Crime Scene
[X]the shop over on Oak Street. That one reported losing some stuff commonly used in Duel Runners and they did lose the most items out of the ten on the list. Were the other shops just a smokescreen? Whatever the case, speaking to the store's manager might give you some details about the aftermath of the theft.
[X]a squad car. It isn't as fast as a Duel Runner, but you never got your Turbo Dueling license since your deck relies so heavily on equip spells. This is fine too, and probably a more comfortable ride anyway.



Honestly, you really don't know why your fellow officers love those mobile death-traps so much. The cruisers are a little slower, sure, but they're both safer and a lot more comfortable. You do notice that Ritsu wrinkles her nose at your chosen vehicle before getting in.

"Honestly Cleo, still haven't gotten a Turbo Duelist license? How you can stand driving this slowpoke, I'll never know." the woman mutters. Honestly, you should have expected that reaction from her, especially with her relative fame on the force. Ritsu Kobayakawa, the 'Mach-Speed Officer'.

"Same to you Ritsu." you prod back, turning the key and putting pedal to the metal, speeding off with a screech of tires. "I don't know how you can enjoy going at 100 mph with just a flimsy helmet between you and the pavement. Guess it'll just remain a mistery, huh?"

She grins at you, clearly not hurt by your poking at all, and seems about ready to launch into a lecture about the glory and majesty of Turbo Dueling, which is honestly something you've heard enough times by now. As such, you feel no remorse about bringing up the case again.

"So, corporal." you using her rank makes her freeze up and get serious.

"You were in this past week, so you probably know about the Parts Shops Robberies, right?"

She nods. "The ten shops that got robbed this past week? Three shops on Monday, four on Wednesday and three on Friday, I think. And every day, one of the shops robbed got marked with an ouroboros symbol that we know nothing about. That about cover it?"

"Pretty much." you sigh, irritated. "We're probably not really gonna find much, but we're headed for that one shop on Oak Street. The one that got robbed and tagged on Wednesday, y'know? I want to get boots on the ground and see if anything was missed."

She nods and the rest of the ten minute drive is spent in relative silence. You finally park the car in front of the shop and hop out, Ritsu following at a slightly slower pace.

When you push the door open and set the bell to jingling, the owner is already waiting for you. Other than him, the shop currently only contains a cashier and a single customer, a shorter man with light brown hair wearing black jeans and a white short-sleeved shirt under an unzipped black jacket, that just finished paying and is packing the parts into his backpack.

"Ah, officers." the owner greets you before turning to the cashier.

"Nobu, could you please close up shop after that fine gentleman leaves? I'd like to give the officers the run of the place and they shouldn't be disturbed."

The cashier, a taller, bulkier man with flaming red hair and hazel eyes, nods quietly, helping the man pack up and escorting him out, flipping the sign on his way.

Now that it's just you, Ritsu and the owner of the store in the building, the man seems to almost age ten years.

"Honestly, keeping up a mask like that's just so unpleasant... I'm sorry that you had to come all this way, but then I never asked to be robbed in the first place. Please, if you need anything, just ask." he nods politely to you.

"I do have a question, actually. Have you noticed anything odd around the time of the robbery? Probably before it happened, someone casing this place, but if anything strange happened after you were robbed, it could be important as well." you ask quickly and the owner coughs awkwardly.

"Well... there is something... But it's probably not important. Just a prank, I'm sure." he chuckles, trying to wave it off. Unfortunately for him, your curiosity is now officially peaked.

"It could be unimportant, yes. Or it could be the big break we're looking for. So, out with it please. We'll decide if it's important or not." You very carefully do not glare at the man. he didn't mean anything rude by his words and there's no reason to suddenly get pissy with him either. Still, him apparently deciding what is and isn't important just rankles a little.

"Well, uh, there's been some trouble with the cameras since then. They're brand new because the lenses on the old ones got spray-painted, but they seem to be glitching up. Whenever we review the tapes for the night, we sometimes notice this... small shadow zipping around. The lights in the back part of the building sometimes flicker too, but there's nothing wrong with the wiring or anything. It's pretty weird and it lost me a few employees - superstitious fools thought the place was haunted - but I can't see how it would impact the case?" he scratches the back of his head.

You have to agree with him there, honestly. It's certainly weird, but it doesn't seem connected to the case at a-

A small, grey shadow dashes past in the corner of your eye. You look in that direction surreptitiously and see a see-through mouse wearing armor and holding a cheese lance, its' mousetrap shield slung onto its' back. It squeaks at you before slowly walking into the shelves, motioning for you to follow with its weapon.

"Right. We'll take a look around now. Though, if we have any more questions, we'll certainly ask." you nod to the man and head off into the shelves to follow the mouse, doing your best to make it look like you're searching the area as you walk.

Squeak

A ghostly noise attracts your attention to a mouse tail sticking out from under one of the shelves. You get on your stomach to check what your spirit found and you pull out... a card. It's covered with dust so it's probably been there for at least a day or two with how dusty the floor under the shelves is.

You get back up and head back to the owner to show him what you found.

"Sir? Does this look familiar?" you ask and he shakes his head.

"Not at all. No one who works in this shop, or has worked here previously, uses a Scrap deck. Where did you find it?"

"Under one of the shelves. Maybe the thieves lost it when they were here?" you think out loud before nodding to yourself.

"Sir, could you

[ ]show me which part of the shop is having lightning issues? I want to check if there's anything there that might be causing it."
[ ]show me that snake symbol the thieves left on your building? I saw a photo, but I'd like to check out the real deal."
[ ]show me the security footage you mentioned before? I'd like to see this 'shadow' for myself."


A/N: Aaaaaaaaahhhhh this took so longggggg! I'm so, so sorry. Hope you enjoy!
 
In Pursuit
[X]show me the security footage you mentioned before? I'd like to see this 'shadow' for myself."


"Certainly." the man nods and motions for you to follow. You call to Ritsu to get her butt over and the two of you walk after the store's owner and into the security room.

He sits down and boots up the computers before him, bringing up the desired feed with a few clicks.

"Here it is, the camera recordings for yesterday evening." he speaks up and presses play, fast-forwarding a bit to get to the right bit.

On screen, everything seems perfectly normal. The shop isn't all that busy, two or three customers and the same cashier as before - Nobu, right? - the room illuminated by the overhead lights, leaving no shadowy corners for someone to hide in.

Then, some of the lights begin to flicker like the owner said before. A shadow, small and squat, flashes past the camera. Then past another one, and another one, the flickering lights serving as a backdrop to the figure, making sure no specific details could be made out. It still seems... familiar somehow, but you just can't figure out why.

You shake your head. This case is honestly becoming odder and odder by the moment. Serpentine symbols left behind on scene, strange flickering lights and shadows on CCTV recordings... it's almost like something from a ghost story, a cult cursing a building and it becoming haunted. But if that's what happened, not that you believe that theory for more than a second, then why were those parts taken? Why not just stick to vandalism which wouldn't be as intensely looked into?

You sigh and look at your watch. Yep, getting a little late. You had a late morning today, then that duel with Takaishi if you could call it that, the drive over, the talk with Forensics before, and your little chat with the owner all took considerable chunks out of your day. Now, you knew that if you looked out through the window you'd see the beautiful sunset painting the sea red, which of course meant it was time to return the police cruiser and come back bright and early tomorrow to see what else you could sniff out. At least you now knew one of the culprits ran a Scrap deck, so that was... something.

