It was a cold Autumn day, just a few weeks before Halloween, the leaves on and off the trees were all shades of Reds, Orange, and Browns. Some people were expecting snow soon, others hoped it would wait till after Halloween, but for one boy, 'when it was going to snow' would be the last thing he would be wondering about anytime soon.

In a nearby middle school, it was recces time, but due construction closing down the playground, recess was spent in the library, where the students had to stay quiet, and were encouraged to read, many of them wined in protest, wondering what was being built that the whole playground had to be shut down. The only thing anyone ever said was something along the lines of "It's a surprise" or "You'll find out tomorrow".

At one point one student grabbed is backpack and headed to the door announcing "Bathroom" on his way (there were no bathrooms in the library, but one just down the hall). However once he passed the gates, an alarm went off.

"Uh, Excuse me." One Librarian called out to the boy, "could you come back here for a moment?"

The kid, not caring for the alarms, replied with "I'm just going to the bathroom." As he continued on his way without stopping.

The Librarian sighed and grabbed the phone on the deck, making a call. Meanwhile another boy, with brown hair and eyes and was dressed in an orange shirt and brown pants, peeked out from the covers of the book he was reading, Monsterology by Dr. Earnest Drake, and smirked.

LineBreak

It was now dismissal time at the school, where the orange shirt wearing middle school student (now with a matching orange cap on his head, a mahogany jacket on and a brown backpack) was now walking home. Normally, there would be a number of after school activities he could go to and he would normally go to the one related to a certain card game he enjoyed, but due to the threat of inclement weather, they were canceled for the day. However, all the orange capped kid had to due was look up in the sky and see that there would be no snow this afternoon, maybe some overnight, but none in the afternoon. Aw well, the school already made it decision, it was a lot harder to judge it earlier on in the day after all.

"Hey Burton!" came a voice from behind the boy.

'Oh, boy.' The kid thought as he turned around to see the student who set off the alarm, but still continued moving in the same direction. "You know Richard, I have a first name. Since I call you by yours, could you call me by mine? It's Allan, in case you forgot."

"Don't small talk me." Richard replied as he walked forward to close in on Allan, "You know what you did."

"I do a lot of things," Allan replied as he turned back around to look at where he was going. "I get good grades, pay attention in class, cooperate with officials. Your going to need to be more specific."

"You slipped that book in my backpack!" Richard accused, picking up his pace, though Allan did the same to keep his distance. "Do you know how much trouble I got into because that book was there when I went to the bathroom."

"Why do you think that was me?" Allan asked, smirk forming on his face. "Besides if you did what the librarian asked when the alarm went off, the trouble you would be in then wouldn't be able to hold a candle to what your are in now."

"Why you-" Richard growled before shifting to a run right for Allan.

Allan, knowing what the boy behind him was going to do, also shifted to a run a split second before Richard did. The chase wasn't to long through, Allan knew that he wasn't the fastest in the class, or the best when it came to any physical activity for that matter, so instead of trying to out run Richard, who was far better at those same physical activities then he was, Allan adjusted his course to the nearby woods, maneuvering his way off of any path and through the trees.

Despite this, Richard followed into the woods without letting the roots and branches slow him down much. However, he didn't notice when Allan pulled back on a tree branch when passing it and releasing it to smack right into his face. Slightly disoriented, once he looked back to where Allan was, the orange capped boy already vanished. "Dam it." Richard muttered to himself, "Where did he go?" He then continued as he ran off trying to find his target.

Once Richard was out of sight, a nearby pile of fallen leaves (raked up by however owned the property that part of the woods was on) shifted as Allan pulled himself out, panting. "Good thing." He began, "I blend in," a pant, "with the fall colors so well." He took a couple more breaths as he walked out of the woods, in a direction other then the one Richard took, so he could see where he wound up. Once he got to the street he spotted an old house that seemed to be falling apart and had an overgrown yard.

"Well, there's a landmark for me." He stated as he walked up to it's porch. "Shame your set to be demolished after Halloween. You always did get popular this time of year." He said as though the house could answer, recalling the ghost stories of how random pranks would always happen here. After 5 different owners and no one figuring out who was responsible for the pranks, people assumed it was ghosts and then no one wanted to buy the house from the last owners, leaving it abandoned.

Allan mentally mapped out the route from this house to his and was about to turn around and follow the route when he noticed something, the door was open a jar. "Huh, why is the door open?" He muttered to himself as he walked up to investigate. He then stopped himself and checked the time, his parents would be working late today (no surprise there) so they would not know what time he made it back home, so long as he didn't take to long. He smirked as he saw the time, he didn't loose much time running from Richard, and while his parents wouldn't approve of him going into the 'Haunted' house, it's not like they would know he entered, even if they knew that the after school activities were closed for today, he could say he went straight home after school, or just tell the true story and leave out the part of going into the house. They would never know.

