Lux-Nero: HELLO, PARTY PEOPLE!

And welcome to the long anticipated sequel to my first Shadowchaser story – Risen Nemesis. In all honesty, I didn't see myself bringing this story to light, but frankly, I just couldn't let any loose ends go untied. And frankly, I feel that this should be something big and something that can rival, if not surpass, my original Shadowchaser work.

Now, a few things to point out, and this shouldn't be too much of a surprise, its just to explain a few things and get some legal stuff out of the way.

First, I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! DM/GX/5D's/ZeXal or the Shadowchaser theme that this story was based off of. Now, don't get me wrong, I would love to claim that I do own them, but I'd rather not take my chances with that, what with the chance of lawsuits and getting kicked off this site… -shivers-

Anyway, back to the matter at hand, I have to give a little foreword, for example the background for this story – The location that I decided to base this story on was the futuristic version of New York City, and I figure that since Domino City was able to update itself with technology, why not the rest of the world? But since it's still a little debatable when 5D's takes place in our time frame, I'll just leave it as a possible future and it's not to be taken as what may happen. Heck, just look at ZeXal.

Next, for those of you who had read my work before, you know that I have quite a few tricks hidden in my author sleeve, and those will be used here as well. One such trick is that I prefer to use the original Japanese terms for my fictions. For example:

Duel Runner = D-Wheel

Turbo Duel = Riding Duel

And etc.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not denying the work of the dubbers, but everyone has their own style and I have the First Amendment on my side here. Besides, I'm not a fan of 4Kids, I doubt anyone is now-a-days...

For the next key point, this concerns the duels in my stories. I wasn't a fan of the whole forbidden lists in my previous stories, cause I figured that people could just do custom jobs on the Duel Disk system to accept the cards (It's the future again, a lot of people can be tech savvy). But, in order to get people off of my back, I will be using the September 1 forbidden list for this fiction, so yeah.

Finally, we get to another section of the dueling aspect – Riding duels!

This story takes place a few years after both 5D's and Risen Nemesis, specifically, three years after 5D's final episode, so we're in between what happens in 5D's and ZeXal. That being said, since what we learn what happens to the crew of 5D's takes place 5 years after the final duel between Jack and Yusei, Speed World 2 will be in effect for riding duels.

For those of you who don't know, Speed World 2 works like this…

Speed World 2

Field Spell

Effect: If a Spell Card other than a 'Speed Spell' card is activated, its controller takes 2000 damage. During each player's Standby Phases, each player places 1 Speed Counter of their own on this card (up to 12 each). You can remove any number of your own Speed Counters from this card to activate an appropriate effect:

4) Inflict 800 damage to your opponent for each 'Speed Spell' Spell Card in your hand

7) Draw 1 card.

10) Select and destroy 1 card on the field.

And there we go.

And one more thing before you start reading this, you see, by the time this stuff is up, ZeXal should be up to a decent point where we can all pretty much understand the plot and the Exceed Monsters (which in my opinion could've been done much better in my opinion and I prefer using Exceed instead of Xyz, so don't get on my case), and so, I will say this, I may or may not use any cards that have appeared in this newest generation of Yu-Gi-Oh, so, we will see.

So, to all you readers, pull up a chair, turn on your favorite action song, and scroll down to enjoy the story.

TTTTTTTT

These streets, these very streets that I grew up on, it almost seems like an eternity since I stepped foot on them. And here I am, nothing more than a phantom stalking the remnants of my past in hopes of finding what I have been searching for these last six years.

What is Truth?

What is Justice?

Never in my nightmares did I dream that the answers to these questions would be here.

New York City.

The place where everything began, so, I suppose it's only natural that this be the place where everything should end. But knowing my luck, it's not going to be easy, nothing worth in this life ever is. My previous experiences and investigations have proven that to be true, and frankly, in this city of beginnings, this will just be a harsher truth.

But just to tell you, I don't care about any of the obstacles that might and will get in my way.

… All I care about are a few things that are important in my life…

… And one of those things was taken unjustly from me.

Destiny? Fate? Even the gods above? I won't let something as petty as those get in my way.

I'm after a dream or rather a nightmare here, and I'll shatter anything that comes my way to get to it!

Who am I?

Heh, didn't I already tell you? I'm just a phantom stalking the remains of my past.

Ready set?

Riding Duel! Acceleration!

TTTTTTTT

Lux-Nero Productions

Presents

Shadowchasers:

Dark City Chronicles

TTTTT

Time: 11:51 p.m. (U.S. Time)

Location: Countryside of Yorkshire, Britain

? Detention Complex

"EVERYBODY LISTEN!"

"For the love of… Turn that crap off!"

"Hey! Screw you!"

"Both of you shut up! Or I'll throw you both in the hole!"

Tensions were starting to rise in this detention complex, not only because of the obvious fiction between the prisoners, but also the fact that the one prisoner who had the remote for the recreation center had turned on the pro league channel. The one who usually got the remote was the one prisoner who had the best behavior.

And currently, the holding the remote was a gentleman with extremely long black hair that seemed to sleek back down to almost his ankles, his uniform surprisingly kept clean, and he even had a pair of sunglasses covering his eyes (another perk of being a well-behaved prisoner). In fact, the only thing that stuck out about this guy was the fact that at the front of his neck seemed to be a golden eye that seemed to merge in his skin with a weird jewel in its center, and over that seemed to be a small silver band that glowed slightly.

"Is it that annoying to watch this sort of thing?" The remote wielding prisoner asked waving the remote around in the air.

"YES!" a chorus of voices sounded out.

"Well too bad!" the prisoner laughed back as he lifted up a special water bottle to his mouth.

"Childsman!" One of the nearby guards growled, making sure to keep his distance. "Don't even think about starting trouble."

"Hey, if they don't like what I'm watching," The remote wielding prisoner replied casually. "They don't have to watch. There are plenty of other things to do around her, like lifting weights, playing cards, or learning how to not drop the soap. HAHAHA!"

Most of the prisoners wanted nothing more than to take turns holding down and punching Childsman for those remarks, but in the past three and a half years he'd been here, the man had managed to do some interesting things in the joint. Like speaking to the guards to talk to the higher ups to get more literature, better work out equipment and such.

Not like they were interested in losing those kinds of perks.

"Now then," Childsman smirked as he turned his attention back to the television. "I made a promise that I'd watch this. And I intend on watching it to the end."

TTTTTTTT

Draw 00

Gathering of Malice

TTTTTT

Time: 11:58 p.m.

Location: Warehouse District, New York Harbor

It was a muggy, summer night on the Hudson River, an eerie fog stirring along the lined up warehouses as the night's moon gleamed overhead, reflecting off of the soothing river. The sounds of engines roaring echoed through the air, almost as if they were accompanying the fog around the darkened area.

However, there was another sound that seemed to fit in well with all the noise that was standard with the streets of the Big Apple…

"EVERYBODY! Can you see me? Can you hear me?"

Indeed, gathered in front of one of the warehouses were a trio of young men dressed in dirtied gray uniforms with helmets at their feet, all three of them gathered around a small television that was on a small crate. The old TV's screen displayed a large arena that was in that was surrounded by several tall skyscrapers in the midst of an illuminating "I welcome you to the twenty-first U.S. Riding Duel Championship! For those of you just joining us, the current champ of California had just arrived on the scene! So, give it up for Leorina Childsman!"

… One that was the main focus, concerning the small television where the trio was gathered around, "This current challenger fought against all odds and ends to get here… all in a unique way to achieve this level of strength. But, does she have the courage to face against the on-going champion?"

"Today we'll find out! But, not before we get a word from our sponsors!"

As the screen shifted to show several commercials, the small group groaned loudly in unison. The first of the group slammed his fist against the side of the warehouse, "Damn it! Why do they always do that?"

