Chapter 9

Chapter 9

The elevator ride down felt a little awkward to Kal. For one, he was pretending to be someone that he wasn’t. Jean Amicus. He was beginning to feel that he developed another personality, like when he met Zandra Dyniti he became someone knew. And this new person was called Jean Amicus.

Reason two was that he was alone in an elevator on a long ride down to the lobby with Zandra. He still felt a little insecure around her. He hadn’t got to know her more than her name and what she looked like. And that she liked to eat Chinese food.

And reason three was that she was totally obsessed with him. Several times she tried to make a move on him, but every time Kal refused and pushed her away. But Zandra had enough self esteem to not be hurt by this, and she didn’t give up.

When the door finally opened Kal felt a wave of relief pass over him. Like the relief you feel when you come out of a sauna after an hour and feel the cool air once more.

That’s exactly what it felt like in the elevator for some reason, like a sauna.

Kal walked over to the lobby’s main desk; Zandra clung to Kal’s right arm, opposite his duel disk.

When Kal got to the desk the woman behind the counter looked busy, ruffling with papers and such. She seemed to be looking for something.

Kal just waited. He knew that in situations like this he couldn’t try to rush the woman. She would just blow up in his face.

She turned her head in way that allowed her to catch a glimpse of the two standing there, and when she did she nearly had a heart attack.

“Gracious, me! I didn’t hear you walk up…” she said. Kal read her name tag ‘Janet.’

“It’s alright, Janet.” Kal said. “We were just wondering if you could activate this gold card…”

“I love it when you say we...” Zandra chirped.

Kal tried to raise his arm, but attached to it was Zandra. He wouldn’t have his arm back until he went to his room, most likely. At least he hoped he would there…

Kal switched the card into his left hand and handed it to her.

“Ah, I see the final competitor has settled in quite nicely.” She said, taking the card from him.

She swiped the card through a slot next to the computer and typed in a series of numbers. Within seconds Kal had the card back.

“Thank you,” Kal said. But he remained.

“Something else?” Janet asked, looking anxious to get back to work.

“I don’t mean to intrude, but I noticed you were looking for something…” Kal said.

Janet looked slightly at ease to put her burden upon someone’s ears.

“Well, it seems that Mr. Pegasus has requested the I.D. numbers of all the scouters for the tournament so that he could log the amount of people they recruited and pay them equally, but there has been a small problem with your scout, Bill Utilis…” she said, a bit faster than was necessary.

Kal had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. “What is the problem?” he asked, keeping his voice level.

“Well, it seems that we cannot find any trace of him. He has had no record with our department, or Mr. Pegasus’s. All talent scouts are required to sign up, so we can give them their pay, but there is no registration form for this ‘Mr. Utilis.’”

“What does that mean for me?” Kal asked. He was only worried about being kicked out of the tournament because of this ‘talent scout.’

Janet looked at Kal, “You are safe, if that is what you mean. Mr. Pegasus has been watching the tournament closely, and he said by name that ‘Jean Amicus it not to be sent home from this mix up.’”

Kal felt relieved. Zandra wrapped her other arm around him and said, “That’s good.”

“But I was assigned to find this paperwork, and it just might be here. But the thing is that I filed that fax that told us of your entry, and even that is gone!” Janet exclaimed.

‘That’s weird…’ Kal thought. ‘Who is this Bill Utilis, and why did he want me in the tournament?’

“Well, I think we will let you get back to your work.” Kal said, and waked off, forcing Zandra to let go of his body. But she still managed to keep a firm hold of his arm. He wondered how he would duel in round 2….

Kal went over to the elevator and pressed the button, dreading the sauna that awaited him but wanting food bad enough to endure it.

…

Kal and Zandra ended up eating alone, for Olivia and Nadia had finished and went back to their hotel room to relax until the next duel.

It was uncomfortable to Kal, but he endured it. He didn’t want to break Zandra’s heart, and he wanted that Chinese food.

They stayed talking there at the table up until the last minute before the next round started, and then they walked over to the elevator doors to go back to the duel stadium.

When Zandra pressed the button to call the elevator, call heard the voice again.

‘I know who you are,’ rang through his head in an angry, female tone.

Kal turned around, and only five feet from him stood that beautiful woman with the short red hair. The scorn the enveloped her face was unnerving. Then her eyes flashed blue.

