Sonic X Fan Fiction / Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction / Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monster GX Fan Fiction ❯ Sonic Duels: The Shadow Clan Saga! ❯ Some fates are unavoidable. ( Chapter 12 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

By: Tikal

Chapter 12: Some fates are unavoidable.

The group were walking up the longest flight of stairs yet.

"Why'd Tails run off like that?" Sonic asked, sounding concerned. "She knows more than anyone how deadly this place is."

"Maybe it's because you chose to free Amy?" offered Kiros as he helped Zewl climb the stairs.

"Why would that bother her?" Sonic asked.

"He really is an idiot." Shadow uttered.

"You.....have no idea.....about women.....do you m'boy?" asked Zewl as he struggled for breath.

"Huh? What's to know?" Sonic asked, confused. Everyone else fell over comically.

"Moron..." Hitomi uttered. "Get this croc off me!" She barked.

"Sorry, ma'am." Vector said, getting off Hitomi, who was near enough popping a blood vessel.

Kiros was busy helping Zewl up, who cursed as he looked at his broken cane. "In all the depths of Hades....my god-damn cane!!"

"Don't worry, ol' timer." Charmy said, flying fearfully. "We'll go get some super glue."

Zewl smacked Charmy over the head with the biggest half of the broken cane. "DOLT!! It's not just a cane; it's my duel-disk as well!!"

Charmy landed roughly and gripped his head.

"You're mean!"

"LET'S.........just keep moving, shall we?" interrupted Kiros, trying to calm the situation.

The group continued on, slowly the lighting dimmed.

"Uhhh....Who turned out the sun?" Charmy asked.

"I don't think its good....." murmured Espio. A door appeared as Charmy crashed headfirst into it, not being able to see that well.

"Oooowwwwiiiieee!!!!"

"Guess it was good after all." grinned Kiros as Charmy slid down the door. Shadow huffed as he ripped the door open.

"Let's get this over with; I'll take this one also, since I'm in a hurry to save Tails." He said cockily, walking into a grey mist, the room was completely dark, but Gravestones could be made out, as well as a bright blue line leading to the other door, which looked open.

"Actually, I'll be taking this guy..." said a voice from behind them.

Shadow turned his head, narrowing his brow angrily.

"You are?"

The figure stepped forward. A lion, wearing a long, dark coat, his mane covering most of his face, and holding a small girl in his arms, who looked like she was sleeping peacefully.

"The name's Mitsuko. And I have business with the guy who resides here." Shadow ignored him and proceeded into the room, he stood on something which clicked, and from above, a large cage landed over him and he was then hiked into the air and swayed left and right. Shadow, not seeming to be affect, hits the bars a little with his knuckle.

"I wouldn't try to break out of them. Those metal bars are state of the art." Said a voice from the darkness. Mitsuko placed the little girl's body down gently and stepped forward.

"Jin you coward!! Come face me!!" he yelled.

A deep brown coloured echidna walked out from the darkness onto the light, but it was still hard to make out his features.

"As I am not a coward, here I am." He said. Shadow shrugged and decided to 'play along' with the hostage game, as he grinned and sat in his new cage. Mitsuko threw his coat off, revealing a duel-disk, already activated and prepared.

"You say you're no coward, yet we both know you are. Duel me, like you did her...” he motioned towards the little girl's body. "And when I feed your broken body to the worms you belong with, you'll free her soul."

"Maybe I shall, maybe I shan't, however, something a trivial as defeating me is unlikely, if she was a crap duellist, I doubt you're any better." Jin said, his voice deep and having the tone of evil. "I shall bring you to despair!"

"You'd be surprised. After all, all those idiot duellists who faced me at the entrance to your fortress said the darkness was where they belonged. But the fear I saw in their eyes as they fell one by one told me they weren't so sure. Your eyes will tell a similar story I'm sure." Mitsuko stood to his full height. "Come Jin, make your first move, let's get this over and done with already!"

"You know what they say, once a fool, always a fool." Jin drew his 6 cards. "Fine then, prepare to meet despair! First I'll summon Zombie Master." From one of the graves, a zombie rose and took his place on the field. (1800/0)

"Do ya think this is really the guy that made that mess outside?" Charmy asked quietly.

