Yu-Gi-Oh:And So It Begins Chapter 13 Is Up (I'm Back)

[Cthonian]

Get ready to travel back in time, to the Duelist Kingdom Tournament [for starters] and experience a different version of the original Yu-Gi-Oh Series... with a little old, but all new characters and story line. Enjoy!! Cthonian

[Spoiler=Mini Character Bios]
Name-Age-Deck Type-Favorite Card

Brian-16-Torture Deck-Gravekeeper's Visionary
Holly-16-Harpie Lady Deck-Harpie Lady
Sarah-16-Ritual Deck-Black Luster Soldier
Christian-15-Basic Synchro-Road Warrior
James-16-Direct Damage-Lava Golem
Dylan-11-Elemental Hero-Elemental Hero Shining Pheonix Enforcer
Kevin-17-Machine-Cyber End Dragon
[/Spoiler]
I know Chapter 1 is a little short, but it's like a preview chapter that makes you ask yourself "What?".
[Spoiler=Chapter 1]
Everything about the Duelist Kingdom Tournament was going as perfect as can be. Yugi had defeated the dark part of Seto Kaiba, obtaining a total of six star chips and just recently Joey has just defeated Rex Raptor [now at three star chips] and has a total of four star chips. But little did everyone know, they were being watched by seven followers.

Rex Raptor was angry from his loss with Joey Wheeler. He wanted revenge for losing his star chips. He had managed to receive five star chips again when it happened. He was challenged to a duel by a six foot, hooded man. And seeing as how Rex needed to rack up chips before time ran out, he agreed. They dueled in the middle of nowhere with nobody in sight. After just one turn, all people heard was the dino duelist screaming for mercy. When someone looked to see what had happened, all they saw was that robed duelist taking Rex's star chips and whisper "Mind Flash". And with that, the duelist leaped into the forest and Rex forgot everything from the last ten minutes. And since the rules state that a duelist must have atleast one star chip to duel, he was kicked off the island.

Many more "accidents" like these happened all over the island with six other descriptions of people losing star chips and not remembering a thing that had happened.

The seven mystery duelists made their way up to Pegasus' castle and when they got to the top, Kimo was there to tell them that the tournament was over and that Yugi Muoto was the Duelist Kingdom Champion. The duelists took little interest in that and proceeded into the castle despite what Kimo told them. When trying to apprehend the kids, Kimp was held paralyzed until the robed teenagers were in the locked castle. Who are these kids, and what do they want?

With nobody to stop these kids, they proceeded to the dueling arena where Maximillion Pegasus stood, crying over the loss he sustained from Yugi. But not only was Pegasus there, but so was Bakura. He lurked out from the shadows and challenged Pegasus to a Shadow Game. The winner would get the losers Millenium Item. before Pegasus could answer, Bakura was knocked unconcious, and the seven robed duelists stood before Maximillion.

"Can I help you," said a tired, worn out man. "I was just about to have a Shadow Game with that gentleman over there before you knocked him out."

"And you would have lost," said the apparent leader of the seven. "Trust me I know."

"What is it that you want?" asked Pegasus.

"The same thing that he wanted," said the leader with a smirk. "Your Millenium Eye."

"And what's in it for me?" asked an intrigued Pegasus.

"If you manage to defeat me in a duel, this will be your prize," said the duelist as he opened his robe.

Pegasus had to look away because whatever the duelist was showing him, was too bright to even look at.
"And just what is that?" asked Pegasus.

"Duel me and fine out," said the hidden duelist.

Pegasus snapped his fingers and the dueling arena came down from the ceiling and both duelists walked up placing their cards onto the arena deck zone and drew five cards.

Pegasus:2000 Jon Doe:2000

"I may have lost to Yugi with this opening move, but there is no way that you can beat me," said Pegasus confindently. "I summon..."

"Let me guess," said the duelist. "You'll summon Red Archery Girl in defense mode after placing a card face down."

"Ugh," said Pegasus placing the cards down ending his turn. "How did you know?"

"Because, I've seen this coming for some time Pegasus," said the duelist snickering. "Now it's my turn, and the end of the line for you."

The guards on the outside were bringing Kimo inside when all they heard was their master screaming from the other room. They rushed in to see what was going on, but when they got there, his boss and Bakura were laying in the middle of the dueling arena, without their Millenium Items. All that was left, was note.

These two clowns, beaten and mangled
Only five more, to be clobbered and strangled
-The Infinite Seven-
[/Spoiler]
[Spoiler=Chapter 2]
Since the accident of what happened to Pegasus and Bakura, the entire world has heard about it. When the president of the biggest gaming corporation gets attacked in his own castle, on his own island, you can't really hide it from the media. Parents in the town of Domino have tried keeping their kids from dueling because they're afraid that their kids are the next ones to be attacked.

In the town of Domino, the kids that caused this to Maximillion were watching the news report. Local authorities made the assumption that it was a serial attacker and this made the kids angry. Some old geezer getting the credit for the work that they did. Even though they only knocked them unconcious, it was work that they were proud of. One of the older members turned off the tv set and looked at the others.

"Well, it looks like we've made out mark in Domino City doesn't it Brian?" smirked the eldest member.

"It certainly looks that way, doesn't it Kevin?" said Brian, the apparent ring leader to the group. "Now I think it's time that we had a little fun, don't you?"

The youngest one took off his hood to reveal a small, blonde headed boy that couldn't be older than 11.

"So what do you want me to do Brian?" asked the small child.

"Dylan, I'm going to leave that up to you." said Brian. "Go to the town of Domino and just have fun,".

"As you wish," said Dylan. "I'll be back before the night is through."

And with that, the youngest of the seven duelists was off for an unknown mission. While in Yugi's eyes, he had just gotten the invitation to participate in Seto Kaiba's Battle City Tournament that has now been postponed because of the recent mishaps. Whlie he was at home preparing his deck and talking with the spirit of the puzzle, Dylan was in an alley in the middle of a duel with some nobody.

"And now Elemental Hero Thunder Giant, end this duel with Voltage Thunder," Dylan commanded as his monster attacked his opponent directly.

Dylan:4000 Opponent:0

"That was way too easy," said Dylan walking up to his opponent. "I never even lost a single life point."

"Please, just take whatever card you want," said the man who lost. "I have a wife and a kid. Just don't hurt me."

"Would you listen to yourself?" said Dylan "Begging in front of an 11 year old. Pitiful. And do you really think that I would hurt you?"

Dylan made eye contact with the man and the next thing that the man knew, he was unconcious on the ground, waking up after a nap with his duel disk activated and without his deck anywhere. Dylan looked down at the man from the rooftop above, looking to see what he would do. He turned around to leave, as did Dylan. Only when Dylan turned around his older brother, Kevin was standing in his way.

"That was a nice duel little bro," said Kevin calmly. "Only you have to make sure that there is no one watching when they lose. I caught this one trying to run when he was watching you."

Dylan looked over his older brother's shoulder to find another man tied up trying to break free.

"Sorry Kevin, I just got caught up having fun that I forgot what our real mission was," said Dylan apoligetic.

"It's ok little bro," said Kevin.

"Allow me to take care of him," said Dylan

Dylan turned the guy so that he was facing him, looked him in the eyes and his mind was erased just as the other guys was. The brothers brought their "friend" down to the street and sat him against the wall so he wouldn't be hurt.

"So why is it that you are here?"asked Dylan with curiousity.

"I just wanted to keep an eye on you," said Kevin. "Just like all the parents that are watching out for us with their kids. Going out alone in Domino City is a dangerous thing. I just needed to make sure that you're safe... plus I wanted to see you trounce your opponent. I know that I've never told you this, but our dueling skills run in the family."

"They do?" asked Dylan. "From dad?"

"Believe it or not Dylan, our abilities come from both of them," stated Kevin. "You got your Elemental Hero cards from mom. And when I was eight, so about nine years ago, dad gave me his cards after he was a pro duelist. Well, we had better get going back to the gang. Brian has something for us to do I'm sure."

The siblings shared laughter and made their way back to their lair. When they got back, the other five were sitting at their conference table.

"So how was the hunting? asked one of the hooded members, but with a female voice.

"It was really good Holly," said Dylan. "I still need practice, but it's coming along. What are you guys up to?"

"We were just editing our decks with the new shipment of cards that came in," said Holly. "My deck has maximum power. Unfortunately, there weren't any cards that go with your deck styles. Sorry."

"But Kevin, the card that you were looking for did arrive," said Sarah, another member of the Infinite Seven.

"It did?" asked Kevin as he ran over to where the rare and powerful cards were kept. "Awesome, this card's going straight into my deck."

"What card is it Kevin?" asked James and Christian at the same time, the last two members of the Infinite Seven.

"That will be revealed in due time," replied Kevin. "And thanks Sarah for keeping an eye out for it."
[i]-In Domino City-[/i]
Tea and Tristian had just left the card shop and were on their way home and at the split of where they go their seperate ways, two duelists stood in their way.

"Can we help you?" asked Tea a little creeped out that these robed duelists were watching them.

No words were exchanged. Instead, the two duelists activated their own duel disks. These hand made duel disks looked like they came from the future. They were all shiny and much more expensive then the ones that were issued from Kaiba Corporation. Once the duel disks were activated the two duelists inserted their decks into the deck recognition spots and their life points showed 4000. Tea and Tristian just looked at each other and did the same by activating their duel disks with their decks already located inside.

The two robed duelists lowered their hoods and it was revealed that Holly and Sarah were the ones dueling. Only when they drew their opening hand, something weird happened to them. Holly's eyes went green and the symbol of the wind attribute was displayed on her forehead while Sarah's eyes turned blue and displayed the ritual symbol on her forehead. And to top it all off, blue and green circles appeared around the four duelists. It was going to be a weird duel.
[/Spoiler]
[Spoiler=Chapter 3]
Sarah:4000 Holly:4000 Tea:4000 Tristian:4000

"Since we challenged you," began Sarah. "We'll make the first move in this double duel. I draw. I activate the spell card Pot of Greed. With the abilities of this card I am now able to draw two cards from my deck."

"Not bad," Sarah thought to herself. "These pathetic rookies will be defeated in no time at all."

"To end my turn, I place a monster card in defense mode and activate the spell card Yellow Luster Shield," said Sarah. "As long as this card is on the field, all monsters on out side of the field will gain 300 defense points. Your move Tea."

"Fine by me," said Tea with such confidence in her voice.

Although she was acting strong on the outside, she was worried on the inside.

"I wish Yugi and Joey were here," thought Tea. "They would know what to do in a case like this. I just have to make the best of things and like Yugi says, I just have to trust in my cards and in myself."

"For my turn, I summon Dancing Fairy in attack mode (1700/1000)," said Tea. "And with that, I'll end my turn."

"Oh great," began Holly. "This girl plays with fairies and pixies. This won't be any fun at all. I summon Harpie Lady in attack mode (1300/1400). And as I'm sure that you've noticed the differences in our eyes, the field and out foreheads, so allow me to explain. On my forehead you see the mark or the win attribute. Whenever I summon a monster bearing the mark of the win, he, or she, gains 500 attack points. That raises Harpie Lady's attack power to 1800."

Holly smirked when she saw the look on Tea's face when she realized that their chances of winning just got worse.

"But to wrap up my turn," continued Holly. "I'll place two cards face down and end my turn. You're up macho man."

"With pleasure," began Tristian. "I draw and activate the cards Cost Down and Double Summon. Now I can toss a card and all the monsters in my hand for this turn become two levels lower, while Double Summon does exactly what it says. This card lets me summon twice this turn."

Tristian just kept going with his impecable combo.

"These girls won't know what hit them until it's too late." Tristian thought to himself with a smile on his face.

"Now I summon my two favorite monsters," said Tristian. "Come forth my loyal beasts, Lava and Swamp Battleguards [(1550/1800) and (1800/1550)]. And incase you didn't know their special abilities, when they're on the field with each other, they give each other a 500 point boost for just being on the field [(2050/1800) and (2300/1550)]. That ends my turn."

"Looks like it's my turn again," said Sarah as she drew the top card of her deck. "I place one card face down and end my turn."

Sarah had no doubt that they would fall into her trap(s).

"The girl will be the easiest target to eliminate," she began thinking. "And once she goes, we'll both strike him down with all of our might."

It was Tea's turn and as she drew her card, she was shaking.

"I have to hold it together," she thought. "I don't know what's with these girls, but they obviously didn't want a friendly duel."

She looked at the card that she drew and was pleased.

"Prepare yourselfs," said Tea. "To meet my favorite monster. I sacrifice the monster you see before you, to summon the Dark Magician Girl in attack mode (2000/1700). Now attack that Harpie Lady with Dark Burning attack."
Holly snuck a quick look at Sarah before pressing a little button on her duel disk.

