Chapter 10 - Rev Battle of Past AllianceJune 16, 2009, 6:44 AM – Succurro – Highway
“Who are you?” Kal asked the man though his headset. He turned to look back at his follower.
He looked ordinary enough, though he had never seen a D-Wheel quite like his. It looked custom, and it seemed very rudimentary. It was a pale silver color, the color of fresh steel, and it didn’t even have a shine. The strangest thing was that it had advanced censors and computing technology; Kal could sense it. It was like the rider took more time and effort into the dueling technology rather than the driving or physical aspect of the device.
The man wore a simple, grey jacket and a dark helmet. The visor was tinted; Kal couldn’t see his face.
“You should know me very well, Iszarc,” the man on the D-Wheel said, “Speed World 2, set on!”
Opening Theme
Kal’s black bike transformed into a D-Wheel with the activation of the field spell. His seat went back; his dashboard opened to reveal a dueling platform and deck slot; and from the sides of his bike opened up two arm-rests; one was a place for holding the cards in his hand, and the other was a touch screen that showed all other information Kal could need, such as the opponent’s field and life point values.
Both bikes sent out a wave of holographic imagery as the field spell activated. All of a sudden a stream of holographics popped up on either side of them, creating a lane of traffic all to themselves in the middle of the highway. ‘Duel Lane’ was written on the holographics surrounding them. Soon they were cordoned off onto a side lane, a separate part of the highway where duels could commence without interference from other cars or duelists.
“The challenged gets the first draw,” Kal said, taking that bit from the DPF training he went through. He never minded going first; he could protect himself. Though this was his first Speed Duel; he was lucky to have a variant of his deck that contained Speed Spells instead of his normal ones handy.
Kal: LP-8000; SpCnts-1; Cards-5
Dude: LP-8000; SpCnts-1; Cards-5
Kal drew his card and inspected his hand.
‘Best play it safe for right now. This combo should work nicely…’
“I Summon Yematuga the Water Resolve in Attack Position!”
Kal took the card off of one of his arm-rests and set it on the dueling platform before him. A monster appeared next to him, a man in a blue and white long-coat. 300/300/LV2
“I end my turn.”
The unknown man took his turn, drawing one card with glee.
Kal: LP-8000; SpCnts-2; Cards-5
Dude: LP-8000; SpCnts-2; Cards-6
“It’s been a long time, Kal, but it is worth the wait,” he said.
‘Who is this guy?’ Kal wondered.
“I Summon my Victory Viper XX03 in Attack Position!” the man said. He placed the card on the dueling platform before him and sat back, watching the giant machine that appeared above him. 1200/1000/LV4
‘Victory Viper?’ Kal thought, ‘Could it be…?’
“Next I activate the special ability of my Union monster in my hand, Lost Remnant – Arm of the Fallen! By sending it to the Graveyard from my hand, I can send another Union monster in my Deck to my Graveyard. And I choose my Lost Remnant – Head of the Risen!”
The man sent a card from both his hand pile and his deck to the Graveyard slot on his dashboard.
“Now I activate the Special Ability of my Head of the Risen! While he is in the Graveyard, I can equip a different Union monster in my Graveyard to a monster I control! So I equip my Arm of the Fallen that I just discarded to my Victory Viper!”
A bio-mechanical arm appeared from nowhere, right below the giant ship overhead. It transformed, morphing into a form of bazooka, and it attached to the underside of the ship.
Suddenly the ship got a major attack increase. ATK: 1200~1800
“Impressive,” Kal said through the speaker system between them, “You found a way around the downside of the Victory Viper.”
“I thought you would have remembered,” the man said, “I used this move against you all the time.”
“I know,” Kal said, “I remember, Lance.”
The man smiled. Kal knew.
“Why are you dueling against me?” Kal asked, “I wiped the floor with you every duel.”
“Well, that may not be so this time. The DPF gave me a major upgrade to my deck, they say that it is up to snuff with your deck now.”
“However, the DPF no longer has a detailed record of my deck. Pegasus has been making me a series of new Allies that I am currently using, and he privately gives them to me. The DPF has no idea of this transaction.”