Pushing the door open further he felt some resistance, but it didn't seem like it was coming from some rusty hinges or anything like that. His eyes widened as he made sure he was a step back from the door before pushing it the rest of the way, and sure enough a bucket full of water fell down on the spot he would have been if he kept moving forward when opening the door. "One of the oldest tricks in the book." he commented to himself.

"Aw man, he didn't fall for it." a voice said from around the corner. Allan head perked up from hearing that as he moved to investigate, whoever it was probably didn't have any intention to hurt him, given how simple of a prank they just tried was. "Well, don't just float there, we have to make sure everything else works in case he decides to stick around for a bit." The voice didn't seem concerned about being heard or not, which confused Allan a bit, surely if the owner wanted to prank him, they wouldn't make there positions that well known, and what was it with the phrase 'float there'? Were the Ghost stories true? That didn't make to much since the sun was still plenty up, ghosts weren't be that active with the sun at it's current position, right?

"Hang on," a different voice called out, also not seeming concerned about being heard, "This kid looks smart, we may need to get a bit more creative and patient to get him." Allan finally turned into the room the voices were coming from and whatever he was expecting, this wasn't it.

He saw five see-through, somewhat cartoonish yet slightly familiar looking, figures floating in midair. One that had a bed sheet over it's head, another that was in a robe and seemed to wear a jack-o-lantern mask, a small girl in the corner dressed in white, one that looked like one of those Chinese hopping vampire things, and a girl in a witch outfit.

"Then we will re-rig the door." The witch girl said, throwing her arms into the air, "Who would expect it to get set-up after he already cleared it out." Her voice was the same as the first one that Allan heard.

"Unless he notices that the door's position changed." The hopping vampire thing replied to her, his voice being the second one Allan heard. "I am telling you, this kid knows how to pick up on these things, otherwise he probably wouldn't have even come in."

The Bed sheet ghost then sighed turning to jack-o-lantern mask saying, "I wish we could just jump in front of him and say 'Boo' like we used to."

Jack-o-lantern mask replied saying, "I know, it was so much easier to get a laugh back then. Shame it doesn't work on those that can't see us."

The girl in white then noticed Allan looking into the room and observing the group. "Umm, guys?"

The witch girl turned to her saying, "Yeah Yuki-onna?"

The girl in white, apparently named Yuki-onna, then pointed to Allan and said; "I think he actually can see us right now."

"Wait, what?" The hopping Vampire thing said as the other occupants then turned to look at Allan.

The bed sheet ghost then moved in front of Allan and asked "Can you see us?"

Allan nodded, saying "and hear you."

Not expecting an actual response. The Bed sheet ghost gave a small yelp and flew back. "He replied!"

The witch girl then rolled her eyes saying, "Yes, thank you captain obvious. I never would have guessed that him responding to your question was considered a reply."

"HEY!" The Bed sheet ghost protested, but stopped when they noticed that Allan then decided to walk into the room and check a few things out, opening some cabinets, looking behind furniture, etc.

"Uhh, what are you doing?" The Lantern masked one asked.

"Looking around for something like a projector." Allan answered honestly while still looking around. "Since there was a water pail set to fall on my head when I came in, I know that someone is wanting to prank me, so instead of assuming that you are all ghosts like what the story of this house implies, I am checking to see if you are not another lame prank attempt using solid vision."

"What the, lame?" The witch girl repeated, sounding slightly offended.

"Told you this kid was smart." The hopping vampire said.

"In terms of this being a prank." Allan clarified having picked up the slight offended-ness in the witch girl's voice, "not in terms of solid vision quality."

"Not what that was for." the girl muttered, but before she could go further, something that Allan could only describe as a cartoon version of the monster from that Frankenstein book he read last year appeared through the doorway, carrying a chair. While the Figure was just as ghostly as the room's other occupants (except Allan) the chair was clearly solid.

"Hey, Witch, where do you want the chair for the prank?" The creature then said.

The witch girl, named Witch apparently (go figure), turned to the newcomer saying "Just put it down Stein, apparently he can see us so it won't work anyway."

"Okay" Stein replied as he put the chair down, only for Allan to pick it up and start moving his hands all over it.

"Huh, no strings on the chair," Allan observed as he moved his arm to go right through Stein, freaking him out a bit. "but your not solid. Interesting."

"Hey, think you could warn us before you put your arm through us?" Stein asked.

Ignoring Stein's plight, Allan wondered out loud to himself saying "Your not solid enough to move the chair yourself, and there was no strings to allow it to move in the air, so what got it to move?"

"Well, I have to admit, this is rather amusing." a new voice from the room Stein came from spoke out in a Transylvanin accent. Allan looked toward the new voice to see someone step into a patch of sunlight, a figure with white skin, a caped tuxedo on, and just as see-through as the other ones Allan saw so far. "Most people who could see us would run in terror thinking we were ghosts. You are the first to try to apply logic with us so far."

