Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's 1. Eternal Drought

**Kitten Knight: **Right… Hello… again. If you were one of the lucky few people to view the original three chapters of this story, I apologize for having a false start…

But that's a different story altogether, pun fully intended there.

Now onto official business.

Before we begin I would like to point out that I do not Yu-Gi-Oh (or GX, 5D's, ZeXal, Arc-V or any future installments), which belongs to Kazuki Takahashi. Nor do I own the Shadowchasers concept and ideas, which belong to Cyber Commander – who I'd like to thank for giving me permission to add to his universe.

Also, if you have never read a Shadowchasers story before, I highly recommend that you spend a day or two reading the original Shadowchasers by Cyber Commander to get the gist of the Shadowchasers universe before you read any further.

As with other Shadowchaser stories, duels featured will use the TCG rules opposed to those of the anime/manga. Also, I will stick to the rule changes in the TCG; (the player who takes the first turn cannot conduct their draw phase and both players may have a Field Spell active at the same time). Also, I will stick to the January 2015 Ban Lists until the end of this story.

As for cards, I will use the TCG names unless noted otherwise. Also, any original, anime, manga or OCG exclusive cards will be referenced at the end of the chapter.

Also to keep in line with the Anime continuity; Pendulum Monsters and their support, as well as Action Duels, will not appear in this story. As for Riding Duels that take place in this story, I will use Speed World 2. For those that need a reminder of what this card does, here you go.

**Speed World 2  
Field Spell  
**If a player activates a Non-"Speed Spell" Spell Card, the take 2000 damage. Except during the first turn of the duel, during each player's Standby Phase, place 1 Speed Counter on this card (max:12). You can remove any number of Speed Counters from this card to activate the appropriate effect:  
4: Reveal any number of "Speed Spells" in your hand, inflict 800 damage to your opponent for each card revealed.  
7: Draw 1 card.  
10: Destroy 1 card on the field.

In addition to the cards original effect, Speed World 2 is automatically activated at the beginning of a Riding Duel cannot be destroyed, banished, bounced or otherwise removed from the field, though notably its effects can be negated.

As for location, I give you the city of Sydney, Australia, one of the most beautiful and multicultural cities in the world. And as for the position on the Shadowchasers timeline, this story begins in January in the year before the events of Shadowchasers: Conspiracy will unfold.

And one more thing, several Aboriginal/Indigenous Australian myths, legends, and beliefs will be adapted into this story. I say adapt because I am in no way, shape or form an expert on Aboriginal/Indigenous topics, but I will do as much research as I can to make sure each legend or myth is as accurate as possible. Though certain liberties will be taken to fit into the Shadowchaser's universe.

Well, I think that's everything. Time to see if I sink or swim.

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**Shadowchasers: Muru**

**Round 01: Eternal Drought**

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**Welcome to a Land Down Under. By which I mean Australia.**

**Some say that this is the most dangerous place to live earth and you'd have to be crazy to live here, jokingly of course.**

**But they still have a point, this country has some of the deadliest creatures on the planet: The Sydney Funnel-Web spider has some of the most toxic spider venom in the world and very large fangs to inject it with; saltwater crocodiles will prey upon people who are foolish enough to enter the areas where they lurk and the toxins of the blue-ringed octopus can paralyse every muscle in the human body and is something a lot of beach-goers are very wary of.**

**Heck, it's not just the wildlife that is renowned for being deadly. The country is also notorious for its bushfires, floods, cyclones, land slips and heat waves that have caused many deaths over the years…**

**But after all the danger, Australia is a very beautiful place and I wish to see it all one day…**

**But after today, I kind of wish I rephrased that sentence…**

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The city of Sydney, Australia.

Rowan Kelly awoke to the sound of his beeping alarm clock, which was quickly silenced by his hand slamming down on it.

With a sigh, Rowan threw off his blanket and sat up. He looked to be in his fifties, as evidenced by his wrinkled skin and receding, gray hair. He was average height and despite his age, quite well built. Both arms were covered in various tattoos, but by far the most noticeable and meaningful mark on his body was the small black symbol on his cheek.

It was the mark of the Shadowchasers; a secret organization created to deal with and protect Shadowkind - the magical, mythical and supernatural beings that were brought to our world by mysterious forces.

Rowan rubbed his eyes, only to be startled by a loud knock on the bedroom door.

"Oi, you awake Rowan?" asked a gruff male voice.

"Matari?" Rowan groggily replied, glancing at his now silent alarm clock, "shouldn't you have left for patrol half an hour ago?"

"Yeah, I know," said Matari, "but something big has come up."

"Alright, alright," Rowan sighed, "I'll be downstairs in a minute."

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Two minutes later, Rowan slowly made his stairs. He was now dressed in a white short-sleeved shirt and black jeans, but the rest of him still looked like it had just been dragged out of bed.

"For God's sake," he muttered, kicking a scrunched up T-Shirt from the landing, "we have a washing basket for a reason."

"In here," Matari called from another room, having heard Rowan's muttering.

"I know, I know. Where else would you be?" said Rowan,as he stepped through the doorway from the hall and into a large, open planned room that combined the kitchen, dining and lounge spaces into one spacious area…

Not that Rowan could see that, as almost immediately after stepping into the room the aging Shadowchaser had a newspaper shoved into his face.

Rowan looked over the paper in front of him, i "Warragamba Dam at Record Low" was written in bold at the top of the page as well a picture of said dam, which really was at a record low. He then lowered the newspaper at gave a strange look at his fellow Shadowchaser. "This is what you dragged me out of bed for, Matari?"

"It's important," the dark-skinned Shadowchaser replied.

Matari was in his mid-twenties and was a tall, well-built man, towering a head above Rowan. He was of aboriginal descent, from the Wiradjuri groups of central New South Wales if you want to be specific.

"Matari," Rowan sighed, "it's Summer, people are using the dam's catchment faster than it can be replenished. The City Council will put up water restrictions and the dam will start to fill. This happens almost every year."

"Err, you might wanna have a closer look."

"Fine," Rowan grumbled, taking another look,

There was a moment's pause. "Okay," Rowan admitted, nothing the relatively minuscule puddle that was the remaining catchment, "there's definitely something up."

"See, I told you so" Matari smugly replied, causing Rowan to rolls his eyes, "now, I have a theory on how this happened. Have you ever heard the tale of Tiddalik the frog?"

"Yes," Rowan sternly replied, "multiple times. From you."

"Well," Matari explained, "Tiddalik, or Molok as some call him, is a gigantic green frog, who one day a long time ago awoke with an unquenchable thirst. He began to drink until he greedily consumed all the water in the land, causing the animal and plant life to wither and die from the lack of moisture…"

"You do realize I said yes to your question," said Rowan interrupting Matari's explanation.

"Oh," Matari stammered, then smiled sheepishly, "sorry, kinda jumped the gun there."

Rowan closed his eyes and sighed deeply, rubbing his temples as he spoke. "So you're saying that the reason the Warragamba Dam is running low on water is because a giant frog drank it all."

"Yes," Matari bluntly replied, "but I have photographic evidence." He held up a newspaper - one that catered to Shadowkind and Awares. The picture on the front page was a dark, blurry blotch in the vague shape of a frog.

"Well I guess I can't be skeptical, not in this world," Rowan shrugged, "I've learned that lesson too many times to count. I'll go and check things out."

"Aw," moaned Matari, "I wanted to go and check."

"You supposed to be on patrol," said Rowan, "Wendy won't be happy if she catches you here, let alone finding out you were running around fifty kilometers out of town."

"Rowan? Matari?" called a sharp female voice, "is that you two in there?"

"Speak of the devil," Matari muttered, before speaking up. "Yeah, it's us, who the hell else would it be?" Matari sarcastically remarked.

The two men turned to the source of the voice, as a woman in her late twenties walked into the room. She was carrying a large, oddly-shaped leather saddle and various straps and pieces of equipment. She stepped past Rowan and placed the load onto the dinner table. She then turned toward Matari and placed her hands on her hips.

"You should have left for a patrol a half hour ago," she beamed at her fellow Shadowchaser, "why are you still here?"

The woman had long, wispy red hair that was neatly tied into a ponytail and rather pale skin. Despite the Summer heat, she wore a brown leather vest (that matched the saddle) with a clean, white, long-sleeved undershirt, along with a pair of thick blue jeans that were neatly tucked into her polished brown boots. She also had a pair of aviator goggles loosely hanging around her neck.

"I'm about to go," Matari answered, putting his hands up defensively, "I'm just discussing something with Rowan."

"Well it better be important," said Wendy, her voice cold and stern, "you're already half an hour late for patrol."

Rowan sighed, it was almost a daily ritual for his team to get into a heated argument, and today would be no different no matter how much he wished it would be.

"It is. We're discussing what happened to the Warragamba dam…"

"That reminds me," Wendy cut in, "the city council have issued water restrictions. So no sprinklers, hosing hard surfaces or washing your D-Wheels, and we can only hand water the garden twice a week, which it must be before ten in the morning or after four in the afternoon. We don't want to get a fine."

"Well," Matari replied, folding his arms and returning Wendy's cold glare, "as I was saying the water of the Warragamba dam is low because Tiddalik, a giant frog spirit, drank the water."

Wendy clasped her hand over her mouth, trying to stop herself from laughing, she pulled out a chair and sat down at the table. "Please tell me you're joking," she said, taking her hand away from her mouth.

"I'm not joking," said Matari, "and you'd believe me if you knew anything about…"

"I've seen where this conversation is going," Rowan cut it, "and I'm going to cut it short." He then pointed at Matari, "You get out on patrol," and then Wendy, "and you… you… continue to do whatever you're doing."

"If you must know, I'm inspecting Zephyr's saddle for faults," Wendy replied.

"You did that two days ago," said Matari.

"No," corrected Wendy, "I cleaned it two days ago. Her saddle needs to be cleaned once a week and inspected for faults at least twice a week. It's very dangerous to ride with faulty equipment if I fell off her back mid-."

"Then wear a parachute," Matari smiled, trying not to laugh at his joke.

"Not funny," commented Wendy, giving Matari a cold glare, which he gladly returned, "and not to mention, that could throw us both off balance."

"Break it up you two!" Rowan ordered, raising his voice to get his bickering teammates' attention. "Matari. Patrol. Now." he ordered, pointing out the door. Wendy meanwhile, picked up a the seat of the saddle and pretended to inspect it.

"Yes, sir." Matari nodded, before quickly grabbed his jacket and marched out the door.

"And you young lady," he said to Wendy, "people are allowed to believe whatever they want. And shouldn't be criticized for it, even if you think it's stupid."

Wendy pouted and looked away. "I guess," she reluctantly admitted. Then continued on with inspecting her saddle, hoping that was the end of her lecture.

Rowan sighed again, the bickering between the other members of his team was almost non-stop. It almost made him long for the days where he was the only Shadowchaser permanently positioned in the country…

Almost… Australia was a big country, and even with occasional help from other members, it was still a difficult task to keep the many species of Shadowkind that lived there.

The elderly Shadowchaser shook his head and took a deep breath. "Well I better get going," he said, "if anyone calls tell them I'm busy."

"Wait. Where are you going?" Wendy asked, looking up from the saddle. "You're not scheduled for a patrol today."

Rowan sighed and shrugged. "To check on the dam," he answered.

"You can't be serious," Wendy choked, "you believe a giant frog has really drunk an entire dam's worth of water overnight."

Rowan shrugged again. "This is worth investigating. You never know when there might be something sinister in the works."

"But do you really believe that the whole giant frog story is true?"

"Whether I believe it or not depends on what I see," said Rowan, as he walked out the door.

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Moments later Rowan stepped into the garage, just as Matari pulled his helmet over his head.

Matari jumped back slightly when he spied Rowan. "Are you leaving already?" he asked.

"No sense waiting around here," said Rowan, grabbing his riding jacket off a hook on the wall, "it's not as if this problem will solve itself." He then grabbed a helmet from a shelf and vigorously shook it.

"No spiders?" Matari asked, trying not to chuckle as he hopped on his D-Wheel.

"That only happened once," scowled Rowan, shuddering, finding a Sydney funnel-web spider in your helmet was something some members of his team wouldn't let him live down.

"Still the funniest scream I've ever heard," Matari chuckled.

Rowan said nothing, but the glare he gave Matari was enough to startle the younger Shadowchaser.

"I'm leaving, I'm leaving," he said quickly, starting up his D-Wheel a reviving the engine loud enough to kill the chance of further conversation.

"Matari, one thing before you leave?" Rowan asked, loud enough to be heard over the roar of the D-Wheel engine. "If I do find that a giant frog has drunk the dam's water… just how do you think I'll get it out?"

"Easy," Matari answered, "just find an eel and tie it into funny shapes. It's how the wise old wombat got Tiddalik to release the water last time. He'll laugh and all that water will come gushing right out of him." And with that, the younger Shadowchaser shifted his D-Wheel into gear and sped out onto the street.

Rowan sighed, sometimes Matari could be a little eccentric at times, but he ultimately meant well. He then mounted his own D-Wheel, started it up and rode out onto the street.

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A while later, Rowan arrived the Warragamba Dam, which held back Lake Burragorang (well what was left of it). He pulled his D-Wheel to a stop at the end of the access road, removed his helmet and dismounted the vehicle.

Despite all the fuss about the dam's condition, the top of the dam was deserted, not a soul - human or Shadowkind - in sight.

He opened a compartment on his D-Wheel and began to take out some equipment and supplies; his sword, his deck and duel disk, a bottle of water and a backpack (presumably full of more supplies).

"Eh," he shrugged, closing the compartment, "shouldn't need much else."

Only to open it back up again and take out a pair of wrist bracers. "And maybe these."

He closed the compartment again and strapped his sword to his back, placed his water and duelling equipment in his backpack and strapped the bracers to his wrists.

He turned toward, not the dam but a small dirt trail that led into the bush surrounding the lake.

He marched over to the opening in the shrub, but stopped a metre or so short.

He looked at the ground and noticed a footprint set in the dirt. The toes were thin and long with webbing in between.

"Bullywugs."

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Rowan really didn't mind traversing the terrain, it was steep and slippery, but in his time as Shadowchaser, he'd hiked up mountains, through deserts, dense bushland, and waist-deep swamps… and that was in this country alone.

But those were all different stories.

It had been roughly half an hour since he began his trek, and Rowan had already slipped and tripped over enough times to be covered in several patches of mud. He was glad no one was around to see him fall, though he was more than likely going have to explain the mud on his clothes to Wendy when he returned to the base.

He then came across something that caught his eye, a large indent in the ground.

Rowan's eyes traced the outline of the indent, it clearly wasn't natural, but stepping back to get a better view he could see that the shape was very similar to the footprint he found earlier...

"You've got to be kidding me," Rowan grumbled, placing his hand on his forehead and running it through what was left of his hair.

But just then a creaky, growly voice yelled at Rowan. "Turn around human!" it ordered.

Rowan spun around and found himself surrounded by four creatures barely two-thirds his height, all armed with sharp spears that were pointed straight at him.

The four creatures in front of Rowan were bullywugs - a short, frog-like species of Shadowkind with green, slimy skin and webbed digits. Bullywugs were known for being both aggressive and territorial, as well as their frog-like jumping prowess.

Rowan calmly stared at the four bullywugs and smiled, he slowly reached for the sword strapped to his back. "Reminds me of the time my father and I set up traps to catch cane toads," he said, "don't ask me how, it just does."

"Can the jokes human," spat one of the bullywugs, angrily jabbing at the air between him and Rowan, "what are you doing here?"

"What do you think I'm doing?" Rowan replied, pointing to the mark on his cheek. "I've come to investigate where all the water around here has gone."

"Aw crap!" one the bullywugs gasped, lowering its spear, "it's a Shadowchaser!"

"Good," said Rowan, "now we've got that sorted, you wouldn't happen to know of a certain giant frog would you?"

"You mean our leader, Tiddalik," said another of the bullywugs.

"That's the one," Rowan said flatly. "I would like to have a word with him."

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"Not too much farther," croaked one of the bullywugs, as it gently jabbed Rowan in the rear with its spear, "keep walking human."

"You know," said Rowan, "I think this may be helping with my back pain, you should think about a career in acupuncture."

"You were told to stop the jokes, human," spat the bullywug, jabbing Rowan again.

"It's more like sarcasm than a joke," Rowan replied, rubbing the spot on his behind.

"Well quit that too," said the bullywug, jabbing Rowan again and making him cringe.

"You know," said Rowan, turning his head and glaring at the bullywug behind him, "one swing of this sword and I could serve you in a french restaurant."

"Quit your bickering," ordered the lead bullywug, "we're just about there."

"So that's what it feels like to hear that," Rowan muttered, feeling slightly ashamed.

The group came to a stop on the edge of a clearing in the trees. Rowan looked around, he saw several small wooden structures; half-domes with the open sides facing away from the wind, and the smouldering ashes of what was once a roaring fire in the centre (obviously used for cooking not for warmth, as bullywugs were used to cold and damp conditions).

He then noticed the inhabitants, several other bullywugs who had all stopped dead in their tracks to stare at him. Then, they slowly set aside their tasks and made their way toward the Shadowchaser.

"Is that a…?" stammered one of the larger bullywugs.

"Shadowchaser," the four bullywugs around Rowan answered in eery (if accidental) unison.

Rowan looked at the large crowd of about thirty bullywugs that had gathered before him, every single one of which was now staring at him. Though Rowan wasn't very concerned, bullywugs weren't the most powerful Shadowkind and this clan did seem smart enough to know what harming a Shadowchaser meant.

"So," Rowan asked, "your leader is right Tiddalik? Then where can I find him?"

"Right behind you," boomed a deep, croaky voice. Rowan felt a chill go down his spine and his heart skipped a beat, as he slowly turned around.

The sight that Rowan saw would leave almost anybody else running for his life. A frog that was the size of a two storey house, with slimy green skin and two bulging red eyes that were fixated right on Rowan. It looked as if at any moment he would lurch forward and snatch the Shadowchaser with his tongue and swallow him whole.

"How the _hell _did I miss that!" Rowan gasped, stepping back in shock.

The giant frog, Tiddalik, looked at Rowan, taking in all his grey, ageing features.

"A human," said Tiddalik, not one bit phased by the 'intruder', "an Aware one at least."

"Actually…" said Rowan, recovering from his momentary shock, "I happen to a Shadowchaser."

The very mention of the of the word sent shivers up Tiddalik's spine.

"What should we do with him, master Tiddalik?" asked one of the bullywugs, "can we eat him?"

"No, he's old," said another, "he'd be nothing but skin and bones."

"Let's push him into that gully over there!" suggested another one of the bullywugs, "it'd be really funny to watch him tumble down."

"You idiots," said another, slapping his fellow bullywug across his face. "Do you want an entire army of Shadowchasers after our heads, because that's how you get an entire army of Shadowchasers after our heads!"

"Uhh… Good point."

"Shut up the lot of you!" Tiddalik croaked, then turned his attention to Rowan. "What do you want human?"

"The contents of the lake nearby," said Rowan, "I believe that you may know where it is."

Tiddalik glared at Rowan. "I have no idea what you're talking about. The lake was like this when I got here."

"But boss," cried one of the bullywugs, "we've lived here for generations!"

Tiddalik grumbled and glared at the bullywug, who shrieked and hid behind one of his brethren.

"But I've been here for all eternity!" snapped Tiddalik, "And there was no water in this lake when I was here."

"That's because it's a manmade lake," Rowan explained, folding his arms. "Can the bullcrap frog, it's not like you haven't done this before, even if it was... Was... A long time ago."

"You drink all the water in the land just once and everyone gets on your back over it for all eternity," grumbled Tiddalik. "Fine! I did drink all the water in this lake. Happy?"

"Yes," Rowan replied, "Thank you. Well, wait, no I'm not. I'm not gonna be happy until you give it all back."

"No," Tiddalik said defiantly.

"And why not?" asked Rowan.

"Nobody owns the water I drank," spat Tiddalik.

"Then what gave you the right to drink it all?" asked Rowan, pointing a finger at Tiddalik. "You don't own it either."

"I think I own my own insides!" spat Tiddalik. "The water is inside me, therefore, I own it. Now buzz off!"

"This reminds me of a story," said Rowan, crossing his arms again. "One time, I cornered this dark elf who stole a half dozen of gemstones. Now this guy was desperate, and stupid. When I ordered him to hand over the gemstones… Well, do you want to know what he did with them?"

"What?" asked Tiddalik.

"He ate them, every single one. I remember the bulge in his throat as he forced them down, praying to his Gods that he didn't choke. He seemed proud of his achievement, claimed that there was now no evidence of what he did. Guess he's never been through airport security."

"Is there even a point to this story?" yelled one of the bullywugs.

"I'm getting to that!" Rowan yelled back, angry that his tale had been interrupted. "Now, that's when I looked him in his eyes, and I called him the biggest idiot I had ever met. Then I took out this very gem." He took a large sapphire out of his pocket, and flashed it to his audience, then put it away. "And I asked him if he wanted to eat this as well."

"This is a stupid story," groaned Tiddalik.

"Fine, I'll leave out the laxitives and cut to the chase," muttered Rowan, twisting his face into a disappointed scowl, "just because that water is in your stomach, it doesn't mean it's yours."

"And what are you going to do about it?" Tiddalik chuckled. "Cut me up with your little sword? You puny humans are no threat to me."

"But I can call someone who is," said Rowan, reaching into his pocket, "you've heard of what some members the Shadowchasers can really do, right? They could not only make you wish you were dead but they'd make you wish you'd never been born when they reanimate your corpse for further humiliation."

Tiddalik gulped, he'd heard of just how powerful some members of the Shadowchasers were, and he _really _didn't want to deal with any of them.

"I didn't think so," said Rowan, taking his empty hand from his pocket. Admittedly, Rowan didn't want to call for backup from a more powerful Shadowchaser, partly out of his pride and partly out of the fact that he too was scared of just how powerful some of his fellow Shadowchasers were.

"I suppose that means that we're going to have to duel," Tiddalik muttered.

"Well, The Great Treaty requests a fair fight," said Rowan, "and Duel Monsters is about as fair as it gets."

"Fine," Tiddalik snorted, it was clear the spirit didn't like the idea, but it was definitely better than the previously suggested alternative. "But I'll need some assistance."

"Assistance?" Rowan muttered, before the fact that a frog the size of a house might have trouble handling pieces of flimsy cardboard came to his mind.

The giant frog spirit looked his bullywug followers, who quivered and shook in fear as their leader's eyes passed over them.

"I volunteer," said a voice, as a slimy arm was raised above the crowd.

The crowd parted to reveal the bullywug that had raised its hand. An elderly male with, greyish-green skin who supported himself with a stick. Strung over his back was a sack made from a possum's hide.

"And just who are you?" Rowan asked.

"My name is Gulaangga," said the old bullywug, "eldest member of this clan. And I volunteer to duel in our master's place."

"That's very noble of you," said Rowan, "but you don't have a duel disk or a deck."

"Think again human," said Gulaangga, reaching inside his possum-skin bag and pulling out a duel disk, deck, and D-Gazer. "As the eldest member of this clan, I need to make myself prepared for every occasion, even one as… absurd as this."

"Absurd," said Rowan, "that sums up this situation nicely. I barely believe it myself and I standing right here."

Rowan glanced at Tiddalik out of the corner of his eye. He knew that spirit didn't really mean any harm, but still millions would suffer because of his greed, (albeit only slightly, Sydney did have other water supplies, but those could not compare to Lake Burragorang - especially in the Summer heat).

"Thankyou Gulaangga," Tiddalik croaked, "I appreciate your assistance."

"However," said Gulaangga, "I will make two requests."

"Fine," Tiddalik agreed.

"First," said the bullywug, "in the one-in-a-million chance I do lose, please do not eat me."

"I would never do that to one of your kind," Tiddalik scoffed, "you all taste terrible."

"Second, I wish for this duel to be in private. Just you, the human and myself."

"Agreed," Tiddalik nodded, before turning to the group of bullywugs. "You heard Gulaangga! Scram!"

The remaining bullywugs dropped their weapons and scattered into the bush.

"Thought they'd never leave," said Rowan, rubbing his backside. "Or stop poking me with those spears."

"I taught them well didn't I?" Gulaangga chuckled.

"Too well," Rowan commented, still rubbing his backside. "But can you duel as well as you can poke someone with a sharp stick?"

"There's only one way to find out," said Gulaangga.

The bullywug winced in pain as he fixed the D-Gazer to his head and the duel disk to his arm, obviously due to the devices being designed for those with less… frog-like proportions.

"Are you ready?" Rowan asked, fixing his D-Gazer to his head and his duel disk to his arm.

"Ready as I'll ever be," Gulaangga replied.

Rowan then gave another glance to the frog spirit. He noticed that his eyes were now glowing orange. _"Must be some kind of magic to let him view the duel," _he thought. Rowan sighed again, it was getting harder and harder each day to distinguish science and magic from one another.

"Duel!" both Rowan and Gulaangga announced, each drawing five cards and the augmented reality field expanded around them. (Rowan:8000/Gulaangga:8000)

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Back in the city, Matari had been forced to stop at a set of traffic lights.

He slumped over his controls, he'd already lost track of just how many sets of traffic lights had forced him to stop this morning, but it might of well have been every single set of lights in the city. Making the monotony of a daily street patrol all the more monotonous.

He scanned the crowd of people crossing the street in front of him, every now and again he saw a Shadowkind that had integrated into society with humans (not that many humans knew that). But then one creature caught his eye.

She was a kobold, as evidenced her short stature, reptilian features, reddish-brown scales and ivory coloured horns. She wore a red, hoodless robe decorated with plenty of jewellery and was carrying two shopping bags full of groceries.

Alongside the kobold was her daughter, she had similar features to her mother but was barely half her height. She skipped along the crossing with her tail flicking behind her.

He couldn't help but smile, Matari had always had a soft spot for reptiles - and reptilian Shadowkind. He had one - sadly long deceased - man to thank for that.

The crowd cleared and the traffic lights flicked green and Matari straighten his back and sped off, weaving his way through the morning traffic.

But what Matari didn't notice was that two Shadowkind were watching him from the footpath. A pair of Kenku, birdlike Shadowkind who were physically weak, but quick, agile and cunning. They both wore brown robes, that most likely contained concealed weapons.

"Was that a Shadowchaser?" asked one of the birds.

"Yes," the other bluntly replied, "we better be careful in our operations. Have you still got your eye on the kobold?"

"And all that shiny jewellery she was wearing? How could I not?" the other replied.

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"I'll make the first move," said the bullywug, as he inspected the five cards in his hand. "I think I'll summon Submarine Frog."

In a flash of light, a humanoid frog appeared. It was dressed in a colourful wetsuit and armed with a long harpoon. (1200/600)

"Frogs?" Rowan cried in near disbelief, "rather obvious, don't you think?"

"I prefer to stick to what I'm familiar with," answered Gulaangga, the bullywug then paused and inspected his hand. "I think I'll end my turn with that."

"_Something's up," _though Rowan, _"why did he summon a weak Monster and nothing to protect it or power it up?"_

"Gulaangga," Tiddalik spat, "you better know what you're doing."

"I am sir," the bullywug replied.

"My turn," said Rowan, making a draw, "I better get rid of Submarine Frog before you get a chance to play Wetlands or else I might be in trouble, and with what better Monster to do it with than Terratiger, the Empowered Warrior."

In a flash of light, a warrior appeared. Its armour based on a white tiger, with a long mock-tail attached to its armour. (1800/1200)

"And when Terratiger is normal summoned," Rowan continued, "I can special summon a level four or lower Normal Monster from my hand, like my Queen's Knight."

In a second flash, another Monster appeared. A female knight dressed in crimson armour, with playing card symbols decorating her armour, shield, and sword. She then knelt down into a defensive stance. (1500/1600)

"People still play Normal Monsters?" said Gulaangga in disbelief, "and whoever makes this game is still producing support for them?"

"You just answered your own question, they still making Normal Monster support so I'm still using them," Rowan replied. "Now, as Queen's Knight had to be summoned in defence position, you're safe from her attack.

"Terratiger on the other hand."

Terratiger's fists glowed white as it leapt at Submarine Frog, who could only let out a squeal as it was shattered into pixels by a single punch.

Gulaangga grunted as Submarine Frog's pixels rained down on him. "Lucky shot," he grunted. (GLP:8000-7400)

"Get used to them," said Rowan, "because there's a lot more than just that one. I set one card facedown and end my turn."

A reversed card appeared behind Rowan's Monsters.

"_Even if he destroys my Queen's Knight," _the Shadowchaser thought, _"my Soul Resurrection will bring her right back. Then, next turn I can the Reinforcement of the Army to add King's Knight to my hand, then use his effect to call Jack's Knight from my deck."_

"My turn," said Gulaangga, drawing a card. "I activate the Spell Card One for One, so by discarding a Monster from my hand to the graveyard, I can summon a level one Monster from my deck, like T.A.D.P.O.L.E."

The bullywug slid a card into his graveyard while a small, black and red, slug-like creature appeared in front of him, it then curled into a ball and turned blue. (0/0)

"I'll also set one Monster face-down and end my turn."

A reversed card appeared next to T.A.D.P.O.L.E.

"You're only defending!" shouted Tiddalik, "he'll beat you at this rate!"

"I won't defend forever," Gulaangga replied, as a butterfly landed on a tree branch nearby. "I'm an amphibian, we wait for the right moment…" the bullywug then opened his mouth, and its long tongue then shot, snatching up the butterfly and quickly retreating into his mouth. He then swallowed the butterfly in a quick gulp. "Then strike, our prey having no idea what hit them."

"You'll have no idea what hit you when this duel is over," said Rowan, drawing. "I'll start by switching Queen's Knight to attack position."

Queen's Knight stood up and drew her sword.

"Then I activate the Spell Card Reinforcement of the Army, which lets me add a low level Warrior from my deck to my hand, and the Warrior I'm choosing is King's Knight."

A card stuck out of Rowan's deck, which the Shadowchaser added to his hand.

"I give you one guess who I'm summoning."

A portal opened, and another knight leapt out. He wore golden armour, and like Queen's Knight, his armour, shield and sword were decorated with playing card symbols. (1600/1400)

"And when King's Knight is summoned," explained Rowan, as another portal appeared, "if I control Queen's Knight, I can summon a third Monster. Let's go, Jack's Knight!"

A third Knight leapt out of the portal. He wore sapphire-blue armour and like his predecessors his armour and equipment was decorated with playing card symbols. (1900/1000)

"Congratulations," said Gulaangga, "You've got a royal flush."

"I need five cards for a flush," said Rowan, "but I only need these four Monsters to inflict a ton of damage to you! Queen's Knight attack T.A.D.P.O.L.E.!"

Queen's Knight raced forward and slashed T.A.D.P.O.L.E. in half.

"I'm sure you realise," said Gulaangga, as two cards stuck out of his deck, "that when T.A.D.P.O.L.E. is destroyed by battle, I can take two more from my deck and add them both to my hand."

"But there not going to protect you from my other Monsters," said Rowan, "King's Knight attack the frog's face-down Monster!"

Jack's Knight leapt forward and attempted to cleave the reversed card in two. But only bounced off what appeared to be a black graduate cap. The cap then tipped up, revealing that a small blue frog was wearing it. (100/2000)

"I can't believe I didn't see that coming, how many Frogs have two-thousand defence points," Rowan muttered. (RLP:8000-7900)

"Hahaha!" Gulaangga laughed, his neck noticeably expanding and contracting with each breath. "Looks like Dupe Frog is too tough of a nut to crack! It's true what they say; brains does beat brawn!"

"Only until next turn," Rowan replied, looking at the three other cards in his hand; Field Commander Rhaz, Command Knight and Warrior Dai Grepher. "I end my turn."

"_Two of the cards in his hand are T.A.D.P.O.L.E.s," _Rowan thought, _"almost dead weight at the moment, all I have to do is get past Dupe Frog and he's in for a pounding."_

"My turn," said Gulaangga, snatching the top card from his deck, and immediately activating it after a glance. "My Moray of Greed Spell Card allows me to shuffle two Water Monsters from my hand into my deck…"

Gulaannga turned around two T.A.D.P.O.L.E.s he had added to his hand moments ago and placed them on top of his deck then hit the auto-shuffler.

"And then draw three cards," the bullywug continued, doing so. He then smiled widely liking what he'd drew. "By sending Treeborn Frog from my hand to the graveyard, I can special summon Swap Frog from my hand."

A blue portal opened up next to Dupe Frog, and a yellow and orange frog leapt onto the field. (1000/500)

"And when Swap Frog is summoned," continued Gulaangga, "I can send a low-level Water Monster from my deck to the graveyard, like T.A.D.P.O.L.E.."

The T.A.D.P.O.L.E. card slipped out of Gulaangga's deck, and he slipped it into the graveyard.

"Uh oh," Rowan gasped, knowing where two T.A.D.P.O.L.E.s in the graveyard could lead.

"That's right," Gulaangga smiled, "I tribute my Swap Frog to summon Des Frog!"

Swap Frog disappeared in a golden light and was replaced by a larger green frog which then began croaking. (1900/0)

"And when Des Frog is Normal Summoned," Gulaangga explained, as two portals appeared either side of the croaking Des Frog, "I can summon a Des Frog from my deck for every T.A.D.P.O.L.E. in my graveyard!"

Two more Des Frog hopped out of the portals.

"Please don't have…" Rowan muttered, fearing what might come next.

"Des Croaking!" Gulaangga laughed, flipping around the second last card in his hand. "Do I even need to explain what this card does?"

Rowan quickly covered his ears with his hands. As the three Des Frogs opened their mouths wide…

And began croaking in the loudest, most horrible tone they could. The ground and trees shook violently, all four of Rowan's Warriors screamed in pain before shattering in seconds, along with his face down card.

Rowan uncovered his ears and silently braced himself.

"All out of cards to protect you?" Gulaangga said in a mocking tone, "you know what that means…"

The first Des Frog opened its mouth and let out another croak. Rowan grunted as the as the sound waves hit him. (RLP:7900-6000)

"Des Frog number two, you're up," the bullywug ordered.

The second Des Frog opened its mouth and began croaking. Rowan grabbed his chest in pain as the sound waves reached him. (RLP:6000-4100)

"Oh come on!" Gulaangga laughed. "Don't be such a baby, you've still got one more to go.

The third, and thankfully, final Des Frog began croaking. Rowan dropped to one knee as the sound waves struck him. (RLP:4100-2200)

The elderly Shadowchasers gasped for air for a few seconds, "Haven't been hit like that in years," he said, slowly rising to his feet.

"Maybe you should retire," Gulaangga smugly suggested.

"No way," Rowan answered, "you know what happens to people in my career when they plan to retire."

"Oh please," said Gulaangga, "that's just a myth."

"Well I'm not taking my chances," said Rowan. "Now are you going to to end your turn, or am I going to "retire" first?"

"As much as I'd like to take the second option," said the bullywug, "I end my turn."

"Thankyou," said Rowan, drawing a card and inspecting it. He then grabbed another card from his hand and set both on the disk, causing them to appear in front of him. "I set a Monster, a card and end my turn."

"All that talk for a move as simple as that?" Gulaangga croaked, drawing a card. "It's time to finish you off! Des Frog attack his face-down Monster!"

One of the Des Frogs opened its mouth and let out another loud croak. However, as the sound waves struck Rowan's hidden Monster, it only flipped up to reveal another female warrior wearing red armour, a cape, and a fluffy beret. She held up her shield and blocked the sound waves. (1200/1900)

Rowan smiled. "Look's like your frogs can't get past Command Knight, and while I'm pointing things out I'll note that Command Knight's presence raises the attack of all my Warriors by four hundred, and that includes herself."

An aura of energy appeared around Command Knight. (ATK:1200-1600)

"For now," said Gulaangga, "I end my turn." The bullywug then glanced down at the card he'd drawn, Polymerization. "But next turn…" he muttered.

"My move," Rowan declared, drawing. "I'll start by activating my face down card, Birthright, which lets me revive a Normal Monster from my graveyard, and Jack's Knight fits the bill!"

The Birthright Trap Card flashed with energy, and Jack's Knight reappeared in a flash of light. A red aura then appeared around the poker knight. (ATK:1900-2300)

"At this point," Gulaangga smirked, "I'd like to point out the effect of my Dupe Frog prevents you from attacking my other Monsters, so my Des Frogs are safe and sound."

"Well then, Warrior Dai Grepher will solve that problem," Rowan replied, playing the card.

In a flash, a muscular, armoured warrior appeared on the field, wielding a sword in each hand. The powerful aura spread to him as well. (1700-2100/1600)

"Grepher," said Rowan, "enlighten Dupe Frog on the advantages of brawn over brains."

Grepher screamed and ran toward Dupe Frog, slicing the amphibian in half with his swords.

"When Dupe Frog is sent from the field to the graveyard," said Gulaannga, as another card poked out of his deck. "I can add another Frog to my hand, like Flip Flop Frog."

"Grab all the frogs you want," said Rowan, "my Warriors need some target practice."

Jack's Knight slashed at a Des Frog, cleaving it into two as the bullywug winced. (GLP:7400-7000)

"You're still a long way behind," said Gulaangga, "by only about five thousand points."

"But I'm still in the game," said Rowan, "and that's what counts. I end my turn."

"My turn, and hopefully you won't be in this game much longer!" yelled Gulaangga. "First, since I control no Spells or Traps, I revive Treeborn Frog from my graveyard in defence position."

A small, yellow and black-spotted, winged frog appeared on the field. It opened its mouth to croak, but could only let out a small chirp. (100/100)

"Then I'll switch both my Des Frogs to defence position and set a Monster."

The two remaining Des Frogs crouched down while a reversed card appeared between them.

"I'll end my turn there," said Gulaangga.

"Looks like the tables have turned frog," said Rowan, making a draw and looking at it. _"Defence Draw," _he thought, _"this might come in handy…"_

The Shadowchaser then took a deep breath and looked at his opponent. "I summon Field Commander Rhaz!"

In a flash of light, a rugged warrior appeared. He wore faded armour that was damaged and dented, a torn cape and a bandanna. He held a single sword in his hand, which was actually in relatively good condition. (1600-2000/1200)

"And when Rhaz is summoned to the field," Rowan explained, as a card stuck out of his deck. "I can take a level four or lower Warrior from my deck and place it on top of my deck."

Rowan turned around the card he chose and showed it to Gulaangga. Tune Warrior.

"Another Normal Monster," said the bullywug, "suit yourself but I know plenty of Warrior Monsters than would've suited better."

"You can think whatever you want," said Rowan, placing Tune Warrior on top of his deck, "since I'm ninety-nine percent sure that your set Monster is Flip Fop Frog, I'll have my Monsters take out your other Frogs first."

Jack's Knight, Grepher and Command Knight each slashed at both Des Frogs and Treeborn, effortlessly shattering the three amphibians.

"Now Rhaz," Rowan ordered, "deal with his face down Monster."

Rhaz leapt toward the set Monster and slashed it in half with his sword. A small blue frog appeared for a moment, but that was just enough time for the frog to stick out its tongue and strike Command Knight, knocking her back.

"When Flop Frog Frog is flipped," said Gulaangga, "I can toss one Monster on your field back to your hand, and I'll pick your Command Knight, so all your other Monsters lose their attack boost."

Command Knight transformed into energy and shot back to Rowan's hand. The aura of energy around the other Warriors disappeared along with her. (ATK:2300-1900) (ATK:2100-1700) (ATK:2000-1600)

"I'll set this card face-down and end my turn," said Rowan, setting Defence Draw.

"My turn!" Gulaangga announced, drawing a card. "I'll start by playing a Spell Card," Gulaangga continued, "Salvage! Adding my Swap Frog a and Dupe Frog back to my hand."

The bullywug grabbed both Monsters as they were ejected from the graveyard slot.

"Next, I'll discard Beelze Frog to summon Swap Frog."

The bullywug slid a card into the graveyard, and Swap Frog appeared on the field once more.

"Then I'll use his effect to discard Ronintoadin from my deck," Gulaangga continued, doing so.

"I starting to get a bad feeling about this," Rowan muttered.

"Oh that's just the beginning, said Gulaangga, "playing another card, I summon Dupe Frog."

Dupe Frog hopped onto the field, landing beside Treeborn Frog.

"Now by banishing the Beelze Frog in my graveyard, I can summon Ronintoadin."

The bullywug pulled the Beelze frog card from his graveyard, as a blue frog joined the duo in front of him. It had red markings all over his body and carried a bamboo sword. (100/2000)

"Now I use Swap Frog's ability!" announced Gulaangga, "returning itself to my hand to allow me to Normal Summon an extra Water Monster from my hand."

Swap Frog croaked and turned into blue energy, which flowed back into Gulaangga's hand.

"And the Monster I summon is Tradetoad!"

In a flash of light and a small croak, a small toad appeared. It's left side was pink with a feathered wing on its back while its right side was pitch black with a bat-like wing on its back. (100/2000)

"An army of Monsters with a hundred attack and two thousand defence," Rowan mused, "but they'd be much more effective if they were in defence position."

"You've missed my goal human!" shouted Tiddalik, as Tradetoad began to glow. "I use Tradetoad's effect, by tributing an Aqua-Type Monster I can revive a Frog from my graveyard, so I just tribute Tradetoad itself."

Tradetoad disappeared in a golden light, and Des Frog took its place.

"Now," said Gulaangga, grabbing the second to last card in his hand, "just to let you know, both Ronintoadin and Dupe Frog have an ability that treats them as Des Frogs while face-up on the field…"

"Which means," said Rowan, "that the card your about to play can only be…"

"Polymerization!" called the bullywug, causing a swirling blue and orange portal to open up behind him. "What? Were you expecting another Des Croaking?"

"Yes," Rowan bluntly replied. _Considering it'd knock me down to a measly hundred Life Points._

The three amphibians croaked as they hopped inside the whirling portal…

Then a large shadow loomed over the field…

The shadow quickly gave way to a huge frog, though not quite as large as Tiddalik. It had green skin with a tan underbelly and quite muscular forelegs, the giant beast opened its mouth and let out a roaring croak that violently shook the trees and ground. (2500/2000)

"Meet the ultimate frog, aside from master Tiddalik of course," Gulaangga croaked in excitement, "D.3.S. Frog! And just so you know," he added, "my Monster gets a bonus five hundred attack points for every Treeborn Frog in my graveyard."

D.3.S. Frog raised one of its forelegs and flexed, showing its powerful muscles. (ATK:2500-3000)

"Three thousand attack," said Rowan, "strong, but I've seen stronger."

"He's still stronger than any of your Monsters," spat Gulaangga, "and I'll prove it! D.3.S. Frog attack Rhaz."

D.3.S. Frog opened its mouth, but instead of croaking its tongue shot out of its mouth, wrapping itself around the rugged warrior and quickly dragging him inside the giant amphibian's mouth.

"I activate Defence Draw!" Rowan shouted as his Trap flipped up, "which reduces the damage I take to zero and on top of that allows me to draw!"

Rowan cringed and looked away D.3.S. Frog swallowed Rhaz, then spit out his armour and sword, metal didn't seem to taste all that good to it. He then drew a card, which was, sure enough, Tune Warrior.

"Ha!" Gulaangga laughed, his neck inflating and deflating with every breath. "You can't defend forever, we'll be home free in almost no time Tiddalik!"

Gulaangga waited a few seconds for a reply but received none. In fact, Tiddalik had been quiet for a while now, with neither Gulaangga or Rowan noticing.

The bullywug turned to its leader and almost fell flat on his face as he realised that despite all the action and noise of the duel, his leader had fallen fast asleep.

Both of Tiddalik's eyes were closed, and the branches around the giant frog shook every time he inhaled and exhaled.

Rowan couldn't help but chuckle. "Looks like your brilliant leader has taken a nap."

Gulaangga turned red in the face as he turned to Rowan. "Well, he was up all night drinking the lake…"

Rowan chuckled even more. "I guess… even immortal beings get tired sometimes. I've seen my boss when he hasn't had his beauty sleep, let me tell you, it ain't pretty."

"Spare me your jokes human," Gulaangga growled, as he turned around and picked up a nearby stick and hurled it at Tiddalik. It hit the giant frog spirit between his eyes. However, Tiddalik continued to snore, the stick having no effect whatsoever.

Gulaangga grumbled some unmentionable words under his breath. "Aww shut up," he croaked, "I only need one giant frog to take you down, and its right here! I end my turn Shadowchaser, make your move."

"And now it's my move," said Rowan, making another draw. "I'll start by summoning Tune Warrior!"

Another Warrior appeared on the field, this one covered in red armour and silver speakers, with two antennas attached to his helmet and a jack plug at the end of each arm. (1600/200)

"Even with all that equipment," Gulaangga noted, "I don't think he's getting a signal out here."

"He may not be able to get a signal out here," said Rowan, "but he's still capable of giving Jack's Knight a tune up! Synchro Summon! Colossal Fighter!"

Tune Warrior let out a few beeps before flying up into the air with Jack's Knight, both Monsters dissolved into grains of light and turned into eight shining stars.

Then, with a crash hard enough to leave a small crater, a giant Warrior landed on the ground, rivalling D.3.S. Frog in size. It was covered in white cybernetic armour, with his eyes obscured by a green visor. (2800/1000)

Despite the Synchro's rather intimidating size and appearance, Gulaangga was unimpressed. "D.3.S. Frog is still stronger."

"Actually," Rowan explained, "Colossal Fighter has a rather powerful ability, similar to your giant frog's ability he gains attack for every certain Monster in the graveyard, in this case, a hundred points for every Warrior there."

Gulaangga could do nothing but gulp as the spiritual forms of Terratiger, Rhaz, Tune Warrior and the Poker Knights appeared behind Colossal Fighter. (ATK:2800-3400)

"But I'm not done yet," said Rowan, playing another card, "I play the Spell Card, the A. Forces, which gives all my Warriors two hundred extra attack points for each and every Warrior or Spellcaster I control."

Colossal Fighter and Grepher raised their fists and weapons respectively. (ATK:3400-3800) (ATK:1700-2100)

Gulaangga gulped again.

"Battle Phase! Attack Colossal Fighter. Knuckle-buster!"

Colossal Fighter charged at the massive frog, slugging it with a powerful uppercut.

Gulaangga cringed as his ace Monster was launched into the upper canopy of the trees and shattered. (GLP:7000-6200)

"Grepher direct attack!"

Grepher sprinted at the bullywug and slashed him across the chest. (GLP:6200-4100)

"This isn't over yet," Gulaangga groaned, clutching the wound.

"You're right," said Rowan, giving Gulaangga no sympathy, "You've still got a fair few Life Points left don't you? But those will have to wait for next turn because that's all I have for now."

"My turn," Gulaangga growled, drawing a card. "I activate the Spell Card Surface, which revives my Tradetoad in defence."

A watery portal opened up on the ground, and Tradetoad leaped out of it.

"Next I'll summon my Swap Frog!"

In another flash, Swap Frog appeared on the field.

"And I'll use his effect to send another Treeborn Frog to my graveyard," Gulaangga continued, as he slid a card into the graveyard. "Then I'll use Tradetoad's special ability, tributing himself to revive a Frog Monster from my graveyard!"

Tradetoad disappeared, and D.3.S. Frog landed with a crash back on the field.

"And with two Treeborn Frogs in my graveyard, he gains even more attack!"

D.3.S. Frog flexed again. (ATK:2500-3500)

"Colossal Fighter is still stronger," noted Rowan.

"But Grepher isn't," said Gulaangga.

D.3.S. frog opened its mouth and caught Grepher with its tongue and dragged the Warrior into its mouth. (RLP:2200-800)

"And with one less Warrior on the field, your Fighter loses attack!" shouted Gulaangga.

Colossal fighter scowled. (ATK:3800-3600)

"But with one more Warrior in the graveyard," said Rowan, "he regains half of what he lost."

Grepher's spirit appeared behind Rowan's Monster. (ATK:3600-3700)

"I end my turn," said Gulaangga. _"Just gotta hold out one more turn. With him at only eight-hundred Life Points, he's just one Poison of the Old Man away from being sent home packing._

_So long as I draw it._

"My turn," said Rowan, calmly drawing a card. "Let's wrap this up, I activate the Spell Card Swing of Memories, which allows me to revive a Normal Monster for a turn, like my Jack's Knight."

The Spell Card flashed on the field. A white portal opened up on the field, and Jack's Knight flew out. But with one less Warrior in the graveyard, Colossal Fighter lost attack power. (ATK:3700-3600)

"Next, I activate a second Reinforcements of the Army," Rowan continued, as the once limited Spell Card appeared, "I'll add Marauding Captain to my hand."

A card slipped out of Rowan's deck, the Shadowchaser grabbing it and immediately played it.

A rugged Warrior joined Rowan's ranks. He wore gritty, damaged armour and wielded two different swords. (1200/400)

"And when Marauding Captain is summoned, I can summon another Monster from my hand, so say hello to a familiar face."

Command Knight reappeared on the field.

"Crap," muttered Gulaangga.

"And now, with the combined effects of both Command Knight and The A. Forces," said Rowan, "all my Monsters gain one thousand two hundred attack points."

Jack's Knight, Command Knight and Marauding Captain raised their weapons while Colossal Fighter raised its fist. (ATK:1900-3100) (ATK:1200-2400) (ATK:1200-2400) (ATK:3600-4600)

"Not good," Gulaangga gasped.

"For you that is, for me it's great," said Rowan, "Colossal Fighter, you know what to do."

Colossal Fighter slugged D.3.S. Frog again, sending it hurtling back up into the canopy. (GLP:4100-3000)

"Jack's Knight, you're next."

Jack's Knight leapt forward and sliced Swap Frog in half. (GLP:3000-0)

"Please, this is overkill," begged Gulaangga, as he caught sight of Rowan's other Warrior's staring him down.

"Marauding Captain, Command Knight, direct attack."

The two warriors crossed their weapons and lunged at the bullywug, striking him with a powerful cross strike, sending the frog creature tumbling backward onto his back. (GLP:0-0)

Horns blazed as the augmented reality field receded. Rowan let out another sigh, however it was, for once, a sigh of relief rather than annoyance. He then removed his D-Gazer and approached his defeated and downed opponent.

Gulaangga watched as the Shadowchaser approached, he closed his eyes and gritted his teeth once Rowan stood over him. The Shadowchaser then extended his arm, offering to help the fallen elderly bullywug.

"Sorry about those extra attacks," Rowan apologised, "sometimes I tend to get carried away during a duel."

Gulaangga smiled, having understood what Rowan meant. "It's okay, my heart was racing when I played Des Croaking. It's no wonder one of us old folks didn't have a heart attack."

The elderly Shadowchaser sighed, he'd heard comments about his age plenty of time throughout the years, he'd grown a thick skin about it though so he wasn't verily phased by them anymore.

He then turned toward the giant sleeping frog and drew his sword.

"Oi," Rowan called, gently poking Tiddalik with the tip, "wake up sleepyhead!"

Tiddalik shuddered as his eyes opened. He looked down at both Rowan and Gulaangga.

"Erm…" the frog spirit grumbled, sounding slightly embarrassed, "I fell asleep didn't I?"

"Yes," Rowan answered, "and on top of that you missed the duel, and by the way I won."

"And well…" Gulaangga hesitantly added, "that means I lost."

Tiddalik growled.

"I believe that means you must fill your side of our bargain," said Rowan, prodding Tiddalik with his sword.

"Make me," scowled Tiddalik, narrowing his red eyes.

"I'm sure I can get someone down here to do just that," Rowan scowled, taking a mobile phone from his pocket, "all in a single phone call. I'd think about that if I were you."

Tiddalik started mumbling under his breath. The frog spirit then turned began hopping in the near-empty dam.

Rowan felt a slimy hand rest upon his shoulder. "I think it's for the best that I apologise for both our behaviour," said Gulaangga.

"I'll accept your apology," said Rowan. "And don't worry, I have no grounds to arrest either of you on. You leader was right when he said that no one owns this water, so you technically weren't stealing, and it's not like he was withholding the water for malicious reasons - just to quench his own thirst. You were just stepping up and helping someone who needed help, that's how I see things.

"Just don't tell anyone you did it, okay?"

Gulaangga went silent for a few seconds as he contemplated Rowan's words. "That's one way of putting it," he nodded, agreeing.

The sound of gushing water could be heard in the gully, the Shadowchaser looked down to see the gully quickly filling with water.

"How does that frog drink so much so fast?" he wondered. "And how does he spit it out just as fast."

"Some questions in life are better left unanswered," said Gulaangga, he then reached for and picked up his walking stick.

"I honestly couldn't agree more," said Rowan, trying to block the mental image of a frog regurgitating from his mind.

**0 - 0 KK 0 - 0**

Meanwhile, back in central Sydney.

A young woman walked through the street. She wore a white flower-patterned shirt, a short skirt a straw sunhat. Sunglasses shielded her eyes from the sun and a leather handbag hung over her shoulder.

The woman pulled a smartphone from her bag and glanced at the picture on the screen. It was of a middle-aged man, of above average height, he was notably both bald and lacking any sort of facial hair. He was wearing a black business suit with a matching bowler cap. The photo was titled, strangely enough, Crocodile.

The woman closed the phone and dropped it in her bag, and began scanning the crowd in front of her.

Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted what she was looking for; the man in the photo casually walking down the street, briefcase in hand.

"Just the guy I was looking for…" she smiled as she walked into the crowd, being careful not the lose track of her target…

**0 - 0 KK 0 - 0**

**And before you ask who I am, I will say I'm not Rowan, nor Matari or Wendy. In fact, at this time if you asked what a Shadowchaser was. I'd probably answer with "I don't know, somebody who chases shadows? I guess".**

**So you've probably heard a few origin stories of various Shadowchasers. Of how they stumbled upon the world of Shadows and were invited into the Shadowchasers. Where they made new, lifelong friends; learned amazing new skills and probably stopped a bad guy or two.**

**One of the most popular was that of Eiko "Ember" Michiko, a Shadowchaser from New Domino. Who in the span of a few weeks, went from a humble secretary to someone who braved alternate dimensions to prevent the whole world from drowning, after a spell had been cast by a powerful Shadow with a vendetta against the founder and leader of the Shadowchasers, Jalal Stormbringer.**

**Well, as for me, this is my story. And let's just say, while it may not have been a world ending crisis, there were still plenty of bumps along the road...**

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**Aboriginal/Indigenous Australian Dictionary**

Matari - An Aboriginal name that means "a man".

Gulaangga - A word from the Wiradjuri language group's (from central New South Wales) meaning frog.

Tiddalik - A tale of a large frog from the dreaming, who awoke one morning with a great thirst. He greedily consumed all the water in the land, causing plant and animal life to wither and die of thirst. Others animals eventually conspired against the greedy amphibian, eventually a wise old Wombat made Tiddalik release all the water by amusing him with an eel that tied itself into amusing shapes. As Tiddalik laughed the water gushed out his mouth and returned to the land for everyone to use.

Notably, like many age-old stories, the tale has changed over time. The modern version has a happy ending where the water is returned for all to use. The original tale, however, ends with a disaster; the water released caused a massive flood that drowned many and left other stranded on islands.

The Dreaming (also known as the Dreamtime) - In Aboriginal Australian Mythology, the Dreaming is a place beyond space and time where the past, present and future all converge. People could enter this place through dreams and various other states of consciousness, including death itself.

Muru - A word from the Dharawal language groups (of the Sydney basin area) meaning path or road. (While the meaning is for a literal path or road, one the themes of this story is the choices we make and the path we choose, so I feel that title is appropriate for this story, even with the different interoperation of the word).

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**Kitten Knight: **And so the first chapter of our tale. Thankfully one that didn't end in drought or a flood. Just a entire city and surrounds drinking (filtered and treated) frog spit for a few months…

Next time, the strange woman takes action against the mysterious "Crocodile", causing a ruckus that Matari has to fix… If he doesn't get eaten first.

Just remember Matari, whatever you do, don't smile at a crocodile!

Let's go! Round Two: Ancient Rules.

* * *

March 3, 2015 - Minor edits.  
March 12, 2015 - Minor edits.  
April 14, 2016 - More edits.


	2. Ancient Rules

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**Shadowchasers: Muru**

**Round 02: Ancient Rules**

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**Reptiles are a diverse group of species that can be found almost anywhere on the planet (sans the Arctic and Antarctic). And Australia is home to the largest number of reptile species in the world, with well over eight-hundred separate species across the continent (for comparison, North America has approximately two-hundred sixty species). Goannas, lizards, skinks, snakes, tortoises, crocodiles and more...**

**And by some sick joke, there's an abundance of reptilian Shadowkind in Australia; lizardfolk, kobolds, ophidia, kamodeans, saurial... There's even rumoured to be few dragons hiding in the outback. Just think of how the heterophobes would react if they ever became aware... A lizard the size of a man (or even larger), snake people known for eating humans... It's like a nightmare come true...**

**Oh, and then there's this guy… Though I'm not sure if he truly counts as a reptile… at least not all of the time.**

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As Rowan's duel with Tiddalik and Gulaangga drew to a close. The blonde woman continued to shadow the bald businessman through the streets of Sydney.

"_Where the hell is this guy going?" _the woman complained in her mind. _"I've been following him for nearly a half hour now, what on earth is this guy up to?"_

The woman was then distracted by her phone ringing, she quickly delved into he handbag and pulled out the device, answering it.

"Hello," she flatly greeted.

"Uhh…" replied a nervous male voice, "Hello Stephanie how are things going?"

"I'm busy Arthur," the blonde woman, Stephanie, replied.

"O… Okay," the male voice, Arthur, stammered, "I won't be long… I just… need some help tonight."

"Can't you get someone else to?" Stephanie asked, rather annoyed at the request.

"T… They… they won't," Arthur answered, "I already asked."

Stephanie sighed, she knew that Arthur wasn't very popular with their co-workers but was still a vital part of their organisation. "I'm busy right now," she said, "text me the info and I'll get there when I can."

"T… th…" Arthur stammered, only to be cut off by Stephanie hanging up on him, before dropping the phone back in her handbag.

Stephanie refocused on her target, having kept an eye on him during the phone call, and noticed that he'd stopped at outside a café and was no sitting at a table reading through a menu.

"Perfect," she smirked and began searching through her handbag.

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In the suburbs of Northern Sydney, a youth rolled over his bed, he let out a tired groan as his bright blue eyes flicked open and spied the alarm clock.

His eyes flicked fully open as he quickly sat up in shock. "It's ten-thirty already!"

He jumped out of bed, and scrambled to his mirror on his dresser. It had been a rough night's sleep in the Summer heat, which had obviously caused him to sleep in this morning.

His name was Ezekiel though he preferred Zeke (yet nobody referred to him by that name, ever), he was seventeen years old and waiting for the school year to begin next month. But this morning, something else was on his mind.

Ezekiel looked in the mirror, his short blonde hair was rather greasy and knotted and his youthful face was drenched in sweat. He was slightly below average height for someone his age, which was seventeen, for the record.

"Good thing I got everything prepared last night," said Ezekiel, as he grabbed a hair brush off his desk and began brushing his hair, flinching every time the he pulled a knot.

"Gotta hurry," he muttered, putting down the hairbrush and picking up a moist cloth "don't want to miss out on today."

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Stephanie approached her target, who was now sipping on a hot cup of coffee while a toasted ham and cheese sandwich sat on a plate in front of him.

She pulled a false smile as she approached the table, all while fumbling a small red capsule between her fingers.

"Hello," she greeted, placing her hand on the table.

"Whatever you're selling," the man replied, holding up his hand, "I'm not interested."

Stephanie gave a fake laugh. "Sorry," she falsely apologised, "but you look like you know your way around. I was just going to ask for directions."

"Alright," said the man. "Where do you need to go?"

"I'm looking for the Sydney Opera House," Stephanie asked, "do you know where it is."

The man stared blankly at the woman for a moment, then turned around and pointed down the street. "If you go to the end of this street, then turn right you'll see the Opera House. Then you can follow the shoreline until you get there," he explained, "you got that?"

But while the man's back was turned, Stephanie glanced around, then dumped the capsule in the man's coffee

Stephanie nodded, "Thankyou…" she smiled, looking for a name.

"Waylon," the man replied, "and don't mention it. It's easy to get lost in a big city like this."

Stephanie gave Waylon a small wave and headed on her way, with a sly smirk on her face as soon as she was sure Waylon would not see it.

Waylon watched as the woman disappeared into the crowd, he felt it was odd how the woman couldn't find something that practically every other sign in the area pointed to but quickly shrugged and blew it off.

He lifted the mug to his lips, closing his eyes as he took a sip from his coffee. He then paused, then guzzled the rest of the drink in a single gulp.

His eyes flicked back open, but they had lost their human look, they now had green sclera with the pupils being narrow slits.

He threw the mug to the ground letting it smash. His face grew wild and animalistic, his nose and jaws slowly extended into a toothy snout, and his skin began to darken, with small patches of scales erupting over his skin. His fingers slowly sharpened themselves into claws, a tail sprouted from his hindquarters.

Waylon violently leapt up, knocking over both the table and chair, gaining the attention of café customers and staff.

"Sir! Sir!" called a male employee as he approached Waylon, "please, calm down."

But Waylon wouldn't have any of that; with a single push he shoved the employee back, sending him toppling over another table.

"Get out of my way human," Waylon spat, his voice sounding feral and inhuman.

He sniffed the air, then gave a glance toward the café, he marched toward the front door, snarling at the people cowering around him.

Down the street, at a safe distance from the ensuing carnage, the blonde woman watched as Waylon forced his way into the café, by effortlessly smashing his way through the grandiose glass doors.

She could help but grin evilly as she took a old mobile phone from her pocket n d began dialling on it…

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Back at the base, Wendy had finished cleaning her saddle - which was sitting on the table. The saddle owner was now standing over a large freezer in the kitchen area, with a large butcher's knife in her hand.

She checked the clock on the wall, it was almost eleven o'clock. "Better start preparing Zephyr's lunch a bit early," she said to herself, "you never know when the peace and quiet will end."

Then, as if irony was in the room sniggering, the phone on top of the kitchen began to ring.

Wendy's eye twitched as she set the knife down on top of the freezer and reached for the phone. "Hello, Sydney Shadowchasers. How may we help you?" she asked, sounding as if she had rehearsed the line many times.

"H… H… Hello," a voice answered in a low whisper, "you've got to help. At the Café on Sydney Cove."

"Yes," Wendy nodded.

"There's a… a… were… were…" the voice choked.

"A were-wolf?" Wendy answered, "we'll send someone right away."

There was a pause, almost as if the caller was savouring the moment. "Thank you," she eventually replied, then hung up.

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Matari continued with his patrol, now riding southbound on the Cahill Expressway, having just crossed the iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge.

A noise beeped from the D-Wheel's console, informing him that he had an incoming call.

He hit a button on his console, turning on his helmet's built in radio.

"Hello," he said.