“Ah, I didn’t think I remembered that Yematuga there,” Lance said. He smiled.
“You still didn’t answer my question,” Kal reminded. There was a curve in the track of the highway; they sailed around it with ease.
“Kal…” Lance said, “I am not just here for a friendly hello. I am also here for the DPF.”
Kal stiffened. That is what he feared. Kal accelerated.
“Whoa, wait there, Kal!” Lance said, accelerating to match his speed, “I’m not here to take you in.”
Kal slowed a little. “Then what are you here for?”
Lance pulled ahead and matched speed with Kal. He raised his visor, revealing his long scar on his cheek. “We need you.”
“Who’s ‘we’?” Kal asked, timid.
“The DPF of course…” Lance continued, “You don’t have any idea what is going on?”
Kal stared at Lance through his clear visor. There was a moment of silence between them and Lance continued.
“I suppose you don’t, but how could you not know? Even if you lived under a rock you must have known what Joel Karne is up to.”
There was that name. At the sound of his name Kal’s ears perked up.
“What is he doing?”
“Geez, you really are out of the loop aren’t ya?”
Kal stared at his old friend, class mate and brother once again, willing him to continue. He obliged.
“Joel Karne is on a mad dash to control the world’s major cities. He has most of them in his grasp, creating a sort of cult with the members of the towns he has collected. You can tell them apart from the other members of society; they have a bird etched into their skin, almost like it was burned into it and the skin around that area melted into that shape. They are all loyal to him, and we fear that he might create an army to take over the remaining two cities in this region.”
“Righty-do, that was a lot to swallow,” Kal said. And it was, Kal hadn’t had a clue as to what Joel Karne was doing. Until now.
“Kal, he must be stopped. With Director Godwin out of the loop in Neo-Domino we fear that he will go after it next. Then he will go after our town, Aequitas.”
That got Kal thinking.
“What about Succurro?” Kal asked. Surely he would have mentioned the town they were in right at the moment, right?”
“Well, I hate to say this,” Lance began, “But he got this town just a few days ago.”
Kal freaked. He almost lost control of his bike from hearing that.
“You really haven’t noticed?” Lance asked.
“No,” Kal responded, “I just got back here last night. Strangely not very many people were out, but I didn’t notice anything was up…”
“That is what we feared. After we found you in Aequitas we didn’t know if you knew the situation or not. After seeing you there on the highway last night we decided that you may be a better help than hurt to our investigation team.”
“I’m not going back, Lance.”
“I wasn’t asking that, you would do it on your own time…” Lance said, seeming to grasp at any straw left.
Kal was fine with his own schedule; he wanted to find him anyway. Maybe now he would have a little help with where Joel actually was, and thus he could find him a lot faster. But there was something still troubling him…
“If I do this, what is in it for me? I’m still on your guys’ hit list for trying to help you out about six months ago, and if I help you out again how do I know I won’t be locked away?”
“With my word, Kal, I can personally promise a safe trip home after this task, and you will be removed from the DPF’s most wanted list,” Lance replied.
Kal was shocked, “Thanks, Lance, but how can I trust that from a Deputy…”
“Actually,” Lance cleared his throat, “its chief.”
Kal’s jaw dropped in surprise, “You are the chief now?”
“Yeah, the old one got fired by Greg Pravus a few weeks ago because of his tirade against you, and being the only one left with a high rank I was promoted.”
“Wow, congrats, man!” Kal said half-heartedly. He really was proud of his friend’s accomplishment, but he was now distracted by what he said; he said that Gregory Pravus was the man that fired the chief. Gregory Pravus was the man that was there in his apartment when he first went up to it about five months ago; he took Kal away to get transformed into a Cyborg. Was this what Gregory needed Kal for? To help fight against Joel Karne?
“Well?” Lance asked, “Are you up to it?”
Kal pondered a moment.
“If you win, I will go find him.” Kal replied.
“Excellent,” Lance said, “Then on with my move! Now that I have a stronger Victory Viper, I will attack your Yematuga!”
