CARD GAMES

[Scarlet Weather]

"I'm going to say it again, pal: WHAT THE HELL?" Achan shouted as he raced down the hall. "She was WHAT?"

I mean what I said. That Edgeworth girl that came in here with us was an impostor. She took the real deal's deck, and now they're about to enter a little showdown!

"Aw, ya gotta be kidding me!" Achan moaned. "I should have known that she was a fake when she didn't freak out! The real Tacey would have been trying to examine my head to make sure I wasn't nuts, or at the very least slapping me for getting involved with a Shadow Duelist again!"

"Well, well, well. Seems I was right. You really do care about Miss Edgeworth, don't you Smith?"

Achan paused, mid-step. "You..."

A teenager with a very distinctive shock of red hair smirked as he stepped out of a swirling portal of darkness. "Hmph. I didn't quite expect you to recover so quickly- and forming a contract with Akuma Kuriboh to keep it from fading? How admirable. But you really have no ability to protect anything, do you?"

"Keep taunting me and I'll see just how strong your little shadow-powers really are without a duel spirit to draw them from," Achan warned Kaito as he clenched his fists. "Why did you come here? Got something else you want to take from me?"

"Actually, it was more that I wanted to return something," Kaito replied as he removed the KC issue duel disk from his arm and slid it across the floor to Achan. "It occured to me that you probably wanted this back."

Achan glared at Kaito, before grabbing the disk and slipping it onto his arm. "Cut the crap. You've got another reason for being here, don't you?"

"Well..." Kaito smirked, "I suppose that, yes, I do. But don't worry, it doesn't concern you or Team Seven. I'm merely here to ensure that the Shadow Duelists fail in their latest attempt."

"Attempt at what?" Achan found himself asking.

"Simple. The attempt to take what will in due time belong to me," Kaito replied. "Now, I believe you wanted to build a new deck? The cards are just down this hallway," he motioned. "I will ensure that no Shadow Duelists attack you until you are prepared. Consider it a gift from one card designer to another."

"Give me my deck back and then maybe we'll-" Achan started, just as the voice of his recently-acquired spirit partner broke into his thoughts. "What is it?"

They're dueling. Tacey still has cards, and she's about to break them out. But the barrier's up. Even if you got in here, you couldn't help. Hate to say it, but right now your best bet is to find us a new deck ASAP. I'll broadcast more messages in due time.

Achan glared at Kaito. "You... you.." he tried to spit out an insult, but failed. "ARGH!" His arm lashed out before he could completely control myself.

Kuroda Kaito pulled himself to his feet, rubbing a bruised cheek. "Hmph. Didn't expect that," he muttered as he listened to Achan's receding steps. "I suppose I'll have to cover for him for a few minutes. Not really much I can do, but without manpower I can't quite overcome the forces already deployed on this island. Isn't that right... 'Master'?"

Elsewhere....​

The leader of the shadow duelists hissed in anger. "Those fools! They allowed a Morning Star to slink past their defenses!" he cursed. "This was supposed to be a direct swoop targeting that infernal Supreme King and his lackies! They're already botching it!"

 

[Alter Ego]

"My lead." Arella announced, "Draw."

Duelist: Tacey
LP: 8000
Hand: 5 cards

Duelist: Arella
LP: 8000
Hand: 6 cards

"And it seems you will be getting a taste of the Royals' true power straight away. Field spell activate, Magical Kingdom!"

The entire dueling field twisted and warped itself in the blur of the graphic projectors, a lush, green field of grass quickly stretching over it, ending in a ring of alpine, snow-topped mountains that surrounded them on all sides, a quaint little fairy tale town of beautiful, pastel-colored houses and cobbled little streets sprouting up all around beneath the clear blue sky weaving itself up above. Most imposing, however, was the giant, marble castle suspended in the air above, its tall, pointy spires stretching out far into the skies, the largest at the very center of the structure housing ten, dimly glowing crystalline orbs at its very top. Even Tacey had to admit that the visuals were quite impressive.

"Oh, don't get distracted just yet, my dear." Arella said, "We're only getting started. Come forth, Royal Watchbeast of the Magical Kingdom."

With an imposing, eagle-like cry, a giant figure swooped down from one of the spires on the castle. It was a bizarre creature to say the least, with the head and wings of an eagle seamlessly fusing into a human midsection with a pair of muscular arms and ending with paws like those of a lion at the bottom, golden fur and white feathers protecting its decency and a pair of sharp, green eyes focusing on the opponent, a heavy iron collar with five gemstones inlaid into it, a large, twin-headed mace grasped in its hands.

"And since I just summoned a Royal monster," Arella continued, "My Magical kingdom gains a spell counter." she nodded towards the spire of the castle, where one of the crystals flared to life, "But more on that later. I end my turn, and since Magical Kingdom is in play, this means my Watchbeast also gains a spell counter. And with it...three hundred attack points." she smiled at Tacey as one of the gemstones on the gryphon's collar lit up in turn, "Over to you my dear."

Tacey merely shrugged and drew.

Duelist: Tacey
LP: 8000
Hand: 6 cards

Duelist: Arella
LP: 8000
Hand: 4 cards
Field: Royal Watchbeast of the Magical Kindom (1900 / 1800), Magical Kindom (face-up)

"I summon Magician's Valkyria, in Attack Position."

Despite her imposing opponent, the green-clad Dark Magician Girl lookalike maintained her expression in an unimpressed sneer quite similar to Tacey's, raising her staff in preparation.

"Then, I set two cards and end."

"Rather feeble, my dear." her opponent replied, "My turn."

Duelist: Tacey
LP: 8000
Hand: 3 cards
Field: Magician's Valkyria (1600 / 1800), 2 Spell or Trap (face-down)

Duelist: Arella
LP: 8000
Hand: 5 cards
Field: Royal Watchbeast of the Magical Kindom (1900 / 1800), Magical Kindom (face-up), 1 Spell or Trap (face-down)

"I summon Royal Field Judge of the Magical Kingdom, in Attack Position."

The creature that appeared beside the gryphon was certainly quite far from what Tacey had expected. Clad in a silvery armor, blue-plumed helmet and bearing a ceremonial-looking sword with a total six gems inlaid around its pommel, the creature bore closer resemblance to a knight than a judge, albeit a knight who had seen better days. Even behind the armor, the judge looked old and brittle, observing the field with world-weary eyes from behind the visor of his helmet. He stood unwavering beneath the weight of the armor, however, obviously waiting for instruction.

"And now that second spell counter has been added to my Magical Kindom..." Arella droned on, "Royal Watchbeast, rend her Valkyria to pieces!"

"Reverse card activate! Magician's Circle!"

The gryphon abruptly stopped in its tracks as a second Valkyria, completely identical to the first, appeared alongside its comrade, both spellcasters raising their staves, as if to shield the other.

"With this card, I can summon any spellcaster with an attack power of 2000 or less." Tacey elaborated, "And with two Valkyrias on the field, you can't target either."

"True." Arella conceded, "But you forget; I also have spellcasters. I summon Ebon Magician Curran!"

Try as she might to hide it, Tacey couldn't help gritting her teeth as the black-robed magician appeared on her opponent's field, and her doppleganger was quick to seize on it, "Ironic, isn't it?" she taunted, "It looks like your own duel spirit will ruin your strategy. And far quicker than you expect as well. Card effect activate, Magical Kingdom!"

She raised her hand towards the castle above, the structure immediately responding by releasing the energy stored within the three lit crystals and sending it circling around the newly summoned monster, quickly enveloping it.

"By removing three spell counters from magical kindom, I can perform an immediate coronation of either princess." Arella elaborated, visibly pleased with herself, "Come on out, Princess Curran! And of course, the good princess is royalty herself." she nodded towards the spire where one of the orbs lit up once more, "I set one card. Turn end."

Duelist: Tacey
LP: 8000
Hand: 4 cards
Field: Magician's Valkyria (1600 / 1800), Magician's Valkyria (1600 / 1800), 1 Spell or Trap (face-down)
Graveyard: Magician's Circle

Duelist: Arella
LP: 8000
Hand: 3 cards
Field: Royal Watchbeast of the Magical Kindom (2200 / 1800), Royal Field Judge of the Magical Kingdom (1600 / 800), Princess Curran (2000 / 0) Magical Kingdom (face-up), 1 Spell or Trap (face-down)
Graveyard: Ebon Magician Curran

"I-" Tacey bit her lip. This was bad, this was very bad...her valkyrias would keep her from getting overrun for now, but as long as Curran was on the field, that was just delaying the inevitable. She needed to mount a counter-offensive and fast, but her hand was being anything but cooperative on that front, especially when she had to take any additional effects of both Magical Kingdom and that ominous reverse card into account, "I set a card and end."

"Really my dear, struggling already?" Arella gave a theatrical sigh, "With all your big words, I had expected more of you. My turn."

Duelist: Tacey
LP: 8000
Hand: 4 cards
Field: Magician's Valkyria (1600 / 1800), Magician's Valkyria (1600 / 1800), 2 Spell or Trap (face-down)
Graveyard: Magician's Circle

Duelist: Arella
LP: 8000
Hand: 4 cards
Field: Royal Watchbeast of the Magical Kindom (2200 / 1800), Royal Field Judge of the Magical Kingdom (1600 / 800), Princess Curran (2000 / 0) Magical Kingdom (face-up), 1 Spell or Trap (face-down)
Graveyard: Ebon Magician Curran

"Reverse card open! Penalty Game!"

With an imperious wave of her hand, Tacey brought one of the two card backs on her field to life, "By this card's effect, you can not activate any spell or trap cards this turn."

"I beg to differ, my dear." Arella shot back, "Reverse card open, Royal Decree!" in the face of the second trap card, the first fizzled weakly for a moment before detonating in a shower of pixels, "Now...where were we before I was so rudely interrupted? Ah yes." she snapped her fingers in would-be recollection, "Curran's effect." despite the spirit's obvious struggles for the contrary, her staff rose up, dark energy coiling up from both monsters on Tacey's field and promptly charging her, nearly knocking the girl off her feet with very real pain, "600 life points for each of your monsters." the copy duelist elaborated rather needlessly, "But don't you worry, this is only the beginning. I tribute Princess Curran on my Field and send both Coronation of the Princesses and a trap card from my hand to the graveyard." Arella's smile widened further, the shadow duelist obviously enjoying Tacey's confusion over her actions, "And in exchange...I will show you the true potential of your precious spirits. Come forth, Queen Curran!"

As the light effects around Curran finally died down, a remarkable change had come over the spirit. Not only had her dress reached a whole new level of posh, she seemed to have grown as well, maturing past her little girl appearance to that of a full-grown, regal woman, a simple gold crown adorning her head in place of the hat from before.

"Of course, the good queen is also royalty." the shadow duelist continued, indicating the second crystal lighting up on the castle, "And what's more, as long as she is under my control, my trap cards can not be negated. But more on that later; there's still another monster I think you'd be interested in seeing. I summon Royal Jester of the Magical Kingdom!"

Accompanied by the cheerful jingling of bells, a far less regal figure entered the field. Clad in a jumpsuit-like outfit of alternating red and yellow, the tiny creature looked truly pitiful as it hopped and skipped back a few times, giggling at nothing in particular. What really caught Tacey's attention, however, was the head with the four-pronged, red jester's hat - each end bearing a bell that chimed merrily with the creature's haphazard movements. Not to mention the facial features. The more she looked at it, the harder it was for Tacey to avoid drawing the obvious connection.

"You..."

"I knew you would like it, Tacey-girl!" Pegasus called from behind the barrier, appearing to have the time of his life despite the dire circumstances as he beamed at his creations, "Spitting image if I do say so myself."

"I would focus more on the duel if I were you." Arella remarked, "Monster effect activate, counter juggle!" at her words, the Jester's face immediately split into a true fool's grin, the creature puffing itself up self importantly as it raised its hands to the air, seeming to draw in the bright spark of energy from each of the lit up gems in its area and beginning to juggle them in the air, finishing the act with a triumphant 'ta-daah' that sent them flying high into the air before descending, each latching on to one of the bells on the Jester's hat, "Whenever the Jester is summoned, I can redistribute all spell counters on the field as I please. And now, for his second trick." with a snap of Arella's fingers, the jester had somehow managed to get over to Tacey's field, giving her an absent-minded wave and a wink before turning his full attention to drooling on himself. More pressingly, however, the valkyria who had previously occupied the spot seemed to have taken up the jester's former place, "By removing four spell counters from Royal Jester, I can switch control between him and any one of my opponent's Monsters. No need to thank me, my dear." she added cheekily before Tacey could get a word in edgewise, "I think he belongs with you anyway."

"Are you quite done spouting nonsense?" Tacey retorted frostily, trying to convince everyone present that the color on her cheeks wasn't really there.

"Touchy, aren't we?" Arella teased, "Sounds like I was on to something after all."

"Just go!"

"If you insist." the copy duelist replied with a shrug, "Watchbeast, attack Royal Jester!"

"Reveal face-down, Magical Dimension!" once again, the gryphon was halted in its charge as its intended target disappeared in a flash of graphics, only to be replaced by yet another Valkyria, "By tributing one monster from my field, I can summon one spellcaster from my hand." Tacey elaborated, "And with two Valkyrias on my field, your battle phase is sealed off once more. Furthermore, I can destroy one monster on the field." she pointed an imperious finger towards the most imposing of Arella's monsters, "Sorry, Curran."

"You seem to be forgetting what you're up against, my dear." Arella interrupted silkily, flipping around one of her remaining in-hand cards for inspection, "I send Royal Double to my grave to negate that destruction. Next, I activate the effect of Queen Curran!" Tacey quickly turned to bracing herself for impact as the duel spirit raised her scepter, firing off a significantly larger burst of dark energy than her predecessor, "800 Life Points for each of your monsters." Arella chirped, "Turn end."

