My First Yugioh Fan-Fic: Evolution of a Duelist

[Mystery Guest]

Hi everybody. This is my first ever fan-fic. BTW, italics usually mean what John is thinking, but if a character is talking and they have italics, that is what they are thinking. Also, this fan-fic is done, so enjoy reading it. The second book in this trilogy is now up. To read it, click here.

Evolution of a Duelist

Chapter 1 (Click to View)

John awoke from his sleep. It was Saturday. But it was no ordinary Saturday. Yes, thought John, I can finally get a free new deck. John looked at his cards. Ojama Green, Ojama Yellow, Destiny Hero – Departed, Hayabusa Knight, Fine, …, all of which he thought were trash. Guess what, pieces of junk, John thought. I don’t need you anymore! He then threw cards out the window. What good are those cards?

Jonathan then looked at the clock. 9:30 A.M. Oh no, John thought, I’m going to be late! I may not get a new deck and I tossed my old one out the window! So he put on his sneakers and ran out the door. John is a 13 year old boy with dirty blond hair. He is average height and average weight. He gets 80s in all his classes. While he was running to the mall, he found a deck. What luck! I found a deck! thought John. Now I can duel. But wait, why do I feel as though the deck doesn’t want be to use it. It feels like it’s … resisting me. I’ll just put it in my deck box. Later, a group of kids made a circle around him and one other kid.

“What do you want!” shouted John.

“We want your decks,” shouted a member of the group. This member, however, was actually the leader. He stepped forward and raised a duel disk.

“But I don’t have a deck!” shouted John.

“And neither do I!” shouted the other boy trapped in the circle.

“Huh? You don’t either? Well, how are we going to duel?” he asked the other kid surrounded by the gang.

“I don’t know. By the way, my name’s Chris. Also, have you seen a deck anywhere on the ground? I think I lost it on this street,” said Chris. Chris is a tall 13 year old boy with brown hair.

“Well, I did see a deck and it’s in my deck box. By the way, my name’s John,” said John as he handed over his deck box.

“Hey, this is my deck,” said Chris. “Thanks. Also, I’ll take on the leader of this street gang. I just hope that I win; otherwise I’ll lose this deck. That’s the rule when you duel a street gang leader: you lose, you lose your deck.”

“Alright, Chris,” said the gang leader. Chris fastened his duel disk to his arm and placed his deck inside.

“LET’S DUEL!” they shouted.

Chapter 2 (Click to View)

Gang Leader: I’ll go first. I draw. Now I play Mind-Eater Rat in Attack mode (ATK 1650). I’ll set a card and end my turn.

Chris: Now it’s my move. I draw. I play Crystal Beast Topaz Tiger (ATK 1600). Now Crystal Beast Topaz Tiger, attack Mind-Eater Rat! Crystal Beast Topaz Tiger g-

Leader: You never change, do you, Christopher Anderson? You always use the deck given to you by your father Jesse. You don’t even know how to use his deck properly. In order to punish you for using that deck, I activate Skill Drain. I lose 1000 Life Points (Leader 7000), but monster effects are negated.

Chris: Oh no! (Chris 7950). I activate my Tiger’s ability. When it-

Leader: Skill Drain prevents the crystallization of your Crystal Beasts. The only YOU can do is surrender before it’s too late.

Chris: Not a chance. I’ll show you how wrong it is to build a deck specifically to stop others, Steve. I set a card and end my turn.

Steve: Oh? Let’s see you try. I draw. I play Mind-Eater Thunderball (ATK 2250). I attack directly with both my monsters (Chris 4050). I’ll set a card and end my turn.

Chris: It’s my move. I draw. Okay, I have almost all the cards that I need, but I’m not sure whether they’re safe in my hand. I’ll throw a monster face-down, a card face-down and activate 2 Crystal Trees. That ends my turn.

Steve: My turn. I draw. This turn is the last. I activate Double Summon, allowing me to summon Mind-Eater Fish and Mind-Eater Lizard (ATKs 2050 and 1350, respectively). Now I activate my Set card, Mind-Eater Hand Equalizer. I set a card and activate its ability. I send my hand to the Graveyard to send yours to the Graveyard. Now, Thunderball, take out his face-down.

Chris: Now that my Crystal Beast Ruby Carbuncle is destroyed and was sent to the Graveyard, I can activate Crystal Pair. This will allow me to place Crystal Beast Amber Mammoth from my Deck to my Spell/Trap Zone as a Continuous Spell. Plus my Crystal Trees each gain a Crystal Counter and I take no battle damage for the rest of the turn.

Steve: Whatever. You have no hand and no way to defend yourself. I know that the first face-down you put out was just a bluff. Anyway, I end my turn.

Chris: My move. I draw.

Steve: I activate my face-down, Drop Off. You discard your card immediately.

Chris: That’s all right. It wouldn’t help me anyway, but thanks for confirming that you have no defense against MY attack.

Steve: What attack? You have no cards in your hand and no monsters, and only 3 potential Crystal Beasts, if that even matters. I really doubt that face-down is anything that will help you, like Crystal Promise or something.

Chris: Well you have another thing coming. I activate a Crystal Tree. By sending it to the Graveyard, I can place Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus in my Spell/Trap Zone. Now my other Crystal Tree gets a counter. I guess you forgot that it gets a counter from other Crystal Trees, right? Now I activate my other Crystal Tree, placing 2 more Pegasus into my Spell/Trap Zone.

Steve: So you’ve loaded your Spell/Trap zones with Crystal Beasts and a face-down. It doesn’t make any sense. Unless-

Chris: Unless my face-down is Crystal Abundance. And, what do you know, it is. I activate Crystal Abundance. At the cost of 4 Crystal Beast Continuous Spells, all cards on the field are sent to the Graveyard, and then I summon, from the Graveyard, a number of Crystal Beasts up to the number of cards you sent this way. That’s at least 5, so I summon 3 Sapphire Pegasus, a Topaz Tiger, and an Amber Mammoth. I attack with all of them! (Steve 0)

Chapter 3 (Click to View)

Chris walked over to Steve. “Steve, you know the rule. Hand over your deck,” said Chris.

“No way!” shouted Steve. “The rule is, if you are facing the leader of a street gang and lose, you hand over your deck. Technically I faced a lone wolf; only your deck was at stake.”

“Well, let John and I pass through here then,” said Chris.

"Very well, then. Everyone, disperse,” said Steve. Everyone leaves the street.

“Thanks Chris,” said John. “You defeated him very quickly even with a deck extremely bad against his. I don’t know how I can thank you enough for getting me out of this scrap.”

“They don’t call me ‘Chris Talize Anderson’ for nothing. Anyway, I deal with Steve all the time. His deck doesn’t usually have Skill Drain in it, but he added it to stop the crystallization effect of the Crystal Beasts. Anyway, did you want to go to the mall to get the free deck?”

“Yeah,” said John.

“Well, you better hurry. I’ll come along, too. I’ll be sure not to slow you down,” said Chris.

“Race ya,” said John.

“You’re on. Ready, set, go!” shouted Chris.

About 30 seconds later, they were at the mall. They got to the mall at the same time. They went inside to get in line. Strangely, there were only two people left in line. John got in line.

“Sorry, those 2 kids in line just got the last 2 decks,” said the man behind the desk. John was so disappointed; he spent forever waiting for this day to come. “You’ll have to wait until ‘The Legendary Philanthropist Crow’ comes back on his Blackbird with more decks. However, I’ve seen kids go to the card junkyard a lot and throwing some cards into it. Maybe you should check there. You might get a deck after all.”

John told Chris about the card junkyard. “Maybe I can find a deck there,” said John.

“Well let’s hit it!” said Chris. When they found the place, they were amazed. There was a hill of cards that looked like it was at least 10 feet high, or about 3 meters in metric units. There were many other cards besides.

“I can’t wait to go digging through all these cards,” said John.

“Not so fast!” shouted a tall hooded figure from about 15 feet away. This figure had a duel disk on. In this world, though, having a duel disk always strapped to your arm even when you’re not dueling is regular.

“Wait do you mean!” shouted John.

“You recklessly abandoned your cards,” said the hooded figure, in a voice quite familiar to John. “You threw your 40 card deck out the window because you thought that your cards were worthless. They all flew to the card junkyard and were scattered everywhere in the junkyard. I found and picked every one of them and put this deck back together.” He walks over to John and hands him the deck. “See? Every card is there, and no others.”

“You put a lot of effort into doing that,” said John. “But how could you tell my cards from everyone else’s? Why did you collect them again?" And why can't I remember whose voice that is?

“I could sense the negative emotions in the cards and compared it to your negative emotions. They were the same. I knew you would come here, so I decided I would teach you a lesson through a duel!” said the hooded figure.

“But I don’t even have a deck!” shouted John.

“You have one hour to build a deck!” replied the hooded figure.

“Actually, I have a better idea!” said John. “Hey Chris, can I borrow your deck?”

“Sure, dude, if you wanna use it,” said Chris. “Also, use this duel disk, because I know you forgot yours.”

“Alright, hooded figure, I accept your challenge with my friend’s deck,” said John. “I’ve seen him duel tons of times, so I know how to use it. I bet you’re going to use my deck. If that’s the case, you’ll lose quickly and easily!”

“In this duel, I’ll teach you a lesson about respect and having faith in every card in your deck,” said the hooded figure as he put John’s old deck into the duel disk. “Get Your Game On!”

What!? I’m facing Jaden Yuki!?

Chapter 4 (Click to View)

John: Are you really Jaden Yuki!?

Jaden Yuki: Yes I am. I'll show you how powerful your cards really are.

John: Good luck. I'm dueling with a-

Jaden: You're using Jesse Anderson's Crystal Beast deck.

John: How do you know?

Jaden: I sense Jesse's aura in his deck. Anyway, it's time for you to get your game on. We each draw 5 cards. I'll go first, I draw. I set a monster and end my turn.

John: It's my turn. I draw. I summon Cobalt Eagle. Cobalt Eagle, attack (attacks a Big Shield Gardna, DEF 2600, John 6800). Your Gardna switches to attack mode (ATK 100). I set a card and end my turn.

Jaden: It's my turn, I draw. I switch my Gardna into Defense mode and I play Cyber Ouroboros. Now I play Dark Core, discarding Ojama Yellow, and I target Cyber Ouroboros. When Cyber Ouroboros is removed from play, I draw a card and discard Ojama Green. I set a card and end my turn.

John: It's my turn. I draw. I summon Sapphire Pegasus. I place Amber Mammoth in my Spell/Trap Zone from my deck. Now, Sapphire Pegasus, attack Big Shield Gardna. (John 6000, Big Shield Gardna ATK 100) Now Eagle attack. (Jaden 6300) I end my turn.

Jaden: It's my turn. I draw. I activate Needlebug Nest, sending 5 cards from my deck to the grave. Now I activate Card of Sanctity. It removes all cards on my field and hand from play in order to draw 2 cards. But the Sanctity card goes to the graveyard. Now I activate Nightmare Steelcage and set a monster. That's all for now.

John: It's my turn. I play Crystal Beast Amethyst Cat and end my turn. That's one turn.

Jaden: It's my turn. I draw. I play Card Trooper. By ditching 3 cards from the top of my deck to the Grave, Card Trooper gets an extra 1500 ATK points until end of turn. That's all for now.

John: My turn. Draw. What is he planning? He's just wasting away the deck. I wished I paid more attention to my old deck. I play Amethyst Cat. I end. Now the cage is demolished.

Jaden: That's all right. I draw. I activate Card Trooper another 3 times, boosting his attack to 1900. One such card was Destiny Hero - Departed, so he's removed from play. I now flip summon Morphing Jar #2 to activate his effect. We each-

John: I now what it does. Just reveal the cards.

Jaden: Very well. I reveal Mask of Darkness and special summon him. Now there are 15 spells and traps in the way to the next monster, Uraby. All those Spells and Traps get sent to the Graveyard. Now it is time to reveal your cards.

John: I lost 9 spells and traps total and special summon 2 Topaz Tigers and 2 Amber Mammoths.

Jaden: I set a card. I end my turn.

John: It's my turn. I flip Summon all my monsters. I now Summon an Emerald Tortoise and equip a Crystal Release to each of my Topaz Tigers. I'll have my Mammoths attack your face-down monsters.

Jaden: In response to the attack on Mask of Darkness, I activate Blasting the Ruins! When I have 30 or more cards in my Graveyard. It deals 3000 damage to you (John 3000). Now Mask of Darkness returns Blasting the Ruins to my hand.

John: Well now I attack with my Tortoise and Tigers. The tigers will each deal 2800 damage to you and the Tortoise 800. 2800 + 2800 + 800 = 6400, you will lose. Tigers and Tortoise, attack! (Jaden 700) Wait, the Tigers each had 2800 ATK.

Jaden: They each had 2400 ATK because they only gain an ATK boost when they attack an opponent's monster. That only adds up to 5600 damage, not enough to defeat me.

John: Oh no, I couldn't defeat Jaden this turn. I end my turn.

Jaden: I draw, set a card, and end.

John: I draw-

Jaden: I activate Blasting the Ruins, taking away your last 3000 life points! (John 0) That's game!

Chapter 5 (Click to View)

John was on his knees. How? How could I lose to my own cards? Those cards are junk!

"You have to have more respect for your cards. It had a strategy that I have never seen before. Perhaps you should give it a spin," said Jaden.

John looked up and said "No. I can't use that deck. You only won because you were lucky. There's no way a deck can win with THOSE cards in it."

"You just don't get it, do you!" said Jaden as he walked over to John. "I was able to win because I had faith in these cards. That's exactly why I found them from all over the junkyard and put them back together. You have to have a bit more faith. If you want, you can build a brand-new deck from the cards in this junkyard, but you have to try and see the true value of them all."

"Okay Jaden," John said.

"That's better. Now what's your name, kid?" asked Jaden.

"Hey, John, can you give me back my deck now?" asked Chris as he ran towards John.

"So I suppose it's John," said Jaden.

"Yeah. Hey Chris, here's your deck," said John as he handed Chris his deck.

"Hey Chris, can I talk to you quickly?" asked Jaden.

"Sure thing dude," said Chris.

"I know why you have that deck, but I'm not sure whether it believes that you are the owner of it. So I want you to take care of it and always protect it. And never be cruel to it either," said Jaden.

"You have my word," said Chris.

"Good. Now go ahead and look at all the cards in here. You'll occasionally find a rare card in here. So have fun searching!" exclaimed Jaden as he walked out of the junkyard.

As John looked through the cards, he found a very strange card. Broken Bamboo Sword, he thought. This card doesn't do anything to the monster it's equipped to, but it must have a purpose. Wow, trying to make a deck out of these is hard work. I think I'll leave and try again tomorrow. "Okay Chris, I'm leaving," John said.

"What, now?" Chris said. "But you don't have a deck!"

"I'll make one tomorrow," John said. "I think I'll go home."

"Okay," said Chris. "I'm leaving, too. I can't do much to fix this deck." As they were leaving though, they saw John's deck.

"Hey, Jaden left my deck here," said John. "But they seem different from normal. They seem to be ... trying to guide me to somewhere. I think they're trying to get me to find cards in the junkyard! I'm going to follow their guide!"

"Whatever dude," said Chris, "but I'm leaving NOW! See ya, later, dude."

I think the cards are telling me to look in this pile, John thought. After an hour of searching, the cards only told him cards that were worthless to him. AGGGH! You guys are worthless! John threw the cards away. But he found that he was still holding 2: Hayabusa Knight and Destiny Hero - Departed. What does this mean? Now these two cards are guiding me to a different pile. When John hit a glowing card, John thought, what's this?" When he picked it up, it was "The Warrior Returning Alive". I think I know what these 2 cards trying to tell me. They're telling me that they forgive me and that they want me to build a Warrior Deck!

Chapter 6 (Click to View)

This is incredible, John thought. These cards are going to help me build a Warrior deck. After a few hours, John found many Warrior-based cards. The A. Forces, Divine Sword - Phoenix Blade, Lightning Sword, Command Knight, Comrade Swordsman of Landstar, D.D. Warrior, 2 more "The Warrior Returning Alive"s,.... Wow, I found a lot of cards. Let me see how many I have. He had exactly 37 cards. What!? 37 cards!? I need 40. I've searched all over the junkyard and there are no other glowing cards. What am I going to do!? He noticed that it was getting late. I guess I'll just home and come back tomorrow and see what else I can find. He went home.

"How was your day?" asked John's mom.

"It was alright," said John.

"Did you get a new deck?" asked his mom.

"No, I only got 37 cards," said John.

"John, your clothes are all dirty. Where did you go?" asked his mom.

"I went to the card junkyard to find some more cards and only found 35 others," replied John.

"What happened to your old deck?" asked his mom.

"I think it ended up at the junkyard, but I couldn't find it," John lied. "I could only find these 2 cards." He showed his mom the "Hayabusa Knight and Destiny Hero - Departed.

"Sorry, son," said his mom. "I guess you'll try again tomorrow."

"Yeah," John said. "I'm going to bed." The next day, he woke up at 8:00 because he heard a loud noise.

"John, you got a package from someone!" yelled his mom.

John ran downstairs. "What? Who's it from?" he asked.

"I don't know," said his mom. "It was just outside the door. I have no idea who left it." John looked at the box. It was a big brown box with a note "To John Legionary" at the top.

"That's peculiar," John said. "Let's see what's inside." He opened the box. "An Academy Duel Disk and 3 cards?" He looked at the 3 cards. 3 "Reinforcement of the Army"s. Wow! John thought. I got a Duel Disk. And these 3 RotAs will allow me to search out any Warrior out of my deck when I need it. This is sweet. But there is also a note at the bottom of the box. John reached into the box and read the note aloud. "'In about 15 seconds you will hear a knock at the door. When you do, put on your Duel Disk and your full 40 card deck and open the door and duel whoever is standing there and you can keep the Duel Disk.' Well that's a strange note." Sure enough, there was a knock at the door. "Well I better get ready," said John. He opened the door, Duel Disk on, deck in it, and there was Jaden Yuki, standing there.

"I see you have a completed deck," said Jaden. "Get Your Game On!"

Chapter 7 (Click to View)

Jaden: I'll go first. I draw. I play Elemental Hero Sparkman in attack mode (1600 ATK). I throw down a face-down and end my turn.

John: It's my turn. I draw. I play Goblin Attack Force in attack mode (ATK 2300). Now Goblin Attack Force attack Sparkman. (Sparkman destroyed, Jaden 7300) Goblin Attack Force goes to defense mode at the end of the battle phase in which it attacked (DEF 0). I end my turn.

Jaden: It's my turn. I draw. I play Future Fusion. I choose Elemental Hero Divine Neos: I send Elemental Hero Neos, Neo-Spacian Flare Scarab, Evil Hero Malicious Edge, Neos Wiseman, and Elemental Hero Clayman to the Graveyard. Now I play Dark Calling. I remove Sparkman and Clayman from my Graveyard to summon Evil Hero Lightning Golem (ATK 2400). Now I summon Elemental Hero Wildheart (ATK 1500). Now I activate my Evil Hero's effect: I can destroy a monster on the field. I destroy Goblin Attack Force. Now I attack directly with both monsters (John 4100). That ends my turn.

John: It's my turn. I draw. Oh man, I have no escape. That Golem can take out anything I play. Unless... I play Reinforcement of the Army. I search out of my deck Exiled Force. Now I summon Exiled Force, and I tribute it to get rid of the Golem. Now I activate Double Summon and set a monster. I end my turn.

Jaden: It's my turn. I draw. Future Fusion has one turn left on the clock. I summon Card Trooper (ATK 400) and activate its effect: I ditch 3 cards from my deck in order for Card Trooper to get 1500 more ATK points. Now, Card Trooper, attack his face-down (face-down is Destiny Hero - Defender, DEF 2700, Jaden 7200). I end my turn.

John: I draw. I activate Mystical Space Typhoon, destroying your Future Fusion. Divine Neos doesn't get summoned. I summon Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke (ATK 1800) and have it attack Card Trooper (Destroys Card Trooper, Jaden 5800). Now you draw a card Jaden, and I end my turn.

Jaden: Very well. I draw once because of Card Trooper's effect, and once more because it is now my turn. I think I'll activate Dark Fusion, allowing me to fuse my Burstinatrix with Avian to summon Evil Hero Inferno Wing (ATK 2100). Now Inferno Wing destroy Sasuke. (John 3800) Now for Inferno Wing's effect: Inferno Wing deals damage to you equal to the destroyed monster's ATK or DEF, whichever is higher (John 2000). Now I'll attack with Wildheart (John 500). That ends my turn.

John: It's my move. I draw. I activate Reinforcement of the Army, allowing me to search out Armed Samurai - Ben Kai from my deck. Now I play it. (ATK 500) I activate 2 Axe of Despairs on it. (ATK 2500) Ben Kai, attack both his monsters!

Jaden: What?

John: In addition to a normal attack, he gets an additional attack for every equip on him, so there is another attack headed for you. (Inferno Wing destroyed, Jaden 5400, Wildheart destroyed, Jaden 4400, direct attack, Jaden 1900) I set a card and end my turn.

Jaden: At the end of your turn, I activate my face-down, Dust Tornado. It destroys your face-down. Now here goes something! I draw. Now I activate Dark Calling.

John: Another one?

Jaden: Indeed. I use it to remove my Evil Hero Malicious Edge and Evil Hero Lightning Golem to summon Evil Hero Malicious Fiend (ATK 3500). Now I summon Evil Hero Infernal Gainer. By removing it from play, my Malicious Fiend can attack twice.

John: Oh no!

Jaden: Oh yes. Malicious Fiend, attack! (John 0). And that's game!

Chapter 8 (Click to View)

Jaden walked over to John. "Hey John, that was a great battle. Very few people have put me THAT close to losing that I had to use every card to win."

John asked, "Yes, it was a great battle. By the way, how did you know where I lived?"

Jaden replied, "I sensed your deck inside the building, so I put the package there. Then I could tell when you got the package and I knocked on your door when I guessed it was 15 seconds after you opened the box and picked up the cards."

John asked, "Then how did you know my last name?"

Jaden said, "I checked the mailbox. Anyway, I see that you know how to use the cards I gave you. Be sure to get new cards and change some of the cards in the deck. And, as a duelist, you will know what cards to switch out and which ones to keep. Anyway, see ya. Perhaps we'll meet again."

John yelled, "But wait, I want to ask you something!" But Jaden was already gone.

Mrs. Legionary walked outside and asked, "John, who was that?"

John said, "That was Jaden Yuki! Hey, wait, there's something on my Duel Disk!"

"What is it?" asked Mrs. Legionary.

"It's a little tab thing," said John. "You usually pull one out of some toys in order for the toy to work. But what does this one do?" He pulled it out and there was a little message on this tab. The message read, "This is my Duel Disk, John. Keep it. I have 2 other Duel Disks anyway." All of a sudden, some parts of the Duel Disk turned red. It was the only Slifer Red Duel Disk ever made! "Oh wow! I can't believe Jaden would give me this! This is incredible! I have to go thank him! But sadly I don't know what way he went."

"Well I'm sure you'll see him again," said Mrs. Legionary.

"Yeah," said John. "Well, I guess I'll go to the junkyard and see if I can find more cards for my deck." I might also run into Chris there, too.

"Well alright, go head," said Mrs. Legionary. "Just be back by 5:00 PM."

"Sure thing," John said as he ran off. "Love ya, mom." On his way, he saw a girl in the corner of the block. She appeared to be crying. He walked over to the girl, crouched down, and said, "Hey, why are you crying?"

"Huh? Who's there?" she asked.

"John Legionary," John said. "You seemed to be crying, so I came by to ask what was wrong."

"How thoughtful," she said. "Anyway, I'm sad because I can't win any duels with this deck."

"May I see your deck?" John asked.

"No!" she yelled. "I can't trust anyone with my deck, ever since someone stole my Mirror Force. This deck was really bad before that happened, but since that happened, my deck hasn't won at all!"

"Really? That's horrible!" said John.

"I know," she yelled. "This deck is just a bunch of junk cards put together. Maybe I should just throw this deck into the junkyard!"

"Don't do that!" John said. "My old deck used to be trash, but a friend showed me how good it really was and beat me with it. So don't ditch your cards. Hey, how about you duel me? This deck was made up of cards from the junkyard, so it really shouldn't be that good, and you should be able to win easily."

"Well, I'm not sure," she said. "After all, this deck is trash. I can't get it to work ever since my Mirror Force was stolen."

"Then how about you use my deck and I'll use your deck. That way I'll be able to show you how good your deck really is," John suggested.

"Well, okay," she said. "I hope you can use my deck, because I couldn't. Here it is." She handed John her deck and John handed her his deck. "I see you use Warrior Toolbox."

"Yes I do," John said. "And I see you use Easter Egg cards. By the way, what's your name?"

"My name is Kim Shadow," she said.

"Alright Kim," John said. "Do you have a Duel Disk?"

"Yes I do. And you do too," Kim said. "But, isn't that Jaden Yuki's duel disk? It has a Slifer Red trim."

"Jaden gave it to me," John said. "To make a long story short, he helped me build my deck and gave me his duel disk."

"Wow!" Kim replied.

"You mean you believe me?" John asked. "Nobody would if I told them that."

"Something about you just tells me that you aren't lying. It's like a feeling or something," Kim said.

"Anyway, weren't we going to duel?" asked John.

"Yes we were," Kim replied.

"Let's duel!" they yelled.

Chapter 9 (Click to View)

John: I guess I'll go first. I draw. Now I activate the Easter Egg Scavenger Hunt field spell. Now I activate Easter Eggs 1-4 from my hand and Easter Egg 5 from my deck thanks to Easter Egg Scavenger Hunt's effect. Each Easter Egg Continuous Spell has an effect that can be activated once per turn. Now I activate these Easter Eggs' effects: Easter Egg 1 allows me to gain 500 Life Points (John 8500), Easter Egg 2 makes you lose 500 Life Points (Kim 7500), Easter Egg 3 allows me to draw a card, Easter Egg 4 makes you discard a card, and Easter Egg 5 allows me to draw 2 cards at the cost of 1500 Life Points. (John 7000) Now I activate Easter Egg Scavenger Hunt's ability: Once per turn, I can remove an Easter Egg Continuous Spell I control from play, so I choose Easter Egg 5. Now I activate Miraculous Egg Emergence. All of my Easter Egg Continuous Spells go to the graveyard and I can activate 5 Easter Eggs from my deck, so I choose another 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6. Now I activate their effects. You already know the first 4, so I draw another card, you discard a card, I gain 500 Life points and you lose 500 life points. (John 7500, Kim 7000) And now Easter Egg 6 can activate: I discard 2 cards to gain 1500 Life Points. (John 9000). I end my turn, and now the other effect of Easter Egg Emergence activates, removing them all from play. These cards are treated as being removed from play by Easter Egg Scavenger Hunt.

Kim: It's my turn. I draw. I summon Marauding Captain (ATK 1200) and activate his effect: he can summon Armed Samurai - Ben Kai to the field. Now I equip Ben Kai with 2 Axes of Despair (ATK 2500). I used all my cards, but it is well worth it! Ben Kai, attack 3 times and Marauding Captain attack! (John 300) That ends my turn.

John: Nice move. I'll have to remember that combo. But that combo was also your fatal mistake. I draw. I set a card and activate another Miraculous Egg Emergence. My face-down may be sent to the grave, but now I can activate 5 Easter Eggs from my deck, so I activate 1, 7, 8, 9, and 10. Now I activate Easter Egg 1 to gain 500 Life Points. Now I activate Easter Egg 7: I can destroy a monster you control, so I choose Ben Kai. Now I activate Easter Egg 9: You lose 250 Life Points and I gain those points. (John 1050, Kim 6750) Now I Special Summon Easter Knight (ATK 2400). When 5 or more of my Easter Eggs are removed from play, I can Special Summon it. Now Easter Knight, attack! (Kim 5550) I'll end my turn. Once again, my Easter Egg Continuous Spells are removed from play.

Kim: I'll draw. I set a monster and end my turn.

John: My turn. I draw. I activate Scavenger Hunt Complete! I activate Trophy Egg from my deck. Easter Egg Scavenger Hunt is destroyed, but that is okay, because my Trophy Egg can activate the effect of every Easter Egg I have removed from play by Easter Egg Scavenger Hunt, which is 2 Easter Egg 1s, and 1 of every other Easter Egg. So now I activate my 2 Easter Egg 1s, my Easter Egg 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, and 9: I gain 1000 Life Points (John 2050), you lose 500 (5050), I draw a card, your hand is emptied by Easter Egg 4, I pay 1500 Life points to draw 2 cards (John 750), I destroy your monster, and I gain 250 Life Points and you lose 250 (John 1000, Kim 4800). Now you are defenseless, so I'll attack with Easter Knight (Kim 2400).

Kim: I draw. I play Fissure to destroy Easter Knight. That's all.

John: My turn. I draw. I activate by Easter Egg 1s to gain 1000 Life Points (John 2000), Easter Egg 2 to make you lose 500 (Kim 1900), Easter Egg 3 to draw a card, Easter Egg 5 to draw 2 cards at the cost of 1500 Life Points (John 500), and Easter Egg 9 to gain 250 Lfe points and for you to lose 250 (John 750, Kim 1650). Now I activate Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy Trophy Egg. Now I activate Trophy Egg Hatch to special summon Easter Baby Dragon from my deck (ATK 1200).

Kim: So? That isn't strong enough to beat me! You were better off hiding behind your Egg!

John: Oh yeah? I activate Tribute to the Doomed; By discarding a card, Easter Baby Dragon is destroyed.

Kim: So?

John: When the Dragon is destroyed, Easter Dragon can be Special Summoned. So come on out, Easter Dragon. (ATK 2400) Now let's end this. Easter Dragon, attack (Kim 0).

Chapter 10 (Click to View)

John walked over to Kim and said, "You did a great job dueling! You got me on the ropes with that 8700 damage combo."

Kim said, "I don't get it. How come I don't have that great luck? You got every card when you needed it and I never get the card I need!"

"Perhaps you should take better care of your deck. Cards respect duelists who take care of their decks, but they still care about their original owner more than anybody. These cards wanted to teach you a lesson about respect for your cards and their true power," John said.

"Well, these cards ARE powerful," Kim said. "I think you're right. I can tell you believe everything that you said, so I will too. Thank you for teaching me that lesson, John Legionary. Also, here's your deck."

"Thanks," John said. "Here's your deck."

"Bravo dudes!" said Chris.

"Wait, since when were you here, Chris?" asked John.

"I watched the entire duel," replied Chris. "You two are great. So I understand you were using each other's decks?"

"Yes, Chris," said John. "I now have a Warrior Toolbox deck. Also, Chris, meet Kim. She runs an Easter Egg deck. Kim, meet Chris."

"Hey Chris," Kim said. "By the way, would you happen to know a kid called Crystallize around here?"

"Do you mean Chris Talize Anderson? Because I'm him," said Chris.

"Really?" asked Kim. "That is awesome! I can't believe you're friends with John. John met Jaden Yuki and Jaden Yuki helped him build his Warrior deck and Jaden even gave him the Slifer Red trim duel disk!"

"Okay, I know the first part because Jaden also briefly talked to me about my Crystal Beast deck, but I didn't know about the other two parts of that story," said Chris. "Care to explain, John?"

"Okay," replied John. "What happened was that I was building my Warrior deck out of cards from the junkyard, but I only found 37 cards, so I went home. Today, my mom found a package sent to me in front of the door. I opened it and it has 3 Reinforcement of the Army cards in it. The package also had this duel disk and a note that said to open the door when it was knocked at in 15 seconds and to duel the person who knocked. That was Jaden. So I could duel because I now had 40 cards. I lost the duel, but I did pretty well. He let me keep the duel disk. Then I found a little tab at the bottom of the duel disk, pulled it out and it turned red like this. So I now have Jaden's duel disk. He said he had 2 other duel disks, though. I don't know what he means by that, but I got it now!"

"Amazing!" exclaimed Chris. "It seems your deck does pretty well. Also, tomorrow starts dueling school. That'll be fun, right?"

"Yes it will be," said Kim. "Also, can you two come over my house?"

"Sure, I guess so," Chris and John said.

"Cool," Kim said. A few minutes later, they were at Kim's house. She opened the door. "Dad, I'm home!" she yelled.

"Where were you!" her dad yelled. "I was worried sick about you! What were you doing!? Why didn't you call!? And who are these boys!? Your new boyfriends!? How many times have I-"

"Dad," said Kim, "they're not my boyfriends. What happened was I was dueling and then I lost. The way they dueled just tore me inside and completely obliterated. I ended up crying on the corner of a block, until this kid, John Legionary, stopped me from and dueled me. During that duel, he showed me the power of my deck. That duel gave me confidence. Then Chris Talize Anderson showed up at the scene. I was so excited that I asked them to come over. They're just friends."

"You barely know them, but you're letting them into the house. And you're wearing one of your shortest miniskirts. I think I've finally found the village idiot," said Kim's father.

"Oh, come on, dad. I know you're trying to protect me, but do you always have to be so strict. I can figure out what is bad and what is good," Kim said.

"You teens and your 'I know everything' attitude. Very well, they can stay," said Mr. Shadow as he left the room.

"Thank you dad," said Kim. "Now, Chris, John, what do you want to do?"

"Wait!" said Kim's father. "You guys can stay if one of you decides to step up to the plate and duel me and can win."

"I guess that's my role," said John.

"Let's duel!" said Mr. Shadow.

Chapter 11 (Click to View)

John: I'll go first. I draw. I set 2 cards and set a monster. That ends my turn.

Mr. Shadow: This duel will be shorter than I thought. I draw. I Special Summon Dark Grepher (1700 ATK) by discarding Dark General Freed. Now I activate Dark Grepher's effect: By discarding Armageddon Knight, I can search my deck for Mystic Tomato and send it to the graveyard. Now I special summon a Dark Armed Dragon (2800 ATK). It can only be summoned when there are exactly 3 DARK monsters in the grave. Now I remove all 3 to destroy your 3 cards on the field. Now Dark Grepher and Dark Armed Dragon attack (John 3500). I set a card and end my turn.

John: I's my turn. I draw. I play Double Summon. I summon Exiled Force and set a monster. I activate Exile Force to get rid of Dark Armed Dragon. I end my turn.

Mr. Shadow: It's my turn. I draw. And this is your last turn. I activate my set Burial from the Different Dimension to return my 3 removed from play DARK monsters to the graveyard. Now I tribute my Dark Grepher to summon Darklord Zerato (2800 ATK). When I have 4 or more DARK monsters with different names in the grave, he can be summoned with 1 DARK tribute. Now Darklord Zerato, take out his face-down (destroyed a Big Shield Gardna). I end my turn.

John: It's my turn. I draw. I activate The Warrior Returning Alive, allowing me to bring Exiled Force back. I summon it and tribute it to get rid of your Darklord Zerato. I end my turn.

Mr. Shadow: It's my turn. I draw. This is your last turn. I special Summon The Dark Creator (ATK 2300). He can only be summoned when I have 5 or more DARK monsters in my grave and I control no monsters. Now I activate his effect: I remove Mystic Tomato from the grave to summon Darklord Zerato from the grave, so come on back! (ATK 2800). Now, my monsters, attack. (John 0)

Chapter 12 (Click to View)

"Oh no," John said, "I'm sorry guys, but I lost."

"Yes you did," said Mr. Shadow. "Now you two leave."

"Why did you have to do that!" yelled Kim. "If they have to go, I'm leaving too. Let's go, John and Chris."

"Don't blame me if something bad happens!" yelled Mr. Shadow.

When they were outside, Kim said, "Man, I just hate what he does. I have very few friends because, every time I bring one to my house, he duels them with that unbeatable deck. When he wins he drives my friend out and I never see them again. Why does he do that? I know that he tries to protect me, but he tries to protect me way too much. Girls that wear miniskirts this short are a dime a dozen, so I don't stand out at all. I left the house this time because I didn't want to lose you two as friends."

"Don't worry Kim," said John, "you won't lose our friendship because a true friend is someone who stands by you no matter what circumstances, and we will. A duel can tell you a lot about the person you're dueling, and we like you for who you are. No matter what your father tries to do to protect you, we will find a way to be friends with you. No matter what rules and regulations you place on people, the rebels will always find a way around them."

"That couldn't be more true, John," said Chris. "Kim, we will do our best to be sure you stay strong and always have at least 2 friends. I know that, with our friendship, the strength of our souls can surpass the strength of any one soul."

"Alright," said Kim. "Luckily Dad can't regulate us at school, which starts tomorrow. I hope we'll all be in the same class. If we are all the same age, 13, then that will be a possibility."

"We are," answered John and Chris.

"Awesome," said Kim. "Tomorrow will be awesome. But where shall we go today? We can't go back inside."

"Let's go to my house," said John. A few minutes later, they were at John's house. John opened the door. "Hey mom, I'm home."

"You came in just on time," said Mrs. Legionary. "It is 4:59, no, wait, now it's 5:00. Now who are your friends?"

"Well this is Christopher Anderson," said John, "and this is Kim Shadow."

"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Legionary," said Kim and Chris in unison.

"Hey there Chris," said Mrs. Legionary. "Hey there Kim ... Kim, does your mother approve of you wearing such a short miniskirt?"

"I can't ask here," said Kim, sounding very sad. "She's dead."

"Oh, poor kid," said Mrs. Legionary. "But someone has to take care of you. What about your father?"

"He doesn't when I bring a boy to my house," said Kim.

"I can imagine why," said Mrs. Legionary. "I just hate how girls are dressed today. I'd go on explaining, but I won't. Just don't ... get into trouble with any boys. And, John and Chris, don't get her into trouble in any way. Are we clear?"

"Yes," they all said.

"Good," said Mrs. Legionary. "Y'all can duel and watch TV in the living room if you want."

"Thank you," said Kim. "So what do you want to do?"

"How about alter our decks some?" said John. "Bad news is I don't have any more cards, so we have to write down the alterations we make instead of actually switching out cards, and then switch the cards when we can."

"That works," said Chris, "but I cannot change this deck because it was given to me by my father. It is the legendary Jesse Anderson Crystal Beast deck. By the way, Kim, I suggest balancing out the amounts of Easter Egg Continuous Spells in the deck. After all, you have 3 Easter Egg 1s, 3 of other Easter Eggs, and 1 of many others."

"Yeah, I'll have to get more of some of the others," said Kim.

"We could go to the junkyard to get some more cards," said Chris.

"That's a good idea!" said John. "Let's go! See ya mom, we're going to the junkyard to look for more cards."

"Okay, just return by 9:00," said Mrs. Legionary. John, Kim, and Chris ran to the junkyard. The piles of cards looked significantly larger than before.

"Wow, a lot of cards have been added to the pile yesterday," said John. "Let's dig in!"

"I don't know," said Kim. "I feel as though I'm being watched. Something just seems strange."

"Yeah," said Chris. "I don't think people ditched that many cards in one day."

"What could be the explanation?" John asked. There was no answer. Then he felt someone grab him. Then he fell unconscious. When he awoke, he was restrained to the wall. Then he saw that Kim and Chris were also restrained to the wall. "What happened while I was unconscious?"

"We were swarmed by a bunch of kids," said Chris. "They knocked us out and must have restrained us to the wall. They took our decks and our duel disks. Also, Kim was blindfolded and her mouth was taped. We can't escape!"

"Hey, I hear a voice from the inside of the room," said a voice from the outside of the room. "Open the door now!" The door opened. "Well well, looks like the guests have awakened. Hello there. Welcome to the fort of The Malevolent Rogues. I am the leader of said group. And you, my friends, are my prisoners."

"Just let us go!" commanded John.

"You're in no position to command me!" said the Rogue King. "You must address me as King Rogue and I'm the one who gives orders. Now be quiet!"

"What will you do with us?" asked John.

"We'll have to see what happens with you two. You already see what happened to Kim," said King Rogue. "And I think the worst part is yet to come for her!"

"King Rogue, we appear to be of no use to you, so give us a chance to escape!" said John.

"Why should I allow that?" asked King Rogue.

"Because you will most likely find better prisoners that can actually be used. Bad news is that you don't have any more room for prisoners, so you can't catch them without releasing us anyway," said John.

"We're building more holding rooms. But, I bet that would go much faster if I had even just 2 more people working on that," said King Rogue. "Okay, I'll release you from this room, but you'll have to work on building more holding rooms. This will be the room that you sleep in: guys in this corner, girl in that corner. Now I'll un-restrain you." John, Chris, and Kim were released from the wall and John and Chris winked at each other.

"Thanks," said John. "Now, go!" John and Chris pushed Rogue King down. Chris removed the tape from Kim's mouth and untied the blindfold on Kim's eyes. "Now let's run!" But it was too late. The rest of the gang had already surrounded them. They pushed Chris and John down and pulled Kim away from the scene. John and Chris got up and they saw King Rogue standing up.

"Well, you rebels," said King Rogue," I think we should give Kim the worst NOW!" The rest of the street gang started chaining Kim to a table.

"You know, John, we can escape right now," whispered Chris.

"And leave Kim behind?" whispered back John.

"Dude, there's no way all 3 of us can escape. 2 out of 3 sounds good to me," whispered Chris.

"No. I won't leave a soldier behind just so I can gain an advantage. That's just not what a Legionary does," whispered John. "I'll find a way to get all of us to escape."

"But how?" asked Chris.

"Like this!" John said as he ran towards the table and charged through narrow space between the gang members. He managed to get to the table and push King Rogue down.

"Thank goodness!" said Kim. "'The worst' didn't begin yet. But now you have no way of escape."

"Don't worry," said John to Kim. "We're all escaping together!"

"I admire your courage," said King Rogue, "but it seems we'll have to restrain us and have you watch us do the worst to your friend."

"How about we duel!" said Jen. "If I win, then 2 people of my choice can escape with their deck and duel disk without you ever capturing them again; if I do not win, then you keep all 3 of us here and you have us watch AND PARTICIPATE IN doing 'the worst' to Kim, whatever that is. Also, while we duel, nothing can be done to Kim."

"Deal!" said King Rogue. "More entertainment for me."

"Wait!" said John. "I said that if I win that 2 people go. The last person has to duel for their freedom under these conditions: if he wins, you release him with his deck and duel disk and you cannot ever capture him again; if he does not win, he stays here forever building rooms."

"Deal!" said King Rogue. "Like the second part will ever happen. After all, you don't have a deck or duel disk."

"Oh yeah?" said John. He picks up a duel disk off the floor. "Here's a Duel Disk." He takes his deck from out of his pocket. "And here's my deck!"

"What!? I thought that we took their decks from them!"

"No, you just took our Duel Disks, our cell phones, and our deck boxes," said John. "But I kept my deck in my pocket and weighted my deck box with metal in case anyone would steal my deck. So I have my deck and a duel disk. You have no choice but to duel."

"Alright then," said the Rogue King. "Let's duel!"

Chapter 13 (Click to View)

Rogue King: I'll go first. I draw. I play Cloudian - Turbulence (ATK 800). He now gains a Fog Counter thanks to his effect. Now I play The Sanctuary in the Sky. I no longer take damage by battle with Fairy monsters I control. I end my turn.

John: Okay. I draw. I play my Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke (ATK 1800). Sasuke, attack!

Rogue King: That attack is pointless!

John: How come your monster didn't die?

Rogue King: Cloudians don't die by battle, but they do die if they are in face-up Defense Position. So my monsters can't be destroyed by battle and I can't take damage by them.

John: You mean, you're invincible!?

Rogue King: Yup, and there is NOTHING you can do to stop me. So I suppose you're done.

John: I'll set a face-down and end my turn.

Rogue King: It's my turn. I draw. I activate Turbulence's ability: I Special Summon Cloudian - Smoke Ball (ATK 200) from my deck. Now I summon Cloudian - Cirrostratus (ATK 900). Now that there are 3 Cloudians on the field, Cirrostratus gets 3 Fog Counters. Now I activate Cirrostratus' effect: By removing 2 Fog Counters from it, I can destroy any monster on the field. I choose Sasuke. Now Cloudians, attack! (John 6100) I activate Cloudian Squall. During my Standby Phase, a Fog counter gets placed on every face-up monster on the field. I end my turn.

John: I draw. Oh man, I really do have no escape. Unless... I think I'll set a card and I'll set a monster. That ends my turn.

Rogue King: It's my turn. I draw. All face-up monsters on the field get a Fog Counter. Now I activate Cirrostratus' effect: destroy his face-down. Now I summon Cloudian - Smoke Ball in attack mode from my deck thanks to Turbulence. Now I summon Cloudian - Acid Cloud (ATK 500). It gets 4 Fog Counters, and I'll remove 2 to get rid of your face-down.

John: Not quite, because in response of your monster getting the counters, I'm activating Zero Gravity. It changes your monsters to defense mode, causing all except Smoke Ball (DEF 600) to self-destruct.

Rogue King: Well I'll summon 2 Cloudian - Storm Dragons by removing from play Cirrostratus and Acid Cloud. (Dragons 1000 ATK each). I'll have each place a fog counter on itself. I'll set a card and end my turn.

John: I draw. I activate Stumbling from my hand. It puts all newly-summoned monsters into Defense mode. And I'll set a monster and end my turn.

Rogue King: I draw. Now I tribute both these monsters for Cloudian - Eye of the Typhoon (ATK 3000).

John: It goes to Defense mode and blows up.

Rogue King: I activate Raging Cloudian, bringing it back with a Fog Counter on it. But this time it can't be changed back into defense position. Sorry, but this cloudian doesn't stumble. Now attack. (John's Destiny Hero - Defender was destroyed) I end my turn.

John: I draw. I summon Armed Samurai - Ben Kai (ATK 500). He gets changed to Defense mode. Now I equip Mist Body to him to make him indestructible in battle. I end my turn.

Rogue King: I draw. Cloudian - Eye of the Typhoon, attack. When he does, all non-"Cloudian" monsters on the field change positions, so your Ben Kai switches to attack mode (John 3600) I set a card and end my turn.

John: I draw and end.

Rogue King: I draw. Cloudian, att..., you know what, that attack won't do anything because it will just change your monster to defense position. I end my turn.

John: I draw. You know, Rogue King, I think I figured you out. You like bullying people, but you hate it when someone stands up to you. You can't do anything alone. You must always help from others and swarm your prey. It's the same situation with these Cloudians. You protect yourself in so many ways that, when they all crash down, you are powerless. And I'll show you how. I activate my face-down, Fissure. It destroys your Cloudian. Now I activate Heavy Storm to clear way the scenery. Now I play I friend, Command Knight (1200). She powers up Ben Kai and herself by 400. Now I'll equip Ben Kai with 2 Axes of Despair to boost his attack to 2900. Now let's give the Rogue a wake-up call. Attack 3 times. (Rogue King 0) And that's game!

Chapter 14 (Click to View)

"Did King Rogue just ... lose!?" said the entire street gang.

"Yes he did!" yelled Chris and Kim.

"How, how could I lose!" yelled King Rogue. "I had the perfect grip on him. If I had just drawn Rain Storm I could have ended this!"

"You lost because you didn't focus on beating me, you focused on protecting yourself!" yelled John. "You thought that if you added more cards to protect yourself that it would take more cards to destroy it. But there are ways of taking out multiple cards."

"Alright, so I lost," said King Rogue. "You and the other boy can get your duel disks and leave."

"Not quite," said John. "I said 2 people of MY choice leave. So I choose Chris and Kim."

"Huh!?" said Kim and Chris.

"You aren't going to save yourself?" asked King Rogue.

"No," said John. "Not yet. I'm not the kind of person who will leave a friend behind just so I can get ahead. That's just not what a Legionary does!"

"Well, nice speech," said King Rogue. "Hey, Walter, unchain his friend." Kim was unchained. "Now your friends can leave. Their duel disks are in the first room on the left." Kim and Chris ran off. "Now, as for you, SEIZE HIM!" But nobody moved. "What? Why is nobody moving?"

"Because we don't want to follow your lead anymore!" said Walter. "This duelist showed us how much of a coward and how terrible a duelist you really are!" He squeezed King Rogue's shoulder. King Rogue fell unconscious. "Kid, sorry we attacked you. You have 8 minutes to escape. Just keep going straight down the hallway and you'll escape. Also, here's the key to the first key on the left and here's the key to the second door on the left. You'll need both!"

"Why?" asked John.

"Go and you'll find out!" yelled Walter. "Now run!" John ran to the first door.

It's closed, John thought, but Chris and Kim must've ran in here! What's happening around here? He opened the door. There he saw, Chris and Kim, unconscious. What's going on here?

"Hello John. I wanna play a little game," said a voice from the shadows.

"Who are you? How do you know my name?" asked John.

"Those details are insignificant. Anyway, I'll be sure that you don't escape!" said the voice.

"Walter!" yelled John.

"What's wrong, kid?" said Walter. "Oh no, not him. Hey guys, I need some help over here!" A few guys came over. Walter ran towards Chris and Kim, grabbed them by the back of their shirt and dragged them over to the guys. "Guys, help these kids escape. Dude, you help carry the girl to the exit. Also, hand e the keys to the rooms."

"Alright," said John as he handed over the keys. "Also, call me John." Kim was carried by 8 people, 4 on each side. She was carried in such a way that she was parallel to the ground. Chris was being carried in a similar way. The people carrying Chris were just a few feet behind the people carrying Kim. John could feel Kim's hair on his arm. He looked at Kim. Don't worry Kim. We all will soon be out of this place. As he was looking at her, he realized something: that she was actually very pretty. That must be why King Rogue went after her. That must be why her father is so protective. Yet she probably doesn't know how beautiful she is. Then a hooded figure came out of another hallway.

"Duel me John, to decide whether you and your friends escape or not!" said the hooded figure. It had the same voice as the one in that first room on the left.

"Alright then," said John. "It appears that I don't have a choice." He put the Duel Disk on and put his deck in it.

"Let's duel!" shouted John and the figure.

Chapter 15 (Click to View)

???: I'll start off this duel. I draw. I summon Ancient Gear Knight in Attack Mode (ATK 1800). I'll set a card and end my turn.

John: Okay then. I draw. I summon Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke in Attack Mode. Now I'll play Stumbling and The A. Forces. The A. Forces boosts the ATK of all Warriors I control by the number of Warriors and Spellcasters I control times 200, so Sasuke goes up to 2000 ATK. Now Sasuke, attack!

???: I activate Sakuretsu Armor! It destroys your Ninja.

John: I guess I'll end my turn.

???: Awesome! I draw. Now I play Polymerization. I fuse my Chthonian Emperor Dragon with my Dark Valkyria in order to summon the Superalloy Beast Reptinus (DEF 2200)! He grants my Gemini monsters their abilities. Now I summon Dawnbreak Gardna (ATK 1500). Because of Stumbling, he goes to Defense position, but thanks to his Gemini ability, his Defense goes up to 2300. Now Ancient Gear Knight has his ability: When he attacks, you cannot activate Spells or Traps until the end of the Damage Step. Now Ancient Gear Knight, attack! (John 6200). I end my turn.

John: Well, it's my turn. I draw. I set a monster and end my turn.

???: Alright then, my move. I draw. I'll play Goggle Golem. Thanks to his effect, his ATK goes to 2100, he goes to Defense mode because of Stumbling (500 DEF). Now I'll switch my Raptinus and my Gardna to attack mode (2200 ATK and 1500 ATK, respectively.) Now Raptinus, attack! (It attacks a Dawnbreak Gardna, ??? 7900)

John: You're not the only one who has a Gemini monster. And thanks to your Raptinus's effect, my Gardna gains his and his DEF goes up to 2300.

???: Your monster will be destroyed soon enough. But until then, I'll set a card and end my turn.

John: I draw. I activate Reinforcement of the Army to search my deck for Dream Clown and add it to my hand. Now I play Dream Clown. It now changes to Defense mode thanks to Stumbling (DEF 900). Now Dream Clown activates: since it was changed to defense position, one monster on your field gets destroyed, so I choose your Raptinus. I'll set a card and end my turn.

???: Alright then. I draw. Now I summon Blazewing Butterfly. Now I play Double Summon to second summon my Butterfly and I activate its effect: It goes to the grave to bring back Chthonian Emperor Dragon from my Grave in defense mode WITH its effect. Now I change all my monsters to Defense position and activate Zero Gravity: It changes the mode of all face-up monsters on the field. Now I'll attack your Dream Clown (ATK 1600) with Ancient Gear Knight. You can't stop this attack! (John 6000). Now Chthonian Emperor Dragon, attack his Gardna (ATK 1700, John 5300). Now I can use Chthonian's effect: it can attack twice. So Gardna and Dragon, attack! (John 1400) That's all for now!

John: It's my turn. I draw. I set a card and summon Marauding Captain, which allows me to summon another Captain. Both go to Defense Position (DEF 400), but that's okay, because you can't attack any of my Warriors just as long as I control 2 Marauding Captains. I end my turn.

???: You're prolonging your demise. I draw and end my turn.

John: Talk about prolonging a demise. I draw. I activate Reinforcement of the Army, allowing me to get Command Knight from the Deck. I summon Command Knight (DEF 1900). It goes to Defense Position, but that's okay, because thanks to its effect and A. Forces, the Marauding Captains' ATK go up to 2200 ATK. Now I change them to Attack mode. I'll have one attack Dawnbreak Gardna and the other attack Ancient Gear Knight. (??? 6800). I end my turn.

???: That won't make a difference. I draw. I summon Magical Reflect Slime (ATK 700) and I'll set a card. That's all.

John: It's my turn. I draw. I activate Mystical Space Typhoon from my field. I'll use it to destroy my Stumbling. Now I summon Goblin Attack Force. Now I change my Command Knight to attack mode (ATK 2400). Now I'll have Command Knight attack Chthonian Emperor Dragon. Their ATKs are 2400, so they destroy each other, significantly reducing the ATK of my Warriors. Now Marauding Captain (ATK 1800) attack his Reflect Slime!

???: I activate Super Double Summon, giving Reflect Slime his ability: all damage that would be dealt to me in this battle is dealt to you instead! (John 300)

John: I figured you'd do that.If I still had Command Knight on the field, that would've killed me, so I got rid of it. But now your field is open, so attack my other Marauding Captain and Goblin Attack Force (1800 ATK and 2900 ATK respectively, ??? 2100). Goblin Attack Force goes to Defence mode at the end of a battle phase he battled in (DEF 0). I end my turn.

???: I draw. I activate Monster Reborn to bring back my Superalloy Beast Raptinus (DEF 2200). That's all.

John: My move. I draw. I activate The Warrior Returning Alive, bringing back Command Knight. I summon her once again. She gains 800 ATK from The A. Forces and 400 ATK for her own effect (ATK 2400). Now, Command Knight, attack! Now, Marauding Captains (ATK 2400), attack! (??? 0)

Chapters 16-25 are in Post #5.

[Bucketkiller19]

WOW!

that must of took ages that's definatly worth a rep.

[~Oracle]

the crystal beast deck is overused. 8/10

[Crystal Beast 123]

Awesome! +rep to you! 9/10!!

Oh yeah, and you don't have to give me credit.....