The cannon on the under-side of the ship above the two of them prepared to strike. It charged up and let loose an orb of energy that was aimed right for the man in the blue coat.
Kal grinned.
“I activate the Special Ability of my Yematuga! When it is selected as an attack target, I can discard 1 Level 2 or lower monster in my hand to give it more attack strength, and I discard my Level 2 Simetu the Wind Resolve!”
Kal sent the monster in his hand to the Graveyard and watched Yematuga get an instant 1800 ATK increase. ATK- 300~2100.
The orb of energy that was shot from the cannon was knocked back by the flick of his wrist and sent spiraling back into the giant ship. There was an explosion, but it didn’t fall from the sky.
Kal: LP-8000; SpCnts-2; Cards-4
Lance: LP-7700; SpCnts-2; Cards-4
“When a monster equipped with a Union monster would be destroyed, the Union monster takes the hit. My Arm of the Fallen goes to the Grave in my Viper’s stead,” Lance explained, “So I place 1 card face down and end my turn.”
Kal drew his card, both players’ speed counters increased.
Kal: LP-8000; SpCnts-3; Cards-5
Lance: LP-7700; SpCnts-3; Cards-3
“I Summon my Muyatak the Earth Resolve in Attack Mode! And I am placing it in the Vector above Yematuga!”
A man in a long, white robe appeared in front of the man in the blue and white coat. They looked very much alike, except for their attire. 1400/500/LV3
“And now I can attack your Victory Viper!” Kal said, “And when Muyatak attacks, he gains attack power from the people backing him, so he gains 400 points!”
The man in the white robe jumped into the air, headed straight up into the giant machine above him. He thrusted his fist into the air and it started to glow green with the powers given to him by Yematuga below him. ATK-1400~1800.
“Not so fast, Kal!” Lance said, “I activate my Trap! Roll Out!”
Suddenly a giant bio-mechanical head appeared from the light of the flipped Trap. It glowed gold for a moment, and then transformed into a barrel of another gun, which attached itself to the under-side of the Viper. The Victory Viper then gained Attack Power as well. ATK-1200~2000.
‘Shi—’ went through Kal’s mind. Muyatak ran right into a machine that just barely had more power. It exploded into a thousand shards.
Kal: LP-7800; SpCnts-3; Cards-4
Lance: LP-7700; SpCnts-3; Cards-3
Lance laughed, “You should have seen that one coming, Kal! You know me…”
‘That’s right, I should have seen it,’ Kal thought, ‘but why didn’t I remember that combo?’
The giant ship above them started to glow. It grew in intensity until the highway started to shake from its might, and all of a sudden a new ship started to form. The light started to tear away from the Victory Viper, and it formed a ghostly image of it. Then it started to grow more solid, forming an identical version of the Victory Viper XX03. ATK-2000.
“And now that your card destroyed a monster by battle, you chose to duplicate it.”
“Correct, Kal.”
“Fine,” he said, “Then I place 1 card face-down and end my turn.”
Lance drew his card, feeling smug. The smirk quickly fell from his face as he remembered something from the past, something he cared to forget. Regardless, he felt that he should share it with Kal.
“This reminds me of when you gave me this,” he said as he ran his fingers down his cheek; over the long scar that was there.
Kal was confused; this was yet again something that he couldn’t remember about his past.
“Don’t you remember?” Lance continued, seeing the confusion in his eyes, “We were dueling once, sometime when we were both in the Duel Academy Primary School, and I was starting to win. I was feeling pretty cheeky, like I am now…”
Kal was thinking hard, but he couldn’t recall this. He didn’t have a clue what he was talking about, not a word. Kal remembered when Lance and he would duel in the Primary School together, but Kal didn’t remember a single time that Lance had the edge. Lance was always the second best compared to Kal; that was just how it was.