Duelist: Tacey
LP: 5200
Hand: 4 cards
Field: Magician's Valkyria (1600 / 1800), Magician's Valkyria (1600 / 1800)
Graveyard: Magician's Circle, Penalty Game!, Magical Dimension

Duelist: Arella
LP: 8000
Hand: 1 card
Field: Royal Watchbeast of the Magical Kindom (1900 / 1800), Royal Field Judge of the Magical Kingdom (1600 / 800), Queen Curran (3000 / 0), Magician's Valkyria (1600 / 1800), Magical Kingdom (face-up), Royal Decree (face-up)
Graveyard: Ebon Magician Curran, Princess Curran, Royal Decree, Coronation of the Princesses, Royal Double

Tacey bit her lip once more as she examined her options. No matter how she put this, this wasn't good. With Curran on her opponent's field, she only had three turns left before her life points would be burned out, and that was assuming that her opponent wouldn't find a way to break through her feeble lock before then. She had to mount a counter-offensive, but with such bulk on her opponent's field and her traps sealed off, that was easier said than done. This called for something Tacey thoroughly hated...risk-taking, but after a few more moments of hesitation, she finally set to work.

"I summon Rapid-Fire Magician." she announced, a black-clad mage appearing on her field and pulling out not one but two magic rods, both of which he pointed at the opponent, like the hero of a Western movie poised to strike, "Then, I activate Magical Blast. For each spellcaster on my field, you receive 200 points of damage." Tacey couldn't help a little smirk of her own as she watched Arella stagger under the impact of the red and blue fireball fired her way, despite the rather marginal damage of the move, "And let's not forget my Rapid-Fire Magician's effect either." she suggested, the black-clad spellcaster giving each of his rods a nimble twirl before he pointed them towards the opponent, a coil of energy lashing out and striking the shadow duelist down just after she had managed to regain her composure, "400 points of damage for each normal spell I play." Tacey stated, "I set two cards and end my turn."

"Tsk, such childishness." Arella huffed, "You're only hastening your own demise, my dear. Draw."

Duelist: Tacey
LP: 5200
Hand: N/A
Field: Magician's Valkyria (1600 / 1800), Magician's Valkyria (1600 / 1800), Rapid-Fire Magician (1600 / 1200), 2 Spell or Trap (face-down)
Graveyard: Magician's Circle, Penalty Game!, Magical Dimension, Magical Blast

Duelist: Arella
LP: 7000
Hand: 2 cards
Field: Royal Watchbeast of the Magical Kindom (1900 / 1800), Royal Field Judge of the Magical Kingdom (1600 / 800), Queen Curran (3000 / 0), Magician's Valkyria (1600 / 1800), Magical Kingdom (face-up), Royal Decree (face-up)
Graveyard: Ebon Magician Curran, Princess Curran, Royal Decree, Coronation of the Princesses, Royal Double

"But by all means," the shadow duelist continued, returning to her previous state of smugness at the sight of the card she had drawn, "if you insist on being sent to the shadow realm so quickly, far be it from me to hold you back. Equip Spell activate, Royal Signet Ring. While my queen is equipped with this card, I can distribute two spell counters each turn, which is just what I will do." at her words, the black-clad queen raised her hand skywards, the newly formed ring on her finger glowing brightly and immediately provoking a similar reaction from two of the spheres on top of the castle, "Next, I summon another old acquaintance of yours. White Magician Pikeru.", much like her twin, the white-clad princess had a strangely downtrodden look to her as she appeared, Tacey's free hand subconsiously clenching to a fist at the sight, "She won't be staying in that form for long, however; I activate the effect of Magical Kindom once more. And now that that's over with..." she remarked as the light show faded out from around the newly elevated princess, "It's time we got down to business. I activate the effect of Queen Curran and that will do for now."


Duelist: Tacey
LP: 2800
Hand: 1 card
Field: Magician's Valkyria (1600 / 1800), Magician's Valkyria (1600 / 1800), Rapid-Fire Magician (1600 / 1200), 2 Spell or Trap (face-down)
Graveyard: Magician's Circle, Penalty Game!, Magical Dimension, Magical Blast

Duelist: Arella
LP: 7000
Hand: N/A
Field: Royal Watchbeast of the Magical Kindom (2200 / 1800), Royal Field Judge of the Magical Kingdom (1600 / 800), Queen Curran (3000 / 0), Magician's Valkyria (1600 / 1800), Princess Pikeru (2000 / 0), Magical Kingdom (face-up), Royal Decree (face-up), Royal Signet Ring (face-up)
Graveyard: Ebon Magician Curran, Princess Curran, Royal Decree, Coronation of the Princesses, Royal Double, White Magician Pikeru

"I set a card end." Tacey said flatly.

"Giving up already?" Arella tutted in response, "Very well then, just sit back and I will end this."

Duelist: Tacey
LP: 2800
Hand: n/a
Field: Magician's Valkyria (1600 / 1800), Magician's Valkyria (1600 / 1800), Rapid-Fire Magician (1600 / 1200), 3 Spell or Trap (face-down)
Graveyard: Magician's Circle, Penalty Game!, Magical Dimension, Magical Blast

Duelist: Arella
LP: 7000
Hand: 1 card
Field: Royal Watchbeast of the Magical Kindom (2200 / 1800), Royal Field Judge of the Magical Kingdom (1600 / 800), Queen Curran (3000 / 0), Magician's Valkyria (1600 / 1800), Princess Pikeru (2000 / 0), Magical Kingdom (face-up), Royal Decree (face-up), Royal Signet Ring (face-up)
Graveyard: Ebon Magician Curran, Princess Curran, Royal Decree, Coronation of the Princesses, Royal Double, White Magician Pikeru

Without even looking at her latest draw, the shadow duelist set to work, "First," she announced, "I activate the effect of Princess Pikeru, recovering a total of 4000 Life Points. Then, I think I shall follow it up by deducting yours. Curran?" once again, Tacey was forced to shield herself from the incoming onslaught of energy, much to the shadow duelist's amusement, "And finally, I use the spell counters from Pikeru's summon and the ones from Royal Signet Ring, to summon...Queen Pikeru!" much like her twin, the second duel spirit gained a considerable number of years in her last aging, though she still retained a sense of childish innocence about her features, greatly amplified by the light dress, "And by her effect," Arella announced, sounding practically exstatic as she raised her hand up in triumph, "I gain 6000 more Life Points! Turn end, miss dueling queen."

"I..." Tacey grit her teeth, bracing herself. It was now or never, "I draw!"

Duelist: Tacey
LP: 400
Hand: 1 card
Field: Magician's Valkyria (1600 / 1800), Magician's Valkyria (1600 / 1800), Rapid-Fire Magician (1600 / 1200), 3 Spell or Trap (face-down)
Graveyard: Magician's Circle, Penalty Game!, Magical Dimension, Magical Blast

Duelist: Arella
LP: 17000
Hand: 1 card
Field: Royal Watchbeast of the Magical Kindom (2500 / 1800), Royal Field Judge of the Magical Kingdom (1600 / 800), Queen Curran (3000 / 0), Magician's Valkyria (1600 / 1800), Queen Pikeru (3000 / 0), Magical Kingdom (face-up), Royal Decree (face-up), Royal Signet Ring (face-up)
Graveyard: Ebon Magician Curran, Princess Curran, Royal Decree, Coronation of the Princesses, Royal Double, White Magician Pikeru, Princess Pikeru


OOC: W00T! Cliffhanger! XD

*Shot*

Yes, yes, I know I promised a conclusion to this, but the moment I started writing out the duel I realized that it was going to become...well, huge. xP And this was such a perfect place to cut it off.

Sooo...conclusion to come in my next post, and major respect for anyone who figures out how I'm going to pull Tacey out of this one. 8D

 

[Scarlet Weather]

OOC: I have absolutely no clue. I no longer deserve to LIVE! *shot'ed*

---------------------------------​

"That Kaito... he's so dead once I finish this..." Achan muttered. The storage room had been easy enough to find, and he had ripped into the booster packs the moment he entered. Of course, the majority of the cards pulled he had no interest in, so they were scattered across the floor. The rest, however, were placed in front of him as he sifted through, attempting to figure out exactly what the optimum build was. "No, no, that won't work... two copies is enough... why couldn't they make a search card for this type? Huh?"

Suddenly, a hand clapped onto Achan's shoulder. "Attention, Duelists! My hair would like to inform you that you are in an area for employees only! You are not an Employee!" a familiar voice boomed.

Achan turned slowly, smirking slightly as he saw the familiar face of the loud-mouthed security guard that had been accompanying the group since back in New York. "Oh, you're right!" he gasped, glancing around. "I'm sorry, I must have taken a wrong turn! This isn't the room I was supposed to go to! I'm obviously not an employee after all." He took special care to emphasize the word "employee", drawing it out a bit longer than normal.

If the guard was surprised that the miscreant he was apparently apprehending had agreed with him so quickly, he didn't show it. "That's right, duelist! Now, my hair is telling you to put down those cards and leave this room immediately!" he boomed, puffing up his chest and drawing himself up to his full height. This, if anything, made the spike of hair crowning his head look even more ridiculous than usual.

Achan stifled a chuckle as he stood up too. However, instead of dropping his cards, he slotted them into his duel disk. "I would... but there's one problem." He pointed accusingly at the guard. "I am an employee! My name is Kuroda Kaito, and I'm a card designer here! I have been for quite some time now!" He paused to chuckle a little longer at the confused look on the guard's face. "Don't you get it?" he asked, ripples of mirth spreading down his body. "I'm in Kaito's body! Everyone here should know me as an employee, not a stranger! That's how I got in here in the first place, after all. The only people who should know that I'm not an employee..." he smirked as he pointed directly at his opponent, "Would be shadow duelists! Gotcha!"

The guard grimaced, stepping backwards. "Attention, duelists! My hair has failed once again!" He lamented. "But... my hair will make up for its mistakes! My hair is challenging you to a-"

"No time," Achan interrupted as his opponent reached down to activate a duel disk which Achan had a suspicion was not there before. "See, I've got more pressing matters to attend to, and... OMIGODWHATISTHATTHING!?"

The guard turned in the direction that Achan had pointed. "Attention duelists! My hair doesn't see-" he began indignantly.

THWAM!

"I don't know why Pegasus has these suits of armor everywhere, but they sure do come in handy," Achan noted as he tossed the helmet he had snatched off of one of the decorative metal suits in the room off to the side. "Hey, umm.... whatsyourname, can you give me an update on the dueling situation?"

Akuma Kuriboh, it's Akuma Kuriboh! the spirit buzzed in reply. But if you really think that's a mouthful, call me Aku or something. Anyway, you're missing the duel of the century in here. That Arella chick is pounding Tacey flat with her own duel spirits. It's painful to watch!

Achan shrank back in surprise. "How long can she hold out for, do you think?"

Hey, she's your team mate. But let me put it this way. Her opponent is up by about 15000 life points, and she's got two monsters with more than three thousand attack points on the field. In contrast, our girl's got a couple of spellcasters and a Valkyria lock. That's it.

Achan shook his head. "Then why did you even bother to call me?"

Huh?

Achan smiled slightly. "Tacey will win the duel. I've seen her do it before. It's going to be interesting to watch..."

What the hell are you talkin' about? Did your head get banged up by that pointy-haired guy?

Achan shook his head. "Lucky you, Aku. You're about to see Tacey Edgeworth's miracle draw." He shook it one more time. "And funnily enough... I built this deck to beat that exactly."

 

[Phanima]

Stepping aside as he witnessed the uncovering of the Shadow Duelist's identity, 'Arella' as it were, the most surprising thing wasn't the fact that she had the initial Edgeworth backed into a corner in a mere matter of turns, nor the fact that she was the splitting image of the heiress, but instead the revelation of her having infiltrated and deceiving everyone in the group so flawlessly, it was just insulting. And not only that, he had started to perceive his next problem almost instinctively, the mere presence of the impostor causing him to falter almost immediately upon sight. It was a definite annoyance but he was beginning to see a relation between each attack. Every time one of these Shadow Duelists appeared, all manner of feveric symptoms would develop; cold sweats, headaches, blurred vision and loss of regular motor functions being the norm. The only variable that seemed to change was the intensity of each attack, this one in particular causing him to physically back down.

Bracing the back wall, the roaring ring of fire blazing on before him, the heir watched on at the encompassed one-sided duel. If it was any sort of consolation, not that he himself would ever admit to saying such a thing, Michel favoured the initial brat's victory.

Huffing under his breath, his dishevelled hair fringing his furrowed brow, the heir glanced up to hear the generous trash talk being exchanged between the two Edgeworths, "You better stop her brat... One of you is enough."

 

[Alter Ego]

"Oh, miracle draw?" Arella asked, noting the drawn-out manner in which Tacey reached for her deck, "Yes, my dear, I'm quite aware of that ability and I can already tell you that it won't work." she smirked at the pause in Tacey's movement, elaborating with poorly concealed glee, "You didn't know? Unlocking the most revered power in all of duel monsters and you didn't know?!" the copy duelist broke into open, mocking laughter at this, "A miracle draw, my dear, is only attainable when playing a deck to which you have a strong emotional bond. I've studied your dueling record, my dear, and every deck you have ever played during your career has been centered around your precious Royal monsters. So you see..." she smirked, "...try as you might, the miracle draw is beyond your reach. Just submit already." her expression grew far more serious, "I will not let the world suffer for your meaningless duelist pride."

"The world?" Tacey echoed.

"That's right, you ignorant little girl." her opponent sneered, "The world, not that you've ever cared about it beyond how it affects your personal comfort. Why do you think I trapped you in the dark circle that obnoxious turncoat spirit broke instead of just killing you in your sleep? If only you wouldn't have been foolish enough to meddle in things beyond your understanding, if only you wouldn't have been too proud and stubborn to let things take their natural course...none of this would be necessary." she scoffed, "But you'd sacrifice that too, wouldn't you?! You'd drop it all right in Kaito's lap rather than step down!" her expression reached almost manic proportions, the pitch of her voice rising to hysteric as she continued her proclamation, "And the same goes for you!" she pointed an accusing finger at Pegasus, who offered his most innocent smile in return, "You foolish, foolish old man! Why?! Why did you entrust the fate of this world to this-this egotistical brat instead of us?! She doesn't understand and she doesn't have the time to learn; she will just doom us all!"

"You're right."

Arella blinked, momentarily thrown off track by her opponent confessing so readily.