"Matari?" Wendy asked with a hint of urgency in her voice, "how close are you to Sydney Cove."

"If I turn off the highway now," Matari replied, "about a minute or two. Why?"

"There's a werewolf on the prowl that was last sighted attacking in a café nearby," Wendy replied. "Get there as fast as you can."

"Finally," Matari chuckled, accelerating his D-Wheel, "something we agree on."

"Just be careful, okay? Funerals are expensive these days."

"Wendy," Matari boasted, "it's a werewolf, I can beat one of those any day of the week and last time I checked, it was a day of the week."

"Just don't come back here smelling like wet dog," Wendy flatly replied, "or your sleeping out in Zephyr's shed."

"Hey!" Matari shouted, "I don't smell half as bad as the smelly…" he stopped, realising that Wendy had hung up on him mid-sentence.

He shrugged and grinned, at least something interesting was happening today, that he could be sure of.

The Shadowchaser pulled off the highway and sped toward the city centre…

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A minute later, Matari pulled his D-Wheel to a stop at the end of a line of traffic. He looked ahead of the line, flashing lights bright yellow police tape immediately caught his eye.

"Damn it," he muttered, pulling his D-Wheel to the side of the road, hopped off and grabbed his sword and duelling equipment, strapping the former to his back and the latter to his belt. He dashed toward the police blockade ahead of him.

He reached the blockade and ducked under the police, only to be almost immediately confronted by one of the several officers at the scene.

"Hold it sir," he said, "this is a dangerous situation. You cannot cross this line."

"It's okay," Matari replied, taking a badge out of his pocket. "I work for the special forces, I handle cases like this all the time."

The officer inspected the badge. "Funny," he said, "Amelia never said anything about the special forces."

The officer then noticed the sword strapped to Matari's back. "Sir," he ordered, reaching for his pistol, "you are aware that the weapon you're carrying is…"

"Alright constable Johnson," ordered a cold, demanding voice, "I'll take this from here."

Matari and the officer looked at the source of the voice. A stone-faced woman who looked to be in her late thirties. She was wearing a blue uniform, with a black and white cap.

The officer wasn't phased by his superior's cold tone, keeping. "You see this guy's sword don't you?" he asked.

"I said I'll take this from here, Johnson," the woman repeated in the same cold, demanding tone. "You can handle things on the north side."

The male officer nodded, and slowly stepped away from Matari, but not taking his eyes off the armed Shadowchaser for a second.

"Hello, Amelia," greeted Matari, offering a friendly handshake.

The female officer in front of Matari was officer Amelia. She was the officer in charge of police operations in the Central Business District area of Sydney.

"You're here," scowled Amelia, rejecting the handshake and instead giving Matari a cold glare, "I thought this guy looked strange."

Amelia was a Sensitive. The kind of human who knew about Shadowkind, and got an odd feeling whenever a Shadow was nearby. And occasionally, out of the corner of her eye, she'd see the true face of a Shadow.

"So," Amelia begrudging asked, "what do I need to do?

"Right," Matari whispered to the officer, "this is a were-wolf, I might need some space, just in case. The last thing you need is more hair above your lip."

Amelia rolled her eyes ignoring Matari's childish insult, she knew what to do, but she as sure as hell didn't like it.

"Alright everybody!" she called, quickly gaining the attention of the entire squad, "I want this area secured, nobody so much as looks in that building, you here me?"

The officers around all coldly glared at Amelia, silently questioning her orders, but eventually complied and began ordering the crowd move back.

"You bastards are going to cost me my job one day," Amelia bitterly muttered.

"What was that?" Matari asked.

Without a word, Amelia flicked her wrist and turned her back to Matari, coldly signalling him that he could move on.

Matari shrugged and quickly jogged toward the café.

Once there, he walked through the mass of broken chairs and tables lying around the café entrance. He glanced down at a black bowler hat and the shreds of clothes lying around it as he passed by. "Definitely a were-wolf," he said.

Matari slipped in the shattered glass doors of café, a confident grin on his face.

The café was brightly lit, with large windows facing the bay; finely decorated white and gold walls as well as a very high ceiling that gave the café a welcoming feeling.

The first thing that Matari noticed that usual welcoming feeling had fled with the employees and customers. His eyes followed the trail of destruction of broken furniture and cracked floor tiles that led over across the room and over the front counter…

"Oh shit…" Matari hissed through his teeth, no louder than a whisper, as he laid his eyes on the lycanthrope. His aura of confidence shattered like glass. It was no were-wolf he was facing…

The lycanthrope snapped its head around, his cold reptilian eyes fixating on Matari in an unsettling glare. His maw opened, revealing plenty of sharp teeth.

The were-crocodile stood up tall, a full two and a half metres, the upper half of his scaly, muscular body on full display. His claws scratched at the counter, leaving visible marks, while his tail eagerly flicked behind him.

Matari flinched and gritted and his teeth, but stood his ground. "This is going to hurt," he muttered.

"What do you want human?" the lycanthrope scowled.

Matari gulped. "I'll be the one to ask questions here," he said with false confidence, "firstly, what do you think you're doing?"

The were-crocodile chuckled. "Eating," he arrogantly replied, "what else?"

"You got a name?" asked Matari, pointing his sword at the lycanthrope.

"Waylon, " the lycanthrope replied, "and you better remember it."

"Oh I'll remember it," Matari replied, "by the way, my name's Matari. You'll probably want to swear revenge on me or something like that after I arrest you."

"Bring it on!" Waylon snarled, clumsily hopping over the counter, he clearly lacked the speed and agility of were-wolves, but he looked as if he possessed strength that more than made up for that.

"Geez," said Matari, looking at Waylon's bottom half - a pair of tattered, stretched black trousers and a single torn sock that survived the transformation, "you have a strange fashion sense, don't you?"

"You sound like a girl," Waylon growled, "pray you don't hit like one."

"You'd be surprised how hard some girls hit buddy," Matari replied, "and your gonna be very surprised how hard I can hit you."

Waylon said nothing, instead making a low growl, urging Matari to attack.

The Shadowchaser shrugged and gripped his sword, then dashed at the lycanthrope. As he closed in, Waylon swiped at him with his claws. Matari quickly ducked under the swipe and clocked Waylon on the underside of his snout with his free hand, sending him reeling backward.

Matari shook his hand in pain. "Not gonna do that again," he muttered.

Waylon recovered from the blow, and snarled at Matari. "That hurt!" he growled, his voice filled with feral rage.

"Told you," Matari replied, still shaking his fist in pain.

Matari gripped his sword dashed at the lycanthrope one more time, swinging his sword in an arc front of him.

But Waylon quickly jumped back from the slash, but did so clumsily, tripping over his tail and falling to his behind.

Matari took the opportunity to make another attack, swinging his sword at the beast again.

But Waylon raised his arm, and caught the sword in his claws, stopping the swing in its tracks. Blood trickled from his wounded claw, his thick scales preventing any major injuries.

"Damn it," Matari swore as he tore his sword from Waylon's grip, then made another attack aimed at Waylon's side.

But the lycanthrope threw himself away from the attack, landing enough distance away to get to his feet before Matari could continue with a follow up swing.

Matari gritted his teeth and made another swing at the lycanthrope, however, mid swing he was then thrown to the ground by a sudden jerk, landing on his back.

He looked up as Waylon loomed above him rolled out of the way as the lycanthrope attempted to kick him, then leapt to his feet and pointed his sword at Waylon… Only to realise that half of it was missing.

Waylon grinned, showing the other half of the sword sticking out of his mouth, he then spat it out.

Matari's heart sank as half of his blade fell to the floor, bouncing off the linoleum. The sword was forged by dwarves that were allied to the Shadowchasers, and was of much finer quality than the average sword - but was still no match for the sheer amount of force exerted by a crocodile snapping its jaws.

"You're next," snarled Waylon.

Matari gulped, if his opponent could do that to a finely crafted sword, the thought of what would happen if any part of him was caught be those jaws made him shudder.

The were-crocodile took a step forward, but suddenly stopped. He began breathing deeply as his wild eyes stared into mid air.

Matari gritted his teeth and held his broken sword in front of him. _"This is gonna get rough."_

Waylon snapped out of his momentary trance. "Fine," he snapped, seemingly at himself, "well do it his way." The were-crocodile then stood up straight and produced a D-Gazer and duel disk, "Fair fight clause," he muttered bitterly.

Matari smiled. "I see you've come to your senses," he said, taking out his own D-Gazer and duel disk.

But behind his smile was a mass of confusion, why had his opponent tried to invoke the fair fight clause _after_ he had attacked? Normally in cases like this, Matari would refuse to accept and duel and continue the fight, but normally he'd be winning the fight at that point.

Which opened up another question, Waylon clearly had an advantage in the fight. Why would he give it up?

"You gonna sit there and contemplate life human?" growled Waylon, fixing his duel disk to his arm (which barely fit). "Or are you going to duel?"

"I'll duel," Matari answered, dropping his broken sword and taking out his own duel disk and D-Gazer, both of which had a fiery red theme to them.

The Shadowchaser then pulled his deck from the box on his belt, he fanned the cards out in front of him, taking out a dozen or so white bordered cards and placing the rest in the deck slot.

"I'm ready now," said Matari.

"So am I," Waylon chuckled, "on second thought, I might enjoy this after all!"

Matari put his Synchro Monsters away and looked up at the lycanthrope, who was now squeezing his D-Gazer over his head.

"But something still doesn't make much sense," Matari mumbled, placing his deck in his duel disk. "There's gotta be something more to this."

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Elsewhere, the kobold mother and daughter had stopped for and break in Tumbalong Park, and where now sitting on a bench, sipping on a coffee and hot chocolate respectively.

One of the most well known facts about reptiles, it would probably be that they were cold-blooded. However, this title was rather misleading, leading many to believe that reptilian blood was actually cold.

In actual fact, the term referred to the fact that reptiles lacked an internal way to control their body temperatures, requiring external sources of heat (such as basking in sunlight) to regulate their body temperature. And in cold enough conditions, most reptiles would become sluggish and tired, leaving them vulnerable to predators.

And speaking of predators…

The two kenku, were watching the pair from a distance. They had both discarded their robes for a more causal and less conspicuous appearance - light shirts and shorts. Which meant they had to discard most of their weapons (which were hidden inside said robes) a fact that neither seemed to happy about.

Without the robes obscuring their bodies, the differences between the two bird-men were as clear as day.

The first kenku's feathers were completely black, along with the talons he had for arms and legs, his large beak and his beady eyes. His name was Kimba, and he was fumbling through a deck of Duel Monster cards, notably, almost every Monster in the deck was a Normal Monster - and the same type as well.

The other had a much more interesting pattern, the feathers down his chest, stomach and legs were a creamy white, while the feathers on his back were various shades of brown with a few specks of blue in-between. His beak was long and narrow, and his beady eyes were a dark brown. This bird-man's name was Derrilin, and he was reading a rather scrappy newspaper (one that he'd salvaged from a rubbish bin), or rather pretending to read, as every minute or so he looked up and scanned the area.

Both kenku looked to be pretty young, about twenty years of age.

"Is it the right time yet?" asked Kimba, still fidgeting through his cards.

Derrilin looked up over the newspaper, "wait a minute, there's still a few more people around."

"Oh screw them," squawked Kimba, "their all humans. Humans are useless, no claws, fangs, instincts, magic, nothing! And their dependent on their parents for a quarter of their lifespans - and sometimes even beyond that!"

"I'm still pretty concerned about that Shadowchaser we saw earlier," Derrilin replied, "they're certainly not useless, Strombringer wouldn't have it."

"Oh please," snapped Kimba, "Those morons couldn't catch a cold in Tasmania."

"Don't underestimate estimate our enemies, that's when they catch you by surprise."

"Whatever," Kimba shrugged, putting away his deck. "You remember the plan?"

"Of course," Derrlin replied, "do you?"

"Yes… Of course I know," said Kimba, with a bit of hesitation. "But just run through it again to make sure we're on the same page."

Derrilin rolled his beady eyes. "You go and steal every piece of jewellery on that overgrown lizard, all the while I go get us a means of escape. Then we meet the boss outside the city limit and high-tail to a safe place."

"I knew that," spat Kimba, "just make sure you don't screw anything up.

Derrilin rolled his eyes again, his partner in crime really wasn't half a smart as he thought he was. "Just remember to grab everything precious, "some of her jewellery is probably fake, whether she knows it or not."

The black-feathered kenku nodded, and the two parted ways. He then looked at the reptilian mother and daughter a his beak opening into a sly smirk.

"Oh, I'll grab everything precious alright…"

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"Duel!" both Matari and Waylon yelled, as the augmented reality field expanded around them. (Matari:8000/Waylon:8000)

"I'll make the first move," said Matari, as the two duellists drew fives cards. The Shadowchaser looked over the five cards in his hand: Descending Lost Star, Jurrac Velo, Jurrac Protops, Super Ancient Dinobeast and Jurrac Gallim. "Not the best hand," he muttered, taking one of the five cards and playing it.

An aura of flames erupted in front of Matari and a dinosaur leaped out. It was clearly based of velociraptor, though like many portrayals of the species, it was much larger than a real velociraptor (which were just over half a metre in height) and lacked feathers. Velo hissed and snapped its jaws at Waylon. (1700/1000)

"I like this guy," Waylon laughed, flashing his own set of jaws.

"I thought you might like Jurrac Velo," Matari replied, grabbing the trap card in his hand, "and to keep you two company I'll set this card face down."

A reversed card flashed into existence behind Velo.

"And that's all."

"My move!" Waylon announced, violently yanking the top card from his deck. The reptilian lycanthrope looked through the cards in his hand, then took two of them. "I set one Monster and one card face down and end my turn," he grumbled.

The two cards appeared on the field, one behind the other.

"Is that all?" Matari asked, "usually strategies used by lycanthropes are as subtle as New Year's Eve celebrations."

"Shut up and take your turn," scowled Waylon.

"Fine, I will," said Matari, making a draw.

"_Hmm," _the Shadowchaser thought, _"summon Protops and attack, or tribute Velo for Dinobeast. Better think about this, I don't want to be this guy's lunch…" _He then looked at his opponent's set Monster.

"I summon Jurrac Protops!"

In another burst of fire, another dinosaur appeared. The creature was based on a protoceratops, with a curved beak-like mouth and a large frill around its neck. Just like Velo, Protops had been scaled up to appear more threatening, as protoceratops were about the same height as velociraptors - just over half a metre. (1700/1200)

"A herbivore," Waylon snorted in disgust, "eat some meat you wuss!"

Protops growled.

"Leave Protops alone," Matari shouted, pointing at Waylon's set Monster, "I'll have you know he gains an extra hundred attack for every Monster you control. And with one Monster, that's a whole hundred extra attack!"

Protops roared and gained a small fiery aura. (ATK:1700-1800)

"It's still a stupid herbivore," scoffed Waylon, "just with a hundred more attack points."

"Well let's see what you think of him in a minute," said Matari, "but in the meanwhile Velo will attack your face down Monster."

Velo roared and charged Waylon's set Monster, ramming it with a powerful headbutt. The Monster, a bear with blue fur, was flung backward by the attack, shattering moments later. (1400/1000)

"That was my Mother Grizzly," said Waylon, "and when it's destroyed in battle I can take a Water Monster with less than fifteen hundred attack from my deck and Special Summon it in attack position!"

A second copy of Mother Grizzly appeared in front of Waylon.

"Alright Protops," said Matari, "you're up. Show this guy what a herbivore can do!"

Protops snorted and stamped its feet. It then charged at the opposing bear, knocking it high into the air where it shattered into pieces.

"Still not very impressive," growled Waylon, as shards of Mother Grizzly rained down on him. (WLP:8000-7600)

"I use that Mother Grizzly's effect to summon Double Shark."

A pool of water formed on Waylon's field, and a pair of glowing, red eyes peered from it. Matari and his two dinosaurs jumped back in fright as a large blue shark leapt from the pool and onto the field. (1200/1600)

"I can't believe I was scared of a Monster with only that much attack," said Matari. "It's not that much of a threat to Velo or Protops anyway. I end my turn."

"My move, human," snorted Waylon, yanking another card from his deck, "I summon Unshaven Angler.

In a flash of light, another Monster appeared. A fish with sickly green scales, a distorted mouth filled to the brim with sharp, misshaped teeth. (1500/1600)

Protops roared again, its fiery aura becoming more intense. (ATK:1800-1900)

"Ugh, that thing is ugly," commented Matari. He then looked at the two Fish types, _"Two level fours," _he thought, _"an Xyz user…"_

"I activate the Spell Card Aqua Jet, giving my Double Shark a thousand extra attack points, permanently!"

A set of orange jets appeared around Double Shark, fixing themselves under the Shark's fins. (ATK:1200-2200)

"Uh-oh," gapsed Matari.

"Attack!"

Double Shark rushed forward and sank its teeth into Protops' neck. The dinosaur cried in pain and shattered.

Matari grimaced as pieces of what was Protops rained down on him. (MLP:8000-7700)

"Hehe," Waylon chuckled, "do you wanna know how Double Shark got its name?"

"How?"

"It can make a second attack during each Battle Phase! Go, Feeding Frenzy!"

Double Shark flipped over, revealing a second set of glowing eyes on its underside. It then turned toward Velo and shattered it into pixels with a single bite.

Matari shielded himself as pieces of Velo rained down on him. (MLP:7700-7200)

"Unshaven Angler, attack that Steve Irwin wannabe directly!"

The hideous fish opened its gaping mouth and lunged at Matari.

"Not gonna happen," Matari said in annoyed tone, his opponent's taunting had clearly struck a nerve, "because Velo has a similar effect to your Mother Grizzly, when it falls in battle I can summon a Jurrac Monster from my deck, like Jurrac Guaiba!"

A burst of fire erupted between Matari and Unshaven Angler, and a new Monster leapt out. Another dinosaur, based on a Guaibasaurus, with a long neck, legs and tail, all which seemed to be on fire. The beast let out a roar that sent Unshaven Angler reeling backward. (1700/400)

Waylon glared at Matari and Guaiba. "I end my turn," he growled.

"My turn," said Matari, making a draw and inspecting it. "I activate the spell card Fossil Dig."

The spell flashed into existence in front of Matari.

"And what does that do, you ask," said the Shadowchaser, "why it lets me dig though my deck and add a level six of lower Dinosaur from my deck to my hand. Kind of like real excavation if you ask me."

"I didn't ask," Waylon growled.

A card stuck out of Matari's deck, which he quickly collected and showed it to Waylon…

Who only burst out laughing. "You added that third-rate card to your hand. You do realise the drawback of its effect right?"

"Considering that you really have only one Monster to summon," Matari answered, as the greenish-brown raptor appeared in front of him, "I'd say yes."

Gilasaurus roared. (1400/400)

"Smartass," hissed Waylon, as a Mother Grizzly appeared in front of him, arms crossed over its body defensively.

"Now I summon Jurrac Gallim."

Another dinosaur appeared. It was based on a Gallimimus, standing two metres tall on its long legs, with a neck even longer than Guaiba's with a plume of orange feathers at the base. (1200/0)

"Is that a dinosaur or a big chicken?" asked Waylon.

"It's a dinosaur," Matari answered, "and a Tuner."

Waylon gulped.

Both Gallim and Gilasaurus roared. Then turned into shining stars and flew toward the ceiling.

"From ancient times comes a mighty beast." Matari chanted, "with a soul of fire and a roar of pure ferocity. Arise Jurrac Velphito!"

A mighty roar shook the café, as a new Monster appeared, a carnivorous beast that was much larger than the other Jurracs. It was shrouded in scorching flames and was covered in thick, armour-like, purple scales. (?/?)

"Stupid dinosaur," Waylon muttered, "doesn't even know its own attack points."

"Actually," replied Matari, "Velphito's attack and defence scores are both determined by the combined attack of the Monster's used to summon him."

Velphito roared, the fire around its body becoming much more intense. (?-2600/?-2600)

"Uh-oh," groaned Waylon, stepping back "it's stronger than Double Shark."

"Battle Phase," Matari ordered, motioning for Velphito to attack.

The large dinosaur roared and charged at Double Shark, biting the fish in half with its jaws. (WLP:7600-7200)

"Your turn Guaiba," said Matari.

Guaiba roared and raced forward, biting into Unshaven Angler and throwing it into the air where it shattered. (WLP:7200-7000)

"Seems I'm back in…" said Matari, but was cut off when a blast of water knocked him on his backside.

Matari looked up to see that Unshaven Angler had been carried back into play by a stream of water, coming from Waylon's now face-up trap card.

"Torrential Reborn," the were-crocodile explained, "it revives a destroyed Water Monster and hits you with five hundred points of damage."

Another blast of water sprayed Matari. (MLP:7200-6700)

The now soaked Matari stood up, he wiped the water off his face. "In this heat," he said, "that was nothing more than refreshing."

"Whatever," Waylon growled, "you're five hundred points closer to walking out that door."

"Ain't gonna happen pal," said Matari, as another ball of fire appeared on his field. "Not with Guaiba's effect kicking in. You see, whenever he destroys one of your Monsters by battle, I can summon a Jurrac Monster from my deck."

Another dinosaur emerged from the ball of fire. It was based on a Monolophosaurus, with a blue body and a red and yellow head. Flames erupted on the tip of its tail and the top of its head. (1500/1200)

"Normally, Monoloph would be able to attack every one of your Monsters," Matari explained, "but Guaiba's effect prevents it from attacking this turn."

"Fat lot of good it's effect is then," Waylon snorted, "all that thing is is my Monsters' snack!"

"But like Gallim, it's also a Tuner," Matari added.

Waylon gulped again.

Monoloph and Guaiba glowed and flew toward the ceiling, turning into seven glowing stars.

Then with a loud crash, a large dinosaur landed on the field. It stood taller than Velphito and was almost twice as long. The creature was mostly blue, with yellow scales on its head and claws. The beast roared and glared at Waylon, who only glared back. (2100/1800)

"No fancy summon chant this time," Waylon commented.

"I couldn't think of one," Matari admitted, "maybe next time."

"If there is a next time," Waylon growled, flashing his jaws.

"Good point," said Matari, I shouldn't have to Synchro Summon again. Velphito and Giganoto should be all the muscle I need."

Both dinosaurs grinned, flashing their own teeth to Waylon.

"And by the way," Matari said, "as long as Giganoto is on the field, it and all Jurracs I control gain two hundred extra attack for every Jurrac in my graveyard!"

The spiritual forms of Velo, Protops, Gallim, Guaiba and Monoloph appeared behind Giganoto, making the flames around it and Velphito much more intense. (ATK:2100-3100) (ATK:2600-3600)

Waylon took a step back, whether out of instinct or fright was anyone's guess.

"If you can't stand the heat then get out of the kitchen," Matari smirked, confident that he now had control of the duel. "I end my turn."

"The kitchen is over there moron," snorted Waylon, pointing behind him. "And I'm cold blooded, this beats basking in the sun any day, much more… exciting." He then got a wild look in his eyes and snapped his jaws.

"My turn," he roared, energetically pulling the top card from his deck. "You're a fan of the ancients huh?" he asked.

"Yes," Matari nodded.

"Then you're gonna love this!" the lycanthrope yelled, playing a card, "I tribute my Unshaven Angler, using its effect to treat itself as two tributes."

Unshaven Angler glowed bright blue, and split into two identical copies.

"Ugh," Matari moaned, "now it's twice as ugly."

The two ugly fish then disappeared.

"Let's go! The ultimate predator! Hyper-Ancient Shark Megalodon!"

A huge shark appeared on the field, dwarfing both Jurrac Monsters in size. It was fifteen metres long and six metres high. The massive predator was covered in plate in heavy natural armour. (2900/1300)

"M… M… Megalodon," Matari gulped. He'd heard of this creature, it was the largest and most powerful ocean fearing predator that lived from sixteen to two million years ago.

Waylon chuckled evilly, "look's like the tide of this duel is turning Shadowchaser."

**0 - 0 KK 0 - 0**

Ezekiel carefully rushed down the staircase in his home, now dressed in a white button-up shirt and grey three-quarter trousers, he hid his messy hair underneath hidden underneath a beige bucket hat. A satchel was slung over his shoulder.

He stepped onto the landing, the floorboard quietly creaking underneath him, but the creaking was loud enough to alert someone of his presence.

"Good morning sweety," a soft, female voice said from another room, "I was wondering when you'd get out of bed."

Ezekiel turned to the right and made a beeline for the nearest door. "Morning Mum," he replied, as he walked into a moderately furnished kitchen with a round dinner table in the centre.

Sitting at the table was a middle aged woman, Ezekiel's Mother. Despite showing a few signs of aging, her facial features were rather soft with a warm, caring smile, and the same blue eyes and blonde hair as her son.

"I thought you would've left a little earlier?" the woman asked, looking at her watch.

"I kind of slept in," Ezekiel sheepishly admitted, spying a bowl of fresh fruit and a newspaper on the table.

"I know," she said, "I was checking earlier to see if you were awake, and you weren't. But you just looked so peaceful in tour sleep, so I left you to sleep."

Ezekiel sighed, any other day and his mother would've woke him up. "It's okay, I had trouble sleeping last night, I guess I needed the extra sleep." He reached out and grabbed an apple and a banana from the bowl, slipping them both in his bag.

"Well, now you have more energy for your day," she said.

"And less time to use it in," Ezekiel muttered under his breath.

"By the way?" his Mother asked, "just what are you doing today?"

"Oh, well…" Ezekiel answered, nervously twiddling his fingers, "there's a pro duellist showing up in the Harbourside Shopping Mall today, and he's like… super famous…"

Ezekiel was cut off by a loud sigh from his Mother. "I really don't get this world's obsession with that game."

Ezekiel pouted. He knew that for some people, Duel Monsters was more than a game, it was a way of life. But he wasn't about to start an argument with his beloved Mother over it.

"I'd better get going," said Ezekiel, beginning to turn around, "don't want to miss out. He might sign some of my cards…"

"Oh wait," called his Mother, "can you get some bottles of water on your way home."

"Why?" he asked, turning to face his Mother again.

She held up the newspaper (one that catered to ordinary, mundane humans). Ezekiel read aloud the large, bold headline on the front page, "Where's the Water Gone?" the headline was accompanied by yet another picture of the empty Warragamba dam.

"How does a dam run out of water overnight?" Ezekiel asked.

"I don't know, but it happened," his Mother replied, "maybe someone likes watering the garden too much."

Ezekiel let out a small chuckle at his mother's bad joke. "Alright, I'll get some on my way home. Now I'd better get going, I don't want to miss out on seeing someone so famous."

"Just be back for dinner, okay," said his mother, with a hint of concern in her voice.

"I'll definitely be back for dinner," Ezekiel nodded, as he turned around and left the room.

"Have fun," his mother smiled, "but be careful and don't forget the water!"

"I will, I will," he replied, "and I won't," he added.

Back in the landing, Ezekiel almost broke into a sprint as made his way to the front door, he reached for the doorknob, but stopped when out of the corner his eye, he spied something on the bench beside the the door.

It was his duel disk, D-Gazer and the small silver tin that contained his deck.

He looked at the objects for a second, then gathered them up and dropped them inside his satchel. He didn't know whether or not he'd use them today, but it didn't hurt to take them just in case.

"Seeya later mum!" Ezekiel called as he opened the front door and slipped into the world outside.

**0 - 0 KK 0 - 0**

"Alright Megalodon," Waylon ordered, pointing his claws forward, "let's show these guys what really killed the dinosaurs!"

"Hold it," said Matari, holding up a hand with a confident smile on his face. "There's two things wrong with what you said: the first; dinosaurs went extinct sixty-five million years ago, almost a full fifty million years before Megalodons existed. So it's impossible that Megalodons had a hand in the extinct of dinosaurs."

"And the second thing?" Waylon sneered.

"Your Monster is weaker than both of my Monsters," the Shadowchaser added.

Waylon smirked, flashing his teeth again. "About that," he said, holding up a Spell Card, "I activate Forbidden Chalice, which exchanges a Monster's effects for four hundred attack until the end of the turn."

"_Crap," _Matari thought, _"he could use it on his own Monster and then overpower Giganoto. Or worse, he could negate Giganoto's own effect and then attack it!"_

Matari was brought out of his train of thought by a roar from Velphito.

"You said before that Velphito's attack was determined by his effect, so what happens when we take that effect away? I want to find out."

Velphito roared again then dropped to its knees, its strength draining away. (ATK:3600-1400)

"Next I switch Mother Grizzly to attack position."

Mother Grizzly stood up and uncrossed its arms.

"What?" Matari yelled, "what did you do that for?"

"Attack!" Waylon ordered.

Megalodon opened its mouth revealing row after row of a massive set of sharp teeth. It charged at Velphito, biting the dinosaur clean in half. (MLP:6700-5200)

"You may have taken out Velphito," Matari yelled, as Megalodon retreated to Waylon's field, "but Giganoto only gets stronger with each fallen Jurrac!"

Velphito's spirit appeared behind Giganoto. (ATK:3100-3300)

"Doesn't matter," Waylon grinned, "You want to know why the Megalodon was the ultimate predator?" Waylon answered. "It's because when it goes hunting, it catches more than enough prey!"

Megalodon bit into Giganoto, the dinosaur roared in pain before disintegrating.

"What?" Matari gasped, "how did it destroy my Monster? Giganoto's attack was higher."

"Megalodon has a pretty powerful ability," Waylon explained, "whenever it inflicts damage to your life points, it devours another one of your Monsters.

"Which you're now out of…"

Matari glanced at his face down Descending Lost Star, then at the two cards in his hand and gritted his teeth.

Mother Grizzly roared, and charged at Matari. It struck the Shadowchaser across the chest with its claws. (MLP:5200-3800)

Matari dropped to one knee and held his chest. "Damn it," he cursed.

"I'll end my turn with one card face down," said Waylon, as a reversed card appeared behind his Monsters.

Matari slowly stood up, he was in pain, but still in much better condition than his sword (that he'd receive an earful for breaking). "My move," he said, drawing a card but not daring to look at it. _"This had better be something good," _he thought. slowly turning around the card and looking at it.

"_Good enough for now," _he thought, setting it on his disk. "I play this card face down, then I activate my other card, Descending Lost Star."

A set card appeared on Matari's field, while his other card flipped up.

"This card lets me special summon one Synchro Monster from my graveyard in defence position," Matari explained, as the trap card glowed, "but its defence score becomes zero, it loses a level, I can't change its battle position and its effects are negated."

Jurrac Giganoto appeared in a flash of light, crouching down with a dazed look on its face. (LV:7-6/DEF:1800-0)

"Are you really that desperate to defend yourself?" said Waylon, grinding his teeth together. "We'll tear through those defences like paper!"

"Who said I was defending?" Matari asked with a smile.

Giganoto let out a quiet growl as it disappeared in a trail of golden sparkles.

Then with another crash, a new Monster landed on the field. It was bipedal and slightly larger than Giganoto, with armour-like, blueish-grey scales and small pair of wings on its back (which clearly weren't large enough to allow flight). (2700/1400)

"Still two hundred points weaker than my Megalodon," said Waylon, taking note of Dinobeast's stats. "Hold on! That thing is level eight!"

"Dinobeast can be summoned by tributing only one Dinosaur Monster," Matari answered, "and yes, it is weaker than your Megalodon, but it is stronger than Mother Grizzly."

Dinobeast fired a beam of energy from its mouth, which incinerated the blue bear.

Waylon growled as his life points dropped. (WLP:7000-5700)

"I use Mother Grizzly's effect to summon Frilled Rabca from my deck!" the lycanthrope yelled.

A mustard yellow shark appeared. With a long, serpent-like body with many sharp fins protruding from it. (700/1500)

"I end my turn," said Matari, setting his eyes on his opponent's newest Monster. _"I've heard of that thing," _he thought, _"It has a pretty powerful effect, but it only works in the graveyard."_

"My turn," Waylon growled, tearing the top card from his deck.

"Hold it," said Matari, as the card he set last turn flipped up. "I activate Threatening Roar, so attacking this turn is no longer an option for you."

Dinobeast roared, sending out sound waves that made both of Waylon's sharks shudder.

Waylon let out a low growl, and took a step forward, his wild eyes fixated on the Shadowchaser, saliva dripped from his mouth.

However, he then clutched his head in his claws and shook it from side to side. "Gotta stay focused," he muttered to himself, "can't… lose… control."

Matari raised an eyebrow, "Are you okay?" he asked, showing a deal of concern.

"I don't need your pity, human!" snapped Waylon, grabbing the Frilled Rabca card on his duel and turning it sideways. "I end my turn," he growled - in a much more malicious tone than before.

"_He's getting mad," _Matari thought, _"on the plus side,_ _it'll throw off his duelling. On the downside, he's much more likely to drop to duel and just attack me."_

The Shadowchaser drew a card, silently praying that it could be something helpful.

**0 - 0 KK 0 - 0**

Derrilin sat atop a stolen D-Wheel in an alleyway. The D-wheel was the latest model and black in colour. The kenku was fiddling with the controls, he'd already learnt most of the controls, but there more he knew about the machine, the better.

"Oi, Derrilin", a familiar voice chirped, "you better have an escape plan ready."

"What took you so…" Derrilin began to ask, but lost the ability to speak as he set his eyes on his partner… and the young, unconscious kobold slung over his shoulder.

Derrilin's beak dropped, hanging open in shock. "W… What the hell are you doing?" he slowly asked.

"What do you think?" Kimba replied, "making money. I'm gonna set up a ransom, make that smelly lizard pay some serious green if she ever wants to see her daughter again."

"Okay," said Derrilin, shaking with a mix of shock and rage. "You do realise how much more difficult you've made this for use right?"

"Uhh… Tarni would approve," Kimba replied.

"Only because she's as dumb as you are!" snapped Derrilin, "you do realise that we noe have to lug this girl all the way to a safe house. All the while the Shadowchasers will be on our backs like a kookaburra on a snake! We'll all be behind bars at the end of the day because of you!"

Kimba shook his head, shaking Derrilin's word from his mind. "Ever heard of risk versus reward? If we pull this off, we'll never have to steal anything ever again."

"You know what, screw you, screw Tarni! I may be a thief, but I'm not a kidnapper!" Derrilin spat, starting up the stolen D-Wheel, "I hope you and Tarni rot in gaol!" he then sped away from his now former partner an the unconscious reptilian.

"More money for us asshole!" Kimba yelled, "enjoy your conscience you poor bastard!"

**0 - 0 KK 0 - 0**

"Alright!" Matari grinned, energetically slapping the card he drew on his duel disk, "It's time to turn this duel around! With Jurrac Aeolo."

A flame patterned dinosaur egg appeared on the field, crack slowly began to appear in the shell, until a small dinosaur broke out. It had blue and yellow scales, as well as some natural armour around its face. The infant dinosaur picked up a nearby piece of its shell and began to gnaw on it. (200/200)

"That's your magical turnaround card?" Waylon scoffed, "it may be adorable, but for my Monsters it's lunch."

Aeolo squawked and threw the egg shell it was gnawing on away in shock.

"Hey, don't scare him," Matari said defensively, "he only hatched ten seconds ago!"

"Oh please," Waylon once again scoffed, "do you know just how many would eat their own young? I bet his own mother would see him as nothing more than a slice of ham."

"Actually," said Matari, "reptilian parents usually protect their young. In fact, most crocodiles, even saltwater crocodiles, often take good care of their offspring. Not that you would know, considering how you act. "

Waylon gulped, then took a few breaths. What Matari had said seemed to have broken through to the lycanthrope, he seemed to be calming down, his body relaxed, he started to breath at a slower pace and his eyes lost their wild glare…

"His human and beast sides are fighting for control," Matari noted, "and it looks like the human side is gaining ground."

"Oi," Waylon growled, sounding more feral then ever, "you're not getting the better of me that way. We're finishing this the proper way," the lycanthrope then viciously chomped the air, "and if that doesn't work, we'll go back to doing it do it the _fun _way."

This time, Matari was the one gulp, he had to open his mouth. He took another look at his broken sword off to his side. He shuddered, the thought of what would happen if his opponent wrapped his jaws around one of his limbs popped back into his mind. Again, it was… terrifying to say the least.

The Shadowchaser then gritted his teeth. "What are he talking about?" he sarcastically asked, "I thought this was the fun way? Now I use Aeolo's effect, tributing itself to revive a level four or lower Jurrac from the graveyard."

Aeolo smiled and waved, slowly disappearing in a trail of golden sparkles. And in its place, Guaiba appeared, staring down the opposing Monsters and their master.

"Also," Matari added, "Dinobeast has another effect, every time I special summon a Dinosaur from my graveyard, I can draw one card from my deck." He drew another card and looked at it, _"Call of the Haunted," he thought, "pretty decent draw if you ask me, but not what I need."_

"Draw your entire deck if you like," said Waylon, "not a card in that deck can save you."

Matari rolled his eyes. "Let's see about that mate," he said, motioning for Guaiba to attack.

The long-necked dinosaur raced forward and sank its jaws into Frilled Rabca. The shark screeched for a few seconds then shattered.

"You're only making things more difficult for yourself," smirked Waylon, sliding the Frilled Rabca card into his graveyard.

"Good," said Matari, as a card poked out his deck, "I like a challenge. By the way, you do remember Guaiba's effect, don't you?"

Matari played the card, and another copy of Aeolo appeared in a burst of flames.

"Unfortunately," Matrai shrugged, "since this Aeolo was summoned from my deck, I can't draw a card. But I can in a second."

The second Aeolo disappeared, and was replaced by Jurrac Velo.

Matari drew another card, and looked at it. _"Just the card I need," _he thought, taking it and Call of the Haunted and setting them on his disk.

"I end my turn with these two face down cards," said the Shadowchaser, as two set cards appeared behind his Monsters. "Your move, boots."

"My move," Waylon grolwed, snatching the next card from his deck, he didn't bother to look at it.. "Hmm, which Monsters should Megalodon feast on…" the lycanthrope looked between Matari's three Monsters, the focused on Guaiba. "That one!"

Megalodon opened its mouth and charged at Guaiba.

"Just what I was waiting for," said Matari, hitting a switch on his duel disk, and causing his card to flip up. "Battle Tuned, by banishing one Tuner Monster from my graveyard, one Monster on my field gains the banished Monster's attack!" He held up Jurrac Monoloph, then pocketed it.

Waylon could only watch in horror as the spirit of Monoloph appeared next to the Guaiba, powering up the latter Jurrac. (ATK:1700-3200)

Then in a feat that defied physics, Guaiba and Megalodon collided, but the small dinosaur overpowered the massive predator and sent it flying

Megalodon shattered into millions of pixels. (WLP:5700-5400)

The look on Waylon's face was priceless, his snout pointing to the ground jaw hung low, his reptilian eyes fixated on his opponent…

But then he let out a chuckle.

"Oh well," he said, his trap card flipped up, it depicted a strange, shark-like Monster rising out of the sea, "I was saving this for a last minute finishing blow when you finally beat my Megalodon, but now's just fine."

"What are you talking about?" asked Matari, he gave the trap card a good glance, he'd never heard of that card before

"That trap is called Shark Splash," Waylon explained, "it's kind of like Torrential Reborn, but it reduces that Monster's that it summons attack power by one thousand points…" (ATK:2900-1900)

"And then comes the splash part, and it's a big splash."

Megalodon swung its tail at Matari, who could only mutter something unmentionable as he was punted a few metres across the room and into a table, which smashed to pieces upon its collision with the Shadowchaser.

"You get hit with damage equal to my Monster's new attack!" Waylon laughed.

Matari groaned. (MLP:3800-1900)

"I'm going to feel that tomorrow," said Matari, as he slowly tried to stand up, only to double over in pain. He clutched his shoulder, "never mind, I'm feeling it now."

"You can just lie down there," Waylon cackled.

He slowly got back up to his feet and limped back toward his opponent. "Listen pal," he said, "it's gonna take a lot more than a few bruises to make me give up. Since Guaiba destroyed that oversized tuna in battle, I use his effect to summon Jurrac Brachis."

In another burst of fire, a new Monster appeared. It was based on a Brachiosaurus, with a long neck, short tail and bright purple scales, the creature was covered in fire, it sat down and took a defensive stance. (1000/1000)

"And what does this one do?" Waylon asked with mock interest.

"Brachis can't be destroyed in battle," Matari answered, "but only while I control at least one other Jurrac."

"Then let's fix that problem," said Waylon, "Megalodon attack Jurrac Velo!"

The weakened predator lurched forward again, snapping up a panicking Velo in its jaws, shattering it.

Matari grimaced, as pixels rained down on him. (MLP:1900-1700)

"And don't forget," Waylon sniggered, "Megalodon gets to destroy another Monster.

The lycanthrope and Megalodon paused, thinking about which card to destroy…

"Hard decision isn't it?" Matari smirked, "you can destroy Dinobeast and reduce my draw power, but Guaiba is the stronger Monster…"

"Good point," Waylon cut it, as Megalodon chomped down on Guaiba, shattering the shrieking dinosaur.

"At least let me finish…" Matari sighed, a bead of sweat rolling down his forehead. "On the other hand, Velo's effect allows me to summon Jurrac Ptera from my deck."

Another burst of fire erupted on the field, and two large, green wings stuck out of the blaze, followed by a long, toothless beak. Most of the fire then faded, revealing the rest of the creature, a pteranodon with wings cloaked in flames. (800/1500)

"Technically, " said Matari, in a matter-of-fact tone, "pteranodons were not classified as dinosaurs. But try telling that to the people who make this game…"

Waylon ignored Matari's complaint and looked at the card he drew earlier, he snarled at the sight of it and set it on his disk along with another card. "I set these two cards on my field and end my turn."

A face down Monster and card appeared in front of Waylon.

"My move," said Matari as he placed his hand over his deck, and felt a rush of energy flow through him as he drew he turned around the card…

And could swear he heard a record needle scratch to a halt as he saw what it was; Mystical Space Typhoon - a good card, but not what he was hoping for.

Waylon couldn't help but snigger at the look on Matari's face, which was a mix of frustration and embarrassment.

"Let's try that again," said Matari, as his Call of the Haunted flipped up, "I revive Giganoto."

The trap flashed and Giganoto reappeared on the field with a mighty roar.

"And now two things happen," said the Shadowchaser, "first, since Giganoto is back and I have seven Jurrac's in my graveyard, all my Jurrac's gain one thousand four hundred attack!"

Giganto and Brachis roared, while Ptera extended its wings. (ATK:2100-3500) (ATK:1000-2400) (ATK:700-2100)

"I can survive your onslaught, Shadowchaser," snarled Waylon, his claws edging toward his graveyard.

"You would," said Matari, but I'm not ready to attack yet. I activate Dinobeast's effect, since Giganoto was summoned from my graveyard I can draw another card."

Once more Matari placed his hand over his deck. _"Come on guys, we've never let each other down before, let's not start now."_

He felt another surge of energy rushing through him, he drew the card and looked at it…

"Alright," he cheered, immediately slapping it on his disk, "I sacrifice Brachis and Ptera to summon my ultimate Monster!"

Brachis and Ptera disappeared, and no sooner than they did the temperature started to rise. Then, with a thunderous crash, landed a new Monster, a huge dinosaur (based on a Tyrannotitan - a huge species of dinosaur believed to have lived over a hundred million years ago). The Monster was almost twice a tall as Giganoto - reaching almost to the high ceiling of the café. (3000-4400/2000)

"Jurrac Titano!"

Waylon gulped again and his whole body shook. He then made a hissing noise.

Matari smirked, he knew most crocodiles made a hissing sound when they felt threatened, and pretty much anyone would feel threatened if the were facing down a Jurrac Titano.

"And, may I add," said Matari, "theres two more Jurracs in my graveyard."

The fire around Giganoto and Titano burned hotter than ever. (ATK:3500-3900) (ATK:4400-4800)

Waylon was speechless, he stepped back in fear.

"Just about time to finish you off," said Matari, slipping a card into his disk, "but before I do, I'll use Mystical Space Typhoon to tear your face down apart."

A cyclone kicked up, shredding Waylon's set card, Poseidon Wave, to pieces.

"Now it's time to attack," said Matari.

Titano gathered a fireball in its mouth…

"I activate the effect of my Frilled Rabca!" Waylon announced, reaching for his graveyard.

"Don't even bother," shouted Matari, "Titano is immune to Monster and trap effects that target it, and Frilled Rabca's effect targets."

Waylon tore his claws away from the graveyard and hissed at the Shadowchaser.

Titano launched the inferno gathering in its mouth at Megalodon, incinerating the weakened predator in an instant. (WLP:5400-2500)

"One Monster down," said Matari, glaring at Waylon, "two to go. Dinobeast, attack his facedown Monster."

Dinobeast fired a beam at the reptilian's set Monster, a dolphin with a puzzled look on its face. The creature squealed as it took the brunt of the blast, it slowly turned to look at its master, the puzzled looked turning into a pained, ashamed frown.

Waylon's eyes locked with his Monsters, he gripped his claws as his body began to shake.

"I am not just a beast," he said, in a voice that sounded much more human than before. "I'm human, and I can't forget that!"

The dolphin's frown turned into a smile moments before it shattered, it couldn't stand the attack any longer, but it didn't have to.

A cloud of dust was kicked up by the attack, obscuring Waylon from Matari's sight.

"_Get ready," _he thought, mentally preparing for his opponent to charge from the cloud at any moment.

But the lycanthrope never charged from the cloud. Instead, Matari watched as the dust cloud dispersed revealing a middle aged bald man, with one hand up in the air, the other holding up his stretched and tattered pants.

"I forfeit," said the man. (WLP:2500-0)

Buzzers sounded as the AR-field receded, the Monsters on the field disappearing with it.

Matari quickly fished a blue gemstone from his pocket, and raised it as he approached the man. "Don't try anything funny," he said, "a forfeit still counts as a loss."

Waylon said nothing as he shook his head, signalling that this wasn't a trick. "I'm so sorry," he said, his voice full of sincere regret, "I don't know what came over me. This is the first time I've lost control since my teenage years… It feels horrible."

Lycanthropes were unique among Shadowkind; they were born human (more or less) and remained that way through childhood. At puberty, they would gain their ability to transform into a beast, but whether or not they control the beast was based on willpower and self-control (and often took a lot of both).

"It…" Matari stammered, half unsure what to what to say, and half unsure whether or not Waylon's act was still a trick. "It's not as bad as it looks."

Waylon ignored Matari and took the Imiaruka card off his duel disk. He gave the card a good, long look, it was rather old and tattered, but clearly still useable. "My parents gave me this card when I first started to develop my powers…"

"Parents?" Matari blurted out, lowering the gemstone.

"Yes," Waylon nodded, getting down to a sitting position, "my parents are some of the lucky lycanthropes who share the abilities with their loved one, they were never forced to hide it. I was lucky to have both their support when I stared sprouting fangs and breaking out in scales…"

Matari gulped, feeling bad from his previous comment about Waylon's family.

The lycanthrope let out a depressed sigh. "They both had immense amounts of self control, it was if the beast side of them never existed." He pulled his knees up to his chest, "if they saw what I did today, I could never look them in the eyes again."

"Hey listen," said Matari, crouching down to see eye to eye to Waylon. "Your parents would be proud of you. When I walked in that door, all I saw was a beast. But you beat that beast, you proved who's stronger and in control. That would definitely make them proud."

Waylon looked the Shadowchaser in the eyes.

"Trust me," Matari continued, "I've been here before mate. Let's just say, sometimes parents know their kids better than their kids know themselves. They'll forgive you for this. I know they will. They've more than likely been through the same thing before."

Waylon smiled, showing his - no longer sharp, fang-like - teeth. "I guess you're right," he said, but turned his head and looked at his trail of destruction, "I just wish it didn't take so property damage to do so."

"Eh, it can repaired and replaced," Matari shrugged, standing back up, "the important thing is that nobody was hurt."

Matari then clutched his shoulder with a pained look on his face. "Okay, nobody _else_ was hurt."

Waylon took a look at the wound on his hand, it had already closed up and began to heal, due to his accelerated healing. "Sorry about that," he apologised.

"Eh," Matari shrugged, accidentally causing himself more pain, "it's okay, I get hurt all the time."

The Shadowchaser then spied the other half of his sword on the floor, and picked it up. It was covered in saliva.

"Sorry about that," Waylon sheepishly apologised.

"It's okay," Matari replied, "I'll just get another one."

_"But I'm not going to hear the end of it," _he thought.

An air of silence gathered in the café, until Waylon finally broke it. "There's police out there, isn't there? I heard the sirens in my bestial form."

"Don't worry about those, just wait here," said Matari, "I handle what's going on outside."

**0 - 0 KK 0 - 0**

"You're letting him go?" yelled Amelia, "after everything he did?"

Matari had pulled Amelia aside to talk privately in an alleyway, and it was pretty clear that she was not liking what she heard.

"It was just property damage," protested Matari. "And he said he was sorry."

"Oh he said he was sorry," Amelia sarcastically retorted, "that definitely make everything he did okay, doesn't it? Hold on, I'll just go release all the thieves, murderers and kidnappers I've arrested over the years because their sorry for what they did!"

"This is nothing like that!" shouted Matari, "he was a lycanthrope, these kind of things just happen. And besides..."

"You know what!" yelled Amelia, punctuating herself by jabbing Matari's chest with her finger. "You don't have a law-abiding bone in your body, do you? You think that you can just hide behind your boss and his stupid Treaty and laugh at those who struggle to deal with its ridiculous rules?"

Matari was about to reply, but Amelia continued her rant. "That Treaty makes a mockery of every other legal system on this planet! Complete immunity from every justice system except for yours! Strombringer must have his head jammed so far up his own ass…"

"That treaty has been around for a thousand years," Matari replied, pointing his finger in Amelia's face, "far longer than any laws you follow. Hell, it probably invented a few laws. And last time I checked, Jalal's head was on his shoulders, not jammed where the sun doesn't shine."

Amelia grumbled something unmentionable under her breath, before taking in a deep breath of air. "Just do what you want, that seems to be how both Shadows and Shadowchasers operate. No wonder the world is always in danger."

"Look," said Matari, "It's nothing like that…"

"I don't care," said Amelia, not even bothering to turn around. She returned to her squad and informed that the situation was over. Confused, annoyed and bitter, the officers began to collect up the equipment and disperse the crowd.

**0 - 0 KK 0 - 0**

On the outskirts of Sydney, a young woman walked out of a roadside shop. She was of average height with unbrushed black hair, her skin was a tanned brown. Her clothes consisted of silver and black-striped riding uniform, with a matching helmet sitting on her D-Wheel nearby.

The D-Wheel itself was silver in colour and the latest model. A set of black stripes ran horizontally down either side of the ride, with another pair on the front panel. Despite its near daily use, the D-Wheel was finely polished and in pristine condition, being on of its owner's prized possessions.

Her name was Arika Pearson, the fourth member of the Sydney Shadowchasers. She was the youngest member of the team at just twenty years old. She was carrying a bottle of water under her arm, and quickly trying to unscrew the lid on another.

She succeeded an threw the lid into a nearby rubbish bin and downed the other bottle in a few seconds, throwing that in as well.

"Why'd it have to be so damn hot today," Arika complained, opening the next bottle and downing it as well.

Arika threw that bottle into the bin as well. "Better get back to work," she sighed, heading back to her ride. She had hated the monotony of long eventless patrols, investigations and stakeouts, but that was the payoff for the exciting fights and duels that came with being a Shadowchaser.

She pulled her helmet over her head and hopped on her D-Wheel then started the engine. She quickly pulled away from the curb and raced down the street.

Unaware to Arika, she was being watched, by a fellow rider from across the street.

The man was human in shape and proportion, but his skin was comprised of small, green scales and his eyes were bright yellow with narrow pupils. He wore a helmet and riding suit the same colour as his scaly skin.

He was a snakeblood, the offspring of a human and an Ophidian (a snake-like species of Shadowkind that most Shadowchaser were all too familiar with). Ophidia often considered humans to be nothing more than prey (hence constant conflicts with the Shadowchasers), but sometimes, they saw humans as more than just that…

"So that's were you've been hiding," the snakeblood hissed, his forked tongue poking out his mouth. "Oh my dear Arika, you're sure in for a big surprise."

**0 - 0 KK 0 - 0**

**Shark Splash  
****Normal Trap  
****Image: **Number 32: Shark Drake rising from the ocean.  
**Effect: **When a "Shark" monster you control is destroyed: Target that Monster; Special Summon that target, but it loses 1000 ATK, then inflict damage to your opponent equal to its current ATK.

Note: Shark Splash was used by Reginald Kastle in episode 97 of "Yu-Gi-Oh ZeXal". Creative Credit goes to the writers of that episode.

**0 - 0 KK 0 - 0**

**Aboriginal/Indigenous Australian Dictionary**

Kimba: A name meaning bushfire or wildfire. _(Note - Kimba has absolutely no relation with a certain white lion created by the late Osama Tezuka.)_

Derrilin: A name meaning falling stars.

**0 - 0 KK 0 - 0**

**Kitten Knight: **And so Matari avoids becoming a delicious lunch for a hungry were-crocodile. Oh well, there's always next time.

Speaking of next time, who is this mysterious snakeblood? And what does he want with Arika?

And what about Ezekiel, Kimba, Derrilin and the kobold girl, how do they tie into this mess? And what about Stephanie? What is she, Arthur and their "organisation" up to?

You'll just have to wait until the next chapter.

Let's go! Round Three: Snake Whistle!

* * *

Mar 3 2015 - Minor edits.


	3. Snake Whistle

**Kitten Knight: **Just to let some readers know, the legal drinking age is Australia is 18.

The more you know…

**0 - 0 KK 0 - 0**

**Shadowchasers: ****Muru**

**Round 03: Snake Whistle**

**0 - 0 KK 0 - 0**

**The line between hero and villain is often quite blurred, in real life as much as fiction. Even in disputes with the law, it's sometimes hard to tell who's right and who's wrong. **

**One such figure is Australian folk hero Edward "Ned" Kelly and his disputes with the Victorian Police. Depending on who you ask, Ned was either an Australian Robin Hood, who stood up against the corrupt, incompetent and power-abusing Victorian Police and Government or a murderous villain who doesn't ****deserve the immortal folk hero status he has today.**

**Ned's story begins firmly on the hero side, at age eleven he saved another young boy from drowning in a creek. He was rewarded with a green says by the boy's family, Ned seemed to cherish the sash - it becoming one of his prized possessions. **

**Over the next few years, Ned had many run-ins with the law, his charges ranging from ****assault, theft to assaulting multiple officers. He gained a reputation for being a troublemaker This came to a head when Constable Alexander Fitzpatrick was called in to assist with the overwhelming levels of crime in the area. Unfortunately, Fitzpatrick was corrupt, stupid and rather lecherous, as well as a stinking drunk on top of all that. **

**Fitzpatrick arrived at the Kelly residence, with intentions of arresting Ned's younger brother, Dan, for horse stealing. However, neither Dan or Ned were currently home so Fitzpatrick stayed with the family for a few hours. Upon Dan's return, Fitzpatrick arrested the boy, but Dan requested to at least have dinner with his family before leaving, something that Fitzpatrick agreed to.**

**Over dinner, Dan's mother asked if Fitzpatrick if he had a warrant to arrest Dan when the officer replied that he only had a telegram, she refused to let Fitzpatrick take away her son. The Constable then drew his weapon, threatening to blow her brains if she interfered. Ned then appeared, and with assistance from his brother disarmed Fitzpatrick and forcibly kicked him from the home, injuring him.**

**Fitzpatrick trudged his way to the police station, claiming the Kelly family had assaulted him. Claiming that Ned shot him in the wrist and his mother bashing him over the head with a shovel.**

**Upon the police returning to the Kelly residence, Ned and Dan were nowhere to be found. Their mother, Ellen, and two of Dan's associates were arrested for the "assault" and Ned had a hundred-pound reward offered for his arrest. Years later, Ned claimed that this injustice escaped him, and what drove him to do what did.**

**Remembering this story, it's chilling to know that people who had agreed to uphold the law would bend and break it to their own ****desires.**

**But they don't do that anymore, right? **

**Right?**

**0 - 0 KK 0 - 0**

"Miss! Miss" called a voice.

The mother kobold's reptilian eyes flickered. She was lying flat on the grass behind the park bench she'd been sitting minutes earlier.

She groggily looked at the source of the voice above her. "She's coming to," it said.

The image of a human came into focus in the kobold's vision.

Her eyes snapped fully open, as the memories of what had occurred returned to her.

She and her daughter were happily sipping their beverages when they were confronted by a black-feathered kenku. He pulled out a small knife and ordered her to hand over all her jewellery. And when she refused, shoved her to the ground, which knocked her out.

She looked over herself, noticing that every piece of jewellery she had been wearing was missing… Then she noticed something else…

"Where's my daughter?" she cried, her yipping voice cracking in despair.

"Daughter," some members the small crowd gasped.

"I didn't see anybody else," said one of them.

The kobold mother looked around frantically and leapt up, visibly shaking. "My baby," she cried, running off from the bewildered crowd.

**0 - 0 KK 0 - 0**

Arika was now riding southbound on the Pacific Highway, she was driving at a rather casual pace - unusual for her.

"Now where was I going next?" Arika wondered, glancing over her controls.

Arika was descendent from the Murri groups of Queensland, at least on one side of her family. She had learnt a fair bit of aboriginal mythology from her family though she wasn't quite as knowledgeable on certain subjects as Matari.

Right now, she was conducting an investigation on a few attacks on people throughout the city. Two things were known about the attacks: they were always lightning based, with victims and the surrounding area having electrical burns, and the victims had so far all been tourists…

These signs pointed to one culprit, Wambeen.

Wambeen was an evil God from Aboriginal lore. He hated travellers and often hurled lightning at them, and with Sydney attracting over three million tourists a year - that was a lot of potential targets.

The Shadowchasers knew very little about Wambeen, just old folklore and tales from several Aboriginal groups (which was rather inconstant and often conflicted between groups). Interestingly, one fact that remained consistent was that he was known to smell like evil…

Though it was rather hard to pin a smell on evil, not every cackling, highly destructive maniac had the same hygiene practises.

Arika looked in her rear view mirror, as she was about change lanes. But noticed that another D-Wheel was approaching her rather quickly.

The D-Wheel was an older model - one that looked as if it hadn't been taken care of, with the black paint job peeling off and the metal underneath rusting.

Arika fully expected the rider to pass by her and was surprised when he pulled up alongside her, and stayed there.

After a minute or so Arika glanced over at the other rider. "Hey, buddy! You got a problem?"

"Hello honey," he said, giving a fanged smile to Arika.

Arika gasped, instantly recognising the man. "Jirra? I… I… I haven't seen you in like a month! Your sister said you went on a road trip…

"Which was kinda weird since you don't have a car or a…

"Wait! When did you get a D-Wheel?"

"Oh Arika," Jirra affectionally replied, "I've went on a journey to find myself, to discover my true potential, to…"

"You got you D-Wheel licence," said Arika.

A large bead of sweat roll down Jirra's forehead. "Yeah," he admitted, "and I wanted to keep it secret from you, so I stayed at my aunt's place in Penrith. So… how about a duel?"

"A duel?" said Arika, "sorry Jirra, but I'm busy right now."

"Oh come on!" Jirra complained.

"Sorry," Arika replied, "I told you I'm busy."

"Aww," Jirra moaned, "but we haven't duelled each other in ages."

"Couldn't you have just waited until I was at the bar?" Arika asked.

"I wanted to try something different, so why not have a Turbo Duel?"

"You mean Riding Duel?" corrected Arika.

"Whatever you call it," waved Jirra, "all I know is that I'm not gonna lose this time!"

Arika and Jirra had known each other (and duelled each other) for years, dating back to well before Arika became an Aware. Once her abilities unlocked, it was strange sight seeing one of her close friends with slimy, green skin, bright yellow eyes. a long forked tongue and fangs, but Arika rather quickly adjusted to it.

And Jirra had never won a single one of those duel, much to his displeasure.

"I'm sorry Jirra, but if I skipped out on my work one more time, Wendy will make me sleep in Zephyr's shed."

"Oh come on!" Jirra complained, "what happened to the Arika who'd shirk work and hang down at the bar, who'd blow off a patrol and shout us all a round of drinks. Who didn't give a damn what "stuck up, overgrown spice rack" thought."

"She's had to mop the floors, wash the dishes, clean out the fridge, dust the garage and change Zephyr's bedding far too many times," Arika answered. "And then there's that little talk I had with Jalal…

"You'd be surprised how quickly a person can change Jirra."

"Well change back!" pleaded Jirra, "This isn't the Arika I used to know!"

Other than the hum of D-Wheel engines, there was silence between the two.

Then Arika burst out laughing . "I'm sorry Jirra, but I couldn't resist. I can't believe you fell for that. Wendy's been trying to change my ways since I was an apprentice, you'd really think she'd succeed in a month?"

"Y… you've gotta be kidding me right?" Jirra stammered, "who…"

"Ratted you out," Arika smiled, "take a guess."

"Merinda," growled Jirra, slamming his fist down on his handlebars. "Stupid loudmouth sister!"

Veins pulsed on Jirra's forehead. "Okay, I'll kill my sister later. But right now I want a Turbo… I mean Riding Duel!"

"Damn it Jirra," said Arika, hitting a button on her console, "you're a bad influence on me."

"_Duel mode engaged,__" _her computer beeped, _"__requesting access from city grid.__"_

Like many large cities across the world, Sydney had followed the ideas of Neo Domino City and incorporated lanes dedicated to Riding Duels in freeways, highways and major roads throughout the city.

"You're welcome," Jirra smiled, blushing. He hit a button on his D-Wheel as well.

"But if anyone asks," said Arika, "you've been firing lightning at tourists."

"Okay," Jirra replied, not having a problem with that.

"_Access granted,__" _Arika's computer beeped.

Lights lit up the highway lane ahead of the two. Cars then vacated the lane, giving the two a clear space to duel.

"But just because it's your first time doesn't mean I'll go easy on you!" said Arika.

"I wouldn't have it any other way," responded Jirra, blushing ever so slightly.

"Duel!" shouted Arika and Jirra, as their D-Wheels sped down the highway. (Arika:8000/Jirra:8000)

"Ladies first," Jirra said in a gentlemanly manner, as he drew five cards and stashed them onto his gauntlet.

"Okay, I will," Arika replied in a rather unladylike tone, also drawing five cards and stashing them on her gauntlet.

"Hmm," she mused, looking over the cards. "An adequate hand," she grabbed one of the cards and played, "let's get this duel on track with Ruffian Railcar!"

A large blue portal opened up beside Arika, and a set of train tracks stretched out. Then, a large, red, heavily armoured freight train pushed forward out of the portal and along the tracks.

"Aren't you a little old to be playing with trains?" giggled Jirra, as he sped up ahead of Arika.

"Oh please," Arika replied, "these trains aren't for little kids, as you're about to find out. With Railcar's effect, I can inflict five hundred points of damage to you!"

