Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Kal slept soundly that night. At least that is how it started.

He dreamed dreams of his life after the tournament, and what he might find. Soon his mind traveled back to Aequitas and to a familiar street vender…

Alina.

Kal had been friends with her ever since she got home from his seclusion in the cave that he found.

When he was tired of the wild berries he gathered, he came home and tried to capture criminals in the nighttime. A person needs energy to hunt the bad guys, and to run from the good ones.

That was how he met her.

One crisp morning, Kal was walking around the back alleys of Aequitas. He hadn’t eaten anything in a few days, and he was looking for anyone to duel for some food. This early, there wasn’t anyone about.

A woman with long brown hair came around the corner pushing a cart. She was dressed in a tight-fitting, red top and blue jeans. Kal could tell from even as far away he was that she was beautiful.

But the more important thing to him at the time was that she had a food cart. Kal half-ran up to her without hesitation to see what she had that morning.

She set the cart down on the side of a stone courtyard that all the familiar alleys backed into from streets all around. It was a popular hangout for all the lower class citizens, as it blocked the view from all the streets, and it was accessible from all parts of the lower city.

The woman bent over behind the cart to lock the wheels in place, and when she stood up Kal was standing right in front of her. She almost had a heart attack where she stood.

She put her hand over her chest. “You scared me…”

“I didn’t mean to frighten you.” Kal said. He sounded honest. The woman looked like she trusted his answer. “First time?”

The woman gave him a look, “For what?”

“For carting the Lower City Courtyard, of course!” Kal said.

“Well, this is actually my first time in this part of town… I was assigned to this post just yesterday.”

“Are you afraid of the residents here?” Kal asked, putting his arms on the counter.

The woman looked at the machine attached to his arm in awe. “You are a duelist?” She asked, wide eyed.

Kal looked at his duel disk, “Yeah, I am.” Kal smiled, “You didn’t think there were any down here, did ya?”

Her eyes told the truth.

“Well, there are. More than you would think. Truth is, that is all we can do here. Sometimes we duel over conflicts, instead of physical contact. We also duel for food, sometimes…”

The woman stood there, thinking. It looked like she wanted to ask a question.

“What?” Kal asked.

“Well…” she said, unsure, “I don’t know how to duel.”

Kal thought for a moment, and then his stomach rumbled. The woman realized why he must be standing there at her cart.

“Tell you what.” She said, taking control of the situation, “I will give you free containers of food if you teach me how to duel.”

Kal didn’t even need to think about that one. He said, “Agreed,” and extended his hand.

She took it happily. They stood there grasping each other’s hand for a moment longer than needed.

“Well…” she asked, “can I have my hand back?”

Kal grinned and let her hand fall. She grinned back, and looked at her feet.

“I’m Alina.” She blurted out, digging a hole in the dirt with her toe.

“I’m Kal.” He replied, “Nice to meet you.”

Alina grinned, she looked really happy.

“So… Dueling one-oh-one?” Kal asked.

All Alina did was nod.

Kal taught her for the next hour on the basics of how to duel, starting with the bear minimum amount of information about the game. She seemed to enjoy having Kal there more than having him teach her about the game.

In return, she gave him a week’s worth of artificial food. Kal was eternally grateful.

Kal continued the dream until this part, but then things started to get strange.

Kal was again staring into nothingness. There was only a small layer of fog that reached up to his waist. He was inside his own mind.

He was aware of his subconscious.

Kal turned around and around, trying to find something in this cavern of nothingness.

“So... You managed to walk into your own mind?” a deep, raspy voice asked.

Kal turned to where he thought he heard the voice but found nothing.

“Who’s there?” Kal asked.

“You’re the big boss here, find me.” The voice said.

‘How am I supposed to do that?’ Kal thought. Kal was amazed that he heard his voice echo from all around him.

“You don’t realize that all your thoughts revolve around here? Any thought will echo. Nothing is a secret in your own mind.” The raspy voice said.

Kal was getting ticked.

“Show yourself!” he said. For a moment, the fog began to swirl, and it looked like the darkness itself started to bend and warp. Soon it was back to normal.

The raspy voice began to laugh a cackling laugh.

“You are strong.” It said, “I was hoping for that.”

“Why?” Kal asked, “Who are you?”

The darkness twisted like fabric, settling back into its place after a moment.

