Acceleration Glory: Chapter 5

Acceleration Glory
Chapter 5: The Coming Storm

The merry trio left the Sushi bar in high spirits, yet with a noticeably smaller amount of money.  Elliot and Niko didn't mind at all. Andre, on the other hand, had enough resentment for the two of them. He did keep it to himself though.

"So, now that that one Luc fellow did Andre the disservice of taking his movie away from him, want to still go see 'Path Of The King'?", Niko asked Elliot, causing Andre to groan. Elliot laughed. "Sure!", he agreed, causing Andre to groan further. "Fine, but next time we eat out, you Duel the crazy challenger", Andre said, offering an ultimatum in response.

"Of course", Niko agreed, knowing it would inevitably be Andre Dueling next time the party needed a Duel to resolve something. Andre probably knew that too, and there was no need to bring it to life.

Niko's thought was ironically timed. As the party passed one of the many breaks in buildings, they were so caught up in their back-and-forth banter that they failed to noticed an individual approaching them at a high speed. It wasn't until after he'd pushed Andre aside that the trio noticed him. Unfortunately, they noticed him a tad too late, as he had already grabbed Elliot's Duel Disk from around his arm and sprinted down one of the many alleyways dotting the street.

The trio didn't even exchange a glance before they took off sprinting after the thief. None got a good luck at him, so were he to slip their sights, Elliot's Disk would probably never return to him. Not a single member of the trio wanted that to happen.

Fortunately for the trio, the thief was running uncharacteristically slow for a snatcher. From the looks of it, the group catching him would be inevitable. The thief apparently knew this, as he finally ducked into a building.

Andre took a glimpse at the building the thief had darted into. It was an old oriental food restaurant, and pretty greasy from the looks of it. It had no doubt been shut down for a while, and was nestled conveniently in a back alley. Out of sight, and out of mind.

Niko was the first in the door, followed by Andre and Elliot, not a mere second after. Much to their surprise, the thief did not try to shake the trio in the restaurant. Instead, he was standing opposite the room from them. The three made sure to get a good look at the figure. He was well built with a solid posture, but his knees were slightly buckled, most likely from all the running. His clothing was a pair of black slacks with a black turtle neck. Good for not being noticed at night, but while the sun was still up, he was a fairly distinctive figure. The thief was wearing a mask, black with no eyeholes. Andre reckoned it was probably a transparent material on his end, allowing him to see but still obscuring his face.

The question of what his face looked like was answered in a second. The thief took his mask off, revealing a face that none of the three expected. When the thought of a Duel Disk or purse snatcher came to mind, the image that popped into the head of both Andre and Elliot was that of a scruffy and unintelligent man, probably with some rough and greasy hairstyle and visibly missing teeth. Niko would picture a fat and balding man, triggered by his recollections of Baser, a senior officer in his press office that was informed by Security that he was accused of stealing a Duel Disk who responded by grabbing Niko's Duel Disk and running. Baser made it a whole few meters before being tackled by both Security members. Niko had always meant to visit him in jail, just to see how he was holding up, but had never got around to it.

The snatcher that stood before the trio was a middle aged man, very well in shape for his age, with a rather regal atmosphere. Now that the mask was gone, the turtleneck made him look rather dignified, and none of the three would guess that he was the man they had spent the last few minutes  chasing. The man had a noble forehead and chin, topped by a solid portion of gray hair and a rather impressive mustache. He was well toned, although Elliot guessed that he was not used to sprinting, which was why his knees were shaky. It was a second before the man spoke, and the three were impressed with the class in his voice.

"I apologize for inconveniencing you so, but I did figure this was the best way to get your attention. Plus, I haven't done something so exciting in a while, and wanted to see if this old frame still had it in him", he chuckled, hitting his chest with his fist for effect. "Before that though, I have two requests".

There was a pause before Niko finally broke the silence with a simple "Yes?". The stranger nodded, apparently waiting for that input. "First off", he began, "Which one of you three is the best Duelist here?".

The three wasted no time in each exclaiming words of the own praise, before all of them finished with a triumphant "I am!". Discouraged, the three looked at each other slightly passively aggressively. The old man laughed.

"I'm glad to see Duelists of this day still have that fighting spirit! Secondly, which of you two will Duel me to get this disk back?". He offered, eying the three.