"I'm not one to take things at face value." Allan explained, "I read a lot of books surrounding supernatural creatures. So I can tell your not ghosts like the story of this house says, as if you were, being this active and moving things when the sun is still up would be impossible." He then pointed to the newcomer's feet saying, "And you clearly can't be a vampire despite your appearance or else you would be ash standing where you are right now."

"Ah, hah," The pale man began, "but what if contrary to our appearance or the skewed story of this house, we were actually duel spirits?" He then offered. "The name is Alucard by the way, Ghostrick Alucard."

"I'm Allan Burton" Allan replied, being polite, before continuing "Wait a minute. Duel Spirits? Ghostrick?" He then looked at all the other ghostly individuals, and it clicked. "You're all Ghostricks." He started to mentally kick himself for not noticing it earlier, he read up on them extensively as he always wanted to make a Ghostrick deck, and not only did these figures look exactly the same way they did on there cards (through they obviously weren't in the poses shown on the cards) but there story even matches well with the ghost stories of this house.

"There we go." The hopping vampire, Ghostrick Jiangshi, replied.

"However," Allan started turning back to Alucard, "Duel spirits are said to be unable to stray from the cards to far, If you are duel spirits then where would your cards be located so that you could go through the house preforming your pranks, without the cards being found by the many people that owned it before the house was abandoned? "

"In a secret compartment that only the house's original owner knew about before he passed away." Alucard stated.

"Can I see this compartment?" Allan asked, a plan forming in his head.

"Now why would we show it to you?" the bed sheet ghost, Ghostrick Specter, asked.

Turning to the little guy, Allan answered, "Well, for starters, it would help back your story of you all being Duel Spirits, and second of all, showing it to me could allow me to save you all."

"Save us?" Yuki-onna repeated.

"From what exactly?" The Jack-o-lantern mask one, Ghostrick Lantern, asked.

"The wrecking crew." Allan elaborated, surprising the other occupants of the area. "Due to being abandoned for the past few years, this house is scheduled to be demolished in just a few more weeks, right after Halloween in fact."

"Wait, right after Halloween?" Witch repeated.

"Yep, that's what I said." Allan confirmed, "And if no-one discovered the secret compartment your cards are all in while people were living here. It is unlikely that it will be discovered before the wrecking crew arrives, destroys this house, and get everything left here, including your cards, sent straight to the trash heap." He then shrugged saying, "Or get burnt or melted for recycling. I don't really know what they will do with all the rubble."

"And what would you plan on doing with our cards after retrieving them from the compartment?" Alucard asked.

Allan smiled, "I always wanted to make a Ghostrick deck." He replied, "I even have the basis of one right now on me, but sadly no actual Ghostrick monsters just yet."

Alucard narrowed his eyes, "You would allow duel spirits to accompany you so you could make your deck."

"Yeah, I don't see why not." Allan answered as a smirked appeared on his face, "Though I would have a few rules, and some pranking requests."

Alucard blinked at that reply, and then smiled. He had a feeling that the Ghostricks and this Allan kid were going to get along pretty well.

LineBreak

The sun was now setting, leaving the sky a mixture of yellow, orange, and red as Allan was walking down the street headed back to his house. At this moment he was looking through his new Ghostrick cards, combining those with the cards he already had, and he now had a little over 40 cards, enough to make a playable deck. Even if he doesn't quite have an all out Ghostrick deck just yet, there was only 7 Ghostricks in the house, between them and the support cards, he could at least duel with his own deck now, that's more then what he could do before. Hearing a scream he turned and saw the ghostly image of Ghostrick Jiangshi getting flung threw the air before landing at his feet, face first. "Uhh, are you okay?"

Jiangshi gave a thumbs up saying "I'm alright."

Witch then appeared next to Allan and said "Got to far from the card?"

Jiangshi got himself back up saying, "That would be my guess."

Allan raised an eyebrow and said, "So, if you get to far away from your card, you get yanked and flown to it's location?" By now had no issue believing that they were duel spirits, but he also wanted to know what he could learn about them that couldn't be found in a book, things like how they are forced to stay by there cards, or how he could see them but no one else could.

"Apparently." Jiangshi replied, "While we were in the house, it worked like a force field was keeping us in, guess the way that rule works changes depending on where the card is."

Shrugging and returning to his walk (guess there are some duel spirit things not even duel spirits fully understand), he said "Might want to keep up with me then, because I'm not deviating from my path so you can go exploring."

"Okay." He replied, Hopping along the ground to keep pace with Allan (my he wasn't floating in the air like Witch was something Allan didn't bother to ask).

"So," Allan started, "I know that there are more Ghostrick monsters then just you seven, are there spirits for the others as well?"