"Reveal the two trap cards Mirror Wall and Trap Economics," said Holly. "With Mirror Wall, you lose half of attacking monsters attack points (1000). Normally I have to pay 2000 points every turn to keep it around, but Trap Economics ensures that I don't have to pay a single point to activate trap cards. Now my Harpie Lady, attack the Dark Magician Girl with Razor Slash Attack."

Sarah:4000 Holly:4000 Tea:3200 Trisitan:4000

"Since you eliminated my best card, I have to end my turn," said a disapoiinted Tea.

Holly drew her card knowing that Tea was going to be eliminated this round.

"Get ready Tea," mocked Holly. "This duel will be over for you this turn. I summon force the Cyber Harpie in attack mode (1800/1300). And just like before, watch as this monster gains 500 attack points just for being a wind attribute monster (2300). Now before I launch my attack, I activate the spell card Double Attack. By discarding this monster card to the graveyard, my Cyber Harpie can attack twice. Go Harpie's, wipe out her remaining life points."

Sarah:4000 Holly:4000 Tea:0 Tristian:4000

And with that, Tea was out of this game, but that's not the end of that story. Her life point reader read zero. She dropped to her knees feeling weak, without any energy. Holly looked her straight into the eyes and both sets of eyes grew a bright green and glowed so bright that everyone else had to look away. When the lights died down, Tea was laying on the ground, not moving.

"What did you do to her?" asked Tristian.

He went to go over to see if she was alright when he was shocked.

"I don't think so," said Holly. "You're not going anywhere. We're in the middle of the duel. And besides, the same thing will happen to you when you lose. You'll lose your mind and become our mind drones. We drain you of your essence and your energy and store it. Now back to the duel. I still have one attack left. And now Cyber Harpie Lady, attack Lava Battle Guard (Tristian:3750). And because Lava Battleguard was destroyed, your buddy sits by himself. That means that he loses the 500 point attack boost (1800/1550). It's your move."

Tristian was beginning to tear up. He had lost all hope.

"I have to do my very best," thought Tristian. "Unfortunately, the card I've drawn won't protect me from that Harpie."

He placed a card on the duel disk.

"I place a monster in defense mode," said Tristian.

"Stop right there," said Sarah. "You've activated my trap card, Acid Trap Hole. Now if the monster you've hidden from us has less then 2000 defense points, it's destroyed and sent to the card graveyard."

Before Tristian could answer, the trap hole trap destroyed his card, sending it into a pit full of acid. Tristian had but four last words.

"I end my turn," ended Tristian.

"I'm so sorry Tea," thought Tristian. "I tried my very best, but my best failed. Hopefully Yugi and Joey can help us, with whatever happens to us."

It was over as Sarah summoned her ultimate monster, the Black Luster Soldier. He attacked with such force. His life points fell just the same. But when he attacked, his attack meter read 3500. Like how the green emblem gave Holly's Harpie's 500 attack, Sarah's gives her ritual monsters 500 attack as well. Her and Tristian's eyes both glew blue and the duel was over. Tristian and Tea had lost. Two of the four musketeers had been captured and have been put away in isolation.
[/Spoiler]
[Spoiler=Chapter 4]
Chapter 4
"It looks as though they could only survive a few rounds with us," said Holly. "We should be getting back. We only need the souls of the worthy."

Sarah looked at Tea and Tristin's bodies as she laid them against the dumpster near by.

"I suppose," said Sarah without any emotion. "What do you think Brian has goign on in his brain?"
Holly was wondering that herself.

"Who knows," replied Holly. "But I'm sure that whatever it is, it's something that will blow our minds."

Sarah and Holly's phones go off. It's a text from James telling them that Brian was throwing a tournament to lure out more powerful souls. He left for something and said that he's be back later. He was heading for the pier. Follow him to make sure that he doesn't do anything stupid.

Sarah and Holly looked at each other with a look that didn't fair well for any of them if they were caught. But since James was always right when it came to gut feelings, they did as they were told.

Holly kept her head down on the road, the whole time that they were rushing, not missing a single beat. But on the inside, she was worried. The same feeling was felt by Sarah.

"I wonder what Brian is up to?" thought Holly. "He never does anything without telling atleast one of us."

Sarah and Holly both arrived to their destination and it was pitch black. They used their mystical abilities and they suddenly could see everything as if it were daytime. They walked around for a little bit before they saw Brian. He was standing by a lighthouse. Holly and Sarah and Holly stood back to observe.

"What's he doing here," Sarah asked herself. "He should be back home with the six of us."

When the girls were finally fed up with waiting, a stranger was walking in the direction of Brian.

"I have been waiting for you," said Brian. "Actually, I was beginning to wonder if you were even going to show up."

Brian turned away from the water to face the masked stranger.

"Please Brian, did you really think that I would pass up an oppurtunity to take out one of my own blood," said the unknown subject. "After all, it's not everyday that I defeat my mortal enemy."

The masked subject threw his mask and cape to the floor. It was clear now to the girls. It was Brian's corrupt cousin, Jamie. He was locked up five years to the night in a mental hospital for unknown reasons. The files were lost and never recovered. Brian never kept in touch but we all knew about his cousin.

"So what are the stakes for this duel Brian?" asked Jamie.

The girls just looked at each other and they were scared for their leaders life.

"Even though I think you know," Brian began. "If you win, you get my very soul, and my abilities. But if I am the one that defeats you, then you fork over your soul, and return to the mental hospital where you'll sit as an empty shell."

Both duelists agreed and activated their duel disks and inserted their decks. Both players life points returned to the initial 4000 and drew their opening hands. Brian drew this first card.

"It's my move Jamie," said Brian. "And I think I'll begin with the Graceful Charity card. With the power of this card, I am able to draw three cards as long as I send two cards to the graveyard."

Brian drew this cards and smiled at his new hand. Following the grin, Brian sent two cards from his hand to the discard pile.

"I summon Gil Garth in attack mode (1800/1200)," said Brian. "Now I place one card face down on the field and activate the spell card Gravekeeper's Servant. My turn is complete."

"It's only a matter of time before he loses this duel and his soul. His soul will only fuel the fire. Once we get enough souls, the prophecy will come to pass," thought Brian.

"I suppose it's my turn," said Jamie. "I summon Vorse Raider in attack mode (1900/1200). Attack Gil Garth now."

Gil Garth was destroyed but not before Brian got an advantage.

"Before your monster strikes Jamie," replied Brian. "When any of your monsters attack, my Gravekeeper's Servant card forces you to send the top card of your deck to the card graveyard. And I lose 100 life points."

Brian:3900 Jamie:4000

"That ends my turn," said Jamie as he discarded the top card of his deck to the grave.

Brian drew his next card and knew he had this duel in the bag.

"I activate the Mask of the Accursed spell card," announced Brian. "With the power of this card, your monster can't attack or defend for you. And everytime your turn begins, this mask will rid you of 500 life points. Now to end my turn, I activate the Monster Economics spell and summon Revival Jam in defense mode (1500/500). My new monster has hidden abilities while my spell card prevents me from paying life points for a monster effect. It's your move."

Jamie drew his card and was shocked by the duel disk. His life points dropped to 3500 because of the effects of the mask. He dropped to his knees from the pain the duel disk caused him. He got back up and summoned a second Vorse Raider in attack mode (1900/12000). His monster launched an attack at Brian's monster, and he discarded the top card of his deck. The attack continued and when he ended his turn, the monster reformed.

"When my Revival Jam is destroyed, he gets resummoned for the price of 1000 life points. But as we all know, I don't have to pay life points for any and all monster effects," declared Brian.

It was his move.

"Get ready Jamie," said Brian. "I activate Spell Economics and summon Gravekeeper's Commandant in attack mode (1600/1500). As you probably guessed, Spell Economics does the same thing that my Monster Economics does but with spell effects. Now I activate my final card, the Mask of Brutality. Normally, my monster gains 1000 attack points and I have to pay 1000 life points during each one of my standby phases. But with my spell card up and about, my Comandant only gets a 1000 point boost (2600/1500). Now attack his Vorse Raider with Judgement Blast."

Jamies monster was destroyed and he was knocked over by the aftermath of Brian's attack. He was controlling this duel with one card at a time.

Brian:3900 Jamie:2800

Jamie drew his next card and the duel disk shocked him yet again. Both duelists were losing it. The two followers of Brian were nervous for the both of them.

Brian:3900 Jamie:2300

"I summon Mystical Elf in defense mode and place three cards face down, ending my turn (800/2000)," said Jamie.

The blue elf was all that stood between Brian's monsters and Jamie's life points. Brian drew his next card and Jamie activated his face down cards, two copies of Gift Card, giving Brian 6000 life points and Self Destruct Button. Since the difference in both players life points was more than 7000, both players lose the duel.

The blast went off from Jamie's trap card and it sent both duelists flying in different directions. Smoke was everywhere when Holly and Sarah went running after their leader. When the smoke cleared, Holly and Sarah carried Brian over to Holly's truck while Jamie was nowhere to be seen. Just like what happened to Pegasus, there was only a note.

"This isn't over Brian. Not by a long shot!"
It was signed Jamie.
[/Spoiler]
[Spoiler=Chapter 5]
When Brian woke up, he was in his bed back at team headquarters. He looked over to his nightstand to see what time it was. There he found his digital clock that displayed the numbers 12:00 as well as his dueling deck. He couldn't believe it. Normally, he was up at seven, seven-thirty by the latest. But he was able to sleep in until noon. He tried to move from the bed and was in pain.

He then remembered the previous events from the night before. He remembered Jamie activating the three trap cards that sent him to a full day of bed rest. He slowly took a step towards his bedroom door, to see where everyone else was and how he got back to the headquarters. Each step he took, he felt some pain on the inside. With each step, he felt himself losing a bit of what made him, him.

Brian walked out to find the rest of the team sitting around at the conference table. When he took his rightful place in his chair, they all looked down to the floor. They all knew what had happened the night before and there was no going back. They had to regroup and bond again before it would be too late.

"Brian," began Christian.

That was when he was cut off by Brian.

"Christian, you don't have to," interrupted Brian. "I know that I should have told you about Jamie, but you all know how I feel about him, or do I have to remind you all again? But since Christian, you are the newest member, I will repeat the dreadful story. When we were kids, Jamie and I were the bestest of cousins, and even better, the best of friends. We did everything together. Then we even got into the game of duel monsters. When I was in my fifth year of school, I learned about the prophecy in an ancient text."

Christian had heard the same story from the others, but never from Brian himself.

"Later that night, I couldn't sleep," continued Brian. "Images were popping in and out of my head. Voices were coming and going. There was no stopping them. During the summer of the beginning of my transfer into middle school, I kept getting weird messages. They wanted me to join the prophecy. And as we all know, I accepted and began a pawn in the game. It was fate. Although, then the voices that wanted me to join had my initiation. They wanted my to stop the one person that was a threat to the whole organization, Jamie. Although Jamie was also accepted, he became obsessed. He was the true leader, but became drunk with power. And so, that one night, five years ago, I did what I had to do to protect this organization. He was released last night and just as he promised to do all those years ago, he has come back for revenge."
The room fell silent and everyone slowly began to lift their heads from the floor.

"So," began James. "Why didn't you call? Why didn't you tell us? I suppose that it doesn't matter now. He's escaped from our grasp. So where do we go from here?"
Brian spun around in his chair so that he faced away from the group.

"I had already taken the precaution that Jamie would escape. Holly and Sarah, I take it you were able to defeat Tea and Tristan last night? Am I correct?" asked Brian.

Both girls rose from their chairs and handed Brian each a soul card. One filled with the life energy of Tea, while the other was filled with the life energy of Tristan.

"Excellent, these will become quite useful for enlisting help from the resources that we will need," said Brian accepting the soul cards.

Brian got up from his chair and went into his chambers. The door shut behind him automaticallly. He stepped onto the silver platform. It activated the floor. It opened up, and a table emerged from the floor. It was encased in non-brakeable glass. The top opened and Brian put the two soul cards on the table. The glass locked back up, and disappeared back into the floor, never to be seen or heard from again.

Brian made his way over to his deck, where a phone sat. He picked it up and dialed a number. After a few minutes of phone conversation, he came out where the other members of the team were waiting in their hoods, ready and waiting. Brian could only smile at their dedication.

"I take it you know what the plan is?" asked Brian.

They all nodded and were off. They all got into the cars with their decks and their duel disks and left for Domino City for a "business meeting".

