Chapter 20.5

"Rise of the Reptiles"

As the group made their way towards the spot where the train wrecked, they found the place crawling with small lizards. "Since when did a train wreck become a hangout spot for lizards?" Twilight asked. "I don't know, but there's something fishy about this. I got that feeling down in my gut." AJ replied before a laughter was heard not far from them. "Who's there?!" Yami shouted. Soon, a figure came out of the debris of the train. "My prey has arrived." he said.

"Just who are you?" AJ asked, suspiciously. "Call me Hachu. I was sent out by Master Dartz to capture souls, for he promised a world where reptiles would have more respect." the stranger replied. "Anyone who works for Dartz is an enemy of ours." Twilight said, firmly. "Oh, of course. We know you stand in the way of Doma, and I intend to stop that right here and now. And I'm going to do that, by first challenging, YOU!" Hachu replied before pointing at Applejack.

"You want to duel me?" AJ asked. "Of course, a hearty soul like yours is sure to give the Great Leviathan strength." Hachu replied. "If its a duel you want, you got it." AJ said. "Be careful, Applejack. If he's part of Doma, he must be carrying the Seal of Orichalcos." Fluttershy advised, cautiously. Hachu soon hopped out of the train and activated his Chaos Disk. "I know, but I'm not willing to let this guy hurt anyone. We lost Yugi already, and I'm not gonna lose another member of my family." AJ replied before activating her Duel Disk.

Soon, with both players' hands drawn, their life points set to 4000 and an equally determined 'Let's duel!', the game began. "Ladies first." AJ said before drawing. "And I start by summoning the Marauding Captain in attack mode." she said before her captain appeared. "And thanks to his special ability, I can summon another warrior to the field. And I pick my Amazoness Fighter!" she added before the muscle-bound Amazon appeared.

"I'll set two cards face down and leave it at that." she concluded. "Interesting move." Hachu said before drawing. "It's a good thing I've been observing how such cards work. You see, a reptile often observes what's going on before it makes a move. And now, its time to make mine, by playing the Seal of Orichalcos!" he declared, worrying AJ a bit before the seal encircled them. "Now to bring in my reptilian friends. I summon Gagagigo in attack mode!" he continued before his monster, a level four, Water attribute Reptile with 1850 attack points and 1000 defense points.

"With the power of the Orichalcos, my reptile army will grow in power!" he continued before Gagagigo's attack power increased to 2350. "Go, my lizard, attack the Marauding Captain!" he commanded before the creature lunged and destroyed the warrior, lowering AJ's life points to 2850. "Guess not all reptiles are bright, because you fell for my trap! Attack and Receive!" the cowgirl revealed as her trap sprung. "Now you take 700 points of damage as payback for sic'ing your scaly friend on me." she explained before Hachu's life points lower to 3300.

"Not bad, but that's just round 1. I'll end my turn." Hachu replied. "My move." AJ said before drawing. "I'll tribute my Amazoness Fighter to summon The Fiend Megacyber!" she declared before her new monster appeared. "I'll hold off on attacking, so I'll set a card and end my turn." she concluded. "So, you're doing the reptile strategy, huh?" Hachu asked, intrigued. "If you mean waiting instead of moving, then yes." AJ replied while Hachu drew.

"Okay, then. I summon Razor Lizard!" he declared before the creature, a level three, Earth attribute reptile/effect monster with 1500 attack points, now increased to 2000, and 300 defense points, appeared. "You'll see how sharp his name suggests he is, soon. But for now, I'll have Gagagigo take a bite out of your Fiend Megacyber!" he continued before his reptile pounced. "Nice try, but I activate my trap!" AJ declared before her trap sprung. "Reinforcements?!" Hachu said in surprise. "That's right, that means my Fiend Megacyber gains 500 attack points, more than enough to counter Gagagigo!" AJ replied.

Soon, Fiend Megacyber's attack points rose to 2700, allowing it to counterattack and destroyed Gagagigo, lowering Hachu's life points to decreasing Hachu's life points to 2950. "That little boost in power won't last forever, so I'll set a card and end my turn." Hachu said, upset, before Fiend Megacyber's attack points returned to normal. "That's fine, I don't need it anymore anyway." AJ replied before drawing. "I summon Warrior of Zera to the field in attack mode!" she declared before her new creature, a level four, Earth attribute warrior with 1600 attack and defense points, appeared.