‘Leave this place, imposter,’ rang the voice.

Kal tried to play the game her way. He tried to move his voice from his mind to hers. Hey, if he could fly and pick up buildings with his mind, couldn’t he do this?

‘Who are you?’ he managed to send. The woman looked startled, as if he had done something she had not expected.

The power needed to do this was more than Kal had anticipated, and soon the world was closing in around him.

And all went into nothingness.

…

Kal woke up. But not in a quiet, calm way of only opening your eyelids. He woke up unexpectedly, and he was screaming as he did.

After a moment he stopped, reality sinking in that it was a ridiculous thing to do. That is when he took in the surroundings.

He was in a hospital ward, where he didn’t know. There were monitors beeping, and that weird smell that always seems to come from one were there. Everything was well lit, saying that the lights were off. This must mean that it was sometime in the day.

The same day? Or the next? Or some day that was far in the future? Had he slept off the tournament?

Within moments, Zandra was walking through the door. She looked frantic.

“Don’t you ever do that to me again! Hear me?” she said, finger pointed, like he was being scolded.

“Right, next time I feel like passing out I just will just say ‘No.’” Kal said, joking.

Zandra grinned. “You know I can’t stay mad at you...” she said, giving him a hug.

“Where are we? And what day is it? When is round two? Has it started? Is it over…?” Kal started asking.

She held up a finger to silence him.

“It is still the same day! And you are on the bottom floor of the Palmarium. It also serves as a hospital.”

‘So round two is still going to happen…’ Kal thought, ‘I haven’t missed it.’

“Round one ended a few moments ago, it was spectacular I heard. Round two starts tomorrow, so you have plenty of time.”

“What did Roland say about my absence?” Kal asked.

“He said that he was disappointed, but understood. He didn’t need you there anyway; your duel was already done.” Zandra pointed out.

“Alright. So when do I get out of here?” Kal said. He really wanted to get to the card shop as quick as he could.

“The doctor has said that when you wake up you are free to go.”

Kal threw the blankets off of him and stood up.

“Let’s go then.” Kal said.

Zandra laughed and hooked her arm around his.

…

Kal went to the card shop with Zandra. She had never played the game, so she was looking around at all of the cards in awe. Soon she had gone over to looking at all the pointless rare cards with pretty pictures. This gave Kal time to talk to the manager.

A man was sitting in the back corner of the store on a stool. He could see everyone from that one spot. Kal went up to him.

“Would you happen to have any cards that support Ally Monsters?” Kal asked.

The manager gave him a blank look.

“Do what? What did you just ask?” he said. He was a burly man with dark skin and a thin mustache. He knew this game well, and it also looked like he knew some combat skills.

“Ally Monster Support. Got any?” Kal rephrased.

The man burst out laughing.

“What is so funny?” Kal asked.

The man tried to calm himself. “You mean you don’t know?” he asked.

“Know what…?”

“Ally Monsters, the guys that stack on top of each other? They don’t exist! There is no such card that has a black card frame that is registered, and no pack collects them. Pegasus has never released such a set.”

“For these cards not existing, you sure seem to know a lot about them.” Kal said.

“Everyone does! And you are the second person today to ask. These myths about these cards started coming around from tournaments some years back, maybe ten to fifteen years ago. They were small tournaments, but they had some fabulous prizes. In one, it was said that this man won a black motorcycle grand prize. His deck was filled with an assortment of cards with black frames and they were allowed to be put in the same places as other monsters. But no card was ever found.” The manager said.

‘That is strange.’ Kal thought, ‘then the cards I have in my deck are fabled?’

Kal thought it was best not whip out his deck and prove to the ignorant man that the Allies did exist. It might not get him anywhere.

“Wait, you said I was the second. Who was the first?”

“A man about your height with very short, platinum blond hair hidden under a tight, black Beanie. He seemed to press the issue that they were real, and then I looked them up in our server and proved to him that they do not exist. He seemed annoyed and left.”

Kal pondered this for a moment.

“Do you have any suggestions for a deck filled entirely with dark monsters?” Kal asked.

“Do you have Allure?” the man asked immediately.

“I have one…” Kal asked back.

The man sighed and stood up off his stool. He walked over to a glass door under the display table and picked up a Spell Card. It had a picture of a duel deck in the middle of blackness.