You thank the shop owner - you never did ask for his name - and head out, followed by Ritsu. The two of you step into the brisk evening air and start your walk back to your vehicle when the hair on your neck stands up. Someone's watching you. You can feel their gaze on you.

You whirl, wildly whipping your head around, looking for any- there! A shadowy figure standing in an alley to the side. He motions and a blur of something whips past your head. The Scrap Goblin card you found, flying toward the mysterious figure who grabs it out of the air, turns on their hell and sprints off into the darkness.

Oh hell no.

"Corporal Kobayakawa, contact central and tell them I'm in pursuit of a suspect. Then lock onto my Disk's signal and do not lose me." you bark before sprinting after the silhouette, one hand snatching the handcuffs off your belt and attaching them to your duel disk.

The figure leads you on a merry chase through the alleys, hopping over dumpsters and cutting corners in an attempt to lose you. Unfortunately for them, while you may have been... not the best at Turbo Dueling, you consistently placed in the top 3 for the assault course at the academy. You're keeping pace pretty easily and happen to even be gaining on them.

They dash past a street lamp and it illuminates them. It's the same guy from before, the customer you saw at the store. Ballsy fella, coming back to the scene of the crime. Looking for his Scrap Goblin maybe?

He scrambles up a fire escape and you chuckle under your breath. Newbie, doesn't know that parkouring over rooftops is far harder than movies would have you believe, and if you're not really good, it's actually worse for trying to escape someone.

You scramble up after him, reaching the roof just as he's about to use the roof access to get into the building. Can't have that.

You aim your Duel Disk, shut one eye to focus and fire the Duel Cuffs at his left hand. They latch onto his own Disk - a rusty brown machine with an obvious rivet pattern on it - and the device beeps as it activates and unfurls. You yank the chain connecting you back and he stumbles around to face you.

"I don't think so kid. You're not escaping me that easily. See, your Disk has been forcefully activated and is set to taze your scruffy ass if you lose or try to run. Win and the cuffs will unlock on their own, of course, but considering my Disk is currently transmitting our location to HQ, well... I just have to stall you long enough for more officers to arrive. You have one option: dueling. So let's duel."

He huffs angrily and glares at you from under the edge of his hood.

"Fine, officer. You want a duel, you've got one."

You both draw your starting hands and get ready to throw down. The Disk's coin toss concludes and your central light lights up. Seems you'll be going first this time.

"DUEL!"

[The field and graveyard are both empty, and you both have 4000 LP with your opponent having 5 cards in his hand. You cannot attack this turn.

Your hand consists of Armory Call, Spirit Force, Reinforcements of the Army, Until Noble Arms are Needed Once Again and Infernoble Knight Astolfo. Your next draw will be Infernoble Knight Renaud.]


[ ] Right, you should probably get Captain Roland out fast, and make sure he can't be destroyed with effects because this guy is probably the Scrap player you were looking for and you remember the instructor's Scrap Dragon from the Academy. Use RotA to add Ogier to your hand and summon him, dumping Maugis as you do. Then, special summon Renaud and use him as a Tuner to summon Roland to the field. Set your three traps and equip Roland with Maugis and Ogier from the grave, then pass your turn.
[ ] Write-In

A/N: Second duel boisssss! What does it say about us that we basically chased this man through multiple alleys and onto a roof before chaining him to ourselves and demanding a ritualistic style of combat under threat of tazing without even knowing his name...?

Anyway, plan voting is enabled and I am so sorry about just giving you one option and a write-in. I know it seems lazy but... I honestly didn't have any better ideas? Plus, it's late and my brain is half-fried so... yeah. As always, I hope you enjoyed.
 
Vs Scrap 1
[X] Plan Turbo Charles
-[X] Activate Rota, Find Ogier. Normal summon ogier, milling oliver.
-[X] Activate Astolfo by banishing Oliver, special summoning itself as a level 4
-[X] Special Summon Renaud as a tuner, returning the banished oliver to hand.
-[X] Syncro summon Emporer Charles (lvl 9) using Renaud (lvl 1) Ogier (lvl 4) and Astolfo (level 4)
-[X] Equip Ogier to Charles, set our 3 traps, banish astolfo with its own ability.
-[X] Activate armory call to trigger charles and disrupt our opponent's turn, focusing especially on a field spell if he plays one. Unless there's good reason not too, grab Hauteclere with the trap.


Right. This isn't the best hand you've ever seen, but you should be able to turbo out Charles and with him on the field, it'll be pretty hard for your opponent to get to you. As such...

"First thing first, I'll be using Reinforcements of the Army to add Infernoble Knight Ogier to my hand before summoning him to the field." you start off on your turn, adding the aforementioned knight to your hand then placing him onto the field.

"Now that he's out, I can use his ability to send Infernoble Knight Oliver to the grave from my deck. He won't be staying there too long though. I'll banish him to Special Summon Infernoble Knight Astolfo from my hand as a Level 4 monster." You grab Oliver's card and place it in your pocket as Astolfo, a redheaded man in black and white armor with twin flaming shortswords, steps onto the field.

"But Oliver's little journey isn't over yet either! I can Special Summon Infernoble Knight Renaud from my hand as a Tuner monster when I have a Fire Warrior on my field, and this allows me to add Oliver to my hand." you finish that bit, grabbing Oliver's card as Renaud, a man on horseback wearing white and red, charges onto the field.

"Now, Level 1 Renaud tunes Level 4 Ogier and Astolfo! Come forth, beacon of chivalry, Infernoble Knight Emperor Charles!"

Renaud and his horse are suddenly consumed by a blaze which shapes itself into a ring of fire while the other two knights become an octet of stars. Light crashes down, met by a rising pillar of flame, and then the emperor is there.

"I'll equip his majesty with Ogier from the grave, then set three cards face down. Additionally, by banishing Astolfo, he can be summoned two turns from now. I end my turn there." you finish, seeming satisfied.

"My move then. I draw." your opponent declares, drawing then opening his Field Spell slot.

"I'll be activating my Field Spell, Scrap Factory! And now..."

"Hold up buddy!" you interrupt while the factory spell continues setting up around you. "I activate Armory Call! With this, I can equip Charles with a spell from my Deck, like my Infernoble Arms Hauteclere. And when Charles is equipped with something, I can destroy a card, like your Factory." Runes of fire burst to life around you and the building you're standing in shudders, then disappears. Your opponent shrugs.

"Sure. Now, I'll play my Fossil Dig spell. With this, I can add Scrap Raptor to my hand, and I'll be summoning him now." he comments, playing a pair of cards and watching as his mechanical dino rises at his side, steam hissing from its back.

"Now, by destroying a monster I control, Raptor's effect allows me to Normal Summon another Scrap monster. I'll destroy him to activate both this effect, and his second one. Because a Scrap card's effect did him in, I can add another Scrap Factory to my hand."

The dinosaur breaks apart and a card pops out of his deck which he grabs and immediately plays. This time, you don't have an answer to the factory springing up around you both.

"I'll Normal Summon my Scrap Chimera and use its effect to Special Summon Raptor from my grave." your opponent continues, and you can only watch as the two monsters manifest.