"Eh, advertisers," the second mook sighed holding up a bottle of soda to his lips. "You know how greedy those guys are."

The remaining man just leaned up against the building, his arms stretched out, his eyes leering towards the main door where all three of men were ordered to guard this entrance way for the evening.

"How about you toss me some of that pizza since we're waiting?" The leaning guard asked getting the other two guards' attentions.

"Hey I bought it, and I even brought the TV," The seated guard retorted as he waved a pizza slice at the leaning guard. "You're lucky that I was even able to sneak this TV here."

"Why do we even have to guard this place anyway?" The third guard asked with a loud yawn following. "It's not like anyone would even come to this part of the city anyway at this hour. Never know who you're going to run into on a night like this."

"True that," The second guard chuckled rubbing his chin.

Unknown to the three guards, there were a number of individuals who were sticking to the shadows, each of them acting as quiet as the night's fog. One of those shadows was leaned up against the corner of the warehouse, keeping an eye on the three guards out front. Slowly, the shadowed figure lifted up a hand to its head and spoke softly, "Irving, there are three guards in the front."

"Can you identify what they are?"

"One seems to be human," the shadowed figure spoke back quietly. "The other two seem to be a Shadowkind, if I had to ballpark it, I think one's a Lycan, branching to the cat family, I think. And the other seems to be a bugbear. How about you, Irving? Any on the roof?"

To the normal person's eyes, they would only see three bickering guys complaining about random stuff. But, to a certain kind of people, they would see something rather different about two of the three bickering goons were different from the one regular guy there (however, he was still weird with his bright pink hair).

The second tallest of the three was a large burly goon, with wild purple hair (obviously dyed) that covered the right half of his face, while being dressed in a leather jacket and tattered jeans over his muscular physique. His face was filled with beastly features – Small sharp fangs, a black stout nose and black fur covering his face and every other part of him that exposed through his clothes. His hands were large and ended in long claws that were wrapped around a slice of pizza.

The final goon, while he was the tallest and biggest of the three, he was fiercer looking than the purple haired goon. He had long wild hair that curved around his slightly feline face as if was a lion's mane, and like the previous goon, he had clawed hands and had a small layer of tan colored fur covering his skin.

"There doesn't seem to be any activity, but still, we have to be careful here, we don't know what's going inside."

"Its just some punks stealing some D-Wheels, isn't it? What do we have to worry about?"

"Don't get ahead of yourself, Hardin. You know that we've got reason to believe that these guys are with the BackDraft Gang…"

"Right, I'll be sure take it easy… What about Taiga and Hitsuji? Are they in place?"

"Roger that, Taiga's got the back entrance and Hitsuji's ready on the other side. I'm making my way to the roof of the building. Prepare to infiltrate on my mark…"

"You got it," Hardin replied. "Whenever you…"

"Hold on a second."

"Huh?" Hardin questioned, blinking a few times. "What's wrong?"

"There's a skylight on here, I can see inside the building… And I can see the D-Wheels, looks like Taiga's informant was right."

"HA! In your face Hitsuji! You owe me a burger!"

"… Oh m-man…"

"Both of you keep quiet! There's something going on in here… I think there's something going on in there. Hardin, how does it look out front?"

"Whatever is going on in there," Hardin answered back. "The three out here don't seem to notice. Irving, what's going on in there?"

"It's too far for me to tell from here… You three, stay in position until I give the word. I'm going in to get a closer look."

"Roger."

"Humph, fine."

"Y-Yes sir!"

TTTTTTT

Five minutes earlier…

Heavy footsteps echoed through the air as they became louder and louder, getting closer towards the warehouse that the three guards were standing in front of. "Hello losers."

Almost immediately, all three of the guards stood up straight and saluted towards the oncoming figure in the fog. All three of them stood up straight and spoke out loud towards the newcomer, "Grogg, sir!"

Whatever light was coming from over the warehouse's door seemed to be drawn to the newcomer, revealing a towering man who stood at least at seven and a half feet tall, all of it pure muscle that seemed to struggle within the confines of his clothes, which seemed to consist of a white button up shirt, tight black pants and a large silver vest over his muscular body. The odd thing about him though was atop of his chiseled head was silver hair that was pulled back into a pair of hair tails that he had resting on his shoulders. An interesting point about this man was that on his left cheek was a large, golden mark that was almost painted on his face. "Good to see the two newbies know my name already. Typhon, I assume that you're showing these two the ropes?"

The largest of the group (although, when compared to this mountain of a man, he was a shrimp) stepped forward, relaxing a little bit when addressed by his name. He may not have been as big as Grogg, but he was still impressive of course with a slightly muscular body and short blonde hair with a matching beard that almost made him resemble that of a lion. Unlike Grogg, he was actually dressed for the cold night, a leather jacket, black shirt and blue jeans, although, it was a given that they had seen better days. "Of course sir, I got them…"

"Yeah, yeah, that's nice," Grogg yawned loudly as he turned towards the doors of the warehouse. "But I don't care. We get any new additions to our stock in the last week?"

"But of course," Typhon chuckled wagging his fingers. "The boys even managed to get their hands on a customized black Honda CBR1000RR and…"

"A what?" Grogg questioned, his head tilted to the side slightly with his eyes blinking a few times.

"Uh… A Fireblade styled D-Wheel, sir," Typhon answered with a large bead of sweat rolling down the side of his head. "Kinda a classic model, but still works well for…"

"Sweet," Grogg answered with a large, goofy grin on his face as he headed for the door. "I know what you're talkin' 'bout. I just didn't get the technical name down. In any case, I wanna see what else we got, ya know, inspect the goods before we get them on the market."

"Be our guest, Boss," Typhon answered back kicking open the nearby door. "Want one of us to go in and show ya where it is?"

"Do I look like I need a babysitter?" Grogg growled as he crossed his arms over his chest as he slowly stepped into the warehouse, the door slowly closing behind him. "Please don't insult my… Uh, how does that one saying end?"

"Intelligence?" one of the other guards muttered out loud.

"Right! Thanks!" Grogg chuckled loudly as the door slammed closed behind him.

A few seconds passed before the remaining guard sighed loudly, "Yeesh, does anyone else think that he's a bit of a rock head?"

"Would you prefer the slave driver?" Typhon asked back reaching into a nearby crate to pull out a pizza box and a small portable television set. "Unlike his brother, Grogg actually allows us to slack off. Works out well when your boss is a slacker."

"I kinda miss my old boss," the same guard groaned slightly. "He may have been a loan shark, but he paid well and I didn't have to stay out late at night."

"What are you complaining about?" The third guard retorted. "This job is cushy; all we gotta do is just hang out and make sure no one gets in or out of here. Now, turn on that sucker, it's almost time for the NYC Championship match!"

"You're such a kid," Typhon snickered.

TTTTTT

Despite looking a bit rundown on the outside, the warehouse was surprisingly well-kempt on the inside, with a cool atmosphere circulating through out the building. It was one of the times that Grogg had thought ahead to do, after all, buying air conditioner for the warehouse that was in his name allowed him to enjoy many a warm nights when he wanted to be alone.

This was one of those times.

But as Grogg walked through the large warehouse, he couldn't help but smirk at the sight of all the 'treasures' that he and his associates had acquired through the last month as the lights in the warehouse slowly began to light up. To his right, several crates that had shipping order forms slapped on them.

And to his left, all lined up in a perfect set up was a trail of fancy motorcycles, each with their own customizable charms. Taking a moment to stop, Grogg smirked as he looked over one of them, admiring the vehicle as if it were a fine prized jewel. "I may need to sell these bad boys, but that's no reason not to save the best for myself. Some real choice parts here! The Brigadier won't lose to anyone once I get the tech guys to work their magic…"

Turning away from the motorcycle, Grogg continued his trek deeper into the warehouse, looking for his latest treasure.