“Allure of Darkness should always be run in pairs in a dark deck. I would say three, but they semi-limited it. So, this should do you.” The man said.

“How much will that cost me?” Kal said, remembering that he has no money.

“I sell and trade here. Take out your cards for trade, and I will see if there is anything here I like.”

Kal liked this man. He had brought his rare cards just in case, but he wasn’t for sure they would take them. He just had one more question.

“Do you buy?”

“Yeah, the good stuff.”

Kal was happy. He didn’t have anything like the Dark Armed Dragon or Judgment Dragon everyone went crazy about a few years back, but he did have some amazing rare cards.

Most of them he never used or planned on using because they never fit in with his Allies. But now he found a use for them.

Kal ended up walking out of the store with more money than he had seen in a long time, and with that Allure. He was going to set up a brand new deck for the next round. Next round was going to be interesting.

…

He and Max spent some time talking to each other that night. Not too much time, but Max told him about the duel he had. He had won it, and he said it wasn’t that close. Max had won easily.

“That is one perk about these Deserter Knights is that they cannot be destroyed by attacks. They are removed at the time!”

“Yeah that is something.” Kal said. He was a bit distracted at the moment. He was surrounded by cards, Allies especially.

“How is that deck coming?” Max asked.

“It is coming. I think that I have come up with the perfect balance of Monsters to Spells and Traps. I have added Tuners and some Synchros to my deck; it should be easy to tune them with my field swarming abilities…” Kal said, almost to himself.

Max laughed a bit, “Oh, okay. Just don’t let me know your secrets. If someone comes pressing me for information on your deck I don’t want to know.”

Kal had to laugh at that.

“Well, I am going to get some sleep for tomorrow. Good luck with that deck, Jean.”

“Night.” Kal said, trying to decide between adding a third Legion’s Samurai to the deck.

Max laughed one last time, and then turned his back to Kal in his bed.

_____

The next day, Kal was sitting in his designated seat. Zandra was forced to sit away from him, and he knew that that annoyed her. She was truly crazy about him.

Kal had finished his new deck last night, and not too late. He had gotten plenty of rest.

All Kal wished was for three things to happen.

Number one was to hopefully not see that girl with the red hair. He didn’t want to get freaked out before his round.

Number two was he hoped that he could learn more about this ‘power’ that he seems to have. With being able to levitate, pick up buildings, predict his own victory in an amount of turns, and send his thoughts to others’ minds he wondered just how much he could do. And if there were any limits. And if he could control it.

Number three was simply to win. He couldn’t afford to go home, not after being shown the awesome sight of the Palmarium. He must win at all costs.

“Ladies and Gentlemen! I hope that you all got a good night’s sleep?” Roland asked over the microphone.

The crowd shouted a very loud jumble of different noises, most of which were either ‘yes!’ or ‘not really…’

“Well, today is the second round! And to start the new round is Jean Amicus vs. Aren Assim!”

The crowd shouted approbation, and when Kal walked onto the floor there was an entire section of fan girls shouting his name.

Only his name was Jean here. He was starting to wish that he hadn’t done that, now his win will be fake… It won’t be a win for him. It will be for Jean.

Kal raised his duel disk and waited for his opponent.

But no one came. The duel field was empty, except for Kal.

Suddenly a man with long brown hair in dreadlocks came running through the doors of the room. He was wearing a black turtle neck sweater and black slacks. He was wearing a duel disk.

“Sorry if I am late, I hope I didn’t interrupt a duel in progress.” The man said.

“Well, you are just in time. And you didn’t interrupt anything at all. In fact, we have all been waiting for you.” Roland said, “You are up.”

‘This is Aren Assim?’ Kal thought to himself.

“Oh! Well then…” he said, stepping up to his side of the field, “Let my end this quick.”

“That confident?” Kal asked.

“Yes, I studied you from the last round, and you almost lost a few times. You can’t rely on lucky draw’s to win you the duel this time.”

‘That’s what you think… well, this time things will be different.’ Kal thought.

“Duel!” they both said, and drew five cards.

“You may go first.” Aren said.

So Kal drew his card. Aren thought he knew his deck, but he doesn’t. Kal may not have been able to find new Ally Monster Support at the card shop, but he did manage to find a new Ally that was in his box of cards. Why he hadn’t seen it before amazed him.

