Author's Note: Though I have tried hard to follow the rules of the game, I can't guarantee that I haven't made any mistakes. Please remember that even Takahashi would bend the rules to get the results that he needed for the story to work. That said, please enjoy.
Rebirth of the Shadow Games: Dusk, Night, Dawn
"Hey Yuugi, you feel like going to a movie?" Jounouchi was sitting back in his seat, one leg on his desk as he asked me his question. I thought about it for a moment.
"Nah, there aren't any good ones out right now." Jounouchi starts snickering.
"Dude, don't tell me you only go to see good movies? Come on, haven't you ever just wanted to mock something really bad?"
"Yeah." Honda chimed in, "For example, we could find a dubbed American movie and laugh at the really bad dub job. Doesn't that sound fun?" Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Anzu shaking her head at that, causing her hair to swish ever so slightly. Eager to get my mind of off that, I turn my head and I notice someone coming into the room; I've never seen him before, but he looks to be a new student at Domino High. He walks right past Bakura and Otogi and looks right at me. I guess that the others must have noticed him too, because now we're all looking at him. He seems to be glowing under our attention.
"Excuse me," he has a really eager voice, "but you are Mister Yuugi Mutou, yes?" I laugh a little bit at that.
"Please, don't call me mister, just Yuugi is fine. What's your name?" He puts his hands in the air in a shrugging motion.
"Just Jiro Yamada. Nothing special, not like yours. You could ask a thousand people who Jiro Yamada is, and they'll all be thinking of someone different. So I was thinking, maybe if I were to duel the Yuugi Mutou, then people would know who I am. So how does that sound?" Ever since Battle City, lots of people have wanted to see me duel, but there have been very few who were willing. Having to face the God Cards would be incredibly intimidating, but Yamada seemed to be excited by the prospect.
"Sure, that sounds fine by me. Keep in mind that I won't hold back, okay?" Jiro grinned a big toothy grin.
"Trust me; I want everyone to know that I faced Yuugi at his full strength. I have to go home to pick up my Duel Disc, so how about we do this at the park in one hour?" I nod, and he practically skips out of the room. As soon as he exits, he starts shouting "Jiro versus Yuugi, one hour, park" over and over again.
"Well this is just great." Otogi said, "Now I've lost all my fangirls for the rest of the day. Hell, depending on how glorious Yuugi's victory is, I could go at least a week without any adoration." Bakura shook his head.
"Well, I think that I'll enjoy any amount of time when I don't have to look over my shoulder for fangirls. I just wish Yuugi didn't have to put up with them." I blanch.
"Well," Honda says, "He really wants to make sure that everyone knows about this duel." Anzu coughed.
"Well of course. If your parents thought it would be a good idea to name you Jiro Yamada, wouldn't you want to do something to stand out?" I nod.
"Well, I just hope he doesn't make this a regular thing. I don't think Seto Kaiba would appreciate someone else trying to become my rival. Well, we better hurry so that I can get my Duel Disc. Come on guys." We race, and I keep my mind off the crowds and on the joy of the coming duel, of the chance to duel for the fun of it. Aside from Jounouchi and Anzu, I don't get that from anyone else. There's always so much stress whenever someone does challenge me, but I don't get any of that from Yamada. Heck, he and I will probably become good friends once this is over, I'm sure of it.
That Grandfather of Yuugi's was definitely quite the character. When he saw me, he reacted in more or less the same exact way that Yuugi did when he first saw me. If Anzu had been there, she would have probably been mildly exasperated, as opposed to wanting to burn me alive like she was back then. Good times. Anyway, even though he said that Yuugi and his friends had just left to duel someone, I decided to stay and chat for awhile, to get a feel for how things have been for the gang from an outside opinion.
As it turns out, there's been quite a bit that Jounouchi's been leaving out of his emails to me. For instance, that after that whole "Ceremonial Battle" thing, that Yuugi and Anzu spent almost a whole month not even talking to each other. That, more then the whole "other Yuugi was really a long-lost Pharaoh", was really strange. There was something about those two that always struck me as just a little "fairy-tale", meant-to-be, that sort of thing. Sugoroku laughed when I mentioned that.
