---

"I can't believe it!" blared the voice of one of the announcers currently talking over the final match of one of Japan's regional championships. "After winning the last two years, it seems our defending champion Shinrei is finally backed into a corner!" they commentated, with the camera focusing on Shinrei's stoic face. "Even though his life is only 800, he played a 400 ATK monster onto the field! What's more, the opponent controls two high-level monsters! Is this the final turn of the duel?!"

"Looks like you wish to donate the title of champion to me. I'll be glad to take it off your hands." Shinrei's opponent taunted him while pushing the glasses on his nose a bit further up. The challenger's field contained Luster Dragon 2 and Hyozanryu. The challenger said: "I'll attack your Cyber Larva with Hyozanryu to bring an end to this duel!" and with the command of its master, Hyozanryu charged up a beam of energy in its mouth to fire at Shinrei's monster with. The attack hit true, throwing up a cloud of smoke as Shinrei's life was reduced to 0.

...or, at least, that's how it should've ended. When the smoke cleared, Cyber Larva was still on the field and Shinei's life remained untouched. "Did you really think Cyber Larva wouldn't have a special effect?" Shinrei replied in a monotone tone of voice. "When this card is attacked, I reduce battle damage to 0 and special summon another Cyber Larva from my deck upon its destruction."

"And Shinrei barely manages to hang on this turn! However, his opponent still has a powerful monster left to attack with! Is Shinrei merely buying time until the next turn?!"

The crowd's cheers reached the cameras microphones, ringing clearly throughout the footage. The match between the title-defending Shinrei and the challenger was far from over, leaving spectators at home glued to the screen. Two of those spectators, residents of Kaleido City, were Kei Okoichi and Aiya Tenshi. They'd gathered at their usual hangout spot- a local game store. It was broadcasting the championship over the TV hanging in the corner of the room, with the volume high enough so all present could clearly hear the hype.

"Man, that's the regionals for you..." the boy among them spoke up. "Just watch, next year it's gonna be me up there! I'm gonna win the whole thing," Kei told his friend, grinning from ear-to-ear. Though he was boasting, Kei also kept his eyes focused on the table in front of them. Like the tournament, Aiya and him were having a friendly match of their own. It was just an over-the-table, casual duel though; if you wanted to duel with a Duel Disk, you had to go outside for that.

"Right, uh, it was my turn right...? I'm switching Mystic Swordsman LV 4 to attack position and equipping it with Sword of Dragon Soul," Kei said. With it, he'd raised up his monster all the way to 2600 ATK... but he knew he couldn't go in for the kill. The monster on Aiya's field had just as much attack as he did and, even worse, Kei was down to only 900 LP. If he attacked carelessly now, it was curtains for him. "I'm gonna end my turn, but this duel ain't over yet! Today's the day I break my 99-duel loss streak, Aiya!"

Kei's hand had two cards and he still had a set card on the field. He figured he could probably pull this back as long as Aiya didn't somehow clean his lifepoints out in the next turn.

---

What was there not to believe? Sure the announcer was supposed to hype up the duel but Shinrei hadn't really been challenged in the last 2 years since he became champion. Logically then he had the duel in the bag already. Only a fool would think that Shinrei wasn't going to win. Though Aiya wouldn't call herself a fan of 'Shinrei' in her own mind she couldn't fathom him losing to a complete nobody like that guy on the screen.

Still she would be biting her fingernails in trepidation. What if he did that wouldn't be good at all. Cyber End Dragon was so powerful. It couldn't just lose right? Hopefully Shinrei wouldn't just bite the bullet this way. That wouldn't be good at all. She wanted to see him lose to someone important or coo-.

Her train of thought broke when she heard her best? friend speak up. Was Kei her best friend? She'd never admit it personally, She also didn't have time to find other friends what with the long list of odd-jobs she worked. From the battle-maid cafe to the janitorial duties. Working part time to earn money to help renovate the Dragon King Dojo. It certainly left her without much time except to spend it hanging out with Kei.

Of course at the same time though she wouldn't say herself that they were friends, She wasn't some jerk that just existed in his orbit. No. She was Aiya Tenshi. Anyone that she considered important enough to keep close of course deserved to be treated with the utmost respect and closeness.

"You better start by beating me then Kei. The road to being a champion is a long one after all but your not starting that road today" She would say in response to him as he turned his monster to attack position. Seeing him equip his monster and ending his turn. She'd smile softly. "Check that loss record to 100." She'd say as she drew for turn. "I'll activate my spell card. 'A Wingbeat of Giant Dragon'" She'd say as it hit the table. "By returning my Ernus to my hand I can destroy all spell and trap cards you control!"

Watching him scoop his backrow up she'd feel the corner of her lips curl into a smile. She didn't like beating him. But simple days like this duelling with the people you care about? It was all a girl could wish for. "I'll active the fusion spell, Dragonmaid Changeover, The cost for Fusion is one Dragonmaid monster and one level 5 or higher dragon monster." She'd say as she'd reveal the three cards in hand. Her Fusion Spell, Ernus and Laundry. Placing them all in her graveyard she'd place her monster onto the table. "Dragonmaid Sheou, Battle! She'll attack your Mystic Swordsmen LV4." Aiya would say tapping her card gently before she lent over to tap Kei's.

And that was game. Still though she wasn't one to rub in her victories unless she really disliked a person hoooowever she wasn't above a bit of light teasing. "Congrats on your 100th loss. You can redeem your free complimentary Can of Soda from the vending machine outside later." She'd say with a soft smile.