"Well, I dunno fer sure, but the black coat looks a dead giveaway to me" Marine answered.

"Well, in any case, Jin's pathetic. I kicked his sorry ass before we even arrived here." Kiros boasted, being reminded of his loss to Blaze on worldwide TV still a bit of a sore point.

"Now I'll activate Double Summon! This allows me to normal summon again this turn. "and I let you win boy." He said to Kiros. "Now I'll use my second summon to tribute my monster for a more powerful zombie! Ryu Kokki!" And the zombie turned to dust and from that, the ground lifted up and the ugliest thing appeared on Jin's field. (2400/2000) "Now I'll activate Raregold Armor and equip it to my zombie and that will do for now." Jin grinned. "Have fun trying to beat that."

Mitsuko drew. "Do you honestly think that pathetic creature of darkness will stop me?"

"That was the intention, yes." Jin honestly replied.

"I see....well, I'd love to see you try. In fact, here's your chance. I set one monster and one face-down. Your move."

Jin drew. "How pathetic. One card face down and I'll assault the monster you just set!" Jin said. Ryu Kokki charged with hungry intent.

"I was hoping you would..." Mitsuko said as his Shining Angel was eaten alive by Jin's zombie with a horrible scream.

"For his effect allows me to summon a light monster with 1500 points or less...and I have the perfect one in store for you Jin...”

"Heh, I doubt it." Jin grinned.

"We'll see. Say hello to Batteryman AA!!" the strange creature appeared on Mitsuko's side of the field with a 'buzz' (0/0)

Jin burst into laughter. "That creature?! Only Blaze has ever put that pathetic thing against me and he failed." Jin grinned madly.

"Then end your turn, and see why I chose him." Mitsuko replied calmly.

"Fine, as you wish, my turn is over." Jin crossed his arms.

"About time." said Mitsuko as he drew. "Now, time to show you what my little batteryman can do. I will tribute my Batteryman AA to summon my Super-Electromagnetic Voltech Dragon (2400/1000), and because I used batteryman AA to do so, he gains 1000 points to his attack." (3400/1000) The electrical dragon looked down at Jin's monster and growled.

"Hmm, not bad." Jin said, bluntly.

"Wow....not bad...." mused Kiros.

"Indeed. Many people forget that weak monsters can lead the way to strong." said Zewl.

"That's not all. I play the field spell Luminous Spark..." the entire field was bathed in light, so bright that every shadow in the room was gone, and Jin was lit up like a Christmas tree. "This gives my dragon another 500 points, to the loss of 400 defence." (3900/600)

"I think not." Jin said. "I activate Magic Jammer, by discarding this card; your Spark is long gone." Jin said, discarding a card. The room returned to darkness.

"Fine. Well, my dragon still has enough points to wipe out your zombie. Go my dragon!!" Mitsuko roared as the huge dragon dived in for the attack. Ryu Kokki stood to fight, but was no match for Voltech and was destroyed. Jin covered his eyes from the light it caused. <7000> "Don't start going soft on me now Jin..." Mitsuko taunted as his dragon returned to his side. "I got a lot more planned for you yet."

"This will be long over before your plans can come into effect." Jin spat.

"And what do you think you know of my plans?" Mitsuko laughed as he petted his monster. "Your move. Make it count. I'm getting bored."

"Fine then." Jin drew. "Well then, first I'll use Book of Life, an irony to my deck, to bring Ryu Kokki back in Defence." Jin said, as his monster reappeared. "This also allows me to remove your batteryman from play." He finished up. "I'll set one card and end my turn." Jin finished his turn.

Mitsuko shrugged as he pocketed the batteryman. "Not a big loss..." he said as he drew.”Now this is where it gets interesting. I play the spell card Shinato's Ark, which allows me to sacrifice my Voltech Dragon from the field and Emes the Infinity from my hand to summon this....."

"And here it comes." Hitomi said.

"Hmm? What?" Sonic asked.

"SHINATO!! KING OF A HIGHER PLANE!!" (3300/3000) Once again the field was bathed in light, only this time the light was so powerful, so overwhelming, that even Mitsuko had to shield his eyes from it.

"I'll activate a trap." Jin said.

