I couldn't believe my eyes...and that happens a lot.

But now I seriously couldn't believe it. Standing in front of me was the one person whose death I wished I would forget, no matter how bad it seemed. His face was paler than before - the result of him coming back to life perhaps. The scar on the right hand side of his face was pure white; his hair had grown slighter longer than before and by the looks of it, he had lost a lot of weight.

But his eyes...shit, they seemed very lifeless. Devoid of all other emotion apart from...well, rage and anger. The blue in his eyes would darken every few seconds, and they just bore right into me, as if searching my soul.

"How can you be alive?" I breathed out in horror. "That's impossible; I saw you die."

"Percy, you know this guy?" Yugi asked, his gaze switching from Luke and then to me.

I nodded, the feeling of dread getting worse in my stomach. "Luke Castellan, son of Hermes. An old friend of mine turned traitor to the gods of Olympus. This guy hosted the spirit of Kronos during the Second Titan War, before he sacrificed himself to kill him. He's been dead for years."

"You thought the gods would send me to Elysium," Luke growled. "And you know what? You were right: I was standing at paradises gates, the one place where I would finally get peace at last. But as I was about to enter it, Hades had a change of heart. Apparently, most of the council did. They thought that my crimes were far greater than all the good that I manage to do in the end. So, instead of sticking me in the Underworld, they sent me to Tartarus!" He snarled the last part out.

The shock overwhelmed. The gods told me that Luke would be forgiven for his crimes. They swore they would. They lied to me...

"See now, Percy?" Luke demanded. "Those infernal gods don't keep their promises. Instead, they just lie to you, over and over again. Look at me - I'm a example of they're treachery. I spent years in the Pit, festering away and feeling like that was going to be my life from now on. But thankfully, as luck would have it, I escaped thanks to the efforts of Lord Tartarus. He let me out. He knew I wanted revenge, so he made me a deal: if I could make you suffer for what you and the rest of the Seven did to Gaia, then I would be free. I took the chance and I got out. Now I'm back, and this time things got a little more interesting."

"Whatever it is that Tartarus promised you, I can assure you that it won't happen," I told him, finally finding my voice. "Luke, this isn't you. The Luke I knew at the last moments of his life did the right thing. You saved the world, and now after all these years you want to help Tartarus destroy it again? Luke, snap out of it!"

"I don't think my new ally will listen to you," Keith said in his mind controlled state. "After I found out who he was and what he wanted, I couldn't help but feel like he deserved his chance at revenge. Unlike Keith and all my other loyal servants, Castellan isn't controlled by me - he's perfectly capable of being ruthless as he is. You've definitely proved that you are a problem, Percy Jackson. And now it's time that we claim the Puzzle, and send you two to the endless reaches of the Shadow Realm and Tartarus, ONCE AND FOR ALL!"

"Percy, don't listen to them," Yugi said calmly. "They're just trying to get into your head, making you lose your focus. Focus on the duel."

My hands were shaking uncontrollably. I felt light headed, like all the bones and blood in my body had just vanished. I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath, before I opened them again. Yugi was right - I had to focus here. I couldn't let my shock at Luke's return take over me. "I end my turn."

Hopefully, the facedown I played would come in handy. It was the trap called Counter Gate. If either Luke or Keith summoned a monster and managed to destroy one of my monsters, I would be able use this card to stop Luke's attack and draw a card from my deck. If it was a monster, I would be able to summon it despite its summoning conditions. I just hope that I get a good card, because by the way Luke was glaring at me with those hate filled eyes, I was gonna need it.

"Just a facedown?" Keith asked, his voice filled with mockery and sarcasm. "Percy Jackson, I expected more from you. Sure, you might have five good monsters out on the field, but I expected you to do something better than that. It's like you're not even trying anymore." He drew his card. "No matter. The card I drew might prove my point. I activate the magic card known Auto Machine Workshop. This spell card allows me to bring back two machine type monsters from my graveyard, for two whole turns. So, say hello to Mechanical Chaser and Ground Attacker Bugroth in attack mode."

(Mechanical Chaser - 1850/800)

(Ground Attacker Bugroth - 1500/1000)

"And the machine summoning doesn't end there," Keith stated. "Next up on the construction line is the Machine King in attack mode!"

His newest monster rose up from the ground, moving its mechanical limbs stiffly. It's eyes looked more like a singular lens, and its body was a mixture of chrome and red.

(Machine King - 2200/2000)

"Hold the phone," I raised up a hand in protest. "That's a level six monster! You need to sacrifice one monster in order to summon that card!"