"You're right." Tacey repeated, "I don't understand what you're going on about, and I didn't know about the miracle draw thing. But I do know one thing..." her expression hardened as her hand darted towards the deck with newfound vigor, "No-one bullies Curran and Pikeru and gets away with it! DRAW!"

Duelist: Tacey
LP: 400
Hand: 1 card
Field: Magician's Valkyria (1600 / 1800), Magician's Valkyria (1600 / 1800), Rapid-Fire Magician (1600 / 1200), 3 Spell or Trap (face-down)
Graveyard: Magician's Circle, Penalty Game!, Magical Dimension, Magical Blast

Duelist: Arella
LP: 17000
Hand: 1 card
Field: Royal Watchbeast of the Magical Kindom (2500 / 1800), Royal Field Judge of the Magical Kingdom (1600 / 800), Queen Curran (3000 / 0), Magician's Valkyria (1600 / 1800), Queen Pikeru (3000 / 0), Magical Kingdom (face-up), Royal Decree (face-up), Royal Signet Ring (face-up)
Graveyard: Ebon Magician Curran, Princess Curran, Royal Decree, Coronation of the Princesses, Royal Double, White Magician Pikeru, Princess Pikeru

Tacey gave a smug grin as a dramatic gust of wind far stronger than the one from the rooftop accompanied her movement - quite explicably so, considering that they were indoors - causing the surface of the barrier to ripple ever so slightly.

"But-" Arella stammered, "That's not possible! That deck, it's-"

"Possibly the one I'm most attached to of them all." Tacey finished calmly, her grin as smug as ever, "It is the first one I ever built, for the one tournament in my career where I did not make headlines. Activate, Monster Reborn! With this effect, I can select any monster from either player's graveyard and summon it to my field. So come on out, Royal Double!" Tacey couldn't help cracking a grin at the sight of the familiar, cloaked figure materializing on her field, fan shielding its face as usual, "You know what follows next, right? Your Magical Kingdom field seems to work just as well as my old court, so Royal Double can copy any Curran or Pikeru monster I please. And I think I'll pick...Queen Curran."

With a crack like a whiplash, the duplicate monster snapped her fan shut, straightening her pose and gaining a fair bit of height as she let the cloak fall off, revealing a copy of the black-clad queen on Arella's field, right down to the last detail.

"Oh, and my Rapid-Fire Magician of course has his say whenever a normal spell is played." she added offhandedly as a small coil of energy caused her opponent to wince, "Now how did Queen Curran's effect go again?" Tacey thought out loud, pretending to ponder the question as the duplicate raised her fan, "800 points for each monster you control?"

Arella immediately stepped back as the duplicate unleashed her assault, but the sheer magnitude of the attack knocked her off her feet sending her hurtling towards the barrier which immediately sent her straight back against the table.

"Furthermore." Tacey continued conversationally, "I do recall you mentioning that Queen Curran's effect protects all my trap cards from negation, which would make your Royal Decree just about moot. Reverse cards open, Reckless Greed!"

With an imperious wave of her hand, the millionaire heiress caused two of the giant card backs on her field to flip up, revealing identical illustrations of a brightly clothed man reaching for a treasure chest filled, completely oblivious to the trap set beneath it, "With the effect of Reckless Greed, I can trade my two next draw phases for the pleasure of drawing two cards immediately, and I just activated two copies. Now, let's put that miracle draw theory of yours to a real test, shall we?" she grinned, the peculiar gale from before picking up once more as she reached for her deck, escalating to a proverbial maelstorm that shook the barrier as a whole as she restocked her hand, one card at a time, "Well, well." Tacey huffed, looking slightly peaked but undoubtedly satisfied at her accomplishment, "I guess that proves that. I summon a second Rapid-Fire Magician." the second dark-clad mage barely had the time to strike his pose properly before Tacey pressed on however, "And with him on the field, I'll activate my third reverse card; Ceasefire! 500 points of damage for each effect monster on the field. I count a full ten. And continuing from that." Tacey went on in a brisk tone as her opponent was sent hurtling towards the barrier again, "I activate my Misfortune spell card, turning half of your monster's original attack power to damage, and I think I'll be picking one of the queens again. How about...Curran?"

Arella barely had the time to struggle back up onto her feet before the spectral aura rising from the duel spirit's body engulfed her, sending her down in pain once more.

"Furthermore." Tacey continued, apparently intent on not giving her opponent pause, "Misfortune is also a normal spell card." seizing on the queue, both Rapid-Fire Magicians unleashed their own attacks, deducting another 800 points from the shadow duelist's counter, "Now, I'll be taking my spirits back, if you please. Activate, Enemy Controller! By tributing one of my Valkyrias, I take control of Queen Curran from your field. And of course, the real Curran also has an effect."

The duel spirit didn't look like she was in need of any particular convincing on the matter, quite openly smiling as she raised her scepter and pointed it squarely at the copy duelist, knocking her down once more.

"And when I said 'spirits'," Tacey added, "I did mean both of them. I activate my second Enemy Controller to take control of Queen Pikeru. And with her effect...I gain a total of 6000 life points, isn't that correct?"

Arella only managed a weak nod, bracing herself against the dueling table in an attempt to remain upright while her opponent's life point counter climbed up to a level nearing the one it had started at, "Not...bad..." she conceded, "But it looks like you didn't have what it takes to bring it to a finish. On my next turn, control of both your precious queens returns to me and you won't have your cowardly little lock to hide behind. This duel is still-"

"Whoever said I'd be letting you have a 'next turn'?" Tacey interrupted, "I still have one card left to play."

"But-" Arella protested, her stare travelling back and forth between the whole-monster field and Tacey's decidedly empty hand, "Don't be ridiculous, you don't have any cards whatsoever that you could play!"

"Oh?" the rich girl asked, "That's strange, I seem to have one...right here." she reached for the solitary card in her extra deck zone, left largely ignored in the commotion.

"That's...not right." Arella persisted, "You don't have any tuners and a fusion summon would require a fusion card!"

"Oh, but I have a fusion card." Tacey shot back, "You should know; you put it on the field yourself."

"Impossible!" the copy duelist protested, staring in horrified realization at her field spell, "You don't mean that-"

"That's right." her opponent nodded, "The fusion spell for this monster...is Magical Kingdom. Oh, I thought it was odd too." she concurred with Arella's baffled expression, "For Pegasus to send me a card listing fusion requirements that didn't even exist. But by the looks of it, he was one step ahead of you all the way." the millionaire heiress raised her hand skywards, "I tribute Queen Curran and Queen Pikeru!"

At her words, the castle above them immediately sprung to life, the massive front gate opening to admit the energy from both tributes in before shutting firmly behind it and the entire main spire lighting into full blaze, bathing the field in its light. This seemed to have an immediate effect on the royal monsters, who all sank to one knee at the sight, even the gryphon bowing its head in reverence as the gates slowly creaked open, an equally intense light briefly making the creature emerging from within impossible to see as anything but an imposing, female silhouette.

"It...can't be..." the copy duelist gasped, "The legendary spirit. It was right there all along?"

"Legendary spirit?" Tacey echoed, nonplussed.

"Cureru, the Grand Matriarch." Pegasus cut in with a cheerful introduction as the monster finally emerged. Regal the queens may have been, but this...Cureru took it to a whole new level. Her dress and cloak, despite bearing an austere black and white color scheme, bore countless tiny gemstones and complicated patterns to add to its regality, topped by the full-size crown resting on the creature's bright red hair, which descended almost to ground level in a thick braid, a golden scepter bearing a particularly eye-catching gemstone - part of it a light blue, the other so dark it was almost black - clasped in its hands, "Low-judge of the spirit world and ruler of the magical kingdom. Really, Tacey-girl, you must learn to introduce her with the proper reverence. She is quite touchy about these things."

"I hear voices." the spirit remarked airily, her eyes still shut.

"Low-judge!" Arella cried out, seeming to have completely forgotten about the duel as she staggered towards the imposing figure, "Finally, finally I've found you! This world is in great turmoil and in need of your assistance. Please, lend me your power so that the Sennen items can not be brought to-"

"SILENCE!" the spirit thundered imperiously, her withering glare easily as effective as her tone in silencing the room. Even Arella took a hesitant step back, "It is the voices of my children I hear, and they cry out in pain." her grip around the scepter tightened, barely contained rage evident in her voice, "This is the only reason I heeded the summons. You." her glare bored into Arella like a spear, "My children speak of you. Explain yourself."

"Of-of course, low-judge." the copy duelist replied, throwing in a bow for good measure, "There are evil souls at work, madame low-judge. Humans who desire to awaken the Sennen items the great pharaoh has sealed and use them to plunge this world into darkness. I...will not deny that I have drawn upon the powers of duel spirits to strengthen my own, but please realize, I only did so because the world is at-"

"To nurture and cherish." Cureru interrupted once more, as if she had barely even listened, "To aid and protect, this is the bond between duelist and spirit. These are the terms of the contract."

"But low-judge, you must understand, the circumstances-"

"Your circumstances are irrelevant!" the spirit growled, "Your world is irrelevant! The rules of the contract are absolute and there is but one fate for those who violate them." despite Tacey's complete lack of action, Cureru raised her scepter on her own accord, the jewel at its top shining intensely and way beyond what its mediocre size should have afforded it, bathing the field in a brilliant light.

"But low-judge!" Arella cried out in terror.

"This is my power." the spirit continued, utterly ignoring the shadow duelist's pleas, "The light in which all is revealed and all are judged." she pointed her scepter at the watchbeast, "Within this light, the just shall find solace and the wicked nothing but suffering. The power of your own monster shall be your undoing and its endurance compensation for the suffering it has caused. Such is my law. Spirit World Law!"

At her last cry, the light intensified to a terrifying brightness as it spread outward to encompass the entire dueling field and shield her eyes though she might, Tacey couldn't block out the pained scream that emerged from somewhere within the inferno, only to be cut off with chilling abruptness.

"A...Arella?" the girl ventured weakly as her field of vision finally cleared, only to reveal a vacant dueling table on the other end of the field, the last card flitting ownerless to the ground and landing on a pile of unoccupied clothes.

Cureru did not seem the least bit bothered, however, merely lowering her scepter with a continuously stern look on her face, "Lifeforce taken shall be repaid in kind." she intoned, "Such is the fate of all who would fuel their petty ambitions with the blood and tears of my children. As for you." she abruptly turned on her heels, now facing the considerably more pale-faced Tacey.

"...me?" the girl managed, trying her best to put on a brave front.

"Duel spirit Miseres." the matriarch barked, finally drawing Tacey's attention to the gray-clad angel who had desperately been trying to hide behind her back.

"Y-yes?" the spirit ventured, trembling like a leaf in a maelstorm.

"I have not forgotten your role in all of this. You gave your powers to a master who has wrought nothing but suffering and despair upon my children, and not by coercion but through your own will. How do you explain this?"

"I didn't know!" the gray-clad angel whimpered, tears gushing out from her eyes, "I didn't know he would-"

"Ignorance is no excuse for a crime!" Cureru thundered, "By the laws of our world I hereby sentence you-"

"That's ridiculous!"

"WHAT?!" grumpy the spirit may have seemed before, but it was nothing compared to her indignation at being interrupted, her piercing glare now turning to Tacey instead.

"I said it's ridiculous." the rich girl repeated, defiantly returning the glare despite looking visibly shaken, "Miseres is as much a victim here as anyone else! Can't you see that Nicholas creep was manipulating her?! How can you judge someone who is so obivously a victim?!"

"By the laws of our world!"

"Well then your laws are stupid!"

"How DARE you?!" Cureru roared, nearly choking on her own rage, "How DARE a filthy little human like you try to judge the laws of our world?! I'll judge you as well! I'll-!"

"Go ahead, then!" the girl shot back, raising both arms to shield Miseres, "Go ahead, punish two innocents because you're too thick-headed and arrogant to admit you've made a mistake! Let your precious spirit world suffer for your stupid pride!"

"YOU!" the spirit growled, raising her scepter threateningly, "YOU!" she seemed lost for words, for this was all she managed for the next few seconds. Unlike the familiar flash of violent light from before, however, Tacey was met with a far calmer tone of voice than she had expected, "...you would go this far to protect this renegade?"

"...yes." the rich girl replied, as surprised at her own words as the spirit seemed to be, "I...guess I just owe her that much."

"Long time." Cureru murmured, slowly lowering her scepter again, "It has been a long time since I last saw a human go to such lengths to save a spirit. It is unfortunate." she sighed, briefly sounding very tired before she steeled herself, raising her scepter once more, "Unfortunate that I must judge you. Duel spirit Miseres, duelist Tacey Juliet Edgeworth, by the laws of our world and the terms of the contract..."

Tacey shut her eyes, tightening her guard over Miseres.

"...I sentence you both to temporary servitude. You, human girl." she turned her scepter to the baffled Tacey first, "A great transgression is about to take place, one that threatens my world as well as yours. As punishment for your insolence, you must seek out the culprits and confront them so that I can pass judgment on them for their crimes. Duel spirit Miseres, you are hereby bound to serve this human by temporary contract until this task has been accomplished. Is this clear?"

"...yes, m'am." Tacey replied, finally managing to relax a little as she realized the spirit's game.

"T-thank you, madame low-judge." Miseres chirped, attempting a clumsy curtsy.

"There is nothing to give thanks for." Cureru replied tartly, "This is the law, nothing more or less. Now, I shall leave you to your duties. Do not call upon me again until the time is right. You will know it when it is. As for you, arrogant little human." she turned her glare to Pegasus in turn, "You may have evaded our laws for now, but do not think that I will forget your involvement in all of this."

"Perish the thought, Cureru-girl." Pegasus replied with a smooth bow at the vanishing figure.

The moment both the holograms and the spirit had faded from view, Tacey particularly collapsed with exhaustion and pent-up relief, staggering slightly as she strode over to the dueling table at the other end and wordlessly collected up her deck but leaving the clothes behind, knowing full that she could never bear to wear that particular ensemble again. She then proceeded to limp back over to the other end, continuously wordless until she reached Pegasus.