“I am a protector of your mind.” It said plainly.

“A protector?”

“Yes, a being that walks into a person’s mind and keeps the other lookers away.”

Kal felt instantly on edge. He didn’t want someone prowling around in his head, especially when he wasn’t invited.

“I can feel that you don’t want me here.” The being said. It stepped from the shadows, revealing its formless body. “But I feel that it was necessary.”

“If we all did things that we felt were necessary, then we would be living in anarchy.” Kal said to the creature.

The being laughed again.

“You think you would be safe without me in here?”

Kal wondered that for a moment, but nothing in words. He didn’t want that to echo in his mind.

“You are learning to control your thoughts, even from yourself. That is good…”

The creature began to pace around where Kal stood.

“No one told you to move.” Kal said. Instantly the man stopped. It was obviously against his will, as he struggled against invisible bonds that kept him from moving.

“Release me.” The creature commanded.

“As you said, I am the big boss around here. I believe you will stay stationary.” Kal said.

“Huh, you are an assertive one, aren’t you?” the creature asked, “You feel that you have the power to restrain me?”

Kal nodded.

The creature’s face twisted about, almost like a formless smile.

“Let’s see then.”

The creature expanded. His arms and legs all grew to twice their size, breaking the tethers holding him down. He raised a foot over where Kal stood.

Kal decided to move. He rolled off to the side, out of the way of the creature’s foot that came crashing down.

Kal leapt into the air; after all, this was still a dream. Soon he was above the creature’s head, some 100 feet above the ground.

Kal held a hand toward the creature, palm facing out.

“Be gone!!” he said, and he forced his energy from his hand.

The creature began to twist into a shapeless blob of a dark substance. Tan walls began to appear from the darkness, and light began to illuminate the space.

Soon the whole cavern was filled with stone walls instead of the black nothingness. They seemed to go on forever, never ending in a maze of doors and stairs.

The creature shrunk back into its formless body, curled up on the floor in the light. It didn’t seem as menacing when it was the darkest thing in a very light room.

Kal took his foot and nudged the thing over. It stared up at him with its blank face.

“Who are you?” Kal asked.

It laughed again, its face stretching to signify its mouth moving up and down.

“You would like to know?” it asked.

Kal bent over and pulled him up from the lapels, looking him straight in the face.

“Reveal yourself.” He whispered commandingly.

The edges of the black exterior began to shake, falling apart at what would be the seams. It began to shrink into itself, revealing a man.

It was a man just over six feet tall. He was muscular, but not too much so. He was a little pudgy as well. He wore a thin, white tank top and loose fitting jeans.

It was the man the clerk from the gas station that had told him about the tournament!

“You’re Bill Utilis!” Kal said, awestruck.

The man laughed, his voice was the same as he remembered it from the store.

“Yes, that is my name.”

“How are you in my head….?”

“That is a secret for me to know. You may find out eventually, but why would it be for me to say?”

Kal looked at him for a moment, and then punched Bill in the face. It didn’t look like it fazed him at all.

“Tell me what you are doing here! Why did you disappear when the organizers of the tournament needed more information from you?”

“Come now, Kal, I thought you would have connected the dots by now.” Bill said.

Kal paused for a moment.

“What dots?”

“You still think this has to do with the tournament?”

Kal nodded an unsure nod.

Bill laughed.

“Its not.” He didn’t care to elaborate.

Kal was getting sick of this guy.

“You can’t make me leave. I know you want too, but you can’t do anything until you are strong enough.”

“I’m not strong enough?” Kal asked, “Then what is this?”

Kal put his palm in Bill’s face and concentrated. It then seemed like wind was coming from his hand, blowing so hard that all of Bill’s body began to be squeezed into a two dimensional view.

Kal stopped the energy flow and Bill popped back into 3-D.

“An obvious sign of you not being strong enough.” Bill answered.

Kal suddenly got an idea. Bill knew it at the same moment Kal thought of it.

“No you don’t…” he began, but Kal was quicker.

Kal knew that he couldn’t get rid of Bill, so he decided to chain him down, making him unable to do anything else in his mind.

Kal drug him over to one of the doors. He put his hand on the door and waited for a moment. Light shined from behind the door.

Kal opened the door and threw Bill into the space, which was now an empty room.

“Hey…what…how… you…” Bill was flustered.