“You really don’t remember? Well, I wouldn’t expect you to… it was just another day in the life of goody-goody Kal Iszarc for you, but for me it was the most traumatic day of my life. You freaked out when you saw how I liked being in the spotlight this duel, and you attacked me… You took out a pocket knife and tried to slit my throat, but I parried your blow and it sliced my cheek open. The teachers were so stunned by their star pupil that they hesitated to get you off, by Mr. Wheeler eventually took you to the Head Chancellor’s office to sort you out. I don’t know what he said to you, but you never acted like that again, and you never seemed to talk about it.
“What was even stranger was that I could have sworn I saw your eyes become all dark, like all of the color of your eyes was just taken out. And even weirder was that the knife couldn’t be found, when I saw it hit the floor. No one knew where it went. Needless to say, I kept this scar to remind you just how much of a friend I am, and that I forgave you.”
“Lance…” Kal was in tears. Emotional tears. His cyber-kinetic body didn’t allow him the pleasure of tears.
“Kal, it’s alright. I forgave you years ago… But now we have to get back to the duel. I attack your Yematuga with my Victory Viper!”
Kal was shaken up. He almost didn’t want to activate the Trap Card that he had set because he felt like he deserved to lose his advantage. How could he do such a thing, and at such a young age? And even if he could do something, how could he not remember? Was it repression? How could he have done this?
The cannon under the first ship started to charge, creating a cyclone of energy above the man in the blue and white coat. It was going to strike.
‘I don’t deserve such a great friend,’ Kal thought, ‘I should allow the attack to go through, forget I even have a Trap that could counter this attack,’
The orb was shot out of the cannon; it was just seconds before it would reach its target…
Kal activated the Trap Card. He knew that if Lance wanted to win, he wouldn’t want it to be handed over so carelessly. He wanted him to put up a true fight and not let him win.
“I activate my Trap Card, Defensive Struggle!”
The Trap flipped up and created a cage of energy around the man in the blue and white coat, protecting him from the orb of light just in the nick of time.
“By sending my Level 5 Firedun the Swamp Immortal from my Deck to the Graveyard I can negate your attack and end the Battle Phase.”
“Clever, Kal,” Lance said, “But it is only delaying the inevitable. I end my turn. Let’s see what you’ve got up your sleeve.”
Kal couldn’t help but smirk. Lance was his best friend in the entire world; he missed him a lot during the last two months.
“I draw!”
Kal: LP-7800; SpCnts-5; Cards-4
Lance: LP-7700; SpCnts-5; Cards-4
“I activate the Speed Spell – Angel baton! This allows me to draw two cards at the cost of discarding one since I have two or more Speed Counters!” Kal said. He slid the card into the slot of his dashboard. Then he took two cards off the top of his deck and sent 1 card to the Graveyard.
Kal grinned.
“Now I activate the Special Ability of my Firedun in the Graveyard! By removing an Ally monster in my Graveyard from play, I can Special Summon him! So I remove the Bikex that I just sent to the Graveyard to Special Summon him!”
A decaying man with black armor appeared on the field next to the man with the white and blue coat. 2100/1900/5
“Next I Summon my Xinthi the Assimilate Scanner!”
Kal took out the card that would help him win it all and placed it on his dueling platform. The small Cyborg appeared on the other side of the man with the white and blue coat. 300/0/1
“Now I pay 600 Life Points to activate the ability of my Xinthi! It can be treated as a Tuner!”
Lance’s eyes grew wide. The Allies now had Synchro support, and that wasn’t good.
“I use my Level 1 Xinthi as a Tuner for my Level 2 Yematuga and my Level 5 Firedun to Synchro Summon my Level 8 Cocanxi the Slayer!”
Xinthi ascended into the air, transforming into a circle of green light. That ring of light surrounded the other two members of Kal’s side of the field, transforming their bodies into orbs, seven in all. Then a vertical beam of light expanded into the air inside the ring. The beam of light then collapsed on itself and left behind a monster, a man in brilliant black and gold armor, and brandishing a sword. 2500/1600/LV8
“Damn, Kal. You have some mighty nice cards there,” Lance complimented.
Kal grinned. He wouldn’t be so loose with his compliments for long.