It didn't take long for the mountainous man to discover his latest acquisition to his trove of mechanical treasures; he had always informed his mooks to place the latest additions to the end of the line of motorcycles, just to up the anticipation.

And the moment that Grogg's eyes met with the latest addition, "Ooh, yep! That's definitely a Fireblade, baby!"

Speeding up his pace, Grogg finally reached the searched out motorcycle, his eyes almost tearing up at the sight of the customized vehicle, "Oh hohoho! Yes, this is definitely the two-thousand and eight model: four valves per cylinder, dual stage fuel injection, close-ratio six-speed, automatic dueling system and if I can recall, this kind of model's torque gets well over eight thousand rpm!

"And that's before customization! And the red wing decals really add a nice touch to the outward design!"

Lifting his head up, Grogg struggled to hold back the tears that were welling up in the corners of his eyes, "This… This is a thing of beauty! This is just the pick me up that I needed! Once I get the boys work their magical charms on this, the Brigadier will not only be unstoppable, but it'll be totally awesome!

"The chicks won't be able to resist me!"

"That's your reason for this?"

Grogg's eyes widened as he looked around the warehouse, "Who the hell said that? Who's there?"

The voice didn't answer back, making Grogg narrow his eyes as he stepped away from the motorcycle, "Show yourself you rat! Otherwise I'll…"

Grogg didn't finish before a smell lofted through the air, the smell of tobacco burning. Taking a few sniffs, Grogg slowly turned back towards the Fireblade that he was admiring nary a few moments ago, his eyes widening at the sight of someone standing alongside the motorcycle, casually smoking a cigarette. 'How the hell did I miss this guy?'

Standing alongside the D-Wheel appeared to be a older gentleman (roughly in his early thirties) with messy spiked back black hair that had quite a few strands of lighter colored hair in the front and he had a little bit of a five o'clock shadow to his face. He was dressed in a black jacket that had the sleeves rolled up with a white (with a weird black design on it) shirt, gray cargo pants and dark gray army boots.

The man just seemed to stand there, enjoying the cigarette in his mouth. "Care for a cigarette?"

"Heh, cocky," Grogg scoffed cracking his knuckles. "You lost old man?"

The smoking man raised an eyebrow at Grogg, "… Old man?"

"I don't see any other foggies here," Grogg chuckled loudly. "I don't know how you got in here, but you're going to be leaving here in a body bag."

"Don't you think that's a bit harsh?" The smoking man replied, crossing his arms at the larger man in front of him. "I just offer you a cigarette and you wanna kill me."

"You're on my property, old man," Grogg replied. "That means legally I can kill ya…"

"You have a screwed up sense of justice, horn head," the smoker commented, making Grogg blink a few times.

"Wait… You can tell what I am?" Grogg questioned raising an eyebrow at the smoker. "Wait a sec, what's that mark on your face? It kinda looks like a criminal mark, but…"

"Hard not to notice that ugly mug of yours," the smoker answered back with a smirk on his face.

"Just for that, gramps," Grogg snarled pulling his fist back. "Yer face is on the wrecking list first!"

Grogg slammed his leg forward, and threw his fist towards the smoker, only for his large fist to collide with nothing more than the air. "What the…?"

That's when a powerful burning pain erupted from Grogg's chin, making his eyes widen as he realized that the smoker's foot slammed into the bottom of his chin, making the larger man stagger backwards. "You… Bastard!"

Before Grogg could get a counter attack in, the smoker had spun around and slammed that same foot right into Grogg's chest, right underneath the rip cage, knocking the air out of the larger man and making him stagger even further backwards. "GAH!"

"Here's a little tip," The smoker stated lowering his leg down as he quickly walked towards the Fireblade motorcycle. "Don't steal from someone who can kick your ass."

"Sounds like you should follow your own advice," Grogg growled, holding his stomach. "Those attacks may have stung, but they aren't enough to take me down for the count! I can still…"

A loud engine roar blasted through the warehouse as a powerful light shown right into Grogg's eyes, "W-What the hell?"

When his eyes finally managed to adjust to the light, Grogg quickly stepped to the side just in time to dodge the speeding D-Wheel that was about to collide into him. Grogg stood there dumbfounded for a few seconds before he finally began to give chase, "HEY! STOP RIGHT THERE!"

Meanwhile, hidden up in the girders…

"Heh, that's some nice style he's got there," a shadowed man chuckled as he brought up his hand to his head. "Hardin, Taiga, Hitsuji! We're going to get ready to move in! But I need one of you to do something… Who's closest to their D-Wheel?"

TTTTTT

Back outside…

"Man, Typhon, where'd you find this TV?" one of the other mooks questioned before he swiped a piece of pizza from the nearby box. "The sound quality is amazing! It's almost like the D-Wheels are coming right at me!"

"Yeah! I must've gotten a great deal!" Typhon chuckled through a mouthful of pizza.

"… Guys, I don't think it's the TV," The third mook replied, standing up from the ground, and getting into a defensive stance. "I hear something coming closer!"

"Man, you really let Sin City get to your nerves," Typhon muttered with a shake of his head. "Look ya bugbear, I know you're still getting used to the Big Apple, but that's no excuse to…"

The sound of metal shattering filled the air, making all three of the mooks jump to the side to see the very same D-Wheel Typhon was describing earlier to Grogg had just rammed right through the rusted over metallic door, allowing the vehicle to speed on the concrete and dash off.

"Wow…" Typhon muttered at the sight of the disappearing D-Wheel. "Don't see that everyday."

"What are you asses doing?" Grogg shouted from the gapping hole in the metallic door. "Don't just stand there, Typhon, get after! And you two, get as much stuff out of here as fast as you can!"

"Y-Yes sir!" Typhon and the other two mooks yelped out as they turned around and ran into the warehouse.

"Damn it," Grogg snarled as he stepped out from the large gaping hole in the warehouse. "Just who the hell was that rat?"

Growling loudly, Grogg immediately reached into his pocket and produce a comically small (if anyone else was holding it, it would've been regular sized) cell phone and pushed a button on it. "And if there's one thing I know for sure, if there's one rat you see, there are plenty that you're not seeing. Damn it, and there were so many treasures here."

The sound of a roaring engine blasted through the air, and a few seconds later, a single D-Wheel flew past Grogg, its rider was none other than Typhon with a helmet covering his head. Grogg narrowed his eyes as he began to walk away slowly, "It's me. Now, don't get mad, but the warehouse, it's been… Uh, what's that word?

"Right! Compromised! Hey! I said not to get mad!"

"H-Hold it!"

Grogg slowly looked over his shoulder and snorted as he noticed a smaller individual standing a few feet behind him, brandishing what appeared to be a sword. "… Like I said, plenty of other rats that I didn't see before…"

TTTTTTT

With the motorcycle racing through the warehouses, it didn't take long for the smoker to find his way back to the main road, aiming to get away before he was…

"FOUND HIM!"

Making a harsh right turn, the smoker barely managed to weave out of the way of Typhon's oncoming D-Wheel, cutting him off from his escape. The goon that had cut the smoker's path off continued chasing the smoker. "You're not going to get away from stealing from me, ya damn thief!"

"Look who's talking!" the smoker snapped back swerving slight to dodge some of the larger pieces of trash that were on the concrete ground. "You guys are the crooks who jacked my ride here! Has New York really gotten so rotten that a guy can't even get a cup of coffee without worrying about his vehicle getting stolen?"

"We're living in a new age, jackass!" Typhon laughed loudly, starting to gain on the smoker's D-Wheel. "This world is based on survival of the fittest! To me, you're nothing more than a gazelle on the prairie and I'm the lion that's about to sink his teeth into your hide!"

