Here it is Kids, the next chapter to the story.  A quick reminder for those who are just joining us: If you’re a tad confused about some things. (I.E. Yami not appearing, Kaiba only having three Blue Eyes, with the third being taken from Rikku, etc.) Read “A New Path!”  It’s simple, just click on my name, scroll down from my profile and all that crap, and click on the story.  Beats browsing through a whole bunch of stories, that’s for sure.   Fire Goddess101 – You don’t have to wait any longer for the duel, now!   Magicman/Smokegirl – Yeah, that was basically the whole idea: Combine Shadow Realm w/ Orichalcos/ and a bit of the Doma Saga! Guess who’s the “Great Leviathan” in this story?    bee bee – ON the parings of this story, it’s not set in stone, but it definitely will not be any Silentshipping in this story.  Not to offend anyone or anything but, except for plot purposes or if they won’t last very long, I will dance in my underpants on top of a snow-covered mountain in the depths of hell before I do a Silentshipping story!     “So a Shoopuf is blue overgrown elephant-like creature…” Marik noted as he and Bakura exited from the Shoopuf as they were now in the south part of the Moonflow.   Bakura then asked, “Did you enjoy the ride?”   Marik shrugged, “It wasn’t much, but it was relaxing.  At least it’s a lot more than what I’ve done back in Egypt.” He looked around and saw a few people dueling.  “Wait, aren’t those the duel disks Shinra made?”   “Yes…” Bakura sighs, “Oh my, looks like we’re too late to sign up!  Spira’s tournament has already started.  Oh well…maybe we’ll enter the next one.”   “Speaking of tournaments, I wonder how Yugi and Joey are doing?” Marik wonders.  “And that Al Bhed girl you’ve told me about!”   “Rikku?”   “Yeah.  Her and that Yuna girl!”   “I know Rikku’s in the tournament, but I’m not sure about Yuna. I haven’t seen either of them since we ran into Tristan.”   Marik sighed, “At least we don’t have to worry about evil Yamis or Egyptian God Cards during this tournament.”   “I have to agree!  Usually, my Millennium Ring would’ve already returned by now, but it hasn’t.” They then heard the sound of engines as they saw a familiar red Airship fly over them. “Look, there’s the Gullwings!  Maybe they can give us a ride.” Bakura looked toward his Egyptian companion.  “You’ll be fascinated at how fast these Airships can travel.”   “Sure!  I’m up for something new…” Marik shrugged as Bakura ran after it waving his hands.   “HELLO UP THERE!” He shouted as the Celsius turned around, then proceeded in its landing Sequence.  “They must’ve heard me.” He said as he then ran towards the now-landed airship, with Marik following behind.   “Hey, wait up!” The Egyptian called out.  “I’m not exactly a guide in Spira, remember?”   “Oh…” Bakura chuckled in remembrance. “Sorry about that.” He apologized as they then walked to the ship.  It wasn’t that far of a walk, but as soon as they’ve made it, the door which lead to inside of the ship opened…  “Hello there!” He greeted as he then introduced his Egyptian companion.  “This is my friend Mar-” He was cut off as a denim-colored blur jumped Marik, who was now being strangled.  “What on Earth?”   “Frana yna drao? FRANA YNA DROA!? (Where are they?  WHERE ARE THEY!?)” Brother screamed as a confused Marik tried to break his chokehold, with Buddy and Tristan trying to pry the enraged Al Bhed off of the unfortunate Egyptian.   “Calm down!” Buddy said, trying to pry Brother’s left hand.   “Yeah, take it easy, man!” Tristan added, prying Brother’s right hand.   “What’s going on?” Bakura asked, confused as they were joined by three others: Yuna, Paine, and Shinra.   Paine went up to the ivory-haired boy for an inspection.  “Doesn’t appear to have the ring on him…” She says.   “Ring?” Bakura blinked.  “What’s going on?”   Yuna blinked. “You don’t have the Millennium Ring?”   “Of course not!  Brother got rid of the ring remember?”   “Maybe you’re under Marik’s control!” Brother suggested, while being restrained by Buddy and Tristan.  “ISN’T THAT RIGHT, BLONDIE?” He lunged at Marik, but Buddy and Tristan successfully restrained him.   “Calm down!” Tristan pulled the Al Bhed back before looking at the accused Egyptian.  “Okay Marik, what kind of game you’re trying to pull!”   “Game?  What the hell are you talking about!?”   “Where’d you put the Millennium Rod and the God Cards?”   “What!?”  Marik blinked in shock.  “They were stolen?”   “Don’t play dumb!” Tristan narrowed his eyes.  “Yesterday the Egyptian God Cards were stolen, and who else but you would have any use for them?”   “True that aside from Yugi and Kaiba, I’m the only one who can use them, but I DIDN’T DO IT! I HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH IT!” Marik screamed.   “He’s right!” Bakura spoke in Marik’s defense.  “He was with me all day!”   “Hmm…maybe he’s under mind control.” Shinra gave his two cents.   “WHAT?” Marik grabbed Shinra by his bodysuit.  “LISTEN, I DON’T HAVE THE MILLENNIUM ROD ANYMORE, AND I DON’T HAVE THE GOD CARDS!”           “So Yugi and Joey now have enough spheres to advance to the finals?” Rikku asked on her mobile phone with excitement as she heard the news from Tea.  