"And I'll be playing Until Noble Arms are Needed Once Again. With this, I can add the top card of my deck to my hand." you reply, revealing your Heritage of the Chalice and putting it in your hand.

"Well, with that out of the way, I'll tune Raptor to Chimera, to Synchro Summon my own Synchro! Come on up, Scrap Dragon!" With a shuddering series of clicking and scraping of metal, the draconic monster rises from the light of the Synchro Summoning.

"Oh, and let's not forget that my Factory gives my Scraps 200 ATK and DEF. Scrap Dragon, take out Charles with Boiling Oil Burner!"

The dragon and knight emperor launch themselves at each other, a swinging sword clashing against a deluge of burning oil. The liquid explodes, and the two are no more.

"Because it was your card that destroyed Dragon, I can Special Summon a non-Synchro Scrap from my Graveyard to replace him. Come back, Chimera! And go get her! Scrap Nail!"

The lion launches itself from the graveyard portal, already attacking. Your hand strays toward your last trap... but no. Without Oliver in your grave, Spirit Force is just a fancy negate. No point.

The claws land.

Your LP: 4000 -> 2100

"Your turn, officer." he smirks at you.

This is... well, it's a problem. 'Come on, Deck. Don't let me down now.'

[Your hand consists of Infernoble Knight Oliver and Heritage of the Chalice. Your next draw will be Sublimation Knight. You have 2100 LP and your field consists of a set Spirit Force. Your GY consists of Reinforcement of the Army, Armory Call, Infernoble Knight Renaud, Infernoble Arms - Hauteclere, Until Noble Arms are Needed Once Again, nfernoble Knight Ogier and Infernoble Knight Emperor Charles. You also have a banished Infernoble Knight Astolfo.

Your opponent controls a Scrap Chimera and aScrap Factory. He has three cards in hand and 4000 LP. His GY consists of Scrap Factory, Fossil Dig, Scrap Raptor and Scrap Dragon.]


[ ] This is not a good situation, but you can probably salvage it. First, activate Heritage to add Maugis to your hand, then summon him. Use Oliver to discard Sublimation Knight and summon him as a Level 1, then tune him and Maugis to summon Captain Roland. Equip Roland with all three Level 4 Infernobles in your grave and hit that Chimera.
[ ] Write-in

A/N: Huff, that took a long time to write. If it seems a little rushed and unpolished, that's cause this is the second attempt - the first, better one got deleted and I couldn't recover it, and I really wasn't in the mood to write something that detailed again. Also, yeah, this isn't a good situation for y'all to be in. One thing I'd like to note is that even if you lose here, it's not game over, so don't worry too much. Though, winning is probably still better, so... try to do it, yeah? I'm rooting for you. The guy just... got a really good opening hand there. Anyway, hope you enjoyed! Plan voting is open, voting closes in 46 hours because I can't write tomorrow.
 
Vs Scrap End
[X] Plan: Return of the Emperor
-[X] Normal Summon Sublimation Knight, Sublimate Evocator Eveque.
-[X] Use Heritage of the Chalice and banish UNAANOA to grab Durandal from the GY and SS Infernoble Knight Magius.
-[X] Crash into the 1900 Chimera, taking 100 damage. SK pops, SSing Evocator.
-[X] Evocator Eveque summons Charles back to the field in all his glory. Beat over their monster and attack for game. (3000-1900+1500+1500=4100)
--[X] If they survive. MP2. Equip Chalres with Ogider, destroying Factory. Then send Ogider to SS Oliver as a Level 1, then tune him and Magius for Roland.
--[X] Magius' effect shuffles our banished Renaud, UNAANOA, and Sublimation Knight back to the deck to draw 1 card. (MST, set it.)
--[X] Equip Durandal and pop it for Valkyrien Knight. Equip Magius, Ogider and Oliver to Chalres. Roland's effect sends Phoenix Blade to the GY to add Oliver from our deck to our hand.


You reach for the top card of your deck and a feeling radiates through you. You feel Charles' gauntleted hand on your shoulder, you feel your monsters' trust in you... and a connection snaps into place.

"My turn. I draw!"

Sublimation Knight is added to your hand, and a plan begins to take shape in your head. You grin wildly at your opponent and his eyes widen in shock.

"I'll summon my Sublimation Knight from my hand. And with his special ability, I can equip him with a Fire Warrior monster from my Deck, like my Evocator Eveque, to give him a power boost of 500 ATK. Show him what I mean!" you call, summoning the metallic warrior, then placing the Evocator into your backrow. The valves on your knight's body start turning, a flame bursts to life in the furnace in his chest and steam starts hissing from various ports along his body.

"Next up, I'll be activating my Heritage of the Chalice spell! Thanks to this, I can grab my Hauteclere equip spell from my graveyard and add it to my hand. And now that that's done, I'll be banishing my Noble Arms trap card from the grave to activate its second effect and Special Summon a Noble Knight from my deck, as long as it doesn't have the same name as one on my field or in my grave. So, Infernoble Knight Maugis, step on up!"

The two cards activate, holy light spilling from both a golden chalice and a magnificent sword stuck in a large rock and hitting your Duel Disk. A card is ejected from your grave, which you add to your hand, then a second one pops out of your Deck which you play. A smirking man with blue hair and a white robe decorated with black and red armor steps onto your field to flank your mechanical knight, fire shaping itself into a gnarled branch in his hands.

"Heh, not bad miss Officer!" your opponent smirks. "Too bad it's just too little. Those paltry warriors aren't getting past my chimera."

"We'll see!" you grin right back, clearly taking him a little off balance.

"Sublimation Knight attacks your Scrap Chimera!"

Your warrior leaps forward, blade drawn to strike down the beast. A puff of smoke from the factory around you gets in front of him, fouling up his aim enough for him to miss. And the lion buries its claws into his back.

Your LP: 2100 -> 2000

"When Sublimation Knight is destroyed, all monsters equipped to him are Special Summoned to the field. And if they were Gemini monsters like Eveque, well... They're summoned as effect monsters! And Eveque's effect allows me to Special Summon a Fire Warrior from my graveyard when he's summoned. I think I'll pick him! My loyal partner, my right hand, Emperor Charles!"

An ember from Sublimation Knight's corpse hits the ground and fire erupts upward from that spot, a firestorm of hellish proportions twisting into a tornado of flames. A knight stands before it, dressed in red with a flaming morning star in his hands. The flames die down and Charles steps forward. He's not smiling now, an angry grimace curving his lips, his hands almost strangling the handle of his blade.

"And guess what buddy? It's still the battle phase. Charles? Cut down his Chimera. Imperial Revelation!"

Your emperor leaps forward, gleaming blade swinging in a wide arc, the air shimmering around it from the heat, his mouth open in a furious yell. The mechanical monstrosity doesn't stand a chance.

X LP: 4000 -> 2900

"Now, Evocator Eveque and Infernoble Knight Maugis, finish this duel! Attack him directly!"

A burning mace and a fireball covered in arcane symbols rocket toward the man, both impacting solidly.

X LP: 2900 -> 1400 -> -100

"Game set, match. You're under arrest."

W̵i̷n̸n̵e̸r̴:̶ ̵C̵l̴e̷o̷

You relax, expecting to hear the beep of your cuffs tazing the guy and sending the appropriate signal to HQ. What you get is... definitely not that.