The trio glanced at each other. "I'm out. That's my disk and my deck is in it", Elliot explained, shaking his head. Niko nudged Andre forward. "Go get him, tiger", Niko whispered in Andre's ear.

Andre shook his head in turn. "Didn't we just agree that you would handle the next improbably situation?", Andre asked, with a slight forceful tone in his voice. Niko sighed. It had only been about ten minutes since he had made the promise, so Andre and Elliot hadn't forgotten about it yet, which he was counting on. Fine. He would Duel this time.

"Fine, I'll do it", Niko said, stepping up and switching his Duel Disk into Duel mode. The man nodded before setting Elliot's Disk on the counter behind him and pulling out a second one from under the counter. As the Disk was obviously pre-placed, it seemed obvious in retrospective that he had planned on leading them here. Here, nobody would see or hear the Duel, and if he were to lead them here, he could plant a Disk ahead of time so he wouldn't have to run with one on.

The Disk that the man put on was a custom job like the rest of the present group's. The Disk itself was a regal red, with several gold stripes coming from the center. The center processor was a crest of some sort, a shield with a few animals on it. The platform for placing cards was a simple flat with gold outlines indicating where the cards went. The tips of the ends jutted out slightly and had rounded tips, giving it an interesting feel. It was obvious to the present group why he had to plant it ahead of time: the Disk would be way too easy to identify and clashed with his outfit. It would be made even more recognizable because it would stick out like a sore thumb.

"By the way, I would best give you my name. I hate lack of communication", the old man said, breaking the group's gaze away from his Disk. "My name is Jean. No last name for now, I'm afraid", he explained, a certain regal atmosphere to his voice. The trio wondered what a man who radiated an air of aristocracy was doing snatching Disks to force people into Duels.

"Shall we begin then?", Niko questioned, a certain impatience and cynical tone in his voice. "Ah, quite", Jean followed up with, "I shall go first", he managed to declare before Niko could say anything. Niko sighed as the two drew their opening hands. Niko examined his. It was workable. Nothing too amazing, but very workable.  Jean interrupted his thoughts.

"First, I shall play Destiny Draw. I may discard a Destiny Hero in my hand to draw two cards", he announced, putting one card from his hand into the Graveyard. He then drew two cards form the top of his deck. His defined eyebrows furrowed as he worked out a move. He had Clock Tower Prison in his hand, and could very well play it. Jean eventually decided against it. His job wasn't to slaughter Niko in this Duel.

"Then, I summon Destiny Hero - Captain Tenacious in attack mode", Jean announced, placing a single Monster Card onto his Disk. A man with flaming red hair appeared in a blast of light. He had a muscular body, and wore only a pair of shorts made out of some rough metal substance. He sported two large jagged shields, also made out of the same substance as his shorts. Captain Tenacious has a mere 800 attack.

"I shall then set two cards and end", Jean announced, placing two cards into his Spell and Trap zone. Niko nodded. "Then it's my turn", he announced, drawing his top card.

"First, I'll play Blaze Accelerator", Niko smiled as the Blaze Accelerator appeared on his side of the field. It made more sense to attack this turn than use the Blaze Accelerator as he could do more damage and not lose a monster from his hand. "So, I'll summon Volcanic Slicer". A monster appeared on Niko's side of the field. It was a burly creature with skin that looked like several stacked plates of armor. A thin, axe like beak parted to reveal a row of sharp and jagged teeth. Overall, it looked sort of like some twisted Dinosaur. Bits of flame occasionally darted from its mouth and eyes.

"Volcanic Slicer can decide not to attack for a turn in order to burn you for 500 damage", Niko explained. "But I think I will attack!".

The Volcanic Slicer reared his head back before letting out a small burning rock, one that looked like a meteor of some sort. It hit Captain Tenacious square in the chest before exploding. Niko looked to his processor to confirm the damage. For some reason, Jean wasn't shown to have taken any damage. Niko tapped his processor to confirm that this was true.

"It's no mistake", Jean confirmed, seemingly reading Niko's mind. "When you attacked, I activated this card". Niko looked to Jean's field and indeed confirmed Jean had activated a trap. Niko also noticed a small ring of blue debris floating around Captain Tenacious. "D - Shield", Jean explained. "When a Destiny Hero monster I control is selected as an attack target, I switch him into defense mode. I then equip him with this card. While he's equipped with this card, he can't be destroyed by battle."