Ruffian Railcar fired a beam from its headlights, hitting the back of Jirra's D-Wheel and causing it to shake. (JLP:8000-7500)

"And all the the moot cost of my battle phase this turn," Arika added.

"Hey! Watch it!" cried Jirra, as he straightened his wobbling D-Wheel.

"That's the risk of riding duels, Jirra," said Arika, taking another card from gauntlet and setting it. "I'll end my turn with this card face down."

A facedown card appeared momentarily on the road, before disappearing.

"My turn," said Jirra, drawing a card. Then gripped his handlebars as his D-Wheel revved and sped up.

"What the hell was that?" Jirra shouted in panic, clinging to his ride for dear life.

"We gained a speed counter," explained Arika, "this happens every standby phase you know."

"That's going to happen every turn?" gasped Jirra, looking at his D-Wheel's computer, seeing that his Speed Counters had increased to one. "It is…" he moaned.

"Better get used to it snakeface," smiled Arika.

"I will," Jirra grunted, taking two cards from his gauntlet, "I'll end my turn with these two cards."

A reversed Monster and card appeared between the two D-Wheels.

"That all?" Arika asked, drawing a card as their Speed Counters rose to two. Jirra cringed and clung to his D-Wheel as it sped up again.

The Shadowchaser looked over the four cards stashed on her gauntlet, none of them were offence orientated cards. _"__Looks like this might drag out a while,__" _Arika thought, _"__the question right now is should I attack with Railcar or use it__'__s effect__…"_

"_Oh, I__'__m overthinking it__…"_

"Railcar attack!" Arika ordered.

Ruffian Railcar blew its whistle, as the tracks ahead of it shifted so that they passed underneath Jirra's Monster. The train them pushed forward, quickly closing the gap between the two Monsters.

Jirra's face down Monster flipped up, revealing a large, green mantis; with orange compounded eyes and paper-thin wings. (1400/900)

The insect splattered on contact with the train, covering it in sickly green goo.

"That was a little more… realistic than I thought it would be," Jirra dully noted.

"Ew…" winced Arika, as Ruffian Railcar scraped the goo off its windows with a pair of wipers.

"Aww, well," Jirra shrugged, "since my Flying Kamakiri #1 was destroyed in battle, I get to summon a Wind Monster from my deck!"

In a flash of light, a new Monster appeared. It was a dragon clad in thick yellow armour, which came to a sharp point at the dragon's head. A set of wings stuck out the creature's back, while a long tail trailed behind the reptile. (1200/800)

"I think Dragunity Javelin will do just fine," said Jirra.

"Still using on Dragunity Monsters?"

"Why not?" Jirra replied, "dragons are awesome! Plus, there's nothing I'd love more than to soar through the sky like a dragon! Or at least on the back of one."

"You've never seen an actual dragon," said Arika, "and considering how rare they are…"

"Well, have you seen one?" Jirra asked, sounding desperate.

"No, but I've seen a few half-dragons," Arika replied, counting on her fingers, "those count, right?"

"Those don't count!" shouted Jirra, slamming his fist on the console, "they're not real dragons!"

It was a known fact that most reptilian Shadowkind and Shadowtouched had a great deal of respect for dragons, and often desired their great power, but some - like Jirra - took it a little too far…

"I'm going to end this conversation before this turns into yet another over the bar argument," said Arika, grabbing a card and setting it. "And while I'm ending things, I'll end my turn with this facedown Monster."

A hidden Monster flashed into existence next to Railcar.

**0 - 0 KK 0 - 0**

Matari and Waylon were sitting on a bench that overlooked Jackson Bay, the two men were discussing the events that had happened in the café.

Matari had offered Waylon a ride away from the scene, (he always kept a spare helmet in the compartment under the seat of his D-Wheel).

"So you don't remember anything?" asked Matari.

"Everything is one big blur," Waylon replied, "the last thing I remember is that I was drinking coffee.

"I'm switching to decaf."

"You do that," said Matari, taking out his broken sword and inspecting the break.

"Sorry about that," apologised Waylon.

"It's okay, it's only a sword. If it has been one of my limbs on the other hand…"

"Gaol for life," said Waylon.

The was an awkward silence between the two.

"Impressive jaw strength though," noted Matari, "if I remember the facts correctly, a saltwater crocodile's bite is estimated to exert over twenty thousand newtons of force."

"That is something I pride myself on," Waylon smiled.

Matari slid the broken blade back into the sheath. The two men sat in silence for a minute.

"I think I'm going to go home," said Waylon, standing up, "and stay there for a while. Get some rest."

"Do you want a lift?" asked Matari, standing up as well.

"No," Waylon replied. "I think I'll walk, I find it relaxing. But, thank you for everything you've done for me today, if there is anything I can do to repay you, don't be afraid to ask."

"You're welcome," Matari replied,

Matari watched as the lycanthrope walked off, eventually disappearing behind a wall.

He sighed and grabbed his shoulder, he was still very sore from the fight and the duel.

"I might just sit here for a while," he mumbled, resting against the seat.

**0 - 0 KK 0 - 0**

Kimba muttered swears under his breath, still rather pissed that his partner had abandoned him.

He was now wandering through the Harbourside Centre, a large shopping centre located on the other side of Cockle bay from the city from the city centre (and probably wasn't the best place to be with a kidnap victim, but Kimba clearly wasn't the brightest crayon in the box).

"Gotta get to the safe house before the Shadowchasers get onto me," he muttered, "or Tarni will kill me…"

Fortunately, for Kimba at least, kobolds were on the shorter end of Shadowkind, so he could pass off the young girl as his daughter, at least to mundanes. So passerby never suspected who they passed was a kidnapper.

But he silently prayed he didn't come across any Shadowkind, or at least any who cared for those outside their own race.

Though unbeknownst to Kimba, the young kobold girl eyes slowly flicked open…

**0 - 0 KK 0 - 0**

"My move," said Jirra, drawing a card, ignoring the jolt in speed each D-Wheel received as their Speed Counters rose to three. "I send Javelin to the graveyard to summon Dragunity Arma Mystletainn!"

Javelin disappeared and its place appeared a new dragon. It was much more humanoid than Javelin, and wielded a sharp sword. Its scales glistened in the sun, the dragon flapped its two sets of wings (one pair bird-like the other bat-like) and roared. At the tip of its tail was a barbed crest. (2100/1500)

"And since Mystletainn was summoned from my hand," Jirra gleefully added, "he can equip a Dragunity Dragon from my graveyard to himself."

Mystletainn's sword disappeared, being replaced by a long spear seconds later.

"_Twenty-one hundred,__" _Arikathought, _"__if he attacks Railcar, I can spring my Trap Card and destroy his __Monster__. The look on his face will be priceless__…"_

"_Sorry Jirra, but out here is where the big kids play__…"_

"Are you that naïve to think that I haven't learnt from all the other times you've beaten me," said Jirra, taking another card from his gauntlet. "Since I summoned Mystletainn using its own effect, I still have my Normal Summon…"

A portal opened up above Jirra, and a new Monster flew out. A woman with long, chestnut hair, she wore a toga and a green helmet, a pair of insect-like wings were attached to her back. (1700/1200)

"Not her…" muttered Arika.

"Dragunity Militum," said Jirra, "and I'm not done yet!"

"I know that!" shouted Arika, "just use Militum's effect already!"

"Fine then, I will!"

The javelin in Mystletainn's claws glowed bright yellow and transformed into energy. The energy then shot away and took the shape of Dragunity Javelin. With a small roar, the yellow dragon reappeared on the field and Mystletainn's sword reappeared in its claws.

"Now," said Jirra, "Javelin, Militum, time for a tune up! Synchro Summon!"

Javelin and Militum flew high into the air, turning into six shining stars. The stars shined bright and brighter.

"Rider and mount work together as one!" Jirra chanted, "descend the beasts of true unity! Dragunity Knight - Gae Dearg!"

"That's new," noted Arika, "so you use summon chants now? They're kinda silly aren't they?"

"That's your opinion," Jirra replied with a self-satisfied smirk.

Then a massive roar screeched through the air. As a new beast descended from the sky. As a serpentine dragon flew down from above, with dark blue scales and red armour. The dragon's head resembled a shape blade A rider sat atop the dragon, his armour reflected the dragon in colour, with a sword in hand. (2400/800)

"Sweet isn't he?" Jirra grinned.

Arika nodded and gritted her teeth. Admittedly she had been against worse Monsters, but Gae Dearg was definitely far more threatening now than it ever was on top the bar.

"You remember his effect right?" Jirra continued, as the Synchro Dragon glowed and a card stuck out of his deck.

"Yeah, yeah," said Arika, "once a turn, you can add a low level Dragon or Winged-Beast from your deck to your hand."

"I see you've been paying attention," Jirra replied, taking the protruding card and showing it to Arika.

"Dragunity Phalanx," she said flatly, having known what Jirra was planning from the start.

Jirra then discarded the card. "But after that I have to discard a Dragon or Winged-Beast from my hand. Gae Dearg may not be Dragon Ravine, but he's definitely the next best thing."

"_Don__'__t panic Arika,__" _the Shadowchaser thought, _"__it__'__s Jirra, he could still mess this up.__"_

"Battle phase!" Jirra cheerily announced, "Gae Dearg will attack your Ruffian Railcar."

Gae Dearg roared and flew at Railcar, crashing into the train headfirst, the blades cutting through metal like butter. The dragon the pushed itself off the train and flew back to Jirra's field.

Sparks fizzled from the train, it lurched and groaned before imploding into pixels. (ALP:8000-7400)

"Ruffian Railcar," Jirra laughed, "more like Ruffian _Fail_car!"

"Ugh," Arika groaned, "I think that pun was so bad I think a part of me just died."

"Well let's kill a little more of you!" shouted Jirra, as his facedown card flipped up, "I activate Dragon Rage, nothing can hide from a dragon's rage!"

"Mystletainn, attack!"

The yellow Dragunity roared, and slashed at Arika's set Monster. Revealing a pitch black engine with a fiendish face, black smoke poured out stack. The engine groaned, and shattered. (1400/1000)

Arika's grunted as her D-Wheel shook from the damage. (ALP:7400-6300)

"That was my Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive!" Arika announced, "and since it was flipped up, I can draw a card."

Arika drew a card and slowly added it to her gauntlet.

"If out of things to do this turn," Jirra smugly stated, "so you're up."

"Not yet I'm not," Arika declared, as a card stuck out of her deck. "Since its the end of a turn where Ruffian Railcar was sent to the graveyard, I can add a level ten Earth-Machine from my deck to my hand."

Jirra's reptilian eyes opened wide. "Snow Plow Hustle Rustle," he said in realisation.

"That's right fang-face," Arika replied, showing him the card it was indeed Snow Plow Hustle Rustle. Arika's deck auto-shuffled.

"Now, I'll make my move," said Arika, making a draw. Both rider's Speed Counter increased to four.

Jirra looked down at his speedometer as the gauge climbed higher, it read a hundred and twenty kilometres per hour. Sure D-Wheel's were built to handle well at speeds higher than this, but going at this speed still made him nervous, and the longer this duel dragged on the faster he would go…

Jirra's focus was dragged away from his console by Arika's voice. "I summon Lionhearted Locomotive!"

Another portal appeared along the road, and another set of tracks stretched out. The screech of another train whistle sounded, as a green steam engine chugged along the tracks. (2400/2100)

"Twenty four hundred attack on a level four!" Jirra gasped, having never seen this card before, "Alexandrite Dragon, Gene-Warped Warwolf and… some third monster are rolling in their graves."

"Relax," Arika replied, "Lionhearted Locomotive has a huge downside, if I attack with her, it costs me half her attack…"

"So I'll end my turn with face down card."

Another facedown card flashed into existence before fading.

"_This could get rough__…" _Arika thought, biting her lip as she looked up at Jirra's two dragons.

**0 - 0 KK 0 - 0**

Ezekiel sat on one of the many buses that escorted the vehicle licence-less throughout Sydney. (he did have his Learners Licence, but that meant he could only drive with a fully licensed driver in the passenger seat).

He watched as a D-Wheel sped by and disappeared ahead into the traffic. He wondered if he'd ever work up the courage to ride a D-Wheel, let alone participate in a Riding Duel.

He then took out his deck and thumbed through it, the idea getting more and more ridiculous to him with each card. His deck was reliant on Spell Cards, it'd never survive in a Riding Duel, where playing a non-Speed Spell Spell Card would cost you two thousand life points. And what kind of insane moron would do that?

The another D-Wheel, moving much faster then the previous one, sped past the window. Followed by a train, another D-Wheel and two Dragons.

The Dragons caused Ezekiel to jump to the (thankfully empty) seat next to him in fright, dropping his cards onto the floor.

"Sorry," he apologised to the inanimate pieces of cardboard, as he one-by-one picked up the cards.

**0 - 0 KK 0 - 0**

Back at the base, Wendy had tidied up the mess of newspapers that Matari had left out, and cleaned the space where he sat her saddle and equipment (she had moved the saddle to a different location).

The female Shadowchaser had spread her deck across the table, including the Extra and Side decks. Notably, bar one notable exception, all the Monsters were of the same attribute.

She plucked one card from the table, a Normal Monster Card, a level four with two-thousand attack and zero defence.

"If I take this card out Zephyr will kill me," she said, putting the card back.

Then came a knock from the front door.

Wendy quickly scooped the cards into a neat pile then made her way to the door.

As Wendy neared closed to the door, the knocking increase in force and pace, scratching sounds eventually joined in.

"I'm coming, I'm coming," Wendy loudly grumbled, "just calm down before you scratch the paint."

Wendy opened the door, to find a red-scaled kobold gasping for air, she looked red in the face (well, mores than usual).

"Please, please," the kobold pleaded, dropping to her scaly knees on the welcome mat. She looked to be exhausted, both physically and mentally. "My daughter's been kidnapped."

"Kidnapped!" Wendy exclaimed, helping the distressed mother to her feet, "please come inside."

Wendy helped the distressed kobold inside, taking her into the living room and sitting her down on the sofa. Wendy grabbed a pen and paper off the coffee table in front of the couch.

"Please, tell me what happened," said Wendy, clicking the pen, "give me every detail you can remember."

"Okay," the mother sniffed, fidgeting with her claws. She was clearly very uncomfortable recounting the events,"we were in Tumbalong Park…"

"Tumbalong Park," parroted Wendy, jotting it down.

"Then," she sniffed, fighting off tears, "we were attacked by a kenku…"

Wendy tensed up at the mention of that particular species of Shadowkind, she jotted something else down on the paper and underlined it.

"He demanded that I give him all my jewellery, and threatened us if we didn't."

"And did you give him all your jewellery?"

"Yes," she sniffed and paused. "Then… then…"

"Then?" prompted Wendy.

"He demanded that I hand my daughter over to him," she answered.

"And did you?" Wendy innocently asked.

"NO!" the kobold yelled, leaping to her feet, "how dare you even think I'd treat my daughter like that!"

Wendy was bewildered, she help up the pen and paper between her and the angry mother. "I'm sorry," she replied, "I didn't mean it like that."

"Just like you humans," the seething mother spat, "every other race is little more than livestock to you! Well even a cow loves it calf!"

Wendy felt uneasy, the pen in her hand shook, she took a deep breath. "Look, I'm trying to help you, and I need your cooperation right now, so please calm down.

The kobold sighed and sat down, she began to twist her robe. "I'm sorry, it's just she's my baby. I remember the day she hatched."

Wendy simply nod. "I know, it's truly a magical moment to see the first crack," she added.

The kobold gave Wendy as strange look. "Humans hatch from eggs?" she asked.

"No," Wendy answered, "we're getting off topic. What happen after he tried to take your daughter?"

The mother sighed once more, it was clearly very difficult to recount the events, but she knew it was for the best. "I told him no, he had enough. But he wouldn't have that, so he shoved me over. It knocked me right out."

Wendy nodded and noted something else down on the paper.

"I don't think I can remember anything else."

"Do you remember what this kenku looked like?" Wendy asked.

The mother sighed. "He had black feathers and a large black beak. That's all I can remember."

The kobold sighed, and nervously played with her claws. Her information on the criminal's appearance wasn't particularly helpful, kenku with black feathers were much more common than other colours and patterns.

Wendy bit her lip. "Right," she said, "I'll head out, the sooner the search starts the better. I'll call the rest of my team, and see if they can help."

The Shadowchaser got up and grabbed her deck from the table and placed it the box on her belt, making sure the clip that kept it shut was secure.

"Would it be possible to ride with you?" the mother asked, "I can help search. I have a brilliant sense of smell, plus a mother's instinct."

Wendy sighed and turned around. "I'm sorry, I know you've ran all the way here from Tumbalong park. But my method of transportation is rather strictly single person only."

"Please," she pleaded.

"I'm sorry but no."

"I promise not to scratch the paint job, or squeeze too tight, or…

"It's not a D-Wheel," said Wendy, beckoning for the kobold to follow her out the door, "Follow me, and if you still want a lift in a minute I'd be delighted to give you one."

**0 - 0 KK 0 - 0**

"My move!" Jirra announced. Making his draw as the Speed Counters flicked up to five apiece.

"_Gotta remember,__" _thought Jirra, _"__she has Snow Plow Hustle Rustle in her hand, no direct attacks for a while.__"_

"What are you waiting for?" taunted Arika. "Christmas?"

"Hold you horses," said Jirra as Gae Dearg flashed again. "I'll use the big guy's effect to add Dragunity Dux to my hand."

A card stuck out of the snake blood's deck, and he added it to his hand. Then grabbed another card, "and I'll discard Dragunity Primus Pilus."

"_Phalanx in his graveyard, Dux in his hand,__" _thought Arika, _"__no guessing what he__'__ll do next.__"_

"I summon Dragunity Dux!" announced Jirra.

Another portal opened up over the road, and another Monster flew out. It was a man in a white toga, with metallic wings attached to his back. (1500/1000)

"And since Dux was Normal Summoned," Jirra explained, as a blue gauntlet appeared on Dux's arm, "I can…"

"I know, I know," said Arika, "equip him with a low level Dragunity from your graveyard. You use this strategy all the time, why do you keep explaining it?

"Common courtesy," Jirra grinned, "so I'll also let you know that Dux gains two-hundred extra attack for every Dragunity card I control."

Dux flexed his muscles as he glowed with energy. (ATK:1500-2300)

"Now I'll use…"

"Phalanx's effect," Arika cut in, "Special Summoning it from the Spell and Trap card Zone."

As Arika stated, Dux's gauntlet flashed and transformed into blue energy. The energy took the form of blue bipedal dragon, with large wings and a pair of large horns. (500/1200)

"Am I really that predictable?" Jirra asked.

"Considering that your using the signature move of pretty much every Dragunity deck," Arika replied, "I'd say yes."

"Whatever!" snapped Jirra, "who cares if you predict my strategy. I'll still beat you one day!"

"Ever hear what Einstein said?" Arika asked.

"That it's become appalling obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity?" Jirra answered, knowingly pressing Arika's buttons.

"Not that!" snapped Arika, "that insanity is doing the same thing over and over again. So you're never gonna beat me if you keep using the same strategies, Jirra."

"I can still try!" Jirra shouted, raising his hand, "I'll tune Dragunity Phalanx with Dragunity Dux!"

The Dragon and Winged-Beast flew into the air and turned into six shining stars.

"Rider and mount work together as one!" Jirra chanted, "descend the beasts of true unity! Dragunity Knight - Gae Bulg!"

"You reuse your chants too!" laughed Arika.

A loud roar filled the air, as a new dragon descended onto the field. It was large and serpentine with dark blue scales. Silver armour covered the beast. A rider with a similar colour scheme who wield a lance rode on the creature's back. (2000/1100)

"I know its effect," Arika said in a bored tone. "Whenever Gae Bulg battles you can banish a Winged-Beast from your graveyard and gain its attack power."

"You know," said Jirra, "just because you know my Monster's abilities doesn't mean I can't beat you! Gae Bulg attack!"

Gae Bulg roared, and charged at Lionhearted Locomotive.

"You know," Arika said smugly, her Trap Card flipping up, "I disagree."

"Breakthrough Skill!" Jirra shouted, "Shit!"

"This Trap robs your Monster of its effect until the end of this turn," Arika explained, "but he's not going to live that long."

Electricity flowed through Gae Bulg, paralysing both rider and mount. Lionhearted Locomotive blew its whistle and sped toward the helpless dragon, effortlessly shattering it to pieces.

"Looks like Lionhearted Locomotive really was the little engine that could... Crush you like a bug!" laughed Arika.

Jirra grumbled as shards of his Monster rained down on him. (JLP:7500-7100)

The snakeblood took a card from his gauntlet and set it on his disk. It flashed onto the field then faded. "Turn end," he muttered.

"My turn," Arika announced, as her and Jirra's Speed Counters went up to six.

"_Damn, Night Express Knight,__" _she though, looking at her draw card as she stashed it with the rest of her cards, _"__and Jirra knows I have Hustle Rustle in my hand, so I probably won__'__t be summoning that for a while. Looks my plans to summon Gustav Max have been derailed. Time to change tactics.__"_

"I set a Monster and end my turn."

A facedown Monster appeared beside Lionhearted Locomotive.

Jirra perked up and smiled. "So it looks like you're running out of options," he said, "maybe you shouldn't have so many high level Monsters in your deck."

"Just make your move," grumbled Arika.

"I will," said Jirra, drawing. His eyes opened wide as he saw what it was.

"_Sweet Mirror Force.__"_

Arika narrowed her eyes._ "__He just drew something good,__" _she thought.

The Speed Counters climbed to seven.

"I use Gae Dearg's effect," Jirra announced, "adding another Dux to my hand."

"Here we go again," groaned Arika, as Jirra grabbed the Winged-Beast from his deck, and discarded Dragunity Angusticlavii.

"Now I'll summon him," said Jirra, "and use his effect."

A second copy of Dux appeared, and a blue gauntlet formed around his arm. (ATK:1500-2300)

"Ring, ring," said Arika, giggling.

"What?" Jirra asked, slightly irritated.

"It's an astronaut," Arika answered, "he can see your strategy from space!"

Jirra narrowed his gaze. "That's it, it's time to take you down! I use Phalanx's effect."

The blue gauntlet glowed and disappeared. While Dragunity Phalanx appeared on the field.

"Now I tune them together!"

Phalanx and Dux flew up into the air, once again transforming into six shining stars.

"Synchro Summon, Dragunity Knight - Vajrayana!"

The stars aligned and let out a bright glow. When the light faded, a new Monster flew down, an orange-scaled serpentine dragon, with two sets of bat-like wings and a long tail. A heavily armoured rider stood on the creature's back. (1900/1200)

"No fancy summoning chant this time?" Arika asked.

"Now you're complaining about me _not_ making a summon chant," sighed Jirra, "jeez, there's just no pleasing you."

Vajrayana roared, as the riders weapon disappeared and was replaced by a yellow javelin.

"Oh yeah," said Jirra, "when Vajrayana is Synchro Summoned, I can equip him with a Dragunity from my graveyard, like Javelin.

"But by sending a card that's equipped to him to the graveyard, Vajrayana can double it's attack for the turn!"

The javelin in Vajrayana's hands disappeared and was replace by his normal weapon. Then the rider and mount glowed with energy. (ATK:1900-3800)

Arika grit her teeth, admittedly she knew Vajrayana's effect, but there was nothing she could do about it at this point. She was going to have to take the full force of Jirra's attacks.

"Vajrayana, let's go train spotting!" ordered Jirra.

The red dragon roared and flew forward. The rider stabbing its spear deep into Lionhearted Locomotive's front plate. The failing machinery of the train let out a metallic, soulless groan before it shattered. (ALP:6300-4900)

"Now Gae Dearg attack her face down Monster!"

Gae Dearg tackled Arika's set Monster, bashing it with its head several times. The reversed flipped up to reveal a small robot with gears attached to either side of it, holding two large shields in a futile attempt to protect itself from the dragon's onslaught. (1100/1900)

Seconds later, it shattered like to was made from glass. (ALP:4900-4400)

"That was my Geargiarmor," Arika explained, as a card stuck out from her deck, "and when he's flipped, I can add a Geargia Monster from my deck to my hand, like Geargiaccelerator."

She flipped the card around and flashed it at Jirra.

"It's not much help there," said Jirra.

Arika readied herself for Jirra's next attack, her hand inched closer and closer to Snow Plow Hustle Rustle…

"Mystletainn…" Jirra ordered, "Mystletainn, you wait right there."

"What?" Arika gasped.

"I'm not stupid, Arika," said Jirra, pointing to the space where Arika's invisible Trap Card was. "You still have that card, which means if I attack you'll just destroy it and Special Summon Hustle Rustle."

"Damn," Arika cursed, she was this close to catching him off guard.

"And you call me predictable," Jirra smugly stated.

"I'll say that's an improvement," admitted Arika, "last time you would've charged straight through, and you can see the cards on the table."

"I am pretty awesome, aren't I?" Jirra smirked. "I'll just set this card face down and end my turn."

"_That__'__s the card he drew,__" _thought Arika, watching as the card disappeared above the road.

"Your move, sweetie," smiled Jirra.

**0 - 0 KK 0 - 0**

Wendy and the mother kobold stepped out the back door and into the back yard. It was extremely tidy and well cared for, with plenty of blooming flowers and plants, a birdbath and a tiled patio with a at table and chairs. A large garden shed in the corner, which looked to contain much more than gardening tools.

Wendy placed her fingers in her mouth and whistled.

After a few seconds, the loud cry of an eagle replied. As a large beast flew over the house and landed in front of them.

The beast had the head of an eagle, with a sharp, pointed beak and two beady eyes and two large, pointed ears sticking straight up of its head. Two taloned legs propped up the creature's front half, which was covered in soft, golden-brown feathers. The hindquarters of the creature were that of the lion, with fuzzy brown fur, two powerful legs and a tail than sail back and forth behind the beast (which ended in a small plume of feathers). A large set of golden, feathery wings extended away from the beast, which were quickly folded against its back.

The mother kobold's mouth hung open, her worries about her daughter momentarily disappearing being replaced by a fear for her life. She quickly leapt and cowered behind Wendy's legs.

The creature in front of the human and kobold was a gryphon, the not-so-mythical combination of an eagle and a lion. Prized as aerial steeds, known for their grace and precision in flight and their valour and power in battle. Gryphons were also rather intelligent, being able to understand language (though not speak it) along with a few more complex commands than sit, stay and roll over. There were also very good at guarding treasures and priceless possessions.

"Do you still want a lift?" Wendy asked, certain the answer would be no.

The kobold mother cowered behind Wendy. "I… I… I think I'll pass," she replied, still cowering behind Wendy and not taking an eye off the gryphon in front of her.

"Don't worry she won't hurt you," said Wendy, "she's been trained."

Zephyr cocked her head to one side and gave the terrified kobold a curios glance, who continued to cower behind Wendy.

"Come on," said Wendy, guiding the terrified reptilian back into the house. She craned her head around to speak to Zephyr. "Wait here, I'll be back in a minute."

A minute later, Wendy emerged from the doorway, caring the large leather saddle and a thick scarf.

Zephyr stretched her wings as Wendy quickly unbuckled some straps and wrapped them around her wings, neck, front legs, head and underbelly, quickly buckling them back together and making sure they were tight.

Less than a minute later Wendy stood back up, with a satisfied smile on her face, that had probably been the fastest she'd ever put on Zephyr's saddle, it definitely helped that for once Zephyr remained still.

Wendy climbed on her steed's back and strapped herself to the saddle (extra precautions were with aerial mounts - falling off a horse would hurt and _could _kill, but falling off a gryphon mid-flight was _certain _death). She pulled her goggles over her eyes, then checked the straps again, gently tugging at them.

She then put on her aviator goggles over eyes and put on the scarf, pulling it up over the lower half of her face to protect her face from the wind.

"We're good to go," said Wendy, nodding to Zephyr, who had her head turned to the side, her eyes locked on her rider.

Zephyr nodded back to her rider and extended her large, feathery wings. Then, with a small leap and a powerful beat of the wings, took off into the air.

Wendy clung to the saddle's straps as Zephyr climbed higher and higher. Her heart beat faster and faster, she and her family had always had an affinity with the wind, so she felt right at home almost a hundred metres in the air.

Which was at that height that Zephyr stopped climbing and straightened out, she occasionally glanced either side of her or back at her rider, but like any good driver (or in this case flyer) she kept a close eye on the road (or air) ahead.

Wendy smiled, it always felt great to have the wind in her face. Arika, Matari, Rowan and almost every other Shadowchaser had their D-Wheels, but she and Zephyr alone ruled the skies. It was something that made her feel special… unique… extraordinary…

"Alright girl," said Wendy, "Tumblalong park, we'll start searching there."

Zephyr gave a glance to Wendy and nodded, and made a gentle turn.

As stated, gryphons were intelligent creatures, and both Zephyr and Wendy had been Shadowchasers for six years now, so Zephyr knew were many of the places in the city that the duo would visit.

The would be there in no time.

**0 - 0 KK 0 - 0**

Kimba continued his trek to the undisclosed destination to meet his boss. The young kobold he had kidnapped still unconscious over his shoulder.

Well, at least he could have swore she was unconscious. Her reptilian eyes flicked open and fixated on the figure that was carrying her, it wasn't her mother…

At that moment, instincts took over, she opened her mouth and snapped it shut over the kenku's arm, plunging her small, sharp teeth deep into his flesh.

Kimba screamed and released his grip on the young kobold, accidentally flinging her out of his reach.

She quickly got to her feet, took one quick look at her kidnapper and ran away, as fast as her short legs could take her.

Kimba tried to keep an eye on the girl, but was distracted by the wound she inflicted on him. It was bleeding rather badly.

Here tore the sleeve off his shirt, and began binding it tightly around his bleeding arm, muttering swears the whole time.

"What are you looking at?" he yelled at a couple who were staring at him.

The couple awkwardly turned away and left.

"Where did you go?" Kimba grumbled, angrily looking through the mall.

**0 - 0 KK 0 - 0**

"Come on deck," said Arika, placing her hand over it, "give me something good!"

The Shadowchaser drew a card, feeling a surge of energy flow through her.

Arika and Jirra's Speed Counters climbed to eight. Both D-Wheel's were travelling at two-hundred KPM, but Jirra had long forgotten his worries about that.

"I activate Speed Spell - Angel Baton, since I have way more than two Speed Counters, lets me draw two cards."

Arika drew two cards, her expression lighting up as she looked at them.

"So long as I discard one afterward."

She held the card she was about to discard forward, it was Snow Plow Hustle Rustle.

"You're giving up your best defence!" Jirra gasped, as Arika slid the card into her graveyard.

"Oh well," Arika replied, "you know what they say; that the best defence is a good offence! I summon Night Express Knight!"

Another set of tracks appeared out of portal as the sound of whistle sounded. Sure enough, pushing forward along the track was a new Monster that was, oddly enough, a white knight in shining gold armour, armed with a lance and a shield, which was bolted at the waist to the engine. (3000/3000)

"_Oh crap,__" __J_irra thought, _"__there only one reason she__'__s do that.__"_

"I can summon this girl here without tributing any Monsters," explained Arika, "but I do have to give up all of her attack in exchange."

Night Express Knight hit its brakes, sending sparks flying out either side of the tracks. (ATK:3000-0)

"_She__'__s gonna summon Gustav Max,__" _thought Jirra, _"__but the question is how? She usually uses that __Monster__ with Hustle Rustle - which is in the graveyard, or Resonance Device or Southern Cross, but she would have those in her deck right now, would she?__"_

"You know," said Arika, "I got this card a few days ago, but I've never been able to use it until now.

"So congratulations on being victim number one."

"New card?" Jirra gulped, he'd already seen Lionhearted Locomotive, just what else had Arika managed to get her hands on in the last month?

"Since I summoned an Earth Machine, I can Special Summon Heavy Freight Train Derricrane from my hand!"

An brown-tinged portal opened up next to Arika, and another set of tracks stretched out. Thick black smoke poured through the portal, as a loud horn screeched through the air. The a large, powerful yellow engine remerged from the portal, pulling large crane behind it. (2800/2000)

"But like Night Express Knight," Arika added, "summoning Derricrane like this comes at a cost… Half of her attack and defence scores."

Derricrane's breaks screeched as the train's engine coughed and spluttered. (2800-1400/2000-1000)

"Let me guess…" Jirra started.

But then Arika cut in. "Yep, Derricrane is level ten. So let's roll! I use Night Express Knight and Heavy Freight Train Derricrane to construct the overlay network!"

A huge portal opened up behind Arika, swallowing the slow moving two trains.

"Xyz Summon, Superdreadnought Rail Cannon Gustav Max!"

Three sets of rails shot out of the portal, as the screech of metal grinding against metal offended nearby eardrums. Three separate engines slowly chugged out of the portal, sharing the weight of massive dark-green, metallic cube.

Jirra gritted his teeth. _"__This is gonna hurt,__" _he thought, then looked at his set Mirror Force, _"__but_ _then it__'__ll be my turn to dish out some damage.__"_

The cube the began to unfold, revealing that it was concealing a massive cannon. With its barrel pointed directly at Jirra. Two glowing spheres with trailing lights orbited the Xyz.

Jirra gulped, certain of what was about to happen. He remember all the times Arika had summoned this card over the table, and she'd "simulate" the damage by flicking him the nose, which hurt a fair bit more than it should have…

But that was nothing compared to what he was about to take.

"I activate Gustav Max's effect, using one of her Xyz Materials to inflict two thousand points of damage to you!" She took Derricrane out from underneath Gustav Max and slid it in the graveyard.

An Xyz Material floated into Gustav Max's barrel. Gears shifted within the Machine as it set it pointed its cannon barrel at Jirra, who could only swear in panic as particles of light gathered

Then Gustav Max fired, catching Jirra and his three Dragons in a powerful explosion. A massive cloud of soot and dust kicked up around the immediate area.

"Ouchie," Jirra groggily groaned, as his D-Wheel rolled out of the dust cloud. (JLP:7100-5100)

"And that's not all snake boy."

"What?" Jirra screamed, the stopped himself. "Oh right, the attack."

"_Heh,__" _he thought, _"__The look on her face__…"_

"Oh, I almost Derricrane has another effect," Arika added, "When she's detached to activate a Xyz Monster's effect, I can destroy one card on the field!"

"What?" Jirra gasped, "no fair!"

A black, smoky aura appeared around his face down Mirror Force and moments later it shattered like glass.

"I told you I wasn't going easy on you," Arika smiled, "and just to add injury to more injuries. I activate Skill Successor, giving Gustav Max an extra four hundred attack this turn.

The Trap that Arika had set on the first turn finally flipped up, as a red aura appeared around Gustav Max. (ATK:3000-3400)

"Attack Gae Dearg!" Gustav Hammer."

More gears turned inside Gustav Max as the Xyz readjusted its aim for Gae Dearg.

Jirra nervously glanced at his the spot where his other face down card was sitting, silently wishing Arika had destroyed that one instead of Mirror Force.

Gustav Max fired another shot, effortlessly destroying Gae Dearg in a powerful explosion. (JLP:5100-4100)

"I'll end my turn with one card face down," said Arika.

Another face down appeared above the road, then disappeared.

Jirra shook himself before he drew a card. "Please be something good," he gulped, then looked at the card. He ignored the jolt of speed his D-Wheel received as both he and Arika gathered another Speed Counter.

"I set a Monster face down," he said dejectedly, slipping his drawn card onto his duel disk. "Then switch both my Monsters to defence position."

An unknown Monster joined his ranks, as Mystletainn and Vajrayana switched to defensive stances.

"That's my turn."

Arika rode up alongside Jirra. "Aw, does Jirra not have any good cards to play?" she taunted.

"NO!" Jirra sulked, "just, gathering what I need."

"That's what they all say," said Arika, drawing a card as the Speed Counters reached ten apiece.

Jirra sighed and looked at the two cards in his hand: Dragunity Brandistock and Dragunity Tribus. He kind of wish he had at least one more card to work with…

"Damn it!" he quietly swore, realising that he could've used Speed World 2's effect to draw.

"Don't be too hard on yourself, Jirra," said Arika, "it's only your first Riding Duel.

Jirra's frown turned into a smile. "Thanks Arika, I…"

Only to be hit by another shell from Gustav Max. He let out a pained groan, as the ensuing explosion kicked up another cloud of dust. (JLP:4100-2100)

Jirra's D-Wheel sped out of the dust cloud, the snakeblood had a even larger frown on his face. "I hope someone shoots you with a giant cannon one day, just so you know how it feels."

"That'll be the day," said Arika, taking a card from her gauntlet. "Let's get back to the action. I summon Geargiarsenal!"

In a flash, a large colourful tank appeared beside Arika. The tank was piloted by a small gear-shaped robot and was equipped with four claw-like arms and four cannons. It seemed to struggle to keep up the fast pace of the D-Wheels. (1500/500)

"Which gains two hundred attack for each Geargia Monster you control," said Jirra, "including itself."

The claws on Geargiarsenal grabbed at the air. (ATK:1500-1700)

"And since I control a Geargia Monster, I can Special Summon Geargiaccelerator from my hand in defence position."

A portal opened up behind Arika and a new Monster sped out. A blue and yellow race car that was piloted by a gear-shaped robot. The race car sped alongside Arika's D-Wheel. (1400/800)

"Yep, Geargiaccelerator," Jirra flatly noted, "coming up next, an Xyz Summon."

"Not quite yet," Arika replied, "first I activate the effect of Geargiarsenal, tributing itself to summon a different Geargia Monster from my deck, like the original model Geargiano."

Geargiarsenal disappeared into a golden light, and another portal open up above Arika. After a few seconds, a small robot flew from the portal, it looked to be one of the gear-shaped robots that operated the larger machines in Geargiarmor, Geargiarsenal and Geargiaccelerator. (500/1000)

"But he can't stay for long," Arika continued, "because by tributing himself, Geargiano can revive a low level Machine from my graveyard, but with its effects negated."

Geargiano saluted to Arika, as it disappeared. A black portal then opened up and Geargiarsenal rose out of it.

"Now I contract another Overlay Network, using the level four Geargiarsenal and Geargiaccelerator."

Another portal opened up, and the two Machines drove inside. Then a large mechanical hand grasped the side of the portal.

"Let's roll! Gear Gigant X!"

A large mechanical humanoid marched through the portal. It was three metres tall, heavily armoured with plenty of gears throughout its body, including a large gear attached to its back. (2300/1500)

Its eyes glowed red from underneath its vizor.

Jirra gulped. _"__Damn it,__" _his mind grumbled, _"__She__'__s go her ace card on the field. At this rate I__'__ll lose in no time._

"_But if I__'__m going down, I__'__m going down fighting.__"_

Arika pulled up alongside Jirra once again. "Ready to throw in the towel?" she taunted.

"Not in your life!" Jirra replied.

"Suit yourself. Gustav Max, blow Mystletainn to smithereens!"

Gustav Max locked onto Mystletainn, firing another shot that destroyed the Dragon.

"Aww," Arika said in a mocking tone, "is Jirra-wirra sick of his monsters being destroyed?"

"Just attack with the Optimus Prime wannabe," Jirra pouted, his fangs sticking out above his lower lip.

Both Arika and Gear Gigant X glared at Jirra. "Fine. And for the record, Gear Gigant X looks much more like the Gurren Laggan," said Arika, pointing out the particular shape of Gear Gigant X's breastplate.

Gear Gigant X punched Vajrayana, the dragon roared as it thrown into the air by the blow and the rider screamed as he was flung was mount. Both shattered moments later.

"Next turn Jirra," Arika said playfully, punching her open hand. "But before then, I'll activate Gear Gigant X's effect, by using one of his Xyz Material, I can take any level four or lower Machine from my deck…"

"I know what it does!" Jirra yelled, "you use it every duel! It's your ace card!"

Arika blushed, Gear Gigant X was a birthday gift from her father and the reason she was using the cards she used today. But her father wasn't the only reason she still had this card…

Arika train of though was derailed by a card poking out from her deck, she picked it up and stashed it on her gauntlet. "I add Geargiano MK-II," she said, "and that wraps up my turn."

"It's about time. My move!" Jirra announced, drawing a card as both rider's Speed Counters climbed to eleven, just one below the maximum amount.

"_Here goes nothing,__" _Jirra thought, turning around the card.

He gasped at he saw the card, it was Dragunity Arma Leyvaten, his favourite card.

"Alright," he said to no one in particular, "let's do this."

Jirra took a deep breath as his reversed Monster flipped up, a skeletal angel holding a bow. (900/400)

"I Flip Summon Skelengel," he announced, grinning, "and thanks to its effect I can draw a card!"

The snakeblood drew, his grin growing wider and wider.

"Getting the hang of things are we?" said Arika, "you're a pretty fast learner."

"Well, I learned from the best."

Arika perked up. "Well thank you Jirra," she said, "I'm…"

"I wasn't talking about you," Jirra cut in, "I was talking about my riding instructor. Do you really think I've learnt anything from you? Anything at all? In my entire life?"

A bead of sweat rolled down Arika's face. "I guess not," she replied.

"But let's get back to the duel," said Jirra, "first I activate Speed Spell - Angel Baton, letting me draw two cards, as long as I discard one afterwards."

Jirra drew two cards.

"_Woah,__" _he thought looking at the two cards, _"__I can__'__t believe my luck, I can take out both her __Monster__s with this combo, and a lot of her life points.__" _He slipped Dragunity Brandistock into his graveyard.

"You know," said Arika, noticing the broad smile plastered across her friend's face, "you have a really bad poker face."

"Not that I need it," Jirra replied, "I activate my facedown card, Descending Lost Star! I revive Gae Dearg in defence!"

Jirra's Trap Card flipped up, and Gae Dearg reappeared on the field in a flash (LV:6-5/DEF:800-0)

"Now I sacrifice both my Monsters!" shouted Jirra, "to summon Dragunity Arma Leyvaten!"

Skelengel and Gae Dearg disappeared, as a thunderous roar echoed over the field. A portal opened up, and a large dragon flew out. It was humanoid, with thick orange scales and a pair of large feathered wings and a very . The mighty beast held a large sword in a backhanded grip. (2600/1200)

"It's stronger than Gear Gigant X!" shouted Arika, expressing surprise.

But that was just a ruse. She looked at her facedown card, it was Widespread Ruin, a card that she could spring whenever one of Jirra's Monsters attacked. It would destroy the Monster he controlled with the highest attack, and since Leyvaten was the only Monster Jirra controlled…

"And since Leyvaten was summoned," Jirra added, "I can equip a Dragon Monster from my graveyard to it!"

In a flash, a pole arm appeared in Leyvaten's free hand.

"And what better Monster to pick than Dragunity Brandistock," said Jirra, "which allows Leyvaten to attack twice each battle phase!"

"Jirra," Arika chuckled, "it doesn't matter how many times a Monster can attack, it can't destroy a Monster with a higher attack."

"Oh honey," Jirra replied, "that's where you are wrong. Because with the Speed Spell - Silver Contrails, I can boost his attack by one thousand points!"

A tornado formed around Leyvaten, who extended his wings and roared. (ATK:2600-3600)

"Wait!" Arika choked, "that's one of Yusei Fudo's cards. Where you get it?"

"From the card store!" Jirra replied, "it's not like he has the only copy in the world!

And if you think that face down can protect think again. I activate the effect of Speed World 2, removing ten Speed Counters to blow up your facedown card!"

Jirra's D-Wheel lost a good portion of its speed, falling a good distance behind Arika.

Arika's facedown Widespread Ruin shattered.

"Damn it," she swore

"Kinda glad I didn't waste my Speed Counters last turn. Now Leyvaten let's destroy that oversized pitching machine!"

Leyvaten nodded to Jirra and gripped its sword. The powerful dragon then flew at the cannon, and sliced through it with a single diagonal slash of its blade.

Sparks flew from Gustav Max as the large cannon groaned, the top half of the cannon slid off the bottom, emitting a eardrum bursting screech of scraping metal as it did. It shattered moments later. (ALP:4400-3800)

"And don't think Laggan-boy is safe!"

Leyvaten turned toward Gear Gigant X, and thrusted the pole arm at it. A blade extended out of the end of the pole arm, and locked into the place. Just in time to embed itself in Gear Gigant X's torso.

Gear Gigant X's gears stopped turning, being jammed by the blade. Sparks flew from the Machine, as Leyvaten pushed the weapon further into its torso.

Gear Gigant X dropped to its knees and shattered. (ALP:3800-2500)

"I activate the effect of Gear Gigant X," Arika announced, "letting me revive a level three or lower Geargia Monster from the graveyard."

Geargiano appeared in a flash, defensively crossing its arms over itself.

"I end my turn, with one card face down," said Jirra

The face down card flashed onto the field and disappeared.

"My turn," Arika announced, drawing a card as Jirra's Speed Counter increased to two and hers to twelve - the maximum amount.

She gripped the accelerator, speeding up, increasing the distance between her and Jirra.

"I summon Geargiano MK-II!" Arika announced.

In a flash another small gear themed robot appeared. It looked strikingly similar to Geargiano, but with a different colour scheme. (1000/500)

"And when Geargiano MK-II is summoned, I can Special Summon a Geargia Monster from my hand or graveyard."

A portal opened up and Geargiarsenal floated out of it.

"Next I tribute Geargiarsenal to Special Summon the missing Geargiano brother…"

Geargiarsenal disappeared, and was replaced by a new Geargiano, with blue outer gears and red inners. (1000/1000)

"Oh look," said Jirra, it's the three stooges."

The three Geargia brothers then hunched together and began to a game of play rock, paper, scissors. Mk-III played paper, Mk-II played scissors and the original Geargiano played rock. All three of them then stared blankly at each other, confused about how to decided the outcome.

"Hey!" called Arika, "no slacking off on the job! You guys have an Overlay Network to build!"

The three Geargiano's scrambled into a salute, as a portal opened up in front of them, and one by one they jumped inside.

"I overlay my three level threes!" announced Arika, dramatically raising her arm, "Xyz Summon Geargiagear Gigant XG!"

Then a huge humanoid Machine rose from the portal. Fourteen metres tall, weighing in at fifty tons and constructed from Geartite alloy. It looked like Gear Gigant X with plenty of heavy armour, and was now armed with a large rifle, shield a pair of boomerangs. (2500/1300)

"And this is the point where you power it up," said Jirra, who was now a good five-hundred metres behind Arika.

"Yep," Arika replied, playing another card, "the Speed Spell - Speed Energy, which gives the big guy here two hundred extra attack…

"For each and every Speed Counter I have."

Energy flowed into Geargiagear Gigant XG. (ATK:2500-4900)

"Damn it," Jirra cursed, "beaten again."

Arika pulled the brakes on her D-Wheel, quickly slowing down. And as she did she snapped her D-Wheel around a hundred and eighty degrees, leaving a visible black mark on the road. She then gripped to accelerator, and sped toward Jirra.

"Geargiagear Gigant XG!" she ordered, "attack! Giga Cross Spin."

The giant Xyz drew its rifle and took aim at Leyvaten, energy gathered in the barrel.

"And I'll banish Skill Successor from my graveyard to boost his attack by eight-hundred!"

The Trap Card fell out of Arika's graveyard slot, and her Xyz gained a red aura. (ATK:4900-5700)

"Oh, come one!" exclaimed Jirra, "now it just overkill!"

"No, this is overkill!" Arika replied, playing yet another card, "I activate Limiter Removal!"

"You what?" Jirra yelled. "But that's not a Speed Spell! You'll take damage!"

A portal opened up in front of Arika, and small bombs rained down on her and her D-Wheel, exploding on contact. (ALP:2500-500)

Normally, it was considered insane for anybody to use a non-Speed Spell in a Riding Duel, as Speed World 2 would take out a large chunk of life points should one be activated. But Limiter Removal was still a very powerful Spell, so to Arika, the two-thousand points of damage was a fair tradeoff.

Geargigear X Gigant's rifle glowed with energy. (ATK:5700-11400)

"Eleven thousand four hundred attack!" Jirra cried, "that's ridiculous!"

"Duh!" Arika replied, "it's like we've never even duelled before is it."

Jirra gulped and nodded, inflicting more than enough damage to finish off an opponent was Arika's specialty.

Geargiagear Gigant X locked on to Leyvaten. Its rifle began charging, gathering a powerful ball of energy at the gun.

The two Riding Duellists passed each other, both of them were grinning, they couldn't help it.

But Jirra's grin disappeared as Geargiagear XG fired its rifle into Leyvaten's chest. The dragon roared in pain as electrify crackled across its body, causing it convulse. The dragon shattered moments later.

Smoke poured out of Jirra's D-Wheel as he skidded to a complete stop, almost being thrown over the handlebars. "Damn it!" he swore, kicking the machine, "stupid piece of crap!" (JLP:2100-0)

The remaining cards on the field faded as the AR-Field disappeared.

Arika pulled the same stunt again, so that she was now following the flow of traffic again.

"Seeya, snakeface," Arika giggled, passing Jirra's broken down D-Wheel, "I'd stop and help, but I've got to get ready for my date tonight."

"Wait! Date?" Jiraa yelled, his voice breaking like glass. The snakeblood flopped over his smoking D-Wheel, unsure what was more crushing; the defeat or learning that his crush had her eyes on someone else…

Arika's D-Wheel sped down the highway and out of sight.

**0 - 0 KK 0 - 0**

Matari slowly walked toward his D-Wheel, his body still ached from the damage it had taken before. Every step the two halves of his sword clinked together inside the sheath. He slipped his equipment into the storage compartment and prepared to but something caught his attention.

There was a message displayed on his monitor, he pressed his finger on the monitor and opened the message.

"Stolen D-Wheel reported," he read, "the rider is believed to be a kenku. Tracking equipment has been deployed. Have fun doing our job."

A wide grin come across Matari's face as he rubbed his hands together. "And I was just starting to get bored again."

The Shadowchaser grabbed his helmet and hopped on his D-Wheel, started it up, then sped off. All the while keeping the enthusiastic grin on his face.

**0 - 0 KK 0 - 0**

"Mummy! Mummy! Mummy!" the young kobold called over and over, each more desperate than the last.

But every call for her mother only gathered awkward from passerby. Eventually she gave up calling and sat against the wall, sobbing into her knees.

What seemed like an eternity had passed to the poor child, a voice spoke out to her.

"Um… Hello," asked the voice, it was male and sounded rather nervous, "do you… do you need any help?"

She looked up at the person who had spoke to her, a young man with bright blue eyes and a warm, welcoming smile on his face. He held his hand down to her, offering to help her up.

Kobolds were rather xenophobic race, refusing to trust members of other races (though other reptilian races were sometimes an exception). Her mother had warned her many times that humans were untrustworthy creatures.

But there something about this human that made her trust at him, at the very least

She took Ezekiel's hand, and he helped her to feet.

"Don't worry, everything will be alright," he smiled.

**0 - 0 KK 0 - 0**

**Heavy Freight Train Derricrane**  
**Type: **Machine/Effect**  
****Attribute: **Earth**  
****Level: **10**  
****ATK: **2800**  
****DEF: **2000

**Effect: **If an Earth Machine-Type monster(s) is Normal or Special Summoned to your side of the field (except during the Damage Step): You can Special Summon this card from your hand, but its original ATK and DEF are halved. You can only use this effect of Heavy Freight Train Derricrane once per turn. If this card is detached from an Xyz Monster and sent to the Graveyard to activate that monster's effect: You can target 1 card your opponent controls; destroy it.

Note: Heavy Freight Train Derricrane appeared in the Japanese release of Secrets of Eternity. Strangely, it was not in the English release.

**Speed Spell - Angel Baton  
****Image: **The angel from Graceful Charity holding a small, glowing emerald in her hands.  
**Effect: **Activate only while you have 2 or more Speed Counters. Draw 2 cards. Then, send 1 card from your hand to the Graveyard.

**Speed Spell - Speed Energy  
****Image: **A Monster flying through a tube of energy, as electricity flows around it.  
**Effect: **Activate only if you have 2 or more Speed Counters. Select one face-up monster on the field. It gains 200 ATK for each Speed Counter you have until the End Phase.

Note: Speed Spell - Angel Baton and Speed Spell - Speed Energy were first used in the Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's OVA "Evolving Duel! Stardust VS Red Demons". Creative Credit goes to the writers of that episode.

**Speed Spell - Silver Contrails  
****Image: **A pilot looking up at the sky, with the sun shining brightly as three jets pass above him.  
**Effect: **Activate only if you have 5 or more Speed Counters. Select 1 WIND monster you control. It gains 1000 ATK until the End Phase.

Note: Speed Spell - Silver Contrails was first used by Yusei Fudo in episode 005 of Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's "A Blast from the Past (Part 2)". Creative Credit goes to the writers of that episode.

**0 - 0 KK 0 - 0**

**Aboriginal/Indigenous Australian Dictionary**

Arika - a name that means "water lily".

Jirra - a name that means "Kangaroo". Both a boy's and girl's name.

Wambeen - an Aboriginal Mythological figure. An evil God known to hurl lightning at travellers. The origins of Wambeen are unknown, but its believed to be used to discourage children from wandering too far from home.

**0 - 0 KK 0 - 0**

**Kitten Knight: **And so the snakeblood Jirra wasn't all that much of a threat to Arika, at all.

Next time, Matari finds the runaway kenku and begins a Riding Duel, but might find himself pushed into a corner by a powerful foe.

Meanwhile, the young kobold may be in the safe hands of Ezekiel, but can he keep her safe from the not-so-brilliant Kimba?

Find out in the next chapter, Overwhelm!

**0 - 0 KK 0 - 0**

Feb 28 2015 - Minor editing, added opening about Ned Kelly.  
March 3 2015 - Minor editing.


	4. Overwhelm

**Kitten Knight: **The following legend has nothing to do with a certain 5D's Anime character, you'll know which one in a second.

**0 - 0 KK 0 - 0**

**Shadowchasers: Muru**

**0 - 0 KK 0 - 0**

**Round 04: Overwhelm**

**0 - 0 KK 0 - 0**

**In Aboriginal Australian mythology the Crow is often portrayed as a trickster, culture hero or ancestral being (or some combination of the three). Many tales depict the Crow****'****s adventures, one such tale tells of how the Crow received his black feathers. **

**Long ago in the Dreamtime, the Crow****'****s feathers were white. Crow often spent his days with his best friend Eagle. One day, the two decided to split up to hunt for food. ****"****You go into the hills and hunt for kangaroo,****"** **said Crow, ****"****and I****'****ll go the billabong (a lake) and catch ducks for dinner****"****.**

**Eagle agreed and the two went their separate ways. Eagle went into the hills to hunt kangaroo, while Crow went to the billabong to hunt ducks.**

**But Crow was sneaky and greedy, after he caught enough ducks, he light a fire to cook the ducks and ate them on the spot. That night he****'****d return to camp, telling Eagle he had no luck catching any ducks and the two would share Eagle****'****s catch.**

**This continued for several days. As each day passed Eagle grew more and more suspicious of Crow, until one day he decided to secretly follow Crow down to the billabong.**

**Eagle watched as Crow caught some ducks and prepared a fire. As Crow began to cook the ducks, Eagle confronted him, calling him a lair. He then pushed Crow into the fire, causing him to scream in pain. Crow struggled to get up, but each time he did and enraged Eagle would throw him back down into the embers, his white feathers becoming more and more stained with ashes each time. **

**Eventually Eagle had had enough and released Crow, who raced down into the billabong and jumped straight in, he desperately tried to wash the ashes away.**

**But the ashes would not wash out, Crows feathers had been stained permanently black as punishment for his crimes.**

**0 - 0 KK 0 - 0**

It hadn't been long since young Ezekiel had found the lost kobold (not that he knew the child's true face) and was now carrying her around on his shoulders.

While he didn't mind helping out the lost girl, he couldn't help but get a feeling that there was something more to this situation than a lost child. He tilted his head up at the girl, she appeared to be (at the very least) comfortable around him, but that feeling wasn't quite mutual.

The girl's skin felt rough, cold and slimy, she also smelt very strange, like an odd combination of wet dog and some kind of fruit-scented lotion. And occasion he'd feel something brush against his lower back.

_"__Kind of glad I__'__m an only child,__"_ he silently admitted.

"So um," Ezekiel asked, "what's your name?"

"Gertie," the girl quietly replied, her voice was rather high pitched - like a small dog's bark.

"Okay… I"m Ezekiel…"

A few moments of tense, awkward silence between the two followed.

"So, what's your mum look like?" said Ezekiel, breaking the silence.

Gertie perked up a little. "Red scales, white horns, a long tail, she's really pretty."

Ezekiel's eyes twitched, this girl certainly had an… active imagination. She sounded lie she was describing a lizard more then a mother…

_"__Maybe her mother really is a lizard,__"_ he thought.

He shuddered at that thought before mentally discarding it.

"I'll take you to security," said Ezekiel, "they'll help you find you mum. No matter what she looks like…"

Gertie nodded, holding back tears. Ezekiel could tell that while she may be comfortable around him, she was still clearly terrified.

But unaware to Ezekiel and Gertie, a familiar figure was watching them from a distance.

"Damn it," Kimba muttered, "I'm gonna have to rethink my plan."

**0 - 0 KK 0 - 0**

Derrilin sped his stolen D-Wheel along the Western Distributor Highway, cursing under his breath as he overtook another car.

Now, kenku were classified by the Shadowchaser as a species of Yōkai - supernatural monster from Japanese mythology - but due to the mysterious force that brings Shadowkind to Earth dropping them wherever it pleased, kenku appeared all over the planet (though most would migrate to Japan - where they felt they would belong).

"Which way, which way," Derrilin mumbled, "gotta get outta here, fast." He cursed again, he'd spent too much time plotting an escape route and not enough time acting trying to escape the city before…

Derrilin's heart skipped a beat as he checked his rear-view mirror. He saw a D-Wheel quickly catching up to him. It was a slightly older model, crimson in colour with a pair of yellow, reptilian eyes and sharp teeth painted on the front panel.

The D-Wheel itself looked bloodthirsty, the rider (despite wearing a helmet) more so.

The D-Wheel quickly covered the distance between it and Derrilin, in a matter of seconds it was alongside Derrilin. The rider turned his head to the thief.

"This is Matari Grant of the Sydney Shadowchasers," ordered the rider, "pull over now."

"Bite me," squawked Derrilin.

"Suit yourself," shrugged Matari, "you got a name?"

"Derrilin," the kenku sneer, "and do you really think that line makes you intimidating?"

"Well, yes," Matari replied.

Derrilin rolled his beady eyes. "How did you find me so fast? I though it would take a few more minutes at least."

"The owner was pretty proud of his ride," Matari answered, "but he was also pretty paranoid that someone would steal it. So had GPS tracking installed, just in case anyone decided to do that."

Derrilin grumbled and cursed under his breath, why he have to go for the shiniest D-Wheel he could find? He must've been sticking around Kimba too much.

"So Derrilin," Matari asked, "do we need to do this the easy way or the hard way?"

"Oh what do you think!" snapped Derrilin, taking out his deck. "I inovoke the Fair Fight Clause. Get ready to duel Shadowchaser."

"Sometimes I wonder why I bother asking that question," pondered Matari. He hit a button on his console, causing the Speed World 2 card to appear on the screen.

"Duel Mode Engaged," droned the console's computerised voice, as his duel disk shifted into place. "Requesting permission from city network."

"Access granted."

Lights lit up the roadway ahead, as cars one by one carefully vacated the lane.

"Let's get this over with," groaned Derrilin.

"Not very confident in your duelling skills?' teased Matari.

"No, actually they're quite refined," the kenku replied, "it's just I didn't feel like dealing with you. I've dealt with enough idoicy today."

"Well, the feeling's mutual, buddy."

"Duel!" both Derrilin and Matari announced, the AR-Field expanded around their vehicles.

(Derrilin:8000/Matari:8000)

"I'll make the first move," Matari announced, drawing five cards.

"You do that then," said Derrilin, doing the same.

Matari looked over his opening hand, then took two of them. "I'll set one card face down and summon Jurrac Velo."

A facedown card appeared one side of Matari's D-Wheel, while the colourful dinosaur appeared, running alongside his D-Wheel. (1700/1000)

_"__Sakuretsu Armor will protect Velo,__"_ Matari thought.

"Jurrac Velo," said Derrilin, "that's pretty much every Jurrac player's starting move my God, you're like a broken record."

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it," Matari replied, "that ends my turn."

Derrilin drew a card, both Speed Counters rose to one.

"I summon Mystic Tomato."

In a flash, a demonic looking tomato appeared, cackling as it bounced alongside Derrilin. (1400/1100)

"Then I set one card face down."

A facedown card flashed into existence before fading.

"That concludes my turn."

"Concludes?" asked Matari, drawing as the Speed Counters rose to two. "You must be the fanciest thief I've ever met."

"Go jump off the Harbour Bridge," spat Derrilin.

"Never mind," said Matari, playing a card, "I summon Jurrac Protops."

In a burst of flames, Jurrac Protops appeared alongside Velo. (1700-1800/1200)

"Like I said, broken record," scowled Derrilin, "your entire strategy is entirely offensive and in more ways than one."

"Whatever," Matari frowned, "attacking is how you win this game. Velo, attack his compost bin reject."

Velo gave Matari and strange look it didn't want to betray its carnivorous nature but that's what its master wanted. The Dinosaur charged at the evil produce, smashing it to pieces. (Derrilin LP:8000-7700)

"You do realise," said Derrilin, "that when Mystic Tomato is destroyed by battle, I can summon a Dark monster with fifteen hundred of less attack from my deck?"

A black portal opened up, and a second Mystic Tomato flew out.

"Well it's a good thing that Protops is a herbivore," said Matari, "He'll actually enjoy this."

Protops licked its lips and charged at the evil Plant, taking a massive chunk out of it in a single bite. (Derrilin LP:7700-7300)

"I use that one's effect to summon Clown Zombie," said Derrilin.

A sinister laugh echoed over the field. As a new monster appeared, an undead clown balancing on a large ball. It had an evil grin on its face as it twirled the scythe in its hands. (1350/0)

_"__Clown Zombie?__"_ thought Matari, raising an eyebrow. _"__Probably just tribute fodder.__"_

"I end my turn," the Shadowchaser announced.

Derrilin silently drew a card as their Speed Counters rose to three. "I set this monster face down," he said.

A reversed Monster appeared next to Clown Zombie. Causing Protops to roar. (ATK:1800-1900)

"As well as this card."

A facedown card joined his back row.

"And I'll finish up by switching Clown Zombie to defence."

The undead clown cackled and held its scythe in front of it, turning blue in the process.

"Playing defence are you?" said Matari, drawing as both sides gained another Speed Counter. "You do know how pointless that is against Jurracs, right?"

Derrilin said nothing, he just glared at Matari.

"You know," said Matari, "I haven't said you have the right to remain silent yet."

"Do you always crack stupid jokes?" scowled Derrilin.

"It helps relieve stress."

