turn," Shelly said as she drew a card. "I activate the spell card Twin Twisters, sending Felis, Lightsworn Archer to the Graveyard to destroy your Big Evolution Pill. You're not getting those bid dinos out yet, pal." A twister formed above the large red and white pill, touching down on it and destroying it. "Next, I'll summon Kuribandit in attack mode." Her monster was a brown furball with green limbs, a metal eyepatch, and wearing a yellow bandana on its head. "Now, I tribute Kuribandit to draw the top five cards of my deck." Kuribandit vanished, and Shelly drew her top five cards. "I keep any spell and trap cards, and send any monsters to the Graveyard. The cards I drew are Allure of Darkness, Instant Fusion, Unending Nightmare, Pot of Avarice, and Foolish Burial. Next, I'll activate Foolish Burial to send a monster from my deck to the Graveyard. So I send Shaddoll Beast to the Graveyard, and his effect lets me draw a new card." She drew a card as both her spell card and her monster went to the Graveyard.

"Did you say 'Shaddoll'?" Hugo asked.

"That's right," Shelly answered. "Next, I activate the spell card Instant Fusion. This card lets me Fusion Summon a monster from my Extra Deck, ignoring its summoning condition, but at the cost of 1000 life points." Her life points dropped to 7000 as she activated her spell card. "Form the light that casts the shadows! I Fusion Summon El Shaddoll Construct!"

The monster that appeared looked feminine, like a woman wearing a long flowing dress, but her limbs were thin and artificial, and she had several dark strings extending out of her back.

"When this card is summoned, I can send a Shaddoll card from the deck to the Graveyard," Shelly continued. "So I send Shaddoll Hedgehog from my deck to the Graveyard and add Shaddoll Hound to my hand, but he's not going to stay there long, because I summon him to the field."

This new monster looked like a dog with purple skin and gold highlights. Several of the strings attacked to El Shaddoll Construct shot out of her back and attached to Shaddoll Hound.

"El Shaddoll Construct, attack his monster!" Shelly ordered. "Make it go extinct once again! Shadow String Whip!" Several of the strings on El Shaddoll Construct's back whipped out towards Megalosmasher X, hitting it and destroying it, dropping Hugo's Life Points down to 7200. "Shaddoll Hound, attack him directly!" Shaddoll Hound's jaws clamped down on Hugo's legs. He cried out in surprised pain as his life points dropped to 5600. "I'll end my turn there."

"Not bad," Hugo said as he drew a card for the start of his turn. "I set a monster in defense mode and end my turn."

"Defending's about all you can do, but it won't protect you," Shelly taunted. "I draw. I activate the spell card Allure of Darkness. This card lets me draw two cards, and if there's a Dark attribute monster in my hand, it's banished. If not, I send my entire hand to the Graveyard."

"That's a bit of a gamble," Yuka observed.

"It'll be worth it if it pays off," Shelly said. "I draw my two cards. One of the cards I drew was Armageddon Knight, and since he's a Dark attribute monster, he's banished. Next, I set three cards face down, and then, Shaddoll Hound attacks your defending monster."

"That's my Miracle Jurassic Egg," Hugo said as Shaddoll Hound bit down on the egg that materialized on the field. "It has 2000 defense points, so you lose 400 life points."

"Fair enough," Shelly said as her life points dropped to 6600. "But El Shaddoll Construct can still destroy it." El Shaddoll Construct whipped the egg, destroying it. "Your egg has been scrambled, and my turn ends."

Hugo drew his new card for the start of his turn. "You're in trouble now," he said with a grin. "I banish Megalosmasher X and Miracle Jurassic Egg to from the Graveyard to Special Summon my most powerful monster. Rise from the primoridal ooze and send your enemies to extinction! I Special Summon Ultimate Conductor Tyranno!"

It was easily the biggest creature any of them had ever seen, towering over even the trees of the forest. Electricity crackled along its black scaled body. When it roared at Shelly and her monsters, birds scattered, animals ran for cover, branches fell from some nearby trees, and the very ground itself seemed to shake.