[Mystery Guest]

The comment I overwrote was pretty much completely irrelevant, but I have a message: Thanks to Ragnarok1549's idea, I'll be posting more Chapters on my old posts, like this:

Chapter 16 (Click to View)

"I won this duel. Now let us pass," said John.

"Very well," said the hooded figure. "You may pass. But John, I will find you again, and we will have another duel. This certainly will not be the last time you see me or duel me. But for now, goodbye." The figure threw 2 smoke balls on the ground and, when the smoke disappeared, it was gone. John looked down the side hallway from which it came. It wasn't there.

We'll see what happens later, John thought. "Alright guys, let's continue towards the exit." About 30 seconds later, they were outside. The gang kids put Kim and Chris on the ground. "Thanks Walter," said John. "I just wish that I could've rescued my friend's stuff." A second later, two more gang members came with all the stuff. They placed it on the ground between Chris and Kim.

"I had two other kids get your stuff," said Walter. "Why do you think I asked you for the keys to the doors? Also, here is your Slifer Red duel disk and your aluminum-filled deck box." John gave Walter the old duel disk in exchange for his duel disk.

"Thanks dude," said John. "I don't know how I could thank you enough."

"I should thank you," said Walter. "You overthrew our king and saved your friends. And to thank you, we placed your friend's decks in their duel disks. There are some cards for the girl, I mean your friend, in her deck box and some cards for you in Chris's deck box. Your friends will wake up in a few minutes, so don't worry. Just be sure to get the cards before Chris wakes up. Also we'll be sure to always remember your warrior spirit. We'll also never capture you or your friends again. Thank you for what you have done, John. See ya. We may meet again eventually."

"See ya," said John as the door to the prison closed and locked. John got the cards from Chris deck box and placed them in his pocket. Then he waited for his friends wake up. A few minutes later, Chris woke up. "Hey Chris, are you alright?" asked John.

"Yes I am, dude," said Chris. "I can't remember a thing that happened, but I'm otherwise okay."

"Cool," said John. "That can't be said for Kim, though. I don't get it."

"Neither do I," said Chris. "Wait! I think I remember seeing Kim go unconscious. I couldn't see how because it was dark, but soon after I must've."

"I kinda would like to know what happened in that room so I could figure out what to do," said John. "I hope Kim's alright."

"Don't worry about it," said Chris. "It'll probably just take a few minutes for her to wake up." 20 minutes later, she still wasn't awake. John started panicking.

"Oh no, what will I do?" said John. "What will I do if, if Kim doesn't wake up?"

"Don't say that!" said Chris. "She will be okay."

"You always think as if nothing could ever go wrong. Well, it can," said John. "For all we know, something bad, something permanent, could've happened to Kim. And letting a friend die is just the same as leaving them behind. I need a plan to wake her up." He put her duel disk on her and tried to think. After 5 minutes of thinking, John still didn't have a plan. So he picked up Kim's upper body and hugged her. I won't let go until I know that you are okay, Kim. After 10 minutes, he felt two arms wrap around his back.

"Thank you, John," Kim said. Her voice was weak though.

"Kim! I'm so glad that you are okay!" exclaimed Chris, crying.

"I'm okay," said Kim. "I can't remember a thing that happened, but I feel perfectly fine."

"Good!" said John. "That's all that matters right now!"

They hugged for about 2 minutes until Chris said, "I don't mean to interrupt, but it looks like it's getting late. We should probably go home."

"Oh. Yeah. True," said John. Why did he have to interrupt that special moment between me and Kim?

"Hey John," said Kim. "Your face still seems to be a bit wet from your crying. You can wipe off your eyes with my sleeve if you want to."

"No that's alright," said John. "Thanks Kim. Also, there are some more cards in your deck box. Walter put some cards in your deck box. You might be able to use them."

"Wow, really!" exclaimed Kim. "Thanks John."

"Why?" asked John. "It was Walter who did that."

"You stepped up and set us free," replied Kim. "Without you there, we'd be trapped forever. Thank you for being a hero today."

"Thanks," said John, "but I don't really need thanks. I just do what a Legionary does. Anyway, bye Kim. Bye Chris."

"See ya," said Chris and Kim. John went home. He got home at 8:50.

"Hi son," said Mrs. Legionary. "I see that you enjoyed your day.

"You could say that," said John. "I need to prepare for tomorrow."

"Oh yeah, the first day of Duel School is tomorrow," said Mrs. Legionary.

"Yeah, so I need to tweak my deck some," said John. "Some kid today gave me some free Warrior cards that I can use." So took the cards out of his pocket. Immediately some cards in it started to grow: Jutte Fighter, Junk Warrior, Comrade Swordsman of Landstar, Speed Warrior, Synchro Boost, Miniaturize, and 3 Synchro monsters: Junk Warrior, Gaia Knight The Force of Earth, and Colossal Fighter. Then some cards in his deck started to glow. I guess this means I switch these cards for these cards. When he did, he now had a basic build for a Warrior Toolbox / Synchro deck. Wow, this is incredible. These spirits are telling me what card to remove from the deck to make room for new cards! "I'm going to bed, mom."

When he woke up, he knew it was his first day of Duel School. He prepared for school, put on his Duel Disk, put his deck in it, and went to school. He looked for his name among the list of classrooms. Room 129, he thought. He looked on the list for Chris and Kim. Chris is in my class, but Kim isn't. That stinks, especially for Kim. It's hard for her to make friends because of what her father is like. John walked to Room 129. Once he walked in, the bell rang. Just in time. I better find a desk. He sat next to a boy he didn't know. The teacher walked into the classroom.

"Hi students," said the teacher. "Call me Mr. Clock, because I always know what time it is. Now who here has their duel disk with them?" John and a few other people raised their hands. "Who here has an Advanced Format deck with them?" John and a few more students raised their hands. "Who here knows the latest rules?" Everyone raised their hands. "All right then. I don't need to give a lesson on the rules. I'll just give a test about them instead."

"Oh, come on!" said a student.

"I need to be sure that you really do know the latest rules," said the teacher. "Unless a student would like to duel me!" said Mr. Clock.

"I will!" said John.

"You have a brave soul," said the teacher. "I also see you have Jaden Yuki's duel disk. I can tell that that is the real one, and that you met Jaden Yuki, dueled him, and he gave you the duel disk. You must really be a good duelist."

"That's makes the story shorter!" said John. How could he know all that just from noticing my duel disk? He must really analyze situations well. This will be a tough duel. "Alright, teach, Get Your Game On!"

Chapter 17 (Click to View)

Mr. Clock: I'll start things off. I draw. I activate D - Spirit. Since I control no Destiny Heroes, I can Special Summon Destiny Hero - Diamond Dude in defense mode (DEF 1600). I now summon another Destiny Hero - Diamond Dude in Attack mode (ATK 1400). Now I activate my one of my Destiny Hero's effect: I reveal the top card of my Deck: if it is a Normal Spell, it gets sent to the Graveyard, and the spell's effect can be activated next turn; if it isn't, it goes to the bottom of my deck. The first Destiny Hero activates: the top card is Destiny Draw, so it goes to the graveyard. Now I activate my second Diamond Dude's effect and the top card is Destiny Hero - Malicious, so it gets sent to the bottom of the deck. I set a card and end my turn.

John: It's my turn. I draw. I summon Command Knight in attack mode. Because of her effect, her ATK goes up to 1600. Now Command Knight, attack his attack position Diamond Dude.

Mr. Clock: I activate D - Shield. It changes Diamond Dude to Defense mode and the shield equips to it. Now it can't be destroyed in battle.

John: But our life points are untouched. I'll set a card and end my turn.

Mr. Clock: It's my turn. I draw. Now I summon Elemental Hero Stratos. I can add Destiny Hero - Diamond Dude from my deck to my hand. Now I activate the effect of Diamond Dude. The top of my deck is Final Countdown, so it goes to the Graveyard. Now the other Diamond Dude activates. The top card is Bonding - H20, so it gets sent to the graveyard. Now I activate Destiny Draw's effect from my graveyard: I draw 2 cards.

John: Wait, in order to activate Destiny Draw, you have to discard a "Destiny Hero" monster.

Mr. Clock: Diamond Dude activates the card's EFFECT, so I can bypass activation costs. Now I'll have Stratos attack your Command Knight.

John: I activate my Trap, Sakuretsu Armor. Your monster is destroyed.

Mr. Clock: Very well. I set a card and activate Clock Tower Prison. I end my turn.

John: Alright then. I draw.

Mr. Clock: Now Clock Tower Prison gains a Clock Counter during each of your Standby Phases. So that's one.

John: Alright then. I draw. I activate Reinforcement of the Army, allowing me to search my deck for Marauding Captain. I summon Marauding Captain, which allows me to summon Comrade Swordsman of Landstar. So the ATK of Comrade Swordsman, Marauding Captain, and Command Knight are 1300, 2000, and 2000, respectively. Now I'll have Command Knight attack your unprotected Diamond. I'll throw down a face-down and end my turn.

Mr. Clock: Alright then. I draw. I told you I always knew what time it was, and now it's time for your defeat! I activate Final Countdown from my grave. Then I activate Bonding - H20 from my grave, allowing me to summon Water Dragon from my deck. Oh, and did I forget to mention that only activating a card's effect from the grave not only prevents it from being negated, but also bypasses any restrictions on the spell? Anyway, I'll activate my face-down, Eternal Dread. My Prison gains 2 Clock Counters. I activate Tribute to the Doomed. By discarding the Diamond Dude from my hand, I can destroy your Command Knight, weakening your Comrade Swordsman and Marauding Captain. Now I activate my remaining Diamond Dude's ability. The top card of my deck is Shield Crush, so it is sent to the graveyard. Now I switch Diamond Dude into attack mode and summon Destiny Hero - Dread Servant. When it is summoned, Clock Tower Prison gains another Clock Counter, for a total of 4. As long as it has 4 or more Clock Counters on it, I can't take Battle Damage. So now, Water Dragon, attack Marauding Captain (John 6800). Now Dread Servant, attack Comrade Swordsman of Landstar.

John: But why? My monster has 900 ATK points and yours has 400.

Mr. Clock: Because when Dread Servant is destroyed, I can destroy Clock Tower Prison. And when my Prison is destroyed with 4 Clock Counters on it, I can summon Destiny Hero - Dreadmaster from my deck. When he summoned through such a way, he destroys all non-Destiny Hero monsters I control, then summons 2 back to the field, so I bring back 2 Diamond Dudes in attack mode. Dreadmaster's ATK is equal to the combined original ATK of all other Destiny Hero monsters I control, so that's 4200 ATK. So know, Destiny Hero - Dreadmaster, attack his Comrade Swordsman!

John: I figured you'd do that, so I activate my new card, Weakling Radiance. I can only activate it when you attack a monster with less than 1000 ATK points. Now all your face-up attack position monsters are destroyed!

Mr. Clock: Thanks to Destiny Hero - Dreadmaster's effect, Destiny Hero monsters can't be destroyed this turn, so the attack continues.

John: What? (John 3500)

Mr. Clock: Now, Diamond Dudes, attack him directly! (John 0, Mr. Clock 8000)

Chapter 18 (Click to View)

"Well, you gave it your best shot, kid," said Mr. Clock. "But your tactics are lacking. If you Synchro Summoned Gaia Knight The Force of Earth or Goyo Guardian, then I would have to use Tribute to the Doomed to destroy it and attack Command Knight with Dread Servant in order to summon Dreadmaster and my 2 other Diamond Dudes and, since Water Dragon is guaranteed to be dead at this point, you would've survived the attacks. Granted, I could possibly get 2 more Normal Spells in the Graveyard, but at least you would've gotten one more card."

"So I suppose we're having the test?" asked John.

"No," said Mr. Clock. "Someone stood up and faced my challenge when I requested one. The outcome of the duel didn't actually matter. But I'm kind of disappointed that you didn't think of Destiny Hero - Dreadmaster when you kept your Comrade Swordsman out so you could activate Weakling Radiance. Also, the effect of Weakling Radiance is that you can only activate it when a monster with original ATK 1000 or less is attacked, and that it destroys all face-up attack position monsters your opponent controls."

"Oh yeah," said John. "I forgot to say the word original."

"Anyway, let's get to introductions," said Mr. Clock. "How about you start first?"

"Alright then," said John. "My name is John Legionary. It seems you already know a lot about me because of that duel, so I'll just skip ahead to when I met Jaden. It started when I threw my old deck out the window on Saturday because I could get another at the mall. But they ran out of them, so I went to the junkyard. Jaden then challenged me to a duel. I had to use my friend Chris's deck and he was using the 40-card deck I tossed out the window. In an amazing duel, he beat me with my own cards, mainly Blasting the Ruins. Then later I had a 37-card Warrior deck and Jaden gave me the 3 cards needed to finish it. So I faced Jaden again, but this time he was using his real deck. I still got beat, but I put up a good fight. So he gave me this duel disk, the only Slifer Red duel disk that was ever made."

"Cool story," said Mr. Clock. "But how do we know that you aren't lying?"

"Yeah!" yelled one kid.

"Mr. Clock, you notice everything," said John. "If anything, you know that I'm not lying. So why not tell the class that I'm not?"

"Anyway, let's move on to this kid right here," said Mr. Clock as he pointed to Chris. "Stand up and introduce yourself." John walked to his desk as Chris walked to the front of the class.

"I'm Christopher Anderson," said Chris. "Y'all might know me better as Chris Talize Anderson."

"Wow, that is Chris Talize!" yelled a kid. "Can I have your autograph?"

"Dude, settle down," said Chris. "You can get it later. Anyway, I watched John duel Jaden the first time and John used my Crystal Beast deck."

"Wow!" exclaimed the entire class.

"I suppose you're done," said Mr. Clock.

"No, not really," said Chris. After 15 minutes, Chris was done.

"Okay then, who will volunteer to go next?" asked Mr. Clock. Nobody volunteered. "Okay, I see. I'll just point to someone and that person goes up." For a few hours, students went up to introduce themselves. There were 20 students in the class altogether. "Okay then," said Mr. Clock. "It looks like the lunch bell will ring soon. I can't believe we wasted all the time from 8:00 to 12:00 with introductions, but I don't have to go over the rules of the game, so that's alright. I'll see you after lunch." The bell rang. John held the door open for everyone.

"You got owned by a teacher!" said one kid.

"Yeah, you duel worse than my sister!" said another.

"I could use ANY deck and still own you!" said another. 18 out of 20 students gave a rude remark as they passed by the door. The only 2 that didn't were Chris and John himself.

"John, I would like to talk to you," said Mr. Clock.

"See ya, dude," said Chris. John walked over to Mr. Clock.

"About what, Mr. Clock?" said John.

"You don't react well under stress," said Mr. Clock. "If you will be a great duelist someday, you will have to learn how to react under stress."

"Yeah," said John. "Now I lost, everyone insults me."

"How would you like another duel?" said Mr. Clock.

"I'm not going to duel you again!" said John.

"Not me, but another student," said Mr. Clock. "I know that Chris didn't insult you, so I won't choose him, but you won't know who until after lunch."

"Alright," said John. "I need to recover my reputation in the class."

"Also, John, there is a card that I want you to have," said Mr. Clock as he handed John a card face-down. John flipped it over. It was a Goyo Guardian. "I want to see if you have the skill to use this card correctly."

"Thanks Mr. Clock," said John. "By the way, what is your real title and last name?"

"Dr. Clock," said Mr. Clock. "Anyway, go ahead and have lunch." So John went to the cafeteria. He immediately saw Kim last in line. John got in line behind her.

"Hey Kim," he said. But she didn't turn around. "Hey Kim," he said a little louder. He then put his ear next to Kim. "Hey Kim!" he said, louder.

"Oh. Hey John," said Kim. She put her hand to her head.

"Are you alright?" asked John. "Do you want to go see the nurse?"

"Sure. Why not." said Kim. Kim and John went to the nurse. Kim explained the situation and the nurse ran some tests, but no explanation could be made. They went back to the cafeteria. "John, don't worry. It's probably just a migraine or something. Sometimes my migraines hurt so bad that I can't even hear myself thinking or anything around me."

"If you say so," said John. "I just hope so. Anyway, let's go back in line." After a minute, they got and paid for their lunches. They then sat down at Chris's table.

"What took you so long?" asked Chris.

"Mr. Clock offered me a chance to duel a student in the class of his choice," said John. "I said that I would."

"And John brought me to the nurse because my head hurt," said Kim.

"Cool," said Chris. "By the way, Kim, who do you have for a teacher?"

"I have Mrs. Machina," said Kim. "She is so mean. And it seems you two have Mr. Clock."

"Yes," said John. "He's a nice guy. We were going to have a test on the rules unless someone in the class dueled him, regardless of the outcome. I dueled, but I lost miserably. So now I have a chance to regain my pride."

"That's cool," said Chris. "By the way, John and Kim, you only have about 5 minutes left to eat." John and Kim rushed through their lunches. When the bell rang, Chris and John went back to Room 129.

"Alright, students," said Mr. Clock. "There will be a duel happening right now. It is between John Legionary and Craig Qwerty."

"Alright, Craig," said John. "Let's do this!"

Chapter 19 (Click to View)

John: I'll start things off. I draw. I summon Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke in Attack Mode (ATK 1800). I'll set a face-down and activate the A. Forces. It increases Sasuke's ATK by 200. That's all for now.

Craig: I draw. I activate Luminous Spark. It's a field spell that boosts LIGHT monsters' ATK by 500.

John: Which means my Sasuke's ATK goes up to 2500.

Craig: Yes it does. Now I summon Shining Angel (ATK 1400) and thanks to the field, my Shining Angel's ATK goes up to 1900. I set a card and end my turn.

John: Alright then. I draw. I activate Reinforcement of the Army to search out Marauding Captain from my deck. Now I summon Marauding Captain, allowing me to summon Command Knight from my hand in Attack Mode (ATKs 1200). Now Command Knight and The. A Forces activate: the effects give all my monsters a total of 1000 ATK points. So Sasuke (ATK 3300) attack his Shining Angel.

Craig: I activate Magic Cylinder. It negates the attack and you take damage equal to your monster's ATK (John 4700).

John: Now I attack with Marauding Captain (ATK 2200). Destroy his Shining Angel (Craig 7700).

Craig: Thanks to Shining Angel's ability, I can summon another.

John: I'll attack that one now with Command Knight (Craig 7400)

Craig: I now summon Z-Metal Tank (ATK 2000 total).

John: I end my turn.

Craig: Alright. I draw. I summon X-Head Cannon and equip Z-Metal Tank to it. X-Head Cannon's ATK goes up to 2900. Now attack his Marauding Captain (John 4000). I set a card and end my turn.

John: I draw. I summon Exiled Force. By Tributing him, I can destroy a monster on the field, so I choose X-Head Cannon. Now Z-Metal Tank also goes away. I attack with Command Knight and Sasuke (ATKs 2000 and 3100, respectively, Craig 2300). I end my turn.

Craig: I draw. I activate Lightning Vortex. By discarding W-Wing Catapult, I can destroy all your face-up monsters. Now I summon V-Tiger Jet (ATK 2100). Now I activate Roll-Out, equipping my W-Wing to it. Now I union-fuse them together to summon VW-Tiger Catapult (ATK 2500). Now VW, attack! (John 1500) I end my turn.

John: Okay then. I draw. I activate Swords of Revealing Light. You cannot attack while it is on the field for 3 turns. I summon Comrade Swordsman of Landstar (ATK 500). He pumps up my Warriors by 400 points, and thanks to the A. Forces and hat ability, his Attack goes to 1100 points. I end my turn.

Craig: I draw. I set a card and end my turn (Swords 1).

John: I draw. I end my turn.

Craig: I draw. I end my turn (Swords 2).

John: I draw. I end my turn.

Craig: I draw. Now it's time for you to lose! I activate Soul Release, removing my X and Z from play. Now I summon Y-Dragon Head and activate Return from the Different Dimension, so, in exchange for half my Life Points (Craig 1150), now X-Head Cannon, Z-Metal Tank, and X-Tiger Jet (ATK 2100) come back onto the field. Now I union-fuse X, Y, and Z together to summon XYZ-Dragon Cannon. But why stop there? I union-fuse XW and XYZ to summon VWXYZ-Dragon Catapult Cannon (ATK 3500). Now I remove your Swords of Revealing Light from play.

John: I activate my face-down, Threatening Roar. You can't attack this turn anyway.

Craig: Very well, then. I end. V-Tiger Jet is now removed from play.

John: Alright then. I draw. And I got just the card I needed. I summon Spell Striker and I tune it with Comrade Swordsman to summon Goyo Guardian! Now I equip Goyo Guardian with Axe of Despair (ATK 4000). Now Goyo, attack VWXYZ (Craig 650).

Craig: Oh no! My ultimate monster!

John: It gets worst. Since Goyo Guardian destroyed a monster through battle, it comes under my control in face-up Defense Position (DEF 2400). I now activate Poison of the Old Man. I choose to have it deal 800 damage to you (Craig 0).

Chapter 20 (Click to View)

"It was a good duel, Craig," said John.

"Yes it was," said Craig. "Sorry for the rude remark I made earlier."

"That's alright," said John.

"Alright, kids," said Mr. Clock. "Sit down now. Now I will give you some basic information about the class. Everyday, you will come to this room and class starts at 8. Then at 12, you go to lunch until 12:20. Then you come back here until 2:20. For the first part of the day, I will teach math, history, and all that other good stuff. Then after lunch will be when we hold the dueling part of the class. Sometimes, though, if we need more time for dueling, we will replace the academic part with dueling. Just note that sometimes we will also have all academic days as well. But overall, the academic:dueling ratio will be 2:1. Even though this is a dueling school, doesn't mean you won't learn your academics. So, anyway, you will need a notebook for every subject: Math, English Language Arts, History, Science, and Dueling Class. So, on average, you will have one hour of each subject and 2 for dueling class. You will need to have something to write with, your duel disk, and your Advanced Format deck with you everyday. If you do not have an Advanced Format deck, then at least try to build one. If you cannot, build a Traditional Format deck. You may not be able to duel with it, but bring your deck anyway. I'm sure students in the class will help you make an Advanced Format deck. Anyway, I think that's all I want to say. You may talk with your friends for the rest of the way, but just don't get too loud." John walked up to Mr. Clock. "Hey John, nice dueling. I see you know how to use Goyo Guardian."

"Here's your Goyo Guardian," said John.

"No, it's yours now. You earned it," said Mr. Clock.

"Okay then," said John. "Thanks. Also, why did you arrange this duel? And why with Craig?"

"Because I knew that you wanted your pride back after the battle with me," said Mr. Clock. "And I chose Craig because I knew that the VWXYZ deck would push you to your limits. You proved your skills very well."

"Thanks, sir," said John. "You'd be amazed at the situations that I had to get Kim, Chris, and I out of. Also, is that Diamond Dude Turbo deck the deck you use most often?"

"Yes, it is," said Mr. Clock. "Hey, who's Kim?"

"You really want to know a lot about me, don't you!" said John.

"You seem to be different than the other students in this class," said Mr. Clock. "Not because you have that duel disk, but your Warrior Spirit. You have the guts to stand up to the most menacing foes. Anyway, do you wish to tell me about Kim?"

"Alright, Mr. Clock," said John. "Kim goes to this school, but she has class with Mrs. Machina. Kim is a very nice girl, but she doesn't seem to have a lot of confidence. She also doesn't have many friends. I don't think she's ever had a true friend before Chris and I helped her out. This is mainly because her father is very protective. When me and Chris went to her house, her father challenged me to a duel in the terms that, if I won, Chris and I could stay at her house, but, if I lost, Chris and I had to leave. He mercilessly beat me with a Dark Armed Dragon deck, so Chris and I had to leave. Kim decided to leave with us to keep her friendship with me and Chris. Once I ended up putting Kim, Chris, and I in a tough situation. I had to duel my way out of it and me, Kim, and Chris escaped okay."

"I see," said Mr. Clock. "John, just be sure that I'm always here to help you."

"Thanks," said John.

"No problem," said Mr. Clock. "Well, you better go find a friend to talk to. There is still an hour and 15 minutes left."

"Right," said John. He walked over to Chris. "What's wrong?" asked John.

"What? Nothing," said Chris. "I was just thinking. Something feels a little off today. I think the deck is trying to tell me something, but I don't know what."

"Let me see," said John as he took the deck from Chris's hand. Then he heard a voice.

"Hey there, John," said the voice.

Who was that? thought John.

"So you can hear me," said the voice. Then, a turtle with green gems sticking out of his back appeared in front of John. "John, Chris must know something," said the turtle.

"Wait, you're Crystal Beast Emerald Tortoise!" said John to the spirit. "Why can't you tell Chris?"

"Chris hasn't fully connected with the deck, yet," said Emerald Tortoise. "He needs to duel with the deck in order to talk with us. But you have the power to see duel spirits," said Emerald Tortoise. "Kinda like how you could see the cards glowing and nobody else can. Anyway, just tell him to duel a lot with this deck."

"Okay. Chris," said John as he handed the deck back. "You need to duel more often with this deck. Once you do, you'll be able to talk to the duel spirits that inhabit the deck."

"Why? What'll happen?" asked Chris.

"I don't know, but I'm guessing something bad," said John.

"Well, then I won't unless I'm challenged to a duel," said Chris.

"I just wish I knew what will happen," said John.

"Oh really?" asked a kid. "Because I can use Arcana Tarot cards. I would be willing to tell your future, if you can beat me in a duel."

"Sure thing," said John. "Let's duel."

Chapter 21 (Click to View)

John: I guess I'll go first. I draw. I summon Blade Knight (ATK 1600). I set a card and end my turn. By the way, kid, what's your name?

Girl: My name is Destiny.

John: Really? Or is that a reference to the fact that you use tarot cards?

Destiny: No, Destiny is actually my name. Anyway, I draw. I activate Light Barrier (Field Spell). Now I summon Arcana Force XII - The Chariot (ATK 1700). Thanks to Light Barrier's effect, rather than flip a coin to decide an Arcana Force monster's effect, I choose the effect, so I choose Heads. Now Chariot, attack Blade Knight (John 7900). Now activates 2 special effects: thanks to Light Barrier, I gain Life Points equal to your monster's original ATK point (Destiny 9600) and now, thanks to Chariot, your monster gets resurrected on my side of the field. Now Blade Knight, attack. (John 6300). I set a card and end my turn.

John: My move. I draw. I summon Mataza the Zapper (ATK 1300). Now I equip him with my Axe of Despair, so he goes up to 2300 ATK. Now I play The A. Forces, so he gains another 200 ATK points. Mataza can attack twice. So now, Mataza, attack Blade Knight. (Destiny 8700). Now Mataza, attack The Chariot (Destiny 7900). I set a card and that's all.

Destiny: Very well, I draw. Now Light Boundary activates: During my Standby Phase, I have to flip a coin and if I get tails, my Barrier's effects are negated until my next Standby Phase. The result of my coin flip was Heads, so the effect stays around. I summon Cyber Dragon thanks to its effect and I summon Arcana Force XIV - Temperance (ATK 2900). I choose the Heads effect. I equip Cestus of Dagla to Temperance to increase its ATK to 2900. Now, Temperance, attack (John 5900). Now Cestus of Dagla gives me 400 Life Points and Light Barrier gives me 1300 (Destiny 10400). I end my turn.

John: Alright, I draw. I play Fissure to get rid of Temperance. Now I activate Reinforcement of the Army, allowing me to get Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke from my deck. I summon Sasuke (ATK 1800). Now thanks to The A. Forces, he gains 200 ATK. So now, Sasuke, attack (Destiny 8400). I'll end my turn.

Destiny: I draw. Now Light Barrier activates. The coin result is Heads, so I'm in luck. I summon Arcana Force IV - The Emperor (ATK 1400). I activate his Heads effect: he gives all Arcana Force monsters I control an extra 500 ATK boost. Now I activate Monster Reborn, bringing back The Chariot (ATK 1700), who gains 500 ATK points thanks to Emperor. So now, Chariot, destroy Sasuke (John 5700). Now Light Barrier gives me 1800 life points (Destiny 10200). Now Sasuke returns to my side of the field. So now, Emperor and Sasuke attack! (John 2000). I end my turn.

John: I draw. This may help for now. I activate Swords of Revealing Light. This will stall you for 3 turns. Hopefully that's all I need. I end my turn.

Destiny: I draw. Light Boundary's coin flip results in a ... tails? Oh well, I summon Arcana Force III - The Empress. Another coin flip gives me the tails result of the Empress. So I activate By Order of the Emperor (Continuous Trap). You'll find out what it does when you Normal Summon a monster. I end my turn (Swords 1).

John: I draw. I set a card and end my turn.

Destiny: I draw. Light Barrier activates. The result is Heads, so I summon my Arcana Force VI - The Lovers (ATK 1600) and I choose Heads. Thanks to Emperor, it gains another 500 ATK points. I may have filled up my monster space, but I bet my key card is coming up. I end my turn. (Swords 2).

John: I draw. I activate a Set card, Poison of the Old Man. You get dealt 800 damage (Destiny 9400).

Destiny: What's the point? You should just recover your own health.

John: Ah, you'll see soon enough. Anyway, I set another card and end my turn.

Destiny: Alright, I draw. Light Barrier activates and the result is ... Tails? Oh no, I can't decide the result. Anyway, I send to the grave Sasuke, Chariot, and Lovers to summon my ace card, Arcana Force EX - The Dark Ruler in Attack Mode (ATK 4000), and he gains 500 ATK thanks to the Emperor. Now a coin flip decides his effect. Tails. I end my turn (Swords 3) and Swords is destroyed.

John: I draw. I activate the 3 Good Goblin Housekeepings on my field and I chain Emergency Provisions, getting rid of ALL Spells and Traps I control except Emergency Provisions (John 6000). Now each of my Goblin Housekeepings activate: since there are 3 Good Goblin Housekeepings in the Graveyard, for each one, I draw 4 cards and return one to the bottom of my deck. So I draw 4, I'll send this one to the bottom of my Deck, I then draw another 4 and return one to the bottom of my deck and I draw 4 more and return one to the bottom of my deck. Good. I got the cards I needed. First I play Offerings to the Doomed. I choose to destroy Arcana Force EX - The Dark Ruler. Now its ability activates: When it is destroyed while it has its Tails effect, it destroys all cards on the field.

Destiny: Not quite, because I activated Reversal of Fate on my Dark Ruler to save my field.

John: But all you have is a Heads Emperor and Light Barrier. Now I activate Reinforcement of the Army, allowing me to search out Armed Samurai - Ben Kai from my deck and add it to my hand. Now I summon Armed Samurai - Ben Kai (ATK 500). I equip him with Axe of Despair and 2 Swords of Dragon's Soul to increase his ATK to 2900. Ben Kai, attack the Emperor (Destiny 8400). Ben Kai can attack one additional time for every equip attached to him, and that's 3, so there's 3 attacks headed straight towards ya. Ben Kai, attack 3 times.

Destiny: Oh no! I don't have any cards on the field or any Temperances in my hand to stop the attacks! (Destiny 0).

John: And that's game.

Chapter 22 (Click to View)

"You won," said Destiny. "I was truly destined to lose."

"Why do you say that?" said John. "I was just lucky that I got the cards I needed."

"No, John, I knew you would win the game from the start," said Destiny. "I dueled you because I know you want to know the future."

"Okay, then," said John. "So give me a reading."

"First, you must sit at this desk," said Destiny. Destiny sat at the opposite side of the table. "Next, shuffle the deck and concentrate on your question for the deck. And all you students watching, disperse." John shuffled the deck and handed it back. "Now,tell me the question you want answered."

"What will happen to me and my friends?" asked John.

"Alright then," said Destiny as she flipped over a card. As she flipped over cards from the top of the Deck, she said "One of your friends is going through a tough time right now. He or she wants to be helped but doesn't want to show weakness. He or she in the future will duel and the darkness will take him or her over."

"Alright, but who?" asked John.

"The friend who will be affected is..." said Destiny as she started to flip over another card. But suddenly her hand stopped. "Ow! Sorry John, but I suddenly have this sharp pain in my head. I can barely think straight. I'll just read this card and find out which friend." She flipped over the card. "Oh no," Destiny said. "I can't figure out which friend it is! I'm sorry John, but I can't continue this reading!" She put the cards away.

"That's alright," said John. "I think I have enough information anyway. I hope you'll be alright. I wish I could help."

"John, hand me my Duel Disk," said Destiny.

"But most of them look the same," said John. "How will I know which one is yours?"

"Flip over the top card of each deck in a regular Duel Academy duel disk," said Destiny. "My deck has Arcana Force III - The Empress as the top card."

"Alright," said John. He flipped over the top card of each deck. The top card of one was Arcana Force III - The Empress. How did Destiny know? I know that this is her deck, but how did she know that The Empress was on top? He handed the duel disk to Destiny.

"Thank you," said Destiny. "My headache seems to be gone, but I'm very tired now. I'm sorry I can't help you anymore."

"That's alright," said John as he walked over to Chris. "Chris, I guess you're right. Maybe you shouldn't duel. Destiny told me that my friend would duel and the darkness would take him or her over. And the res of the description seemed to fit you perfectly."

"Okay then, I won't duel," said Chris. "Makes everything easier for me."

"Yeah. All I can do now is wait for the bell I guess," said John. Soon after, the bell rang. Everybody rushed out the door except John.

"Good dueling, John," said Mr. Clock. "It seems the reading is puzzling your mind."

"Yeah," said John. "How did you know I had a reading done?"

"When you're a teacher, you notice everything," said Mr. Clock. "How about you tell me about it."

"Well," said John. "Okay. Chris's deck is the Legendary Crystal Beast deck made by Jesse Anderson. The Emerald Tortoise spirit told me that Chris should duel, but the reading told me that a friend will duel and darkness will take them over, so Chris decided he won't duel. The rest of the reading matched him, too. I dn't know who to believe, the Crystal Beast deck, or Destiny."

"Sounds like you need to keep an open mind and see all the possibilities," said Mr. Clock.

"Okay," said John as he left. All the way home, he thought about the reading. All the possibilities. I can't think of other possibilities. He opened the door.

"How was your first day of Duel School?" asked his mom.

"It was amazing!" exclaimed John. "My friends are in Duel School, Chris is in my class, Mr. Clock gave me a card, and I was in 3 duels! I can't wait for school tomorrow!" But sadly I can.

"I'm so glad you like it," said Mrs. Legionary.

"I think I'll go over Kim's house," said John. "I might run into Chris along the way and we can go over to his house."

"All right," said Mrs. Legionary. "Be back by 8."

"Sure thing," said John as he ran out the door. He walked to Kim's house. I better prepare for going up against her father again, in case I need to duel him. John went to the junkyard. He then found 3 Continuous Traps of the same name. I think these will work. He then walked back to Kim's house and knocked on the door. Kim opened the door.

"Hi John," said Kim. "Come on in."

"Wait, is your father home?" asked John.

"Yeah," said Kim. "You'll see him in about 3 seconds." Sure enough, Kim's father walked out of the kitchen.

"I thought I already made you scram," said Mr. Shadow. "I suppose we'll duel under the same consequences."

"Actually, I want to duel you this time," said Kim.

"Hey Kim, let me see your deck," said John. As he looked at the deck, he put his 3 Continuous Traps in it. "I see you added some new cards." Then he whispered to Kim, "I added 3 cards to your Deck. They'll help you win."

"Thanks John," she whispered back as she shuffled your deck. "Now dad, let's duel."

"Wait!" he said. "If I win, not also does he scram, but you cannot go with him and you tell me what you whispered."

"Deal," said Kim. "Let's duel."

Chapter 23 (Click to View)

Kim: I think I'll go first. I draw. I activate a field spell, Easter Egg Scavenger Hunt. This card allows me to activate an "Easter Egg" Continuous Spell from my Deck once per turn, so I activate Easter Egg 4. "Easter Egg" Continuous Spells can only be activated when "Easter Egg Scavenger Hunt" is on the field. Also, every Easter Egg has an effect that can be activated once per turn, so I'll activate its effect: you discard a card (Mr. Shadow discards Dark General Freed). Now I activate Easter Egg Scavenger Hunt's second effect: it can remove an "Easter Egg" Continuous Spell I control from play, so I choose to remove Easter Egg 4 from play. Now I set a card and play Miraculous Egg Emergence. This card sends my face-down to the Graveyard and, after it is sent to the graveyard, it activates 5 "Easter Egg" Continuous Spells from my Deck, so I activate Easter Eggs 1, 2, 3, 5, and 9. Now I activate their effects: 1: I gain 500 Life Points (Kim 8500), 2: You lose 500 Life Points (Mr. Shadow 7500), 3: I draw a card, 5: I draw 2 cards at the cost of 1500 Life Points (Kim 7000), and 9: I gain 250 Life Points and you lose 250 Life Points (Kim 7250, Mr. Shadow 7250). I summon Dragon of the Many Eggs (ATK 2100). I end my turn. Now my "Easter Egg" Continuous Spells are removed from play and they are treated as being removed from play by "Easter Egg Scavenger Hunt".

Mr. Shadow: I draw. I summon Armageddon Knight (ATK 1400). I send Dark Crusader to the Graveyard by its effect. I now play Allure of Darkness. I draw 2 cards and remove Cyber Ouroboros from play. Now that it was removed from play, I draw a card and discard Dark Horus. Now I activate Monster Reborn to bring back Dark Horus (ATK 3000). Now Dark Horus attack your Dragon (Kim 6350). Now I'll have Armageddon Knight attack you directly (Kim 4950). I set a card and end my turn.

Kim: It's my turn. I draw. I activate Easter Egg 7 from my Deck thanks to Easter Egg Scavenger Hunt.

Mr. Shadow: A spell has been activated during your turn, so I can activate Dark Horus's ability, allowing me to bring back Dark Crusader (ATK 1600).

Kim: I now activate Easter Egg 8 from my hand. I'll activate Easter Egg 7's ability: it destroys a monster you control, so I choose Horus. Now I'll activate Easter Egg 8's effect: it destroys a Spell or Trap you control, so I'll choose your face-down.

Mr. Shadow: I activate Jar of Greed, so I draw a card.

Kim: Very well. I activate Easter Eggs 6 and 10 from my hand. Now I'll activate Mysterious Disappearance of the Eggs 2. It removes from play the 4 "Easter Egg" Continuous Spells I control and treats them as being removed by "Easter Egg Scavenger Hunt". I activate Scavenger Hunt Complete! Since all 10 "Easter Egg" Continuous Spells are removed from play by "Easter Egg Scavenger Hunt", I can activate Trophy Egg from my Deck and destroy Easter Egg Scavenger Hunt. Trophy Egg can activate the effects of the removed from play "Easter Egg" Continuous Spells, so now I choose to activate these: 1: I gain 500 Life Points (Kim 5450), 2: You lose 500 Life Points (Mr. Shadow 6750), 3: I draw a card, 4: You discard a card (discards Dark Nephthys), 5: I pay 1500 Life Points to draw 2 cards (Kim 3950), 6: I discard 2 cards to gain 1500 Life Points (Kim 5450), 7: I destroy Dark Crusader, I won't activate 8, 9: You lose 250 Life Points and I gain 250 Life Points (Kim 5700, Mr. Shadow 6500), and I won't activate 10. Now I special summon Easter Knight (ATK 2400) thanks to its ability: If I have at least 5 Easter Eggs removed from play, I can Special Summon this card from my hand. Now Easter Knight, attack his Armageddon Knight (Mr. Shadow 5500). I set a card and end my turn.

Mr. Shadow: You just made a big mistake. I draw. I summon The Dark Creator (ATK 2300). This card can be summoned because I have 5 DARK monsters in my grave (Dark General Freed, Dark Horus, Dark Crusader, Armageddon Knight, and Dark Nephthys) and I control no monsters. I activate its effect: I remove Armageddon Knight from the Graveyard in order to summon Dark Horus from the grave. Now that I have exactly 3 DARK monsters in the Graveyard, I can summon Dark Armed Dragon. Now I activate its effect: I remove Dark General Freed from play to destroy Trophy Egg.

Kim: I activate Trophy Egg Hatch. Since Trophy Egg was destroyed, I can summon Easter Baby Dragon (DEF 700) from my deck.

Mr. Shadow: I activate Dark Armed Dragon's effect to destroy Easter Baby Dragon by removing Dark Nephthys from play.

Kim: When Easter Baby Dragon is destroyed, since it was Special Summoned by "Trophy Egg Hatch", I can Special Summon Easter Dragon (ATK 2400) from my deck.

Mr. Shadow: This must be the last one. I remove Dark Crusader from play to destroy your Easter Dragon.

Kim: When Easter Dragon is destroyed, I can Special Summon Easter Ancient Dragon (DEF 3000) from my Deck.

Mr. Shadow: Sadly, I can't stop that one. Dark Horus, attack Easter Knight (Kim 5100). I think I'll end my turn.

Kim: I draw. I'll ... huh? I'll set a card and end my turn.

John: She must've set the Continuous Trap I gave her.

Mr. Shadow: I draw. Now I activate Foolish Burial.

Kim: In response I activate Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror. This card will stop the effects of your DARK monsters.

Mr. Shadow: When did you get that card? It must be your boyfriend's. I send Jinzo to the Graveyard. I end my turn.

Kim: He's not by boyfriend. I draw. I end my turn.

Mr. Shadow: I draw. I play Monster Reborn to bring back Jinzo. Jinzo negates the effect of the Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror because your Mirror can't negate Continuous effects. I end my turn.

Kim: It's my turn. I draw. Now I play Lightning Vortex: By discarding a card, all your monsters are destroyed. So now I summon Easter Egg Scouter (1600 ATK). Now thanks to Easter Ancient Dragon's ability, he gains ATK equal to Easter Ancient Dragon's ATK, which is 1550. Now I switch Easter Ancient Dragon into Attack mode (ATK 1550). Now I have my monsters attack you directly (Mr. Shadow 800). I end my turn.

Mr. Shadow: I draw. I activate Burial from a Different Dimension to return Armageddon Knight, Dark General Freed, and Dark Crusader back to the Graveyard. Now I remove my 7 DARK monsters in the grave from play (The 3 just returned, The Dark Creator, Jinzo, Dark Horus, and Dark Armed Dragon) in order to summon Rainbow Dark Dragon (ATK 4000). I attack your Easter Ancient Dragon with Rainbow Dark Dragon (Kim 2650). I end my turn.

Kim: I draw. I switch my Scouter to defense mode. I set a monster and end my turn.

Mr. Shadow: I draw. I'll have my Dragon attack your Scouter. I set a card and end my turn.

Kim: I draw. Now I play Fissure to get rid of Rainbow Dark Dragon. Now I flip summon my Easter Egg Scouter (ATK 1600). Now Easter Egg Scouter, attack.

Mr. Shadow: I activate Defense Draw. It cancels out the damage and I draw one card.

Kim: I end my turn.

Mr. Shadow: I draw. I activate Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy the Mirror. Now I summon Doomsday Horror. His ATK is equal to the number of removed from play DARK monsters times 300, and I believe there are 9 removed (Cyber Ouroboros, Armageddon Knight, Dark General Freed, Dark Nephthys, Dark Crusader, The Dark Creator, Dark Armed Dragon, Dark Horus, and Jinzo), so his ATK is 2700. Now Doomsday Horror attack the Scouter (Kim 1550). I end my turn.

Kim: I draw. I activate Smashing Ground to destroy Doomsday Horror.

Mr. Shadow: Now all the DARK monsters return to the Graveyard.

Kim: I set a card and end my turn.

Mr. Shadow: I draw. This is the end. I summon Promethius, King of the Shadows. I remove all 11 DARK monsters from my Graveyard in order to pump up his ATK to 5600. Now I attack with Promethius.

Kim: Now I activate my Trap card, Paths of Destiny. This card will determine whether you win or lose. I flip my coin. I get a Tails.

Mr. Shadow: Looks like my coin flip was a Tails too. We both take 2000 damage (Kim 0, Mr. Shadow 0).

Chapter 24 (Click to View)

"All right," said Mr. Shadow. "I didn't win, so he doesn't have to leave. But stay in the house."

"Alright then, dad," said Kim. "We'll be sure to stay here."

"Just know that I'm always watching you two," said Mr. Shadow. "Always."

"Okay," said Kim. "Hey, do you wan to see the cards I have?"

"Sure," said John. They walked into Kim's bedroom. "Wow, those are some big boxes of cards!"

"Actually, those aren't cards," said Kim. "Here is my box of cards."

"Cool," said John as he looked through the cards. "There are some really cool Warriors in here."

"If you want them, I'll be willing to trade them," said Kim.

"But I didn't bring any cards to trade," said John.

"Oh yeah?" aid Kim as she showed him the 3 Shadow-Imprisoning Mirrors.

"No, consider the Mirrors a gift," said John. "I really don't need them, but I know you could use them."

"Yeah, and I want 15 cards from that box to be a gift to you," said Kim.

"Really?" said John. Kim nodded yes. "You're so awesome!"

"No. You're awesome," said Kim. "This is the least I could do for you after you stood up to King Rogue, freed us, and gave me these 3 cards which helped me tie the duel with my dad. In fact, I also feel as though I owe you more for those deeds." She looked and saw John was looking through the cards. John picked out 15 cards from the box.

"Don't worry about it," said John. "Trust me, You don't owe me anything." He showed her the cards he picked.

"None of these are that rare," said Kim. "I thought you would go straight for the rarest cards."

"I would never take all your rarest cards," said John. "I couldn't ask for a better friend. Plus the cards I chose will help my deck."

"Thank you," said Kim. "I couldn't ask for a better friend either." Then there was silence.

"I see you added some cards to your Easter Egg deck," said John.

"Yes," said Kim. "Many of the cards that Walter gave me were 'Easter Egg' cards. You saw just how good my deck is now!"

"Yes, it's incredible," said John. Just then, he got a call on his cell phone. "Hello," said John as he answered the phone.

"There's a huge event going on at the park," said Chris. "Come quickly!"

"Okay, I'll see if I can be there. Alright then, bye," said John. Click! "Kim, do you want to go to the park?"

"Sure," said Kim. "I know that dad wont let me out of this house with my miniskirt on, so let me get jeans on. Please leave the room."

"All right then," said John as he left the room and shut the door. Wasn't she wearing jeans in school? Kim came out with jeans on.

"All right, let's just tell my dad we're leaving and we can go," said Kim. John and Kim walked over to Mr. Shadow. "Dad, we're leaving," said Kim.

"No you're-" said Mr. Shadow as he looked at Kim. "Wow, you actually changed into pants without me having to tell you. All right, but first let me have a word with junior over there."

"Yes?" asked John.

"Listen up kid," said John as he pulled John towards him. "Word has it that you put my daughter in danger. Apparently nothing bad happened to her, but something bad could have. So I'll give you a warning: if Kimberly over there comes home and something bad happened to her, we will have a violent talk."

"Don't worry," said John. "Kim will be fine." John walked out with Kim. "I can see why you don't have any male friends other than me and Chris."

"I don't have ANY friends other than you and Chris," said Kim.

"Well I know why you don't have any other male friends," said John. "He scared me half to death. How come you don't have female friends?"

"He intimidates EVERYONE he meets," said Kim. "It's just how protective he is of me. I figure he thinks he has to be extremely protective because my mom isn't here to protect me."

"I'm glad my mom only cares if I'm home by a certain time," said John. "Anyway, I hope you make friends at school Kim. Your dad may have control of the house, but he can't do anything to you at the card junkyard or at school. Now let's go to the park." John and Kim walked to the park. "Now let's go see that what that event is. It looks like it is over there." On the way,they saw Chris. "Hey Chris, what's up?"

"The event starts in a few minutes, so how about you two duel?" asked Chris. "I lost the interest to duel, so how about you two duel so I can get my interest back?"

"Sure thing, Chris," said Kim. "John, you stand here while I walk over there. I have enough confidence to use this deck against you, John."

"Alright," said Chris. "Alright guys, secure them up."

"Huh?" said John. Within a few seconds, their feet were shackled and their duel disk was each secured to a box. "What are you doing, Chris?"

"I want to see you two duel," said Chris. "You each have a box that shows your opponent's Life Points, deck size, and everything else. The shackles are so you don't go too far when you get hit with an attack."

"Also," said another guy, "when you take damage, you get an electric shock. When you lose, you will get shocked to death. The other person's box opens and gives them the key needed to unlock the shackles holding your feet."

"What? I don't remember THAT part of the agreement!" yelled Chris.

"Chris!" yelled John. "You little-"

"John, it's no use," said Kim. "Let's just duel and hopefully we can figure something out to save ourselves."

"I guess so," said John as he raised his Duel Disk. "Let's duel."

Chapter 25 (Click to View)

John: I'll go first. I draw. I summon The Immortal Bushi (ATK 1200). I play The A. Forces to boost his ATK by 200. That's all for now. Hand 4 Life 8000

Kim: I draw. I discard Dragon of the Many Eggs to search "Easter Egg Scavenger Hunt" from my deck to my hand. Now I activate Easter Egg Scavenger Hunt. With its effect I can activate Easter Egg 8 from my deck. No I activate its effect to destroy The A. Forces. Now I summon Easter Egg Scouter (ATK 1600). With its effect, I can add Easter Egg 1 from my deck to my hand. Now I can activate it and its effect: I gain 500 Life Points (Kim 8500). Now Scouter destroy Immortal Bushi (John 7600).

John: Huh? That tickles. The electric shock didn't feel bad at all.

Kim: I end my turn. Hand 5 Kim 8500

John: I draw. I summon The Immortal Bushi from the Graveyard in Attack Mode. Now I summon my Speed Warrior (ATK 900). Speed Warrior's original ATK doubles during the Battle Phase of the turn it is Normal Summoned. Now Speed Warrior attack the Egg Scouter (Kim 8300).

Kim: Wow, I felt a little tickle.

John: I now attack with The Immortal Bushi (Kim 7100).

Kim: That was another tickle.

John: I set a card and end my turn. Hand 3 Life 7600

Kim: I draw. I activate my Easter Egg 1's ability: I gain 500 Life Points (Kim 7600). Now I activate Easter Egg 8's ability: I destroy your face-down.

John: Not if I activate my face-down, Jar of Greed. So I draw a card. Maybe, if we end this duel in a draw, we'll be able to escape. I bet you're thinking the same thing, Kim.

Kim: Now I remove Easter Egg 8 from play and I activate Miraculous Egg Emergence. I send Easter Egg 1 to the Graveyard and send this card to the graveyard. Now I activate Easter Eggs 1,2, 3, 4, and 5. Now I activate their effects: 1: I gain 500 Life Points (Kim 8100), 2: You lose 500 Life Points (7100), 3: I draw a card, 4: You discard a card, and 5: I pay 1500 Life Points to draw 2 cards (Kim 6600). Hey, ow, that shock felt like a pinch. Why did I get hurt?

Chris: It's because whenever you lose life points, you get a shock and, the lower your life points are, the stronger the shocks are. Also, don't discuss any plans of escaping alive or anything, or else this gang will have your heads.

Kim: I summon my Dragon of the Many Eggs (ATK 2100). I attack your Speed Warrior (John 5900).

John: Ow, that attack hurt.

Kim: I end my turn. My "Easter Egg" Continuous Spells are removed from play. Also I discard a card in order to go down to 6 cards. Hand 6 Life 6600

John: I draw. Now I activate Reinforcement of the Army in order to get Exiled Force from my Deck. Now I summon it and sacrifice it in order to destroy the Dragon of the Many Eggs. Now I attack you directly with The Immortal Bushi (Kim 5400).

Kim: Ow, this is starting to hurt.

John: I set a card and end my turn. Hand 2 Life 5900

Kim: I draw. I summon Easter Egg Scouter. Now I activate Easter Egg 2 from the Deck and I activate its effect: You lose 500 Life Points (John 5400). Now I activate Miraculous Egg Emergence and send to the graveyard itself and Easter Egg 2 in order to activate Easter Eggs 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10. Now I activate Easter Egg Scouter's effect: it adds Easter Egg 9 to my hand. First I'll activate Easter Egg 10's effect, which allows me to Special Summon another Easter Egg Scouter from my hand in exchange that you can special summon a Level 2 monster from your deck.

John: I choose Mystic Swordsman LV2 (ATK 900).

Kim: Very well. Now I activate the effect of Easter Egg Scouter, which adds another Easter Egg 6 to my hand. Now I activate the card's effects: 6: I discard 2 Easter Egg cards in order to gain 1500 Life Points (Kim 6900), 7: I destroy your Immortal Bushi, 8: I destroy your face-down.

John: Not quite. It's Shrink. It will halve the original ATK of one of your Scouters for this turn (Easter Egg Scouter 800 ATK).

Kim: Anyway, now I activate Easter Egg 9: I gain 250 Life Points and you lose 250 (Kim 7150, John 5150) I attack with the 1600 ATK Easter Egg Scouter. Destroy the Mystic Swordsman (John 4450). Now I attack with the 800 ATK Scouter (John 3650).

John: AGGGH! Wow, now it's really starting to hurt.

Kim: I end my turn. Hand 4 Life 7150

John: You act as though you don't care that the electricity is hurting me. You act as though this is just a friendly card game. One of us could DIE!

Kim: Trust in your Deck and we'll be able to escape.

John: I draw. I choose not to resurrect my Bushi this time because I'm summoning the Fiend Megacyber (ATK 2200). It can be Special Summoned when you have 2 more monsters than me. Now I summon Command Knight (ATK 1200). It powers up the Warriors I control by 400 points. I activate Fissure to destroy an Egg Scouter. Now I attack your Egg Scouter with The Fiend Megacyber (Kim 6150). Now I attack directly with Command Knight (Kim 4550). I end my turn. Hand 0 Life 3650.

Kim: I draw. Now I activate Scavenger Hunt Complete! It can only be activated when I have 10 "Easter Egg" Continuous Spells from play by "Easter Egg Scavenger Hunt." All the cards removed by "Miraculous Egg Emergence" are treated as being removed by "Easter Egg Scavenger Hunt." Now I can activate Trophy Egg from my deck and destroy Easter Egg Scavenger Hunt! Trophy Egg can activate the effect of every "Easter Egg" Continuous Spell removed from play, and since I have 1 of each, I can activate each ability once. However, since there are 2 Easter Egg 8s removed from play, it can be activated twice. Now I activate as many of the effects of the removed from play Eggs as I want: 1: I gain 500 Life Points (Kim 5050), 2: You lose 500 Life Points (John 3150), 3: I draw a card, 5: I pay 1500 Life Points to draw 2 cards (Kim 3550), 6: I discard 2 cards to gain 1500 Life Points (Kim 5050), 7: I destroy the Fiend Megacyber, 9: I gain 250 Life Points, you lose 250 Life Points (Kim 5300, John 2900), and I set a card and end my turn. Hand 5 Life 5300

John: I draw. I summon Mataza the Zapper (1300 ATK). He gains 400 ATK thanks to Command Knight and can attack twice. I attack with my Command Knight (Kim 3700). Now I'll attack with Mataza once (Kim 2000).

Kim: AGGGH! This really hurts!

John: I almost can't bear to see her in this much pain, but I have to do it in order for my plan to work. Mataza, attack once more (Kim 300). I end my turn. Hand 0 John 2900.