“I now activate the special abilities of my Xinthi and my Firedun. I remove Xinthi from my Graveyard to draw a card, and I remove my Muyatak from my Graveyard from play to bring back my Firedun!”
Kal took his card from his deck and placed the rotting man in the black armor back on the field. 2100/1900/5
“I will now activate the special ability of my Cocanxi the Slayer! By sending the top card of my deck to the Graveyard I can destroy 1 card you control, and I will choose your Union equipment!”
Kal turned his D-Wheel around, facing Lance for a moment. On the spin back he placed his hand on his deck, swiping out the top card. Cocanxi made the same arm motion with his sword in his hand, sending a wave of energy up to the ship’s cannon up above. The cannon exploded, but it didn’t leave even a dent in the metal. The duplicate ship flickered, and then the cannon disappeared on the underside of that ship as well. ATK- 2000~1200.
“Now my Firedun will destroy these creatures!”
The rotting man leapt into the air and struck his fist into the metal below the ship. It took a second, but the ship fell into pieces from the strike area. The copy of the ship flickered and it, too, was gone.
Kal: LP-7800; SpCnts-5; Cards-3
Lance: LP-6800; SpCnts-5; Cards-4
“Cocanxi, send a final blow!”
The man in the brilliant black armor thrusted his sword once again, sending a shockwave right into Lance’s D-Wheel. He swerved, but he kept control.
Kal: LP-7800; SpCnts-5; Cards-3
Lance: LP-4300; SpCnts-5; Cards-4
“Damn,” Lance said, “Good duel, Kal.”
“Long time no see, good friend.”
“I’ll take it as my turn,” Lance said as he drew his card.
Kal: LP-7800; SpCnts-6; Cards-3
Lance: LP-4300; SpCnts-6; Cards-5
“I activate the Speed Spell – Count Up! This allows me to send 2 cards from my hand to the Graveyard, and now I get a Speed Count boost by 2 for each one!”
Lance took two cards out of his hand and placed them in his Graveyard slot. His Speed Count increased accordingly.
Kal: LP-7800; SpCnts-6; Cards-3
Lance: LP-4300; SpCnts-10; Cards-2
Lance sped along, passing Kal and taking the lead. They took another curve and went down a different direction along their highway duel. The sun started to rise over the horizon but it was still early in the morning. There started to be a few cards on the highway, but not enough for them to take notice to the duel next to them.
“Now I Summon my Level 1 monster, Tuningware!”
A little machine with a wok on its head appeared flying behind Lance.
“Next I will activate the Special Ability of my Lost Remnant – Head of the Risen! This allows me to equip my Lost Remnant – Armor of Synthesis that I sent to the Graveyard just a moment ago to my Tuningware!”
Suddenly a breastplate of armor appeared in front of the small machine with the Wok. It glowed red, then it equipped onto it.
“Now I use its effect to unequip it and Special Summon it!”
The breastplate came off of the small machine, standing alone. 300/1200/LV1
“Now, when I Special Summon him this way, I can Special Summon 1 Level 2 or lower monster in my Graveyard. So I Special Summon the other card I sent, my Ally of Justice Unlimiter!”
A strange machine with a sharp point at one end appeared on the field on the opposite side of Tuningware. 600/200/LV2
“And now that you control two or more monsters, your Cocanxi being a Light monster, I can Special Summon the final card in my hand, my Ally of Justice Cosmic Closer!”
Lance took the final card out of his hand and placed it on the field. He must have been relying on this move to finish Kal off, or get close to it. A giant circle appeared above all of the other creatures, above the two riders for the duel. It glowed and bolts of electricity fell from it. 2400/1200/LV8
“So this is what the DPF did to your Deck? How did they think it would compare against my old deck, it was all Dark monsters…”
“The DPF insisted on this, they figured that you would have tweaked it a little. They have it so that my original strategy is the main theme of the deck, but with these Allies of Justice on my side I can create a chaos army.”
‘So the figured that I changed my deck? Did Gregory Pravus have some inside information, maybe even from Pegasus from himself?’ Kal thought.