“Have a nice stay at Iszarc Estates.” Kal said, and slammed the door shut.

Kal could hear him pounding on the door from the other side. Kal snapped his fingers and the door disappeared, leaving only a smooth, stone wall in its place. Bill was trapped until Kal released him.

Kal opened his eyes and felt different. Before he had fallen asleep, he had felt empty inside, like he hadn’t even scratched the surface of who he was, even though he was 18 years old.

But now he felt energized, like he had finally gotten somewhere. He actually saw the inside of his mind! He would have to tell Talia soon…

Kal got up and got ready for the tournament. There were only four people left: Talia, Max, Bob, and Kal.

Kal only hoped that he wouldn’t face Max. Not because he was a powerful duelist, but because if they faced each other one of them would be eliminated. Kal didn’t want that.

Nevertheless, Kal walked to the dueling room with the clear floor alone. Max had already gone up sometime before Kal had woken up. Max always seemed to get up early.

When he got there, Kal saw that there were only four chairs. All of the other competitors were already there, and Kal was forced to sit in the only empty chair. It happened to be at the end next to Talia.

Kal sat next to the gorgeous red haired girl, who was dressed in a black top with pink designs, and plain black pants.

Talia acknowledged him, but nothing more than that.

Kal thought-probed a message to her.

‘I had an encounter with the being in my mind.’ He sent.

Talia looked at him, and then thought back, ‘What??’

‘I fought him in my mind.’

‘You are able to go inside your own mind now?’

‘Yes, I seemed to have learned it in my sleep.’

‘Interesting… What happened between you two?’

‘I banished the darkness blocking my mind, and I locked him up.’ Kal didn’t bother to tell her that the man was the same person who sent him to the tournament. That would have started a series of questions that would never end.

‘You did? Single handed? You didn’t have help….?’

‘No, Talia. I did it on my own.’ Kal though back. Why she thought he was weak was astounding.

‘Huh….’

Just then Roland stepped out in his usual business suit and microphone.

“Today is the Semi Finals!” he said.

The crowd burst out cheering.

“Your top four competitors have made it far. And here they are!”

Roland motioned toward the set of four chairs on the floor. The crowd in the bleachers almost went nuts.

“And I would like to announce a special guest! You all have heard of him before, the creator of Duel Monsters himself, Mr. Maximillion Pegasus!!”

The doors opened and in walked Pegasus in his usual red suit. His long grey hair covered one eye.

“Hello, everyone!” Pegasus said.

The crowd went nuts.

Pegasus sat down in a fifth chair that Roland sat next to Kal.

“Good luck today, Kal. Don’t forget to tell everyone who you really are.”

“Understood. Thank you, sir.” Kal said.

“Don’t thank me. There is nothing that needs to be thanked. But thank you for showing me the power of these cards that never went on the market. What say we remake them after the tournament is over with, eh?”

Kal turned to him.

“You would do that?”

“Why not? I own them anyway…” he said.

Roland started talking once more, cutting the two of them off.

“And now, I would like for you all to see the first in the last three duels of this tournament!”

The crowd cheered him on.

“The first competitor is... Jean Amicus!”

Kal had already walked over to his usual position. He always went first.

“And the other competitor is… Max Aufero!”

The crowd cheered him on as he walked out onto the floor. Kal could see the disappointment in his eyes. One of them would be going home before the finals.

“Hey, Jean? Play it tough, alright?”

Kal looked over at Max. He meant every word he said.

“I will.” Kal said. Then he addressed everyone in the forum. “People of Succurro!”

Everyone quieted down at once, wanting to hear what he was going to say.

“I have told you this entire time that my name is Jean Amicus. That is incorrect.”

Murmurs spread through the forum in wonder.

“My real name is Kal Iszarc.”

A member in the stands stood and shouted, “Hey, you’re that guy that the DFP officers were looking for!”

The stands quickly turned into a mob session.

Kal looked over to Pegasus. He stood up.

“Good people, haven’t we all lied in our life?”

Everyone turned silent once more, thinking about what he had said.

“Keep in mind that this is Jean Amicus, the same duelist with the same deck. He is no different than he was, just what he is called by. Does that make you hate him?”

Some quietly said no, while others shook their heads.

“I didn’t think so. Now I hope that you treat Mr. Iszarc with the respect you all gave him before.”