"Yep," Witch replied, "Don't know where they are though, we got separated a long time ago."

Lantern then appeared by Allan's shoulder saying, "And by a Long time back, we mean a loooooooooooooooong time ago. I can't even remember what event separated us."

"As accurate as that is." Jiangshi started, "For future reference, let me just say that Lantern is the first to forget things out of all of us."

"Hey!"

"There you are." came a familiar voice from behind Allan.

Allan turned his head and immediately thought 'Oh Bleep' as right there behind him was Richard, panting and out of breath, but still just as pissed as he was when Allan saw him run off, if not even more so.

"Thought you saw the last of me?" Richard asked as he moved in closer to Allan.

"Honestly, for the rest of today, yes." Allan said as he backed up. Richard was already to close, if he tried to make a break for it he wouldn't get far before Richard caught up. Plus they weren't in any woods, they were in the street, there wasn't much cover for him to hide behind with, nor was there any way for him to distract Richard long enough to hide with whatever cover he could find.

Richard then went into a quick sprint and grabbed Allan by the collar of his shirt before he could react. "It's payback time." Richard started, "Staring now and ending when my suspension is done."

"Wait, you were suspended?" Allan asked, surprised. What did Richard do? Punch the officer that went to get him? Actually, that dose sound like something he would do.

"Yeah," Richard confirmed, "because YOU put that book in my book bag." He then looked down and saw the cards in Allan's hands. "But, " he began smirking, "I might be willing to forgive you, IF you hand over that deck you have there."

Allan's reaction was immediate. Not only did that deck contain the cards of the Ghostrick duel spirits, but his own cards as well, cards he worked to get in hopes of building a Ghostrick deck with them. There was no internal debate over handing these over. The hand with the deck in it went behind his back as Allan said it simply, "No way!"

"Very well then." Richard said as he punched Allan in the face, letting go of his collar to allow Allan to fly back and fall onto the ground. "If you want to hold on to them, then how about we fight for it."

Allan started to pick himself back up, feeling his face where he was punched, that will form a bruise soon enough. "What are you referring to?" He ten asked.

"A duel obviously." Richard replied pulling out his own deck and duel disk, "I win, your cards are mine, You win, I leave you alone. At least your odds of winning in a duel should be slightly higher then in a fist fight, assuming you can even duel with that."

"Go ahead and take it." Witch replied next to Allan, invisible and unheard to Richard, "With us in your deck, you can't loose, and our power dose get a temporary boost after a win, so we can make sure he will keep that word."

Allan wasn't stupid. He knew Richard wouldn't leave him alone just because of the outcome of one duel. But He also knew a lot of things about duel spirits, including that what Witch said is true. If he could win, Witch and Yuki-onna's powers can keep Richard stunned enough to at least allow Allan to get out of sight and back home. "Okay then." Allan then replied, putting is backpack down and pulling his duel disk out of it, this may be the first time he is using it with his own deck (as opposed to the loaner ones he used in the after school activities) but now he had to win, he didn't really have any other options.

Richard smirked as he saw the actions, "Good." He then said as he put his deck in his duel disk. 'There's no way this pipsqueak will be able to take me down. Now I can strip him of his cards and pummel him.' He then thought. "Let's Go."

DUEL!

"I'll start things off." Allan declared as he looked down at his opening hand, His eyes widened as he saw what it was. Out of the 7 Ghostrick monsters he got, 6 of them were a placed in the main deck, and 3 of them were right there in his opening hand; Jiangshi, Witch and Specter, along with two Trap cards that work well with Ghostricks.

"Surprised?" Witch asked appearing next to him, "Don't be, we said you can't loose with us in your deck, and we are going to make sure that is true here."

Allan never heard of duel spirits being able to manipulate the draw from a deck they were placed in, but he supposed it made some since. Maybe it was in a passage he glossed over, he will need to re-read the books about Duel spirits. "Okay, I'll set one monster and two other cards face down, and end my turn." He then declared, keeping his turn simple.

"Hmm, piece of cake." Richard muttered to himself. "I Draw!" He somewhat ignored the card he drew and went for a different one. "I'll summon my, 'Gene-Warped Warwolf'!" As he declared that a big bi-pedal werewolf looking thing appeared on his field, ready to rip things up.

Gene-Warped Warwolf... Attribute:Earth, Type:Beast-Warrior, Level:4, ATK:2000 DEF:100

"And Now My Warwolf will att-"

"Not so fast!" Allan declared, cutting Richard off, "As you leave your Main Phase, I activate 'A Feint Plan'!" As he said that, one of his face downs flipped up for him, revealing the old trap card, "Because of this, your not allowed to attack any face-down monsters, and since your only possible target is face down, that means you can't attack this turn."