"Bravo, Tacey-girl!" the eccentric millionaire trilled, clapping his hands in excitement, "BRAVO, I say! I knew you'd manage-"

"You knew." Tacey interrupted, tossing courtesy to the winds as she grabbed her host by the collar and gave him her deadliest glare, "You sneaky, manipulative little bastard. You knew all along! The doppelganger trick, the entire 'new cards' thing, our duel! It was all a setup, wasn't it?!"

"Well, Tacey-girl," the millionaire replied, maintaining his polite air despite the situation, "you see, the fact of the matter is-"

"You're the one who sent me that deck, aren't you?!" Tacey continued, pushing her offense, "You set me up to be the one to summon that spirit to make sure that if anything bad happened, you wouldn't be taking the hit!"

"...well, it's a bit of a complicated story..." Pegasus began, politely but firmly breaking out of Tacey's grip, "But given the circumstances, I guess you've earned the story, Tacey-girl."

"Well?" The girl harrumphed, folding her arms, "Spill it."

"It is, as you have guessed, true that I was the one who sent you the original royal deck." the millionaire began, "And yes, I suppose you can think of it as a test of sorts." he smiled in a manner far too self-satisfied for Tacey's liking, "As you probably noticed, the low-judge is quite the...forceful character and wouldn't readily have submitted to a human owner. In fact, losing three good researchers to the earlier tests confirmed that forming a contract with her would not be a simple matter. Now, please, Tacey-girl-" he raised his hand to forestall the rich girl's incoming onslaught, "You asked me to explain, so let me explain. I was actually near-certain that this would not happen to you."

"Near-certain?!" Tacey protested.

"Nothing is certain in duel monsters." Pegasus countered, "But as I keep trying to tell you, the odds were strongly in your favor. Something I noticed from the...less successful experiments was that the good matriarch is quite protective of lower duel spirits, particularly her daughters, for obvious reasons. So naturally I thought she would hold some form of gratitude, however grudging, to anyone who exhibited a capacity to take good care of these two spirits. Now postulate further that this someone had prior experience in maintaining command over royal monsters - not the ones who are her true servants, of course, as tampering with them would surely invoke her wrath; but rather...comparable substitutes. Now if this person also carried herself with a flair which, if I dare say so myself, is quite similar to that of genuine royalty...that someone might just make enough of an impression. Especially if there were other circumstances to further compel the good matriarch, say...the potential revival of the Sennen items?"

"You mean-" Tacey began.

"Oh, don't be so naive, Tacey-girl." Pegasus interjected, "Eccentric I may be, but I'm not mad. My ventures with Yugi-boy and the Sennen Eye were quite enough to teach me that those items are too dangerous for being toys, no matter how appealing they are. Seeing as how others have not learned this lesson, however, I thought it would be prudent to have at least one powerful duel spirit on our side when the time comes."

"So you used me." the rich girl grit out with completely unmasked revulsion.

"Indeed, you are quite the detective, Tacey-girl." Pegasus trilled, "Oh, but don't give me that look. There may have been a few more kinks down the road than I anticipated, but it all worked out in the end, didn't it? Besides, you have not one but two unique card sets at your disposal, not to mention a very influential spirit companion. I'd say that's quite fair compensation, wouldn't you all agree?"

She turned her last question to the occupants of the room in general, offering them his most amiable smile.

 

[Scarlet Weather]

"Actually, I have two problems with this whole situation." A voice answered Pegasus.

Achan stepped into the room, his footsteps echoing against the floor. Pegasus had definitely had acoustics in mind when building the room- a good shout would reverberate throughout it and give off echoes that really couldn't be equaled for pure dramatic quality. Really, he couldn't help thinking, this room must have been Kaito's absolute favorite with all that talk about dramatic tension. "The first problem," he began as he pointed to Tacey, "Is the fact that you let not one but three people with some sort of grudge against Team Seven, two of them Shadow Duelists and one of them just plain nuts, onto your staff. I really don't see why that was necessary. Problem two..." he spoke slowly as he stepped closer to the group. "Is that you weren't quite honest about me from the beginning, were you? You know exactly who I am, and why I got roped into all of this. So tell me, Mr. Pegasus..." his eyes narrowed. "Who or what is Achan Smith?"

Pegasus stepped back in surprise. "Achan-boy, I'm not quite sure what you're talking about," he said, though his face was noticably pale. "You are you, correct? Of course, if you're suffering from some sort of identity crisis in this new body of yours, perhaps I can-"

"Save it," Achan snapped, his eyes glinting with just enough of his old bad temper to make it obvious that no matter what body he inhabited, he was still unmistakably Achan. "I can't believe I didn't see the warning signs from the beginning... of course, back then I didn't have any idea what duel spirits were, or what the Sennen items could be. And when crazy things started happening, I just assumed that Tacey was the target, especially after I found out that she could use Miracle Draw. And she was the target, sometimes. Because nobody knew, did you? Nobody knew about me. Nobody, that is, except Industrial Illusions." He moved closer, as Akuma Kuriboh fluttered down to his shoulder. "Playing innocent? Then let's review, shall we? Let me tell you a little story about a boy who thought he was a regular old guy drawn into a world of craziness centered around children's card games... and didn't know he'd been part of it from the beginning."

"I was born seventeen years ago. That, incidentally, was three years after the burial of the Sennen items. Plenty of time for someone to research them, in an effort to create a force capable of using them. Plenty of time for that." His voice raised up a bit higher, reaching notes near hysterical as he continued. "I always thought it was funny that Mom and Dad never looked anything like me- of course, they just assumed I was adopted, or something. I always thought it was funny that I didn't find duel monsters until I was sixteen. Funny that I just happened to go to a tournament where your contest was announced. Funny how you chose my monsters to win... even though they were obviously drawn from video games, and barely had any original qualities at all. Funny how I just happened to end up on a team with Tacey Edgeworth, who had the one-in-a-thousand Miracle Draw ability. Funny how the rest of my team was oh-so-conveniently wiped out, only to be replaced by Judai and Manjoume- your top expert duelists- who were supposed to be our bodyguards. I thought, 'now why is it that he'd give us top duelists and the other teams are left unprotected'? At first I figured that Tacey needed protecting, but after they let her duel Serge I realized that she wasn't the person who needed a bodyguard. And Michel doesn't believe in duel spirits, so there's no way he's the target. No, the target is, was, could only be..." he looked down at himself. "Achan Smith. Me. The one whose body was necessary to start waking up the Sennen items. The one who was drawn into this tournament from the beginning, and convinced to stay through it by... you."

"Achan-boy..."

"Don't call me that," Achan growled. "I'm not even sure what my real name is anymore! It can't be coincidence. It just can't, you hear me? Ever since I switched bodies I've been forgetting more and more things- like my early childhood, or where I used to go to school. It's all a blur now. And my memory used to be perfect. You hear me? Perfect!" Oblivious to the fact that he was ranting, Achan stepped up near the owner of the game company, grabbed his shirt front, and began shaking him. "And another thing- I would have thought losing memories was part of the Penalty Game, but every memory of this tournament is perfect! From the moment I met Tacey up until now, everything's like a digital photo! My memory was good, not photographic! So why now, huh? Why is it that I can't remember anything else, but everything that's happened since this craziness started is ingrained in my head, huh? Why? WHY?"

"Achan-boy..." Pegasus shook his head rather sadly. "I suppose you're more than a little confused and scared right now, but I assure you that I had nothing to do with your current situation. In fact, I've done the best I can to make sure that you were in no danger throughout this tournament- until, of course, Kaito made his move. But I promise you that I'm a friend. I've been helping you for a long time."

Achan released Pegasus and stepped back, his duel spirit floating over his shoulders, which had begun heaving. Yo, Smith, you okay? it asked, concerned.

"I suppose," he muttered. "But... I want to know. Am I a person, Pegasus? Or am I something else? Did you make me, or did someone else comission me? And why did I end up here?"

"You're so sure that someone made you, Achan-boy?"

"Well..." Achan's eyes narrowed. "I guess I can thank Kaito for taking my body, because I never would have noticed it otherwise. I don't think normal people have a tatoo reading 'Mark VI' burned into their back. And since Kaito got rid of those tattoos Nicholas gave me... I must have had it before that. I did the math."

Pegasus sighed. "I realize, of course, that you want the story Achan-boy, but this is not the time to tell it. My Kingdom is under attack, you see, and my forces are in the midst of repulsing the invasion. Perhaps you could fill Tacey-girl in on your unique... situation?"

Achan stopped. "Oh," he said, in the tone of a student who had just forgotten to take his notebook to class. "Oh... er...." He looked at Tacey, smiling weakly. "Um... I guess a big, fat, 'Sorry I didn't notice the you earlier was a fake' is in order or something?"

Way to go, Achan. You're on a roll now.

"Says the one who writes everything out when he isn't talking to his partner because he's embarassed about the sound of his own voice," Achan riposted.

Ooh, zing! Aku replied, leaping back in a needlessly dramatic manner. Sir, you wound me.

"Yeah, yeah, tell it to the marines," Achan shot back as he returned his attentions to Pegasus. "So, you'll explain everything tomorrow, right? Because if you don't..."

"ATTENTION, DUELISTS!"

"Oh, God, not this guy again," Achan moaned. "I thought I took care of him."

"MY HAIR IS CHALLENGING YOU TO A DUEL!" The security guard, who seemed none the worse for having been bashed by a large, metal object upside the head, yelled as he pointed at the group.

"What? But why do you want to duel-" Achan's voice petered off before "me" as he saw the guard's finger, pointed directly at Kuso. "Oh, I get it. Targeting the nervous guy," Achan replied. "Well, Kuso, good luck to you. I don't think our friend there is going to move until you give him a card game."

What? You aren't gonna help him? Aku asked in surprise.

Achan shook his head. "The guy's brains are in his hair. Trust me, if Kuso can't win this then I'm ashamed to call him a duelist. Besides..." he turned to Tacey. "I've got this awful feeling that I'm not going to make it out of this without a few bruises," he muttered to his partner.

 

[Forci Stikane]

Once again, a single glance at the blue barrier sent Kuso's body into a fit. "No, not again…"

This time, however, something was different. His palms didn't sweat. His legs didn't collapse under his body's weight. Even the trembling was not quite the same. Unfortunately, before he could think about it, his eyes closed shut as his mind shut down.

When he opened his eyes again, he found himself completely alone in a dark space. Despite some source of faint light in the area, there was no ceiling, no walls, nothing else there, besides him…and a mirror several feet away, reflecting his image back to him. At least, that's what it looked like, until Kuso realized that the mirror image was not reflecting his movements but merely standing there, staring at him.

"What the…" Kuso's duel spirit suddenly faded in next to the image, only instead of its normal transparency, it looked completely solid. "Cyber, wh-what's going on?"

"You wished to get stronger, did you not? This is the best way for you to do so: by regaining your fighting spirit in a duel. This will be no ordinary duel, however; your very life will be on the line here. If you have the courage to see it through to the end, then you will find the strength you seek. However, if you do not, you will face very dire consequences."

"What do you mean, 'consequences'?!?"

As the spirit stared at him, Kuso noticed it slowly moving towards the other figure. "This is…an exact copy of you, right down to your exact deck. Rather, this will serve as a representation of your inner demons." At this point, Cyber had completely moved into this copy, appearing to have merged together. When it next spoke, it appeared that the copy was speaking for it. "If you cannot prevail over yourself, then what hope will you have against those who wish to harm you?"

Kuso stood there for a minute, stunned at what he had just heard. Yet, when he realized that a larger part of him was frightened, his answer became clear. "…You're right. I did wish for this. If it means that I can be of help to everyone, that I can prevent what happened before from happening again…then I accept the challenge, no matter the result!"

Cyber raised his Duel Disk in response in the traditional activation motion. "Very well, then let the trail begin."

"Since this is my test, I'll start this off. Draw!"

Duelist: Kuso
Hand: 6 cards
LP: 8000

Duelist: Cyber
Hand: 5 cards
LP: 8000

Kuso couldn't help but smile at the cards he had drawn. "I'll place two cards face-down and summon Striker Force in attack mode." At his call, the backs of two cards materialized on his field followed by his monster, a trio of creatures somewhere between human and gargoyle. Each of them was covered with a suit akin to that one would wear on a hunting trip: a simple brown top and dark-green pants, albeit worn down and showing various holes where a person's joints would be. The basic anatomy of the monsters appeared to be human, even if the little "skin" that showed from under the ragged clothing was blue, but their limbs were clearly non-human in nature, ending in sharp claws and feet with nails for toes. As for their faces, their mouths were formed into large grins, clearly showing the long-pointed teeth inside them. "I'll leave it at that."

Duelist: Kuso
Field: 2 face-down S/T, Striker Force (1400 ATK/800 DEF)
Hand: 3 cards
LP: 8000

Duelist: Cyber
Hand: 5 cards
LP: 8000

"I will begin my turn by drawing a card."

"And I'll activate my Trap!" Kuso cut in with a wave of his arm, as one of his face-down cards righted itself, revealing a design of several Striker Force-esque monsters hunched over a table and what appeared to be plans on top of it. "More specifically, Striker's Trap. Now this card moves to your side of the field and counts as two cards, not to mention hitting you for 400 damage during each of my Standby Phases." As he spoke, the card vanished from his field and materialized on Cyber's, although not visibly bothering him in the least.

"I will continue my turn by summoning Striker Thief in attack mode." The monster that appeared was not all that different from the other Striker in basic anatomical appearance, but the clothing was vastly different. Its main body was covered in a black garb, completely covering the monster's legs & lower torso and coming up to a narrow point just below the neck. It wore a bandanna covering the lower half of its face as well as a scarf around its neck, the two ends of which flowed lazily behind the monster's back. In its hand it held a small knife, the blade itself only slightly longer than the handle.

"Striker Thief will now attack Striker Force." The monster dashed forward with great speed, the ends of its scarf trailing it like a cape. The opposing trio could do little but duck as that small knife cut through two of them, shattering their images into bits as Kuso's life points went down in response. The third one, however, formed into a ball of purple energy that struck Kuso's deck.