Pegasus sat back down in his chair, obviously done with standing up for Kal.

Kal turned back to Max, who stood dumbfounded.

“You ready to duel, Max?” Kal asked tentatively.

“Sure, Jean. I mean, Kal.”

“Duel!”

Each player drew five cards.

Kal: 8000
Max: 8000

“I believe that I should go first, after pulling that on us.” Max said.

“Fine by me.” Kal said.

Max drew one card.

“I summon my Deserter Knight – the Paladin, in attack mode!”

A woman in a skimpy outfit with pink wings appeared, holding a long staff. ATK: 1700 / LV: 4.

“I set one card face down, and then end my turn.”

Just before Kal drew his card, a hologram of a card appeared above the Paladin. This card looked just like the Paladin’s card.

The woman on the field started to evaporate at the edges, and she flew into the card above her. The card glowed black, and a dark haze surrounded the card.

“The Paladin was removed from play, due to her own effect.” Max explained, although Kal already knew what it did.

“My turn.” Kal said. He knew he had to finish it quick; otherwise these cards would take him by force.

“I activate the Spell Card, Reinforcement of the Allies! The allows me to add one Ally Monster to my hand, and then I can Special Summon it with the cost of 1000 Life Points. So I Summon my Legion’s Time Keeper!”

The familiar woman in blue armor with the saber and clock appeared. ATK: 1300 / LV: 4 / Ally Counters: 0

Kal: 8000 ~ 7000
Max: 8000

Since an Ally Monster was Summoned, she gains 1 Ally Counter.

The clock hands moved forward to the 1 o’clock position. Ally Counters: 0 ~ 1.

“Now, I Normal Summon Legion’s White Mage – Cerlia!”

A white magician on a broomstick appeared. ATK: 700 / LV: 3.

The Clock Hand moved forward one more place. Ally Counters: 1 ~ 2.

“Now her effect is activated. Since she isn’t on the bottom of the Stack, she is destroyed and I have to discard 1 card from my hand.”

“Then why did you play her?” Max asked, confused.

“You’ll see.”

The Magician spontaneously combusted, and was rid sent off the field.

“Now the card I discard is my Legion’s Defense Power – Earthen Brute. But by his effect, that Special Summons him to my side of the field.”

A big, round, green rock with one eye appeared in front of Kal. DEF: 2100 / LV: 4.

Yet again, the time was moved forward on the Time Keeper’s Clock. Ally Counters: 2 ~ 3.

“Since an Ally I control was destroyed, I can send my Legion’s Fallen General – Stazlban from my Deck to the Graveyard!”

Kal filed through his deck and found the card he was after. He placed it in the Graveyard slot of his Duel Disk.

“Now I can Tribute 1 monster I control to Special Summon this from my Graveyard!”

Kal tributed the rock, and in its place appeared a zombie with a long, menacing weapon. ATK: 2200 / LV: 6.

The Clock Hands moved forward another hour mark. Ally Counters: 3 ~ 4.

“Unbelievable! Kal used his own monster’s fault to his advantage, extremely well played.” Roland announced. Kal looked at him. He shrugged.

Kal turned back to the game.

“Now I attack with my Legion’s Time Keeper!”

The Time Keeper walked forward, preparing for battle.

“You should have summoned that Legion’s Elf Sorceress that you have to destroy my face down, but you didn’t. So I activate my Threatening Roar!”

The face down card flipped up, revealing the attack-stopping Trap Card.

A shockwave was sent through the air, scaring the Time Keeper back to her line.

“I place 1 card face down and end my turn.” Kal said. Hand: 2 cards.

“I draw.” Max said. He grinned. “I said I would give it my all.”

Kal wondered what he drew to make such a bold statement.

“Since I control no monsters, I can Special Summon my Deserter Knight – The Grandmaster!”

A short man in a dark robe appeared in the middle of the field. ATK: 2000 / LV: 6.

“Now I can send the Paladin that is removed from play to my Graveyard to Special Summon my Deserter Knight – The General!”

A woman in tight armor appeared holding a sword. ATK: 2300 / LV: 6.

“Now I can Normal Summon my Deserter Knight – The Dispirited!”

A woman with long, grey hair wearing armor appeared, holding a large sword. ATK: 1300 / LV: 4.