"I'll counter with Seven Tools of the Bandit!" <7000> Mitsuko countered as he shielded his eyes.

"It's............amazing........" said Kiros in awe.

"Never have I seen such a creature." added Zewl.

"Told you it was here." Hitomi said.

"I'll also play the spell card Monster Reborn, to bring back my Emes the Infinity!" Mitsuko continued. The monstrous golem-like creature appeared on the field (2500/2000). "Well Jin. Do you still think you can beat me?" Mitsuko said as his monsters readied themselves for battle.

Jin grinned. "Definitely." He said.

"We'll see how you feel about that after I attack. Emes, destroy his zombie!!" The golem charged in for the attack. Jin covered his face as his monster was destroyed. Emes returned to Mitsuko's side and grew a little (3200/2000) "Did I forget to mention Emes gains 700 points when he destroys a monster in battle?" Mitsuko grinned. "Now Shinato, attack him directly!!" The great being sent a huge blast of light towards Jin. Jin stood tall and light before took the blast without so much as a flinch, though he smouldered after the attack a little. <3700> Mitsuko smirked. "I didn't order extra crispy...the service here sucks..." he mocked as Shinato returned to his side.”Your move."

Jin cricked his neck side to side, horrid cracks giving Hitomi the chills. "Lovely, always wanted to know what that felt like." He said, un-phased.

"This guy is messed in the head..." Kiros muttered.

"I'm still waiting for your big move Jin." said Mitsuko, clearly not impressed by Jin's attitude.

Jin drew. "I'll use the Swords of Revealing Light." It's a card that goes against me, but it's worth it for the comeback chance." Mitsuko shrugged as his monsters were chained by the swords. "I'll end here." Jin said.

Mitsuko drew. "Still waiting...." he said as he studied his hand. "I'll set one monster and end my turn." <SoRL = 1>

Jin Drew. "I'll summon Double Coston." The two sided crazy ghost appeared. (1700/1650) "And I'll end my turn." He finished.

Mitsuko drew. "I'll set one card and end." (SoRL = 2)

"Jin's screwed." Hitomi yawned. "Bout time too."

Jin drew. "Attack Shinato, Despair from the Dark!"

This made heads turn.

"What did he say?" Sonic questioned.

"He's gone loopy." Marine added.

"You heard me! Attack Shinato!" Jin barked. And Despair did, he flew toward Shinato, ready to fight, Shinato lifted a hand and in one blast of light, Despair was vanquished. Jin grinned. <3200> "Now I activate A Deal With Dark Ruler!"

Mitsuko raised an eyebrow. "This is the 'big move' you were talking about?" he asked cynically.

"Oh yes, you see, when a level 8 or higher monster on my field is sent to the graveyard, this activates. This card allows me to bring from my hand or my deck, the almighty and powerful BERSERK DRAGON!!!!" And the place began to shake violently. "This dragon makes even the powerful Blue Eyes White Dragon quiver and shake in fear! Rise my undead monster! Rise and show them your unlimited poooowwweeerrr!!" Jin had completely lost it. The shaking continued and soon rose the largest dragon so far, so big that most of the back of the room was taken by it. It roared viciously at Mitsuko. (3500/0)

Mitsuko coughed. "He may be 'all powerful', but seriously Jin, get the boy some breath mints..."

"Now for the best bit...Attack them! Attack them AAALLL!!!" Jin proceeded to laugh manically as Berserk readied to attack. Mitsuko watched with curiosity. And Berserk Dragon fired the largest darkest flame ever which covered Mitsuko's side of the field. "Yes! Destroy them! Destroy them ALL!!!" Jin roared in his insanity.

"Hmm...interesting..." Mitsuko commented as his field was wiped clean <6500> "Not a bad move...not the best, but we can't expect miracles." he yawned.

"Are you kidding?! I just wiped out your entire arsenal! You've nothing left! Nothing!!" Jin roared then continued to laugh like a nut.

"Erm...yeah, sure thing. Whatever you say." Mitsuko said sarcastically.

"And now, I'll end my turn." Jin said. "Make your move; you've not got many left." (Berserk Dragon 3000 ATK)

Mitsuko drew. "Oh dear...he's right, I have nothing left. I guess I'll just have to set a card and summon The Creator Incarnate (1600/1500)" he said as his monster came onto the field. "He's no match for your dragon, but he's all I have left. I guess it's your move." Mitsuko grinned.