Kal liked his hand, it was sure to be a nice match.

“I summon my Legion’s Attack Power – Yin and Yang in attack mode!”

A set of opposite fiends with one wing apiece appeared; one white, one black. ATK: 1500 / LV: 4

“Then I place two cards face down and end my turn.”

“I draw!” Aren said, “And I activate the Continuous Spell Card Valhalla, Hall of the Fallen!”

The card flipped up to reveal an empty throne. The same throne appeared behind Aren.

“This Spell allows me to Special Summon a fairy from my hand if I control no monsters, like now. So I Special Summon my Chaos Angel of Death LV 6 from my hand!”

The throne glowed, and suddenly a creature with black wings and holding sharp weapon appeared. ATK: 2400 / LV: 6.

“Now I activate the Spell Card Level Up! This allows me to tribute my LV 6 to get a LV 8!”

The creature disappeared, then in its place appeared a creature with bigger black wings, a larger weapon, and looked a lot stronger. ATK: 2700 / LV: 8.

“And now I can Normal Summon my Chaos Angel Magician in attack mode!”

A little girl dressed in black was summoned to the field after the card flipped. ATK: 1700 / LV: 4.

“Now, attack his Yin and Yang my Magician!” Aren said.

The sorceress poised for the attack, then launched an orb of purple light at the fiend pair.

But the black fiend walked forward and swatted the orb back, and it hit the Magician.

Kal: 8000
Aren: 7900

“WHAT?” Aren exclaimed.

“It is the effect of my Yin and Yang. It changes from attack mode to defense mode if it is attacked. And it just so happens that his DEF is 1800, 100 more than your monster’s ATK.”

Aren growled, “Fine. Then I will just attack you with my Chaos Angel of Death LV 8!”

The monster angel picked up its weapon and sliced it through the air. It went strait through the two fiends, tiny in comparison to the weapon. It broke into a thousand shards.

“You triggered my trap! Allied Vengeance! Now that my monster was destroyed, your monster is destroyed as well.” Kal said.

The trap card flipped up and a blue, sharp object was shot straight into the Chaos Angel. It was destroyed into a thousand shards.

Aren growled more. “Fine, I place one card face down and end my turn.”

Kal drew his card in silence. He felt a spark of electricity, but instead of trying to force it away he embraced it this time. In his mind he saw a card that he hadn’t drawn before, and it was ready to be played.

“I activate the Spell Card called Reinforcement of the Allies! This allows me to add a level 4 or lower Ally Monster from my deck to my hand, and then Summon it by paying 1000 life points!”

Kal picked out the card, and then placed it on the field. His life points decreased to foot the bill.

Kal: 7000
Aren: 7900

“So I summon my Legion’s Power – Super Kid!” Kal said.

A little kid with a sword in monotone grey colors appeared. ATK: 1000 / LV: 4

“Now I activate my Trap Card, Legion’s Magma Stone – Standlach! He is a Trap Monster, so when he is activated he is summoned as a monster!”

The face down card flipped up, and out of it rose a giant red piece of rock. ATK: 1400 / LV: 5.

“And when he is Special Summoned, I can Special Summon 1 level 3 or lower Ally to the top of him, so I Summon my Legion’s Undertaker – Rentskel!”

A girl with long red hair appeared holding a sword. ATK: 1200 / LV 3.

“Now I can remove my Super Kid and my Undertaker from the field in order to Special Summon my Legion’s Overlord – Lokeyrr!”

The two creatures left the giant stone, but in front of him came a giant angel with a scepter. ATK: 2700 / LV: 12.

“I Stack him on top of my Magma Stone. And my Lokeyrr gains Ally Counters for the amount of creatures sent to the grave by his effect, so he gets 2 counters! And his first effect activates, letting him gain 100 ATK points for each!”

Lokeyrr gained two Ally Counters, so his ATK increased by 200. ATK: 2700 ~ 2900.

“Now I remove all of my Allies in my Graveyard to Special Summon my Final Card, Legion’s Dark Lord – Detlitwar!”

The ghostly images of the three Allies disappeared from the ground to the sky, and then a monster arose.