“In one turn, Max has managed to get the upper hand on the monster strength!” Roland commentated.

“Now I can attack that Time Keeper of yours with my Grandmaster!” Max said.

The small man started to walk forward.

“You aren’t the only one with a trick up their sleeve.” Kal said, “I activate the face-down Trap Barrier of the Departed Ally!”

The card flipped up, revealing the Trap.

“This allows me to negate your attack and end the battle phase, as well as placing an Ally of mine on the bottom of a Stack I control. I choose to Summon my White Mage to the bottom of my Time Keeper’s Stack.”

The man stopped walking, and then he retreated back to his line.

The White Mage appeared once more, and flew behind the Time Keeper. Ally Counters: 4 ~ 5.

“My Mage also has the ability to power up the monsters in its Stack, so Cerlia and my Time Keeper get an extra 500 ATK.”

Legion’s White Mage – Cerlia: ATK: 700 ~ 1200.
Legion’s Time Keeper: ATK: 1300 ~ 1800.

Max frowned. “I place one card face down, and end my turn.” Hand: 1 card.

The three monsters on his field each had a card appear above them, and then the slowly disappeared into them. Each one had a dark haze around them. Kal noticed that when the Paladin went to the Graveyard, its card wasn’t one of the one’s up there.

Kal drew his card, increasing his hand size to three. He definitely had hand advantage.

“I activate the Spell Card Reinforcement of the Army! This allows me to add 1 Warrior in my deck to my hand, as long as it is a level 4 or lower.”

Kal searched his deck once more and added a card to his hand.

“I add and Normal Summon my Legion’s Guardian of Justice – Iserith!”

The monster that bore a startling resemblance to Kal appeared on the field. ATK: 1800 / LV: 4.

Time Keeper: Ally Counters: 5 ~ 6.

“Now this card gains 200 ATK and DEF for each Ally Monster I control, but he doesn’t count. Since I have three other Allies on my field, he gains 600 ATK and DEF.

ATK: 1800 ~ 2400
DEF: 1000 ~ 1600

“Now I can activate his effect, and I can add an Ally Monster to my hand from my deck.”

Kal again searches through his deck to find another card to add to his hand.

“Now I can activate the Special Ability of my Time Keeper. By removing 5 Ally Counters, I can speed up time and Special Summon the card I just added, my Legion’s Thought Bender!”

Time Keeper: Ally Counters: 6 ~ 1.

A giant machine appeared in its own card space. It was so large that it took up almost a quarter of the field by itself. ATK: 0 / LV: 6 / Ally Counters: 0

“When this card is Summoned, I add Ally Counters to it equal to the amount of Ally Monsters I now control. Since he is included in this, I now have 5 Ally Monsters. So he gets 5 Counters. For each counter he has, he gains 700 ATK.”

Ally Counters: 0 ~ 5 / ATK: 0 ~ 3500.

Iserith: ATK: 2400 ~ 2600.

Max looked calm, but not too calm.

“I attack with my Stazlban once more.” Kal said.

The dead warrior stood up, walking toward Max. There was no way that he had another Threatening Roar, it just wasn’t that likely.

“I activate Threatening Roar!” Max said, smiling.

‘What???’ Kal thought.

The card flipped up to reveal a second Threatening Roar, negating the attack and ending the battle phase.

“The third battle phase in a row, and no one had gotten though the other’s life points!” Roland said.

‘Exactly right, this is aggravating.’ Kal thought.

Kal placed one card face down, lowering his hand to one card.

“I end my turn.”

Max drew his next card. It seemed to be just what he wanted.

“I activate the Spell Card Allure of Darkness! This allows me to draw 2 cards, and then remove 1 Dark Monster in my hand from play.”

Max drew two more cards, hand size increasing to three, and then placed a monster in his pocket, his removed from play zone. A monster card didn’t appear with the other three cards floating above the court.

“The monsters need to be removed by their own effect in order to be in the Sky.” Max explained. “Now I have the card I needed, I activate Deserter Launch! This Spell Card allows me to send one Deserter Knight from my deck to the removed from play zone, and treat it as it were removed by its own effect!”

Max searched his deck for a monster, and then placed it in his pocket. A monster card appeared above the field in the ‘Sky.’

“Now I Special Summon my Deserter Knight – The Grandmaster by sending my Dispirited to the Graveyard.”