"I activate the special ability of my Striker Force! When this card is destroyed, I can select one Striker card and add it to my hand—and I select Shadow Striker!" The energy died down as the card popped out from the deck, allowing Kuso to pull it out with ease.

"Very well, but I activate the effect of Striker Thief." Cyber replied with what would almost qualify as a glare. "Whenever this monster deals battle damage, I can destroy one card on your side of the field." As it spoke, the monster again dashed forward as it had done before, only this time leaping into the air as it drove its knife into Kuso's face-down card, shattering it as had the monster before it. "With that, I will set one card face-down and end my turn."

Duelist: Kuso
Field: empty
Hand: 4 cards
Graveyard: Striker Force, Striker's Mischief
LP: 7800

Duelist: Cyber
Field: 1 face-down S/T, Striker's Trap, Striker Thief (1600 ATK/1000 DEF)
Hand: 4 cards
Graveyard: none
LP: 8000

"My turn! Draw!" Kuso grimaced at the field. His setup may have been basic, but he wasn't expecting it to get wiped out like that. "…Well, at least one good thing came out of that turn."

"Now the effect of Striker's Trap activates, draining you of 400 Life Points." An exact replica of Striker Force's arm appeared from the card's image wielding an automatic bow, with which it promptly shot a bolt of energy through Cyber's arm, causing a slight reaction and its Life Point meter to drop. "Next, by its effect, I Special Summon Shadow Striker from my hand." Compared to its counterparts, the new figure was much darker in color, covered in dark rags only barely making it acceptable for a children's trading card. Its limbs were also longer and much thinner than that of the others, which made them look like they should have been unable to lift the long, jagged sword in its right hand. "By this monster's effect, I can return one card on the field to its owner's hand, and I'll select your face-down card." The new monster began channeling dark energy through its sword, pointing it directly at the unknown card on Cyber's field.

Cyber's reaction was not what Kuso was expecting, though: it actually formed a clear smile. "So predictable you are, Kuso. Your effort will be for nothing. Activate trap card: Secret Barrel!"

The facedown card flipped up, forming a tri-barreled gun aimed straight at Kuso. "Now, for each card you have on the field and in your hand, you lose 200 Life Points. This means 1000 in total." As it spoke, energy began accumulating within the largest of the three barrels. "Secret Barrel, fire!" The energy shot forward, tearing through Kuso and causing him to reel over as his Life Point meter reflected the recent hit.

"Th-that… That shouldn't have hurt…so much…" Kuso could barely catch his breath as his voice trembled.

If it were anyone or anything else, one would have almost sensed a hint of worry in Cyber's voice as it spoke. "Do not forget; this is a Shadow Game, where the cards are real and your very life is on the line. This is the pain that you must face when your opponent is a Shadow Duelist. …Do you still wish to carry on?"

As he managed to gather himself together again, Kuso could do nothing but laugh at the question presented to him. "If this is the only way to get stronger…if this is the only way to be as strong as the King of Games…then there's no other way for me to go! By the conditions on the field, I can Special Summon a second Shadow Striker to the field!" Another copy of the dark monster appeared on the field beside the first, an exact copy of its predecessor. "For its effect, I'll send Striker Thief back to your hand! Go, Dark Shadow Pulse!" As had happened before, the second monster began channeling the same energy into its sword, this time successfully sending it into the target card and pushing it back into Cyber's hand. "And now, both of my monsters can attack you directly!" Both of the monsters lifted their free arms up in unison, shooting forward the same dark energy directly at Cyber. This time, there was a considerable reaction from Cyber as it collapsed to its knees, half of its remaining Life Points draining away. "I'll set one card facedown and end my turn."

Duelist: Kuso
Field: 1 face-down S/T, 2x Shadow Striker (1900 ATK/1200 DEF)
Hand: 2 cards
Graveyard: Striker Force, Striker's Mischief
LP: 6800

Duelist: Cyber
Field: Striker's Trap
Hand: 5 cards
Graveyard: Secret Barrel
LP: 3800

"Then I shall begin my turn with a draw." Cyber paused, glancing at Kuso. "…Are you going to interrupt this time?"

Kuso shrugged, "No, knock yourself out."

"Very well, then. By the effect of my monster, I Special Summon Striker Force to the Field in Defense Position." The monster trio appeared beside Cyber, huddled together as if trying to keep each other warm. "Next, I will activate Allure of Darkness." A facedown card appeared on Cyber's field, immediately revealing itself and replacing itself with a vortex of dark energy. "By this effect, I can draw two cards from the deck. However, I must also remove a Dark-attribute monster in my hand from play. I believe that I will remove Striker Thief." The vortex on the field absorbed the energy from the discarded monster, then shot out that same energy into Cyber's deck, allowing it to draw. "Next I will set one monster face-down and end my turn by activating Swords of Revealing Light." As the green-colored card revealed itself, swords of light shot out from the image, surrounding all of the monsters on Kuso's field and sealing them off from attacking.

Duelist: Kuso
Field: 1 face-down S/T, 2x Shadow Striker (1900 ATK/1200 DEF)
Hand: 2 cards
Graveyard: Striker Force, Striker's Mischief
LP: 6800

Duelist: Cyber
Field: Striker's Trap, Swords of Revealing Light, 1 face-down monster, Striker Force (1400 ATK/800 DEF)
Hand: 3 cards
Graveyard: Secret Barrel, Allure of Darkness
RFG: Striker Thief
LP: 3800

"Oh, come on. You aren't even trying here, are you?" Kuso scoffed as he took his turn. "First I'll draw. Now Striker's Trap takes another 400 of your Life Points." Without even looking at the card he had just drawn, Kuso pointed at the face-up trap as the same weapon from before once again shot Cyber in the arm, causing a slightly more severe reaction than last time. He then took a glance at the card he had drawn, and again found himself smiling at it. "First of all, I'm going to tribute both of my Shadow Strikers in order to summon Nightmare Striker to the field." What Shadow Striker had been to the others, Nightmare Striker was to it. This new creature was completely black in appearance, so much so that any small features of its body were completely blanketed from sight. Two large horns protruded from the top of where its head would be, each the size of the head itself. The monster's right claw easily dwarfed the left, being approximately three times its size.

"Go, Nightmare Energy Burst!" A sudden jolt of energy shot out from the creature's horns, colliding directly into Cyber. "Whenever he's summoned outside of his effect, I get to hit my opponent for 1000 damage." He knew it realized what had happened, but Kuso felt like reminding anyway. "Now that there are exactly three Dark-attribute monsters in my Graveyard, I can Special Summon Dark Armed Dragon from my hand." The ferocious beast that now stood next to Kuso's Nightmare Striker let out a humongous roar, pounding its spiked tail into the ground as it prepared for battle. "Next I'll activate Dark Armed Dragon's special ability: by removing a DARK-type monster in my Graveyard from play, I can destroy a card on your side of the field. I'll remove all three of my monsters to destroy your Swords of Revealing Light along with your two monsters!"

As he finished his command, the gigantic dragon roared as dark energy shot out from its hands, flying towards the cards on Cyber's field. Swords of Revealing Light was the first card to be destroyed, followed by two of the three Striker Force figures and a monster that looked like a combination of a cat and a flower. Cyber simply smirked at the results. "You activated the effects of both of my monsters, Kuso. First, my Striker Force lets me add a Striker monster to my hand, just as it did for you. I will select another copy of Striker Force." As Kuso's copy had done, the third figure transformed into a ball of light that enveloped Cyber's deck, pulling the card out and into its hand. "My second monster, as you noticed, was Dandylion, which means I get two Fluffy Tokens placed on my field." In place of the two monsters he had just destroyed, two creatures resembling dandelion seeds appeared on the field, shirking from the towering behemoths already present.

"Oh…great…" Kuso sighed as the new wall formed on the field. "…Fine, then I'll have my monsters take out those tokens. Dark Armed Dragon, you're first." With another roar, the dragon stepped forward and brought its claw down on one of the monsters, cutting it to pieces. "Next, Nightmare Striker, attack with Horror Claw Slash!" The second monster showed no hesitation in performing its own copy of the dragon's attack, cutting up the second monster just as easily with its oversized claw. "I'll set one card facedown and end my turn."

Duelist: Kuso
Field: 2 face-down S/T, Nightmare Striker (2800 ATK/2000 DEF), Dark Armed Dragon (2800 ATK/1000 DEF)
Hand: 0 card
Graveyard: Striker's Mischief
RFG: 2x Shadow Striker, Striker Force
LP: 6800

Duelist: Cyber
Field: Striker's Trap
Hand: 4 cards
Graveyard: Secret Barrel, Allure of Darkness, Swords of Revealing Light, Striker Force, Dandylion
RFG: Striker Thief
LP: 2400

Kuso realized the mistake he had just made only seconds after the words left his mouth. "No, wait! Why did I do that??"

"Too late, Kuso! It is my turn now. Draw!"

Despite its overall lack of visible emotion, something told Kuso that Cyber was very pleased with the situation. "First, thanks to your two monsters to my zero, I will Special Summon The Fiend Megacyber from my hand." The burly, yellow-black warrior that appeared on the field would have looked more menacing if it were not kneeling on one knee with both arms crossed upon its chest. The next card came as no surprise. "And, thanks to your four cards on the field compared to my three, I also Special Summon Striker Force from my hand in Defense." Once again, the familiar trio of monsters appeared on Cyber's field, huddled together even closer because of the monsters already out. "However…I will not be ending with this. I now tribute both of my monsters in order to summon Ultimate Striker to the field." The new monster was certainly a sight to behold. It was only a few feet taller than the other present Striker, but it had a much larger physique, its arms reaching the same diameter as a full-grown tree. Both of its claws were enlarged, and the two horns on its head bent the opposite way at least twice as they reached high above its head. "Ultimate Striker, attack Dark Armed Dragon." The great behemoth brought its claws down upon the dragon's shoulders, slamming it into the ground and blowing it to smithereens. "I will set one card facedown and end my turn."

Duelist: Kuso
Field: 2 face-down S/T, Nightmare Striker (2800 ATK/2000 DEF)
Hand: 0 card
Graveyard: Striker's Mischief, Dark Armed Dragon
RFG: 2x Shadow Striker, Striker Force
LP: 6600

Duelist: Cyber
Field: 1 face-down S/T, Striker's Trap, Ultimate Striker (3000 ATK/2400 DEF)
Hand: 1 card
Graveyard: Secret Barrel, Allure of Darkness, Swords of Revealing Light, Striker Force x2, Dandylion, The Fiend Megacyber
RFG: Striker Thief
LP: 2400

Kuso grimaced at the monster before him. This was the strongest monster in his entire deck attack-wise, and he had little as far as options went to deal with it. Granted, he had enough Life Points to hold out a turn or two, but that would be a downhill battle in the end, with a monster packing 3000 Attack staring him down and who knows what else coming. At least Striker's Trap was still out, but that would take too long to finish the duel on its own. He had to draw something to help stall the duel out long enough. Kuso closed his eyes as he reached for his deck…

"Draw!"

As he slowly opened his eyes, the card he had drawn struck him as a disappointment at first. But then, an idea started forming in his mind, that maybe he didn't have to deal with that monster after all. "First of all, Striker's Trap takes another 400 of your life points away from you." The arm once again emerged from the trap, shooting Cyber for another chunk of damage. "Alright. Next I'll tribute Nightmare Striker in order to summon The Fiend Megacyber from my hand." The same monster that had knelt on Cyber's field the turn before now appeared on Kuso's field, standing upright and ready to battle. "Next, I activate my facedown: Striker's Miscount. This doubles the total number of cards on your field from four to eight. Now, I activate my final card: Striker's Reunion!" The second card to reveal itself on Kuso's field featured the classic Spell-green color surrounding an image of Striker Force's trio of monsters hugging and jumping gleefully into the air. "With this, I can Special Summon a Striker monster in my Graveyard, on the condition that the field meets its effect. And, with your count of eight cards to my two, it does just that. Come on back, Nightmare Striker!" The giant monster once again appeared on Kuso's field, intimidating as ever despite the larger monster staring it down. "And thanks to the effect of my Reunion, this Striker is treated as coming back on its own, which in the case of Nightmare Striker means you take a full 3000 points of damage instead of 1000. This duel is over. Go, Nightmare Energy Burst!" A charge of energy formed between the monster's horns before shooting directly past Ultimate Striker and hitting Cyber directly, causing its Life Point counter to zero out.

The mirror image of Kuso faded out after his victory, leaving only the familiar spirit. "Congratulations, Kuso, you succeeded. You now have the stre—"

"You were holding back the entire time, weren't you, Cyber Jar #2?"

There was an audible response of surprise, and a moment of silence before the response. "…Yes, Kuso, you are right: it was never my intention to win. The true point of this was the danger itself; to get you to fight despite the possibility of losing your life. That is the courage, the strength you wanted."

A dumb smile covered Kuso's face. "I have what I was looking for, then. I'm not afraid anymore. It's time that I fight back, for myself and everyone else."

"Then you may close your eyes and return to reality, with the strength you searched for."

"…And I hope you never have to return here, after all..."

When he opened his eyes again, Kuso found himself back to normal reality, with a very familiar man shouting at him.

"ATTENTION, DUELIST! MY HAIR SAID THAT IT CHA—"

"SHUT UP ABOUT YOUR HAIR!!!!" Kuso exploded in a fit of anger that surprised everybody present. "Seriously, I know all about Yugi's early dueling efforts, including what you did in Duelist Kingdom, and I was NOT amused by it. Now, not only are you still a jerk, but you're a jerk who can't stop chatting about his ridiculous spike of a hairdo! No, you know what? That barrier that was there," he asked as he pointed to the dueling field behind him, "it was supposed to make the monsters real, isn't that so? And since it hasn't been that long since it went away, I should still be able to summon a real monster at the moment, right?"

He didn't wait for anybody to answer. "Come out, Striker Thief." Kuso called as he played the scarfed monster on his Duel Disk, quickly generating it before him. Kuso simply smirked at this, his theory evidently turning out to be true.

"Cut off his hair."