'Sounds like something a Shadowkind would say,' The smoker thought with a shake of his head as he pushed a few buttons on his D-Wheel. 'In any case, looks like the only out of here is through the boroughs… I don't need to get others involved with this, so thank you technology.

'You finally did something that I can use!'

With the settings made, the smoker finally revved up the speed on the motorcycle and pulled away from the chasers.

Typhon's eyes widened behind his helmet's visor, making him grit his teeth loudly, "You're not going to get away that easily!"

"It's never easy," The smoker replied taking another turn, aiming for the direction he was going for before Typhon had cut him off. "So if you want this D-Wheel, you're going to have to take it from my cold, dead hands!"

"Sounds like fun!" Typhon laughed, following the smoker's D-Wheel.

TTTTTTT

Time: 12:16 a.m.

Location: Lower Manhattan Streets

New York was always known to be a busy city, and over the years, that held true. Despite how the technological world had changed the world, that still didn't eliminate the night life of New York City, several people were burning the midnight oil by walking the headlight illuminated streets.

Lower Manhattan itself, known for holding the New York Stock Exchange and Wall Street, was no exception, even in the midnight hour. And while loud engines were nothing new to New York City, the sound of two racing D-Wheels echoed through the buildings.

The smoker's D-Wheel zoomed past several cars on the road with Typhon's D-Wheel not too far behind. "What are ya trying to do, thief? Traffic ain't much of a challenge to get me off your tail!"

"I wasn't aiming for that," the smoker answered back as he pushed a button on his duel disk. "Now that we're on the main road, we can do this – Speed World 2, set, on!"

Typhon's eyes widened when he heard that, and immediately he watched as a holographic wall popped on the side of the road, the words 'Duel Lane' flashing on it. "What?"

Almost immediately, all of the cars and vehicles that were in the lane were moving away from it while smoker's D-Wheel quickly pulled into it. Typhon smirked as he followed the smoker into the duel lane, "I see what you're aiming for, I just hope ya know what you're getting into. I'm no slouch on the duel field! Activate Speed World 2!"

"Duel mode initialized," a computerized voice sounded from both riders' dashboards sounded out, making two blade-like boards shift from the sides of both motorcycles and right in front of the dashboard screens. "Plotting course for cross-town racetrack. Acquiring approval from central grid…

'All green.'

The Duel Lane began to shift towards the right, leading both of the riders towards a slightly less packed road. At the same town, the same computer voice that sounded from the D-Wheels, announced from the holographic wall, "Riding duel has been accepted. All non-participating vehicles must vacate the dueling lane immediately. I repeat…"

"You realize, thief," Typhon snickered loudly as he reached into his leather coat's inner pocket, producing a deck of brown and black backed cards that he slid into the gauntlet he had on his left arm. "That when you lose, that D-Wheel that you stole will come to a stop, and I'll beat you down until you're nothing more an unrecognizable stain on the pavement!"

"Tough talk from a Nemean Lion," The smoker replied.

"Wait… You can see what I am?" Typhon snarled, blinking a few times behind his helmet's visor.

"Of course, you're not the first Nemean Lion I've run across either," The smoker chuckled.

Nemean Lions, based on the very beast that they were named after that had fought against the legend – Hercules. Unlike in the legend however, the Nemean Lions were more considered to be humans with lion-characteristics – faces, manes, tails and claws. They were also known to be as strong as their namesake gave them…

… And had short tempers too.

"Now, you shouldn't underestimate me," the smoker snickered as he threw his hand to the side. "Cause the same holds true to you, the moment you lose, the moment I'll get away."

"Like that'll happen!" Typhon roared. "Let's get this duel over with so I can tear you apart!" (TLP: 8000 / SC: 0)

"Like I haven't heard that before," the smoker muttered. "Just shut up and duel!" (SLP: 8000 / SC: 0)

Both D-Wheels roared loudly as they made a powerful right turn on the specialized road, Typhon's motorcycle slowly gaining on the smoker's vehicle. "Let's get this over with! The sooner I beat ya, the sooner I can get a bonus from the boss from tearing ya a new one!"

"Feel free to start us off," the smoker replied pulling off the top five cards from his deck and slipped them into the arm guard.

"It'll be a pleasure!" Typhon chuckled as he pulled off a sixth card from his deck and looked at it with a lick of his teeth. "And I'll start off with this! I summon Blade Knight in attack mode!"

A large ring of light popped to the right of Typhon's D-Wheel, unleashing a tall and sleek silver armored knight, armed with an average sword and shield (1600/1000).

The smoker raised an eyebrow at the sight of the knight, 'Huh, didn't see that one coming.'

"Next, I'll set three cards face down," Typhon announced as all three set cards appeared around his vehicle, immediately melding into the ground. "And that's my turn!"

The smoker remained silent as he drew from the top of his deck, clicking on one speed counter for both of the duelists. Blinking a few times at the card he drew, the smoker slapped it on his duel disk, making a face down, horizontal card appear in front of his D-Wheel.

A few moments later, two set cards appeared behind the escaping D-Wheel, disappearing quickly. And with that, the man waved his hand into the air a few times.

"Really? Got nothing to say?" Typhon muttered as he pulled off the top cards from his deck, giving both duelists two speed counters. "Fine with me, I think it's a lot easier to catch my prey when they don't fight back. I summon Gearfried the Iron Knight!"

A second ring popped to the left of Typhon's D-Wheel, allowing a black and silver armored knight, with a massive blade and shield attached to his arms (1800/1600). "Now then, let's see what you've got face down! Blade Knight! Attack his face down monster!"

The silver armored knight dashed forward and immediately stabbed its sword into the face down monster, making the card disappear while a decaying goblin appeared in its place (1100/1050), with the sword stabbing right through the zombified goblin. A second later the goblin shattered.

"Thanks," the smoker stated as a card popped out of his deck of cards and into his hand, allowing him to hold it up before he slipped it into hand holder. "Goblin Zombie allows me to add a zombie from my deck that has less than twelve hundred defense, so I'll take Zombie Master."

"Zombies, huh?" Typhon snickered as he threw his hand to the side. "Wow, like I haven't seen those before! Too bad that master can't help you now! Gearfried! Attack this thief directly!"

The dark armored knight flew through the air and immediately brought his sword down on the smoker, however a powerful aura had erupted from the smoker's D-Wheel, forcing it back. "That's why my Defense Draw was out on the field. So your damage was negated and I can draw an additional card."

"Grr… Good for you," Typhon snarled as he looked at the two last cards in his hand. 'Next turn though, it won't matter what you'll add to your hand.'

"Turn end!"

The smoker drew once more, giving both duelists three Speed Counters each, and nodded as he looked at the cards, "This turn, I play a speed spell – Angel Baton!"

Several white feathers flowed over the smoker's D-Wheel, allowing the duelist to pull off two more cards from his deck, then for a second he looked them over before he slipped one of them into his dashboard's graveyard slot. "Now, I summon Zombie Master in attack mode!"

A dark mist erupted from the smoker's D-Wheel, forming into a ghoulish young man wearing a ripped and tattered overcoat that had several bones and clumps of dirt on his clothes and messy hair (1800/0).

"Next, by discarding Sleepy Beauty," the smoker continued as the Zombie Master cackled loudly, throwing his hands up into the air. "I can special summon a zombie from my graveyard, like my Goblin Zombie!"

The road erupted to the right of the stolen D-Wheel, allowing the hissing decayed goblin onto the road, this time holding up a rusted over sword (1100/1050).

"Ooh, and here I wonder what you'll do next," Typhon stated with his mouth dripping with sarcasm. "Yeesh, sure you can destroy my Blade Knight, but that won't do much for ya next turn!"

"Then let me try something different," the smoker stated as a powerful blue flame erupted around the Goblin Zombie's body, immediately eliminating the smaller zombie. "By releasing my zombie, I can bring out something a little bigger…"

A loud snort echoed through the air, forcing the flames to the side to show a large beastly, demonic ox that was dressed with a white toga around its waist with a large black, beaded necklace around its neck (2200/400). "Gyuki!"