"You know, you're not the first person to think that about them. Did you know that when they were little, Anzu was like a little knight to Yuugi? He always told me how strong and kind Anzu was, always describing the bullies she defended him from in the most grandiose terms to make her even more impressive." I thought about that for a moment; Anzu in a suit of armor, which would by following the analogy, require that Yuugi be in a dress. Something about that was so unconscionably hilarious to me that I couldn't stop laughing. Fortunately Sugoroku wasn't insulted by that.
Seeing the time, I decided that I should really get back on track on meeting with the others. Before leaving, I bought a set of booster packs and showed the old man the picture of Roulette, asking him if he'd ever come by the shop.
"No, I can't say that I've seen him before. Who is he?"
"He's called Roulette, and he was supposed to duel back in the China National Tournament, only he ran away before the finals." Sugoroku put his chin in his hand
"Well, just be careful. Someone who uses an alias like that has something to hide. I hope it isn't anything serious, but you never know." My eyes opened wide in response. He looks at me questioningly.
"Sorry, it's just that you're the first one who realized that Roulette was a fake name without me having to explain it to them." He laughed.
"Well, I only did play the game for thirty years. More importantly, don't taunt Jounouchi about it too badly." He's a perceptive and knowledgeable old man, I'll grant him that.
"Don't worry about him, Jounouchi can handle a little teasing. I wouldn't put up with him if he couldn't." With that I depart, and I hear the Old Man saying how much he looks forward to seeing me again. I'll bet he does.
Yamada definitely got the crowd he wanted for this duel. I could even see some entrepreneur-minded students setting up stalls, selling Duel Monsters guidebooks, drinks, snacks, and all manner of paraphernalia. Several were selling things I'd never seen before, all allegedly previously owned by me. There were a lot of girls fighting over what was clearly a limited supply. Jounouchi and Honda chided me for being "so popular", asking me if I could lend them some of my "charm". Anzu, though she tried not to let it show, let a small scowl slip as we passed by a crowd of girls cheering for "their hero." I wonder how all these people would act if they ever found out about Atem, how he was the one who fought all throughout Duelist Kingdom and Battle City. But then again, I'm the one who won the Ceremonial Battle, so if they found out, they would probably be even more impressed then they were already.
"I'm glad to see you've made it, Yuugi Mutou. I've made sure that the best space was saved for your friends. They deserve the best view of the battle, don't you think?" Jiro Yamada stood at the other end of the field, and I noticed that the area he'd indicated was a small Sakura tree. I thank him, and nod to everyone. As they head towards it, Anzu and Jonouchi Roshambo a couple of times, with Jounouchi ultimately victorious for the seat immediately beneath the tree, the best seat within the best spot. Soon everyone is settled in, and the crowds gather around us to watch. As I turn to Yamada, I notice that there's a strange bulge in his coat pocket.
"What is that?" He seems confused, but when I point to his coat, he understands.
"This is my lucky charm. When I draw my best card, I'll show it to you. Are you ready to duel?" I respond by putting my deck into my duel disc and activating it. Yamada does the same. We roshambo, and though I win, I decide to let him go first. Then we both call out the now traditional start of any duel.
"DUEL START!"
Yamada draws his hand and takes a moment to decide what to do. "All right, I set one monster, and one card. End turn." Cautious. I wouldn't have expected that, but that's how these things go sometimes. I draw my card, and go over my hand: Silent Swordsman LV3, Red Gadget, Mausoleum of the Emperor, Thousand Knives, Stronghold the Moving Fortress, Magical Hats. My strategy is already clear to me.
"I summon Silent Swordsman LV3, and I play Mausoleum of the Emperor." The Silent Swordsman appears in front of me, a child wielding an oversized sword and wearing a stylized helmet and armor. Behind me the Mausoleum appears, stone stairs leading up to a bonfire flanked by a pair of obelisks. "Silent Swordsman, attack his facedown card." The childlike swordsman moves across the field without making a sound, and his sword cuts Yamada's card in half. As it turns face up, a monkey wearing a suit of samurai armor and wielding a spear appears before disappearing in a flash of light. Yamada grins.
"Thank you Yuugi. Now that Shien's Footsoldier is in the grave, I can special summon from my deck one Six Samurai monster who's level three or less. I choose Spirit of the Six Samurai." A column of blue fire appears in place of the foot soldier, which is then wrapped in a suit of samurai's armor. It has 500 attack and defense.
"I set one card," Magical Hats, "and end my turn." Yamada draws a card, and smiles.