“My Armor can be treated as a Tuner monster, so I will Tune my Level 1 Armor of Synthesis to my Level 1 Tuningware and my Level 8 Cosmic Closer to Synchro Summon my ace, Ally of Justice Decisive Arms!”
The tiny breastplate ascended, transforming into a green ring. This ring surrounded the other two monsters, turning them into a series of orbs, 9 in all. Then a vertical beam of light expanded into the air inside the ring. The beam of light then collapsed on itself and left behind a monster, a giant machine with a large, cannon arms. 3300/3300/LV10
Kal turned to look up at the menacing new monster. Now all that existed on the opponent’s field was a giant machine and a tiny one, both Allies of Justice.
“When Tuningware is sent to the Graveyard for a Synchro Summon, I am allowed to draw one card.”
Lance drew that card, thankful for something in his hand.
“Now I activate the ability of my Unlimiter! By releasing him I can double the Attack Points of one A•O•J monster I control, and you know which one I will choose!”
The tiny machine rose into the air, piercing into the machine above it. It slowly disappeared into the machine, powering it up with double its strength. ATK- 3300~6600.
Kal started to worry. Not only did he have the strongest monster on the field before, but now it dwarfed all of his monsters even more. Maybe Kal wouldn’t win this one…
“Now I activate the special ability of my Decisive Arms! Since you control a Light monster I will activate my monster’s special ability! By discarding my entire hand,” Lance took that one card out of his hand, “I can look at your hand and send all Light monsters in it to the Graveyard, as well as dealing you damage equal to their Attack points!”
The giant blue machine overhead moved one of its cannons in the direction of Kal’s D-Wheel. It charged the laser and fired, sending a shockwave of energy towards him. It shrank then split into two equal-sized spheres, which went straight for Kal’s hand on the arm-rest next to him. Two cards were hit; both monsters in his hand happened to be Light monsters, and the other a Speed Spell.
“What cards were sent?” Lance asked, curious, but truly wanting to know the extent of the damage.
“You sent my Kuure the Prodigal Force and my Gold Armor of the Gods,” Kal said, hopeless, “Together, that is 2200 damage.”
Kal: LP-5600; SpCnts-6; Cards-1
Lance: LP-4300; SpCnts-10; Cards-0
“Ha!” Lance said, “I am actually keeping pace with the great Kal Iszarc!”
The way that Lance said his name made Kal wince. He seemed to have a bit of malice to it, like he was getting angrier as the duel went. It made Kal’s heart sink even further.
“Now, attack his Synchro monster!” Lance commanded the giant machine above him. It moved its other cannon, the one for high-strength attacks. It moved and positioned itself right for the man in the gold and black armor. It wouldn’t have a chance.
The cannon fired a photon sphere that destroyed the man on impact. He was sent into a thousand shards, and the repercussions of that blast were taken out of Kal’s Life Points.
Kal: LP-1500; SpCnts-6; Cards-1
Lance: LP-4300; SpCnts-10; Cards-0
“Take your turn if you can come up with a way against this behemoth,” Lance said, “I end.”
Kal didn’t have a chance. He no longer had monsters in his hand due to some horrible luck that he had two of the few Light monsters in his entire deck in his hand at the same time. He had barely any Life Points left, and only one monster to protect him. That monster’s Attack power could hold him off, but what if he drew another monster? He could be wiped out next turn. There was nothing that he could do…
Except hope for one specific card. There was one card that he could use to turn this around, but he had a one in thirty chance of getting it. Could he do it?
“Lance,” Kal said. Lance turned his head to look at the rider behind him as Kal continued, “I may not remember that day at the Academy, but I know that I am not like that. Not anymore. I have been beaten before, by the man you want me to go after, even! I don’t know why I would do that, but trust that it wasn’t me that day, please?”
“If it wasn’t you, then who would it be?” Lance asked, irritated.
“I don’t know yet, but you said that my eyes went black?” Kal asked.
“Yes… but I must have been hallucinating.”
“Well, maybe you weren’t…” Kal trailed off. Lance stared back at him; curiosity was burning his skull from the inside out.
“What are you talking about, Kal?”