It was night time when the car actually got to it's destination. The gang discussed how it was going to go all down while making a few detour stops along the way. Tonight was the night everything was revealed. It was 8:00. And right on time, was their business associates. And where was this meeting place? None other then the Kaiba Dome. The Infinite Seven were already waiting inside when two males approached them in the stadium each wearing three males, each wearing duel disks. And not one of them had a smile on their faces. Brian was the first to speak in the darkness.

"Welcome Yugi, Joey, and Seto Kaiba. I welcome you to our meeting place. Do you have what I asked you to bring?" asked Brian almost laughing.

The three of them just looked at each other and put down the souless bodies of Tea, Tristian, and little Mokuba.

"We've held up our end of the bargain, now how can you help us?" asked Yugi.

The lights turned on, and everyone was revealed. The different sides stood on each sides of the stadium floor. brian held up three soul cards, the three that belonged to the empty shells on the floor.

"I told you on the phone that I could get your friends and familie's souls back. And I wasn't lieing," said Brian grinning. "But we want something in return."

Kevin, James, and Christian all stepped towards the three duelists and handed them an envelope. Once the task was complete, they stepped back behind their leader.

"What is this, some kind of a game?" shouted Seto Kaiba, who was losing his patience.

His question remained unanswered and the three duelists opened the envelopes that were given to them. It was an invitation. When they were each reading it, for some odd reason, they heard the same message being spoken aloud. They all looked up at the monitor in the room and it was the news. It was broadcasting the start of a tournament. But the only way to get in was to have an invitation. There were 2500 duelists personally invited to this "gathering". Only the top 64 would get a shot at the finals. That meant that what Yugi, Joey, and Seto were holding, was their invitations.

"You should be proud, gentlemen, you've received your invitations personally," said Brian. "But I do have an insurance policy to ensure that you duel. I will release your loved one's souls. All you have to do is enter. But if for some reason you shouldn't show up, or if you're eliminated before the finals, their souls are ours again."

Brian's eyes grew black, and that same aura filled the room. The room temperature suddenly dropped to ice cold. The lights flickered in and out. But when they turned back on, the souls of the victims were restored and all was calm.

"Don't forget our little deal gentlemen," said Brian. "In just one week, the tournament begins. You had better bring your "A" game."

And with that, the seven robed duelists got into the car, and left the Kaiba Dome back to headquarters while the three contestents stayed with their loved ones.

"Looks like everything is set in stone Brian," said James. "All the pieces have come together. And it looks as though this tournament will speed up the process of us completing the prophecy."

The duelists took off their robes and hung them up as they walked into their "home".

"Yes, but let's not forget," said Brian as he and the others kept walking towards the bedrooms. "We have to get to the finals too. Which means we each must defeat ten duelists and register their tournament id number into ours. Remember, each duelist is given an id, which has a code and ten blank spaces to insert other duelist's codes. When you have ten, your id turns into an invitation congratulating them on making the finals. Then they get a date and a map of where to meet for the finals, or so they think. We need to get rested up and get back to training so we are at our best. Good night everyone!"

Everyone replied the same comment and went to bed. While that happened, on the other side of town, Joey, Yugi, Tea, and Tristan were helping editing each others decks. Yugi and Joey's for the tournament and Tea and Tristan just incase they got into trouble again. Finally, everyone in Domino City was at rest. They weren't at ease, but they were all sleeping.
[/Spoiler]
[Spoiler=Chapter 6]
It's been one week since the Infinite Seven crossed paths with Yugi, Joey and Seto Kaiba. And that can only mean one thing. The tournament is here. During the week, duelists across the globe have been flying to Domino City, and training their hearts out. During the morning of the tournament, everyone made their way to Downtown Domino to await the start of the tournament. Identification cards could be seen on everyone's necks, all missing ten id's. At the exact moment that the clock stroke noon, all advertisement ads on tv monitors across the city went out. Seven robed duelists replaced them on the monitors. They were wearing duel disks that they asked Kaiba Corporation to make for this tournament, as part of their agreement. This was getting interesting.

"Duelists of the world," said Brian. "You have all been personally invited to this tournament by us. Over the next week, you will compete for a duelists dream prize, the title of number one duelist in the world. You are all known for having special dueling skills and we look foward to seeing them put to the test. Prepare yourselves duelists, because this tournament begins now and we wish you the best of luck. Anywhere in Domino City is legal to have a duel and if you're up to the challenge, the seven of us will be dueling; not that you know who we are."

Brian chuckled at his last comment and the screens returned to their normal advertisements. Now it's on. The tournament as been set in motion and only 64 will make it to the finals. Everyone in the tournament has their work cut out for them, even our heroes.

Yugi and Joey were with Tea and Tristin in Domino Square. They saw the message and took off together. As from the regular series, everyone knows that Joey Wheeler lost his Red Eyes Black Dragon to the rare hunter. Now Yugi is in the middle of dueling him for the card back.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the city, there's another duel going on. Actually, there have been several. Christian had wasted no time getting out on the dueling circuit having already obtained four id numbers and working on number five.

Christian had 3000 life points remaining while his opponent had only 1400. It was his opponents move after he played Torrential Tribute, clearing the field. You see, Christian has a special type of deck. He uses Synchro monsters. He doesn't go overboard with them, but he has some basic ones. You might be asking where he got them since we are only in "Battle Cityish". But that will be made clear of later.

"I summon Masaki, the Legendary Swordsman in attack mode (1100/1100)," said his opponent. "Now attack with Samarai Slash."

The attack sliced through Christian's life points and knocked him down to 1900. It was his move and he drew his card with a smile.

"You may have seen my cards in action four different times, and think you have the edge," began Christian. "But you couldn't be more wrong. You're about to lose this duel. I activate Monster Reborn and Swing of Memories to bring back two copies of Tune Warrior (1600/200). And now I summon Powered Tuner in attack mode (1400/1000). He has a special ability that powers him up by 500 points for each tuner monster on my field (2400/1000). Finish this with Devastating Blow!"

Christian's opponents life points dropped to zero and when Christian walked up to him, he took his id card. He put the number into the card and it was approved. He threw the empty id card back at the duelist and walked away. Everyone that crowded them looked at him funny as he walked away. He went and sat at a table outside a cafe. He ordered two cups of tea. Five minutes later, the tea and James had arrived. Christian was sipping his tea and was quiet the whole time. They sat in their robes and got funny looks from people walking by. Everyone knew that they were the tournament organizers and everyone wanted a challenge. They were on their break and refused.

James had also aqquired five id numbers and was taking a break for the day. He had refused one kid earlier, but he wasn't taking no for an answer. Out of nowhere, this kid threw a rock at the table and landed in James' cup of tea. He got up threw on his duel disk and charged over to the kid.

"So much for taking it easy," thought Christian. He paid the bill, and took his tea over to the duel scene.

Yet again, a crowd gathered. Both duelists activated their duel disks and a red ring appeared around the two duelists. And James' eyes turned a blazing red. Not only that, but a spear symbol appeared on his forehead. The kid was scared but there was no backing down now. James' drew his first card.

"I place one card facedown," began James. "To end my turn, I summon the Mystic Lamp in attack mode (400/300)."

The lamp that had appeared before James had gained 500 attack points for some reason.

"Hey," shouted the impatient kid. "Why did your monster gain 500 attack points? There aren't any spell cards out on the field."

James just chuckled because he knew he had this duel all wrapped up and tied with a big, red bow.

"I take it that you've noticed the circle, my eyes, and my forehead," commented James. "When I summon a fire monster, or a monster that has the ability to attack directly, they gain 500 attack points."

The kid knew he had to do one thing, destroy that lamp.

"Your plan won't work," replied the kid as he drew his card. "I summon Axe Raider in attack mode (1700/1150). Attack his monster with Axe Slash!"

All James did was press a little button on his duel disk and the kid's strategy was going down the drain. It was the trap card Gravity Bind. With that trap, any monster level four or above cannot attack. The kid ended his turn with a sigh. That left James to draw his card.

"I summon Leghul in attack mode (300/350)," said James. "And since he can attack directly, he gains 500 attack points (800/350). Now attack my two monsters."

The kid's life points dropped from 4000 to 2300 just like that. James placed one card face down and ended his turn.

"It's my move and I draw," said the kid. "I summon Hayabusa Knight in attack mode (1000/700). So what if I can't attack your monsters with my higher level monsters. This one can attack twice and meets the level requirements. Now attack my knight, obliterate his monsters."

Normally, this would have been a good strategy. But James was too smart for this trick and was well prepared.

"I reveal the trap card Magic Cylinder," countered James. "Since you attacked me, your attack stops and your mosnters attack points back fire at you and deal direct damage equal to the monsters attack points."

James:4000 Kid:1300

James was going to make this kid pay for throwing a rock at him and Christian. He drew his card and began his final turn.

"Let's end this duel monsters," said James. "Attack him directly with double direct attack."

The kids life points dropped to zero and the duel was over. The circle had disappeared. James lifted the kid off the ground and took his id number. It was verified and then the kid looked James directly in the eye. There was a bright light to blind all the people watching and to erase their memory of what had happened. The kid was out cold and leaned against the side of a building until he would wake up shortly. He looked at Christian and walked over to him.

"Well, looks like that makes six," said James laughing. "I wonder how the others are doing."

Christian was silent for a moment and then looked at the time.

"We'll find out when they meet us for dinner back at headquarters. We should head there now too," said Christian.

They got into their car and their driver drove the home. On the way there, Christian was on his laptop. He was looking over the tournament status. It had appeared that 850 duelists had been eliminated. But that wasn't the best news. Yugi Muoto and Joey Wheeler had both managed to achieve three id card numbers. It appeared that Yugi had kept Joey's Red Eye's Black Dragon. Not only that, but there were more rare hunters in their database, meaning that there were hackers involved. This wasn't good. He looked at who had the most id card numbers. It was Brian having a grand total of nine. Christian almost lost it when he saw that number. In second place was a duelist named Mai Valentine. Her report said that she would probably take an early lead.

The duelists arrived home and were greeted by their friends. While Brian had eight numbers, Christian had five, James had six, the others had five as well. They ate dinner and went to bed for a well deserved rest and to put day one of the tournament begind them.
[/Spoiler]
[Spoiler=Chapter 6]
It was day six of the tournament. Kevin took off early to get the rest of the id numbers for his entry slot into the finals. The others had already gotten theres and Kevin was the last one. By this time of morning, so many duelists were out trying to get a head start so it was easy for Kevin to get up to nine id numbers. He spotted his last victim too. It was a cocky teenager that thought he would make it to the finals and win just like that. Kevin was going to show him a thing or two.

Kevin was one to sit back and observe one's dueling skills before challenging them. So while wonder boy over there dueled another challenger trying to shut him up, Kevin was doing research on who had already made it to the finals. As it turns out, 13 people already qualify. When he closed that database, he looked into the kids deck and profile. It said that he was the apprentice to the one and only Weevil Underwood and used insect cards to defeat his opponents.

The kid's opponent went down like the others and Kevin challenged him to a duel. When the kid accepted, he had five id numbers displayed on his id card. Both players activated their duel disks and inserted their decks only to draw the top five cards. The teenager began.

"I begin by summoning Killer Needle in attack mode (1200/1000)," said the kid. "That ends my turn."

Kevin drew his card and spoke his first words all morning.

"Your monster is way to powerful for me," mocked Kevin. "So I place one monster in defense mode as well as one card face down. And I'm afraid that's the best move that I could come up with."

The kid actually believed him because of how cocky he was. He drew and launched an attack at Kevin's monster.

"Stop right there," countered Kevin. "You've activated my trap card. Go Ordeal of a Travler. You have to guess the type of card in my hand. If you are correct, your attack continues. But if you're wrong, then your monster returns to your hand."

Kevin chose one card in his card and held it up for the kid to guess if it was a monster, spell, or trap card. The kid guessed monster and was correct. The attack continued only to flip over Boot-Up Solider - Dread Dynamo (0/2000). That caused the kid to lose 800 life points.

Kevin:4000 Kid:3200

"Weevil gave me this card for sticky situations," said the kid. "So to end my turn, I activate Meteor of Destruction. Now since you have atleast 3000 life points, you lose 1000 life points. And while I'm at it, I'll activate two of them. My turn in done."

Kevin:2000 Kid:3200

Kevin stood up after getting blasted to the ground. That's when it happened. A yellow brown circle emerged from nowhere. A gear symbol appeared on Kevin's forehead as well as his eye's going deep brown. Just like with the other abilities, this one gives all machines 500 attack points.

Kevin drew his card and everything was about to come crashing down.