"The Samurai were nobility. Not a one of them had an ordinary name, and the strength of those names is in these cards. I summon Nisashi of the Six Samurai." A wind blows at the Sakura tree, and as the blossoms land in front of Yamada, A samurai armed with the traditional Daisho appears next to the spirit. "Now Spirit, become one with Nisashi!" The humanoid fire envelops the Samurai, but rather then burning him alive, he seems empowered. Sure enough, Nisashi goes from 1400 attack to 1900 as his swords become enveloped in the blue fire. "Nisashi, attack his Silent Swordsman." As his Samurai races across the field, I put my hand forward
"I activate my facedown card, Magical Hats." Silent Swordsman is covered in a giant top hat, which then splits into three. Magical Formula is beneath one, Dark Magician of Chaos the other. "You now have a one in three chance of killing my monster." Yamada seems to contemplate his choice.
"Hmm, if I'd kept Spirit separate, I would have had two chances to attack, but on the other hand, I wouldn't have been able to draw when I killed your monster. Oh well, I've made my choice. Nisashi, strike the center hat. Spirit Flame Swords!" The Samurai took his swords and tore the hat apart, burning it away with its spiritual fire.
"Sorry, but you've just destroyed Magical Formula. When it goes to the graveyard, I gain one thousand life points." My life point counter sets itself to 5000. Yamada doesn't seem worried.
"That's just as well, I get to draw a card now thinks to Spirit of the Six Samurai." He looks at the card he drew. "In fact, I'm going to set this card. End turn." As he calls out the end of battle, the hats disappear, sending Dark Magician of Chaos out of play and returning Silent Swordsman LV3 to the field. I draw my new card, Dark Magician Girl.
"First, I tribute Silent Swordsman LV3 to special summon Silent Swordsman LV5." The child is replaced with an adult, wielding an even larger sword, which he rests against his shoulder with one hand. "And now I pay one thousand life points to summon Dark Magician Girl." As my life points drop back down to 4000, the fire of the mausoleum burns with vitality, and the Dark Magician Girl flies out of it and lands in front of me. I can hear an enthused cheering from the audience, but the only cheers I really listen to are those of my friends. I thank them with a silent nod of affirmation. "Dark Magician Girl, attack Nisashi. Black Burning!" As Nisashi becomes enveloped in darkness, the blue fire enveloping him fades, but once the attack is done, Nisashi is still alive. Yamada still took 100 points of damage, dropping him to 3900 life points.
"As you've just seen, when the spirit is equipped to one of the Six Samurai, it will die in place of its partner. Of course, this does mean that Nisashi drops back down to 1400, but this is a sacrifice that the samurai is always ready to pay." He smiles at me, a disconcerting edge to his face.
"Silent Swordsman, attack Nisashi." My swordsman, with an attack of 2300, calmly walks across the field and stands in front of the samurai. Nisashi bears his neck, and Silent Swordsman raises his sword in both hands before bringing it down. Nisashi is gone now, and with him 900 of Yamada's life points, dropping him to 3000. "End Turn." Yamada grips at his lucky charm as he draws his next card.
"I'm going to show you the card I just drew. It's another Spirit of the Six Samurai. This is important because it activates my trap card, Swiftstrike Armor." A suit of Samurai Armor appears on the field, crackling with energy. "I use it to special summon the spirit that I just drew." The fiery soul is back on the field. "And now, by removing Shien's Footsoldier and the other Spirit from the graveyard, I can special summon from my hand Enishi, Shien's Chancellor." A nobleman walks onto the field, his swords in their sheaths. "Now, Spirit of the Six Samurai, become one with Enishi!" That same fire envelops Enishi only now the armor envelops him too, raising his attack from 2200 to 2700. "But before I attack, I set one monster for my normal summon. Now Enishi, show Yuugi the power of your name and kill his Silent Swordsman. Noble Blade Strike!" Enishi rushes to the center of the field and unsheathes his sword; when he does, the fire of the spirit lances from it, piercing through the Silent Swordsman's heart. I take 400 points of damage, dropping me to 3600 as my Swordsman disappears, and Yamada draws another card. "End turn." I'm not seeing things, he's definitely sharper then he was at the start of the duel. Focus, Yuugi. It's just a duel.