Kal stared straight ahead at his opponent, friend and life-long brother. “I am different from when you last knew me. Not only do I have artificial limbs, but I also have strange abilities. Powers that make me different than you, something that I haven’t been able to fully understand until now.”
“So that was you that day back in Aequitas, when I saw you dueling against that street rat. You were levitating, and you were making a building fly…”
“Yes, that was me,” Kal replied, relieved that Lance was easier to convince than others. He had almost forgotten about that day almost six months ago.
“Kal,” Lance said, “Pull through.”
Kal grinned. “I will.”
The top card of Kal’s deck began to glow a faint yellow color all of a sudden. Kal knew what happened; Lance didn’t have a clue what was going on.
“I draw!”
Kal: LP-1500; SpCnts-7; Cards-2
Lance: LP-4300; SpCnts-11; Cards-0
“I Summon my Divine Sanction – Future Warrior from my hand!”
A warrior appeared on the field next to the zombie in black armor. It looked like a machine, but that was just his steel armor. 1800/1200/LV4
“Now I activate this monster’s special ability! I release him to Special Summon my Cocanxi the Slayer from my Graveyard!”
The man in the machine disappeared in a flash of light, revealing a man in gold and black armor, the same man from before. 2500/1600/LV8
“Now I can activate his special ability! I send the top card of my deck to the Graveyard to destroy your giant fortress!”
Kal slid the top card off of his deck and his Slayer slid his sword out of his hilt. He thrusted his sword across, sending a wave of energy up toward the giant machine. It fell into pieces. Shrapnel started to fall below the highway and into the clear water below, disappearing before it ever touched the surface.
“You know what happens now, don’t you?” Kal asked. Lance looked glum, but he knew what would happen.
“I attack you directly with both of my creatures, doing you 4600 points of damage!”
Both of the men in black armor ran forward and toward the D-Wheel of his best friend. They struck him with their fists, finishing him off with just a few points to spare.
Kal: LP-1500; SpCnts-7; Cards-1
Lance: LP-0; SpCnts-11; Cards-0
Lance’s D-Wheel skidded to a halt on the Duelway. Kal stopped next to him as the holographics ended.
Lance hopped off of his D-Wheel and took off his helmet. “I suppose this means that you don’t need to find Karne…”
“Who ever said anything about that?” Kal asked.
Lance looked up at him, confused.
Kal grinned, “You must know that I stick to what I say, and in this instance I never said what I would do in the case of me winning.”
Lance thought for a moment but soon smiled.
“You devious bandit!” Lance exclaimed, “You were intending on going after Karne no matter what happened!”
“Yes, actually. I have a score to settle.”
“Oh, you still can’t take a loss, can you?”
“Nope.” Kal decided to let that be the reason for Lance, rather than take the time to explain that he teleported from the future last night and died, and Kal would like to find his present form to see what he knew about the events that were going on.
“Well, here.” Lance took out a palm pilot out of his jacket and handed it to Kal.
“What’s this?”
“This is all the intelligence we have on Karne, his recent whereabouts, habits, and activities. Strange thing, though, we haven’t been able to track him down any quicker than an hour ahead of time, and that time was by some luck. We nearly caught him, but he eluded us. Do you think you can do it?”
Kal looked at his old friend, the new police chief of Aequitas. “Yes.”
A smile spread across his face. “Alright then! Get started as soon as you can.”
“I will,” Kal responded, and he meant it.
Suddenly a giant streak of black smoke sailed across the sky. Kal was the first to notice it, for Lance’s back was toward it. But when Kal’s face contorted from the confusion Lance couldn’t help but look too.
The smoke went straight over them, then came straight down and hit the pavement of the highway only three feet from them. From the smoke appeared a man, a large, muscular man with short, spiked, white hair and a small beard of the same color. He wore only a small tank top and pants.
“What the…?” Lance said, shocked. He had never really seen magic before.