“Yeah.  So does Kaiba!”

  “Setty’s in the finals too?  Alright!” She raised one arm in the air as she cheered.  “His Blue Eyes White Dragon Card will soon be mine!”   “Calm down, Rikku!  You still need…how many Sphere’s do you have now?”   “Four!  I got two of them from beating Weevil Underwood…”   “Weevil?  He didn’t try to cheat, did he?”   “No…but he did do something else…” She said regretfully.   “So what did he do?”   “He played some card, calling it ‘The Eye of Horus!’” She explained, then noticing Tea’s lack of response.  “Teyi?  Teyi? Hello, Earth to Tea!”   “…So they went after you too?”   “After me too?” Rikku blinked. “Don’t tell me they-”   “Yeah!  Arcana came back for revenge against Yugi.  And from what I was told from…them…” Tea said, referring to Erika, Aria, and Arana.  “Espa Roba went after Joey!  Both of them had and played ‘The Eye of Horus!’”   “What about Setty?” Rikku asked, with concern.   “Let me put it this way: He can’t believe that we’re still believing in such ‘superstitious fairytales.’”   “So Setty and Mokie’s with you guys?”   “Yeah…” Tea sighed as she looked behind her.  Yugi was shuffling his deck, while Kaiba was talking to (read: insulting) Joey, who if looks could kill Kaiba would be incinerated right now.  Luckily, Serenity was still there, she was determined to make sure Joey’s anger management training was paying off.  While Mokuba sighed, hoping that it would just end.   “…And that’s why you are, always have, and forever will be a 2nd Rate Amateur chump.” Kaiba explained as Joey’s fists were balled, must to Serenity’s worry.   “Stay calm Joey…” She said silently, hoping that he wouldn’t strike Kaiba.   ‘Must not destroy him…’ He thought to himself.  ‘Must not destroy someone who should be silence, just because he should be silenced, EVEN THOUGH HE NEEDS TO BE FREAKING SILENCED!’  He felt that he couldn’t hold it back any longer.   “Thank goodness…” Serenity sighed in relief as Kaiba and Mokuba were leaving.  Joey meanwhile grabbed one of his six Security Spheres as he was about to hit Kaiba on the back of his head, but once he saw the worried look on his sister’s face, Joey sighed as he place the sphere back into his pocket.   “You know he can’t just keep his anger in forever…” Serenity looked back for the source of the voice.  It was Aria who decided to change into a pair of black baggy Jeans, Army Boots, and a gray short-sleeved unbuttoned shirt over a white sports bra.  “He’s gotta let it out some time, otherwise it’ll cause major stress…”   “I know…it’s just…I don’t want to see him and Kaiba fight anymore!” She says.  “He’s just doing this to Joey because he knows that it gets to him!”   “So Joey and Rich Boy getting along’s that important to you?” Aria said, which made Serenity frown.   “Kaiba’s always trying to distance himself from us, and Joey hasn’t exactly been helping the problem.  He’s just lonely, the only friend that he has is Mokuba!”   “I see…” Aria nodded, but couldn’t help but think, ‘Is it really the reason, or is it because you want things to go well with your new boyfriend!’   Tea sighed, “Kaiba and Mokuba just left.” She said to Rikku on the other line.  “And Joey kept his cool.  Maybe the whole anger management thing is paying off!”   Rikku walked along the trail as she was at a fork:  She could go left to Djose Temple to see if there were some duelists there.  Or she could head right and go by the Moonflow!  “Will they ever get along?” She complained.  “I like them both but I don’t want to see them fight like this!”   “Believe me Rikku, you have a better chance of seeing a Vegan eat a T-Bone steak!” Tea’s voice projected through the receiver of the mobile as Rikku continued the discussion…  However, she could not see two men sneak up behind her.   “That’s true…but still you can’t help but hope…” Rikku stated, still oblivious to what was about to happen.   “I’ll meet’cha there in a while.”  