Kim: AGGGH! This pain, it feels, it feels, ... exhilarating! I've never felt this way before. I activate the effects of Trophy Egg: I gain 500 Life Points (Kim 800), 2: You lose 500 Life Points (John 2400), 3: I draw a card, 7: I destroy Command Knight, 9: I gain 250 Life Points and you lose 250 Life Points (Kim 1050, John 2150). Now I Special Summon Easter Knight thanks to its ability, which I'm sure you know. Now Easter Knight attack Mataza (John 1050).

John: AGGGH! It hurts so much!

Kim: I end my turn.

John: I think there might be a card in my Deck that will get me out of this situation, but I don't think there is such a card in my deck. I draw. The Paths of Destiny. This card will help us out in this situation. Since I know that you'll destroy my Bushi, I'm not bringing it back. Instead I'll set a card and end my turn.

Kim: I draw.

John: I activate Paths of Destiny. If either or both of us gets a Tails, its game over. Now let's flip the coins.

Kim: I got Tails.

John: But I got heads. Oh no! (John 3050, Kim 0)

Chapters 26-38 are in Post #6.

[Mystery Guest]

Chapter 26 (Click to View)

"Now here comes the electricity. Brace yourself Kim," said Chris as the electricity started running through her body.

"OOOOOOWWW!" Kim screamed. "It hurts!"

"Kim!" yelled John. Then the box in front of him opened. There was a key inside. He unlocked the shackles on his feet. hen he ran over to Kim and tried to unlock Kim's locks.

"That's not gonna work!" said Chris. "Those shackles have different keyholes." Click! The shackles opened.

"Different keyholes, yeah right," said John as he unlocked Kim's shackles and pulled her away from them. "Kim, are you alright?"

"Oh. Yeah John. I'm fine," said Kim. "My body still hurts after that duel, but otherwise I'm fine."

"Good!" said John. "Let's go home."

"Wait!" said Kim. "Bring me over to Chris; I would like to talk to him. I'd walk over there myself if I could. Oh, and don't worry about dragging my shoes on the ground."

"Sure thing Kim," said John. "I would like to talk to him too." John brought Kim over to Chris,who was arguing with the gang member.

"I told you to use different sets of shackles!" said Chris.

"I told you, Walter said I could only borrow one set," said the gang member. "Just be glad that I knew a gang of kids other than Walter's and that I knew a locksmith that could make another key. Otherwise this duel wouldn't have been possible. So don't hassle me or I'll reveal to the two duelists your TRUE intentions!"

"Hey, Chris!" said Kim, angrily. "I wanted to talk to you about the duel!"

"Oh my," said the gang member. "You're the girl I captured when Walter's gang was under the control of King Rogue. I am so sorry for everything that happened to you when we ambushed you! hope you can accept this apology and forgive me."

"Apology accepted," said Kim. "I can tell hat you regret everything that happened that day."

"So what did you want to talk about?" said Chris.

"You know what I want to talk about!" yelled Kim. "There was no event here! There aren't even other people here except for the gang that hooked us up to the shackles. And I can tell that they also laced a little shocker on the side of the duel disk that shocked us when we lost life. I just can't believe that you set all this up! What were you thinking?"

"I didn't want to hurt both of you!" said Chris.

"You lie!" said John.

"No, he isn't lying!" said Kim. "He was telling the truth when he said he wouldn't try to hurt BOTH of us. But he was trying to kill ONE of us."

"Who did you try to kill, Chris?" said John. "Me or Kim?"

"What do you mean!" yelled Chris. "I just wanted to see a duel and get inspiration! I didn't know about the shockers! Just stop hassling me John! You know what, I'm out! See ya!"

"That didn't give us what I wanted to know," said John. "Let's go Kim!" John slowly walked while dragging Kim along. Her feet were dragging on the ground, but she didn't seem to care. After 2 blocks of walking towards Kim's house, John stopped. "I can't go much further, Kim. I'm sorry, but I'm so tired."

"That's okay," said Kim. "You brought me very close to my house. I thank you very much for that. I think I can walk a little now. No wait, my legs still hurt. Let's rest until we restore our energy." 5 minutes later, a hooded figure appeared around the corner.

"Looks like you still have the girl with you, John," said the hooded figure. It had the same voice as last time. "But now you are weak; you cannot beat me in a duel in this time!"

"Oh yeah?" said John. "Let's see about that!"

"No John," said Kim. "Please! Don't do this for me! Let me duel him instead!"

"You can't even stand up," said John. "I don't want you to push yourself too hard, especially after that last shock."

"I don't want you to push yourself either," said Kim. "Please. Let me repay you for everything you have done for me."

"You already have," said John. "Anyway, that maniac seems to go after you. You must be important to you somehow. Dueling him isn't really something I want to do, but I feel I have to duel him. To protect you from him. I'll duel him and win. I promise."

"Thanks John," said Kim. "I will repay you for everything you have done for me somehow."

"You don't have to repay me, Kim," said John. "All right, hooded figure. I figure there's some kind of stakes for the duel. What are they?"

"If I win, Kim comes with me," said the figure. "If I lose, then I leave you two alone for now."

"I don't know why you go after Kim, but I'll agree to those terms," said John. "Duel!"

Chapter 27 (Click to View)

???: I'll go first. I draw. I summon Ancient Gear Knight (ATK 1800). I set a card and end my turn.

John: I'll go first. I draw. Now I summon Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke (ATK 1800). Now I play Double Summon to allow me to summon Command Knight (ATK 1200). Now Command Knight increases the ATK of my monsters by 400. Now I play The A. Forces, increasing each of my monsters' ATK by 400. Now Sasuke (ATK 2600), attack Ancient Gear Knight!

???: I activate my face-down, Book of Eclipse. This flips all of our monsters into face-down Defense position.

John: Alright then. I set a card and end my turn.

???: Now your monsters are flipped face-up and you draw a card for each. Now it's my turn. I draw. I flip summon Ancient Gear Knight and Gemini Summon him. Now Ancient Gear Knight, attack Sasuke. And thanks to Ancient Gear Knight's new ability, you can't activate Spells or Traps to stop it. I set 2 cards and end my turn.

John: I draw. I summon Comrade Swordsman of Landstar (ATK 500). Thanks to his ability, Command Knight's effect, and The A. Forces' effect, all my monsters get a total ATK boost of 1200. Now I switch my Command Knight to attack mode (ATK 2400) and have it attack your Ancient Gear Knight (??? 7400).

???: I activate Gemini Trap Hole. It now destroys your monsters.

John: I end my turn.

???: Alright. I draw. I activate Synthesis Spell, allowing me to tribute Chthonian Emperor Dragon from my hand to summon Lycanthrope (ATK 2400). Lycanthrope, attack! (John 5600). Now Lycanthrope deals 200 damage to you for each Normal monster in my graveyard, and that's 2. (John 5200) I end my turn.

John: I draw. I set a card and end my turn.

???: I draw. Lycanthrope, attack! (John 2800) Once again you take another 400 damage (John 2400).

John: AAAHHH! (John then fell to the ground.)

Kim: John! Are you okay? I'll help you get back up. Oh no, what's happening to your life points?

John: You accidentally hit the Surrender button on the duel disk. My Life Points will now go down to 0 and I will lose. (John 0, ??? 7400)

Chapter 28 (Click to View)

"John, I'm so sorry that I made you lose," said Kim.

"That's alright," said John. "I know you didn't mean to."

"Well, I hope you remember our deal, John," said the figure. "You lose, your girlfriend comes with me."

"Sorry Kim," said John. "I don't think I-" John fell unconscious. When he woke up, he was in the hospital. "Hey, where am I?"

"You're in the hospital, John," said his mom. "I found you unconscious on the street. Then, when I removed your duel disk, I saw an electrical burn mark, so I came here to see if anything in your body was damaged." A doctor walked into the room. "So, doctor, is there anything wrong with John?"

"Nothing too serious," said the doctor. "I will advise that you avoid any strenuous activity for a week though."

"Does that mean I can't go to Duel School?" asked John.

"I suppose that you can still go to school," said the doctor. "But do not participate in gym class or anything like that. After a week your body should be mostly healed."

"That's a relief!" said John.

"Yes it is," said Mrs. Legionary. "I'm glad that you're okay John. Now let's go home."

"Yeah," said John. "Let's go home." John stood up. "I don't think I can walk there, though."

"That's alright," said Mrs. Legionary. "I can carry you to the car." She picked John up, walked to the car, placed John in the back seat, and drove off. Mr. Shadow was waiting at the Legionary house. "What do you want?"

"My daughter never came home!" said Mr. Shadow. "I'm sure her disappearance has something to do with John."

"John, do you anything about where Kim is?" asked Mrs. Legionary.

"No, I don't," said John.

"Just leave us alone, Mr. Shadow," said Mrs. Legionary. "I just got home from bringing John to the hospital."

"Alright," said Mr. Shadow. "I'll go back to my house and wait for a few more hours. But I will come back and ask your son about everything he knows soon enough. Until then, bye." Mr. Shadow stormed off.

"That was weird," said Mrs. Legionary. "Anyway, I guess I'll have to carry you to bed now, John." Mrs. Legionary unlocked the door of the house, got John out of the back of the car, and carried him up to bed. "I hope you'll feel better in the morning, John."

"Yeah," said John. "I should probably just rest for the rest of the day." John then fell asleep. The next day, he woke up and tried to stand up. Well, at least standing up doesn't hurt as much as yesterday. John then walked downstairs. At least walking doesn't hurt that much either. John saw his breakfast already prepared.

"How do you feel today, John?" asked his mom.

"I feel a bit better," said John. "It still hurts to walk, but the pain is bearable now."

"All right then," said his mom. "Sounds like you'll need a ride to school. Eat your breakfast quickly or you'll be late." John ate his breakfast. "Can you walk to the car okay?"

"Yeah," said John as he stood up. He put on his duel disk, put on his backpack, put 5 notebooks and some pens in it, and walked out the door. He then closed the door and walked to the car. He put on his seat belt and was brought to school. He then walked to the classroom and walked in. No Chris. Wow, this is getting weirder and weirder. I hope nobody else goes missing. Then the bell rang. John sat at a seat when Mr. Clock walked in.

"All right students," said Mr. Clock. "It looks like 2 students are absent. It look like they are Chris and Craig. Anyway, today I would like to start with gym class. Everybody let's go to the gym."

"Mr. Clock," said John. "I really can't go to the gym. Yesterday I was in a duel where I was electrically shocked and I ended up going to the hospital. The doctor said that I should avoid strenuous activity such as gym class."

"Very well," said Mr. Clock. "Just stay here for the gym time. Here's a paper of all the rules of gym. It isn't the entire gym lesson, but it's close. Okay everybody else, follow me to the gym."

"Alright. See ya Mr. Clock," said John. Why is Chris absent? Why is Craig? Do these absences have anything to do with Kim's disappearance? Is Kim alright? I really hope she is. It's kinda my fault that she's gone. Then another train of thought flew through John's head. Why did Chris have us participate in that electricity duel? I know he was trying to get rid of one of us, but who, and why? Was he trying to get rid of Kim? What kind of motive would he have to do that? But what kind of motive would he have to get rid of me? I think it might have something to do with Kim. hat if he likes Kim? hat if he likes Kim and I'm in the way of him going outwith her? What am I thinking! I'm not in the way! Kim and I are just friends. Wait, are we just friends? Does she really like me? Do I really like her? Does she ever think about any of this? My head is starting to hurt from all these questions. I should just think about one at a time. So I think the first question is, In that electrical duel, who did Chris want to kill, and why? John's thinking was cut off my a ghostly sound.

"Hey John, look up," said a voice. He looked up. There was a hooded figure in front of John, but this figure seemed somehow different from the other hooded figure. "Good. Now duel me, I mean the duelist standing in front of you."

"You're the one doing the voice," said John. "Alright then, but tell me who you are first."

My identity will remain a secret unless you beat me," said the figure, "but that is very unlikely. Not while I have the power of a God by my side!"

"Lets duel!" said John and the figure.

Chapter 29 (Click to View)

Hooded figure: I draw. I summon Pyramid Turtle (ATK 1200) and end my turn.

John: I draw. I summon Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke (ATK 1800). Now I'll equip it with Wicked-Breaking Flamberge by sending Marauding Captain from my hand to the Graveyard. This equip gives Sasuke a 500 ATK boost. Now Sasuke, attack Pyramid Turtle. (Hooded figure 6900) Also, the Flamberge negates your Turtle's ability. I set a card and end my turn.

Hooded figure: I draw. Also, I forgot to mention that this duel is a Soul Duel.

John: A Soul Duel!?

Hooded figure: Yes. Whoever loses the duel has their soul transformed into a card. And, unlike the Shadow Games, this transformation is irreversible! Anyway, I activate the card Call of the Mummy. With this card I can special summon a Zombie from my hand once per turn just as long as I have no monsters in play wen I special summon it, so I choose Double Coston in defense mode (DEF 1650). I set a monster and end my turn.

John: I draw. I summon my D.D. Warrior (ATK 1200). Now D.D. Warrior, attack his face-down monster.

Hooded figure: The monster is Morphing Jar, so we each discard our hand and draw 5 cards.

John: My D.D. Warrior and your Morphing Jar are removed from play because to D.D. Warrior's ability. Sasuke, destroy his Coston. I set 3 cads and end my turn.

Hooded figure: I draw. And now, you've sealed your fate! I activate Call of the Mummy to summon Mezuki (ATK 1700). Now I use Book of Life to special summon Double Coston (ATK 1700) from my graveyard. Now I activate Fiend's Sanctuary, special summoning a Metal Fiend Token (ATK 0). Now I tribute the 3 monsters for the God that will erase you. I summon Wicked God Eraser (ATK ????). I activate its effect: I can choose to destroy it. When it's destroyed, it destroys all other cards on the field. Now I set a card and end my turn.

John: I draw. I activate my Spell card, Monster Reborn.

Hooded figure: I activate Dark Deal. By paying 1000 Life Points (Hooded figure 5900), the effect of Monster Reborn becomes "Your opponent discards a card at random."

John: That means you discard your last card.

Hooded figure: Indeed. That card is Despair from the Dark, so I can summon it (ATK 2800).

John: I set a monster and end my turn.

Hooded figure: I draw. Despair, attack (destroys Disciple of the Forbidden Spell). I set a card and end my turn.

John: I draw. I summon Disciple of the Forbidden Spell. Since there is one in my graveyard, I choose an attribute, and if my monster attacks a monster of such Attribute, it destroys it immediately, so I choose DARK. Now I attack with Disciple to destroy Despair. I end my turn.

Hooded figure: Not yet. I activate A Deal with Dark Ruler. Since a Level 8 or higher monster I controlled was sent to the graveyard this turn, it allows me to summon Berserk Dragon (ATK 3500) from the Deck. Now its my turn. I draw. I activate Mezuki's effect in the Grave, allowing me to summon Despair from the Dark (ATK 2800) from my grave. Now I'll attack your Disciple with Berserk Dragon (John 6200) and you directly with Despair from the Dark (John 3400). I end my turn. Berserk Dragon's ATK decreases by 500.

John: I draw. I set a card and end my turn.

Hooded figure: I draw. I now attack you directly with my monsters.

John: I activate Mirror Force, allowing me to destroy both monsters.

Hooded figure: I end my turn.

John: I draw. I summon Mataza the Zapper. Mataza attack twice (Hooded figure 3300). I end my turn.

Hooded figure: I draw. I set a card and end my turn.

John: I draw. I summon Marauding Captain (ATK 1200). Now, before I destroy you, I want to know some things.

Hooded figure: I'll tell you before my soul disappears. Until then, you won't get any information.

John: I attack with Mataza and Marauding Captain.

Hooded figure: I activate Magic Cylinder on one Mataza attack (John 2000, Hooded figure 800).

John: I end my turn.

Hooded figure: I draw. I summon Royal Guard (ATK 1600). Now Royal Guard, attack Marauding Captain (John 1600). I now flip it face-down with its effect and end my turn.

John: I draw. I equip Mataza with Fusion Sword Murasame Blade. It increases Mataza's ATK by 800. Now I'll attack once to destroy Royal Guard and once to end you! (John 1600, Hooded figure 0)

Chapter 30 (Click to View)

"Tell me what I want to know!" said John.

"Sorry, the duel will steal my soul," said the hooded figure. "Unless I offer up THIS soul instead!" He held up The Wicked Eraser. "This card has the soul of the person I defeated!" It disappeared, then reappeared in John's hand. But this time the card was King's Knight. "Because I owned that soul, I could offer it in a duel instead of my own. However, I no longer have my Wicked God card."

"Tell me what I want to know!" said John. "I know that you aren't the same hooded figure that captured Kim. But at least tell me these things: who are you? Who are you working for? And why did you want my soul?"

"I'll tell you this," said the hooded figure. "You will face 2 more duelists like me. Each will have a different deck and a different Wicked God card. Those duels will be soul duels and you will have to win."

"Can't I just offer up this card's soul?" asked John.

"No. Only those with a Wicked God can do that," said the figure. "Also, the soul in that card is a boy named Craig Qwerty."

"What? Craig's soul in this card!?" asked John.

"Yes," said the figure. "Anyway, you will learn more as you beat the Wicked God duelists. Anyway, I have to leave. I doubt we'll ever meet again, John. See ya."

"Well that was weird," said John. "Anyway, I better read these rules about gym." A few minutes later, everybody came back.

"How was the time here, John?" asked Mr. Clock.

"It was alright," said John as he took off his duel disk. "Hey, do you know how to turn off the surrender option on the duel disk?"

"Let me see," said Mr. Clock as he took it from John's hands. "Ask Ryan after class. He might know how."

"Alright then," said John.

"Alright class," said Mr. Clock. "Let's start the day with math...." A few hours of class later (academic classes are generally uneventful, so I'll probably skip most of the academic part of school), the bell rang. John went to talk to Ryan.

"Hey, Ryan, do you know how to make it so I can't surrender on it?" asked John.

"Meet me outside this room in a few hours and we'll discuss it," said Ryan.

"Alright then," said John. A few hours later, he returned to the school. Instead of Ryan, there was another hooded figure. "Who are you?"

"I want your souls," said the hooded figure.

"You must be referring to Craig's soul as well as mine," said John. "Well you'll have to wager two souls for two souls in a duel against me."

"That's nothing," said the hooded figure. "You can't defeat my strategy because I have a God by my side. It's time to have a soul duel!"

Chapter 31 (Click to View)

Hooded figure: I draw. I activate Final Countdown. I pay 2000 Life Points (Hooded figure 6000) and, 20 turns from now, I win. I activate The Dark Door and set a card and a monster and end my turn. (FC 1)

John: I draw. I summon Elemental Hero Wildheart (ATK 1500). Wildheart, attack.

Hooded figure: Sorry, but my face-down monster is Marshmallon, which means it can't be destroyed in battle and you take 1000 damage (John 7000).

John: Alright then. I set a card and end my turn. (FC 2)

Hooded figure: I draw. I set a monster and end my turn. (FC 3)

John: I draw. I summon Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke (ATK 1800). I attack your Marshmallon with Sasuke.

Hooded figure: I activate my Trap card, Scrap-Iron Scarecrow. This negates your attack and gets re-set. Thanks to The Dark Door, you can't attack anymore this turn.

John: I end my turn. (FC 4)

Hooded figure: You're wasting your time. I draw. I set a card and a monster and end my turn. (FC 5)

John: I draw.

Hooded figure: I activate Tour of Doom. Now I flip a coin during each of your Standby Phases and its effect depends on the coin flip. The result is Heads, so you can't Normal Summon this turn.

John: Fine. I'll just set a card and end my turn. (FC 6)

Hooded figure: I draw. I tribute the 3 monsters I control to summon my God card, the legendary Wicked God Dreadroute (ATK 4000). This card halves the ATK and DEF of all other monsters on the field. I end my turn. (FC 7)

John: I draw. Before your Tour of Doom activates, I activate Mystical Space Typhoon from my hand on it. Now I change my monsters to defense position and end my turn. (FC 8)

Hooded figure: I draw. I switch my Dreadroute to defense mode and activate Lightning Vortex. This card destroys your face-up monsters. I end my turn. (FC 9)

John: I draw. I activate Fissure from my hand, destroying the Dreadroute. I summon The Immortal Bushi (ATK 1200). I end my turn. (FC 10)

Hooded figure: I draw. 10 turns have past already. Now I set a card and end my turn. (FC 11)

John: I draw. I end my turn. (FC 12)

Hooded figure: I draw. I set a card and end my turn. (FC 13)

John: I draw. I activate Reinforcement of the Army, allowing me to add Armed Samurai - Ben Kai from my deck to my hand. I summon Marauding Captain (ATK 1200) and Special Summon Armed Samurai - Ben Kai (DEF 800) in defense mode. I end my turn. (FC 14)

Hooded figure: I draw. I end my turn. (FC 15)

John: I draw. I end my turn. (FC 16)

Hooded figure: I draw. I end my turn. (FC 17)

John: I draw. I play Heavy Storm, blowing away all Spells and Traps on the field.

Hooded figure: I activate my 2 Pyro Clocks of Destiny, advancing the turn count (FC 19).

John: Now I play Card Destruction, discarding all the cards in my hand in order to draw a whole new hand of cards. Now I activate Prohibition, in order to stop Kuriboh from being used. Now I tribute my Immortal Bushi and Marauding Captain to summon Gilford the Legend (ATK 2600). Now his effect equips all equips in my Graveyard onto Ben Kai. Because of Card Destruction, that's 4, so I equip Fusion Sword Murasame Blade, Divine Sword - Phoenix Blade, Sword of Dragon's Soul, and Lightning Blade to my Samurai, so his attack goes to 3100. He can also attack 5 times, and because of Prohibition, Kuriboh can't stop him. Now Gilford attack! (Hooded figure 3200). Now Ben Kai attack 5 times!

Hooded figure: I discard 3 Arcana Force XIV - Temperance to prevent damage from the first 3 attacks.

John: But you still take enough damage to lose (Hooded figure 0).

Chapter 32 (Click to View)

"I offer up these 2 cards' souls!" shouted the figure as he held up The Wicked Dreadroot and Final Countdown. The cards disappeared, and Queen's Knight and Jack's Knight appeared in John's hand.

"Now answer my questions," said John. "Who souls are these? Who are you? Who are you working for? Who is planning all of this? Why does he or she want my soul? Tell me something!"

"Very well," said the hooded figure. "The soul of your friend Destiny is in the Queen's Knight card and the soul of your friend Ryan is in the Jack's Knight card."

"That can't be right," said John. "You were using Ryan's deck, but the first Soul Duelist wasn't using Craig's deck. Who are you?" asked John. He then ran towards the soul duelist and pulled back his hood. "No way." He saw Ryan in the hood. "Ryan? Is that you?"

"No it isn't," said the figure. "Your friend's soul is in the card, remember?"

"So who are you?" asked John.

"All the information will come together when you beat the Grand Leader," said the figure as he pulled up his hood. "Until then, you will get information piece by piece. The Grand Leader is the one who will try to take over this world with the help of the Gods. You happen to be a duelist, so we need to take your soul to complete the task. Anyway, I wish I could say more, I have to report back to the Grand Leader."

"This is just getting weirder and weirder," said John. "I'm sure that was Ryan, but there was something very different about him, besides the Wicked God part. Anyway, now I have Craig's, Destiny's, and Ryan's souls. I just hope I can reverse this soul thing or I'll never see them again. I wonder if Kim is tied up with this mess. I just hope she isn't. I hope she's okay." Why did I just say all that aloud when there's nobody around? Whatever. I think I'll see Walter's gang and try to get some information. John walked to the card junkyard and looked around. Weird. Nobody's here. But I know where to go. He climbed in a pile of cards and knocked on the gang's door. Walter opened the door.

"Hey John, didn't expect to see you here," said Walter. "What do you need?"

"I need information," said John.

"Sure thing," said Walter as he and John walked inside the gang's house to the "Gang Member Lounge." "Also, we got some more Egg cards. Your girlfriend might be able to use them."

"Kim's not my girlfriend," said John. "But she's gone missing. She was captured by the hooded guy who we met in the hallway."

"Oh yeah," said Walter. "HIM! He was a fellow who only appeared here when we captured a girl. Usually he only leaves us alone after a duel, but obviously Kim is too pretty for him to pass up," said Walter. "Other than that, we don't know anything about him." Walter unlocked the door to the room. There was a few chairs, a refrigerator, a freezer, a computer, and a few other things. "Sit down on the special chair, John. Now tell me what's on your mind."

"Well," said John. "Chris made Kim and I duel. Whenever one of us lost life points, we would get a shock, and when one of us won the duel, the other would get shocked to death. We were held by shackles, so we couldn't escape. Luckily, I could unlock Kim's shackles before she died."

"I was wondering why that kid asked for some shackles," said Walter. "That must be the reason."

"I know that Chris was trying to kill either me or Kim, I just don't know who," said John. "Anyway, I ended up losing a duel with the hooded guy because Kim accidentally made me surrender. He took Kim with him because that was the deal if I lost. I couldn't really fight because of my electrical burns. Now I don't know where Kim is. Also, to make matters worse, there are Soul Duelists trying to get my soul."

"Soul Duelists?" asked Walter.

"Yeah," said John. "They are hooded figure who face people in soul duels, where the loser's soul is transformed into a card. I've faced 2 so far, and each of them had a Wicked God card. When they lost, though, their Wicked God disappeared instead of their soul, and I got King's Knight on my first duel, and Queen's Knight and Jack's Knight on my second duel. They claim that Craig's soul is in King's Knight, Destiny's soul is in Queen's Knight, and Ryan's soul is in Jack's Knight."

"Who are these kids?" asked Walter.

"They're some kids I know at school," said John. "But the weirdest thing was, 2 hours before my second battle, Ryan asked me to see him. At that time, a Soul Duelist dueled me. He had the same deck as Ryan, except with a Wicked God in it. When I could take off his hood, he looked exactly like Ryan, but yet he seemed different. I tried to get information from the Soul Duelists. Here's what the Soul Duelists said:
1. The loser of the soul duel has their soul removed, unless a Soul Duelist sacrifices the Wicked God instead. Supposedly the Wicked God has the soul of a person they defeated. When I get the card though, it supposedly has the same soul in it, but is a different card.
2. This change from a person's soul to a card is irreversible.
3. Neither Chris nor Kim are in any of the 3 cards.
4. There will be one more soul duelist, and he will have the 3rd Wicked God.
5. Their leader is called Grand Leader. The Grand Leader apparently needs my soul to take over the world because I'm a duelist.
There are a few questions in my mind, though:
1. Why did the second one exactly like Ryan but the first one was nothing like Craig?
2. Is Ryan a soul duelist?
3. Are these soul duelists even telling the truth? and
4. Are Chris and Kim involved in this in any way?"

"Weird situation," said Walter. "Sadly I don't know anything about it at all, so I can't help you knowledge-wise. I can, however, supply you cards. Let's go to the Confiscated Stuff Room." They walked a few doors down and Walter unlocked the door. There were a few decks on the table. "A few gang members quit because the Rogue isn't leader anymore and I don't do as many bad things as the Rogue, so the rest of the gang took their decks and kicked them out. Just take all the cards you want while I turn the surrender option off on your duel disk."

"Thanks Walter," said John. "I'll be sure not to take too many cards, though. I'll only take the cards I need." After looking through the cards, he chose a few Warrior cards and all the Egg cards he could find.

"I finished fixing the duel disk," said Walter. "It no longer has the surrender option on it."

"Thanks," said John. "By the way, Walter, what does your gang do?"

"Well sometimes we ask duelists for their money," said Walter. "Then we challenge them to a game where we bet money. I often win and get their money. Also we hold people who we think should be punished in the chamber and take their decks. Then we sometimes auction off the rare cards. We use the money to sometimes get more cards, sometimes buy more stuff for the lounge, or we sometimes help out the town in some way. Either way, everyone's happy, except for the people who are captured. But don't worry, we don't treat the captured people that badly anymore. We now longer shackle them to the wall and we usually let them go after a few hours, and nothing as bad as what was done to Kim is ever done to anyone anymore."

"Sounds like this gang is actually quite helpful now," said John. "Anyway, thanks for your help, Walter."

"Sure thing," said Walter. "I'll also be sure to call you up if we get any information on the soul duelists."

"Thanks," said John as he walked out the door. I think I'll do some research on these Wicked Gods. John walked home and researched the Wicked Gods. He found a website that said this:

http://www.smallnews.com/Wicked_Gods
NEWSFLASH! The Wicked Gods are back!
These cards are all Level 10 DARK Fiend-type monsters. There are 3 Wicked Gods: The Wicked Eraser, The Wicked Dreadroot, and The Wicked Avatar. These 3 Gods are rivals to the Egyptian Gods. These 3 Gods were locked away for a revolt against the Egyptian Gods in an attempt to take over the world. Being sealed in a stone breakable only be one person seemed it would seal the Gods in the rock forever.
However, just as nothing lasts forever, it's easy to say the seal didn't last forever; it is rumored that some duelists, otherwise known as Soul Duelists, have unlocked the seal and challenge duelists in Soul Duels. The souls taken by these duels are transformed into cards. There is no way to reverse this effect as of right now. There seems to be a leader of the Soul Duelists, otherwise known as Grand Leader Soul Duelist, who must be the only one who can break the seal. This leader seems to want to rule a great empire with the Wicked Gods and needs many duelist souls.

Also, there were 2 links on the bottom of the page. John copied the page and clicked on both links. There was an article on each page. He clicked on the first one and it said this:

Old Power Rising?
People claim that there is a new gang moving in the city. They claim to be the Kingdom Clan. At first, it was just a single person. Then, the idea spread to another person, and then another, and then another, and now it is about 10 people in the gang. There are also posters going around about the Kingdom Clan. The word spreads fast, but it seems growth of the gang has stopped. The gang's intentions are unknown as of right now. Their current location is unknown as of now also. But perhaps what is most interesting is the fact that, in Atlantis, there was a group called the Kingdom Clan that tried to take over the government. These Kingdom Clan had an idea for a government that, many years after, was used and let Atlantis thrive. The Kingdom people were killed at the time of the coup, but they were considered heroes later. Let's just see what this Kingdom Clan has in store for us.

That doesn't involve me right now. Walter's gang isn't the Kingdom Clan, that's for sure. What's this other article about?

Hooded figure lookout
Look out everyone! There are hooded figures running around the city. Some will challenge you to a duel. In some of these duels, if you win the duel, then you get a card; if you lose, though, your soul is turned into a card. Just remember that there are other hooded figures out there in the streets, so be extra wary. Some of these figures may be members of the Kingdom Clan or other gangs, but try to avoid them all the same.

At least I learned something from the first two articles. This one really didn't have any new info. Anyway, now I know the past of the Wicked Gods. John then took out the Warriors he got from Walter's place and the 3 Knights. Strange, the cards won't tell me what to switch out anymore, but I think I now have the ability to tell what cards aren't working. I'll just put some of these Warriors in and take some out. But I won't use these 3 Knights. Or at least not yet. I'll use them when a face the Grand Leader. Then he realized that his mom wasn't there. Then the door opened.

"Hi John," said his mom. "I just needed to get some food for dinner. How was your day?"

"It was good," said John. "People seem to be disappearing though."

"Yeah, I heard," said Mrs. Legionary. "You'll have to be a bit more careful when outside from now on."

"Yeah, definitely," said John. A few hours later, John had dinner and, another few hours later, went to bed. In the morning, John woke up to the smell of breakfast. His mom was there with his breakfast.

"Eat up, John," said his mom. "Eat your breakfast and prepare for the day." John then ate his breakfast and finished all of his morning preparations.

"Let's go," said John, walking to the car.

"Alright," said his mom. he dropped John off at school. "Have a great day." John walked to his class and just barely made it in on time. Then somebody walked in the classroom, but it wasn't Mr. Clock.

"Students," said the man. "Your teacher isn't here today, so you will all be split up and sent to different classes today." All the students were separated into 4 groups of 4. "You four go to Mrs. Machina's class." John and the other students went to Mrs. Machina's class.

"You must be the students arriving from Mr. Clock's room," said Mrs. Machina. "Sit in the back. Do not disturb the class. Now students, based on the despicable performance on yesterday's card rulings test, I'm giving another today. I hope you all studied."

"What? How do you expect us to pass the second one when we didn't pass the first one?" asked one kid.

"Sit down and be quiet, student," said the teacher. "Also, it looks like Kim is missing. I guess she'll just get a 0 for it."

"That's not fair," said John as he stood up. "It isn't fair to assign a test when the kids didn't get what was being taught, especially if another test proves it. And it really isn't fair to not give a make-up test to an absent person when they come back."

"You stood to ME!?" yelled the teacher. "No student stands up to a teacher! Sit back down and take what you said or you'll be in trouble with Mr. Clock."

"How about we duel!" said John. "If I win, you do not assign a test today."

"Okay, but if you lose, then I tell Mr. Clock about what you did," said Mrs. Machina.

"Deal," said John as he raised his duel disk. "I know that Mr. Clock would think I did the right thing once he hears my side of the story."

"Then I'll be sure he doesn't hear it," said Mrs. Machina. "I'll tell you now that I've never lost a duel."

"Duel!" yelled Mrs. Machina and John.

Chapter 33 (Click to View)

Mrs. Machina: I draw. I summon Green Gadget (ATK 1400). his card lets me add a Red Gadget from my deck to my hand. Now I set 3 cards face-down and end my turn.

John: I draw. I'll set a monster and a face-down and end my turn.

Mrs. Machina: I draw. I summon Red Gadget (ATK 1300), which allows me to search Yellow Gadget out of my deck and add it to my hand. Now I activate my Ultimate Offering Continuous Trap. Using its effect, I can pay 500 Life Points to summon another monster from my hand, so I summon my Yellow Gadget (ATK 1200, Mrs. Machina 7500). With Yellow Gadget's ability, I can add Green Gadget to my hand. You know how the cycle goes. I'll activate my Offering 2 more times: once to summon Green Gadget (ATK 1400), and one to summon the Red Gadget added to my hand by Green Gadget (ATK 1300, Mrs. Machina 6500). Yellow Gadget is now added to my hand. Now I activate my a face-down card, Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy your face-down card.

John: I activate Threatening Roar. You cannot attack this turn.

Mrs. Machina: Fine. I'll set a card face-down and end my turn.

John: I draw. I set 2 cards and end my turn.

Mrs. Machina: Wait, I activate a face-down card, Dust Tornado. This destroys one of your set cards. (Destroys a Mirror Force). Now I draw. I activate Limiter Removal, doubling the ATK of all my Machines. Now Green Gadget, take out his monster. (Destroys Destiny Hero - Defender). Now Yellow Gadget, attack him directly!

John: I activate A Rival Appears. This card lets me special summon a monster from my hand whose Level is the same as any monster you control, so I special summon Ghost Gardna (DEF 1900).

Mrs. Machina: My monster's attack will blow up your Gardna (destroys Ghost Gardna).

John: Now my Ghost Gardna activates. Your Red Gadget's ATK is reduced by 1000.

Mrs. Machina: Now I'll have my 2 Red Gadgets (ATK 2600 and 1600) and my Green Gadget (ATK 2800) attack you directly! (John 1000) Oh no! My combo didn't work! That's supposed to be a One Turn Kill! I end my turn.

John: Now Limiter Removal's second ability activates; all your monsters are destroyed (destroys all 5 gadgets). Now I draw. I summon Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke (ATK 1800). Now I activate The A. Forces. This card increases Sasuke's ATK by 200. Now Sasuke, attack!

Mrs. Machina: I activate Ultimate Offering (Mrs. Machina 6000) to summon Yellow Gadget (ATK 1200). This allows me to add another Green Gadget to my hand.

John: I'll attack Yellow Gadget then (Mrs. Machina 5200). I'll set a card and end my turn.

Mrs. Machina: I draw. I summon Green Gadget (ATK 1400) and I'll use Ultimate Offering twice (Mrs. Machina 4200): Once to summon the Red Gadget searched out by Green Gadget, and one to summon the Yellow Gadget searched out by Red Gadget. Now I activate Future Fusion. This card summons a Fusion monster in two turns: All I have to do is send Fusion-Material from my deck to my Grave, so I choose Chimeratech Overdragon! I send to the grave Cyber Dragon, 3 Gear Golem the Moving Fortress, 3 Boot-Up Soldier - Dread Dynamo, 3 Heavy Mech Support Platform, and 3 Machanicalchaser. In two turns this duel is over! I end my turn.

John: I draw. I activate my face-down Reinforcement of the Army. his card lets me search out any Level 4 or lower Warrior monster from my deck to my hand, so I choose Command Knight. Now I play Command Knight (ATK 1200). Now both of my Warriors gain a total of 800 ATK. Now I'll have Command Knight (ATK 2000) attack Yellow Gadget and Sasuke (ATK 2600) attack Red Gadget (Mrs. Machina 2100). I set a card and end my turn.

Mrs. Machina: I draw. I set a card, switch my Green Gadget to defense mode, and end my turn.

John: I draw.

Mrs. Machina: I activate Waboku. You can't deal battle damage to me and my gadget can't be destroyed in battle this turn.

John: Sasuke, attack the Gadget! It is automatically destroyed because of Sasuke's effect. Now I'll set a card and end my turn.

Mrs. Machina: I draw. Now Chimeratech Overdragon comes into play. Now it destroys all other cards I control.

John: It was special summoned by Future Fusion. It will be destroyed too (destroys Mrs. Machina's whole field).

Mrs. Machina: Now I reveal the true power of this deck. I play Overload Fusion. I now fuse all the Machines in my Graveyard together (23 total) to summon Chimeratech Overdragon (ATK 18400). Now Chimeratech, attack his Sasuke!

John: I activate Dimension Wall. This card makes you take all the damage I would take from this battle (Mrs. Machina 0).

Chapter 34 (Click to View)

"How could I lose!" exclaimed Mrs. Machina. "This OTK deck never loses. I will beat you in a duel, John. This isn't the end of this!" John just sat back down in the back of this class. "Any way, class, there's no test. So now onto academics...." About 4 uneventful hours later, the lunch bell rang. "All right class, go to lunch. Except you John, you stay here!"

"What is it, Mrs. Machina!" said John.

"How dare you embarrass me in front of the class!" said Mrs. Machina. "You have no respect for teachers, do you!"

"I have no respect for duelists who expect respect from others without giving respect first," said John. "No matter ho much higher in position you are over somebody else, you always have to earn respect from others."

"I have a higher position than you students," said Mrs. Machina. "I can get you kids into trouble, so you have no choice but to respect me!"

"Wrong," said John. "You may get a subordinate's obedience, but you will never just get their respect. You always have to earn it. I'm sure that, as a duelist, you learned that you should always give respect to other duelists until they give you a reason not to respect them. A true duelist respects all their cards and every other duelists, and never treats them unfairly. The only reason you've never lost before is because you've never faced a true duelist before."

"Don't think I'll forget this!" said Mrs. Machina. "Don't think some speech will change me. I'll find a duelist to beat you, and I'll be sure you never recover from the loss! You'll see! YOU'LL SEE!"

"See ya, teacher," said John. John looked in the lunch room. Many students were missing. Okay, now this is getting too weird. How many soul duelists are there? I'm sure there can only be 3, because each has to have a Wicked God. Wait a minute, according to the other Soul Duelists, there are 3 Soul Duelists and the Grand Leader. So that means the last Soul Duelist has the last Wicked God. What does the Leader have? I'll figure it out when I duel him or her. Until then, I gotta watch out for the next soul duelist. I'm sure, however, that, not only are many of these absences caused by soul duels, but that I'm going to duel by the end of school today. Possibly in a soul duel. The end of lunch came and John started walking back to Mrs. Machina's class. As he was walking, he had a weird feeling. I'm not sure why, but I feel as though I should go to Mr. Clock's room. He walked to Mr. Clock's room and got there just in time.

"Okay, class, time for Duel Class," said the teacher. "Since John wanted to be a showoff, who wants to duel him first?"

"I will," said a class member. "Hey John, I remember you! You watched when I dueled Chris. You remember me, right?"

"Yeah, you run the Mind-Eater deck," said John.

"Yep," said Steve. "This time, I'm not running Skill Drain. It's time to duel!"

Chapter 35 (Click to View)

Steve: I’ll go first. I draw. I summon Mind-Eater Fish (ATK 2050). I’ll set a card and end my turn. Hand 4 Life 8000

John: I draw. I activate Reinforcement of the Army. This card allows me to add Spell Striker from my deck to my hand. Now I summon Comrade Swordsman of Landstar (Tuner, Level 3). Now I special summon Spell Striker (Level 3) from my hand with its effect by removing the Spell card in my Grave from play. Now I tune my Comrade Swordsman to my Spell Striker to summon Goyo Guardian (ATK 2800). Now I’ll have Goyo Guardian attack your Fish (Steve 7250). Now your Fish is summoned to my side of the field (DEF 1400). I’ll set 3 cards and end my turn. Hand 1 Life 8000

Steve: I draw. I set a card and activate Mind-Eater Deck Eater (Continuous Spell). Now I’ll summon Mind-Eater Serpent (Tuner, Level 3, ATK 1400 DEF 1200). Now I activate one of my face-downs, Mind-Eater Hand Equalizer (Continuous Trap). Now I’ll activate Mind-Eater Plague (Continuous Spell). Now my combo is set. I’ll activate the effect of Mind-Eater Hand Equalizer’s effect: once per turn while I control a Mind-Eater monster, I can send my hand to the Graveyard to send yours to the Graveyard. We each have one card, so that’s okay. I activate my face-down, Monster Reborn, to bring back the card I sent, Mind-Eater Wizard (ATK 3150). Now I can attack.

John: “Mind-Eater” monsters require you to send cards from your hand to the Graveyard in order to attack, and you have none, so you can’t attack.

Steve: Not quite. Thanks to my Deck Eater, if I ever need to send cards from my hand to the Graveyard, I can send cards from my deck instead. I’ll send 4 cards from my deck to have my Wizard take out my Fish. Now the end of the turn comes by and the Plague strikes: since each of us now have no cards in our hand, we each have to sacrifice a non-“Mind-Eater” monster. I have none, but you have to send your Goyo Guardian. I end my turn. Hand 0 Life 7250

John: I draw. I set a card and end my turn. Hand 0 Life 8000

Steve: Looks like you’ve given up. I’ll be sure to take you down quick. I draw. I activate Mind Refill, allowing me to draw a card for every Mind-Eater monster I control, so I can draw 2 cards. I now summon Mind-Eater Synchron (ATK 1200). With its effect I can summon Mind-Eater Fish in Defense position (DEF 1400). Now I activate another Mind Refill, so I draw 4 cards. Now I activate Double Summon, allowing me to tribute my Synchron and my Fish to summon Mind-Eater Whale (Level 9). Now I activate Mind-Eater Thought Bank (Continuous Spell). Now I’ll set a card and have my Serpent tune with my Whale. Current thoughts cause chaos in the world. Drain all thoughts and create thoughts of peace. Synchro Summon, show yourself, Mind-Eater Dragon! (ATK 4750) How do you like my Signer chant, John? I created it myself. Now my Serpent activates: since it was used for a Synchro Summon, I add all cards sent to the Graveyard by the Wizard to my hand. Now, because of my Dragon’s ability, I now my entire hand to the Graveyard. Now my Thought Bank activates: Since a card was sent from my hand to my Grave by a “Mind-Eater” card, this card gets a Thought counter (1 Thought Counter, max. 6). During my main phase, I can send this card to the grave to draw a number of cards equal to the number of Thought Counters on it. I won’t activate it now, though. First I’ll send 4 cards from my deck to the grave to have my Wizard attack you directly (John 4850). Thought Bank now gets another counter (Thought Counter 2). Now I’ll attack with the Dragon!

John: I activate Scrap-Iron Scarecrow. This card lets me stop an attack once per turn.

Steve: Alright then. At the end of my turn, my Dragon activates. Since I sent a total of 9 cards from my “hand” to the grave this turn, I draw half that number of cards, rounded up, so I draw 5. Now, because of Mind-Eater Synchron’s effect, since I special summoned a monster with its effect, I send a card from my deck to the graveyard. Now Thought Bank gets another counter (Thought Counter 3). I end my turn. Hand 5 Life 7250.

John: I draw. Perfect! I summon Destiny Hero – Defender (ATK 100). Now I equip Heart of Clear Water and my new card, Mask’s Restriction, to it. Heart of Clear Water will prevent it from destruction and Mask’s Restriction will prevent it from being Tributed.

Steve: So it’s just like an equip version of Mask of Restrict. That will prevent it from being tributed by Mind-Eater Plague. Really good move, John.

John: I end my turn. Hand 0 Life 4850.

Steve: I draw. Now I summon my Mind-Eater Thunderball (ATK 2250). I’ll send a card from my deck to my grave to have my Dragon attack your Defender.

John: I activate Weaking Radiance. Since you attacked a monster whose original ATK is 1000 or lower, all your Attack-position monsters are destroyed.

Steve: Good move, but I activate my Quick-Play spell, Book of Moon. This will flip my Dragon face-down, so it will be safe from your Radiance. Plus my Thought Bank still gets one more counter (Thought Counter 4). Now, during my main phase, I’ll flip it face-up again. I end my turn. Now my Dragon activates, so since 1 card was sent to the grave by Thunderball this turn, I can draw a card. Hand 5 Life 7250

John: I draw. I switch my Defender to defense position (DEF 2700). I set a card and end my turn. Hand 0 Life 4850

Steve: I draw. Thanks to Defender’s ability, I draw another card. I activate my Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy your Mask’s Restriction.

John: I’ll activate Dark Bribe. It negates your card and you draw a card.

Steve: Fine. I activate Call of the Eaten Mind. I draw 2 cards then send Mind-Eater Rat to the Graveyard, which allows my Thought Bank to get another counter (Thought Counters 5). Now I activate another Call of the Eaten Mind to draw another 2 cards and send Mind-Eater Lizard to the Graveyard, which puts another counter on Thought Bank (6). Now I send my Thought Bank to the Graveyard to draw 6 cards. Ugh! I don’t get why I can’t get to the card I need! But I’ll keep trying. I play Mind-Eater Emergence. With this I can Special Summon Mind-Eater Psychic (Level 7, ATK 2750) from my deck. However, I must send a number of cards equal to its level from my hand to the graveyard, but I’ll have the Deck-Eater take that many cards instead. Now I play Mind-Eater Usurer of Thoughts. Once per turn, I can use its effect to draw as many cards as Mind-Eater cards I control, and that is 6, so I draw 6 cards. I’ve found it! I activate Heavy Storm, destroying all Spells and Traps on the field. Now Mind-Eater Psychic, I send 2 cards from my hand to the Graveyard and pay 500 Life Points (Steve 6750). Now I’ll have my Dragon attack you directly! (John 100). I end my turn.

John: Now your Dragon’s ability will have you draw 6 cards, and you only have 3 left in your 60-card deck. You lose, Steve.

Chapter 36 (Click to View)

"Well it was a good duel, John," said Steve.

"Yes it was," said John. "Also, I liked that chant you made for Mind-Eater Dragon."

"I believe they call it a 'Signer Chant,'" said Steve. "They became popular because of the Signers themselves. Man I would so like to face a Signer in a duel."

"That would be cool," said John. "But I suppose facing Jaden Yuki should keep me satisfied."

"Are you saying you faced Jaden?" said Steve. "That is so cool!"

"He's lying," said Mrs. Machina. "He's just saying that!"

"Then explain why I have Jaden's duel disk," replied John. "To make a long story short, I faced Jaden in a duel, he won, and he gave me his duel disk."

"That must be a lie!" exclaimed Mrs. Machina. "There's no reason Jaden would face you in a duel!"

"You're just angry that I beat you ion a duel and stood up to you," said John. "Now you just want to see me defeated!"

"Does any other duelist want to duel John?" asked Mrs. Machina.

"No," said the class.

"But why not?" asked Mrs. Machina.

"We know we'll lose," said a student.

"Okay, fine," said Mrs. Machina. "If you don't want to duel, then we'll just study dueling strategies...." About 2 uneventful hours later, the bell rang. John went home. There was something a little off about the rooms in the house, though. There seemed to be a presence there, like that he was always being watched. No matter what he did, he couldn't shake the feeling. Then he turned around. There was nobody there, but then he looked forward again. The wall grew eyes and a mouth.

"What the heck is going on?" said John as he ran away, scared. No matter where John went, everything started growing eyes and a mouth. John then ran out of the house. Then two of the windows became eyes and part of the front side of the house formed into a mouth. Then the house opened its mouth and started to move. John ran forward and bumped into somebody. Then he looked up. It was another hooded figure. "Who are you?"

"If you think that I can mess with your mind now, just watch what will happen during the soul duel," said the hooded figure.

"Sure," said John. "I assume you want me to risk the 4 souls I have."

"Actually," said the figure. "The Grand Leader already has all the souls he needs, except yours. You only need to risk your soul and I will risk the soul in my Wicked God card, Mr. Clock's soul."

"Deal," said John. "Let's duel!"

"Yes, let's," said the soul duelist. "Oh, and trust me, the only thing that will be messing with your head is my dueling style!"

Chapter 37 (Click to View)

Hooded figure: I draw. I set a monster and end my turn.

John: I draw. I summon D.D. Survivor (ATK 1800). I'll have my D.D. Survivor attack your monster.

Hooded figure: Ha ha, big mistake. You attacked Big Eye, so I can look at the top 5 cards of my deck and put them back in any order I want.

John: I set a card and end my turn.

Hooded figure: I draw. Now I activate Upstart Goblin, which allows me to draw a card and you gain 1000 Life Points (John 9000). I activate my Continuous Spell, Convulsion of Nature. This card flips over our decks, so now we see the top cards of our decks and the top cards of our decks was actually oncethe bottom cards of the decks. Looks like my top card is Archfiend's Oath and yours is Marauding Captain. I set 2 cards and end my turn.

John: I draw. (top card Axe of Despair) I activate Reinforcement of the Army, allowing me to add Command Knight from my deck to my hand and shuffle my deck (Top card now The Warrior Returning Alive). I summon Marauding Captain, allowing me to Special Summon Command Knight (ATKs 1200). Command Knight gives each of my Warriors 400 ATK. So I'll have D.D. Survivor attack you directly.

Hooded figure: I activate Wall of Revealing Light. I pay 7000 Life Points (Hooded figure 1000) to stop any monster with 7000 ATK or less from attacking.

John: I end my turn.

Hooded figure: I draw. (top card Cup of Ace) I activate Archfiend's Oath. Now I summon Destiny Hero - Diamond Dude (ATK 1400). Now once per turn if the top card of my deck is a Normal Spell, I can send it to the grave and activate it next turn; if not, it gets sent to the bottom of the deck. Since the next card is a Normal Spell, it gets sent to the Graveyard (top card Gift Card). I end my turn.

John: Very well. I draw (top card Dark Bribe). I end my turn.

Hooded figure: I draw (top card The Eye of Truth). Now I activate Archfiend's Oath's ability: I pay 500 Life Points (Hooded figure 500) and a name a card and if my top card is that card, I can add it to my hand, so I'll name The Eye of Truth. What do you know, it's the top card, so it gets added to my hand (top card now Upstart Goblin). Now I activate the Cup of Ace in my Graveyard. I flip a coin, and the result is Heads, so I draw 2 cards (they are Upstart Goblin and Black Pendant, the new top card is Self-Destruct Button). Excellent.

John: Self-Destruct Button! Was that the plan all along? What happens if the duel results in a draw?

Hooded figure: I activate Upstart Goblin to draw a card and let you gain 1000 Life Points (John 10000). Now I activate Black Pendant on Diamond Dude, increasing his ATK to 1900. Now I activate Reversal Quiz. I send all cards on my field and hand to the graveyard, which means Convulsion of Nature is no longer in effect, so our decks are face-down again. Now I declare the type of a card, and if the top card is that type of card, our Life Points are exchanged. I already know the top card is Ceasefire, so I choose Trap. And it is! (Hooded figure 10000, John 500).

John: How did you know? Wait a minute.... (FLASHBACK: Hooded figure: Ha ha, big mistake. You attacked Big Eye, so I can look at the top 5 cards of my deck and put them back in any order I want.) He must have placed Ceasefire 3rd from the top, knowing that Convulsion would keep it there. He's good.

Hooded figure: Now activates the effect of Black Pendant: Since it was sent from the field to the Graveyard, you take 500 points of damage.

John: I activate Poison of the Old Man. This card lets me gain 1200 Life Points before your Pendant finishes me off (John 1200).

Hooded figure: I end my turn.

John: Well, this is my last turn to attack, unless I can stop Ceasefire. I draw. Excellent! I activate Tuning, a card that lets me add a Tuner monster from my deck to my hand and then send cards from my deck to the graveyard, so I'll add Comrade Swordsman of Landstar to my hand and ditch the top 3 cards of my deck to my Graveyard. Now I activate The Warrior Returning Alive, so I return one of the 3 cards sent to my hand, Marauding Captain. Now I summon Marauding Captain which allows me to summon Comrade Swordsman of Landstar (ATKs 1200 and 500). Comrade Swordsman and Command Knight give a total of 800 ATK to each of my Warriors, so I'll attack with all of them (1300+2000+2000+2000+2600=9900, Hooded figure 100). Oh no! You still have life points.

Hooded figure: It was a good try, but not good enough.

John: I end my turn.

Hooded figure: I draw. I set a card and end my turn.

John: Now I draw. Just what I needed.

Hooded figure: I activate Ceasefire. You now take 500 damage for very effect monster on the field, which totals up to 2500. You lose.

John: Not quite. I play Spell of Pain, which allows me to redirect the damage to you (Hooded figure 0, John 1200).

Chapter 38 (Click to View)

"I offer up the Wicked God Avatar's soul, Mr. Clock's soul!" said the hooded figure as he held up The Wicked Avatar. The card disappeared, and Arcana Knight Joker appeared in John's hand. "Now all you need is Polymerization, John. You are a great duelist, and you truly believe in your deck to win duels, but you are not good enough to beat the Grand Leader. But when you feel you can fight him, you can find him with this." A piece of paper appeared in John's hand. "This piece of paper tells you where the next piece of paper is, that one tells you where the next one is, and so on and so forth. There are a set of letters written on each paper which, when put together, spell the God's name. Also, the last piece of paper tells you you are there." John looked at his piece of paper. One side said GOD. The other side said:

Think out of the box
near a place that ticks and tocks.

"Well that's specific," said John. "There are millions of clocks in the city. And the word GOD, all GOD cards have GOD in their name!"

"Obelisk the Tormentor doesn't," said the figure. "And there is only one PLACE well known for a clock. Find it. Anyway, I have to go speak with the Grand Leader. But just so you don't follow me...." Some monsters broke through the ground and grabbed onto John's feet. "See ya." He walked off out of view. When he disappeared, so did the monsters.