"N-no way!" Kei stammered out as he was helpless against Aiya's onslaught. He was forced to watch his monster easily being crushed by the overwhelming might of Aiya's combos, leading to Kei folding his arms over the table and resting his head between them in frustration. "I may have lost 100 times in a row... but next time, for sure, I'll finally get my first win over you...!"

"It's finally Shinrei's turn again!" sounded from the TV. Kei scrambled upright again to watch. The duel field was much the same as when it left off; Shinrei with a last remaining Cyber Larva, a set card on his field and the opponent's two dragons.

"I open my trap card, Rebirth Judgement!" Shinrei declared, the card on his field springing up. "I've had enough of this duel. All the monsters in my graveyard become Machine-type, including my Thunder Dragons. I'll banish them, their fusion and all my Cyber Larva to call forth a new monster!"

"Huh?! He's not summoning Cyber End?!" Kei yelled in surprise. Indeed, after sacrificing the monsters on his field and in his graveyard, Shinrei debuted a monster nobody had seen him use before.

"Cyber Eltanin gains 500 ATK for each card used in its summon, meaning it has 3500. Further, all your monsters are sent to the graveyard."

The commentators went wild. "What a turnaround! Has Shinrei been aiming for this the entire time?! While the challenger's lifepoints are high, a direct attack would wipe them out in one swift move!" they yelled.

"Go, Cyber Eltanin! Draconis Ascension!" Shinrei declared, and in a brilliant flash of light, the opponent's field and life were wiped out in a single move. The tournament officials declared Shinrei the winner as the reigning champion simply turned around and walked off-stage.

"Aaargh, no way! I thought he'd lose this year for sure!" Kei moaned in disbelief. "Nevermind that complimentary soda, I'm gonna be buying drinks for the two of us... hey, can't we say those two cancel each-other out?" Kei begged his female friend, not wanting to admit he lost the bet both placed at the start of Shinrei's match.

In the end, though, Kei still went out to buy drinks for the both of them. He stood in front of the vending machine, bought a drink and then got another for free as a lucky bonus. "Whoa! Is she psychic or something...?" Kei muttered in disbelief. He didn't waste the vending machine's generosity, though, so he just made his way back with the two cans in hand. Now that he had some time to himself, he began to think back a bit.

'Honestly, I'm happy to hang out with her, but... I wish these moments lasted a bit longer.' Kei's thoughts plagued him. 'She's probably off to another job soon. Maybe I should get her something for next time...?' he continued being distracted. Kei didn't exactly look at where he was going, so he bumped into somebody and was bumped flat on his ass. Both cans were sent rolling off, but luckily neither of them spat open. "Ow, ow...! Hey, sorry about tha- huh?"

Kei went to apologize to the person he bumped into, but they didn't seem to respond to him at all. The other person just blankly stared ahead, got up and ignored Kei wholesale. His face furrowed into a frown and he stuck his tongue out after them for being so rude about it. "Man, I swear, it's like the third time some jerk's bumped into me like that this week..." he complained, gathered his belongings and got up to meet back with Aiya.

Aiya would sigh as Kei would declare that he'd win again. "I look forward to it Kei, The Day you finally beat me, is the day I'll buy you some nice Onigiri." She would say as they'd both turn their attention to the TV, Kei scrambling over while Aiya would walk up behind him to try to get a see at the dragon duelists side of the field. She'd look at Shinrei, not once did the reigning champion seem to be losing hope. Yep. This duel was certainly not over...

But that new monster? That was a sight to see alright. 3500 attack points and it could destroy the field?! That made her eyes widen in surprise. Such a powerful effect on a monster she had never seen before. Especially not by the reigning champion. She'd have to never forget that a duelist was never truely a one-and-done thing, and they could change and adapt on the fly. So she should always be ready to mix up her own strategies.

Still Kei would rush out to get their drinks and annoying she'd get a call on her phone, pulling it out, with the little Blue-eyes keychain jingling as she did so. She'd receive the notification that one of her myriad of bosses wanted her in early for work. Great, and they wanted her now She could delay but that would ruin her perfect portrayed work ethic of a girl that was always able to meet strict deadlines.

Scribbling a note on a pad of paper she slipped it over to the Store-owner telling them to pass it over to Kei. It was another apology note that she had to disappear before her friend could say goodbye., she had already left to get off to work before she could catch what the store clerk would try to say in response. Moving with a brisk jog to get to her workplace.

Kei came back only to see Aiya be missing. 'Maybe she just went to the bathroom?' he thought to himself, briefly, but then the store's owner called him over. When Kei saw him slide over another damn note he wanted to slap his face and let out a groan, but the drinks in his hand prevented him from being too dramatic about things. Aiya knows where the vending machines are- the least she could've done was drop by! Why did she insist on leaving notes all the time?!

"I wanted to tell her to be careful out, but she was out the door before I could get a word in," the middle-aged man behind the counter told Kei. He popped open one of the sodas(might as well, right?), took a swig and cast a sidelong glance at the owner.

"Careful? Whaddaya talkin' about old man?" Kei asked.

"I've told you not to call me- ah, nevermind. It seems there's a lot more violent crimes happening lately... I just don't want to see kids like you two caught up in it, that's all."

Kei resisted the urge to tell the shop owner that, just because he was short and had a bit of a babyface, it didn't make him a 'kid'. "Well, don't those types usually hang out in, like, shadier places? I think my route's pretty okay," Kei dismissed the store owner's concerns. The man insisted, however, that these were no ordinary crimes. Suspects seemed to be out of their minds, acting different from how they usually were. "Well, whatever you say..." the boy handwaved the warnings again.