This creature was covered from head to toe in black armor that resembled feathers. He had giant, black wings that stretched around him. He had a sword to match his armor, and the blade glowed blue. ATK: ? / LV: 9.

“Now his ATK equals the combined levels of all the Allies I sent, times 200. Since I had my level 3 Undertaker and my two level 4s, Super Kid and Yin and Yang, his ATK is 2200.” Kal explained.

Detlitwar: ATK: ? = 2200.

“Now my Detlitwar will attack your Magician!”

The black armored monster with wings raised his sword and rose in the air. He came down, and swung his sword through the little girl. She was defenseless against him. She broke into a thousand shards.

Kal: 7000
Aren: 7400

“You triggered my Trap Card! The Battlefield of Chaos! Since you destroyed my monster, I can summon another from my hand!”

Aren played the last card in his hand, which was a monster with wings and a sharp weapon. ATK: 1500 / LV: 4.

“I summoned my Chaos Angel Theo – The Guardian of the Graveyard.”

“Well, I will attack your new monster with my Lokeyrr!”

The Overlord raised his scepter into the air and let out a bolt of energy straight into the air. The wave came crashing down upon the monster like a thunder bolt.

Kal: 7000
Aren: 6000

“Now I activate the Special Ability of my Detlitwar! By lowering his ATK by 1000 until the End Phase, I can add 2 Ally Counters to Cards on the field! And I add them to my Overlord!”

Legion’s Dark Lord – Detlitwar: ATK: 2200 ~1200
Legion’s Overlord – Lokeyrr: ATK: 2900 ~ 3100

“I end my turn.” Kal said.

Legion’s Dark Lord – Detlitwar: ATK: 1200 ~ 2200.

It was strange. Both Kal and Aren had no cards left in their hands, but they both had cards on the field that allowed them the ability to win.

Aren drew his card.

“All I have is a monster in defense.”

A face down, horizontal card appeared.

“I end.”

Kal drew his card.

He liked it.

“I activate Allure of Darkness! Now I can Draw 2, then remove a Dark monster.”

“I know how it works, just get on with it.” Aren said. He was getting petulant.

Kal didn’t mind though. He drew his two, and was amazed by it.

“I remove my Legion’s Chained Daemon, and by his effect when he is removed from play I gain 1000 Life Points.”

A ghostly figure of the humanoid with chains around him disappeared into the sky, and Kal got back that 1000 Life Points he had spent last turn.

Kal: 8000
Aren: 6000

Now for my other card, I Summon my Legion’s Daemon Monarch! He can be summoned with no releases for the cost of not attacking with him.

A monster with skeleton limbs and wings appeared. ATK: 2000 / LV: 10

“Now even though he can’t attack, he can activate other effects, like adding another Ally Counter to my Overlord Lokeyrr. That adds another 100 ATK points.”

Legion’s Overlord Lokeyrr: ATK: 3100 ~ 3200

“Now my Dark Lord will attack your face down monster!”

Detlitwar went forward with his saber and slashed right through the card. It revealed to be a normal monster with only 1000 DEF points.

“And now my Overlord will attack you directly!” Kal said.

The Overlord raised his scepter into the air and released another wave of light. The light came down upon Aren himself, inflicting 3200 points of damage.

Kal: 8000
Aren: 2800

“Then I will add two more Ally Counters to my Overlord with my Dark Lord’s effect.”

Legion’s Dark Lord – Detlitwar: ATK: 2200 ~1200
Legion’s Overlord – Lokeyrr: ATK: 3200 ~ 3400

“I end my turn.” Kal said.

Legion’s Dark Lord – Detlitwar: ATK: 1200 ~ 2200.

Aren knew that he was defeated. There was nothing left that he could do.

He drew his card anyway, but then his eyes brightened.

“I don’t believe it!” Aren said.

Kal was confused. ‘What had he drawn?’ Kal wondered.

“I use the effect of my Valhalla to summon my ultimate monster! I summon my Chaos Angel of Death LV 12!”

A woman in a cloak appeared with her own scythe. ATK: 3200 / LV: 12.

“Now I can attack your Dark Lord – Detlitwar!” Aren said.

“No you don’t.” Kal said.

“What? Why not?” Aren said.

“My Overlord has 7 Ally Counters on it. When he has 6 or more, you can only select him as an attack target.” Kal explained.