"But it won't stop you from becoming a smear on the road," frowned the kenku.

"We'll see about that," Matari replied, resuming play, "I summon Jurrac Guaiba."

In a burst of hot flames, the long-necked Jurrac appeared on the field. (1700/1400)

"Ugh," Derrilin groaned, "I can read you like a book."

"You like reading, do ya' buddy?" Matari chuckled, "Well here's one from the history books, Guaiba attack Clown Zombie."

Guaiba roared and raced at the undead clown, effortlessly biting it in half.

"And with Guaiba's effect," Matari continued, "I can Special Summon Jurrac Monoloph from my deck."

In a fiery flash, Monoloph appeared among the other Dinosaurs. (1500/1200)

"Predictable," spat Derrilin.

"But why stop there?" Matari continued, "Monoloph may not be able to attack this turn, but Velo can!"

Velo raced forward, praying that its prey wasn't a vegetable.

The Dinosaur bit into something fleshy, the arm of a large blue-furred bear. (1400/1200)

"Mother Grizzly," Matari shuddered, the painful memories of being slashed across the chest playing out in his mind.

The Beast-Warrior roared in pain and shattered.

"Don't seem to like that monster, do you?" taunted Derrilin, "so I'll summon another."

A blue-tinged portal opened up, and a second Mother Grizzly flew out.

"Protops attack that one!"

Protops charged into the blue bear, shattering it. (Derrilin LP:7300-6900)

"I use that one's effect to Special Summon Atlantean Pikeman!"

Another blue-tinged portal opened and a new monster flew out. An aquatic fish-man, armed with a long pike. (1400/0)

"Another Normal Monster?" Matari questioned, "what kind of nonsense strategy is this?"

"It's a very sane strategy," Derrilin replied, "now I believe its time for you to Tune Monoloph with Guaiba."

"You may have done your homework," retorted Matari, "but you're failing this test. I'll Tune Monoloph with Protops instead."

The two fiery dinosaurs flew into the air and dissolved into seven shining stars.

"Synchro Summon. Jurrac Giganoto!"

The light faded as Jurrac Giganoto dropped down to the field, landing with a loud crash before it began running alongside Matari's D-Wheel with Velo and Guaiba. (2100/1800)

"And so long as Giganoto is one the field," Matari explained, "all my Jurrac's get a little bonus."

"I know, I know," grumbled Derrilin, "two hundred for each Jurrac in your graveyard."

The spirits of Monoloph and Protops appeared behind Giganoto. (ATK:2100-2500) (ATK:1700-2100) (ATK:1700-2100)

"I end my turn."

The kenku smirked as he drew his card, as the rider's Speed Counters reached five. "Firstly, I activate Dust Tornado, to blow away your face down card."

Derrilin's Trap flipped up, and a tornado shot out, tearing Matari's set Sakuretsu Armor to pieces.

"That could have been a disaster if I ran into that," said Derrilin, with a hint of smugness in his voice. "Next I activate my other Trap, The League of Uniform Nomenclature, which lets me bring out two more Pikemen."

In a flash, two more Pikemen joined the first.

"Now my strategy comes into play," said Derrilin, "I summon Junk Synchron."

In a burst of energy, a small Monster appeared next to the Pikemen. It was a humanoid robot, resembling a mechanic in an orange vest with a silk scarf wrapped around its neck. (1300/500)

"Uh-oh," Matari gasped, realising the whole point to his opponent's strategy, and there was nothing he could do about it now.

"And when this guy is Normal Summoned," continued Derrilin, "I can Special Summon a level two Monster from my graveyard."

Clown Zombie reappeared, balancing on its ball.

"Now it's time to turn this duel around, Shadowchaser," said Derrilin, "I tune the level three Junk Synchron with the level two Clown Zombie!"

Junk Synchron pulled the ripcord on its back. Then it and Clown Zombie flew up into the air and changed into five shining stars.

"Synchro Summon! Junk Warrior!"

The Synchro Monster flew down from above. It appeared to be cobbled together out of spare parts and scrap metal (hence its name), with light blue armour and two heavy gauntlets around its arms. (2300/1300)

Matari gritted his teeth.

Derrilin chuckled. "And when Junk Warrior is Synchro Summoned, he gains attack equal to the total attack of every level two or lower Monster I control, and with three Atlantean Pikemen on my field, that's…"

Junk Warrior's fists glowed with energy. (ATK:2300-6500)

"A whole lot."

**0 - 0 KK 0 - 0**

Back in the Harbourside Mall, Ezekiel and Gertie were still looking for the security deck. The young kobold was still atop Ezekiel's shoulders.

"Really wish I was here more often," Ezekiel muttered, "we'd find the security desk in no time."

He scanned the map in front of him and Gertie. "Okay…" he said, pointing to a location on the map, "we are here," his finger moved to another spot, "and we need to get here. He looked up at Gertie, "ready to go?"

Gertie nodded.

Ezekiel turned around, being careful to keep his balance, only to freeze in place when he came face to face with a rather tall man blocking his way. He was standing in a position that made it clear he was standing there for a while.

"Hello," said the man.

Ezekiel narrowed his gaze at the "man" in front of him. His skin was sickeningly pale with thin limbs, his hair was a mess of tangled black knots and his oversized nose stuck a long way out in front of his face. His gaze was also very off-putting, there was something almost… inhuman about it.

"Um, excuse me?" Ezekiel asked.

Ezekiel hoisted Gertie off his shoulders, careful not to remove his gaze from the man in front of him.

He let go of Gertie, and almost immediately she cowered behind him. She didn't like the look of the man in front of them.

"It's okay honey," Kimba said softly, "I won't hurt you. I'm a security officer."

Gertie squirmed, clearly terrified of this man. Ezekiel was pretty skeptical of him too.

"Where's your uniform?" he asked.

"I'm undercover," Kimba replied.

"An undercover security officer?" Ezekiel asked, raising an eyebrow, "those things exist?"

"Oh yes, yes," Kimba falsely reassured the pair, "I'm out looking for a lost girl…" his eyes set themselves on Gertie, who clung tightly to Ezekiel's leg.

Ezekiel gritted his teeth and winced in pain, it felt like claws were digging into his leg. He looked at Kimba, he didn't trust this guy one bit.

"Come with me girl," sneered Kimba, beckoning to her with his talons, "I'll take you to your mother."

"Hold on," said Ezekiel, stepping between the two Shadowkind, "what her name?"

Kimba stepped back in shock. "Umm, her name?" he stammered, "Umm, umm. I wasn't listening when she said it."

"So let me get this straight," said Ezekiel, "you're an "undercover" security guard, and when a grieving mother asks you to help look for her lost child, you didn't even bother to learn her name?"

"Uhh… it's been a long week," Kimba hesitantly replied.

"You're either the worst security guard ever," said Ezekiel, "or not even a security guard at all."

Kimba glared at the youth. "You little shit!" he snapped, raising his talons to swipe at the youth.

But Ezekiel was just that little bit faster, he gave Kimba a fast but powerful shove, even with his tall, spindly body, the faux-security guard was much lighter than he had expected.

Kimba tumbled over onto his back, a several small knives flew from his pockets.

Ezekiel's eyes opened wide as he saw the knives. "Run, run!" he said, grabbing Gertie and running off in the other direction.

"Get back here!" Kimba fruitlessly ordered, scrambling got pick up his knives.

Kimba stood up and raced in the direction the two had taken off in, they were long gone, but with his superior speed and agility, he could catch them in no time.

But then he stopped and realised something, that kid had shoved him rather hard, and before he could make a swipe at him on top of that. There was only one explanation of how he could let that happen…

And it _definitely_ wasn't due to overestimating his own abilities…

"Shadowchaser," he muttered.

**0 - 0 KK 0 - 0**

"Junk Warrior attack Guaiba!" Derrilin ordered, "Scrap fist!"

Junk Warrior flew forward and slammed Guaiba with its fist. The Dinosaur was sent bouncing back down the highway, shattering on the fourth bounce.

Matari and his D-Wheel wobbled violently as his life points dropped like a stone. (MLP:8000-3600)

"Ready to give up?" asked Derrilin.

"Not on your life pal," Matari replied. He grimaced, correcting his D-Wheel's motion put more strain on his aching body than he'd hoped. "Since I have another Jurrac in my graveyard, all my Jurracs gain more attack."

Guaiba's spirit appeared Giganoto. (ATK:2500-2700) (ATK:2100-2300)

"You'd have to send your whole deck to the graveyard to even hope to match Junk Warrior's power," bragged Derrilin, taking a card from his hand. "I'll set this card face down and end my turn."

Matari silently drew as his and Derrilin's Speed Counters rose to six.

_"__I__'__ve gotta find a way to beat that thing,__"_ he thought, looking at the three cards in his hand: Jurrac Tyrannus, Jurrac Dino and Sabersaurus. _"__Nothing useful here.__"_ He then looked at the card he drew. _"__Please be something good.__"_

Matari played the card. "I activate Speed Spell - Angel Baton, so now I can draw two cards…" He drew two cards.

"Then discard one card from my hand."

He then discarded a card, one of which he'd drawn with Angel Baton.

"Draw anything worthwhile?" asked Derrilin.

"That's for me to know, and for you to find out," Matari replied, looking at the card he kept, Call of the Haunted. He then grabbed another card, "I summon Jurrac Dino."

A burst of fire erupted on the field, and a new monster leapt out. It was a small and pudgy dinosaur, it stood bipedal with four-clawed hands and feet. (1700-2300/800)

"All right guys," said Matari, "charge!"

Giganoto, Velo and Dino roared.

"Stop right there!" shouted Derrilin, his Trap Card flipping up, "I activate Fiendish Chain!"

A chain of dark energy shot of the Trap Card, wrapping itself around Giganoto's legs and tripping the dinosaur over. Velo and Dino had to dive out of the way to avoid being crushed.

"This Trap prevents your Monster from attacking," said Derrilin, "as well as negating its effects."

Giganoto growled and roared in pain as the chains electrocuted it. (ATK:2700-2100) (ATK:2100-1700) (ATK:2100-1700)

"My team may be weakened," said Matari, "but it's not out yet!"

Velo rushed forward and bit into one of the Pikemen, shattering it. (DLP:6900-6600)

Dino swiped another Pikemen with its claws, shattering it as well. (DLP:6600-6300)

"I'll give you points for trying," said Derrilin, "but that won't weaken Junk Warrior."

"I know, I know," said Matari, "but I'm not letting you run me over with a bunch of fish filets."

"But now you've left yourself open to Junk Warrior," Derrilin said with a grin, "I'm kind of looking forward to seeing you getting flung from your D-Wheel. Wonder just how far you'll fly."

"The only one flying here is you!" shouted Matari, grabbing the Call of the Haunted Card and setting it. "I end my turn with one card face down."

A face down card appeared behind Matari's Monsters and quickly disappeared.

"Which means that I can use Dino's effect."

"Effect?" parroted Derrilin, "during the End Phase?"

"Don't worry," Matari replied, "Junk Warrior is safe… For now. Dino's effect can only be used if it manages to destroy a Monster by battle this turn, which it did.

"All I have to do is give up one of my Jurracs, so goodbye Giganoto. "

The restrained Synchro Dinosaur disappeared, leaving the dark chains to fall to the ground.

"And then I can draw two cards," said Matari, making two draws.

The Shadowchaser looked at the two cards he'd drawn: Prideful Roar and Survival Instinct. _"__I think I__'__ve just found my way out of this mess, just gotta survive this turn. I sure hope this works.__"_

Derrilin slowly drew a card as the Speed Counter rose to seven apiece. His gaze switched between Matari and the Card he had set.

_"__I don__'__t know if that face down card is a bluff or not,__"_ the kenku thought, _"__but if I sit around and wait, he__'__ll gather enough Speed Counters to destroy Junk Warrior with Speed World 2__'__s effect.__"_

Derrilin looked at his hand, then up at Junk Warrior. "Attack Jurrac Dino," he ordered.

Junk Warrior flew toward Dino and punched it, sending the Dinosaur soaring across the road and shattering against a street light.

The attack kicked up a cloud of dust over Matari, obscuring him from Derrilin's vision.

The kenku laughed, and sped up. "I'll be having an ice cold beer in Canberra by sundown!" he cackled.

**0 - 0 KK 0 - 0**

Zephyr touched down in Tumbalong park, making sure to land out of sight. There had been quite a few times where Wendy had to deal with Mundanes claiming that the had seen her in the air, leading Wendy to give a rather awkward explanation - something she'd like to avoid.

Wendy unclipped herself from the saddle and slid off Zephyr's back. "Good girl," she said, petting the gryphon on top of the head.

Zephyr replied with an affectionate chirp.

"Stay close girl," said Wendy, pulling her scarf and goggles off her face, "I'll ask around if anyone has seen anything suspicious."

Wendy was about to take a step but stopped. "We better give Rowan a call, see if he can help out."

She unzipped a pocket on his jacket and pulled out an old mobile phone (Rowan had insisted that they all use these outdated devices) and dialled in a number.

She listened as the phone rang, and received no answer.

She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, then dialled the number again.

And again, she waited for Rowan to answer.

Wendy sighed. "Looks like we're on our own girl," she said.

Zephyr scratched her talons against the ground and shook her head.

"Matari and Arika are on patrol, we shouldn't disturb them.

"And besides, it's not like we need their help."

Zephyr lowered her head and huffed, sometimes her rider could be even more stubborn and full of pride that she was.

"Oh don't be like that girl," said Wendy , unzipping her other pocket and pulling out a small slice of meat wrapped in cling wrap.

The gryphon raised her head and fixated on the slice of meat, it was horse meat - any gryphon's favourite meal.

Wendy unwrapped the slice and threw it into the air, letting Zephyr snap it up in her beak and quickly devour it.

Zephyr fixated her gaze on Wendy, eager for another slice of meat.

Wendy smiled and turned around. "Come on girl, I'll give you another slice after we wrap this case up."

Zephyr scratched her talons against the ground in excitement, then - in just as eager fashion - trotted behind her rider.

**0 - 0 KK 0 - 0**

"Funny you should say that," said Matari as his D-Wheel rode out of the dust cloud, Velo following close behind, "I was thinking the exact same thing, except maybe not the Canberra part."

Derrilin's head twisted around, and he looked wide-eyes at his opponent. "How?" he screamed, looking at his console - Matari's face down was still set.

His answer came as a new Monster charged out of the dust cloud. A metallic stegosaurus, with razor sharp spines along its back. (1200/2400)

"That's my Stegocyber," Matari explained, "I discarded it with Angel Baton last turn."

"That still doesn't explain how you survived," Derrilin flatly stated.

"I'm getting to that," Matari replied, "Stegocyber has a powerful effect, if I would take Battle Damage while it's in my graveyard, I can reduce the damage I take to zero and Special Summon him. All at the cost of one thousand life points."

A black aura surrounded Matari, causing him to cringe. (MLP:3600-2600)

"So you live another turn," said Derrilin, turning the Atlantean Pikeman card sideways.

The remaining fish man crouched down and protected himself with his weapon.

"I end my turn."

Matari drew a card, staring down at the six-thousand five-hundred attack point Junk Warrior staring him down.

He looked at the five cards in his hand and hit a button on his console. "I activate my facedown card, Call of the Haunted to bring back an old friend."

The Trap Card flipped up and flashed, and Jurrac Guaiba reappeared in a burst of scorching flame.

"So that card was nothing more than a bluff," noted Kimba, "to distract me from your real defence. You're a little smarter than I anticipated. I better not let something like that happen again."

"You're just lucky it wasn't Mirror Force," said Matari, "or Junk Warrior would be nothing more than a pile of scraps."

"Junk Warrior is already a pile of scraps."

"Well it'd be smaller piles of scraps!" said Matari, "but until I get the means to do that. Guaiba attack your last Pikeman!"

The long-necked dinosaur roared and raced forward. Sinking its jaws into the defenceless fish man, which shattered like glass in an instant.

"And then I'll use Guaiba's effect to summon Jurrac Ptera!"

In another burst of red hot flames, the flaming, winged-retile appeared on the field, curling up defensively.

"Let me take a wild guess," Derrilin scowled, "Staunch Defender, Shift, something that would force me to attack Ptera and return Junk Warrior to my Extra Deck."

"Sorry, but you're so cold my Dinosaurs are freezing to death," smirked the Shadowchaser, grabbing a card and playing it, "I'm bringing out the big guns to deal with your Monster."

Velo and Guaiba disappeared and in their place rose a mighty behemoth, towering above Stegocyber and Ptera. Clearly based on the most well-known species of Dinosaur, a Tyrannosaurus Rex. (2500/1400)

"Say hello the tyrant lizard king! Jurrac Tyrannus!"

"It's four-thousand points weaker than Junk Warrior," Derrilin stated, not even looking slightly impressed.

"Well, then I'll just have to close that gap!" Matari replied, "I use Tyrannus' effect, sacrificing both Stegocyber and Ptera, I can give Tyrannus an extra five-hundred attack for each."

Ptera and Stegocyber dissipated into golden pixels, which flew into Tyrannus. (ATK:2500-3500)

Matari then slid the Stegocyber card into his pocket. "Of course, if Stegocyber is Summoned by his effect, he gets banished after leaving the field."

Derrilin chuckled. "You do realise that you wasted all those resources powering up your Monster, and I can still take the both of you out in one hit."

"Ooops," Matari smiled, "I was always bad at math in school, come to think of it, I was bad in most subjects. I set these three cards face down and end my turn."

Two face down cards appeared above the road, then disappeared.

"Wait!" Derrilin yelled, "

"I just told you I was bad at math, didn't I?"

"I hate you," the kenku coldly stated, drawing a card as the Speed Counters rose to nine each.

"The pressure is on now," said Matari, "what are you going to do? Attack and potentially fall into my trap, or wait and let me blow up Junk Warrior with Speed World's effect?"

Derrilin gulped, he knew that despite having the most powerful Monster (by far), at this point Matari was the one in control of the duel. He could potentially punish his actions no matter what he did. This Shadowchaser was certainly smarter than he looked - and claimed.

The kenku looked through the four cards in his hand: Birthright, The Transmigration Prophecy, Emmisary of the Afterlife and Synchron Explorer.

He thought through his options, passing his turn right now would be suicide, there was only one option… As much as he didn't like it.

"Junk Warrior attack!" ordered Derrilin.

Junk Warrior nodded and flew at Tyrannus, raising its fist.

"Trap activate!" Matari yelled, one of his two Traps flipped up, "Survival Instinct! I banish every Dinosaur in my graveyard, and I gain four hundred life points for each one!"

Matari pulled Velo, Guaiba, Protops, Monoloph, Ptera, Dino and Giganoto out of his graveyard and placed them in his pocket. A golden aura then appeared around Matari and his D-Wheel. (MLP:2600-5400)

"Life point padding!" yelled Derrilin, "that was your big plan!"

"Not quite!" Matari replied, as Junk Warrior closed in on Tyrannus, "I activate my other Trap Card, Prideful Roar!"

"Shit!" Derrilin swore, he knew he was in trouble now.

Matari's other Trap flipped up, and a red aura appeared around both the D-Wheel rider and his fiery Dinosaur.

"First off," Matari grunted, the red aura clearly causing him pain, "I gotta pay life points equal to the difference in our Monster's attack scores."

"Three thousand," said Derrilin.

"About right," grunted Matari. (Matari LP:5400-2400)

"Then Tyrannus gains attack equal to the difference…"

The aura around Tyrannus intensified, powering up the fiery tyrant lizard.

"Plus three-hundred extra."

Tyrannus roared loud enough to shake the road. (ATK:3500-6800)

Junk Warrior punched Tyrannus, but the massive Dinosaur only staggered slightly backwards and retaliated by belching a huge ball fire, incinerating Junk Warrior.

Derrilin hung his head. (Derrilin LP:6300-6000)

"Just to add insult to injury," smirked Matari, "Tyrannus may lose the boost from Prideful Roar, but due to his own effect he gains three-hundred of it back."

The aura around Tyrannus disappeared. (ATK:6800-3800)

The kenku stared silently at his opponent, after a few seconds he spoke up. "I set a Monster, and two cards."

A face down Monster appeared beside the kenku's stolen D-Wheel, while two face downs appeared behind it.

"Aw, don't beat yourself up," said Matari, "that's my job!"

"And he's back with the jokes," groaned Derrilin.

"I like jokes," Matari said as he drew a card, the Speed Counters rising to ten each. "But I like Dinosaurs much more than I like jokes," said the Shadowchaser, playing another card, "so I'll bring out Sabersaurus."

The fiery portal opened again, and a large, red-scaled triceratops charged out. (1900/500)

"Alright it's about time for a counterattack," said Matari, "Sabersaurus attack!"

Sbaersuarus charged at Derrilin's set monster, which flipped up to reveal a ghostly grim reaper, which was immediately trampled by Sabersaurus.

"That was my Emissary of the Afterlife," explained Derrilin, as a card stuck out of his deck, "which lets us both add one level three or lower Normal Monster from our decks to our hands."

The kenku flipped the card around, it was another Clown Zombie.

"I guess you don't have one, do you?"

"Actually," Matari smiled, as a card stuck out of his deck, "I do."

The Shadowchaser plucked up the card and flashed it to his opponent, it was Trakadon. "Not the best Monster, but he works pretty well with Gallim to make Velphito.

"But let's not get too far ahead. Tyrannus direct attack. Tyrant Flame!"

Tyrannus roared and launched another fire at Derrilin, hitting his D-Wheel head on.

He screamed as the fire burned him. (DLP:6000-2200)

The flames around Derrilin died out, some his feathers were now charred black with ash.

"Consider it punishment for your crimes and dishonesty," said Matari.

"Aw shut your face," cawed Derrilin.

Matari narrowed his gaze at his opponent as he pressed a button on his console. "I activate the effect of Speed World 2, removing seven of my Speed Counters to draw an extra card.

Matari's D-Wheel slowed down dramatically as his Speed Counters fell to three. He drew a card and inspected it. He then grabbed it and another card and set them on his disk. "I end my turn with these two face down cards."

The two cards flashed behind Tyrannus and Sabersaurus before disappearing.

Derrilin looked in his rear view mirror as he drew a card, his own Speed Counters rising to eleven while Matari's rose to four. The gap between the riders was quickly widening.

Derrilin smiled as he looked at his drawn card. "I'll start by activating my face down card, Birthright, to revive one of my Atlantean Pikemen."

The Trap Card flipped up, as an Atlantean Pikeman returned to the field in a splash.

"Next, I'll activate the Speed Spell - Vision Wind, which lets me bring back another Pikeman."

The Speed Spell flashed and another Pikeman appeared.

"The, I'll summon my Synchron Explorer."

In a flash, a red, round machine appeared. It had four short limbs and an ovoid head with two glowing green eyes. (0/700)

"And when he's Normal Summoned," said Derrilin, as a particular card slipped out of his graveyard, "I can Special Summon a Synchron Monster from my graveyard, and since there's only one possible target…"

Junk Synchron reappeared next to Synchron Explorer.

"You've got two of those things!" gasped Matari.

"No," Derrilin admitted, "but I do have a way of reusing the first."

Derrilin's Trap Card flipped up. "I activate The Transmigration Prophecy, which lets me target two cards in either player's graveyards and shuffle them into their owner's deck."

The Junk Warrior and Dust Tornado cards appeared in behind Derrilin, before transforming into beams of light and darted into his deck.

"But Synchro Monsters can't exist in the main deck," said Matari, "so it gets sent to the Extra Deck instead."

"That right," said Derrilin, "which means that I can summon him again."

Junk Synchron and Synchron Explorer flew into the air, disappearing and leaving behind five shining stars.

Junk Warrior flew down from above once more.

"I may not have all three of my Pikemen," said Derrilin, "but two is still a pretty substantial boost."

Junk Warrior glowed with energy, though not quite as much as before. (ATK:2700-5100)

"Finish him. Attack Sabersaurus with Scrap Fist!"

"Not so fast!" shouted Matari, "I activate my Trap Card, Threatening Roar!"

Both Tyrannus and Sabersaurus roared, making Junk Warrior and the two Pikemen shudder in terror.

"Now I'm safe from attacks this turn," said Matari.

Derrilin started to sweat again. If he took an attack from Tyrannus against one of his Pikemen, he'd be wiped out. And not being able to destroy it with Junk Warrior, there was only one thing he could do…

He hit a button on his console.

"I remove ten of my Speed Counter to destroy your overgrown lizard."

Derrilin's D-Wheel slowed down dramatically as his Speed Counters dropped to one. Electricity then surged throughout Tyrannus' body, making the Dinosaur roar in pain before shattering.

"One down, one to go," smirked Derrilin.

"Actually," said Matari, who was now catching up to his opponent, "you still have two Monsters to deal with, because I activate Puzzle Reborn!"

The Trap Card flipped up, and dinosaur bones flew out of it.

"Several palaeontologists have compared reconstructing the skeletal structure with a giant puzzle," said Matari, as the bones began to literally pull themselves together.

After the bones finished positioning themselves, flesh appeared around them and Jurrac Tyrannus returned to form.

"Of course, he loses his attack boosts, but he still has plenty left."

"But Junk Warrior has more than twice his attack," said Derrilin. "I end my turn. Which means that the Pikeman I summoned with Vision Wind is destroyed."

That Pikeman shattered like glass.

"My turn," said Matari drawing a card as his Speed Counters increased to five, while Derrilin's increased to two.

Matari smirked. "You know he said, while I believe that attack points do matter, sometimes defence points should count too."

"What are you getting at?" asked Derrilin.

"You'll see," Matari replied.

The Shadowchaser played a card, and another Dinosaur appeared. It was clearly based on a brachiosaurus, with a long neck and forelegs that were longer than its hind legs. Its scales were dark purple and covered with small curved spines. (1800/1100)

"Meet Black Brachios," said Matari, "and when he's Normal Summoned I can switch one Monster you control to defence position."

"What!" cawed Derrilin, almost choking.

Brachios stamped its feet and Junk Warrior moved to a more defensive pose.

"It's time to wrap this chase up," Matari smiled, "Brachios attack Junk Warrior!"

Brachios stamped its feet again, sending a shock wave at the scrap synchro and blowing it to pieces.

Derrilin was silent.

"Sabersaurus fillet that fish!"

Sabersaurus roared and dashed forward, charging through it and shattering it. (DLP:2200-1700)

Derrilin let out a sigh and slumped back against his seat.

"Finish it Tyrannus!" Matari ordered, "Tyrant Flame!"

Tyrannus gathered another ball of flame in its mouth, then fired it at Derrilin. The blast hit the kenku their head on, and he screamed. (DLP:1700-0)

Horns sounded as Derrilin's D-Wheel ground to a halt. The kenku gripped the handlebars. "Damn it!" he swore, throwing his arms up in frustration, more of his feathers had been charred by the flames.

Then Matari pulled to a stop next to him. "Alright," he said, hopping off his D-Wheel and taking a blue gemstone out of his pocket. "No one escapes justice, not on my watch."

"I see that," said Derrilin, "but I know of someone who has."

Matari narrowed his gaze. "What are you talking about, you Sesame Street reject?"

The kenku sighed and crossed his arms. "Tarni Burumurring," he said.

"Burumurring," said Matari, the mere mention of that name left him setting with anger.

Years ago, Tarni Burumurring was a notorious criminal who operated in Sydney but had operations as far away as Tokyo or New York. There were only rumours of what she truly did: extortion, fraud, robbery, forgery, money laundering and even murder. Whether or not Tarni was responsible for these things was truly unknown, the only evidence anyone had were just rumours at best.

But then one day, one of her higher-ups betrayed her, coming to the Shadowchasers and confessing everything he and her organisation had done. The Sydney Shadowchaser confronted Tarni and arrested her underlings…

But Tarni was nowhere to be found, all that was found in her office was a note. It told the Sydney Shadowchasers to do multiple unmentionable things, and that they could have all her underlings but they'd never take her alive.

Tarni had escaped the law, but in doing so she lost everything. She'd never have the power and influence she once had…

But it looked like she was certainly willing to try.

"She's hiding out in Rozelle bay. Storage shed number fourteen…" said the kenku

"An old abandoned warehouse?" Matari noted, raising an eyebrow, "gee, who'd ever think to look there?" he sarcastically added.

"You obviously didn't," growled Derrilin, "there's a fake floor in the back corner, behind some crates. Go down the stairs and that is she'll be, I guarantee it."

"She's been right under our noses this entire time," said Matari, seething with rage, "when I get my hands on her…"

Derrilin fake coughed, gaining Matari's attention.

Matari held up the gem, and it began to glow. "I suggest that when you spill your guts to whoever interrogates you, you might even reduce your sentence."

"Don't worry," smiled Derrilin, "I think I'll enjoy seeing that bitch go down in flames as much as you would."

The gemstone flashed brightly, and the kenku disappeared.

Matari then almost immediately put the gemstone away whipped out an old smartphone (Rowan had insisted that they all use these outdated devices), and dialled in a number.

"Come on Wendy," he muttered, "pick up."

After a few rings, Wendy picked up. "Hello," she said.

"Wendy," Matari said, his voice filled with excitement, "Tarni…

"Burumurring," Wendy cut it.

"I know where she is," said Matari.

"Where?" Wendy asked in a rather demanding tone.

"Rozelle Bay, warehouse number fourteen," Matari replied, "there's a false floor in the back corner, she hiding under that."

"I should've guessed she be hiding somewhere like that."

"Can't believe you never thought to look there," chuckled Matari.

"You didn't either," Wendy bluntly replied.

Matari hung his head in frustration. "I'll make a call to Rowan and let him know what we're doing."

"Don't bother. I've been trying to get a hold of Rowan for the last twenty minutes and he hasn't picked up. He must be on the return trip."

"Or inside a giant frog."

Wendy was about to reply about how stupid she thought the whole giant frog concept was but decided against it. "Don't joke about something like that," she said, "he wouldn't be dead."

"I didn't say he was dead," Matari protested, "I said he was eaten by a frog."

Wendy was silent for a few seconds. "We're getting off topic," she said. "I'll go confront Tarni, you can take over what I'm doing."

"Wait!" Matari grumbled, "What? Why do you get to go after that bitch?"

Wendy glanced back at Zephyr. "I already have backup," she replied, "you don't."

"I can handle things myself," grumbled Matari, "I don't need an overgrown chicken following me around all day."

"That's what you said last time, and what happened then, she escaped. Made us laughing stocks among the organisation."

"No, she didn't! You're just exaggerating things! Jalal even congratulated us arresting all of her underlings!"

"Well, it felt like we were!"

The quick phone call was turning into yet another shouting match.

"We're getting off topic again," said Wendy, "I'll head to Burumurring's location."

"What about Arika?" Matari asked, "should I call her?"

"Don't bother. She needs to focus on catching whoever she's after before it strikes again…"

"Wambeen," answered Matari, "evil God, he hurls lightning at people, hates tourists slightly more than the average person does…"

"It's more likely to be some spell caster who uses lightning-based spells, or a descendant of a blue dragon rather than one of your evil Gods," said Wendy, "Now as I said, I'm heading to Burumurring's location, you come to Tumbalong park that's where I'm…"

"What are you doing there?"

"I starting a search. This morning a kobold child was kidnapped by a kenku…"

Matari's heart sank and his stomach churned. He had a gut feeling about who the victim was…

"A little girl kobold?" Matari asked, trying to remember what he had seen earlier "and was her mother was wearing a red robe, with a tonne of jewellery?"

"Yes, well minus the jewellery, the kenku stole that as well," Wendy answered, "How did you know?"

"I saw her this morning."

"Getting attacked?" gasped Wendy sounding enraged, "and you didn't do anything about it?"

"No. I saw her and her daughter crossing the street during my patrol," Matari sighed, he was now at a painful crossroad - bring sweet justice to a criminal who had humiliated him years ago, or potentially let a young innocent child (well as innocent as a kobold could get) be harmed.

"Fine," he sighed, "I'll be in Tumbalong park in about twenty minutes."

"Also," Wendy added, "I heard that the kenku headed North, the Harbourside centre would be a good placed to start."

Then she hung up.

Matari grumbled as he slipped the phone back into his pocket. He then trudged back to his D-Wheel.

**0 - 0 KK 0 - 0**

Ezekiel and Gertie ran into a backstreet a short distance from the Harbourside Mall, the two were alone in the backstreet

"I think… I think we lost him," Ezekiel smiled, "don't worry, he won't bother us again."

Gertie smiled at him, he could've sworn he saw a set of jagged teeth.

_"__She__…_ _she needs a dentist,__"_ thought Ezekiel, as he blinked and gently shook his head.

He looked at the young girl, her teeth look human again.

_"__Or I need an optometrist,__"_ _he corrected himself._

But then a loud cackle came from above them.

"Thought you could hide from me you little shit?" a chilling and familiar voice yelled from above.

Ezekiel's eyes opened wide as he looked up, seeing the man from the mall standing on top of the building above them.

Kimba leapt down from atop the building, leaping with inhuman speed and precision he landed in front of the duo, he didn't seem to be injured by the landing at all.

Gertie squealed and hid behind Ezekiel's leg.

"Squeal all you like lizard," growled Kimba.

"Lizard?" Ezekiel gasped, looking down at Gertie, for a second she seemed to have orange scaly skin, a set of small curved horns and a rat-like tail behind her.

Ezekiel shook his head and refocused his vision, the young girl looked human to him once again. "Must've been my imagination," he reassured himself.

"Oi, over here Shadowchaser!" called Kimba.

Ezekiel looked up the man. "Shadowchaser?" he asked.

"Don't play dumb," Kimba replied, "the only kind of human that could outmatch my speed and skill in battle is a Shadowchaser!"

"I… I don't know what you're talking about," said Ezekiel, stepping back.

"Oh you're a good actor, you are Shadowchaser!" cackled Kimba, "but does your acting skill compare to your duelling skills?"

"What?" Ezekiel slowly replied it to him was clear that whoever this guy was, he wasn't right in the head.

Kimba produced a D-Gazer and duel disc. "I invoke the Fair Fight Clause! Get set to get decked, Shadowchaser! And once I beat you to a bloody pulp, the chicks will be all over me!"

Ezekiel stood silently, tilting his head in confusion. "The Fair what?" he asked.

"The Fair Fight Clause," explained Kimba, sounding rather annoyed that the "Shadowchaser" hadn't given up his "act". "You win and I'll let you take me away. But if I win, you give the girl to me."

_Wait!_ thought Ezekiel, _take him away? This guy thinks I__'__m a police officer__…_ _How__…_ _How__…_ _How thick is this guy?_

Then the realisation hit him. "Wait, we're wagering… Gertie… Over a duel?

"That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard!"

"You can drop the act Shadowchaser," sneered Kimba, "you of all people should know how important this game is."

Ezekiel shook his head in disbelief, he still had no idea what this guy was rambling on about.

"The whole world has hinged on Duel Monsters before," said Kimba, "and it'll be many more times."

"That… that," Ezekiel stammered, then gulped, "that sounds a little far-fetched, don't you think?"

Kimba growled. "I'm getting tired of your stalling Shadowchaser," he said, reaching into his pocket with his free talon.

"Okay, okay," said Ezekiel, as he unzipped his bag and pulled out his duelling equipment, thank God he packed it.

"Good," smirked Kimba, "I see that you've come to your senses."

The kenku fixed his D-Gazer to his head and his duel disc to his arm, Ezekiel said the same. He looked down at Gertie.

_"__She not gonna be able to see the duel,__"_ he thought, _"__probably for the better.__"_

He slipped on his own duel disc and D-Gazer and gulped.

"Get ready for the duel of your life Shadowchaser!" Kimba cackled.

Ezekiel slowly put his deck in the slot. He almost couldn't believe what was happening (and probably wouldn't have if it wasn't happening to him). He was duelling with someone's life on the line. Duel Monsters was nothing more than a simple, yet hugely popular, game, right?

But right now, all the rumours he had heard about Duel Monsters being more than a game (more than a way of life even) were starting to sound slightly less insane.

He gave another look to his opponent and for a second, he swore his long nose looked more like a beak and he appeared to be covered in black feathers

"Duel!" both Kimba and Ezekiel announced, the AR Field projecting around them.

**0 - 0 KK 0 - 0**

**Speed Spell - Vision Wind  
Image:**Speed Warrior surround by a conical gust of wind.**  
Effect:**Activate only if you have two or more Speed Counters. Target one Level Two or lower Monster in your Graveyard: Special Summon it. Destroy it during the End Phase.

Note: Speed Spell - Vision Wind was first used by Yusei Fudo in the very first episode of Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's, "Riding Duel! Acceleration!". Creative Credit goes to the writers of that episode.

**0 - 0 KK 0 - 0**

**Kitten Knight: **Oh Ezekiel, you poor naive overgrown child, what disastrous situation have you gotten yourself into?

Oh well, they say no good deed goes unpunished. Rescuing a lost little, scaly, smelly lizard-girl? "Burn in Hell! You monster!" I say.

Next time, as the Shadowchaser rush around to their new objectives, Ezekiel begins his duel with the (not as smart, strong, fast or sexually desirable as he thinks) Kimba.

But the duel isn't the only thing that Ezekiel might lose, as he becomes more Aware of the situation at hand…

Find out in the next chapter, Safe Zone!


	5. Safe Zone

**0 - 0 KK 0 - 0**

**Shadowchasers: ****Muru**

**0 - 0 KK 0 - 0**

**Round 05: Safe Zone**

**0 - 0 KK 0 - 0**

**We once again delve into the Crow****'****s adventures once more. This tale tells of how the Crow brought the secrets of fire to the world.**

**Long ago in the Dreaming, seven women - know as the Karatgurk sisters - lived along the banks of the Yarra River. They alone held the secrets of fire. Each carried a hot coal on the end of their digging sticks, allowing them to cook the yams they dug from the ground. The sisters refused to share their coals with anyone.**

**One day, Crow met with the women, asking if they would share their cooked yams with him. The women agreed, but played a trick on Crow, giving him raw yams instead. Furious, Crow attacked the sisters in retaliation, stealing one of their cooked yams and flew off.**

**Up in the trees, Crow tasted the cooked yam, it was the most delicious thing he had ever tasted. He resolved to steal the secrets of fire for himself.**

**Knowing the sisters were fond of termites, but deathly afraid of snakes. Crow gathered a large number of snakes and buried them in a termite mound. He went back to the sister and falsely apologised for his actions and offered to show them the termite mound.**

**The women followed him to the spot and broke open the mound. The snakes attacked and the women defended themselves with their digging sticks, sending the hot coals flying off. Crow gathered a coal between two pieces of bark and flew off.**

**Soon a large group had began to follow Crow wherever he went, asking him to share the secret of fire with them. Eventually, Crow became frustrated and hurled the coal at the crowd below, sparking up a bushfire. Many believed that Crow had perished in the flames, but the eternal trickster rose from the flames, mocking those who thought he was dead with his signature ****"****Waa Waa****"****.**

**0 - 0 KK 0 ****\- 0**

(Ezekiel LP: 8000/ Kimba LP: 8000)

Kimba drew five cards from his deck and examined them. "I'll let you have the first move, Shadowchaser," he said.

"Thanks," Ezekiel replied, his voice quivering. He nervously adjusted his hat, and tucked some loose hairs back into place. _Why does he keep calling me a Shadowchaser. Heck, what is a Shadowchaser?_

He drew five cards and carefully examined them. He then took two of them and played them on his duel disc. "I set one Monster and one card face down."

A reversed card and Monster appeared in front of Ezekiel and Gertie.

Ezekiel looked down at the young girl. "Don't worry, everything will be alright."

He took one more look at his field. "I end my turn."

_"__That should keep us safe__…_ _I hope.__"_

"My turn!" announced Kimba, cackling as he eagerly tore the top card off his deck. "I'll start off with Sonic Duck!"

A portal opened up, and a horse sized duck ran out. It had green feathers and wore a scarf around its neck and a bucket on its head. (1700/700)

_Sonic Duck? Kind of expecting something stronger than that,_ Ezekiel thought, he then looked at his hand, _but I was hoping for something weaker__…_

"Sonic Duck attack!"

The bucket wearing duck lowered its head, quacked, and charged at Ezekiel's set Monster. There was a loud cracking sound as Sonic Duck collided with the Monster Ezekiel had set, a pink, plastic wind-up toy in the shape of a snail, with a small golden key sticking out of the top of its shell. (100/2000)

Ezekiel smiled, though still clearly nervous. "Looks like Wind-Up Snail is too tough to crack."

Sonic Duck dizzily stumbled back onto Kimba's side of the field, landing on its behind. (Kimba LP:8000-7700)

"You got lucky, kid," snarled Kimba, grabbing two cards from his hand, "I'll end my turn by placing one card face down and activating the Continuous Spell Card, Heart of the Underdog!"

A reversed card appeared in front of the kenku, followed by a face-up card.

"A Normal Monster deck!" Ezekiel exclaimed. _Okay, okay,_ his mind raced, _I can handle that__…_ _I hope._

"M… my turn," said Ezekiel, he was still pretty nervous, he couldn't hide behind Snail forever. He looked at the three cards in his hand, Wind-Up Bat, Wind-Up Hunter and Draw Muscle, nothing that could overpower Sonic Duck.

Placing his hand over his deck, Ezekiel silently prayed that he could draw something that could help.

As he drew, he could swear he heard a dog barking - right next to him.

He looked around, there was not a living thing nearby, except for Gertie - but while she smelt like a dog, that bark definitely didn't come from her.

He shrugged and looked at the card, it was Wind-Up Dog. _Okay, ihe thought._

"Alright," Ezekiel smiled, it was a genuine smile at that, "I summon Wind-Up Dog."

In a flash of light, a new Monster appeared in front of Ezekiel. It was a blue toy dog, with a golden key sticking out of its back. (1200/900)

Kimba took one look at the Monster and burst out laughing, talons on his stomach. "Toys! Your Monsters are toys! This'll be even easier than I thought!" he cackled.

"Hey!" Ezekiel protested, "Wind-Up are quite powerful."

But then again, he wasn't exactly sure that his hands were the right hands. Sure, he and his deck had won their fair share of duels, but they'd also lost just as many.

Ezekiel gulped, the thought of what would happen should he lose… Well, he didn't want to think about that. But then again, the uncertainty of what would happen should… Well, he didn't want to think about _either._

So he pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind. "I activate the effect of Wind-Up Snail, sending your face down card back to your hand

The key in Snail's shell began to turn, then fell out of its slot and disappeared. The toy then kicked to life and sprayed a stream of water of Kimba's set card. It disappeared amongst the stream.

Kimba plucked the card from his duel disc and put it back in his hand.

"Next, I activate the effect of my Wind-Up Dog, increasing its level by two and its attack by six hundred!"

The key in Dog's back turned, fell and disappeared. Dog lowered its head and growled at Kimba. (LV:3-5/ATK:1200-1800)

Kimba grumbled some rather ill-mannered words under his breath.

Wind-Up Dog leapt forward and pounced on Sonic Duck, shattering it. (KLP:7700-7600)

Kimba said nothing as he slid the Sonic Duck card into his graveyard.

"I end my turn there," said Ezekiel, as Dog returned to its spot next to Snail, "which means that my Dog's effect wears off."

Dog's movements slowly became stiff and jerky. (LV:5-3/ATK:1800-1200)

"Seems you've got some skill, Shadowchaser," said Kimba, making a draw.

The Heart of the Underdog Card glowed. "I use the effect of my Spell Card, since I drew a Normal Monster, during my draw phase I can reveal that card to you."

The kenku flipped the Card around, it was Skull Red Bird.

"Skull Red Bird?" Ezekiel blurted out, "who uses that card?"

"I do!" Kimba snapped, rather defensively too. "And since I revealed that Monster, I can draw another card."

Kimba drew another card, then flipped that one around too, it was Queen Bird. "And since I drew another Normal Monster, I can draw another card." He drew another card and flipped that one around, Blue Winged Crown."

"Your deck is all Normal Winged-Beasts?" said Ezekiel. He let out a sigh of relief, he could handle something as simple as that, it's not like there was trump card hiding in his opponent's deck right?

Right?

Ezekiel was pulled from his thoughts by Kimba, who began to swear as he looked at his fourth card. "Damn, not a Monster. Oh well, it's still a useful card.

"But first, I summon Blue-Winged Crown."

In a small burst of flame, a blue-feathered bird appeared, its wings tucked up beside it. (1600/1200)

"Sixteen hundred attack may not be much," said Kimba, "but it's more than enough to wipe out that mutt of yours. Attack!"

Blue-Winged Crown extended its wings, flicking small embers to its side. The avian then darted straight at Wind-Up Dog.

Wind-Up Dog yelped in fright.

"Trap activate!" Ezekiel yelled, "Magic Cylinder!"

The Trap Card flipped up, and two large red cylinders appeared in front of Wind-Up Dog, one of which caught Blue-Winged Crown.

"This Trap negates your attack and inflicts damage to you equal to your Monster's attack!"

Blue-Winged Crown was sent barreling out of the second cylinder at high speed, crashing into its master. He screamed as the bird collided with him and knocked him over. (KLP:7600-6000)

Kimba stood up and shook his fist at Ezekiel. "You little shit!"

Ezekiel stepped back in fear, accidentally stepping on Gertie's foot, having forgotten she was there.

Kimba then took a deep breath, calming down. "I activate the Spell Card Ancient Rules, which lets me Special Summon my Queen Bird from my hand."

The Spell Card flashed into existence, and a large bird appeared next to Blue-Winged Crown. It had beige feathers on its body and wings and crimson feathers on its face, its beak was rather jagged and ugly. The bird curled up in its wings. (1200/2000)

"I'll end my turn with one card face down," said Kimba, slipping one more card into his duel disc.

Ezekiel's hand quivered as he prepared to draw. _"__I don__'__t have too many options at the moment,__"_ _he thought, __"__Wind-Up Hunter could tie with that bird, but it would cost me more than it would him. I have a defensive option, but__…"_

He sighed, pushing the thoughts from his mind as he drew a card. He lit up upon seeing it, maybe his luck was changing.

"I summon Wind-Up Soldier!"

In a flash another toy-like Monster appeared. It was a humanoid, painted green with a large, odd-shaped head and two pincer-like hands. (1800/1200)

Kimba pouted and crossed his arms. "And what does this one do?" he asked with disdain.

"I can use his effect to give him an extra level and four hundred attack until the end of the turn," Ezekiel answered.

Kimba's eyes popped wide open as the key fell out of Soldier's back. (LV:4-5/ATK:1800-2200)

"Attack Blue-Winged Crown. Spring Punch!"

Wind-Up Soldier began "winding up" its arm by swinging it in a large circle, faster and faster until it began to look like a blur. Then, the toy unleashed a powerful punch, slamming into Blue-Winged Crown and breaking it to pieces. (KLP:6000-5400)

Ezekiel smiled, he was starting to gain more confidence in himself, his negative thoughts were being shoved to the back of his mind. He felt like he could win. "I set one card face down and switch Wind-Up Dog to defence position," he said.

Wind-Up Dog sat on its hindquarters as a face down appeared behind it.

Kimba smirked as he drew a card. "You do realise you made a mistake right?" he asked.

Ezekiel smile changed to a frown. "Mistake?" he gasped.

Gertie squeaked in fright and clung to Ezekiel's leg. The youth winced in pain as he felt her fingers dig into his leg, they felt like little daggers… claws even.

"Yes a mistake," cackled Kimba, "you should've attacked my Queen Bird last turn, now I have a defence you can't crack."

"That's not much of a mistake," Ezekiel pointed out, "I have a few cards that get rid of that Monster."

Though a second later Ezekiel gulped, while he had a few cards that could get past Queen Bird's defence, he had none of them in his hand at the moment. Ezekiel grimaced, had he put himself in a worse situation?

"Oh but even the slightest mistake can be exploited," the kenku cackled, then turned around the Card he had drawn, Kurama.

The Heart of the Underdog glowed and Kimba drew again, the kenku took one look at the green-bordered card a grinned wildly. "It may not be a Monster, but it's still extremely useful. I activate…"

Kimba paused, half for dramatic effect and half to give himself time to grab two more cards from his hand.

"Polymerization!"

Ezekiel stepped back.

Kimba cackled. "Are you really scared, Shadowchaser? Your bravado wearing off? Well, I'm gonna take advantage of that! I fuse Skull Red Bird and Faith Bird to Fusion Summon a powerful Monster."

Two birds appeared in front of Kimba, one had blood red feathers and razor sharp wings, it wore a spiked choker around its neck. (1550/1200)

The other had emerald green feathers and a long set of soft tail-feathers. (1500/1200)

The two Monsters were then combined, their bodies twisting and contorting against each other. There was a bright flash of light, and a new Monster appeared. It was another bird, with a red body, yellow breast and purple wings. Intense heat seemed to radiate from its body. (2300/1800)

"Crimson Sunbird," said Kimba, raising a talon to introduce his new Monster, "but he won't be going on the offensive alone, I activate my facedown card, Birthright."

Kimba's Trap flipped up, and Sonic Duck reappeared between Queen Bird and Crimson Sunbird.

Kimba smirked evilly as he stared at his opponent. "Caught you off guard did I? Wasn't expecting to see a Fusion Summon, were you? Sunbird roast that Soldier!"

Crimson Sunbird opened its beak and shot out a burst of flame, causing Soldier's to melt into a pile of goo.

"Soldier!" Ezekiel yelled, as the pile of goo disintegrated. (ELP:8000-7500)

He then clutched his stomach, he felt like someone had punched him in the gut. Sure, Solid Vision technology had reached the point where the line between phantom pain and the regular pain was as thin as a hair.

But this was something different, he could feel it. He shook over the pain off, clenched his teeth and took a deep breath.

"Sonic Duck attack that mutt!" Kimba barked.

Sonic Duck quacked and sprinted toward Wind-Up Dog.

Ezekiel bit his lip as he hit a button on his duel disc. "Not on my watch, go Draw Muscle!" he called, his set Quick-Play Spell flipping up. "Since Wind-Up Dog is in defence position and has less than a thousand defence points, not only does this card protect it from being destroyed, I'm also allowed to draw one card!"

Ezekiel drew a card as a blue force field appeared around Wind-Up Dog, bouncing Sonic Duck away.

"You can't protect that mutt forever," growled Kimba, "I summon Kurama and end my turn."

In a flash, another Winged-Beast appeared. A silver crow with a large beak and an extra set of talons. (800/800)

_"__That couldn__'__t be more obvious bait if were deep fried and dangling from a piece of string,__"_ Ezekiel thought.

**0 - 0 KK 0 - 0**

Zephyr flew high above the city, her wings stretched out as wide to catch as much lift as possible

Wendy clung tight to her mount's saddle, her scarf wrapped tightly around the lower half of her face and her goggles pulled down over her eyes. Behind the lenses, Wendy's eyes darted back and forth across the empty sky, scanning for anything that could interrupt their flight.

The something caught her eye. She leant forward, getting as close to Zephyr's head as she could without risking to lose her balance. "There's a strong headwind coming up girl, better fly at a lower altitude, about ten metres down," she informed her mount.

Wendy braced herself as Zephyr dove down, then straightened out a lower altitude.

"Good girl," said Wendy, petting Zephyr on the back of her head and receiving an affectionate purr in reply.

**0 - 0 KK 0 - 0**

Ezekiel looked at Crimson Sunbird. A bead of sweat rolled down his face, he couldn't tell if it was from being nervous or from the heat that radiated from the opposing monster - probably a combination of both.

He placed his hand on his deck. _"__Come on,__"_ he thought, _"__it__'__s just a Monster with a little over two thousand attack, no effects protecting it - heck, he doesn__'__t even have a back row. Nothing to panic about.__"_

"Are you going to stand there and stare at my Monster?" yelled Kimba, "or are you going to duel?"

Ezekiel snapped out of his thoughts and tugged the top card from his deck. _Ugh, this card, why do I even have it in my deck again?_ he thought, inspecting the card, _"__nine times out of ten, it costs me more than its worth__…"_ He then looked across at his opponent's field, _but this time, it__'__s the tenth time._

"I activate the Spell Card, Magical Spring!" he shouted.

The Spell Card flashed into existence in front Ezekiel, as an angelic statue burst through the ground in front of him, bringing with it a stream of water which quickly formed a small pond. Kimba's Heart of the Underdog and Birthright Cards glowed.

"What are you doing?" Kimba gasped, concerned for his cards.

"First off," Ezekiel explained, "Magical Spring allows me to draw one Card for every face-up Spell or Trap Card you control," he drew two cards, "so long as I discard a card for every one of mine."

He looked through the five cards in his hand and slid Wind-Up Hunter in the graveyard. The pond then - just as quickly as it appeared - dried up, but the glow around Birthright and Heart of the Underdog remained.

"Of course," said Ezekiel, biting his lip in nervous frustration, "using Magical Spring prevents your Spell or Trap Cards from being destroyed or negated until the end of your next turn."

Kimba smirked. "Suit yourself, I find it kind of funny how you're the one protecting my cards."

Ezekiel didn't reply, sure using Magical Spring was a risk, but this time, it had paid off, giving him two cards that were very useful in this situation. He took one of the cards and played it, "I summon Wind-Up Knight!"

A portal opened up, and a new Wind-Up Monster stepped out. It was covered in white and gold-crested armour and wielded a sword and shield. The toy stood high and mighty on the field, much like that of a typical fantasy knight.

"Next, I'll switch my Wind-Up Dog back to attack position."

Wind-Up Dog stood up on all fours and growled at Kimba.

Kimba smirked. "He took the bait," he muttered.

Ezekiel glanced at Crimson Sunbird, and gulped. "Wind-Up Knight," he ordered, "attack Sonic Duck."

Wind-Up Knight raised its sword, and slashed Sonic Duck, the waterbird quacked in pain and shattered. (KLP:5400-5300)

"Dog attack Kurama!"

Wind-Up Dog bounded toward the silver crow, catching it in its mouth and shattering it with a crunch of its jaws. (KLP:5300-4900)

Ezekiel smiled as Dog returned to his side of the field, his confidence rising more as his opponent's life points fell.

However, instead of being angry at the gap between their life points widening, Kimba only chuckled. "You're a fool, Shadowchaser," he cackled.

Once again Ezekiel didn't bother to reply, he was not one for trash talk. He quickly grabbed two cards from his hand. "I set one card face down, then activate the Continuous Spell Card, Wind-Up Factory."

A face down card appeared behind Snail, Dog and Knight, as well as a face-up Spell Card, depicting a colourful construction line in the process of creating multiple Wind-Up Soldiers.

Then, on Ezekiel's duel disc a contraption of cogs and gears appeared over the deck slot.

"And what does that card do?" Kimba asked.

"We will cross that bridge when we come to it," Ezekiel replied, "I end my turn."

"Whatever," said Kimba, making a draw and scowling when he saw what it was. "This isn't a Monster, so I'll set it face down."

A reversed card appeared among Heart of the Underdog and Birthright.

"And then," the kenku shouted, swiftly pointing a talon at Wind-Up Dog, "incinerate that mutt!"

Crimson Sunbird opened its beak and shot out another burst of flame.

"Knight defend!" called Ezekiel, as the key in Knight's back began to turn, as it leapt to Wind-Up Dog's defence, shielding it from the flames with its shield.

"What the hell just happened?" Kimba demanded, stamping his foot in frustration.

Ezekiel smiled. "Wind-Up Knight can negate an attack targeting a Wind-Up Monster."

The key then fell out of Wind-Up Knight's back and disappeared. Then, the Wind-Up Factory Spell Card glowed.

"But more importantly," said Ezekiel, gaining him a sad look from Wind-Up Dog, and a sigh of frustration from Knight, "since the effect of a Wind-Up Monster activated, my Factory adds another Wind-Up Monster from my deck to my hand."

The gears and cogs of the device of Ezekiel's duel disc began to spin and whirl, eventually, a card spat out, and the youth snatched it up and revealed it to his opponent. "I think Wind-Up Magician is a fine choice."

Ezekiel added to the card to his hand, he then glanced down at Gertie. She was still hiding behind his legs, but at least she'd stopped driving her fingernails into his flesh.

Kimba looked at the two remaining cards in his hand, Niwatori and Fiend Reflection #2. "I end my turn," he grumbled.

**0 - 0 KK 0 - 0 **

Jirra burst through the front door of an inner city bar, he let out a deep, depressed sigh as he stepped inside.

The bar had a gritty atmosphere and was in a dire state of neglect; the walls were dirty and had large cracks running in all directions. Thick black curtains were drawn over the windows, leaving only various lightbulbs and a neon sign to illuminate the room. The dirty and dark atmosphere of the bar gave it all the atmosphere of being under a rock.

Behind the counter stood a brunette woman who looked to be in her mid-twenties, she was wearing a red shirt that showed her midriff as well as fair amount of cleavage and a rather short skirt.

Well, that's what she looked like to Mundane humans. Awares and Shadowkind could clearly see that the woman - like Jirra - was covered in small green scales and had yellow eyes (that seemed to glow in the low light).

"Hello Jirra," the snakeblood woman hissed, a forked tongue darting from her mouth as she smiled, revealing a set of sharp fangs.

Jirra huffed and trudged across the dirty bar, pulling up a stool and taking a seat. "Hey Merinda," he sighed dejectedly, searching for sympathy with all the subtlety of the sun moving through the sky.

Merinda rolled her reptilian eyes, having no sympathy for her brother's griping. "So, how'd you duel with Arika go, did you finally beat her?"

"Just brilliant," Jirra answered, then laid his head down on the counter and repeated his answer - with a rather rude obscenity added in.

"I take the sarcasm and the swear as a definite "no", Merinda replied, reaching under the counter. "Oh well, I guess more of the good stuff for me."

The snakeblood woman produced a single glass and a bottle.

Jirra lurched up straight the moment he realised what the bottle contained - a green liquid that almost sounded like a snake as it fizzed inside the bottle. "That's…" Jirra slowly stammered in awe.

"Viperwine," said Merinda, cutting off her brother.

Viperwine was a type of whisky that reptilian Shadowkind (and Shadowtouched) adored. Made from the venom of the Indian viper, it was a deadly poison to mammals.

"But how did you?" Jirra asked, silently praying the answer was at the very least "legally".

Merinda hushed her brother and reached into her cleavage, pulling out a small laminated card. "My licence to sell Viperwine," she said with a wide grin, "this stuff came in over lunch and it's gonna be our ticket to the big bucks."

As it technically was a poison, the production and distribution of viperwine were closely monitored by the Shadowchasers. Extensive background checks were run on anyone who applied for a licence and only the cleanest and least sketchy applicants were approved.

As such, viperwine was a very profitable substance, something that Merinda definitely realised.

"Woah," Jirra gasped, reaching out to grab the licence, but stopped short when he realised where it had been pulled from and quickly withdrew his hand.

Merinda chuckled. "Best hiding place in the world, huh?" she smirked, slipping the card back where it came from.

She popped the cork and began to pour the green liquid into the glass, then passed it Jirra.

"To finally living the dream," Merinda declared, raising the bottle in a toast.

Jirra couldn't help but smile as he stood up and raised his glass, his gripe about his crush pushed to the back of his mind. "To finally living the dream," he said, gently clinking his glass against the bottle.

**0 - 0 KK 0 - 0**

"My move," Ezekiel eagerly announced, drawing a card. _Star Changer, _ he thought, trying to keep his facial expression neutral, _not the best draw, but it could be useful later._

He then grabbed another card from his hand and played it. "I summon Wind-Up Magician!"

In a burst of whirling flames, a fourth Wind-Up Monster appeared. A purple magician with a long, pointed nose and staff longer than it was tall. Like the other Wind-Ups, it had a golden turnkey in its back. (600/1800)

Kimba crossed his arms in impatience. "And what does this one do?" he asked, in a tone that suggested veins were about to pop.

"Just wait a minute," Ezekiel replied, "I'll get to that soon. But first I'll activate my face down card, Zenmairch."

The Trap Card sprung up, and Wind-Up Dog disappeared whilst Ezekiel took the card from his duel disc.

"This card allows me to return a level four or lower Wind-Up," he explained, "then I can Special Summon a Wind-Up Monster from my hand, so long as its level is the same as the one I returned."

Ezekiel placed the Wind-Up Dog card back on his duel disc, and the blue toy dog reappeared in a flash.

"Hold on?" Kimba gasped, his expression changing from angry to puzzled. "What was the point of that?"

"Wind-Up Monsters are like wind-up toys," Ezekiel answered, "once they use their effects, they have to be wound up again. And that can be done by either flipping them face down or summoning them again."

Kimba burst out laughing. "Oh please, six-hundred extra attack ain't gonna get Scooby-Blue there any chance at destroying either of my Monsters."

"You know," said Ezekiel, placing his hand on top of Gertie's head, "my Monsters…"

But then he stopped mid-sentence and looked down at Gertie, he could see that his hand was resting on her soft looking hair, but he could feel something curved and rocky.

_Horns?_ he thought glancing down at the young girl, who looked back up at him.

Ezekiel shook his head and once again snapped back into reality. "As I was saying, my Monsters are at the best when they work as a team. So I'll have Dog kick things off with his own effect."

The turnkey twisted in Dog's back, as the plastic canine began to bark. (LV:3-5/ATK:1200-1800)

"Six hundred extra attack isn't gonna get you anywhere," scoffed Kimba.

"On the contrary," Ezekiel smiled, now fully confident he had this duel in the bag, "Dog's effect is just step one. Now, since the effect of a Wind-Up Monster was activated I can use my Wind-Up Magician's effect, and I'll also chain to that the effect of my Factory!"

The turnkey in Magician began to twist as the toy Spellcaster raised its staff. Then, the cogs and gears on the device over Ezekiel's deck.

"And since we resolve chains in reverse order," Ezekiel explained, causing Kimba to scratch his head in confusion. "I'll use my Factory's effect to add Wind-Up Rat from my deck to my hand."

The device spat out a card, and Ezekiel showed it to his opponent then added to it to his hand.

"And now I'll use my effect of Magician to Special Summon Wind-Up Warrior from my deck."

The tip of Wind-Up Magician's staff glowed, as the turnkey fell to the ground. Then a white portal opened up and another Wind-Up appeared. It was humanoid and painted orange, with large arms and a square jaw. It huddled into a defensive position. (1200/1800)

"A full field of Monsters can't help you." Kimba snorted, smugly glancing over at Crimson Sunbird.

"I'm not done yet," said Ezekiel, "now I'll use my Warrior's effect on my Wind-Up Knight, boosting his level by one and his attack by six-hundred."

The key in Warrior's back turned, as an aura of power appeared around Wind-Up Knight (LV:4-5/ATK:1800-2400)

Kimba gulped, now Knight was more powerful than Crimson Sunbird.

"And don't think I'm finished yet!" Ezekiel shouted, "I overlay the level four Wind-Up Magician with the level four Wind-Up Warrior! With these two Monsters, I build the overlay network!"

A swirling vortex opened on the ground, as Magician and Warrior leapt inside.