Kei didn't stick around the shop for much longer after that. Nobody there had much of an interest in dueling him, and it wasn't as much fun without Aiya around anyway. Kei opened up his deck case without breaking pace and almost habitually pulled out a single card from his deck.

Silent Swordsman LV3.

"It kinda sucks I didn't get a chance to use you today, partner..." Kei talked to his card, pausing his walk back home after he said that. "I really want to fight strong guys with you. I want to show the world what you can do." Kei raised his card up to the sky, towards the sun. "One day, us two are gonna reach even the heavens together! I'm gonna make sure of it!"

There was this... connection with Kei and that card. He knew it from the moment he laid eyes on it all those years back. Kei couldn't explain it, of course, but... it's like he could feel a warm presence. A friend. Satisfied with having talked to his friend, Kei took a step forward and-

*THUNK*

-crashed right into some guy, again, the second time that day. "Gah- what is with today?!" Kei complained as he rubbed his back in a futile attempt to relieve the pain felt in his rear end. He looked up and wanted to complain to the stranger, getting halfway through his sentence: "Hey, can't you watch where you're-". The reason Kei cut it short was because this was not the first time they'd met. "You're... from back at the vending machines. Are you doing this on purpose?" Kei complained anyway.

The guy that had been minding his own business walking in circles in his 'turf' would not be best pleased by a brat knocking into him again. Though he didn't even flinch or stagger standing stalwart as he looked down at Kei, He didn't say much until he was directly addressed at which point a low annoyed growl could be heard from the mans throat. "Vending machine is part of my territory, if your just going to keep walking about, what you expect? People come and go from my territory in happiness from taking from my vending machine. Are you insulting my territory? Are you insulting me?" The man would say reaching a foregone conclusion without any of Kei's Input.

"I don't like people that insult me. I don't like you." He'd say as he would reach behind himself to pull out a standard duel disk. "You, no, look all that tough enough. I'll beat you up good and proper, smack your head and show you how to get back in line." The man was certainly speaking rather aggressively. Did he not even consider Kei's age into account? He sounded perfectly fine with beating on a kid without remorse.

"We Duel now, I beat you, You restock Vending Machine." He said as not letting Kei get passed until they duelled. That much was for certain. Though did he really have to pick his nose like some sort of troll or ogre while waiting for Kei's response?

The guy being about twice Kei's size didn't seem to deter the little runt from running his mouth of, but the glare of death afterwards was another story entirely. 'Crap, I think I made him mad...' he thought to himself, trying to maintain eye-contact. Maybe if he shouted really loud this guy would run off like a bear or something. The man seemed to have something to say, given the growl, so Kei braced himself for the worst.

"Vending machine is part of my territory, if your just going to keep walking about, what you expect? People come and go from my territory in happiness from taking from my vending machine. Are you insulting my territory? Are you insulting me?"

"...w-what??" Kei replied in abject confusion. His territory? What was the guy on about? And why was he talking like that? Kei took a step back. "Fine- fine! I'll look at where I'm going next time!" he tried to placate the other man, but they were having none of it. Thought Kei was insulting him. Kei, for his part, was regretting speaking up in the first place. If he ran, maybe he could avoid getting decked. Instead, though, the man thought of a different solution.

"We Duel now, I beat you, You restock Vending Machine." he said to Kei.

"I- HUH?!" he shouted, growing more and more confused. Why the hell would Kei need to restock the vending machines? This guy made no sense, but if it's a duel he wanted, then... well, he'd probably best stop picking his nose to not dirty his cards, but on the other hand...

"Gaaah! I don't get any of this, but if it's a duel you want, I don't back down from anyone!" Kei's reply boldly sounded. He jumped back and opened a little bag attached to his belt, next to his deckbox. He took out a device and strapped it to something on his arm. After the two were connected, a blade folded outward. He looked down at the card he was still holding for a brief moment.

"I'm counting on you, partner." he whispered to it, slotting it back in with the rest of his deck so he could insert the whole pile into the Duel Disk. After the auto-shuffler worked its magic, Kei and his opponent both shouted out loud:

"DUEL!"

Kei shouted "I'm taking the first turn!" and drew five cards from his deck. He looked down at it with a grin. "Let's go, everyone! I summon Blade Knight from my hand!" he excitedly shouted, grabbing the middle card and slamming it down onto his open zones. The Solid Vision projectors got to work immediately, materializing a gallant knight in light blue armor. It slashed its sword to the side once, then took a battle stance.

Blade Knight: 1600 ATK

Kei giddily began bouncing in place. "Cool... so cool...! Seeing my friends come to life like this is the best!" he said to himself. After calming down, Kei stretched out his arm and pointed at the opponent. "I'm ending my turn with this! Bring it on!"

The Ogrish brute of a man would not stand down even if Kei would be so casual about it. He would gnash his teeth together in a frustrated manner looking at this 'brat' being so casual about it, as if he was treating him as a joke, as a nobody. This angered him further. "Draw!" He'd growl ripping the card from the top of his deck adding it to his hand which was gripped so tightly Kei could see the veins on the brutish mans fingers straining while gripping them.

"I activate Call of the Mummy" He'd say placing the spell card into his duel disk. On his field the card would rise. "This card will be your doom." he'd say as he'd place a card onto his duel disk. "By the effect of Call of the Mummy if no monsters are on my field, I can special summon a weakling zombie from my hand." He'd say as his monster would burst forth from the spell card. "I summon, Goblin Zombie!"

The sword wielding corpse would slash forth taking its place on its masters field in attack mode. The Ogrish brute of a man was no coward that would use a defence position monster after-all.