"Yeah, it is," Keith said with a smug smirk. "But the Auto Machine Workshop spell card I played a moment ago has another effect. When I revived my machine monsters from my graveyard, each one was considered to be a level icon. And since I have two of those machines on the field, that meant I lowered the level of my Machine King by two, making it a normal summon."

I growled. "Who knew that there was a card that could allow you to do that?"

"And I almost forgot to mention: Machine King gets an additional one hundred attack points for each machine type monster out on the field. And there are two of them."

(Machine King - 2500/2000)

"With that, I end my turn," Keith said. He turned to Luke, who continued staring at me. "It's your turn, son of Hermes."

Luke drew without saying anything. I knew for a fact that he didn't like to be reminded of who he's the son of. I had hoped that he managed to find it in himself to forgive Hermes, but it looks like he didn't. He looked at his hand and smirked. Thanks to Cyber Jar several turns ago, he had to draw up to five cards from his deck and summon as many level four monsters as he could. He discarded a couple of cards because of the hand limit, but he did end up with six cards in his hand. That meant that he had seven now thanks to the card he drew.

"And for my turn, I summon this: Manju Of The Ten Thousand Hands!"

"The what?" I frowned at the bizarre name.

A grey and molten green creature crawled out from the duelling arena, its array of long and twisted arms flailing all over the place. It's face was set in a permanent grimace.

(Manju Of The Ten Thousand Hands - 1400/1000)

"Okay, that is just weird," I said, frowning at the thousand armed monster. "That just look like a distant cousin of the Hundred-Handers. Why would you summon him?"

"Because he's gonna give me a hand," Luke said simply, picking up his deck and looking through it. "You see, when Manju is summoned, I get to search my deck for a ritual monster or ritual spell and add it to my hand."

He picked the card he wanted and held it up, its back facing me. "But it won't stay in my hand for long, because I'm gonna activate it. It's the ritual spell known as Zera Ritual!"

The spell card had an image of a hooded figure sitting in a wooden throne.

"With this, by paying all the appropriate tributes, I can summon out one of the most powerful ritual monsters in the game, so by sacrificing my Manju as well as my Luster Dragon, I summon out...Zera The Mant!"

"Uh oh," Yugi exclaimed.

"That's not good," my eyes widened.

In front of me, a skeletal fiend like monster appeared, looking ferocious as hell. It wore a large cape that was coloured a deep purplish red and its entire skeletal picture was a greyish blue. It's paws we're full of sharp talons that would be able to rip a truck in half, and it's teeth looked sharp enough to chew a person in two.

(Zera The Mant - 2800/2300)

"Okay, now I'm starting to get the feeling that we should've just took the Puzzle and ran away as fast as we could," I said, shaking at the sight of the towering monster.

"For once, I think you may be right," Yugi said, his voice trembling. "That's one of the most powerful ritual monsters that the game has to offer. It's practically the strongest!"

"And I'm using him to wipe the floor with you, Percy Jackson!" Luke snarled. "First I attack with Zera! Pulverise his Mystic Swordsman!"

His monster swung its left paw outwards, swiping through my Swordsman's body and ripping it to shreds, obliterating it from the field. The shockwave caused the attack sent me stumbling backwards a little. Not only that, but I actually felt a stab of pain in my chest, as the attack had carried on to me. I cried out, clutching my chest. I nearly collapsed onto my knees if I didn't grab hold of my duelling desk.

Percy: 1500 LP

"Percy, are you alright?!" Yugi said, worried as he saw me almost collapse.

"I'm...fine," I painted, struggling to stand up. "But that attack seriously hurt."

"Then I'll use Keith's Machine King to attack your Sentry Soldier Of Stone! Take this as payback!"

"Not on my watch!" I said, activating my trap card. "I activate Counter Gate! Not only does it stop your attack, but I get to draw a card. And if it happens to be a monster card, I can summon it despite its summoning conditions."

I looked at my deck, praying for a good card to come out. I drew and my heart leapt at the newest monster. "And luckily for me, it's a monster. Say hello to...Lord Gaia The Fierce KNIGHT!"

Black smoke enveloped the arena, and my newest monster came spiralling out of it, holding his two massive lances tightly. One of his eyes glowed sky blue and his cape blew in the wind that followed his summoning.

(Lord Gaia The Fierce Knight - 2300/2100)

"Whoa!" Yugi exclaimed in surprise. "Is that Gaia's new look in Duel Monsters?"

"Apparently so," I said smiling at the monster. "This deck is still full of surprises."