"Appear, Wind-Up Zenmaister!"

Lights burst from the vortex as a large machine emerged from the other side. The machine had four rockets engines that constructed its lower half, while its upper half was roughly human in shape, with two large arms and red, glowing eyes. (1900/1500)

"And before you even laugh at my Monster's original attack," said Ezekiel, just as Kimba opened his beak to do exactly that, "I'll just say the for each Xyz Material Zenmaister has, it gains an extra three hundred attack."

Two glowing spheres orbited Zenmaister. (ATK:1900-2500)

Kimba stepped back. "Shit," he muttered, "this kid is better than I thought."

Ezekiel smiled and pointed triumphantly. "You better believe it," he said, with a broad, honest smile across his face. "Zenmaister, take out that oversized drumstick!"

Zenmaister's rockets fired up and it took to the air, landing a powerful punch right between Crimson Sunbird's eyes.

The bird screeched and shattered almost instantly. (Kimba LP:4900-4700)

Kimba muttered obscenities under his breath as he braced himself.

"Knight," Ezekiel commanded, "slay Queen Bird!"

Wind-Up Knight raised its sword and brought it down on Queen Bird, slicing it in two.

"Wind-Up Dog," Ezekiel ordered, pointing directly at Kimba, "direct attack."

Wind-Up Dog snarled as it raced toward Kimba, easily knocking the kenku to the ground with a solid tackle. It then clamped its sharp jaws down on Kimba's free arm (notably in the same place Gertie had bitten him beforehand.

Kimba screamed as he tried to shake Wind-Up Dog off, but it wouldn't let go. His eyes then looked into the attacking Dog's, which looked straight back. The eyes were filled with rage, like that of an angry guard dog. (Kimba LP:4700-2900)

Kimba then summoned the strength to shove the plastic canine off him sending it bouncing along the pavement. The toy dog quickly recovered, snarled and returned to its spot on Ezekiel's field.

_Geez,_ thought Ezekiel who had the whole scene unfold, _that was rather brutal - not that this guy didn't deserve it. I didn__'__t know the holograms were programmed to do that__…_

He then looked down at Gertie, hoping that she didn't see what had happened. She was still clinging to his leg but had clearly been watching Wind-Up Dog's attack.

_"__Wait but she__…"_ he thought, but stopped short when he realised she could still see Kimba writhing on the ground. _Sometimes this augmented reality gives me a headache._

Ezekiel glanced at the three cards in his hand. "That ends my turn," he said.

Wind-Up Knight and Wind-Up Dog's movements became slower and stiffer. (LV:5-4/ATK:2400-1800) (LV:5-3/ATK:1800-1200)

_Alright,_ he thought, _I__ should be able to finish this next turn. I just have to make sure I hit him hard enough so he won__'__t be getting up for a while, let alone be able to chase us._

Kimba quickly stood up. He has seething with rage, his chest puffed in and out with every violent inhale and exhale, and most of his feathers were standing on end. His beady black eyes stared soullessly at Ezekiel, it was unnerving, to say the least (and flat out terrifying, to be honest).

"That's it you fucking little shit!" he roared, tearing the next card off his deck. After a quick glance, he immediately turned it around. "Since I drew Peacock, Heart of the Underdog lets me draw another card.

Ezekiel held his breath as the Continuous Spell Card flashed, and Kimba tore another card off of his deck and turned it around.

"Typhone."

The Spell Card flashed again, and the kenku drew, then turned that card around.

"Dark Bat."

The Spell Card flashed a third time, and Kimba drew a fourth card. He smirked wildly at what it was, then turned it around.

"And my personal favourite," he said in a devilish tone, "Waa, the Origin Bird."

"What?" said Ezekiel, raising an eyebrow. He'd never heard of that card before, he tried to get a closer look but Kimba turned the card back around before he could.

The kenku drew a fifth card and looked at it. "It's not a Monster," he said.

Ezekiel let out a sigh of relief.

But then Kimba cackled. "Don't think you're out of the bush yet, Shadowchaser! I activate my face-down card, Common Charity! Now I can draw two cards"

The Trap Card flipped up and Kimba drew two more cards then plucked one of the cards he already had a place fit in his pocket.

"As long as I banish a Normal Monster from my hand afterwards, like Niwatori," he continued.

Ezekiel looked at his opponent and bit his lip. He had nine cards in his hand, while five of which were Normal Monsters, that still left four cards that could be anything.

He could feel his confidence starting to fade. The negative thoughts that were previously pushed to the back of his mind returned, all screaming "something is going to go wrong".

Kimba cackled, taking a card from his hand. "I activate the Spell Card Fusion Recovery, which lets me retrieve Polymerization and Skull Red Bird from my graveyard."

The Monster and Spell were ejected from Kimba's graveyard and he quickly snatched them up, giving him ten cards in hand.

"Another Fusion Summon?" Ezekiel gasped, stepping back.

"Oh yes," Kimba smiled maliciously, "but this isn't some ordinary Fusion Monster. I once again activate Polymerization, fusing Waa, the Origin Bird, Skull Red Bird and Takuhee together to summon the ultimate being."

In three flashes of light, three Winged-Beasts appeared in front of Kimba, the first was Skull Red Bird, its red feathers

The second was a bird with dusty brown feathers and sharp talons. (1450/1000)

The third Monster was a large black crow, holding a smouldering stick in its beak. (1200/900)

The three Monsters were then consumed by a swirling vortex.

"Say hello to my favourite Monster," Kimba grinned, "Waa, the Origin Spirit!"

The loud screech of a bird echoed throughout the alleyway as fire burst from the vortex lighting up the alleyway with intense light and heat.

Then a creature stepped out of the portal, at first, it appeared to be a man. But on his second glance, Ezekiel could see the creature's talon-like arms and legs, large wings extending from the back, long beak and charcoal black feathers that covered most of its body. (2600/2400)

Burst worst of all were the creatures eyes - completely red with no pupils - staring soullessly at him. Despite the inferno that surrounded the Monster, the glare could be described as chilling at best.

Ezekiel gulped, the sheer presence of that Fusion Monster was enough to make him shake in fear, it almost seemed real. "W… W… What is that thing?" he stammered.

"This is Waa," said Kimba, motioning to his Fusion Monster, a smug look plastered on his face. "Geez, you really think a Shadowchaser working in this area would've studied up on the mythology of the land."

Ezekiel gulped. "What are you talking about? Who is Waa?"

Kimba let out a long sigh, he was getting increasingly tired of this "Shadowchaser's" act. "Waa," he answered, "culture hero and ancestral being to my people."

_His people?_ thought Ezekiel, giving his opponent a bemused look _Ancestor, does this guy think he__'__s a bird?_

Kimba started cackling again. "But of course, Waa is a lot more than that. Have you heard the time about he stole the secrets of fire from the Karatgurk sisters?"

Ezekiel shook his head. _Well, that explains all the fire,_ he thought.

"Uh well," Kimba hesitantly scoffed, "I ain't gonna tell some snot-nosed brat. But I will tell that Waa has two very powerful effects. First of all, he cannot be destroyed by card effects."

_Nothing I can't handle,_ thought Ezekiel, his deck didn't really have much in the way of destruction cards.

"The second," Kimba continued, taking one card from his hand and sliding it into the graveyard, "is a far more powerful effect. All I have to do is discard a Winged-Beast Type Monster, and one of your Monsters goes up in flames."

Waa gathered a ball of red-hot flames in its taloned hand, then threw it at Zenmaister. It exploded on contact with the Xyz, blowing it to pieces.

Ezekiel looked on in shock as pieces of what was Wind-Up Zenmaister rained down on the field. Not only was he shocked at the powerful effect, but he could feel the intense heat singeing his skin.

Kimba chuckled evilly once again. "But don't think you're safe yet. As long as I have a card to discard I can destroy any Monster you have!" He slipped another card into the graveyard, "say goodbye to Knight!"

Waa launched another fireball, blowing Wind-Up Knight to pieces.

Kimba discarded a third card. "And Snail."

Waa launched a third fireball, incinerating Wind-Up Snail.

Kimba discarded a fourth card. "And I can't forget about your little dog too," he cackled.

Ezekiel watched helplessly as Waa gathered another fireball and launched it at Wind-Up Dog. The plastic canine turned around to glance at Ezekiel mere moments before it was engulfed by the flames.

Ezekiel closed his eyes, he couldn't bear to watch. The sound of the resulting explosion rang in his ears.

He opened his eyes, seeing the flames around where Wind-Up Dog once stood dying out, as blue pieces of plastic rained down from above.

Kimba cackled, eagerly rubbing his talons together. "It seems you're out of Monsters, which means Waa can attack you directly! Ancient Flames!"

Ezekiel gulped and watched in helpless horror as Waa held out both taloned hands, gathering a fireball in each.

He felt a sharp pain in one of his legs. He looked down to see that Gertie was clinging to his leg even tighter than before, her fingers once again feeling like sharp claws.

He grimaced and closed his eyes, with one mighty push, shoved the young girl as hard as he could, sending her stumbling backwards a good two metres a so (tripping over her own tail did help her keep her momentum).

Moments later, Waa cackled as it threw both balls of fire at the young man. Who could only scream and cover his head as the exploded either side of him. (ELP:7500-4900)

**0 - 0 KK 0 - 0**

Matari pulled his D-Wheel to a stop and leapt off the vehicle. He pulled his helmet off of his head and began to wonder even where to even begin his search. _"__Wendy said something about the perp heading North,__"_ he thought, opening the storage compartment on his D-Wheel _"__so__…"_

Then he heard an explosion, followed by a scream.

"There might be a good start," he said, quickly gathering his equipment and raced to the scene.

**0 - 0 KK 0 - 0**

Ezekiel hit the ground hard, landing on his side. His clothes smoking, the skin on his arms reddened and every part of his body ached. His cards and cap were scatted around.

_"__Why isn__'__t anyone helping,__"_ he thought, wondering why no one had reacted to what must've been a decent sized explosion.

Then the realisation hit him hard. _"__They__…_ _they just think it__'__s another duel.__"_

He sat up and groggily began rubbing the side of his head. A second later, his eyes flicked fully open, remembering what situation he had gotten himself in.

His heart sank as he realised just how hopeless the situation was getting, even if he somehow managed to turn the duel around, it wasn't clear that his opponent would honour his word.

His hand moved toward the top of a deck, in an attempt to sign a forfeit. His hand quivered more and more as it moved closer and closer. Sure, he was selling out an innocent young girl to save his own skin, but at this point, he'd be avoiding the pointless slaughter of himself…

Sure, he'd burn in hell for what he was about to do, but self-preservation was winning at this point. _I could go to the police,_ he thought, _I got a good look at this guy, they__'__ll find him. Gertie__…_ _Gertie__…_ _She__'__s not my problem._

He was brought out of his moral conundrum by a hand grabbing his wrist…

Well… sixty seconds ago he would have seen it as a hand. But right now, he saw an orange, scaly set of claws.

His eyes followed the claw, up the scaly arm until he laid eyes on the rest of her. His eyes darted back and forth, taking in every feature of what once was Gertie: her orange scaly skin, extended muzzle filled with small, pointed teeth and the slim, rat-like tail wriggling behind her.

His gaze then set on the figure behind her, his shady opponent - but now he no longer looked human as well. He looked like a man-sized bird, with talons for arms and legs, black feathers and a large curved beak. His black, beady eyes glaring soullessly at him.

He turned his attention back to Gertie, she opened her jaws to say something but was cut off by Ezekiel screaming, flicking her claw off of him and scrambling back away from her.

He scrambled backwards for a few metres until he hit something that to his back felt like a brick wall. He looked up, seeing a tall, dark skinned man standing over him Ezekiel could tell by the man's features that he was of aboriginal descent.

"Get up," demanded Matari, staring down at the distressed youth.

Ezekiel could only stare wide-eyed at the mysterious stranger standing above him. The corners of his mouth twitched as if he were about to reply, but he couldn't get his thoughts together enough to say a single word

"I said, get up," grumbled the Shadowchaser, leaning down and grabbing Ezekiel by the shirt collar, then almost effortlessly hoisting him to his feet.

Ezekiel swayed uneasily, his legs barely managing to stay upright. He tilted his head up to regain his balance, locking eyes with the Man standing above him.

Matari was momentarily put off by the look of fear in the youth eyes. He'd seen a lot of frightened faces in his time as a Shadowchaser, but the traumatised look on the kid's face was by far the most unsettling. He shook his head and refocused. "Look, kid," he said, deliberately avoiding eye contact, "I know you wanted to play the hero. But sometimes, playing the hero isn't a good idea. Heroes get hurt a lot. Trust me, I know."

Ezekiel half-heartedly nodded. He never wanted to play the hero, all he did was try to help a lost little girl find her mother. But now,

The Shadowchaser smiled a confident smile that bordered on an arrogant smirk. "Now step aside, the hero has a job to do."

Ezekiel didn't budge, his legs were barely keeping him upright at the moment, moving was currently out of the question.

Matari rolled his eyes and sidestepped around the youth. He ducked down and beckoned to young kobold with outstretched arms. "Don't worry, you're safe now, everything will be alright." he sounded calm, confident and reassuring.

Amazingly, against all instinct and parental warnings, the kobold complied, slowly making her way over and to aboriginal man and letting him scoop her up into his muscular arms.

He then turned and face the kenku, his face twisted into an angry scowl. "So you're the monster who enjoys kidnapping children, hurting innocent people and forcing me to chase after you instead of Burumurring."

"Wait!" Kimba screeched, "you found the boss? I… I…"

"I wouldn't panic about that," said Matari, "your buddy ratted her out."

Kimba let out a sigh of relief. At least he wouldn't be the target of his boss' wrath. "Well you can wait your turn!" he ordered, "I'm already dealing with another Shadowchaser right now."

"What are you talking about?" asked Matari, a puzzled look on his face. He knew that Wendy, Arika or Rowan were nowhere near here, nor were there any other Shadowchasers on assignments in the area, or even in the country.

Kimba cackled. "Are you Shadowchasers that disorganised? Can you not even recognise your own members?"

Kimba smugly pointed to Ezekiel, who still had his back turned, seemingly indifferent to the situation.

"He thought he could trick me with his "what's a Shadowchaser" act," said the kenku, folding his arms in irritation.

Matari shot a glance back at the boy. "That kid's not a Shadowchaser," he bluntly answered, "never even seen him before in my life."

Kimba's beak dropped, as he felt the blood in his body run to his feet. "You mean… I… never… ever had to duel this guy in the first place?"

Matari shrugged. "Pretty much."

"But, but," Kimba weakly protested, "his act was so good."

"Act?" scoffed Matari, trying his best not to slap his forehead with his free hand. "Did you seriously not think for a second that he had no clue of what was going on…" then the realisation hit him. For the split second he'd seen the youth's eyes, he saw a look of utter terror and disbelief. It took a while to sink in, but Matari realised exactly what had rattled the youth so badly.

The Shadowchaser span around on his heel to Ezekiel, who still had his back to the whole situation. "Oi, kid," he said, "are you alright?"

Ezekiel didn't reply.

"Come on," said Matari, grabbing Ezekiel by the shoulder and forcibly turning him around.

Ezekiel still had that distant, distraught look in his eyes. His skin was getting paler and paler and his body shaking more violently with each passing second. "What… What's going on?" he choked out, "what… what are those things?"

Matari bit his lip, his hunch about the distressed youth confirmed. "Look, kid," he Matari, gently poking Ezekiel between the eyes to gain his full attention, "you want answers right?"

Ezekiel nodded.

"Then you gonna have to fight for them," the Shadowchaser continued, "calm down, finish this duel, then we'll talk."

"But… What if I lose?" Ezekiel mumbled, fearing what the answer might be.

"Well…" said Matari, making the young boy grimace in fear with every word, "maybe a few bruises, burns, mental trauma, the shame of losing to emo big bird over there…"

"I heard that!" Kimba squawked.

"Look, kid," said Matari, "there's not a lot I can do until this duel is over, so your best bet is to keep going."

Ezekiel silently pondered his options, sure he'd like to know why he was now seeing things that wouldn't be out of place in a game of Dungeons and Dragons. But, part of him really didn't want to learn anything more.

"So what's it gonna be?" asked Matari.

With a gulp Ezekiel stepped around the Shadowchaser, making sure to avoid the reptilian in his arms, and resumed his place in the duel. His gaze focused on the ground directly. He stopped to pick up his cards (Wind-Up Rat, Bat and Star Changer) and his hat. He pulled his hat down so the brim covered his eyes, obscuring his vision of the frightening world around him - obviously following the childishly optimistic "if I can't see it, it can't hurt me" logic.

_This isn__'__t happening__…_ he told himself, _lizard-people, bird-people__…_ _I__…_ _I just hit my head a little hard, that__'__s all. Just a mild concussion, hallucination__…_ _Yeah, it__'__ll all be over soon__…_

"So you've decided to return," cackled Kimba, taking one of his remaining cards and setting it on his disc, "I end my turn, by throwing down a face down."

A reversed card appeared amongst Kimba field.

Ezekiel's hand quivered as he drew the next card. "I summon Wind-Up Rat," he said, his voice trembling.

In a flash, a small purple wind-up toy, in the shape of a rat, appeared on the field. (600/600)

"I activate the effect of Wind-Up Rat," Ezekiel continued, as the turnkey in Rat's back began to turn, "switching it to defence position and Special Summoning Wind-Up Knight from my graveyard."

Rat crouched low to the ground and Wind-Up Knight reappeared, kneeling down defensively and holding its shield in front of it.

"The effect of Factory activates, adding Wind-Up Shark to my hand," said Ezekiel, taking the card that stuck out of his deck.

"Just two Monsters," Kimba cackled, "They won't last long."

"I activate Zenmailfunction," said Ezekiel, "Special Summoning Wind-Up Hunter from my graveyard in defence position."

The Spell Card flashed, and a plastic, green-coloured centaur appeared, it was armed with a toy crossbow (which notably caused toy replicas it to be banned in Japan). Then, just like its master, the toy fell to pieces. (1600/500)

"Three Monsters," spat the kenku, "you're not even trying."

"I use the level three Rat and Hunter to Xyz Summon Wind-Up Zenmaines," Ezekiel announced, his tone flat, lifeless and grim.

A portal opened up in front of Hunter and Rat and the toy jumped inside. Then a large, colourful machine rose from the portal, the machine resembled a tank but had two long arms that stretched out either side of it, with pincer-like hands. The two arms then crossed over in front of the machine's body, putting it into a defensive stance. (1500/2100)

"Okay," said the kenku, his beak dropping open, "maybe you are trying." He then shook his head, "I might just need a little luck to get me through this."

_"__He__'__s right,__"_ Ezekiel thought, _"__Zenmaines can use its materials to protect itself, but it only has two. And even if he tries and it somehow survives, his Monster still can__'__t be destroyed by card effects.__"_

He looked down at his deck, hoping for a miracle. "I end my turn," he said.

"My move!" Kimba announced, eagerly tearing the top card from his deck, and frowned after seeing what it is. "Lucky," he muttered, setting the card on his disc.

"Waa, attack the knight."

Waa once again held out both taloned hands, gathering a fireball in each. Then hurled them at Knight.

"Knight defend," Ezekiel ordered.

Knight's turnkey rotated, and the knight raised its shield, deflecting the fireballs away.

"Factory's effect adds Wind-Up…" said Ezekiel, pausing to contemplate which card to add, "Rabbit to my hand."

The card stuck out of Ezekiel's deck and he added it to his hand.

"I end my turn," Kimba pouted, "but next turn, it's all over for you."

The kenku looked at his two face-down cards. _"__Between my other Birthright and Icarus Attack, even if he tries to counterattack, he__'__s screwed, even if I have to sacrifice my strongest Monster.__"_

"My turn," said Ezekiel, drawing another card. "I summon Wind-Up Bat."

A toy bat appeared next to Zenmaines, it was coloured black and gold. (300/350)

Before either Kimba or Matari got the chance to question the sanity of his move, Ezekiel spoke up. "I activate the effect of my Bat, switching itself to defence and returning Wind-Up Magician from my graveyard to my hand."

Bat's turnkey span as it folded its wings over itself. As that happened a card slipped out of Ezekiel's graveyard, and the traumatised youth halfheartedly grabbed it and added it to his hand.

"I activate the effect of my Factory," Ezekiel continued, "adding another Rat to my hand."

Another card poked out of his deck, and he slowly added it to his hand. He then grabbed another card. "I end my turn with one card face down," he said.

The face down appeared behind his Monsters.

"My turn!" cackled Kimba, tearing the top card from his deck.

The kenku turned the card around. "Monstrous Bird," he said before drawing another card.

"Eh, this card isn't a Monster," he shrugged, adding the card to his hand. "So I'll activate Dark Factory of Mass Production, adding Sonic Duck and Blue-Winged Crown back to my hand."

The two cards slipped out of the Kenku's graveyard and he quickly added them to his hand.

"Now he can destroy Zenmaines," Matari gasped, "and in one shot too."

"Now I discard Blue-Winged Crown to use Waa's ability once again, targeting your Zenmaister."

Waa gathered another ball of fire in its talons and launched it at the Xyz Monster.

"Wind-Up Zenmaines can survive destruction by detaching a Xyz Material," said Ezekiel.

One of Zenmaine's arms raced forward, intercepting the oncoming fireball. The resulting explosion blew the arm to pieces, leaving pieces of plastic and metal to rain down on the field.

"The effect of Factory now activates," said Ezekiel, taking the card that poked out of his deck.

"Well I can just to it again!" said the kenku, sliding Monstrous Bird into the graveyard.

Waa launched another fireball at the Xyz.

"I detach Zenmaines other Xyz Material," said Ezekiel, sliding Hunter out from underneath the card.

Zenmaines other arm intercepted the fireball, also getting itself blown to pieces.

"Next, I summon Sonic Duck," said Kimba, as the bucket wearing duck appeared for the third time.

Matari raised an eyebrow. _"__What__'__s he up to?__"_

"Sonic Duck!" ordered Kimba, "attack Wind-Up Knight!"

Sonic Duck raced toward Wind-Up Knight, head butting the toy and shattering it.

Then the kenku burst out laughing again. "You're finished kid! I activate my Trap Card, Icarus Attack! By sacrificing a Winged-Beast, like my Sonic Duck, I can destroy two of your cards."

Ezekiel looked up momentarily to see Sonic Duck being coated in flames, charging toward Wind-Up Bat and Zenmaines.

He lowered his head again, only seeing pieces of Bat and Zenmaines fly past his feet. Now he was wide open for another attack.

"Trap activate!" called Kimba, "Birthright, which lets me revive the Monstrous Bird I just discarded!"

A second Birthright Trap flipped up, and a new monster appeared. A large eagle, with huge wings and very sharp talons. (2000/1900)

Ezekiel visibly flinched as the massive eagle let out a loud screech, but he didn't dare to look above the brim of his cap.

"I attack directly with Monstrous Bird!" Kimba cackled.

Monstrous Bird beat its wings and flew high into the air, casting a shadow over the duel. Then dove down, heading straight for Ezekiel. He ducked down at the last moment, narrowly avoiding the eagle's sharp talons. (Ezekiel LP:4900-2900)

"Waa, another direct attack!" Kimba ordered. "Ancient Flames!"

Waa gathered two more balls of fire in its talons. The launched them at Ezekiel. The youth ducked down further and covered his head.

The two fired orbs exploded with a loud bang, sending up a cloud of smoke around the immediate area.

"Kid," Matari yelled, now completely regretting his decision to let the duel continue.

But as the dust settled, Ezekiel was revealed to be lying flat on the ground, covering his head with his arms.

Slowly and despite the pain stinging his entire body, he pushed himself onto his knees, then to his feet. He swayed back and forth, looking as if he was about to pass out and fall over once again.

He extended his arms, steadying himself and fully regaining his balance. Then straightened his hat and pulled it down over his eyes, staring at his designated spot sat his feet.

"Looks like the kids not giving up just yet," commented Matari, smiling broadly as he gave Ezekiel a thumbs-up with his free hand.

"Bah," Kimba scoffed, "with only three hundred life points remaining and my draw and destroy combo still running, it'll all be over next turn."

_He__'__s right,_ thought Ezekiel, _which means, I have to finish the duel this turn._ He looks at the five cards in his hand, singling out Magician and Shark, then shot a glance at his face down card.

He slowly edged his quivering hand toward his deck, his nerves becoming more and more shot by the second. He took a deep breath, temporarily calming himself as he yanked the card from hid deck.

"I summon Wind-Up Magician," said Ezekiel.

In another flash, Wind-Up Magician reappeared on the field.

"Since I summoned a Wind-Up Monster," he continued, "I can Special Summon Wind-Up Shark from my hand."

In another flash - along with a splash of water - another wind-up toy appeared. A blue shark with smalls fangs, fins and a set of eyes that looked too cute to belong to a deadly predator. Notably, the turnkey in its back was different from the other Wind-Ups. (1500/1300)

Matari grimaced at the sight of the new Monster, even though Wind-Up Shark looked much less threatening than what he had dealt with, he's had more than enough of predatory sea creatures toady.

"Since the effect of a Wind-Up Monster activated," Ezekiel continued, as the tip of Magician's staff lit up, "Magician's effect allows…"

"Not so fast!" Kimba squawked triumphantly. His face down spraining up, and a set of chains shot out, wrapping themselves around Wind-Up Magician.

"My Fiendish Chain wraps itself around your Magician," Kimba smugly explained, folding his arms against his chest in complete self-satisfaction, "not only preventing that secondhand store reject from attacking, but also negating any effects it may have."

Ezekiel looked up from underneath his hat, his eyes wide open in shock and his whole body trembling in fear. _That was it, his last ditch effort to win had gone up in smoke._

The chains cracked with electricity, though it visually had no effect on the plastic Spellcaster, its staff dimmed - now being unable to fulfil its purpose.

Gertie let out a squeal of concern and clung to Matari, digging her claws into him as she did to Ezekiel beforehand. The Shadowchaser calmly looked over at the frightened kobold. _If this gets any worse, I__'__m gonna need a crowbar to get her off,_ he thought.

Ezekiel's hand shook violently as he brought the four cards in his hand up to eye level, desperately trying to both keep the cards in his hand and search for something that could help.

He grabbed the card, almost in a blind panic, and played it on his duel disc. "I activate Spell Card Star Changer!" he announced, taking a second to swallow, "In… Increasing Wind-Up Magician's level f… from four to f… five."

The Spell Card flashed into existence, as four level stars appeared above Wind-Up Magician with a fifth one quickly appearing. (LV:4-5)

"And what's that supposed to do?" Kimba smugly commented.

Ezekiel pointed a shaking finger at Wind-Up Shark. "I… I activate the effect of Wind-Up Shark," he announced, taking another gulp, "also… increasing Shark's level to… to five."

The turnkey in Shark's back twisted as the Fish flopped about, but unlike the other Wind-Up Monsters, the key remained embedded in its back. (LV:4-5)

"Two level fives," noted Matari, raising an eyebrow.

"I use the level five Magician and Shark to Xyz Summon Wind-Up Arsenal Zenmaioh," Ezekiel announced, weakly pointing a quivering index finger at the ground in front of him, "to construct the overlay network."

At that exact point, a swirling vortex glittering and shining with hundreds of tiny, bright lights, and both Magician and Shark leapt inside.

The earth seemed to rumble and the concrete began to crack as a spinning drill pierced its way through the vortex, attached to the arm of a five-metre tall machine. It was human in shape and covered in intricate, brightly coloured armour. The Xyz struck a pose, pointing its spinning drill directly at the opposition. (2600/1900)

The Xyz then leant over and _grabbed _the galaxy-themed vortex with its pincer arm, and with a powerful swing, hurled it high into the air letting it disappear into nothingness as it hit the edge of the AR Field.

"Seems a bit familiar," noted Matari.

"Twenty-six hundred attack," gasped Kimba, but his gaping beak quickly changing into a sly smirk, "too bad it doesn't have even one more attack point, then I might be in trouble."

"Zenmaioh attack," Ezekiel lifelessly ordered.

The Xyz Monster recklessly charged forward, as Waa launched a barrage of fireballs at the machine, melting away its plastic armour and blowing off the gears and parts underneath.

The barrage continued as Zenmaioh jabbed its spinning drill into Waa's chest. The fiery Winged-Beast cried in pain as it hurled more explosives orbs of fire into Machine, tearing off more armour and parts as sparks began to fly from the Machine's torso.

Eventually, Waa hurled one final fireball, which engulfed both Monsters in a powerful explosion, destroying them both.

"Are you insane?" Kimba yelled, as he ducked to the side to avoid a flying piece of molten plastic, "you may have defeated Waa, but all you've done is gone down in a blaze of glory. There's nothing left to defend you.

"You've got guts kid," complimented the kenku, "guts, but no brains."

But Ezekiel wasn't finished yet, he grabbed yet another card from his hand and played it on his duel disc. "I activate the Quick-Play Spell Card, Xyz Double Back. Since I control no Monsters during a turn a Xyz was destroyed," he paused, taking a breath, "I can Special Summon a Xyz Monster from my graveyard along with one Monster with less attack than that Xyz Monster."

Arsenal Zenmaioh reappeared on the field, pointing its drill hand at Monstrous Bird.

"Okay, maybe you do have a brain," Kimba corrected himself, "but only a peanut sized one. Like most humans."

"Oi," called Matari, who obviously didn't like having his intelligence insulted- at least by someone other than himself, "watch your beak bird, or watch me break it."

Ezekiel fanned out the cards in his graveyard, his eyes darted between every Monster, trying to choose the right one.

His eyes fixated on a particular card, one that seemed to call for him. He grabbed the card almost immediately, and for the first time since the duel began, felt that everything was truly going to be okay.

"I choose Wind-Up Dog," said Ezekiel.

In a flash of light, the blue plastic canine reappeared on the field and snarled at Kimba, bearing it sharp teeth.

Ezekiel took a deep breath, calming himself for long enough to hopefully put this duel to and end. "Zenmaioh," he commanded, "attack Monstrous Bird."

Zenmaioh raised its drill and with a mighty punch, forced the spinning tool straight into Monstrous Bird's body, shattering the oversized avian in seconds. (KLP:2900-2300)

"Wind-Up Dog, direct attack," said Ezekiel.

"Oh no, not…" Kimba could only manage to cower before he was tackled to the ground by Wind-Up Dog, who began to viciously snarl and snap at the Kenku's throat. (Kimba LP :2300-1100)

"GET OFF OF ME YOU MANGY MUTT!" Kimba screamed, his feathers standing one end as he once again summoned the rage and strength to hurl Wind-Up Dog off of him, throwing the plastic canine to the ground with such force that it yelped in pain.

Wind-Up Dog slowly got its feet, and with its paint job scratched and a leg joint dislocated, limped back over to its owner field.

The kenku took a moment to catch his breath. "I have still have life points," he laughed, "and thanks to the other effect of your Spell Card both your Monsters are toast at the end of your turn."

The kenku continued to laugh, to the point where his beady eyes began to water. "Face it, kid, you tried your best and you failed miserably! Why don't you just forfeit right now and save all of some trouble."

Ezekiel said nothing as he hit a button on his duel disc, and his face down card flipped up.

"Zenmiarch. That allows the kid to return Wind-Up Dog to his hand, the Special Summon a Monster with the same level," Matari explained, oblivious to the fact that the exact same thing had happened minutes before.

Ezekiel silently plucked the Wind-Up Dog card from his duel disc, causing the damaged Dog to disappear from the field.

Only to reappear a second later as Ezekiel slapped the card back down on his duel disc.

"And since it's still the battle phase," Matari added.

Kimba's expression turned from a smug smirk to a broad, panicked frown, his eyes were as wide as dinner plates and he began to tremble. "No please," he begged, "no, it can't end like this!"

Wordlessly, Ezekiel pointed a trembling finger at Kimba ordering Wind-Up Dog to deliver the finishing.

With a bark of obedience, Wind-Up Dog turned its head and snarled at Kimba, step by step creeping closer to the kenku.

"No," Kimba cowered, not wanting to be attacked for a third time, "stay… stay away from me!"

Wind-Up Dog lunged at the kenku, knocking him to the ground. It stood above the downed Shadowkind, jaws barred, aiming straight for the throat and with all intent of ripping it out. (Kimba LP:1100-0)

But mere centimetres from the Kenku's neck, Wind-Up Dog disappeared into particles of light as horns blazed throughout the air and the AR Field receded, taking almost all traces of the duel with it.

Except for the scorch marks let behind from Waa's attacks. Ezekiel held out his hands, noting the bruises and red, charred skin. He looked at his defeated opponent, who was now desperately gasping for air after his experience with an angry, plastic dog trying to tear out his throat. He still didn't look human, his avian features crystal clear to the youth eyes.

"This can't be happening," he muttered, slowly tilting his head back down yearning for the for when what was before his eyes seemed like something from a horrible nightmare.

Across the alleyway, Kimba began to stir. "Alright," he growled, drawing a knife from his sleeve, "time for a change of tactics…"

But before he could even get a solid grip on the blade, a foot slammed down on the Kenku's chest, knocking him back flat onto the ground and making him drop the knife.

"Mate, you're not too bright, are you?" said Matari, as he ground his boot into the Kenku's chest. He was still carrying Gertie in one arm, while his free arm withdrew a gemstone from his pocket.

Kimba's eyes widened and fixated on the gemstone. "No please, I can't go to gaol. Please, just let me off with a warning, I swear I won't do it again. I promise."

Matari glared at the kenku for a few seconds. "You know," he said, "I don't believe a word you're saying. Don't think anyone would" He held the gem over the kenku and it began to shine brightly, short-lasting beams of light shot back and forth between it and the target. "You're under arrest for kidnapping, assault, carrying a concealed weapon and intending to harm a human."

"Wait," the Kenku screamed, "where's my fair fight?"

"You just lost it," Matari replied, as the gemstone in his hand glowed brighter and brighter.

Kimba began to scream and struggle under Matari's boot, as his body became more and more translucent. "When I get out…" he roared, his feathers standing on end, "you'll all be sorry.".

And then with one final scream, he disappeared. Matari's boot slammed into the concrete where Kimba laid seconds ago.

"Good riddance," the Shadowchaser scowled.

**0 - 0 KK 0 - 0**

Wendy and Zephyr stood outside warehouse number fourteen. It was a fairly rundown building, with weather-beaten walls, broken windows and a large, rusted metal door that looked to be the only entrance.

Wendy pushed on the metal door, it was stiff and heavy but slowly opened, creaking and screeching all the way.

"So much for the element of surprise," Wendy sighed, drawing her sword.

Wendy the peeked around the open door.

The warehouse was - fittingly for an abandoned warehouse - almost completely empty, with only a few empty crates lying around covered in dust from years of neglect.

"Nothing," said Wendy, "I was expecting at least one guard."

Wendy slipped through the door, with Zephyr following close behind.

"Keep an eye out for anything funny girl," Wendy warned, "we know what Burumurring is capable of."

Wendy scanned the room again, remembering the piece of information that Matari had given her about the false floor hidden in the room. Her gaze locked on the most suspicious thing in the room; half a dozen crates neatly stacked in the corner of the room, just far enough away from the wall to hide something behind.

"There," she said, marching toward the crates.

But there was nothing behind the crates but dust, cobwebs and a few shards of broken glass.

Wendy held up a single finger, ordering Zephyr to stay quiet for a moment. She tapped her foot on the floor, receiving a sound that echoed in the hollow space below.

Wendy then noticed something else rather suspicious, a gap between two sections of the concrete floor, just wide enough to fit someone's fingers into.

Wendy slid her fingers into the gap and lifted up a wooden panel that was disguised as a section of the floor, revealing a staircase that led down into a secret underground complex.

"A little cliche," Wendy noted, "but I guess she's working with what she has." Wendy then turned to her gryphon partner, "Are you ready for this?"

Zephyr answered by jumping on the spot in excitement, just as eager as her partner to apprehend this particular criminal.

"Good," Wendy smiled, as the two slowly crept down the stairs and into the darkness.

**0 - 0 KK 0 - 0**

**Waa, the Origin Bird****  
****Image: **A large crow, holding a smouldering stick in its beak.**  
****Type:** Winged-Beast**  
****Attribute: **Fire**  
****Level: **3**  
****ATK: **1200**  
****DEF: **900**  
****Flavour Text: **The spiritual ancestor of the crow. He has had many adventures during his long lifetime.

**Waa, the Origin Spirit**  
**Image: **A charcoal-black humanoid bird with large black wings and shrouded in flames.  
**Type: **Winged-Beast/Fusion/Effect**  
****Attribute: **Fire**  
****Level: **8**  
****ATK: **2600**  
****DEF: **2400

**Effect: **Waa, the Origin Bird + 2 Winged-Beast Type Monsters.  
This card cannot be destroyed by card effects. You can discard 1 Winged-Beast Type Monster, target one Monster your opponent controls, destroy it.

Note: The previous two cards were created by myself and are crafted after the legend of Waa, the Crow Spirit mentioned in both the previous and this chapter. The name Waa is derived from the sound of a crow's caw.

**Monstrous Bird****  
****Type: **Winged-Beast**  
****Attribute: **Wind**  
****Level: **6**  
****ATK: **2000**  
****DEF: **1900

Note: Monstrous Bird was released in the first packs in the OCG.

**0 - 0 KK 0 - 0**

**Kitten Knight: **And so Ezekiel triumphs against Kimba, but he's now got a lot more hurdles in his way.

Next time, Wendy and Zephyr encounter Tarni in her underground base and a years-long grudge is finally put to rest.

Let's roll! Round 06: Punished Eagle!


	6. Punished Eagle

**0 - 0 KK 0 - 0**

**Shadowchasers: ****Muru**

**Round 06: Punished Eagle**

**0 - 0 KK 0 - 0**

"**You can fool all of the people some of the time and you can fool some of the people all of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time,****" ****\- Abraham Lincoln.**

**I guess I****'****m now one of those people who can****'****t fool all of the time, now that I know that the whole world has been keeping one huge secret since****… ****Since****… ****Forever.**

**And I have a feeling that it's only going to get worse from here. **

**0 - 0 KK 0 - 0**

Wendy and Zephyr slowly descended down the staircase into Tarni Burumurring's secret underground lair, the darkness creeping in with every step.

Without breaking her stride, Wendy reached up and pulled her goggles over her eyes and hit a button on the side of them.

In an instant, darkest night turned into the brightest day for the Shadowchaser as her goggles illuminated every corner and crevice of the dimming staircase.

Wendy's goggles functioned as much more than simple (if outdated) protection for her eyes, they also had a variety of different functions, such as the night vision she was using now.

"Are you alright back there girl?" Wendy asked, hearing her partner's claws (both avian and mammalian) awkwardly clatter on each and every step, she had always had trouble navigating stairs.

Zephyr chirped and nodded, her keen avian eyes allowing her see clearly in the dark.

The staircase eventually lead to a hallway. A dark, dreary hallway with checkered black and white linoleum tiles lining the floor and halfway up the walls, where plain plasterboard continued up to and along the ceiling.

The hall was in a state of severe disrepair, several tiles had been knocked from their place on the floor and walls while several sheets of plasterboard were sagging and cracked showing the cold steel behind them.

"Must be an old bunker," said Wendy, in rather flat amusement at how something this large could go undiscovered for so long, "a very old bunker."

At the end of the dilapidated hallway were a set of double doors, with light projecting out from the cracks between and at the bottom of them.

"We're coming for for Burumurring," said Wendy, "and this time you're not getting away."

**0 - 0 KK 0 - 0**

Four years beforehand, it was a dark and stormy night in the city of Sydney. Raindrops beat down on the tin roof of the large warehouse that Tarni Burumurring used as a base of operations while thunder and lightning boomed and cracked across the city.

Wendy and Matari had slipped through the open window in the upper level and were now hiding behind a set of crates. They took off their soaked ponchos and carefully discarded them. Wendy then pulled out a small radio.

"We're in Rowan," she said.

Back at the base, Rowan had come down with a cold (taking a few cones of colds wasn't as much a relief from the heat as he'd thought it would be) and was maintaining radio contact from the base.

"Good," said the senior Shadowchaser right before blowing his nose right into the microphone.

"Can you please not do that into the microphone," Wendy whispered, "it's disgusting."

"Sorry," Rowan apologised, before unconsciously doing it again.

A huge flash of lightning suddenly illuminated the city, followed by a loud crash of thunder that made the windows rattle.

"ACK!" Rowan cried, followed a loud thud and a few terrified squawks, "Get off me you oversized bucket of KFC."

Wendy pulled a nervous apologetic face. "Sorry Rowan, we all know how Zephyr gets when the weather turns out like this… I honestly don't know where she gets it from, all the other gryphons back at home just ignore it."

"I have a few ideas…" muttered Rowan, his voice muffled by the one-hundred and fifty kilograms of mythical beast smothering him.

"She's just looking for a bit of comfort," said Wendy, "just stroke her along the back and tell her everything will be alright, she calm down pretty quick."

Wendy could hear Rowan grumbling and muttering over the line.

Suddenly, Matari tapped Wendy on the shoulder. "Hate to interrupt, but there are some guards coming our way."

"Just stay down and stay quiet," Wendy quietly ordered.

Matari rolled his eyes, they were here to arrest Shadowkind, not play hide and seek. "Oi you!" he shouted, popping up from out of the pair's hiding place, "hold it right there!"

"Oh, shit!" one of the guards swore, "it's the fuzz!"

"Quick call for backup!" said the other guard.

The first guard hit a button on a device on his belt and almost immediately an alarm rang throughout the building.

Matari's eyes snapped wide open in realisation of what he'd just done. Wendy pinched the bridge of her nose and groaned in pure frustration. "Do you have any grasp of the concept of stealth?" she yelled.

Matari sheepishly grinned. "Obviously not," he replied.

Within minutes what must have been two dozen guards had swarmed the pair of Shadowchasers, all ready to duel them in a battle royal.

And within minutes of that, only one lone kenku remained.

"Jurrac Giganoto!" Matari ordered, "direct attack."

The fiery dinosaur belched flames at the kenku, he screamed and dropped to the floor as his life points plummeted to zero.

Matari raised his gem and let it flash, teleporting him away.

"Man," said Matari, deactivating his duel disk, "those guys were too easy."

"Speak for yourself," said Wendy, who looked more than a little worse than wear with torn clothes, messed up hair and a few bruises around her body.

"It's not my fault you're a defensive duellist," Matari protested, "when I summon a Dinosaur with over two-thousand attack and you set a bird face down who do you think they're going to attack?"

"I know who _I__'__m _going to attack," Wendy scowled, glaring daggers at Matari as she straightened her hair.

"Err," Matari nervously hissed through clenched teeth, "we'd better go find this Burumurring chick before she calls in reinforcements."

Wendy let out a deep, angry sigh and trudged past Matari. Who, after muttering something he prayed that Wendy would never hear, followed.

But by the time the two of them had reached Tarni's office, she was nowhere to be found, leaving only a hastily-written letter behind on her desk, written in black ink with one of Tarni's own feathers.

Matari snatched the note off the desk and began to read it aloud, including the many, many obscenities.

Wendy pinched the bridge of her nose as her face turned bright red in a mix of fury and embarrassment.

**0 - 0 KK 0 - 0**

Back in the present, Wendy and Zephyr trudged through the dank hallway, creeping toward the large double doors at the opposite end of the hall.

That's where Tarni Burumurring was, it had to be, Wendy had a gut feeling about it. But the thought that this might be an elaborate trap never strayed from her mind.

The two came to a stop outside the double doors. Wendy silently held a finger to her lips, signalling her partner to be quiet.

A voice could be from the other side of the door, it was Japanese accented and sounded rather annoyed.

"No, no, no." snapped the voice, "if you can't get the shipment in by tomorrow then I refuse to pay full price."

"That's definitely her," Wendy whispered, the turned to her partner, "Right girl, on the count of three, we burst through the door."

Zephyr nodded.

"One," Wendy whispered, clutching the hilt of her sword ready to draw at a moments notice.

"Two," she placed her free hand on the door an pushed gently.

"Three." The two burst through the double doors and into the room, ready for whatever was on the other side of the doors…

Which wasn't very much, just a few metal filing cabinets, stacks of paper, a wooden desk and one female, light-brown feather kenku sitting at said desk - with a mix of surprise and anger plastered on her face.

The kenku glared at the intruders. "I'll have to call you back," she said into the hone before slamming it down on the desk.

The kenku turned her full attention to the two Shadowchasers. "So," she asked, dropping her current expression for a more casual one, "what brings you here?"

A sour look came across Wendy's face. "Tarni Burumurring," she said, "you're under arrest for…"

"Oh save your breath farm girl," spat Tarni, "we both know I've racked up enough violations on your little treaty to put me behind bars for a long time."

"You do," Wendy agreed, "good. Now you can serve that sentence."

"I don't think I will," Tarni replied, "Stormbringer can take his corrupt, rule-bending organisation and shove it where the sun doesn't shine."

"The Shadowchasers are nothing like that," Wendy scowled, "we abide by our rules."

"The rules that you set!" roared Tarni, "Do you really think it's fair to force your rules onto others, punish them when they refuse to cooperate while manipulating the rules to your own benefit and desire!"

Wendy just folded her arms and glared intensely at the ranting kenku, knowing her words contained little logic. Firstly, almost every Shadowkind race agreed to the Great Treaty as it benefited _them _more than anyone else - freedom with their choice of religion and the ability to act as their cultures dictate (to an extent) as well as immunity from any system of law except the Shadowchaser, all in exchange for agreeing not to harm humans in any way. Second, as far as Wendy knew, any Shadowchasers who violated the Great Treaty were quickly reprimanded by Jalal.

Tarni calmed down with a deep sigh and rolled her eyes. "Oh please honey, don't kid yourself. Every organisation has its secrets. What's in McDonalds' special sauce? What are the Colonel's secrets spices? What's really in a Pandora's Box hamburger?

"And those are recent business' compared to the Shadowchasers. When were you guys established, a thousand years ago or so?

"That's a really long time honey. Do you really think your so called "knight in shining armour" has kept the straight the and narrow path all these years? Just how many things has he swept under the rug and every morning prays to whatever God he worships that they stay there? Just how many times has he strayed from his "goody two shoes" opinion of himself and thought he can walk away smelling like a rose?"

Wendy scowled, there wasn't any doubt in her mind that Jalal would stray from his morals.

"I see that it's not even worth trying to convince you otherwise," said Tarni.

"Get out your cards," Wendy scowled.

"You know," said Tarni, "thinking about it, Duel Monsters isn't really a fair fight."

"Duel Monsters is a fair medium Burumurring," Wendy replied.

"Not when you think about it," Tarni replied, "firstly, you Shadowchasers have easy access to a plethora of cards, while us poor Shadowkind have to fight over scraps. Do you know how hard it is to get your talons on even staple cards theses days?

"And not to mention," she added, "that Dragonprince Jalal card that you all carry around, only you Shadowchasers have access to it right? And if by some miracle someone else gets there grubby hands on it, when they summon it every card they have is banished. Tell me what's fair about that?"

"Well," Wendy replied with a serious tone, "If you don't think Duel Monsters is a fair medium, I'll just put my duel disk away and take out my sword.

"Actually," she continued, turning to her partner, "I feel exhausted, Zephyr would mind taking this one for me?"

Zephyr chirped confidently in compliance and took a ready-to-pounce stance, staring down the kenku across the room.

Tarni paused for a few seconds as she let Wendy's warning set it. Quickly realising that a duel was a much fairer (and safer) option than fighting a creature known (and feared) for its ability to shred a human (or Shadowkind) to pieces as if he were wet tissue paper or carry off a full grown horse like an hawk carries off a mouse. "Point taken."

The kenku reached under her desk and pulled out an old Battle City style duel disk and a deck of cards.

Wendy let out a quick, small sigh of relief. Her bluff had worked, she could never order Zephyr to attack a Shadowkind that was still protected by the Great Treaty - which unfortunately Tarni was - not unless she wanted to be expelled from the Shadowchasers, something she definitely did not want to happen.

"Well what are you waiting for?" Tarni asked.

Wendy rolled her eyes and reached into a large pocket on Zephyr's saddle, pulling out an older model duel disk.

"I can see that we're both a fan of the classics," Tarni chuckled.

Wendy didn't reply. She did have a D-Pad and Duel Gazer (which incidentally was a function on her goggles) but due to the fact that D-Gazers were required to see Augmented Reality and Zephyr had already destroyed three headsets (she already disliked wearing her saddle, any more accessories were out of the question). Buying an older duel disk that didn't use that technology was a simple solution.

The Shadowchaser took her deck out of the pouch on her belt and placed it in the deck slot before switching on the device.

"Are you ready?" asked Tarni.

"Yes," Wendy bluntly replied. "Oh," she added, taking a card out of her Extra Deck and showing it to Tanri, "just to keep things "fair", I'll refrain from using Dragonprince Jalal in our duel." She then placed the card in her pocket.

Tarni shrugged. "Fine by me," she replied, "I'll take any advantage I can get."

"I never said it would give you an advantage," said Wendy.

"Duel!" they both announced. (Wendy:8000/Tarni:8000)

**0 - 0 KK 0 - 0**

After rescuing Ezekiel and Gertie from a scheming-yet-not-too-bright kenku, Matari had already reunited the young kobold with her distraught mother and was now working with the even more distraught youth he found.

The two sat on opposite ends of a bench, looking away from each other, knowing each other's presence but refusing to acknowledge it.

Matari sighed deeply and turned to the distressed youth. "Look kid," he hesitantly asked, "are you okay? Is there anything I can do?"

The answer was a dead silence.

"Come on, kid," Matari pleaded, "I know your upset and confused, but shutting everything out is not going to help.

"Trust me I know."

"I don't talk to strangers," Ezekiel muttered out of the corner of his mouth.

"Hey, I just saved your life, so you should at least talk to me," Matari grumbled, "and the whole "don't talk to strangers" deal, what are you nine?"

Ezekiel huffed and scooted even further away from Matari. While true that Matari did save his life, he had still forced (well he felt like he was forced) to continue a duel with a dangerous criminal, something that he would later learn is _not _acceptable Shadowchaser protocol.

"Well, the name's Matari," said the Shadowchaser, smiling as he leaned over and extended his hand for a handshake.

"Ezekiel," said the youth, not bothering to accept the handshake or look in Matari's general direction.

After a full minute of awkward silence between the two, Matari spoke up. "Look kid, you're gonna have to talk sometime…"

Ezekiel closed his eyes and took a deep breath, he knew he couldn't hide from the truth and the quicker he learnt it the better. "What… What were those things?" he asked, sounding as if he was terrified of the answer.

Matari sighed, he'd never been given the "monsters are real" talk as he became an Aware long before he knew the Shadowchasers existed and had become accustomed to being around Shadowkind well before he joined the organisation.

He wasn't really sure what to say, but he'd have to give it a shot.

"Well," he said, "those were Shadowkind, specifically a kobold and a kenku."

Ezekiel shot Matari a confused look.

"Umm…" Matari stammered, "Shadowkind are monsters… but they don't want to hurt us…"

Ezekiel gave Matari an incredulous look, he just barely escaped from one that _did _want to hurt him.

"Okay some of them do," Matari backtracked, "but most of them don't."

"Where do they come?" Ezekiel asked.

Matari took a deep breath. "Look kid," he admitted, "I'm not the best person to answer your questions, but I know someone who is. How about I take you to him?"

Ezekiel looked away. He felt torn, part of him of just wanted to run home as fast as he could, but part of him knew he had to stay with this mysterious man and learn more about this world.

He closed his eyes and made his decision. "Fine," he sighed.

**0 - 0 KK 0 - 0**

"I'll make the first move," said Wendy, leafing through her opening hand, then taking two cards, "I'll set one Monster and another card."

The two cards appeared in front of Wendy.

"I end my turn," said Wendy.

"Is that all?" Tarni mockingly asked as she drew a card, "I was honestly expecting something more… flashy."

Wendy said nothing, she just folded her arms and glared daggers at the kenku.

"Not one for trash talk are you?" the kenku continued, "I'll just set a Monster face down, followed by a single set card."

The two cards appeared face down in front of the kenku.

Wendy and Zephyr exchanged a quick glance, barely even bothering to acknowledge Tarni's hypocrisy over current play styles.

"I'll end my turn."

"My turn," Wendy announced, drawing a card.

From behind the Shadowchaser, Zephyr managed a peek at the drawn card. Almost immediately her eyes opened wide and she began to scratch at the ground in excitement.

"You know," said Tarni, on the verge of cackling, "you may have quite a poker face, but I can't say the same about your overgrown kitten over there."

Wendy sighed, sure Zephyr certainly did get excited whenever she drew a particular card, but it didn't necessarily mean that the card was useful at the moment.

This was one of those moments.

Wendy grabbed another card from her hand. "I set another Monster face down," she said, doing just that.

A second reversed Monster appeared on Wendy's field.

Tarni frowned as she drew. "I see I'm the one who has to have to kick off the action aren't I? Very well," she turned around the card she drew, "I'll start with the Spell Card Trade-In, discarding a level eight Monster from my hand, like Cosmo Queen, and the drawing two cards."

The kenku slid Cosmo Queen from her hand into the graveyard, then drew two more cards. She pulled a strange face as she saw one of the cards.

Keeping the same look on her face, she played the card. "I Normal Summon," she paused to sigh in frustration and embarrassment, "Performapal Hip Hippo."

An excited high-pitched squeal sounded around the office, as a pink hippo, dressed in a purple shirt, orange polkadot bow-tie and a small black top hat, leaped off the desk behind Tarni, flipping several times through the air and landing upright on its hind legs. It gave a four-toothed grin at Wendy before tipping its hat and bowing. (800/800)

Wendy raised an eyebrow, partly due to wondering both why her opponent had summoned such a strange Monster and how said Monster (being based on an animal that wasn't known for its agility) had managed to flip through the air and tip its hat without fingers.

"It may not fit my personal… style," scowled Tarni causing the Performapal to gain a sheepish grin, "but its effect fits my strategy."

Wendy raised an eyebrow. "Effect?" she asked.

"Oh, you've never heard?" Tarni smugly replied, "Then listen up. During the turn I Normal Summon Hip Hippo, I can perform another Normal Summon, provided that it's a Tribute Summon of a level seven or higher Monster.

"Like this one."

Both Hip Hippo and Tarni's set Monster disappeared.

Then, a looming shadow landed in front of Tarni, with such force that it created a crater in the floor.

The shadowed figure stood up, revealing itself as a large, hulking lizard-man with red scales and cybernetic armour that had been grafted onto its body. Saliva dripped from its gaping, fang-filled mouth as the creature punched its claws together in anticipation.

But much worse than any sharp fangs, razor claws or oozing dribble was the fact that the lizard-man was completely devoid of a single piece of clothing. (2950/2800)

Wendy shuddered, not out of fear, but out of disgust.

"Gogiga Gagagigo," said Tarni, "and by that sour look on your face I can see that you two are well aquatinted."

A card then forced its way out of Tarni's deck.

"Oh," the kenku continued, grabbing the card, "and just to let you know the other Monster I sacrificed was Blue Dragon Summoner. Which, if it's ever sent from the field to the graveyard, allows me to take any Dragon, Spellcaster or Warrior Normal Monster I choose from my deck and add it to my hand."

She turned the card around, it was Rabidragon, another level eight Monster.

"A deck that focuses on quickly searching out summoning high powered Normal Monster," Wendy noted, "nothing I can't handle."

"We'll see about that," Tarni replied, hitting a button on her duel disk, "my Birthright Trap Card revives Cosmo Queen from the graveyard in all her celestial glory."

A deep evil laugh then began to gather together, taking the form of a tall, grim looking woman, dressed in an elegant purple robe with a green and gold collar and a large, unusual headdress. (2900/2450)

"We should get started," Tarni ordered with a sly smirk, "Cosmo Queen, attack the facedown on the left."

Cosmo Queen gathered a ball of dark energy in her hand and flung it at one of Wendy's set Monsters. It flipped up to reveal a bird with turquoise feathers, wearing spiked armour around its body and head. (500/500)

The bird screech in pain and spasmed as the dark energy coursed through its body, it shattered in moments.

"That was my Gusto Gulldo," said Wendy, as a card stuck out of her deck, "and since it was sent from the field to the graveyard, I can Special Summon a level two or lower Gusto Monster from my deck, like Winda, Priestess of Gusto in defence position."

A gust of wind blew of across the field, and in a flash of green-tinged light a girl in her early teens appeared. She had long, light green hair kept back in a ponytail and wore a long, brown coat with a short white dress underneath. (1000/200)

Winda took one look at the opposing Monsters and gulped, her staff shook in her unsteady hands.

"So, you're still using Gusto Monsters," said Tarni, "nothing I can't handle. Gogiga Gagagigo attack the other face down Monster."

The huge lizard man roared and viciously dashed at Wendy's other reversed Monster, slashing at the card withs claws. A young girl momentarily appeared, only to shatter like glass before she could even scream. (200/1000)

"That was Kamui, Hope of Gusto," said Wendy, "and her…

"The hope of Gusto," Tarni cut in with a devilish smirk, "well I'll enjoy crushing your hope as much as did theirs, especially if its just as easy."

Wendy frowned, she didn't like being cut off in conversation. "As I was saying," she continued with a hint of bile in her tone, "Kamui is a Flip Effect Monster, and her effect Special Summons a level two or lower Gusto Tuner from my deck."

Another gust blew through the room, carrying green feathers. A small, green feathered eagle in light armour flew with the gust. (200/400)

"Gusto Egul is a suitable choice," said Wendy, holding out her free arm and letting Egul perch on it. She then gently stroked the virtual eagle on the head.

From behind, Zephyr glared at the smaller bird, jealous of the attention it was receiving from its partner.

Gusto Egul spread its wings and took the air, taking its place next to Winda.

"I'll tear down your wall of Monsters eventually," said Tarni, "then I'll smack around that hideous face of yours human. Turn end."

Ignoring yet another insult, Wendy drew. After silently contemplating her options she simply set the card on her disk, causing it to appear amongst her Monsters.

"I'll set one Monster face down, turn end," she announced.

**0 - 0 KK 0 - 0**

Back at the Sydney Shadowchasers base, Rowan has returned. He parked his D-Wheel in the car port and switched off the machine.

He looked at the other D-Wheel in the car port, it was owned by one of his team mates, but not the one he thought would be back at the base right now.

"Hmmm," he mused to himself, "Arika's home early and Matari's still not back. Eh, he must've got caught up in traffic."

The elderly Shadowchaser dismounted his D-Wheel and made his way to the door. He gently pushed the door open and walked inside. "Arika are you here?" he called.

"Yeah I'm here," Arika replied, appearing at the top of the stairs. "Geez Rowan, you'd better get cleaned up before Wendy gets back or she'll make you scrub the whole house."

Rowan looked down at his boots and pants, which were caked with dried mud that had begun to flake off all over the floor. "Wait?" he asked, "Wendy's not here?"

"Yeah, I came back and this place is a ghost town."

"I reckon Matari's been held up," noted Rowan but it's not like Wendy to run out without contacting either of us, well me at least."

"Have you checked your phone recently?" Arika asked.

The elderly Shadowchaser pulled the phone from his zip-up pocket. "Damn it," he muttered seeing the large amount of missed calls.

Arika could help but giggle at Rowan's frustration, the team being out of sync was just another day.

**0 - 0 KK 0 - 0**

"Is that all I can expect?" Tarni mocking asked as she drew a card, "you barge in down here and all you're going to do is turtle behind your Monsters?"

"The Gusto are patient on the battlefield," Wendy answered.

"Well then," Tarni chuckled, "let me show you just where patience get you. I summon Card Trooper."

With a series of beeps, a robot with tank treads and cannons for arms rolled onto the field. (400/400)

"Next I use its effect," the kenku continued, "sending the top three cards from my deck to graveyard and increasing its attack by five-hundred for each."

She discarded the top three cards from her deck; Card Advance, Trap Stun and Metal Armored Bug, as lights flashed all around the colourful robot. (ATK:400-1900)

"Card Trooper, attack her hidden Monster."

Card Trooper fired two missiles from its arm cannons, striking Wendy's set Monster and revealing it: a green-furred dog with with a yellow horn on its head, electricity sparked throughout its body, making its fur stand on end. (1500/1200)

The missiles struck the electric canine, blowing it pieces in a powerful explosion.

"And what does this one do?" Tarni disdainfully asked, rolling her beady eyes.

"Gusto Thunbolt's effect doesn't activate at the moment," said Wendy, "you'll find out what it is when the time is right."

Tarni frowned, she didn't like waiting especially for something that would work against her. She looked at Wendy's two remaining Monsters. "Gogiga Gagagigo, crush the girl."

The giant lizard man roared, and slammed its fist down on Winda, crushing the girl as she screamed.

"I activate Winda's effect," Wendy announced, "since she was destroyed in battle with your attacking Monster, I can Special Summon a Gusto Tuner from my deck."

A small vortex of swirling winds kicked up on the field, then a pair of wings burst through the cyclone, followed by the talons, beak then the rest of another copy Gusto Gulldo.

Tarni frowned, she'd found herself in a near endless cycle of Monsters, she then smirked slyly. "You can't keep this forever, there is a limit to the amount of cards you can have in your deck."

"But before then I'll have your life points hitting zero," Wendy replied.

"I doubt that," spat Tarni, "Cosmo Queen, give Gusto Egul a taste of your cosmic powers."

The dark queen gathered energy in her hands and launched a ball of pure dark energy at Gusto Egul, disintegrating the small bird in an instant.

"I use Egul's effect," said Wendy, "Special Summoning a level four or lower non-Tuner Gusto from my deck, like another Winda.'

In a flash a second copy of Winda appeared. Tarni glared at her opposition, a few more turns and there would more Monsters to hide behind… It was a waiting game.

"Since I assume it's the end of your Battle Phase," said Wendy, slipping a card out of her graveyard and placing it in her back pocket, "I can activate Gusto Thunbolt's effect, banishing a Gusto Monster from my graveyard and Special Summoning a Wind-Attribute Psychic Monster from my deck."

In a gust of wind and a flash of light, a new monster appeared another green haired girl who looked to be a few years older than Winda. She wore a short white skirt with a thin white jacket. (1700/1100)

"This is Caam, Serenity of Gusto," said Wendy.

"She kind of looks like you," Tarni snidely commented, "if you had cabbage green hair and weren't… forty maybe fifty."

"I'm not even thirty," Wendy scoffed, with a tiny - almost repressed - hint of bile and anger in her voice.

"You know," Tarni grumbled, taking a card from her hand and setting it, "I really don't care. Anyway, back to our duel, I set one card face down and end my turn."

The card appeared behind Tarni's Monsters. At the same time, the lights flashing around Card Trooper dimmed. (ATK:1900-400)

"My turn," said Wendy as she drew, "I'll start by tuning my level three Gusto Gulldo with my level two Gusto Winda."