A rusty brown glow emanates from his Duel Disk and from something hanging around his neck. A strangely see-through earphone jack(?) pops up from his Disk's deck slot and gives the cuffs a quick whack. With a tortured squeal of rusted metal, the state of the art piece of technology sparks once then falls to pieces (?!) at his feet. The earphone jack slips back into his deck and a Scrap Goblin, just as see-through as Charles, jumps out instead, landing on your opponent's shoulder before pointing at you and shaking as if he's laughing.

You try to move, but your feet are stuck to the spot. A strange weight presses down on your shoulders.

Light shines under your opponent's feet, the rust brown radiance shaping itself into that infinity ouroboros mark Rika showed you a picture of.

"Well, it's been real officer!" he smirks smugly and offers you a two-fingered salute.

"Y'know if you ever decide to change professions, we at the Serpent's Fangs are always hiring!" he chuckles before the light beneath him flares and when it dims back down, he's gone.

Mere moments later, the door to the roof is kicked open, almost launched off its hinges realy, and Ritsu rushes onto the roof looking around wildly.

"Lieutenant! Where's the suspect?"

You chuckle slowly, almost a little vacantly. "I have no idea Corporal. I can tell you this though. Something strange is going on in this city."

"No shit..." That voice makes your spine straighten out in shock. A man's voice, despite you and Ritsu being the only ones... here...

You turn to Charles who's staring at you in shock. "Y-You can hear me? Finally?"

You nod, a little in shock yourself. The pressure on your shoulders seemed to have settled after your misterious opponent left.

DP gain: 400

As you shake your head and follow the corporal down to where she parked the car, silently thanking god that your uniform has a bodycam because you'd be in serious trouble otherwise, you make a decision mentally.

Tomorrow, as soon as you can, you'll

[ ] shake some trees and see what falls out. You've got people you trust near one of the robbed and marked stores and they've come through for you multiple times before on tough cases. Now that you have a name, they might be able to tell you something.

[ ] talk to Hector. He's a smartass, but he's also one of the best private eyes in the city, and that's because he's always got his ear to the ground. You and him also happen to share a certain talent, which is how you first met in fact. He might have heard some whispers about these 'Serpent Fangs'

[ ] talk to some of the folks at Criminology. They're smart and with the recording in your pocket, plus whatever they could salvage from the Cuffs' systems, it might give you some headway in this case?
 
What Can We Learn?
[X] talk to some of the folks at Criminology. They're smart and with the recording in your pocket, plus whatever they could salvage from the Cuffs' systems, it might give you some headway in this case?


You and Ritsu returned to the station, scuffed and annoyed at having lost your suspect, but hopeful that you could salvage something. Or, more accurately, that the boys at Criminology could. You turned in the remains of the cuffs and received a promise that the night shift would work on this around the clock to figure something out. Now, you were here to collect on that promise.

"Right, lay it on me Dustin." you speak up, sitting across from the analyst that volunteered to explain their findings to you.

Dustin Graves, the man in question, coughs nervously and shifts a few strands of his russet hair from his eyes, then starts to speak.

"Right, of course. Though, I admit it's not good news. We haven't really managed to find much miss Kishinami."

"Mister." you interrupt. When he hums in question, you shrug.

"Sorry, just... It's mister Kishinami today, y'know? Sorry, please, go on."

"Ah, of course. I apologize. Anyway," he shakes his head. "Like I said, not very good news. We have a name and a face for our perp now, sure. Leonard Reyes, age 26. Other than that, however... The tracking system the cuffs uploaded into his Disk is not transmitting at all, and neither is the standard GPS that should be present in the device. There's no property listed on his record, not even a temporary place where he'd be staying. And yet, he bore no Criminal Mark, he had no record and his clothes were much too clean and neat for a homeless man. Unfortunately, we have no way to track him at the moment. The cuffs you brought in were destroyed due to rapid rusting of the inner components which both prevented the shock from reaching mr. Reyes and weakened the integrity of the cuff enough that a quick twist of the wrist was enough to destroy it. Finally, there was no sign of his escape after the Duel concluded on the footage you turned in. A flash of light and that was it. He was gone. The only thing we managed to retrieve from the cuff's sensors that stands out is a sudden spike in Ener-D immediately after the Duel, coinciding with the flash of light. Honestly, this is starting to seem just like the West End Disaster..." He mutters the last part to himself, quiet enough that you don't think it was meant for you.

[ ] "West End Disaster? Never heard of it, honestly. Could you tell me what it was? Why's this reminding you of it?
[ ] No point asking right now. Whatever it was, it's probably an old case if you never heard of it. You can go archive diving after this job is done and these 'Serpent Fangs' are in jail


"Well, thanks Dustin. I'll be heading off now, got a few other leads to chase down." you wave at the white-coated man who nods politely in return.

"Of course Lieutenant. Happy hunting."

The door closes behind you and your face falls. You have no clue what to do now. Another excursion to the crime scene won't turn up anything new anyway. You could call Hector, see if he heard anything... but no, that smartass is your last resort. Your folks on the streets need more time to pick up anything worth hearing. You're well and truly in a corner with no good way forward.

Well... That's not entirely true, you suppose.

You remember your Duel last night. Or, more specifically, you remember the end of it. When that asshole disappeared on you, that same snake symbol showed up under his feet. Is that why they drew them? A sort of... stable portal to transport the stolen goods somewhere?

Maybe, just maybe... The man was a Spirit Duelist, like you. You're almost sure of it. That was a Scrap Goblin helping him escape at the end there.

It could be unconnected. Or it could be because he's a Spirit Duelist that he could vanish like that. Maybe...

[ ] Maybe you should go check out one of those snake symbols yourself. If it truly is connected to Duel Spirits, you're the most qualified member of the force to figure it out. Plus, you can hear Charles now, though oddly he disappeared soon after you left the vicinity of the shop. Maybe, if you go close to the mark again, he could manifest and tell you something?
[ ] You hate to admit it but... it's time to bite the bullet and talk to Hector. You're both Spirit Duelists and Reyes seemed to become interested in you after Charles put his gauntlet on your shoulder... after he got proof that you're a Spirit Duelist yourself. Maybe Hector got a 'recruitment speech' too?
[ ] Ugh, no, that doesn't make any sense. Sure, you can see Spirits, but you had that ability your whole life... you think, and nothing this weird ever happened around you. You can accept Spirits, but magic? No way. There's got to be a trick to it. Maybe a second visit to that rooftop, this time in the day, will help you figure it out.


A/N: Yeah, I know, it's quite the short chapter. I do apologize for that. I had a slight case of Writer's Block which means I barely even wrote this much. I promise the next installment will be longer... hopefully. Oh, and @Black.Horus? Quick reminder. This isn't Nothing is Sacred (I'm nowhere near as good as Ark). You don't really know the rules to Spirit Dueling in this quest yet. So... maybe you're right and this man is in fact a serious heavy-weight or sponsored by a serious heavy-weight. Maybe the rules are just different. Or maybe there's a whole other reason. Who knows? Other than me of course. I know. But I'm not telling. You can certainly try to guess it for yourselves though.
 
On the Edge
[X] "West End Disaster? Never heard of it, honestly. Could you tell me what it was? Why's this reminding you of it?