"There's an advantage for Mitsuko here." Shadow said from his cage.

"What's that?" asked Kiros

Shadow looked back and below to the others. "Look at that Jin character. He's mad with power, which means he'll overlook any obvious trap, believing he's invincible." He told them.

Jin drew. "One card face down...ATTACK!!!!" Jin roared.

Mitsuko watched as the dragon attacked his creature. "I wonder how powerful your dragon will be after I activate this....SHRINK!!"

Jin's eyes widened. "Fool!" He barked. His dragon's blast was reduced and deflected, The Creator Incarnate charged in and struck down the dragon (1500 ATK)

"What did I tell you?" Shadow asked the guys behind him.

Mitsuko grinned. "Now Jin, any last words before I wipe you out on my turn?"

"Won't happen, loser!" Jin barked angrily.

"Famous last words." Hitomi chuckled.

"Keep saying it. It may come true." Mitsuko mocked Jin. "You gonna end already?"

"Take your pathetic move! It won't make a difference in the end!" Jin barked again.

Mitsuko drew. "Oh it will. I will have avenged my sister and freed her soul. You on the other hand won't be around to see it."

Jin regained his composure and chuckled evilly. "Oh? You know that in order for your sister to be saved, I need to be sealed." He asked, a sly look on his face.

"What of it?" Mitsuko asked, his face for the first time showing a flicker of emotion.

"Well, if you beat me, your sister shall still remain in the cold depths of the Shadows where I put the little cow!" Jin laughed manically.

"Well...." Mitsuko began, obviously trying to control his anger. "I'm going to win this turn. So you have a choice. Either free my sister's soul and be sealed until someone can be bothered to release you, or...." he pulled out a nasty looking blade. "I will make sure that your last moments in this life are more excruciating than any you've ever experienced. It's your choice." Mitsuko glared.

"HA! There's no way that you could possible stop me! I know how to stop the sealing Ritual! So I am safe, I'm far stronger than you could ever be, so killing me is not an option!" Jin laughed more again. Jin continued to laugh manically, the door behind him opened, though no one saw who it was, the room emptied of the darkness and a thick red mist seeped in. Then, suddenly, what looked like a large bone came out of Jin's chest, which called his laughter to a halt. He slide down the giant sharp bone to reveal a blue fox behind him with a demonic arm, possessing the large bone, which looked like it came out of his arm, but wasn't a normal bone. Kai...What...What are you..." And Jin stopped. Kai, the blue fox, looked at the others emotionlessly. Shadow stood and walked to the bars and effortlessly bent them open and leaped out to the floor.

"While I love the fact you now have a bone sticking out your arm, I'm still going to want my sister back." Mitsuko said, dryly.

Kai knelt down and took the Duel Disk Jin was wearing and rested it on his mutated arm. "Continue the move." He said, bluntly.

Mitsuko shrugged and drew. "I tribute The Creator Incarnate to special summon the Creator (2300/3000) and use his ability to send one monster from my hand to the graveyard to resurrect Shinato (3300/3000)" Mitsuko's field once again held powerful creatures. "Shinato attack." Kai took a trap.

"This is what would have happened." He said, showing the Wuboku. "However, dead people don't activate traps." So the blast hit, but Kai showed even less chance of reacting to it than Jin did, the only things moving to the light blast being his hair and his large cape. <0>

Mitsuko deactivated his duel disk, but Shinato stayed. "Why did you do that? I mean, I'm not complaining, but you guys were allies..." Kai looked down at Jin's remains. The end of the duel began to activate.

"I've never liked him anyway." Kai replied.

"I guess that's as good a reason as any..." Mitsuko muttered. The room disintegrated and took the form that it was abandoned for years and the coin came, hit the floor and sucked Jin's dead corpse into a vortex of darkness. Kai toss the duel disk aside and walked through the door at the back of the room. As the coin finally stopped on the floor, a tiny light spirit appeared and wandered over to the small girl. From there it went in her slightly open mouth and vanished. Mitsuko walked over to the girl's body and held her gently. "Kiama?" he whispered.