The man flicked his eyes over to him then raised his hand, palm-side toward Lance. Smoke poured from his fingertips and ran all the way over Lance’s body, enveloping him in an aura of roiling blackness. This darkness tore at him, ripping him apart piece by painful piece. He let out a yelp, but that didn’t last long. He was disintegrated right before Kal’s eyes. His best friend was gone in an instant.
The murderer lowered his hand and the smoke disappeared. He then flicked his eyes over to Kal. “At last, we meet.”
“Murderer!”
Kal ran over to him; he lost control. He let his human emotions take over, sending him over to the man. He knocked him off of his feet; he never saw it coming. They rolled on the highway for a moment and Kal came out on top. He let his fury consume him, thrusting his anger into the face of this new threat. Each punch made Kal feel that much better, but it didn’t even affect the man with white hair. He even started to laugh.
“You finished?” he asked when Kal hesitated.
Kal just sat there on top of him, fists raised, waiting for another reason.
The man below him grinned and turned once again into smoke, moving out from underneath Kal and forming himself upright. Kal stood up.
“What do you want with me?” Kal asked, vehement.
“I just wanted to chat.”
“Then why did Lance have to die?”
“You mean that pile of ash?” the man asked.
Kal lost it again, unleashing on the man. He sighed and waved his hand in front of Kal. Instantly a wall of purple light appeared between the two of them, keeping them from touching each other.
Kal calmed down, “What do you want?”
“I wanted to alert you to our presence, and that we are on the move.”
Kal thought for a moment. “Dark?”
The man grinned. “You are very insightful.”
“I already know your strength and that you are coming. I have been warned twice in the past ten hours! You surely must have come here for another reason.”
“That is correct.”
Kal thought for a moment then looked over to his dead friend.
“You wanted to show me your true strength. You want me afraid of you, don’t you?”
The man began to pace, grinning more and more with each step. “That Cyborg brain of yours is quick, isn’t it? Yes, that is correct. I came here to show you that we are not meant to be messed with, and I am here to offer you a proposition.”
“What kind of proposition?” Kal asked, treading carefully.
“If you back out now,” the man said, stopping his pace, “Then I promise you that you will be spared.”
Kal was thrown for a loop. Spared? What did that mean? What exactly were the elements trying to achieve? How many casualties were they planning?
But then Kal began to think about what had just happened. Dark obviously just showed Kal that he was strong, and that was meant to show that they were powerful. But then why did he just offer a peace treaty? Or, as much of a peace treaty as people dead-set on mass murder, it seemed, could offer. If Kal wasn’t a threat then there would be no point to a treaty. So that would mean…
“No,” Kal answered, “You saw the defeat of the Wind, and now you all are scared. After 5000 years of powering up, you still don’t think you have what it takes to defeat us to take back your revenge, do you? No, you want us to be afraid of you, and then offer us a way out. But I see right through this. You are afraid, not us.”
“Nice little speech you gave, why don’t you save it for your dead companion right there?” Dark said. He glared for a moment, and then added, “You haven’t seen the last of me. Fire is on his way as we speak, and you will then know our wrath.”
“Fire, what about Water?” Kal asked, perplexed.
Dark grinned. “Plans change.”
Suddenly a Riding Duel appeared down at the end of the highway, coming straight for them. Two D-Wheels were approaching fast.
“Speak of the devil,” Dark said, “There they come now.”
Kal looked down the highway and used his new robotic eyes to zoom in.
“No, it can’t be…”
Dark chuckled, “It has begun, and there is no stopping it now!”
Kal turned and faced him just in the nick of time. Dark gave him a salute, and then disappeared in a streak of smoke that flew high into the air, streaking across the sky.
Kal walked over to Lance’s D-Wheel. He picked up the Deck of cards right in the deck slot, ready for another duel. Kal turned it over in his hand to look at the bottom card; it was the bio-mechanical arm that he used during his first move.
Kal wished more than ever that he could let out a tear right then.
Closing Theme
Next Time on Yu-Gi-Oh! TC!:
Chapter 11: Contaminated Power
Trey: Who the hell are you?
Guy: Duel me, and your questions will be answered.
Trey: I wont duel you!
Guy: But you must! And Divine Sanction wont save you!
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