"So the Grand Leader doesn't use Egyptian Gods," said John. What other Gods are there? There are Earthbound Gods, but I doubt that the Grand Leader uses Earthbound Gods. I just I'll just follow thse notes and figure out what it is. Now where is a place that is known for clocks? John walked around the city. Then he heard a huge DONG! DONG! That must be the clock at the clock tow..., duh, Clock Tower! John ran towards the clock tower. He noticed a box that he didn't see before. The clue said to look out of the box. After a few minutes of looking, he couldn't think of where else to look, so he opened the box. There was a note. It read:

You know John, the clue said 'out of the box' for a reason. Also the clues will have 3 sets of letters each on them because we want your soul as soon as possible. Now continue looking.

Then he noticed a piece of paper fell from a secret compartment on the side of the box. It must have opened when I opened the box. Interesting idea. The piece of paper said DR UL AI. Then he flipped the paper over. It said:

No more of these clues will have cheesy rhymes.
So think back to where you were in the good times.
Okay, that was purely coincidental.

Okay then, sounds like I need to go to the place where I had many good times. Well I had a lot of great times at my house, but I also have had great times at the card junkyard and the park. He went to the playground in the park. He noticed a sign. "Renaissance Fair this weekend, on Sunday at 12:00." Cool! I'm so there! But that isn't the information I need right now! Then he noticed another paper on a nearby tree. He ran towards the tree, pulled off the paper and read what it said: ATE ON EM. Then he turned it around. It said:

Go to the place of many a card
and quickly find the next note, you ret... uh, John.

Well, I know where to go here. He walked to the card junkyard. He looked throughout all the cards in the junkyard and there was still nothing. Then he was grabbed by somebody.

"Oh John, it's you," said Walter. "Alright, boys, let him go." His gang went back into the gang building."Anyway, we got something for you." He handed John the next note with a Polymerization taped to it. "I found it in the junkyard, but I think it's for you."

"Thanks Walter," said John. On one side the paper said: OW AG TIM. On the other side, it said:

There are some letters left out of the God's name.
You'd find them out if to our hut you came.

"Hey Walter," asked John. "Do you know of the Kingdom Clan?"

"Yeah," said Walter. "In fact, some of them are our prisoners. They're nothing but trouble."

"I have to find this hut that the Soul Duelists are referring to," said John. "See ya, Walter." John then went down every street he could find. Then he came across an ominous building. It was a pretty big house, kind of like a mansion, but it seemed to have its own darkness around it, like it was always nighttime here. John saw a note in front of the door. It said:

You arrived, John. Here are the missing letters: N R G B. Now open the door and duel the Grand Leader.

John opened the door. There were numerous human bodies all over the ground, including Craig's, Ryan's, Destiny's, and Mr. Clock's. But then one rose up in a huge cloak. He looked just like all the other Soul Duelists, except his hood had a crown on the top of it. "You must be the Grand Leader."

"You know it!" said the crowned figure. "So did you figure out the name of my God?"

"Nope," said John. "But I'll beat you in this duel all the same. But first tell me who you are and why you need the souls."

"I actually only needed your soul," said the Grand Leader. "I know that you are the only one who could stop me, and having your soul would be insurance that you can't. Now let's not waste any more time, shall we? Let's start our soul duel!"

"Fine!" said John. "But just give me a minute to recharge and prepare myself." He took Queen's Knight, King's Knight, Jack's Knight, Polymerization, and Arcana Knight Joker out of his pocket. I believe that you all will help me win this duel. Let's win this duel. He put them into his deck. "Alright, I'm ready for your soul duel!"

"Duel!" they shouted.

Chapters 39-54 are in Post #8.

[Crystal Beast 123]

Good new two chapters! 8.75/10

[Mystery Guest]

Chapter 39 (Click to View)

Grand Leader: I’ll go first. I draw. I summon Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus (ATK 1800). I activate his effect to put Crystal Beast Amber Mammoth into my Spell/Trap Zone. I set a card and end my turn.

John: That deck! Chris! You’re the Grand Leader!?

Grand Leader: I tried to kill you in the electric duel of death, but you escaped alive. None of the Soul Duelists could defeat you, but I will, because this deck has a few more tricks than you are aware of. But why prolong your loss with our words? It’s your move.

John: Fine Chris. I’ll be sure to free you from the darkness controlling you. I draw. I summon Elemental Hero Neos Alius (ATK 1900). Now Neos Alius, attack Sapphire Pegasus! (Grand Leader 7900).

Grand Leader: I activate my Pegasus’s ability: it is placed into my Spell/Trap Zone as a Continuous Spell.

John: I set a card and end my turn.

Grand Leader: At the end of your turn, I activate Hand Destruction. We now send 2 cards from our hands to the Graveyard and draw 2 cards. Now it’s my turn. I draw. I activate Crystal Blessing to place the 2 cards I sent to the Graveyard into my Spell/Trap Zone, and those cards are Topaz Tiger and Ruby Carbuncle. Now I activate Crystal Promise, so I can Special Summon Ruby Carbuncle (ATK 300). Now I activate its effect: I can summon all the Crystal Beasts in my Spell/Trap Zone, so I summon Topaz Tiger, Amber Mammoth, and Sapphire Pegasus (1600, 1700, and 1800 ATK, respectively.) Now I activate Pegasus’s ability to place Cobalt Eagle from my deck into my Spell/Trap Zone. Now I tribute my Amber Mammoth to summon Kuraz the Light Monarch (2400 ATK). Since he was Normal Summoned, I can destroy 2 cards on the field and the controller can draw a card for each one.

John: Oh no! That means-

Grand Leader: That’s right. I destroy Ruby Carbuncle and Sapphire Pegasus. Not only are they crystallized, but I can draw 2 cards. Now I activate Rare Value. You choose a Crystal Beast in my Spell/Trap Zone and it is destroyed and I draw 2 cards. Choose.

John: Very well. I choose Ruby Carbuncle.

Grand Leader: Alright then. I attack with Topaz Tiger. Topaz Tiger’s ATK increases by 400 when it attacks an opponent’s monster. (John 7900). Kuraz can’t attack this turn, so you’re spared. I set a card and end my turn.

John: I draw. I activate Reinforcement of the Army so I can add Comrade Swordsman of Landstar to my hand. I summon Marauding Captain (Level 3) and use his effect to summon Comrade Swordsman (Level 3, Tuner). I now tune my 2 monsters to summon Goyo Guardian (ATK 2800). Now Goyo, attack Kuraz (Grand Leader 7500). Now Kuraz is summoned to my side of the field in Defense mode (DEF 1000). Now I activate its effect to destroy itself and Topaz Tiger. We each draw a card.

Grand Leader: My Tiger gets crystallized.

John: I set a card and end my turn.

Grand Leader: I draw. I activate my face-down, another Hand Destruction, so now we each send another 2 cards from our hands to the Graveyard and draw 2 cards. Now I have Topaz Tiger, Sapphire Pegasus, and Cobalt Eagle in my Spell/Trap Zone and Amber Mammoth, Ruby Carbuncle, and now Emerald Tortoise and Amethyst Cat in my Graveyard. This means I can summon my God monster!

John: You can’t mean-

Grand Leader: That’s right! I summon Ultimate Gem God Rainbow Dragon (ATK 4000).

John: Oh no! That’s what I would be saying if I didn’t activate Bottomless Trap Hole. Now your Dragon is removed from play.

Grand Leader: Oh, and you think that was my strategy? You’ve got a lot to learn. I activate Monster Reborn to bring back Amber Mammoth (ATK 1700). I tribute him to summon Gravi-Crush Dragon (ATK 2400). Now I activate his effect: I send Cobalt Eagle to the Graveyard to destroy Goyo Guardian. Now Gravi-Crush, attack directly (John 5500). I set 2 cards and end my turn.

John: I draw. I set a monster and end my turn.

Grand Leader: I draw. I Crystal Promise to summon Sapphire Pegasus from my Spell/Trap Zone (ATK 1800). I place Amber Mammoth from my deck into my Spell/Trap Zone. Now I send it to the Graveyard for my Gravi-Crush’s ability to destroy your face-down monster. Now I tribute my Pegasus for Magna-Slash Dragon (ATK 2400). Now I activate Ojama Trio and chain Counter Gem. Now I send all cards in my Spell/Trap Zones to the Graveyard to place 4 Crystal Beasts from my Graveyard into my Spell/Trap Zones. Now you get 3 Ojama tokens (DEF 1000). They won’t be around for long, because I send a Crystal Beast to the Grave to destroy your face-down. Now I send my 3 other Crystals to the Grave to destroy your Ojama Tokens. Now you take 300 damage for every one of them (John 4600). Game over. I attack directly with Gravi-Crush Dragon (John 2200).

John: You dealt Battle Damage to me while I had an empty field, a big mistake, because now I can summon Gorz the Emissary of Darkness (ATK 2700). Now an Emissary token comes into play with as many ATK points as the damage dealt to me (ATK 2400).

Grand Leader: I end my turn.

John: Good. I draw. I summon my Exiled Force and tribute it to destroy Gravi-Crush. Now I’ll have Gorz attack Magna-Slash and Emissary token to attack you directly (Grand Leader 4800). I end my turn.

Grand Leader: I draw. I summon Crystal Beast Topaz Tiger and I’ll equip it with Crystal Release to boost its ATK by 800. Topaz Tiger, attack Gorz. Topaz Tiger’s ATK increases by 400 when it attacks an opponent’s monster (Total ATK 2800, John 2100). I end my turn.

John: I draw. I activate Monster Reborn to bring back Goyo Guardian (ATK 2800). Goyo Guardian, attack his Tiger (Grand Leader 4400).

Grand Leader: I activate both Topaz Tiger and Crystal Release, so I can place both my Topaz Tiger and an Amber Mammoth in my deck into my Spell/Trap Zone.

John: I end my turn.

Grand Leader: I draw. I summon Rescue Cat. I tribute it to summon 2 Crystal Beast Amethyst Cats from my deck (ATK 1200 each.) I activate Crystal Beacon to summon Amber Mammoth from my deck (DEF 1600). I attack directly with both my Amethyst Cats, but they only deal half battle damage (John 900). I end my turn. Now my Amethyst Cats are destroyed and placed into my Spell/Trap Zones.

John: I draw. I’ll have my Emissary token attack your Mammoth.

Grand Leader: I’ll place it in my Graveyard.

John: I figure you’d do that. Now I play Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy your Amethyst Crystal. I end my turn.

Grand Leader: I draw. I set a card and end my turn.

John: I draw. I attack with my Emissary token.

Grand Leader: I activate Sakuretsu Armor on it.

John: I end my turn.

Grand Leader: I draw. I summon Emerald Toirtoise (ATK 600). Now Tortoise, attack John directly (John 300). I activate Emerald Tortoise’s effect to change it to Defense position. I end my turn.

John: I draw. I summon Queen’s Knight (ATK 1500). I set a card and end my turn.

Grand Leader: I draw. I activate Crystal Blessing to bring back a Crystal from my Grave into my Spell/Trap Zone. Now I activate Crystal Abundance.

John: I activate Dark Bribe. You lose all your Continuous Spells and your card is negated, but you get to draw a card.

Grand Leader: I end my turn.

John: I draw. I summon King’s Knight (ATK 1600). Since Queen’s Knight was on the field when King’s Knight was Normal Summoned, I can summon Jack’s Knight from my deck (ATK 1900). Now I activate the effect of Divine Sword – Phoenix Blade from my Graveyard: I now remove 2 Warriors in my Grave from play to return it to my hand. Now I equip it onto Jack’s Knight to increase his ATK to 2200. Now I’ll have my Jack’s Knight attack your Tortoise, now I’ll have my other monsters attack you directly (Grand Leader 1300). I end my turn.

Grand Leader: I draw. I set a card and end my turn.

John: I draw. I activate Polymerization, fusing my 3 Knights together to summon Arcana Knight Joker (ATK 3800). Now I’ll return my Phoenix Blade to my hand again using its effect. Now I’ll have my Arcana Knight Joker attack you directly! Game over!

Grand Leader: Not if my face-down has anything to say about it. I activate Book of Moon to flip it face-down.

John: I activate my Knight’s ability: if it is targeted by a Spell card, I can discard a Spell card to negate the targeting card. Now my Knight’s attack can continue (Grand Leader 0).

Chapter 40 (Click to View)

"Grand Leader," said John. "How do I bring back the people's souls?"

"Just place the card in their hand," said the Grand Leader. "Also, here's one more soul!" He tossed over the Rainbow Dragon card. Then he fell to the ground.

"I guess this means Chris's soul is trapped in the Rainbow Dragon card," said John. John then walked over to Chris's body and placed the Rainbow Dragon into Chris's hand. Then Chris woke up.

"John, I'm sorry for what happened," said Chris. "Let me explain the situation." John could feel that Chris's dark aura was gone, so John nodded. "First, I came across the Wicked Gods in my house. They were sealed away. They said that only I could break the seal, using the 3 Shadow-Imprisoning Mirrors. They told me I was destined to rule the world and that they would help me. They also told me that the 3 Shadow-Imprisoning Mirrors were with Kim and that you could be a threat to the plans they had for me, so they had me set up the electric duel between you two. After you won, though, I blacked out. I must have fallen under the Gods' control. I do remember unlocking the seal with the 3 Mirrors, but I don't remember how I got them. I don't remember anything after that, but it seems I became the ruler they said I would be, just not the way I wanted to be a ruler."

"That's okay," said John. Then he realized, he didn't feel pain from the electric duel anymore. His scars were still there, but not the pain. In your face, doctor. You said one week, it's only been a few days. Then John walked over to Mr. Clock and placed the Arcana Knight Joker card in his hand, King's Knight in Craig's hand, Jack's Knight in Ryan's hand, and Queen's Knight in Destiny's hand. Everyone woke up, except for Destiny.

"Thanks for saving us," said Mr. Clock. "We definitely owe you one. Also, we would each like to give you a card." Everybody handed back the cards that contained their souls. "You should get some rest, though, John."

"Yeah," said John. "But wait!" John took out Polymerization. All of a sudden, tons of souls appear from the card and go into every other person in the room. Then it appeared that 3 cards appeared on the altar. John walked towards it.

"John," said Chris, "Those cards are the Wicked Gods. We must seal them away again. These might help." He handed John the 3 Shadow-Imprisoning Mirrors.

"Actually, Chris," said John, "I think I'll keep these 3 Gods with me for now. I'm sure that they won't take me over." John pt the 3 Wicked God cards in his deck. Then he headed for the door when a thought came to his mind. Destiny didn't wake up. Then he felt some arms pulling his chest back and somebody kissing his cheek. It was Destiny.

"Thank you, John," said Destiny. "I don't know how I could ever thank you enough. Maybe another reading will do the trick!"

"No thanks," said John. "I already know what I have to do next. I have to-" John fainted.

When John woke up, he was in a dark realm. Then the 3 Wicked Gods appeared in front of him. "Tell me where we are!" yelled John.

"We are inside your mind," said the Wicked Gods. "As it turns out, we can't possess your body, we could only knock you unconscious. But we can take over your body if you can beat you at a game."

"First, tell me everything about the Soul Duelists, everything," yelled John. "Including why one of them was Ryan."

"If you beat us at the game, we'll tell you," said the Wicked Gods.

"What's the game?" said John.

"You have to make the seal to lock us away in your mind to beat us," said the Wicked Gods. "That will give you instructions on how to seal us away in real life. But it is unlikely that you'll seal us away in real life."

"Okay," said John. "How do I play?"

"There are seal parts throughout this world," said the Gods. "You need to find the pieces from all over this world and assemble them together. They fit together like a puzzle, only one way. It will make a cube shape with 3 card slots in it. Make the box in 3 of this world's days and you win. Otherwise, we win. The game starts now!"

Chapter 41 (Click to View)

Alright then, thought John. I have 3 days to find all the pieces of the box, figure out how it goes together, and build it all in 3 days. I guess I'll start looking now! John saw somebody and walked over to him. "Hi there," John said.

"Hello," said the stranger. "I bet you're searching for the puzzle pieces to build the box that seals the Gods away."

"Yes I am," said John. "How did you know?"

"I found a bag of puzzle pieces and tried to put them together, but they wouldn't make the cube that would seal the Gods away," said the man. "Rumor has it that there are 5 bags of puzzle pieces, each held by a person. Supposedly the one person with them all can build the puzzle that seals away the Gods. Also, the person who seals them away can also control them, for what I am told."

"Cool," said John. "It sounds like I'll have to win the bags from the other people. So will you just hand me the bag of puzzle pieces you have so I can win the others?"

"Not quite," said the man. "I would like to test your skill. With a duel."

"But we don't have decks!" exclaimed John. "How do we duel?!"

"Every person who has a bag battles by different rules, but everyone will provide you with an appropriate Deck," said the man. "Your duel with me is going to be a Duel with Deck Masters. He is how we duel: First, we each randomly select a deck and pick a Deck Master randomly. Then we duel. Each Deck Master has a Special Ability that affects the duel. At any time, though, you can choose to summon your Deck Master to the field. If you do, though, you no longer can use the Deck Master ability and, if your Deck Master leaves play, you lose the duel. You interested in this idea?"

"Yeah," said John. "I've picked out my Deck and my Deck Master, and it appears my Deck Master is Ancient Gear Soldier. This means that, when a monster I control attacks, you cannot activate Spells or Traps until the end of the Damage Step."

"Very well," said the man. "I have Asura Priest as my Deck Master. This means that I can have one monster on my field attack every monster the opponent controls in exchange that it is the only monster that attacks."

"Duel!" they shouted.

Chapter 42 (Click to View)

John: I'll go first. I draw. I set a monster and end my turn.

Bag Holder 1: I draw. I summon Cyber Dragon (ATK 2100). Now I summon my Chainsaw Insect (ATK 2400). Now I'll have Chainsaw Insect destroy your face-down monster. However, you draw a card thanks to Chainsaw Insect's ability. Now I attack you directly with Cyber Dragon (John 5900). I set a card and end my turn.

John: I draw. I set a monster and 2 face-downs and end my turn.

Bag Holder 1: This duel will be over soon. I draw. I summon my Goblin Attack Force (ATK 2300). Now I summon Asura Priest (ATK 1700) from my Deckmaster Zone. Now I'll have Chainsaw Insect attack your monster.

John: Thanks to your Insect, I now get two bonuses: I draw a card thanks to Chainsaw's effect, and Ojama Blue's effect lets me add Ojama Green and Ojama Black to my hand.

Bag Holder 1: Too bad, your Life Points will go to 0 before you can use them. Goblin Attack Force, attack.

John: Not if my face-down has anything to say about it. I activate Card Defense: By discarding Ojamagic, I can negate your attack. Then I can draw a card. Now with Ojamagic's ability, I can add 1 of each of the 3 Normal Ojamas from my deck to my hand.

Bag Holder 1: Cyber Dragon and Asura Priest, let loose (John 2100). I couldn't destroy you this round, but I will next round. I activate Deckmaster Retreat. This allows my Asura Priest to go back into the Deckmaster Zone so I don't lose the game. I set a card and end my turn.

John: I've got no escape! I draw. This card will help me out. I activate Fissure, which allows me to destroy Cyber Dragon. Now I activate my Ojama Trio, which Special Summons 3 Ojama Tokens to your side of the field (DEF 1000). Now I activate my Polymerization, allowing me to fuse Ojama Yellow, Ojama Green, and Ojama Black so that I can summon Ojama King (ATK 0). Now I summon Ojama Red (ATK 0), allowing me to summon Ojama Yellow, Ojama Green, and Ojama Black (ATKs 0) from my hand. Now I play Ojama Country, which switches the original ATK and original DEF of all monsters on the field (Chainsaw Insect ATK 0, Goblin Attack Force ATK 0, Ojama Tokens DEF 0, Ojama King ATK 3000, other Ojamas ATK 1000). Now I play Ojamuscle, which lets my Ojama King destroy all other Ojamas on the field and gain 1000 ATK for each one, including the three Ojama tokens I placed on your field (ATK 10000). Now you take 900 damage from the Ojama tokens. Now I can finish you off. Based on the fact that I couldn't have won without your Insect's help, I think I'll let it live. I'll attack your Goblin Attack Force.

Bag Holder 1: Too bad. I activate my Magic Cylinder. Looks like the only one losing is-

John: You! Thanks to my Ancient Gear Soldier's ability, you cannot activate Trap cards until the end of the Damage Step. Magic Cylinder has no effect (Bag Holder 0).

Chapter 43 (Click to View)

"Well played," said the man. "Here is the bag of pieces I promised you."

"That duel was awesome," said John. "I never thought the Ojamas could win a duel, but they seemed to do pretty well. Anyway, I guess I should go win some more bags." John walked around this world for hours. This place is so strange, yet so familiar. After a few more hours, John came across a bag lying on the ground. It had the same design as the bag full of pieces. You could even see the pieces inside it. Well, that was easy. But perhaps TOO easy. John walked over to the bag. Then somebody pops up out of the ground.

"Ha," said the man. "Gotcha. Now you must beat me in a game of my choice, winner gets both bags."

"Sure thing," said John. "What's the game?"

"My game," said the ninja. "My game is a Speed Duel."

"A Speed Duel?" asked John.

"Yes," said the Bag Holder. "We each have only 10 cards in our decks, and we each only have 3 cards in our hand at the start, 3000 Life Points, 3 monster zones, and 3 Spell/Trap zones. Also, no Field Spells can be played, but none of the pre-made decks have field spells. So randomly choose your Deck."

"I have my Deck chosen," said John.

"Good," said the Bag Holder. "Let's duel!"

Chapter 44 (Click to View)

Bag holder 2: I'll go first. I draw. I summon my Chainsaw Insect (ATK 2400). I set a card and end my turn.

John: Fine. I draw-

Bag holder 2: Now I activate Minor Goblin Official. During every one of your Standby Phases, you take 500 damage (John 2500).

John: I set a monster and two cards face-down and end my turn.

Bag holder 2: Awesome. I draw. Now I tribute my Chainsaw Insect for Great Maju Garzett (ATK 4800). This card's ATK is equal to twice the tributed monster's ATK. Now I equip Big Bang Shot to my Great Maju Garzett (ATK 5200 total). Now I attack your face-down monster.

John: I activate Dimension Wall. This makes you take the damage for the battle. Lucky for you, my monster is Big Shield Gardna (DEF 2600), so you will only take 2600 damage (Bag holder 400).

Bag holder 2: I set a card and end my turn.

John: I draw (John 2000). I set a card and end my turn.

Bag holder 2: I draw. I summon my Enraged Battle Ox (ATK 1700). Now I'll have my Great Maju Garzett attack you directly.

John: I activate Mystical Space Typhoon, destroying your Big Bang Shot, which means your monster is removed from play.

Bag holder 2: I'll have Enraged Battle Ox attack you then.

John: I activate Zoma the Spirit, which means it is Special Summoned (DEF 400). If you destroy it by battle, you take damage equal to the destroying monster's ATK points.

Bag holder 2: I'll activate Shadow Spell on your Zoma to keep it in Defense mode. I end my turn.

John: I draw (John 1500). I set a card and end my turn.

Bag holder 2: I draw. I activate Mystical Space Typhoon, destroying your Zoma. Now I'll have Enraged Battle Ox attack you directly.

John: Now I activate Defense Draw. I take no battle damage and I draw a card.

Bag holder 2: I end my turn.

John: I draw (John 1000). I summon Card Trooper (ATK 400). Now I activate its effect: I send the 2 cards in my Deck to the Graveyard to have it gain 1000 ATK (1400 ATK). Now I'll have my Card Trooper attack Enraged Battle Ox.

Bag holder 2: What, did you just give up?

John: Nope. I activate Limiter Removal, which doubles my Card Trooper's ATK to 2800. Now I can destroy your Battle Ox and wipe out your last 400 Life Points (Bag holder 0).

Chapter 45 (Click to View)

"I win," said John. "Hand over your bag of pieces."

"Sure thing," said the bag holder. "You deserve it." He flipped a switch and a wall opened up. "That's your exit. See ya."

"See ya," said John as he placed the 10 cards on the table. He left the room. Hmmm, the sky is dark. I think I'll need a place to camp for the night. Good thing I have 2 days left to get the pieces and assemble them. but I need to find my place first. 10 minutes passed by. Oh, wow, I can't find a good place to hide and sleep. Strangely this place seems familiar, but I don't recognize it. Then he came across a blanket out in the open. Okay, this is too easy. This is obviously a trap. John figured that something would happen if he sleeps under the blanket. If I move the blanket about a mile and a half away, then nothing should happen. John removed the blanket from the ground. Nothing happened. Then John walked a mile and a half toward the desert. Then John fell to the ground asleep.
When John woke up, it was the morning. Good, nothing- then he saw his bags of pieces were missing. Oh no, my bags were stolen. John then walked to the location where he found the blanket. There was a hole in the ground. John jumped down the hole and a huge man with his bags of puzzle pieces. "Hey, you stole my puzzle pieces," yelled John. "Give them back!"

"No way," said the man. "You'll have to wager 2 bags in order to get your other 2 back."

"That's not fair, Greg," said a man in the shadows. "Give him back his 2 bags. In exchange, we'll each wager one bag and he'll duel both of us."

"Sounds good to me," said John. "I can take both of you on! Just give me 16000 Life Points instead of the usual 8000."

"Very well," said Bag holder 3. "Here are your bags back. Now randomly choose your Duel Runner for the 2-on-1 Turbo Duel."

"I've chosen my Duel Runner," said John. He chose a White Duel Runner while the Bag holders chose Black Duel Runners.

"Good," said Bag holder 4. "The Duel starts on Greg's turn, then goes to my turn, then your turn. I'll be the first player to gain a Speed Counter. Let's duel."

Chapter 46 (Click to View)

John: I'm ready. Wait, why are my Life Points at 8000? They're supposed to be at 16000, remember?

Bag holder 4: Oh yeah, right. Let me fix that. (A few minutes passed.) Okay, satisfied? I got a call that I have to go soon, so I adjusted mine and Greg's points to 4000 each.

Bag holder 3: All right, let's duel!

Speed World - Set On!

Bag holder 3: The first move's mine. I draw (SC: all 0). I summon Giant Germ (ATK 1000). I set 2 cards and end my turn.

Bag holder 4: I draw (SC: all 1). I summon Gate Blocker (ATK 100). I set 3 cards and end my turn.

John: I draw (SC: Bag holders 2, John 1). It looks like your Gate Blocker stops me from gaining Speed Counters. I activate Speed Spell - Speed Boost. This card allows me to gain a Speed Counter (SC 2), but now I must remove a card in my hand from play.

Bag holder 4: Good. I activate Accel Zone. Since you gained Speed Counters by an effect other than Speed World, I gain 5 Speed Counters (SC 7).

John: I remove Cyber Ouroboros, so know I draw a card and discard a card. Now I summon Junk Synchron, and with its effect I summon the Mask of Darkness I discarded. Now I activate Speed Spell - Level Boost, so now my Junk Synchron gets a one level boost in exchange that the selected monster is removed from play when used in a Synchro Summon. Now I tune my two monsters to summon Goyo Guardian (ATK 2800). Now I'll attack your Gate Blocker with Goyo (Bag holder 4 1300).

Bag holder 4: Big mistake. I activate Doom Accelerator, so now instead of losing Speed Counters, I get one for every 500 I lose, so I gain 5 Speed Counters (SC 12). Yeah! I'm maxed out!

John: Yeah, but your Gate Blocker comes back on my field (DEF 2000). I set 2 cards and end my turn.

Bag holder 3: I draw (SC: Bag holder 3 2, Bag holder 4 12, John 3). I summon Nimble Momonga (ATK 1000). I end my turn.

Bag holder 4: I draw (SC: Bag holder 3 2, Bag holder 4 12, John 4). I activate my face-down, Speed Booster. Once per turn I can negate a number of attacks equal to the difference of Speed Counters we have. Also, once per turn, I can inflict damage to you equal to the difference in Speed Counters times 100, so now I'll use that ability (John 7200). Now I'll activate Speed Spell - Accel Draw, so I draw 2 cards. Now I activate my peed Spell - The End of Storm. Now all monsters on the field are destroyed and each player takes 300 damage for each monster they controlled (John 6600). Now I summon Speed Archfiend (ATK 3600). Its ATK is equal to the number of Speed Counters I have times 300. Now I'll have Speed Archfiend attack you directly.

John: Not quite. I activate Speed Screw. I don't take the Battle Damage, but I lose Speed Counters as if I did (SC 1).

Bag holder 4: I end my turn.

John: I draw (SC: Bag holder 3 3, Bag holder 4 12, John 2). I activate my face-down, Speed Spell - Gap Storm. Since the difference in Spell Counters between me and Sonic over there is 10 or more, this card destroys all Spells and Traps on the field. I end my turn.

Bag holder 3: Ha! I draw (SC: Bag holder 3 4, Bag holder 4 12, John 3). I set a monster and a card face-down and end my turn.

Bag holder 4: I draw (SC: Bag holder 3 5, Bag holder 4 12, John 4). I'll have my Speed Archfiend attack you directly (John 3600, SC 1).

John: Big mistake! I summon Gorz, the Emissary of Darkness (ATK 2700). He can only be summoned if I take damage when I have no cards on my field. Now because the damage was Battle Damage, Gorz comes with a friend, an "Emissary of Darkness" token (ATK 3600). Its ATK is equal to the Battle Damage I took.

Bag holder 4: I set a monster and end my turn.

John: I draw (SC: Bag holder 3 6, Bag holder 4 12, John 2). Well, Speed Demon, you're gonna pay for not negating my first attack when you could, because your Life Points will take a hit. I activate Speed Spell - Speed Jammer. I lose 2 Spell Counters and you lose 6 (John 0, Bag holder 6). Now your Archfiend goes down to 1800 ATK. Now, Kaien (ATK 3600), attack his Archiend (Bag holder 4 0). Well, Greg, it looks like it's just you and me. I'll have Gorz attack your face-down.

Bag holder 3: You destroyed Hyena. When it is destroyed by battle, I get 2 more from my Deck into play (ATK 1000 each).

John: Fine. I end my turn.

Bag holder 3: Excellent. I draw (SC: Bag holder 3 7, John 1). Now I tribute both my Hyenas to summon Earthbound Immortal - Ccapac Apu (ATK 3000). Now I'll attack your Gorz with my Ccapac Apu (John 3300). Now you take damage equal to the ATK of Gorz (John 600, SC 0). I end my turn.

John: I draw (SC: Bag holder 3 8, John 1). I attack with Kaien. Your Earthbound Immortal can't be attacked, but I can strike you directly (Bag holder 3 400, SC 4). I set a card and end my turn.

Bag holder 3: I draw (SC: Bag holder 3 5, John 2). Ccapac Apu, let's end this. I attack you directly!

John: I activate Draining Shield.

Bag holder 3: Oh know you don't. I activate Dark Bribe. This card will negate your Draining Shield, but it lets you draw a card. Not that it matters. Now Ccapac Apu, let's destroy him! (John 600). What the-

John: I was saved by a card from a friend. The card you let me draw was Arcana Force XIV - Temperance. By discarding it, I can negate the battle damage from one attack.

Bag holder 3: Well I throw down a face-down. I end my turn.

John: I draw (SC: Bag holder 3 6, John 3). I'll have Kaien attack you directly!

Bag holder 3: I activate Spirit Barrier. Now my monster is attack-resistant and my Life Points are attack-resistant.

John: Not exactly. I activate my Quick-Play Speed Spell - Speed World Freeze! Now I pay 500 Life Points (John 100) and remove all cards I control from play. Now Speed World is removed from play until the end of the turn. The only other catch is that I can't activate other card effects this turn. This means that, since Speed World isn't on the field anymore, Ccapac Apu is destroyed, and Spirit Barrier can't work. And, since my Kaien was a token and not a card, she survived that freeze. Now Kaien, let's win this. Attack! (Bag holder 3 0).

Chapter 47 (Click to View)

"Oh no," said Bag holder 4. "How could we lose!?"

"Nice going, Speed Demon," said Greg.

"Don't start with me!" said Speed Demon.

"Now I'll take the 4 bags," said John. "Now I'm only one bag away. See ya." John ran away from the race track with the 4 bags in hand. John then kept walking further and further into the desert. John then decided to rest. I shouldn't strain myself. Remember what the doctor said. No strenuous activity. Then John then spotted a building. John started walking towards it. Then it disappeared. Must have been a mirage. Then the building reappeared, but in a different place. John started walking toward the building. It disappeared again. What is going on? Then it reappeared in yet a different place, and it seemed to get further and further away each time. Wait a minute. It seems to be going in a straight line. Maybe I should walk to where I think it will be about 7 places from now. John then decided to walk to there, but it was already there when he was halfway through the distance to that spot. John then decided to think 14 places ahead and go to the place where it would be at that time. It was already there. John was a few feet away when the building started to disappear from that spot. John ran to the building. The door appeared to be just a curtain. Come on, just a little further. The building seemed to be mostly gone. John passed through the curtain when the building disappeared. John was inside the building. Yeah. I made it. Then a cloaked figure appeared out of nowhere. John couldn't see any part of the person inside the cloak.

"Hello, challenger," said Bag holder 5. "It appears you have 4 of the 5 bags of pieces. I'll only duel if you wager all 4 of your bags."

"Why should I agree to that?" asked John.

"Because I know about your mission," said the person. "I know all about you, John."

"Who are you?" said John.

"I am you," said the figure. "I'm your dark side." John then saw a dark aura around the figure. "I can provide you the information you need. You just need to beat me. But to be sure you don't get the information you need, this duel will be a Shadow Game! Only the winner can remain in your body while the loser is sent to the Shadow Realm!"

"Fine," said John. "I'll be sure to defeat you."

"Just so you know, John," said Bag holder 5. "I'll be using an improved version of your deck while you will need to pick a random deck."

"Fine," said John. "I've chosen."

"Excellent," said the figure as its gloved hand puts the deck in the Duel Disk. "By the way, John, you picked a version of your old deck. There is no way a better version of your current Deck is going to lose to your deck of the past. You should just surrender now."

"Forget it," said John. "I don't know who you are, but I'll be sure to defeat you."

"Duel," the duelists said.

Chapter 48 (Click to View)

John: I'll go first. I draw. I set a monster and 4 face-downs and end my turn.
Hand 1 Deck 34 Grave 0

Bag holder 5: Excellent. I draw. I activate Shield Crush, which will destroy your monster.

John: Not if my face-down is Big Shield Gardna. It negates a Spell Card that targets it while face-down and flips face-up (DEF 2600). My Gardna stays on the field.

Bag holder 5: Big deal. I activate another to destroy your Gardna. I summon Marauding Captain (Level 3) in order to summon Jutte Fighter (Level 2) from my hand. Now I special summon Spell Striker (Level 3) from my hand by removing Shield Crush from my Graveyard. Now I tune my Jutte Fighter to my other two monsters to summon my Colossal Fighter (ATK 2800). Colossal Fighter gets a 100 ATK boost for every Warrior in either grave (ATK 3200 total). Now I activate my Synchro Tune-up Spell. The attack of my Synchro monster gets multiplied my the number of Synchro-Material used to summon it (ATK 9600 total) until end of turn. Now Colossal Fighter, attack!

John: I activate Good Goblin Housekeeping, but I chain another Housekeeping, and now I chain my last Housekeeping, and I chain Emergency Provisions and send my 3 Housekeepings to the Graveyard in order to gain 3000 Life Points (John 11000). Now, for each Housekeeping, I draw 4 cards and send a card in my hand to the bottom of the deck. Now I take the damage from your attack (John 2400).

Bag holder 5: I end my turn.

John: I draw. I activate my 3 Upstart Goblins, so I draw 3 cards and you gain 3000 Life Points (Bag holder 5 11000). I activate Card Destruction, so we each discard our hands and draw an equal amount. I activate Cup of Ace, so I flip a coin: Heads, I draw 2 cards, Tails, you draw 2 cards. I got Heads, so I draw 2 cards. I activate my other 2 Cup of Ace cards. I got a heads and a tails, so we each draw 2 cards. Life Equalizer. Good. I just need one more card for my combo. I activate Hand Destruction, so we each send 2 cards from our hands to the grave and draw 2 cards. I activate another Hand Destruction, so we once again send 2 cards from our hands to the grave to draw another two cards. Perfect. I activate Foolish Burial to send Mask of Darkness to the Grave. Now I set 2 cards and end my turn.

Bag holder 5: Looks like all that accomplished is milling yourself and powering up Colossal fighter. I draw.

John: I activate Life Equalizer. This card sets our Life Points to 3000 each.

Bag holder 5: So?

John: Now I activate Blasting the Ruins. Since I have at least 30 cards in my grave, you are dealt 3000 damage. Welcome to the Blasting the Ruins OTK! (Bag holder 5 0)

Chapter 49 (Click to View)

"Oh no, I lost!" yelled the 5th Bag Holder. "AHHH!" the dark aura disappeared and the black cloak turned blue. The figure fell to the ground. John walked over to the figure.

"Are you alright?" said John. He figured that his dark side must have overshadowed a real person if the darkness went away. John then tried to turn the figure over, but a hand grabbed him.

"I'm fine," said the figure. "Thank you for freeing me. I will tell you what you need to know." The figure stood up. It was wearing a mask. "As you may or may not be aware of, this world is inside your mind. The Wicked Gods tried to corrupt you, but instead you were locked away inside your head in a game against the Gods. You need to assemble all the pieces of the puzzle in order to seal the Gods in your mind away. Here is the last bag of pieces, John," said the figure as it handed John the last bag of pieces. The figure's hand was gloved.

How does this person know my name? "Thanks," said John.

"Wait!" said the masked figure. "There is one piece missing."

"What!?" asked John.

"It's true," said the masked figure. "I know where it is. It is at the place where you must assemble the puzzle. That last piece is actually the base of the puzzle. I can give you a map on where that piece is, but I think you should earn it. I will quiz you."

"Okay then," said John. "Go ahead."

"First question: What was your first duel?" asked the figure.

"Well," said John. "We each got a random deck. I ended up using Ojamas and I had Ancient Gear Soldier as a Deckmaster. I guess the answer is that the duel was a Deckmaster duel."

"Very good," said the masked figure. "Second question: What was the type of deck the opponent used in your second duel?"

"I think he was running a 'Make your opponent's Life Points disappear fast' deck. Kind of like a burn deck," said John.

"Here's the last question," said the masked figure. "You had a two-against-one Turbo duel. One person had the ace card of a villainous underworld being and the other had the strategy of a former Turbo Duelist. This question is actually a few questions, actually: What was the ace card? Who used it? Which Turbo Duelist used the same strategy as the other Bag holder?"

"Let me think," said John. Villainous underworld being? Is this person referring to the Dark Signers? Wait! Ccapac Apu was an Earthbound Immortal. Ccapac Apu was used by Kyosuke Kiryu. Now for the other question. The other Turbo Duelist was referred to as Speed Demon because of his ability to gain Speed Counters. I think Hunter Pace used that strategy. "The ace card was Earthbound Immortal - Ccapac Apu. It was used by Kyosuke Kiryu. And as for the last part, the other bag holder was using a speed strategy used by Hunter Pace, only it didn't have the Burning Skulls."

"Correct," said the masked figure. "Here's the map to the pedestal."

"Oh cool," said John.

"There's a problem though," said the figure. "It is dark now and there is no moon inside this world. You'll never be able to see the map when outside. I know it will waste time, but you'll have to spend the night here."

"Really?" asked John. "That's bad. This means less time that I have to figure out the puzzle. Also, I have a question for you." John threw a card at the mask and the mask broke in half and the lower half fell to the ground. It revealed a piece of cloth covering the figure's mouth and that the figure was wearing armor. "Why do you have a handkerchief covering your mouth and why are you wearing armor?"

"You're a crafty kid," said the figure. "You seem trustworthy. I'll you my story. Just sit down." John and the figure sat down at a table. "First, promise me that you'll never tell anyone I exist or what I tell you."

"Sure thing," said John. Although this figure was very mysterious, John felt a good aura from this figure. "I promise. Can you just tell me your name?"

"I'll get to that at the end of the story," said the figure. "Anyway, as a child, I was very weak physically. When I was 8, my parents died, so I went off on my own, hoping I could be strong. As time went on, though, I ended up growing weak in many ways. I couldn't defend myself, so I tried wearing armor. Later, people would act like they were friends with me, then use whatever they knew about me against me when they found someone who could help them more than I could. Everybody always had a way of using what they knew about me against me, so I just decided to run into the desert, where nobody could find me, even if they tried. When I went to visit the town every once in a while, I had to sneak around so that nobody saw me. I eventually found a blue cloak, a blue handkerchief, blue gloves, a mask, and some new armor. I figured the handkerchief will help smother my voice. I snuck out of town and put them on in the desert so that nobody could recognize me ever again. Occasionally, some people walk by and sometimes I would help them, but they would never know more than how I look and my alias: Mystery. Now very few people know anything about me."

"So who's the REAL you?" asked John.

"That I will not say," said Mystery. "You already know too much. So John, I suppose you should get to bed. You need all the energy you can get so that you can rise early in the morning if you want to finish that puzzle in time."

"Yeah, I guess I should," said John. "Thank you for letting me stay the night, Mystery. Just lead me to where I'll be sleeping."

"Oh right," said Mystery. Mystery led John into a bedroom. "Here, John. Sleep here."

"Thanks," said John. "But where will you sleep?"

"Oh, don't worry about me, I can sleep anywhere in this armor," said Mystery. "I'm turning off the light in about 3 minutes." 3 minutes later, the lights were off. John was just lying down in the bed. Although it was completely dark, John couldn't sleep.

I don't get this Mystery person. I know he/she is a good person, so why does he/she try to hide him/herself? And is Mystery a boy or a girl? A few minutes later, though, John was out like a light.

In the morning, John woke up. Alright, it seems that this is the last day. I have to build the puzzle today or I lose. John walked over to the door and looked at the time. 4:00.

"I see you're up early," said Mystery. This is actually a good time to leave. I wish you luck on your mission. If you don't succeed, you're trapped here forever."

"Thanks," said John. "Also, I just want to know how you know so much about me."

"This entire world is inside your head," said Mystery. "This world reflects your thoughts and experiences. However, all the new stuff, like all the bag holders are because of the Wicked Gods. We though, John, have a connection beyond your experiences or the Wicked Gods. That's why I'm here, why I know all about you, and why I could tell you my past."

"Mystery, if that is true, then you should have no problems revealing yourself to me," said John. "Mystery, I want you to try and find the strong person within you, who you truly are. Then later we can really be friends, but first you need to reveal who you are to both of us. Anyway, Mystery, I have to go now." John jumped out of the house with the map and the bags and decided to look at the map. "Wow, it's only a short distance away." John walked to the pedestal and placed the map on the table. Then he realized the pedestal was wet and he took it off and held it up to the sun. There was a message written on it:

Soak the outside of the bags in the water on the pedestal and hold them up to the sun. It will reveal how to build the puzzle.

That's convenient. John then did exactly that and followed the instructions on the bags. He checked the last direction: When the Gods are over the box, place the divider piece in. This will seal the Gods away.

John then saw the Wicked Gods coming and ducked behind the pedestal with the divider piece in hand. Then the Gods appeared right above the box, so then John dropped the piece. But the Gods didn't disappear. He looked at the pedestal. The box was in the hands of the Gods.Yet the piece wasn't there either. It must be in the Dreadroot's hands. The Wicked Dreadroot was about to crush the box when it disappeared. The box fell and John caught it. John stood on the pedestal. The Wicked Dreadroot card appeared to be locked in it. Then the two other Gods were sucked into the box and a white light surrounded John.

Chapter 50 (Click to View)

John woke up in his bed. "What? Where am I?"

"John, you woke up!" said Mrs. Legionary. "I was starting to worry-"

"Mom, what day is it?" asked John.

"It's Sunday, dear," said his mom. John looked at the clock. 11:45.

"Sorry Mom, but I have to go," said John. "I don't want to be late for the Renaissance Fair!" John quickly changed his shirt and ran out the door. He heard a whisper.

"Ha ha, you think you locked us away, didn't you?"

What was that?

"Ha ha, John. You think you locked us away, didn't you?" asked the Wicked Gods. "The only thing you did was make us immune from being sealed away."

"Yeah," said John. "But what the box really did was give me the strength to break free from your mind game. You longer have any power over me."

"You didn't have that power before," said the Gods. "Somebody must have given you strength!"

"Yes, I suppose," said John. Thank you, Mystery. I know you were the the one lending me their strength. "Anyway, I have to get to the Renaissance Fair." John ran for 12 minutes to get to the location of the fair. It was amazing! Everybody had a costume on. John then realized that he wasn't equipped for the fair. Then Chris came up behind John and tapped John's shoulder. John turned to see who it was.

"Hey John," said Chris. "I should probably thank you for breaking the influence of the Wicked Gods over me. I figure I'll start by giving you these." Chris handed John a warrior's outfit and duel disk.

"Thanks," said John. "And don't worry about the Wicked Gods. I have them now, and they don't affect me anymore." John then ran behind a tree and quickly changed into his new warrior's outfit and duel disk. That's when John realized: his electrical burns didn't hurt anymore. He felt completely fine. He still had the burn mark on his arm, but he felt fine. The Renaissance Fair was about to start.

"Prepare, warriors, knights, and gladiators," said a man dressed in armor. "Letteth the fair begin. Here is how it shallst work. Whenever a challenge you request, appear in one of the fine arenas. He who is brave enough to meet your challenge shall come. Your record of duels be recorded. The person with the best percentage of victories shall win a medal and be crowned King of the Renaissance. I be the King of current. I be waiting in Arena the fourth."

"Well, I'll be in the first arena if you need me Chris," said John. John walked to the first arena. He saw a duelist already there. "I guess I'll duel you." Well, since I have all of you, I guess I'll give you three a chance. I'll see how powerful you three are. John put the Wicked Gods into his deck and shuffled. He placed his deck into his duel disk. The duel disk was like a giant blade strapped onto John's arm.

"We, who are about to duel, salute you!" the other duelist said to the judge and all the spectators.

Chapter 51 (Click to View)

John: I'll go first. I draw. I set a monster and end my turn.
Hand 4 Life 8000

Spartacus: I draw. I activate Colosseum - Cage of the Gladiator Beasts. Now every time a monster is Special Summoned from one of our Decks, this card gains a counter, and my Gladiator Beasts get a 100 ATK bonus for each counter. Now I summon Gladiator Beast Hoplomus (ATK 700). Hoplomus, attack his face-down (attacks Destiny Hero - Defender (DEF 2700), Spartacus 6000). At the end of my Battle Phase, since my Hoplomus battled and survived, I can return it to my Deck to summon Gladiator Beast Spartacus (ATK 2200). Now since he was Special Summoned by Hoplomus, my field gets a counter (C 1) and I can add a Gladiator Beast Equip Spell from my Deck to my hand, and I choose my Gladiator Beast's Battle Manica. Also, since my field now has a counter, my Spartacus gains another 100 ATK. I set a card and end my turn.
Hand 4 Life 6000 C 1

John: All right then. I draw. I summon my Jutte Fighter (Level 2, Tuner). Now I tune my monsters together to summon Goyo Guardian (ATK 2800). Now I'll have Goyo Guardian attack your Spartacus.

Spartacus: That's not gonna happen. I activate Defensive Tactics. This card will keep my monster and my Life Points safe. Also, it returns to the bottom of my Deck. But don't think it will stay there for long, because I tag out my Spartacus for Dimacari (ATK 1600). Now my card gets another counter (C 2), so my Dimacari gains an extra 200 ATK.

John. Fine. I end my turn.
Hand 4 Life 8000

Spartacus: All right then. Time for my ultimate combo. I summon Elemental Hero Prisma. Using its effect, I can reveal Gyzarus from my Extra Deck and send Bestiari from my Deck to the grave. Now Prisma is treated as Bestiari. Now I contact fuse my 'Bestiari' with my Dimacari to summon Gyzarus (total ATK 2600). Now Gyzarus will destroy your 2 cards on the field. Now I'll have Gyzarus attack you directly (John 5400). Now I'll de-Contact Fuse my Gyzarus for Darius and Laquari. Now a whole bunch of effects activate: First, my field gets a counter (C 3). Next, Darius brings back Bestiari from the Grave. Now Laquari's original ATK goes to 2100. Now I'll Contact Fuse my 3 Gladiator Beasts to summon Gladiator Beast Heraklinos (ATK 3000). Thanks to the field, he gains an additional 300 ATK. I set a card and end my turn.
Hand 3 Life 6000 C 3

John: I draw. I summon Exiled Force (ATK 1000). Now I tribute him to destroy your Heraklinos.

Spartacus: Nice try, but no. I activate My Body as a Shield. So for the heavy cost of 1500 Life Points (Spartacus 4500), I can negate an effect that destroys my card and destroy the card responsible.

John: All right then. I activate The Warrior Returning Alive, so I can bring back Exiled Force.

Spartacus: I activate Heraklinos' ability. I send a card in my hand to the Graveyard to negate your Spell card's ability.

John: Fine. I set a card and end my turn.
Hand 2 Life 5400

Spartacus: You're making this too easy. I draw. I summon Rescue Cat (ATK 300). Now I activate its effect, so I can summon Gladiator Beast Samnite and Test Tiger to the field. Now my field gets a counter (C 4). Now I activate Test Tiger's ability, so I can tribute my Tiger to do a tag-out right now, so I return Samnite to the deck in order to summon Galdiator Beast Octavius (ATK 2500). Now two effects activate: my Gladiator Beast Cage gets another counter (C 5) and my Octavius wipes out your face-down.

John: Not if I have anything to say about it. I activate Divine Wrath, so I can discard a card to stop your Octavius and destroy it.

Spartacus: Now I'll have my Heraklinos (ATK 3500) attack you directly (John 1900). I end my turn.
Hand 2 Life Points 4500 C 5

John: I draw. I summon Marauding Captain. With his ability, I can summon another (ATKs 1200). Now you can't attack them as long as I have them out. I end my turn.
Hand 0 Life 1900

Spartacus: I draw. I set a card and end my turn.
Hand 2 Life Points 4500 C 5

John: I draw. I summon my friend Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke (ATK 1800). I end my turn.
Hand 0 Life 1900

Spartacus: I draw. I end my turn.
Hand 3 Life 4500 C 5

John: I draw. It's him. The Wicked Dreadroot. Well, I can its time I test you out. I tribute my 3 monsters to summon The Wicked Dreadroot (ATK 4000). Now The Wicked Dreadroot will drain away half your monster's ATK and DEF points (Heraklinos 1750). Now, Dreadroot, attack his Heraklinos.

Spartacus: I activate Waboku. This will stop you for this turn.

John: Fine. I'm done.
Hand 0 Life 1900 C 5

Spartacus: I just have one thing to say. This duel is over. I activate Monster Reborn to bring back Test Tiger. Now I'll tag-out my Heraklinos for Murmillo. My Cage gets another counter (C 6). Now my Murmillo can get rid of your God card, which means my Murmillo goes back to its 1400 ATK. Now I summon Secutor, whose ATK goes up to 1000. It was nice battling, but an evil God can never stand up to a Gladiator. Now I attack directly! (John 0)

Chris: Did John just lose while using his Warrior deck!?

Chapter 52 (Click to View)

The Judge stood up. "It looks like our winner is Spartacus, the wielder of the Gladiator Beasts."

"Thank you, thank you," said Spartacus. "You dueled well, challenger."

"John, are you alright?" asked Chris. "I didn't know you would be using those Wicked Gods in these duels." Everyone then left the arena except for Chris, John, a man dressed in white, and the judge.

"Yeah, I'm alright," said John. "I may have lost, but I'm still alright. I think I'll just go to Duel Arena 2 and watch a duel there."

"Hey you, in the red!" yelled the man in the crowd.

"Who, me?" asked John.

"Yeah, you!" yelled the man. "Just so you know, I find the color red 3 times more offending to wear than any other color, mainly because it is the color of blood."

"It sounds like you got that line from a thread made by Crab Helmet on the YCM forum," said John. (No offense Crab Helmet. I actually find that thread quite amazing.)

"Whatever," said the man. "Also, I can sense not just 1, but all 3 Wicked Gods in your Deck. I think you should be taught a lesson for your evil acts."

"Fine," said John. "I guess I'll take you on, right here, right now."

"Good," said the man dressed in white. "Prepare to face your judgment!"

Chapter 53 (Click to View)

Adam: I draw. I summon Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner (ATK 1000). Now I activate Lumina's effect, so I discard Garoth to summon him from the Graveyard (ATK 1850). I end my turn. Now my Lumina's ability activates: I send 3 cards from my Deck to the Graveyard. Now Garoth activates, so he sends another 2 cards to the Graveyard, and I draw 1 for each "Lightsworn" monster sent by this effect. My Garoth sent Aurkus and Wulf to the Graveyard, so I draw 2 cards and Wulf gets summoned to the field (ATK 2100). Now let's see what you're made of. Also, in case you would like to know, my name is Adam.

John: Gee thanks. I draw. I summon my Marauding Captain (ATK 1200), and with its effect I summon my Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke (ATK 1800). Now I activate my The A. Forces Continuous Spell, so my Warriors get an extra 200 ATK for every Warrior I control. Now I'll have my Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke attack Wolf (Adam 7900). Now I'll have Marauding Captain attack your Lumina (Adam 7300). I'll set a card and end my turn.

Adam: I draw. I activate my Realm of Light Field Spell. Now whenever a card is sent from the Deck to the Graveyard, this card gets a Shine Counter, and Lightsworn monsters get a 100 ATK boost for each Shine Counter. Now I activate Solar Recharge, so I discard Jenis, Lightsworn Mender to draw 2 cards and send the top 2 cards of my Deck to the Graveyard. Now my Realm of Light gets a Shine Counter (SC 1) and the Lightsworn Sabre in my Graveyard that was just sent gets equipped to my Garoth and boosts his ATK by 700 (total ATK 2650). Now I summon Jain, Lightsworn Paladin (total ATK 1900). When Jain attacks, he gains 300 ATK during the Damage Step, so I'll have my Jain attack Marauding Captain (John 7400). Since your Captain was destroyed, Sasuke drops down to 2000. Now I'll have Garoth attack your Sasuke (John 6750).

John: Hey dude, those attacks hurt. Wait! Those attacks really HURT!

Adam: I am the legendary "Judgment Duelist". When I face someone with an evil presence, my attacks can do real damage. Anyway, I set a card and end my turn. Now my Jain sends 2 cards from my Deck to the Graveyard and the field gets another Shine Counter (SC 2). Not just that, but my Garoth sends another 2 cards, so my Ryko and Enren are sent to the Graveyard, so I draw 2 cards, and my Field gets another Shine Counter (SC 3).

John: All right then. I draw. I summon another Marauding Captain (Level 3) and I use his effect to summon Comrade Swordsman of Landstar (Tuner, Level 3). Now I tune my Comrade Swordsman with my Captain to summon Goyo Guardian (ATK 2800). Thanks to The A. Forces, his ATK goes to 3000. Now I'll have my Goyo Guardian strike down your Jain.

Adam: Not gonna happen. I activate Lightsworn Barrier, so I send 2 cards from my Deck to my Graveyard to negate the attack. Also my Realm gets an extra Shine Counter (SC 4).

John: No fair. I end my turn.