A powerful gale blew through the makeshift office, as Gulldo and Winda flew up toward the ceiling, turning into five shining stars.

"Syncrho Summon. Diagusto Gulldo."

A loud cry of an eagle screeched through the air, as a larger version of Gusto Gulldo flew down and landed on the field, covered in heavier amour with spike protruding from the chest plate and blades from the helmet. Young Winda stood as tall as she could on Gulldo's back, raising her staff as energy flowed around it. (2200/800)

"I activate the effect of Diagusto Gulldo," Wendy announced, as a copy of each Winda and Gulldo slid out of her graveyard, "by shuffling two Gusto Monsters from my graveyard back into my deck, I can target one of your face-up Monsters and destroy it."

Wendy sat the cards on top of her deck and let the autoshuffler do its work. Winda then raised her staff even higher, as a bright glow emanated from the emerald. Winds then began to batter Gogiga Gagagigo from all sides, knocking it every which way. The large lizard-man ferociously growled in anger and anguish as more and more winds battered the reptile. Then, with one final gust, he was knocked into air then off to the side, violently slamming into the wall on the left where he shattered.

Tarni simply folded her arms, despite her large body and light frame she was unaffected by the the tornado force winds. "I still have plenty more powerful Monsters waiting in my deck," she said, "and plenty of ways to revive any that you destroy."

Wendy rolled her eyes, no matter what card Tarni played out she was sure she'd be able to handle it. "I activate the effect of Caam," she said, taking Thunbolt and Egul from her graveyard and letting them be shuffled back into her deck, "which lets me shuffle two Gusto Monsters back into my main deck and draw a card."

Her deck stopped shuffling and Wendy carefully drew the next card and added it to her hand. "I summon Gusto Codor," she said, taking another card from her hand and playing it.

In a instant, a new Monster appeared, clearly based on a condor with its massive outstretched wings, bare head and sharp talons. Like the other Gusto birds, it was wearing armour over its chest and a helmet on its head. (1000/400)

"How that overgrown turkey going to help you defeat me?" sniggered Tarni.

"I activate the Quick-Play Spell Card, Forbidden Lance," said Wendy, "which means that until the end of the turn, Cosmo Queen is now unaffected by other Spell or Trap cards, but also loses eight-hundred attack."

A silver lance appeared in Cosmo Queen's hands, the queen groaned in pain as the lance drained her power. (ATK:2900-2100)

"Diagusto Gulldo," commanded Wendy, "attack Comso Queen! Divine Wind of the Gusto!"

Winda raised her staff with both hands as Gulldo opened its beak and screeched before beatings its wings, kicking up a gale. Cosmo Queen could barely hold her ground, the winds battering her getting more intense every second. Eventually, she was thrown off her feet and sent crashing into the wall, shattering on impact. (TLP:8000-7900)

"A minor setback," said Tarni, folding her arms.

Wendy once again rolled her eyes at her opponent's arrogance and carried with her assault. "Gusto Codor, attack Card Trooper."

Tarni gave a sigh of relief as Gusto Codor picked up Card Trooper and flew high into the air, then dropped the Machine letting it smash to pieces on the ground. (TLP:7900-7300)

"I activate Card Trooper's effect, since it was destroyed I draw one card," Tarni announced, doing so.

"Then I activate Gusto Codor's effect," countered Wendy, as a card stuck out of her deck, "since it destroyed one of your Monsters in battle, I can Special Summon a Wind-Attribute Psychic Monster from my deck, so long as it has less than one-thousand five hundred defence points."

A look of concern came across Tarni's face - slight concern - fearing that her opponent would summon a powerful Monster.

"I Special Summon Windaar, Sage of Gusto from my deck," Wendy announced, playing the card.

In a blast of wind appeared a green haired man wearing a black shirt and green sleeveless jacket, a lime green pair of pants with what looked to be a long, wide loincloth over them. Like the other human Gustos, he held a large staff in his hand. (2000/1000)

Tarni let out a small sigh of relief.

From behind Wendy, Zephyr eagerly scratched her talons into the tiles, happy to see her partner gain an early lead in the duel.

"Caam, Windaar," Wendy ordered, "direct attack."

Caam and Windaar nodded at each other and made a rush for the kenku.

Only to stop dead in their tracks as out of nowhere, Gogiga Gagagigo appeared, blocking their path.

"I activate my set card," said Tarni, "Soul Resurrection, which revives a Normal Monster from my graveyard in defence position, and look at that, neither of your Monsters can break his defence."

Wendy scowled with disgust at the drooling lizard man. "Turn end," she grumbled, readying herself for Tarni's attack next turn.

"My turn," said Tarni, drawing another card from her deck, she looked at the card and added it to her hand then looked up at Wendy. "But before I do anything else, I think we should have a little chat, don't you think?"

"No," Wendy flatly replied.

"Fine have it your way," scowled Tarni, "I activate the Spell Card Cost Down, allowing me to discard one card from my hand," she slid a card - a level one Monster card - into her graveyard, "which lowers the level of all Monsters in my hand by two."

"So the level eight Rabidragon in your hand becomes level six," said Wendy, "but you still need to tribute a Monster to summon it."

"Not necessarily," Tarni replied, the same card she had discarded slipping out of her graveyard, "because by banishing Amarylease from my graveyard, I can Normal Summon a Monster this turn with less tribute."

The kenku slammed the card onto her duel disk and almost immediately a deafening roar near perforated every eardrum in the room. The creature producing the noise was looked mike the mutant offspring of a ferocious dragon and a fluffy white bunny rabbit, its body was covered in patches of scales and fur, two tusks stuck out its mouth - which contained plenty of sharp teeth - and it had long ears that pointed straight up. (2950/2900)

Zephyr squeaked and dove behind Wendy, ducking low to the ground and quivering in fright. Few things on this Earth scared a powerful beast like a gryphon, and they were usually something much larger, much more powerful and could often fly - and a dragon fit all three criteria.

"It's okay," comforted Wendy, her voice soft and sincere as she bent down to pet Zephyr on the head, "they're only holograms, they can't hurt us."

Tarni started to cackle loudly at that remark. "Oh," she said, holding up a talon, "that's what you think."

Her eyes glowed as her talons pulsed with black energy which quickly flowed down her arm and into her duel disk. Pitch black auras appeared around her Monsters, making them look all the more savage.

"Black magic," Wendy whispered.

"That's right," Tarni said, her beak twisted into a devilish smile, "I just through solid vision wasn't… Solid enough, if you get what I mean. So I just had to learn some black magic for myself, at least enough to give these guys a little mass."

She glared at Wendy, lowering her glowing hand to in front of her face, projecting a menacing shadow of herself on the wall behind her. "I switch Gogiga Gagagigo to attack position."

The lizard man stood up and roared furiously, eager to tear apart whatever it could wrap its claws around.

"Rabidragon," Tarni ordered, her glowing eyes giving each of Wendy's Monsters, "attack the overgrown drumstick."

Rabidragon opened its jaws and breathed white hot flames at Diagusto Gulldo, causing both mount and rider to scream in agony before they disintegrated. (WLP:8000-7250)

Wendy grunted in pain, that blow felt like a solid punch in the gut.

"And to think that's just a taste of what's to come," sneered Tarni, "Gogiga Gagagigo attack Windaar, better take him out before we find out what he does."

The lizard man roared and slashed Windaar with his claws, knocking him to the ground and shattering him. (WLP:7250-6300)

Wendy grunted in pain once more, sure as an experienced Shadowchaser she'd become accustomed to pain a long time ago, but that didn't mean she wasn't capable of feeling it.

She felt Zephyr's soft feathers brush up against her side, the mythical beast showing her sympathies for her partner.

"Thanks girl," Wendy smiled, petting her on the head in reply, "but I'll be fine."

"We'll see about that," said Tarni, taking a card from her hand and setting it, "I end my turn."

"My turn," said Wendy, drawing a card, "I'll start by activating the effect of Caam, shuffling Windaar and a second copy of Gusto Gulldo back into my deck and drawing a card."

She shuffled the two Monsters back into her deck, then drew another card. She glanced down at her set card, as he finger hovered near the button that would activate it. _"__Not yet,__" _she thought.

"I set one Monster face down and switch Caam and Codor to defence position," she said, as her Monsters switched to more defensive stances while a reversed Monster appeared between them.

"Turn end."

"Back on the defensive I see," said Tarni drawing a card, "I'll start my move off with the Spell Card, Dark Factory of Mass Production, adding Cosmo Queen and Metal Armored Bug to my hand."

The two Normal Monster slid out of Tarni's graveyard and she added them to her hand. Her Trap Card then flipped up.

"I activate Common Charity," she continued, plucking two more cards from her deck, she then turned around the Metal Armored Bug card and tossed it aside.

"Then I think I'll activate another Trade-In," she discarded Cosmo Queen, the drew two more cards, "when you're running this many level eights, you can never have too many."

The kenku the flicked through the cards in her hand, she picked two of them and set one face down and activated the other. "I play Enemy Controller, switching your Codor to attack position."

Wendy's eyes widened from behind her googles as Codor moved to a more offensive stance with its wings spread wide.

"Rabidragon," Tarni coldly ordered, "toast that bird."

Rabidragon opened its jaw and released another burst of white-hot flames, poor Gusto Codor screeched as it was incinerated by the flames. (WLP:6300-4350)

Wendy bit her lip to stop herself from screaming as he dropped to one knee and clutched her chest,

Once again she felt Zephyr nudge her with her beak the place her talon on her shoulder, checking if her trusted rider was alright.

Wendy turned and looked Zephyr in the eyes, seeing the concern in her beady eyes. "I'm alright girl,"s he said, carefully lifting the talon off her shoulder.

Zephyr chirped and nodded - this wasn't her fight - she slowly backing off as Wendy pushed herself to her feet.

"Getting back up for more are we?" sniggered Tarni, motioning for another attack "I'd be happy to deliver."

Gogiga Gagagigo slammed its fist down on Caam, who could only scream before she disintegrated under the giant reptile's fist.

"I'll end my turn with that."

Wendy grit her teeth and drew a card, sighing as she added it to her hand. "I activate my facedown card, Blessing of Gusto, shuffling Caam and Codor into my…"

"I don't think so honey," Tarni sneered as her Trap flipped up, "I activate Champion's Vigilance, which negates your last ditch attempt to turn this duel around."

A flaming knight in black armour leaped out of Tarni's Counter Trap and sliced Wendy's Trap Card in half with its sword.

Wendy scowled, admittedly that was rather desperate move, but she had been pushed into a corner. She looked down at her hand; Double Summon, Gusto Griffin, Gusto Gulldo, Gusto Egul and Pot of Duality.

She grabbed the latter card and played it. "Since you negated my attempt to Special Summon this turn, I can activate Pot of Duality."

Wendy pulled the top three cards from her deck, as holographic projections appeared in front of her. They were Musto, Oracle of Gusto, Emergency Teleport and Spiritual Wind Art - Miyabi.

"I think I'll take this one," she said, adding Emergency Teleport to her hand as the three projections disappeared.

"You do know you can't use that card this turn," said Tarni.

"I know, but I can next turn." Wendy replied, taking another card from her and setting it on her disk, "I end my turn with one Monster face down."

The reversed Monster joined Wendy's dwindling field.

**0 - 0 KK 0 - 0**

Ezekiel struggled to keep with Matari as he weaved his way through the crowd, before eventually coming to a rather abrupt stop a block or two away from where they started.

"Do we really have to walk this far?" he panted, out of breath.

"No," Matari replied with a smile, "I've got something faster."

The Shadowchaser pointed a D-Wheel parked in the street.

Ezekiel's eyes opened wide as looked at the vehicle. "I… I…" he stammered, "I don't have a helmet, or the proper safety equipment."

Matari held up a finger, motioning for him to be quiet for a second. The Shadowchasers turned around, and pulled up the seat, reaching into the compartment underneath he pulled out a helmet and tossed it to Ezekiel. Who barely managed to catch it.

"I am not getting on that thing," Ezekiel protested, looking away.

"Fine," Matari shrugged, pulling out a second helmet and putting it on.

The Shadowchaser leapt onto the D-Wheel and started it up. The monstrous roar of the engine made Ezekiel jump back in fright.

"Last chance," teased Matari.

Ezekiel gulped, he was torn between riding a D-Wheel without proper safety equipment or leaving himself wondering (and cowering) about the world he found himself thrust into.

He took a deep breath before taking a wary step closer to the D-Wheel, almost expecting the machine to jump to life and attack him (though considering what else he had saw today, it wouldn't be surprising _if it did)._

He climbed up onto the seat behind Matari and clung to the aboriginal man as tight as he could.

"Make sure you hold on tight," said Matari as he shifted the D-Wheel into gear and took off down the street.

**0 - 0 KK 0 - 0**

"Draw," Tarni announced, adding a third card to the hand which contained: Mystical Space Typhoon, Ancient Rules and now a second copy of Birthright.

She gave a sly look at Wendy's field, nothing but two reversed Monster, nothing that could possibly stop what she was about to do.

Tarni took a deep breath, doing her best to keep her joy under wraps, but a few small chuckles slipped out, and that was enough for Wendy to get suspicious.

"What's so funny?" Wendy questioned without trace of fear.

Tarni didn't bother to directly answer, instead she retrieved a card from a pocket on her robe. "I overlay my the level eight Normal Monsters, Rabidragon and Gogiga Gagagigo!"

Wendy tried her best to keep a straight face, she'd heard of the Monster that her opponent was about to summon and knew just how powerful it was.

A swirling vortex opened on the ground, lightning cracked from the core as both level eights were drawn into the portal.

"With these two Monsters, I construct the Overlay Network. Xyz Summon. Thunder End Dragon!"

More lightning sparked from the core, sparking and cracking away in all directions as an enormous black-and-blue scaled dragon emerged from other dimension. Lightning arced all over its body as it let out a roar as loud as a strike of thunder. (3000/2000)

Zephyr gave one look at the walking thunderstorm and let out a terrified squeal. She dove behind Wendy and began cowering and shivering on the ground.

"It's okay girl," she assured, leaning down and stroking Zephyr's back, "it's just a hologram, it can't hurt us…"

The realisation hit her hard. She closed her eyes and groaned in frustration, this was going to hurt, a lot.

Tarni laughed heartlessly, as one only could toward someone else's suffering. "Oh I'm sorry," she falsely apologised, "the look on your face as you realised that you're about to feel about thousands of volts course through your entire body was just priceless. It's one of the many pleasures of my business."

Wendy said nothing, even if she did comment on what a sadist Tarni was, she'd more than likely take it as a complement than as an insult.

"But first, I detach a Xyz Material from Thunder End Dragon, which destroys all other Monsters on the field."

Thunder End Dragon gave a thunderous roar as it absorbed one the orbs floating around it. Then with a angry snarl, the electric dragon gathered a sphere of electricity between its claws, which began to increase in size until it was well over three metres in diameter.

It then hurled the sphere at Wendy's field, exploding in a massive storm of lightning bolts flying in all directions.

Wendy's two Monster flipped up, revealing themselves as Flying Kamakiri #1 and Gusto Egul. The deadly amounts of electricity forcing both the bug and bird's bodies to contort and writhe before they shattered.

Tarni cackled and eagerly tapped her talons together, all too eager to continue with her assault. "Direct attack," she ordered, savouring the words.

The massive dragon roared, bolts of lightning flying off its body in all directions, covering the entire field

Wendy shielded her eyes from the blinding light, letting her guard down for a split second.

And in that split second, a set of claws swung out of the maelstrom, striking Wendy and knocking her backwards, sending her toppling over Zephyr and landing on the ground on her.

Wendy grit her teeth as hard she could to prevent herself from screaming, she clutched her chest where the claws had struck her, the had tore through her jacket, shirt and a few layers of skin, blood trickled from the wounds. (WLP:4350-1350)

She felt Zephyr nuzzle her hip. She looked over to her partner, seeing the fear and concern in her eyes. "I'll be okay girl," she assured, sitting up, "just give me a minute."

At this Tarni burst out laughing. "Oh, this is just brilliant," she taunted, "if I knew it was going to be this easy to take one of you Shadowchasers down I would have stayed put and fought you off all those years ago.

"I don't know how you Shadowchasers have even managed to get a foothold on controlling Shadowkind, if Stormbringer keeps employing incompetent…"

"Shut up," Wendy ordered, the sheer calm, yet furious, tone enough to make her opponent flinch. The Shadowchaser then pushed herself onto her feet, shaking off the pain she was feeling as it were nothing.

Tanri quickly shook the fearful look of her face, she'd struck a nerve - and a raw one at that. "You don't scare me," she lied, praying to God - any God - that her opponent still had the decency and sense to stick to the treaty and not send a deadly creature after her.

"Don't worry your pretty little face Tarni," Wendy coldly assured, noticing her opponent's fear, "this is between you and I, we have a score to settle."

Tarni regained her composure. "Honey," she said, "your almost six thousand points behind and I have a Monster capable of wiping every other Monster clean off the field.

"Face it honey, you're through."

"Is it the end of your turn?" demanded Wendy.

"It's all yours honey," Tarni scowled, "enjoy it."

Wordlessly Wendy drew a card and added it to her hand. Then, after a quick ponder, grabbed two cards from her hand and set them face down.

The two cards, a Monster and facedown card appeared in front of her.

"Turn end."

"That was quick," commented Tarni

"I activate Mystical Space Typhoon," Tarni declared, sliding the card into the duel disk.

The Spell Card flashed into existence in front of Tarni, and a cyclone ripped out of it.

"Now even if you chain Emergency Teleport," Tarni smugly declared with a wag of her finger, "the Monster summoned will only end up being destroyed by Thunder End Dragons' effect."

The cyclone ripped across the field, heading straight for Wendy's set card.

"Good point," said Wendy, allowing herself a small confident smirk, "but you overlooked one thing."

"What?" Tarni demanded, desperate to know what could possibly snatch victory away from her at this point.

"It's not Emergency Teleport," Wendy replied, hitting a button to activate the card. It flipped and flashed just before it was engulfed by the oncoming winds. "I chain Jar of Avarice."

The Trap Card flipped up and flashed, creating a large red jar decorated with many different coloured jewels. The jar stuck out its long, purple tongue and blew a raspberry at Tarni, only to be swept away by the winds and shatter as it crashed into the wall.

"Jar of Avarice," Wendy announced, "like its previous incarnation, allows me to shuffle five cards from my graveyard back - almost any card at all - into my deck then draw one card."

Wendy pulled Diagusto Gulldo, Caam, Serenity of Gusto, Gusto Egul, Fying Kamakiri #1 and Blessing of Gusto out go her graveyard and shuffled them back into her deck (and Extra Deck), then drew a card.

"So your facedown card was just a bluff," said Tarni, "and I fell for it. But that doesn't matter, Thunder End Dragon will finish you off anyway."

The Xyz Dragon snatched up another Material between its teeth and gathered another ball of electricity between its claws and hurled it at Wendy's field.

Wendy's set Monster flipped up to reveal Gusto Gulldo, the small bird's body spasmed a contorted as the electricity shocked it nerves. It shattered in mere moments.

"You're all out of Monsters," Tarni declared, "Thunder End…."

"Actually," said Wendy, taking a card that stuck out of her deck, "remember when I said Gusto Gulldo's effect activates when it's sent from the field to the graveyard. That means when it leaves the field by almost any means, its effect activates."

The Shadowchaser played the card, and Winda appeared in a defensive position.

"Ugh," Tarni groaned in frustration, "this cycle is giving me headache, "I'll activate my facedown Birthright. So once again say hello to Rabidragon."

Rabidragon reappeared on the field and let out a loud roar.

"Two may be company, but three's a crowd," Tarni continued, "I activate Ancient Rules, Special Summon Tri-Horned Dragon from my hand."

The Spell flashed onto the field, and a dark-blue scaled dragon appeared on the field, it had long, curved claws and horns appeared. (2850/2350)

All three dragons roared and viciously barred their fangs.

"Rabidragon attack! White Hot Flame."

Rabidragon belched white hots flames, incinerating poor Winda into a pile of ash.

"I Special Summon Gusto Egul."

Egul appeared in front of Wendy.

"Tri-Horned Dragon attack! Dark Slash!"

The dark-blue dragon slashed at the small bird with its claws, it shattered to pieces.

"I'll Special Summon a second Winda."

A second Winda appeared.

"Thunder End Dragon attack! Thunder Strike!"

The electric Dragon gather another ball of electricity in its claws and hurled the sphere at Winda, disintegrating per on impact.

"I use her effect to Special Summon Gusto Falco."

Another bird cry screeched through office, as a green-feather falcon with red eyes flew onto the field, it wore a silver helmet and matching armour. (600/1400)

"You haven't used that one yet," said Tarni, before shrugging, "oh well, I'll just destroy it as well.

"I will soon," Wendy replied, "Now, seeing that you're out of cards to play I believe it's my turn."

"Go ahead," Tarni scowled.

"I will," Wendy declared, making a draw smiling as she what it was, she added it to her hand and grabbed two others. "I activate One for One, discarding one Monster Card from my hand to Special Summon the level one Cheepcheepcheep from my deck."

She slid the other card into the graveyard, as a small yellow chick appeared in front of her, with a single feather atop its head that was twisted into the shape of a question mark. It cheeped three times in quick succession while it flapped its small stubby wings. (300/200)

"And since my Gusto Griffin was discarded from my hand," Wendy continued, "it's effect now activates, Special Summoning a Gusto Monster from my deck, I think you remember Caam."

Tanri rolled her beady eyes. "How could I forget?"

The loud cry of an eagle screeched through the room as a green feathered gryphon swooped down, landing gracefully on the field. Caam rode on the back of the beast, stepping of its back once it landed. Then Griffin the took off and flew away.

Tarni quickly looked back and forth between Gusto Griffin and Caam as well as Wendy and Zephyr. "You know," she said with a smirk, "now the resemblance is uncanny, did you two ever think of cosplaying?"

"No," Wendy sternly replied, taking another card from her hand…

"You look just like her," Tarni chuckled, "or a head of cabbage. Actually, what's with your Monsters and green, their dye budget must be through the roof."

Wendy's eye twitched slightly as she continued on with her turn. "I tribute Gusto Falco and Cheepcheepcheep…"

The two low level Winged-Beasts vanished.

"To summon Simorgh, Bird of Ancestry."

A fierce gust of wind blew across the field, making all three of Tarni's Dragons shudder. Then a huge bird - rivalling Tarni's Thunder End Dragon in size - landed on the field, . It had golden feathers and two large sets of wings with taloned claws at the ends. It let out a magnificent screech and extended its wings. (2900/2000)

Tarni took a step back. "Uh oh…" she murmured, "how… Where did you…"

"Get this card." Wendy answered, "My Grandmother gave it to me when I joined the Shadowchasers. Kind of fitting in my opinion.

"But we shouldn't dwell on backstory, let's focus on what's happening now."

Simorgh began to flap its wings, kicking up another fierce wind.

"As Simorgh was summoned by tributing only Wind-Attribute Monsters," Wendy explained, as the winds grew stronger, "she can blow two Monsters off the field and back to your hand."

Simorgh flapped its wings, kicking up cyclone force winds. The three dragons were battered by the fierce winds before the two Normal Dragons were thrown into the air and sucked into a black vortex that opened up behind them.

"I'd call you a fool for leaving Thunder End Dragon untouched," said Tarni, crossing her arms, "but you're clearly not finished."

Wendy gave a simple nod and grabbed the second-to-last card in her hand. "I activate Emergency Teleport, Special Summoning Pilica, Descendant of Gusto from my deck."

The Quickplay Spell flashed in front of Wendy. And a young girl appeared in a flash of light, her green hair was tied into a ponytail with the tip died bright orange. She wore fluffy green clothes held a wooden sceptre with the end carved to resemble an eagle. (1000/1500)

"When Pilica is summoned," Wendy continued, "I can revive one Wind-Attribute Tuner Monster from my graveyard, such as Gusto Falco."

Pilica stamped her sceptre on the ground, and Gusto Falco reappeared in a flash of light. The bird then perched on the young girl's shoulder.

Tarni crossed her arms and let out a small sigh, she knew what was about to happen and she certainly didn't like it.

"I tune my level two Gusto Falco with my level three Pilica," Wendy announced, "Synchro Summon, Diagusto Gulldo."

Both Falco and Pilica flew up into the air and turned into five shining stars. Then with a loud screech, Diagusto Gulldo flew down and landed next to Simorgh.

"I use Diagusto Gulldo's effect," Wendy declared, taking Egul and Gulldo from her graveyard, "shuffling two Gusto Monsters back into my deck to destroy Thunder End Dragon."

Wendy slipped the two cards into her deck and let the the auto-shuffler do its work. Winda raised her staff as her mount spread both wings.

Savages winds then battered the dragon, as it snarled and roared at its invisible assailant. A powerful gust then knocked the dragon into the air, where another one slammed it back down to the ground, hard enough to shatter the ground beneath it.

Thunder End Dragon groaned and shattered.

Tarni did some quick calculations in her head, her opponent's Monster had a total attack of six-thousand eight-hundred, she survive this round, barely…

But with only two high level in her hand she wasn't sure if she would survive her next.

However, Wendy wasn't ready to attack just yet. "I activate the effect of Caam," she declared, taking two more cards from her graveyard, "shuffling Winda and Pilica back into my deck to draw a card."

Wendy placed the two cards on top of her deck and let the auto-shuffler work its magic one final time.

Wendy took a deep breath as the auto-shuffler abruptly stopped, placing the card that could decide the outcome of the duel on top.

The moment Wendy touched the card, both she and Zephyr felt a rush of energy, without even looking at the card Wendy knew exactly what it was.

She drew the card and added it to her hand, then grabbed the other card. "I activate Double Summon," she declared, with slightly more energy and spirit than previous plays, "which, as the name implies, allows me to Normal Summon a second time this turn."

At that moment, Tarni's heart sank, in combination of seeing the change in her opponent and the fact that no one sane would waste a card like Double Summon, she knew her number was up.

"I summon Mythical Gryphon."

In a flash a new monster appeared, a gryphon with milky white feathers, blue fur, a sharp beak and blood red eyes. The mythical beast landed next to Caam, and let out a loud cry. (2000/0)

Zephyr scratched her talons onto the floor in excitement once more, seeing as her favourite Monster on the field.

"Simorgh direct attack," Wendy ordered.

Simorgh beat its large wings, kicking up a glad force wind that battered the opposing kenku. (TLP:7300-4400)

"Diagusto Gulldo."

The mount of the Psychic Synchro extended its wings as Winda raised her staff. More winds then battered Tarni, who was struggling to keep her footing. (TLP:4400-2200)

"Your turn Caam."

Caam smiled and raised her staff, as more winds battered Tarni sending her staggering backward. (TLP:2200-500)

"Mythical Gryphon," Wendy ordered, pointing a finger at Tarni, "end this."

The virtual gryphon screeched and took to the air, rushing at Tarni and tackling her. The kenku was sent barreling over her desk and into the stacks of papers sitting behind it. (TLP:500-0)

Sirens blared as the both duel disks deactivated, the holographic Monsters faded.

Wendy reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out a sapphire and triumphantly marched across the room with Zephyr by her side.

From behind the desk, Tarni began to stir. She sat up in shock at the realisation of what happened, only to have a bright blue sapphire shoved in her face moments later.

"You're under arrest, Tarni Burumurring," said Wendy, as the sapphire glowed.

Tarni let out a deep sigh. "Well there's nothing else I can do," Tarni said with a sly smirk, "except rob you of the satisfaction of watching me squirm."

"Please," Wendy calmly replied with a small smile, "defeating you was satisfying enough."

Tarni scowled, disappointed that her last chance to irritate her opponent had slipped through her grasp.

The sapphire glowed brightly, illuminating the room in a blinding light.

The light faded and Tarni was gone, teleported away to a holding facility until her trial.

Wendy slipped the sapphire back into her pocket and turned around, a satisfied smile planted on her face…

Only to disappeared as she dropped to one knee after a single step.

Wendy groaned and clutched her side where Thunder End Dragon had struck her. She had managed to ignore the pain earlier and continue on with her duty, but now it was back with a vengeance.

Zephyr immediately rushed to Wendy's side, ready to catch her if she toppled over.

"Thanks girl," said Wendy, managing a weak smile through the pain, "you can have a whole leg of horse when we get back home."

She reached for the pocket where she kept her duel disk and pulled out a small corked bottle of red liquid.

She pulled out the corked and downed the liquid.

The wounds quickly closed up as the pain disappeared from Wendy's body. However, he jacket and shirt remained torn.

She didn't watch, no matter how many healing potion she taken over the years it was still one of the few things that never failed to unnerve her.

**0 - 0 KK 0 - 0**

Matari swerved his D-Wheel speedily around street corner.

The Shadowchaser could feel the youth cling to him in terror, either caused by his reckless driving or the recent revelations her learned about the world, probably a combination of both.

"Don't worry," Matari assured, "we're almost there."

He punctuated himself by revving harder on the throttle, sending the D-Wheel barreling down the street at speeds that made Ezekiel wonder just how the police could let this man anywhere near a working vehicle.

Less than thirty seconds later, Matari pulled the D-Wheel to a stop on the side of the street and shifted into a lower gear so he could speak to his passenger.

"We're here," he said, pointing to the house in font of them, "you can get off and I'll go put this baby away. Meet you at the front door."

In an instant Ezekiel leapt off the vehicle, turning around to watch as Matari revved the D-Wheel and drove in a tight circle out into the street and and up the driveway that lead to the house.

Ezekiel pulled his head out of the helmet and took a look up and down the street. He had no idea where he was, but it couldn't be too far from the city centre. The street looked pretty normal - if a little top end compared to what he used to.

He turned to see what kind of house he was about to enter, taking in every detail he could see to make sure there was nothing out of the ordinary.

Firstly, a white picket fence separated him and the street from the front yard. Which had fresh, low-cut grass, flowers of almost every colour he could think of and a large eucalyptus tree that looked as if it had been there a very long time.

The house itself was a fairly modern two-storey home, with a mix of stone cladding and wooden panels on the exterior, large windows on both levels and a large car port that looked large enough to fit two cars (or from what he saw when Matari opened the door, D-Wheels, three of them).

Despite not really standing out visually from the other houses on the street, he felt there was unique about the property in front of him. Somehow it just stuck out like a sore thumb, but he couldn't find the reason for it.

Ezekiel uneasily pushed open the front gate and slowly dawdled along the path that led to the front door, stopping next to a bunch of bright, yellow sunflowers.

He leaned over to a flower and took a deep breath through his nose, letting the sweet, luscious aroma relax him, making all of his troubles seem a world away…

Until the front door swung open and Matari called out to him.

"Oi kid!" he yelled, "stop playing in the flowers and come inside. There's someone I'd like you to meet."

The relaxed feelings fled from his mind as feelings of dread returned. He'd fallen into the rabbit hole and he really didn't want to know how deep it went.

**0 - 0 KK 0 - 0**

**Kitten Knight: **As the day draws to a close, the Sydney Shadowchaser - plus a new face - all converge in their base and the result can only be one thing…

Stay tuned for the next chapter, Round 07: Chaos Zone!


	7. Chaos Zone

Kitten Knight: You thought you could get rid of me that easily? Well, think again.

First, I think I absolutely need to apologise for my nine-month absence from this site, severe writer's block, home life, work and now my university studies have all contributed to that (not to mention a ridiculous amount of procrastination).

But I can honestly say that barely a day went by I wasn't thinking about this story, after all, this is the chapter that will (hopefully) set the tone for rest of the story and I wanted it this chapter to be perfect (or at least as good as I can get it). Adding to that, if any of you readers have any advice, suggestions, criticisms or just want to pat me on the back, I'm more than happy to listen.

And one last thing before I continue, I'd like to thank everybody who's read or reviewed this story, it what makes writing this thing worthwhile and I honestly feel pretty awful on how I made you a whole nine months for an update.

Okay, I'll stop with the sob-story sucking-up, onto the chapter.

**0 - 0 ****-**** 0 - 0**

Shadowchasers: Muru

Round 07: Chaos Zone

**0 - 0 ****-**** 0 - 0**

**My mother always said that honesty is the best policy (usually accompanied by reminding me she counts the cookies in the cookie jar). But now, knowing that a magical veil hides a portion of the world from the rest****… ****I don't know what to think.**

**I mean, today I was almost killed by a psychotic bird-man because I tried to help some sort of disgusting, hideous, monstrous lizard-girl find her equally disgusting, hideous, monstrous lizard-mother. The do say 'no good deed goes unpunished' for a reason.**

**And the fact that I'm more than likely not the first to accidentally stumble onto something related to these monsters and suffer for it. Only… I ended up being one of the lucky ones… (or maybe not…)**

**The more I think about… The more I learn about it... The more horrible it all becomes…**

**Hmm, maybe I do know what to think after all****…**

**0 - 0 ****-**** 0 - 0**

Ezekiel slowly trudged his way through the front door of the Sydney Shadowchasers base of operations. It had only begun to sink in how he expected to be taken to an elaborate underground base or a tall skyscraper, not a humble house in the suburbs.

But this place still felt strange, he still couldn't put his finger why, but he knew he wouldn't like the answer.

He looked around the small foyer, to his right was a reading nook with a floor-to-ceiling bookcase and a comfortable looking chair And to his left was a wall full of photographs, which immediately grabbed his attention.

His eyes darted from picture to picture, taking in every non-human feature he could see. There we so many of them, elves, dwarves, beastly humanoids, it was like an entire fantasy novel had been drawn up, framed and nailed to the wall.

"You finished looking around?" asked Matari, as he impatiently tapped his foot on the floor.

Ezekiel didn't reply with words, just a few petrified sounding gasps as he pointed to the wall with a shaking finger.

He was beginning to realise just how deep the rabbit hole went.

"I'll take that as a no," Matari sighed, "look, just wait here a minute I've got something to sort out. I'll come get you when we're ready."

And with that the Shadowchaser turned his back to Ezekiel and left for the other room, leaving Ezekiel to step backwards and collapse into the chair behind him, daring not to give the "wall of monsters" an iota of attention.

**0 - 0 ****-**** 0 - 0**

Meanwhile, several hundred metres above the city, Zephyr carefully glided through the air, as her rider seemed a bit more interested in her clothes than not plummeting to her death.

Wendy looked down at her tattered and blood stained clothes, that healing potion may have cleaned up her wounds, but it didn't clean up anything else.

But one set of clothes was a small price to pay to finally apprehend a criminal that she considered a black mark on her near-perfect record of apprehending criminals.

But it was her favourite jacket.

**0 - 0 ****-**** 0 - 0**

Back in the Sydney Shadowchasers home base, Matari dropped both halves of his sword on the dining table, letting the two halves clatter and rock and the tabletop before coming to a complete stop.

Rowan stared in disbelief at the broken weapon for a few seconds before looking back to Matari and shaking his head. "That sword had been forged by the finest dwarven blacksmiths in the world, how did you snap it in half like it was a twig?"

"Were-crocodile," Matari simply answered, "considering a regular crocodile has a bite force of…"

"I believe you Matari," said Rowan, as he picked up the two halves and inspected the snapped blade, "I've fought more than a few were-beasts in my day.

"But I'm kind of glad this one didn't involve me," he added

"Lucky you," Matari grumbled as he rubbed his sore shoulder. "So, how did things go at Warragamba?"

"Oh yes, that," Rowan said rather slowly and with mild distaste, "well, you were right, Tiddalik was responsible for the dam being empty."

A giddy smile came across Matari's face as he eagerly rubbed his hands together. "Just wait 'til Wendy hears about this, I wonder how red her face will go?"

Rowan sighed and rolled his eyes. "So, who's waiting in the hall?" he asked, quickly trying to the subject.

Matari froze up, as his smile quickly disappeared and his jaw dropped. "How did you know?" he asked.

Rowan pointed to the large window which gave a lovely view of the front garden and the street outside. "Plus, I heard you and your mystery guest talking in the hall."

"Oh," said Matari.

"So what did you bring him here for?"

"Well," Matari hesitantly replied, "I kind of found him duelling a kenku, who incidentally, was linked to our old friend Tarni…"

A worried look came across Rowan's face. "I'm guessing that's where Wendy's run off to." His eyes fixated on his sword that was leaning against the wall.

At that moment, Rowan's phone beeped, the elder Shadowchaser pulled the device from his pocket and read what was on the screen.

Rowan's face was at a crossroad on whether or not to let out a relieved sigh or contort into an annoyed scowled. "Never mind," he grumbled, slipping the phone back into his pocket, "she apprehended her."

"Damn," cursed Matari, "I was looking forward to seeing the look on her face when we rescued her from that Big Bird wannabe."

Rowan stared blankly at Matari, as the Aboriginal Shadowchaser grinned widely as he rubbed his hands together. "That smug, condescending look wiped off her face as we all dash in and save her ass…"

Rowan stared blankly at Matari. "Don't we have other things to do than daydream about your damsel in distress fantasy?"

Matari's eyes opened wide as he ground his teeth together "Oh right," he said, trying to hide his embarrassment, "the kid. Well, he's an Aware, well he is one now."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well… Uhh…" Matari stammered, trying to put the pieces together, "he must have transitioned from Mundane to Aware during the duel."

Rowan raised an eyebrow, that certainly was unusual.

"Well send him in then," said Rowan.

Matari cupped his hands around his mouth. "Oi kid," he yelled, "you can come in now."

Rowan stared blankly at Matari. "You do realise that was unnecessary right?"

Matari shrugged. "I know, but he doesn't seem like a much of listener. Just wanted to make sure he heard me."

Ezekiel appeared in the doorway, gently cradling himself in his arms. His pale face and nervous frown combined with his shaky movements made it clear to Rowan just how distressed the kid in front of him was.

"Hello," greeted Rowan, "you must be…"

Ezekiel didn't respond.

"Ezekiel," Matari answered, "he's not much of a talker either."

Rowan slowly walked to Ezekiel "Thank you Matari," he said before extending a hand

Ezekiel reached out to accept the handshake, his whole arm shaking.

"You're quite nervous aren't you?" Rowan noted.

Ezekiel nodded.

"Well you have nothing to worry about," you're in safe hands here."

Ezekiel nodded once more, but the look on his face confirmed that he didn't really believe that.

"Now Matari," Rowan asked, "could we have some privacy, I think one-on-one is the best way to go for something like this."

Matari shrugged. "Eh, I don't think I'm gonna be much help here anyway. I wasn't before."

Matari yawned and stretched his arms, making him grimace in pain from today's injuries. "But if you need my help I'll be upstairs."

"I don't think I'll need your help Matari," said Rowan, watching as the younger Shadowchaser slowly walked out the doorway

Rowan sighed. Sometimes he didn't know what to make of his team, but it was his team and he had to make the best of it.

"Now," Rowan asked, turning to Ezekiel, "is there anything you'd like before we begin, perhaps something to eat or something to drink?"

Ezekiel shook his head. "No thanks."

"Well alright then," said Rowan, "please take a seat, we have a lot to talk about."

Feelings of dread began to build up inside Ezekiel, 'a lot to talk about' wasn't something he wanted to hear now. Nonetheless, he pulled out a chair and sat down at the table where he began to nervously tap his fingers.

Rowan slowly pulled out a chair and sat down as well. "Well, I guess Matari promised you an explanation, so I guess I have to give you one.

"So here we go."

The elder Shadowchaser cleared his throat. "Monsters are real, it's been that way for a very long time. Creatures of myth and legend walk the streets among humans, those who know of their existence call them Shadowkind."

Ezekiel looked away, feeling more nervous than ever. "How long have the been here?" he asked.

"Well being honest," Rowan replied with a shrug, "we're not sure, the best estimates say about ten thousand years but some evidence suggests they've been here much longer than that."

Ezekiel bit his lip. "Okay," he said slowly, "but how come I've never noticed them until now?"

Rowan chuckled. "The answer is simple," he said, "you really never did notice them before. You see, all Shadowkind have the ability to mask their presence from ordinary humans."

Ezekiel stared blankly in disbelief at Rowan for a few seconds, unsure of what to say. "That doesn't make any sense," he said with a disbelieving shake of his head, "just how… How… How does the world like this exist right under people noses?"

"As I said, it's simple," he answered, "most humans just don't notice Shadowkind."

Ezekiel stared at Rowan, he was beginning to wonder if the old man was senile. "I think a lot are going to notice bird-people or-" he stopped for a second to shudder slightly, "-lizard-people walking about."

"No," Rowan replied, "most people wouldn't. You see this… Veil, as we'll call it, hides Shadowkind from humanity, it has more to do with the human mind and human nature than anything else."

Ezekiel's narrowed his eyes and glared at Rowan, he could feel his blood began to boil. "What?" he asked, holding back his acidic tone as best he could.

"Well," Rowan corrected himself, "to be specific, most humans choose to subconsciously ignore things about Shadowkind…"

"Like species," Ezekiel cut in, beginning to sound bitter and frustrated, "or claws, horn, beaks, feathers, scales, tails, talons or… Whatever other extra appendages these monsters have?"

"Exactly," Rowan continued without missing a beat, "people tend to ignore or rationalise things they don't believe, and since most people don't believe monsters exist…"

Ezekiel frowned and glared at Rowan, he wasn't buying this crap for a second, it had to be some elaborate joke.

"It works on more than just physical attributes," Rowan continued, "say a group of lizardfolk in the outback becomes a tribe of aboriginal humans living off the grid or say a group of stab-happy bullywugs might not even register with ordinary humans.

"It even works on supernatural phenomena as well," he continued, "say a bushfire may actually be a fire elemental on a rampage or a powerful storm might be a djinn…"

The elder Shadowchaser's mouth snapped shut as he saw the blood drain from the youth's face and the fear in his eyes.

A painful silence filled the room as Ezekiel narrowed his gaze at Rowan, who was now starting to realise he should've watched his words.

"That's… That's awful!" Ezekiel yelled, "are you telling me that monsters are powerful enough to make bushfires and storms and barely anyone knows they exist?"

"Well anyone can start a bushfire, especially this time of year" Rowan retorted with a small nervous smirk, "or even a storm - if you have a large enough fan."

"This isn't some joke!" Ezekiel yelled.

_Straight from denial to anger, _thought Rowan as he gave a deep, frustrated sigh. "Alright, settle down," he calmly ordered.

"Settle down?" Ezekiel yelled, gritting his teeth with anger as he furiously pointed to the world outside, "literally everything I knew about the world had be hurled out the window today, I was almost killed by some knife-wielding bird-man in a card game and you expect me to "settle down"?."

Rowan silently responded to Ezekiel's rant with a stone cold glare. "Yes," he said with a slight shrug, "and please do it quickly, I'm not getting any younger here."

Ezekiel gripped the edge of the table as he glared at the old man across the table. He wasn't used to being this angry or upset and really wasn't sure how to feel let alone act.

Rowan, however, had much more experience dealing with difficult people than Ezekiel had being one. "Look," said the Shadowchaser, "I know you're frightened, the world now seems like a different place, I've been there. But getting angry isn't going to help anyone, especially yourself."

The youth gave the Shadowchaser a sour glare of disapproval with a matching scowl of disdain but grudgingly nodded. "Fine."

"Good, try to keep what I said in mind," said Rowan. "Now as I was saying, the existence of Shadowkind has brought a need to protect who are being endangered by them, which has created the organisation known as the Shadowchasers."

_Shadowchaser_, thought Ezekiel, _That's what that bird-man called me._

"Now," continued Rowan, "when it comes to Shadowkind, humans generally come in three varieties.

"The first type are known as Mundanes, they're completely in the dark about Shadowkind and can't see through the veil at all. Even if the looked a Shadowkind right in the eyes they'd never remember seeing anything but a human face."

Ezekiel looked away, he felt a strange mix of pity and envy over the fact Mundanes lived their lives in peaceful bliss, completely unaware of the true nature of the world.

"Then there are those known as Sensitives," Rowan continued, "they get an odd feeling when Shadowkind are around or maybe even see their true forms out of the corner of their eye. Though whether they know about the existence of Shadowkind comes down to personal experiences."

"And finally, there are Awares, which is the rarest type among humans. That's what we are. Awares can see Shadowkind for what they are…"

"Monsters," Ezekiel muttered under his breath, setting his sights back on the old man across the table.

"It is from these people come the Shadowchasers, an organisation created to keep up the fragile peace between humans and the supernatural."

Ezekiel gave Rowan a sceptical look. "And just how would they do that? What chance do ordinary people have against these monsters?"

"Okay," said Rowan, "first, not all Shadowkind are malevolent, in fact, Shadowkind and humans have a lot more in common that either side is willing to admit."

The sceptical look on Ezekiel's face remained.

_The irony is so thick here you could cut it with a knife, _Rowan thought as he paused to observe the look on the youth's face.

"Right then," he said, "as I said before, Shadowkind originate from an alternate world in another dimension. An unknown force takes them - kidnaps them if you will - from their world and transports them to ours.

"When a Shadowkind arrives on Earth, memories of their past lives quickly fade. Their homes, friends and family are quickly forgotten and all they are left with is instinct alone. From there, they adapt to their newfound world, meet new friends, make a living, settle down with that special someone and start a family…"

A gleam of hope appeared in Ezekiel's eyes as he had a sudden realisation. "If they come from a different dimension, then why don't we just send them back there?"

Only for Rowan's calm chuckle to shatter that hope like a pane of glass. "Okay, first and foremost, we don't have a means of returning them to their homes or even locating said dimension.

"And even if we could send them back, most Shadowkind here prefer Earth. For one thing Earth apparently a_ lot safer _than the home world of Shadowkind…"

_For some, at least, _Ezekiel thought.

"Not to mention," Rowan added, "it's highly improbable that the original home world of Shadowkind has many modern conveniences such as television, the internet, fast food and all that."

Ezekiel tried his best to hide the shattered look on his face.

"But," Rowan continued, "as you've… Experienced, some Shadowkind are a danger to humans or other Shadowkind for that matter.

"And then, there are some humans who wish to exploit, enslave or even kill Shadowkind.

"That's where the Shadowchasers come in."

There was a few seconds of silence as Rowan expected to her "What's a Shadowchaser?" from Ezekiel, or at least some sign the he was interested in the subject.

But for a full minute there was no reply, the two just sat in the room in a dreary awkward silence whilst doing their best to avoid eye contact.

**0 - 0 - 0 - 0**

Out in the hallway, Matari was leaning against the wall, chuckling to himself about the awkward situation in the other room.

"I'm kind of glad this one didn't involve me," he muttered, remembering how Rowan uttered that phrase a while ago.

Matari focused back onto the silent situation in the other room. _Eh, better get outta here, _he thought, _before Rowan calls for backup.__"_

He started to ascend the stairs, just as it sounded like Rowan and Ezekiel's conversation was beginning to pick up again.

Only to stop halfway up as Arika appeared at the top of the stairs, with a grease stained red jacket in her arms.

"Oh hey Matari," she said, "do you know any way to get grease off a jacket?"

"Um… No," Matari simply answered.

"Damn it," Arika cursed, "I wanted to wear this tonight when I went out with Pekeri and it's got this ugly stain on it."

"Pekeri?" said Matari, "he's coming tonight? Don't you think it would've been a good idea to tell us?"

Arika shrugged. "I thought I'd let it be a surprise." Though being honest, it was more of a "let's cross that bridge when come to it" kind of thing.

"Some surprise," Matari replied, "you'd know she hates it when we do things behind her back, or in front of her, or anything we do in general, I mean I'm gonna be lucky to come out unscathed if she gets back and that kid's still here."

Arika tilted her head slightly. "Kid?" she asked, "what kid?"

"Well he's not a 'kid' kid," Matari corrected himself, realising that Arika might have the wrong idea, "he said he's seventeen, but he looks fifteen, maybe fourteen."

"And why did you bring him here?" Arika asked.

"Well apparently he'd just turned from Mundane to Aware," he said, "and he wasn't taking it too well, at all.

"So I dumped him on Rowan," he added with a sly grin.

Arika scowled. "Matari," she said, sounding disappointed, "how could you?"

"Hey, you haven't seen this kid…" said Matari.

"Exactly!" said Arika, as he pushed her way past Matari, "I can't believe you brought him here and didn't introduce him to me!"

**0 - 0 - 0 - 0**

"Well," said Rowan, "even if you don't ask, I'm explaining what the Shadowchasers are. It's something someone in your situation needs to know."

Ezekiel looked over at Rowan, admittedly the word "Shadowchaser" did ring a bell in his mind, but he didn't want to acknowledge that fact at the moment.

Rowan cleared his throat. "Well then, the Shadowchasers are a worldwide organisation established a thousand years ago, by a powerful knight known as Jalal Stormbringer.

"The main purpose of the Shadowchasers is to keep the fragile peace between Shadowkind and humans. We do that by both fighting Shadowkind and supernatural forces that are are seen as a threat to humans and by protecting law-abiding Shadowkind who are threatened by other forces - whether the threat be from human or other Shadowkind.

"Think of us like interpol or the CIA, only a little more on the secretive side."

"Okay," Ezekiel slowly nodded.

"Now as the Shadowchasers are a law enforcement agency, we have a set of laws that we enforce. These laws are kept in a document known as The Great Treaty."

Rowan cleared his throat. "The Great Treaty was written a thousand years ago and outlines the laws that Shadowkind must abide by when dealing with humans."

"And Shadowkind just agree to follow these laws?"

"Well yes," Rowan replied, "Shadowkind who agree to follow the Treaty receive many benefits that would be otherwise near impossible to find anywhere else, as long as they don't violate the Treaty."

"So what happens when a Shadowkind breaks these laws?" Ezekiel asked.

"Well, that first depends on how severe the crime was and if the perp is a repeat offender, that determines whether or not the crime is a misdemeanour or a felony."

"Then if the situation calls for it, and it usually does, that's when the duelling come in."

"Wait," said Ezekiel, as the pieces of the puzzle began to come together, "duelling? As in a Duel Monsters duel?"

"Well yes…" Rowan answered, but was interrupted by a loud greeting from the doorway.

"Hey," greeted Arika, walking into the room with open arms. Matari was following close behind with an uneasy look on his face.

Ezekiel turned around to see the source of the greeting, only for Arika to wrap her arm his neck and put him in a headlock.

"Hey kiddo," she said, "what's ya' name?"

Ezekiel didn't reply, still being in shock from a mock-strangling.

"Hey," said Arika, unintentionally tightening her grip, "I asked you a question."

Ezekiel snapped out of his shock. "E… Eze… Ezekiel," he choked out.

"Ezekiel?" Arika mused, "isn't that Amish or something like that?"

Rowan buried his face in his hand. "Arika can you let him go?"

"Oh okay," she complied, realising Ezekiel from her grip, only to pinch his cheek and pull at it.

"Ermm," Ezekiel nervously asked, his voice slightly distorted by his misshapen mouth, "could you please let me go again?"

"Oh sorry," said Arika releasing Ezekiel's cheek from her grip and letting it snap back into place.

Ezekiel rubbed his cheek. "Thank you," he muttered.

"So what are ya' doing here?" Arika asked, taking a seat a the table.

"Kid's recently become an Aware," answered Matari, "brought him here after saving him from some mad Kenku."

"You told me that on the stairs."

"Well, why did you ask him?"

"I was making conversation," she said before spinning back toward Ezekiel. "So a kenku was your first, huh?"

Ezekiel pulled a strange face, finding Arika's question rather… Badly worded and could be easily taken out of context.

"Well, there was a kobold as well," Matari added.

"Oh a kobold too," said Arika, "aren't they just so cute?"

Ezekiel almost gagged, cute was the last word he would use to describe that creature.

"Look," said Rowan, using the awkward silence to get back on track, "we were busy doing something rather important, so if you two could please leave us to it."

"Aw," Arika complained, "but we just got here."

"And it didn't sound like everything was going well," Matari added, "I thought you might need some help."

Rowan shot Matari a dirty look, having realised that he'd been ear-wigging in the whole time. "I don't need your help with this, and I thought you didn't want to help in the first place."

"Well, I changed my mind."

"Can you change it _back_?" Rowan asked.

"Err, no," Matari replied, shrugging his shoulders.

Ezekiel's frustration once again came to a boil. "Excuse me," he demanded, "can you please tell me why you use Duel Monsters to arrest criminals?"

The three Shadowchasers remained silent for a second, realising just by Ezekiel's tone that he would not like the answer.

"It's known as the fair fight clause," explained Rowan, "you see when conflicts arise between Shadowchasers and Shadowkind, it needs to be resolved in a fair way. For a long time, it was fairly common that Shadowkind on trial would try to seek acquittal in court by claiming they weren't arrested under fair circumstances."

That's why we use Duel Monsters to resolve conflicts because both Shadowkind and Shadowchasers see it as a fair fight."

Ezekiel stared dumbfounded at the trio. "Wait, so your organisation fights and apprehends criminals, with a card game, a children's card game. That… That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard," he said in a flat disbelieving tone.

The three Shadowchasers exchanged glances, having anticipated Ezekiel's remark.

But Ezekiel continued. "No, this goes beyond dumb," he continued, blood boiling again, "this is insane! You're telling me that you're perfectly happy to let criminals, murderers, maniacs roam around freely because they can beat you at Duel Monsters?"

"Well honestly," said Rowan, "I'm not happy when it happens, the sting of defeat is only amplified when it means you haven't done your duty. But that's the rules."

"Well they're stupid rules!" spat Ezekiel.

"Hey," Matari butted in, "it saved your life didn't it. I mean you could've taken that kenku on in a fist fight or a knife fight, couldn't you?"

Ezekiel's mouth snapped shut as his mind flashed back to the sight of the knives spilling out of the kenku's sleeves and to its inhuman agility as it effortlessly leapt down from the multi-storey rooftops.

It dawned on him that he wouldn't have stood a chance in any other form of combat.

"Yeah that's right," said Matari, leaning back in his chair with a smug grin on his face, "not so stupid rules now are they?"

"Not to mention," Arika added, gently nudging Ezekiel in the ribs, "Duel Monsters is a lot more fun than a fist fight.

"Well sometimes a fist fight does sound a lot more exciting than a card game."

Ezekiel slumped down in his chair, the look on his face distant and distraught as it dawned on him how close he came to being serious injured, kidnapped or even worse. He began to breathe heavy, taking deep breaths always caused him to calm down.

But not this time. It was becoming too much for him to take in.

Rowan saw the look on Ezekiel's face. "I don't know about you, but I think we all need a short break."

"Break?" Arika complained, "but we just got here."

"Well that's a first," commented Matari, "you complaining about a break."

"Oh right," Arika agreed, lazily leaning back in her chair and putting her feet up on the table, "a break's fine with me."

Rowan gripped the bridge of his nose, one of the few times he wished he didn't

He turned toward Ezekiel. "Why don't you go outside and get some fresh air?"

"No thank you," Ezekiel refused.

"No, no," said Rowan, "I insist, we've been at this for a while, why don't you take a break?"

Picking up that Rowan wasn't exactly _suggesting _that he have a break. "Fine," he said sourly, standing up and marching to the glass sliding door.

As soon as the door slid shut Rowan let out one deep frustrated sigh.

"He's not taking it too well is he?" commented Matari.

"Gee, you think?" Rowan sarcastically replied.

"Didn't Jalal say that younger people cope with becoming Aware better?" said Arika.

"Yes," Rowan nodded, "but I wouldn't exactly call it a rule, everyone is different after all."

"Yeah, but why'd we get stuck with the difficult ones?" grumbled Matari.

"I ask myself that question every day," Rowan muttered.

Arika and Matari pondered Rowan's comment for a moment, but before they could make anything of it Wendy stepped into the room, carrying her torn and bloodied clothes in her hands and wearing a new set of clothes.

"Wendy," said Rowan, "we didn't hear you come in."

"That's because I climbed in through my bedroom window," replied Wendy, sounding fairly annoyed at having to admit that.

Both Matari and Arika clasped a hand over their mouths to suppress their laughter. The windows upstairs weren't very large, making them quite difficult to climb in or out, let alone whilst balancing on a gryphon.

"And why did you do that?" Rowan asked.

Wendy held up the torn and bloodied clothes in her hands. "I needed a change of clothes," she answered, before dropping them in the rubbish bin, "and I wasn't too keen on dripping blood on the floor."

"Blood," said Rowan, "are you alright?"

"I was injured in the duel, but I'm fine now," Wendy replied, as she pulled a small glass bottle and showed it to her teammates before dropping it in the rubbish bin.

"That wouldn't have happened if I went after her," argued Matari.

"I agree," said Wendy, "If you went after Tarni, she would've exploited your reckless behaviour and beaten you to a bloody pulp, to death even if the indelible imprint slipped her mind.

"And even worse," she added, "she would've gotten away."

"That's bullshit" Matari yelled, "I could have taken her and you know it. You just

"I much more experienced and level headed than you are," said Wendy, "and besides, you let her get away the first time and I was not going to let you do it again."

"Do you seriously think I can't do anything right?" Matari

"From experience," Wendy answered, "no."

"Jeez Wendy," said Arika, an angry scowl on

"Wait a second," said Rowan, forcing his way into the ensuing argument, "if you're here then that means…" He began to count down on his fingers from five.

But he didn't even get to three before a loud, terrified scream nearly perforated every eardrum in the room.

A second later, Ezekiel raced through the open door, slamming it shut behind him. Just in time to force Zephyr to grind to halt, unless she wanted to smash through another glass door - and cop it big time from her partner.

Wendy looked exasperated. "Who are you?" she asked, giving

"It's a long story," Rowan answered.

Ezekiel stammered a few times as he desperately pointed to the creature on the other side of the glass. "Wh… Wh… What is that thing?"

"What do you think it is," answered Arika, "a gryphon."

"A real one?"

"You've already seen a kenku and a kobold," said Matari, "what difference does a gryphon make?"

Ezekiel didn't say anything, he just backed away from the glass door.

"She wouldn't hurt you too badly," assured Wendy, "Zephyr knows better than that, at worst she'd pin you to the ground until I came along and cleared things up."

"Just think of her as the world's scariest guard dog," added Matari.

"Except Zephyr isn't a dog," retorted Wendy, taking offence to the comment.

_I'll say, _thought Ezekiel, as he dared not to look back at the lion-sized creature standing on the other of a painfully thin pane of glass.

Wendy noticed the disbelieving look on Ezekiel's face. "Don't be scared, Zephyr is a majestic gryphon, not some "dumb guard dog". In fact, she's just as intelligent as anyone else in this room, if not even smarter than some people."

"Oh please," scoffed Matari, "I'm way smarter than that glorified pony over there."

Ezekiel's face somehow managed to turn even whiter as he came to a terrifying realisation (having failed to notice the saddle before). He raised a quivering finger to point at the vicious-looking creature on the other side of the glass. "Y… you… you… ride on that thing?"

"Yes," Wendy replied with a simple nod.

"Isn't that dangerous?"

"Not if you have the proper training, the right equipment and a fair amount of trust between rider and mount," Wendy then glanced over to the rest of her team, "and believe me, if you know what you're doing it's much safer than any D-Wheel."

A collective groan came from the three Shadowchasers at the table as Wendy rolled her eyes.

"But you can't catch criminals on D-Wheels," said Arika.

"Not unless you jam Speed World up that thing's…" Matari added.

"Finish that sentence and I'll cram your entire deck up yours," said Wendy, veins pulsing on the side of her head.

Matari pointed his finger and opened his mouth, fully intending to finish his sentence.

But Wendy's fiery glare stopped him in his tracks and he closed his mouth.

Ezekiel was still white as a sheet and utterly convinced that everyone else in the room was completely insane. He glanced back at the gryphon, hoping that the gryphon had better things to do than stare him down.

She didn't. Zephyr was still standing there, her cold precise glare freezing him on the spot in terror.

Wendy noticed the terrified look that Ezekiel's entire body gave off.

"She won't hurt you," Wendy once again assured him, only for her honest instincts to give in, "okay… She _certainly_ wouldn't kill you, she knows better than to use lethal force."

She reached over Ezekiel and began to slowly push open the sliding door.

Every single drop of blood in Ezekiel's body ran ice-cold. "No, please don't," he mouth, too scared to make his words audible.

Even with the door wide open, Zephyr stood still as a statue, eyes fixated on the quivering boy.

"It's okay," assured Wendy, not to Ezekiel but to Zephyr, "he's a guest."

The hostile look on the gryphon's face lightened up immediately as she shook herself off and trotted through the open door.

She immediately trotted over to Ezekiel and sat down front in front of him,

Not that it mattered to Ezekiel as he was still scared to death. He wanted to scream, feeling as if the beast in front of him would open its sharp beak and tear his throat out.

"Well go on," urged Wendy, "give her a pat, don't keep her waiting."

It took Ezekiel a few seconds to process what had just been said, but as soon as he did his reply was an instant, "No."

Zephyr tilted her head slightly to the side and pulled a 'puppy dog eyes' expression, trying to use her feline wiles to convince the human

Only to fail as Ezekiel back away from her in fear. "Uh… Ah…" he stammered, "Can… Can I use your bathroom?"

"Yes," answered Rowan.

Ezekiel backed further away from the creature and toward the door leading to the hall before slipping through it.

As soon as he was sure the youth was out of earshot, Matari spoke up. "Well, great going Wendy, you and that overgrown pigeon of yours scared the crap out of him, literally."

Zephyr huffed at Matari, putting both fur and feathers on end in trying to look offended, being referred to as an 'overgrown pigeon' wasn't exactly a compliment after all.

"If I you had told me he was here before," said Wendy, "then maybe that wouldn't have happened."

"Don't try to blame this on me!" argued Matari.

"Enough," said Rowan, "he's here and he's scared, no thanks to any of you. Can we save all the arguing and bickering until after he leaves."

Matari and Wendy glared at each other out the corner of their eyes. "Fine," they muttered.

"Good," said Rowan.

Arika couldn't help but giggle at the disgruntled look on her teammates faces.

Wendy turned her head and leered at Arika. "And what exactly did you accomplish today?" she asked, "or did you just hide out at that bar that Snakeblood owns?"

"Nothing," Arika lied, she wouldn't dare make the mistake of mentioning that she'd slacked off on her duties to Wendy, at least not again, "I mean I didn't find anything on Wambeen."

"Nothing at all?" grilled Wendy, the look on her face suggesting she getting suspicious of what Arika had really been up to.

"Yes," Arika quickly replied, "nobody's got any info on Wambeen, or at least they ain't willing to rat out an _evil _God."

"It can't possibly be one of your evil so-called Gods," Wendy replied, "it's more likely a some crazed individual trying to live up to his reputation."

"Wambeen hates travellers," said Matari, "and Sydney attracts about ten million national and international tourists every year, so it makes sense."

"No it doesn't," Wendy flatly replied, "Gods don't like to interfere with mortals, in fact, isn't there supposed to some agreement between Gods to not interfere with mortals?"

"But he's evil," Arika pointed out, "he doesn't listen to other Gods."

"Not to mention," Rowan added, "the title of God varies in meaning all around the world, in other parts of the world Wambeen would be better described as malicious spirit - albeit a powerful one."