The monster dashed forward with knife in hand. At Kuso's command, the guard's face turned from its normal light-brown to a pure white as he scrambled to escape the assault, but it was too late. With a single swing, the spike that had donned the guard's head fell apart and landed on the floor, its previous owner screaming as he continued to run.

Satisfied with the result, Kuso shut down his duel disk and turned to the rest of the group. "So, what just happened here, again?"

OOC: Surprise!

 

[Phanima]

The amount of time it took for Edgeworth to chew Crawford out about the events surrounding her newly acquired deck brought about the return of Kurado who continued the berating of the silver haired sponsor upon arrival. In such time, Michel brought himself out of his usual stupor but was somewhat content with not being the center of attention. Having heard the on going discussions however, or rather the heated one-sided arguments spouting from the robed one, it seemed concealing his condition needn't concern much effort. And even though he had arrived on the island expecting the fantastical and utter improbable, the amount of tripe spewing from all three candidates was ridiculous. The heir felt gratitude for the first time in the inclusion of Sarasi, the only other comparatively normal person present. But as fate would have it, his rare thoughts of praise were dashed at the sight of the boy's spacing out, soon followed by an unnecessarily loud exclamation from an intruding suit. And as abrupt and sudden as it seemed, he had challenged the newcomer, of all people.

Regaining his posture and having fastened his own duel disk, not to mention the lack of the con artists' presence to repress him, Michel sought to rid of the annoyance as swiftly as he could, only to be intercepted by the target himself. Following his outburst and having muttered something about utilizing the residue from the ring of fire's power, the previous wreck of a person summoned an all too real projection of one of his original monsters. Then, in an instant, the pair assaulted the suit into submission, severing the tip of his hair as the he struggled to flee the scene.

"How uncouth." Michel huffed under his breath before folding his arms and turning to the gathering of brats surrounding Crawford, awaiting the answer to Kurado's question, his thoughts on the situation still very much a mess.

 

[Alter Ego]

Tacey's brief pause had only been her pulling back to deliver another verbal assault on Pegasus, but as it so happened, she was beat to the punch...by Kaito, no less, or...at least she thought it was Kaito, but something seemed...off, strangely familiar yet completely wrong for the person occupying the body. It wasn't until Pegasus reply, however, that the realization struck her.

"Achan-boy." the rich girl repeated sceptically. Yes, the expressions, the mannerisms, even his way of talking, they were all decidedly Achan, yet...yet it was still Kaito's body. The more Tacey tried to force these seemingly conflicting pieces of information together into a coherent whole, the angrier she became, and hearing that Pegasus had been meddling with this peculiar matter as well did little to brighten her mood. By the time Achan finally caught up with the fact that Tacey had no idea what they were going on about and offered an apology, the rich girl was particularly trembling with pent-up rage already, her hand repeatedly rising and lowering; a slap devoid of a definite target.

"That...would be an understatement." she grit out, taking a few more deep breaths and completely blanking out Kuso's valiant struggles, "I don't know what you've managed to get yourself messed up in during my brief absence, but this-" she delivered a full-force slap straight across Achan's right cheek, "is for mistaking that two-bit copycat for me. This," she followed up on the momentum and delivered a matching slap to his left cheek, "-is for meddling with that shadow game hocus pocus again. And this-" she threw in a third slap for good measure, though this one was not quite as vigorous as the previous two, "-is for being such a reckless idiot and always trying to solve things on your own!"

Visibly relieved by this act, Tacey massaged her slapping hand and gave the redhead an imperious nod, "That just about covers it, no?" she asked, her expression softening slightly, though she was quick to fold her arms in defiance, "So let's hear it. Let's hear everything you've been messing up in my absence and everything you've been holding back from me. And you had better explain it properly."

 

[Scarlet Weather]

"Alright, I probably deserved that," Achan admitted as he rubbed his stinging cheeks. "But this hasn't been my day either. Guess it's time to give you all the run-down... especially since everyone here's been hit hard by this tournament one way or another." He glanced at Kuso, who had just sent the pointy-haired guard packing. "Pity. I was hoping to see that guy's deck..." Achan muttered to Aku, who simply shrugged his wings in response. "Right, well... obviously, I'm not in my own body right now. Long story short, Kaito's been the one pulling the strings for most of this tournament. He stole seven very important cards belonging to Pegasus here, and ran off with them. Then he had that Nicholas guy mark me with some sort of defective seal that Judai would have interpreted as being something made by the Shadow Duelists. Then he used the attack on the boat as an excuse to challenge me to a duel and steal my deck... and my body. This guy here is my new friend, Akuma Kuriboh. Kaito tricked him into giving up his duel energy and ran off, so he and I are partners now." Achan paused, and scratched the back of his head. "Beyond the fact that my old body was apparently built to use the Sennen items, that's all I know for sure now."

"Bravo, Smith. You seem to have an excellent memory... at least of recent events."

Achan whirled, seething. He knew that voice. "You..." he began, but before he could finish his sentence a large gust of wind swept up the stage, sending him tumbling into Kuso rather awkwardly. "You manipulative... Gah! I can't think of anything to call you that won't get me censored, but that's what you are!" he accused. "You lied to me! You tricked me into thinking that you were so pitiful, what with a duel spirit being stuck in your body and all. But you stole my body, and my deck!"

"Nonsense. This body, as you seem to have realized, wasn't really yours in the first place," Kaito replied, ascending the stage in a manner that could only have been described as melodramatic. "After all, I was the one who comissioned your creation, as a means of obtaining the Sennen items. I am merely reclaiming what belongs to me." Achan gritted his teeth but didn't reply as Kaito continued, in a rather bored tone of voice. "Oh, I'm sure that you want to call me a monster, but face the facts, Smith. If I hadn't comissioned the creation of this body, you would not exist in the first place. And after all, you can think of yourself as an accomplishment- you are, after all, the first succesful cloned body grown in a laboratory that managed to stabilize after we used duel energy to artificially accelerate your growth process by a few years. And you're definite confirmation that clones do, indeed, have souls- after all, Soul Swap doesn't work on anything that doesn't have an existence outside the body. And-"

"Shut up," Achan spat out, pulling himself to his feet and clenching his fist. "Just because you commissioned me doesn't mean that I belong to you. That body belongs to me! I was born in it, it's mine to decide what to do with!"

"I beg to differ. After all, you no longer own this body, Achan Smith... or should I say, experimental humanoid creation Mark VI. Do you know, after Pegasus sent that Supreme King into the laboratory and had it shut down, it took me almost a year to track you down? And Pegasus had wiped your memories- at your own request- and given you a set of new ones, then set you loose on the tournament? Thoughtless of him, really, but I suppose after that Doma incident, you've had a bit of an aversion to removing the free will of people for your own benefit, haven't you Mr. Crawford?" Kaito laughed mirthlessly. "I've only come to announce that I'm already halfway done with my plan. If you want to stop me, you'll have to find me in two weeks. After that, it will be much too late."

"Why are you telling us this, again?" Achan asked, his voice drained as he stared at Kaito.

"Why, because I know I'm going to win, of course," Kaito responded, as a shadow enveloped him and he disappeared.

Pegasus stepped forward. "Achan-boy, I really don't know what to-"

"Is it true?" Achan interrupted. "Was that really where I came from?"

Pegasus paused for a moment, then nodded. "Do you want to hear the whole story?"

"Not right now," Achan replied. "Maybe tomorrow. But I'm wondering... if I was a clone, who was the original?"

"Well, most of it was from some source we didn't recognize... but, ah, your most distinctive features are..." Pegasus pointed to his hair.

"Oh."

 

[Phanima]

Even a cynic such as Michel could piece together the ramblings exchanged between the silver haired sponsor and the robed Kurado with identity issues. Having researched the game of Duel Monsters before even entertaining the notion of participating in the tournament, he knew of those who proceeded the game's history. A Yugi Mutou, the past King of Games to which Crawford's assumption was based upon, was apparently the subject to Smith's so-called cloning. Although in retrospect, the redhead looked nothing more than a simple look-a-like, his reference being somewhat overzealous.

In spite of his interests, he was growing more and more bothered with the constant assumptions that Kurado was Smith and vice versa, despite the rather convenient relation between acknowledging the fact and it matching the two's recent change in behaviour. It seemed he had seen the last of it for the time being however, with said robe submitting to the next day for further details. Unfortunately, such a notion didn't sit well with the heir.

Contrary to what he now thought, his initial plan involved confronting the very man standing before him, although at a much larger scale. To take down the Pegasus J. Crawford of Industrial Illusions during the tournament's broadcast coverage and at his own game no doubt, would invariably heighten his reputation, along with his company's. At the moment however, his current mood and lack of public exposure did little to support initiating such a plan.

"Sorry for interrupting..." Michel started, regaining his usual demeanor, "But I have no intentions of spending the night here, so finish up whatever you want to tell us and then we're leaving. We've wasted enough time here already."

 

[Alter Ego]

Tacey raised a sceptical eyebrow at Achan's explanation, but refrained from subjecting the boy to any further abuse. One week earlier, she would have dismissed this whole thing as absolute rubbish and a downright insult to her intelligence, but witnessing a human being wiped from existence by a playing card and taking note of the fact that the bodies were still allocated the wrong way around...well, one tended to develop a slightly more open mind to this sort of thing. When, to top it off, Achan's body - which, she had to keep reminding herself, was now Kaito - appeared on the scene to gloat, the last of her suspicions were erased. This whole thing was simply too absurd to have been made up.

Just as the shadow duelist was about to get himself an earful of Tacey's righteous indignation, however, he made his retreat, announcing that they had two weeks to find him before his plan would succeed.

"The nerve!" Tacey huffed, stamping her foot before turning a demanding glare to Pegasus, "For once, I agree with Arma; if you have something more to tell then tell it to us right now." she took a threatening step forward, "You've been keeping quite enough secrets from all of us, Mr.Pegasus."

"Now, now, Tacey-girl." Pegasus scolded, doing his best to keep up his usual playful manner, "Achan boy doesn't want to-"

"Oh, cut it out already!" the rich girl growled, "It's not like you've cared about what any of us have wanted this far! I'm on this team too, you know, and if there's anything else aobut Smith that would drag him straight into more of this shadow game nonsense-"

"My, my, this is a surprise." Pegasus retorted mildly, "Here I thought you didn't care about Achan-boy beyond how he affects your chances of winning."

"That's-" Tacey faltered slightly, but quickly regained her fire, "Don't try to change the subject! What I do or don't feel about Smith is none of your business, and I'm involved in this mess either way so I demand that you tell me the whole thing right now!"

Pegasus flinched slightly, taking a step back to spare his already much-abused collar from further violence, "Achan-boy...a bit of assistance here?"

 

[Forci Stikane]

Kuso was having a hard time believing what "Achan" was telling them all. Granted, the story wasn't completely out there given what he himself had already been through, but it was still disturbing how Kaito had been an enemy all this time (and even worse, Achan's girlfriend hadn't managed to pick up on the switch right away, either). When the swapped "Kaito" showed up out of nowhere to gloat, Kuso's initial instinct was to capture him so they could figure out a way to fix this mess, but Achan knocking into him ruined that idea. By the time he could get up again, the fake was already gone.

Still, there was one part of the story that had struck a chord. "Hey, wait just a minute here." Kuso turned to Pegasus with a mixture of curiosity and annoyance that would have left any completely sane person confused. "You mean to tell us that Achan is really a clone? Of Yugi, no less? Were you planning on ever telling us any of this? ...But, wait..." Apparently he was starting to turn sane again, as that earlier annoyance started to slip into confusion. "What I still don't understand is, how was having a clone supposed to let you use the Sennen items? Just because you have a copy of Yugi's DNA doesn't mean you can copy the way the original was able to use his Puzzle. You're still missing a third of the equation."

He didn't expect most of the others to know what that third was, since it wasn't exactly common knowledge. However, Kuso had done research on Yugi in his spare time and had noticed stories of a second personality to him, having to do with the Sennen item around his neck. As crazy as it appeared, all of the stories and actual evidence pointed to another person--a ghost, rather--that inhabited the Sennen Puzzle and came out from time to time. He knew Pegasus realized exactly what he was talking about, though, since Pegasus had supposedly confronted it personally.

 

[Scarlet Weather]

"I get the feeling there was never a plan to tell us anything," Achan answered Kuso bitterly. "It was never supposed to become a problem, was it? I was supposed to... wait a minute." He stared at Pegasus, his head cocked slightly. "Hold on. If all of my memories are fake, what was I supposed to do once the tournament was over? I mean, would I have gone home and said 'oh, I wonder where my house is'? I mean, did you even REMOTELY have a plan in mind for all this?"

"Er... well..." Pegasus began, but before he could continue, a familiar figure entered the room. "Oh, Juudai-boy, good to see you."

"Shadow Duelists have been cleared from the island, Pegasus-sama. Anything happen up here?" Juudai reported, scanning the rather odd-looking situation.

"Well, I can tell you most of it," Achan announced. "But you'll have to come clean about why you... oh, lied to me about your reasons for coming with us for starters, and for not telling me about the fact that I was a clone. And why you didn't catch Kaito before he, y'know, ran off with my body. Yep, that should do it."

Judai stared at Pegasus for a momnt. "I take it he knows?"

Pegasus nodded. "I'm afraid so, Judai-boy. Achan-boy here figured it out on his own, and I'm afraid that most of Team Seven wants the full story. And since you know it..."

"Understood," Judai answered, moving up to the group. "Sumisu-kun, since this is your story, is there anything you want to know first?"

Achan nodded. "Why did I choose to have my memories erased? What was so bad that I wanted to forget all about it? And what is all this about anyway? I think that'll do for starters." He sighed. "I really didn't want to hear all of this right now, but..." he glanced at the face of his team mates, "It really isn't just about me anymore."

Judai nodded. "The answer to your first question is easy, Sumisu-kun. You wanted to enter the tournament and duel like a normal compeititor. So you asked us to remove your memories so you could concentrate. Once the tournament was over, I was supposed to make contact with you and return them. As for bad memories..." Judai shook his head. "It's best that you don't remember everything. Most of your life was spent in a test tube, after all. It's your third question that may take some time. But... I think it's best if I show you instead of telling you. Pegasus-sama, may we borrow your private viewing chamber?"