Zewl stood over Mitsuko. "I take it Jin sealed her." Mitsuko nodded as he shifted Kiama so she was sitting.

"Kiama, wake up."

"Mmm...five more minutes, bro...please...?" Kiama muttered, moving her head to the other side, trying to go back to sleep. "I don't wanna go school yet..."

Mitsuko chuckled. "You don't have to go to school. Just give ya brother a hug."

Kiama opens her eyes a little bit. "You wake me up cause you want a hug?" She asked, sleepily.

Mitsuko nodded. "Just cause I'm a pain." Kiama weakly wrapped her arms around Mitsuko's shoulders and fell straight back to sleep, her grip showing she had no intention of letting go anytime soon. Shadow huffed and walked toward the upstairs.

"I don't know what you'll do now pal, but we have our own friends to save, and Tails is first on the list." He said as he walked up the stairs.

Shinato turned to Sonic and the others. "I think Mitsuko and I shall accompany you for the time being, if you don't mind." he boomed.

Sonic grinned his heroic grin. "Sure, the more the merrier as they say." He said.

Hiei appeared, sat at the top of the stairs, Shadow had already gone.

"Hmm, an act of betrayal or honour, what do you think?" He asked the group.

Mitsuko stood, Kiama sleeping gently in his arms. "Doesn't matter to me. I got my sister back. And I'm coming for you next Hiei."

"Whatever for?" Hiei asked, 'innocently.' "You got what you came for, right? What Jin did had nothing to do with me." Hiei grinned his badass grin.

"I came for 2 things. Kiama back, and your head on a pike. Whether or not you told that bastard to seal my sister or not, the whole thing is your fault."

"Well then..." Hiei stood up. "Put her down and come get me then." He said.

Kiama was lowered gently onto the floor, then with a roar of rage and anger and hatred, Mitsuko launched himself at Hiei, blade in hand. Hiei waited patiently, until Mitsuko leaped up high into the air, blade high. Hiei smirked and swiftly unclipped a sheath from behind his back and ripped out the Black Luster Sword, and pulled it back. He swung it forward. "Rune Ray Slash!" He roared as his sword began to glow. Mitsuko changed his sword to defend himself just in time as Hiei collided his sword with Mitsuko's and sent him flying back toward the others. Sonic quickly picked up Kiama and moved her out the way before Mitsuko landed.

Mitsuko landed with a grunt, and glared at Hiei. "That all you got..." he growled as he charged again. Hiei rushed in forward, so fast that Mitsuko lost sight of him.

"Rune Ray Slash!" He roared again, going in for the attack toward Mitsuko's waist. However, Sonic had taken the initiative and rushed in to pull Mitsuko out of the way just in time, however, the friction of the blades movement sent them both flying backwards. Kiama was caught by Vector, and she woke up. Mitsuko landed on top of Sonic with a grunt, and was readying himself to charge again when he noticed Kiama. Dropping the blade, he ran over to her.

"What's goin' on, Big bro?" She asked, looking around. Hiei respectfully put his blade away.

"Typical, another boring opponent." He uttered.

Mitsuko smiled down at Kiama. "Nothing Kiama, nothing."

Zewl slowly walked over to the sword on the floor. "My, my. Such young energy these days." He said, picking it up. "Hmm, this blade is quite well balanced." He said, studying the blade.

Mitsuko looked to Zewl. "It was our fathers."

"Mind if I give it a test run?" Zewl asked.

Mitsuko shrugged. "Sure thing."

Hiei pulled his sword back out. In a quick flash, Hiei and Zewl, despite how slow he used to be, clashed in a horrific battle. The two moved so quickly that all that was seen were the flashes of lights from the blades and the sudden blurs of the two characters as they continued to do battle. The sound of blades cutting air and clashing continued to ring in the ears of the others.

He's got some pace for an old guy...." Said Sonic.

"You can say that again...." replied Mitsuko in amazement.

"He's got some pace for an..." Vector began, before being bonked on the head by Kiros.

"Don't even think about it" the hare warned.

Eventually the blades stopped in a last clash, which was held by both Zewl and Hiei. The two of them looked like nothing had just happened, not even exhausted in the least. Hiei pushed Zewl away slightly and leaped backwards, sheathing his sword.