"What in the world?" Typhon yelped at the sight of the powerful monster. "What the heck is that…"

Before Typhon could continue, the large Gyuki slammed into Gearfried, sending the knight flying through the air and shattering a few seconds later. Typhon's D-Wheel shook slightly as he gritted his teeth. "Grrrr!" (TLP: 7600 / SPC: 3)

"And to make things more interesting," the smoker continued throwing his hand to the side, making the Gyuki leap from the road and fly over Typhon's D-Wheel. "When Gyuki destroys a monster, you take six hundred more points of damage!"

The large ox demon snorted loudly, sending several flames flying over Typhon's D-Wheel, making the Nemean lion roar out loud. (TLP: 7000 / SPC: 3)

"Next, Zombie Master!" the smoker commanded.

The ragged monster cackled loudly before he flew towards the Blade Knight and slammed both of his feet into the knight's helmet, slamming the warrior into the ground. The warrior shattered when he slammed into the road, the remains floating into Typhon's body. "URK!" (TLP: 6800 / SPC: 3)

"And with that," the smoker announced as both of his monsters flew back to his field, Gyuki racing alongside the D-Wheel and the Zombie Master landed on the back of the man's D-Wheel. "My turn is over with."

"Alright, that was a lucky shot," Typhon coughed a little bit before he drew from the top of his deck, getting another Speed Counter for each duelist. "But let's see how you deal with this combo! First, I play my trap card – Call of the Haunted!"

One of the face down cards around Typhon's D-Wheel lifted up, allowing a large ghostly figure to erupt from it, forming into the familiar Blade Knight (1600/1000), slicing through the air a few times. "Next comes my other trap card – Knight's Brigade! Since I have a Knight on my field, I can pay a thousand life points to special summon a knight from my hand!

"So, come forth Command Knight!"

Another face down card around Typhon's motorcycle, revealing a trap card that had several knights charging forward. However, the trap card shattered, immediately allowing a beautiful, female knight to appear over the road. Her red armor gleamed in the holographic night as she drew her sword with a wink towards the smoker (1200/1900). (TLP: 5800 / SC: 4)

"And with my leading lady out," Typhon chuckled with a wag of his finger as a fiery aura erupted, covering both the Blade Knight (1600/1000 + 400/0) and the Command Knight herself (1200/1900 + 400/0). "All warriors gain four hundred attack points, but so long as they're under my control! And I've still got my normal summon, so, come on out Anchor Knight!"

A powerful flame erupted from the side of the Command Knight, making the female knight jump slightly as a larger, bulkier armored knight that had anchors on its back and on its gauntlets. The large, anchor armed knight slammed its fists together creating a powerful storm of sparks (1500/600 + 400/0). "And since I've got only one card left in my hand, my Blade Knight gains another four hundred attack points!"

Spinning the sword in his hand, the Blade Knight ran his blade across his shield, creating a mass of sparks (2000/1000 + 400/0). "Now then, let's get rid of your field! Blade Knight! Slay that… What's that ox monster's name again?"

"Gyuki," the smoker answered.

"Yeah! That thing!" Typhon laughed as the knight flew through the air and stabbed his sword right into the Gyuki's chest, shattering the large demonic ox. (SLP: 7800 / SC: 4)

"When Gyuki's destroyed after using his effect," The smoker answered fitting the card into his front pocket. "I have to remove him from play."

"Fine by me!" Typhon laughed again as he threw his hand forward, allowing the Anchor Knight to spin his right arm, unshackling the anchor around his arm. "Anchor Knight! You're up!"

The knight pulled his arm down and immediately slammed the anchor into the undead monster's head, slamming him into the ground, shattering it into millions of pixels. (SLP: 7700 / SC: 4)

"And for my final trick," Typhon snickered as the Command Knight leapt through the air. "I'll attack your life points, directly! Command Knight! Do the honors!"

The red armored knight cried out as she brought her sword down on the smoker's D-Wheel, creating a loud clanking sound as the D-Wheeler stagger on the road as he mustered everything he had to prevent himself from tipping over. (SLP: 6100 / SC: 4)

"And with that, I'll end my turn!" Typhon laughed as he pulled ahead of the smoker's D-Wheel. "How'd ya like that, punk?"

The smoker lifted his helmet covered head up and narrowed his eyes down at the D-Wheel in front of him, "Listen you overgrown pussy cat, the way I figure it, there's really not too much future for a guy with a tongue like that.

"When you have to shoot, shoot, don't talk."

"Huh?" Typhon questioned as the smoker drew from the top of his deck, giving them both an additional speed counter. "What the heck does that mean?"

"It means that that you're an idiot," The smoker stated as he pushed a button on his duel disk, making a ghostly figure appear in front of him. "I play my trap card, Haunted Shrine! Since I don't have any monsters out, I can special summon a zombie from my graveyard! And choose my Goblin Zombie!"

The spirit morphed, immediately forming into the hissing dead goblin (1100/1050).

"Heh, what a stupid move," Typhon chuckled as he eyed the zombie. "If you had that trap set, you could've used it last turn to save yerself some damage!"

"Quit flapping your gums, and let me continue," the smoker answered as he pulled a card from his hand. "It's called thinking. Sure, I could've blocked your attack, but with the move I've got in mind, it would've hurt more than helped. I sacrifice my Goblin Zombie to summon this!"

A powerful fiery aura erupted around the Goblin Zombie's body, immediately making the zombie roar loudly as the flames over took its body. The flames grew larger and larger until they began to chase after the smoker's D-Wheel on its flame covered legs. The flames began to flicker off the large form's body, revealing a red skinned ogre in a loincloth and beads around its neck. And resting on the demon's shoulder was a large spiked club that bounced up and down on its muscular shoulders (2800/2100). "Red Ogre!"

"W-Wait a second!" Typhon snarled as he opened his eyes wide at the sight of the large monster. "T-That's a level seven monster but…"

"… Stop wasting your breath, you kitten," the smoker sighed as a holographic ghost appeared over his duel disk. "Remember when I discarded for my Zombie Master's effect? I discarded a monster called Sleepy Beauty, and she allows me to lower the level of all Zombies in my hand by one.

"And she's not the only effect I can activate, first comes Goblin Zombie, allowing me to add my Mezuki from my deck to the hand. But he's not staying there long, cause thanks to Red Ogre's effect, I can discard a number of cards from my hand in order to return that number of cards on the field back to their owner's hand."

The smoker pulled two cards from his hand and slipped them into his graveyard slot, "So, I'll discard Mezuki and Yuki-Onna from my hand to return your Blade Knight and face down card!"

With the two cards slipped into the graveyard slot, the Red Ogre's yellow eyes gleamed brightly as it leapt into the air, and slammed its club into the ground, sending two powerful flames racing across the ground and slamming into both the Blade Knight and the remaining set card that was around his D-Wheel. Both of the selected cards popped into smoke and reappeared in Typhon's hand. "URK!"

"Next, I'll continue with my combo," The smoker announced as he reached into his graveyard slot and produced two cards. "By removing Mezuki from the graveyard, I can special summon a Zombie from my graveyard, and I choose to special summon Yuki-Onna!"

A large icicle appeared in the air, spinning about before it shattered, immediately allowing a beautiful, pale woman to spin its place with her white kimono and blue whipping through the air (1000/0). And with a smile, the snow woman blew a kiss towards the smoker and smiled brightly at him. "And when she's special summoned from the graveyard, I can special summon another Zombie, and I choose to special summon a familiar face!"

Clapping her hands together, the young girl created a second icicle over the field, shattering to unleash the same Zombie Master (1800/0) that had appeared a few turns ago.