One card disappeared, and from one card came a shower of dark mist. It swirled around a point, turning into a rough column. Then the mist disappeared and the small man reappeared. ATK: 2000 / LV: 6.

“Now I Special Summon my Deserter Knight – the General from the removed from play zone.”

The woman with the white armor appeared, in attack mode. ATK: 2300 / LV: 6.

“Now my General’s Special Ability activates! When she is Special Summoned, she gets to allow another Deserter Knight to attack twice this turn, so I choose my Grandmaster.”

The General held her sword in the air, and a blade shot from it into the air. The Grandmaster caught it.

“Now I can Special Summon my last monster from the removed from play zone, the Deserter Knight – The Strength!”

The last monster card that was there released its mist, and let the monster appear on the field.

It was a very small figure, the size of a small child. It was carrying two small daggers in its hands. ATK: 100 / LV: 3.

“Now his effect activates. This allows one of my monsters to double their attack points this turn, but the monster is destroyed at the end of the Battle Phase. So I double my Grandmaster’s ATK to 4000.”

“Whoa, in one turn, Max has managed to get out a 4000 attack point monster that can attack twice!”

Kal was dumbstruck.

“Now I attack your thought bender with my Grandmaster!”

The Grandmaster raised his empty hand and created an orb of light. He threw it at the Thought Bender.

The Thought Bender was destroyed in a brilliant crash; falling pieces of metal flew in all directions overhead.

Kal: 7000 ~ 6500
Max: 8000

“You triggered my Trap Card, Allied Vengeance! This card destroys the monster that destroyed an Ally I control, so your Grandmaster is no more!”

A shield-like object appeared and was launched toward the small man, destroying him instantly into a thousand shards.

“Fine, now I attack your Time Keeper with my General.” Max said.

The General raised her sword into the air, poised for the attack.

“My Stazlban’s effect activates! He takes the hit, rather than the Time Keeper.”

The Time Keeper was hit, but the zombie was destroyed instead.

“I take 500 life points of damage when he leaves the field.”

Kal: 6500 ~ 5500.
Max: 8000

Iserith: ATK: 2600 ~ 2200

“I remove my two monsters from play, place one card face down, and end my turn.” Max said; his hand size now down to zero.

“I draw.” Kal said. This has to be the toughest opponent Kal has had to face to date. He can’t even destroy the monsters his opponent is using, since they are removed from play instead of being left on the field.

Kal drew his card. Hand: 2.

“I activate the effect of my Legion’s Guardian of Justice – Iserith to add another Ally Monster in my deck to my hand.”

Kal searched his deck and placed a card in his hand.

“I can tribute my Legion’s white mage to Special Summon my Legion’s Fallen General – Stazlban back to my side of the field.” Kal said.

The white mage disappeared, and in an empty card zone appeared the zombie warrior. ATK: 2200 / LV: 6.

Time Keeper: ATK: 1800 ~ 1300

“Now I can Special Summon Legion’s Counter Daemon to the bottom of Time Keeper’s Stack, because of its effect.”

A humanoid skeleton appeared behind the Clock Bearer. ATK: 0 / LV: 2.

The time moved forward on the Time Keeper’s Clock by one. Ally Counters: 1 ~ 2.
Iserith: ATK: 2200 ~ 2400

“Now I can pay 300 Life Points to add 1 Ally Counter on Time Keeper, by Counter Daemon’s effect.” Kal said.

Kal: 5500 ~ 5200
Max: 8000
Ally Counters: 2 ~ 3

“Since my Legion’s Time Keeper has three Ally Counters on it, I can remove them to Special Summon my Legion’s Thought Bender back from the Graveyard.

Ally Counters: 3 ~ 0

The fallen metal pieces on the ground reformed themselves into the large metal beast that was there before. ATK: 0 / LV: 6 / Ally Counters: 0.

“I have 5 Allies, so he gains 5 Counters, 700 ATK points for each.”

Ally Counters: 5 / ATK: 3500
Iserith: ATK: 2400 ~ 2600

“I’m sorry, Max, but this is the end.” Kal said.

“What? How?” Max asked.

“With this Spell Card.” Kal revealed one of the last cards in his hand. “I activate Ally Assault! This Spell allows me to destroy a number of cards on the field equal to half the amount of Vectors in a Stack I control. Since I control a Stack of 2, I can destroy 1 card on the field. So your face-down card is gone.”