Luke growled in anger. "Summon a million monsters if you wish, they won't help you. Even if your Counter Gate stopped one attack, I can still do damage to you. Mechanical Chaser, slash up his Dark Blade!"

His monster raised one of its blade like hands, and slashed my monster in half, making it disintegrate into a million particles. Another stab of pain in my chest, but less painful than the last.

Percy: 1450 LP

"Ground Attack Bugroth, smash that Stone Soldier of his!" Luke roared.

His spider like monster rammed into my Sentry Soldier Of Stone, pulverising it to rubble. I screamed as the pain came again, only this time it was way worse than the others.

Percy: 1250 LP

I looked onwards towards Luke, noticing his triumphant smirk. "And to end my turn, I'll lay this card facedown. Try and get past that if you can."

I growled as I clutched my chest. "This is sick. Every attack I get, I get a stab of pain in my chest. These attacks cause actual harm to you, Yugi. Be careful."

"I will. It's my turn," Yugi said, drawing his next card. His hand now contained seven cards thanks to effect of Cyber Jar a few cards back. He looked at me, noticing that I only had one card in my hand. "Time that I helped my teammate out. First off, I activate Card Of Sanctity, meaning all of us has to draw until we're holding six cards in our hands."

I nodded my thanks to Yugi, drawing out my five new cards from my deck. Luke drew two cards, while Keith just drew one.

I looked at my hand: Kuriboh, Dedication Through Light And Darkness, Dian Keto The Cure Master, Dark Magician, Swords Of Revealing Light and Blade Knight. Not a promising hand. There was no way it would work. I could use Dian Keto The Cure Master, giving me an additional one thousand points, but how long would that really last? Kuriboh and Blade Knight weren't strong enough to stand against that Zera beast of Luke's.

"Next, I activate Card Destruction!" Yugi announced. "This sends all the cards in our hands to our graveyards, and then we draw the same amount of cards from our decks."

"Every card in our hands?!" Luke exclaimed. He looked at his hand in fury. "But I got the perfect strategy set up for this round! You'll pay for that, Muto!"

I sent all the cards in my hand to the graveyard, before drawing a new set of cards. My eyes lit up when I saw the new cards: Monster Reborn, Warrior Heart, Dark Magical Circle, Graceful Charity, D.D Warrior Lady and Black Luster Soldier - Envoy Of The Beggining. Finally, things were starting to look up for this duel.

"Then I play my Pot Of Greed," Yugi said. "This let's me draw two cards from my deck. That gives me six cards to work with. Next I activate Twister!"

My eyes widened at the mention of that card - it was a card that Zoe used back home in America. It was a magic card with the image of a tornado in it, wreckage and debris flying in it.

"At the cost of five hundred Life Points, I can destroy any spell or trap cards that's on the field, and I choose that facedown card of yours, Castellan!"

Yugi: 1500 LP

"NO!" my old enemy screamed, as his facedown Mirror Force was destroyed. "Goddamn it, I'm so gonna make you regret that move, Yugi Muto! Just you wait!"

"And there it is," I muttered.

Luke turned his to me. "What?" he seethed.

"Whenever you get impatient, that means your desperate," I harshly told him. "Don't bother denying it, I can see it quite clearly. If I were to attack you, you could've used Mirror Force to destroy every monster on my side of the field, but what you didn't know was that I had a teammate helping me."

Yugi beamed at my words. "That's right. And to show you our strength, I activate this: Monster Reborn!"

His resurrection card appeared with a glow. "Thanks to this, I can call back a monster in my graveyard. And the monster I'm choosing...is my good old buddy, Dark Magician!"

His infamous purple cloaked spellcaster appeared on the field, twirling his green staff of power. I was actually excited because this monster was the headliner of Yugi's deck, and I knew that it was his most powerful monster. If it came down to it, his Dark Magician would be the reason why he would win every duel.

(Dark Magician - 2500/2100)

"Well, well, well," Keith said in a mock impressed voice. "If it ain't your most prized monster. Me and my new ally will definitely enjoy destroying it."

"No you won't," Yugi said firmly and determinedly. "I end my turn. You're up, Percy."

"That's much appreciated, Yugi," I said, drawing my seventh card. I looked at it: Primal Seed. "And for starters, I activate the continuous magic card known as Dark Magical Circle!"

As soon as I played the spell card, the whole arena was surrounded by a gold and yellow circle with ancient Egyptian text written text on it. It started spinning slowly, and continued to glow even brighter. Luke and Keith looked confused at it.