"Grrr, Fine then." Richard declared, "I play one card face down and end my tun." 'Go ahead, I see your game plan.' Richard though to himself, 'You saved your monster so you could tribute it for a stronger one, but unfortunately for you, my face down is 'Blast Held by a Tribute' so when you try to attack with it, I can blow it up and deal damage at the same time.'

"I Draw." Allan declared drawing his card and seeing it to be 'Ghostrick Mansion' he smirked. The Field spell was just what he needed to get the Ball rolling, "I'll start by activating my Field Spell, 'Ghostrick Mansion'!" He then declared as the surrounding area changed to look like they were now dueling inside a slightly cartoony haunted House, complete with cobwebs on furniture. "And now I'll flip summon my 'Ghostrick Jiangshi'."

As he said that, the hopping Vampire appeared from the face down card declaring, "Okay Let's get going." Even though only Allan could hear it.

Ghostrick Jiangshi... Attribute:Dark, Type:Zombie, Level:3, ATK:400 DEF:1800

"When Jiangshi is flipped face up, I can add a Ghostrick monster from my deck to my hand." Allan declared as a single card popped out of his deck to be grabbed, "However, The level of the added monster has to no greater then the number of Ghostricks I have out." He then revealed the card he added saying, "I have 1 Ghostrick, so I add the Level 1 'Ghostrick Lantern'."

Lantern's spirit appeared next to him saying, "Good choice, with me in the hand, I can block an incoming attack he tries to launch, giving us more time to take him down."

Specter then appeared next to him saying, "But he didn't have a choice. You were the only level 1 Ghostrick he could add."

"Well, yeah, but for future duels could you maybe not mention things like that."

Continuing with the duel, Allan declared, "With one Ghostrick face up, The other's aren't ever far behind. I summon 'Ghostrick Witch'!"

Witch appeared riding her Brook stick while doing some stretches saying "Finally, I've been itching for some action."

Ghostrick Witch... Attribute:Dark, Type:Spellcaster, Level:2, ATK:1200 DEF:200

"With Witch's effect, I can flip one monster you control face down once-per turn." Allan declared. Prompting Witch to work her Magic on the Warwolf, flipping it down and no longer visible on he field.

"Aww, is the Big bad wolf feeling a little sleepy?" Witch then quipped, "Well you take a nice long nap then, we won't hurt you in the meantime, Promise."

Allan smirked, adding "And while the Mansion is in play, since all your monsters are face-down, my crew can preform direct attacks."

"Say What?" Richard asked, not expecting this play.

"Witch, Jiangshi, care to take him down a few notches?" Allan asked.

"With Pleasure." Jiangshi replied as he shot a magical energy beam out of his forehead and Witch fired a stronger one out of her fingers.

Richards LP: 8000 - 7600 - 6400

"And now during Main Phase 2, I can use the effect of my Ghostrick monsters to flip them into face down defense position." Allan explained as his monsters vanished from sight, ducking behind whatever furniture they could use for cover, with Witch sticking her tong out at Richard as she did so. "Where they should remain nice and safe for now, as my Mansion protects all face down monsters from being selected as attack targets, so you can't hurt them. Turn End."

Richard growled under his breath, not liking Allan tactics. 'So that's the way he's going to play then huh?' He thought, 'Then I'll really enjoy ripping his cards apart once I rip them from him.' He smirked at that thought before grabbing a card from his deck, "Then it's my move, I draw!" He saw the card he drew, 'Well, 'Rising Energy' won't help me out that much here, but I still got other monsters to help me out.', "I'll flip summon my 'Gene-Warped Warwolf' and normal summon my 'Phantom Gryphon' to the field." As he said that, the Werewolf creature from before arose to the field from it's carded form as a large Gryphon appeared next to it.

Phantom Gryphon... Attribute:Wind, Type:Winged Beast, Level:4, ATK:2000 DEF:0

"You should have destroyed my monster last turn, instead of attacking around it, cause now you have double the trouble to deal with now." Richard declared, "Battle!"

"My Ghostricks are safe from your monsters no matter how many you have." Allan reminded, "Or did you forget about my field spell already."

"Oh, I'm not forgetting." Richard stated, "but the thing about field spells, there effects often go both ways, If you could attack me directly when I have no face-up monsters, then I can do the same to you. Warwolf, Gryphon wipe out half of his life points!" He then commanded, his monsters charging at the order.

"How about they take out none of my Life points instead." Allan replied, "Reverse card Open! 'Quaking Mirror Force'!" As he said that, his Trap card flipped up and a sandstorm same out of it blowing back both of Richard's monsters. "This card can only activate when an opponent's monster declares an attack." Allan explained, "and it forces all your Attack position monsters in take a nap face-down. And this Nap is a long one, as now they can't change battle positions anymore." He then smirked at seeing his card work out as both of the attacking monsters got returned into card forms face down, with mummy bandages now wrapping them up, that card was one he saved up quite a few weeks worth of allowance to get, seeing it work out was satisfying to see.