"I sacrifice my soldier to summon the king," began Kevin. "The Machine King that is (2200/2000). And he gets 100 attack points for each machine type monster on the field plus 500 because of this magic circle (2800/2000). It's time to end this duel. I activate the spell card Limiter Removal. This card doubles the attack strength of all machine monsters unti the end of this turn and then their destroyed. But with the power boost that this card gives me, you won't get to see that happen. Watch as my monster grows from 2800 attack points to 5600. Now destroy that buzzing bee and all 3200 of his life points."

The kid flew backswards and did a few flips on the ground. Kevin just walked up to him and repeated the same thing he's done many times before this and took the kids id number. Now he was qualified to enter the finals. He took his laptop and began to walk back to the layer with a cup of coffee in hand. That's when he saw Joey's Gearfried, the Iron Knight defeat the last of Weevil's Insect Queen's eggs, and the last of his life points. He had a total of seven id card numbers. From what he had heard, Yugi only needed one more.

"Very interesting," thought Kevin. "Looks like everything is going according to plan."

When Kevin got back to headquarters, everyone was up. They were quiet, but they were up. They were all at the conference table editing their decks and going through the online database trying to figure out how the hackers got in. In the end, it stood to reason that it didn't matter. In the end, Marik and his rare hunters managed to register for the tournament. What was even weirder, was that Marik registered ten actual numbers and losses without actually dueling. That was odd. Guess they would find out when the finals began. Brian got off the laptop and looked out the giant window on the side of the headquarters building overlooking the city.

"James, Christian," said Brian. "Come with me, we're going to pay Yugi Muoto a visit."

The three duelists put on their hoods and made their way to Domino Pier. It was only a ten minute drive from what the seven of them called home, but it seemed to take forever. When they arrived, the saw Yugi dueling Joey. That was odd. They should be working together to get into the finals. That was when it clicked that Joey was being brain washed.

The three of them approached the pier arena. Marik looking through the eyes of Joey looked at Brian.

"Ah, if it isn't Brian," said Marik. "I was wondering if I was ever going to get the privledge of meeting you. I only hope we get to meet face to face."

Brian just looked at the duel set up that was going on.

"I'll see you at the finals Marik," said Brian. "But until then, I'm releasing Joey's mind from the Shadow Realm and putting a stop to this duel."

The mind servant's eyes widened.

"You can't break my control," said Marik. "It's not possible."

And with that, the reging lunatic was gone. That left only Joey to stand and hold the duel disk. James and Christian opened the duel boxes and unlocked them both from Marik's twisted plot. That's when Brian saw it. Both duelists had a total of ten id card numbers. The gang heard a horn and when they turned around it was Mai and the gang.

Brian gave the signal to his men that it was time to leave. As Brian himself was about to get into the card, Yugi called out to him.

"Wait," shouted Yugi. "I may not know your name, but I'd like to thank you. Now I see that you and your people are not out to get us, but to help us. I think you for that. Can I atleast know your names?"

Brian looked at James and Christian with a smile and nodded.

"My name is Brian," announced Brian. "This is James and Christian. We are but three members of The Infinite Seven. And although we can't tell you everything, just know that everything that we did, is what we were destined to do."

Brian looked at the group of people and then back to Yugi.

"Looks like I'll be seeing the three of you at the finals," said Brian. "Good luck to all of you and see you there. Oh and Yugi, be careful with Slifer, the Sky Dragon won't you? Marik isn't going to waste any time before going after it again."

And with that, the three of them got back into the car and were off to headquarters once again. Even though we don't know what the Infinite Seven's plans are, atleast we now know that they are on Yugi's side. And we know that they'll do everything in their power to help him stop Marik and his gang of rare hunters from getting the power of the pharoh. It's time for everyone to go home and rest up. For the tournament finals are only one day away.
[/Spoiler]
[Spoiler=Chapter 8]
It was the night before the finals. Everything was peaceful in the city. But if that truely was the case, then we wouldn't have a story now, would we? Everyone in the tournament was readjusting their decks as need be and was looking at the online database to see their compitition. That was when it happened. The entire city had just lost power. But this was more than just an average blackout. This was a takeover. Everyone that was still awake at this late hour crowded the streets in search for answers. That included Yugi Mutou and his friends who had spent the night at his house.

When they emerged from the game shop, a large limo pulled in front of them. The door opened and inside was Brian and the other six members of The Infinite Seven. The four of them got in and the car took off.

"What's going on Brian?" asked Yugi. "Why doesn't any of the city have any power?"

For once, Brian and his gang weren't to blame for the accidents that had occured.

"I don't know," replied Brian. "But I had a bad feeling and so we were going to check out the power plant. There have got to be answers as to why I have this bad feeling and maybe we can even get the power turned back on."

The car drove fast on the highway. There weren't any cars on the road, so it made the time of arrival must sooner. When the duelists arrived, the plant too was pitch black. But when everyone got out of the car, blinding lights were turned on. This was a trap.

"So, we meet again," spoke a voice.

The duelists tried to look for the source of this voice but the lights were too bright.

"Who's there?" asked Brian.

The lights shut off and everyone was left blind.

"An old friend," the vocie replied laughing.

Brian knew instantly who this was.

"What do you want Jamie?" asked Brian.

The blinding effects of the lights have worn off and everyone could see Brian's cousin standing just a few feet away.

"The same thing I wanted last time Brian," said Jamie. "Revenge! Only this time, I'm goign to be smart about it. I knew that once I cut the power, you would be the first one up here. Without the electricity flowing through the city, your tournament comes to a standstill. You need this power to use your duel disks."

Brian was getting annoyed.

"What do you want so we can have the power back?" asked Brian.

"Me and my "friends" here only want a friendly duel," said Jamie as six masked duelists appeared from the shadows. "If you and your team can win against all seven of us, we will restore the power to your precious city for your tournament."

Brian looked at everyone for an answer. They really didn't have a choice but whe brianlooked at them for that answer, they all grinned and put their duel disks on the ground.

"You've got a deal Jamie," said Brian with a strong, powerful answer.

Jamie's grin grew even bigger than before.

"Excellent," he replied. "And I've installed these portable generators around us so that we may use our duel disks. Dueling first from out team will be TK. Show them what you're made of TK."

And with those words, we gathered to each side of the plant and Jamie's flunky appeared before us. There was only one clear choice on who should start this fight.

"James, take him down," said Brian looking to James.

James was only more than happy to duel. Both duelists activated their duel disks and drew their opening hands.

"I'll go first if you don't mind," said James. "I draw and activate Meteor of Destruction. With this card, since you have atleast 3000 life points, you lose 1000 life points,"

And with the first card being played, damage was already being inflicted.

James:4000 TK:3000

"And I don't want you thinking that I'm done," continued James. "So I activate Tremendous Fire. This card deals 1000 points of damage to you, and 500 point of damage to me."

James:3500 TK:2000

"Get read for one more," said James. "As I activate the card Goblin Thief. This card basically steals 500 of your life points and gives them to me. To end my turn I summon Giant Germ in defense mode (1000/100)."

James:4000 TK:1500

In just one turn, James was able to inflict a lot of damage without even attacking once. Now it was TK's move as he drew his card.

"That was pretty good," he began. "But I fuse these two monsters in order to summon the Flame Swordsman in attack mode (1800/1600). Wipe out that monster with Flaming Sword of Battle."

And with that attack, James' monster was obliterated and sent directly to the card graveyard.

"This guy just fell into my trap," thought James.

"Now I activate the special ability of my Giant Germ" said James. Since he was destroyed in battle, you lose 500 life points and I can summon two more from my deck."

James:4000 TK:1000

TK ended his turn stunned, barely able to move.

"I summon Servant of Catabolism in attack mode (700/500)," said James.

And with that, the red circle appeared and the symbol of the spear reappeared on Jame's forehead. His eyes also changed from brown to red too. All monsters that are of the fire attribute of can attack directly gain 500 attack points.

"Now Servant of Catabolism (1200/500)," began James. "End this duel with a direct attack."

TK's life points dropped to zero and the duelist was dragged away by the other members of his team. Jamie was getting annoyed.

"You may have won this duel," said Jamie. "But to get back the power of the entire city, you have to pull that off six more times. Let the next duel begin. Zero, you're up."

Brian congratulated James and Zero looked tough. He looked at Kevin and Kevin could only nod. He took the battlefield with stride. The duel disks activated and both players drew their cards. That was when the brown circle appeared along with the gear symbol. Now any machine monster that Kevin layed would instantly gain 500 attack points.

Zero didn't look like an easy opponent either. Since they lost the last duel, Zero began.

"I activate the spell card Cost Down," began Zero. "I send one card to the graveyard and any monster I summon this turn will be two levels lower. Now I summon Total Defense Shogun in defense mode (1550/2500). To end my turn, I'll change the scenery with the field card Chorus of Sanctuary. With this, any and all monsters in defense mode gain 500 defense points (1550/3000). It's your move!"

Kevin drew his card and it was show time.

"I place two cards facedown," began Kevin. "Now I summon Submarineoid in attack mode (800/1800). Now he gains the power boost of my magic circle (1300/1800). And he can attack directly, so go, attack!"

Kevin:4000 Zero:2700

"Now since it's the end of the damage step, I can place my card in defense, which thanks to you, he gains 500 defense points (1300/2300). I end my turn," said Kevin.

Zero drew his card and was extremely happy.

"I activate the spell card Field Barrier and then Heavy Storm to destroy all spell and trap card on the field," said Zero.

Kevin was confused. He just played a spell, and now he's destroying it. But this set off a surprise for Zero. Not only that, but Chorus of Sanctuary is still in play.

"I don't know why this fairyland is still around, but you destroyed my Dark Coffin trap card. And when it's destroyed, you must either toss a card, or destroy one monster. Take your pick," said Kevin.

Zero tossed a card in his hand to the graveyard.

"Now, about the field card," explained Zero. "The card I played before Heavy Storm was Field Barrier. It made it so that my field spell was protected from everything. I end my turn."

Kevin didn't like this. There had to be something more to his plan other then just building defense. Kevin drew his card and tried to figure out what.

"I may not know what you're up to," said Kevin. "But I will find out. I summon Ancient Gear Knight in attack mode (1800/500). Now I activate the spell card Ancient Gear Castle. It gives all Ancient Gear monsters 300 attack. And let's not forget about this magic circle giving 500 more attack points (2600/500). Now I attack directly with Submarineroid and put him back in defense mode ending my turn."

Kevin:4000 Zero:1400

Zero drew a card and played Pot of Greed, letting him draw two cards from his deck.

"I activate Horn of the Unicorn," said Zero. "This card gives my ultimate warrior 700 attack and defense points (2250/3700). Get ready, because I activate Shield and Sword. This card switches monsters attack and defense points for the turn. That means my Shogun has 3700 attack points and your Soldier only has 500. Attack my Shogun."

Kevin:800 Zero:1400

"Wait, how was your monster able to attack while in defense mode?" asked Kevin.

Zero grinned.

"That's his special ability," said Zero. "He can attack while in defense mode. That means he can stand against your attacks with 3700 defense points, and attack with 2250 attack and rising. Meet the ultimate stategy."

Kevin was amazed. There are only a handful of cards that can stand up against that defense, so while it's defending, he's going to destroy all my weaker monsters and increase it's attack points now.

"I have to draw the right cards to take that thing down," said Kevin thinking to himself. "I just need a few cards. I only have to last a few turns in order to draw those cards. So I can't take another blast like that to my life points or I'm done."

To Be Continued
[/Spoiler]
[Spoiler=Chapter 9]
"You may have the lead at the moment with 1400 life points compared to my 800, but I'm about to change all that," said Kevin. "It's my move. I attack you directly with Submarineroid and then switch him back into defense mode ending my turn."

Kevin:800 Zero:100

Zero got off the ground and drew his next card.

"Don't you get it yet?" asked Zero. "This duel is mine and it will all be because of my Total Defense Shogun. I equip Fairy Meteor Crush and Black Pendant onto my monster. Now when it attacks a monster in defense mode, and if my attack is higher then your defense, then the difference in them is dealt straight to you as damage. Not only that, but I have the power of Black Pendant to give my monster 500 extra attack (2750). Not only that, but if my monster is ever destroyed, you lose 500 life points. Get ready, because your direct attacks stop here. Total Defense Shogun, attack Submarineroid with Slice and Dice attack."

Kevin's monster was destroyed and he lost 450 life points. This duel was going to be close.

Kevin:350 Zero:100

This entire duel rested on what card Kevin drew on his next turn. If he played a card in defense, he would lose life points next turn and if he destroyed the Shogun, he would lose this round. That was when he drew the key card he needed.