"And what's that punk going to do?" Typhon questioned raising an eyebrow at the reappearing zombie.

"… Show some damn respect," the smoker replied as he threw his hand to the side, making the Yuki-Onna pop into two blue rings of light. "Everything has a reason, and this is my reason! Yuki-Onna is a tuner monster! And I can tune her to my level four Zombie Master!"

The two rings of light flew around the ghoulish man, transforming it into four stars of light that erupted into a tower of light that formed over the smoker's D-Wheel. "Howl from the depths of the grave – Inugami!"

A loud howl erupted through the air, shattering the tower of light, and a few seconds later a ghostly dog with shimmering silver fur that billowed as the dog ran alongside the smoker's D-Wheel. Around the dog's neck was a loosely tied scarf with the Japanese character for 'loyalty' embroidered on it, while strapped to the beast's back was a beautifully crafted katana (2600/1250).

"S-Synchro!" Typhon yelped at the sight of the powerful creature that was running alongside the smoker's D-Wheel. "You lousy…"

"Why are you getting mad?" The smoker stated as a card popped out of his dashboard and into his hand. "Now Inugami! I remove Gobliln Zombie from my graveyard in order to activate your effect!"

With the selected card tucked away into his front pocket, the smoker threw his hand up into the air, making the ghostly dog howl loudly through the air, sending several shockwaves through the air. "Now, by removing one Zombie monster from my graveyard, I can destroy one face up monster on the field, and as much as I don't want to harm a lady, I don't have much of a choice!"

Drawing its katana with its teeth, the Inugami leapt through the air and quickly brought the Japanese blade down on the gasping knight, transforming her into a ghostly red spirit that was cut in two! And without the Command Knight's presence, the Anchor Knight's fiery aura disappeared (1900/600 – 400/0).

"Now then," the smoker called out, throwing his hand into the air. "Red Ogre! Attack his Anchor Knight!"

With a toothy grin, the Japanese Ogre leapt forward through the air, spun around and slammed its club right into the Anchor Knight's torso, sending the monster flying through the air. (TLP: 4500 / SC: 5)

"URK!" The Nemean Lion snarled as he pulled out a card from his hand. "Big deal! Ya may have gotten in another cheap shot, but I'll be dammed if ya do it again! I activate Anchor Knight's special ability! Now, by discarding the Blade Knight in my hand, I can special summon my Anchor Knight right back to the field in defense mode!"

Two chained anchors suddenly wrapped around the back of Typhon's D-Wheel, revealing that the Anchor Knight was still on the road, this time, it looked like the knight was street skiing (1500/600).

"Fine by me," the smoker stated snapping his fingers as the Inugami flew through the air and stabbed the katana into the Anchor Knight's chest plate, shattering the warrior. "Just gives me more target practice. You got anything else? Maybe you'll wanna try to use that Anchor Knight's effect again?"

"Nah, he's done his job well as a shield," Typhon snickered, his fang filled grin plastered all over his face. "Now I'm just waiting fer ya to end yer turn."

The smoker pulled another card from his deck gauntlet and slipped it into his dashboard, making the card appear in front of his D-Wheel before it disappeared into the road. "Knock yourself out."

"It'll be my pleasure," Typhon laughed as he pulled off his next card, earning him and the smoker one more Speed Counter, equaling up to six each. "And what a pleasure it'll be, cause first off, I'll be activating my own Speed Spell – Shift Down! So, by removing the six speed counters that I got on me, I can draw two more cards from my deck!"

That's when Typhon's D-Wheel began to slow down, making the smoker's D-Wheel shift to the right to make sure that he would dodge the slowed down Nemean Lion. Typhon at the same time pulled off two cards from his deck and smirked at the sight of them, "And I couldn't have asked for anything better! I'll be summoning my ace monster! Come on out, Masked Knight LV 3!"

Another ring of light appeared to the right of Typhon's D-Wheel, unleashing another knight over the road, but this one seemed to be a more cartoonish knight that was covered with silver and gold tinted armor and a spiked mask. On the back of the masked warrior's armor was a large sword that had wing like protrusions from the hilt of the blade.

The interesting thing about this warrior was that the warrior's shoulder armor resembled that of a horse, the head of the horse on his left arm and covering his right arm was the tail.

The warrior cried out loudly as he struck a dramatic pose (1500/800).

"A level monster?" The smoker muttered looking at the dashboard computer, raising an eyebrow at the monster. "That's certainly not good. One of my old friends can testify to that."

"And this one's no exception!" Typhon laughed as he threw his hand up into the air. "Masked Knight! I call upon your effect! Burn him for four hundred points of damage!"

The large horn on the Masked Knight's helmet began to glow brightly, and immediately fired the light from the top of the horn and into the smoker's D-Wheel, making the rider growl in annoyance. "What the hell?" (SLP: 5700 / SC: 6)

"Ha! How do ya like that!" Typhon snickered as he held up the two of the three cards in his hand up, and slid the two of them into his D-Wheel's dashboard. "Each turn I can use my knight's effect to inflict four hundred points of damage to ya. Of course, I can't attack with him, but with my two face down cards, I don't think I'll have to worry."

The smoker slowly reached for his dueling deck, however he stopped for a moment to think. And then he drew, pulling the top card from his deck while a seven speed counter appeared on his Speed World 2 and Typhon regained one. "Let's continue this, I summon Shutendoji in attack mode!"

A powerful flame erupted to the side of the smoker's D-Wheel, unleashing a second ogre, this one with long, wild blonde hair and dressed in a vest and a tan hakama. With a laugh, this ogre lifted up a large gourd that had the Japanese word 'Sake' painted on it, and took a long drink from the gourd. (1500/800)

"Then, I'll use his effect to return one of the Zombies that I removed from play to the top of my deck," the smoker announced as he took a card from his pocket and slipped it to the top of his deck. "And I think Mezuki will do the job for that. Now then, time for another effect, I use Inugami's effect! So by returning Gyuki and my removed Zombie Master, I can return all spells and traps on the field to our hands and…"

"Don't think so!" Typhon laughed as he pushed a button on his duel disk, making one of the face down cards flip up. "I activate my trap card – Divine Wrath! So, by discarding the last card in my hand, your mutt stays in the grave! And those annoying monsters don't get returned!"

A powerful bolt of electricity surged from the trap card and slammed into the Inugami, shattering the dog into millions of pixels. "So, sorry, but I think you can understand where I stand when it comes to cats and dogs…"

"That was a poor attempt at a joke," The smoker answered back as he threw his hand up into the air. "Red Ogre! Attack his Masked Knight!"

The large ogre simply stopped running on the road and lifted up its club as if it were a baseball bat and immediately took a mighty swing at the masked knight…

However, a ghostly warrior with long white hair and spiked red armor appeared in front of the Masked Knight and take the attack instead. "Heh, you think I'd let you do that? Not bloody likely! I had discarded my Necro Gardna for my Divine Wrath earlier, and so, I used it to block your attack. Pretty clever, eh?"

"Yeah, you're a credit to geniuses everywhere," the smoker stated pulling another card from his hand and slipped it into his dashboard. "Meanwhile, I don't feel like losing my Shutendoji, so I'll just set one card face down and end my turn."

The set card appeared on the road, and at the moment it disappeared, Typhon drew from the top of his deck, giving the smoker seven speed counters and himself two. "About bloody time, cause that means I can now have my knight evolve!"

A powerful bright light emerged over the Masked Knight LV 3, making its body become leaner and more serious with its armor growing sleeker and sharper. Even the long winged sword seemed to transform as well, showing the blade as it struck a more defiant pose (2300/1300).

"Impressive, no?" Typhon snickered looking at the only card in his hand. "But don't answer yet, cause he still has his effect! Once per turn, I can blast ya for a thousand points!"