"Seriously?" Richard shouted. "Come on, why you got to be such a coward with these tricks? Why not fight my monster head on?"

"Uhh, cause both of my monster's combined attack points are still less then the attack of just one of yours." Allan replied, "So what if it is cowardly? I'm not going to send my monsters on a suicide mission, so if my choices are that or win a cowards victory I'll take the one that get's you off my back during your suspension."

'Yeah, Like I'll so follow through with that should you actually win.' Richard thought, "I set one card and end my turn." He ended, setting his 'Rising Energy' card, it may not help him immediately, but it could help him do more damage on a latter turn.

"Then it's my go." Allan stated drawing a card. Seeing it to be 'Book of Life', a card he can't use just yet, he decided to go on the attack. "First up, I'll flip summon my Ghostricks, first Witch then Jiangshi." He then declared as the monsters came out from there hiding spots... which didn't seem like the ones they originally hid behind. How or when they might have switched spots are questions Allan felt like asking but knew had to wait for another time. "Since Jiangshi came out second, his effect activates with 2 Ghostricks out allowing me to add the level 2 'Ghostrick Yuki-onna' to my hand." he then explained. "But she won't be there for long, because I'm summoning her right now."

Ghostrick Yuki-onna... Attribute:Dark, Type:Spellcaster, Level:2, ATK:1000 DEF:800

The White Clad Female Ghostrick then materialized onto his field saying, "Oh, It's My turn now?" She then looked over on Richard's field, "but his monsters are already face down."

"It's not for your effect, silly." Witch said turning to Yuki-onna, "Were attacking him, not his monsters, your not having to crash into anyone today."

"That's a relief." Yuki-onna stated.

"Ready for a triple Ghostrick direct attack." Allan asked Richard, getting a growl in response. "I'll take that as a 'no'. To bad then, because here it comes. Everyone attack!"

"Let's go Ladies." Jiangshi stated as he and Witch attacked the same way they did before, with Yuhi-onna throwing in some icicles for good measure.

Richards LP: 6400 - 6000 - 4800 - 3800

"And During Main Phase 2, I'll flip them all face down again. Turn end." Allan stated as took careful note of where his three monsters found some convenient cover to hide in, Witch going underneath a TV (That Allan could swear wasn't there before), Jiangshi hiding underneath 2 sofa cushions (without an indent showing his presence there, he must be laying verrrrry flat), and Yuki-onna hiding in a refrigerator (well she just threw Icicles, so the cold probably doesn't bother her anyway).

"This is perfect." Lantern said by Allan's shoulder, "He can't flip up his two set monsters so he can only attack with whatever he summons, and I can block that attack when it comes."

"That's not all." Specter added, "but with Witch, he can flip whatever that monster is face down, so we can direct attack him, giving us a win should another one of us out, which Jiangshi can make a non-issue with his effect."

"Yeah, we got this won next turn." Lantern finished with a grin. And Allan did have to admit, it did seem that way, but he was still nervous. All of that is assuming that Richard doesn't do something that completely wiped either Jiangshi or Witch out from the field, the Mansion only protected them from attacks after all, not card effects. In addition it was Richard's turn now, and Allan didn't have any way to respond to anything that wasn't an attack.

"I Draw!" Richard declared drawing his card, and smirking when he saw it. "I activate, 'Mystical Space Typhoon'!" He then declared placing the card he drew into the duel disk.

Allan eyes widened at that, knowing that that card can destroy any spell or Trap card in on the field, and unless Richard planned to destroy one of his two face-downs, there was only one target left for it to hit.

"With this card, I destroy 'Ghostrick Mansion'!" Richard declared, as a whirlwind tore through reducing the house to rubble and exposing all of the set Ghostricks from there hiding spots (they were in fact different from where they hid, though Yuki-onna didn't go far, just moving from the refrigerator to the freezer section of the same refrigerator), and forcing them back into the image of set monsters. "Now our monsters can finally go at each other instead of around each other, like how a duel is suppose to go."

"Not good." Lantern stated, "My effect can't block attacks to set allies, only direct attacks and ones aimed at face-up Ghostricks."

Allan didn't like this, but he spoke up anyway, saying "But your monsters are still pinned thanks to my Trap card, so they can't move to attack anyway."

"Yeah, I know there useless right now." Richard stated, grabbing another card from his hand, "Which is why I will ditch them both to play this monster. My 'Tri-Horned Dragon'." As he said that, both mummy-style wrapped set cards vanished as a blue dragon appeared on Richards field, with three sharp horns sprouting from it's head.