"Fiend Megacyber, attack Razor Lizard!" she commanded before the Razor Lizard was cut in half with one Cyber Mega Swipe, lowering Hachu's life points to 2750. "Now, my Warrior of Zera, attack him directly!" she commanded before, with a swipe of his sword, Hachu's life points greatly decreased to 1150. "I'll end it there. Though I really wish you didn't play the Seal of Orichalcos. I'd hate to see your soul captured by it." she concluded. "Sympathy towards me? Others don't show that to my reptilian friends." Hachu replied before drawing.

"So many innocent reptiles, both thriving and endangered, either exterminated or put on display in zoos. Well, that won't last because when the Great Leviathan awakens at full strength, the reptiles will be free and take their places in the wild once again!" he declared. "Sounds to me that you prefer reptiles over humans." Fluttershy pointed out. "Reminds me of when you faced one of the Rare Hunters who fought for the sake of plants." Yami admitted. "But enough talk! I activate my trap, Call of the Haunted!" Hachu declared as his trap sprung.

"Using this, I can bring my Gagagigo back to the field!" he explained before the reptile returned to the field, regaining its enhanced power. "But you know what they say about the early reptiles, like the Petrolacosaurus, they eventually evolved into creatures like the Dimetrodon, the predecessors of the dinosaurs. And now its time for Gagagigo to evolve, and I'll help it do that by attributing it to summon Giga Gagagigo!" he declared before his new reptile, a level five, Water attribute Reptile with 2450 attack points, now increased to 2950, and 1500 defense points, appeared.

"Go, my armored reptilian ally, attack her Warrior of Zera!" he commanded before the attack landed, GREATLY decreasing AJ's life points to 1500. "Looks like even creatures that evolved still make mistakes, even if they're the same one. And you did just that, by triggering another Attack and Receive trap!" she declared as her trap sprung. "So you're going to take away 700 of my life points, big deal. I'll simply regain them." Hachu claimed. "Wrong again, by triggering my second Attack and Receive trap, you activated the second effect, which is to take away an extra 300 attack points based on how many other Attack and Receive trap cards are in my graveyard and last time I counted, there was one." AJ revealed, shocking Hachu while his life points greatly decreased to 150.

"It won't be long now." she said with a smile. "I end my turn there. But I assure you, I'll bounce back. All reptiles do!" Hachu declared as AJ drew. "We'll see. I'll set a monster in defense mode and switch my Fiend Megacyber to defense mode as well to end my turn." she said. 'She's toying with me. Well, I'll show her.' Hachu thought before drawing. He soon started laughing. "Looks like we missed the joke." Tea said. "Oh, but the joke's on your friend. I play the magic card, Cost Down!" Hachu replied, shocking everyone.

"Now I just have to discard a card to lower the power level of a monster in my hand by two. Now this can allow me to tribute my Giga Gagagigo to summon my ultimate predator! Behold my greatest reptilian beast, Gogiga Gagagigo!" he declared before his new monster, a level eight, Water attribute Reptile with 2950 attack points, now increased to 3450, and 2800 defense points, appeared. "Now I activate this Stop Defense card to force your Fiend Megacyber into attack mode!" he continued before the giant switched to attack position.

"Oh, no. Now his monster can strike!" Yami said in alarm. "Now, Gogiga Gagagigo, destroy The Fiend Megacyber!" Hachu commanded before one slash of its bony claw destroyed the giant, GREATLY decreasing AJ's life points to 250. "Just one more attack and its over." he concluded, proud of his supposed forthcoming accomplishment. "I'm afraid your mistaken." AJ said calmly. "Says the cowgirl about to lose her soul." Hachu replied. "I wouldn't say that if I were you." AJ said before drawing. "I reveal my set monster, Lady Assailant of the Flames!" she declared before said monster was revealed.

"No! Not that!" Hachu shouted. "You know her? Then you know what she can do, and by extension, what I can do with her. So I remove the top three cards in my deck from the game to deal 800 points of damage directly to your life points!" AJ declared before the creature sent a fireball at Hachu. In no time, he went down screaming as the fireball struck and dropped his life points to 0, ending the game. "No! My reptile utopia, it's gone!" he shouted.

"You should've known that when you signed up with Dartz and Doma, that dream was just a lie." AJ said as the Seal of Orichalcos closed in on him and snatched his soul. "If only he hadn't played that card." Fluttershy said. Soon, the reptiles from the plane came out and surrounded the soulless body. "He must be more connected with those little fellers than we thought." AJ figured. But the group knew they couldn't stand around any longer, they knew that they needed to return to the spot where the train derailed. It was the only way for them to get back on the metaphorical track to stopping Dartz and Dorma.