The large horn on the evolved Masked Knight began to glow brighter, and instantly fired off a powerful shot of energy that crashed into the smoker's D-Wheel, making him stagger about slightly. "URK!" (SLP: 4700 / SC: 7)

"But the fun's not stopping there!" Typhon laughed even louder as he pushed a button on his duel disk. "I play my trap card – Trick Room Levels!"

The Nemean Lion's trap card revealed itself, forming into what appeared to be the Silent Swordsman LV 3 staggering in a funhouse with a Silent Magician LV 8 sauntering out at the same time. "Now, this trap card's a little tricky, so here's how it works. Ya see, if I have a LV monster on my field, and a level monster in my graveyard that lists the name of the level monster on my field, I can remove both of them from play to summon the level monster that's listed on the one on my field, ignoring any summoning conditions.

"Put simply, I can evolve my knight again, and you're boned!"

A powerful light surged for the knight, making the horn on its helmet surge and produce wing-like protrusions from the side while its body became leaner with smoother armor and longer arms. The warrior drew the winged sword from its back and cried out loudly (2900/1800). "Meet my king! Masked Knight LV7!"

"And let me guess," the smoker grumbled under his breath. "This one can burn me too, right?"

"Correct!" Typhon laughed loudly as the knight's horn began to glow brightly. "But he does fifteen hundred points of damage to ya, and in addition, he's not as weak as he used to be, meaning he can attack during the same turn he uses this effect! But for now, BURN BABY BURN!"

The light erupted from the highly evolved knight's helmet and crashed into the smoker's D-Wheel, almost making him lose control as Typhon passed him on the specialized road. (SLP: 3200 / SC: 7)

"And now for the attack!" Typhon laughed loudly as he threw his hand backwards, prompting his knight to cease running on the road. "Slay that Red Ogre! Take out the bigger threat!"

With its sword drawn, the Masked Knight eagerly waited for the Red Ogre to come closer, and when the Yokai saw this it was too late. The masked warrior immediately slashed horizontally and cleaved the Red Ogre in two. (SLP: 3100 / SC: 7)

"And to make things more interesting, I'll set one card face down, turn end!" Typhon laughed loudly as the set card appeared in front of him. 'And next turn, I'll finish this guy off! My face down card is Reckless Greed, so I can use it to replenish my hand. Depending on what I draw, I can easily cleave through his defenses and take this win for my own!

'And, just in case, I can use it as a good bluff!'

"Before you end your turn," The smoker announced as he pushed a button on his duel disk, making one of the trap cards he had out appear. "I play my trap card, Simultaneous Loss. Now, both of us discard the top card from our decks to the graveyard."

"Fine with me," Typhon muttered as he plucked the top card off. 'Summon Speeder? Meh, a dead draw for me anyway.'

"And now, it's my turn!" The smoker announced as he drew, gaining another speed counter, giving him eight and Typhon three. "Next, I'll play another Speed Spell – Devil's Baton! Since I have more than three Speed Counters, I can discard one card from my hand, and then I can draw two cards from the bottom of my deck."

"What the?" Typhon questioned as several black feathers began to float over the smoker's dueling motorcycle. "What kind of crap is that?"

The smoker didn't answer as he slipped a card from his hand into his dashboard's graveyard slot, and immediately he pulled two cards from the bottom of his deck. "Next, I'll activate the effect of the monster I discarded thanks to my trap – Mezuki! I don't think I need to tell you what this can do though."

"Yeah, you can remove it from play to special summon another Zombie," Typhon sighed a shake of his head. "So go ahead and bring back that ghost mutt of yours, I'm not afraid of it!"

Truth be told, Typhon was almost scared out of his wits.

"Can't," The smoker answered back as he pulled two cards from his dashboard graveyard. "Ya see, there were a few ruling changes over the years I've used these cards, like how my Inugami can only be special summoned from the Extra Deck, another example is that my Yuki-Onna has to remove the monster was special summoned with her effect.

"But in any case, I still have my methods for getting rid of your eyesore of a knight. I special summon the monster that I had discarded with my Devil's Baton – Crow Tengu!"

More black feathers erupted from the smoker's D-Wheel, allowing the mysterious duelist to speed along side Typhon's D-Wheel. A loud screech echoed through the air, and all the black feathers began to clump together, forming into a large demonic crow that was dressed in Japanese nobleman clothes (1400/1200), flying through the air over the smoker's D-Wheel.

"Man, you just keep bringing out weird monsters," Typhon admitted looking at the large bird that began to twist through the air, turning around into a large black blur. "What's this overgrown chicken supposed to do?"

"I wouldn't be so cocky, you overgrown house cat," The smoker replied as the Crow Tengu flew through the air and spun towards the Masked Knight. "Cause when my Crow Tengu is special summoned from the graveyard, I get to destroy one monster on the field, and I'll be choosing your rusted over knight!"

The crow flew through the air and pierced right through the Masked Knight LV 7's chest and made the knight stagger backwards on the road before it shattered into millions of feathers.

"I… I can still beat ya!" Typhon snarled loudly. "You don't still have enough monsters on the field to take me down!"

"True," the smoker stated until he tapped the side of his helmet a few times. "But, I should point out that I still have my normal summon left this turn."

Typhon's face scrunched up slightly.

"But luckily for you," The smoker sighed as he looked to his hand. "I don't have any monsters in my hand, only Speed Spells and trap cards. And none of them can really help at the moment."

"Whew," Typhon sighed with relief.

"But I can still use Speed World 2's draw effect," the smoker admitted. "So I can get a better chance to draw a card that can help out."

"Urk!" Typhon gagged loudly.

"Of course the chance of drawing something is about a one and three chance," the smoker continued with a smirk on his face. "So…"

"OH FOR THE LOVE OF CRAP!" Typhon roared loudly. "ARE YOU JUST TRYING TO PISS ME OFF LIKE THIS?"

"Yep," The smoker replied.

"GARRGH!" Typhon roared loudly almost swerving off the field.

"Actually, I can guarantee what I can draw," the smoker answered as the Shutendoji guzzled down a lot of sake. "Thanks to Shutendoji's effect, I can return a removed from play Zombie to the top of my deck and I choose Gyuki. And now for Speed World 2!"

The smoker's D-Wheel immediately slowed down, falling back behind Typhon's D-Wheel and allowed the smoker to pull off another card from his dueling deck. "And I should point out that Gyuki is a level five, but thanks to the Sleepy Beauty I still have in my graveyard, he's still considered a level four monster in my hand!

"So, return my Gyuki!"

A loud snort echoed through the night air, allowing the large dark furred ox demon to slam into the road alongside the Smoker's D-Wheel (2200/400).

"I… I…" Typhon stuttered.

"… Get him," the smoker commanded simply as all three of his Yokai leapt through the air.

Typhon roared loudly as the Crow Tengu dive bombed into D-Wheel, right just as the Gyuki kicked into the other side of his D-Wheel. And to make things worse for the Nemean Lion, the Shutendoji unleashed a powerful flame that completely covered his D-Wheel, making him cry loudly before steam erupted from both sides of the modified motorcycle, making him spin out greatly before his D-Wheel came to a stop. (TLP: 0)

"GARGH!" Typhon snarled loudly as the smoker's D-Wheel sped past him until he turned sharply and stopped several feet away from the defeated Nemean Lion. "You… You lousy… Who… WHO THE HELL ARE YOU!"

The smoker stamped his foot into the road, and slowly began to pull his helmet off. With a smirk, the smoker crossed his arms over his chest, "I don't like to give my name to losers who waste their life. Consider yourself lucky that I no longer have the authority to put you behind bars, you overgrown house cat, otherwise, I'd send you to the cooler for stealing D-Wheels…

"And if I was still part of the law, you'd be under arrest for stealing an officer's motorcycle."