Tri-Horned Dragon... Attribute:Dark, Type:Dragon, Level:8, ATK:2850 DEF:2350

"Now My Dragon, Take out one of his monsters!" Richard declared, anger clearly in his voice, apparently he was ticked off at Allan's dueling strategy. The Dragon obeyed, launching a red stream of fire straight toward one of the face downs, that caused an explosion that, once the dust settled, showed the one hit by the blast to be a, now badly singed, 'Ghostrick Yuki-onna'.

"Oh, you should have hit a different one." Allan commented, as Yuki-onna began to pick herself up, "When Yuki-onna is destroyed in battle, he can permanently flip the monster she battled against face-down."

As he finished that, Yuki-onna opened her eyes, now glowing red as she released a high pitch, and rather loud, scream. Both Allan and Richard covered their ears as the effect went off (the scream, being part of her effect, was released through the Duel Disk speakers as well, making it audible to anyone in the vicinity), and Yuki-onna, through her scream, created a large tornado of snow that started moving straight toward Tri-Horned Dragon. Once the Scream stopped and Yuki-onna dissolved into light due to the attack, all that was left of Tri-Horned Dragon, was the image of one set monster completely encased in Ice.

"Okay, That wasn't fully expected." Allan stated (he also made a mental note, never get Yuki-onna angry. EVER!), "but in addition to all of that, When a Ghostrick I control is destroyed by your attack or card effect, I can summon the 'Ghostrick Specter' in my hand face-down and draw a card." He then concluded as Specter appeared briefly on his field before turning into a face down card. Looking at his newly drawn card 'Needle Ceiling', Allan then began to think of a strategy using that card to his advantage.

"Ehh, so what." Richard stated, "Without that field spell, you can't direct attack me anymore without going through my Dragon, and none of your Ghostricks can get anywhere close to it's defense points. I end my Turn."

"I Draw." Richard declared drawing his card and seeing it to be 'Book of Moon', another good card he spent quite a few weeks worth of allowance to get, but in this situation, it didn't help him at all. 'Well, this isn't good.' He then thought to himself, 'No cards in my hand can destroy that Dragon while it is face down, and because of Yuki-onna's effect, it is pinned there unless I attack into it and hurt myself. I guess that is a viable strategy. As with it face up, 'Needle Celing' can then wipe it out on Richard's turn, preferable after he summons another monster to be hit by it as well, then he won't have any monster defending him as I deal the finishing blow next turn.' He was about to start setting his Trap card till he heard a Transylvanin accented voice speak up.

"This is fine, we can win this turn."

Allan turned his head to see Alucard there next to him. The vampire duel spirit didn't speak much after leaving the House and kept to himself mostly staying wherever duel spirits go when not actively doing anything in the world (maybe he was in the card?), but if he was out now speaking, Allan suspected that he should listen.

"As the duelist with our cards, there is nothing preventing you from summoning us out in a duel besides the normal restrictions." Alucard then said, "And with my effect, you can destroy that Dragon now and win instead of waiting till later."

"I don't exactly know how to do that." Allan replied, whispering in hopes that Alucard could hear but Richard couldn't (he didn't need to look like an idiot talking to air after all). "Your not exactly a main deck monster after all."

Alucard smiled, saying "No worries, I can easily instruct you on how to call me out. Then you can win and we can be on our way."

"Okay." Was Allan's response as Alucard then told him the procedures.

Richard, who couldn't hear or see what was going on by Allan, spoke up saying, "Hey, your going to make your move yet? Or just pass and let me go again."

Allan then looked straight at Richard saying; "Oh, I'll be making my move right now, I just needed some time to whey my options. First up, I'll flip summon all 3 of my set Ghostricks. First Specter, then Witch and lastly Jiangshi." As he said that, all three set monsters revealed themselves form the cards, all looking pretty upset that there friend got torched. "Since Jiangshi was flipped up last, there are 3 monsters up when his effect goes off, allowing me to add the level 3 'Ghostrick Stein' to my hand." He then followed up, as the card got ejected out of his duel disk. "And Like Yuki-onna last turn, his stay there will be brief, as I am summoning him right now." On cue, the cartoony creation of Dr. Frankenstein appeared to his field, looking about as upset as the other Ghostricks.

Ghostrick Stein... Attribute:Dark, Type:Zombie, Level:3, ATK:1600 DEF:0

"Big deal." Richard replied, "He still isn't strong enough to get over my dragon."

"But because he is level 3 like Jiangshi," Allan stated, "I can use the two of them, to build an overlay network." As he said that both mentioned Ghostricks turned into purple steams of energy that flew up.

"Say what?" Richard asked, not sure what was happening.