I draw my next card, Sage's Stone. "I now play Sage's Stone to special summon Dark Magician." The stone appears in front of the Dark Magician Girl, who smashes it with her wand to release the Dark Magician. "Now I play Thousand Knives to destroy Enishi" Dark Magician summons a swarm of knives which impale Enishi's armor, which falls apart, taking the spirit with it. "Dark Magician, attack Enishi. Black Magic!" The Dark Magician thrusts his hand forward, and Enishi freezes for a moment before shattering into pieces, doing 300 points of damage to Yamada. "Now Dark Magician Girl, attack his facedown card." Yamada grins in an almost feral manner as his monster is revealed to be the Chamberlain of the Six Samurai.
"Fine, normally you would suffer no damage, except that I activate Castle Walls to raise Chamberlain's defense to twenty-five hundred for this battle. Now you take five hundred points of damage." Now I'm at 3100, and Yamada is at 2700.
"End Turn." Yamada draws his next card.
"I once more invoke Swiftstrike Armor to special summon Irou and equip him with Lucky Iron Axe and Legendary Ebon Steed." A samurai in half-armor and wearing a visor appears, resting his sheathed sword against his shoulder. A horse made of black stone rises beneath him, and an axe drops from the sky. He catches it effortlessly, raising his attack to 2300. "And now I normal summon Yariza." A masked samurai wielding a spear appears. "Irou, attack Dark Magician Girl. Yariza, attack Yuugi directly." Irou rides up to the Dark Magician Girl and chops into her with his axe, killing her and dealing 300 points of damage to me. Then Yariza sets his spear, and a sickly green energy arcs from him to Irou before leaping past the Dark Magician, doing 1000 points of damage to me. Now I'm at 1800 life points, but my friends aren't worried. I've been in worse situations, and one draw is all it takes to turn things around. "End turn." I draw my next card, and flash a smile of my own.
"I now play Dark Magic Attack to destroy all your spells and traps." Dark Magician launches a ball of the purest night onto his side of the field, and when the day returns, Swiftstrike Armor, Legendary Ebon Steed, and Lucky Iron Axe are in the graveyard. Unfortunately, that last one let's Yamada draw another card, but that's a price I'm willing to pay. "Dark Magician, attack Yariza." As the shattering waves of magic settle on Yariza, I notice that Irou hasn't moved. Wouldn't he be better with Yariza still alive? But it's too late and Yariza is gone, bringing Yamada down to 1200 life points. "I set one card," Stronghold the Moving Fortress, "and end my turn." Yamada draws his card, and a mad glint appears in his eyes.
"Well how about that. Now I have both my favorite card and my best card in my hand. Well, first I'm going to play the best card. Eternal Mausoleum." I've never heard of that card. When he plays it, everything becomes pitch black and cold. A series of torches light themselves up on both sides of us, showing the walls of an ancient structure. As my eyes adjust, I can see that we're standing on a narrow bridge and… This is Atem's tomb. But how? I look, and I can see Jounouchi, Anzu, Honda, Bakura, and Otogi standing over the pit, seemingly floating in the air. "Well, you really don't like this card, do you Yuugi. You can tell that it has a lot of power, can't you?" I can feel my hands shaking as the memories flow through them. This was where I defeated the other Bakura, where I found Atem's name.
"Where did you get that card?" I didn't realize how desperate my voice was until he started laughing.
"I'm not telling you. After all, you're going to be dead after this duel is over." What? This is feeling like a Shadow Game. But that can't be right; the Millennium Items are all gone, lost deep beneath the Earth. "And now I'm going to show you my 'lucky charm'." He reached into his inside coat pocket and pulled it out. It was a malformed golden object, the sort of thing that would be thrown away as junk. I feel the sweat pouring down my face as he turns it over, showing me the Eye of Horus that I wished wasn't there. "The old woman said this thing had magical powers, but I didn't believe her at first. Fortunately she demonstrated its power on someone else, and that was all I needed to see."
"Do you have any idea how that thing was made? That thing was made by sacrificing innocent people. It's made of flesh and blood!" Yamada paws at the item.
"Meh, even if you're right, anyone who died to make this item is now a nameless nobody, like you're going to be in just a few minutes."
"Please, stop this duel. End this Shadow Game, before anymore people get hurt, we have to hurry." He barks a harsh laugh in my face.