Goblin Zombie 1100 ATK

"That's not all though brat, I'll summon one of my own kin, Abaki, make mincemeat of this brat" He'd say placing a second monster onto his field. A red ogre juvenile creature with a toothy maw and a club would take the side of its master's field swinging its club around.

[b]Abaki[b/] 1700 ATK

"Now, We clash, Abaki! Smash his monster to smitheereens" The brute would say not once considering he was pummeling a kid. Just that he was a big tough idiot. The Monster would rush over to the Blade Knight with alarming speed, bringing its club up and slamming it down across the monsters body, shattering it into refracting particles of light. Kei would feel something was amiss as he felt a pain in his fingers, like little tingles of pain. He wouldn't have much time to think about it though before he saw another monster hurtling towards him with its sword raised.

Kei's LP: 4000 -> 3900

"Goblin Zombie, Direct attack!" The brute would gnash through his teeth as the monster would bring down its sword across Kei's body depleting his life points further. This time however he would actually feel intense pain as if he was hit by a real sword, though no wound was carved onto his body. The pain was very much real, and it would hurt quite badly. But the Ogre didn't care, The boy was just a weakling nobody.

Kei's LP 3900 -> 2800

"Turn end, don't you dare fall unconscious from that kid."

Kei's brow furrowed when he saw how roughly the other man was treating his cards, but didn't speak up about it. He merely observed as the man played a spell card from his hand to allow him to summon a monster. Goblin Zombie's attack was only 1100, though, which fell short of Blade Knight. "You're not gonna defeat my monster with only 1100 ATK! As long as I have Blade Knight, you're not getting through to me!"

"That's not all though brat, I'll summon one of my own kin," the brutish man retorted. "Abaki, make mincemeat of this brat" he said before slamming down another card on his field. The juvenile monster slobbered all over the place as it looked at Kei with malicious intent. The man declared his attacks and Abaki was the first one to obey, smashing Blade Knight into particles of light. Kei recoiled as he felt a dull impact on his chest and his fingers started to prickle. Before he even had a chance to react to it, Goblin Zombie's sword slashed straight across his chest.

"AAAH!" Kei screamed out in pain as he felt the cold steel tear and rend through his flesh. He'd dropped to his knees and clutched his chest in shock, but the only thing he grabbed onto were his clothes. Kei looked down and, indeed, there was no wound. "Wha... what the hell did you just do to me?!" Kei shouted back, mildly freaked out. Solid vision was just holograms- it shouldn't be able to hurt a player like that. Despite that, and even though he was uninjured, the pain from just now as well as the lingering afterburn were both undoubtedly real.

The ogre of a man didn't grace him with an answer. "Turn end, don't you dare fall unconscious from that kid." was all he said to Kei. Kei, for his part, rose unsteadily to his feet.

"My... turn! Draw!" he said. This duel had barely gotten started and it was already much more than Kei had bargained for. His breathing was heavy from the stress of the situation. Kei murmured to himself: "This guy isn't normal... I get a feeling I'm going to need to win this duel, or else something really bad will happen to me...!" He looked at the card he'd drawn. "...Are you telling me you'll protect me, Blade Knight?" Kei asked that card. With a determined expression on his face, Kei immediately played it. "From my hand, I activate the spell card Monster Reborn! I'll use it to bring back my friend, Blade Knight!"

A portal opened up between the two duelists, out of which jumped Kei's monster. It took up a position in front of its master, bracing their sword and shield as if protecting Kei. "I won't let you fight this guy alone, Blade Knight... from my hand, I'll bring Command Knight out, too!" Kei continued, calling forth a new warrior. This time they were a female clad in a deep red armor, though her helmet did not cover her face like Blade Knight's did.

Command Knight: 1200 ATK

The brute snorted when he saw Kei's moves. "You talk big, but my kin is still bigger than you."

"Don't underestimate them! Command Knight's effect increases the ATK of herself and all of her allies, and as long as I control another monster, she can't be attacked either!" Kei explained. Command Knight raised up her blade as a red aura engulfed her and Blade Knight both, raising their ATK on the field.

Blade Knight: 1600 > 2000
Command Knight: 1200 > 1600

"Command Knight, take out that Goblin Zombie!" Kei's first command rang out, the female commander rushing forward to bring down her sword on the rotting corpse. It tried to block with its own sword, but Command Knight's blade cleaved both it and Goblin Zombie in two.

Opponent's LP: 4000 > 3500

The brute didn't seem phased at all like Kei was. "Weakling Zombie also have effect. It allow me to add card from deck to hand." The brute's Duel Disk automatically popped out a card which he took and placed into the hand.

"Stop calling him a weakling!" Kei yelled. "Your monsters are friends that fight for you... don't insult them like that! Blade Knight, take care of the other one!"

Blade Knight also struck true, reducing the opponent's life further.

Opponent's LP: 3500 > 3200

The man's grip on his cards became tighter. "You hurt Abaki... you'll pay for that! He mad and attack us both in anger!" the ogre said. The vortex which Blade Knight jumped out of opened up again, out of which popped Abaki's ugly mug covered in Bandages. He gave Kei a murderous glare and pulled out two large bombs from the void. He threw one each to Kei and Kei's opponent. Abaki might've aimed for Kei, but Blade Knight caught the blast with his shield. Still, Kei could feel both the shockwave of the effect as well as his arm burning as if the bomb had exploded onto it. He heaved heavily, trying to grit his teeth and endure through the pain.

Kei's LP: 2800 > 2300
Opponent's LP: 3200 > 2700

"What's wrong, brat? Can't deal with the pain? Gonna cry?"

"It's... no big deal! Turn end!"