Instead of answering, Allan just moved on with the process of summoning Alucard, seeing the orange and black overlay network appear before him and the two streams of energy that were his Ghostrick monsters going into it, he chanted, "May the watcher of the playful pranksters appear hear and now, and with his royal blood make himself known as one to not be trifled with! XYZ Summon! Descend! Rank 3! Ghostrick Alucard!" Erupting from the portal was a cloud of darkness that then dispersed, revealing Alucard's form, ready for action with 2 purple Xyz material orbiting around him. Conveniently enough, during that chant included the exact moment where the Sun dipped completely below the horizon, leaving the sky a dark blue as Alucard stood his ground. Almost as if the sun knew to hide so Alucard could do his thing (even though as a hologram possessing duel spirit, rather or not it was up would be irrelevant to rather or not Alucard could do his thing).

Ghostrick Alucard... Attribute:Dark, Type:Zombie/Xyz, Rank:3, ATK:1800 DEF:1600

"Big and flashy, so what?" Richard stated, "It still doesn't have enough attack points."

"Please. Like your monster's stats ever meant anything to my Ghostricks before." Allan stated, "I use Alucard's ability, by detaching one of his Xyz material, I can destroy any face-down card on the field." As he said that, Alucard then Grabbed one of the orbiting materials and slammed it into the ground, creating a graveyard portal that a coffin rose out of, opening up as well.

"Any face down card?" Richard asked, looking nervous before a smile then appeared on his face, "Then are you sure you want to hit my monster with that, after all, you don't know what my other face-downs might be, they might be a bigger threat then you realize."

"Save your bluffs for someone who will actually fall for them." Allan retorted, wiping the smile off of Richard's face at the same time, "If you didn't play them before on any of my other attacks or effects, they are nothing I have to worry about. Alucard, take out his face-down dragon." He then ordered, as the coffin opened up, launching a magical black hand that then grabbed the dragon, pulling it into the coffin. One last image of the dragon on the card was shown (still encased in ice) before spikes appeared along the inside of the coffin and it slammed shut, going back into the graveyard portal of which it came.

"No way." Richard stated, dumbfounded that his high level dragon would be disposed of so easily and quickly after it was summoned.

"And to seal the deal, I'll play this." Richard stated, holding up one more card, "The 'Book of Life', which lets me both banish a monster from your graveyard and revive a zombie from mine, So I'll use the soul of your newly destroyed dragon, to fuel the resurrection of my Ghostrick Stein!" he the declared as his earlier summoned Ghostrick returned to his field.

"Now everyone, Direct attack!" he declared as his Ghostricks obeyed. Witch releasing Magic from her hands, Stein launching a lightning bolt from his fist, and Alucard summoning bats for his attack (Specter was ready to attack, the rest of them had more then enough attack points to finish the job without him, so the duel ended before he got his chance).

Richards LP: 3800 - 2000 - 800 - 0

Allan released a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. He won, he actually won his first duel with his own, in real life, deck. In fact, he was in total control and didn't loose a single life point in obtaining his victory. Which, when using a deck that could barely be considered a Ghostrick deck, was something he never thought he would see happening. He then turned around as the holograms faded. "Deals a deal." He stated, "I won the duel, so you leave me alone now."

Richard got back up after getting blown back by the attacks. "If you think for one second, that you can just win and walk away like that." He then stated, "You got another thing coming to you!" Richard then made a sprint straight at Allan, but before he could even cover half the distance, his muscles froze and cramped up, he tried to get them to go but they couldn't move. "What the-?"

Allan turned back to Richard. Through his eyes, he could see what Richard couldn't, Ghostrick Witch was working her magic on him, immobilizing him. He then smirked and said, "We had a deal, so your going to follow through with it rather you like it or not."

Richard looked at Allan asking; "What did you do?" He tried to sound tough, but there was fear in his eyes.

"I didn't do anything. Well, besides win the duel that is." Allan stated, after all, Witch was the one doing all the magic, "Your the one who got themselves suspended, your the one who challenged me to a duel, and your even the one who set the terms. You got no one but yourself to blame, though you will probably try to blame me anyway." He then concluded as he walked away again, not stopping when Richard called out for him to get back there. The sun set already, he had to get back home. He wasn't suppose to be out after dark after all.

A/N:

Okay, well I meant to get this up a few days ago... well my wifi has been on pause for my Phone and laptop (where I keep the stories), so I haven't been able to do it, but I can do it here by plugging directly into my home internet and not using the wifi. Got to keep this quick though.

So, first OC I made, what do you all think of Allan? I have a few ideas for what may happen to him after this, but no super epic anime-worthy story or anything. If you all like it enough, I may turn this one-shot into a one-shot collection featuring different things that happen to him now that he's got the Ghostrick monsters by his side. Some may have even been set up already in this one-shot.

And since this is about an OC I made, here, have a fun tid-bit of info about him: Before his name was Allan Burton, the name I had for him was Jack, Jack something-that-begins-with-an-'O' Lantern... then I realized that if some people, like Richard here, refereed to him by his Last name, and Ghostrick Lantern also wen't by Lantern, that could get confusing. So I decided to change it. Can anyone guess where the name Allan Burton came from?