Niko grunted, it was too late to use the Blaze Accelerator this turn. He would destroy Captain Tenacious next turn. He had the Volcanic Shell in his hand required to do it. "Fine. Turn end", Niko allowed.

Jean did a slight bow before drawing a card. "I shall activate Card Destruction", Jean said, placing a new Spell into his Spell and Trap zone. Niko groaned. Jean nodded to him as the two both discarded their hands and drew cards equal to the amount they had discarded. "Next, I shall summon Destiny Hero - Fear Monger in attack mode", Jean declared before summoning Fear Monger. Fear Monger was a menacing individual, his entire body covered in a sharp looking metal suit. A large oval shaped head had two glowing red eyes poking out of large slats. Fear Monger had a gun of some sort built into his hand. A large pack of some sort decorated his back. His attack was listed at 1000. Much lower than Volcanic Slicer's.

"Battle Phase", Jean announced, much to Niko's surprise. "Fear Monger will attack Volcanic Slicer". Niko did a double take. Fear Monger charged at Volcanic Slicer, shooting. The bullets harmlessly bounced off Volcanic Slicer's body before slicer reared its axe-like head back and cleaved Fear Monger in an even two. Jean's Life Points dropped to 3200. Niko questioned why he had done that attack.

"I shall end my turn with that", Jean offered, extending a hand to Niko. Niko grunted before drawing another card. His new hand didn't have Any Volcanic Shells or any Volcanic Scattershot. "I'll summon a second Volcanic Slicer", Niko announced. "Both will activate their effects."

Jean didn't flinch as the two reared back their heads and shot a stream of flame at him. His Life Points dropped to 2200. Much lower than Niko's. "With that, I'll end", Niko announced, not having anymore moves.

Jean nodded before drawing his card. "I want to apologize ahead of time for what I'm about to do", he announced. "First, I shall activate the effect of Fear Monger in the Graveyard. I may special summon one Destiny Hero from the  Graveyard one turn after Fear Monger is destroyed by battle. So, come forth, my second Captain Tenacious". A second Captain Tenacious appeared in a blast of light. This new Captain Tenacious looked at the other one before the two exchanged a thumbs-up and winked. Niko hadn't seen another Captain Tenacious on the field, so this Captain Tenacious must have been in the hand that Jean discarded with Card Destruction.  "Next, I shall activate Captain Tenacious' effect. I can special summon a Destiny Hero that was destroyed by battle the next turn. So, Fear Monger it is", Jean commented, summoning Fear Monger once over. It took a position right behind and between the two Captain Tenacious.

"Finally, I shall tribute all three for a new Destiny Hero", Jean said, placing all three of the Destiny Heroes in his Graveyard. "Come forth, Destiny Hero - Dogma". A large blast of light filled the room as a new Destiny Hero emerged. This one was much taller than Captain Tenacious and Fear Monger. A spiky metal armor of a blue and green color covered his body. A horned helmet with two glowing red eyes decorated his head and two large bat-like wings sprouted from his back. A rather  large steel blade was mounted on his wrist and his neck wore a necklace of chains. Niko gulped when he saw Dogma's attack of 3400.

"Destiny Hero - Dogma will attack Volcanic Slicer", Jean announced. Dogma let out a ferocious roar before charging forwards and slicing Volcanic Slicer clean in two. Niko shuddered as his Life Points dropped to 2400, not much higher than Jean's. "With that, I shall end my turn", Jean announced.

The 3400 attack worried Niko. Even Doomfire only had 3000. Niko would have to use Blaze Accelerator to get rid of Dogma. Or else. Niko drew a card before looking at it. He sighed. Nothing in his hand would do him any good at the moment. He needed something that he could fire out of Blaze Accelerator. Or a Tri-Blaze which he could use to get out Doomfire.

"I'll set one monster and end", Niko announced, reluctant to pass the turn over to Jean. If Jean could attack over his face-down Volcanic Rocket, Niko was in trouble. "Very well then, my turn", Jean announced. Jean drew a card.

"Now, the Standby Phase after he is summoned, Destiny Hero - Dogma can halve my opponent's Life Points", Jean explained. "What", Niko yelled quickly, not expecting such to happen, before getting interrupted by a slice from Dogma's blade clean across his chest. Niko's Life Points were now at 1200. Not a good number.

"Then, I shall summon another Destiny Hero - Fear Monger', Jean explained. A second Fear Monger appeared before Niko. The 1000 attack of Fear Monger wouldn't be enough to get over the 1400 defense of the Volcanic Rocket that Niko had set.