"Interesting exercise, but you're done, old man." Hiei said, neutrally.

Zewl fell to a knee. "If I were still young, I could have fought for longer." He said, gripping his old chest, though not physically injured.

"It's not in my interest to kill the weak, the defenceless or the frail. Age will catch up to you, anyway." Hiei said.

"ZEWL!!!" Kiros cried out as he ran to the old man's side

"It's okay, M'boy, just need to rest for a few minutes." Zewl said, trying to regain his energy.

By the way, you might be interested to know, your decks are marked." Hiei said, suddenly.

"Marked?" wheezed Zewl as he struggled to climb to his feet.

"Yes, basically once you've duelled in this place, you can't duel again unless you have no option." Hiei explained.

"That doesn't sound too bad" muttered Kiros

"Anyway, I have things to do, so I won't be giving anymore visits until you get to me, if you get that far." Hiei said, then vanished.

"What a jerk..." said Mitsuko quietly, so Kiama wouldn't hear him.

Hitomi walked forward. "He's too strong...we won't beat him." She said.

"You won't have to." Said a voice from behind them.

Kiros turned and looked. "Who the hell are you?" he demanded.

A grey fox and the young girl in the large white robe from before were there. Everyone turned to look at them and Hitomi's eyes widened.

"N...Nazaruda..." She uttered.

"I don't know about him, but I know her." Kiros pointed at the girl. "You gave me a card yesterday. I never got a chance to say thanks."

Nazaruda looked down on the girl, who though it wasn't scene, she would have looked up to him as well, as her head moved.

"He's lying." She said softly.

"You can go home now, we will deal with the Shadow Clan, thanks for taking down their defences, but you're no longer needed." Nazaruda said to the group.

"Excuse me? Who the hell are you to tell us what to do?" demanded Kiros. Mitsuko and Zewl stood either side of him, looking at the pair of intruders curiously. Nazaruda walked past them casually and toward the stairs. The girl walked past Kiros a little and moved her head a little.

"You're welcome." She said softly. She continued walking and chains rattling could be heard. The girl looked to be about Creams size, a head shorter than Kiros. Kiros watched in amazement. Zewl looked at him and chuckled.

"Well then my young friends. Despite what he said, we still have people to rescue. Shall we get a move on?" he asked.

Everyone nodded and ran to go to the next room.

Upon arriving at the door, Shadow stood, arms folded.

Marine walked up to Shadow. "Somethin' wrong 'ere? Why you not runnin' off in a huff like before?" she asked.

"Excuse me?" Shadow asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Nothing." Kiros said quickly as he held his hand over Marines mouth and pulled her back as he grinned apologetically.

"Also, the handle is too hot to touch." Shadow said.

"So how're we gettin' in?" asked Marine. How she managed to get Kiros away from her wasn't completely clear, however he was on the ground looking rather pained. Shadow raised an eyebrow at Kiros curiously.

Kiros looked up at him. "Cheap shot..." he wheezed.

"Yo, looks like you found my door, huh?" Said a voice from down the stairs. "Sorry guys, I tend to run late a lot." It was Tyrone, the fire wielder of the Shadows. He walked up to the door and smiled. "My doors a little different from others. You have one of two ways to open it." He started. "First, you can freeze the handles...Though, this won't last long, but it should cool the handles long enough to get the door open or..." Then he was suddenly set on fire. "Turn up your own heat so you can handle the burn." He then quickly turned the handle and opened the door, walking in to what seemed like a large rock path over a....

"It's a volcano!" Vector barked in surprise.

"No way!!" yelped Marine in surprise. "This is my duel!! Fire against Water!!" she cried out happily.

"Oh great..." Tyrone sighed. "Well fine, but I guess this will be a change."

Tyrone clicked his fingers and the volcano spluttered some magma onto the rock, which melded into a fire based duel disk. After waiting for it to stop smouldering, Tyrone lifted it and equipped it.

"That's cool!!" Marine said as she readied her own disk. The rest of the gang found a safe spot to stand and watch. Apart from Kiros, who was crawling up the stairs at this point.

"Well thank you." she beamed happily as she drew her sixth. "I set one monster and end my turn."

Tyrone drew his cards. "Okay, this should be fun. I'm going to assume that's Yomi Ship you just played." Tyrone blurted.