“Okay Rikku, see ya later!”

  Rikku placed her mobile back into the pouch of her utility belt.  “Four down, two more to go…” She says, as then, she was shoved hard onto the ground.   “HEY!” She protested as she saw the two mean run off with something in their hands.  Rikku decided to look into her pouches, and much to her horror, her Security Spheres were gone.  She glared at the two.  “Get back here, you thieves!  That’s my job!” She shouted as she ran in pursuit as she sighs, “Wish I brought my Garment Grid with me…”   The two continued to run in the path towards Djose Temple.  “How much further do we have to go?”   “It’s not that far!  Just far enough for the boss!”  He briefed as they ran across the bridge.   Rikku went to cross the bridge, looking to retrieve her now-stolen, hard-earned Security Spheres. As she stepped onto a particular board, the bridge began to crack.  “Uh oh…” She squealed as that part of the bridge collapsed, leaving a fairly sized hole in the middle of the bridge, as well as her falling down!   The two thieves walked back to the bridge as they examined the hole that was now in the bridge.   “I thought that it would never work.” One of them exclaimed as the other grabbed a walkie-talkie.   “Boss?” He says, “We got another sucker for ya!  From the fall she’s taken, she’s out, but she should suit you well!”   …   Rikku’s eyes opened as she found herself hanging by her arms, which were tied up by a rope.  “Okay…W-what’s going on?” She asks as she looks around.  She appeared to be inside of Djose Temple.  “Okay Gippal, if this is some sick idea of a joke, I’m not laughing!” She looked around, seeing that there was no answer.  “Hello?”   “You’re a loud one, aren’t ya?” A tough-like voice says as Rikku noticed a figure walking toward her way.   “Okay, you have some nerve to kidnap me!” Rikku said as the figure came into closer view.  This figure was a man who was fairly built, had blonde hair, which was covered by an American flag-print bandana, and wore a leather jacket over a red shirt. Save for dark sunglasses.  She narrowed her eyes. “Just who are you anyway?”   “Bandit Keith, Intercontinental Champion in Duel Monsters!” He said as he looked over his captive.  “Mmm…lookin’ good!”   “You know what you’ve done is a crime, right?” Rikku dryly said.   Keith smirked, “The only crime I see is that we haven’t hooked up yet!”   “Just what do you want anyway?” The Al Bhed narrowed her eyes.   “The same thing that you want, sweetheart…” Keith stroked her cheek, which earned him a hard kick to the chest.  The American Duelist narrowed his eyes as he winced in pain, “Why you little punk-”   “Sicko!” She shouted at him.  “If that’s how you are around women, then I feel very sorry for you!”   “Enough talk, Dweeb!  Let’s get down to business!  You and I are going to have a little duel!  Whoever wins will advanced to the finals!”   “Newflash Keith, I don’t have any Security Spheres anymore!  Some jerks stole them from me!” Rikku informed.  “You wasted your time!”   “Oh…which reminds me…” Keith dug into the pockets of his jeans as he pulled out four Security Spheres.  “You mean these?” He smirked.  “Two of my boys managed to find these and thought that I would have some use of them.” He explained, which angered the young Al Bhed!   “So you did have them steal them from you!” Rikku flailed he legs, which made her rock a bit from being hung on the rope tied on her hands.   “Then why don’t you just win them back?”   Rikku blinked, “Excuse me?  You’re saying that I should win back my Security Spheres.”   “It’s not that you wouldn’t get anything out of this!” Keith pulled out two more Security Spheres from his other pocket.  “As you can see, I have two Security Spheres!  So basically, it’s winner take all!  Me and my machines against you and whatever kind of deck you have!”   Rikku hmphed, “You have a Machine Deck, too?  So do I, and I’ll show you who’s Machines are better!”   “I take it that you accept?”   “Do I have any choice?”    “Good point.” He smirked as he took out a knife, much to Rikku’s fright.   “Wh-What are you going to do with that?” She squealed.   “Relax Dweeb, I’m not going to hurt you!” He assured as he cut the rope that suspended Rikku in the air, thus releasing her.  “Now, let’s start this duel, shall we?”   Rikku got the ropes off her hands as she favored them a bit before retrieving her Duel Disk. “Hold your horses!” She said as she then activated said Duel Disk.  “Now I’m ready!”   “Good, the sooner I crush you, the sooner I can get to the finals!” Keith glared.   “LET’S DUEL!” They shouted as they each drew 5 card, but with Keith drawing one additional card.   Keith: 8000
Rikku: 8000   “I’ll start this duel by placing one monster facedown and end my turn!” Keith stated as one card appeared on the field in defense mode.   “Okay!” Rikku drew a card.  “I summon Cyber Soldier of Darkworld in Attack Mode (1400/1200).” She announced as the dark machine monster appeared on the field.  “Now Cyber Soldier, attack Keith’s facedown monster!” She ordered as the Darkworld Cyber Soldier went for an attack on the facedown card.  However, it was revealed to be Battle Footballer (1000/2100), thus resulting into Rikku losing Life Points.   Keith: 8000
Rikku: 7300   “Ha!  So much for your Machine Monsters being better than mine!” Keith said.   “You haven’t seen anything yet!” Rikku said.  “I end my turn by placing one card facedown.”   ‘Let’s see what else I should do to this Dweeb…’Keith thought as he drew a card.  A smile formed on his face. “First, I switch my Battle Footballer to Attack Mode, next I summon Overdrive (1600/1500) in Attack mode!” He announced as the All Terrain armored vehicle was summoned on the field.  “Overdrive, attack Rikku’s Cyber Solider from the Dark World!” He announced as the vehicle fired its machine gun onto the Cyber Soldier, destroying it and some more of Rikku’s Life Points…   Keith: 8000
Rikku: 7100   “And that’s just the beginning!” Keith said.  “ Battle Footballer, attack her directly!” He ordered as Rikku was hit with a high-speed tackle from the Machine…   Keith: 8000
Rikku: 6100   “I end my turn by placing one card facedown!”   It was now Rikku’s turn as she drew a card.  “First, I’ll place two cards facedown.  Then I’ll summon V-Tiger Jet in attack mode (1700/1200)!” She announced as two cards appeared in front of her, with the machine Tiger/Jet combo behind.  Now V-Tiger Jet, attack Bandit Keith’s Battle Footballer!” She ordered as the Machine flew as it then opened fire onto the cyborg football player, finally lowering Keith’s Life Points…   Keith: 7300 Rikku: 6100   “I now end my turn!” Rikku says, “Your turn!”   “You don’t need to remind me, Kid!” Keith drew a card.  “I sacrifice my Overdrive to summon Steel Ogre Grotto #2 in Attack Mode (1900/2200)!” He announced as the terrain vehicle was replaced by a mechanicalized floating doll.   “Steel Ogre Grotto, attack her V-Tiger Jet!  Wipe her out!” He ordered as the Machine went to attack…   “Activate Negate Attack!” Rikku activated one of her facedown cards as a barrier was placed in front, just before the Steel Ogre could land a punch. “Looks like I saved my V-Tiger Jet!”   “Hmph, for now!” Keith placed a card facedown.  “I’ll place another card facedown and end my turn!”   It was Rikku’s turn as she drew a card.  “First I’ll play a Spell Card Frontline Base. Every turn, I can summon a Union monster provided that it’s no higher than four stars!”  She places two cards on the field.  “I first summon W-Double Wing Catarpult (1400/1600) in attack mode!  Then I’ll special Summon Z-Metal Tank (1500/1300) in attack Mode.” She announced as the large blue carrier and the yellow tank appeared on the field beside the Tiger Jet.  “First, I’ll equip my W-Double Wing Catapult to my V-Tiger Jet, increasing its Attack by 300 (2000/1200)!” She says as V-Tiger Jet mounted on top of the W-Wing Catapult.  “Now V-Tiger Jet, destroy Keith’s Steel Ogre Grotto #2!” She ordered as the W-Double Wing Catapult flew V-Tiger Jet towards the Steel Ogre as The Tiger Jet jumped off and attacked it, destroying it and causing damage to Keith’s Life Points…   Keith: 7200