Pegasus nodded, evidently relieved that the burden of explanation was off his shoulders. "Be my guest, Judai-boy, although I'll have to dock your pay if you happen to damage any of my Funny Rabbit DVDs."

"Funny Rabbit?" Achan asked.

Judai shook his head. "Don't ask."

A short time later...​

"So, this is the viewing room?" Achan asked. The chamber resembled a home theater, complete with projector and DVD rack. Most of the movie titles were collections of various anime, including the aforementioned "Funny Rabbit" series. However, Achan noticed a few of them seemed to be labeled with roman numerals rather than actual names. Judai selected the one marked "VI" and slipped it into the player. As the lights dimmed, Achan settled into his seat. "This had better be good..." he mumbled.

The screen flickered to life, revealing a black and white image of Judai. The duelist looked a few years younger, but otherwise he was easily recognizable. "Er... is this thing on? Eh? Alright, good. I don't understand why we're recording this in English though," the on-screen Judai said. He paused, listening to instructions in Japanese from Pegasus. "Eh? So he'll understand if he ever wants to watch this? Oh, I get it. Well then, I suppose this is it. Um... I can't remember the date, but today we finally uncovered the project that led to the creation of artificial life form VI, Achan-kun. We discovered the project originally when we found that a large portion of funds from Industrial Illusions had been diverted by an employee. Currently, we are trying to trace the funding back to its source. These funds were used to create a project designed around perfecting human cloning. After infiltrating the facility, we discovered that its creator was one step ahead of us and had ordered the project to be abandoned. We uncovered what information we could from the researchers, but all that was discovered was the project was originally launched to create a body capable of using Sennen items. In order to interface with an item correctly... a body requires DNA from someone with a connection to the item. This project created a body capable of being a 'skeleton key' to use any item. However..."

The screen flashed. Achan stared at an image of himself- or rather, his old body. He was posing for a photograph with Judai's arm around his shoulder, and looked... annoyed, yes, but also a bit amused. "The body they created was left behind, since they expected it to die after shutting down life-support. However, Achan-kun escaped and began living off food in the facility. We took him back to Duelist Kingdom, not knowing what else to do with him. Pegasus-sama has ordered us to observe him... so far he seems to enjoy games, and he's very curious about the world. He continues to say he wants to travel the world... with the current low activity of both Darkness and the Light of Ruin, it seems like it would be a good oppurtunity for him to travel. We have also discovered that he is suppressing his innate ability to link up with the Sennen items... most of his Duel Energy is also being suppressed in the process."

The screen blinked again, and was replaced by an image of Achan in a strange room, with Judai's hand over his forehead. "We have removed most of Achan- I mean, Sumisu-kun's memories of the facility, and replaced them in order for him to compete in the tournament at his request. I'm kind of sorry to see him go... but it's for the best. Manjoume and I will be dispatched if Shadow Duelist activity significantly increases or his comissioner makes another move. In order to aid him in the tournament, his custom cards have been printed on the pretext of his victory in a card design contest. In reality, the contest was rigged from the start..."

The screen flashed one more time, replaced by an image of Kaito.

"Kuroda has discovered a huge lead on Sumisu-kun's creation... it's possible he was created by the Shadow Duelists. Kuroda , being a former Shadow Duelist himself, has led the investigation of this lead..."

The tape ended. The lights returned.

Achan stared at the group. "That was it? No explanation of the Sennen items? Nothing else? Come on, there has to be something," he accused.

Judai shook his head. "I'm sorry, Sumisu-kun. The only other information we gathered was that Kuroda was the one funding the project from the beginning. We have no more information on the motives or actions of any of the Shadow Duelists or Kuroda. I'm sorry."

"Then all of this was just basically glorified recapping of how I ended up here?"

"Absolutely."

Achan shook his head. "Judai, you.." he stopped, realizing something. "Didn't you call me Achan in the video?"

Judai paused, looking genuinely embarassed for the first time. "Well, you did tell me I could."

"I don't remember-" Achan paused. "Oh."

"Excuse me," a gravelly voice interrupted, intruding on the viewing. "But I believe Mr. Pegasus said something about your helicopter being ready."

"We're leaving by helicopter?" Achan asked, surprised.

"Pegasus-sama bought one from a discount sale yesterday. Something about the previous owner trying to get rid of his dragon fetish or something," Judai answered.

Moments Later...​

"Well, that was..." Achan searched for words, but finding none, continued, "The weirdest thing that's ever happened to me. I think. So, where to now, Pegasus?"

The millionaire smiled. "Since you have no idea where Kuroda-boy is, Achan-boy, I suggest that you and Judai move with the rest of the group to the next tournament location... I believe it's the Black Forest, in Germany?"

Achan smiled in spite of himself. "I've always wanted to see that place..." he stopped again. "I think." As he turned to board the helicopter, he stopped suddenly. "Oh, right! Pegasus, I want to know one more thing. Why did you choose the members you did for our team, and why are we so important?"

Pegasus smiled. "I chose this team... because I thought it would be interesting how you dealt with each other, Achan-boy. The eternal rivals, Judai and Manjoume, supporting the team makes things more fun..." he stepped towards Tacey, "While the interaction between the wild card joker and the royal queen is a source of constant amusement. Add to this team one duelist who has lost his entire team to the shadows, and a skeptic who denies the evidence of spirits despite the evidence of them... and you have a perfect team!"

Achan stared at Pegasus. "So... we were paired because you thought it would be... dramatic?" he asked slowly.

"Well, yes, Achan-boy. Did you expect a deeper reason?"

"I suppose not," Achan sighed. "I guess we'd better get out of here, since I'm assuming that you aren't putting the next round on hold for us."

"Perish the thought, Achan-boy."

OOC: And... that's it for DK folks. My only regret is that I didn't have a chance to insert a Dueling on Motorbikes joke. And sorry for bunnying you all... but we've got a sub-plot to get underway if Phanima has his say, and I've just realized that if we kept going I'd have to draw this out by another week. Besides, the rest would have been cheap jokes anyway. XD

 

[Phanima]

It was interesting to say the least, the video depicting Smith's previous life in Duelist Kingdom accompanied by the likes of Crawford and the recently returned Yuki. Switching bodies was one thing, cloning was another. Improbable as it was, he had considered such an option before, during the development of his own company's artificial human, not that he had succeeded in such an experiment. Still, to first see Smith was one thing but as the film proceeded, Kurado appeared, the one who now seemed convinced he was in fact the former. The announcement of his previous allegiance with the Shadow Duelists didn't seem to faze the group either, much to Michel's bemusement. It appeared that everyone aside from himself had accepted the two's predicament and current relation, that being the initial Kurado using Smith's body to revive objects known as Sennen Items.

It was all nonsense. He was a skeptic, that he'd admit, and as he listened to Kurado's on going discussion with Yuki, who indeed continued to address him as Smith, all the while discussing the very person who's body now stood in front of him, Michel just couldn't accept it. He had his own problems to stress over, more important than some adolescent prank in the least. The growing internal pains, the mental lapses and his overall weakening condition being his main concern, not to mention he had heard nothing of his subordinates or received word from the company in the last two days. Things were beginning to get out of hand.

"Utter nonsense..." the heir huffed under his breath, overhearing Crawford's reasoning behind the group's assembly, before proceeding outside past the group and onto the waiting helicopter.

It was all utter nonsense. If anything, Duelist Kingdom had been nothing more than a waste of time, besides of course for being force fed all manner of rubbish involving the Shadow Duelists and the reason behind the incidents that had occurred throughout the tournament.

OOC: Ohhh Germany, can't wait. xD Anywho, I should be able to wrap it up in about 2-3 posts, it's just that it requires a little interaction from the group is all.

 

[Alter Ego]

Tacey, in all honesty, was not in the mood for home videos at the moment, but she was not about to let a potential explanation slip her by, and so she allowed herself to be led along, arms folded and a constant frown on her face to make it perfectly clear that her good will was being abused here. This expression, as it so happened, only grew more and more sour as the video dragged on to inanity without providing any of the promised revelations, save for confirmation that Pegasus - for all his scheming - was a man with an exceptional lack of common sense. To not have suspected Kaito right off the bat...she gave reproachful scoff as she stalked down the hallways after the others, now solely for the promise of getting to leave this distasteful place as soon as possible.

If the girl had seemed sour before, however, this was nothing compared to the look she gave when Pegasus explained his motives for forming the team. Had the eccentric millionaire not had enough sense to step back after his statement, he would most likely have wound up with a slap at the very least...probably more if the girl's expression was anything to go by.

As it was, however, the tournament host's face remained quite unmarred by such things as he waved an ever-cheerful goodbye at the departing contestants.

"Ta-ta then!" he called, "And no hard feelings, right Tacey-girl?"

"Don't...count on that." the rich girl grit out, proceeding to ignore the completely undaunted millionaire completely and staring straight forward instead as she waited for the helicopter to take off.

 

[Forci Stikane]

Before, the story "Achan" and Pegasus were providing had been hard to believe, but after seeing the video...Kuso was in shock. Even being told that they would have to start dueling on motorcycles would have been better than this. He had actually been teamed up with a clone of the now-retired King of Games, a person he idolized? And that Kaito person had been a double agent, acting like he had turned from being a Shadow Duelist when all along he was the one pulling the strings? And the two had switched bodies, which somehow gave Kaito the ability to use the Sennen items even though there was no sign of him having that characteristic second half? It was almost like something out of a bad fanfic, and it gave Kuso a headache to think about it. The entire situation had left Kuso drawing a blank as far as what he had wanted to ask Pegasus, but by the time he remembered, Pegasus had already answered his question without it being asked.

"So I really was the only one to survive, then. But..." There was still one problem with what had happened, and if he was going to get his answer, he might as well ask the man who had found him while the group was still there. "If my entire team was taken, then how did I get away? Why was I the only one to actually get out of there, and without losing anything, no less?" Unfortunately, something told him that he wasn't going to get his answer from Pegasus after all, getting little more than a clueless look from the millionaire. "...You don't know, do you? I thought you would know the full story since you're the one who told me what happened to the others, but if you really don't..." Kuso sighed as he boarded the helicopter with the rest of the group.

"...Then I guess I'll have to get the answer from the Shadow Duelists themselves."



OOC: Disclaimer: any references to poor fanfiction contained in this post are references to Yu-Gi-Oh: The Abridged Series. Nothing more.

 

[Phanima]

Upon the first elapsed hour since departing from Duellist Kingdom, they were already covering land by the field full and were considerably making up for their time lost from taking the detour. Such a detour being trouble enough for Michel with the amount of fantastical and improbable tripe that spewed from Crawford as well as his own team breaching the point of ridiculous. He wasn't convinced however, at least not with Smith's new appearance. He had seen and heard it for himself, the redhead speaking of himself as being nothing more than a by-product of some organisation's cloning experiment before disappearing, leaving a very disgruntled Kurado with identity issues. If that wasn't enough, Edgeworth had acquired herself a new deck and some attitude to go with it. In most cases, he would have simply waved off the girl's efforts without concern, yet he couldn't ignore the potential threat she now posed, having witnessed the prowess of her new cards second-hand. And then there was Sarasi, the newcomer who seemed all too willing to accept the others' claims about the Shadow Duellists and harboured a troubled past of his own. Needless to say, Michel was more than content with returning to the usual tournament proceedings.

Sitting in his usual fashion, arms and legs crossed with his head slightly bowed, an inexplicably yet oddly familiar change in scenery caught the heir's attention. Glancing curiously beyond the helicopter's window and over the coursing land below them, a twinge of grey met his gaze. What then compounded his budding suspicions was the abrupt change in environment between their current cloudless afternoon amidst the untouched but lush countryside and the oncoming overcast wasteland in the distance. It was improbable that they would be taken to that place without warning, a place that no longer existed, but as they drew closer and closer, their destination became clear. Their reason for being brought there however, remained to be seen.

The familiar dull rugged and desolate landscape enveloped them as the helicopter touched down at the edge of what appeared to be a small countryside city, an encompassing wall of rising jagged spearheaded slabs of rock enclosing the space, serving more as a way to cut off the city from the outside world than to prevent the outside world from coming in. Upon closer inspection, this 'city' as it were seemed to comprise of a single rising spire in its centre, the building reaching well over twenty floors and easily towering over the few other facilities dotted around the almost perfectly circular base. What was odd was that the ground was completely man-made, as in the whole area was made up of what appeared to be steel reinforced concrete, outlines of seeping crevices scattering across its surface, alluding to the deeper hidden mechanics of the city below. Closed hatches could also be seen lining the outer rim of the city, large enough to house towers of equal size comparative to the central spire. The most significant detail however, being the initial spire seen rising from the city's centre, instead rose from several feet below ground level, the unnaturally flat ground itself forming a perfectly rounded crater to which added surrounding steps and an extra floor to the building.

The helicopter landed with an inaudible thud as the roaring propellers died down. Without waiting for word or action from his teammates, Michel gripped the carriage door and threw it open from its lock, quickly stepping out to confirm their current whereabouts. Far be it for him to scrutinize the barren patched fields surrounding them but he was sure that they were in no way near or within Germany's boundaries.

"Welcome to Anatolia."

Unaware that a rather healthy and well dressed woman, in comparison to the decrepit state of the city, had been standing there before him for good knows how long, Michel merely returned her gaze with narrowed eyes.

"My name is Rosa." bowing in respect, the greeting proctor then held a polite hand to her side, gesturing to not only him but the group as well to follow the trail leading to the central building's entrance, "If you would be so obliged as to follow me, I will escort you inside."

Without reason and with nothing more than an automated smile, the young woman braced the threshold of the entrance and entered the large pentagonal room inside. The height of the ceiling reached well above two storeys, while the only obstruction being an abandoned circular counter sat in the room's centre. This was the ground floor lobby, its floor paved with now worn, dusted and cracked tiles. Two elevator shafts also remained unregulated against their respective walls, the walls themselves bearing unnatural markings against their surface. The entirety of the lobby seemed to exude the aftermath of an internal typhoon, its dishevelled and dull atmosphere very much suiting the general aesthetic of the surrounding environment. And having experienced such a place before, Michel heeded no interest in the building's decor or condition, choosing to simply follow the guide in the hope of being granted answers to their current situation.