"I'm not too surprised, honestly." Dustin chuckles awkwardly, scratching the back of his head. "It's not a well-known thing, even with that name. And it's old. It's been, oh, a while. It happened on the same day as the earthquake that broke Satellite off of Neo Domino, and that got a lot more attention than this. Still sure you want to hear it?"

When you nod, he shrugs and continues.

"Well, okay I guess. The West End Disaster got its name after West End, obviously, since that's where it happened y'know? It was a normal day until the quake hit. People still showed up to work and everything. That included a young officer named Laura Hesper. My old supervisor knew her, told me a few things about her after I found out about the incident when archive-diving and asked him. Anyway, Laura showed up to work that day, but she never returned to HQ after her patrol on West End. Her tracker vanished off the face of the Earth, no body was ever found, she never turned up either. She simply vanished. Her husband and child died that same day, in the earthquake that split the city and that family was completely wiped out here in New Domino. Her mother moved away after burying her daughter, her son-in-law and grandson's body were never recovered, and then the old lady moved away. Last I heard, she died in a year or two after that and the Hesper family was basically wiped out. I mean, they may still have some relatives somewhere in the world, but they'd be distant if they're there. More than that... you'd have to look in the archives when you've got the time, sorry."

"Thanks Dustin. It's not particularly helpful here, but I knew it wouldn't be when I asked, honestly. Again though, thanks for sharing. I'll look up some more info when I'm less busy. For now though, I really gotta go." you smile at him and leave Criminology, intent on figuring out your next step.


[X] Maybe you should go check out one of those snake symbols yourself. If it truly is connected to Duel Spirits, you're the most qualified member of the force to figure it out. Plus, you can hear Charles now, though oddly he disappeared soon after you left the vicinity of the shop. Maybe, if you go close to the mark again, he could manifest and tell you something?


You nod to yourself, decided. It all comes back to those snake markings. There was one on the shop you found that Scrap Goblin in, and if you're not mistaken, on the back wall. The owner mentioned that the lights by the back wall were experiencing interference, making them flicker oddly. It could have been whatever energy was in those snake drawings, maybe? You weren't sure, obviously, but honestly, it's not like you've ever tried solving a case as obviously mystical as this one. You had no precedent, just your own observations. And you've observed that, again, these snakes were showing up everywhere.

So, you'll go take a look at one of them. This time though, you'll visit the one near your apartment instead. The locals would be friendlier, and if the snake venture didn't pan out, you could ask a few questions of the people living nearby instead. So, you head out

[ ] in plainclothes, badge in your pocket. You'll take the subway and try to not attract attention. Last thing you need is any Serpent Fang people catching sight of a cop nosing around their portals.
[ ] in uniform, though you'll still be taking the subway. No point in going with a car if you're alone after all, even if it'll be a little awkward to stand on the train in full uniform.
[ ] in uniform and in a cop car. Screw practical, that's why you have those vehicles, right? Plus, it'd be awkward taking public transportation in uniform and you'd really rather avoid that.


Soon enough, you're entering the alley behind the shop where the serpent mark is located. Almost as soon as you set foot inside, Charles appears at your side in a burst of unearthly fire.

"Oh thank the Dragons, you figured it out!" he cries, relief evident on his face, before it shifts into slight worry.

"Wait, no, that doesn't... oh. You didn't figure it out, you just got close enough to one of those leaks that there's enough power in the air, I see."

"Leaks?" you ask, still walking through the alley. The wall marked by the serpent ouroborosing itself into an infinity mark is already in sight. "You mean the snake graffiti?"

Charles sighs and shakes his head. "Yes, I mean the 'snake graffiti'. Honestly Cleo, why are you actively seeking out holes in the barrier between the Human and Spirit world? Don't you have enough trouble? That guy you dueled yesterday, the Scrap guy... I got a feel for him when I hit his monsters. He's no slouch, his soul's pretty strong. I mean, you got... stronger after the Duel somehow, but that guy... I'd hesitate to recommend you face him again at this point. That Duel unstoppered your soul, sure, but it's still a little fragile."

You stop, your feet having carried you to the wall while Charles was talking, and you hold up a hand to stop the Emperor's word-vomit.

"Right, Charlie. I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. Simplify please, and only the important stuff. What do you mean, 'my soul was unstoppered', and what's this 'leak' supposed to be exactly. I thought it was a portal?"

"Right." Charles seems to blush lightly at your words. "Let's start with the soul thing. Basically, imagine your soul like a drain or a gutter. It was... Well, before that duel last night, it was full of leaves and other nasty stuff, and thus completely blocked off. That duel cleaned it out. It's why you can hear me now. Thing is, because I'm a pretty powerful spirit normally, that means your existence alone isn't supplying me with enough power to be active. Some of your weaker Spirits, sure, but me? No way. Not yet at least. If you keep growing like you did after that duel..."

Traits Revealed!
Spiritual Sight: While DP is at least 200, you can see and hear the Spirits of your Deck. If you have DP equal to a monster's LV*200, you can see and hear that creature's Spirit. In the presence of a 'leak' of Ener-D into our world, more powerful Spirits can be seen.
Spirit World Presence: At 1000 DP or more, your body exudes a constant, weak Ener-D signature. At this point, your presence is like the Spirit World in miniature, allowing manifestation of any Spirit in your Deck should it wish to show up.

"And the 'leak' you mentioned?" you rise a brow, a little unimpressed at Charles' muttering.

"Right, right. Well, your guess about it being a portal wasn't... wrong, per se. It's, essentially, a stoppered hole in the dimensional split. Apply some force and the stopper will pop out, allowing you passage between the realms. The realms hate being freely connected like that though, and will plug the hole back up after you go through. It's... an ingenious escape route, honestly."

You nod and hum in thought, staying quiet for a few seconds, before asking the obvious question.

"How do I follow 'em?"

Charles squawks in shock and looks at you like you just proposed throwing a crate of croissants in the ocean.

"W-What? Are you mad? Look, you're a good Duelist. Best one I know, and that's a compliment. But the other side plays on... well, OK, it plays on the same rules, but your soul is everything over there. And yours is... not all that impressive yet."

Aww, that's cute. He's trying to make you see reason. And really, it would be the logical thing to do. Leave the rip in space-time well alone and instead chase these snakes down in the Human world when they pop up again.

Just one problem. You hate logical.

"Mmhmm, warning heard and received, now how do I open this thing?"

Charles sighs and slumps in place, looking like he's wishing his armor would swallow him.

"Fine, whatever. Just put your hand on the snake and imagine pushing some of that weight you felt absorbing into your body into the wall. It's your first time doing this, so there'll probably be some spillage, but practice makes perfect."

[ ] Do it. (50 DP loss, subsequent traveling can be made free if you acquire a poweful patron on the other side. The costs can also be reduced by finding someone to teach you more about manipulating your soul.)
[ ] Actually, you changed your mind. Maybe if no other clues pan out [Write in whether you'll check with some people you know on these streets, or bite the bullet and visit Hector]


A/N: I'M FREEEEEEEEEE!!! Free of the Writer's Block and free of finishing this chapter. Hope you enjoyed! Now, one thing I need to stress is this: Do Not Be Afraid about spending some DP here. 50 isn't that much, and most of that, like 90% of it, is just you pushing too much because you don't have a handle on how much soul you need for this. That means, even just finding yourself a teacher will reduce that cost rapidly if you focus on that. And of course, getting a patron on the other side to 'foot the bill' so to speak will just flat-out make travel free. As will letting someone else open the portals (Charles can't because he's not physically present there btw, and it's his body that houses his soul which he'd need for this). So, yeah. Hope you enjoyed, Wombat out! Vote's open for 20 hours.