"Please, you're just a coward, and you still don't know what this card does, so I'm going to tell you. Eternal Mausoleum allows me to special summon one monster from my graveyard during my main phase every turn, and Eternal Mausoleum can't be removed from play by any effect. Now watch." The shadows beneath us stir as a ghostly shape rises from the depths of the darkness. The ghost settles in front of Yamada as the Spirit of the Six Samurai. "Now, because I have two Six Samurai monsters on the field already, I can special summon my favorite monster, the Great Shogun Shien!" The monster seems to walk out from Yamada, a towering masked samurai in red spiked armor and a cape. He holds a sword in his right hand, a simple weapon of great power. "In addition to his twenty-five hundred attack power, Great Shogun Shien will only let you activate one spell or trap card per turn. Now Spirit, become one with Shien." The fire suffuses him, becoming a light ghostly flame that follows him everywhere. "Shien, kill the Dark Magician. Supreme Spirit Sword!" Staying where he is, Shien swings the sword horizontally, and the Dark Magician falls into two before disappearing into the darkness. As I drop to 1300 life points, I can feel myself fading into the shadows. "Now Irou, finish him off." As Irou dashes across the bridge, I remember my facedown card.
"I activate Stronghold the Moving Fortress, which now becomes a 2000 defense monster under my control." Irou halts before the colossus.
"Tch, fine. I cancel my attack. Not that it matters, since you'll be dead next turn. Before I forget, I get to draw a card from the Spirit's effect. Now end turn." I close my eyes. This was his trial, not mine. If he were here, then we could do it, but I'm just me.
"Come on Yuugi, kick his ass!" Jounouchi?
"You've beaten worse then this guy!" Honda?
"You know we'll never stop believing in you, Yuugi, so don't you dare stop believing in yourself!" Anzu. I turn to them, my friends, and things don't seem quite so dark. Not the night, just the dusk.
"Show that punk why you're the king of games!" Otogi.
"Don't let the darkness scare you, Yuugi!" Bakura. As the light of my friends shines through the dark, I draw my card.
"I play Swords of Revealing Light, and now I summon the Red Gadget." As I summon the Red Gadget, I use its effect to draw the Yellow Gadget. "End Turn."
Yamada draws another card. "I'm going to special summon Yariza back to the field, and then I'm going to normal summon Zanji. End turn." Two turns left, I'd better make them count. I draw my next card, and it's the Gold Sarcophagus.
"I summon Yellow Gadget, which allows me to draw Green Gadget, and now I play the Gold Sarcophagus. I play one card from my deck into it, and in two turns it will return to my hand." A gold box, so much like the one that the Millennium Puzzle was kept in appears on the field, and in it, I place the God of the Obelisk. "End Turn."
Yamada draws again. He grins. "Whatever you've put in that box won't do you any good. I play Fusion Sword Murasame, which increases Shien's Attack by eight-hundred points. One more turn, and then I can attack." The sword becomes one with Shien. I draw my next card, and I see my victory ahead of me.
"I play Monster Reborn, to summon the Dark Magician. Now I summon Green Gadget. End Turn." Yamada draws one last time, and smiles.
"You have thirteen-hundred life points, I have twelve-hundred. That means that when I play this Megamorph card, Shien's attack will increase to 6300. The name of Shien will live forever!" I sigh. I've seen the darkness exploit so many people. I can even remember Atem using the darkness to punish those he considered evil. Unfortunately, there's nothing I can do for Yamada right now, unless…
"Yamada, what will happen to the loser of this duel, exactly?" He scoffs at me.
"I don't know why you're so curious about your fate, you nobody, but I'll go ahead and tell you. Your soul will be sucked into this 'item'. Your body as such will have to be tended to very quickly, but assuming access to a modern hospital, you should be able to survive in a coma. There, does that satisfy your morbid curiosity?" I take what he said very carefully, and I smile. If what he says is true, if what I suspect about that item and its maker is true, then I will be able to save Yamada from himself. "Oh before I forget, everyone but Shien is going into defense mode. End Turn." I draw my card, and I regain the God of the Obelisk.