"I summon a monster that usually isn't known for pulling off a victory but I'm about to change all of that right here and right now," said Kevin. "I summon Ancient Gear Cannon in attack mode (500/500). And it's gets a power boost from the magic circle and the Ancient Gear Castle (1300/500). Not that it matters because I now sacrifice my monster to inflict 500 points of direct damage. I win."

Jamie couldn't believe it. He had Kevin on the ropes and with just one card, he won. Zero picked himself off the ground only to get onto his knees and beg for jamie's forgiveness. It didn't go so well.

"Don't get used to this winning thing Brian," said Jamie frustrated. "You still need five consecutive wins if you want to continue with your tournament in the morning. Zack, it's your turn."

Brian looked at Dylan and he took the stage with burning passion. It was his time to shine. Botyh duelists were exactly the same, height, build, and appearance. This time a yellow barrier encased the two duelists, giving Dylan's Elemental Heroes 500 attack points. Both players life points were restored to 4000 and the duel began with Zack going first.

"I summon Elemental Hero Avian in attack mode (1000/1000). I place one card face down ending my turn," said Zack.

Everyone's mouth dropped. This kid was using Elemental Heroes just like Dylan. But Dylan had the advantage.

"I summon my own Elemental hero Avian in attack mode (1000/1000)," began Dylan. "But unlike yours, mine gets a little power boost just for being an Elemental Hero (1500/1000). Now attack his Avian with Quill Cascade."

That almost worked, then Zack flipped over the trap card Hero Barrier.

"Sorry Dylan," replied Zack. This card prevents one of my heroes from being destroyed. Proceed."

Dylan looked at his hand before ending his turn.

"No other moves?" asked Zack. "Fine by me. I summon Elemental Hero Burstinitrix and I think I'll iuse Polymerization to fuse them together to create the one and only, Elemental Hero Flame Wingman (2100/1200). Attack his monster now. And I'm sure that you know that my monster inflicts damage to your life points equal to the destroyed monsters attack points, right?"

Dylan:1900 Zack:4000

"It's my move," said Dylan. "I activate the spell card Fusion Sage. This card let's me add one Polymerization from my deck to my hand. Now I activate the spell card The Warrior Returning Alive. Now i can return Avian to my hand. Let's fuse him with my Burstinitrix to summon Elemental Hero Phoenix Enforcer (2100/1200). And he gets a power boost (2600/2100). Next I'll use Fusion Recovery to get back Burstinitrix and Polymerization and fuse her with the Elemental Hero Clayman in my hand to form Elemental Hero Rampart Blaster (2000/2500). Now I attack with Flaming Justice."

Zack's monster was destroyed and he lost 500 life points.

Dylan:1900 Zack:3500

"Get ready for a direct attack from my juiced up hero (2500/2500)," announced Dylan.

Dylan:1900 Zack:1000

"I end my turn by placing one card face down on the field," said Dylan.

Zack drew his card and smiled.

"I summon Elemental Hero Sparkman in attack mode (1600/1400). Now I use the spell card Miracle Fusion to fuse my Sparkman with the Flame Wingman in my graveyard," said Zack. "This allows me to summon Elemental Hero Shining Flare Wingman (2500/2100). Plus he gets 300 attack points for each hero in my graveyard (3100/2100). Attack him now."

If this attack had collided with Dylan's Rampart blaster, the duel would be over. But he revealed his own Hero Barrier.

"What's the matter Zack?" asked Dylan. "Did yo think that you were the only duelist with a copy of Hero Barrier. Now your attack is negated."

Zack was disapointed, but unconcerned. He placed one card face down ending his turn.

"My turn," said Dylan laughing. "I use another Polymerization to fuse my Sparkman with my Phoenix Enfocer to summon Elemental hero Shining Phoenix Enforcer (2500/2100). And not only does he get my power boost, but he has the same special ability that yours does, 300 more attack points for each hero in my graveyard (4500/2100). Attack and end this duel with Shining Justice."

The monster glided across the battlefield and attacked Zack's weaker Elemental Hero wiping out what little life points he had remaining. He fell to his knees just as the two before him had done. That made the Infinite Seven 3-0.

"That does it," shouted Jamie. "I'm changing the rules."

Everyone looked nervously at him. Everyone that is, except Brian.

"You can't change the rules Jamie," said Brian.

Jamie looked at him with a crazy look in his eyes.

"And why is that?" asked Jamie. "Rules were meant to be broken. Only breaking these rules will cost you more than just a simple duel. The stakes will be the same. But all of us will be finishing this contest in the Shadow Realm."

Jamie pulled out the Millenium Ring. The Infinite Seven looked at each other and then back to Jamie.

"I know that you're wondering how I got my hands on this?" said Jamie. "And the answer to that is simple. Where do you think my team was when you were on your way over here? And now that we're in the Shadow Realm, if you lose the duel, you lose so much more."

Jamie turned to his team members that had failed him earlier.

"And as for you three," he began. "I haven't forgotten about your loses. If it wasn't for you losing those duels, we wouldn't even need to be in the Shadow Realm."

And with that, Jamie turned to his next team member.

"Don't let me down Ashley," said Jamie as Ashley took the stage.

The Shadow Realm was a dark and dangerous place. It gave everyone but Brian chills.

"Jamie, I'm warning you," said Brian. "Return us to our world and finish this contest with honor."

Jamie couldn't help but laugh.

"With honor?" chuckled Jamie. "Any honor I had was lost a long time ago."

There was a moment of silence.

"Then you leave me no choice," Brian began as he took out a replica of the Millenium Rod.

Jamie looked at it oddly as did Yugi, Joey, Tea, and Tristian.

"I know you know the legendary stories Jamie," said Brian. "The ones about the sorcerer and the pharoh. Well, when the pharoh created the Millenium Items, they were too powerful. So they needed to be balanced. And from this, came the Shadow Items. The exact opposite, but equal in power to the Millenium Items. These items have been passed down from generation to generation within our families, who have sworn to protect these items, as well as watch over the Millenium Items."

A light flashed from the Shadow Rod held by Brian. A light so bright that everyone had to look away. And when they opened their eyes, they were back in the real world. Brian pointed his Shadow Rod at Jamie and his team.

"You have only a minute to get out of here before I blast all of you to the Shadow Realm for all eternity," announced Brian.

And with that Jamie and his crew started to flee the scene.

"This isn't over," said Jamie as he threw the power plant key over to Yugi. "We will meet again cousin. I look foward to seeing how our items go head to head."

That was the last the gang had seen of Jamie. They restored power to Domino City. They came out of the power plant just in time to see the sun rise.

"Great," began Joey. "We wasted all night just trying to get back the power to the city that we wasted our resting time for the finals to the tournament."

Everyone laughed at Joey's comment.

"Joey, you obviously didn't read the instructions," said Christian. "The fianls don't start until tonight. So we have all day to rest."

The limo dropped off Yugi and his friends at the game shop and then the Infinite Seven returned to headquarters. They were about to go to bed when the phone rang. Brian saw the caller id and answered.

"Ah, Seto Kaiba," said Brian. "I trust it you're calling because of the finals location?"

Kaiba was angry.

"Who do you think you are using Kaiba Corporations vehicles to transport all your finalists to the finals without even asking me," yelled Seto Kaiba.

Brian could only chuckle.

"Please Seto," continued Brian getting ready for bed. "Would you have really accepted my request anyway. Just don't be late to my tournament finals if you want to claim your title as the number one duelist in the world."

And with that, Brian hung up the phone and crawled into bed, and sleeping the morning away.
[/Spoiler]
[Spoiler=Chapter 10]
This was it. It was the morning of the finals. Everything that everyone worked hard for was going to pay off today. Brian woke up and went into the shower to get ready for the tournament. The last shipment of cards had arrived at headquarters. Holly, Sarah, and James decided that their decks were built to perfection. Everyone else was making last minute adjustments before the finals. And before they knew it, it was one hour before the start of the finals. Everyone made their way to the limo and the driver took off to the destination.

All across Domino City, limos were being drove from every direction to meet in the same location. Brian and his crew arrived last. But when they made their grand entrance, everyone knew they were the hosts to this grand tournament. And of course the news media was called. Only this time, it wasn't by The Infinite Seven.

The seven of them made their way to meet up with Yugi and his crew. Brian turned to face the crowd. He smile and snapped his fingers. They were in the middle of the desert. There was nothing to their left or to their right; nor was there anything coming from the vertical direction. Everyone just looked at Brian with complete mystery. That was when the unexpected happened.

The ground started to open. Everyone's eyes widened and watched as a platform box emerged from the desert sand. The doors automatically opened and the seven hosts asked everyone to step inside. When the 57 other duelists were inside, the seven of them followed. When the media tried to walk in, the doors shut. Brian wanted this to be private. Although, back in Domino City, all the television monitors displayed the tournament feed from cameras.

What the duelists didn't understand was why here. There was nowhere to duel. There was barely two feet in between everyone. That's when the platform box submerged back into the ground, and the ground was recovered with sand. Everyone but the seven in front started freaking out, worrying for their lives. Once the box hit as low as it could, it started moving sideways, down a tunnel that was mechanicalized. It was like a subway. The box just sped up and up. After a minute of everyone cowarding in fear, the car started to come to a stop. Everyone stepped out and let The Infinite Seven make their way to the tall, double doors standing in their way.

"I understand that a few of you are wondering why we did all of this just to bring you here," chuckled Brian. "But this tournament was to be isolated, with just the best dueling strategists in the world. And for those of you that like the fans to witness your fame and glory, they are watching... 2500 feet above us."

Everyone looked at each other and then back to Brian.

"Behind me on the doors you'll see a scanner," said Brian. "To gain entry into the finals arena, you must scan the id card you were given to make it this far. Welcome to the finals."

One by one, the duelists made it through. Yugi and Joey were next on the list.

"So, have you guys found Marik yet?" asked Joey curiously.

Brian shook his head no and then looked up. It was Jamie who had just scanned his card to gain entry into the arena. Evil glances were exchanged and that was the end of that. Once everyone took their seat in the bleacher seats around the arena, the lights were cut. Then monitors appeared out of the floor and onto the sides of the arenas.

"Welcome all finalists," said the monitor. "The first round of the finals are about to begin. You were each randomly assigned a number as you walked in. For each duel, two random numbers will be called. One will be yours, the other will be your opponents. The duel doesn't stop until someone's life points drop to zero. For those here with us in the play off arena, pay attention to your compitition. As for those watching from Domino City, enjoy the show!"

The lights turned back on and the first two numbers were called: 32 and 45.

"The duelists numbers are Christian and Blake," said the monitor. "Please make your way down to the arena to start the first duel of the tournament finals. Remember, only the winner advances and the duel doesn't stop until someone's life points hit zero. Begin when ready."

Both duel disks were activated and each player drew their five cards. Suddenly, ankle bracelets appeared from the ground, locking in the two duelists. There was no escaping.

"I'll begin this duel," said Christian. "I summon X-Saber Galahad in attack mode (1800/800). Now I sacrifice him to special summon Turret Warrior (1200/2000). And when this card is summoned this way, he gains the warriors attack points of the monster sacrificed (3000/2000). One card face down ends my turn."

Blake drew his first card and looked pretty confident.

"I start with the spell card Hammer Shot," said Blake. "This card destroys the monster in play with the highest attack power. And since there's only one monster in play, guess who's going to the graveyard. I summon Celtic Guardian in attack mode (1400/1200). Attack him directly my elf swordsman."

This attack would have worked if not for Christian's face down card.

"I reveal the trap card Threatening Roar," countered Christian. "This card makes it so you can't attack this turn."

Blake ended his turn after looking at his hand.

"It's my move," said Christian. "And would you look at this. It's my very own Hammer Shot spell card. And the field is set, just like before. There is only one monster in play, so your monster can join mine in the discard pile. Stand back and be amazed as I summon Chainsaw Insect in attack mode (2400/0). Get ready for a real attack. Go, Chainsaw Blade attack!"

The attack went straight for Blake, but he held up his duel disk to protect himself. Unfortunately, it cost him 2400 life points.

Christian:4000 Blake:1600

"That was the end of the damage step," said Christian. "That means you get to draw one card thanks to my insect's ability. That ends my turn."

Blake drew his card and smiled.

"I place four cards face down on the field and activate the field spell Gaia Power," said Blake. "This card gives all Earth Attribute mosnters 500 attack points, but lowers their defense by 400. So your insect's attack points are now 2900. And since this is the only card in my hand, I can summon my favorite monster without a sacrifice. Please welcome Swift Gaia, the Fierce Knight (2300/2100). I now reveal two spell cards. They are the mights Legendary Swords. They give one monster 300 attack and defense points. So my warrior gains 1100 attack and 200 defense points because of the current field set up (3400/2300). I reveal Shield and Sword. Switch offense and defense. Now my attack is 2300 while yours is 0. Attack!"