Marine blinked. "I'm not gonna tell ya that! Yer'll just have to find out." she replied.

"Okay, I will." Tyrone said. "First, let's put the field to what it really is, makes it realistic, if you know what I mean." He explained. "So, I'll put the field up, Molten Destruction." The field was unaffected, being a volcano already. "Now, I'll sort my Blaze Accelerator and equip it ready to fire, you're a 'captain' right? Surely you have ship battles all the time, you know, cannons and stuff?" Tyrone asked.

"Uh-huh" Marine nodded. "I know how much it 'urts." A large cannon like machine appeared next to Tyrone.

"Oh, then you're probably used to this. I'll load in my Volcanic Scattershot." Tyrone said, as his monster appeared and loaded itself into the cannon. "Fire!" With that, the Blaze Accelerator shot and hit went for Marines face down.

Marine shielded her eyes as her face-down was destroyed. "argh dammit....."

"Just to let you know, my Volcanic Scattershot has a special effect. When it's send to the graveyard, you lose 500 points." Tyrone explained.

"OWWWW!!!!" Marine cried as she was set aflame. <7500>

"Now I summon Flame Ruler." The monster appeared. (1500/1600) "and I'll end my turn with another face down."

Marine drew. "I play the spell card Heavy Storm, to wash away your pesky magic cards!"

"I'll activate my trap, just before you do, Jar of Greed." And Tyrone drew a card.

"Fine, but the rest of yer spells an' traps are gone."

"Looks it."

"Now, I'll play my own field card, A Legendary Ocean!" The volcano landscape was replaced by that of underwater ruins, although the sheer heat still remained. "Then I'll summon my Mermaid Knight (1500/800), and because of my field spell, she gets an extra 200 points and a special ability!!" (1700/1000)

"Oh?" Tyrone asked curiously.

"Indeed. When my field spell is in play, Mermaid Knight can attack twice in the same battle phase. Show `im what I mean, Mate!!" The aqua maiden charged in to attack.

Tyrone watched his monster fall. <7800> Then he was knocked over. <6100>

"Ouch." Tyrone uttered. "I hate water..." He stood up again.

Marine grinned. "I'll set two cards and end."

Tyrone drew. "I'll use Prem Burial. We all know how this works by now, right?" Tyrone asked. "800 life for Flame Ruler, not a bad deal." <5300> (1500/1600)

"Annoying....." Marine muttered.

"Not half as annoying as this." Tyrone said. "I'll tribute it, and since it's special ability lets me use it as 2 tributes, I'll bring out Firestorm Prominence." (2000/1500)

"Now, he can charge in and take care of your annoying fish lady." Tyrone said, issuing an attack.

Marine grunted as her mermaid was destroyed <7200> "Well....I guess yer not so bad Tyrone."

"How so?" Tyrone asked. "I'll end, by the way."

"Well...." Marine began as she drew her card. "All the other fire-duellists I've faced are about as good as an arse on ya elbow!" she smirked. "But yer not half bad!"

"Hm, didn't expect nor understand that, but sure..." Tyrone said. "I'm not gonna comment about your skills cause...you're a water duellist."

Marine scowled. "Somethin' wrong with that?"

"Nah, you do what you need to do, I just hate water." Tyrone replied, shrugging. "When I got recruited here, it was about the time that Petal was on her 'I've learned to walk, so I'll walk everywhere' ages, I hadn't proven myself as a duellist, but heard Hiei had lost track of the little scamp, so I looked and found her falling into a deep lake. I dived in to save her and ended up nearly drowning myself. Nothing against you as a person though."

Marine sweat dropped. "Guess that's a good reason not to like water..."

"That's the last time I go looking for a 2 year old." Tyrone said, rubbing his head.

All of a sudden Hitomi fell unconscious.

No-one noticed as Marine called out "I summon Mother Grizzly!!" (1400/1000)

"Then, I'll play the spell card Big Wave Small Wave, to send her to the graveyard to special summon my Levia Dragon, Deadalus to the field!!" The great sea-serpent appeared and roared at Tyrone. (2600/1500)

"Holy crap..." Tyrone said. "You don't have Neo-Deadalus, do you?"