Rikku: 6100   “That’s nothing compared to what I’m gonna do!” Keith smirked as he activated his facedown card.  “You activated my Trap Card, Attack and Receive!  That means that you lose 700 Life Points automatically!”   “Oh no!” Rikku whimpered as she began to lose Life Points.   Keith: 7200
Rikku: 5600   “But that’s not the end of my turn!  I still have my Z-Metal Tank ready to strike!  Speaking of whom, Z-Metal Tank, your up!” Rikku announced as the Yellow tank opened fire onto Keith, taking out his Life Points…”   Keith: 5700
Rikku: 5600   Rikku smirked, “You don’t have that much more Life Points than me anymore!  Now I activate my last facedown card Combination Attack!  This’ll change my W-Double Wing Catapult back into a monster.  Also, it’ll let my V-Tiger Jet attack again!  So…let’s see…1400 plus 1700 equals…hmm…3100 Life Points worth of damage!  This just isn’t your day, eh Keith?”   “Is that all you got?”  Keith challenged.   “No, that’s all I need!” Rikku responded.  “V-Tiger Jet, W-Double Wing Catapult, attack Bandit Keith directly!” She ordered as the two machine monsters went for the attack, lowering Keith’s Life Points…   Keith: 2600
Rikku: 5600   “You just activated another Attack and Receive Trap Card!” Keith smirked.   “Not again…” She cried as she began to lose Life Points…   Keith: 2600
Rikku: 4600   Rikku blinked at the Life Point damage calculation.  “Hey, isn’t Attack and Receive supposed to take only 700 Life Points?” She protested.   “True, but another effect of this card is that it causes an additional 300 Life Point damage for ever Attack and Receive card in my graveyard!”   “I end my turn. One more turn and I’m going to the finals!” Rikku cheered.  “And to think that you’re an Intercontinental Champion of Duel Monsters!”   Keith just smirked as he went to draw.  But what Rikku didn’t notice that from under his wristband, a card slid out and landed on top of his deck.  He smiled, “Ah, it looks like it is my lucky day after all!  That’s because I activate Graceful Charity, which allows me to draw three new cards, but I have to discard two of them afterwards!  He says as he draws three cards…however…the cards “drawn” were those that actually slipped from his wristband into his hand...   Rikku blinked, she could’ve sworn that she heard a clicking sound.  “What’s going on, Keith!” She demanded.     It’s the awesome Blaster Cannon Dragon versus the Powerful Perfect Machine King!  Who will prevail, and who will advance on to the finals!   OC Cards Used:  

Buster Dragon

Dark/Machine/9 Star 3600/3600 Fusion/Effect Barrel Dragon + Launcher Dragon This card can be normal summoned from your fusion deck without offering the fusion material monsters.  If summoned by this effect, the ATK and DEF of this card are reduced by a third.  Pay up to 1500 life points to destroy up to 3 spell or trap cards (500 life points for each spell or trap card destroyed).  

Blaster Cannon Dragon

Dark/Machine/12 Star 4300/3500 Fusion/Effect Gatling Dragon + Buster Dragon; Toss a coin three times, if the outcome of heads is 2/3, destroy either all spell and trap or monster cards on the opponent’s side of the field.  This effect can only be used once per turn.   Preview for Next Chapter:   “One more turn, and I’ll be one step closer to having my revenge against Pegasus!”   Rikku blinked, “Revenge?”   Keith seethed, “That bastard Pegasus made a fool out of me, TWICE!  First at the regional tournament, where I know he cheated against me!  He had some brat play for him and gave him a list of things to do against me to beat me!  Not only did that list contained the cards that were in my deck, but a list of cards that I’ve played against that brat!”   “So all of this just because a little kid beat ya at Duel Monsters?”   “HE ONLY BEAT ME BECAUSE PEGASUS CHEATED! I KNOW HE CHEATED!” The Bandit shouted. “HOW COULD HE HAVE KNOWN WHAT KIND OF CARDS THAT I HAD, LET ALONE THE CARDS THAT I PLAYED?”   Chapter 10: Blaster Cannon Dragon vs Perfect Machine King