Adam: I draw. I set a card and end my turn, which means another 2 cards are sent to the Grave by Jain, Realm gets another Shine Counter (SC 5), and Garoth sends another 2 cards. Sadly, those cards were not Lightsworn cards, so I do not draw, but Realm of Light still gets another Shine Counter (SC 6).

John: I draw. I activate my face-down, De-Synchro, so my Goyo Guardian splits into its Synchro-Material, Comrade Swordsman of Landstar (Level 3 and Level 3, Tuner). Now I Special Summon Spell Striker from my hand by removing De-Synchro from play. Now I tribute my monsters to summon The Wicked Avatar (ATK ?). First, you can no longer activate Spells or Traps until the end of your second turn after this card is Normal Summoned. Also, The Wicked Avatar's ATK is equal to the highest ATK of any other monster on the field plus 100, so he copies the ATK of your Garoth, which I believe is 3150 now, so my Wicked Avatar's ATK is 3250. So I'll have my Avatar attack Jain.

Adam: I activate the effect of Lightsworn Barrier to negate the attack, which means my Realm gets another Shine Counter (SC 7).

John: You're kidding. But now your Garoth gets powered up, and so does my Avatar. Also, you're running low on cards. I end my turn.
Hand 0 Life 6750

Adam: I draw. I don't need Spells or Traps to stop you, not while I still have my Ultimate Weapon. I summon Judgment Dragon (ATK 3000). Now I use its effect: I pay 1000 Life Points to destroy all other cards on the field. However, my field can save itself by removing 2 Shine Counters (SC 5). Now you are defenseless. I summon The Tricky by discarding a card from my hand. Now I tribute it for Gragonith, Lightsworn Dragon (ATK 2000). Now it gains 500 ATK from my Field and an extra 300 ATK for every different Lightsworn monster in my Grave, and I have all 10 other Lightsworns in my Grave, so my Gragonith goes up to 5500 ATK. Now, since I control 2 LIGHT monsters, I can Special Summon Guardian of Order (ATK 2500). Now I'll attack you directly with all of my monsters! Feel your judgment!

John: AHHHHH!!!!!!! (John 0).

Chapter 54 (Click to View)

"And the winner is Adam," said the judge. "You put up a good fight, though, John."

That really hurt, thought John. Adam walked off stage. John tried to stand up, but couldn't.

"Wow, that's the second duel," said Chris as he ran over to John. "I think those God cards are causing you to lose."

"I don't think so," said John. "I just need some time to refresh my mind." Chris sat down.

"So what's on your mind?" asked John.

"A lot of things," said John. "I just can't seem to find any clue of Kim. I nee to find something soon. Who knows what that mysterious figure has in store for me."

"I know we'll find Kim," said Chris. "The card spirits in my Deck are sure of it."

"You can see the spirits now?" asked John.

"Of course," said Chris. "I really have connected with my spirits ever since you freed me from the influence of the Wicked Gods. But I think they're affecting you now. You better be careful with the Wicked Gods."

"Don't worry," said John. "I'm in complete control. These Wicked Gods can't control me anymore."

"Excuse me," said a boy. "Are you the one with the Wicked Gods?"

"Yes," said John. "Who are you to ask?"

"Oh right, I've forgotten my manners," said the boy. "Call me Emp. I am part of the Kingdom Klan."

"I've heard of the Kingdom Klan," said John. "It seems the KC causes trouble, Chris."

"It's the KK," said Emp. "And we are here to change the world. We're to help out. We have the way to seal the Wicked Gods away. Please join the Kingdom Klan."

"No way," said John.

"How about this: I duel you. If I win, I'll bring you to the clubhouse," said Prince. "There we'll find out if you want to join."

"Sounds good," said John. "Also, call me John, Emp."

"All right then," said Emp, smiling. "Let's duel."

Chapters 55-64 are in Post #9.

[Mystery Guest]

Chapter 55 (Click to View)

Emp: I'll start things off. I draw. I set a monster and set a card and I'll end my turn.

John: I draw. I summon my Elemental Hero Neos Alius (ATK 1900). Now I'll have Neos Alius destroy your face-down monster.

Emp: Ha. You destroyed Castle Builder, so Kingdom - Castle is activated (Continuous Spell). You'll see what it does soon.

John: Fine. I set a card and end my turn.

Emp: I activate my Mystical Space Typhoon. Now your face-down is destroyed. I draw. I activate my Call the Guards spell, so I pay 2000 Life Points (Emp 6000) so I can activate Kingdom - Guards (Continuous Spell). Now I can activate its effect: I can destroy a monster on the field, so I'll destroy Neos Alius. Now I summon Kingdom - Royal Fool (ATK 1400). Now I'll attack with Royal Fool (John 6600). Now I'll set a card and end my turn.

John: I draw. I summon my Resistance Army (ATK 1800). It can't be destroyed by card effects. Now I'll have it destroy your Royal Fool.

Emp: Not quite. I activate Appearing Moat, so your attack is negated and your Battle Phase has ended. Also, Appearing Moat appears on my side of the field (Continuous Spell).

John: I set 2 cards and end my turn.

Emp: Good, because I draw. I summon Kingdom - Mounted Knight (ATK 1600). Upon being Normal Summoned, I pay 1500 Life Points (Emp 4500) to summon Kingdom - Queen (ATK 2450). Now I'll have my Kingdom - Queen attack your Army.

John: I activate Scrap-Iron Scarecrow, so you can't attack once per round.

Emp: Fine. I end my turn.

John: I draw-

Emp: And my Moat activates. I declare either a Type or an Attribute and you can't attack with monsters of that quality. I choose Warrior.

John: Fine. I draw. I end my turn.

Emp: So I draw. My Queen gets a Queen Counter (QC 1). I summon another Kingdom - Mounted Knight (ATK 1600). He lets me pay another 1500 Life Points (Emp 3000) to summon Kingdom - King from my hand (ATK 2550). Now I'll attack with my King!

John: I'll activate Scrap-Iron Scarecrow to negate the attack.

Emp: I'll attack with the Queen.

John: I'll activate my Card Defense, so I take no Battle Damage and I draw a card. Also, by paying 800 Life Points (Life 5800), I can stop the destruction of my Army in battle. So I draw a card.

Emp: Fine. I end my turn.

John: I draw-

Emp: I choose Warrior.

John: I set a card and end my turn. Just one card and I can end this.

Emp: I draw. my Queen now has 2 Queen Counters (QC 2). I tribute one of my Mounted Knights for Kingdom - Jack (ATK 2200). Now since I have the King, Queen, and Jack in play, I can activate the Royal Family (Continuous Spell). Now I activate my Queen's ability, and that is to Tribute it to draw a card for every 2 Queen Counters on it, so I draw a card. Now I activate Kingdom Draw, so I draw a card for every "Kingdom" Continuous Spell I control, so I draw 4 cards. Now I remove 3 Monsters from my hand, 3 Spells from my Grave, and 3 Traps from my Deck to activate Kingdom - City (Continuous Spell). Now I have all 5 "Kingdom" Continuous Spells in play, all I need is "Ultimate Kingdom!" I activate City's ability to add "Ultimate Kingdom!" to my hand, and now I activate my Field Spell, Ultimate Kingdom! You'll find out what it does later. First, I'll activate Kingdom - Jack's ability, so you take 200 points of damage (John 5600). Now I'll have my King attack your Army.

John: Scrap-Iron Scarecrow will negate it.

Emp: I'll have my Jack attack you, then (John 5250).

John: I lose another 800 Points in order to keep my monster around.

Emp: I end my turn.

John: I draw.

Emp: I choose Warrior.

John: Perfect! I summon Marauding Captain (ATK 1200) and I'll use his ability to summon Goblin Attack Force. Now I'll activate Double Summon, so I can Normal Summon again, so I Tribute my 3 monsters for The Wicked Eraser (ATK ?). The Eraser has an ATK equal to the number of cards you control times 1000, and you control 4 monsters, 5 Continuous Spells, and 1 Field Spell, raising his ATK to over 9000 (10000 ATK)! Now I'll attack your Kingdom - King. It's over!

Emp: Not by a long shot. I have a monster removed from play called Kingdom - Unifier. Basically, when one of my monsters is attacked, I can send it to the Graveyard to increase the ATK of my Kingdom monster by half the sum of the other monster's combined ATK points, so my King gains (1400/2 + 1600/2 + 2200/2 = 700 + 800 + 1100 = 2600) 2600 ATK points. Add that to his 2550 ATK and my monster has 5150 ATK!

John: But the Battle Damage will still kill you.

Emp: Not if I activate my Castle's ability: your attack will do half the damage (Emp 575).

John: What!? You still have Life Points left? And your monster wasn't destroyed?

Emp: When Ultimate Kingdom is in play, other Kingdom cards are not destroyed. The only downside is that, when Ultimate Kingdom leaves play, the rest of my field is destroyed.

John: Whatever, I end my turn.

Emp: Good, because I win. I activate my City's ability in order to get Kingdom - Court Jester into my hand. Now I summon my Court Jester (Tuner, Level 1). Now I tune my Jester (Level 1) to my King (Level 7) to Synchro Summon the Kingdom - Emperor (ATK 3000). Now I activate the effect of my Guards to destroy the Eraser.

John: The Eraser destroys all cards on the field. Although your Kingdom cards are immune now, when the field leaves, so do the rest of your Kingdom cards.

Emp: Fool. Why do you think I didn't Special Summon Hidden Archfiend in the Kingdom when Ultimate Kingdom was activated? It's because it was one of the monsters that was removed by the City. Now I activate the effect of the other removed-from-play monster, Kingdom - Secret Economic Protector. When the Emperor is on the field, I can send this removed-from-play card a "Hidden Archfiend in the Kingdom" card that is also removed-from-play to the Graveyard to negate the destruction of "Ultimate Kingdom!" Sorry, but your field is gone and I'm ready to defeat you. I attack with all my monsters (John 0).

Chapter 56 (Click to View)

"And the winner is Emp," said the judge. "Good job, Emp."

"All right, John," said Emp. "You know the deal: at the end of the fair, you come with me. I shouldn't make you miss the final round."

"Thanks," said John. Why is it that I can't win? It must be the Wicked God cards. Every time I lost, it was because I could have used the three monsters I had better than the God I summoned. "It was a good duel. Interesting how those cards work."

"They are certainly good," said Emp. "Your Warriors, though, are unorganized. I think it would be beneficial for you to join our Klan."

"I guess you're right," said John. "But I could always win before. But for some reason, I'm just not winning. I think it's the Gods doing this."

"The Wicked Gods are truly evil beings," said Emp. "We can seal them away forever."

"Let's just wait for the finals. We'll discuss this at the clubhouse," said John. John didn't duel for the next hour. Occasionally, he would hear an "I won" or an "I got screwed" somewhere in the arenas. Chris didn't seem to want to duel either. Chris just seemed to have a lot on his mind. John also had a lot on his mind, much of it about whether Kim was alright or not. I hope you're safe Kim, wherever you are. Then an announcement came up.

"All righteth," said the King. "I haveth two challengers with the record also most great. Since we beeth of all same strength, we will duel in a three way all out onslaught. The only one alive at the end beeth the new King. Now, let's doeth battle!"

Chapter 57 (Click to View)

King: First moves go to the challengers. It looks like the fair is almost over, so let's set the Life Points to 4000.

Aurax: All right then, Randsborg. I'll go first. I draw. I'll start with my Upstart Goblin cards. Each Upstart Goblin lets me draw a card and then choose an opponent to gain 1000 Life Points, so I'll give all 3 of those Life boost effects to Aero (Aero 7000).

Aero: Why thank you, Aurax. It looks like all we have to do is beat this clown and we'll have our battle.

Randsborg: You mean you set this up? I shall destroy you both and keep my title.

Aurax: Right. I summon Aura Hawk (ATK 1700). Since my Life Points are at least 1500 below an opponent's, my monster gains 300 ATK (ATK 2000). I set a card and end my turn.

Aero: Good start Aurax. I draw. I summon my Stone-Wing Penguin (ATK 1000). I set 2 cards and end my turn.

Randsborg: It's my move. I draw. I summon my Masked Knight Level the Third (ATK 1500). Now I'll activate his ability most special (Aero 6600). Now I use Level Up!, so my Masked Knight promotes to Masked Knight Level the Fifth (ATK 2300). Now I'll activate his ability most special (Aero 5600). I shall yield with 2 face-downs.

Aurax: That's cool. I draw. I tribute my Hawk in order to summon Aura Stone-Wing (ATK 2000).

Aero: That's our favorite card.

Aurax: You know it. Since I have lower Life Points than an opponent, it gains 400 ATK (ATK 2400). I'll have Aura Stone-Wing strike down your Knight.

Randsborg: I don't think so. I activate Sakuretsu Armor, destroying your monster.

Aurax: I activate my face-down, My Body As A Shield, so I pay 1500 Life Points (Aurax 2500) to negate your card.

Randsborg: In that case, I activate Martyr's Flag, so I discard a monster from my hand to double my Knight's ATK (ATK 4600, Aurax 300). You're almost out of Life Points already.

Aurax: True, but my Stone-Wing isn't destroyed in battle when it is attacking, but it loses 200 ATK (ATK 2200).

Randsborg: I can't wait to defeat you in my next turn with my ability most special.

Aero: Not if I have anything to say about it. You're ending your turn, right Aurax?

Aurax: Yes, but first I'll set a face-down.

Aero: My move then. I draw. I activate my spell, Hammer Shot which destroys the most powerful monster on the field, so your Knight fits that bill. Now I summon my Stone-Wing Hawk (ATK 1800). I'll have my Penguin and my Hawk attack directly (Randsborg 1200). My Hawk now loses 200 ATK (ATK 1600). I end my turn.

Randsborg: I draw. I activate Level Modulation, so one of you draws 2 cards and I can special summon a Level monster from my graveyard, so I'll choose the Aura user to draw 2 cards and I bring back Masked Knight Level the Fifth (ATK 2300). Now I activate Level Up in order to summon Masked Knight Level the Seventh (ATK 2900). Now I'll use his ability most special to destroy you.

Aurax: How ironic. I activate Spell of Pain, so you kill yourself with your own effect (Randsborg). Now that he's out of the way, we can start our part of the duel, Aero.

Aero: Good luck beating me. I'm at 5600 and you're at 300. How will you beat me?

Aurax: You'll see. It's my turn. I draw. I activate Aura Arena (Field Spell). Since my Life Points are below 750, I can activate all of its effects. Now I summon Aura Snake (Tuner). Now I tune my Aura Snake (Level 1) to my Aura Stone-Wing (Level 6). The art of aura was lost long ago. Let this ancient power resurface. Synchro Summon! Radiate on, Transcendent Aura Dragon! (ATK 2200). Now activates its ability: since my Life Points are at least 2000 below yours when this card was summoned, it gains 500 ATK (ATK 2700). Now I'll have my Dragon attack you.

Aero: Not quite. Remember that I have 2 face-downs, so I'll activate one, Instant Summon, so I can Normal Summon this Battle Phase, so I tribute my Hawk for Stone-Wing Falcon (Tuner). Now I'll activate Urgent Tuning, so I tune my Falcon (Level 5) to my Penguin (Level 3). Rebellious friends fight for their causes. Collect call the debris left from their fights. Synchro Summon! Be a scavenger, Stone-Wing Dragon! (DEF 3050). Stone-Wing Dragon's original DEF increases by 100 for every EARTH monster in my graveyard, and right now that 3, so he gains 300 DEF (DEF 3350). Also, my Falcon activates: since it was used for a Synchro Summon, it Special Summons another one from my Deck (DEF 1200).

Aurax: I'll strike down your Falcon (Stone-Wing Dragon DEF 3450). Now I'll set a card and end my turn.

Aero: I draw. I summon my Stone-Wing Junco (ATK 600). Now I use my Stone-Wing Dragon's effect: I tribute my Junco to destroy your Dragon. Now I switch my Dragon to attack mode (ATK 2200). My Dragon's ATK increases by 100 for every Winged-Beast in my Graveyard, so that's another 500 ATK (2700 ATK). Now I'll have my Dragon attack you directly.

Aurax: I activate my face-down, Card Defense, so I take no battle damage and I draw a card.

Aero: I'll set a card and end my turn.

Aurax: Good. I draw. I activate one of my Aura Arena's abilities: I can Special Summon 2 Level 4 or lower "Aura" monsters from my hand, so I special summon Auramancer (ATK 1200, Tuner) and Aura Nightwing (ATK 1500). Now I activate Auramancer's ability to add Dark Aura from my Deck to my hand. Now I equip Dark Aura to my Nightwing, so my Nightwing gets a power boost (ATK 2000). Now I activate my Nightwing's ability: since I have at least 2000 less Life Points than you and it is equipped with an Aura, I can bring back an "Aura" monster in my Graveyard, so I bring back Transcendent Aura Dragon (ATK 2200). And thanks to its effect, it gains 500 ATK (ATK 2700). It looks like our Dragons are evenly matched and are the strongest monsters we have. Until now that is. I still didn't Normal Summon, so I tribute my Auramancer for Aura Jackal (ATK 1600). Now its abilities activate: since my Life Points are below 500, my Aura Jackal gains 1400 ATK (ATK 3000). Now I'll have my Jackal attack your Dragon.

Aero: I activate Stone Defense. It changes my Dragon to defense mode and makes it indestructible by battle this turn (DEF 3550). It looks like you lose.

Aurax: Not quite. My Aura Arena has other effects, including that while I control an "Aura" monster, I take no battle damage. I'll set a card and end my turn.

Aero: I draw. I switch my Dragon to attack mode and activate Stone-Wing Growth on it. This card lets my Dragon gain 1200 ATK provided it doesn't attack this turn (ATK 3900). I end my turn.

Aurax: I draw. I activate my face-down, Aura Storm. I now select an "Aura" monster on the field and I destroy all monsters on the field whose ATK points are greater than my Life Points, so I choose Aura Jackal. Aura Jackal, use your Aura Storm! Now I activate Monster Reborn to bring back Transcendent Aura Dragon (ATK 2200). My Life Points are low enough, so my monster gains 500 ATK (ATK 2700). I'll attack directly with my ace monsters! (Aero 0).

Chapter 58 (Click to View)

"It looks like the new King of the Fair is Aurax Nimb," said Randsborg. "Impressive victory. Here is my crown." Randsborg took off his crown and placed it on Aurax's head.

"Good job, Aurax," said Aero. "Your deck is better than I had expected. I won't lose next time."

"We'll see, Aero," said Aurax. "I think we do better when we're playing in a team, though."

"All right," said Emp to John. "You saw the final duel. Let's go to the clubhouse."

"All right then," said John.

"Wait, I'll come with you," said Chris.

"No, only members or people who could soon be members are allowed in the Kingdom Klan Clubhouse," replied Emp.

"Don't worry about me," said John. "I won't get hurt. Just go home, Chris. I'll return safely."

"All right then," said Chris. "I'm sure my Crystal Beasts will tell me if anything happens to you. They always seem to know what's happening. See ya, John." Chris stopped. "Oh wait! Take this card." Chris handed over the Ruby Carbuncle card. "Take Ruby with you. If anything goes wrong, it will tell the other Crystal Beasts what., then I'll come to the rescue."

"Really, don't worry," said Emp. "John's a good duelist. We'll take good care of him."

"Yeah, don't worry, Chris," said John. "I'm not really interested in joining anyway."

"Let's see about that," said Emp. He grabbed John's hand and pressed a button on his watch. All of a sudden, John and Emp were gone. They reappeared in an underground sewer passage.

"Where are we?" asked John.

"We are near the clubhouse," said Emp. "This is the only way to get to the REAL Kingdom Klan hangout place and throne room." They walked up some stairs and John was in a huge castle, complete with 4 thrones, one lower than the middle two and another higher than the middle two. There was also two fancy chairs near the door.

"That top throne is for me, the Emperor," said Emp. "Hence my codename, Emp. The middle thrones are for the King and Queen. If you join, you get the bottom throne, and you will be the Jack. The fancy chairs in the front are for the Court Jester and Royal Knight. The Court Jester does a lot of the stuff around here, including housekeeping, bringing prisoners in for judgment, keeps us entertained, feeding the dragon, and other stuff. He is very important to our organization and we fully provide for his health and safety. Talk to the Royal Family to figure out ho the Royal Knight is, since they decide who becomes the Royal Knight. Oh, how could I forget, you should meet the Royal Family. Come in, royal family!" The King, Queen, Jack, and Royal Fool entered. "They hide when a non-Kingdom member is in the Throne Room because they don't know if it is a threat to them or not. You should speak with each person individually."

"Wait, you said I would get the Jack position if I joined," said John. "What happens to the current Jack?"

"Ask them and find out," said Emp. John then walked over to the Jack.

"Jack, I have a question," said John. "What will happen to you if I join?"

"I will probably become a Kingdom Soldier, one who searches for evildoers and brings them in for punishment," said the Jack. "If I'm lucky, I might become the Royal Knight."

"The Royal Knight?" asked John.

"Yes, the Royal Knight," said the Jack. "The Royal Knight is a special knight. He doesn't get a throne, but he gets a say in the decision-making like the rest of the royal family. See, everyone with a throne or special chair, except the Emperor, belongs to the Royal Family. The Royal Family gets some say about the decision-making, but the Emperor makes most of the decisions. See, the Jack is the first to duel the prisoners. The Royal Knight is here to protect the rest of the Royal Family. If a member of the Royal Family is taken out of their position, they sometimes become the Royal Knight, otherwise he or she becomes a soldier. Sometimes soldiers are promoted to the Royal Knight. That's the basic gist of how this place works. Please talk to the others now."

"All right then," said John. John walked to the Queen. "Queen, I just have a few questions."

"Very well," said the Queen. She appeared to be about 20 years old. "First, show your respect."

"All right then," said John. How do I do that? How do I show respect to the Royal Family? John decided to bow down and say, "Greetings, majestic Queen."

"Okay," said the Queen. "Good enough for me. Just let me check your soul." She looked straight into John's eyes. He knew that he could see his aura. Her aura had a weak dark aura. "All right then," said the Queen. "You have a mostly dark aura, but that's because of the Wicked Gods. Other than that, your heart is for the most part pure. I can trust that you won't hurt us. Ask me whatev'. I'll answer what I an. The King will answer the rest."

"All right then," said John. "What do the people in the Kingdom Klan do?"

"Well, occasionally, we duel," said the Queen. "But mainly we capture criminals and bring them to justice. Our soldiers are like vigilantes, except not as vicious as those Wild West ones. The last time the Kingdom Klan was around, we rescued the country from bankruptcy. However it was torn down. We're here to not destroy the government, but to rescue the world from its imminent economic doom." Even Pegasus seems to be supporting us, since he's always making and testing more Kingdom cards. I don't know much about these cards, but the King might."

"Cool," said John. "Also, are you and the King related in any way?"

"Yes, we're married," said the Queen. "We're kinda expecting a Prince or Princess in about 8 months."

"Too much information," said John. "I noticed how there wasn't a Kingdom - Princess or Kingdom - Prince card. Do you know why?"

"Ask the King," said the Queen. "He looks menacing, but he's a great man. You'll see him as a great friend if you join."

"All right then," said John. "So, King, what about those Kingdom cards?"

"Those cards will be made in time," said the King. "They get shipped directly to us thanks to a deal we made with Pegasus, so we can constantly update our decks. Kingdom cards are all about control, so Pegasus is creating cards that work in all zones of play for fulfill this total domination. Also, we each get a different deck based on our position, but most of the deck is the same for all the members."

"Cool," replied John. "So can you tell me more about the Jester?"

"Ah, yes, the Jester," said the King. "We found him on the street one day. He was extremely skilled at pretty much everything, but he had no home. We guaranteed his safety and health if he joined the Kingdom Klan. He accepted and couldn't be happier, even though he does everything for us. He gets treated very well, though. He knows the Jack extremely well. Also, he's grown in all of our hearts, including the Dragon's."

"Yeah, about that," said John. "There's a Dragon?"

"Certainly," said the King. "Drako, food time!" A big dragon walked through the door. He roared at John. "It's all right, Drako. Jester, what did you bring the Dragon to eat?"

"I brought him the greatest meat I could find in this place," said Court Jester. "Open wide, Drako." The Jester threw big piece after big piece of mystery meat into the dragon's mouth. The dragon then walked over to the jester and rubbed his head gently against the Jester. The Jester hugged the dragon's head in return.

Wow, that's a big dragon. It's amazing how close the Jester is to it. "Wow, that dragon is cool, King. What does it do to help you, though?" asked John.

"Well, he captures criminals from other places and sometimes eats them, other times expands our army," said the King. "He also adds more protection to the castle. We love our dragon very much, isn't that right, Drako?" He walked up to the dragon and tapped the dragon's front claw. he dragon wrapped his claw around the king and placed him on his back. The King then started to rub the dragon's back. "You see, he likes his back to be rubbed, so I have to tap him on his claw to get him to put me on his back so I can rub it. He also likes to give rides to the royal family."

"Cool," said John. "So where's the royal knight?"

"He's on a mission right now," said the King. "He helps get food for the dragon. In fact, he should be back-"

"I'm back," said the Royal Knight as he walked into the door. "Hey, it looks like we have a new member."

"Not really," said John. "I'm very interested though. I'll think about it."

"Here," said the King. "Take the deck anyway. You'll be a member once you use it." He handed John the Kingdom deck. "Please leave immediately, though." John left the clubhouse with the deck. He went home and saw Chris there.

"Hey Chris," said John. "I got a new deck, the Kingdom deck."

"You mean you joined!?" asked Chris.

"No, I'll only officially join when I use it, but I might not," said John. "But the club is wicked cool. They really aren't that bad. Also, here's Ruby back." John handed back the Ruby Carbuncle card.

"Well, think through what you want to first," said Chris. "After all, it may not be as cool as it seems."

"Yeah," said John. "I guess." John looked at the ground.

"There's something wrong, isn't there?" asked Chris. "What's wrong?"

"I'm still worried about Kim," said John. "I didn't spend any of today looking for her. What if something bad happens to her?"

"Dude, we don't have any leads," replied Chris. "All you have are those Shadow-Imprisoning Mirrors. But I know we'll get a lead quick. The card spirits will know what to do."

"Right," said John. "Wow, it's late."

"Don't worry, I completely covered for you," said Chris. "Your mom completely understands. You should go to bed though."

"Thanks, Chris," said John. John went straight to bed and went to sleep.

Meanwhile, in the Kingdom Klan, the Royal Family and the Emperor were talking.

"So you negotiated with the Wicked Gods?" said he Royal Family.

"Yes," said Emp. "Once he uses the Kingdom deck, the Gods will place him under our control, so we can proceed to annihilate all of our opposition. The government will be taken over and we can fix the economy again. We need John's help and his dueling skills though. He'll help us take over." And help me gain the Wicked Power I've wanted for a long time!, thought Emp.

Chapter 59 (Click to View)

John woke up at 5:00 AM. Another nightmare. That's like the 7th one this night. Maybe they're trying to tell me something. John then eventually fell asleep.
John was inside his dream. He saw Kim, crying. Wait, this is just like the time I first saw her. All of a sudden, a dark shadow on the ground completely engulfed her. When the shadow was gone, so was Kim. John ran to see Chris. Chris was engulfed in shadows too. Chris summoned Kuraz, Magna-Slash Dragon, and Gravi-Crush Dragon and ordered them to destroy John. John ran and ran until he saw a sewer hole. He jumped in the sewer hole and put the cover on and walked in the sewer for a few minutes. He then saw the Gemini hooded figure. The figure turned into a Lycanthrope and chased John until John tripped. John then saw Lycanthrope pounce on him.
John woke up from this nightmare. That one was worse than the others. There must be some message in these dreams. He then saw his deck glowing. He removed the 3 Wicked Gods from the deck, but the deck continued glowing. Weird. The Gods are usually the source. He looked through his deck some more and noticed a few new cards: Rose, Warrior of Revenge, Junk Synchron, Junk Warrior, and 3 Colossal Fighters. He then saw a note. It's from Chris. John read the note from Chris:

John,
I've been having some weird dreams.

You two? I was thinking it might be the Wicked Gods, but it obviously isn't.

The card spirits tell me that they are trying to tell me something, like where Kim is.

That's what I'm thinking.

Let's trade notes and we may be able to free Kim from that hooded figure today.
Chris

All right then. Sounds good. John fell back to sleep. John then woke up at 10:00 AM after an uninterrupted sleeping time, with no nightmares. John ate breakfast and headed for Chris's house. Chris was also walking out of his house at that time. "Chris, what were your nightmares about?"

"A lot of my dreams were about being taken over by the darkness," said Chris. "While being controlled by darkness, I could tell where other dark beings were. I sensed a strong darkness from a certain building, but I don't remember which."

"Well, the last dream I had involved you, Kim, and the hooded figure," said John. "I think it was telling me to find the place by going into a sewer and walk for a few minutes or so. Perhaps you could find the place if we walk into the sewer and if you sense the darkness."

"I can't sense the darkness unless I'm taken over by dark forces, though," said Chris. "I think the Crystal Beasts will sense the darkness, though."

"Yeah, good idea," said John. "Sadly I can only sense auras people around me, not of people inside other buildings." John and Chris jumped into a sewer hole and walked and walked for about an hour. Chris's cards then started to glow. He took the cards out of his pocket.

"What's wrong, Ruby?" asked Chris. "What? The darkness is here?" John lifted up the next sewer hole and walked to the building mentioned by Ruby. John opened the door. Within that room, there were 4 doors, marked 1, 2, 3, and 4. John saw 2 people.

"Hey, sir?" asked John. "Why are there 4 doors?"

"It's quite easy," said the man. "There are 4 doors here, only one leads to the door that leads to your friend. One of us tells only the truth and the other only lies. You can ask each of us one question. Figure out which door holds the door that leads to your friend, lest you will be trapped here forever."

"That sounds easy enough," said Chris. "John, come to me when you figure out the answer."

John walked over to the first man. "Sir, what would the other man say if I asked him if the right door is either 1 or 2?" The truth-teller has to tell the truth about what the liar says, therefore lying, and the liar will lie about hat the truth-teller says, thus lying. No matter what, the person will lie.

"He would say that the door is either 1 or 2," said the first man.

"Thank you," said John. It's either door 3 or 4. He walked over to the other man and asked "What would the other man say if I asked him if the right door was door 3?"

"He would say you are wrong," said the second man.

"Cool," said John. He walked over to Chris.

"Let me guess: 3, right?" asked Chris.

"Yeah, how did you do that?" asked John.

"When given a choice of a number from 1-4, most people pick 3," said Chris. "I heard that somewhere and it works in this situation." Chris opened Door 3. John and Chris walked to the big door. There were drawings for the Wicked Gods and Shadow-Imprisoning Mirrors. "Looks like you have to put them in these slots. John put the 6 cards into the door and the door opened. John and Chris walked into the giant room behind the giant door. The hooded figure was standing up.

"Well, John, you came at a great time," said the figure.

"Release Kim!" yelled John.

"Sorry, but she is no longer under my control," said the figure. "Oh, and you can call me Gemini if it makes you feel better."

"Fine, Gemini," said John. "And what do you mean Kim is no longer under your control? What happened during the time she was missing?"

"John, check my aura," said Gemini. "As you see, my dark aura is medium strength. Oh, wait, you're here to free Kim, so why am I talking about myself? Kim, are you done preparing?"

"Not yet," a voice in the background said. It sounded a lot like Kim's voice. "All right, I'm ready." Kim walked out from the background. "You like, Gemini?" John's jaw dropped. He saw that her dark aura was twice as powerful as Gemini's. John couldn't help but notice how Kim looked: her fingernails were painted black, she was wearing black eyeliner and mascara, she had the kanji symbol for dark drawn on each of her cheeks in black marker (you can see the symbol described on any DARK monster card in the DARK attribute circle, under the word DARK), she wore a black shirt, a black miniskirt, black leggings, black socks, and black sneakers with black shoelaces. Her hair was dyed jet black. Her duel disk looked like one used by a Dark Signer, except all black.

"Wow, Kim, you look awesome!" yelled John. "I am genuinely impressed. I heard of people dressing in black when taken over by darkness, but you went all out!"

"John, we're here to break Kim from the darkness, not to hit on her," said Chris.

"As I was saying," said Gemini. "I did not bring her into the darkness. I could not bring her darkness to be more powerful than mine. The darkness inside her was growing. It would have taken over eventually. I was just the catalyst. Now she's grown more powerful than I can control, but we've grown close." He started to hug Kim. "Neither of us can turn on the other now. We're THAT close, John." John was infuriated.

"Look, are we gonna play a card game or are you just going to taunt me?" said John.

"Wait!" said Chris. Chris ran back to get the Wicked God cards and the Shadow-Imprisoning Mirrors. When we removed them from the door, the door started to close.

"Chris, put the cards back!" yelled John. "I need you in this duel!"

"You need these cards more. They'll let you free Kim from the darkness!" Chris yelled as he threw the cards between the doors. "Good luck!" John caught the cards.

"So it looks like I have to face both of you, 2 against 1," said John. "I'm sure you know how 2-on-1 duels go."

"Yes," said Gemini. "The single player goes last and starts with 8000 Life Points, while the players on the team each have 4000 Life Points. Those are our terms."

"Sounds good to me," said John, shuffling the Mirrors and Wicked Gods into his Warrior deck. The Wicked gods seem weaker for some reason. Their influence on me is much weaker. I guess that means that I'm stronger. I know I can free Kim, I know it. "Let's duel!" Don't worry, Kim, I'll free you from the darkness and from Gemini.

Chapter 60 (Click to View)

Gemini: I'll go first. I draw. I set a monster and end my turn.

Kim: It's my move. I draw. I activate Easter Egg Scavenger Hunt!

John: Good, she's using her old deck. I can win this!

Kim: Now I activate Easter Egg Scavenger Hunt's ability to activate Bad Egg 1 from my deck.

John: Bad Eggs?

Kim: You'll find out next turn. Anyway, I activate Bad Egg Mind Control. You'll find out what that does next turn. Now I activate Bad Eggs 4, 5, 7, and 9 from my hand. That ends my turn. Now all my Bad Eggs go to your side, John.

John: Thanks, I think. I draw.

Kim: Now the Bad Eggs activate and Bad Egg Mind Control kicks in. Ordinarily you would activate the Egg's effect and choose whether you will remove it from play or not, but since I activated Bad Egg Mind Control, this turn you must choose to remove them from play. So Bad Egg 1 activates: you lose 200 Life Points and Bad Egg 1 gets removed from play (John 7800). Bad Egg 4 forces you to send a card in your hand to the Graveyard and it gets removed from play. Now Bad Egg 5 lets me special summon the Marauding Captain from your hand under my control (DEF 400) and Bad Egg 5 gets removed from play, Bad Egg 7 lets me draw a card and the Egg gets removed from play, and Bad Egg 9 forces you to choose an opponent to gain 300 Life Points and the Bad Egg gets removed from play.

John: I choose you Kim. You gain 300 Life Points (Kim 4300). Now my move continues. There must be something to these Bad Eggs. Why would she lose so much card advantage for those weak effects? I summon my Junk Synchron (Level 3, Tuner), which allows me to bring back my Mystic Swordsman LV2 (Level 2). Now I'll tune my monsters together to summon Junk Warrior (ATK 2300). Now I'll have Junk Warrior take out my Marauding Captain. I'll set 3 cards and end my turn.

Gemini: Weak as always. I draw. I flip summon my Merchant, so now I have to send cards off the top to my deck to the Graveyard until I hit a Spell or Trap card and that Spell or Trap is added to my hand. Sadly, there are 12 Gemini monsters on top of the deck, so they all go the Graveyard. The next card is Synthesis Spell, so it gets added to my hand. Now I activate Synthesis Spell, so King Pyron from my hand and Magical Merchant on the field go to the graveyard for the Ritual Summon of Lycanthrope (ATK 2400).

John: Oh no! Not Lycanthrope!

Gemini: Lycanthrope, attack his Junk Warrior (John 7700). Now Lycanthrope will take out another 200 Life for every Normal monster in my Grave, and I have 13 Gemini monsters in my Grave, so that's 2600 damage (John 5100). I set a card and end my turn.

Kim: I draw. I special summon Rotten Knight (ATK 2300) using its ability: it can be Special Summoned if 5 or more Bad Eggs are removed by their effects. Now I'll activate my Early Baby Dragon Arrival card. In exchange for half my Life Points (Kim 2150) I can summon a Rotten Baby Dragon (ATK 1200) from my deck and treat it as being summoned by Quarantine Reward Egg Hatch. Now I'll have my monsters attack you directly (John 1600). Now I'll activate a Bad Egg from my deck, Bad Egg 10. I end my turn, which means Bad Egg 10 goes to your side.

John: I draw.

Kim: So now you lose control of one of your Set cards. Now choose.

John: All right, Kim. I'll give you this Set card and I'll use Bait Doll to forcibly activate it, Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror. This should slowly drain away the darkness infecting your soul, Kim. I know the Kim I know and l..., see as a friend, is still in there. I'll break you free, Kim. I promise. Now I'll use Tuning, so I can search my Rose out of my Deck and end send 4 cards from the top of my Deck to the Graveyard. Now I Normal Summon Rose (Tuner). Now I'll use Descending Lost Star to bring back my Junk Warrior (Level 5), but now Descending Lost Star lowers it a Level (Level 4). Now I tune Rose (Level 4) to my Junk Warrior to summon Colossal Fighter (ATK 2800). His ATK increases by 100 for every Warrior in my Graveyard, and I believe that's a total of 12, so my Colossal Fighter gets a major power boost (ATK 4000). Colossal Fighter, attack ... attack Rotten Knight (Kim 450). Now Colossal Fighter grows stronger (ATK 4100).

Gemini: What's wrong? You couldn't bring yourself to defeat your girlfriend? How sad. You should realize though, that's she's MY girl now. I bet you'll end your turn, right?

John: I will, with one last face-down. Now Bad Egg 10 goes to you, Gemini.

Gemini: All right then. I draw. I'll give you my face-down card. It's not like you can use it.

John: You couldn't be more wrong. You'll see how useful it can be against a Gemini deck as well as in one.

Gemini: I'll keep this Egg around. I'll switch my Lycanthrope to defense and set a monster and a card and I'll end my turn, which means the Bad Egg gets transferred to John.

Kim: My move then. I draw. I activate Bad Egg 2 from my deck. I switch my Dragon to defense mode and end my turn, which means the Egg is put under your control, John.

John: I draw.

Kim: Now the Bad Eggs activate, so you lose control of your monster and a face-down. Just choose who each goes to.

John: I'll give both to you, Kim. I'll just set a monster and end my turn, so both the Eggs go to you, Kim.

Gemini: It's my move. I draw. I'll switch my Lycanthrope to attack mode and I'll flip my face-down monster face-up, Blazewing Butterfly. Now I'll normal summon it and use its ability, so I can summon Gigaplant (ATK 2400). Gigaplant also gains its effect, so I can summon Blazewing Butterfly again (ATK 1500). Gigaplant, let's strike down his monster (attacks Destiny Hero - Defender, DEF 2700, Gemini 3700). You're only postponing the inevitable. I will win eventually. I end my turn.

Kim: I draw. During my Draw Phase, I activate Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy Bad Egg 2, so I don't have to give the monster back, but Bad Egg 2 requires me to hand back that face-down. It's like a gift nobody wants. Now I tribute my Dragon and my Fighter to summon Earthbound Immortal - Ppicuaru.

John: Wait, are all these souls flowing into that giant pulsing rock in the air?

Kim: (She closed her eyes. When she opened them the whites of her eyes were black.) Yes. In fact, the Crystal Beasts, Rainbow Dragon, and Chris' souls are all flowing into the Earthbound Immortal.

Gemini: I forgot to tell you that this duel was a Shadow Game.

John: No way. Hey, so where's the blue flaming geoglyph?

Kim: It's outside the building. We just don't have windows in here. Hey, it looks like the Earthbound Immortal is breaking free from its shell. Hey it's hatching. Let's introduce the instrument of John's doom to him, Gemini. John, meet Earthbound Immortal - Ppicuaru (ATK 2600).

John: So, the God of the tree Nazca line has risen.

Kim: Too bad you won't get to see it for too long. You can't beat me because I have a God by my side. Ppicuaru, attack directly!

John: I use Card Defense, so I take no battle damage and I draw one card.

Kim: I end my turn, so Bad Egg 10 is passed back to you, John.

John: I draw and I'll use Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy Bad Egg 10, so I can keep the face-down. Her arm isn't glowing. Dark Signers' arms had a purple glowing mark on them, especially after they summoned an Earthbound Immortal. Something different happened to her. I want to find out, but I know I won't get information out of her. I'll ask Gemini. I activate Monster Reborn to bring back my Colossal Fighter (ATK 4100 total). Now I'll have it strike down Gigaplant (Gemini 2000). Now I'll activate Gemini Trap Hole. Since a Gemini Effect monster was destroyed in battle, Gemini Trap Hole will destroy all monsters my opponents control.

Kim: Opponents?

John: Yes. When a card affects a team's field, it affects both opponents' fields. That means that the Earthbound Immortal will also be destroyed. I end my turn with that.

Gemini: I draw. I activate Double Summon, so I can summon and Gemini Summon a Blazewing Butterfly. Now I tribute it to summon King Pyron (DEF 500). I'll use his effect to deal 1000 damage (John 600). I end my turn.

Kim: It's my move. I draw. I activate Bad Egg 8 from my deck and I'll set a card. I end my turn, so Bad Egg 8 goes to your side, John.

John: I draw. Now the Bad Egg forces me to remove Tuning from my Graveyard from play. Now I activate my Reinforcement of the Army card to add Mataza the Zapper to my hand. Now I summon Mataza the Zapper (ATK 1300). Mataza can attack twice, so I'll strike down King Pyron. Sorry, Kim, but I have to strike you down. Mataza, attack! (Kim 0).

Gemini: You know she's going to the Shadow Realm, right?

John: Just tell me what you did to Kim during the time she disappeared.

Gemini: I told you, I didn't do anything!

John: Lies! Colossal Fighter, end this! (Gemini 0).

Chapter 61 (Click to View)

John looked around. Kim was lying on the ground, as was Gemini's body. Gemini rose up. "Wait, wait! Gemini, how did you ... ? I thought your soul was sucked out by the shadow realm."

"That rule was taken out of effect when Kim was destroyed," said Gemini. "She was the cause of the Shadow Game, so her soul was lost to the shadows, but neither of ours."

"Kim," said John as he ran over to Kim's body. He turned her around so that she was lying on her back. The dark aura around her was gone. He checked her deck. Weird. The deck is still made of Bad Eggs, but the Earthbound Immortal isn't here. Wait! What happened to the souls? The big door opened and in came Chris. "Chris! It appears your soul is back, as well as the Crystal Beasts' souls. I guess the souls went back to their homes already. But how did you get in?"

"I opened the door," said Chris. "It was locked before, but it must have been the dark power keeping the door locked." chris then looked at Kim. "I suppose Kim isn't all right."

"I don't know what happened to her," said John. "Be sure that Gemini doesn't escape. I need to ask him what happened-"

"He's already gone," said Chris. "We can't catch him."

"Oh no," said John. Kim's body showed no evidence of life. "Did she, did she, really get lost in the Shadow Realm? Can I save her?"

"No," said Chris. "John, you've done everything you can when it comes to saving her. This time you just failed. I'm truly sorry. This loss obviously hurts you a lot more than it hurts me, and it hurts me a lot."

"Then why don't you sound like it!" yelled John, crying. "Stop being so negative! Just get out, Chris! I don't need your negativity right now!"

"All right then," said Chris. "I understand. I'll be right outside the door when you feel like coming out." Chris walked out the door.

John stayed by Kim's side. About 2 hours later, there was a twitch in Kim's eyelid. John noticed this twitch, picked up Kim's upper body, and hugged her with as much force as he could. John was crying profusely. "Kim! I'm so glad you're alive! I knew that you would wake up, I just knew it!"

"Thank you for staying by my side, John," said Kim. "My mind was trapped in the Shadow Realm, but your faith, your heart, broke me free, even if it did take two hours."

"Two hours?!" exclaimed John. "I left Chris out there for two hours. That's all right. I'm all right with that as long as you're all right. Right now, you're the only person that matters to me."

"Thank you, John," said Kim, blushing, but John couldn't see it because he was still hugging her. She hugged John back. "I don't really know what to say. I guess I could say sorry for all this. After all, I was the one that caused you to surrender in the first place."

John released his grip of Kim to instead gently hold her face in front of his. "Kim, that isn't your fault. This is all Gemini's fault. He was theone behind all this." John notice that the whites of Kim's eyes were indeed white. Good, she's back to normal. "Do you want to tell me what happened when you were missing, though?"

"I'll tell you what I remember," said Kim. "I was taken by the hooded figure, Gemini when you fell unconscious. He then lifted my sleeve and saw an electrical burn from the electrical duel. He then filled my body with a little bit of darkness and gave me the Bad Egg cards. He knew how to make me feel bad, make me doubt that you would or could rescue me. This doubt grew the darkness inside me. Eventually he gave me the Earthbound Immortal card when he felt the darkness grew strong enough. Then eventually you came along. The darkness inside me was too strong for me to gain control. The darkness completely overtook me. When I was defeated in that duel, my mind was sent to the Shadow Realm, but as I said earlier, you broke me free from the Shadow Realm."

"That's strange," said John. "Kim, you still have some dark aura left around you."

"Yeah, that's probably because of the Bad Egg deck," said Kim. "I think I should trash it."

"Are you kidding?" asked John. "These cards are incredible. You should definitely continue to use them."

"Well...," said Kim. "I guess I'll keep them in case I need them. Also, John, I really didn't get a good look at myself. How do I look?"

"I think you look amazing," said John. "We better bring you home quick before anybody tries to steal you."

"Thanks John," said Kim, holding onto John's hand as they were standing up. "I think I should go home now. I don't want to worry about me anymore."

"All right then," said John. "Kim?"

"Yes?" asked Kim.

"You can let go of my hand now," said John.

"Oh, right. Sorry," said Kim, pulling her hand back. John went through the door. Chris was no longer there. Kim and John walked to John's house. Kim opened the door. Mr. Shadow immediately stood up.

"Where were you, Kim! I was so worried!" yelled Mr. Shadow. "What happened?"

"I was captured by a man called Gemini," said Kim. "John saved me from him."

"All right then," said Mr. Shadow. "Since you came back, I'll let it slide this time. Also, I don't really like how you're dressed, but at least you have leggings on under that miniskirt. Now what time is it?"

"Let me check my cell phone," said Kim, taking out her cell phone. "It's about 7 PM. Whoa, really? That's pretty late."

"Yeah," said Mr. Shadow. "Call up Mrs. Legionary. Tell her John will be there soon. As for you, Kim, go to bed. You need to recover your energy for tomorrow. You need to go back to school."

"All right then, I guess I'll see ya," said John. John walked home. When he got there, he was tired. He just felt like crashing into bed. He fell asleep immediately.

Now it was Monday morning. John ran to class and got there just on time. Then he realized, I missed a few ideas myself. I need to figure out what I missed. John went up to Mr. Clock. "Mr. Clock, what did I miss for schoolwork?"

"Oh, don't worry about it," said Mr. Clock. "You did enough during those absent days, not to mention you rescued Kim."

"Yeah," said John. Mr. Clock just stared.

"You like her, don't you?" asked Mr. Clock. "You like Kim."

"No way," said john, turning red. "She's just a friend, that's all!"

"Either you like her more than just friends," said Mr. Clock, "or you just have a strong devotion to your friends. Sit down and prepare for the day." School was relatively uneventful, except for one thing: Steve challenged John to a duel.

"Won't you duel me once more?" said Steve. "I'll show you how much better I've become at dueling!"

"Sure," said John. You know, I'll think I'll try out the Kingdom deck. After all, I can always decide not to join, or to quit. John placed the Kingdom deck into his duel disk. The Wicked Gods used their powers to taint John's mind in a way he wouldn't notice.

Yes, thought Emp. John's mind is taken over. Now we have the best duelist in this city under our control, so we know he won't oppose us. But let's let John enjoy this duel. After all, he is now convinced that he's the Jack of the Kingdom Klan.

"Let's duel!" John and Steve shouted.

Chapter 62 (Click to View)

John: I'll go first. I draw. I set a monster and end my turn.

Steve: I draw. I got just what I needed. I summon my Mind-Eater Fish (ATK 2050). Now I'll have my Fish attack your monster at the cost of one card in my hand.

The Fish destroys Castle Builder (DEF 1000).

John: You've flipped my Castle Builder face-up, so he leaves a gift: Kingdom - Castle (Continuous Spell).

Steve: Kingdom ... you've joined the Kingdom Klan!?

John: Yes I did. In fact, you're facing the Jack of the Kingdom Klan.

Steve: I'll set a card and end my turn.

John: I draw. I summon Kingdom - Mounted Knight (ATK 1600).

Steve: And I activate Skill Drain, so by paying 1000 Life Points (Steve 7000), I can negate the effects of monsters, including the cost of sending a card from my hand to the Graveyard.

John: Is that so? I activate my Call the Guards spell, so I pay 2000 Life Points (John 6000) in exchange that I get Kingdom - Guards (Continuous Spell) in play. Now I activate its effect: it can destroy a face-up monster once per turn, and I choose the Fish. Now I'll have my Knight attack directly (Steve 5400). Now I'll set a card and end my turn.

Steve: I draw. I summon my Mind-Eater Thunderball (ATK 2250). Thunderball, attack his Mounted Knight.

John: I activate Appearing Moat, so the Battle Phase ends and Kingdom - Moat (Continuous Spell) appears on my side of the field.

Steve: Fine. I'll set a card and end my turn.

John: Good, because I draw. I activate Reinforcement of the Army, so I can add Kingdom - Secret Economic Protector to my hand. Now I activate Profits of the Kingdom. Since I control 3 "Kingdom" Continuous Spells, I draw 3 cards. Now I remove 3 monsters from my hand, 3 Spells from my graveyard, and 3 traps from my Deck in order to activate Kingdom - City (Continuous Spell). Now I can Kingdom - Guards to destroy the Thunderball. Now I activate Kingdom - City's ability: I can add a "Kingdom" card from my deck to my hand, so I choose the Royal Fool. Now I summon my Kingdom - Royal Fool (ATK 1400). Now I'll attack directly with both monsters (Steve 2400). I will end with a face-down.

Steve: All right, I draw. I activate my Mind-Eater Hand Equalizer (Continuous Trap).

John: Sorry, but I activate Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy it. And, using my Moat's ability, I can declare either a Type or an Attribute and monsters of that quality cannot attack this turn, so I choose DARK.

Steve: I activate Monster Reborn to bring back my Mind-Eater Bird (DEF 500, Tuner). He was sent to the Graveyard by the Fish. Now I activate Heart of Clear Water on prevent it from being destroyed in battle or by Kingdom - Guards. I end my turn.

John: I draw. Thanks to my City, I can add Kingdom - Rroyal Family to my hand. Now I summon Kingdom - Swordsman (ATK 1500). I will end my turn.

Steve: I draw, set a card, and end my turn.

John: I draw. Now I send my 3 monsters to the Graveyard to activate Kingdom - Royal Family (Continuous Spell). Now I use my City's ability to add Ultimate Kingdom! (field spell) to my hand. Now I activate Ultimate Kingdom! Using its effect, I special summon Hidden Archfiend in the Kingdom (ATK 3900). Now I set a monster and end my turn.

Steve: I draw. I set a card and end my turn.

John: I draw. I use the City's ability to add Kingdom Tornado Storm to my hand, and I use its effect: If I control 5 Kingdom Continuous Spells with different names, like right now, I and remove it from my hand from play to activate its effect: it destroys all Spells and Traps on the field, except my field spell. Thanks to my field spell, though, no other Kingdom cards can be destroyed, so my Kingdom cards are safe. Now I use my Guard's ability to destroy your Bird. Now I use the City's ability to add Unity of the Kingdom to my hand. Now I flip summon my Kingdom - Court Jester (ATK 300, Tuner). Now I activate Unity of the Kingdom the same way I could activate the Tornado Storm. Now my Unity inflicts 200 damage to you equal to the number of Kingdom cards I control, and that's 8, so you are dealt 1600 damage (Steve 800). Now I tune my Court Jester (Level 1) to my Archfiend (Level 8). The world economy is unstable. Let's correct this with our Kingdom system! Synchro Summon! Destroy the evildoers, Kingdom - Dragon! His ATK is equal to the combined ATK of the monsters used in its Synchro Summon, so his ATK is 4200. Now Dragon, attack! (Steve 0)

Chapter 63 (Click to View)

John looked at Steve. "Well, it looks like I win again, Steve." John walked away and then the bell rang. Everyone rushed out of the classroom except John, Chris, and Mr. Clock.

"Dude, why did you join the Kingdom Klan?" asked Chris. "That deck just isn't your style. I know it's Warriors, but you have to rely on your Continuous Spells, and that's just not you."

"You must know about relying on Continuous Spells, right?" asked John.

"You know what, I'm out of here!" replied Chris. John left soon after Chris left. John received a call on the phone.

"Jack," said Emp. "I need you here right now. Our castle is under attack!"

"Yes sir," said John. John ran to the secret fortress of the Kingdom. When he ran inside, everybody was there, all calm. John sat in the Jack's throne.

"I'm so glad you're here," said Emp. "I just needed you here as quick as possible. I need to explain the duties of the Jack to you."

"Okay then," said John. "Fire away."

"First, you are to duel all the prisoners we bring here. If you beat them, they are sent to a prison room. If you lose, then the queen will duel and where the prisoners are placed depends on with Kingdom duelist they were beat by. You are to bring the prisoners who you beat to their low-ranking cells. You should check up on them every so often. Just be sure that they stay in line and everything. Our Court Jester will bring them their food and all the other stuff."

"That Court Jester sure does do a lot."

"Yes, he does. However, he is needed in every Kingdom Synchro Summon in the card game, so he is just as important as in real life. Also, you will also be fighting off enemy gangs occasionally, so be prepared for that. Also, hand me your Kingdom deck." John handed over his deck. Emp took some cards out and put some in some other cards. Emp handed John the deck back. "I just made the necessary updates. Also, we'll get a Prince or Princess in about 8 months. It will take about another 16 years for the baby to accept the duties, but Pegasus already made the cards. After all, it would be nice to have at least 2 people in the Royal Family be related. Based on how quick I got this group running again, getting all the people related wasn't really possible, except for the married king and queen. I'd say more right now, but I have to go to a foreign country by way of Dragon and take the evildoers away. See ya." Emp walked into another room.

All of a sudden, a man walked in. He had not one, not two, but three prisoners chained together on the back of his horse. The man unchained them and called over the guards. One especially big knight stayed in front of the others.

That must be the Royal Castle Guard. The Royal Castle Guard bowed down to John.

"Almighty Jack, these three were causing a ruckus in front of the castle. They seem to be members of the Scrap Gang or something like that. One of these seems to be a high-ranker. Jack, I suggest you duel the high-ranker of the Scrap Gang. King and Queen, I suggest you battle the other ones from the Scrap Gang."

"Sounds good to me, but who are you to tell me what to do, Guard?" And what in the world is the Scrap Gang?