"Alright Brat, I draw" the brutish man would say as he would pull the card from his deck to his hand, placing it in his hand he would scan the cards he currently had satisfied with a rather stupid grin on his face he would laugh. "Your monsters are as weak as you are." He would say as he would begin.

"I activate the effect of my Call of the Mummy Spell card. To summon a weakling zombie from my hand." He'd say placing the card on his duel disk. "Tristian, Knight of the Underworld." He'd bark as the knight would emerge forth from the coffin, bursting out in a cloud of bandages, taking its position on his side of the field.

'Tristian, Knight of the Underworld' 1800 ATK

"Mext, I'll show you how to really make Weaklings work together, Go Regenerating Mummy." He would say as the monster would assemble itself on his side of the field, a disgusting monster stuck in the state of reassembly, it was enough to make a person puke just staring at it.

'Regenerating Mummy' 1800 ATK

"Battle, Prepare for more pain brat! Because while I have a zombie on my field, Tristian gains 300 attack points, more then enough to destroy your measly monsters." He'd say as he'd point towards Kei

Tristian ATK 1800 -> 2100 ATK

"Tristian! Destroy that Blade Knight" He would say as the zombie-warrior would crash forward, impaling the monster on its weapon with a wailing cry of the underworld. The Knight would be cut down, and as its body exploded Kei's body would be inflicted with yet more pain.

Kei 2300 > 2200 LP

"I won't give you any mercy! Go Regenerating Mummy, destroy his last monster!" He'd say as the corpse amalgam would saunter over and smash its fist straight through Kei's monster.

Kei 2200 > 2000 LP

"Learned your lesson yet Brat?" The duelist would say as he would end his turn.

Kei shielded himself from the particles of his monsters being destroyed by raising up his arms, which throbbed with a dull pain for both strikes. "Blade Knight... Command Knight... I'm sorry!" he muttered to himself, lowering his guard when the worst of it was over. Kei looked down at his hand. "Damn it... I can't make a comeback with this!" he muttered to himself, casting his determined gaze back towards the opponent. "But I believe in my friends...! They'll definitely come through for me! Draw!"

Kei briefly glanced at the card he'd drawn, his stiff expression softening. "I knew it... you guys are the best friends ever! Let's do this, Spell Strider!" he said, summoning the monster he'd drawn straight away. "And one more! I activate the equip spell Mist Body from my hand!"

Spell Strider: 1800 ATK

The body of Kei's warrior was enveloped in a fog swirling all around him. "Equipment spells give effects to the monster they're equipped to, and Mist Body makes sure you can't destroy Spell Strider by battle! With this, I can destroy Regenerating Mummy. Tear 'em up, Spell Strider!"

At Kei's command, Spell Strider launched forward. When Regenerating Mummy struck him in self-defence, the area it clawed at turned into mist. Spell Strider's blades struck true and sliced the Mummy into ribbons, while the mist gathered around his own wounds and repaired his body. Spell Strider jumped back to Kei's field as Tristan's effect returned his attack to normal.

Tristan, Knight of the Underworld: 2100 > 1800 ATK

"How's that, you big lug? As long as I believe in my friends, we'll overcome anything you throw at us. I'll set one card from my hand and end my turn!"

"If you have weaklings for friends, then your just a weakling yourself. I'll show you what real power is. Draw" The big lug would say as he pulled the card from the top of his deck and added it to his hand. A cruel sneer appearing on his lips. "I'll show you just how strong I am, when i crush you!"

"I activate the spell card, Book of Life" The brute owuld say as the spellcard would pull itself up on his side of the field. Revealing the book emblazoned upon it. It would create a visage of Kei's Blade Knight. As it opened.

"WIth this book, I can banish one monster from your grave. To summon back a zombie from my own!" He'd say as the book woudl slam shut on the visage of the Blade Knight, before bursting into his Regenerating Mummy.

REgenerating Mummy ATK 1800

"But I am tired of playing with these weak cards. Let me show you real power. I tribute both weaklings to summon Red Ogre!" He'd declare, a dark shadowry aura enveloping his body, as the card would be placed upon the duel disk. The large monster would appear from somewhere, directly behind the two zombie monsters, as it would thrown them into its jutted maw. "This is what strength is. To devour all weaklings.. Red Ogre will crush you" He'd say as his voice was distorted by something dark and twisted.

Red Ogre ATK 2800

The similar shadow-aura was around his monster. "Now, I discard this useless monster" He'd say revealing a weak Skull Dog Marron. Quite literally throwing it up to the large red ogre. "To activate the effect of the my Red Ogre! Intimidating Roar!"

He'd say as the Red Ogre would let out an inhuman bellowing roar right at the spell-strider, causing it to appear for a moment paralysed with fear, before it was knocked away by the sheer windforce of such a powerful and intimidating roar. "This effect returns a monster you control to your hand. Your now wide open weakling. Prepare to be crushed."

The brute would say as he would enter the battle phase. "Be pounded and crushed and minced and destroyed! Red Ogre! Brutal Club!" He'd declare as the giant monster would lumber forth, about to smash its huge club right over the head of Kei threatening to leave him as paste.

Kei felt unnerved when the man in front of him got blanketed by a dark miasma all around him. He ran his thumb and index finger through his eyes to clear away any dirt but the aura didn't fade. 'First the pain, now this... just who is this guy?' he thought to himself. Kei was forced to watch the man's new monster devour both of the ones on his field, his anger bottling up inside. "You're wrong! Real strength is gained from working together!" he shouted back at the brute, but their warpath was undeterred. The opponent called out the name of his special effect:

"Intimidating Roar!"