"See," Wendy agreed, "you're not facing a God."

"Well," Rowan added, "we don't know, even the Shadowchasers records have very little on Wambeen."

"Why do you all like to undermine me?" Wendy muttered as she clutched her forehead in frustration

"You ride on a gryphon," Matari pointed out, "you deal with creatures that Mundane people only dream of every day, yet you can't believe that a giant frog drank an entire lake or an evil lightning God is attacking tourists?"

"Wait," said Arika, turning toward Matari, "that giant frog thing actually happened? I thought that was just somethi' the paper's made up."

"Yes," Rowan answered, "but he did regurgitate it, so everything's back to normal, more or less."

"Except now the city's water supply is frog spit," Matari added.

Wendy shuddered. "That's disgusting. If it were true."

A mischievous grin come across Arika's face as an idea popped into her head. "Why don't you go take a shower, wash that disgusting thought from your mind."

Wendy crossed her arms and glared at Arika. "I'm fine."

"You're no fun at all," muttered Arika.

**0 - 0 - 0 - 0**

In the small downstairs bathroom across the hallway, Ezekiel stared hard at his reflection, trying to drown out… Well, everything.

"Okay Ezekiel," he said to himself, mentally noting that he was now taking to himself - one of the first signs of insanity, "the world you knew was a lie and monsters are everywhere, but that's okay because most of them don't want to hurt us…"

He began to laugh it was rumoured to be the best medicine after all.

But it was a hollow laugh and achieved nothing more than making himself sound insane.

He splashed water on his face once more, half-heartedly hoping that he'd wake up from this nightmare.

He looked back up in the mirror in front of him.

Nothing. Everything was the same as it was ten-seconds ago, except now his face was dripping wet.

Letting out a deeply defeated sigh, he came to a conclusion. His only option was to suck it up, the world had changed and there was nothing he could do anything about it.

He dried his face before heading for the door.

But as he passed through the hallway, a russet-brown blur caught his eye. He quickly turned his head to get a better look, and immediately wished he hadn't.

At the other end of the hallway was a creature that would've towered almost a half-metre above him despite its slender frame. Dusty brown scales covered its entire body, with small, spiny crests running from the creature's head to the tip of its thick, crocodilian tail.

Dangling from a leather strap - which, for the record, was the closest thing to a scrap of clothing on the creature's body - were several tools and weapons made from stone and hand carved wood.

Not that he knew it, but the creature in front of him was known as a lizardfolk, a reptilian humanoid that came in many different shapes, sizes and colours who populated many different biomes throughout Earth - and their dimensions of origin.

And what this one was doing in the Sydney Shadowchasers home base, well…

The lizardfolk opened its mouth, showing off a row of sharp teeth. "H… Hello," it chocked out…

Only to be drowned out by a loud scream from Ezekiel, as the youth - in the blink of an eye - darted out the hallway and back into the other room.

No, taking everything in stride was no longer an option, if it could be considered an option in the first place.

**0 - 0 - 0 - 0**

There wasn't much that could stop the bickering between the Sydney Shadowchasers once it began - most of the time it was one of them storming out of the room.

But this time, it was someone storming (well screaming) into the room, as the bickering was quickly drowned out by Ezekiel's scream as the youth dashed past the team and dove behind the kitchen counter.

Silence preceded the obvious reaction.

"What the hell was that about?" Rowan spoke for everyone as they turned to where Ezekiel was cowering.

From behind the counter, Ezekiel cradled himself in the foetal position as fearful tears streamed down his face. "M… M… Monster…"

The heads of all four Shadowchasers snapped toward the doorway, as they all readied themselves for whatever would appear on the other side.

"What do you think it is?" asked Matari.

"Maybe it's that were-crocodile coming to finish what it started?" Wendy replied.

"I told you," argued Matari, "he was a nice guy. It's probably one of Tarni's underlings little miss perfect here let slip under her almighty radar."

"It isn't," Wendy sternly replied, "and once more, crocodile tears have you ever heard of them?"

"If you're going to argue," Rowan growled, "at least argue over something relevant."

"This is relevant!" both Wendy and Matari replied and in unintentional yet eery unison.

The arguing was only brought to a halt when the lizardfolk appeared in the doorway. It looked quite nervous as his beady eyes were right open and darting around the room whilst reaching for the large spear strung to its back.

All the rising tension disappeared when Arika cheerfully shouted "Pekeri!" and bounded toward the reptilian.

"Arika!" the lizardfolk cheerily replied, accepting the hug.

The other three Shadowchasers let out three loud, simultaneous sighs.

"False alarm," Rowan sighed.

From behind the counter, Ezekiel couldn't believe what he was hearing, a monster just strolled into the room and everybody was nonchalant about it…

Except for Wendy, who was busy burying her face in her hands. "Pekeri," she grumbled, "what did I tell you about walking around like that here?"

The lizardfolk's nervously poked his claws together and swatted his tail from side to side. "I'm sorry," he quickly apologised, his tongue flicking out at the appropriate syllable.

"Hey!" Arika butted in, hands planted firmly on her hips, "Pekeri can wear whatever he wants! And besides, it's not like he's got anything to show down there.

"At least not to you," she added with a sly smirk before giving her boyfriend a quick kiss on his scaly cheek.

At that time, Ezekiel decided to peek over the counter, catching a glimpse of the interspecies romance and gagged at the sight of it before dipping back down behind the counter.

"Hey!" Arika shouted, as the warm, happy smile on her face disappeared in an instant.

"Eh, cut him some slack Arika," said Matari, "it's his first day. And he seemed pretty terrified of that kobold earlier…"

As quick as the cheerful smile on Arika's face disappeared, it returned. "You've gotta be kidding," she laughed, "that's too funny."

"Arika," said Rowan, "can you please be a little more respectful? It is his first day after all."

Though he'd never admit out loud, that was pretty funny, after all, kobolds were well-known for their cowardice and how weak they were when compared to other Shadowkind, so seeing something, anything scared of them was a rare and ironic sight.

"And could you please take Pekeri upstairs and give him something to wear?" Wendy added, still covering her eyes, "not everyone is comfortable with him being… naked right now."

"Aww suck it up, princess," said Matari, "that's how pretty much everyone in his clan dresses."

"Well he doesn't have to dress like that here," Wendy replied, crossing her arms.

"As I said," said Matari, "suck it up princess, you can't make him wear pants if he doesn't want to."

"My father said I should wear…" said Pekeri.

"Yeah," Arika agreed, cutting off her boyfriend, "can't you just respect his culture?"

"Not wearing pants isn't culture," Wendy replied.

"Actually," Matari chimed in, "culture is defined as a set of customs, beliefs, arts, morals and codes of any particular group, which includes how they dress. So yes, not wearing pants is technically part of his culture."

"That's not my point," said Wendy, "he's not in his home anymore, he needs to wear clothes. The lizardfolk around here wears pants, shirts and I've even seen some wear socks."

"Bullcrap," retorted Arika, "do you really think you could stretch a sock over those giant feet? You're always making up crap like this just so you can trick us into thinking your right.

"But I'm not going to fall for it this time," she added with a smirk, "you know-it-all bitch!"

"For God's sake!" Wendy yelled, unfolding her arms and slamming her hands down on the table, "all I am asking is that he put on a pair of pants, and you're both twisting it into something else."

"I can put on p… pants…" Pekeri tried to say but was completely drowned out in the ensuing argument.

"No we're not twisting anything!" argued Matari, "you try to control everything we do. You tell us when to patrol, where to patrol, what to patrol and when we can have days off. You try to control everything we do!"

"Yeah," Arika agreed, "why do you treat us like kids instead of adults?"

"Well maybe if you acted like responsible adults, then I wouldn't treat like you children!"

"Alright," said Rowan, banging a fist down on the table hard enough to silence the room in a second, "that's enough."

Once again the room fell silent.

"You," said the elder Shadowchasers, pointing to Arika, "take Pekeri and give him something to wear."

"What?" screeched Arika, "you're taking her side?"

"Well she is right," answered Rowan, "Pekeri can't run around here in his birthday suit."

"Arika honey," Pekeri whispered, "what's a b… Birthday suit?"

"Not now," Arika whispered back.

"The lizardfolk around here are also wear clothes," Rowan continued, "the least he could do is wear a pair of pants."

Arika scowled. "Fine," she grumbled, grabbing Pekeri by the arm and leading him out of the room.

"Now you," said Rowan, now pointing at Wendy, "you can take that oversized drumstick outside where she can't scare the kid anymore."

Zephyr, who now waiting patiently (more or less) by the kitchen door, huffed, annoyed at yet another insult hurled her way.

"He shouldn't have any reason to be afraid of her," protested Wendy.

"No," Rowan replied, his voice dripping with dry sarcasm, "he should definitely _not _be terrified of a creature that could tear him to shreds in two seconds flat."

"She wouldn't do that," insisted Wendy.

"He doesn't know that," Rowan replied.

Wendy frowned and turned around. "Come on girl," she said, motioning for Zephyr to stand up before sliding the door and letting Zephyr dart past her and out into the backyard.

"Aw suck it up princess," said Matari once again, a smug grin on his face.

Wendy stopped for a second and stood in the doorway as if she was about to turn around and speak, but ultimately decided that it was better not to. She stepped outside and closed the door behind her.

"And you," continued Rowan, finally turning his attention to Matari.

"What did I do?" Matari yelped.

"The same damn thing since you've done since you joined the team, bicker, argue, complain and fight. Do I need to add anything else?"

"Why am I the only one being told off for it?" Matari complained.

Rowan sighed and dragged his hand down the side of his face. "Just… Just… Shoo," he ordered, waving his hands to shoo his fellow Shadowchaser.

"Jeez," complained Matari, making his way to the doorway, "I'm going, I'm going. Don't get your knickers in a knot" And with that last complaint he stormed out of the room.

Rowan gripped the bridge of his nose. It was just another routine argument that he had to break up and left everyone feeling bitter, adding more fuel to the fire of the next argument.

"I'm sorry you had to hear all that," he apologised, "things kind of got out of hand back there…"

He was half-expecting a sarcastic "Gee you think?" in reply, but that quip never came.

He quietly crept over to the counter and peered around the corner, seeing Ezekiel sitting on the ground, arms wrapped around his legs and his head buried in his knees.

Rowan closed his eyes and took a deep breath. This was probably going his last chance if he said the wrong thing he could potentially leave the kid an emotional wreck.

"Look I know you're scared," he said, "there were times in my life where this world scares me, even after almost forty years of living in it.

"But shutting down like this isn't going to get you anywhere. You need to become stronger than that."

Without even looking up, Ezekiel just shook his head. "I don't think I can do that," he sobbed.

"Matari said that you beat that Kenku by yourself," Rowan replied, "you've already taken your first steps, you're already a lot stronger than you think you are."

"I was going to run away."

"Eh, don't think too much of it, a lot of transitioning Awares are scared at first, in fact, some of our best members started out even worse than you did."

Ezekiel looked up at Rowan, a tiny glimmer of hope appearing in his expression.

Rowan knew this was his last chance, if he didn't watch what he said and the wrong thing came out then he more than likely leave young Ezekiel traumatised for the rest of his life - however short that could potentially be.

"Look," he said, "I'll be honest with you. This world is strange, this world is creepy, this world is scary. I've lived in it long enough to realise that.

"But," he added, "I've lived it in long enough to learn the positive sides of this world too. The things that Mundane humans can only dream of, things that blow your mind and _then _put it back together, things that you'd never believe unless you saw them yourself."

"And I can tell you one thing," he added, "you're not going to see anything like that curled in a ball and sobbing on the floor."

The two stared at each other in silence, but this time, it wasn't awkward or tense,

Rowan extended his hand. "Come on," he said, "you can't just sit on the floor and wallow in misery for the rest of your life."

Without a word, Ezekiel slowly reached up and grabbed Rowan's hand.

"Oh good," joked the Shadowchaser, "I thought we have to put you out on rubbish day."

Ezekiel shot Rowan a sour look, this still wasn't the time for jokes (and being referred to as rubbish didn't help either).

"Sorry," apologised Rowan, "just trying to lighten the mood.

"So, should we pick up from where we left off?"

"No," said Ezekiel, as he let go of Rowan's hand and leant against the kitchen bench, "I think I've heard enough."

"Didn't think you would," said Rowan, he then looked outside, seeing that the sun had already begun to set. "I'm guessing you want to go home, don't you?"

Ezekiel nodded.

"Then gather your things," said Rowan, "I'll take you home."

**0 - 0 ****-**** 0 - 0**

"I just don't know what goes through their heads sometimes," Wendy sighed undoing another buckle on Zephyr's saddle.

The gryphon nodded her head and chirped in compliance. This wasn't the first argument the humans had gotten into and it certainly wasn't going to be the last.

"I mean, we know they're lazy, reckless, irresponsible, messy, childish, shortsighted, disobedient, petty, arrogant, rude, work-dodging…"

Zephyr could do nothing but huff and roll her beady eyes.

"stubborn, overconfident, whiny, selfish morons."

The last buckle came undone and Wendy pulled the saddle off Zephyr's back.

The gryphon stretched her wings wide and arched her back, it felt nice to have her saddle removed, not only did it (slightly) restrict her movement, it also get fairly sweaty under it rather quickly - especially in today's heat.

"I better give a wash tomorrow," said Wendy, "after we've down our patrol of course."

Zephyr pouted, she didn't like to be washed, at least not by others, she had her pride as a magnificent creature after all.

But then she remembered something, Wendy had promised to give her another leg of delicious horse after defeating Tarni and she hadn't seen a morsel of delicious equine meat since.

She turned around to face Wendy and gave Wendy the best puppy dog eyes expression she could, her beady avian eyes opened wide and quivering as she sat down on her hindquarters and leant in closer to Wendy. Screw her pride, the was a leg of horse on the line.

Wendy almost immediately recognised the look and realised what her partner wanted. "Alright alright," she said, "I'll go get you a leg. Just after Rowan leaves, I'm not getting into trouble again."

Zephyr let out a high-pitched, overly excited chirp and who - thanks to combination of years of dealing with gryphons, Zephyr's deceptively light frame and her years of training as a Shadowchaser - managed to catch her and support her weight.

"Geez, girl," Wendy groaned, "no need to get that excited, it's only a leg of horse."

**0 - 0 - 0 - 0**

"I mean, come on," Arika complained, now digging through a pile of clothes on her bedroom floor, "she flat-out expects all of us to do whatever she wants. Arrogant liitle bitch."

"Eh," Matari shrugged from the doorway, "you know how it goes, 'the tall poppy gets cut down', so someday, somehow, she might just get her head cut off."

"I don't think that's what it means," Arika said, "but that would be cool, maybe she even come back to life and complain about how much mess it would make."

Pekeri, who was standing by Arika's bed, taking off the sashes that held his various tools and weapons, picked up a large stone knife. "Do you want me to cut off her head honey?" he asked, somewhat confused.

"No," Matari said in mock-disappointment blended with a hint of sarcasm, "I don't think Rowan would like that."

"Aha," shouted Arika, pulling out a (miraculously clean) pair of sweatpants out of the pile. "Here try these on," she said, throwing them to Pekeri.

The lizardfolk caught the sweatpants, and out of instinct (and curiosity) brought them up to his face and sniffed them. His long, forked tongue flicking out of his mouth a few times. "It doesn't smell like you."

"I haven't worn them in a while," Arika replied, "so you can have them."

"One problem," said Matari, pointing to Pekeri's tail, "what are you going do about that?"

Arika paused and thought for a moment. "Hang on a sec," she said, snatching the pants from Pekeri's claws.

"Honey," Pekeri asked, "what are you doing?"

She picked up one of the stone knives. "Just gonna tear these pants a new one, if ya get what I mean."

Pekeri tilted his head to the side. "What?"

"She's gonna cut you a tail hole," said Matari.

"Yeah see," said Arika as she held up the sweatpants and jammed the stone knife through the thin fabric, tearing a large hole in the backside.

"Pretty sharp for a rock," commented Arika, checking out the blade. "Well here you go," she said, throwing them back to Pekeri, "try them on now sweetie."

"Okay honey," Pekeri nodded, stretching his tail to balance himself as he raised one leg and carefully pulled the sweatpants over his foot, which was fairly difficult seeing as his foot was larger (and had more claws) than the average human foot.

But he managed to push his foot through the leg with the fabric catching on his claws. He looked up with a triumphant yet nervous grin as if he considered getting this far a major accomplishment.

He brought the tip of his tail with his reach, using his free hand to thread it through the makeshift tail hole, tearing the sliced fabric ever so slightly as the thicker parts of his tail and spines passed through the hole.

Now was the final stretch, he raised his other leg, wobbling enough to warrant supporting himself against the wall with his free arm, and slowly slid his foot through the other leg, eventually popping out the other end.

Pekeri looked up, a wide smile - once again showing his pointed teeth - on his face.

"Well, that was the largest effort I've ever seen anyone put into getting dressed," noted Matari.

"You see," said Arika, "this is another reason I didn't want him to wear pants, it takes him forever to put them on."

"You might want to give him a shirt too," said Matari

"Ugh," Arika moaned, "your turning into Wendy." But nonetheless, she turned around and began to fish around in the pile of clothes, eventually pulling out a black T-Shirt with a faded AC-DC logo.

She tossed that to Pekeri, who held the shirt out in front of him. "Honey?" he asked, slowly reading the letters, "what's A…C… D... C mean?"

"Ooh boy," whistled Matari, "have you got a lot to learn before you start living here."

**0 - 0 - 0 - 0**

It was a quiet ride through the city, neither Rowan nor Ezekiel said a single word the entire trip, giving the latter the time he needed to manage his thoughts. Especially considering that Rowan was a much less reckless driver than Matari.

The D-Wheel pulled to the side of the road and came to a stop.

"This is the right street, isn't it?" Rowan asked as he switched off the D-Wheel's engine.

"Yes," Ezekiel nodded, as he lifted the helmet off his head.

"Can I take you any further?" asked Rowan.

"No," Ezekiel simply replied as he slid off the vehicle, "I can walk from here."

He turned around and began to make his way down the street, but didn't get three steps away before Rowan called for him.

"Oi kid," said the elder Shadowchaser.

Ezekiel sighed. "What?" he demanded, shuffling around on the spot to face Rowan.

"Come and sit down," said Rowan, patting on his hand on the seat, "I just want to have another word with you."

Ezekiel huffed, torn between his desire to finally return home and the sincere tone in Rowan voice that assured him he should listen.

"Fine," he huffed, climbing back onto the D-Wheel.

The two sat in silence for a moment.

But a moment was too long for Ezekiel. "You know," he said, "when people say the want a word, that generally implies they're going to speak."

"I was building dramatic tension."

"Can you just get on with it already?" Ezekiel grumbled.

"Well," the Shadowchaser stated, "you see, I feel that life is like is a game of Duel Monsters…"

"You just stole that from Forrest Gump, didn't you?" said Ezekiel. _And does everything here revolve around card games? _he thought.

"Yes," admitted Rowan, "but the concept remains the same, that there is a certain uncertainty in life, you never know what will happen next, like how in Duel Monsters you don't know what cards you're going to get until you draw them.

"But that's where the two analogies differ," he continued, "with a box of chocolates you pick one up, eat it and if you're like the rest of us eat a few more after that. It basically says that you need to accept what life gives you and deal with it, but I disagree with that.

"But with Duel Monsters, you're given a choice after seeing what cards you've been dealt, play this card, set that one, save this one for later. It makes it clear while that fate, destiny or even dumb luck may deal out the cards, we still chose how those cards get played out, we can choose how our lives play out."

Ezekiel sighed and looked away. "I guess," he said.

"But," Rowan continued, "even if you've been dealt a good hand if you don't play your cards wisely you can lose - and quite easily at that.

"And on the other hand, even if you've been dealt a bad hand, if you play your cards right you can come out on top.

"Do you see where I'm going?"

Ezekiel sighed once more and looked toward Rowan. "I guess," he shrugged.

"Good," Rowan replied, as he began to fish around in his pocket, eventually pulling out a small scrap of paper.

"Here," he said, handing it to Ezekiel, "take this."

"What is it?"

"Just something you might want to hold onto," said Rowan.

Ezekiel held up the paper, seeing that it had an address and phone - presumably for the Shadowchasers - number scribbled on it. "Thanks," he said, pocketing it.

"You can go now," said Rowan, "and I'd better go too, God knows whats happened back at the base."

Ezekiel took in a deep breath. He felt a little better having heard Rowan's speech, it made him realise that he still had some control over his life even if everything else was quickly spiralling out of control.

He then slid off the D-Wheel and stood on the sidewalk, staring off into the distance for a moment before returning around and facing Rowan. "Thank you," he said, "I think I needed to here that."

"Good to know," Rowan nodded, as he pulled his helmet back over his head and started up the engine.

"I'll see you around," he said over the roar of the engine, before putting the vehicle into gear and driving off down the street.

Ezekiel stood in silent contemplation as he watched the D-Wheel and its elderly rider drive down the street and out of sight.

**0 - 0 ****-**** 0 - 0**

The walk from the street corner to the front door of his home was a stressful one for Ezekiel, he didn't want to dawdle as his knew his mother would be worried sick about him, but he didn't want to rush as he needed time to prepare a solid excuse for where he'd been.

He took a deep sigh as he turned the doorknob, he didn't like to lie to his parents - or anyone really - but especially his parents and _especially _his mother, but he just couldn't dare drag his parents into this.

"Mum," he called, quickly making his way up the stairs "I'm home. Sorry I'm late."

His mother appeared at the top of the stairs, dressed in a baby-blue nightgown that he'd bought her for Christmas. "You're late," she said, in a tone that suggested she couldn't decide between scolding her son for being home late or expressing relief that he'd arrived home safe.

Ezekiel grit his teeth and forced a sheepish grin a she began to climb the stairs. "Yeah I know, I lost track of time."

From the top of the stairs, his mother took one look at the bumps, bruises and burns on her son. "What happened to you?" she instinctively asked.

"A duel," he said quickly, deer in the headlights expression included.

His mother gave him a strange look. "A duel?" she echoed.

Ezekiel nervously chuckled as he began to ascend thaw stairs. "Well, they say that solid vision technology is getting… Well… More… Solid. I did get knocked around a bit."

His mother gave him a strange look, a mix of concern and disapproval. "Okay," she said with a shrug, "just try to be a bit more careful next time, I don't want to see you getting hurt."

_I'm gonna have to be, _Ezekiel thought, deliberately avoiding eye contact.

His mother frowned, sensing there was something wrong with her son. "Ezekiel, if there's anything wrong, you can tell me."

"There's nothing wrong," Ezekiel replied, trying to sound as calm and reassuring as he could, "it's just been a very long day.

"And I'm very tired," he added with a false smile, passing his mother and making a beeline for his bedroom, "I'm gonna go straight to bed."

**0 - 0 ****-**** 0 - 0**

Closing his bedroom door behind him, Ezekiel dropped his bag near the door trounced across his room before throwing himself face down onto his bed.

He wanted to scream again, to let out all his bottled up emotions. But that would alert his mother to his troubles (if he hadn't already) and he certainly didn't want to drag her into this mess.

He rolled over and stared at the ceiling, wondering just what else could be out there other than what he experienced today. He didn't want to think about, but well… He figured that it'd be better to cross that bridge before whatever lurked underneath jumped out and ate him.

But thinking about what could be out there frightened him, but the fear of not knowing what was out there frightened him even more.

He sighed deeply and raked his hands down his face. Remembering what Rowan had said that there was just more than just monsters in the world of Shadowkind.

But that wasn't now. Now was laying in the dark staring at the ceiling, thinking about how things could get any better and how they could get so much worse.

Why couldn't this be a dream, he wondered for the umpteenth time today. Only for the pain of his scars - both mental and physical - to give him an answer.

But the most painful thing was knowing that he was alone, he couldn't tell either his mother or father about his predicament, they'd believe the only child had lost his mind.

Well, he knew he wasn't quite alone. He raised the scrap of paper that Rowan had given him, making out an address and phone number in the dim light of his bedroom.

He thought about how Rowan said that despite everything that had happened, he still had a choice on what he could do, "to play his own hand" so to speak.

But looking at his options, he guessed he didn't really have a choice, if he didn't want to die, be driven insane or suffer a fate even worse, he'd have to return to the Shadowchasers tomorrow. They the were the only people who he could turn to in this situation (at least ones that wouldn't ship him off to an insane asylum at least).

"So much for playing my own hand," he muttered.

But… Well, he wasn't looking forward to returning there all. Between the supposed "police force" that spent more time bickering among themselves than anything else and the monsters that lurked there, it wasn't a place he wanted to be hanging out.

_A rock and a hard place, _he thought.

He tucked the note of paper underneath the lamp on his bedside table before pulling up the sheets. He should try to get at least some sleep tonight, between what he faced today and sure to face tomorrow, he needed all the rest he could get.

But all he could do now was hope for the best and prepare for the worst.

**0 - 0 ****-**** 0 - 0**

Kitten Knight: Well I certainly hope that was worth the wait. (It certainly was for me, I rewrote a lot of sections in this chapter several times and then some). But ultimately I was happy with the result, I just hope you readers are.

Next time, we follow the two love birds as they head out on their date, but things go a little off the rails for odd couple Arika and Pekeri when the pair run into a little trouble…

Find out what happens in the next chapter, Drooling Lizard!


	8. Drooling Lizard

Kitten Knight: Just to let you guys know, I have done a lot of research on reptiles for this chapter.

And by reptiles I mean my pet skinks. And by research, I mean making kissing noises at them while they're chasing down crickets to eat and licking bananas and mangos with their adorable little tongues.

**0 - 0 - 0 - 0**

Shadowchasers: Muru

Round 08: Drooling Lizard

**0 - 0 - 0 - 0**

**Pekeri: Umm… Err… Hello.**

**That koolang... I mean child… Erm… Ez… Ezekiel said I could do the in… inter… introduct… introduction this chapter.**

**So umm…**

***Hissing noises***

**(One second, folks)**

**(Translated from Ngintaka lizardfolk language)**

**I hatched in the desert years ago and am a member of the Ngintaka lizardfolk clan. My father is our clan leader and my grandfather our shaman. We worship Adnoartina, the lizard guard of Uluru who watches over all us reptilians.**

**A few months ago I met Arika, she was one of the first humans I met and she was lovely, kind, she smelt really nice and really pretty, and I loved her…**

**And I think she loves me.**

**Well, I know that now, after all, we've been seeing each other for months now. And now I'm moving to the city to be with her.**

**Things are going to be so great.**

**0 - 0 - 0 - 0**

Rowan slowly pulled hid D-Wheel into the garage.

The drive home had given him plenty of time to think about what to say. Sure he knew other Shadowchasers teams often bickered between each other, but they could put it all aside when the situation turned serious.

So why couldn't his team do that?

But as he switched off his D-Wheel's engine and removed his helmet, he began to feel that yet another lecture from him wouldn't change anything. After all, Wendy and Matari had been arguing since the latter joined six years ago and adding Arika to the mix had only fanned the flames.

Maybe I could be subtle about it this time… he thought

He hopped off the vehicle and marched straight through the hall and into the living room, where Wendy was quietly reading a book while not too far away Zephyr was curled up and fast asleep.

"I'm guessing by the eery silence that Arika and Pekeri have already left."

"Yes," Wendy answered without even looking away from the screen, "and thankfully Pekeri was wearing clothes now."

"I just wish it didn't take a massive argument to achieve that," Rowan muttered.

"You know, In the two and half years Arika's been here," Wendy continued, "she has dragged just about every type of humanoid Shadowkind through our front door to have…" Wendy paused, clearly uneasy about the next word, "intercourse with."

Rowan stared blankly at Wendy for a moment, the quick change in the subject having caught him off guard. "Wendy," he said sternly, "it's two thousand and… Something. Someone shouldn't be judged by her sexual preferences, even if they are non-human. I mean, I've had plenty of sex with…"

Wendy shuddered at the thought of Rowan's sexual escapades. "No, no," she quickly replied, "I get it. But what I was trying to say that it might be only a matter of time until she drunkenly drags someone unsavoury through the door. Unless she had already."

Rowan continued giving Wendy a blank stare "You're seriously not thinking that Pekeri is secretly working against the Shadowchasers are you?"

"I'm not saying it, but I'm not ruling it out," said Wendy.

Rowan sighed, he couldn't tell if Wendy's claim was out of paranoia or just a bad excuse to rid the base of Pekeri. "Wendy," he said, "I've been close friends with both his father and grandfather, who have both been leaders of his clan, since my early days as a Shadowchaser and I don't think any of them are plotting against us.

"Because if anybody I was close to were secretly plotting against the Shadowchasers, don't you think I'd know about it?"

Before Wendy could answer, Rowan's phone rang. He held up a finger to silence Wendy as he answered it. "Hey, Patrick. How are you going?"

"So he answers it now," Wendy mumbled as she went back to reading her book.

**0 - 0 - 0 - 0**

Elsewhere, Arika and Pekeri casually strolled through one of Sydney's many parks. Pekeri was tugging and pulling at his shirt and pants, trying to shift them into a more comfortable position.

"Sorry Wendy made you wear pants and a shirt," Arika mumbled, "but she's a massive control freak, especially about wearing clothes."

"It's okay," said Pekeri, still struggling to move his apparel into a conformable position, "father says that we should wear clothes around humans."

"No it's not," said Arika, "Wendy's always nagging us, telling us what to do, how to do it, when to do it, why we're doing it. It's… It's just… Ughhh.

"You know what I mean right?"

"Uhhr…" Pekeri hissed not knowing how to reply, as within his clan's tribal law the elder's orders were absolute and those that disobeyed were quickly punished.

Was human culture this different from his own?

"Exactly," Arika continued, "she just orders us around all the time, 'do this, do that, do this like that! You did this wrong! You should've done that! You never listen!' Nag nag nag, whinge whinge whinge! She's like a broken record.

"Uh huh," Pekeri nodded, not knowing what a record was.

The two walked in silence for a few seconds.

"Honey," Pekeri eventually asked, "where are we going?"

"To the movies sweety," Arika answered.

"What's a movie?" Pekeri asked.

"Well you know TV, it's kinda like that except bigger, louder and comes with snacks."

"Sssnacks?" Pekeri replied, stereotypically rolling his s's in excitement "what kind of sssnacks? Witchetty grubs? Caterpillars? Honey ants?"

Arika giggled, the mental image of a cinema selling actual witcheety grubs at the snack bar, as opposed to the gummy kind, was funny enough. But she also found Pekeri rolling his s's to be quite cute and worth a giggle itself.

"Eh," she shrugged, "not really. Most humans aren't into eating insects, most of us kinda find them gross."

"Then what do humans eat?" Pekeri asked.

"A little bit of everything," answered Arika.

"You eat every… everything?" Pekeri shouted, sounding slightly concerned that Arika might even eat him.

"Well not everything as in everything," Arika replied, realising her previous statement might've been confusing to something who was still learning English. "Eh never mind you'll learn, that's what you came here to do after all."

She wrapped one arm around the lizardfolk. "Along with another reason."

"What's that reason?" Pekeri asked.

"You know what that is silly," Arika giggled, giving Pekeri an affectionate nudge. "Now come on," she urged, picking up her pace, "we don't wanna be late."

"Late!" Pekeri gasped, remembering how he'd once been late for a clan meeting and his father and grandfather punished him with with thirty lashes from his grandfather's staff.

But his father said that humans were undisciplined, and wouldn't hand out punishments for trivial infringements like that.

Would they?

But he wasn't prepared to take that chance. He quickened his own pace to keep up with Arika.

**0 - 0 - 0 - 0**

A few minutes later, Arika and Pekeri stumbled through the front doors of the Event Cinemas

Arika looked up at the large clock suspended from the ceiling. "Well, that's new," she said, "and look, we've still got a bit of time before the movie starts."

Pekeri tilted his head and looked at the clock, he recognised the numbers circling around the outside, but what did the three sticks pointing to the numbers mean?

"Come on," said Arika, grabbing Pekeri by his arm and dragging him toward the front counter, "we've gotta grab snacks and drinks as well our tickets."

As the two raced toward front counter, Pekeri caught a glimpse of the dazzling display of colourful flashing lights coming from the gaming corner. He couldn't look away he'd never seen so many pretty colours in one place before.

"Hey, hey," yelled Arika clicking her fingers in front of Pekeri's face, "Earth to Pekeri. You're kinda heavy, might wanna lay off the kangaroo meat."

Pekeri snapped out of "Why would the Earth be calling me? Wait, Adnoartina can reach me here? Oh no, I forgot to pray didn't I?"

"No silly," Arika chuckled realising that Pekeri might not have understood her remark, "I just wanted to get your attention."

"Oh," Pekeri hissed, feeling slightly embarrassed as his little outburst had caused all eyes in the cinema lobby to turn to him.

"Now come on," said Arika, once again dragging Pekeri toward the front counter, "we can play after the movie, I'll teach you how to play one of those skill cranes."

She continued to drag Pekeri all the way across the floor, all the way to the front counter where a bemused cinema employee stood watching the scene unfold.

'Hi," said Arika, grinding to a halt

"Okay," said the clerk, grabbing out a jumbo-sized bucket of popcorn out of the display and handing it to Arika. "Anything else?"

"Here," said Arika, handing the bucket to Pekeri, "hold this I'm gonna get some more stuff."

Pekeri took the bucket, his eyes glued to the white and yellow puffs "What is this?" he asked.

"It's popcorn," answered Arika.

"Popcorn," Pekeri slowly replied.

"You eat it, silly," answered Arika, grabbing a handful from the bucket and cramming it all in her mouth, "see?"

Pekeri picked up a piece of popcorn and inspected it, his tongue darting from his mouth to pick up the kernel's scent. It smelt strange, but nonetheless, he shoved the piece of popcorn into his mouth.

"It tastes nice," he said, still chewing.

"Don't talk with mouth open sweety," said Arika, "it's kinda gross."

"Right," she said to the clerk, mouth still half full of popcorn, "we'll also have two large…" she quickly turned toward Pekeri, "what drink do you want? Coke? Sprite? Lift? Fanta?"

Pekeri tilted his head to the side, he had no clue what Arika meant. "Coke?" he hesitantly replied.

"Good choice," she nodded, "two large Cokes please and a bag of sour worms, a bag of wicthetty grubs and a bag of snakes."

"Alight," said the clerk, grabbing the corresponding bags of lollies, "is that everything?"

"Yes," said Arika.

"Er, Miss," said the clerk, "I haven't printed your tickets yet… And you still need to pay for everything…"

Arika stopped dead in her tracks. "Oh… Right," she said, face turning bright red. Nervously chuckling, she turned around and - carefully balancing all the goodies in one arm - fished a credit card out of her jeans pocket.

"Here ya go," she said, hurling the card onto the counter.

"Thanks," said the clerk, suppressing the urge to laugh and forcing a smile. He swiped the cards, grabbed the tickets and handed the lot back to Arika. "There you go, you're in room four, upstairs and the second door on the right. Enjoy your movie."

"We will," Arika replied, grabbing Pekeri by the arm and dragging him along.

**0 - 0 - 0 - 0**

She patted her hand down on the seat beside her. "Come on honey, sit down, it's about to begin," she said, tingling with excitement.

Pekeri frowned and sat down, he didn't like sitting on human furniture, it never seemed to occur to humans just how uncomfortable it was for Shadowkind with tails to sit in them.

He looked around, there wasn't any stools or anything he could

"Come on sweetie," said Arika, who had already sat down and was patting her

Pekeri frowned, as much as he didn't want to sit down there, he guessed he didn't have much choice. He sat down next to Arika, pouting as he tried - and failed - to shift his tail into a comfortable position.

As soon as he did Arika handed him a chubby white lolly that resembled a worm.

"What is it?" he asked, accepting it.

"Witcheety grub," Arika answered through a mouthful of them.

His tongue flicked out and dragged the lolly into his mouth he chewed a few times, rolling it around in his mouth before swallowing. "I like the real ones better."

"That's your opinion," Arika replied, she then opened the packet of snakes, "try one of these."

Pekeri grabbed a gummy snake and held it up in front of his face. "Is it poi… Poisonous?" he asked.

"No silly," Arika chuckled, "they're perfectly safe to eat."

"Do they bite like the real ones?" Pekeri asked he had to make sure.

"Yeah," Arika replied, "that's why you've gotta eat them quick."

Pekeri slowly moved the sweet up away from him.

"I'm joking darling," chuckled Arika, "go on, eat it."

"Okay," he replied, once again wrapping his long tongue around the lolly and pulling it into his mouth.

He chewed a few times. "It's… nice," he said.

"Don't talk with your mouth full," warned Arika, "Wendy thinks it's disgusting and she'll nag your ear off if she catches you doing it."

He swallowed his mouthful. "Sorry," he hissed, "and what's an ear?"

Arika slowly grabbed her earlobe and gave it wiggle, realising that Pekeri wasn't sure what an ear was, given that his own "ears" were little more than small holes in the side of his head.

"Eh, never mind," she shrugged, then handed one the of cups, "here, try some of this, you should like it."

Pekeri grabbed the cup with his free arm and carefully placed the tip in his mouth, he knew how to do this it was simple (and Arika had shown him how on a previous visit).

He sucked the liquid up through the straw, but it didn't taste like water as he was expecting, in fact, he felt like his tongue was burning.

Instinctively, he spat it out.

Arika could help but laugh. "Sorry,"she apologised, "should've warned you. Coke is kinda… Well… Fizzy."

The conversation was cut short as the lights slowly dimmed. Arika pressed her finger to her lips and snapped her toward the screen not wanting to miss a minute.

Pekeri took a sip of his coke - and didn't spit it out - and sat back watching as the giant screen in front of him lit up. If this was what city life was like, he might as well enjoy it.

**0 - 0 - 0 - 0**

Two hours later, Arika and Pekeri waltzed out of the theatre.

"So how'd you like the movie?" Arika asked with a large ear-to-ear grin.

"Uhh… It was good," he replied.

"Oh good," said Arika, "I can't wait to show you all the other movies, the TV series, the original comic and the spin-off novels…

"Err… we might skip the novels, you're not the best reader."

She then took hold of Pekeri's hand and whispered into his ear. "But we're not doing any reading tonight."

The two made their way around a corner, only to run straight into a group of six lizardfolk, kickstarting an awkward silence that lasted a good twenty seconds as the lizardfolk, all of various shapes, sizes and colours, gawked at the odd couple.

"She's an Aware, isn't she?" one of them whispered.

"She's gotta be," answered another, "a clueless would think something's wrong with him."

"What the hell is this?" said the largest of the lizardfolk, motioning toward Arika and Pekeri.

Arika's bore immediately furrowed. "Yeah it's exactly what you think it is and what's your problem with it buddy?" she asked, pounding her fist into her palm.

"First of all," said the lizardfolk, as he stroked the small spines on his chin and neck "the name's not buddy, it's Ngarrang for your information. And yeah I've got a problem with 'this', you could at least screw something from your own class."

From behind Ngarrang, his posse could be heard chattering to themselves.

"Why would he even be interested in her?" asked the first member.

"I can think of two large round reasons," replied another.

"Uck, what are those even for?" asked the third.

"I heard they produce milk that they use to nurture their offspring," answered the fourth.

"That's just sick, what's wrong with mammals?" said the fifth, looking like she was going to vomit.

"Hey," yelled Arika, "I'm not criticising your anatomy!"

"Eh," shrugged Ngarrang, "don't worry about it guys, she's just some mammal with a reptile fetish. Probably just bribes him with bugs, fruit and shiny things. It'll blow over in a couple of weeks tops."

"What?" spat Arika, daring Ngarrang to say that again.

Pekeri whispered into Arika's ear. "Honey, what's a fetish?"

Arika "He's not just 'some fetish'. This guy right here has treated far me better than any other eligible man in my life, he's given me love and affection to spare."

"And a whole kangaroo," Pekeri chimed in.

"That too."

"A whole kangaroo?" mused Ngarrang, "Wow, this must be a serious relationship. So tell me, is he a lefty or a righty?"

"What's that supposed to… Oh," Arika shouted before coming to a realisation, "that's none of your business!"

Ngarrang burst out laughing. "Yeah, you're probably right, I'll need to huff a lot of bleach to get that image out of my head.

"I mean how would you even… Euck… Nope, never gonna get that image out my head. Her and country mouse over there…"

"Hey," Pekeri cried, surprisingly picking up on the insult, "I'm not a mouse."

"Well you're from the outback country ain't ya?" said Ngarrang, "seems like a fitting nickname."

"How did you know?" gasped Pekeri, confirming the pogona lizardfolk's theory.

"I can smell the outback on you country mouse, Hell, I can see the dirt still on your scales, in fact I can taste it on you," replied Ngarrang, his tongue flicking out, "you've only just arrived here today, didn't you?"

Pekeri nodded.

"Yeah he's from the outback," said Arika, "in fact, he's the son the legendary Bardo."

"Yeah," Pekeri agreed.

"Bardo, eh," said Ngarrang, raising a proverbial eyebrow as he lacked any body hair, "heard he's pretty badass…"

"I heard he hunts down Narguns in the middle of the night," said one of Ngarrang's posse.

"And that when Mimis strike him, he doesn't flinch," added another.

"I hear he scares the Mokoi away from the outback clans," said a third.

"And that's his son," commented a fourth, "I've seen kobolds with more bulk."

"Yeah I'm not buying this," said the fifth.

"Well I guess there's only one way ," said Ngarrang as he gained a wicked grin, "let' see if come on country mouse, let's duel."

"What?" Pekeri asked as he tilted his head ever so slightly.

"You're the son of Bardo, right?" asked Ngarrang, "then prove it."

Pekeri gulped, he wasn't expecting to be challenged to a fight, especially without any of his weapons on hand.

Arika gave Pekeri a quick jab in the ribs with her elbow. "Hey, you gonna fight this guy, or what?"

"Father says that if we fight p… pointless battles we've already lost," he replied.

"Well your dad's not here," said Arika, "and besides, this isn't pointless, he's a jerk and you need to put him in his place."

"Where sh… should he be?" asked Pekeri.

"Err… Just beat him, for us."

Pekeri turned around to get another look at Ngarrang, who was now ever so slightly puffing out his neck to make himself look more intimidating.

And it was working, Pekeri was trying his hardest not let his instincts take over and defend himself. "Umm… Erm…" he hissed.

"Well come on country mouse," teased Ngarrang "you gonna duel me or are you just gonna stand there and hide behind your girlfriend?"

Pekeri glanced over at Arika, who returned his look and gave a slight nod. "Get him," she whispered.

"Okay," Pekeri hissed and took a fighting stance, he may not have any of his weapons or even his hunting tools, but he still knew how to fight unarmed.

Ngarrang huffed, giving Pekeri a confused look. "What the hell are you doing, country mouse?"

"Urr…" Pekeri replied, sounding quite confused, "fighting?"

"You might fight like that back home, country mouse," said Ngarrang But here, we use Duel Monsters to fight our battles."

Pekeri gulped, admittedly he was a formidable fighter, brilliant hunter, exceptional tracker, remarkable weaponsmith (with sticks and stones at least) and a passionate lover (well, in Arika's opinion anyway)…

But duellist… Not so much. He knew how to play… But so did most others in his clan and almost all of them were better than him at it, even the children.

"Oh come on Pekeri," urged Arika, giving him a gentle jab with her elbow, "you can still take this guy. I bet he's all bark and no bite if you know what I mean."

Pekeri slowly nodded, even though he didn't know what Arika meant by that remark. "Okay…" he answered, trying his best not to sound nervous.

"Oh good," Ngarrang smiled, "I've been itching to duel for a while."

He kept his cards and equipment in his possum skin bag, which Arika had told him to leave it at home because it 'might gross some people out, okay a lot of people out'. "Oh," he said, "I don't have my deck…"

"Here," said Arika, taking a deck of cards, duel disc and D-Gazer out of her handbag, "I packed your stuff."

"Why?" Pekeri asked.

Arika shrugged and handed Pekeri his duelling equipment. "We needed something to do just in case the movie sucked, well something that couldn't get us arrested."

Pekeri looked at the Duel Gazer in his claws, he'd never really put it on by himself before, but hopefully, he could get it on the right way by himself.

He slowly unfolded the device and placed it on his head… Upside down so that the vizor was position nowhere near his eye.

"Okay," he said, "I'm ready."

Ngarrang and his posse laughed.

Pekeri tilted his head to the side, his D-Gazer almost falling off. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"It's upside down honey," said Arika.

Pekeri tugged the device off his head and looked at it. It was hard to tell which way was the right way up.

"Oh here," said Arika, taking the device from her boyfriend and fixed it properly to his head.

It was tight fit and quite uncomfortable, the model had been clearly designed for someone with more human-like proportions, something that Arika had failed to realise when she bought it.

But he wasn't going to tell her that.

"All ready now?" Ngarrang asked in a mocking tone as his posse laughed behind him.

Pekeri nodded, failing to pick up on the sarcasm.

Ngarrang hit a button on his duel disk and a few seconds after figuring it out, so did Pekeri.

"Duel!" both lizardfolk declared.

(Pekeri LP:8000/Ngarrang LP:8000)

A wave of green flashing light engulfed the street as the AR field expanded around the duellists, startling Pekeri.

"You can have the first turn, country mouse," said Ngarrang.

"For the last time," Pekeri hissed, "I am not a mouse."

"Right over his head," Ngarrang sighed, as several members of his posse giggled behind him.

Pekeri hissed at Ngarrang, his tongue violently flicking out of his mouth as he drew his opening hand.

"I'll start by activating the Ssspell Card Toy Vendor," he said, taking a card from his hand and placing it on his duel disk.

The Spell flashed in front of Pekeri and a large round contraption fell from the sky, landing with a cartoonish-sounding thud behind Pekeri.

The contraption looked like a colourful, frog-themed gashapon machine, with the right arm appearing to be a coin slot and the left arm a lever. Inside the machine were several small capsules containing small stuffed animals.

"What the hell is that thing?" muttered Ngarrang, as he gave the card and its owner a strange look. His posse behind him giggling at the sight of the strange machine.

"Next, I activate the effect of my Toy Vendor," said Pekeri, looking down at his hand, "I disc… discard one card from my hand."

As Pekeri slid one of his cards into the graveyard the capsules inside Toy Vendor began to bounce around as the machine itself rumbled.

"Now I can draw one card from my deck," Pekeri continued, "but… But if it is not a Flu… Fluffal Monster that card is sent to the graveyard.

"Seems like a bit of gamble?" Ngarrang asked, "especially for a country mouse like you."

Pekeri hissed at Ngarrang as he drew his card…

A capsule rolled down Toy Vendor's chute and down the machine's tongue, flying off the tip and bouncing along the ground a few times before finally cracking open.

The prize inside was revealed to be a stuffed dog with a small set of wings on its back. "Ruff, Ruff," it barked.

"Yesss," Pekeri hissed, rolling his s's in excitement, "since the card I drew was a Fluffal Monster, I can Spe…Special Summon it."

He played the card on hid duel disk, and the stuffed toy bounded onto his field. (1700/1000)

"Stuffed toys?" laughed Ngarrang, "you can't be serious. I was expecting a country mouse like you to use Beasts or Rocks, not some damn toys."

"Hey don't underestimate these guys," Arika warned, "they can kick your scaly ass."

Pekeri flinched, Arika was so confident he could win this duel, he couldn't dare let her down. "When Fluffal Dog is summoned, I can add a card to my hand, like this one."

His deck spat out a card, Edge Imp Sabres, and he showed it to Ngarrang.

"A pair of scissors," said Ngarrang, "what're ya gonna do, run with em?"

Pekeri tilted his head in confusion, having never heard the expression "never run with scissors" (or scissors themselves) before. Nonetheless, he shook his confusion and played another card, "I summon Fluffal Bear," he said.

A pink-furred stuffed bear appeared next to Fluffal Dog. It let out a cutesy sounding roar - almost a squeak - clearly trying to sound intimidating. (1200/800)

"Bahaha!" Ngarrang laughed, "I'm supposed to be scared of these things right?"

Pekeri slipped one more card onto his duel disk. "I sss… set this card and end my turn."

A face down card appeared behind the two Fluffals.

"Thought I was never gonna get my turn," Ngarrang said with a smug grin as he drew his card, "I start by summoning my Evoltile Odonto."

In a burst of fire, a small lizard crept onto the field. The scales on its underside were smooth and purple, while the scales on its topside were orange and layer on like thick armour, with several sharp spines protruding from it. (500/1200)

"It only has five thousand attack points," noted Pekeri.

"Five thousand?" chuckled Ngarrang, "I wish. How can you play this game when you can't even count? Odonto has only five hundred attack points, and while that may be weaker than either of your Monsters, his effect allows me to bring out something stronger."

Pekeri gulped.

Ngarrang took another card from his hand and played it on his duel disk. "I use Odonto's effect to Special Summon Evoltile Cerato from my hand."

In another burst of red-hot flames, another reptilian creature appeared. It was much larger than Odonto and stood on two legs. The creature let out a loud roar, fire bursting from its jaws. (1900/1400)

Pekeri shook in fright as the scaly beast loomed over the field. "Dr… Dr… Dragon," he squealed.

As stated, Shadowkind - particularly reptilian Shadowkind - had a great deal of respect for dragons, being one of the most powerful creatures on the planet after all. But to be opposed by a dragon, that would be the average Shadowkind's worst nightmare.

"It's not a dragon," said Ngarrang, surpass his own laughter as his posse giggled behind him, "it's a dinosaur."

"What's a d… Dinosaur," Pekeri asked, still shaking.

Ngarrang sighed. "What? Do you live under a rock? How could you not know what a dinosaur is?"

Then he grinned wildly. "Then let me give you a crash course. First, since Cerato was summoned by the effect on Evoltile, he gains two hundred attack points."

The flames around Cerato intensified (ATK:1900-2100)

"Now then," the larger lizardfolk continued, "dinosaurs are, or rather were, massive creatures that dominated this planet millions of years ago, from the Triassic period to the Cretaceous period, before they all went extinct in the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction."

Both Pekeri and Arika tilted their heads in confusion.

"Three years of online palaeontology courses for this," Ngarrang muttered.

He pointed a claw at Fluffal Bear and Cerato immediately charged at it, picking up Bear in its teeth and violent shaking the stuffed animal around. The stuffed bear eventually began to tear apart leaving chunks of burning stuffing raining down on the field.

Pekeri's teeth chattered in fright. "I do not care if it's not a dragon," he said, "it is still really scary." (Pekeri LP:8000-7100)

"Bah," spat Ngarrang, as he posse laughed, "what a wuss, Cerato isn't even the strongest Monster and he's terrified of it.

"He's definitely not Bardo's son."

A card then jutted out of Ngarrang's deck, and the lizardfolk snatched it up. "And just because Cerato isn't my strongest Monster, he's pretty useful seeing as since he devoured one of your Monsters, I can take any Evoltile I want from my deck and add it to my hand, like Evoltile Westlo.

"It's only my first turn and you're already falling behind country mouse."

"Aw come on Pekeri," Arika cheered from the sidelines, "don't let this guy push ya' around."

Pekeri took a breath and regained his resolved. "For the last time, I am not a mouse," he declared spying his set card, "since you destroyed Fluffal Bear, that means I can use this card."

Pekeri pointed a claw toward his face-down card, which just sat there doing nothing.

"Huh," Pekeri wondered aloud, "why isn't it working."

"Err… Pekeri," said Arika, "you need to push a button on your duel disk, just saying you're activating a card doesn't work.

"At least, that's how I think it works… But it'd be kinda cool if they did."

"Umm, okay." Pekeri hissed quietly, confused at the odd tangent Arika's train of thought had taken.

He hit a button on his duel disk, and sure enough, the Fluffal Crane Trap Card flipped itself up. Then Fluffal Bear slid out of the graveyard as Pekeri drew a card.

"Using a card like that to retrieve you stuffed teddy bear," Ngarrang said in a mocking voice, "if I were you I would've saved it until I destroyed your other Monster, that one has a better effect.

Oh man, thought Arika, this guy is analysing Pekeri's plays, maybe he isn't just some chump after all…

No, what am I thinking? Of course, Pekeri can beat this guy.

"So you're gonna step up your game, country mouse," said Ngarrang, "fine with me, I thought this duel was gonna put me to sleep." The pogona lizardfolk grabbed two cards from his hand and set them on his duel disk, "I'll end my turn with these two cards."

Two reversed cards appeared behind Cerato and Odonto.

"Your turn country mouse," he sniggered.

"Okay," Pekeri nodded, placing his hand over his deck as he looked over the four cards in his hand; Fluffal Bear, Edge Imp Sabres, Fluffal Sheep and Suture Rebirth, not much to turn the duel around.

Then, he remembered something his father had told him, something about how a wise duellist said: "believe in the heart of the cards".

But, he didn't understand, cards had no hearts. He couldn't hunt cards down like a kangaroo or a wallaby, cut out and feast on their most vital organ.

Well, at least he didn't think he could, maybe there was some secret to it.

He slowly pulled the card off of his deck and turned it around.

"Yesss," he excitedly cried, rolling his s's again as he saw the near-universally recognised Spell Card he'd drawn.

"I activate the Spell Card," Pekeri announced, playing the card, "P… P… Poly… mer… Polymer... Polymerizat... Polymerization."

The Spell Card appeared in front of Pekeri, followed by Fluffal Bear and a new Monster, one that resembled a demonic pair of sharp, metal shears. (1200/800)

"A Fusion Summon!" Ngarrang gawked, his jaw dropping, clearly having not expecting a mere 'country mouse' to be able to perform a Fusion Summon.

"I f… fuse my Fluffal Bear with Edge Imp Sabres," Pekeri declared, "to Fusion Summon Fightfur Bear!"

What happened next could give any child - or adult - nightmares. Edge Imp Sabres opened its incisors and sliced Fluffal Bear in half at the waist before diggings its blades into Bear's back.

For a movement, nothing happened, then strands of thread began at Fluffal Bear's waist to hastily patch it back together. The stuffed toy began to stretch and grow as its limbs rumbled and tore apart, revealing larger, more monster looking limbs underneath. Then, the top half of Bear's head split from the bottom and a set of sinister purple-glowing eyes appeared in the gap. (2200/1800)

"What the hell is that thing?" one of Ngarrang's posse asked, taking a step back from the monstrous toy.

The menacing looking Fusion Monster placed it's paws over its mouth and cackled.

"Reminds me of when I used that work at that pizza place," Ngarrang mused, though the look on his face showed he was alarmed, "what was it's name again?"

"Hey!" yelled Arika, "focus on the duel! Cause Pekeri's gonna kick your ass!"

"Yes!" Pekeri hissed in agreement, as he pointed a claw at Cerato, "Fr.. Frightfur Bear attack his Mon… Monster!"

Frightfur Bear rushed up to and grabbed Cerato in its claws, raising it off the ground. The Dinosaur helplessly struggling against the menacing toy's grip, even biting into Bear's arm a few times only to have Bear completely ignore it.

Then Bear did the strangest and creepiest thing it possibly could. The top half of its head swung open, and it dumped Cerato into the cavity of its mouth.

"What the…" Ngarrang muttered, as some members of posse looked on as if the were watching the bloodiest moment of a gory horror movie.

Bear rubbed its stomach for a few moment, then burped, having liked its Monster of a meal. It skipped back to Pekeri's side of the field.

"Yesss," Pekeri hissed, his excitement getting the better of his accent again, "Bear beat the scary Monster."

He thinks Cerato is scary when he's using that thing? thought Ngarrang, what's wrong with this guy?

"And don't forget," Arika chimed in, "since Frightfur Bear destroyed a Monster by battle, that Monster gets equipped to Bear and…"

"It gains a th… th…thous…sand attack!" Pekeri shouted.

Frightfur Bear laughed as it rubbed its stomach, having enjoyed its meal. (ATK:2200-3200)

"And now Fluffal Dog will attack his other Monster," said Pekeri.

Fluffal Dog barked and bounded toward Odonto.

"Oh no you don't," said Ngarrang, as one of his face down card sprung up, "I activate Evo-Instant."

Odonto was consumed by a bright light as Fluffal Dog skidded to a halt.

"This Trap, as its name suggests," Ngarrang explained, "compresses millions of years of evolution into a few seconds, evolving my Odonto into an Evolsaur."

The fiery lizard disappeared, only to be quickly replaced by Dinosaur that was even larger than Cerato. Green scales covered the creature's underside while's it back and top of its head were coated in thick metallic-looking scales. (2400/600)

Terias flapped the two wings on its back and roared, flames spewing from its mouth.

"Is this one a dragon?" Pekeri asked, shaking ever-so-slightly in fright.

"Terias is still a Dinosaur," answered Ngarrang. "Now are you going to attack or not?"

"No," Pekeri shouted, he may not be the best duellist, but he wasn't stupid enough to send one of his Monsters to attack a Monster with a higher attack.

He looked at the two cards in his hand. "I end my turn."

"Good," said Ngarrang, making a draw and smirking as he realised just what card it was, "I'll start by sending Terias here over to attack your little dog."

Terias roared, spewing out even more flames than before. The Dinosaur then charged at Fluffal Dog, head-butting the plush canine hard enough to send it flying out onto the street, shattering into pixels as it crashed into the asphalt.

Pekeri shook as he watched the whole thing, sort of glad that wasn't happening to him… (Pekeri LP:7100-6400)

Yet…

"And there's more where that came from country mouse," said Ngarrang, grabbing two cards - including the card he'd just drawn - from his hand and setting them on his duel disk.

A reversed Monster appeared next to Terias, while another facedown card joined the first.

"I'll end my turn there," said Ngarrang, glancing down at the cards he just set.

"You've got him on the ropes honey," cheered Arika.

Pekeri gave Arika a confused stare before looking at his opponent. He didn't see any ropes on or anywhere near the larger lizardfolk, so Arika's statement sounding rather confusing. He scratched his head and looked around, maybe Arika had seen some rope lying around, but why would his opponent be on it?

Pekeri continued to look around for a good fifteen seconds before Ngarrang grew impatient. "Oi! Country mouse!" he yelled, "You gonna duel or are you just gonna stare off into space?"

Arika grimaced, realising that her little bit of encouragement might not have been as inspiring as it was confusing to Pekeri.

Pekeri shoved his confusion to the back of his mind and focused back on the duel. "Uhh, my turn," he said, drawing a card.

"Bout bloody time," muttered Ngarrang, his patience thinning.

Pekeri added the card to his hand. He then looked over the field, first to three-thousand two-hundred attack point strong Frightfur Bear then to the weaker Terais and finally to Ngarrang's face down cards…

He grinned and triumphantly held up a claw pointing toward Terias. "Frightfur Bear," he ordered, "attack!"

The nightmarish fusion held its hands over its mouth and cackled in a high-pitched voice before throwing its arms in the air in excitement and rushing toward Terias.

Ngarrang gained a smug grin. "A bit overconfident all a sudden are we?"

One of the larger lizardfolk's face down cards lifted up, revealing a Trap Card that depicted a complete whiteout blizzard, which quickly began to pour out of the card and onto the field.

"That's my Frost Breast Trap Card," explained Ngarrang, "this card freezes your attacking Monster in its tracks, preventing it from making any further attacks or changing its battle position."

"No!" Pekeri hissed, as he could nothing else as the blizzard swallowed Frightfur Bear entirely, the Fusion's roars could be heard from inside.

Eventually, the blizzard subsided, leaving Frightfur Bear comically encased in a block of solid ice with only its head and tips of its claws exposed. The Fusion let out another roar, now sounding more angry than excited.

"No," Pekeri hissed again.

"Don't worry Pekeri," assured Arika, "having a Monster that can't attack is better than not having a Monster at all."

But she didn't sound very assuring to Pekeri, even if there were worse Traps he could have run into, he still felt foolish for running into it in the first place.

"Oh, but that's not all, now your oversized teddy bear also loses eight-hundred attack and defence points."

The Trap released another burst of icy winds, slowly blowing the encased Fusion back over to Pekeri's field. (3200-2400/1800-1000)

The cold wind stung Pekeri, sending a chill throughout his entire ectothermic body. He'd felt the cold living in the outback, where the temperatures would plummet during the night, and his father had told him of places in this world (and others) that were even colder than that.

But this was even colder than he expected, it drained of every ounce of energy from his body. He wrapped his arms around himself in an attempt to conserve precious body heat.

The small blizzard stopped and the Trap disappeared, leaving Pekeri standing there breathing heavily and stunned from the sudden change in temperature. It was a relief that the freezing winds had stopped, but the cool night air was not the (somewhat literal) blood-warming ray of sunshine he was hoping for.

He dropped to the ground, silently praying for his God, Adnoartina, to give him some form of warmth.

"Oh, come on Pekeri," cheered Arika, "don't let the cold stop you from beating this guy."

But it was useless, Pekeri just laid on the ground stunned from the sudden drop in temperature.

"Lady," said Ngarrang, "do you know what the cold does to us cold-blooded creatures? You think you mammals have it tough on cold days? Us reptiles literally can't even fathom the energy to crawl out bed!"

"Not to mention," he smugly added, "country mouse over there probably never experienced an ice cube out in the outback, let alone something like a blizzard, even if it was an artificial one."

"So if you knew that would happen, why did you do that to him, you bastard!" yelled Arika.

"Cause I thought he needed a welcoming gift," Ngarrang replied.

"Prick," spat Arika. She then raced over to Pekeri and knelt down beside him, gently rubbing the back of his head with her hand. "Oh my poor baby,"

Pekeri replied with a small hiss and flick of his tongue, having forgotten that Arika didn't speak that language.

Stifled laughs could be heard from Ngarrang's posse.

"Shut it will you?" yelled Arika.

She continued to stroke the back of Pekeri's head. "Come on," she said, "you're stronger than this. You can't let a little cold stop you now, can you?"

Pekeri weakly grinned, seeing that Arika still had his back made him feel - to put in the most cliche line possible - all warm and fuzzy inside.

He slowly rose to his feet, his newfound confidence letting him shake off the cold (not literally, of course, reptiles can't shiver to maintain body heat). "I set one card facedown and end my turn," he said, as the card appeared behind the mostly frozen Frightfur Bear, who was still struggling to escape from its icy gaol.

He turned his head toward Arika and nodded.

"Anytime," Arika replied with a smile before she decided that a smile wasn't enough and wrapped her arms around her boyfriend.

Pekeri smiled and returned the favour.

"Ugh," spat Ngarrang, "all that sappy bullshit makes me wanna throw up."

Arika craned her away from Pekeri and toward Ngarrang, wildfire blazing in her eyes. "We're having a moment here, shut up!"

Ngarrang opened his mouth to make a smart-ass reply, but one look at Arika's face more than convinced him that it wouldn't be a good idea and that Arika maybe, just maybe, had a little bit of demonic blood in her veins.

Arika turned back toward Pekeri. "You all nice and warm now?" she asked in a sweet sounding tone that completely contradicted her previous demeanour.