The Queen whispered in John's ear, "All the people that represent Synchro monsters in your Deck are part of the Royal Family. Treat him with as much respect as he treated you."

"Right, sorry," said John. "Didn't know about your status."

"It's all right," said the Royal Guard. "I'm just really thankful that I AM part of the Royal Family now. The Emperor made some changes with the growing club, one of which is all people, and Dragons, that represent Synchro monsters except the Emperor himself are part of the Royal Family. It's kinda cool how everybody in the Kingdom Klan is a monster, or represents one."

"Yes," said John. John turned to the lone boy. "Get ready to duel."

"Sure thing," said the boy. "I'll show you the true power of Synchro monsters."

Chapter 64 (Click to View)

Sync: I'll go first. I draw. I'll set a monster and 2 face-downs and I'll end my turn.

John: I draw. I activate Reinforcement of the Army, so I add Kingdom - Mounted Knight (ATK 1600) to my hand. Now I'll use its effect: When it is Normal Summoned, I pay 1500 Life Points (John 6500) to summon a "Kingdom" monster from my hand, so I choose Kingdom - Princess (ATK 2100). So now I'll activate Call the Guards to activate Kingdom - Guards from my Deck (Continuous Spell, John 4500). Now I'll use its effect to destroy your monster.

Sync: Oh no you don't. I activate Destruction Jammer, so I discard a card to destroy your Guards. Now you can't finish your Kingdom!

John: There is still a way. I activate the Princess's effect: by removing a card in my hand from play, I can gain half the life I lost so far this turn, so I gain 1750 Life Points (John 6250). Now I'll have my Princess attack your monster.

Sync: I activate Mirror Force, so your monsters are destroyed.

John: Fine. I'll end my turn with a face-down.

Sync: I draw. I flip-summon my Synchronized Moth (ATK 0, Tuner). Now I summon my Synchronized Angel (ATK 1500, Tuner). Now I Synchronize my Angel (Level 4) and Moth (Level 1).

John: You can only use 1 Tuner in a Synchro Summon.

Sync: Not with the "Synchronized" archetype. Every monster is a Tuner monster in this deck, so every Synchro monster can have more than 1 Tuner! I summon the Synchronized Stego (ATK 2000, Tuner). Now, since my Synchro Material were each used with another Tuner, my Synchro Material Monsters activate, so my Moth returns your face-down Spell or Trap to your hand and my Angel lets me gain 1000 Life Points (Sync 9000). I'll have my Stego attack directly (John 4250). I'll end my turn.

John: I draw. I summon Kingdom - Jester's Assistant (ATK 0). Now his effect kicks in, so he summons a Kingdom - Court Jester from my Deck to the field (DEF 300, Tuner). I'll end with a face-down.

Sync: Sounds like you're running scared to me. I draw. I summon Synchronized Sphinx (ATK 0, Tuner). Now I Synchronize my Sphinx with my Stego to summon Synchronized Giant Raven (ATK 2400, Tuner). My Sphinx will return the Court Jester to your hand and my Stego will increase my Raven's ATK by 500 (ATK 2900). Now I'll have it strike down your Assistant.

John: I don't think so. I activate Appearing Moat, so the Battle Phase has ended and I can activate Kingdom - Moat from my Deck (Continuous Spell).

Sync: You're only postponing your demise. I will defeat you. Right now, I'll end my turn.

John: Good. I draw. I switch my monster to defense mode (DEF 1900). I'll set a card and end my turn.

Sync: I draw.

John: Thanks to my Moat, once per turn I can declare a quality of a monster and monsters of that quality cannot attack this turn, so I choose FIRE.

Sync: Really? Whatever. I summon Synchonized Frog (ATK 1000, Tuner). Now I ... now I understand why you chose FIRE. My Level 10 Synchro monster is FIRE, so it would do no good to Synchro Summon it now. I'll attack with my Raven.

John: I activate Kingdom Rat Trap. This will destroy your Raven.

Sync: Stop postponing your demise. You know its imminent. I'll set a card and end my turn.

John: Good, because I draw. Good. I now have 2 monsters and Kingdom - City in my hand. Just one more is needed so that I can get my Kingdom - Guards and Call the Guards back. I end my turn.

Sync: I draw.

John: I choose DARK.

Sync: That's the Attribute of my Level 6 Synchro monster! That's the only Synchro monster I can summon that would have destroyed his monster! How does he know so much about my deck?

John: Come on, Sync, hurry up. You are as slow as you were back then!

Sync: Wait a minute. He seems familiar. He used to always lose to me with his pile of junk he called a deck, yet he would always criticize my dueling! I'll show him! I summon another Synchronized Frog (ATK 1000, Tuner). I'll Synchronize my Frogs for Synchronized Magma Ball (ATK 1800, Tuner). Now I'll use my Frog's abilities to draw a card for each. I'll end my turn.

John: I draw. Perfect! I remove the 3 monsters in my hand, 3 spells in my Grave, and 3 Traps in my Deck to activate Kingdom - City (Continuous Spell). Now I'll use its effect to add a Kingdom - Jack to my hand. Now I'll tribute my Assistant for Kingdom - Jack (ATK 2200). Now I'll use its effect, so now you take 200 damage (Sync 8800). Now I'll have my Kingdom - Jack attack!

Sync: I activate Sakuretsu Armor, so your Knight is destroyed.

John: That's an awful lot of destroying cards to use against a Kingdom member.

Sync: Just be quiet. Now I'm sure you're ending your turn.

John: Yes I am.

Sync: All right then, I draw.

John: I choose EARTH.

Sync: Sorry, but I can beat you without having to attack with another Synchro monster. I summon Synchronized Sphinx (ATK, Tuner).

John: I'll activate Kingdom Judgment from my removed-from-play zone. It negates the Normal Summon of your monster, but cuts my Life Points to a fourth of what they were (John 1062).

Sync: Either way I can still beat you. Magma Ball, attack! (John 0). Game over.

John: Not from where I'm standing.

Sync: uh? you didn't lose?

John: I had a card to save me, Kingdom Super Stability. Since it was removed from play when I would have lost, I didn't lose. Instead, my hand, graveyard, removed-from-play zone and all non-Kingdom cards on my field were shuffled into the deck and I draw 5 cards and my Life Points reset to what they were at the start of the duel (John 8000). Not only that, but the current turn ends, so it's my turn. I draw. I activate Call the Guards, so I can activate Kingdom - Guards from my deck at a cost of 2000 Life Points (John 6000). Sorry, but now we're in the same predicament, but I have the advantage. I use my Guards to destroy your Magma Ball. Now I summon Kingdom - Mounted Knight (ATK 1600). I'll use his effect to summon Kingdom - Swordsman (ATK 1500) at the cost of 1500 Life Points (John 4500). I'll use my Swordsman's ability to summon Kingdom - Jester Imposter (ATK 800, Tuner). Now I'll show you a REAL Synchro Summon. I tune my Jester (Level 2) to my Swordsman (Level 3) and Mounted Knight (Level 4). The world economy is unstable. Let's correct this with our Kingdom system! Synchro Summon! Destroy the evildoers, Kingdom - Dragon! His ATK is equal to the combined ATK of all the monsters used in its Synchro Summon, so I believe that's 3900. Kingdom - Dragon, attack his Life Points directly (Sync 4900). I end my turn.

Sync: I draw. I set a monster and end my turn.

John: I draw. Now my Kingdom - Dragon Special Summons a Kingdom Slodier token whose ATK is equal to the battle damage you took last turn from the Dragon's attack, and that's 3900 (Kingdom Soldier Token ATK 3900). Now the Guards will destroy the face-down monster. Since its an effect monster, I take another 1000 points of damage (John 3500). There's nothing you can do to stop the Kingdom Klan. I'll attack directly with both monsters! (Sync 0).

Chapters 65-76 are in Post #10.

[Mystery Guest]

Chapter 65 (Click to View)

John walked over to the Royal Guard and got the handcuffs. He then put them onto Sync. "Wow, Sync, you're just the same as you were back then. You used the same strategies and that led to your defeat."

"What do you mean?" yelled Sync. "I always beat you back then. You never beat me back then. If anything, you were the bad duelist."

"It wasn't that I was a bad duelist. It was the fact that my deck wasn't really organized. I didn't find a real strategy in it until just recently. But remember that, strategy or no strategy, every duel against you was close, with you usually at 1000 or less. Had my deck been a bit more organized, I would have won those duels."

"Whatever John, but you wouldn't able to win that duel without your Stability card or Guards."

"So what's the judgment?" asked John.

"He is to be eaten by the Dragon," said the King, the Queen, and Emp at the same time. The King and Emp looked at each other, then the King continued his judgment. "Bring him to the cell closest to the Dragon. The Dragon will be pleased today." John silently brought Sync to his cell. John unlocked the handcuffs and closed the cell door and returned to the throne room, where the King and Emperor were still discussing. "Also, Emperor, leave the decisions concerning the prisoners to the Royal Family."

"I'll leave MOST of them to the Royal Family, but I'll still put in my take from time to time," replied the Emperor.

"Agreed!" yelled the King and Queen excitedly. "The Royal Family does like to be more than just a group of figureheads and duelists, you know." Nothing much happened until 9:00.

"Hey Emp, is it okay if I go home now?" asked John. "My mom is probably worried about me. I can come here after school, but my mom would probably want me home by 9."

"Go ahead. I forgot to ask about that. Get home so that your mom doesn't worry." John ran home. Yes, run home, John, you fool, thought Emp. That little distraction in your mind should allow the Wicked Gods to take even more control of your mind. John got home and his mom was waiting for him.

"Where were you?" asked John's mom. "I was really starting to get worried about you."

"Oh sorry," said John. "I was actually at a clubhouse for this new club I joined. There I can get all my homework done and everything else and I can duel a lot there. Please let me stay, mom."

"All right, just get home earlier, say 9."

"All right, mom. Also, i think I'll go to bed." John went to bed and went to sleep. In the morning, John woke up from an uninterrupted sleep. Tuesday. I hope something really cool happens today. John got ready to face the day and then went to school. Nothing exciting happened. John then went to the Kingdom Klan Castle. When he entered the throne room, Kim was there with handcuffs on. She also had ankle bracelets with a chain connecting them so that walking was made difficult and running impossible.

"John, so you DID join the Kingdom Klan," said Kim. "Just get these creeps to let me go."

"Royal Jack, this girl was caught loitering in Kingdom Klan territory," said the Royal Knight. "It was my duty to capture her and duel her in your absence. I must say she is quite weak. She said she was looking for you, Royal Jack. The Royal Family decided to give her the benefit of the doubt and leave you the decision of what to do with the girl. What will it be?"

Please let me go free John. I'm sure you will, despite any alliance you make with any group, thought Kim.

"Keep her as a captive."

"What?" Wait. His voice was darker, more Wicked. I wonder what's causing it. "John, can you bring me to my capture room?"

"Sure." John grabbed Kim by the handcuffs and brought her to the cell.

"John, is there something wrong?"

"No, why?" I'm sure of it. There is something wrong with John. It's like, it's like he's suddenly become evil. John walked into the cell and brought Kim in. He unlocked Kim's bracelets and handcuffs. She tried to bolt out of the room, but John took her hand and pulled her back in. He then pushed her away from the door.

I need to find out how I can get John to open up, and I know only one way to do that. "I challenge you to a duel, John. Let me show you I'm much stronger than your Knight says I am."

"I don't need to duel you. The Royal Knight already beat you." John walked towards the door. Kim then ran towards John and took him in her arms. She then moved to the front of John and gave him a big hug. She whispered in his ear, "I won't let you leave this room until after a duel."

"Fine," said John. Kim heard a very distinct voice in addition to John's. John then moved back some and raised his duel disk. "After this duel, you'll have a great fear of the Kingdom Klan!" Kim could faintly see the Wicked gods floating above John. John must be at least partially possessed by the Wicked Gods.

Kim raised her duel disk. "Yes, let's start this duel!" And I'll save you from the possession of the Wicked Gods.

"Duel!" shouted Kim and John and the 3 Wicked Gods.

Chapter 66 (Click to View)

Kim: I go first. I draw. I activate Easter Egg Scavenger Hunt. Now I activate its effect, so I activate Bad Egg 5 from my deck (Continuous Spell). If I'm going to free John from the darkness, I'll need to enter the darkness again, and these Bad Eggs are the only way. Now I activate Bad Egg Mind Control, so you should know what happens next turn. Now I activate Bad Eggs 1, 6, 7, and 9 from my hand. I'll end my turn, so all 5 of my Bad Eggs on my side go under your control, John.

John: I draw.

Kim: Now the effects of my Bad Eggs activate, so you lose 200 Life (John 7800), I gain 300 Life (Kim 8300), you send the top card of your deck to the Graveyard, I draw a card, and I special summon a Level 4 or lower monster from your hand, so I'll choose the Kingdom - Swordsman (ATK 1500). Now all the Bad Eggs are removed from play.

John: Fine. My move continues. I activate Reinforcement of the Army to add my Kingdom - Mounted Knight to my hand. Now I activate Call the Guards, so I activate Kingdom - Guards from my deck at the cost of 2000 Life Points (John 5800). Now I must thank you for sending a Spell card from my deck to the Graveyard, because now I activate Kingdom - City. I remove 3 monsters from my hand, 3 Spells from my Graveyard and 3 Traps from my deck to activate Kingdom - City (Continuous Spell). Now I use my Guards' effect to destroy your monster. Now I activate my City's effect so I can add Kingdom - Prince to my hand. Now I summon Kingdom - Mounted Knight (ATK 1600). I use his effect: I pay 1500 Life Points to summon Kingdom - Prince (ATK 2200). Now I attack with my Kingdom monsters (Kim 4500). I end my turn.

Kim: I draw. I activate the effect of Easter Egg Scavenger Hunt to activate Bad Egg 3 from my deck (Continuous Spell). I set a card and end my turn, so control of Bad Egg 3 shifts to you, John.

John: Instead of my normal draw, I can add one of my removed-from-play cards to my hand rather than drawing, so I'll add Unity of the Kingdom to my hand this way.

Kim: Now you must give control of a Continuous Spell you control to me, so choose.

John: I'll choose my Guards for you to control. It won't do you any good anyway during the time you'll have it. I'll keep my Bad Egg in play. Now I'll use my Kingdom - City's ability to add Kingdom - Royal Fool to my hand. Now I summon Kingdom - Royal Fool (ATK 1400). Now I activate my Unity of the Kingdom, so you take damage equal to the number of "Kingdom" cards on the field times 200. There are 5 on the field, so you take 1000 damage, Kim (Kim 3500). Now I'll have my monsters end this!

Kim: I activate Mirror Force, so your monsters are destroyed.

John: I can only use my Judgment card during a Main Phase, so its no good now. Whatever. Do what you want. I end my turn, so you get the Bad Egg card again.

Kim: I draw. Now I must give Guards back to you, but I'll keep the Egg in play. I summon Rotten Knight (ATK 2300).

A darkness then completely covered Kim. Once the darkness fell, she was wearing the same outfit she wore when controlled by the darkness. In addition, she was wearing the same makeup, she had the black markings on her cheeks, and her duel disk was even changed.

John: That's the same outfit she wore when controlled by the darkness. She really isn't strong enough to control the darkness in those Bad Egg cards.

Kim: Good. I'm now covered with the darkness, but I can control myself. I am strong enough to control the darkness of the Bad Eggs. Now I can free John from the control of the Wicked Gods. I will now attack with my Rotten Knight.

John: I send my removed-from-play Kingdom Rat Trap to the Graveyard to destroy your monster.

Kim: I end my turn.

John: I'll send my removed-from-play Mini-Tornado to the Graveyard to destroy your Egg so that it doesn't go to my side. I actually want to keep my Guards this time. It's my turn. I draw.

Kim: John, listen to me. I want to help you escape.

John: Escape what?

Kim: Escape the Kingdom Klan. Escape the influence the Wicked Gods.

John: I'm in complete control of these Gods. They have no influence over me. And I willingly joined the Kingdom Klan, I wasn't forced into it.

Kim: I know you, John. You would never really join a club like this one. Even if you did join, you would never be as serious as you are about this club.

John: People change. I figured out that being the Jack of the Kingdom Klan means I have great power in the greatest club to have ever existed.

Kim: Being a member of a club doesn't show power; it shows your need of others to help you. You are a strong individual, John. That's why I know you wouldn't join a club. The Wicked Gods just tainted your mind so that they would do what they wanted you to do. I'm sure that the Wicked Gods and the Kingdom Klan are working together to use your power. They don't really care about you; they're just using you, John.

John: That's not true. None of that is true. Let me continue my move.

Kim: I know you're in there, John. I know that's why you used your Tornado to destroy my Bad Egg rather than my Scavenger Hunt. I know you're in there, but you need to break out of the control. I know you can, John. I believe in you.

The shadows of the Wicked Gods disappeared behind John.

John: Kim? Are you alright?

Kim: John? Is that you?

The Wicked Gods then reappeared by John.

John: Nice try, but your friend isn't back just yet. Now I'll use my City's effect to add another Kingdom - Mounted Knight to my hand. Now I'll summon it (ATK 1600) and use its effect to summon Kingdom - Cleric (ATK 1000) by paying 1500 Life Points (John 4300). Now I'll attack with my monsters (Kim 900). Now, since my Cleric dealt Battle Damage, I gain Life equal to the Battle Damage you took (John 5300). I end my turn.

Kim: I draw. I activate Egg Barrier.

John: I activate my removed-from-play Kingdom Judgment, so I can negate your card and I take damage equal to three-fourths my Life Points (John 1325).

Kim: No way. I activate my Bad Egg 2 from my deck and now it goes to your control.

John: Good. My move. I draw.

Kim: Give control of a monster to me.

John: I'll give you my Cleric. It's not like I'll need him. Now I use my Guard's ability to destroy the Cleric. Now I'll tribute my Knight for my ace monster, Kingdom - Jack (ATK 2200). Now I'll attack directly! (Kim 0).

Chapter 67 (Click to View)

The darkness covering Kim disappeared. She was back in her original clothes. "You really don't have any skill," said John.

"Wow, this Bad Egg deck is really bad. I can't get any of these Eggs to work well." Kim started to cry. "Maybe I should just give up. Maybe I should just throw this deck into the junkyard!"

Huh? John remembered that first time he met Kim. I reached out to her then. I need to reach out to her now.

"That we cannot allow," said the Wicked Gods.

"So it is true. You have been tainting my mind. You've been making me think what you wanted me to think all this time. Now I know the truth, and now I have to help my best friend." John regained full control. John walked over to Kim. Kim as on all fours now, crying, with her cards in front of her. John put his left hand on her right hand. Kim turned towards John. John put his hands on her cheeks and made sure that they made eye contact. "Kim, you're a great duelist. Also, your Eggs aren't trash. I know they're great cards and I know you're skilled enough to use them. You just have to believe in your cards."

"Thank you, John," said Kim as she placed her hands on John's cheeks. Before they knew it, they had closed their eyes and moved closer to each others' lips. When they opened their eyes, their lips were only about just under a centimeter, or about 1/3 of an inch, apart. John and Kim moved away from each other instantly. "Sorry, John, I got carried away."

"I think I did too." John and Kim hugged. Kim and John both blushed.

"I need to thank you for saving me. I really couldn't have broken free without you."

"I really didn't do anything. But really, I don't think I can use these Bad Eggs."

"Promise me you'll try?"

"Absolutely."

"Good. If you want, you can try to mix your two decks together to form one huge Egg deck. Oh yeah, and, if you know what you look like when you're covered in the darkness, you think you can get that outfit? You know, so that, when you fall into the darkness, your opponent doesn't see a change in clothes?"

"Sure. Why, do you really think I look good in my dark clothes and makeup?"

"Did you really have to ask that? You look amazing in that outfit."

"Thank you John. And I know that's how you really feel. I'm so glad to have a friend like you."

"I feel the same way. Anyway, I have to do some more Kingdom stuff."

"What? You're not gonna quit?"

"I'll quit the next time I duel." John closed the cell door.

"Wait John. I need to tell you something." She whispered her phone number to John. John whispered his back. "Thank you, Kim. I'll be sure to call you." John left the room and went back to the throne room. The Royal Family was eagerly awaiting him.

"Where were you?" said the Royal Family. There were a noticeably lot more thrones and some more people in the thrones.

"Sorry, I got caught in a duel," replied John. "Also, I want to release one of our prisoners. She has proven herself to be quite a good duelist and deserves to be let free."

"Okay then," said the Royal Guard. "I'll come with you to be sure you'll be safe, Jack."

"You're too kind, Royal Guard. Now let's free the prisoner." John walked to Kim's cell and opened the door.

"This is the same girl we captured this morning. Are you sure?"

"I heard her out and dueled her. I won, of course, but she put up a good fight. She won't be a problem. She doesn't seem like the girl who would cause problems."

"Very well, Jack." He grabbed Kim's arm and pulled her out of the cell. "Follow me." John grabbed onto Kim's other arm and walked to the door of the castle. John and the Royal Guard pushed Kim out the door and the door closed. "I better get to my working post."

"Oh yes," said Emp. "Be sure that that girl doesn't come back. Also, I think we put a throne on your post, too, Royal Guard."

"Excellent." The Royal Guard walked off.

"Let's see here, what's next on the To-Do List?" Emp pulled out a paper. "Oh yeah. Get a new place for the Kingdom Klan, preferably a castle with a moat. I'll find that place soon, and then I'll take it over. Then again, I can always just build a castle with a moat and a city somewhere unpopulated. Taking over that place would be easy. We could probably find a cleric that would help us in that unpopulated place." Emp wandered off.

Wow the Emperor really is serious about re-working the economy, even if it is in another land. John waited around until 8:30. John went home then. John then went to bed. John woke up to a nice sunny day. Why does it have to be this sunny on a Wednesday of all days? John prepared for the day and went to school. Nothing much happened at school. Right after school, he got a phone call.

"John, there's a problem," said Walter. "A gang called the Scrap Gang just invaded us. Strangely we didn't even see the Leader pass the gate, and he's the tallest one. John, you're a great duelist and I know you'll be able to crush these guys. I'm not so much of a duelist, so I can't hold them off. Come help us."

"I'll be there," said John and hung up. He quickly dialed Kim's number.

"Yes?"

"Kim, help me out. Walter's gang was just invaded. Let's help Walter fend off the Scrap Gang."

"All right. Let me change into my dark outfit and I'll be there soon."

"Good. See ya there." John ran to the card junkyard. John looked at all the people dueling. Hmm, this Scrap Gang uses a lot of strange archetypes. Mist Valley, X-Saber, Ally of Justice, Flamvell, Genex, Naturia, Jurac, and Fiend Roar Deities. That must be most of the gang. All of a sudden, John felt a tug at his stomach. He fell backwards into Kim's arms. She was wearing her dark clothes, the makeup, the duel disk, everything.

"Don't you think you should be dueling rather than just watching, John?"

"Hey Kim. I see you have your dark outfit on. You going to run the Bad Eggs?"

"Yes I will. You gave me the confidence that I can run them."

"Cool, let's go." Kim wasn't running towards the clubhouse. "What's wrong, Kim?"

"This is ... uncomfortable." John walked back to Kim.

"Why did you wear your outfit then if it was uncomfortable?"

"I wore it ... I wore it because it would make you happy. I know you like my dark outfit better than my regular outfit. Plus my dad wouldn't let me leave with just my miniskirt on. He doesn't mind this outfit."

"Kim, you don't have to do anything to make me happy. You know that." John ran his fingers through Kim's black hair. "I think you're as beautiful with your regular clothes as with your dark outfit." John hugged Kim. "You're my best friend. I don't care what you wear. I don't care what happens between us. Nothing you do can make me be unhappy with you." John released his grip on Kim. "Now let's beat the Scrap Gang!"

"But I still feel uncomfortable strangely. It might be the fact that I've never faced a gang before. What if I lose?"

"When someone is defeated, their duel disk usually explodes and their deck is either destroyed or taken."

"I'm not dueling then."

"Why not? You're a great duelist. I'm sure you won't lose your deck. I know you won't."

"Yeah, but what if I do lose my deck?"

"Right after I beat the gang, I'll help you build another one from the cards in the junkyard. You'll have a strong connection to that deck and you know how it works. But let's not worry about that. Let's just duel these guys."

"Right. And John, thank you. I wouldn't have continued dueling if you didn't give me the confidence to continue. I don't know what I would do without you. Now let's go win some duels." Kim and John ran to the clubhouse. John opened the door and found Walter. A shackle-like device was thrown at John's duel disk and locked on.

"The loser's duel disk is destroyed. Time for me to settle the scores once and for all," said Sync.

"You were fed to the Dragon," said John. "How did you escape?"

"I didn't. I died, but I was resurrected to take revenge on you. Now it's time for us to settle this. Time for me to beat you, Kingdom Jack."

"You wish," said John. "I beat you once with this deck and I'll beat you again."

"Let's duel!"

Chapter 68 (Click to View)

Sync: I'll start with my Mystic Tomato (ATK 1400). I'll end with 3 face-downs.

John: This kid's deck is quite different from last time. I'll just see what will happen. I draw. I activate Reinforcement of the Army to add Kingdom - Mounted Knight to my hand. Now I'll summon Kingdom - Mounted Knight and I'll use his effect: I pay 1500 Life Points (John 6500) to summon Kingdom - Princess (ATK 2100). I'll attack with my Mounted Knight.

Sync: I activate Rising Energy, so I discard my Spear Cretin to increase the ATK of my Tomato by 1500 for this turn (ATK 2900, John 5200).

John: I activate the effect of my Princess, so I remove a card in my hand from play to gain half the Life Points I lost this turn (John 6600). I'll end my turn with 2 face-downs.

Sync: I draw. I switch my Tomato to defense mode. I'll set a monster and end my turn.

John: I activate my face-down Kingdom Mini-Tornado to destroy one of your face-downs.

The Mini-Tornado destroyed a Mirror Force.

Sync: Oh no! My Mirror Force!

John: Excellent. I draw. I activate The Warrior Returning Alive from my field to add Mounted Knight to my hand. Now I summon Kingdom - Mounted Knight (ATK 1600). I'll use his effect (John 5100) to summon Kingdom - King (ATK 2550). Now I'll use my Princess's ability to let me regain half those points (John 5850). Now I'll have the Knight attack your Tomato.

Sync: My Tomato can summon another Tomato to my field (ATK 1400).

John: Good. My Princess will attack the Tomato (Sync 7300).

Sync: I'll summon another one (ATK 1400).

John: I'll attack that one too with my King (Sync 6150).

Sync: Now I'll summon Synchronized Dark Tuner Shockrouge (ATK 0, Dark Tuner).

John: Dark Tuner? He has the power of the underworld, which means this duel will be very dangerous. I end my turn.

Sync: Good, because I draw. I flip summon my Synchronized Dark Tuner Doubtrogue (ATK 0, Dark Tuner). Now I activate the Reverse-Synchronized Realm field spell. Now whenever a player Synchro Summons or Dark Synchro Summons, he can treat any of the monsters as their negative level, so I Reverse-Synchronize my Shockrogue (Level 9) to my Doubtrogue (treated as -3). The overworld gets its joy from music. Silence that music with out-of-phase waves. Dark Synchro! Silence the music, Reverse-Synchronized Dragon! (ATK 4100, Dark Tuner). Now I summon Junk Synchron (ATK 1300, Tuner) to bring back my Spear cretin (DEF 500). Now I tune my Junk Synchron to my Spear Cretin to summon Junk Warrior (ATK 2300). Junk Warrior gains ATK equal to all Level 2 and lower monsters I control, so my Warrior gains ATK equal to my Dragon's (ATK 6400). But that's not all. Shockrogue's ability will deal 1200 damage to you (John 4650). Well, it was nice seeing you again, but now you're defenseless. Dragon, attack his Mounted Knight (John 2150). Now Junk Warrior, strike down his Princess. End this!

John: I activate the Kingdom Rat Trap I have removed from play. Your Junk Warrior is destroyed.

Sync: I end my turn.

John: I draw. This will do for now. I set a card and end my turn.

Sync: I draw. Dragon, attack!

John: I activate Appearing Moat, so the Battle Phase ends and I get to activate Kingdom - Moat (Continuous Spell).

Sync: I'll end with a face-down.

John: I draw. I set a monster and end my turn.

Sync: I draw.

John: Appearing Moat lets me choose either a Type or an Attribute and monsters of that quality cannot attack this turn, so I choose DARK.

Sync: See, that's just it. I'm not going to let it resolve because I activate Dust Tornado. My monster can attack this round. So I'll attack your Princess.

John: I activate the effect of Kingdom - Unifier. This card will allow my Princess to gain half the ATK of all the other monsters I control, so it gains 1275 ATK (ATK 3375).

Sync: But your Princess will still fall and you'll still lose Life Points (John 1425). I end my turn.

John: I draw. I flip-summon Castle Builder (ATK 1000), so I can activate Kingdom - Castle (Continuous Spell). Now I set a card and end my turn.

Sync: I draw. Dragon, attack!

John: I activate another Rat Trap to destroy your Dragon.

Sync: Fine. I set a monster and a card face-down and I'll end my turn.

John: I draw. I set a monster. Now I'll switch my Builder to defense mode and I'll have my Princess attack. Now I'll have my King attack directly (Sync 3900). I end my turn.

Sync: I draw. I activate Monster Reborn to bring back my Dragon (ATK 4100, Dark Tuner). Now I'll destroy your Princess. End this! (John 425). Wait a minute, that was supposed to end you. Why do you still have Life Points?

John: Sorry, but my Castle can halve the battle damage I would take once during each of your battle phases.

Sync: Whatever. I activate my face-down, Synchronized Revenge. Since a "Synchronized" monster just destroyed your monster, I can destroy another monster you control that is in Attack Mode, so I'll choose your King. I end my turn. What in the world could you do to stop me?

John: What can I do? I just have to believe. I know something will come up. I draw. I activate the spell Kingdom - Remove Tuning. This will remove the Tuner and Dark Tuner status of all Tuner monsters on the field for this turn, and if their total level of those monsters is 1 or less, I can draw a card and take 400 damage (John 25). Now let's see if that did anything. It all comes down to this.

John drew the card. He looked at it. Mind Control. Perfect!

John: I activate Mind Control, so I take over your Dragon's mind for this turn. However, it cannot attack or be Tributed. Now I flip-summon my set Kingdom - Jester's Assistant (ATK 0). Using its effect I summon Kingdom - Court Jester to my field (ATK 300, Tuner).

Sync: What's that gonna do? You only have 4 monsters left, one can't even attack! You also sunk your Life Points down to 25. How will you win?

John: Now it's time I show you a REAL Synchro Summon by tuning these 4 monsters together to spell your doom. And thanks to my Remove Tuning card, I can use your Dragon as Synchro-Material.

Sync: But my Dragon's level is so low that, even if you use all your monsters in this Synchro Summon, the Levels will add to to -7, so no Synchro Summon is possible.

John: I guess you forgot about your own Field Spell. I change all my non-Tuner monsters' Levels to negative.

Sync: But that means that my Dragon's level goes to positive 12.

John: Bingo! Now the Levels of my monsters add up to 9. Now for a Synchro Summon involving both positive AND negative levels! I tune my Court Jester (Level 1) to my Dragon (Level 12), Castle Builder (Level -3), and Assistant (Level -1) to Synchro Summon Kingdom - Dragon (ATK 5400).

Sync: How are its ATK points so high?

John: My monster's ATK points are equal to the sum of the ATK points of its Synchro-Material. Now its time for me to strike you down with my Dragon! Kingdom - Dragon, attack! (Sync 0).

Chapter 69 (Click to View)

Sync's duel disk blew up. All the cards disappeared. He fell over and turned to dust. The device holding John's duel disk to Sync's also disappeared. Kim ran over to John.

"Good duel," said Kim. "But you used the Kingdom deck. I thought you were going to quit the Kingdom Klan now that your mind is free."

"I forgot that the Kingdom deck was in my duel disk. It works better than I thought it would. It's as if Ultimate Kingdom! really isn't needed. Did you duel yet, Kim?"

"Yeah. I won, but I really can't the Bad Eggs to work well, whether I'm using them with Easter Eggs or not."

John noticed that Kim's aura was a powerful, dark aura. "Kim, did you happen to use Rotten Knight during that duel?"

"No. Oh John, you must be worried about whether I'm falling into the darkness again. Don't worry, these clothes look the same as my dark outfit, but my real dark outfit is made by the shadows. These look the same, but I bought these at the store. They have no shadow power in them. Neither does this nail polish, eyeliner, mascara, or this duel disk."

"Yeah, but your dark aura is huge. Are you feeling completely all right?"

"Don't worry about me, John. I feel all right. I don't feel as if anything is bothering or influencing me."

"May I see your Bad Eggs cards?"

"You're taking this dark aura thing too seriously." Kim handed over her Bad Egg cards. Her aura wasn't changed at all.

What's wrong with Kim? She didn't have such a strong dark aura before Gemini captured her. I thought I freed her from the darkness, so what's wrong now?

"John, maybe a dark aura this strong is just my natural aura now. You must have sensed that kind of aura from my dad, right?"

"I only saw a dark aura that strong from one other person: Jaden Yuki. I guess strong people have strong auras."

"Then your aura must be humongous, John. Sadly, I can't see auras, but I can kinda tell if certain people would lie to me or not. I sensed that you wouldn't lie to me, so I knew that you actually met Jaden. I wonder what it's like to see auras."

"I'm sure knowing if a person is telling the truth is cooler, though."

"But the power only works on certain people, like you and a few others. I don't know what separates those type of people from the others."

"I don't know what to say, Kim, except that you probably spent a lot of money to get everything for your outfit. I'm surprised you would spend so much money just to please me. I seriously owe you. Now let's get back to dueling."

"I think I'll just watch you John. I don't really feel like dueling right now, not after nearly losing that last duel."

"All right. If that's what you really want." All of a sudden, another claw device locked onto John's duel disk. This one also locked his deck in.

"Nice, nice," said another high-ranking Scrap Gang member. "I never knew a Kingdom Klan member could be so caring. You must not really care for that girl. You must only be using her. If I deny it, you're lying. Kingdom scum don't deserve to be with a girl like her."

"Who are you to say that!" Kim and John replied simultaneously.

"My name is Satire. I beat people with a weak deck that happens to hold the weakness of the opponent's deck. I know your deck is a Kingdom deck, so I have a deck to beat it. Let's duel!"

"Don't listen to him, John. His name may be Satire, but he isn't really funny."

"Don't worry Kim," said Satire. "I'll destroy that boy's duel disk and you'll be free from his clutches."

"Look pal, I ... wait, how did you know Kim's name?"

"You talk so loud everyone within a 3 mile radius could hear you. A hearing amplification device helps too."

"Look, let's just duel, Satire! I'm sure your duel disk exploding will shut you up."

"Let's duel!" Satire and John shouted.

Chapter 70 (Click to View)

Satire: I'll go first. I draw. I'll set a monster and two face-downs and end my turn.

John: I draw. I summon my Kingdom - Mounted Knight (ATK 1600). I'll use his effect, so I lose 1500 Life Points (John 6500) and I summon Kingdom - Princess (ATK 2100). Now I'll use the Spell card Call the Guards, so I'll pay 2000 Life Points (John 4500) to activate my Kingdom - Guards Continuous Spell. Now I'll use its effect to destroy your monster.Since it was a Normal monster, I'll take no damage, but you soon will. I'll attack with both my monsters (Satire 4300). Now I'll use my Princess' ability: I remove a card in my hand from play to gain half the Life I lost this turn (John 6250). I'll set a card and end my turn.

Satire: Before you end your turn I activate my Graceful Revival card, so I can summon my Oppressed People back to the field (ATK 400). Now I draw. I activate Double Summon, so I can Normal Summon twice this turn. I summon People Running About and United Resistance (ATKs 600 and 1000, respectively).

John: Those three monsters. He must be trying to-

Satire: Every Kingdom has a few rebels in it. Ordinarily they wouldn't do a lot, but if they get enough help and believe hard enough, they can make a Huge Revolution!

John: Oh no!

Satire: I activate Huge Revolution, so all cards in your hand and field are destroyed. Now I tribute my Oppressed People for Frostosaurus (ATK 2600). Now I'll attack directly with my monsters (John 2050). I end my turn. Now draw your last card.

John: I draw. I set a card and end my turn.

Satire: You're stalling for time. I draw. Frostosaurus, attack!

John: I activate Appearing Moat, so your Battle Phase ends and I get to activate Kingdom - Moat (Continuous Spell).

Satire: You're just stalling for time. I set a card and end my turn.

John: I draw. I summon Kingdom - Swordsman (ATK 1500). I attack your People Running About.

Satire: I activate Magic Cylinder, so your attack is negated and you lose 1500 Life Points (John 550). Now you have no options. It's my turn. I draw and I'll use my Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy your Moat now. Now Frostosaurus, end this! (John 0).

John: Sorry, but I removed a card from my hand from play at the beginning of the duel, and that card is Kingdom Super Stability. Since it was removed from play when I would lose, instead my hand, graveyard, and cards I have removed from play into my deck, and then I draw 5 cards and my Life Points revert to 8000 (John 8000). Not just that, but your turn ends immediately, so I draw. Rebels will never win against a Kingdom, and here's why. I activate Double Summon, so I can Normal Summon twice this turn. I Normal Summon my Mounted Knight (ATK 1600). I'll use his effect (John 6500) to summon Kingdom - Jack (ATK 2200). I'll use his effect to deal 200 damage to you (Satire 4100). Now I'll use my other Normal Summon for Kingdom - Swordsman (ATK 1500). I'll use his effect to summon Kingdom - Jester's Assistant (DEF 1900). I'll use its effect to summon Kingdom - Court Jester (ATK 300, Tuner). Now I'll tune my Court Jester (Level 1) to my Jack (Level 6) to Synchro Summon Kingdom - Royal Knight (ATK 2700). Not only that, but my Knight now inflicts 500 damage to you because the Jack was used in its Synchro Summon (Satire 3600). Now I'll attack your people with my Swordsman (Satire 2700). Now I'll have my Mounted Knight take down your United Resistance (Satire 2100). Now I'll attack your Frostosaurus with my Royal Knight (Satire 2000). Now I activate my Spell card, Mega Bomb. Since you controlled 2 or more monsters at the start of the battle phase and all your monsters were destroyed in battle, you take 1000 damage for each monster destroyed in battle this turn and I take double (John 500, Satire 0).

Chapter 71 (Click to View)

Satire's duel disk blew up and the hook that held John's disk to Satire's disappeared.

"Wow, you must really care about her," said Satire. "So Kim, honestly tell me, do you really care for this Kingdom scum? If you don't, I can find you somebody who is worthy of getting someone of your beauty."

"Just leave, Satire," said Kim. "John may use a Kingdom deck, but he isn't Kingdom scum. He's a strong, independent individual with a big heart. I'm as every bit grateful, if not a little more, to be his friend as he is grateful to be my friend, so just stop your joking and get out."

"If that's the way you wanna be, then fine." Satire left the building.

"Thank you Kim," said John. "That was incredible. I seriously owe you for-"

"No you don't," said Kim. "You don't owe me anything at all."

"But you had to buy these clothes. That must have cost you a lot. Don't you want the money-" Kim placed her finger on John's mouth.

"Don't speak. Just listen." John nodded. "John, there's something I need to tell you. I recently pieced together part of a puzzle in my mind. You see, John, I had a boyfriend once. However, we got into a huge fight that clearly showed our difference in values. He stopped hanging out with me, he stopped talking with me, he stopped doing everything with me. I thought this was his way of dumping me, but it really wasn't. A few weeks later, he came up to me and told me he wanted to break up with me. I told him it was okay, so he disappeared from my life. The next day, I dueled some with my Easter Egg deck and I lost every duel. The next day, I dueled some and lost every duel. I checked in my deck and my Mirror Force was gone. I was upset that my rarest card disappeared, so I tried to go for a walk and hold back my tears. When I came to the corner I couldn't hold back my tears any longer. then eventually a thoughtful young man came up to me and gave me hope again. The main thing I want to tell you is that you remind me so much of my old boyfriend. Not the bad times, but character-wise. He was a strong, caring individual too. He was one of those special people I could tell if he was lying to me. hat's strange was that, even though he was nice on the day he officially broke up with me, I'm sure he wasn't telling the truth entirely, but I couldn't tell if he was lying to me or not. It's like my power disappeared."

"Thanks for sharing that with me, Kim. It must have been tough to tell me that, but the fact you did shows great courage. I really couldn't have asked for a better friend." John put his arms around him and pulled her close. Kim responded with a hug of her own. They stood there hugging for about 5 seconds until John realized something. He realized Kim from his grip. She released him from her grip. John then ran off.

Did I do something wrong? Kim thought as she ran after John.

John found the Leader and Walter's unconscious body. There's something strange about this guy. He seems different.

"You!" yelled the Leader. "Duel me, John!" The circle of shadow fire started appearing. Kim ran as fast as she could, and, even though she got in, she was singed.

"Oh no! Kim!" John ran over to Kim. "Kim, I'm sorry I just ran off. I forgot to tell you I came here to face the Leader and dispel the gang." The black orb of the Shadow Realm started appearing.

"All right then. Just do me a favor and use your Warrior deck rather than your Kingdom deck please."

"You got it." John reached over to the deck, but his hand stopped. "I don't really think I want to stop using this deck."

Oh, no, the Wicked Gods are taking over again. Kim ran over to John. Kim put her hand on top of John's. "Let's reach for the Kingdom deck together, slowly." They slowly reached over for the deck. They then put their hands on the deck and took it out together. She took the Warrior deck out of his deck box and put the Kingdom deck in it. "Good. Now-" Kim started to fall, but John caught her. She was unconscious.

"Kim? Kim? What did you do to Kim?"

"The Shadow Realm drains energy from people," said the leader. "Your friend lost all of her energy, so her soul was taken by the Shadow Realm."

Wait a minute. John checked the leader's aura. What John saw was that the leader wasn't human at all; he was made the duel spirits of the monsters of the cards John threw away! That figures. But there seemed to be one missing from that conglomerate, besides the two in his Warrior deck, but who else is missing from that pile? John put Kim on the ground so that she was lying on her back. John held the Warrior deck in his hand.

"No, don't use that deck. Use the Kingdom deck instead," the Wicked Gods told John inside his mind.

"That's it, Wicked Gods!" John took the Wicked gods and the 3 Shadow-Imprisoning Mirrors out of his deck and placed them in his deck box. "You longer have any control of me." John placed his Warrior deck into his duel disk. John then leaned down. "Don't worry, Kim, I'll win this duel and break you free from the Shadow Realm," he whispered in Kim's ear. "But in case I don't, thank you for everything you've done for me. Everything." He then kissed Kim on the cheek and stood up once more. "All right, let's duel!"

"All right then," said the leader. "Sending you to the Shadow Realm will be the ultimate revenge for abandoning me! I mean us!"

Chapter 72 (Click to View)

Croak: I draw. I set a monster and 2 cards face-down and end my turn.

John: I draw. I summon my Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke (ATK 1800). I attack your monster.

Croak: You've just destroyed T.A.D.P.O.L.E., so I get 2 more from my deck to my hand.

John: All right then. I set 2 cards and end my turn.

Croak: I'll use Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy the face-down on the right. Now I draw. I activate Magical Stone Evacuation, so I discard my 2 T.A.D.P.O.L.E.s to bring back my Mystical Space Typhoon. Now I'll use it to destroy your other face-down. Now I'll activate Wetlands. This will increase the ATK of Level 2 or lower WATER Aqua-types by 1200. Now I summon Beelze Frog (ATK 1200). He gains 300 ATK for every T.A.D.P.O.L.E. in my graveyard, so its ATK increases by 900 (ATK 2100). Now I'll use Level Retuner to bring it down to Level 1, which allows it to get the Wetlands bonus (ATK 3300). Now I'll have it attack your Sasuke (John 6500). I'll end my turn with that.

John: I draw. I set a monster and 2 face-downs and end my turn.

Croak: I draw. I tribute my Frog for Des Frog (ATK 1900). Now two more Des Frogs appear on the field (ATKs 1900). Now I activate Des Croaking, so all your cards are destroyed. Now I can attack you directly with all 3 (John 800). I end my turn.

John: I draw. These two cards will have to do. I set a monster and a face-down and I end my turn.

Croak: I draw. I attack with my Des Frog.

John: Sorry, but I'll use Mirror Force to destroy your Frogs.

Croak: Fine. I end my turn.

John: I draw. I flip-summon Mataza the Zapper (ATK 1300). Now I set a card and have Mataza attack you directly twice (Croak 5400). Your turn.

Croak: I draw. I summon Unifrog (ATK 400). Thanks to Wetlands, it gets a bonus (ATK 1600). Now I'll have my Unifrog attack your Mataza.

John: I activate Kunai with Chain-

Croak: I activate my Quick-Play Spell, Frog Croak. This card will destroy all your face-up cards, but you draw a card for each card destroyed. However, my Unifrog must use its original ATK when it attacks this turn (John 400). I end my turn. Now draw. It will be the last card draw you will ever make.

John: I draw. You just gave me my ultimate combo. I activate my The Warrior Returning Alive, so I can bring back Mataza the Zapper. Now I summon Marauding Captain (ATK 1200). hen he is Normal Summoned, I can Special Summon Mataza the Zapper from my hand (ATK 1300). Now I can end you.

Croak: Unless you have a combo that can inflict 7000 damage to me, you won't win.

John: Now I activate United We Stand and I'll equip it to Mataza, which will increase his ATK by 1600 (ATK 2900). Welcome to the 7000 point combo, the Mataza Whack! I'll have my Mataza the Zapper strike down your Frog (Croak 4100). Now I'll have my monsters attack you directly! (Croak 0).

Chapter 73 (Click to View)

"Noooooooooooooooooooo!" Croak screamed as he disappeared. The flames and the shadow orb disappeared. John looked around. The only gang members around were from Walter's gang. Walter stood up.

"Hey, I'm back from the Shadow Realm. Okay, everyone, go to the lounge." The other gang members went straight into the lounge. "John, you stopped the Scrap Gang. Good job." John looked down at Kim.

"Kim hasn't woken up yet." He walked over to Kim and got on his knees. She looked at lifeless as she did after she fainted. "Kim, are you in there?" No response. "Come on Kim, if you're joking with me, it isn't funny. Please just wake up." No response. "Oh no! I couldn't rescue Kim from the Shadow Realm!" John was crying over Kim on all fours. Kim opened her eyes. Walter noticed, but Kim gave Walter the "Don't tell him" wink. Walter just stood there. Kim slowly rose up and kissed John right on the lips. John opened his eyes and looked directly into Kim's eyes. He then wrapped his arms around Kim to hug her. Without the support of John's arms to hold them up, John and Kim and fell down so that they were just lying on the ground.

Kim put her hands on John's face. "John, I can't thank you enough for saving me for the Shadow Realm."

John put his hands on Kim's face. "I can't thank you enough for everything you've done for me."

"John and Kim, you two really seem to like each other. Don't you think it's time for you to step it up a notch?"

"What!? We're just friends!" John and Kim stood up and shouted simultaneously.

"All right then, if that's how you two feel. Anyway, I have some cards for each of you." Walter handed John and Kim a pile of cards each. "I hope this works or a thank-you gift for saving our gang from this invasion."

"Call us up whenever you need help," replied John.

"Thank you, John. Right now I have to plan some stuff with the other gang members. See ya." Walter walked into the lounge, so John and Kim walked out of the clubhouse and out of the junkyard. They were headed towards Kim's house. About halfway through the walk, he felt a hand holding his. He saw Kim holding his hand. John then knelt down and took Kim's other hand. He gently brought it closer to his mouth and kissed the back of her hand. He then stood up and gently brought Kim's hand back to her side. They just looked at each other and smiled. They then continued on their path. When they got to Kim's house, they hugged and Kim went into the house. John then walked home. Not a lot happened, except for John's train of thought before he went to bed.

Would it really be wise to go to the next step with Kim? Are we even ready? I wonder what it would be like to be more than just friends. But today was pretty intense. What if we're doing what real lovers do? What if we actually took the step forward without knowing it?

John decided to go to bed and fell asleep promptly. In the morning, it was Thursday. Only today and tomorrow left and then the weekend. John prepared for the day and went to school. He arrived there early and sat i his chair. Kim then ran in with her dark outfit on and she ran to John. Many of the boys in the room whistled at the sight of her. "Kim, why are you here? And why are you wearing your dark clothes again?"

"I hate Mrs. Machina, so I'm seeing if I can get transferred here. Also, I have a few of these outfits, so this isn't really the same one."

"Well, it looks like you got quite a few good reviews on it."

"Yeah, but the only review that matters to me is yours, John." Kim sat down in a chair in the back of the class. Mr. Clock walked in. Mr. Clock counted the students.

"All right class, today will have a special tag-team tournament today. Each team must be a boy and a girl. Choose your teams." Kim ran over to John and hugged his arm. "Hey, so you want to be transferred into this class? Transfer approved, just state your name."

"Kim Shadow."

"Good. Kim Shadow, you are now a part of this class." Mr. Clock walked away.

"Cool teacher. Also, John, can you use this deck in this tournament?" asked Kim as she handed him the Bad Egg deck. "I'm sure the Eggs work together, just not in the same deck. Mind trying them out for me?"

"Sure thing Kim."

"All right," said Mr. Clock. "There are 4 teams. The duels with go by the World Championship 2008 style of Tag Duels. You'll figure it out as you play. Anyway, the first match is between John and Kim vs. Craig and Maria. Let the duel begin!" John loaded the Bad Egg deck into his duel disk.

"Let's duel!" the four duelists shouted.

Chapter 74 (Click to View)

Kim: I'll start things off. I draw. I activate my Easter Egg Scavenger Hunt (Field Spell). Now I use its effect to activate Easter Egg 3 (Continuous Spell) from my deck. Now I activate its effect to draw a card. Now I use my Scavenger Hunt's other ability to remove my Egg from play. Now I set 3 cards and then I activate Miraculous Egg Emergence. Now I send these 3 cards to the Graveyard and I can activate 5 "Easter Egg" Continuous Spells from play, so I choose to activate Easter Eggs 1, 2, 5, 7, and 10. Now I'll activate their effects, so first 1: We gain 500 Life Points (Kim & John 8500), 2: You lose 500 Life Points (Craig & Maria 7500), 5: We pay 1500 Life Points (Kim & John 7000), and now 10: I special Summon a monster from my hand and you special summon a monster from your deck whose Level is 2 lower, so I'll summon Dragon of the Many Eggs (ATK 2100, Level 4). Now, since Maria is at the duel platform now, she can summon a Level 2 monster from her deck.

Maria: I summon Decoy Dragon (ATK 300).

Kim: Good, because Easter Egg 7 will destroy your Dragon. Now I'll end my turn, so all my Easter Eggs will be removed from play and will be treated as being removed by Easter Egg Scavenger Hunt. Good. Easter Eggs 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, and 10 removed so far. It won't be long before I use my ace monster.

Craig: Looks like its my turn then. I draw. I activate my Field Spell, Luminous Spark, so your field is now demolished and your Dragon of the Many Eggs falls apart. Now I summon X-Head Cannon (ATK 1800). X-Head Cannon gets an extra 500 ATK from the field (ATK 2300). Now I activate Frontline Base, so I can summon a Level 4 or lower Union monster from my hand, so I choose Z-Metal Tank (ATK 1500). Now I'll equip my Tank to my Cannon, which means the Head gets an extra 600 ATK points (ATK 2900). Now I'll attack your Scouter (Kim & John 5700). Now I use Combination Attack, so my monsters un-equip and can each attack once. So I'll have my Cannon (ATK 2300) and my Tank (ATK 2000) attack directly (Kim & John 1400). I'll end my turn with a face-down.

John: It's my turn. I draw. I activate Easter Egg Scavenger Hunt (Field Spell).

Craig: What? You're using an Egg deck too?

John: My Egg deck is a different type of Egg deck. Kim's deck is the Yang strategy of the eggs. My deck is the Yin strategy of the eggs. First, since a new field spell is in play, your Spark goes away and your monsters lose their ATK boost. Now I summon Dragon of the Many Eggs (ATK 2100). Now I'll have my Dragon attack your Z-Tank.

Craig: I activate Formation Union, so my monsters join again (ATK 2400).

John: I figured you would do that. Now I activate my Wicked Egg Emergence card. Now my Bad Eggs join your side of the field straight from my deck, so I choose Bad Eggs 2, 3, and 5 (Continuous Spells) to join your side and at the end of your turn, they are removed from play. I will set 2 cards and end my turn. I know what you're planning, Kim, and I'll support you so that you get there. But I need you to be the active Yang while I will be the passive Yin. I know you can do it Kim. It's just too bad you can't hear my thoughts.

Maria: So it's my move. I draw.

John: Now my Bad Eggs activate, so first number 2 activates: I gain control of a monster you control, so hand over your X-Head Cannon.

Craig: Come on, John, you're taking the fun out of this!

John: There's more. If you want, you can remove the Egg from play now. Do you wish to do that?

Maria: Yes. Now what does Bad Egg 3 do?

John: You give up control of a Continuous Spell you control except for a Bad Egg, so it looks like you lose control of Frontline Base too. Do you wish to rid the field of the Egg now?

Maria: Now time for Bad Egg 5.

John: Now I look your hand and special summon a Level 4 or lower monster from it. I think I'll choose Red Eyes B. Chick (DEF 500).

Maria: I'll remove that egg from play too. Now I un-equip the Tank from your Cannon. I'll tribute it for Strong Wind Dragon (ATK 2400). It was nice dueling you, but now my Dragon's Piercing effect will destroy you two. Attack his Red Eyes B. Chick.

John: Before you end your Main Phase I activate Mysterious Disappearance of the Eggs. Now first the 3 Eggs in my and Kim's combined Graveyard are removed from play and treated as being removed from play by Easter Egg Scavenger Hunt. Now I activate Egg Barrier, so it gets an Egg Counter for every Egg me and Kim have removed from play, so that's 12 (EC 12). Also, by removing 1 of them (EC 11) I can negate an attack.

Maria: Fine. I'll set 2 cards and end my turn.

Kim: I draw. I activate Easter Egg 8 from my deck. Now I'll use its effect to destroy one of your face-downs. Now I'll activate my Scavenger Hunt's effect to remove my Egg from play. Now all 10 are removed, so I activate Scavenger Hunt Complete! Now I can activate Trophy Egg (Continuous Spell) at the cost of my Scavenger Hunt card. My Trophy Egg can activate the effects of all the Easter Eggs I have removed from play, so first I'll choose to destroy your face-down.

Maria: I activate my Mega Maelstrom card, so I send my field to the graveyard to destroy all your cards.

Kim: I activate my Quick-Play spell, Easter Egg Hatch, so I can summon Easter Baby Dragon (DEF 700). I'll end at that.

Craig: So it's my turn again. I draw. I summon my Jade Knight (ATK 1000). Now I'll have Jade Knight attack your Dragon.

Kim: Destroying my monster was a big mistake. Now I can summon my Easter Dragon (ATK 2400).