That attack knocked out Christian's monster and took a chunk out of his life points too.

Christian:1700 Blake:1600

Blake just about tied up the scores with that little stunt he pulled. But it was time for Christian's comeback.

"I summon Fortress Warrior in attack mode (600/1200)," said Christian. "My final card for the turn is Lightning Vortex. By discarding one card in my hand, all face up monsters on your side of the field get a one way pass to the graveyard. Now I attack you directly."

Christian:1700 Blake:1000

That little trick only bought Christian a little time. And he hadn't seen the last of Blake's Fierce Knight. Blake drew his card and he knew he had this duel.

Find out what happens in Chapter 11
[/Spoiler]
[Spoiler=Chapter 11]
Christian:1700 Blake:1000

Blake drew the top card of his deck and smiled.

"Get ready for your monster to be destroyed," said Blake. "I summon Axe Raider in attack mode (1700/1150). Give his monster a one way ticket to the graveyard."

The monster picked up his axe and swung at the warrior defending itself. Christian lost 0 life points but the monster still remained.

"How is your monster still standing and why didn't you lose life points?" asked Blake. "There aren't any trap cards out on the field."

Christian just smiled and responded happily.

"It's simple. My monster has a special abilitiy. First, I take no battle damage from any battle this card was involved in. And secondly, once per turn, this card can't be destroyed in battle. So now that you have no other cards to play from your hand or on the field, it's my turn."

Christian hoped for the best and drew the top card of his deck.

"I summon Speed Warrior in attack mode (900/400)," said Christian. "And on the turn that Speed Warrior is summoned, his attack points are doubled (1800/400). Now attack the Axe Raider and then Fortress Warrior, you go in for a direct attack."

Blake's monster was destroyed and he lost an extra 600 life points from Fortress Warrior's attack.

Christian:1700 Blake:300

"I place one card face down and end my turn with my Speed Warrior's attack points returning to normal."

Blake had to draw the card he needed other wise he was going to lose this duel. He drew the card and was stunned at what he drew.

"You see Christian," said Blake. "My hand is now empty again. And since this is one again the only card I hold, I can summon Swift Gaia, the Fierce Knight without making any sacrifices (2300/2100). And since you won't lose any life points when I attack Fortress Warrior, I send my monster into battle with Speed Warrior, a monster with only 900 attack points."

The warrior type monster charged for Speed Warrior and the high tech monster was destroyed causing Christian to lose 1400 life points.

Christian:300 Blake:300

"I reveal the trap card Rope of Life," announced Christian. "Now by discarding my entire hand, I can summon back one monster that was destroyed by battle this turn and boost it's attack points up by 800. I choose to bring back my Speed Warrior (1700/400).

Blake was confused.

"Even with that pile of scrap on the field, it's attack power isn't high enough to defeat Gaia," replied Blake. "But if you want to go out in a blaze of glory, I'll only be to happy to light the fire."

Christian only laughed at the comment.

"No Blake," replied Christian. "I'm plan on going out in a blaze of victory. Let's just see what my cards hold in store for me."

Blake ended his turn seeing as how he could make no other move with no other cards to play.

"I draw and activate Pot of Greed," said Christian. "With the power of this spell card, I can draw two cards from my deck. I place both cards face down on the field and end my turn."

Blake was sure that they were trap cards. He didn't want to push his luck though. At the same time, he could taste victory and he wasn't going to give in to this lame attempt of a bluff.

"Go Fierce Knight," said Blake. "Attack his Speed Warrior one last time."

Christian only nodded his head in disappointment.

"Sorry Blake, but you triggered the trap card Sakuretsu Armor. This card destroys any opponents monster that attacks," said Christian. "Your monster is destroyed."

Blake felt so stupid for falling for such a rediculous trap. He ended his turn with no moves left.

"I summon Junk Synchron in attack mode (1300/500)," started Christian. "And when this card is sucessfully summoned, I can summon one level two or below monster from my graveyard. I choose Quillbolt Hedgehog in attack mode (800/800). Now I tune my Junk Synchron with my Quillbolt, and my Speed Warrior to summon X-Saber Urbellum in attack mode (2200/1300). I end this duel with a direct attack."

Christian's monster launched itself at Blake knocking out the rest of his life points. Both duelists were unlocked from their leg restraints. Any duelist that lost was allowed to stay for the rest of the finals. There were bleachers for people that lost, people that won, and people that haven't dueled yet. The computer pulled the next two numbers and the next two to duel were Sarah and Toby. They made their way to the arena, were strapped in and activated their duel disks. Sarah began.

"I draw and summon Obnoxious Celtic Guardian in attack mode (1400/1200)," said Sarah. "I place one card face down and end my turn."

Toby picked up his top card and played no card. He just passed his turn.

"Nothing to show me?" asked Sarah. "That's fine by me. I'll keep the offensive. "Allow me to show you with my Marauding Captain in attack mode (1200/400). He as an effect that let's me summon one level four or below monster from my hand. I choose Sabersaurus in attack mode (1900/500). This duel ends now. Now my monsters, attack his life points directly."

Toby picked a card from the six that he was holding, looked at it, and sent it to the graveyard. All three monsterse charged into a forcefield.

"Why did my monsters charge into nothing?" asked Sarah. "And why are you still standing?"

Toby could only smile.

"The card I sent to the graveyard was my Winged Kuriboh," answered Toby. "When I'm about to receive battle damage, I can send him to the graveyard, and all battle damage for the turn drops to zero. Finish your move so I can win this duel."

Sarah looked at her hand and concluded her turn.

"Very well," said Toby. "I summon Giant Soldier of Stone in defense mode and end my turn with one card face down (1300/2000)."

Sarah drew her card and now confronted the field. She had to get passed this new defense monster.

"I sacrifice my Guardian to summon Marie the Fallen One in attack mode (1700/1200)," said Sarah.

But before she could make another sound, Toby pressed a button on his duel disk signaling that he wanted that face down card to activate.

"I activate the trap card Pineapple Blast," replied Toby. "With this powerful trap card, you must destroy monsters on your field so that it equals the amount of monsters that I have on my side of the field. Please send Marie the Fallen One and Sabersaurus to the graveyard."

Even though Toby was a few years younger then Sarah, he was quiet good. He had managed to stop any and all of her attempts to get past his monsters and attack him.

"I switch my Captain to defense mode and end my turn," announced Sarah.

This duel wasn't turning out the way Sarah had hoped, but she wanted to stop him before he got to lay down more of his strategy.

"I have to draw the card I need next turn, otherwise I might be out of the tournament," thought Sarah.

It was Toby's turn now.

"Get ready Sarah," said Toby. "Because here comes my favorite monster. I sacrifice my Stone Soldier, to summon Jinzo in attack mode (2400/1500). Now I activate the spell card Fairy Meteor Crush. Now when Jinzo attacks a monster and defense mode and his attack is stronger then your defense, the difference is dealt right to you as damage. Attack Jinzo with Cyber Energy Shock!"

Sarah tried to activate the trap card that she had put into play a few turns back but it wasn't working.

"Oh, incase you were wondering," said Toby. "Jinzo has a special ability that prevents either of us from using trap cards. Oh well, looks like you're on your own."

Sarah's Captain was destroyed and she lose half of her life points and that concluded Toby's turn.

Sarah:2000 Toby:4000

Sarah has three cards left in her hand and she needed desperately to draw the one card she needs. Find out in Chapter 12 the results of this duel.
Oh and I promise that Chapter 12 will have the conclusion to this duel as well as a whole duel!
[/Spoiler]
[Spoiler=Chapter 12]
Sarah:2000 Toby:4000

Sarah had her back against the corner with nowhere to run. Her only hope of earning another turn, was to draw the one card in her deck that would open a path to having a future. She drew her card.

"In just one move," began Sarah. "You have handicapped me from activating traps and built up your offense at the same time. But thanks to you, I activate Marie the Fallen One's special ability. And since she's in my graveyard, I gain 200 life points."

Everyone's eyes were on the current duel. Everyone in the arena and in Domino City watching on the TV monitors. Well, everyone but one finalist that is. No one knew who he was and nobody went out of their way to talk to him. Everyone in Brian's group as well as in Yugi's group talked about the unknown subject and assumed that he was the one they were to call Marik. Once they concluded that, they decided tog et back to cheering for Sarah and hoping for another team victory.

Sarah:2200 Toby:4000

"And that's just the beginning," said Sarah with confidence. "As you and everyone else probably thought, I would need a miracle to get out of the mess that you put me in. But guess what. I drew that miracle. I activate the Black Magic Ritual. For my sacrifice, I tribute the Ritual Raven. Since I'm using it for a Dark Attribute Ritual Monster, my raven can count as the entire requirement for the ritual. Without further stalling, I summon one of my favorite monsters. Come forth, the Magician of Black Chaos in attack mode (2800/2600)."

The blue magician appeared from the darkness that came out of nowhere. It was magic. But that's not all that appeared. The two duelists were now surrounded by a blue, glowing circle. On Sarah's forehead appeared the symbol of a ritual card in duel monsters. The same mark then appeared on her ritual monster and his attack points increased by 500 (3300/2600).

"Now my magician," continued Sarah. "Attack Toby's Jinzo with Chaos Septor Blast!"

The monster picked up it's septor and a magic, blakc ball of chaos appeared at the end, which was then launched at the targeted monster. The fierce attack destroyed Jinzo instantly and Toby was left to pick up the toll of paying 900 life points.

Sarah:2200 Toby:3100

"That was something that I didn't see," said Toby. "But let's be reasonable Sarah, you have no cards in your hand, and you only have one monster on the field, with no special effect."

Everyone in the audience agreed with him. But there was something that Toby was purposely leaving out because it was the one thing that it did have that no other card on the field had. And that was a lot of attack points.

"But for my turn," continued Toby. "I'm going to activate the spell card Nightmare Steelcage. With this card, no player can attack for two whole turns. I activate the spell card Reboot. I get to resurect one Machine monster from my graveyard and equip it with this card. And even though it can't attack for the next three turns, it gains 300 attack points with each passing turn. To end my turn, I'll place a card face down. Show me what you've got Sarah."

Sarah drew her card and placed it face down in her spell and trap card zone.

"Since I can't attack for two whole turns," thought Sarah. "I might as well prepare for the worst case possible and activate Marie the Fallen One's ability once again."

Sarah:2400 Toby:3100

Toby drew his card and grew a smile as his Jinzo monster gained 300 attack points.

"Only one more turn until we're free to attack," said Toby. "But until then, I'll boost Jinzo's attack power with Machine Conversion Factory and my Reboot spells. Both cards give Jinzo 300 extra attack points. That gives Jinzo a total of 3000 attack points. And since neither of us can attack for one more turn, I end my turn."

This duel was going back and forth between Sarah and Toby. Even though Toby had over a 1000 point lead, this duel could go anyway with just one card. This time, the ball was in Sarah's court.

"I draw," began Sarah. "I summon Marshmellon in defense mode (300/500) and that ends my turn, as well as the reign your Nightmare Steel Cage has over the field."

With the ending of Sarah's turn, the cage evaporated, marking the beginning to Troy's turn.

"That means nothing," said Troy. "Since it's my turn, my Jinzo gains 300 attack points giving it 3300. Even though you can attack now, the only thing that will do is destroy both of our monsters. It's your move Sarah seeing as how I can't lay trap cards either."

Sarah drew the top card of her deck and threw down onto the field immediantely.

"I activate Marie the Fallen One & Pot of Greed," said Sarah. "This card allows me to draw two cards from my deck. Now I end this duel with these two simple cards."

Sarah:2600 Toby:3100

The look in Toby's eyes were that of a child. So innocent and not sure whether or not Sarah was telling a lie. But with the two cards she drew, she was telling the truth.

"First I switch Marshmellon into attack mode," said Sarah. "Then I activate the spell cards Shien's Spy and Ritual Weapon. With Ritual Weapon, my Chaos Mage will gain 1500 attack and defense points (4800/4100). Next, Shien's Spy forces me to give you one of my monsters. I think I'll give you my little plush toy over here. Get ready for an ambush and your last duel in the tournament finals. Chaos Septor Blast!"

The Chaos Magician launched it's last attack Toby's new monster, not destroying it because of it's special ability, but withering away what life points remained, ending the duel.

Sarah:2600 Toby:0

And with that, the duel was over. Sarah and Toby were unlocked from their shackles and they deactivated their duel disks. When Toby was walking away to the loser bleachers, Sarah stopped him.