"Fear Monger's attack is sadly unimpressive", Jean explained, almost reiterating that Niko was thinking. "So, Dogma shall attack". Dogma leapt forward. Before his moment of impact, Niko's Volcanic Rocket was flipped face up, causing it to appear on the field. In appearance, it was almost identical to Volcanic Slicer, save for the fact it had two sharp wings in lieu of Slicer's clawed arms. Dogma's blade cut it clean in half. "Then, a direct attack from Fear Monger", Jean announced, before several of Fear Monger's shots hit Niko in the chest. Niko's Life Points were now at 200. This wasn't good.

"With that, I shall end", Jean declared, passing the turn to Niko.

Niko took a deep breath. In his hand, he held Doomfire. He had a Blaze Accelerator on the field. If he were to draw Tri-Blaze Accelerator, he could summon Doomfire. If he were to draw Volcanic Shell or Volcanic Scattershot, he could destroy Dogma. He could then attack with the third Volcanic Slicer in his hand. The two Volcanic Recharges he had drawn had become deadweights, as well as his other Blaze Accelerator. Jean's Card Destruction worked painful wonders on his hand.

Niko took another deep breath. The outcome of this Duel rode on what he drew next. He almost laughed, aware of how cliché of a moment this was. With a hidden grin, he drew the top card of his deck.

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The private Security maintenance tunnels had been constructed shortly after the highway system had. It allowed Security to travel the city underground and offered faster routes than any city street for reaching near any destination in the city. While they were no majestic sight, the simple black paved road offered solid traction for any D-Wheeler and the large bright lamps on the ceiling gave perfect visibility of the large grey concrete walls and four lanes for D-Wheel.

For the two riders who had been in the B.A.D. area just the night before, the tunnel to the Public Security Maintenance Bureau passed in almost no time at all. The two were tired from two solid days of riding, and had some important issues to take care of back in the office.

The gate to the Bureau main office appeared fairly quickly, coming around a corner like water pouring through a pipe. The two riders hit the brakes quickly, this stop marking the hundredth or so time they had forgotten the relative exact distance to the gate and had to brake quickly to avoid hitting it. Both put their D-Wheels in neutral and hit the access button for a guard.

The afternoon shift guard appeared after a few minutes. The male rider looked over him for a second. It was obvious a lunch had delayed his response. Sauce on his hands and a thin splotch of a thick looking sauce on his shirt clued him that the meal was probably some Western dish, probably European, judging from the smell of the sauce.

"Ah, terribly sorry", The guard apologized upon seeing the D-Wheels and recognizing them nearly on sight. Both of them bore a Security mark above the front wheel something Security used to identify officers with customized D-Wheel. Additionally, only upper class officers had customized D-Wheels. They were too expensive for regular Security workers to have and it was often joked that someone could join Security right out of the Academy, submit an application for approving  a custom D-Wheel, get married and parent two children into the Academy before the request cleared.

With a quick frightened nod, the gate guard vanished into the gate control room and opened the gate, hoping to himself that the two officers didn't notice the stain on his shirt. He let out a small sigh of relief when the two officers had driven past the gate and into the tunnel.

The two stowed their D-Wheels away in the underground parking lot. The male opted to store his helmet in his D-Wheel, pulling it off revealed a fairly short dark brown hairdo that was rather flat on the sides but slightly curly on the top and a rounded face with well built lips and a rounded nose.

The female followed suite, a mane of red hair pouring out of her helmet upon removal. Her face was much sharper than her associate's, sporting a delicate nose and a thin cheek line. The two nodded to each other before moving into the main building. There was little reception around the underground area as the security checkpoint was located inside the elevator.

The elevator was a simple glass cell with a display of buttons, allowing for access to hundreds of floors. The two both pulled out their security IDs and scanned them. "Please state name and rank for audio conformation", the terminal beeped. The two officers nodded.

"Security Officer Joseph Costerno, Investigations First Class", the first said, once again regretting that he didn't register his name as Joey, which was the name everyone called him. He nodded to the female.

"Security Officer Lira Janus, Special Crimes Unit, First Class", the second said quickly. The machine beeped in confirmation before the elevator shot upwards, moving quickly to cover the ground between Basement Floor 22 and Main Floor 86. The two stood in silence as the glass elevator finally reached the ground floor, and the two were treated to a beautiful rising view of Neo Domino City.