Craig: Fine. I'll set a card and end my turn.

John: My turn then. I draw. I activate Early Baby Dragon Arrival, so at the cost of half our Life Points (John & Kim 700) to summon Rotten Baby Dragon (ATK 1200). Now I'll have my Easter Dragon attack your Jade Knight (Craig & Maria 6100).

Craig: Jade Knight's ability lets me add a V-Tiger Jet to my hand.

John: That doesn't matter when my Baby Dragon attacks (Craig & Maria 4900). I set a card and end my turn.

Maria: I draw. I activate my Field Spell, Mausoleum of the Emperor. With this I can pay 2000 Life Points (Maria & Craig 2900) to summon Black Obelisk Dragon (created by logan2712, ATK 3000). Now I'll have it end your Baby Dragon and your Life Points.

John: I activate Dimension Wall, so you're the one who takes the damage (Maria & Craig 1100). Now my Dragon activates, so Kim and I lose 400 Life Points (John & Kim 300) and I summon Rotten Dragon (ATK 3000).

Maria: I end.

Kim: Good. I draw. I set a card and end my turn.

Craig: Really? That's it? Alright then, I summon Union Dragon (ATK 1550). It gets a Union monster in my grave to equip to it, so I'll choose Z-Metal Tank. Now I'll have Black Obelisk Dragon attack your Easter Dragon.

Kim: I activate Card Defense, so I take no damage and draw a card. But now my Easter Dragon upgrades to Easter Ancient Dragon (DEF 3000).

Craig: My Union Dragon can give up an equip to increase the ATK of a monster I control by the original ATK of Union Dragon (Black Obelisk Dragon ATK 4550). I end my turn.

John: I draw. I activate Heavy Storm, so I have all the cards I need to win.

Craig: Since my face-down Life Serum was destroyed, I gain 3000 Life Points (Craig & Maria 4100).

John: I switch Kim's Ancient Dragon to attack mode (ATK 1550). Easter Ancient Dragon increases the ATK of my Rotten Dragon by 1550 (ATK 4550). Now I'll have my Rotten Dragon ram into your Black Obelisk Dragon.

Craig: Big mistake. Now Black Obelisk Dragon can equip onto my Union Dragon and increase its ATK by 3000 (ATK 4550). Now you just have a weak dragon in play.

John: Not exactly. Since Rotten Dragon was destroyed, I can summon Rotten Ancient Dragon at the cost of half our Life Points (John & Kim 150, Rotten Ancient Dragon ATK 1550).

Craig: You're insane. Now all you have are 2 dragons with weak original ATK points.

John: Original is the keyword there. Kim's Easter Ancient Dragon powers up my Rotten Ancient Dragon by the original ATK of Easter Ancient Dragon (ATK 3100). Now my Rotten Ancient Dragon's effect will pump up both Dragons' ATK by their DEF (Easter Ancient Dragon ATK 4550, Rotten Ancient Dragon ATK 5650).

Craig: No way!

John: That's what happens when our ace cards join powers! Rotten Ancient Dragon, attack! (Craig & Maria 2950). Now feel the power of our dragons' bond. Easter Ancient Dragon, attack! (Craig & Maria 0).

Chapter 75 (Click to View)

"You two are truly better than we are. Your decks worked quite well together," said Craig. "There is still much to learn for Maria and I. Perhaps we could duel again, John, when I have learned more skill and calculation."

"I'm looking forward to that duel," said John.

"You only need to win one more duel to win this small tournament, and that duel is against either Chris and Destiny or Ryan and Misty," said Craig. "I guess we'll see what happens. See ya, John." Craig and Maria walked away. John and Kim also walked away. John looked at Kim. She was just looking down.

"Kim, what's wrong?" asked John.

"Nothing. I just have a lot of stuff in my mind."

"I got time. Please tell me what you're thinking."

"Good job, John and Kim," said Mr. Clock. "Kim, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Dr. Aster Clock. But please call me Mr. Clock."

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Clock," said Kim. "Hey, you kinda look like Aster Phoenix, but older."

"I get that a lot. Eventually I started running Destiny Heroes just so that people could say 'Hey that's Aster Phoenix' and stuff. Anyway, I must say you two duel really well together. I'm just wondering, John, why you didn't use your Warrior or Kingdom deck. Why did you use the Bad Egg deck?"

"I wanted to use a deck that supported Kim's."

"You're not telling me the whole story John. I know you aren't. I would like to hear why you are really running that deck."

"It's a long, strange story."

"I got time. I would like to hear it, but I think I should probably start the next tag duel. Tell me the story after this duel or something." Mr. Clock walked to the front of the class. "All right. Now let's see who gets to take on the Egg Lovers in the final duel: Ryan and Misty or Chris and Destiny. Now step up to the plate and start this duel!"

"Let's show them the combined power of Crystal Beasts and Arcana Force, Destiny."

"Yes, let's do so. The cards have already predicted our victory in this duel, but strangely the cards do not have a clear prediction about the duel against John and Kim."

"I'm sure we'll win against them too. After all, with our 2 field spells we can always stop their Easter Egg Scavenger Hunt. And without their field spell, they can't activate their Eggs, so their entire strategy is stopped."

"Good thinking, but let's focus on the duel at hand right now."

"Yeah, right. Sorry Ryan, but this duel won't last 20 turns, so your Final Countdown is useless."

"I don't need to wait 20 turns. The way I made my deck allows me to take away some of the time needed to automatically win," said Ryan.

"Even if that is true, you can't stop my assault for very long. With Destiny by my side, I'm unstoppable."

"We'll see," said Misty. "I should warn you, I have a God by my side. In fact, I have 3. You have only one God, Chris, and trust me, you won't be able to summon it in this duel."

"Sounds like a challenge, Misty. I accept."

"Duel!" yelled all 4 duelists.

Chapter 76 (Click to View)

Ryan: I'll go first. I draw. I activate Final Countdown, so at the cost of 2000 Life Points (Ryan & Misty 6000) I can guarantee victory in 20 turns.
I'll set a monster and 4 face-downs and I'll end my turn (FC 1)

Chris: I draw. I summon my Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus (ATK 1800). With this I can search out my Crystal Beast Ruby Carbuncle and place it in my Spell/Trap Zone. Now I'll attack with my Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus.

Ryan: I activate Gravity Bind, so all Level 4 and higher monsters can't attack! Also, I'll use my 3 Pyro Clocks of Destiny to advance the turn count (FC 4).

Chris: Fine. I'll place 2 cards face-downs and end my turn (FC 5).

Misty: I draw. I activate Ancient Rules, so I can summon Ancient God Bird Simorgh (ATK 2900). With my Simorgh out, WIND monsters cost 1 less Tribute to summon, so I can summon Executioner of Mist Valley (ATK 2100). Now his effect returns all Spells and Traps to their owners' hands, however, by the World championship 2008 tag-team rules, only the people currently playing with the dueling field can be considered the owners of the cards on the field, so that means Gravity Bind is returned to MY hand as well as all your Spells and Traps go to your hand, Chris.

Ryan: Misty, what are you doing! The idea is to be sure that we last 20 turns, not obliterate the opponent!

Misty: I think I can do both, Ryan. In fact, I think I beat them even sooner. Now I'll have Simorgh attack Sapphire Pegasus (Chris & Destiny 7100).

Chris: I'll place my Sapphire Pegasus in my Spell/Trap Zone.

Misty: Now I'll have my Executioner attack directly (Chris & Destiny 5000). Now I'll set 2 cards and I'll end my turn (FC 6).

Destiny: I draw. I activate Light Barrier. I summon Arcana Force VII - The Chariot (ATK 1700).

Misty: I activate Pulling the Rug, so your summon is negated and your monster is destroyed.

Destiny: Fine. I'll put 3 cards face-down and end my turn (FC 7).

Ryan: My move again. I draw. I set a monster and activate Gravity Bind and end my turn (FC 8).

Misty: What are you doing, Ryan! We could have defeated them this turn!

Ryan: I was being sure that those 3 face-downs wouldn’t do anything.

Misty: Well you’re too conservative.

Chris: I draw. Now the Light Barrier will spin and you choose when it stops.

Ryan: Stop!

Chris: It appears the card landed upside-down, so it is negated. I summon another Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus (ATK 1800) and place the last Sapphire Pegasus into my Spell/Trap Zone. Now I end my turn (FC 9).

Misty: I draw. I tribute Ryan's face-down monster for Giant God Bird of Mist Valley (ATK 2700). Now I flip summon his other monster, Shiba-Warrior Taro. Now I tune Taro to my Executioner to Synchro Summon Lightning God Ogre of the Mist Valley (ATK 2600). Now I activate Giant Trunade.

Chris: I activate Waboku.

Misty: Not gonna happen. I activate the effect of my Giant God Bird of Mist Valley: I return a "Mist Valley" monster I control to my hand to negate your card and destroy it, so I'll choose my Giant God Bird of Mist Valley to be returned. Your Waboku is negated and destroyed. Now I use my Lightning God's ability to return Gravity Bind to my hand so that my Lightning God can gain 500 ATK for this turn only (ATK 3100). Now I'll have my Lightning God attack your Pegasus (Chris & Destiny 3700).

Chris: Remember that my Pegasus is sent to my Spell/Trap Zone.

Misty: Simorgh, attack! (Chris & Destiny 800). I set a card and end my turn (FC 10).

Destiny: I draw. I set 2 cards and end my turn (FC 11).

Ryan: I draw.

Misty: Just attack them!

Ryan: Fine. I attack with Simorgh and Lightning God Ogre.

Destiny: First, I activate Card Defense to negate the damage from one battle and draw a card. Now I discard that card, Arcana Force XIV - Temperance, to reduce the damage I take from the other battle to 0.

Ryan: Whatever. I activate Swords of Revealing Light, so now you can't attack, especially with the Lightning God on the field to protect it. I end my turn (FC 12).

Chris: I draw. I activate my face-down Cup of Ace, so now it will spin and you must choose when to have it stop.

Ryan: Stop!

Chris: It landed upside-down, so you draw 2 cards.

Ryan: Guess that backfired.

Chris: Not really. I activate Card Destruction, so, Ryan, we each send our hands to the Graveyard and draw the same amount we discarded. Now I activate Hand Destruction, so we each send 2 cards in our hands to the graveyard to draw 2 cards. Now I activate Crystal Blessing to bring back my 2 other Sapphire Pegasus crystals (Continuous Spells) to the field. I'll also activate another Crystal Blessing to bring back the Amethyst Cat crystal (Continuous Spell) into my Spell/Trap Zone. There are 4 "Crystal Beast" Continuous Spells on my field and 4 cards on your side of the field. I activate Crystal Abundance, so all cards on the field will be sent to the Grave and I will summon 4 Crystal Beasts from my Graveyard. I summon 3 Sapphire Pegasus (ATKs 1800) and an Amethyst Cat (ATK 1200). I will use my Sapphire Pegasuses to place Topaz Tiger, Emerald Tortoise, and Cobalt Eagle from my deck into my Spell/Trap Zones. Also, I now have all 7 Crystal Beasts in my field or Graveyard, so I summon Ultimate Gem God Rainbow Dragon (ATK 4000). Now I'll attack directly with all my monsters. End this! (Ryan & Misty 0).

Chapters 77-86 are in Post #12.

[LarryCotter]

That's a great one.I read the first 9 chaps at once.Great work 8,5/10 because of the fast dueling,wich is sometimes a bit too fast ^^.
Also please check out mine \/

[Mystery Guest]

Chapter 77 (Click to View)

"Look what you did Ryan! You were too conservative in your attacks!" yelled Misty.

"Yeah, well, you returned your God Bird to your hand instead of your God Ogre to negate Waboku. Had you returned your Ogre at that time, you could have negated the Crystal Abundance that cost us the game by returning your Bird to your hand!" yelled Ryan back.

"What did you say, squirt!?" Misty grabbed Ryan's shirt.

"Now, now, kids," said Mr. Clock. "This isn't the time to fight. Wait until after school." Mr. Clock turned towards Chris and Destiny. "Nice win, Chris and Destiny. It seems like you were destined to win that battle."

"Yes, fate predicted our victory," said Destiny. "Who will match the next match is still undecided."

"All we know is that Destiny and Chris are destined to duel John and Kim," added Chris.

"You can't hide from destiny," said Mr. Clock. "Let's see how well you fare against John and Kim. But first let's take a break." Mr. Clock then walked over to John and Kim. "Now's as good a time as any to tell me why you're using the Bad Eggs, John."

"It's like this," said John. "I went to rescue Kim from Gemini. When I found her, she was infected with the darkness of the Earthbound Immortal from the Tree Nazca Line. She wore an outfit that looked exactly like the one she's wearing now, with all the makeup and everything, and she used the Bad Egg deck. After I freed her, she still had the Bad Egg deck, so I told her to try it out. I was eventually taken over by the Wicked Gods, I joined the Kingdom Klan, and Kim was captured by the Klan. She dueled me in order to free me from the Wicked Gods' influence and she used the Bad Egg deck. When she played Rotten Knight, she was taken over by the darkness again."

"Actually John, the only thing that happened was that the shadow clothes appeared on me. I was still in control of myself. May I continue on with the story John?"

"Sure thing Kim."

"All right then. Even though I lost the duel, I still got through to John and he was freed from the influence of the Gods. He then released me from the prison. Later I used all the Egg cards in one deck but it didn't work very well. I figured that the two Eggs would work together well in a Tag Duel, so I'm letting John use the Bad Eggs."

"So why are you running the Bad Eggs, John?"

"I knew that Kim didn't think the Bad Eggs were good. She didn't think the Easter Eggs were good when I first met her. Now, just like I did back when I first met her, I'm proving that the Egg cards are actually quite good."

"Is that really the reason? Or is it that you like Kim and that you don't want to disappoint her?"

"What!? No way, we're just friends! The fact that I wanted to take these Bad Eggs for a spin has little to do with Kim, other than the fact that she asked me to use them."

"You said that before. Anyway, what about you, Kim? Do you like John?"

"As John said, we're just friends."

"You two should probably step up your relationship a few notches. You each have a lot of love for the other in your hearts."

"No, that's just our strong friendship bond," said John.

"Yeah, that," said Kim. "We just have a strong friendship, that's all."

"Seems I can't change your minds. You two should seriously discuss your relationship, though. Anyway, you two should get ready for the next duel." John and Kim walked towards the duel arena. Chris and Destiny were already there.

"Hey dude," said Chris. "Looks like 3 people at this duel have decks that rely on Continuous Spells and all 4 of us rely on Field Spells. This will be a strange duel."

"It certainly will be," said Destiny. "Fate doesn't even have an answer to who will win this duel."

"I don't need to have fate forecast my victory," said Chris. "With Destiny by my side, I'm unstoppable." But John didn't seem to be listening. He seemed to be worried about Kim, who was staring at the ground. John put his arm around Kim's shoulders and put his mouth near her ear.

"Kim, what's wrong?" John whispered in Kim's ear.

"I'm just thinking."

"As I told you before, Kim, I have time. Please tell me what's wrong. I can't help you if you don't."

"I wish I knew exactly what it was, but I don't. There's just so much in my mind right now."

John moved in front of Kim and placed his hands on Kim's cheeks. He then brought up Kim's chin until he could see Kim eye to eye. "I may not be able to clear the storms inside your mind, but I know I can always make you feel better." John then placed his hands on Kim's back and pulled her in. Kim responded with a hug as well. When they let go and John saw Kim eye to eye, John knew Kim felt a little better.

"Thank you John." Kim was tearing up. "I couldn't ask for a better friend." John wiped away Kim's tears.

"Hey Kim, I thought of a cool line we can say when we're about to win the duel." John whispered something in Kim's ear. She gave a small laugh to the line.

"Good one John. Anyway, let's prepare ourselves for the duel."

"Kim, I want you to have this card." He handed her the Cross of the Dimensions card. "This card will help in this duel."

"Thank you John. I just wish there was something I could do to help you out."

"Don't worry about it." John took Kim's hand. "All that matters is that you're my tag partner, Kim. Together, we'll win this duel."

"All right, it's finally time!" said Mr. Clock. "It's time for the final tag-duel of this tournament, the duel between John and Kim vs. Chris and Destiny. Now get this duel started."

"Let's duel!" the 4 duelists shouted.

Chapter 78 (Click to View)

Kim: I'll go first. I draw. I play Cross of the Dimensions. With this, we each play a field spell from our hand, deck, or graveyard and for the rest of the duel there can be more than 1 active field spell at a time on each side of the field, none of the Field Spells can be remove from the field, and a new field spell cannot be played. I choose to activate my Easter Egg Scavenger Hunt!

John: So do I!

Chris: I activate Ancient City - Rainbow Ruins!

Destiny: I activate Light Barrier!

Kim: Now I control 2 "Easter Egg Scavenger Hunt" cards, so I can activate 2 "Easter Eggs" from my deck per turn. I activate Easter Eggs 1 and 10. Now I activate their effects: 1: John and I gain 500 Life Points (Kim & John 8500) and 10: I special summon a Level 3 or higher monster from my hand and you, Destiny, can Special Summon one that is 2 levels lower than mine straight out of your deck, so I choose Easter Bunny (DEF 550).

Destiny: Thank you. I summon Arcana Force 0 - The Fool (DEF 0). Thanks to Light Barrier being rightside-up, I can choose the effect it gets, so I choose the Tails effect: it cannot be targeted by the opponents' cards.

Kim: I remove Easter Egg 10 from play. Now I activate Miraculous Egg Emergence, so Easter Egg 1 is sent to the Graveyard and I can activate 5 Easter Eggs from my deck, but they are removed from play at the end of the turn, so I activate Easter Eggs 2, 3, 4, 6, and 9. Now I activate 4's effect to draw a card and then I'll remove it from play using my other Easter Egg Scavenger Hunt. Next I play Egg Draw, so I draw 4 cards, one for each "Easter Egg" or "Bad Egg" I control. Now I activate the effect of my Easter Bunny, so Easter Egg 1 is returned to my deck. Now I'll activate the effects of my Easter Eggs, 2: you lose 500 Life Points (Destiny & John 7500), 3: I draw, 4: You discard, Destiny, 6: I discard 2 cards to gain 1500 Life Points (Kim & John 10000), 9: John and I gain 250 Life Points and you lose 250 (Kim & John 10250, Destiny & Chris 7250). I summon my Easter Egg Protector (ATK 800, Tuner). Now I'll tune my Protector (Level 2) to my Easter Bunny (Level 3) to Synchro Summon Guardian of the Easter Eggs (ATK 2400). I set a card and end my turn, so my Easter Eggs are removed from play by Miraculous Egg Emergence, which treats those Eggs as being removed by Easter Egg Scavenger Hunt.

John: Great move Kim. You're a strong duelist with that deck. You have mastered Yang. I need to master Yin if we are going to work together properly and master these decks.

Chris: Yes, great move Kim. Too bad I have a great move set up. I draw. Now Light barrier activates, so I flip a coin. I got heads, so Light Barrier stays active. I activate Card Destruction, so Kim and I each discard our hands for a brand new hand. Now I activate Hand Destruction, so again, we send 2 cards from our hand to the Graveyard to draw 2 cards. Now I summon my Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus (ATK 1800). I'll use its effect to place Emerald Tortoise from my deck into my Spell/Trap Zone. Now I have all 7 Crystal Beasts in my field and graveyard, so I can summon Ultimate Gem God Rainbow Dragon (ATK 4000).

John: You've gotta be kidding. He summoned Rainbow Dragon already?

Chris: Yep. Now It's time for some action. I activate Fissure to destroy your Guardian. Now I'll attack directly with my monsters (Kim & John 4450). Now I'll set a card and end my turn.

John: My move. I draw. I activate Lightning Vortex, so I discard a card and destroy all your monsters.

Chris: My Sapphire Pegasus turns into a Crystal.

John: I summon Bad Egg Scouter (ATK 1850). Now I activate Kim's face-down Heavy Storm, so I will destroy your Spells and Traps.

Chris: I don't think so. I activate Rainbow Gravity, so I can bring back my Rainbow Dragon (ATK 4000).

John: Yeah. I kinda figured you would do that. I activate Wicked Egg Emergence, so I can give you Bad Eggs straight out of my deck, so I choose to give Bad Eggs 2, 4, 5, 7, and 9 to you. I activate my Scouter's effect so I can add Bad Egg 1 to my hand. I set a card and end my turn.

Destiny: Good. It's my move. I draw.

John: Now it's time for me to destroy your hand. The Bad Eggs activate during your Standby Phase and after each one activates you can remove them from play. Just know that, at the end of the turn, they'll be removed anyway. Now Bad Egg 2 activates, so you must give up control of a monster, and the only one you control is Rainbow Dragon, so you must give control of it to me.

Destiny: How mean! I remove Bad Egg 2 from play. I'll remove them all from play after they activate.

John: Now that I have hurt your field, it's time to hurt your hand. Bad Egg 4 forces you to send a card inn your hand to the graveyard. Bad Egg 5 lets me Special Summon a monster from your hand to my side, so I choose Arcana Force IV - the Emperor (ATK 1400). Now the rest is up to fate. Sadly I got tails, so my Emperor is upside-down. What does that mean, exactly?

Destiny: It means that you've lost a position of power and your Emperor loses 500 ATK (ATK 900).

John: I lost a position of power? Anyway, now Bad Egg 7 activates, so I draw a card. Now Bad Egg 9 activates, so Kim & I gain 300 Life Points (John & Kim 4750). As you said you wanted before, all those Eggs are removed from play.

Destiny: Yes. Now my Light Barrier activates, and I got a heads, so it remains active. It looks like the end of the journey is in my favor. I activate Hammer Shot, so Rainbow Dragon is destroyed. Now I summon The Chariot (ATK 1700). I activate its Heads effect. Now Chariot, attack the Emperor (John & Kim 3950). Now the Emperor is reborn on my side, with his Heads effect, so my Arcana Force monsters gains 500 ATK (ATK 1900). Now Light Barrier lets me gain Life Points equal to the Emperor's original ATK points (Destiny & Chris 8050). Now I'll have the Emperor destroy your Scouter (John & Kim 3900). That means that I gain Life Points equal to the ATK points of your Scouter (Destiny & Chris 9900). I set a card and end my turn.

Kim: I draw.

Destiny: I predict you will lose, and I'll show you why. I activate my face-down, Tour of Doom. Now I flip a coin during each of your Standby Phases and activate the appropriate effect. I got Heads, so this turn you cannot Normal Summon or Flip Summon.

Kim: Now does that ability fade away when the card is destroyed? I can't find a single ruling on the card Tour of Doom.

Destiny: I don't know. I figure the effect would disappear when the Continuous Trap disappears though.

Kim: Sweet. I activate Easter Egg 8 from my deck and I'll activate its effect, so your Tour of Doom is destroyed. That means that now I can Normal Summon this turn. I summon my Easter Egg Scouter (ATK 1600). Now, since 5 of my Easter Eggs are removed from play by Easter Egg Scavenger Hunt, I can Special Summon Easter Knight (ATK 2400). Now I activate Easter Egg 7 from my deck and I'll use its effect to destroy the Emperor. Also, I'll remove it from play thanks to Easter Egg Scavenger Hunt. Now I'll equip my Easter Knight with Easter Knight with the Easter Egg Scepter, which gives him a 1000 ATK power boost (ATK 3400). Once per turn I can activate the effect of an Easter Egg that is removed from play, so I choose Easter Egg 7, so your Chariot is destroyed. Now I'll use my Scouter's ability to add Easter Egg 5 to my hand and I activate it. Now I use its effect to draw 2 cards at the cost of 1500 Life Points (Kim & John 2400). I use the Scavenger Hunt to remove it from play. Now I'll attack directly with my monsters (Destiny & Chris 4900). I end my turn.

Chris: It's my turn. I draw. It appears Light Barrier's coin flip is Tails. Looks like it's the end for us, Destiny. I set a card and end my turn.

John: It's my move then. I activate Easter Egg 7 to destroy your face-down.

Chris: You've tripped my face-down Grave Maelstrom's effect: when it's destroyed by a targeting effect my opponent controls, it destroys all cards on the field. If any of them have any effects in the graveyard,those are negated and I take 100 damage for each one. The Scepter is one, so I just saved myself from a lot more damage (Chris & Destiny 4800).

John: I activate Monster Reborn to bring back Easter Knight (ATK 2400). Since I have 5 Bad Eggs removed from play, I can Special Summon Rotten Knight (ATK 2400). Sorry to say this, but...

John gave Kim the "now's the time for our catchphrase" nod.

John and Kim, in perfect unison: This duel is ova. Now Easter Knight and Rotten Knight, attack! (Chris & Destiny 0).

Chapter 79 (Click to View)

A few seconds after the duel was over, John was still looking at the holographic field. He then saw that Easter Knight and Rotten Knight were still there. The Knights did a high five and then disappeared. It seemed that John was the only one who saw it. Did I imagine that? I remember that, after the first match was over, the Ancient Dragons nodded at each other in unison, as if in agreement about an unsaid thought or plan before disappearing. Was does this mean?

"It appears the winners of this tag-team tournament is Kim and John," said Mr. Clock. "You two are the winners of this boy-girl tournament. Too bad I don't have a trophy for you two."

"That's alright," said John.

"Now I just need to make a phone call. You two stay put as I figure out a proper way to congratulate you two." Mr. Clock walked over to the phone and dialed a number. "Hey, Machina. I have the best boy-girl team in my class all ready. They're John Legionary and Kim Shadow. What about you?"

"Wait, so THAT'S where Kim is!? All the other girls in my class are absent. I could even do the tournament! I'm getting over there right now!" Mrs. Machina walked into the room. "Why is Kim in your class?" Kim was holding onto John's arm.

"She requested a transfer. It is pretty much completely approved. You're the last signature she needs to transfer. So sign it, Machina!"

"There's no way I'm signing that! She never told me why she wanted to switch out."

"Maybe it's because of how mean you are," asserted John.

"Oh, so it's the kid who uses the warriors of trash. You were just lucky when you beat me last time. Now I challenge you to a duel, John. If I win Kim comes back to my class, if I lose I sign the form."

"Fine. Bring it on, Machina!"

"No, wait," said Kim. "John, I think I should be in this duel."

"But Kim-"

"Even though I'm afraid, I have to stand up to her, I have to this time. This is my fight, John. I can't be afraid anymore."

"If that's what you want Kim," said John. "Just promise me you'll win this duel."

"Of course John. I promise." Kim turned towards Mrs. Machina. Whenever John's around me, I can feel his strength and courage. It makes me feel as though I can stand up to Mrs. Machina. "All right, Mrs. Machina. Let's duel."

"Yes, let's duel!"

Chapter 80 (Click to View)

Mrs. Machina: I'll start things off. I draw. I set a card and end my turn.

Kim: I draw. I activate Easter Egg Scavenger Hunt, so I can activate an Easter Egg from my deck. I choose Easter Egg 10. Now I use its effect to summon Easter Egg Treasurer (DEF 1500, Level 3). Now you can Special Summon a Level 1 monster from your deck.

Mrs. Machina: Actually, there are no Level 1 monsters in my deck. Using weak level monsters is for the weak.

Kim: Is that so? I remove my Egg from play thanks to my Scavenger Hunt. Now I set a card and activate Miraculous Egg Emergence, so it gets sent to the Graveyard and I can activate 5 Easter Eggs from my deck. I choose Easter Eggs 1, 2, 3, 8, and 9. Now I activate their effects: 1: I gain 500 Life Points (Kim 8500), 2: You lose 500 Life Points (Mrs. Machina 7500), 3: I draw a card, 8: Your face-down is destroyed, and 9: I gain 250 Life Points and you lose 250 Life Points (Kim 8750, Mrs. Machina 7250). Now I use my Treasurer's effect to remove Easter Egg 1 from play and it gets treated as being removed by Easter Egg Scavenger Hunt. Now I activate Egg Draw, so I draw 4 cards, one for each Easter Egg Continuous Spell I control. Now I attack with my Treasurer (Mrs. Machina 5750). Now I set a card and end my turn. Now my Easter Eggs are removed from play and treated as being summoned by Easter Egg Scavenger Hunt.

Mrs. Machina: It's my move then. I draw. And I have exactly what I need. I activate Power Bond, so I fuse 2 Ancient Gear Golems and an Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Dragon to summon my Ultimate Ancient Gear Golem (ATK 4400).

Kim: When did she start using Ancient Gears?

Mrs. Machina: That kid with the trash warrior deck taught me a couple of things: that I can't rely on weak monsters like my Gadgets if I want to win, and that it was my high ATK that killed me last time. Now I have a new OTK, and neither Magic Cylinder nor Dimension Wall can stop me. Now Power Bond gives my monster double the strength (ATK 8800). Now I normal summon Heavy Mech Support Platform (ATK 500). Now I equip it to my Ultimate Golem to boost his ATK by 500 (ATK 9300). Now I activate Limiter Removal to power up my Golem even more.

Kim: I chain Shrink to your Limiter Removal. Now your monster will be weakened to 4900 ATK before doubling its ATK (ATK 9800).

Mrs. Machina: Ultimate Golem, attack the Treasurer (Kim 450). Looks like you're barely hanging on. I end my turn. Now my monster gets his original ATK back and my Heavy Mech is destroyed by Limiter rather than my Golem (ATK 8800).

Kim: You don't get away that easily. Power Bond will now inflict damage to you equal to your Golem's original ATK power, which is 4400 (Mrs. Machina 4850). Now it's my move. I draw. I activate Easter Egg 7 from my deck and I'll activate its effect, so your Golem is destroyed.

Mrs. Machina: When my Ultimate Golem is destroyed I can summon Ancient Gear Golem from my Graveyard (DEF 3000).

Kim: I'll use my Scavenger Hunt's effect to remove Easter Egg 7 from play. Now I summon Easter Knight (ATK 2400). It can be Special Summoned if I have 5 Easter Eggs removed from play. Now I equip it with Easter Egg Scepter, which boosts my monster's ATK by 1000 (ATK 3400). Now I use the effect of my Scepter to activate the effect of my Easter Egg 7, so your Golem is destroyed. Now I attack with my Easter Knight (Mrs. Machina 1450). Your inability to successfully complete your OTK has resulted in your defeat. Now I play Mystical Space Typhoon, so my Scepter is destroyed. Since it was sent from the field to the Graveyard, all my Easter Eggs that I have removed from play are sent to the Graveyard and you take 500 damage for each one (Mrs. Machina 0). You lost, Mrs. Machina.

Chapter 81 (Click to View)

"I don't understand it. Why do I lose to such weak decks? I should be able to beat you easily!"

"Mrs. Machina, you have 1 major fault," said John. "You use your best cards immediately and don't care about the face-downs even though they can ruin your entire plan. Once your OTK fails you can be stopped easily. The best time to use your OTKs are when you can be sure your opponent can't stop you."

"Fine, whatever. I'll sign the transfer form." Mrs. Machina signed the transfer slip. "So now you're officially in this class, so I won't have to see you again Kim. See you never again." Mrs. Machina walked out of the classroom.

"Good job Kim," said John as he hugged Kim. "You defeated Mrs. Machina and now you're in this class."

"I couldn't have done this without you John."

"What do you mean Kim?"

"When I'm around you, I can feel your strength and courage. That strength and courage gives me strength and courage so that I won't be afraid. If you weren't here with me I wouldn't have had the courage to take on Mrs. Machina, so I must thank you John, for giving that courage."

"So Kim," said Mr. Clock. "You're the new student of the class. Based on how you just dueled it seems you know all the rules to the game. Since you're the new student, there won't be any more class for today. Kim, just get caught up with the notes and everything."

"All right Mr. Clock. John, mind if I borrow your notebooks?"

"Of course Kim," said John as he handed her the notebooks. John then sat down in his seat. Destiny then walked over to John.

"Hey John, are you alright?" asked Destiny. "There seems to be something troubling you."

"No it's alright," said John. "It's just some business with the Kingdom Klan."

"Oh, the Kingdom Klan. Yeah. I lost my boyfriend to the Kingdom Klan. Well, he didn't lose his life, but a long time ago, my boyfriend became interested in a strange system of government put in by the Kingdom Klan a long time ago. Eventually he became so obsessed with it that he started remaking the gang. He even convinced Pegasus to make cards for them. I haven't seem him since. Whenever I ask about him though, they say he's the Emperor. Emp is his nickname though."

"Yeah. Mine was Jack. Anyway, I know who your boyfriend is. I'll free him from whatever is possessing him." And I have a feeling it's the Wicked Gods.

"Thanks John. I know you'll succeed in freeing him." A few uneventful hours later, the bell rang. John and Kim walked outside. They were intercepted by 2 Kingdom blades.

"You two are under Kingdom arrest." They chained John and Kim together back to back and put them on the horse. Within a few minutes they were at the clubhouse. They entered the Throne Room. There, Emp was very unhappy. John and Kim were unchained and left alone with Emp.

"Hey Jack," said Emp. "It appears you are losing your Kingdom spirit. Letting a prisoner go free. Not reporting to the clubhouse, especially when we needed you. Using a deck other than your Kingdom deck. It seems like you want out. In order to escape, though, you need to beat me in a duel without using your Kingdom deck. So tell me if you want to quit or not."

"Yes, I want to quit the Kingdom Klan. You can take back your deck." John threw the Kingdom deck at Emp. John then took his Warrior deck out of his deck box. Just then, the Wicked Gods escaped and landed in Emp's hand. The spirits were visible in front of Emp.

"What are you doing, Gods! You said you would take over John's mind. Now look at the situation!"

"He is too strong. We tried to take over, but the combined strength of him and his girlfriend put us in submission. We can't take him over anymore. But we can take over you." They slipped themselves into Emp's body and took over his mind.

"Looks like he's been possessed by the Wicked Gods. Looks like I'll have to stop them. But first...." John took the 3 Shadow-Imprisoning Mirrors. "I believe these are yours Kim."

"Keep them John. At least use them in this duel. It looks like you'll need them." John shuffled the Mirrors into his deck.

"You're right Kim. I will need them. Thank you for letting me use them." He then turned towards Emp. "Let's duel, Emp."

Chapter 82 (Click to View)

Emp: I’ll start this duel off. I draw. I summon Kingdom – Mounted Knight (ATK 1600). Now I’ll use its effect, so I pay 1500 Life Points (Emp 6500) to summon Kingdom – Swordsman (ATK 1500). Now I use my Swordsman’s effect to Special Summon Kingdom – Royal Fool (ATK 1400). I’ll end my turn.

John: I draw. I summon Resistance Army (ATK 1850). Now I’ll have it destroy your Royal Fool (Emp 6150). I’ll set 3 cards and I’ll end my turn.

Emp: I draw. I activate my Swordsman’s ability so that I can summon my Kingdom – Jester Finder (ATK 0). Now I’ll add Kingdom – Court Jester from my deck to my hand. Now I’ll tribute my Jester Finder and my Swordsman to summon Dark Tuner Deathwizard (ATK 0, Dark Tuner).

John: That wasn’t in my Kingdom deck. It must be one of those cards only the Emperor has. I have a bad feeling about this.

Emp: Now I’ll Dark Tune my Deathwizard (Level 12) to my Mounted Knight (Level 4). The rebels are trying to overthrow the Kingdom. Let’s show them our true strength. Dark Synchro! Rule with an iron fist, Kingdom – Corrupt Czar! (ATK 3000) Now I’ll use my Dark Tuner’s effect: when it is used for a Dark Synchro Summon, I special summon a monster from my hand, and I choose my Kingdom – Princess (ATK 2100). Now I’ll use my Corrupt Czar’s effect, so I pay 500 Life Points (Emp 6650) to draw a card. Now I’ll activate the effect of the Princess, so I remove a card from my hand from play to increase my Life Points by half of what I lost (Emp 6400). Now I activate Kingdom Rush! I activate all the “Kingdom” Continuous Spells and “Ultimate Kingdom!” from my deck. The only cost is, during your Standby Phase, I lose. Now I activate my City, so I can add a “Kingdom” card from my deck to my hand, and I choose my Unity of the Kingdom spell card.

John: Too bad it won’t be of any use to you. I activate Mystical Space Typhoon, so the Ultimate Kingdom card is destroyed, and that means all your Kingdom cards are destroyed.

The Kingdom fell apart. When the dust cleared, there were two figures facing John.

John: Wait? How did your Corrupt Czar survive?

Emp: Did you really think that the collapsing of a Kingdom would destroy a Czar? Of course it wouldn’t. Corrupt rulers will twist any situation to their advantage. Because of that, my Corrupt Czar cannot be destroyed by battle, Spells, or Traps. Now I’ll have my Corrupt Czar destroy your Army (John 7050). I’ll end my turn. Try to figure out a way to stop me.

John: I don’t have to. I draw. Now your Kingdom Rush kicks in, so you lose.

Emp: Ordinarily that would be the case, but don’t you remember that I removed a card from play using my Princess?

John: You mean-

Emp: Yep, that card was Kingdom Super Stability. Now I shuffle my Graveyard, Kingdom Super Stability, my hand, and my deck all together and I draw 5 cards and my Life Points get reset (Emp 8000). Oh yeah, one more thing, your turn ends now, so it’s my turn. I draw. I summon Kingdom – Mounted Knight (ATK 1600). Now I’ll use its effect (Emp 6500) to summon Kingdom – King (ATK 2550). That duel was fun, but its time for me to end you. I attack with all 3 of my monsters.

John: No, you don’t. I activate Threatening Roar before your Main Phase ends, so you can’t attack this turn.

Emp: Fine. I’ll pay 500 Life Points (Emp 6000) to draw a card and I’ll end my turn.

John: I draw. I summon Exiled Force (ATK 1000).

Emp: What will that do?

John: It will do the one thing your Corrupt Czar can’t protect against: it will destroy your Czar with a monster effect. Now I’ll set a card and end my turn.

Emp: You're so weak. I draw. I summon Kingdom – Cleric (ATK 1000). Now I’ll attack with my monsters.

John: I activate Mirror Force, so all your monsters are destroyed.

Emp: Fine. I set 2 cards and end my turn.

John: Good. I draw. I activate my Giant Trunade so all my Spells and Traps are returned to my hand. I’ve been waiting to use this combo since the beginning of the duel, and now you have nothing to stop me. I summon Marauding Captain (ATK 1200) and I can use its effect to summon a monster from my hand, so I choose Mataza the Zapper (ATK 1300). I’ll equip my Mataza with United We Stand so his ATK increases by 1600 (ATK 2900). Now I’ll launch all possible attacks at you for 7000 points (Emp 0). That combo is called the Mataza Whack!

Chapter 83 (Click to View)

The Wicked Gods flew out of Emp’s body and Emp fainted. The Wicked Eraser put Emp’s duel disk on its tail and moved its tail in front of The Wickedd Dreadroot. The Wicked Dreadroot took the Kingdom deck out of the duel disk and put in a mysterious deck. The Wicked Avatar levitated over the Wicked Dreadroot’s head. The Wicked Eraser then moved its head a little forward so that The Wicked Avatar was more or less locked in place.

John: What are they doing?

The Wicked Avatar: Duel us John. Let’s see if you are truly stronger than us. If you lose you’re sent to the Shadow Realm and we can take over the world. Also, I bet you’re wondering why we’re in this position. Eraser has to hold the duel disk because Dreadroute’s arm is too big and I don’t have arms, or a defined form. Dreadroute’s here to draw and play cards. I need to be kept here so that I can decide what cards get played or not. You see, I’m the smartest out of these 3, so it’s only fair that I make the decisions. But enough about that, let’s duel.

John: efinitely. I can't wait to take you down!

The ring of blue fire appeared. Kim was on the outside of the circle.

John: Don’t worry Kim. I’ll win. I promise.

Avatar: Good luck with that.

John and Avatar: DUEL!

Avatar: I’ll go first. I draw. That means you draw a card Dreadroute. Good. I summon Wicked Candle (ATK 0). That means you place that card there. I’ll end my turn with two face-downs. That means you place those 2 cards face-down. No not those two, THOSE two. Okay good. Your turn.

John: I draw. I set a monster and I’ll set 3 cards and I’ll end my turn.

Avatar: I draw. Alright, looks like you got the hang out this, Dreadroute. Anyway, now I activate the effect of our Wicked Candle, so 2 more are summoned from our deck.

John: I don’t think so. I activate Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror, so your trick won’t work.

Avatar: I activate Royal Decree, so your Trap is useless. Now where was I? Oh yeah, I was at the part where I special summon 2 Wicked Candles from my deck (ATKs 0). Now I activate my Candles’ effect: I tribute these 3 Candles to summon the 3 Wicked Gods from my hand, and they are counted as being Normal Summoned. Now I summon Wicked God Dreadroute (ATK 4000), Wicked God Eraser (ATK ?), and Wicked God Avatar (ATK ?). Wicked God Avatar’s ATK is equal to the highest ATK on the field plus 100 (ATK 4100) while my Eraser’s is equal to the number of cards on your field times 1000 (4000), but Dreadroute halves the ATK of all other monsters, so its ATK is actually half that (ATK 2000). Also, since Wicked God Avatar was Normal Summoned, you cannot activate Spells or Traps until the end of your second turn after it was Normal Summoned. Now Eraser, attack his face-down.

John: It’s Fortress Warrior, so it will take 2 attacks to destroy it.

Avatar: Very well. Dreadroute, destroy his Warrior. Now I’ll attack you directly (John 3900). I end my turn.

John: Good. I draw. I summon the Warrior Caller (ATK 800). Now I can send any number of cards from my field to the grave to special summon a Warrior monster from my deck of that Level. I choose to send all 4 cards from my field to the Graveyard in order to summon my Resistance Army (ATK 1850).

Avatar: Its ATK is halved (ATK 925).

John: Yeah, but now I can destroy your Eraser (ATK 500). Resistance Army, destroy the Eraser (Avatar 7575). Now your Eraser will destroy all cards on the field, but my Army is immune to destruction by effects. Now it has all of its ATK power again (ATK 1850). I’ll set a card and end my turn.

Avatar: I draw. I activate Return of the Wicked Gods, so now my 3 Wicked Gods are removed from play. Next turn they’ll be summoned again and they are counted as being Normal Summoned. When they are summoned again, you can draw 3 cards, not that it will matter. I suggest you make your next turn count. I end my turn.

John: I draw. I set a card and I’ll attack with my Resistance Army (Avatar 5725). I’ll end my turn.

Avatar: I draw.

John: Now I can activate my Spells and Traps again, so I’ll activate Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror. Now your Avatar’s lockdown effect won’t work.

Avatar: Whatever. I still summon Dreadroute (ATK 4000), Eraser (ATK 1500), and Avatar (ATK 4100). This means your Resistance Army is weakened again (ATK 925). You still get to draw 3 cards. Now I’ll attack your Resistance Army with Eraser (John 3275). Now I’ll finish you. Dreadroute, end this! (John 1275). What? How did you only take half damage?

John: I activated Warrior’s Reflection. This card lets me take half the damage from a battle and summon a Warrior that was just destroyed in battle this turn, so I choose Resistance Army(DEF 0).

Avatar: Yes, but its effects are negated and its DEF goes to 0. Avatar, destroy it. Now I end my turn. How will you win?

John: I draw. Now I have the 5 cards I need. I activate Lightning Vortex, so I’ll destroy all your monsters. The Eraser will now destroy all other cards on the field. Now I activate Reinforcement of the Army to add Marauding Captain from my deck. Now I summon Marauding Captain and I’ll use its effect to summon Mataza the Zapper (ATK 1300). I’ll use my United We Stand card to increase my Mataza’s ATK by 800 for every monster I control (ATK 2900). Now I’ll Mataza Whack you! Attack!(Avatar 0).

Chapter 84 (Click to View)

“Oh no,” shouted Avatar. “How could we lose!?”

“Looks like I’m stronger than you are,” said John.

“So what? It’s not like you can seal us away."

“Guess again,” said Emp, slowly standing up. “I have the sealing box right here. Catch it, John.” He threw the box at John. John caught it. John then took the 3 Wicked Gods from the duel disk and put them in the box. The Gods disappeared. “That box is a quick fix. Sadly it isn’t a permanent fix. Only one person can really seal them away: Bastet Ishtar.”

“Bastet Ishtar?” asked John. “Who’s that?”

“She is Ishizu Ishtar’s daughter. She has the magical ability to seal away wicked things. These should be no problem for her to seal away. I’ll contact her and tell her to meet you. Until then, keep the Gods with you in this box and always keep this box with you.”

“Thank you Emp.” John took the box from Emp. “I’ll keep this safe.” John then remembered Destiny. “Destiny will be happy now that you’re free.”

“Destiny, my girlfriend, or at least the girl who used to be my girlfriend. Man, I’m such a bad boyfriend. When I first researched the Kingdom Klan, I became so obsessed with it I tried to re-enact its system and I completely forgot about Destiny. The Wicked Gods then promised me the power to take over the government and test out the Kingdom system. I thought I was saving the world’s economy. I was really just being used as a pawn for them to take over the world.”

“Now you see that it didn’t work. I guess you’ll quit the Kingdom Klan now.”

“Are you kidding? I won’t quit the Kingdom Klan just because of this.”

“But Destiny-”

“I know. Destiny doesn’t like me being obsessed with the Kingdom Klan. But I have to continue on. I know that I can get the Kingdom system into the government legally. I won’t make the same mistakes the last Kingdom Klan did though. I will listen to the people and alter the system to make the people happy.” Emp then wrote down something on a piece of paper. “Here. Give this to Destiny. I’m hoping that she could eventually forgive me for being so obsessed with this Kingdom thing. I will still do stuff relating to the Kingdom Klan, but I still want to hang out with my other friends. I want to move to another town though. My hardcore followers who truly believe in my cause will follow me there. Plus this city is too small for a real castle. Besides, soon my Dragon will need more space to live in. Anyway John, I just want to say thanks for freeing me from the influence and possession of the Gods and for temporarily being the Kingdom’s Jack. You’re a really great duelist. I wish there was something I could do to repay you for everything.”

“Don’t worry about it Emp.”

“Call me Charles, or Chuck.”

“All right Chuck. I’ll get this note to Destiny tomorrow. I wonder how she’ll react. But Chuck, you don’t have to repay me.”

“I’ll find a way to. Anyway John, I guess I might see you later.”

“Yeah. See ya.” John took the box and walked out of the castle. “Kim I still have your 3 Shadow-Imprisoning Mirrors.”

“Keep them, John. I don’t need them. Something tells me you will need them though.”

“Thank you Kim. Well, the good news is that tomorrow’s Friday. Only one more day of school this week and then the weekend.” They then walked to Kim’s house.

“Hey John, I still have one more set of my dark outfit….”

“Wear your regular clothes tomorrow Kim. You don’t have to wear the dark outfit if you don’t feel comfortable in it.” John then took the Bad Egg deck out of his deck box. “Here. This is yours.” He placed it in Kim’s hand.

“Thank you John.” Kim then opened the door. “Well I’ll see you tomorrow. Bye John.”

“See ya Kim.” John went home and nothing much happened during the rest of the day. The next day, John woke up with a single thought in his mind: Good. It’s Friday. John went to school and sat in his seat. Kim walked in and sat down next to him. She was wearing her regular clothes. It’s nice seeing her dressed in regular clothes than in her dark clothes. She looks great either way. She seemed to be quite sad though. “Hey what’s wrong Kim? Are these jeans uncomfortable or something?”

“No, it’s nothing John. I just want to talk to you after school John.”

“Okay Kim. If you really don’t want to talk about it you don’t have to.” John then waited for Destiny. Destiny walked into the classroom. John walked over to Destiny. “Hey, I have to-”. John was cut off by the bell. John walked back to his seat and Destiny’s walked to hers. Mr. Clock then walked into the classroom.

“Okay class, we need to have some more academic class time.” After lunch it was time for dueling class. “All right class, a strange idea came across me last night. I figure that the best way to help you duel your best is for me to teach you all how your decks are supposed to work. Anybody have a deck they want shown how to be played?” There was a silence. “So everyone is absolutely sure how their decks are run?” There was still silence. “All right then. I figure I could just tell you about many different archetypes in this game. What archetype does somebody want to learn about?”

“I want to learn about the Blackwing cards,” somebody says.

“The Blackwing cards are a set of cards used by Crow, a close friend of Yusei Fudo. These cards are based on DARK Winged-Beast monsters that focus on swarming. This along with their ability to alter ATK and DEF stats makes them very aggressive. They are great when used correctly, but good even when not.”

“What about the Gravekeeper’s cards?”

“The Gravekeeper’s cards are focused on keeping things in the Graveyard. Their field spell, Necrovalley, is the card that makes their power possible. They have a little bit of burn in their deck, in addition to some monster resurrection that is immune to the Necrovalley’s effect. They are DARK Spellcaster monsters.”

“How do you know all of this stuff?”

“A long time ago, before I became a pro, I had a huge stack of cards. I decided to sort them into Monsters, Spells, and Traps, and then divide those piles even further. When I looked at a card to see if it was a monster, spell, or trap, I would also subconsciously read the effect. By the time I was done sorting the cards, I knew the names and effects of all my cards.”

“That’s pretty cool,” said somebody else in the class.

“I got to try that with my cards,” said another classmate.

“All right then. I figure I should just let you all talk for the rest of the time.” Mr. Clock sat down at his desk. John got up to talk to Destiny. She tapped her shoulder.

“Hey Destiny.”

“Oh hi, John.” She noticed the note in his hand. “What’s that note?”

“Oh yeah, it’s for you, from your boyfriend, Charles.”

“Thank you John. I suppose you freed him from what possessed him.”

“Well I guess you could say that. I sealed the Wicked Gods away if that’s what you mean.” He didn’t want to tell Destiny everything Charles said.

“All right then. Thank you John.” Destiny didn’t unfold the note though.

“What’s wrong, Destiny?”

“I’m afraid of what the note we’ll say.” John took the note from her, wrapped his arm around her, pulled her in, and held her tight.

“Don’t worry Destiny. I’ll read the note to you. Just know that I’m here for you. Now let’s read this note. It says:
My dearest Destiny,
I must thank your friend John for freeing me, and I must thank you too, because you are such a great girlfriend. I’m hoping that we can continue our relationship. However, I must move away so that I can start the Kingdom anew. Just because the Wicked Gods no longer possess me, doesn’t mean I’ll stop the Kingdom Klan. I’m sorry that when I was interested in the Kingdom Klan I totally forgot about you. If we can continue our relationship, I promise to spend a lot more time with you and put the Kingdom Klan second. If you don’t want to continue our relationship, that’s fine too. I understand why you wouldn’t want to continue our relationship, especially since I’m still interested in the Kingdom Klan. Please email your answer to me. If you say yes, I’ll tell you where I moved to and I’ll take you there. I hope I can see you again, Destiny. See you eventually.
P.S.: Give John $200.”

“It doesn’t say that!”

“Oh, right, I missed the decimal point. It actually says $2.00.” John gave her the note and released her from his hold.

“John, I really appreciate you reading this to me. It means a lot. I just wish I had something to give you. Sadly I don’t. I don’t even have $2.”

“That’s alright. In this part of Old Satellite I wouldn’t really expect you to.”

“If that’s the case, then I guess the only thing I can do is this.” She hugged John with as much force as possible. She then gave a small kiss to John on the cheek as she released her hold on John. “Thank you for freeing my boyfriend from the darkness of the Wicked Gods, even if he isn’t my boyfriend anymore.”

“You mean, you’re not going to go back to him?”

“Of course not. I don’t want to have to move away just to be with him. Plus, there’s someone else, someone whose future is uncertain.” She glanced over at Chris.

“Chris? Really?”

“Yes. I figure that if I can help him out, I’ll find his future to be a good one.”

“You’re a good person, Destiny. Well I guess I’ll talk to you later.”

“Wait!” She took out the Arcana Force IV – The Emperor card. “Take this.”

“The Emperor. Destiny, I can’t take this card from you. It’s important to your deck.”

“I want to give you something for freeing Charles though.”

“Your friendship is enough for me. That and I guess on the Major Arcana I would be represented by the Emperor, based on what you told me during our duel. I want you to think of me when you play this card. In order for that to happen you need to have the card.”

“Thanks John. I guess I’ll talk to you another day.”

“Yes, see you later.” John walked over to Kim. “Hey Kim.” She just looked down. “You saw all of that, didn’t you?” She nodded. John knelt down and looked straight into her eyes. “Kim, Destiny’s a friend, but she doesn’t have a good bond with me. Her bond could never be anywhere near as strong as our bond is.”

“I know, John. That isn’t what makes me sad.”

“Please tell me Kim. I want to know what’s depressing you. It’s kinda depressing me not to know.”

“I don’t want to talk about it right now. Let me just tell you after school.”

“Okay Kim. I understand.” John waited until the end of the school day. The bell finally rang. John waited for Kim. They left the school together. “So Kim, what’s up?”

“John, I … I … John, there’s a flying saucer coming this way! Duck!” Kim pushed John down and Kim fell on top of John. The flying saucer landed. They opened their eyes and all they could see was the other’s eyes. A drop of cold sweat ran down John’s head.

“Yeah, Kim, you might want to get off me.” Kim got up and helped John up. “Now let’s figure out what’s happening here. The flying saucer’s door opened, and out came a person who was quite familiar to John.

“Mystery…,” said John to himself.

“Who’s Mystery?” asked Kim.

“Mystery was a person dressed all in blue. I still don’t know whether Mystery is a boy or a girl. Mystery was in the world inside my head when I was trapped and had to play a game with the Wicked Gods in my mind to be set free. Mystery played an important part in my escape.” John turned towards Mystery. “I thought you were just a character inside my mind. I didn’t know you were real.”

“Of course I’m real, John.”

“But I didn’t even know you back then. I still don’t really know you now. Why would you be in my mind anyway?”

“I am someone who you ‘can’t keep out of your mind.’ You have the special power to see auras. I have the power to get into another person’s imagination using my mind. In other words I can contact people using my mind, and they’ll know exactly what I look like. I wanted to talk to you because you are a great duelist and you have a big heart. Back then I knew that, if I ever met you, you would be able to help me. Now, my mission isn’t to get help from you, it’s to challenge you to a duel.”

“That still doesn’t explain the flying saucer.”

“Oh yes. Some time after I contacted you, I found an alien on earth. I asked why it was here. It said that it had a mishap and landed here rather than another planet. I asked to join it, and so he let me. During my time in space, I traveled planet to planet, met many friends who gave me the cards I use to make my deck, and learned a lot of stuff from them. Over time I developed a strong bond with them as I found that we have a lot in common. I also found out that this flying saucer is named Muusik’i. Was that everything you wanted to know, John?”

“Kinda. There’s still a lot more I want to know about you, Mystery. But never mind that, let’s just duel.”

“You’ll find it hard to win, John. I traveled all over the universe to get these cards, and every single one of them is very special to me. You can’t possibly win against me!”

Chapter 85 (Click to View)

Mystery: I'll start this duel off. I draw. I summon Interplanetary Invader "A" (ATK 0). I'll end my turn at that.

John: I draw. I summon Goblin Attack Force (ATK 2300). Now I activate Rush Recklessly, so my monster's ATK increases by 700 (ATK 3000). Attack Force, attack the Invader (Mystery 5000).