Pekeri nodded. "Yes, honey."

She glanced back at Ngarrang for a moment. "Go get him," she whispered to Pekeri and backed off, leaving her boyfriend to continue the duel.

"Yeah," said Pekeri, "It's my…"

"It's actually my turn," said Ngarrang, making a draw as Pekeri looked on dumbfounded. "And I'll start by Flip Summoning my face down Monster, Evoltile Westlo."

The facedown Monster flipped up, revealing a small green lizard with small spines jutting out along its spine. (700/1900)

"Cute," remarked Pekeri, "reminds me of…"

"Oh shut up," growled Ngarrang, interrupting Pekeri before he could say much else, "right now I just want to get this over with. When Westlo is flipped face up I can Speical Summon one Evolsaur Monster from my deck."

A card jutted out of the lizardfolk's deck, and he quickly snatched it up and slammed it onto his duel disk. "And I'll pick this one, Evolsaur Diplo."

In yet another burst of hot flames, another Dinosaur appeared. Clearly based on a diplodocus, the purple-scaled quadruped extended its long neck straight up and let out a mighty roar. (1600/800)

"And when Diplo here is Special Summoned by the effect of an Evoltile Monster," explained Ngarrang, "I can destroy one your Spell or Trap cards. so I'll be taking my Cerato back now."

Diplo reared up on its hind legs, before slamming its front legs down on the pavement hard enough to crack it. Shockwaves raced toward the Evolsaur Cerato card that had been forcibly equipped to Bear and shattered it like glass. (ATK:2400-1400)

Pekeri froze in place, his eyes darted to his lone face down card next to Toy Vendor.

Which Ngarrang picked up on. Probably a Trap Card, he thought, boy is country mouse gonna be surprised…

He grabbed another card. "But I'm not done yet country mouse. Now I activate the Spell Card Evo-Force, which - like my Evo-Instant Trap - compresses millions of years of evolution into a few seconds, evolving my Evoltile Westlo into a new Monster."

Evoltile Westlo dissolved into motes of light.

"But," he added, "Evo-Force has one little difference from Evo-Instant."

A nervous look came across Pekeri's face. "W… What?"

The lights reformed into a new shape, one much larger than Westlo. The lights dissipated leaving a new Monster, another quadruped dinosaur smaller and bulkier than Diplo, thick blue scales covered its hide. (1200/1000)

"The Monster summoned by Evo-Force's effect is treated as if it were Special Summoned by an Evoltile's effect."

Pekeri frowned as his beady eyes widened.

"And since Evolsaur Vulcano here was summoned by an 'Evoltile Monster'," continued Ngarrang, "I can Special Summon an Evolsaur from my graveyard."

In a burst of hot flames, Evolsaur Cerato appeared amongst the other Dinosaurs.

"Of course, Cerato can't attack, but that's not what I'm planning to do with it."

Both Cerato and Vulcano transformed into swirling forms of red energy and flew high up into the sky.

"W… What's going o… On?" Pekeri asked, his voice shaking and stuttering.

"Damn it," Arika muttered as she watched the swirling forms rise into the air, "I was hoping he didn't have those Monsters…"

A spiralling portal opened up on the ground.

"Never seen a Xyz Summon before country mouse?" said Ngarrang, "eh, guess they haven't made it into the outback yet.

Actually, Pekeri had seen a Xyz Summon before, Arika used them all the time… But only in tabletop duels that didn't require duel gazers or disks, so the visuals were rather new (and a little bit terrifying) to him.

The two energy forms raced down from above, slamming into the centre of portal. Red energy then cracked across the portal's surface, as a pair of blood-red glowing eyes appeared on the other side.

A creature then rose through the portal, humanoid in form but reptilian in appearance, the creature spread its six wings wide as it's white scales seemed to glow amongst the dim city lights. The creature roared, perforating the eardrums of everyone nearby. (2400/2000)

Pekeri began to shiver in fright as his eyes darted around taking in every feature of this new Monster, but deep down he knew right off the bat what it was. "D… Dragon?" he asked, futilely hoping he was wrong.

"Yep," answered Ngarrang, shattering that hope.

"Come on Pekeri," cheered Arika, "it's just another Monster, nothing to be afraid of."

"Say what you want lady," said Ngarrang, "but this Monster has made a lot of duellists piss their pants over the years."

"Only when its paired up with a bunny rabbit," Arika replied.

"Like I'd allow myself to sink to that level," muttered Ngarrang, "Now Evolzar Laggia, get that oversized teddy bear outta my sight!"

Laggia roared, a ball of fire gathering in its mouth.

Pekeri began to quiver and whimper as the flames in Laggia's mouth intensified. He was facing a dragon, a creature so powerful that even his father and grandfather - strong as they may be - didn't want to oppose one.

Then, Arika's words had finally sunk in, he realised that the Dragon staring him down was just another Duel Monster, it wasn't real, and just like any other Monster, it was vulnerable to his face down card. A small smile appeared on his face, as he pressed a button on his D-Pad. "I activate my Trap Card, Punch-in-the-Box."

The Trap Card flipped up and a set of comical looking hands reached out, one hand racing toward Evolzar Laggia the other toward Terias.

"This Trap not only negates your attack," said Pekeri, "but sends one… oth… other Monster you control to the gr… graveyard and makes your at… attacking Monster lose attack!"

But Ngarrang didn't lose the smug grin for a second. "Do you really think I'm as dumb as you, country mouse?" he asked, "That I'd run into such an obvious trap?"

"Uh…" Pekeri attempted to reply, "but my Trap Card."

"Is negated," Ngarrang replied, "I detach both of Laggia's Xyz Materials to negate the effect of your Trap Card and destroy it."

"Oh shit," swore Arika, "I forgot about that effect."

The two orbs floating around Laggia flew into its mouth, the Dragon crossed its arms and slashed Pekeri's Trap Card in half.

"B… But.." Pekeri stuttered, his confidence shattering along with his Trap Card, "Punch…" He was silenced and knocked onto his back by Frightfur Bear being incinerated by Laggia's attack. (Pekeri LP:6400-5400)

He slowly pushed himself onto one knee. Only to have Terias knocking him backwards with a powerful headbutt. (Pekeri LP:5400-3000)

He tried to push himself up again only for Diplo to slam its tail into him and knock him down for the third time. (Pekeri LP:3000-1400)

"Heh," chuckled Ngarrang, "I'll end my turn there. And that means you're up country mouse, if you can get up that is."

Pekeri slowly stood back up. He looked over to Arika and saw the mix of concern for Pekeri and anger toward Ngarrang and company on her face.

"Better make this turn count," said Ngarrang, "because it's your last."

Quivering as he drew his next card, Pekeri knew that this turn could very be his last as all three of his opponents Monsters had more attack points than he had Life Points.

He flicked over the card he'd drawn, Fusion Recovery. He could recover Polymerization plus another Monster - either Sabres or Bear, but what would he do then? He had only one copy of Frightfur Bear and that was already in the graveyard.

He looked at the other two cards in his hand, then at that moment it all clicked into place. There was something else he could summon…

He grabbed one card from his hand. "First…" he said, his voice a mix of "I ac… activate the Spell Card Suture Rebirth, w… which lets me revive Fluffal Dog."

Fluffal Dog reappeared on the field in a flash, however, its stitching was quite clearly coming undone, one of its button-like eyes was missing and its tail was wrapped in masking tape.

"Now," Pekeri continued, "since I have a Fluffal Monster on my field, I can Spe… Special Summon Fluffal Sssheep from my hand."

Another plush appeared next to the damaged dog, an orange fleeced sheep with small wings and stubby legs. (400/800)

"Now I act… activate Sheep's effect," Pekeri continued, as he plucked Fluffal Dog from his duel disk, "I return Fluffal Dog to my hand to bring back my Edge… Edge Imp Sabres."

Fluffal Dog quickly transformed into a ball of light and shot into Pekeri's hand, afterwards Edge Imp Sabres rose from a pitch black portal, all the while cackling and scraping its blades against each other to produce such a horrible sound that everyone in the immediate area began to envy the deaf.

"Now I ssssummon Fluffal Dog!" Pekeri yelled over Sabres' racket.

Fluffal Dog bounded back onto the field, grinding to a halt between Sheep and

"And I'll use it to add Fluffal Rabbit to my hand," Pekeri continued, as the card poked out of his deck and he snatched it up.

If the were a hair on Ngarrang's body, he would've raised an eyebrow as he realised his opponent was up to something.

"Now I activate Fusssion Recovery," Pekeri declared, "letting me take back Polymerization and Fluffal Bear from my graveyard."

Ngarrang grit his teeth, another nightmarish Fusion Monster was coming.

"I activate Polymerization," Pekeri declared, slamming the Spell Card onto his duel disk with the utmost enthusiasm, "fu… fusing all five of my Monsters together."

"Five Monsters!" Ngarrang gasped, having not expected - or barely even heard of outside of Five-Headed Dragon - a Monster being summoned with five Fusion Materials.

Fluffal Bear and Rabbit - an amber furred stuffed rabbit with small angel wings and satchel by it side - joined Sheep, Sabres and Dog on the field.

The five Monsters were then dragged into the swirling blue and orange portal that appeared behind them. A shadow that resembled Fluffal Dog then appeared at the centre as a sinister cackle echoed through the street, the loud snip of scissors joined the cackling as the shadow began to grow larger and more feral.

"And ssssince Fluffal Rabbit was sent to the graveyard, I can take Fluffal Dog and add it back to my hand."

The Fluffal Dog card slipped out of the graveyard and Pekeri scooped it up.

A blue paw then stepped out of the vortex, followed by the rest of the nightmarish beast. It was clearly a stuffed wolf, but as with Frightfur Bear its body had been bisected at the waist and stitched back together with several blades sticking out of its pelt. The monstrous beast opened its mouth wide - showing a similar set of sinister eyes as Bear - and howled. (2000/1500)

Ngarrang looked stunned until he saw the floating scoreboard next to Frightfur Wolf. "Only two thousand attack points, I was worried there for a second."

Pekeri grimaced as he realised that his Monster's attack power wasn't enough to overcome his opponent's Monsters. If only there was a way he could increase Wolf's attack power.

Then he conveniently remembered something; his father had once told him that nowadays, some cards didn't need to be in either the hand or field to be activated.

And he had one such card, Arika had given it to him as a gift. And it was in just the right place to use it.

He reached into the graveyard slot and pulled out a red bordered card, Skill Successor to be precise. "I b… banish this card from my graveyard," he said, "and it gives my Frightfur Wolf eight hun… hundred extra attack points!"

A blazing red aura appeared around Wolf. (ATK:2000-2800)

"Wait?" yelled Ngarrang, "when did you?…"

Then it hit him, on the first turn Pekeri had discarded a card to use Toy Vendor's effect, that card had been Skill Successor. "Probably the smartest move he's made yet," muttered Ngarrang.

"Frightfur Wolf," said Pekeri, "attack his La… La…"

"Laggia," said Ngarrang, watching helplessly as Wolf pounced on the Xyz Monster sinking its fangs into Laggia's arm and shattering it. (Ngarrang LP:7900-7500)

His eyes flicked to his face down card. Shouldn't have been messing around, now I guess I've gotta pay for it.

Wolf continued its rampage, clamping its incisors into Diplo's neck. (Ngarrang LP:7500-6300)

Ngarrang's eyes stayed fixated on his face down card. "Not yet, I'm gonna survive this… Just."

Wolf made its third strike, tearing into Terias' underbelly and shattering it. (Ngarrang LP:6300-5900)

"Now attack directly!" Pekeri ordered, barely managing to contain the excitement in his voice.

Wolf scratched Ngarrang with its claws, causing the bulky lizardfolk to drop to one knee. (Ngarrang LP:5900-3100)

Wolf took another swipe at Ngarrang, knocking him the ground. (Ngarrang LP:3100-300)

"Yesss," Pekeri cheered, "I am Bardo's son, and I am strong just like him."

"I'll admit," said Ngarrang, as he stood up and dusted himself off, "that was nice little move you had there… Maybe you are his son after all.

"Nice?" questioned Arika, "he almost took you out in a single move."

"Yeah," Pekeri agreed.

"Well almost ain't good enough," snorted Ngarrang, staggering slightly from his beating, "you know, you probably could have won, if you had used your Spell Card's effect."

Pekeri looked glumly at the goshapon machine behind him, then at Fluffal Dog in his hand. Had he let victory slip through his claws?

"Or not," said Ngarrang, as his lone set card flipped up, "I activate my face down card Evo-Singularity, which lets me select one Evoltile and one Evolsaur from my graveyard…"

Two cards, Evoltile Westlo and Evolsaur Cerato, slipped out of Ngarrang's graveyard slot, he scooped them up then flashed them

"Then lets me Special Summon an Evolzar Xyz Monster from my extra deck, like my strongest Monster, Evolzar Solda, then attach Westlo and Cerato to it as Xyz Materials."

The spiral portal opened up once again, and a new Monster rose from it. The new Dragon was tall and slender, had smooth scales that gave off a bluish tinge and had a single set of large wings compared to Laggia's three sets. The Dragon roared, but sounded higher pitched - much like what would be expected from a bird than a Dragon or Dinosaur. (2600/1000)

"My Monster is ssstronger," hissed Pekeri.

"You do realise that Skill Successor's little boost wears off at the end of your turn?" Ngarrang said with a smirk.

Which, seeing as Pekeri's turn was coming to an end, it did. (ATK:2800-2000)

"My turn," said Ngarrang, making a draw. He gained a wide grin and played that very card, "I activate the Field Spell Xyz Territory."

"Field Spell?" gasped Pekeri.

The ground beneath felt hot, not a comfortable heat like a warm rock heated by the desert sun, but hot like the coals in his clan's fire after a corroboree.

"Yeah," said Ngarrang, "the heat's a little too much, especially for those that can't control their body temperature, but it's a worthwhile tradeoff, seeing as now whenever my Xyz Monsters attack, they gain two-hundred attack points times its own rank."

Pekeri flinched, he knew he wasn't the best at math, but he knew that Solda attacking Wolf wouldn't cause enough damage to defeat him. But now with that Field Spell… "No," he whispered.

"Yes," said Ngarrang, "Evolzar Solda, attack his overrated Fusion and end this duel!"

Solda crossed its arms and unfolded its wings, fire gathered around the Dragon as its claws glowed white and grew sharper and longer. (ATK:2600-3800)

It then slashed its claws at Frightfur Wolf, dicing the Fusion into pieces and igniting the remains.

Pekeri watched in horror as the burning pieces of what was Wolf rained down on him. (Pekeri LP:1400-0)

The sirens blared, signalling that a winner had been decided. All the remaining cards on the field disappeared as the D-Gazer's deactivated.

"Well, even if you are Bardo's son," said Ngarrang, "you're a shitty duellist. Hell, do you really think you belong in the city?"

Pekeri didn't reply.

"Hey," yelled Arika, "he almost took you out in one turn."

"Almost doesn't cut it," Ngarrang replied, "a duel isn't over until someone Life Points hit zero."

"Or someone gets all five pieces of Exodia in their hand, or mills them with Exodus," added one member of Ngarrang's posse, "or spells out all the letters on the Destiny Board, lets twenty turns pass after activating Final Countdown, defeats the opponent's Monster when Last Turn is being applied, gets three Hyper-Venoms Vennominaga the Diety of Poisonous Snakes, banishes three Jackpot 7's with their own effects, gets ten Xyz Materials underneath Ghostrick Angel of Mischief, or the Monster summoned by Relay Soul is destroyed."

After a brief pause, another member spoke up. "Stay off the internet," the lizardfolk said.

"As I was saying," continued Ngarrang, "country mouse may have damaged my Life Points... a lot. But in the end, he still lost the duel. I was expecting something better than that."

"Oh that's it," said Arika, whipping out her duel disk, "you want a real duel, then you've got one!"

"Well bring it on sweety," Ngarrang mockingly replied, "I'm up for another round, even if it's against a Shadowchaser like you."

**0 - 0 - 0 - 0**

Barely five minutes later, Ngarrang lay facedown on the pavement having eaten his words. The steaming barrel of Gustav Max still pointed straight at him. His posse had all scrambled and were now peeking at the scene from being various objects scattered around the street.

Arika stood in front of the downed lizardfolk, her face twisted into a scowl. "I should arrest you."

"Arrest me," scoffed Ngarrang, calling Arika's bluff, "for what? Upsetting your boyfriend?"

Pekeri looked away from the scene, his pride quite clearly still stinging tom his loss.

Arika gritted her teeth together and stomped her foot down on Ngarrang's hand. "Consider yourself lucky," she spat, then turned her back and walked away.

"Come on Pekeri," she said coldly, grabbing Pekeri by the arm as she walked past and leading him away, "let's go home."

**0 - 0 - 0 - 0**

It had been a quiet walk home for Pekeri and Arika, neither had wanted to discuss what had happened after the cinema.

Arika held her finger to her lips signalling Pekeri to keep quiet as she pushed open the front door.

Pekeri replied with a simple nod, he knew what that particular gesture meant for once.

The two crept up the staircase and into Arika's bedroom, as Arika closed the door behind them.

He hadn't said a word since he'd lost to Ngarrang earlier, not even bothering to cheer Arika on during her duel with Ngarrang.

Arika frowned. "Are you okay?"

Pekeri let out a huff of air through his nostrils.

"Look," said Arika, "if you're upset about what happened, then don't be, you can't let one bad thing ruin everything. You've gotta persevere."

Pekeri huffed again, he guessed Arika was right he couldn't let one bad experience ruin the life he was going to make in Sydney.

"And besides,"Arika continued, gradually sounding "it was gonna happen eventually, there are plenty of assholes out there."

Pekeri flinched at Arika's comment, there were more people and Shadowkind out there like that who would tease and humiliate him.

He quickly turned his head and looked out the window. He could see all the bright, flashing lights that lit up the city skyline, he then looked further up toward the stars, to see that the city lights had drowned them out of the sky.

He figured he wouldn't be happy living in the city, but he wouldn't be happy without Arika. There had to be some sort of solution where he could be with Arika and not have to deal with these "assholes" that lived in this city.

He looked back toward Arika. "I'm going to go pray to Adnoartina," he said.

"Can't you just do from the window?" Arika asked.

"I need to be outside," Pekeri quickly replied.

"Kay," Arika replied, flinging herself onto the bed, "just don't be too long, because I have a special surprise ready for when you get back."

"Okay," Pekeri replied with a slight grin, he may have almost no idea what most of Arika's gestures and phrases meant, but he sure as hell knew what Arika's "special surprise" was going to be.

**0 - 0 - 0 - 0**

Downstairs a minute later, Pekeri carefully fiddled with the back door trying to , he knew how to open it but doing so in the dark and as quiet as possible was almost another matter entirely.

Eventually, he managed to open the door and slipped outside.

It was quiet, aside from the rustle of leaves and the occasional chirp, snort and snore from Zephyr - who was asleep somewhere in the backyard after Wendy had let her out for the night - there was no noise.

But even in the silence, could Adnoartina even hear his prayers this far away from home? The lizard guard of Uluru had made a promise to protect its followers in the Dreamtime, but would that promise still hold all they way out here?

He didn't have time to ponder that, the cool night air was already sapping what little energy he had left. He clasped his hands together and silently prayed for an answer to his predicament.

He gathered his thoughts and sent them off, hoping for a reply.

The thing was, while he didn't like the city, he liked it here. Aside from Arika, Rowan and Matari seemed pretty friendly, Zephyr scared at first but now and Wendy… at least didn't seem to be hostile.

Then, he realised the answer, whether through Adnoartina's reply or his own realisation. He could stay here in this house, there was no need for him to venture into the city full off "assholes", so why even bother? He could be happy living in this house with Arika, sure it wasn't the vast space that was his clan's territory in the outback, but it would suffice.

But best of all, he could be with Arika all he wanted.

**0 - 0 - 0 - 0**

Frost Breath

When an opponent's Monster declares an attack; negate the attack and that Monster loses 800 ATK and DEF, also it cannot attack or change its battle position while it is face-up on the field.

**0 - 0 - 0 - 0**

Shadowchaser Files

The Ngintaka Lizardfolk Clan

Lizardfolk, like their less humanoid counterparts, are diverse creatures capable of living in many different environments across Earth. For those that prefer to live in desert environments, they often travel to the lands around Uluru and join the Ngintaka Lizardfolk Clan.

Living in the surrounds of Uluru (also known as Ayer's Rock to some) living off whatever they can find in the land (well... mostly), the clan is considered the largest and most powerful clan of Shadowkind in the outback. The clan worship Adnoartina, the lizard guard of Uluru who watches over reptilian kind. The clan is allied with the Shadowchasers and act as mediators between the organisation and the other species of Shadowkind that inhabit central Australia.

The current clan leader, Bardo - Pekeri's father - is a mountain of a lizardman, even larger and more muscular than black scale lizardfolk . Rumour has it that he was supposed to hatch a Lizard King, demonic corruptions of lizardfolk created by the demon lord Sess'innek, but Bardo defied the demon lord and hatched pure and uncorrupted, but supposedly retaining the strength 'he' would've attained had Sess'innek succeeded.

Of course, that is nothing more than an overexaggerated rumour. But nonetheless, Bardo is still a wise and powerful leader and has proven himself - and by extension his clan - to be powerful allies to the Shadowchasers.

Decks: Living in the remote outback, the lizardfolk (and other desert-dwelling species) don't have ready access to many cards and what they can get their claws on are often fairly common and already outdated. Synchro, Xyz and to a lesser extent Fusion Monsters (and Pendulums - if the Shadowchaser's timeline gets to that point) would be a rarity.

Bardo himself uses an Insect Deck, focusing on beatdown and swarm (no pun intended) tactics, backed up by useful Insect support cards such as Verdant Sanctuary to keep a steady supply of monsters and Insect Neglect to negate attacks. He does note that duelling makes him feel hungry, for some reason, he hasn't figured out why just yet.

Story Ideas: The Ngintaka Clan can be a powerful ally for any Shadowchasers that need to venture into the outback. However, like many Lizardfolk clans, they prefer to stay out of conflicts that don't directly involve them and will not actively assist Shadowchasers trying to apprehend ordinary criminals (though they will happily offer food and shelter to any visiting Shadowchaser). However, if that criminal poses a threat to the clan's way of life... Well... They probably deserve what they get.

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Kitten Knight: I have been advised by my sense of self-preservation to say that the city of Sydney is in no way "full of assholes" and Arika's bad wording and Pekeri's misconceptions do not represent the author's views of the city of Sydney.

Anyway, next time... Well I don't feel like disclosing that information, I'll just let you guys know that the title is Stray Lambs.


	9. Stray Lambs

**Kitten Knight: **I just want to remind readers that this story uses the January 2015 lists, because a certain card appears in this chapter was limited in that format but is now forbidden.

Not that said card made much of a difference in this chapter.

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Shadowchasers: Muru

Round 09: Stray Lambs

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**What do rabbits, cane toads, foxes and cats have in common? **

**The all invasive species. Species that have been introduced to new environments by outside forces and have on the ecosystems they're introduced to, often preying on native species, over consuming and out-competing native species for natural resources and throwing out the delicate ecological balance.**

**Shadowkind also fall into to this category, they were introduced to a new environment by an outside force, weren't they? Too many species of Shadowkind have preyed upon humans, and it's often claimed that they would've wiped humanity off the face of the Earth, if it weren't for the Shadowchasers…**

**(Incomprehensible grumbling)**

**But getting back on topic, how are invasive species dealt with?**

**Well lets take Macquarie Island for example, years ago the island had problems with feral cats, rabbits and rats destroying the fragile environment by hunting native species, eroding away breedings grounds by burrowing and gnawing at plants that held the soil together.**

**So how was this problem dealt with, you ask?**

**By swiftly whittling down the population through baiting and trapping, using hunting dogs to track any survivors and releasing viruses that targeted the rodents into the ecosystem.**

**It sounds extreme, but sometimes, the only way to achieve things is to go to extremes.**

**And besides, it worked didn't it? Macquarie Island has been pest-free since 2014.**

**…**

**I don't think you realise who's speaking right now, do you?**

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During the day Lyne Park in the Rose Bay area was normally bustling with people waiting to catch the ferry across the harbour, play a round of tennis at the courts or just simply enjoy being out in the sun. But this late at night the park was completely empty, with only a single man waiting by the ferry terminal.

And he wasn't waiting for the ferry.

The man in question was a tall and skinny, dressed in simple blue jeans and a black jacket. He began to nervously pace back and forth, every so often adjusting his glasses muttering something about "why'd I have to do this by myself?".

The roar of a D-Wheel engine caught his attention, he looked up to see a bulky looking D-Wheel quickly head his way. It pulled up to the footpath just centimetres in front of the man, spraying loose rocks amongst the asphalt into his face.

The man brushed the rocks off his face as the D-Wheel rider let out a hearty chuckle. "Sorry there mate," the rider apologised, switching off the engine and swinging himself off the vehicle. "So you gotta name?" he asked.

"Uh… Arthur," said the man, not sure if giving that piece of information was a wise decision.

"Nice to meet ya," said the rider as he began digging around in one of his D-Wheel's many compartments, "my name's Dwert, not sure if my parents hated my or just had shit taste in names…"

Arthur nervously smiled and made a noise that vaguely sounded like a laugh.

"Huh," Dwert replied, "not one of my best jokes."

The rider eventually pulled out a small black canister with a "toxic substance" label, from the compartment .

"This is some pretty rare shit," said Dwert, as he held out of his hand, "expensive too, you got the money.

Arthur nodded and fished a roll of hundred dollar notes from his pocket.

Dwert snatched up the money and pulled out a single note, he held it up close to his visor and inspected it. "Are these twenties or hundreds?" he asked.

"Hun… Hundreds," Arthur stuttered, sounding a little confused, after all Australian twenty dollar notes were red and hundreds green.

"So they are," Dwert replied, as he looked over his shoulder. "So, who's using the stuff?"

"Err… I am," Arthur replied, trying his best not to gulp.

Dwert looked around, this guy was alone, from underneath his helmet he grinned.

"So," he asked, just making sure "you alone?"

"Uhh… Yeah," answered Arthur.

Dwert chuckled. "Good," he said, snatching the canister away from Arthur. Then, with an inhumanly quick and powerful shove, Dwert sent Arthur flying backward into the brick wall behind him.

"Maybe that'll teach you to be a bit more on your toes, human," the rider laughed, carelessly dumping the canister back into the draw and slammed it shut.

"Excuse me," called a voice, "but what do you think you're doing?"

Dwert squealed in fright and looked to around, completely expecting a Shadowchaser to step into view at any moment.

But that moment never came, instead a woman with long blonde hair stepped out of the shadows.

"Stephanie," Arthur shouted, letting out a sigh of relief.

"Stephanie, huh," said Dwert, scouring his eyes over the woman - no sword, no mark - she wasn't a Shadowchaser. "Sounds like a name for somebody who works in a coffee shop, me thinks."

The smuggler then burst out laughing. "Better get back to work lady, heard the late night hipsters are lining up."

Stephanie just narrowed her eyes and glared at Dwert. "Why don't you take off that helmet of yours and I can pour a hot cup of coffee down your throat."

"Whatever you say lady," said the rider as he removed his strangely shaped helmet - with some difficulty - revealing a furry, dog-like face underneath. "But do anything to this pretty face, and I'll tear yours off."

"A gnoll," Stephanie halfheartedly groaned, rolling her eyes.

Gnolls generally resembled humanoid hyenas, however Dwert was part a subspecies that, instead of being based on hyena's, looked more like on dingos, - which, incidentally, were only found in Australia.

"Awares," Dwert muttered, before speaking up, "so what if I'm a gnoll? You got a problem with that?"

"Yes," Stephanie bluntly replied, "I do. I also have a problem with the fact your trying to steal from my associate here."

"Yeah," Dwert admitted, "and by the looks of it, I'm stealing from you as well."

"No," Stephanie declared, "you're not."

Dwert burst out laughing again. "And what are you going to do about it?"

Stephanie spotted the duel disk attached to Dwert's D-Wheel. "How about a wager?"

"What?" Arthur gasped, "Steph, we need this stuff!"

"Ha! Why the hell would I wager anything against you?" Dwert snorted, "what do I have to gain? I could just ride on out of here and you'd never see me again.

"Anyway, what could you humans possibly have that I would want?"

"… I wager my life," said Stephanie.

"Oh please," snorted Dwert, "do you really think your life is worth half the stuff I'm carrying?"

"Then if my life is only worth half, then I wager his life as well," Stephanie added, pointing to Arthur.

"What!" Arthur cried, "me! Please Steph, don't drag me into this."

"Hmmm," mused Dwert as he scratch his chin, "what could I do with two humans. Suppose that's four hundred and twelve bones, but I'd need to dig a fair few holes for that.

"And there were those ophidia in Malaysia, said the were looking for some slaves…

"Or was it snacks?"

"Eh," he shrugged, "what do I care, so long as I make a profit. Fine. I accept,"

"Good," Stephanie agreed with a small grin.

"What?" Arthur squealed, "Steph, you can't just bet my life against my will like that."

"Why? It's not like you were using it much anyway," Stephanie replied.

Arthur attempted to reply, but the glare Stephanie was giving him forced him to realise that wouldn't be a good idea.

"Heh," chuckled Dwert, "never thought he'd quit whining. So how's this little wager gonna play out? Magic the Gathering? Rock Paper Scissors? Go Fish?"

"What do you think?" said Stephanie, producing a duel disk and a pink-tinted D-Gazer.

"Geez lady," Dwert muttered, reaching over to detach his duel disk from his D-Wheel, "can't you take a joke?"

Without a word, Stephanie simply put on her duel disk and D-Gazer and put them on, then reached for one of the _several _deck cases and took out a deck.

"Sure you're not overcompensating for something?" Dwert cackled, putting on his own duelling equipment.

"No," Stephanie flatly replied.

On the sidelines Arthur quickly grabbed his own D-Gazer and scrambled to put it on. Only just managing to do so as the AR-Field opened up.

"Duel!" both Stephanie and Dwert shouted.

(Dwert LP:8000/Stephanie LP:8000)

"I'll make the first move," said Dwert, drawing his opening hand.

The gnoll took one card from his hand and set it horizontally on his D-Pad. "I'll just end my turn with one mystery Monster."

The mystery Monster appeared face down in front of Dwert.

Stephanie silently made her draw and examined her hand. "I summon Knight Day Grepher."

I a flash of light, Warrior Dai Grepher appeared, but he had scrapped his regular armour and was now wearing a gleaming purple chest plate that left his muscular abdomen exposed to attacks. (1700/1600)

"What?" Dwert laughed, "what the hell is that he's wearing? Is he going clubbing after the duel or what?"

Grepher pouted and looked down at his armour, maybe it was a little too much, or not enough, or a mixture of both, he wasn't sure.

"What a second," Dwert said with a grin and raised eyebrows, "I know exactly why your using him…"

Stephanie ignored the insult geared toward her Monster. "I equip Grepher with Jewel Sword, raising his attack score by three-hundred."

Grepher's sword disappeared, only to replaced by a much shinier, jewel-encrusted sword a second later (ATK:1700-2000)

"Half-naked guys and fancy jewellery," smirked Dwert, "did you just stumble out of King's Cross or what?"

"You're really starting to annoy me," Stephanie bluntly stated. She silently held up her arm and Grepher dashed across the field, stabbing Dwert's face down with its sword.

The card flipped up and revealed a small quadruped dragon , it screeched and tried to bite Grepher in the few moments between revealing itself and shattering like glass. (1400/1100)

"That was Masked Dragon," noted Arthur.

"Gee how'd you guess," spat Stephanie, as a second copy of the Monster appeared on Dwert's field. She took two cards from her hand and set them on her disk, causing them to appear behind Grepher. "I end my turn."

"Heh," Dwert smirked as he drew a card, "a Monster with two-thousand attack and two face down cards. I've seen better opening moves."

"Says the dog that set a Monster face down," said Stephanie.

"But that's my strategy," retorted Dwert, "and allow me to show you where it leads, I tribute my Masked Dragon to summon an even more powerful Monster, Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV6!"

Masked Dragon vanished, replaced by a much larger dragon wreathed in flames, its body seemed to be metallic as it gleamed in the dim moonlight. (2300/1600)

"Oh no," gasped Arthur giving Stephanie a concerned look.

But if Stephanie was concerned about Horus in any way, she certainly didn't show it.

"Huh," said Dwert, "well the level six version may not be that intimidating as his final form, but he's gotta start somewhere, like frying Grepher!"

A ball of fire gathered in Horus' mouth, then launched the fireball at Grepher incinerating him. (Stephanie LP:8000-7700)

But as the fragments of her Monster rained down on her, Stephanie simply drew a card from the effect of Jewel Sword.

Dwert snorted. "Scared yet human?"

"No," Stephanie answer bluntly as she crossed her arms.

"Well you should be, you know what happens at the end of my turn.

"But before then." He added, taking a card from his hand.

A face down card appeared beneath Horus.

The the Dragon glowed a bright white colour, as it began to grow bigger and stronger. The light then gave way, revealing Horus' strongest form.(3000/2300)

It roared loud enough to rattle the warehouse windows.

"Uhh…" stammered Arthur, as he slowly backed away "anyone thinking of Pokémon?"

"Yes," Stephanie sarcastically replied, rolling her eyes as she drew a card.

She set a card horizontally on her duel disk and a face down Monster appeared in front of her. "That's all," she said, ending her turn.

Dwert chuckled. "Guess that's all you can do, isn't it?"

"At the moment, yes," Stephanie replied, looking down at her hand, which contained two Monsters, and two - completely useless - Spell Cards.

The gnoll drew a card and grinned wildly, he added it to his and plucked out another one. "As much as I'd like to to flatten you with Horus this turn, I have a much better plan."

He played the card and small toy car - closely resembling an old Ford Thunderbird - whizzed onto the field, driving through Horus' leg as the Dragon snarled at it. (800/400)

"Cardcar D!" shouted Arthur.

"Give the man a prize," said Dwert, "he's a smart cookie.

"Plus, you know when you don't stand a chance," he added, through a glance at Stephanie, "unlike somebody over there."

Stephanie said nothing, she wasn't going to waste her energy responding to trash talk.

Then Dwert burst out laughing again. "It's a wonder how your species survives.

"I mean, without the Shadowchasers fighting all your battles."

Stephanie frowned and crossed her arms. "Do you see any Shadowchaser here? Just use your damn card's effect."

"Fine," Dwert growled, snapping out of his laughing fit, "I tribute my Cardcar D to draw two cards…"

"And end your turn," added Arthur.

"I know that," growled Dwert, tearing two more cards from his deck.

_She's in for a world of hurt in a couple of turns, _he thought_, _adding the cards to his hand.

"You're up lady."

Stephanie pulled the next card from her deck and added it to her hand, then grabbed another and set on her duel disk. "That's it.""

Dwert burst out laughing as he made a draw. "We're not even started yet and you're already out of options."

He added his drawn card to his hand and grabbed another. "I summon Jinzo Jector."

In a flash of light a new Monster appeared, one that resembled the namesake Jinzo, but was shorter and was dressed in a black and lime-green jumpsuit with multiple buckles. Lengthy cables stretched from its head, gathering around the creature like tentacles. (800/2000)

"Doctor Octopus?" Arthur tilted his head in confusion.

"No, Jinzo Jector," corrected Dwert, "and while he may not be a powerful as the regular Jinzo, but with his effect he might as well be."

Stephanie raised an eyebrow.

"Jector tributes itself to add the real deal from my deck to my hand."

Jinzo Jector disappeared into motes of light, as Dwert snatched up the card that jutted out of his deck.

"Then, all of your Spell and Trap Cards are revealed!"

Pitch-black electricity crackled across Stephanie's two face down cards, flipping them up.

"Birthright and Swords at Dawn," cackled Dwert, "looks like someone's a bargain bin hunter. How much did you pay for those cards?"

Stephanie just glared at Dwert in response.

Dwert stopped laughing and took a deep breath, then wiped the drool dripping from his jaw. "Tough crowd. But in all seriousness, if any Trap Cards revealed, I get to Special Summon a Jinzo Monster from my hand for each and every one."

"And lucky for me one is just enough."

The black electricity crackled over to Dwert's field, forming a portal. Then, the infamous Machine rose from the portal, its sickly green armour glowing in the moonlight as electricity crackled around its wrinkled cranium. (2400/1500)

"Jinzo and Horus at the same time," Arthur noted through chattering teeth, "Steph, your Spell and Traps are completely cut off.

"And since you run Gemini Monsters, which kind of need Spells and Traps to work properly, your Monster effects might as well be cut off too…"

"Thank you for your in depth analysis of my situation," Stephanie muttered.

A large bead of sweat poured down Arthur's nervous face. "Urr… You're welcome?" he said, teeth still chattering.

Stephanie sighed and rolled her eyes.

Dwert burst out laughing again.

"Jinzo attack face down Monster number one!"

Jinzo fired a laser beam from its eyes, slicing throughout Stephanie's face down Monster like a hot knife through butter. For a split second, a red-skinned man with messy blue hair, ironically tied up in a neat bow. He dropped the smithing tools in his hands and clutched where the laser had struck him, all before shattering into a million pieces.

"That was my Iron Blacksmith Kotetsu," Stephanie explained, "which when flipped face up, lets me add an Equip Spell Card to my hand."

A card jutted out of her deck. "Like Supervise."

Dwert grinned. "Not like it's of any use to you. Now then," he rubbed his paws together, "Horus will attack your other face down Monster."

Horus fired another fiery blast, incinerating Stephanie's face down Monster, a small wizard in a robe with several pointed scarves wrapped around its neck. (700/1100)

"That was my Featherizer," Stephanie, once again, explained, "which, when destroyed in battle, lets me discard one Gemini Monster from my deck, then draw one card."

She pulled a card from her deck and flashed it - Phoenix Gearfried - to Dwert before sliding it into the graveyard.

"Throwing away your strongest Monster," the Gnoll laughed, "what next? Gonna crack out the white flag. I think, four eyes over there will lend you his tighty whiteys.

"Though considering the look on his face, they're probably not white anymore."

Arthur bit his lip, he wasn't scared enough to lose control of his bladder.

Yet…

Dwert composed himself. "Well that wraps up my turn," he said, placing one more card on his duel disk, "but I'll leave you a little gift.

"Burden of the Mighty."

The Spell Card appeared behind Horus and Jinzo, and a dark aura appeared over Stephanie's side of the field.

"Oh man," said Arthur, "if he's got that card, then that means…"

Dwert grinned ear-to-ear as he flipped around another card in his hand, he didn't have to, but he just wanted to rub in Stephanie's dwindling chances.

"Tiger King Wanghu," Arthur cried, "Steph you've gotta do something, if he gets that Monster out next turn, you won't be able to do anything!"

It was now or never, Stephanie snatched up the next card from her deck…

And promptly set it face down. "I end my turn," she said with a scowl.

Arthur dropped to his knees in despair. It had been the third time in a row that Stephanie's turn had consisted of setting a Monster face down and nothing else, was she beaten but just too stubborn to admit it?

And what would happened if she lost. Their lives had been bet on this duel after all. Would the Gnoll sell them off to some slave ring? ? Just straight up kill them here? He didn't want to even think about it, let alone experience it.

"My turn," Dwert cackled, tearing off the top card from his deck. He plucked the next card from his deck and added it to hand before plucking Tiger King Wanghu from his hand and slamming it onto his duel disk.

With a mighty roar an armoured white tiger leapt onto the field. (1700/1400)

Dwert laughed. "Looks like my lockdown's complete, now there's just one thing left to do."

Tiger King leapt at Stephanie's face down Monster which was revealed to be a butterfly with flaming wings in the two seconds before it was ripped to shreds. (1500/1500)

Stephanie grit her teeth, knowing what was coming next.

Dwert cackled madly. "Look's like you're all out of defences,"

"Steph," Arthur cried as Jinzo's lasers struck her in the chest. (Stephanie LP:7700-5300)

"Your turn Horus," Dwert ordered, his grin twisted into slasher smile.

Horus belched flames at Stephanie, who could only shield herself with her duel disk as she was engulfed by them. (Stephanie LP:5300-2300)

"Steph!" Arthur squealed as he lost sight of her amongst the inferno.

The flames died down, revealing that Stephanie was still looking a little singed but no worse for wear, though she was glaring daggers straight at Dwert.

"Please," said Dwert, unconcerned "Do you think you still have a chance? Between Horus and Jinzo, you can't use any Spell or Trap cards, half your deck is rendered completely useless!"

Stephanie drew a card and added it to her hand.

"Hell," he added, "between Wanghu and Burden of the Mighty, you can't even summon a Monster, so the other half of your deck is useless as well! I bet there's not a single card you could even play right now, let alone save yourself with…

"Face it, your entire deck is worthless trash."

Stephanie frowned and slapped one of her cards onto her duel disk. "I summon Evocator Chevalier."

In a burst of fire, a fiery Warrior clad in red armour and wielding a large scimitar appeared. He grunted as a black aura appeared around him, sapping his strength. (1900-1500/900)

"Okay maybe there is _a _Monster_,_" said before he burst into a laughing fit, "but with only fifteen hundred attack points, it can't hope to scratch my Monsters. Then come next turn…"

"Evocator Chevalier," Stephanie coldly ordered ignoring Dwert's cackling, "attack Horus."

The Warrior didn't even flinch as it drew its weapon and marched toward the Dragon.

Dwert continued laughing, now utterly convinced his opponent was an idiot. "Lady, if you can't tell Horus is twice as strong as your wannabe Knight. You may believe in fairy tales where the brave knight kills the dragon and saves the day…"

He stopped laughing, but his grin never left his face. "But this ain't a fairy tale," he growled, "and in this world, for every knight that killed a dragon there was a dragon that killed a hundred knights!"

"Do you think I'm stupid?" Stephanie asked, "that I would really send my own Monster pointlessly to its death?" She took a card from her hand and turned it around.

"And what's that card gonna do?" snorted Dwert.

"When a Normal Monster I control battles an opponent Monster," she explained, sliding the card from her hand into the graveyard, "I can discard Blank Swordmaster Inu to drain every single one of your Monster's attack and defence points."

A canine samurai appeared between Horus and Chevalier.

"What!" howled Dwert.

The canine samurai drew its blade and leapt toward Horus, the blade its way across the dragon's abdomen, the mighty beast roared in pain (ATK:3000-0)

This was followed up by Evocator Chevalier stabbing its abdomen, digging its blade deep into the dragon's body.

Horus roared in pain and toppled over, shattering like glass as it slammed into the asphalt. (KLP:8000-6500)

"Now that Horus is gone I can use Spell Cards again," said Stephanie, "and I'll start with my Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy your face down card."

A fierce cyclone ripped across the field, lifting up Dwert's facedown My Body as a Shield.

"So what, I don't need that card to beat you," Dwert snarled.

"Figures," Stephanie muttered as the Quick-Play Spell disintegrated, she then took another card from her hand, "next I activate Gemini Spark, tributing my Chevalier to destroy your Jinzo."

"Oh come on!" shouted Dwert.

Chevalier rushed at Jinzo and slashed its sword across Jinzo's torso, as the Machine fired its beams at the knight, both Monsters fell back and shattered.

"So what!" Dwert screeched, "I still have Wanghu and you're defenceless! Next turn, your life points are gonna hit zero hard!"

"Have you forgotten about my face down cards?" said Stephanie as her set Birthright flipped up and glowed.

Dwert's grin immediately turned into a frustrated snarl. "No," he growled, thought truthfully he had forgotten, considering that between Horus and Jinzo neither of them could have been used, but now that those two were gone…

Evocator Chevalier returned to the field in a burst of flames. (ATK:1900-1500)

"Why did you bring him back?" asked Dwert, "I know you've got Phoenix Gearfried in your graveyard, right? And this guy here can't beat Tiger King."

"Are you as dumb as a sack of rocks?" Stephanie replied, as her other face down card flipped up, "Swords at Dawn take one Equip Spell from my graveyard and equips it to my Monster."

Jewelled Sword appeared in Cheavlier's hands. (ATK:1500-1800)

"Crap," Dwert cursed.

"Chevalier attack."

The flaming French knight sliced Wanghu in half. (Dwert LP:6500-6400)

"Wow," Arthur cheered from the sidelines, "she broke every part of your lock, in one turn."

"Don't you think I know that?" growled Dwert, "well at least I've still Burden of the Mighty weakening her Monsters."

But Stephanie looked unfazed. "Moving on to my second Main Phase," she said, "I equip my Chevalier with the Supervise Equip Spell, granting my Chevalier its effects.

"Then, I send my Supervise to the graveyard to destroy one card on your field, you get one guess which one."

The Supervise Spell card disappeared and Chevalier fired a fireball at the Burden of the Mighty card. Dwert could only grunt in anger as the very last card on his field burnt to a crisp. (ATK:1900-1500)

"And since Supervise was sent from the field to the graveyard, I can revive one Normal Monster, or in this case Gemini Monster, from my graveyard."

"I'll give you one guess who it is."

A pillar of fire erupted next to Chevalier and a three-metre tall knight in blazing red and white armour stepped out, raising its shield and swinging its massive sword. (2800/2200)

"I set one card face down and end my turn," said Stephanie, as a reversed card appeared behind her Monsters.

"My turn," Dwert growled, tearing the top card from his deck, "I'll start activating Level Modulation, you might get to draw two cards, but I get Horus back."

Stephanie drew two cards as Horus rose from the dead in a pillar of flames.

"Horus may not be able to attack this turn," said Dwert, grabbing two more cards from his hand, "but next turn…"

Two reversed cards appeared under Horus.

"Your turn," snarled Dwert.

Immediately after drawing her card, Dwert's face down card flipped up. "I activate Call of the Haunted," he announced, "bringing back Horus' best friend."

The Trap Card flashed and Jinzo rose from a pitch-black vortex.

"He got his lock back in just one turn," Arthur shuddered.

"It doesn't matter," said Stephanie, plucking one card from her hand, "I summon Guerrilla Kite."

A strand of string fell from the sky, attaching itself to Stephanie's duel disk at the other end appeared a blue kite with four eyes a demonic grin. (1600/200)

"What kind of messed up Monster is that?" shouted Dwert.

"A Tuner," Stephanie replied, "which I am using with Chevalier to perform a Synchro Summon."

Chevalier leaped high into the sky and transformed into four shining stars as Guerrilla kite cackled and turned into four green rings that encircled the stars.

A large beam of light shot through the rings and quickly expanded throughout the rings.

"I Synchro Summon Black Brutdrago."

The light dissipated and a huge, hulking dragon with thick, metallic black scales feel from the sky and landed on the ground with a pavement-cracking crash. It had horns all over its body and its limbs appeared to be covered in thick metal armour. (3000/2600)

"What?" Dwert snorted, "no fancy summoning chant? Thought those things were all the rage these days."

"A waste of energy," Sephanie replied, "but I will tell you that my Guerrilla Kite's effect activates."

The phantasmal form of Guerrilla Kite appeared behind Dwert and chomped down on his arm, causing the Gnoll to yelp out in pain. (Dwert LP:6400-5900)

"Just a scratch," he winced.

Stephanie rolled her eyes as she grabbed one card from her hand and slid it into the graveyard. "I activate Brutdrago's effect, discarding a Gemini Monster from my hand to destroy one of your Spell or Trap Cards."

Brutdrago belched fire over the Call of the Haunted Trap Card, incinerating it.

However, Jinzo didn't shatter.

Dwert burst out in his insane laughter. "Someone needs to brush on their card rulings, because Jinzo negates the effect of my Trap that would destroy him.

But Stephanie didn't looked phase. "I didn't use my Dragon's effect to destroy your Jinzo, I used my Dragon's effect to get the right card in the right place.

"Now Brutdrago, destroy Horus."

Both Brutdrago and Horus roared, flames gathering in their mouths. The two dragons launched their attacked at each other, where they collided in the middle of the battlefield.

But Dwert only laughed as the two Dragons continued. "You think you can get rid of Horus that easily, then think again! I activate my facedown card, Shrink, cutting your Monster's attack power in half."

Brutdrago shrank to half its size as Horus' flames began to overpower its own, eventually the miniature dragon was engulfed and incinerated by the flames. (ATK:3000-1500) (Stephanie LP:2300-800)

"So much for your miracle comeback," cackled Dwert, "all you managed to do was hurt yourself even more.

"And next turn I can finish the job

"I'm not finished yet," said Stephanie, "since my Brutdrago was destroy, I can revive a Gemini Monster, like the Monster I just discarded, Chthonian Emperor Dragon."

Hellish blue flames erupted from the pavement as it cracked opened

"Fat lot of good that'll do," chuckled Dwert, "the best it can do is tie with Jinzo."

"Then I'll leave that honour to Phoenix Gearfried," Stephanie replied.

The flaming Warrior drew its massive sword and brought it down on Jinzo, slicing the Machine in two. (Dwert LP:5900-5500)

"You'll pay for that," growled Dwert.

"I'm sure I will," said Stephanie, no the least bit intimidated,

The hellish aura around Chthonian Emperor Dragon intensified. (ATK:2400-3100)

Chthonian Emperor Dragon and Horus blasted flames at each other, this time however, Horus found its own flames overpowered and it was incinerated. (Dwert LP:5500-5400)

"Now my Dragon will attack you directly," Stephanie declared.

"What!" Dwert screamed, "but it's already attack this turn!"

"A Gemini Monster summoned by Brutdrago's effect is treated as an effect Monster and gains its effects," Steaphnie explained, "In Chthonian Emperor Dragon's case, it can now attack twice each turn."

Chthonian Emperor Dragon launched another ball of fire, engulfing Dwert. He howled in pain and dropped to his knees (Dwert LP:5400-2300)

Dwert pushed himself back onto his feet. "Still… got life points," he panted.

"Not for much longer," said Stephanie, slipping one card onto her duel disk, " I end my turn."

Dwert's eyes darted to the card he drew and he face contorted into the grin of a mad man. He quickly span the card around.

"Snatch Steal," Arthur gasped, "now he can…"

"Take control of your Emperor Dragon and have it take out you and your Phoenix Gearfried in one swoop," Dwert cackled as he played the card.

The Spell flashed into existence in front of Dwert, chains then shot out of the card, wrapping around Emperor Dragon and dragging it over to his side of the field.

"And now," the gnoll grinned ear-to-ear, "Chthonian Emperor Dragon, attack Phoenix Gearfried…"

Flames gathered in Chthonian Emperor Dragon's jaws.

"Stephanie," Arthur pleaded, "do something!"

Stephanie rolled her eyes, and her face down card flipped up. "Spiritual Fire Art - Kurenai."

Dwert's jaw dropped open. "What?"

"Alright," Arthur cheered, a hopeful tone returning to his voice, "now that Trap tributes Phoenix Gearfried, then burns you for damage equal to its attack!"

"You've gotta be fucking kidding me right?" cursed Dwert, his eyes wide and jaw dropping.

Phoenix Gearfried drew its sword as he became wreathed in flames. Then he charged at Dwert striking the gnoll and sending him flying back into his own D-Wheel. (Dwert LP:2300-0)

Buzzer blared as the AR field receded.

Stephanie removed her duelling equipment and marched over to Dwert, imposingly standing over him. "A deal's a deal," she said.

Dwert laughed. "You really are that naive, did you really think I'd wager my entire load over a duel. Some of my customer's would kill me if they found out I lost their stuff."

"Then I suggest you hand everything over and disappear," Stephanie replied.

Dwert drew a dagger from his sleeve. "I've got a better idea," he snarled.

He leapt at Stephanie, aiming the dagger straight for her chest.

Arthur squealed and clamped his hands over his eyes, expecting the worst.

After a few tense seconds and muffled screams, he peeled his hands from his face expecting to see his life flash before his eyes as Dwert crept closer and closer ready to imbed his dagger wherever he wanted, probably multiple times.

But instead, he was meet with the - sort of pleasant - view of Stephanie pinning Dwert to the ground, her knee digging into his chest as she held Dwert's own knife to his throat.

"Do you really think I'm that stupid?" asked Stephanie, "that I'd just expect that you'd hand over everything over a simple duel."

"Err…" Dwert hissed, "kinda, a lot of things in this world are determined by Duel Monsters…"

He howled as Stephanie pout more pressure the dagger, it began to dig into his skin.

"Steph," Arthur squeaked, "what are you doing?"

"What I should've done in the first place," she replied.

"Please," begged Dwert, "stop. I'll give you everything I own, D-Wheel included, just… Just…" he howled in pain as blood began to drip through his fur, "just stop please."

Stephanie stopped for a moment, her hand was noticeably shaking. "Pathetic," she spat after a painful pause, "ten seconds ago you were going to do the same thing to us."

"Oh come on," Dwert desperately chuckled, "it was a joke, honest. I wasn't gonna kill, honest…. I swear on my… Uh life."

Stephanie just maintained her cold glare.

"Y… You… You're not buying it are you," the Gnoll whimpered.

"No," Stephanie replied, as she resumed applying pressure to the blade.

Arthur clamped his hands over his eyes once more and looked away, he didn't want to watch. He tried his best to drown out the Gnoll's pained howls and screams.

Eventually the screaming stopped, no points for guessing why.

Arthur glanced over to where Stephanie stood and immediately clasped his hands over his mouth and dry heaved. "Ugh… I think I'm gonna be sick."

Stephanie stared up at sky, taking a deep breath as she trembled ever so slightly.

Arthur unwisely chose to take another peek at the deceased Gnoll. "Oh God," he gagged, "you near beheaded him!"

"He would've done the same to us," Stephanie replied, "it was simply self defence."

Arthur peeked back at the recently deceased Gnoll, only to tighten his grip around his mouth and dropped to his knees. "Oh God," he blurted out.

"Stop complaining and help me hurl this thing in the river."

"What..? Arthur stammered.

"We can't leave it here," said Stephanie, "we'd leave too much evidence in one place. We'd have the Shadowchasers on our doorstep first thing in the morning."

"I'm… not touching it," moaned Arthur.

"For God's sake, grow a pair," said Stephanie, marching over to him and hauling him to his feet with one swift, angry motion.

Arthur gave Stephanie a hesitant look. "But… But… What if I leave fingerprints?"

"Then wear these." Stephanie took off her riding gloves and shoved them in Arthur's face.

"Um... Uhrr... pink's not my colour."

Stephanie replied by slapping Arthur upside the head.

"Point taken," he agreed as he took the gloves and quickly put them on.

**0 - 0 - 0 - 0**

Meanwhile, in a late-night bar somewhere across the city.

Several Shadowkind sat at tables around the bar, some Kenku were playing poker around one table, while a group of Lizardfolk were drinking at another , a few Orcs were sitting at the bar - rather loudly - watching a rerun of an AFL match, the closest thing Earth had to legal bloodsport.

The door to outside slammed open, flooding the dark bar with light from the street. A figure in a black cloak walked through the door and made its way toward a table in the corner, where a Shadowkind was sleeping, with several empty beer cans scattered around it.

The Shadowkind was a Ngariman, a cat-like species of Shadowkind that normally dwelled in the outback (and as you probably guessed, often fought with desert dwelling Gnolls like cats and dogs).

The cloaked figure sat down at the table and coughed, attempting to catch the Ngariman's attention.

No response.

The cloaked figure coughed again, a little louder this time.

Still no response.

The cloaked figure coughed once more while knocking his fist on the table a few times.

And once again, no response.

"Oh for God's sake," the cloaked figure cursed, "what do I have to do, put out a saucer of milk? Wake up damn it!"

The Ngariman began to stir. "What?" he groaned.

"You're a hitman aren't you?" the cloaked figure bluntly asked.

"Woah, woah," said the Ngariman as he suddenly sobered up, "no too loud, some of the guys might be sober enough to understand you.

"Oh shit," he swore in realisation, "you're not a Shadowchaser are you?"

"No," replied the cloaked figure.

"That's exactly what one of 'em would say," snapped the Ngariman.

The cloaked figure "If I were a cop, I'd be arresting you right now."

The Ngariman raised an eyebrow and shrugged. "Guess so."

"So what do ya' want?" asks the Ngariman.

The cloaked figure produced a photo and slid it across the table.

The Ngraiman picked up the photo and inspected it, a picture of an old man with his name scrawled on in marker at the bottom. "Jeez, don't ya think you'd be better off just waitin' a few years? I mean he looks like he could drop dead any moment."

"I'm not very patient," the cloaked figure grumbled.

"What do I care, so long as you're rich."

"Right," the cloaked figure continued to grumble, "I was thinking four thousand dollars."

"Eh," shrugged the Ngariman, "he looks a little tough for someone his age. I dunno, four grand doesn't seem like a lot… "

"Take it or leave it," said the cloaked figure.

"Fine, fine. So, uh, how do you want this done?"

"Kill him."

"Yeah, but how?"

"I dunno, shoot him."

"Good idea," grinned the Ngariman.

"What? Sleeping isn't important business? I'm a cat you know, sleep is like the booze of... of... not being awake."

"It is when you're a cat," the Ngriman replied with a grin as he pocketed the photo then promptly flopped down onto the table once more, fast asleep.

The cloaked figure stared blankly at the sleeping Ngariman. Then stood up and walked out the door, hood flicking around ever so often and taking another look at the drunk cat folk passed out at the table and wondered if this was a good idea.

**0 - 0 - 0 - 0**

In an undisclosed location within Sydney, Stephanie - who was carrying a large sack over her shoulder - and Arthur gently pushed

Over one side of the room was a girl sitting behind a computer, the screen reflecting off her large glasses; in the middle of the room a man sat at the table, a halfway-completed game of solitaire set out in front of him, while in the corner a tall, well-built man was sitting on a couch and reading a newspaper.

All three of them glanced at Arthur and Stephanie as they walked through the door, then went back to whatever they were doing.

It took a few seconds before anyone spoke up. "What's with the sack?" asked the man at the table, "Christmas was weeks ago."

"We know," said the large man, "you got us all decks of playing cards."

"And they weren't even Duel Monster cards…" the girl at the computer mumbled.

"The whole world doesn't revolve around a single card game," said the man at the table, "life needs some variety."

"Anyway," said the large man, "back onto topic. What's in the sack."

"Well…" Arthur stammered, "you know that smuggler that I was getting those chemicals from. Well… Umm… Erm…"

"Spit it out man," said the man at the table.

"He tried to steal them from us," said Stephanie, "I attempted to stop him, he drew a knife and lunged at me.

"And then I killed him."

"You what?" bellowed the large man.

"It was self defence," she cooly replied.

"You forgot to mention the duel," Arthur added.

"Also I beat him in a duel," Stephanie flatly parroted.

"Who cares about a duel?" yelled the large man, "you just killed a… a… whatever it was and just left it there?"

"We dumped it in the river," Arthur quickly answered.

"Oh so you dumped the body in the river," said the large man, "that must mean that everything is alri…"

"No it's friggin' not!" he suddenly shouted, "next thing you know the police, the Shadowchasers, some other third thing, will barge through the door, arrest us and throw us in gaol to rot."

"Yeah, you couldn't hold onto a bar of soap to save your ass," chuckled the man at the table, "both figuratively and literally."

Muffled laughter came from the girl on the computer.

"Can we please change the subject?" Arthur nervously asked, having had enough of thinking about all the bad things that could happen.

"Fine," the large man agreed in a huff, "probably a good idea not to think about it before it actually happens."

Stephanie rolled her eyes.

"Err…" Arthur asked agin, "So… did anything interesting happen around here?"

"No," said the girl at the computer as she continued typing away.

"Eh," said the man the table, "there's was that giant frog drinking all that water, then giving it back for some reason, not to mention that were-crocodile downtown…"

A sly smirk came across Stephanie's face and a small grin appeared on her face.

"There was something about that on Facebook, Tumblr, Reddit, Youtube and Twitter," said the girl at the computer.

"Or the radio, television, newspapers, notices from the city council," added the man at the table, "or practically everything else away from that screen you're constantly glued to."

"Please this computer is much more interesting than your cards," the girl at the computer snorted, "I bet it has even more card games than you ever knew existed."

"Say that again after I unplug the damn thing."

The large man crossed his arms. "Cut it out you two," he said, "there's more important things to do than argue and bicker."

He then noticed the look on Stephanie's face, he approached here wagging his sausage-thick fingers in her face. "I know that look, the were-crocodile rampage was your doing wasn't it?" he roared, "what the hell were you thinking? What if you got caught in the act? What if he remembers your face? What if you screwed all our plans up before we even get them started? Just so you can cause a little mayhem…"

Stephanie scolded and glared at the man. "Buzz buzz," she hummed like a bee.

The large man squealed like a little girl and leapt behind the sofa.

"Oh for God's sake, grow a damn spine," said the man at the table, "are you really that scared of a bee?"

The large man peeked over the top of the couch. "You'd be scared of them too if you were allergic to them," he whimpered.

"What a wuss," the man at the table muttered, as he went back to his game.

"Hey?" the girl at the computer asked, "aren't you supposed to take the Jokers out in solitaire?"

The man at the table looked down at the playing cards, seeing that not one or two, but three Jokers had somehow made their way into her deck. "How the hell did those get there?" he muttered before scooping up the cards and dealing them out again.

Only for Stephanie to dump the sack onto the table on top of them, letting some of its contents - mostly Duel Monster cards - spill out over table.

In an instant the large man and the girl on the computer raced over to the table and along with the man who was already there, began to sort through the cards.

"There's quite a lot of rare - and powerful - cards here," said the large man, "this could give us quite the an edge on our opponents."

"Holy shit," said the man at the table, having forgotten about his old cards being scattered, "I heard some guy sold his own mother to get this card."

"I've seen argued with so many people online over whether these cards even really existed," said the girl formerly on the computer, "kinda wish I was right about it…"

Meanwhile Arthur rummaged through the sack, eventually pulling out the small black canister with a "toxic substance" label attached to it and carefully set it aside before joining the others in rummaging through the cards.

Stephanie watched on as the others continued rummaging through the cards. _The first steps of our plan are coming together, _she thought, _this living nightmare will soon be over._

_One day, humans will finally be safe from Shadowkind._

**0 - 0 - 0 - 0**

Jewelled Sword

Equip only to a Warrior-Type monster. It gains 300 ATK. When this equipped card is sent from the field to the Graveyard, draw 1 card.

Jewel Sword appeared in episode 54 of Yu-Gi-Oh GX. Creative credit goes to the writers of that episode.

Blank Swordmaster Inu

Beast Warrior/EARTH/Effect/LV:2/ATK:1000/DEF:400

When a Normal Monster you control battles an opponents Monster, you can send this card from your hand to the graveyard, the ATK and DEF of your opponents battling Monster become 0 until the end of the Battle Phase.

**0 - 0 - 0 - 0**

And so as the first day of this story comes to a end, something else in the city of Sydney begins to stir…

Lets see how things play out in the next chapter, A Cat of Ill Omen.


End file.

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's, Adventure, Fantasy