"Next," Hugo continued, "I Normal Summon Black Brachios." A black brachiosaurus joined Ultimate Conductor Tyranno, the latter monster still dwarfing the brachiosaurus by several feet. "And that activates his effect; when he's Normal Summoned, he puts one of your monsters in face down defense mode, so put that dog to sleep, Black Brachios." Black Brachios stomped its feet and roared at Shaddoll Hound; the monster vanished from the field as Shelly flipped the card face down. "Now, Black Brachios, destroy it!" Black Brachios stomped on the area where Shaddoll Hound had been; Shelly moved the card from her duel board to the Graveyard. "Now, Ultimate Conductor Tyranno, use your Electricl Tail Shock attack to destroy El Shaddoll Construct!" Ultimate Conductor Tyranno's electrified tail slapped against El Shaddoll Construct, destroying it and dropping Shelly's life points to 5900. "Your move."

Shelly drew a card. "I activate Pot of Avarice. With this card, I shuffle five monsters from my Graveyard back into my deck and draw two cards. I'll shuffle Shaddoll Hound, Shaddoll Hedgehog, Shaddoll Beast, Kuribandit, and Felis, Lightsworn Archer back into my deck and draw two new cards. Next, I activate Shaddoll Fusion, sending Naelshaddoll Ariel and Lava Golem from my hand to the Graveyard to Fusion Summon a new Shaddoll monster. I Fusion Summon El Shaddoll Grysta!"

Hugo could barely make out the humanoid features of this new monster, not with all the flames surrounding it.

"Because Naelshaddoll Hedgehog was sent to the Graveyard by the effect of Shaddoll Fusion," Shelly continued, "I activate its effect to banish itself, Shaddoll Fusion, and Instant Fusion from my Graveyard, and then set one monster in defense mode. Now, El Shaddoll Grysta, attack Black Brachios!" Flames shot out of El Shaddoll Grysta's hands, scorching Black Brachios to ashes and dropping Hugo's life points to 5050. "That'll end my turn."

"I draw, then," Hugo said. "I send Petiteranodon from my hand to the Graveyard to activate Ultimate Conductor Tyranno's effect, changing your El Shaddoll Grysta into face down defense mode." Ultimate Conductory Tyranno's tail slapped El Shaddoll Grysta, changing its battle position. "Because Petiteranodon was sent to the Graveyard by a card effect, I activate his effect. That lets me Special Summon a Level Four or lower dinosaur from my deck, so come on out, Souleating Oviraptor."

"Summon all the monsters you want," Shelly taunted. "I've got a plan."

"I'm sure you do," Hugo said. "But I don't really care about your plans right now. I'm just trying to prove to you that Shelly and I aren't who you think we are."

"You're doing a poor job of that," Shelly said.

"Listen to me!" Yuka cried. "We're not who you think we are! We're going to Pistris City so I can challenge the gym leader for a duel badge! You've got to believe us!"

"I don't!" Shelly yelled back.

"Hopefully you'll be changing your tune at the end of this duel," Hugo said. "Souleating Oviraptor's effect lets me send a monster from my deck to the Graveyard, so I'll send Babycerasaurus to the Graveyard and use his effect to bring out another dinosaur, and I choose Miscellaneousaurus. Unlike the Souleating Oviratpor brought out by Petiteranodon, my Miscellaneousaurus is allowed to attack, but that's not what he's going to do."

"You're not attacking?" Shelly repeated.

"Miscellaneousaurus isn't," Hugo answered. "Because since he and my oviraptor are both Level Four, I can use them to build the Overlay Network. I Xyz Summon Number 39: Utopia!"

The monster that emerged was a tall man in shining gold and white metallic armor, wielding two curved scimitars and with a pair of large, powerful wings protruding from his shoulder blades, evoking the image of a descending angel. The two Xyz materials circled him as he stared Shelly down.