Mystery: I assume you're done with your Battle Phase?

John: I am.

Mystery: Good. Now your Attack Force is under my control.

John: True, but it changes to Defense Position (DEF 0) and you cannot manually change its battle position until the end of my next turn. I set 2 cards and end my turn.

Mystery: It's my turn then. I draw and I tribute your Attack Force for Cosmic Horror Gangi'el (ATK 2600).

John: You can't do that! Your Cosmic Horror is a Level 7 monster. Its summon requires 2 Tributes.

Mystery: I most certainly can and just did. Thanks to my Horror's ability, I can summon him with only 1 sacrifice, just as long as that sacrifice is controlled by me but owned by an opponent. Now I'll have my Cosmic Horror attack you directly (John 5400). I'll set a card and end my turn.

John: I draw.

Mystery: John, why so serious? Your more recent duels have had high stakes, haven't they?

Kim: That's true. John, Mystery's right. You're not having fun like you used to. Your last duels except for that tournament at school have had very high stakes and you were really serious during every one of them. This duel doesn't have any stakes on it; it's just a fun duel. Try to loosen up some and have fun.

John: All right Kim. You're right. Anyway, it's still my turn. I summon Marauding Captain (ATK 1200). Now I'll use its effect to summon Comrade Swordsman of Landstar (ATK 500, Tuner). Now I tune my Swordsman (Level 3) to my Captain (Level 3) to summon Goyo Guardian (ATK 2800). Now I'll attack your Cosmic Horror.

Mystery: I activate Sakuretsu Armor, so-

John: I activate Dark Bribe, so your card is negated and you draw a card. Now my Goyo Guardian can continue his attack (Mystery 4800). Now your Cosmic Horror comes under my control (DEF 2000). I end my turn.

Mystery: It's my turn again. I draw. I activate my Code A Ancient Ruins and my "A" Cell Incubator. Now I summon Alien Warrior (ATK 1800) and I'll special summon Alien Dog (ATK 1500). Now I'll use his effect to place 2 A-Counters on your Goyo Guardian, but it won't matter because I'll only remove them to summon Alien Overlord (ATK 2200). Now, because an A-Counter was removed from the field by a card effect, my "A" Cell Incubator gets an A-Counter (A1). Now I'll use Alien Overlord's ability to place an A-Counter onto each of your monsters. Now I'll have my Alien Overlord attack your Goyo Guardian (ATK 1900).

John: What happened to my Guardian? It's 900 points weaker than it should be.

Mystery: Some aliens have a special effect: When an Alien battles a monster with an A-Counter, that monster loses 300 ATK and DEF for every A-Counter on it. There are 3 monsters in play that say that: Gangi'el, Overlord, and Warrior, so your Goyo Guardian loses 900 ATK and DEF points for each A-Counter on it. So my Overlord can destroy your Goyo Guardian (John 5100). Now I'll have Alien Dog attack your Cosmic Horror (DEF 1100). Now I'll have Alien Warrior attack directly (John 3300). I end my turn.

John: Good. It's my turn then. I draw. I set a card and I activate Card Reflection, so I reveal a face-down Spell or Trap card and I set as many cards as possible with that same name from my Deck. You then get to look through your Deck and set the same number of cards I set. I choose to reveal Good Goblin Housekeeping, so I get to set 2 more from my deck. Now you can set 2 cards from your deck.

Mystery: I choose Snake Whistle and Mass Hypnosis.

John: I throw down another face-down and end my turn.

Mystery: All right then. It's my turn. I draw. I summon Alien Telepath (ATK 1600). Now I'll attack with all my monsters (John 200). How did you survive?

John: Didn't you even see what I did?

Flashback:
John: I activate my Good Goblin Housekeeping, then the next one, and the next one, and then I'll chain Emergency Provisions to send them all to the Graveyard, which means I gain 3000 Life Points (John 6300).
Flashback ends.

Mystery: Oh. That leaves you with 200 Life Points.

John: Yes, but now thanks to my Good Goblin Housekeepings, for each one I draw a number of cards equal to 1 + the number of Good Goblin Housekeepings in my Graveyard and I return one card from my hand to my Deck. All 3 Good Goblin Housekeeping cards are in my Graveyard, so for each one I draw 4 cards and return 1 to my deck.

Mystery: Good play. I set a card and end my turn.

John: It's my turn. I draw. I think it's time I ended this. I activate Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy your newly-placed face-down. Now I activate Lightning Vortex, so I discard a card and all your monsters are destroyed.

Mystery: I activate Snake Whistle, so I can summon a Level 4 or lower Reptile from my deck, so I choose Alien Kid (ATK 1600). Now when you special summon a monster, it will get an A-Counter, which means I'll be able to take it over using Mass Hypnosis. Also note that Code A Ancient Ruins now has an A-Counter on it because an Alien was destroyed (CAAR A1). Also, Alien Kid has that special Alien stat drain effect. I really want to see how you'll get out of this, because I don't think you will.

John: You'll see how I'll win this duel right now. I activate Reinforcement of the Army to add Marauding Captain from my deck to my hand. Now I summon Marauding Captain (ATK 1200) which means that I can Special Summon a monster from my hand, so I choose Mataza the Zapper (ATK 1300).

Mystery: Now your Warrior gets an A-Counter (MtZ A1).

John: I equip Mataza with United We Stand, which gives him a major power boost (ATK 2900).

Mystery: Your monster is tough. Too bad he's mine for this turn. I activate Mass Hypnosis, so I take control of your Mataza for this turn.

John: Don't be too sure. Control of Mataza the Zapper cannot switch. Now I'll have Mataza (ATK 2600) take down Alien Kid (Mystery 3800). Now I'll attack with Mataza, but this time he's attacking at full power (Mystery 900). Now Marauding Captain, finish Mystery off (Mystery 0). And that's game!

Chapter 86 (Click to View)

"You win, John," said Mystery. "I thought I had you beat. In the end, you beat me with a weak monster. You truly are the Duel King of Space."

"Mystery, there are no such things as weak monsters," said John. "Some monsters may be weaker than others, but they all have their own strength. All of your aliens, including your Interplanetary Invader, all have their own strengths and their own place in your deck. And what do you mean Duel King of Space?"

"I knew that you are one of the top duelists in the world. I decided to duel you knowing that, if I lost, I would lose my title. I figure dueling you was worth that risk. I am happy to give my title to you John."

"I figure you and I have equal skill levels. I also know that we dueled our very best. This was an excellent duel."

"Yes, it was," said Kim and Mystery simultaneously. Kim and Mystery looked towards each other and then looked towards John.

"Hey Mystery, can you tell me more about who you are?" asked John. "I know that you would be a great friend, but I figure before we can really be friends I have to learn more about you."

"Is that so?" Mystery walked over to John. "You'll learn a lot more about me if you decide to join me on my journey through space."

"Why would I join you? I don't want to have to leave Kim."

"Actually John, there's something I need to tell you right now." Mr. Shadow's car then drove up.

"Get in, Kim," said Mr. Shadow. "The sooner we move out of here, the better."

"John, I'm actually moving," said Kim. "My dad found a better job than the one here and it is closer to the main city. It is still in Old Satellite, but it's on the other side of Old Satellite. I'm really sorry John, but I guess the good thing is that now you can go on that space trip with Mystery."

"Are you kidding? I'm not gonna go on that space trip with Mystery. If I'm not on earth, then I'm not here for you, am I? As long as I'm on earth, I know that, if you are in any trouble, you'll be able to call me and tell me what's wrong. If I'm in space, I can't help you at all." John then looked towards Mystery. "Sorry Mystery. I want to learn more about you, but I want to be able to help out Kim more. I hope you understand."

"Thank you John," said Kim. Then she pulled his head close to her and kissed him. John then responded with a kiss. Kim then looked into John's eyes. "John, I know it's much too late to say this, but I'll say it anyway. I love you." She then hugged John. John wrapped his arms around Kim.

"I love you too Kim," John whispered in Kim's ear. Tears rolled down their faces. They hugged until they heard a honking sound from the car.

"I'm sorry to have to interrupt you two, but Kim, really, we need to leave as soon as possible," yelled Mr. Shadow.

Kim and John let go of each other. "Well John, I guess this is goodbye. But first..." Kim took out her Egg cards. "Take my Egg cards. You've proven to me that you can use them better than I can."

"Weird. I want you to keep them because you've proven to me that you can use them better than I can. After all, you've connected with your Egg cards and I haven't. You need them and they need you."

"Thank you John." She put her deck away. "I guess I might I see you again." She got into the car and Mr. Shadow drove off. John cried as he watched the car disappear from view. He felt a hand on each shoulder. He looked to his left and saw Chris. He looked to his right and saw Mystery.

"Sorry for what happened to you. Sadly I have to go explore space. I'll leave you to be with your friend." Mystery disappeared into the Muusik'i and flew out from view.

"Wow dude, I never knew you felt that way about Kim. You're really devastated now that she's gone. Is there anything I can do for you?"

"Don't worry about it Chris." John looked up at the sky. John and Kim were thinking about each other, but they basically were thinking pretty much the same thing: I'll never forget you.
Never.

The Epilogue is in Post #13.

[Mystery Guest]

This is where the epilogue will be. The epilogue will be 5 chapters long.

Epilogue

Chapter E1 (Click to View)

John was lying in his bed, looking up at the ceiling. I can't believe my next school year is going to start in a week. This won't be any school though. Now that I'm in high school, I can go to the Duel Academy, a dueling school designed for high school students. Too bad Kim isn't here to join me, especially today, my birthday. I'm 14 now. I'd give anything to see her today. He checked his emails. No new emails. Weird. Kim would have responded by now. What's going on with her? John then heard a knock at the door. He then ran to the door and opened the door with excitement. Kim wasn't on the other side of that door. However, an Egyptian woman dressed all in white and gold who appeared to be in her 20s was.

"Hello John. My name is Bastet Ishtar. One of my friends told me that you need to seal the Wicked Gods away. Sorry that I arrived so much later than I should have, but I was quite busy in other parts of the world."

"That's alright, Bastet. Let me just get the box with the Wicked Gods in it."
John got the box that sealed away the gods and brought it to Bastet.

"So this is what Chuck sealed them in. Not very well built. I'm surprised it lasted this long."

"Yeah, well, I had help from a friend named Adam. He has light powers."

"So do I. Now John, let's go seal these away."

"Just wait a minute." John told his mom he needed to leave for a few minutes and then left. It took John 15 minutes to get to the sealing grounds. "So what do we do, Bastet?"

"First, give me the box." John handed her the box and she used her light powers on the box. "Now we throw them in here." Bastet threw the box into the ditch. John never heard it hit the ground. "Good. The gods are sealed away. Now let me see your Warrior deck. It is said that you used the Wicked Gods in your Warrior deck. Is that true?"

"Yeah." John took out his deck. "Is there anything wrong?"

"Yes there is. I was afraid of this. The Wicked Gods weren't properly sealed away quick enough and your deck has been infected with the darkness too. You need to ditch your entire deck along with your 3 Shadow-Imprisoning Mirrors."

"What? There is no way I'll do that! These cards are very special to me. Plus, I won't have a deck!"

"You must get rid of them, John. There is no other way." John then threw his deck into the air. 4 of the cards seemed to fall more slowly than the others. Bastet reached for 3 of them and then tried to reach for the fourth. She was able to to grab the 4th card, but she fell over the edge. John grabbed her hand. He then tried to haul her up, but couldn't. She found a ledge to put one of her feet on, and then another, and climbed some of the way up. John still tried to haul Bastet up and eventually pulled her out. She stood up and helped John up. "Thank you for saving me. I can see why you are so connected to your Warriors. It's because you have a Warrior spirit that will never give up. I know it hurts to lose your deck, but don't fret. I was able to save 4 cards that were not infected by the darkness. Here they are." She handed John the 4 cards. They were Reinforcement of the Army, Mataza the Zapper, Marauding Captain, and United We Stand. "Now the Wicked Gods have been sealed away. Hopefully they won't hurt anyone else ever again." Bastet brought John home. He opened the door.

"Surprise! Happy birthday!" everyone yelled, one of which was Kim. She ran up to John and gave him a huge hug. John was left speechless. He looked to his left. Bastet looked at Mrs. Legionary and nodded. Bastet then left. John then looked around and saw Mr. Shadow, Kim, Chuck, Chris, Destiny, Craig, Ryan, and a few of his other classmates, and Jaden. Wait, Jaden's at this party? He looked at the duel disk and armor. It was the Supreme King's armor and duel disk. He also saw Jaden's aura. Yep, that's Jaden, just dressed at the Supreme King. Jaden's eyes were also the Supreme King's. What's up with Jaden?

"Thank you, everyone," said John. "I really appreciate you all coming to my party." He looked at the clock. 12 o'clock. This party will probably last about 2 hours.

"Hey John," said Kim. "It was really fun talking to you by email."

"Same here."

"John, I brought you something. I don't want you to open it while I'm here though, let's just leave it that."

"All right then. So Kim, do you want to talk about anything?"

"Well, of course I want to talk with you, I just don't have a topic yet. What about you?"

"Yeah, I do."

"Hey John!" said Jaden. His voice sounded just like the Supreme King's did. "I just want to congratulate you on becoming one of the best duelists ever. Mind if I duel you again?"

"Sorry Jaden, but there's a problem. I don't have a deck anymore."

"What!?" exclaimed Kim and Jaden simultaneously.

"It's true. I had to seal away most of my deck with the Wicked gods, along with the 3 Shadow-Imprisoning Mirrors. I only have 4 cards left."

"Well, John, if that's the case, I guess you can open the box then." Then John heard the sound of a flying saucer fly by the house. John walked outside and saw the Muusik'i and Mystery, holding a deck.

"Happy birthday John. I heard you're 14 now, but that's besides the point. A friend of yours wanted me to give you this." Mystery handed John the deck. "Sadly, it is missing 5 cards. The friend also said to give you this card." John received the Time Wizard card. "Well, I'm going to continue my space expedition. See ya John." Mystery disappeared into the Muusik'i and the Muusik'i flew off. John added Time Wizard and his 4 Warrior cards to the deck.

"Now I have a full deck. Kim, I challenge you to a duel."

"Really John?"

"Of course. I want to see how much better you've become. I hope you're ready Kim. I've been waiting for a rematch for a long time.

"You're so on." A crowd gathered around Kim and John as their duel disks turned on.

"Let's duel!" yelled John and Kim.

Chapter E2 (Click to View)

Kim: I'll start this duel off. I draw. I activate Cross of the Dimensions, so now we each can activate a Field Spell from our decks. If you don't have one, then you'll draw 4 cards and take 1000 damage. I'm sure you know the rest. You know what I'm activating: Easter Egg Scavenger Hunt!

John: Sorry, but I also have a Field Spell. I activate Warped Timeline.

Kim: What does that do?

John: Let's just say it sends any card that doesn't stay on the field 2 turns into the future.

Kim: Luckily my Easter Eggs are Continuous, so they won't be affected by your Timeline. I summon Easter Egg Scouter (ATK 1600). Now I activate the effect of my Easter Egg Scavenger Hunt so I can activate an Easter Egg from my deck. I choose Easter Egg 3. Now I use its effect to draw a card. Now I activate Easter Eggs 1, 2, 5, and 10. Now I activate their effects, so: 1: I gain 500 Life Points (Kim 8500), 2: You lose 500 Life Points (John 7500), 5: I pay 1500 Life Points to draw 2 cards, and 10: I special summon a monster from my hand and you special summon a monster that is 2 levels lower from your deck, so I choose to summon Dragon of the Many Eggs (ATK 2100).

John: That means I can summon a Level 2 monster from my deck. I choose to summon Apprentice of Time - Harry (ATK 700, Tuner).

Kim: I remove Easter Egg 2 from play by the effect of Easter Egg Scavenger Hunt. Now I end my turn.

John: That means it's my move. I draw. Now my Apprentice of Time - Harry will tap out your next Main Phase 1. I summon Apprentice of Time - Nathan (ATK 600). Now I tune Harry (Level 2) to Nathan (Level 2) to summon Warrior of Time - Quincy (ATK 1600). Now since he was Synchro Summoned, he gets 2 Time Counters (T2). Since he has 2 Time Counters, he gets 200 ATK and DEF for every Time Counters on it (ATK 2000). Now I remove my 2 Apprentices of Time in order to summon my Teacher of Time - Isaac (ATK 2400). Now I'll have Quincy attack your Scouter (Kim 6600) and Isaac attack your Dragon of the Many Eggs (Kim 6300). Now I'll activate Future Fusion, so I send Time Wizard and Expert of Time - Larry from my deck to my Graveyard so that I can summon a Master of Time 2 turns in the future. Now I activate my Time Spells Bolt and Feather Duster. They are naturally unaffected by my Warped Timeline because they are Continuous Spells. Five turns from now, their effects will activate. Let's just say you’ll lose during the turn they activate. I set a card and end my turn. Now you must decide which of your first 4 phases you will skip during your turn.

Kim: I'll choose my Main Phase 1 because it's being shut down anyway. I draw. Now since I don't have any monsters I'll proceed to my Main Phase 2. I activate the effects of Easter Eggs 1, 3, and 5, so I gain 500 Life Points (Kim 6800) and I draw a card, and then I pay another 1500 Life Points (Kim 5300) to draw 2 cards. Now I activate the effect of Easter Egg 10, so I summon Easter Knight from my hand (ATK 2400).

John: I'll choose to summon Teacher of Time - David (ATK 2450).

Kim: I'll remove Easter Egg 5 from play by the effect of Easter Egg Scavenger Hunt. Now I equip my Easter Knight with Easter Egg Scepter (ATK 3400). I'll use its effect to activate the effect of Easter Egg 2 to have you lose 500 Life Points (John 7000). Now I'll activate Easter Egg 8 from my deck.

John: I activate my Time Trap - Turn Fast-Forward, so your Easter Egg 8 is negated and destroyed and the current turn ends, so it's my turn. I draw. Now my Time Spells lose a Time Counter (T4) and Quincy gets a Time Counter (T3). This duel will be over in sooner than 4 turns, especially since David lets me pay 1000 Life Points (John 6000) to remove a Time Counter from all Spells and Traps I control. Let’s see how you’ll deal with this situation. Now I switch my monsters to defense (Quincy DEF 2600, Isaac DEF 1200, David DEF 1600) and I’ll end my turn.

Kim: I draw. I activate the effects of my Easter Eggs, so 1: I gain 500 Life Points (Kim 7300), 3: I draw a card, and I activate the effect of my Easter Egg 5 by the Scepter, so I pay 1500 Life Points (Kim 5800) to draw 2 cards. Now I activate Easter Egg 10: I special summon a monster from my hand you special summon one from your deck, so I choose to summon Egg Treasurer (ATK 1500).

John: I summon my Dark Tuner Time Changer (DEF 0, Dark Tuner).

Kim: A Dark Tuner? You have Dark Synchro monsters?

John: It seems so. It looks like I'll be able to use both Synchros and Dark Synchros in this deck.

Kim: We’ll I’m not gonna let you summon a Dark Synchro monster. I summon my Easter Egg Protector (ATK 800, Tuner). This card will let me protect my Easter Egg 1 for a turn. Also, Egg Treasurer will let me remove my Easter Egg 3 as well as Easter Egg 10 by the effect of Easter Egg Scavenger Hunt. Now I will activate Easter Egg 7 out of my deck and Easter Egg 9 from my hand. Now I activate the effect of Easter Egg 9, so I gain 250 Life and you lose 250 (Kim 6050, John 5750). Now Easter Egg 7 will let me get rid of Quincy. Now I’ll have my Treasurer get rid of Isaac, my Protector get rid of your Dark Tuner, and my Knight get rid of your David. Now I’ll tune my Protector to my Treasurer to Synchro Summon my Guardian of the Easter Eggs (ATK 2400). I’ll end my turn.

John: Now it’s my turn. I draw.

John looked at the card he drew. It was Reinforcement of the Army, but then it became blank. Then a new card appeared on it, much in the same way Super Polymerization appeared on the card Jaden had in his hand.

John: Well this is just strange. It appears my Reinforcement of the Army just turned into a Time Spell. But what does it do? I’ll find out next turn. Now my Future Fusion activates, so I can summon my Master of Time – Yera (ATK 2400). Now each player gets 2 Standby Phases every turn, so that means my Time Spells each go down to 1 Time Counter (1T). Next turn is your last turn. Since Warped Timeline is on the field, I can activate the effect of Time Spell – Quick Force directly from my hand, so now I can destroy a monster on the field. I’ll choose the Easter Knight.

Kim: You have now sent the Scepter to the graveyard, so the effect activates: Easter Eggs 2, 5, 3, and 10 are returned to the Graveyard and you take 2000 damage (John 3750).

John: Yera, attack his Guardian.

After the attack, the Guardian still stood.

John: What happened? It was supposed to be destroyed.

Kim: By sending Easter Egg 1 to my Graveyard, I could prevent my Guardian’s destruction.

John: Fine with me. I set 2 cards and end my turn.

Kim: I draw. Your field is empty. Now I summon the Easter Bunny (ATK 500). Now I’ll activate the effect of my Easter Egg 9 to drain away 250 of your Life Points (Kim 6300, John 3000). Now I’ll attack directly with both my monsters (John 600). You still have Life Points left? Fine. Now I’ll activate the effect of my Easter Bunny to return Easter Egg 2 to my deck and now I’ll activate it with the effect of Easter Egg Scavenger Hunt. I’ll activate its effect to make you lose 500 Life (John 100). I end my turn. You have 1 turn.

John: You know Kim, this was the most exciting duel I’ve had in a long time.

Kim: Do you mean that John?

John: Of course. You've really gotten much better Kim. I haven’t been at just 100 for a very long time. I’m at the edge of losing, yet I am also close to winning. I told you a few turns ago that you would lose once my Time Spells activate, and now I’ll prove it to you. Now it’s my turn. I draw. Perfect! Now it’s time for my 2 Time Spells to send every card on your field to the Graveyard. First, Feather Duster will clear away your Spells and Traps without destroying them and then your monsters will be cleared away. Now I activate my face-down, Time Spell – Quick Reinforcement. This card can only be activated if I control Warped Timeline. I get to add a Level 4 or lower Warrior-type monster or Time monster from my deck to my hand and if the card I add is a “Warrior of time” monster, I get to draw a card. I’ll choose to add Marauding Captain to my hand instead. Now I summon my Marauding Captain (ATK 1200) and I’ll use his effect to summon Mataza the Zapper (ATK 1300). Now I’ll equip Mataza the Zapper with my face-down United We Stand. Now it’s time for the Mataza Whack, a 3-card combo that does 7000 damage! Now I’ll have my monsters attack you directly and, in Mataza’s case, twice (Kim 0).

Chapter E3 (Click to View)

John heard the crowd calling out his name, but he blocked it out and walked over to Kim. “Well done Kim. You may have lost, but you’ve proven that you are the master of the Eggs.” The crowd then dispersed.

“Thanks. Well, at least the Easter Eggs. I still can’t use the Bad Eggs.”

“Don’t worry Kim. You’ll figure them out eventually.”

“Yeah. John, that was an amazing duel. I’m surprised that you could use the deck so well despite not using it before.”

“Kim, the thing was that, when you activated Cross of the Dimensions, you gave me the opportunity to look through my deck and see what all my cards do. With that in mind I learned the Time deck’s strategy. That is what helped me the most in this duel.” A whole group of people ran up to John.

“Well done,” said Jaden, still in the voice of the Supreme King. “You won your first duel with your new deck. I must say your deck is amazing. How about you duel me now?”

“Thank you for the offer Jaden, but I just want to hang out with Kim today.” John then heard a voice.

“Hey John. Remember me?” asked the voice. A duel spirit then appeared next to John’s head.

“Huh?” asked John. “Time Wizard? Wait! I remember….” John had a flashback to when he was 7.

He was just walking around with his deck when he saw a man walk by. I know that man, thought the young John. That’s Joey Wheeler, one of the top 10 duelists in the world. I just gotta have his autograph. The young John ran over to Joey Wheeler. “Hey Joey, can I have your autograph?” Joey instantly saw John had a deck.

“It looks like you’re a duelist, little guy. What’s your name?”

“John. I’m gonna be one of the best duelists in the world.”

“All right. Here, I got something better than an autograph for you John. It’s a card given to me by a friend. It has helped me out of a lot of situations.” He took out Time Wizard. “Here John. Take my Time Wizard card. I’m sure it will help you a lot, just as long as you have faith.”

“Really? I can have this? Thank you Joey.”

“No problem. I’m sure you’ll be a great duelist someday. Now if you’ll excuse me, there’s something very important I need to do. See ya John.” Joey walked off.

“Well, Joey found a Warrior spirit inside you, John,” said a voice.

“Who was that?” asked John. Then a Time Wizard duel spirit appeared next to John. “Huh? Time Wizard?”

“Yes, it’s me. It seems like you can see duel spirits. As for me, I’m your new spirit partner. I can not only talk to you, but I can also give you the ability to travel to the Duel Spirit World.” Time Wizard tapped his staff on John’s head and John could travel to the spirit world.

“I remember everything now,” said 14 year old John. “I used to play with you in the Spirit World, and then I just threw you away with the rest of the cards. Can you forgive me?”

“Yes, I already have. I knew that we would meet again, John, and that I would just have to wait until you were worthy enough to use my deck, the deck of Time. In fact, remember when you faced the leader of the Scrap Gang, the spirit made up of almost all the duel spirits in your old deck, I wasn’t one of the spirits. Also, I expect you’ll use me a lot more when I’m in that Time deck, especially since I can upgrade into the Time Magician.”
“That’s pretty cool.” Kim was a bit confused.

“John, who are you talking to?” asked Kim. “Are you talking to the Time Wizard card?”

“You mean you can’t see or hear the Time Wizard Spirit next to me?”

“No.”

“Let me try something,” said Jaden. He put his hands on Kim’s shoulders and looked directly into Kim’s eyes. Then his eyes turned into the Yubel eyes and Kim’s did too. Kim then blinked and they were back to normal. She then looked and saw the Time Wizard.

“Wow, I can see Time Wizard now. Jaden, what did you do?” asked Kim in amazement.

“I looked into your soul and found the power to see duel spirits. I then used Yubel’s and the Supreme King’s power to activate that ability within your soul.”

“You can do that?” asked Kim. “Cool. Thank you Jaden.”

“No problem. Anyway, I have to talk to Chris about something important anyway.”

“All right then Jaden,” said John. Jaden went to talk to Chris, leaving John and Kim there.

“Time Wizard, mind if I just talk to Kim for now?”

“Go ahead. I need to talk to you, but I can wait until the end of the party.” Time Wizard disappeared.

“What’s up Kim?”

“How was the rest of the school year?”

“It was fun. Even though nothing particularly evil happened, a lot has changed since you left. I was voted the best duelist in the school. That won’t matter because this school year I will go to a Duel Academy, and I’ll have my Time deck instead of my Warrior deck, but still that was pretty cool.”

“Yeah that is really cool. As for me, I was barely noticed in my new school.”

“That’s not good.”

“Yeah, but I’ll be going to a Duel Academy next year too. I’ll be at the one in the outer New Domino City.”

“Sounds good. I know you’ll do well there.”

“I’m sure I will. Thank you for your support John. You’re the best friend I’ve ever had.” Mrs. Legionary walked over to John.

“John, it looks like you just want to hang out with Kim,” said Mrs. Legionary. “I guess I can’t blame you. You want me to end the party early?”

“I guess so, mom.” Mrs. Legionary then went into the kitchen. Soon afterward, people started to leave. Then everybody else started to leave except for a few people.

“All the people that left so far gave you a Warrior card for your birthday,” said Craig. “Too bad you don’t have your Warrior deck anymore. As for me, I won’t give you a birthday present this year, or when you turn 15, 16, or 17. However, by the time you’re 18, I’ll have something really amazing for you as a birthday present. Trust me; it will be better than 5 birthday presents.”

“All right Craig. I look forward to it,” replied John. “Chuck, why are you here?”

“Go to Walter’s clubhouse in a week or so. Everything will be explained there.” Chuck left.

“John, take this,” said Destiny as she handed John an Arcana Force IV – The Emperor card. “I have another one, so don’t worry about it.”

“Knuckle touch dude!” yelled Chris. John and Chris pounded their knuckles. “I don’t know how you did it dude, but the way you were dueling with that Time deck, it’s as if you used that deck your entire life. Anyway, I don’t really have a gift for you, but I helped find that Emperor card. Anyway, I’ll see ya later. Destiny, let’s go.”

“Sure thing Chris. See ya John and Kim.” Destiny and Chris left.

“I guess the nerd and I should leave you two alone,” said Jaden. “Craig, don’t you think it’s a good idea to start working on John’s present now?”

“Yeah. See ya John.” Craig and Jaden left.

“Well, the party’s over,” said John.

“Good,” replied Time Wizard as he appeared next to John. “There’s something I need to tell you. That TIME deck is missing 5 cards, the legendary 5 TIME cards. I don’t know what they are called, but I know they all have one thing in common: they are unaffected by Warped Timeline. I also know that you will find one every year. That is, you’ll find one pretty soon, one when you’re 15, the next 16, the next at 17, and the last when you’re 18. However, to get each one you must defeat a duelist. That’s as much as I know. You’ll figure the rest out in time.” Time Wizard disappeared.

“Looks like I have to look for the duelist with the first TIME card.” He started to go for the door when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

“John, we don’t have to figure it out today. I don’t want you to be stressed out when I’m visiting you.” Kim walked in front of John. “Let’s just relax today. Let’s just sit down and watch TV, or go onto the internet, or go for a walk in the park-”

“Good idea Kim. Let’s go to the park. That way we can duel and possibly find that TIME card.” John and Kim took a long walk to the park. Kim grabbed John’s hand. John looked at Kim and smiled. He could tell by the look in Kim’s eyes that they didn’t lose their love. John hugged Kim. “Thank you Kim.” He released her from his hold, but still kept her hand in his. Not too long in the walk did Kim spot something interesting.

“Hey John, look over there. Isn’t that-”

John looked in that direction. He saw Yugi and another boy. Wait a minute. I saw that boy before…. John had a flashback to when he was about 7.
He walked into the spirit world to look for Time Wizard. When he saw Time Wizard, he was with two guys. Before he could speak, Time Wizard said “I’m sorry, John. I’m discussing important matters.”

“Uh…Okay. I guess….” John then noticed one of them was Yugi. “Hey, you’re Yugi! The King of Games!”

“Yes, I am,” replied Yugi, smiling.

“Whoa! Sweet! Can you sign my Duel Disk for me?”

“Not now, John. You’ll meet him again. Trust me.”

John looked up at Yugi and the other boy, and then left the Spirit World.
14 year old John came out of his trance. It’s him. John and Kim ran over to Yugi and the boy. “Aren’t you Yugi?”

“Yes, I am, John. I believe we’ve already met. Some time ago.” He looked at John’s duel disk. John saw T – Treatment of the Master in Yugi’s hand.

“Where did you get that card?” asked John. I bet it’s one of the TIME cards.

“I don’t know. But I’ll duel you for it. In a Tag Duel.” John became filled with fear. Kim could sense it.

“What! We can’t possibly win that….”

“John,” said Kim. “You need it. There’s only one of it in the entire world. We have to try.” John looked at Kim.

You’re so brave Kim. “Okay. But what if you guys win?”

“You’ll show us the way to the Monster Spirit’s World.” John bit his lip. I don’t know whether I can do that or not. After all, I haven’t been to the Spirit World in years.

“It’s our only chance,” Kim reminded John.

“Then it’s a deal. I’m John and this is Kim. Who are you?”

“Saitu Kaiba. Good to see you.”

John started shuffling his deck. Why am I so scared? I’m dueling against the best duelist ever and I have Kim by my side to help me. I shouldn’t be scared. This is the duel of a lifetime. Why can’t I shake off this feeling? “We’re going down.... But I guess I’ll have to….”

“Duel!” shouted Kim.

Chapter E4 (Click to View)

Kim: I’ll start things off. I activate Cross of the Dimensions. Now, we each activate a field spell from our decks and for the rest of the duel, field spells can’t be activated, more than 1 Field Spell can be in play, and the field spells cannot be removed from the field. I activate my Field Spell Easter Egg Scavenger Hunt!

John: I'll activate my Warped Timeline.

Yugi: Neither of us have a Field Spell. So what happens to us?

Kim: You each take 1000 damage (Saitu 7000, Yugi 7000), but you can draw 4 cards. Anyway, continuing with the duel, thanks to my Easter Egg Scavenger Hunt, I can activate an Easter Egg from my deck, so I choose Easter Egg 5. Now I'll activate its effecr, so i pay 1500 Life Points (Kim 6500) to draw 2 cards. Now I summon Easter Egg Scouter (ATK 1600). I'll use his effect to add Easter Egg 10 to my hand. Now i activate Easter Eggs 1, 2, 9, and 10. Now I activate my Easter Eggs’ effects: 1: I gain 500 Life Points (Kim 7000), 2: You lose 500 Life Points (Saitu 6500), 9: You lose 250 Life Points and I gain 250 Life Points (Kim 7250, Saitu 6250), and 10: I special summon a monster from my hand and one of you special summons a monster that is 2 levels lower from your deck. I summon Dragon of the Many Eggs (ATK 2100).

Saitu: Mind if I summon my monster, Yugi?

Yugi: Nope. Go ahead.

Saitu: I'll summon this little fella: Krebons (ATK 1200, Tuner)!

Yugi: A Tuner monster. I remember learning about those types of monsters. They allow you to Synchro Summon, right?

Kim: Exactly. Anyway, I'll remove my Easter Egg 9 from play using Easter Egg Scavenger Hunt's ability. I set a card and end my turn.

Saitu: About time. Now it's my turn, so I draw. I summon Kaibaman. Now I'll tribute him for my ace card. Abandon all hope! The Dragon of Destruction is here! Turn around, bright eyes! Summon, Blue-Eyes White Dragon! (ATK 3000) Now I'll activate the effect of Thunder Dragon, I discard one to get two others from my deck. Now I activate Polymerization, so I - wait, Polymerization isn't working. What happened?

John: Warped Timeline, that's what happened. Whenever a Normal Spell, Ritual Spell, Quick-Play Spell, or Normal Trap is activated, it gets negated and it gets 2 Time Counters (T2). While it has Time Counters, it is treated as a Continuous Spell. During each of your Standby Phases, you get to remove a counter. When the last one is removed, your card gets sent to the Graveyard and then its effect activates.

Saitu: Crap. Fine. Since only the last player can attack on the first round, I activate Monster Reborn and Mystical Space Typhoon (both T2). I'll set a card and I'll end my turn.

John: It's my move then. I draw. I set a monster and a face-down and I'll end my turn.

Yugi: That was a short one. It's my move then. I draw. I send Alpha, Beta, and Gamma to the Graveyard. Attraction of positive and negative energy, work together to form the supreme electromagnetic creature! Special Summon! Valkyrion the Magna Warrior! (ATK 3500)Now I'll have it attack your Easter Egg Scouter with Electromagnetism! (Kim 5350) I set 3 cards and a monster and I'll end my turn.

Kim: Not yet! At the end of your turn I'll activate my Easter Mine (T2).
It's my move, so I draw. My Easter Mine will lose one of its Time Counters (T1). Now I activate the effects of my Easter Eggs again, so 1: I gain another 500 Life Points (Kim 5850), 2: Kaiba loses 500 (Saitu 5750), 5: I pay another 1500 Life Points (Kim 4350) to draw another 2 cards and 10: I special summon my Egg Treasurer (ATK 1500) and one of you can summon a Level 1 monster.

Saitu: I'll have to do this one again, Yugi. I summon my White Stone of Legend (DEF 250).

Kim: I’ll have my Egg Treasurer destroy your White Stone and my Dragon of the Many Eggs attack Yugi’s monster.

Saitu: When White Stone of Legend is sent to the Graveyard, I can add my Blue-Eyes White Dragon from my deck to my hand.

Yugi: You attacked my Marshmallon (DEF 500, Kim 3350).

Kim: Okay then. I remove Easter Egg 10 from play and I’ll activate Easter Egg 7 from my deck. I’ll use its effect to destroy Valkyrion. I end my turn.

Saitu: Good. It's my move. I draw. My 3 Spell cards each lose a Time Counter (all T1). Now I'll have my Blue-Eyes destroy your Treasurer. Burst Stream of Destruction! (Kim 1850). I'll end my turn with that.

John: It's my move then. I draw. I Flip Summon Time Wizard (ATK 500).

Yugi: That's the same card I gave to Joey, and the same Time Wizard spirit that brought us to this time period.

Time Wizard: Yes, and I've got a special trick, called Time Evolution.

John: That's right. This Time Evolution ability lets me sacrifice my Time Wizard
to turn it into the Time Magician (ATK 2200). And he has a special ability: if i summon him through Time Evolution, then this turn, instead of having him attack, I can have him send a monster away for two rounds, and I choose Marshmallon. I activate Time Spell - Time Flashback (T2). I also activate Time Spell - Quick Cyclone, which means I can get rid of the Monster Reborn Kaiba controls. I set another card and end my turn.

Yugi: I set a card and end my turn.

Kim: On to me again. My Easter Mine now activates, so i lose my 4 Easter Eggs and deal 2000 damage to Kaiba (Saitu 3750). Since 5 of my Easter eggs are removed from play, I can summon Easter Knight (ATK 2400). I equip my Knight with Easter Egg Scepter whives gives it a power boost (ATK 3400). Now I activate Easter Egg 8 from my deck and I'll use it to destroy Polymerization. I will now remove it from play. I activate the effect of Easter Egg Scepter, so I can activate the effect of Easter Egg 7 from my removed-from-play zone. I'll use it to destroy Blue-Eyes.

Yugi: Not on my watch. I activate T - Treatment of the Master, so the monster with the highest level cannot be destroyed this turn, and that monster is Saitu's Blue-Eyes, and T is unaffected by "Warped timeline".

John: So it really is one of the TIME cards.

Kim: If that's the case, I'll attack you, Yugi (Yugi 3600).

John: I activate my Time Trap - Damage Timer. It can only be activated if a monster dealt damage by attacking directly, and I must sacrifice a monster and pay Life Points equal to the damage dealt (John 4600). It allows the monster to attack again with the same target, but using its original ATK instead (Yugi 1200).

Kim: Thank you John.

John: If they can use cards to help each other, so can we.

Kim: Right. I end my turn.

Saitu: Welcome to your last turn, Kim. My Mystical Space Typhoon lets me destroy your Scepter.

Kim: Yes, but the destruction of my Scepter causes all of my removed Eggs to go to the graveyard and inflict damage to someone equal to 500 x the number of cards sent that way. There were 7 cards sent, so that means 3500. I'll choose to end Yugi right now. Scepter, destroy Yugi.

John: Unfortunately, my Time Trap has another effect, Kim. Until the end of my turn, all damage that would be dealt to me is reduced to 0 and any damage that would be dealt to Yugi other than the direct attack is put off until his End Phase. In other words, that Scepter damage will hit him during his End Phase, but no sooner.

Saitu: Yeah, both of you will be destroyed before that happens. I tribute my Blue-Eyes White Dragon for Thunder Dragon (ATK 1600).

John: What the...?

Saitu: You're forgetting someone. Now I tune Krebons (Level 2) to my Thunder Dragon (Level 5). Hell Flames will Burn eternally. Decibels rise to match an explosion. Synchro Summon, Exploder Dragonwing! (ATK 2400). I'll have it attack Easter Knight (ATK 2400). Thanks to its effect, if your monster's ATK is lower than or equal to the ATK of my Dragon, I can skip the battle, destroy your monster, and inflict damage to you equal to your monster's ATK (Kim 0).

Kim: Good luck John.

John: It's my turn. I draw. My Time Flashback loses a Time Counter (T1). Now I activate my Time Spell - Look into the Future, so I pay 1500 Life Points (John 3100) to send a Time Spell or Time Trap from my hand or deck to the graveyard and activate its effect right now. I choose the Time Spell - Pot of Riches from my deck, so I draw 2 cards. Good. Now I summon Marauding Captain (ATK 1200) and I'll use his effect to summon Mataza the Zapper (ATK 1300). Now I'll equip Mataza with United We Stand, so it gains 1600 ATK (ATK 2900). Mataza can attack twice, so let's Mataza Whack Kaiba and his Dragonwing! First I'll destroy your dragon, and then I'll use two direct attacks to finish you off (Saitu 0).

Yugi: During your End Phase, I activate my two Continuous Traps, Ultimate Offering and Stronghold the Moving Fortress. Stronghold gets Special Summoned to my field (DEF 2000).

John: It's your turn. It'll be the last one.

Yugi: Heart of the Cards, guide me. I draw. Please be the one I need.... I summon Green Gadget (ATK 1400). I'll use his effect to add Red Gadget to my hand. Now I'll use Ultimate Offering's effect (Yugi 700) to let me summon Red Gadget (ATK 1300). Red Gadget lets me add Yellow Gadget to my hand. Now i pay another 500 Life Points (Yugi 200) to summon Yellow Gadget (ATK 1200). Now I switch my Stronghold to attack mode (original ATK 0). Everything is set up. This is the end.

John: No it isn't. You've got 3 weak machines and a trap monster with 0 attack points! You can't win this!

Yugi: Yes I can. First, Green Gadget, attack the Marauding Captain with Gear Spin! (John 2900, Mataza ATK 2100). Stronghold! Attack with Mechanized Whack!

At first, the Stronghold didn't move. Then the 3 gadgets jumped into the 3 empty gear spots in its chest. Its ATK increased to 3000. It then punched Mataza (John 2000).

Yugi: My Stronghold becomes stronger when all three of the Gadgets are on the field. Now, Red and Yellow, attack with Gear Spin! (John 0).

Chapter E5 (Click to View)

Yugi stepped towards john and gave him T - Treatment of the Master. "I want you to have this. In my dimension, Konami would make its status Illegal anyway."

John took the card. Well, technically, I DID defeat a duelist. John then remembered where there was a nearby spirit portal. "Then I'll show you the entrance of the Monster Spirit's World. It's hidden in the forest north of town. A monster spirit guides those who have the right to be there."

"Thanks." There was a short silence.

"Well. I suppose we've all got other things to do?" asked Saitu. Everyone said bye and Saitu and Yugi walked towards the forest while John and Kim just watched them walk away.

“John, why didn’t you ask Yugi to sign your Duel Disk?”

“Would it really make sense for Yugi to sign Jaden’s duel disk? Plus, Yugi’s a great duelist, but he isn’t my hero; you’re my hero Kim.” Kim was quite shocked.

“I don’t know what to say.”

“Then don’t say anything. I suppose we should continue our walk though.”

“Yeah.” Kim and John continued walking through the park. “Hey John, what’s happened here while I was gone?”

“Nothing much Kim.”

“I mean like, what’s happened between you and Chris and between other people?”

“Well, Chris and I were able to resurrect our best friendship. Craig is a really good friend now, if you couldn’t guess by his promise. Destiny seems to like Chris and they’ve become good friends. Destiny’s a nice girl, but don’t worry, I can never find anyone as great as you Kim.” Kim nodded. “You’ll always be my best friend.”

“Yeah.” Kim then looked away.

“Hey, let’s visit Walter. Chuck told me that there was something important for me there.”

“Wasn’t he Emp, the emperor of the Kingdom?”

“Yeah, so?”

“John!” Kim was yelling now. “He’s trying to get you back into the Kingdom Klan! He’ll do something to take over your mind again! How can you trust him!?”

“Kim, Chuck wouldn’t do that!”

“Why wouldn’t he?”

“Because he was possessed by the Wicked Gods last time.”

“No, he was working with the Wicked Gods. He wasn’t possessed until we were captured and you decided to duel him. How do you know he wouldn’t use another dark power to control you?”

“Because I know what Chuck is like when he isn’t a dark influence and-”

“Forget it John, I’m out of here. We’re through.” Kim walked briskly away.

“But we never started.” Kim didn’t seem to hear him. John was alone in the park. Great. Now I’ve lost my best friend. But then again, are, or were, we still just friends? Did we at one point step up into being boyfriends and girlfriend without realizing it? If we did ever step up, then I didn’t just lose a friend, but I lost a girlfriend too. I need someone to talk to. John walked to the card junkyard and knocked on Walter’s door. The door opened.

“Hey John,” said Walter. “Come on in. Wow, you look kinda down. Come to the lounge with me and tell me about it.” Walter walked John to the lounge and opened the door. Chuck was on the other side.

“Hey John,” said Chuck. “You seem kinda down, so I’ll make this quick. Inside that box is the Kingdom deck. It has every Kingdom card in it including all of my cards. Only you and I have those Emperor cards. Walter also has a Kingdom deck now. You two will be long-distance members of the Kingdom Klan. Basically we just stay in contact like friends. Feel free to use or not use that deck whenever you want. Also, you and Walter will get shipments in of the new cards every so often. They will be delivered here. They will help improve the Kingdom deck. John, you got the Emperor cards because you are a great duelist and because you saved me and defeated the Wicked Gods. Yeah, I figure I should leave you two alone now. See you John.” Chuck walked away.

“Wow that guy can talk. So what’s on your mind? Did you get into a fight with your girlfriend?”

“Kinda. I don’t know whether Kim qualifies as my girlfriend or not, but yeah we got into a fight.”

“What about?”

“It was about me going here to talk to Chuck. She thinks that if I talk to Chuck again he would take over my mind again so that I would be a part of the Kingdom Klan. I tried to tell her Chuck wouldn’t do that, but she didn’t believe me. Now she says that we’re through, despite the fact that I don’t think we started.”

“Trust me, you did, but that’s beside the point. The point is that these small arguments happen all the time. You just need to learn how to get past them. It sounds like Kim needs to too. Go apologize to her. I’m sure she’ll apologize too. You just have to learn how to avoid arguing about the small stuff and see in the other’s view. Once you two learn that, you two will be together for a very long time, if not forever.”

“But Walter, Kim only came here for my birthday. I probably won’t see her again until my next birthday.”

“That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t fix this problem. Go talk to Kim. Apologize to her and calmly tell her how you feel and where you stand. Try to see from her point of view. I’m sure she’ll accept your apology and everything will be good again.”

“I hope so.”

“If I know you two well enough you’ll get past this. Also, be completely honest with her. If you want this Kingdom deck, take it now. That way you’ll have it when you talk to Kim and she can see where you stand.”

“But she doesn’t really like the Kingdom Klan because they captured her. If I have the Kingdom deck, she’ll see me as a member.”

“Then just explain the situation to her.” Walter handed John the box with the kingdom deck in it. “This box contains your deck and a Kingdom deck box. Now here’s your question: do you want to have this deck? Don’t think about Kim or Chuck or anybody else. Just think of whether you want to use this deck or not.”

He opened the box and looked through the deck. So this and Chuck’s deck are the only ones that have all the Emperor cards, huh? That means it has cards my last Kingdom deck did not. I thought the last Kingdom deck worked pretty well. “I think I’ll take this Kingdom deck. It might be boring just using the Time deck.”

“Okay then. Now talk to Kim. One more piece of advice: listen to your heart. If you listen to her words and your heart, then you’ll figure out what to say.”

“All right. Thanks Walter.” John walked out of the clubhouse. John ran to his house in the night. He saw Mr. Shadow and Kim about to drive off. “Kim wait!” he yelled. He stopped next to Kim’s window. “I need to talk to you.”

“Sorry John, but I could only stay for your birthday. I can’t stay any longer.”

“Are you sure? Can’t you stay ‘til the morning?”

“Well I suppose so,” said Mr. Shadow as he got out of his car and walked towards Mrs. Legionary. “Mrs. Legionary, mind if we stay here for the night?”

“Sure you can stay here.”

“Thanks mom.” Kim opened the car door and nearly hit John with it. “Kim, Let’s go talk in my room.” Kim and John walked to John’s bedroom. “Kim, I’m really sorry for that argument earlier.”

“So am I John. I guess I just let my emotions and hate for the Kingdom Klan cloud my mind.”

“Don’t worry. I know how you feel. Chuck was running the Kingdom Klan wrong and used it for the wrong reasons. Now that he’s free from the influence of the Wicked Gods, we can only hope that he won’t make the same mistakes. As for the Kingdom Klan, I decided to join as a long-distance member, so basically I just check in with him every so often. I figure getting the Emperor’s Kingdom deck is worth it. But the real point is that, no matter what groups I join, I’ll always be here for you, and I’ll always protect you.” John then looked down. “Well, I guess I can’t say that.”

“Why not?”

“I really haven’t stopped you from getting captured.”

“True, but you always rescued me. Even though I don’t like being captured, I would rather be captured and rescued than nothing happening at all.”

“Thank you Kim. It means a lot to hear you say that.” He then noticed that Kim’s dark aura grew since the last time he saw her. “Perhaps we should separate you from the darkness infecting you?”

“I don’t think that’s such a good idea, actually. Something tells me that I need this darkness. I feel as though it will be important in the future. Not only that, but it gives me strength. Without the darkness, I would be weak.”

“I just really hope that the darkness doesn’t take over.”

“You know, I draw strength from people too, like from you.”

“That’s cool. Also, when you said ‘We’re through’, did that mean that we were on a date?”

“I didn’t really mean to say that. I was just so angry at the time that I just needed to say something, and that was the first thing that came to mind. Sorry about that.”


“Don’t worry about it Kim. You’re still my best friend. Nothing can change that.” They continued talking until John checked the time. “Oh wow, it’s 11. I think we should probably go to bed now.”

“Yeah, just let me go to the bathroom and change into my pajamas.” Kim left the room. John decided to change into his pajamas as well. His pajamas had pictures of Junk Warrior, Nitro Warrior, and Turbo Warrior on them. Kim then walked into the room. Her pajamas were black with pictures of the DARK-altered monsters.

“That theme of pajamas suits you Kim. Too bad my pajamas don’t anymore.”

“You’re still a warrior at heart, even if you use a Time deck. Now I just wonder where I will sleep.”

“Yeah, that’s a problem.” He then came up with an idea. He moved his pillow over to the left of his giant bed and then got under the covers on the right. “Kim, you can sleep on the left side of the bed if you want.”

“Thanks John.” She got under the covers on the left side of the bed. She then noticed John without a pillow and thought of an idea. She moved her pillow to the center and moved closer to John. Then she wrapped her arms around John and pulled him in from behind. “I found a way we can both use this pillow.”

“You’re awesome Kim.” Then John, exhausted, fell asleep.

Good night John. Kim was also quite tired and fell asleep with John in her arms.

The next day, they woke up at pretty much the same time, 8:00. John was still in Kim’s arms. Kim let go of her grip on John. Her left arm hurt a bit, but she didn’t care.

“Good morning Kim.”

“Good morning John.” Kim got out of the bed. “I need to go to the bathroom and change out of these pajamas. You change while I’m in the bathroom.” Kim left the room. John then changed into a pair of jeans and a blue shirt. Kim walked back into John’s room in her dark outfit.

“Kim, you didn’t have to bring the dark outfit.”

“I know, but I really wanted to bring it with me. I-”

“Kim, we have to go now!” yelled Mr. Shadow.

“Sorry, I have to leave John. Remember to open my gift though.” Kim ran down to the car. John ran down after her. When he walked outside, Kim was getting into the car.

“Well I hope you had a great birthday,” said Mr. Shadow. “See ya kid.”

“I did. Thanks for bringing Kim. Bye Kim and Mr. Shadow,” yelled John.

“Bye John,” yelled Kim. Then Mr. Shadow drove off, leaving John and his mom on the steps.

“Mr. Shadow’s a nice man,” said John’s mom. “Maybe a bit overprotective of his daughter, but he’s still a nice man. He’s seems to have loosened up some.”

Well I might as well check out my final present. John opened that box Kim gave him. It had the Bad Egg deck and a Cross of the Dimensions card in it. I can’t believe it! She gave me her Bad Egg deck! This is so awesome! John immediately sent Kim a text message.

While riding in the car, Kim got a text message. She took out her phone. It’s from John. He must be responding to my present. She read the text message:
Kim, I have so much to say, but I want to make this quick. First, thank you for the Bad Eggs. I know you tried to use them, but for some reason you weren’t compatible with it. Maybe these decks are actually supposed to be used by two great friends like us. Also, I just want to really thank you for getting me to duel in that tag-duel despite the fact that I was terrified. It was a lot of fun and you were awesome. Another thing is that you are really brave to let the darkness stay inside of you. I guess the real thing I want to say is that I’ve never met another girl like you before. Despite the uncertainties of this world, I know one thing for certain: I will love you forever.

Forever.

[Crystal Beast 123]

Good! Some Chapters are short, though.

[Haou Devil 12]

I got to hand it to you Mystery Guest, your Fan Fic is really something. BTW, check out my new Fan Fic "Chaos Universe: The Unknown Past Ch. 1 - 7". You'll love it.[/size]

[Mystery Guest]

(12-20-2008 06:06 PM)LarryCotter Wrote:  That's a great one.I read the first 9 chaps at once.Great work 8,5/10 because of the fast dueling, which is sometimes a bit too fast ^^.

Which duels are "a bit too fast" within Chapters 1-9? And how so, exactly? Also, Chapter 11 is short because that duel didn't last too long. In real life a duel between a Warrior Toolbox and a DAD deck would take a similar amount of time for DD to win.

(12-20-2008 09:59 PM)Mystery guest Wrote:  I posted Chapter 12, it is a long one and possibly "vaguely inappropriate" depending on the audience reading it. I'm still trying to think up what deck the opposing duelist will use. After all, if you haven't noticed, the odd chapters are storyline and the even chapters are duels.
Cool, 33.33% vote for each of the top 3 choices. Apparently my fan-fic is better than I first thought it would be.

Why am I replying to my own post?

(12-20-2008 11:40 PM)Haou Devil 12 Wrote:  I got to hand it to you Mystery Guest, your Fan Fic is really something. BTW, check out my new Fan Fic "Chaos Universe: The Unknown Past Ch. 1 - 7". You'll love it.[/size]

Thank you Haou. Your fan-fic is also pretty good. It has a cool storyline and an amazing duel disk, though 24 monster zones and 24 spell/trap zones still seems a bit much.

[Mystery Guest]

Now I've made Chapter 14. Yay!

[Mystery Guest]

(12-20-2008 09:59 PM)Mystery guest Wrote:  I posted Chapter 12, it is a long one and possibly "vaguely inappropriate" depending on the audience reading it. I'm still trying to think up what deck the opposing duelist will use. After all, if you haven't noticed, the odd chapters are storyline and the even chapters are duels.
Cool, 33.33% vote for each of the top 3 choices. Apparently my fan-fic is better than I first thought it would be.

BTW, I just realized something: For the first 5 chapters, it was "Odd chapters are storyline, Even are duels", but I wrote 2 consecutive storyline chapters when I wrote Chapter 6, so after chapter 6, it is "Even chapters are storyline, Odd chapters are duels." For some reason I wanted to end Chapter 5 at the thought that it ended at.

[Mystery Guest]

Chapter 15 is up. John vs. ???.

[Wolfy Eddy]

So far so good. It took a while but I read eight chapters so far. Will continue reading them! 8.7/10 (It's good.)