Forgot to mention this: Laura Hesper, the woman mentioned before? That's lore. A little reward for poking your head into it. She's long dead mind you, but she's also connected to a canon character. And I think I gave you enough hints to guess which one. With that, I turn loose the theory folks.

Vote's still got 6 hours on it.
 
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On The Other Side
[X] in plainclothes, badge in your pocket. You'll take the subway and try to not attract attention. Last thing you need is any Serpent Fang people catching sight of a cop nosing around their portals.

[X] Do it. (50 DP loss, subsequent traveling can be made free if you acquire a poweful patron on the other side. The costs can also be reduced by finding someone to teach you more about manipulating your soul.)



"Thank you kindly." you chirp, grinning at your Spirit Partner who, in return, is looking at you like you're crazy... or a five year old child, either or.

You snicker mentally at Charles' exasperation with your antics, then press a palm against the wall, close your eyes and dig deep for that weight within you. It burns in your chest, flickering a little. A warmth, but cold. A presence, yet not really there.

You push. You prod. You stand there for a minute or two, trying to move that little spark up your arm and into the wall with no success. It doesn't even budge. Eventually, on the brink of giving up, you try one more thing.

Instead of forcing the flame to move, instead of poking and prodding, pushing and pulling... you scrunch your brow in concentration and focus.

You imagine a path, starting at the flame within your heart, going up your arm and ending in your palm, opening up into the wall. To your surprise, this works. The flame lunges, surging up the path you created for it and pouring into the wall.
DP: 400 -> 350
Your eyes shoot open in surprise, a gasp leaving your throat at the feeling as the serpent greedily drinks of the flame, and once it's full, yet more power spills over the ink. You finally wrestle the outpour down after a few more seconds of this, and the image begins changing.

Red drips down from the snake's eyes and fangs and black pours from its scales in rivulets. The two colors spiral and twist around the spot your hand is on, mixing and separating, creating an eye-hurting vortex of red and black. It smooths out into a sluggishly spinning disk, your hand falling through as it forms. You look at Charles, a little uncertain, and he nods at you supportively. You take a deep breath, then push on through the portal.

You are falling.
Child of the Flames
You are falling through a void, cold black winds slashing you to your bones, chilling your body. They feel like accusatory stares, their chilly fingers reaching deep into your being.
Welcome to my Domain
You're falling through a void, scarlet flames burning away all that you are, all that you were. Your determination, your drive, your desire, is all that is left, bared for all to see.
Do you still remember your Oaths?
You're falling through a void, cold starlight all around you. It feels like a spotlight, uncaring and all-consuming. A grand eye in the heavens, observing, judging, assessing.
Regardless, should your memories recover
You're falling through a void, thorns scratching at your skin. Cold flames, rage and anguish and pain burn your soul. You cannot breathe under the assault upon your senses and then... it is over.
I had missed my favorite visitor
You're falling through a void, painfully empty and lacking of anything. It stinks of rot, of decay, of neglect. It feels cold, soulless, like the Sun itself is missing from the sky. Lost. Missing.
So come see your favorite patron, yeah?
You're falling through a void, cold like steel, wracked by anguish, steel bands wrapped around its soul to keep it from bursting in pain. It presses down upon you, a weight like the world upon your shoulders.

You're falling... falling... falling...

Standing.

The Sun beams down on you overhead from where you're standing in the center of a quaint little village, a few stores scattered among the houses, everything carrying a Wild West theme. Dirt crunches under your boots while you look around, taking it all in.

Honestly, with how... mundane it looked like, you were hard-pressed to believe this was the Spirit World. It looked like Crash Town, just... less run-down, you supposed. But indeed, now that you were looking, you could spot some honest to God Duel Spirits running around.

A small head with limbs dressed like a cowboy and wielding a pair of revolvers was carefully watching you from around a corner. When it noticed you spotting it, it disappeared.

A tall, muscular man was sitting on one of the porches, puffing on a cigarette. A huge blue sword was leaning on the wall next to him.

A man in white robes, a staff made of fire in his grip was making his way toward you... hold on.

"Maugis?" you blinked in surprise at seeing one of your Duel Spirits standing there.

"What are you doing here?"

"Well..." the Infernoble mage chuckled awkwardly, "I'm on a mission, actually. We Infernobles set ourselves up as mercs. Chivalry and all, you know. We help people, go on quests, stuff like that. A village up North had a problem with a Sand Moth getting too close to their borders and eating some villagers, so we were asked to help out. I fixed the problem and was just heading back to the castle. Hey, that's a thought! You wanna come with?"

[ ] "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. I need to talk to Charles, figure out where I should go and where I should look if I want to find that Scrap guy from last night."
[ ]"Nah, I think I'll stick around. I came from the same portal those 'Serpent Fang' people did, so this should be a good spot to gather intel."


"Good point." Maugis chuckled. "Well, if Scrap guy or his buddies ended up here before, they'd need to talk to Sokol if they wanted to leave, so I'd say that'd be a good place to start your search at, yeah?"

"Sokol?" you tilt your head in question, prompting your Spirit to motion to a nearby building. It has three floors and a balcony, three signs hanging above its saloon style door. A mug of beer, a bed and a winged wheel. Above that, another sign proclaimed the establishment to be named 'The Crowbar'.

"Sokol Mrak, he runs the inn. It's also a bar and a Waystation, the only way for people to travel long-distance. If you want to hitch a ride back to our little slice of the Spirit World, he's the guy you talk to. That winged wheel represents Waystations, so I suggest you memorize it. Sokol's also a bartender and an innkeeper, so he knows everyone that passes through here. If you can get the information out of him, it should be valuable."

With those words of wisdom, Maugis headed toward the saloon gates and you, after a beat, followed after him.

When you stepped into the establishment and out of the heat, the first thing that struck you was how homey it looked. Everything was made from rich, dark wood, from the tables to the bar itself. Behind it, shelves lined with bottles flanked a large mirror. A floorboard creaked under your feet.

The atmosphere was nice too. Mellow and comforting, like a weighted blanket thrown across your shoulders. It felt soft and warm, like a hug after a long day.

"Hey, if it isn't my favorite fire mage!" someone laughed, pulling your attention to the man running this place.

Sokol Mrak had a strange, ageless quality to him, like he could be anywhere from 20 to 40 years old. Pale skin and black hair in a short, feathered haircut only intensified this vibe. He was dressed in a black shirt and pants with a white sleeveless vest buttoned up over it all. A black trilby hat was hung on a hook behind him.

As you walked closer, his amber eyes snapped to you, sizing you up. You did the same to him, noticing a Duel Disk on a table behind him. He was also wearing a deck holster at his side. A Duelist, it seemed?

"I'm the only fire mage you know, Sokol." Maugis chuckled before turning to you.

"Cleo, meet Sokol, the resident pain in the ass. Sokol, this is Cleo Kishinami, she's new in town."

"You wound me good sir." the bartender chuckled to himself before offering you a polite bow.

"As the man had said, I'm Sokol Mrak, a humble bartender and innkeeper. Pleased to meet you young lady."