"I'll sort this out." he added over his shoulder, his hair and all manner of attire rustling in the dying wind of the helicopter's propeller, "And this isn't a place for snotty-nosed brats, so don't come bothering me while I do."

He realised that he had yet to explain his knowledge of the place and debated whether availing such information to the others was necessary. Inevitably, he decided against it. If his suspicions about their coming here were to prove true, it would be best to prevent his team from getting involved and knowing anything that could link them back to it. Not because he was concerned for their safety but because if they were to die now, it would seriously inconvenience his position in the tournament, a very real possibility in such a place.

Proceeding through the set of shattered glass doors to where the Rosa woman stood patiently waiting inside, the two were immediately engulfed in an all too familiar barrier, which, much like its predecessors, was constructed purely out of an intense and unyielding flame, its colour exchanging between hues of red, blue and green, a colourful yet completely impassable wall of fire, the duelling trademark of the con artists known as the Shadow Duellists.

"Please take care inside the ring's perimeter." the escort smiled, her monotonous voice remaining unfazed by the sudden and obscure change in conditions, "The flames are extremely hot."

"I've seen this trick before." scoffing, Michel casually pocketed his hands before glancing over at the still smiling woman, "Admittedly, I'm more surprised to see you Rosa, what business do you have here?"

Adjusting her half-rimmed glasses ever so slightly, the suave suit of female orientation gracefully patted her lips with a manicured hand in order to suppress the slightest of giggles, "Please do not fret, my presence here is solely for observation. I will not be partaking in any form of discussion or activity this evening."

She had evaded his question. Retorting, "And you expect me to?" simultaneously letting out an irritable sigh before eyeing the still raging wall around them, "This is getting old."

"I couldn't agree more."

The intruding voice needed no introduction, the person's mere presence being enough to cause the highest of CEOs to grovel out of fear and respect. For some reason however, the heir was sent into a far more shameful posture, another wave of attacks taking their toll. A genuine expression of surprise graced the escort's features as she watched Michel stagger in place, from the sudden and intense sensation.

"But whatever works." followed the still unveiled voice, "And it looks like the rumours were true, that Eri girl did a number on you after all."

Steadying himself in place, he watched through blurred eyes as the far end of the ring parted, allowing a solitary figure to pass through unfazed before reforming neatly behind them. Being the only light source in the darkening room, the ring of fire quickly resumed its encompassing and unpassable form in a matter of seconds, emitting an unnatural glow throughout. It was safe to assume that attempting to escape unharmed was now impossible.

"Oh, how brash of me, we've yet to make the proper introductions." the imposing figure strode forward, placing a casual hand on their hips before leering over Michel's crippled form, "It's been a long time, brother."

Oddly enough, the searing internal pains that were often accompanied by the presence of a Shadow Duellist grew more and more intense through each encounter, this particular case however, seemingly lacking that initial impact. Not that he was complaining of course. But now, after catching his breath, Michel quickly composed himself before finally confronting his estranged sister. He had a number of questions of his own after all.

"I haven't the time to amuse you and your little games Chris." he started dryly, his gaze unwavering as it bore into his sister's own, "Although, I should have guessed that you were behind all of this. Bringing me here...I can only assume for what reason."

"Oh please." she replied with a shake of her head, her raven locks flicking behind her in the light of the three toned fire, "Not everything is about you. However, I will admit that my initial intention was to resolve our...troubled relationship but a matter other than that has also taken precedence, a matter that I plan to resolve by the night's conclusion."

"To what end?"

"For revenge." the girl smiled, not missing a step, "Believe it or not, your group's presence, or should I say, the presence of another from your group was also planned. Such a matter however, is of none of your concern. I will deal with said person when the time comes but for now you and I shall indulge in one another's company a little longer."

Glancing back to see if any of the group had indeed ignored his warning and had come to spectate, which was a very real possibility, Michel compiled any possible relation between each individual and his sister, hypothesizing any potential connection between them that could spur such a grudge. But considering he had yet to evaluate Chris' actual motive and capabilities, he was still very much in the dark.

"As you've said, your reasons for confronting another member of my team are none of my business. So, do what you want with them, whoever it is." stalling for time, the heir continued, "I'm bothered however, by what you're planning on accomplishing here. For what reason did you bring us to Anatolia?"

"That's simple." the heiress interjected with a small wave of her hand, "What better place to determine which of us is to become to the next heir of Arma Tech? I for one could think of none better."

At this point, Michel was expecting a much more profound answer than what he was given, what he was given putting him very much at ease with that of the seriousness of the situation. Narrowing his gaze, the heir rebutted, "The next heir of the company has already been decided. You should know that better than anyone."

"That's true." Chris added in a most casual tone, a hint of budding enthusiasm rising in her voice, "You having me committed under our parents' authority, ensuring your succeeding of the company as the next CEO, would have reverted my position to simply being the next in line. But as ill fortune would have it, father and mother had yet to legalise such action before their...passing, their promise invariably resulting in nothing more than verbal hear-say, somewhat unfortunate for you."

If her last statement had renewed his confidence, her next one completely took him by surprise. Seeing his immediate reaction, a chill ran up the girl's spine, her smile growing only wider.

"But it seems you haven't heard, have you brother?" feigning slight surprise herself, the heiress continued in a sickly sweet tone, "It's no surprise, seeing as how you've been half way across the world playing a children's card game. Naturally, the death of our parents wouldn't have reached your ear."

Despite his initial surprise at such a revelation and for good reason, he just couldn't bring himself to trust her words. The person standing before him being Chris and all, all manner of lies were bound to arise. The situation being somewhat reminiscent of the ones the Shadow Duellists employed. But to go so far...even he had his limits.

Glancing over to the still prompt Rosa, who appeared completely unfazed by their obscure discussion, and then to the raging three-toned wall of fire behind him, Michel finally returned his gaze to his sister.

Mustering the calmest tone he could despite the actual thoughts running through his head, he continued, "Say I amuse the idea that mother and father have indeed passed... How exactly do you intend on deciding this?"

Sneering at such a question having anticipating it being asked, the raven-haired heiress promptly unsheathed her arms from beneath her coat, revealing two grey-toned duel disks adorning each one, not including a rather unique outfit of her own. It seemed dressing rebellious ran in the family, her indecently short pleaded skirt and sleeveless collar shirt bearing frayed edges all over, her coat resembling that of a tattered yet stylised blazer and trench coat combination.

"Seeing as how you've become so infatuated with playing this novelty card game..." she started, removing the first disk and throwing it to the floor before him, "I thought deciding this through a game of Duel Monsters would be more than appropriate. Besides, I've grown to enjoy milling through a deck every once in a while, especially with the aid of such devices."

Motioning to the grounded disk, Chris loaded her own, folding her arms as she prepared to finally confront her brother.

"Don't mistake my intentions." he breathed, reluctantly heeding the girl's request before replacing his initial duel disk, "I have my own reasons for being here. Knowing you however, resisting won't answer my questions."

"Wise decision." she smiled, bracing the edge of the ring, allowing enough room for a field between them as Michel did the same, "Well then, let's get started."

 

[Scarlet Weather]

Achan wasn't a good flier. He discovered this on the trip to Japan, and now he felt it again: flying wasn't his thing. He didn't suffer from vertigo, but unfortunately even in a helicopter the noise wasn't enough to disguise the facts: flights, especially long ones, made Achan feel sleepy. So mid-way after taking off, he made sure that his seat was far enough away from the other passengers that if and when he started to struggle to stay awake his head wouldn't end up on anyone's shoulder- he shuddered to think of the possibilities of it landing on any of team seven- and abandoned himself to daydreams, most of which happened to come back to the same point.

He wasn't a regular human.

There was only so much that Pegasus and Judai had at their disposal in terms of information. Even knowing that, Achan still didn't like his current circumstances. Much of what he "knew" about himself was now a gray area. The "false memories" he had been given had already faded out. Sooner or later, his old ones would probably resurface. Achan had no idea what he'd been like as a person before the tournament beyond what Judai had mentioned in the video. Would he be the same person with his old identity returned? Or would he be entirely different? Why did he need to remove his memories in order to continue? Was it a mistake on his part? As these questions swam through Achan's brain, he slowly felt his eyelids drooping shut. After a few moments, his head slammed against the window, jarring him slightly.

And he remembered.

Opening one eye lazily, he looked at one of his fellow passengers. "Judai-sensei?" he asked slowly.

Judai opened his mouth to reply, and suddenly shut it. "Sumisu-kun, did you just call me-"

Achan interrupted him. "Save it. And you can go ahead and call me Achan-kun. But more importantly, Judai-sensei, you owe me one thousand yen." He finished his sentence with a twinkle glittering in his eyes and laid back against the head rest.

Judai stared at the now-sleeping Achan. "He remembered..." he mused, smiling. "But I really wish he had forgotten about that money. Now he's going to pester me until I pay up...."

-------------------------------------------------​

The first words Achan heard upon waking up were "Welcome to Anatolia."

"Did we- what did you say?" Achan asked, just as Michel got to his feet and intercepted the person who'd greeted them and after telling them to piss off- and in no uncertain terms, either- marched out of the chopper and after the greeter. "Wha- hey, where are you going? What are you going to- huh?"

Judai gripped Achan's arm tightly, shaking his head. "He's right. We've been intercepted in our flight to Germany. I'm not sure if this is the Shadow Duelist's doing or not, but whoever arranged this would be very interested if you or Tacey fell into their hands. Even if you don't have the key body any longer, I'm very sure that Akuma Kuriboh would interest them. You're staying here, Achan-kun."

Achan appeared to calm down for a moment. "You're right. I suppose I really shouldn't get involved..." but before Judai could agree, Achan had wriggled free of his hold and caught Judai's upper-shoulder in one of his own. "NOT! Come on, I just remembered exactly what happened to me the first time I was at Duelist Kingdom, and I know one thing for sure: Anywhere you're going, I need to follow, Judai-sensei. Besides, if I do run into Shadow Duelists I've got a little surprise waiting for them..." he tapped his deck meaningfully. "Come on, let's go!"

Judai sighed. "I suppose I really can't stop you from following me if you're that determined, but that doesn't mean we all need to get dragged into this. You guys can stay here if you like, but we're going." With that, he and Achan scrambled from the helicopter and raced toward the main building, where a duel was just beginning....

 

[Alter Ego]

For the duration of the journey, Tacey did her best to give off an unbothered air, but truth to be told the real impression was closer to that of someone who was indeed very bothered and going to great lengths to look like she wasn't. The flurry of shocking revelations that had been their trip to Duelist Kingdom had left her with little chance to fully digest what she had just managed to get herself into, courtesy of Pegasus' scheming, but the extended helicopter trip was offering ample time for just that. Dead...she stared at her newly acquired spirit's card with glazed eyes, just like that, this flimsy little card had ended a human life, and she had effectively been bound into servitude to ensure that it got to do so again. Granted, she had no particular sympathy for people like Nicholas or Kaito, and she herself would never really be killing anyone, but even so, the whole scenario had her feeling just a little bit nauseous.

It was all supposed to be very simple; travel to a few places, win some card games, and finally earn the recognition she deserved. When had things gotten so...complicated? Stupid tournament, stupid Pegasus, stupid Sennen items, stupid shadow duelists, and stupid, stupid Smith for getting himself inolved in it all. She shot a glare in the sleeping boy's direction, only more annoyed by how calmly he could just snore his way through it all. Well, it wasn't technically his fault, she supposed, not his present self's fault anyway, but even so...even so the fact remained that without him, none of this nonsense would have started. Without him, she would never have run into all this crazy people trying to steal their decks and souls, never been pushed to her outmost in the way she had been ever since she first got on team seven, never run into Serge, or Miseres, or any of the others, never learned about spirits or miracle draw, never...

Tacey purposefully turned her head as far from Achan as possible, wordlessly grinding her fist into the cushioned seat in frustration. How could it be so hard to decide whether you liked someone or hated them?

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
​

The rich girl didn't realize that she had fallen asleep until Michel's quarrely roused her back into consciousness. They had stopped, she managed to figure out with her slowly waking senses - her head having, thankfully, only leaned against the window next to her head during her slumber - but apparently something was not the way it was meant to be. Arma seemed agitated over the place they had arrived at, and wherever it was it certainly wasn't Germany. True to his usual manner, Michel immediately headed off on his own, leaving one last, insulting remark behind him and equally true to theirs, both Achan and Judai practically jumped at the chance of following him before Tacey even had the time to get a word in edgewise. She briefly considered calling out after the idiot duo as they charged off towards the foreboding structure in the distance, but her sense of dignity would not stand for such neediness. Besides, the place had a certain feel about it.

"Shadow duelists?" she asked rhetorically.

"Two or three at least." Miseres confirmed, watching the structure carefully, "...I think. Their signature is a bit different, but they-I think they've just set up a barrier."

"Brilliant." Tacey gave a tired sigh, returning her duel disc to its place before sparing a brief glance at Kuso, "I'm going on ahead to make sure those idiots don't get themselves killed. You stay here and make sure our escape route doesn't go anywhere in the mean time. Don't do anything stupid if you can help it."

Without any further explanation, Tacey set off after the others in a brisk pace, head held high. With no less than four spirits on her side and the almost flauntingly high power of the barrier surrounding them, tracking down the first dueling pair was not exactly difficult, the rich girl promptly stopping by the ring of fire and peering into it, just barely managing to make out the figures beyond. One was...Arma. She felt strangely relieved by this fact, but even so the barrier made her feel uneasy for some reason. Looking at it closer, she wasn't even sure if she should have thought if as simply a barrier or...barriers. Tacey tensed slightly. Yes, the more she looked at it, the more it looked like this particular ring of flames was composed of multiple overlapping barriers rather than a single one. Two or three...that was what Miseres had said, right? The heiress cast a vary glance into the gloom, trying to catch a glimpse of any other people in their vicinity. If this really was a joint-effort barrier, that meant that there were far more pressing dangers for them around than the one Arma had gotten himself tangled up in.