"What is this?" Keith demanded.

"It's a Dark Magician support card," I explained. "When I activate, I search the top three cards of my deck for a Dark Magician related card and add it to my hand." I drew the three top cards of my deck, and instantly brought it out. "And I choose this: Magic Formula."

"Next up on the list is this," I said, picking my Monster Reborn card out of my hand. "Yugi ain't the only one who owns a Dark Magician. I do too. And I'll prove it by activating Monster Reborn!"

"Oh no!" Luke and Keith exclaimed.

"Return to the field...Dark Magician!" I shouted.

With a battle cry, my black cloaked Magician shot out of a dark purple portal that appeared in the arena. His midnight black staff of power glowed with live energy at its tip and his cloak blew in the slight wind that enveloped the area.

(Dark Magician - 2500/2100)

"Oh man!" Luke said in shock and fear. "Two Dark Magicians?"

"It's about to get even more complicated for you," Yugi said. "You see, when a magic or trap card is activated while we control Dark Magical Circle, and when Dark Magician is out on the field, we're allowed to banish a card that's on the field."

"And I'm choosing Zera The Mant as the first victim!" I said, pointing a finger at Luke's monster.

"Not if I activate this you won't!" Luke shouted, quickly picking a card out of his hand. "I activate the quick play spell: Escaping Outlaw!"

I frowned at his quick play card. It had the image of a criminal carrying a bag of money, whilst he was running from an army of police officers.

"This magic card saves Zera from any spell or trap effects for one turn, and in doing so, I get to summon another monster to help protect me from any attacks," Luke stated. "So I special summon from my hand the Millennium Shield in defence mode!"

A huge shield appeared on the field, looking heavy and ready to defend Luke from any damage.

(Millennium Shield - 0000/3000)

"That's a lot of defence points for one monster," I commented. "But you're forgetting one thing: I'm not done yet. I activate Graceful Charity, letting me draw three new cards from my deck, whilst discarding two of my cards. So I'll draw these," I drew three more cards (Trunk Of Greed, Spiritual Swords Of Revealing Light and Card Slot), "and discard Card Slot and D.D Warrior Lady."

I sent the chosen cards to the graveyard, smiling now. "And now I'm set to summon my most powerful warrior monster. I hope you're ready Luke, because me and Yugi are about to wipe out every single monster that you and Keith have out on the field with an all out attack."

"Most powerful warrior monster?" Luke questioned perplexed, before his eyes widened. "Oh no, not him!"

"You're right about that!" I said, picking my ace out of my hand. "I banish D.D Warrior Lady and Dark Blade from my graveyard, to summon the legendary Black Luster Soldier - Envoy Of The Beginning!"

My ultimate warrior monster rushed out of his signature portal of light and shadows, roaring out his battle cry and getting into attack position. His armour gleaned in the darkness of the entire building, and his eyes were focused on both mine and Yugi's opponents, gripping his sword and shield tightly.

(Black Luster Soldier - Envoy Of The Beginning - 3000/2500)

"And with him out on the field, comes the end of Zera The Mant," I announced, pointing at Luke's monster. "You see Luke, I can activate one of two effects that my Chaos Soldier has: I can either attack twice this turn, or banish one of yours or Keith's monsters. And I will indeed banish Zera!"

"No, you can't!" Luke screamed desperately.

"Yes I can, and I will!" I shouted back. "Black Luster Soldier, SEND HIS MONSTER TO OBLIVION!"

"With PLEASURE!" Black Luster Soldier screamed, cleaving his sword downwards and slamming it into the arena. A bursting stream of energy erupted and rushed towards Zera The Mant, slamming into its skeletal chest. It roared in agony before evaporating from the field.

"ZERA!" Luke roared. He turned his angry eyes at me, both of his eyes darkening dramatically. "That's does it! Next round, you're gonna pay!"

"There won't be a next round," Yugi said, glaring at Luke. "Because is where you lose the whole game!"

"Don't forget that we still have more monsters out on our field," I reminded them. "And we intend to use them all. But first off, I think we should power two of them up. First on the list is Lord Gaia The Fierce Knight. Since you special summoned the Millennium Shield this turn, Lord Gaia's attack strength increases by seven hundred points. Plus, he gets a new friend to go with him."

Out of the darkness, a dragon with a ferocious attitude came out. It's tail was like a spiral of skin and scales, and it had a carved out helmet to go on its head. Gaia jumped onto this dragon and got ready to attack.