Aren looked downhearted. He had actually made a comeback from a stroke of luck, and even that was taken from him.

“I end my turn.” He said sadly.

Kal drew his card, even though he didn’t need it.

“I activate the ability of my Legion’s Dark Lord to place 1 Ally Counter on your Angel of Death and 1 Ally Counter on my Overlord.”

Legion’s Dark Lord – Detlitwar: ATK: 2200 ~1200
Legion’s Overlord – Lokeyrr: ATK: 3400 ~ 3500

“Why did you put one on my creature?”

“Because I can now activate the effect of my Daemon Monarch. He can destroy a card with at least 1 Ally Counter on it, and your Monster fits the bill.” Kal said.

The Daemon Monarch activated its second effect and released an orb of black energy.

The energy destroyed the Angel, breaking it into a thousand shards.

“Now I can attack you directly for game!” Kal said.

The Overlord attacked directly, sending a bolt of energy straight into the air. It came crashing down upon the opponent, dropping his Life Points to 0. It was quite an epic ending in one sight, and pitiful in another.

Kal: 8000
Aren: 0

The crowd burst into excitement at the end, and everyone started talking immediately about the newest win from Jean Amicus, the early favorite.

_____

Sitting in his office, the police chief was staring at a photograph on his wall. The photo was of entire force at the beginning of the year.

“Where are you Kal?” he wondered aloud.

Just then there was a knock at the Chief’s door.

“Come in.” he said.

The door opened and in walked one of the Cyborg Officers.

“Well? What have you found?” the Chief asked.

“We have traced the gas exhaust from the motorcycle driven off that night three nights ago to a gas station just outside of Succurro. But after that the trail goes cold.”

“Succurro? The next town over? Why would Kal be going there?” the Chief asked.

“We cannot even confirm that Kal Iszarc was the person on the motorcycle riding out of town, but there has been a small group of Cyborg Officers sent into Succurro, and we are looking for Mr. Iszarc as we speak.”

“Good.” The Chief said, although he wasn’t satisfied. Kal was the best officer he had ever had on the force. He had to let him go because of his defeat from Joel Karne, and how that had affected his work.

The Chief had known Kal for some time, ever since he was six. That is when Kal’s parents had their accident. At least that is what the Chief had told him, and Lance. The truth was more unnerving.

The Chief at the time was only a common Police Officer, never even bothering to try the game of Duel Monsters. He had been called to the seen of a brutal homicide.

The Chief went to young Kal Iszarc’s house to find his mother dead, shot. She had been dead for only a few hours, and Kal wasn’t home from Battle Academy yet.

The father ended up missing, but he was never considered for the crime. CSI had found enough of his blood around the house to declare that he would be dead. They never found his body.

When Kal got home that day, his mind couldn’t process what was going on. The Chief put him into the foster care system, but no one would take him. As a result, Kal ended up growing up in the Police Force’s care.

Kal really enjoyed the duels featured from Battle City, and that is when he really got into the game of Duel Monsters. At that time he was only ten.

Kal’s dad had been a very good duelist. No one knew his secret, only that he could win in any situation. He was the talk of the dueling world before Yugi Muto appeared.

Before they had died, they had gotten a will drawn up just in case something would happen to them. Kal’s dad insisted.

In the will they left everything to Kal as is, everything in the house was not to be moved in any way. There was enough money in their bank to pay for the house and utilities for a decade, so they knew it would be alright.

Kal’s dad left his deck to Kal as well, that that is where Kal had gotten his Allies.

Kal was young when this ordeal happened, and as a result he didn’t remember much about it. Only that his parents had been in an accident and that his dad’s cards where now his.

_____

Kal was happy that night. He had successfully gone through round two, and the rest of the duels that day were great.

Except this one duel. Roland had called out the names of the next opponent’s to duel.

“Alright, that was something, right?” Roland said.

The crowed cheered.

“Alright! Well, the next duel is between Allen Undleer vs. Talia Memourn!”

A teenaged boy walked up to the duel field and readied himself.

Then a beautiful girl with short red hair walked up to the field. Kal’s heart stopped. It was he girl who could speak in his head, and who had the unbelievable scorn for him.

She looked over to him, but this time she had a smile on her face, and not a scowl. He eyes flashed blue.

‘I know who you are.’