"Now, Ultimate Conductor Tyranno uses its other effect," Hugo continued. "When he attacks a defending monster, he destroys it and you take 1000 points of damage, so I'm going to have him destroy your Grysta." Ultimate Conductor Tyranno stomped one large clawed foot on the ground, destroying Shelly's defending monster and dropping her life points to 4900. "Now, Utopia destroys your other monster." Utopia stabbed its scimitars into Shelly's other defending monster, destroying it. "That'll end my turn."

Shelly drew a new card. "I'll admit, you're doing better than I thought you would," she said. "And I can tell you're not dueling like the other cultists. Maybe I was wrong about you and your friend. Either way, this duel has to go on. I set a monster in defense mode and end my turn."

"Guess it's back to me then," Hugo said as he drew a card. "Ultimate Conductor Tyranno, destroy her defending monster." Ultimate Conductor Tyranno stomped on the ground, destroying Shelly's monster and dropping her life points to 3900. "Now, Utopia attacks you directly!"

"The monster you just destroyed was my Electromagnetic Turtle," Shelly explained. "I activate its effect, banishing it from the Graveyard to end the Battle Phase."

Hugo couldn't help but huff in frustration. "You survived that one. Your turn."

Shelly drew a card. "I end my turn without playing a card."

"So, you don't have anything you can bring out this time, huh?" Hugo taunted as he drew a card. "Pity that. Looks like this next attack is gonna finish it."

"Be careful, Hugo," Yuka warned. "She does have three cards face down."

"I'm not afraid of those things," Hugo said confidently. "Utopia, attack her directly."

"I activate my trap card, Necro Fusion!" Shelly countered. "This card lets me Fusion Summon by banishing the materials from my Graveyard face down, so I send Qadshaddoll Keios and El Shaddoll Grysta from my Graveyard to Fusion Summon El Shaddoll Apkallone!" This new monster was a winged fish with a small humanoid woman riding atop it. "The downside of using Necro Fusion to summon it is that it can't attack this turn, but it does have the same 2500 attack value as your Utopia, so they'll just destroy each other."

"Not if I use Utopia's effect," Hugo said. "I detach one material from Utopia to negate its attack." He removed Miscellaneousaurus from Utopia, stopping its attack. "But my Battle Phase continues with Ultimate Conductor Tyranno! Attack!"

"I activate my other face down trap card, Purushaddoll Aeon! I send Nephe Shaddoll Fusion from my hand to target El Shaddoll Apkallone, increasing its attack points from 2500 to 3500, same as your dinosaur. This means that both our monsters are destroyed." Both of their monsters slammed into each other and were destroyed.

"Dang it!" Hugo yelled. "Well, during my second Main Phase, I use the effect of Miscellaneousaurus in my Graveyard, banishing every monster but Ultimate Conductor Tyranno to Special Summon Black Brachios from my deck, and that'll end my turn."

Shelly drew a new card. She grinned. "Perfect. I banish El Shaddoll Apkallone and El Shaddoll Construct from my Graveyard to Special Summon Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning!" A new monster appeared, a tall man in blue and gold armor, a shield in his left hand, a curved scimitar in his right hand. "Now, Black Luster Soldier, attack and Destroy Black Brachios!"

"I detach another material from Utopia to negate that attack!" Hugo countered.

Shelly laughed. "That's just what I wanted you to do. Sure, I could have just banished your Utopia, but I want to destroy it, and you using up all its materials was part of that plan."

"Son of a gun. Well, it's still my turn now, so I draw." He pulled a new card from his deck. "Shelly, I have to be honest with you - you're actually a really good duelist. I really like your deck. But I still have to win this duel. It's the only way to prove to you that Yuka and I are on the up and up. So I banish the last two dinosaurs from my Graveyard to Special Summon a second Ultimate Conductor Tyranno. Next, I tribute Black Brachios to Tribute Summon Super-Ancient Dinobeast." The new dinosaur that joined the field was slightly taller than Utopia; its skales were obsidian black, contrasting its blood red eyes, and there were a pair of small bat-like wings protruding from its shoulders. "I can tribute summon him with only one dinosaur instead of two. Now, Ultimate Conductor Tyranno, destroy Black Luster Soldier!" Ultimate Conductor Tyranno's tail slapped against Black Luster Soldier, sending it against a nearby tree and destroying it, dropping Shelly's life points down to 3400. "Utopia, attack her directly! Rising Sun Slash!" Utopia slashed his swords against Shelly, dropping her life points to 900. "And Super-Ancient Dinobeast attacks you directly, and ends this duel." Super-Ancient Dinobeast shot a stream of fire out of its mouth, hitting Shelly, making her cry out in pain and shock as her life points down to 0.