Joey broke the silence after about a minute. "Hell of a case, huh?". Lira nodded, staying silent. It was about another minutes before she responded. "I thought for sure we had him this time". The two shook their heads almost simultaneously.

The Elevator let out a beep after a few more seconds. The two quickly stepped out and into the large office. The case they were working on had been assigned an entire floor due to its complex nature. Both Joey and Lira took their place around a large table mounted monitor. Numerous faces were displayed everywhere, connected by a whole manner of lines.

"So, another player entered the game when we investigated the B.A.D. Detainment Faculty", Lira commented, focusing on the monitor. She tapped one of the touch screen buttons to bring up a new profile and quickly began punching information in. Nodding to herself, she confirmed it was correct before sliding it into a box area that read "Unknown".

"So, a man starts a Card fencing ring", Joey said, staring at the large array of faces. "He acquires a briefcase full of expensive cards he's supposed to transport for a black market seller who wants to expand into Neo Domino City. Then, he vanishes with the cards, causing both the black market seller and the black market to go into an uproar. The man shows up to us, wanting protection in exchange for black market insider information. We take him in. This was the first step.". Lire nodded, confirming Joey's recap of events.

"Before he can tell us anything, he assaults two prisoners and steals the decks we were allowing them to keep. Then, he vanishes from his solitary confinement cell, presumably carrying the two decks, as we never found them", Joey continued. "A few months later, we get an anonymous tip-off about a card forging ring, which we bust. And this guy happens to be there and lets himself get arrested. Again, before we could even mark him, he had challenged the officer in charge of watching his cell at the local tank to a Duel. The officer loses and the man vanishes. So, why didn't he challenge the people arresting him to a Duel? The deck he used was a borrowed one, he could have used his real deck against the people who were arresting him. The same officer agreed to a Duel later, not knowing the contents of either deck, so he would have got to use his own deck". Lira shook her head. She was just as confused as Joey was.

"But when he leaves the local thug tank, he doesn't bother to take any cards, not even his own deck, and that's the last we see of him for almost a year." Lira nodded, remembering the few months of confusion the Criminal Investigations department had trying to figure out just where the case on this mystery man stood. "And both times, he didn't give us a name and left before we could run his face or prints, the both the deck and Duel Disk we was using weren't in any registry. The Disk was also a generic mass produced one, so we couldn't track a custom job. So, we drop the case for the time being."

"But then", Lira said, interrupting and turning her attention to the monitor, "He shows up again. This time he tries to run a Security Blockade on a D-Wheel that he stole from a Security officer. He was arrested almost on sight. A strange move for someone who didn't like spending much time in jail. So, we make plans to transport him to the Special Security Criminal Detention Facility in the outskirts of Neo Domino. But his transport van never arrives. Instead, it takes him to the B.A.D. Area Correctional Facility. The Officers in charge don't have the clearance and he was transported on a Saturday evening, so the processing office was closed for a day. Somehow, over the Sunday when nobody was in the office, his record vanished entirely, so we lost his name and any grounds to transfer him. But the B.A.D. Correctional Facility can't just let him go, so they throw him  in the general holding area. He challenges the warden to a Duel. We don't have any confirmation on where he got the deck to Duel with though. "

"The Duel doesn't look like it happened though", Joey said, looking through some of the Duel Disk use records he had pulled up on the large monitor. "The warden decided to pit him against another inmate who was challenging for his right to use the phones to Neo Domino City. So, the two Duel. But partway through the Duel, a large explosion rocks the main area. The Inmates take the opportunity and riot, stealing security bikes. We managed to round up all of them who took D-Wheels, using the tracking. Neither this guy nor the person he challenged had D-Wheels, but both were missing when the area got under control. But we get a tip-off from one of the phones in the empty area telling us that our man was there. You and I rush down there, along with that Deck Expert we yanked from one of our public education programs, and find someone sitting in an otherwise empty cell."

Lira shook her head, not enthralled about what happened next. "He produces a D-Wheel from god-knows-where and speeds off", Joey said, trying to lighten the mood my making driving gestures. "So, we chase him, all three of us, and he challenges us to a riding Duel. 3 against 1 is in our favor. He even offered to only have 4000 Life Points. He manages to take us out with almost no trouble at all. We only dropped his Life Points to 3100. When he wins the Duel, our D-Wheels stall for almost ten whole minutes. He speeds by and tells us that our mystery man is called 'Winterborn'. Then leaves without explaining it."