Typhon's eyes widened as he eyed the man's face, particularly on the man's right cheek there was a golden scar that was painted on his skin. Typhon had seen that mark quite a few times, like when he saw Grogg earlier this evening.

But this was different from his boss's.

"You… Y-You're a S-S-Shadowchaser?" Typhon stuttered almost falling off of his D-Wheel.

"You need to clean your ears out, jackass," the smoker answered as he fitted the helmet back on his head. "I just said that I wasn't a part of the law anymore, I'm no Shadowchaser. But so help me if you or your crew ever steals from me, I won't just stop at taking back what you took."

And with that, the smoker sped off, leaving a large cloud of dust and smoke in its wake. Typhon barred his teeth as he slammed his fists into the D-Wheel. "Damn it! You know what you are?

"Just a dirty son-of-a-b…!"

DARK CITY CHRONICLES

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Time: 1:43 a.m.

Location: 59th Street, Central Park South

After driving away from the dueling site, the smoker eventually found himself outside the famous public park, simply leaning up against his D-Wheel. Taking in the sights in front of him, the streets and the cars passing by in front of him, the smoker sighed loudly as he reached into his pocket, "… Home, sweet home. Its been, what, six years since I saw the skyscrapers here?"

Pulling out a pack of Lucky Seven Cigarettes, the smoker grimaced when he realized one little fact, "Damn it, I'm down to my last one. I'm going to have to see if my usual stand's still around."

With a flick of his finger, the smoker popped the cigarette out of the pack and into his mouth. A second later, the cigarette was lit, allowing the tobacco to work its magic into the smoker's system. "Ah… Truly, this is a night to enjoy. A warm summer night, a good view, my frustration's been vented, and I can end this evening with a cigarette…

"I don't know what secrets this city holds now-a-days, but if it gets me closer to finding him, I'll pull any shadows from these streets and expose them to the light."

TBC

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Card Stats

Masked Knight LV3 / Earth / LV. 3 / ATK: 1500 / DEF: 1000 / Warrior/Effect: During your Standby Phase, you can send this face-up card to the graveyard to special summon 1 'Masked Knight LV5' from your hand or deck. Once per turn, you can inflict 400 damage to your opponent. If you activate this effect, this card cannot attack during this turn.

Masked Knight LV5 / Earth / LV. 5 / ATK: 2300 / DEF: 1300 / Warrior/Effect: During your Standby Phase, you can send this face-up card to the graveyard to special summon 1 'Masked Knight LV7' from your hand or deck. Once per turn, you can inflict 1000 damage to your opponent. If you activate this effect, this card cannot attack during this turn.

Masked Knight LV7 / Earth / LV. 7 / ATK: 2900 / DEF: 1800 / Warrior/Effect: This card cannot be normal summoned or set. This card can only be special summoned by the effect of 'Masked Knight LV5'. Once per turn, you can inflict 1500 damage to your opponent.

The previous three cards were used by Jill deLauncebeaux in the Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's anime.

Anchor Knight / Fire / LV. 4 / ATK: 1500 / DEF: 600 / Warrior/Effect: When this card is destroyed by battle and sent to the Graveyard, you can discard 1 card to Special Summon this card in face-up Defense Position. Up to 3 times per turn, you can discard 1 card to inflict 600 damage to your opponent.

This card was used by the Knight of Rage in the Yu-Gi-Oh! GX anime.

Sleepy Beauty / Dark / LV. 1 / ATK: 0 / DEF: 0 / Zombie/Effect: While this card is in the graveyard, lower the level of all Zombie-Type monsters in your hand by 1.

This card was used by Michel in the Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's anime.

Crow Tengu / Wind / LV. 4 / ATK: 1400 / DEF: 1200 / Zombie/Effect: When this card is special summoned from your graveyard, destroy one of your opponent's monsters.

Description: A black feathered crow demon in black Japanese robes

Haunted Shrine / Normal Trap / Effect: Activate only when you control no monsters on your side of the field. Special summon 1 Zombie-Type monster from your Graveyard.

Image: Several spirits erupting from a Japanese shrine

The preceding two cards were used by Misawa Daichi in the Yu-Gi-Oh! GX manga.

Speed Spell – Summon Speeder / Normal Spell / Effect: Activate only while you control a "Speed World" with 4 or more Speed Counters on it. Special Summon 1 Level 4 or lower monster from your hand.

Image: Dunamas Dark Witch appearing in a burst of energy.

Speed Spell – Angel Baton / Normal Spell / Effect: Activate only while you control "Speed World" with 2 or more Speed Counters. Draw 2 cards. Send 1 card from your hand to the Graveyard.

Image: A beautiful angel caressing a jewel in her hands.

The preceding cards were used by various duelists in the Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's anime.

Gyūki / Earth / LV. 5 / ATK: 2200 / DEF: 400 / Zombie/Effect: While this card is in your graveyard, you may sacrifice one face up Zombie-Type monster on your side of the field to special summon this card from the graveyard. When this card is summoned this way, this card gains the following effect:

-) When this card destroys a monster as a result of battle, inflict 600 points of damage to your opponent's life points. When this card is destroyed, remove this card from play.

Description: A large beastly ox demon dressed with black beads and white toga with black fur covering its body.

Yuki-Onna / Water / LV. 2 / ATK: 1000 / DEF: 0 / Zombie/Tuner: When this card is special summoned from your graveyard, you may special summon one level four or lower Zombie monster from your graveyard (Other than Yuki-Onna). A monster special summoned with this effect cannot be tributed or declare an attack. If the special summoned monster is removed from the field, remove it from play. During the end phase of the turn a monster special summoned with this card's effect, remove it from play.

Description: A beautiful blue haired woman dressed in a white kimono with blue trim on it.

Inugami / Earth / LV. 6 / ATK: 2600 / DEF: 1250 / Zombie/Synchro/Effect: [1 Tuner Monster + 1 or more Non-Tuner Zombie monster(s)] This card can only be special summoned from the Extra Deck. Once per turn, you may activate one of the following effects:

Remove one Zombie type monster from your graveyard. You may destroy one face up monster card on the field.

Return two Zombie-type monsters from your removed from play pile to your deck. Return all spells and trap cards to their owner's hand.

Description: A large ghostly silver furred dog with a large scarf around it's neck with the kanji for loyalty on it, while on the beast's back is a large sheathed katana

The preceding three cards were used in Shadowchasers: Risen Nemesis by Hyde I. Vayne, note, their effects have been changed a little bit.

Knight's Brigade / Trap / Effect: This card can only be activated when you have a face up 'Knight' monster on your side of the field. Pay 1000 life points. You may special summon one Level 4 or lower 'Knight' monster from your hand. During the turn this card is activated, you cannot tribute summon.

Image: Several knights charging towards a castle

Trick Room Levels / Trap / Effect: This card can only be activated if you have only one face up monster on the field. Select 1 face-up "LV" monster on your side of the field to activate this card. Select one monster in your graveyard that has the same name as the selected monster on the field but lower 'LV', remove both the selected monsters from play to special summon one monster listed on one of the removed from play monsters' card descriptions from your hand or deck (ignoring the summoning conditions).

Image: the Silent Swordsman LV 3 staggering in a funhouse with a Silent Magician LV 8 sauntering out at the same time

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The board is set…

The pieces are slowly but surely appearing…

And when they all appear…

Well…

We'll soon find out.

Next time on Dark City Chronicles, the mysterious smoker appears once more on the streets of New York City, wrapped up in another incident that draws him deeper into the shadows of this huge city.

However, he won't be alone in his pursuit of the truth…

Draw 1

Pursuit Chaser

Smoker: … Do I really need to be referred to like this? I think everyone knows who I am…

Lux-Nero: Just go with it for now! Besides, you weren't properly introduced in this part, and its only chapter zero.

Smoker: You realize that no one's buying that crap, right?