The monsters faded away as Hugo and Shelly turned their duel pads off. Shelly fell to her knees; locks of her long blonde hair hid her face. Even from here, Hugo could tell she was feeling defeated - not just in terms of losing the duel, but personally. At the start of the duel, she truly believed that he and Yuka were with this weird cult. Maybe the duel had made her see that they weren't, but at the cost of her pride taking a massive hit.

Or at least, that was what Hugo guessed.

"Hey, are you okay?" he asked Shelly as he walked over to her.

Shelly looked up at him, tears glistening in the corner of her bright green eyes. "You're really not with them. I thought for sure you two were, but now I see that you're not." She wiped her eyes. "I'm sorry for accusing you. I'm sorry for wasting your time."

"You didn't waste our time," Hugo said assuringly. He reached a hand out to Shelly. "Here. Let me help you up." Shelly lightly brushed his hand away and stood up. "Or not. Hey, if it means anything, that was a great duel. I actually enjoyed it."

"Excuse me," Yuka called from her perch. "I'm still hanging here, all the blood's rushing to my head, and it's starting to hurt."

"I'll help your friend down," Shelly said. She followed the rope to its anchor and undid it, slowly lowering Yuka to the ground. "I'm sorry again about all this."

"Why did you think we were with those guys, anyway?" Yuka asked as she untied the rope from around her ankle.

"I was scared," Shelly said softly. "The cult, they..." Her voice trailed off.

"I did hear them say something about humanity's extinction," Hugo recalled.

"That's their goal," Shelly explained. "They're crazy. They kidnap, they hurt, they...They don't care about people. They want everyone to die because they think it's for the greater good."

"So, how do you know all that?" Hugo asked.

"Because of my parents," Shelly answered.

"Were those the people you mentioned earlier?" Yuka asked.

Shelly nodded her head in response. "They were...taken...by the cult."

"By taken," Hugo said, "you don't mean..." His voice trailed off; he was afraid to say anything else.

"I'm so sorry to hear that," Yuka said quietly.

"And I'm sorry too," Shelly said. "Sorry to bother you. I'll go away and leave you two alone." She turned and started to walk away.

"Wait, hold on a minute!" Yuka called after her. "If these guys are after you, are you sure it's a good idea to go by yourself? You can come with us. Strength in numbers and all that. And to prove I wasn't lying earlier..." She booted up her duel pad, bringing up the page with the duel badges, the Drytron Badge lit up. "See that? I got that from beating Flynn Hartmann in Equus City. Hugo and I are going to Pistris City so I can challenge Alice Perkins for her badge."

"You're collecting duel badges?" Shelly asked.

"So I can qualify to compete in the Duel Monsters tournament in Domino City later this year," Yuka explained as she shut her duel pad off. "It's the one hundred percent truth. Look - Shelly, was it? You don't have to go with us if you don't want to, Shelly. But I am throwing the offer out there. What do you say?"

Shelly was quiet for a moment. She wiped her eyes again. Thinking about it now, these two people seemed nice enough, but it was a trusting nature like that that took her parents from her. But the way they talked; they didn't seem to be with the Cultura Mortis, but at the same time there was no indication they were against them either. It sounded like, from what she was told, these two had only encountered them once and beat them in a duel.

And dueling Hugo, she could see how the cultists they fought had lost.

"Do you even know how to get to Pistris City from here?" Shelly asked.

"Not in the slightest," Yuka said cheerfully.

Shelly smiled. "You're in luck then, because I used to live in that town and know exactly how to get there from here. Follow me."

Yuka and Hugo started walking a few seconds after Shelly, following their new friend to Pistris City.