(Lord Gaia The Fierce Knight - 3000/2100)

"Next up, I activate this: Magic Formula. Thanks to this, I can equip it to Yugi's Dark Magician, increasing its attack points by seven hundred points, bringing it up to thirty two hundred points. Now that's power for a Magician!"

(Dark Magician - 3200/2100)

"You're through!" Yugi screamed. "Percy, if you'll allow me?"

"Go ahead," I nodded.

"Alright! Dark Magician, destroy the Millennium Shield with Dark Magic Attack!"

His Magician shot into the air, yelling out a battle cry as he raised his staff, which glowed with dark energy. He shot that ball of energy straight at Luke's Shield, which crumbled by the massive attack.

"Now you're defenceless!" I announced. "And this time, it's Keith's turn to feel the powers of dark magic! But first off, let's deal with that Machine King. Lord Gaia attack! Dragon Lance Strike!"

My dragon rider yelled as he crossed his two lances together, his dragon as it started to pool a breath of fire in its mouth. They both attacked, sending a wild stream of fire and lightning towards Keith's Machine King. It struck the giant machine, and it got ripped to pieces.

Keith: 1150 LP

"It's your turn, Blizzard Warrior! Attack his Bugroth with Blizzard Storm!"

My ice monster raised his icicle spear and immediately a snow storm appeared, shooting towards Keith's Ground Attacker Bugroth, sweeping it up and shredding it to pieces.

Keith: 750 LP

"Dark Magician Of Chaos, finish Keith off with Chaos Sceptre Blast!" I commanded my Chaos Mage.

My monster shot an ball of dark electrical magic at Keith, which slammed into his chest with the Force of a battering ram.

"AHHHHHHHHHH!" he bellowed, as he was blasted off his feet and he fell to the ground below the arena.

Keith: 0 LP

Luke looked at his ally in shock. "Master, are you alright?"

I heard a groan, so that meant Keith was somewhat conscious. Luke looked back at me, his eyes not once letting go of that anger. Though I could see a look of unease on his face, so that meant I did either a good thing or a bad thing.

"You should not have done that," he said, shaking his head. "Now he's just gonna be pissed off with you."

"Do I look like I care?" I demanded. "Does me and Yugi look as if we care? We've beaten your master, and your up next on the attack list."

Luke looked up and saw that my Dark Magician had yet to attack him. Luke finally realised that this was a direct attack that was going to be inflicted on him.

"Oh shit," he muttered.

"You're finished!" both me and Yugi shouted together. "Dark Magician, end this duel with DARK MAGIC ATTACK!"

My black cloaked Magician shot his staff outwards with a yell, sending a blast of dark energy at Luke, who blocked his face as the blast collided with him. He screamed in pain as he was sent hurtling off his duelling tower.

Luke: 0 LP

I threw two fingers outwards. "And that's the game!"

"Alright, we did it!" Yugi said elated. "We actually did it! We won!"

I smiled, before the pain came back in my chest. I groaned out a yell, clutching my chest and collapsing to my knees.

"Percy!" Yugi cried out, rushing over to me as soon as our duelling platforms lowered to the ground. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"Those attacks Luke caused me..." I panted. "They really hurt. They were actual...stabs of pain. He must be really angry with me."

Yugi frowned, helping me up to my feet. "How is that possible? Duelling holograms aren't suppose to hurt you. They're harmless."

"Don't forget that Luke...is a demigod as well," I reminded him, gathering up all the cards in my deck and placing it in my card holder. "He must've...picked up some new power while he was in Tartarus. If what he said is true, then I need to warn the gods...as well as my friends."

Yugi nodded. "Alright. But let's get you out of here first."

"Not without your deck and the Puzzle," I wheezed out.

Yugi quickly nodded, rushing over to his Puzzle. He tried tugging the Chain, but it was too hammered into the duelling tower. He quickly detached the Puzzle from the Chain and placing it in his pack bag. He then rushed to his deck, grabbing it.

He rushed back over to me, wrapping my arm around his neck. We were about to get out of the building before -

"Not on my watch!" a rasping voice spoke behind me.

I turned around to see Luke struggling to his feet. He was panting wildly, and glaring at both me and Yugi.

"There's no way...I'm letting you get away with this," he growled. "The Puzzle belongs with my new master."

"Yeah, do us a favour, Luke," I snapped. "Piss off."

Luke snarled, before bringing out a sword from thin air and slashed his sword downwards, vanishing in a slash of darkness.

As me and Yugi rushed out of the building, only one though came into my mind.

This won't be the last I see of Luke. Not by a long shot.