"Toby, don't walk away from this like a lower," said Sarah. "Walk away like you've gained a rival, a friend that you can't wait to have a rematch with."

Toby looked up at her.

"Really?" asked Toby.

Sarah looked up at who they believed to be Marik before responding.

"You bet," replied Sarah. "That was fun. But I've got to get to my bleachers so the next duel can begin."

They both said good-bye and went their seperate ways. Sarah joined her friends in the bleachers while the monitor read off the next pair of duelists. It was Yugi and a hyped up little kid. Brian got up from his seat when the duelists were taking the stage. Kevin saw this and went to catch up to Brian.

"Wait up Brian," said Kevin. "Where are you going?"

Brian turned around and wasn't surprised to see Kevin there.

"Relax Kev," answered Brian. "I'm not going anywhere. You know as well as I do that Yugi will destroy that little kid. I just wanted to make sure that the next stage of the finals are in place. Just to ensure that there won't be any screw ups. Return to the duel and I'll join you when I'm done or when of you guys are about to take the dueling field by storm."

Kevin just nodded and returned to the arena. By the time he got back, two duels had already gone by. Yugi and Joey had won and Kaiba was attacking his opponents life points with his Blue Eyes White Dragon, wiping out his life points. Not only that, but the people that were with Jamie the night of the preliminary duels had won too. Of course Jamie had won as well. Kevin was wondering where Brian was as his own name was called. So much for a couple of minutes. Kevin had won, followde by Dylan, Holly, and James. Finally it was Brian's turn. His opponent was some random guy wearing average clothes. His name was Jon. Only thing was, Brian wasn't back yet.

Jon took the stage and waited for Brian. Finally, the unused doors on the other side of the arena opened. Brian emerged shuffling his cards. He strapped himself in along with Jon. Both players drew their five cards and the duel began.

"I draw," said Brian. "To start and end my turn, I place three cards face down on the field."

Everyone was shocked. The guy that took his sweet time getting here, and the guy that's hosting this tournament played only three cards down? Something was up.
"It's my turn," said Jon. "I summon Two Headed King Rex in attack mode (1600/1200). Now I activate the Heavy Storm spell card. This spell destorys all other spell and trap cards on the field. Sorry."

Brian didn't even blink before activating one of his trap cards.

"I reveal the Imperial Customs, Solemn Wishes, and Metal Reflect Slime continuous trap cards," replied Brian. "Sorry, but Imperial Custom prevents you from destroying any continuous trap cards except for it. So it looks like my other traps are sticking around. My Metal Reflect Slime summons itself in defense mode now (0/3000). Proceed."

"I activate the Jurassic World field spell card. This card gives all dinosaur monsters 300 attack and defense points (1900/1500)," said Jon. "That ends my turn."

Brian drew his card and his life points increased by 500.

Brian:4500 Jon:4000

"Incase you were wondering," began Brian. "My Solemn Wishes trap card gives me 500 life points every time I draw a card. I summon a monster in defense mode to end my turn."

Jon drew his next card and summoned another Two Headed King Rex (1900/1500). He launched an attack towards the hidden monster.

"You've destroed my An Owl of Luck. Now I can place a field spell on top of my deck," said Brian.

That caught Jon off guard. First a big defense, then a little one. He was toying with him. That was going to stop. He ended his turn.

"Ah, now my life points increase again," said Brian.

Brian:5000 Jon:4000

"I summon a monster in defense mode and place a card face down," said Brian. "To end my turn, I'll change our surroundings once again with Necrovalley. Sorry, but now our graveyard is off limits. It's your move."

Jon drew his card and sacrificed his dinos. This allowed him to summon Saiyaryu in attack mode (2500/2300).

"Reveal the trap card Coffin Seller," said Brian. "Now everytime a monster is sent to your graveyard, you lose 300 life points."

Jon didn't care. He was tired of being pushed around. He launched his attack straigh for the defense monster. Brian flipped over a Morphing Jar. Now both players had to discard their hands and pick up five new cards. In that process, Jon tossed out four monsters, costing him 1200 life points while activating Solemn Wishes. That was the end of his turn and allowing Brian to draw again.

Brian:8000 Jon:2800

"I summon Revival Jam in defense mode (1500/500)," announced Brian. "Now I place a card face down and activate Monster Economics. So now I don't have to pay life points for a monster's ability."

Jon drew his own card.

"Now my mighty dragon," began Jon. "Attack with Flare Ball!"

Revival Jam was destroyed and then regenerated.

"My monster is able to resummon itself whenever it's attacked," said Brian. "Normally, this costs 1000 points, but thanks to my own card, it costs me nothing. Next I reveal the Liberty at Last trap card. Since Revival Jam was destroyed, you must return your dragon to your hand. And it's my move."

Brian:8500 Jon:2800

"I attack with Revival Jam," declared Brian.

Brian:8500 Jon:1300

"I know this last move is a long shot," said Brian. "But I have to try it. I activate Card Destruction. Now we each discard teh cards we hold now and draw the same amount that we threw out. Let's see how many of those were monsters."

Everyone that was watching the duel watched the life points meters at the top of the screens. Point by point, the depleted, going from 1300 to 100. At first, Brian was disappointed, until he looked to see he drew a second Card Destruction, ending the game.

Everyone around him had just witnessed the weirdest duel during the duration of the finals. Everyone was still trying to get a grasp of what had just happened. The way Brian used his cards so fast to get field advantage. Even Jon was trying to make sense of what had happened. His shackles had been opened and he fell onto his knees refusing to leave unless he got a rematch. As assumed, he was carried away by security. The computer monitor's voice was heard again.

"Congratulations duelists," it said. "You are the top 32 duelists in the world. But don't think you have this won just yet. For this is only the first round. And although I know you can't see it from where you are, this competition has been going on all day. It is now night time and it's time for your rest. For tomorrow, the 16 of you will move on to the real duel arena set for the finals. Go through the door behind me and you will find 16 bedrooms. Enjoy your night of peace and prosperity. For when the sun rises, you'll be on the move once again. Good luck fellow duelists!"

Yugi and his friends walked with Brian and his friends to their rooms. Everyone was locked in their rooms and tucked into bed, awaiting day two of the tournament finals. Well, everyone except for one perosn.
[/Spoiler]
[Spoiler=Chapter 13]
The Infinite Seven were all in Brian's room. With the first day of dueling complete, it was time to edit their decks. Everyone had seen too much. Other duelists were trying to edit their decks to defeat theirs. But if their decks were put together differently, they could no longer do that. After a few practice duels and more editing, the seven duelists' decks were complete and ready for the second day of finals.

They next day, everyone met in the dining hall for breakfast. There were several tables set up for people that didn't want to sit with others. Jamie and his crew sat at one table, The Infinite Seven, Yugi and his friends sat at another table, while Marik sat by himself. Or, atleast, it looked like Marik and dueled as Marik.

Once breakfast was done, it was time to get down to business. Monitors around the room turned on and the voice said: "Good Morning finalists. I hope you've had a wonderful night sleep. The next round of the finals are about to begin. You have been unaware of your true surroundings for the past few hours. The entire area of which you are standing on has been moving under ground."

Everyone was looking at The Infinite Seven, because they are the only ones to know the location of the next battle site. Everyone made their way the end of the hallway where two giant doors stood. Brian went to the front of the crowd to make an announcement.

"Congratulations duelists on making it this far," said Brian. "If you have made it this far it is a true accomplishment. It means you are one of the world's top 16 duelists. The other members of The Infinite Seven and I would like to welcome you to.... Duelist Kingdom."

The giant doors opened and there was another door hatch. When that happened, all 16 duelists made their way into the gallery of the castle. Brian thought this was the perfect location for the next dueling location. It was only weeks earlier that him, Kevin, Dylan, James, Sarah, Christian, and Holly were there to seize Pegasus and Bakura's Millenium items. Now both of them resided with Jamie and his crew. But only four of his lackies made it along with him. The odds were for his victory but that didn't mean a thing since six of the items were now in Jamie's pocession.

Brian remembered it like it was yesterday. When Jamie went away for the events of that day, he had already obtained two of the items. The items were kept in his solitary cell and had complete access. Sure Brian and his friends were the guardians of the Shadow Items, but just as the prophecy said, the powers of each set of items was equal.

"This is the places where Yugi took down the creator of Duel Monsters," said Brian looking at Yugi. "I thought it would be the perfect location to hold the next stage of the finals. Yugi please stay behind for a moment. As for the rest of you, the waiting area for the arena is just up the stairs and to your left. There is an upper and lower gallery. Enjoy!"

With that, the two duelists were alone in the gallery.

"What is it Brian?" asked Yugi.

Brian stepped foward with a worried look.

"I'm worried," Brian began. "During this whole tournament, Jamie and Marik have created obstacles for us. It almost feels like their testing us for something. And even though the odds are in our favor, I can't help but worrying. We have 11 duelists while their side only has 5. But, only eight duelists can move on to the next round. That means atleast three of us won't be in the next round. I know that you have a quest from Ishizu to save the good side of her brother from the darkness that restricts him from entering this world in his own body, but don't forget to watch out for you as well as your friends. Now, let's get back to the others before they start to worry."

Yugi just watched as Brian walked up the flight of stairs calmly. Yugi couldn't even begin to imagine the amount of stress that Brian was under. Even though Brian could play with the best of them, Yugi was worried that all the stress would be his down fall.

The room was filled with monitors just like the last dueling location. Not only that, but there were tons of cameras transmitting the feed all across the globe.
"Welcome to Duelist Kingdom finalists," said the monitor. "Your matches have already been determinded. Would Seto Kaiba and Master Brian please make their way to the dueling arena?"

"Brian, just know," Seto began. "I will defeat you using my Egyptian God Card, Obelisk the Tormentor."

Brian and Seto Kaiba made their way to the bridge.

"Do you really think you can intimidate me in my own tournament?" chuckled Brian. "Please Kaiba, you're in my world now."

And with that, Brian snapped his fingers and the bridge seperated welcoming the arena. The laser placement brought the bridge together with the arena allowing the duelists to come foward. Brian and Seto took their duel disk cords and plugged them into the duel field. This was going to be an amazing duel. Both duelists activated their duel disks and let the arena activate. The arena displayed 4000 life points for both players as they drew their opening hands.

"I'll start this off," said Seto. "I summon Vorse Raider (1900/1200) in attack mode and place two cards face down to end my turn."

Brian opened his eyes and drew his sixth card beginning his turn.

"My turn," announced Brian. "I activate the spell card Double Summon. With the effects of this, I can summon twice this round. My first choice is Gravekeeper's Curse in attack mode (800/800). And since he was normal summoned, you lose 500 life points (4000/3500). Now I sacrifice my monster to summon the strongest Gravekeeper monster. I summon Gravekeeper's Visionary (2000/1800)."

Wait a minute," Seto objected. "That monster is a level 8 monster. How can you summon him for only one sacrifice?"

Brian could only smile.

"Because Seto," replied Brian. "My monster can be summoned with only one tribute if the monster I sacrificed was a Gravekeeper monster. Now get ready for the spell cards Pot of Greed and Hand Destruction. Now I draw two cards thanks to Pot of Greed and with Hand Destruction, each player throws out two cards in order to draw two cards. Now I activate Raigeki destroying all monsters on the field, such as that Vorse Raider you have there. And I'm assuming that ruins that crush card combo that you love so much. Trust me, I know."

Seto Kaiba was becoming freaked out and irritated.

"Are you ever going to give me another turn?" asked an annoyed Seto.

"No Seto," replied Brian. "I told you, this is my tournament. Your not even going to get another turn. I activate my Visionary's other ability. He gains 200 attack points for each Gravekeeper monster in my graveyard, giving him a grand total of 2600 attack points. My final card is Double Attack. By discarding one card from my hand into the graveyard, my Gravekeeper's Visionary is able to attack twice this turn. Go, Double Direct Attack!"

The first attack nailed Seto and he was unphased. But when the second attack hit, Kaiba dropped down to his knees because he realized that he had just lost Obelisk, the Tormentor. Not only was this a fast duel for any pro tournament, but on the losing end was Seto Kaiba, who was supposed to be the top duelists in the world. And now that duelist was one of the other losers that were now out of the tournament.

"The winner of the first duel is Master Brian," said the monitor. "As for you Seto Kaiba, you have lost and are being asked to leave. We hope you have enjoyed your stay during the tournament but you've overstayed your welcome. Good-Bye!"

"Now just you wait a darn minute," shouted Seto Kaiba as security guards came and took him away.