The Red Ogre on his field bellowed loudly, causing a gust to sweep up that took Spell Strider with it. They returned to Kei's hand, leaving him wide open. "I'm... wide open..." he muttered to himself, his field empty. Kei looked ahead of him in fear. His opponent called the attack.

"Be pounded and crushed and minced and destroyed! Red Ogre! Brutal Club!"

The ogre raised his club and brought it down on Kei, knocking him clean off his feet and sending him flying back. Even if it did no physical damage, the shock from the blow was still felt clearly. Something like that would've easily broken his bones, and his pained scream reflected that. "GAAAAH!" he cried out, hitting the floor crumpled up with a dull thud.

The brutish man snorted. "My win, brat." he said. Kei twitched on the ground.

"Not... yet..." he weakly said.

Kei's LP: 200

"What?! How did you survive that, you weakling?!"

Kei pulled himself together and slowly started to pick himself up off the floor. He was shaky on his knees, and the bruises from the impact coming down weren't helping. A single card slid out of Kei's graveyard, which he showed his opponent.

"Right... before your attack hit, I used my Emergency Provisions..." he told him. With its effect, Kei managed to send the Mist Body on Spell Strider to the graveyard and gain 1000 LP, which had given Kei just barely enough to survive the blow. His eyes were slightly glazed as he looked down at his hand.

"Tch. Big deal. You only have weakling monsters. With me on field, you won't win." his opponent sneered. Kei just continued to stare at his hand.

'I need to make it through the next turn...' he muttered to himself. 'If I could just draw an equip spell, then maybe Spell Strider...?' his thoughts trailed off, but Kei shook his head. None of the equips in his deck could give him enough attack to combat the opposing monster. The other card in his hand- Intrigue Shield- could buy him some time, but if the opponent summoned anything else, it was game over. Kei dropped to his knees. "Damn it...! I can't... win this..." he berated himself. Kei was too weak and his opponent was too dangerous. "If I surrender, maybe he won't hurt me anymore..." he said to himself in a moment of weakness.

"No! Don't give up! I'm right here with you!" a voice rang through Kei's mind. Startled, he looked up and around. Nobody except him and his evil-aura opponent were there, however. Kei scrambled to his feet.

"My... turn!" he said, drawing his card. His eyes grew wide when he saw it. "Partner...?" he muttered to himself. It was none other than Kei's very own Silent Swordsman. Kei remembered the words from earlier, and even though he didn't know where they came from, he took them to heart. "...You're right. This duel isn't over yet... and I'll win together with the ace of my deck! It's time for my best monster to come out: Silent Swordsman LV3!"

A small whirlpool of wind gathered on Kei's side of the field, a vortex of light opening in its center. Out of it jumped a small boy in a long, blue coat. His helmet and sword were both oversized, but his stoïc expression was determined and looked straight ahead.

Silent Swordsman LV3: 1000 ATK

Kei pointed at his opponent. "My partner and I will take you down together! I'll set a card and end my turn!"

"Of course a pathetic weakling mounts a pathetic defense, Your only delaying the inevitable with such displays of cowardice like that" The evil-aura'd man would say in his distorted tone, He and his monster both letting out a boisterous laugh at the pathetic display of defence that Kai had mounted. As he would draw his card for turn. "I'll draw." He'd say look at it a evil grin appearing on his face. "Theres no way you can win now brat." He'd say as he'd set a monster. The face-down card appearing on his side of the board. Kei had no chance to win, and his opponents cruel happiness betrayed that they indeed thought that.

"Alright Brat, prepare to lose and accept that your nothing but a pathetic weakling! Red Ogre, Destroy that Silent Sword Kid!" He'd say as Red Ogre would wind up its bat and without mercy it would stampede over the battlefield towards the Silent Swordsmen. It would rise up its club once more. The Silent Swordsmen's entire body would be stuck in the shadow of the sheer size of the club. As it would smash it down with incredible force.

Red Ogre's club was matched by Silent Swordsman's sword, the chibi monster putting one hand on the blade and all its strength behind blocking the blow. A trap card glowed on Kei's field. "With Intrigue shield, once per turn, my monster won't be destroyed and all damage becomes zero!" he explained. Silent Swordsman was forced onto his knees from the pressure the ogre's club was exerting on him, but with a mighty push the small monster managed to throw the much larger target back. All Kei's opponent could do at that point was end his turn.

"Look, the weakling protects the other weakling. It doesn't matter. You lose anyway," the brute said in his distorted voice.
"What do you mean?" Kei asked in return. The opponent pointed to his set monster.
"The weakling I set is Poison Mummy. When it goes face-up, your life drops by 500."

Kei took a step back. "My life is only 200...! If I take that, I'll lose. No matter what, I'll have to finish this next turn..." he said aloud, putting his fingers on his deck.

"You won't win, not with that pathetic 'friend' of yours."
"I won't let you insult my partner! Here I go, draw!"

The wind kicked up into a gust as Kei drew his card. Both duelists' clothes fluttered as said wind seemed to make its way and gather around Silent Swordsman, his body beginning to glow. "My partner is a 'LV' monster! That means that during my turn, he levels up and evolves into a new self!" Kei confidently proclaimed. Silent Swordsman's body gave off a blinding light and when it finally dissipated, he'd grown older and taller. His face was more mature and he held the broadsword over his shoulder much more comfortably. "This is my friend's true form: Silent Swordsman LV5!"

Silent Swordsman LV5: 2300 ATK

The opponent let out a boisterous laugh. "So what? He too weak to take me out. Attack Poison Mummy and you lose. You already lost this duel."

Kei looked down at the last two cards in his hand. "No... I'll definitely win this turn! I activate my spell card, Pot of Greed!" he shouted.