Joey looked at the table again. The mystery man who this case was dedicated to was located in the center of the array of faces. No pciture was given for the man, and only the word "Winterborn" existed in his name area. An idea hit him. "If the guy knew that we could track down any means he had of escaping, do you think he hid in the exploded cell area for a while then gave us the tip himself? He could got a D-Wheel from another area of the Jail after the Lockdown following the explosion ended. Then, it was just a matter of winning the Duel. The stalling that a typical D-Wheel does when it's defeated gave him a chance to escape."

Lira shook her head. "Nope. The Card Professor we brought with us confirmed that the stranger wasn't  our man. I think we'd do well to at least trust this Professor too. The deck analysis of the stranger at the cells versus the one from our mystery man's deck were too far apart to work together. Plus, our stranger used a Black Feathers deck. One of those cards costs practically a full tournament worth of money.  You don't get into a Correctional Facility like the B.A.D. one with something that expensive."

The two shook their heads again. "So", Joey recapped, "We're dealing with a thief who only stole two decks from low income muggers and all of the cards were replaced by us as an apology as neither of decks were worth any real money. He also stole a D-Wheeler, which he returned to us. He broke out of jail three times, all three before he could get a trial, get a Criminal Marker or even be printed or have an official Mugshot taken."

"A criminal who didn't get registered as a criminal, didn't take anything valuable, and hasn't left any proof of even existing besides word of mouth", Lira grimly summarized. The two shook their heads again. "Yet as soon as we radio in the name 'Winterborn', Security opens up an entire floor dedicated to catching him."

"Coffee break?", Joey interrupted, lightening the mood. Lira agreed quickly, and the two left the table almost instantly. It had been a long three days.

_______________________________________________________

Niko turned his drawn card over. A small smile crossed his face, tipping a watching Andre and Elliot off that he had drawn a good card. "I'll play Tri-Blaze Accelerator!", Niko announced, the Vulcan on his side of the field vanishing for the three-pronged Vulcan. "Next, I'll scrap Tri-Blaze Accelerator for Volcanic Doomfire!", Niko announced. He could win this yet.

Jean finally broke his regal and stoic demeanor as Doomfire appeared. While Dogma was higher in attack than Doomfire, the sheer impressiveness of the flaming creature got to him. Niko smiled. The fact that Jean wasn't shaking in fear meant Jean didn't know Doomfire's effect.

"Volcanic Doomfire will attack Fear Monger!", Niko yelled, pointing at Fear Monger. Jean moved towards his face down card, causing Niko to tense up. A well placed trap would ruin Niko's day at this point. Jean took his finger away after a second, causing Niko to breathe a sigh of relief. Fear Monger was not so lucky.

The poor Destiny Hero didn't even have a chance to run away before Doomfire had shattered him with a single flaming swipe. Jean let out a grunt before his Life Points dropped to 200, same as Niko's.

"But, Doomfire has another effect. When he destroys an opponent's monster by battle, he destroys all monsters they control and burn the opponent for 500 damage for each monster", Niko boated. Doomfire turn its attention to Dogma. Dogma let out a defeated cry as Doomfire reared his head back, blasting Dogma clean in the chained chest with a blast of fire so intense looking, the present group could almost feel the heat. Dogma shattered as Jean's Life Points dropped to zero.

Jean let out a defeated sigh before taking his cards off of the field and shuffling them back into his deck. "You played a good round, boy", he stated, causing Niko to take a small bow. "Truth be told, I wasn't supposed to Duel any of you. I was just supposed to give a letter to this boy here, the one who Dueled in the sushi bar. But a certain youthful nature of you three caught my attention. So just assume the letter applies to all three of you", Jean explained, handing Elliot his Duel Disk back before handing a small white envelope to Andre. With that, Jean vanished through a door behind the counter. The three considered chasing him, but decided that the excitement of that night had been enough.

"So, someone sees Andre's Duel in the sushi bar, sets up an elaborate plan to get his attention, the plan gets carried out by some 'gentlemen', who decides the plan now applies to all of us, holds Elliot's Duel Disk ransom and then tells us that Andre's specialness is now a group thing?", Niko reiterated. The group nodded. "Man, things have a habit of getting weird around Andre".