"I now sacrifice my three gadgets to summon the God of the Obelisk!" The Gadgets disappear, and the towering God Soldier appears before me, flanked by the Stronghold and the Dark Magician. "And now I sacrifice Stronghold the Moving Fortress and the Dark Magician to activate Obelisk's special power. SOUL ENERGY MAX!" Obelisk grabs a hold of my two other monsters and crushes them, taking their power into itself. He then strikes forth a divine blow that wipes out all his monsters and his life points. Yamada flies to the far end of the field under Obelisks power. I give a quick prayer of thanks to Obelisk as he and everything else fades away. As the field comes back into view, my friends rush up to me, and I see that all the crowds that had gathered for the duel were gone.
"Yuugi, are you okay?" I nod.
"What happened to everyone else?"
"When Yamada played Eternal Mausoleum, everything got really nasty, like something really foul settling in the pits of our stomachs." Honda said with a grimace on his face. "So we didn't have much trouble getting everyone to leave. More importantly, what do we do about him?" Honda turned towards Yamada. I get up, which means that I must have fallen to my knees, and begin walking over to him. He's so still, like Jounouchi, Rishid, and Mai were after their Shadow Games. I pick up his "pseudo-millennium item", and I turn it over in my hands. There's a faint, greasy feel to it, and my hands feel momentarily numb whenever I stop touching it.
"There you guys are!" It's Mai. What's she doing here? "Once I saw Obelisk, I knew I was in the right place. I trust you didn't thrash him too badly, right Yuugi?" Jounouchi steps in front of me.
"I'm sorry Mai, but now's not a good time. See, the guy Yuugi just dueled pulled a Shadow Game on him." That seemed to really shock Mai.
"What? You mean I come all this way to kick that guy's ass and Yuugi's already beaten me to the punch? I don't believe this." Mai shoves me out of the way, a frustrated look on her face. "Wait, this isn't who I'm looking for. Who the hell is this kid?" We all look among ourselves to decide who'll speak up. It falls to me, of course. I summarize everything that had happened, from beginning to end, and then I show her the item he had.
"Huh, if he had one of those, that would explain how Roulette was able to play Shadow Games of his own. The question becomes who is the old lady he mentioned?" Jounouchi coughed theatrically.
"No, the question is who is this 'Roulette' character and why you're so interested in meeting up with him." Mai stared at him for a moment, and then she exploded in laughter.
"The hell's so damn funny Mai?" Mai wiped away the tears from her eyes.
"You know, the whole way here I was debating with myself whether or not I was going to lead you on, yet you beat me to the punch, and in the wake of a Shadow Game no less." Then Mai grabbed his cheeks and started pinching him. He tried to get her to stop, but he wasn't going to get his way this time. "To summarize as Yuugi did not a moment ago, Roulette, as he calls himself, was supposed to be my opponent in the finals over in China, but he saw fit to disappear, leaving me winner by default. I've spent the past couple of months tracking him down, and I have good reason to believe that he's here, in Domino, and that he might be targeting you guys." Mai pulled out a picture from her coat. "I don't suppose any of you have seen this man, have you?" She shows the picture to us, but none of us recognize him. Jounouchi is especially vocal about how much he didn't recognize "Roulette".
"Are you kidding me Mai? I've never seen such a short, fat, ugly, hairy character in all my life. Maybe he just ran off because he couldn't stand to be in the same room as a Prima Donna like you?" Mai responded to that one by putting Jounouchi in a headlock. Anzu coughed, interrupting the "conflict".
"Amusing as seeing Jounouchi be put in his place is we've got more important matters to attend to, like what we're going to do with Yamada." The answer is obvious, but Anzu was right. Honda and Otogi agreed to shoulder Yamada as we made our way to Domino Hospital, which fortunately wasn't very far. Everyone is silent. Having to deliver a soulless body to the hospital will do that to you.
I watch them all from a safe distance, using my binoculars to get a clear look on everything. The sight of Obelisk using his special power, followed by the arrival of that Mai Kujaku woman, tells me everything I needed to know. I take out my cell phone and contact the group. Fortunately we're all in the same city now, so the logistics aren't so damn unreasonable like when we're all scattered across the globe. I send a simple text message: Yamada failed, rush plan. I wait a few minutes, and I watch Jounouchi getting mauled by Mai before they decide to take care of Yamada, before getting everyone's responses. Fortunately, it turns out that everyone is ready to move things ahead of schedule. Divide and conquer, that's the name of this little game, and when they leave the hospital, I'll be ready to play the first move.