"Go ahead and draw those two cards. Nothing will change."

Kei closed his eyes and submerged himself in his own thoughts. 'This is it. If I don't take out that Red Ogre now, I won't live to see my next move. I believe in you, my friends... so lend me your power!' he mused in his thoughts. In a moment of determination, Kei opened his eyes again and yelled "I draw!" out loud. He swiped the two cards off his deck in one smooth motion, glancing at his bounty from the corner of his vision. When he saw what he got, Kei smirked. "Here we go! This is the last turn! Silent Swordsman LV5, attack Red Ogre!" Kei shouted. His monster raised the blade off his shoulder and positioned himself to rush forward and strike.

"So you finally choose to die?" the opponent taunted Kei.
"Who knows?" he mockingly replied with a confident grin. The brutish man grimaced.
"I activate my trap! Impenetrable attack! Whatever you're planning, I won't be destroyed by this attack!" he yelled back.
"Then I'll activate the quick-play spell Silent Sword Slash from my hand! With it, Silent Swordsman gains 1500 attack points until the end of my turn!" Kei responded, finally showing his play. A white aura engulfed LV5 as the display showed its ATK going up.

Silent Swordsman LV5: 2300 > 3800 ATK

Silent Swordsman rushed forward and passed through Red Ogre, getting a clean slash across the monster's side. Due to Impenetrable Attack the monster wasn't destroyed, but the damage from the strike was still felt by the opponent. As Red ogre went down on one knee, so did the man behind it, grunting and gritting their teeth in pain while tightly grasping their side. They growled "Now you've done it... I'm going to crush you two to paste next turn!" at Kei.

Opponent's LP: 2700 > 1700

"Is that so?" Kei said back. He raised up the other card he drew into the air. "I was expecting you to protect yourself! Because of it, I can now activate another spell card from my hand... Revenge Attack!" he boasted, the card popping open on his field. "Silent Swordsman's attack goes up another 1000, and I'm able to attack that monster once again!"

Silent Swordsman LV5: 3800 > 4800 ATK

"You brat! You're nothing but a weakling!" the opponent angrily at Kei, the miasma and distortion in their voice becoming thicker, yet also flickering.

"This is payback for all the abuse you've hurled at my friends! Let's go, Silent Swordsman! Silent Severing Slash!" Kei called out his attack. Silent Swordsman turned around and leapt up into the air. Cast like a shadow in front of the sun, Red Ogre looked up to see Swordsman aiming his blade.

"No... NO! I CAN'T GO LIKE THIS!" the opponent yelled in a panic, fright on his face. Silent Swordsman brought down his sword from the air, slicing Red Ogre clean in half as it passed through the monster's flesh.

Oppponent's LP: 1700 > 0

"GAAAAAH!" the opponent yelled out in pain, the distortion in their voice growing more severe before slowly petering out. The miasma, similarly, grew more intense like a raging wildfire, only to gather up into some kind of astral body above the man. As Red Ogre slowly broke apart into tiny little particles, so did the miasma slowly burn out and vanish into thin air. Kei could feel the hostile, aggressive intent from the miasma, two red eyes inside it glaring at him before dissipating completely. The man on his knees went limp and collapsed face-first onto the floor in front of him, the deck he was using scattering out of his Duel Disk onto the floor.

"Oi... are you alright?!" Kei shouted in concern. Kei wanted to go and run over to check on him, but he felt all the energy being sapped from his body. Going down on one knee, he panted heavily. "Damnit...! What was that duel?" he muttered to himself, raising up his head to look at the opponent. Something at that moment caught his eye. One of the cards still on the man's Duel Disk, Red Ogre, had that same dark aura around it as the man had had. "What... is that?" Kei said. The shadows around the card slowly ate at it and, eventually, burned it away into nothing. A similar mist rose from and left the rest of the cards, but none of them burned away like Red Ogre had.

Kei forced himself back on his feet and stumbled over to the other guy. Once he'd reached the man, Kei let himself on his knees again so he grab the man by his shoulders. "Hey... hey! Wake up!" he urged, lightly shaking the other guy in the hopes of them waking up.

The Man was definitely out of it, he seemed like he was unresponsive. It definitely appeared that the man had at the very least experienced a rather large amount of trauma as a result of that duel. Though he too had no injury on his body. It would become perhaps apparent that Kei wasn't the only one feeling pain. But the possessor of the body, that red ogre. Would of just kept forcing its host to duel regardles of how much pain they went through.

His Unconscious opponent would leave Kei with more questions then answers.

---

---

Having ran off to one of her myriad side-jobs. Aiya wouldn't have ran into anything out of the ordinary on the way there. In fact it was so ordinary for her to have to rush around on side-jobs she wouldn't have really been paying attention to anything weird around her. so dedicated she was to getting from A to B. That she'd soon reach the back of the Maid-cafe where she worked. The "Duelist Cafe" had a gimmick about it that if you dueled one of the maids and won you got your food free. So she kept getting called in during peak-hours in order to prevent the cafe from losing money. Since she was the 'undefeated Dragon maid' but really she just did it because it was free practice.

Entering from the back-door and getting dressed in the employee only quarters, she'd soon step out onto the cafe floor and begin to do her day to day stuff, taking orders from the visitors. Doing her best to give them a smile. Even if it made her eye twitch at having to smile so widely and so fakely to random people. It wasn't a genuine smile like Kei got. But a fake one that you'd give someone just to appease them. But the visitors found it cute even if it was fake. So the boss mandated it for all the staff.