The Time Keeper and the Counter Daemon released their energy into the air, and it fell down upon the card. It was the Trap card Deserter Knight Barrier.

“Now I can attack you directly, with my Thought Bender, Stazlban, and Iserith, you are finished.”

ATK: 3500 + 2600 + 2200 = 8300

Kal: 5200
Max: 8000 ~ 0.

“And the first contestant to make it to the finals is…. Kal Iszarc!!” Roland said, “What an amazing ending that was!”

Kal felt really good now that people were chanting his name in victory, and not Jean. But the mood really got low when he looked over at Max. There actually was a tear streaming down his cheek.

The monsters disappeared as Kal walked over to him.

“You alright?” Kal asked.

“It’s not the loss that makes me sad.” Max said, “I feel that I lost a friend. Jean Amicus was all I knew of you, and now that you have beaten me it feels like that friend is gone forever.”

“He isn’t. I’m not. I am standing here in front of you now. What does it matter who won? I would have wanted you to win just as much as I wanted myself to win.”

Max looked into his eyes, “You would have?”

“Yes.” Kal said.

Max looked like he believed him.

“Jean, I knew that I didn’t lose you!”

“Well, I would prefer if you called me Kal from now on.” Kal said, laughing.

“Sure, sure.” He said, mocking.

“And now will the players leave clear the field, the next round of is about to begin!” Roland said.

Kal walked back to his seat with Max, Talia and Bob were already walking to the field.

“Good Job, Kal.” Pegasus whispered.

“Thank you, sir.” Kal said, “But I don’t feel like staying and watching.”

“Suit yourself. I find this set of cards that Talia uses to be quite interesting as well. They are a brand new concept that we came out with, and I am pleased that she is using them so well.”

Kal left before he could rope him into a long conversation about Talia’s deck.

Kal had beaten his own best friend, and his roommate, in a duel before the two of them could get to the finals. Most likely they were going to battle anyway, but beating Max in the semis felt like he stole something from him.

Kal just wanted to be alone for a while.

He went to the food court and got some food, free with his credit card for the Palmarium.

After that, he walked back up to his room. He didn’t know what to do, so he just paced around in there for a while.

He got bored, so he turned on the television. It happened to turn on right when a news bulletin came on.

“A state-wide manhunt has been issued against Kal Iszarc. He has been acting as a vigilante in Aequitas, just a few miles from here. The Police won’t stand for this to happen any longer, and they need your help to find him. Here is a photograph of him.”

A picture from Kal exciting the Police Office the day he was fired was posted on the screen. He looked angry and out of control, and the leather coat just added to the ‘bad’ look.

“If you have seen this man, contact our hotline at the number below on your screen. We are now accepting calls about this man that we will put on air, right now.”

Almost instantly, a call came in.

“Hello, you are on News 5 in the afternoon. What is your comment on this fugitive?”

The voice of an elderly man spoke, “What exactly is the reason for his arrest?”

“He has been charged with being an unlawful vigilante.”

“And can you tell me why that is wrong?” the man said.

The news caster’s jaw literally dropped.

“You don’t know? Neither do I.” the man said. He hung up, and all you could hear was a dial tone.

The news anchor got her bearings back. “Next caller.”

This time the voice of a young adult, maybe in his early twenties, spoke, “Yeah, with what the earlier caller said, how vigilantism is bad?”

“I … don’t know.” The anchor said.

“I think that the cops only want Kal behind bars because he can do their job better than they can, and it is making them all look bad.”

All of a sudden, you could hear multiple phones ringing in the background of the news station. From the amount of noise, you could guess that there were twenty phones, easy.

“We have to cut to commercial, come back after the break.”

Kal turned off the TV.

They have issued a manhunt for him. They have gone so far as to try and get the help of the citizens of Succurro and Aequitas to look for him as well.

But people were standing up for him. Just because of the thought of that one elderly man, he had allies on his side. Now people would start fighting for him, instead of against him. This TV broadcast might just be their downfall…

Kal would not run away. Pegasus said that as long as he was in the tournament, he would be safe from being arrested. But what happens after tomorrow? The tournament ends, and then what?

He would just have to figure it out when the time comes. What he needs to prepare for now is the final duel tomorrow, and it is bound to be difficult.