"Humble, yeah right." Maugis barked out a laugh at that, then turned to you.

"Don't be fooled by this guy's humbleness Cleo. Sokol's got one of the strongest souls I've ever seen. Easily in the top three. This cozy atmosphere you're feeling? That's his presence. Though, it's not always like this. The one time someone tried to rob the Crowbar, well... It took three days for the crook to regain conciousness after that, and we never could get a straight story from anyone. Just that it got cold and windy and then the guy was unconscious."

With this new information in mind, you looked the other man over again while he blushed.

"Well, I do admit I can get... protective of this place. It reminds me of the other bar I ran before I moved to this town. That was almost 20 years ago though, but the memories were nice ones. Plus, I like this bar. It's mine, y'know?"

You nod, a little in thought, then clear your throat.

"In any case, could I ask you some questions mr. Mrak? About someone that may have made use of your services before."

"Sure thing miss." he grins at you. "Looking for an ex that needs beating up?"

You shake your head. "First off, it's mister today. I didn't have time to correct you before, but I'm a he right now. And no, not an ex. A man by the name of Leonard Reyes. Ever heard of him?"

Sokol's grin dies like a snuffed ember.

"Sorry sir, can't say that I do." he speaks, but his eyes flicker away from yours, breaking eye contact. Lying, maybe?

"Can't say because you haven't heard of him? Or because of something else?" you calmly raise a brow and he stiffens.

He looks you in the eyes, amber locking with blue.

"The second. Sorry to say, but that's private information."

You hold back a frown, barely. He knows something. You know he does. If anyone wants to leave this place, he knows about it. If anyone needs a place to stay, he knows. Heck, if anyone just needs a pint of beer, he knows. And the Snakes' portal led her here. They definitely came through here. But he won't talk! What now?

[ ]Pull out your badge. This guy probably doesn't know he's hiding criminals. Hopefully this changes his tune.
[ ]Give up. He's your best bet at finding a lead, but not the only one, surely. Right?
[Write-In]


A/N: God, it's been a while... Hello again! Sorry for such a long silence. Anyway, hope you enjoyed, if you have any questions, feel free to ask.
 
Vs Sokol 1
[X] "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. I need to talk to Charles, figure out where I should go and where I should look if I want to find that Scrap guy from last night."

[X] How about we duel then? Wouldn't mind seeing how I stack up to others you've seen.



"A Duel?" Sokol blinks at your suggestion, hand straying to his Deck holster.

"Yeah." you nod, repeating your words and clarifying in case he misunderstood.

"This is the Spirit World, right? I figured a Duel would hold some weight around here. And, well... I want to know something you know. You don't want to tell me. Why not settle it with a Duel? I win, you tell me what you know. You win and I leave you be." you lay out your terms, very much ignoring how Maugis is chewing on his lip at your side, as if he wants to speak up but decided to spare himself the headache.

The bar is silent. You could probably hear a pin drop. Finally, a sound breaks the silence.

A chuckle, quiet, but in the current silence, it echoes like a cannon shot.

"Very well." Sokol grabs his hat and plops it onto his head, then grabs his Duel Disk and affixes it to his arm.

"The challenge is accepted and the wager is set, Mr. Kishinami. Impress me, and I'll share what I know about the Serpent's Fangs. Don't, and... well, we'll see."

The bartender walks out from behind the bar and leads the way outside. The two of you now stand across from each other on the town square, a breeze swirling sand around you both.

"Last chance to back down!" Sokol calls across the battlefield. In response, you just activate your Duel Disk.

"Heh. Fair enough." your opponent chuckles.

"DUEL!"

The Life Counters appear at your sides, topped up at 4000 and ready to rumble. You both pull your opening hands, and you take a second to check yours over.

"Damn, nothing but monsters, huh... Spy-C-Spy, Maugis, Ogier, Fire Flint Lady and Astolfo... let's hope I draw something good to complete the hand."

"Since you threw the gauntlet, I'll be going first." Sokol declares, grabbing a card in his hand and showing it to you.

"And I'll start by activating the effect of my Blackwing - Simoon the Poison Wind! Because there's no monsters on my field yet, I can banish a different Blackwing in my hand, like my Bora the Spear, so I can activate the Spell Black Whirlwind straight from my Deck! After that, I send Simoon to the grave."

In a lightning-quick move, your opponent stashed a card into his pocket, grabbed a card from his deck and activated it, causing a tornado of black winds and feathers to burst into being next to him, and then slipped a card from his hand into his graveyard.

"Now, I'll be Summoning my Blackwing - Decay the Ill Wind!" In a gust of black and red, a buzzard-headed man burst onto Sokol's field, bird-like claws primed and black wings spread.

"Now, the effects of Decay and Black Whirlwind activate! Thanks to Decay's effect, I can increase his Level from 4 to 5, and thanks to Black Whirlwind, I can add a Blackwing with less than 1000 ATK from my Deck to my hand because I Normal Summoned Decay. And I think I'll pick my Gladius the Midnight Sun! And because I currently only control a single Blackwing, I can Special Summon Gladius to my field."

Another gust of pitch black swirled into being on your opponent's field, sun shining between the murk. When it calmed down, a birdman in armor was staring at you, dagger in his hand.

"And now, it's time to soar. My Level 5 Decay the Ill Wind tunes my Level 3 Gladius the Midnight Sun!"

The two winged beasts rocketed upwards with strong flaps of their wings, Decay's form blurring away into a quintet of green rings which enveloped Gladius, reducing him to a trio of stars.

"Beast with a heart like the storm and wings like pitch, descend onto this battlefield and show them your might! I Synchro Summon, Level 8!"
"Come, my soul, my very being!"
A hurricane of black descended from the heavens, striking through the green rings and devouring the stars like a lance thrown by a vengeful God.

"Soar to power! Black-Winged Dragon!"

The hurricane burst, as if a bomb had gone off in its heart. And where it once raged...

A dragon now hovered. Its beaked head hanging above the battlefield, gazing at you with all the boredom of an apex predator looking on a wounded mouse. Though, unlike its name would suggest, its wings were snow white, not black.

"I'll set three cards facedown and end my turn. Of course, this means my Black Hurricane dissipates, and I get slammed for 2000 points of damage. 1000 from Simoon's effect running its course and 1000 for sending Decay to my grave this turn."

Despite his words, Sokol smirks.

"Or at least, that would happen if I didn't have my Black-Winged Dragon. Instead, I can place two Feather Counters on him. He loses 700 ATK for each, but at least I'm not taking damage."

With those words, half of the dragon's wing feathers shifted in color, going from white to black.

"Now go ahead my friend. Your turn."

[Your hand consists of Spy-C-Spy, Infernoble Knight Maugis, Infernoble Knight Ogier, Fire Flint Lady and Infernoble Knight Astolfo. Your next draw will be The Warrior Returning Alive.

Your field and graveyard are currently empty. You have 4000 LP.

Your opponent controls Black-Winged Dragon with 2 Feather Counters and three face-down backrow cards and has 4000 LP. His hand is empty.]


[ ]Time to call in the dragon slayers. And you know exactly how you'll do that. Summon Ogier and use his ability to ditch Oliver, then use WRA to get him back. Next, special summon Fire Flint Lady and use her ability to bring Oliver to the field. Finally, banish FFL to SS Astolfo and go into Emperor Charles with the three knights. Equip Oliver and Ogier to Charles from the grave to destroy a card [Write-in on which backrow card or BWD], then attack for some damage and end the turn.