"Neo-what now?" asked Marine puzzled. Tyrone sighed in relief and wiped his forehead.

"Thank god for that, I thought I was in trouble." He said.

Marine shrugged. "Now I think I'll attack yer lil critter. Go Levia Dragon!!"

"Someone's not done their homework." Tyrone blurted randomly. Firestorm Prominence was destroyed. <4700> A flame exploded around Levia-Dragon, destroying it.

"Awwww crap....." Marine moaned. "I guess I'll be endin' my turn."

"What happened?" Sonic asked. "Why was it destroyed?"

"When Tyrone's monster was destroyed, its ability activated. All non-fire monsters were destroyed as well." Zewl explained.

Tyrone drew. "Now, let's see here." He said. "Ah, I'll summon Solar Flare Dragon." And a dragon made of fire appeared, despite being underwater. (1500/1000) "Attack!"

"Not so fast!!" Marine yelled as she revealed her trap, Tornado Wall. "This little beauty prevents me from takin' any battle damage, so ma life points are safe!!"

"Not exactly." Tyrone said. Solar Flare withdrew. The tornado's circling Marine protectively. "Yo, Solar Flare, look for the opening and fire." Tyrone said. Solar Flare concentrated and then shot a blast. "I end my turn." Tyrone said as the flame slipped past the barrier and hit Marine.

<6700> "Damn yer dragons' effect..." Marine complained as she drew. "Still, it's not all bad. I'll remove the Mother Grizzly in my graveyard from play to special summon my Aqua Spirit!" (1600/1200 FE=1800/1400) The almost ghost-like creature appeared on the field with a wail.

"I destroy you, you destroy me, I destroy you, yatta yatta yatta..." Tyrone said, lamely.

"Ah I gotcha now...well, sorry to say, it ain't gonna happen like that."

"True, it'll come to a stage where you can't attack, but I pummel your life points." Tyrone smiled, gleefully.

"I don't think so." Marine replied confidently. "I'll summon my Legendary Fisherman" (1850/1600) (FE = 2050-1800)

"Fine." Marine replied gruffly. "I'll then play the spell card Monster Reborn, to bring back my Levia Dragon Deadalus (2600/1500) (FE = 2800/1700) and use my fisherman to attack your dragon!!"

"Hmm, shoulda seen that coming." Tyrone said, bluntly. Solar Flare was destroyed. <4150>

"Now!! Aqua Spirit, Levia, attack him!!" Marine cried.

"Dear mum, the most useless thing happened to me today, I got wiped in a duel by a water duellist holding a Volcanic Shell as my only comfort to my emanate doom." Tyrone said looking at his card, then he was drenched. "Bugger." <0>

"Sorry, but we gotta free our friends. You understand?" Marine said apologetically.

"Uh huh, by the way, speaking of friends, you guys aren't very good ones." Tyrone said, bluntly.

"What d'ya mean by that!" asked Kiros, who had finally managed to regain himself.

"Well, Hitomi's been unconscious for near enough the whole match, but none of you seem to care." Tyrone then gave off a cheerful two finger salute. "See ya." He then exploded in flames, the room turning into a cave of dried rock as Tyrone's coin lay on the floor.

"Oh crap...” Marine said as she turned, the whole gang now focused on Hitomi.

Hitomi was completely out cold on the floor, pale as a ghost. After a little shake, she came too.

“Eh? Wha...?” She uttered.

“You alright, mate? Looks like ya were out of it, there.” Marine said.

“My head's spinning.” Hitomi replied.

`Shadow...Shadow...' Shadow gripped his head, though not in a concerning way. `I know your pain, Shadow...I know that you hurt inside...' Shadow looked around a little. `Play with me, Shadow...Play with me and I'll give you something you've always wanted...I promise...' Shadow narrowed his brow angrily.

`Who are you?! What do you want?!' He mentally asked. But nothing replied.

Hitomi stood up. “I'm okay.” She said.

“Well, let's get a move on.” Shadow snapped. He then walked off.

“Before we go, I'll free that red guy with the dreadlock things.” Marine said. Knuckles soul was release as the others faded again.

`What was that voice? And what was it that it promised me...?' Shadow mentally asked. `Who cares, nothing will ever bring back what I want.'