Brian could only express a grin, as did the other members of The Infinite Seven. Yugi began to wonder "What did we get ourselves into? Are these guys really on our side or are they helping us for themselves?"
[/Spoiler]

[♫♪GoldenBoy♪♫]

Its a quite interesting story but if I'm guessing what's gonna happen won't these seven have to duel Yugi, if so that would be rather fun.

[Cthonian]

Eventually, but I'm making it so that he's in the story as a time line, but eventually they will probably have to duel.

[Kuri]

Skimmed. Eh needs some YGO logic, even if its a revamp, or sub-arc that 4kids deleted. But too short for my liking, also I find the words very unappealing, based on what's set up. Though its a preview you need to revamp it yourself. I wouldn't recommend continuing a story plot like this. Also I think the "bios" are vague, and seem to be uneeded right now. Why? Possible spoiler.

[Cthonian]

Would you mind elaborating on some of that... and as we've both said, that's why it's a preview chapter...... Chapter II is up but it's not as long as I would want, but once the duels start, they will be longer.

[Quiksilver]

I presume this is an alternate timeline sort of story, yes? Well if so, I applaud you for trying to do something different that the usual [i]letsgotoadueltournament[/i] arc. But...it's way to impersonal. This whole overview of the events that are happening makes it sound like a school textbook and makes switching down to the characters talking jarring. Maybe trying expressing the character's thoughts, ideas, emotions instead of emotionlessly describing what's happening at each event. Descriptions are almost completely absent in this story too, and that's a crying shame since I know the type of talent you have. So, if you could, please add descriptions, emotion, and personality into this story. It'll make it better. I promise.

[Cthonian]

Thanks for the much appreciated advice. I think the reason that I presented the characters like that is because I wanted them portrayed as outcasts that no one had a word to say about them.... None the less, CHAPTER THREE IS UP. I look foward to your commentary as well as many others. I hope you continue to read my fanfic. Enjoy!

[legendhiro]

interesting. its a real wonder that no one on this site has tried an alternate reality story before (unless i missed it). i'm assuming that at some point, the timeline will be put back on track, probably with the end of the final battle. still, i look forward to seeing how this story will unfold.

[Cthonian]

I'm working on chapter 4 as I speak these words.... and thanks legendhiro

[Des ＨＥＲＯ]

It does look interesting, I am left amazed. I would suggest that you could put thoughts in Italic's, but except that it's great. Can't wait for chapter 4.

[Cthonian]

Thank You! And now I am happily able to present the long awaited Chapter 4. Sorry it took so long. I've had a lot of HW this week and this up coming week are my exams.

[Master52394]

Wow Cthonian, you've really come a long way since when we wrote fanfics for this site. Can't wait for the next chapter.

[Cthonian]

Thanks Master52394... and you don't have to wait any longer because chapter 5 is up now!

[DARKPLANT RISING]

[b][color="#FF0000"]Hey Kenta, it's time to go to bed! Stop kissing your keyboard. [/color]
No, Yami Kenta, it's still eight. Friggin eight, I tell you.
[color="#FF0000"]No. You have to go to bed to *censored*. This is an order.[/color]
Wait. just wait. I feel like commenting on a fan fic.[/b]

Everything about the Duelist Kingdom Tournament was going as perfect as can be. Yugi had defeated the dark part of Seto Kaiba, obtaining a total of six star chips and just recently Joey has just defeated Rex Raptor [now at three star chips] and has a total of four star chips. But little did everyone know, they were being watched by seven followers.
[b]Hey, Yami, I actually feel this might be worth reading.
[color="#FF0000"]Read after bed.[/color]
No. I can't read after going to bed. As much as this tedious mass of words gives me yawns, it's still average.
[color="#FF0000"]Why the hell is this average?[/color]
This is [s]SPARTA[/s] YCM, Yami. What can you expect anyways?
[color="#FF0000"]You've got 6000 posts there.[/color]
It's because I have nothing else to do. Now shut up.[/b]
Rex Raptor was angry from his loss with Joey Wheeler. He wanted revenge for losing his star chips. He had managed to receive five star chips again when it happened.
[b]Okay. I mean, aren't there better ways to show that someone is angry? At least it should be something like "a flame of anger burned inside his heart". Wait, that [i]still[/i] sucks, and is just plain stupid.[/b]
He was challenged to a duel by a six foot, hooded man.
[b]Huh? Is [s]Rex Raptor[/s] Dinosaur Ryuzaki's emotion time ALREADY over?! Well, of course he's not even a main character, but still...
[color="#FF0000"]Go to b-[/color]
Shut up.[/b]
And seeing as how Rex needed to rack up chips before time ran out, he agreed. They dueled in the middle of nowhere with nobody in sight.
[b]Can you quit narattion? Show, don't tell. We learn it in second grade.[/b]
After just one turn, all people heard was the dino duelist screaming for mercy. When someone looked to see what had happened, all they saw was that robed duelist taking Rex's star chips and whisper "Mind Flash".
[b]You mean Mind Crush.[/b]
And with that, the duelist leaped into the forest and Rex forgot everything from the last ten minutes.
[b]People SAW Ryuzaki being Mind Crushed. Wouldn't someone tell him stuff?[/b]
And since the rules state that a duelist must have atleast one star chip to duel, he was kicked off the island.
[b]Do you ever even show?[/b]

Many more "accidents" like these happened all over the island with six other descriptions of people losing star chips and not remembering a thing that had happened.
[b]I dun get that had happened.[/b]

The seven mystery duelists made their way up to Pegasus' castle and when they got to the top, Kimo
[b]Wait, was Kimo called Kimo in the original anime? I'm not sure here.[/b]
was there to tell them that the tournament was over and that Yugi Muoto was the Duelist Kingdom Champion. The duelists took little interest in that and proceeded into the castle despite what Kimo told them. When trying to apprehend the kids, Kimp was held paralyzed until the robed teenagers were in the locked castle. Who are these kids, and what do they want?
[b]Don't ask me. You know. Tell us. TELL US!![/b]
With nobody to stop these kids, they proceeded to the dueling arena where Maximillion Pegasus stood, crying over the loss he sustained from Yugi. But not only was Pegasus there, but so was Bakura. He lurked out from the shadows and challenged Pegasus to a Shadow Game. The winner would get the losers Millenium Item. before Pegasus could answer, Bakura was knocked unconcious, and the seven robed duelists stood before Maximillium.
[b]Bakura is certainly not a main character. At least, now. But quit telling.[/b]
"Can I help you," said a tired, worn out man. "I was just about to have a Shadow Game with that gentleman over there before you knocked him out."
[b]Pegasus wants to risk his life? It certainly seems like he was about to enjoy it.[/b]
"And you would have lost," said the apparent leader of the seven. "Trust me I know."
"What is it that you want?" asked Pegasus.
"The same thing that he wanted," said the leader with a smirk. "Your Millenium Eye."
"And what's in it for me?" asked an intrigued Pegasus.
"If you manage to defeat me in a duel, this will be your prize," said the duelist as he opened his robe.
Pegasus had to look away because whatever the duelist was showing him, was too bright to even look at.
"And just what is that?" asked Pegasus.
"Duel me and fine out," said the hidden duelist.
Pegasus snapped his fingers and the dueling arena came down from the ceiling and both duelists walked up placing their cards onto the arena deck zone and drew five cards.
[b]Okay, so Pegasus is an idiot.[/b]
Pegasus:2000 Jon Doe:2000
[b]Jon Doe? That's just stupid.[/b]
"I may have lost to Yugi with this opening move, but there is no way that you can beat me," said Pegasus confindently. "I summon..."
"Let me guess," said the duelist. "You'll summon Red Archery Girl in defense mode after placing a card face down."
"Ugh," said Pegasus placing the cards down ending his turn. "How did you know?"
"Because, I've seen this coming for some time Pegasus," said the duelist snickering. "Now it's my turn, and the end of the line for you."
The guards on the outside were bringing Kimo inside when all they heard was their master screaming from the other room. They rushed in to see what was going on, but when they got there, his boss and Bakura were laying in the middle of the dueling arena, without their Millenium Items. All that was left, was note.
[b]At least here it's okay to use telling. Nowhere else.[/b]
These two clowns, beaten and mangled
Only five more, to be clobbered and strangled
-The Infinite Seven-
[b]Oh...kay...? Infinate Seven? Can't there be like, a better naming?
[color="#FF0000"]You still haven't gone to bed, Kenta.[/color]
Shut up now. No, stop dragging me! STOP DRAGGING ME! NOOOOOO!!![/b]

In short, stop telling and show instead.

[Cthonian]

Wow, I have no comment to the whole thing. But after breaking it down, I did mean Mind Flash. And the people watching the duelist, they didn't see him and what he did.... just him by a Rex Raptor shouting for help and taking off. And lastly, Jon Doe isn't the actual guys name. I just though it was better then ????

[DARKPLANT RISING]

How about "Mysterious Duelist X"? It sounds better than "Jon Doe".

Okay, I'll go with the Mind Flash, and I understand.

[Cthonian]

Thanks lol, and I hope you keep reading.

[DARKPLANT RISING]

Another suggestion: To stop Pegasus from being stupid, you should have the Shadow Game start without approval.

What you're doing now is this:
*Random kid comes walking over to you*
Random kid: Hey, let's risk our lives randomly for extremely tedious children's trading card games! The winner gets to gouge out the other one's eye! Cool, huh! Wanna play?
You: Sure! Let's duel!

Instead make it:
*Random kid comes walking over to you*
Random kid: Hey, you have to risk our live randomly for extremely tedious children's trading card games because I right now activate my mystical and supernatural powers to instantly force you to get you in the game. The winner gets to gouge out the other one's eye. Start the duel.
You: Um...okay...?

[Cthonian]

lol... I can tell that this is going to be an interesting critique goign through my chapters XD I'll keep those in mind as I write Chapter VI

[legendhiro]

i've been reading this, and there are a few things that need to be said. first, the flaws in the first chapter that i attributed to a shaky start don't fade. the story is just deficient in a lot of ways. first, the narrator, who is obviously omniscient limited, seems to care nothing about this story. even if the narrator of a story isn't a character from the story, there should still be some apparent emotion in the retelling. the way it reads right now, it doesn't seem that you care at all for the story that you are writing. second, i have a problem with the way the villains are portrayed. they seem as generic as the "mind drones" that they create from their opponents. there is no apparent difference between their personalities, no hint or indication as to their personal motives, and no conflict between them. no matter how strong the ties are between members of a group, the members always have some conflict between them, and not all of them share the same motivation. since most of the story so far is from the perspective of these villains, we should have seen some of these things by now.

i like the concept of this story, and i really believe that with enough care it can really be done well, but as it stands now, i think you should expand it a bit before continuing to post. it is not yet the best that it can be. i have faith in your ability to write, if you put your whole mind to it.

also, i just noticed that, since there were only forty people in the Duelist Kingdom tournament (forty one of you count joey), with two star chips each (or one each in the case of Yugi and Joey), there should have only been eighty chips on the entire island. some had obviously been taken by "player killer" guys like the creepy big-chinned dude in the woods and the maze guys (80-?=<80), and since Yugi, Mai, Kieth and Joey had forty altogether between them (<80-40=<40), there is no way that all seven of your villains could get ten star chips (a total of seventy chips). even ignoring the player killers, at most there would have been forty chips left, minus the five knocked into the water by Kimo when Yugi tried to return the chips stolen by Mokuba. that's only thirty five. thirty five doesn't come close to equaling seventy. not a major flaw, but something that should be taken note of.

[Cthonian]

I see where you're coming from on the writing perspective thing. And I totally agree. But with that and the second part, there is a key feature that I can't reveal but it explains A LOT! And as for the last giant paragraph (XD), I tried to make it as if Duelist Kingdom was this GIANT event with more people. And that way there would be enough. Although if you think about it... they truely only needed one set of star chips..... I haven't even started Chapter 6 and probably won't til tomorrow.

[legendhiro]

hiding information is fine, but their is nothing wrong with shooting us cryptic hints. that way you can have the villains talk about their plans to each other without telling the reading anything substantial.

[Cthonian]

With this, I really can't because it's huge and would turn the whole story upside down.... but it's going to be good

ALSO!!!! I have added some mini character bios. AND THE LONG AWAITED CHAPTER 6!!!!!!!

[Master52394]

Cthonian, Chapters 5 & 6 are just as good. I can't wait for the next chapter, and the next, and the next, and... well, you get the point. Hope it will be up soon!!!

[Cthonian]

I appreciate it Master52394. Between you and legendhiro, there aren't any repeat readers No matter. That won't stop me from posting my chapters. Chapter Seven is up now! And I updated Character Bios!