[ ]This looks like a job for Charles, and you can already see a way to bring him out. Summon Ogier and use him to bin Oliver, then use WRA to get Oliver back. SS Fire Flint Lady and use her ability to summon Maugis. Then, ditch Astolfo to SS Oliver as a Level 1 and Synchro Summon Charles. Equip him with all three of his knights to protect him and destroy a card [Write-in on which backrow card or BWD], then swing in for some damage before ending your turn.

A/N: Hi, hey, how ya doin? Me? I'm fine. I do have an announcement, SO LISTEN UP, THIS IS IMPORTANT. If you go to blow up something in Sokol's backrow, please tell me which card (left, center or right) you're destroying? That way, I know what's gone and what he still has. Thank you, and good luck.

Additionally! As I have made an Oops and forgotten about Maugis' ability, the next card you draw after WRA is UNAaNOA (Until Noble Arms are Needed Once Again)
 
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Vs Sokol 2
[X] Plan Stymphalian Birds
-[X] Summon Ogier, dump Oliver.
-[X] WRA Oliver, then summon him with Fire Flint.
-[X] Banish Fire Flint to summon Astolfo
-[X] Summon Charles, then equip Oliver and Ogier to pop the middle backrow.
-[X] Banish Astolfo for a revive in the future.


"My move then." you declare, drawing your next card. The Warrior Returning Alive, something you can actually make use of to turn this situation around.

"First off, I'll be summoning my Infernoble Knight Ogier! And when he hits the field, I can send a Noble Arms card or a Fire Warrior from my Deck to my grave, and I'll be picking my Infernoble Knight Oliver. Then, I'll activate Warrior Returning Alive to add Oliver to my hand."

The fairy knight strides into view at your side and waves his hand, extinguishing a fiery fascimile of Oliver. Your deck spits out his card and you slide it into your grave, then retrieve it once it slides back out at the beckoning of your spell.

"Next up, because I control a Warrior, I can Special Summon Fire Flint Lady from my hand. Then, I can send her to the grave to Special Summon a Level 4 or lower Warrior from my hand, like my Oliver."

The miniature stone carrier bursts into existence at your side, then strikes the flints she's carrying. Sparks fly, setting her robes alight before the flames turn into a roaring pyre. Oliver steps out from among the flames, gazing up at the dragon on your enemy's field, shortswords clutched in hand.

"And now, I can banish Fire Flint Lady from my grave to Special Summon Infernoble Knight Astolfo from my hand!"

A fiery spirit of Fire Flint Lady appears at your side before warping into a portal of flames, allowing Astolfo to access the battlefield.

"And now, Level 4 Oliver tunes Level 4 Ogier and Level 1 Astolfo! I'm calling in the dragonslayers, so that lizard of yours better beware. Come to my side, beacon of chivalry! Level 9, Infernoble Knight Emperor Charles!"

With a simple motion of his blades, Oliver's body erupts into fire, the flames forming into four rings that spin around Ogier and Astolfo, burning away their mortal forms and leaving a quintet of stars behind. Light crashes down, met by a rising firestorm, and the emperor steps forth from the conflagration.

"Now, just because my knights have passed on doesn't mean they cannot support their allies. Both Oliver and Ogier can equip themselves to Charles from the grave. And when a monster on the field becomes equipped while Charles is here, I can destroy one card on the field. And I'm picking that center backrow card you've got! Go, Imperial Revelations!"

Sokol's hand momentarily strays to his Duel Disk before he reconsiders and shakes his head. Runes of blue fire cover the face-down card and burn it to ash. One down, two to go.

"Next, I'll banish Astolfo! But don't worry, he'll be back on my second Standby Phase from now." you continue, grabbing his card and stuffing it in your pocket.

Now, time to try your luck.

"My Emperor is protected from being targeted or destroyed by card effects thanks to his valiant comrades! Charles, attack that flying lizard with Guillotine Burner!"

Charles adjusts his grip on his blade and smirks up at the dragon, Oliver and Ogier ready to deflect any treachery aimed at their ruler at his sides.

"Any last words, handbag?" he shoots up at Sokol's monster to your shock and surprise, before leaping high into the air, blade descending toward the beast.

"Yeah, I've got two for you actually!" Sokol's voice cuts through the air. You look at him quickly, he's got a hand on his Disk.

"I activate a Trap! A Reverse Trap to be exact!"

One of his surviving backrow cards flips open and his dragon roars, a malevolent aura rising around it as its Attack points skyrocket to 4200. Charles' blade comes crashing down... and breaks on the beast's scales, before an explosion of fire consumes your Emperor.

Your LP: 4000 -> 2800

"I-I end my turn." you stutter, shocked. Sure, you had lost Charles in battle before, the Duel against the Scrap player, Reyes, a clear example, but this time you had sent him straight into the jaws of destruction without even knowing. Reverse Trap's effect on the field ends with your words, dropping Sokol's dragon back down to 1400 ATK.

"My move then." your opponent smiles, drawing. His smile falls a little as he sees the card in his hand.

"Ah, a little unfortunate, but what can you do. My Black Winged Dragon attacks with Black Squall!"

The dragon rears back, beak opening and wind beginning to flow into it, a pitch-black orb of compressed air building in its maw. Finally, it shoots its head forward, disgorging the cannonball of air into you.

Your LP: 2800 -> 1400

"Now, I'll activate the Spell Card Against The Wind! By taking damage equal to the Attack Points of a Blackwing in my grave, like my Simoon, I can add that monster to my hand. Of course, with Black Winged Dragon on my field, I don't have to take a single point of damage." he finishes with a chuckle as he plays the card, causing Simoon's card to slide out from his grave.

"Finally, I'll tribute Black Winged Dragon to Set a monster in Defense mode. Your turn." the bartender finishes, his dragon disintigrating into sparkles that rain down on his field, forming a facedown monster.

[Your hand consists of Spy-C-Spy and Infernoble Knight Maugis. Your next draw will be Until Noble Arms are Needed Once Again.

Your field is empty and your graveyard contains Infernoble Knight Ogier, Infernoble Knight Oliver, Infernoble Knight Emperor Charles and The Warrior Returning Alive. Fire Flint Lady and Infernoble Knight Astolfo are currently banished. You have 1400 LP.

Your opponent controls a facedown Blackwing - Simoon the Poison Wind and one face-down backrow cards and has 4000 LP. His hand is empty.]


A/N: There! That's part 2 of the Duel, done. Now, it's been pointed out to me that I should give all of you more freedom in these Duels to form your own plans, so... go ahead! I love seeing what you come up with, so I'm really looking forward to this.

Oh, and for those of you who may be panicking right now, don't. You still have a chance. A good chance. Word of God here: of the three cards Sokol had in his backrow, you sniped the only one that gave you a chance in the only way that gave you a chance. This was, in essence, supposed to be the first major boss fight, and you stumbled ass-backwards into one of the only strats that gives you a legitimate chance. I am so proud of you. I honestly didn't think you'd win this Duel, but honestly? I'm pretty sure you will. Good luck, I'm rooting for you. Do your best, you already impressed both me and Sokol, so at this point? It's only a difference between losing and getting what you want from him or winning and getting even more.
 
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