She sighed to herself. She'd much rather be hanging back out at the card-shop. But she needed this money for the maintenance of the family shrine. So she'd have to bear with it all. Hopefully she wouldn't have to deal with any hassling customers.

One of the patrons at the maid café Aiya worked at was a scrawny, jittery young man who's eyes were covered by the hood on his head. His hair didn't look like it had been cut in years as it drooped out from underneath it, and the guy generally had a gloomy aura surrounding him. Even though you couldn't see his eyes, the direction his head moved in clearly signaled he was eyeing the maids as they passed by. He'd already ordered, but hadn't touched the food on his table at all. The young man was actually a regular at this place, usually coming in at the same hour each time and generally enjoyed his time there, which is why it was passing strange to see him sitting there so solemnly. One of the employees took notice and went up to him.

"Master, is something wrong?" she asked the gloomy young lad.

"...wrong..." he muttered. The maid asked if she could do something for him, at which point the guy shot up from his seat, knocking it onto the floor. "Everything is all wrong! Why are you here instead of my Ryuka?!" he yelled at the maid, causing her to stagger back. "I've been waiting here this entire time for her to come to my table, and yet you keep bothering me! I know she's here! Go away and call my Ryuka here right now!" he kept going with the outburst. Of course it was loud enough for 'Ryuka', who was actually just Aiya's alias, to actually hear what was going on.

The Maid cafe was a headache at times. Sure some days were quiet or you had folk that were quite nice to you. As well as people that were just there for the sake of Dueling. She had barely had time to orient herself into that service industry mindset of service with a smile. Before she was already overhearing someone demanding her. She knew that voice. He wasn't usually that loud. But she knew that voice.

"Oh hello there!" She'd say coming over thinking he was just having a bad day. No need to label him as a creep or a freak just yet. He paid the boss well, and for the most part he had a rather clean record. So him acting like this likely meant he was having a bad day. "Are you having a bad day today sir?" She would say placing her arm up to make sure he didn't approach the other maid violently. "Do you want to talk about it? Perhaps after you've eaten? Or after a duel?" She'd offer trying to think of ways to defuse the situation.

God she hated talking like this. So sickly sweet and polite. She liked being able to speak crass and casual. But responsiblities existed and she'd scare away customers if she gave them the evil eye. Hopefully this guy would just eat his food and calm down. Worst comes to worse she'd personally defenestrate him herself.

Aiya had come to check out what the trouble was. "My Ryuka..." the customer uttered with slight reverence in his breath, shifting his attention away from the other maid he'd been harassing. Aiya asked the customer if he'd had a bad day, if he'd like to talk about it, or perhaps even duel. "Duel..." he muttered, and Aiya could sense a faint change in atmosphere. It was as if the air around the customer had twisted ever so slightly, out of sync with the rest of the room. "Yes... duels... I knew it, you know me so well, my Ryuka!" he blurted out. "I've always been watching every single one of your duels... your grace, your elegance... and you never lose!" he spoke, laying lavish praise on the girl.

The man took out a deck from the pockets of his hood. "These duel monsters you love so much... I spent nights pouring over them, learning everything, so I could challenge you... and then... it came to me...!" he kept rambling with staggered speech. "Let's duel, my Ryuka...! I simply must have this duel!" he near yelled. Outwardly, nothing seemed to be wrong with him, but it was plain for all the staff to see that this wasn't the same person that had come so regularly to the café. And Aiya, just Aiya, could see something faint behind them. The outline of something having wrapped itself around the man.

Whatever it was, a duel seemed to be inevitable either way.

If he simply must have this duel, who was she but to oblige him of that fact. Aiya would let out a sigh, one that would betray a tiredness of the conversation and one that would betray a tiredness of this person in general. She would punch him squarely if it weren't for the fact that he was a paying customer. Still A duel was a duel. Though she had to blink a few times. Had she been working herself too hard? Her eyes seemed to be seeing things that weren't there at least judging by the fact that nobody else was staring at whatever that faint outline was.

She'd blink a few times and whatever it was wrapped around the man appaered to have disappeared from her sight for now. As she would begin to turn to walk to the Cafes duelling area. "Then you'll Simply have the duel you seek right? If you win then I'll serve you your food for the rest of your time here. If you lose then you'll apologise. Pay for your food immediately and get the hell out of this store." She'd say making her annoyances known. Perhaps he would get the hint.

"Now come on. People want to eat their food Sir" She'd say her 'business' mask slipping into one of annoyed cynicism.

The trip to the dueling area was a little tense. She made no effort to talk to the guy to try to acknoledge him and his wierdness. Instead she kept her eyes straight ahead. "I assume you know how this works. Go take your position." She'd say as she take her own. They were duelling on relatively old-fashioned Duel-tables but the hologram projection technology worked just fine.

She didn't even let him decide who was going first or second. No. She wanted to get this over with. So by the time he had barely gotten himself ready and drew his starting hand. She would already be ready to fire off.

"Duel!" She would declare, as she would immediately begin her first turn.

Observing her hand with a mere glance. She already knew what she was going to do. "I begin by summoning Steam, The Dragon Ruler of droplets in Attack Mode." She would declare placing the card down on the table which shimmered lightly as it pressed against the surface.

Emerging forth from the gap between the two tables, A dragon with a watery-like appearance, with scales a hue of cold frigid rainwater. The Whelp would let out a snarling cry.

Steam, Dragon Ruler of Droplets 1600 ATK

"Then I'll follow this up by setting three cards." She'd say ending her turn almost as quickly as she began. Coming out of the gate swinging. She'd teach this guy a lesson or two. She hated working as a cutesy maid. But she hated guys that took advantage of cutesy maids more!