DUELIST
Chapter One: Cards can be Cruel
'Duel Monsters began with humble beginnings, just another card game in the overflowing market, overshadowed by older games with more cards and an established fan base. This may have continued for a long time, if it were not for the work of Seto Kaiba, the president of Kaiba Corporation. A few years ago, this great man, former world champion of Duel Monsters, began construction on a portable holographic generator. This was dubbed the Duel Disk. This system was revolutionary, but the game was still just a gimmick. Then, the Shockwave add-on was invented for serious players of the game. This invention allowed duelists to set shockwaves to come out of their Duel Disks whenever they lost Life Points. These drained the energy of duelists, and allowed a world-class sport to develop.
The adjustable levels of the Shockwave make Duel Monsters readily accessible to casual players, with higher levels for tournament players to tax their stamina to the limit. Now a Duel Monsters tournament features the legendary sportsmen known as duelists, with the mental power of a chess grandmaster, and the stamina and willpower of a marathon runner. We'll explore the making of the Duel Disk, and it's Shockwave software, right after this commercial.'
Max Winter turned away from the television. Like the dozens of people in front of the electronics store, he was killing time while waiting for Patrick Landers, one of the top duelists in the world. He had achieved Top 4 in the last 3 World Championships in a row, almost winning one of them. Apparently his punctuality didn't match his dueling skills, considering he was already fifteen minutes late. The commercial ended. He was about to turn back to the television when a rush of whispers went through the crowd. 'It's him.' he heard whispered. With difficulty, he squeezed his way in the direction the whispers started, and reached the new front of the crowd, where his friends were, and gazed down the shopping centre corridor.
There, walking with the unshakable confidence of a top duelist, was Patrick Landers. He walked towards the crowd. Behind him was a smaller man, hunched in a submissive attitude, carrying a wooden box. Patrick Landers stopped. He had no security, but the crowd stayed back as though held by an invisible barrier. This was a man who commanded, and received, respect. Landers was not a tall man, but his servant seemed somehow diminished in his presence.
Patrick whispered something to the man just behind him. The man bowed, and opened the box he had been carrying. Max didn't see the contents of the deep box, but Patrick pulled a Duel Disk out of it, and expertly strapped it to his arm. He cleared his throat.
'Dueling!' he suddenly yelled commandingly, 'is about confidence. It is about stamina, and it is about doing what you have to in order to win. There is no room for 'nice guys' in the dueling arena. I got where I am today, one of the world's best duelists, by showing no mercy, and crushing any opponent in my path. Dueling is not about friendship or honor. So you can forget all those corny movies about the kid who wins the World Championship. Only one thing matters. VICTORY! Victory. And nothing else.'
Patrick continued to speak as Max's mind was overlaid by a numbing fog. Was this the man he had been aching to meet? He had been picturing a kind, wise duelist, honorable and just. Instead he had this ruthless man before him, preaching about doing anything to win. Was this what duelists were like? Max returned to the speech.
'This may be a rude awakening for some of you. And I don't care. Those of you who have delusions about companions, about playing 'fair', and of being 'nice' can go play in the amateur league. The World Championship is the Championship, not Chumpionship!'
Unbelievable, Max thought. This guy had practically just said cheating, and being a jerk was the way to be a duelists. He was not going to stand for this any longer, and his rage boiled over into frustrated action.
"I object!" Max yelled out. All of a sudden, he was the centre of attention as he stepped forward from the crowd. 'Max.' his friend Jade whispered in his ear. 'Don't do this. This guy may be a jerk, and you can take him down one day. But not today. He is a professional. He makes a LIVING winning duels!' Max paid no heed. 'Thanks for the advice Jade, but I'm sure of this.' Despite himself, his spirit quailed as Patrick looked upon him like he would an ant beneath his shoe.
'I'm going to show you all a lesson.' Patrick said loudly, and grinned like a tiger shark. 'This child thinks HE knows what it means to be a duelist. Well, how about I show you all a display of a REAL duelist, right here, right now!?' The crowd cheered. 'Boy!' he spoke, murder in his eyes. 'Take out your Duel Disk, and duel.'
'Max…' Jade whispered again in his ear. 'This guy may be a jerk, is a jerk, but he's still a pro duelist. He's used to high-level Shockwave duels! You could get seriously hurt if you go through with this!' 'I know.' Max replied. 'But I couldn't forgive myself if I didn't.' Max stepped several more steps forward, hardly believing he was doing so. He was about to duel his hero. He suddenly noticed the crowd had cleared around him, turning the wide corridor into a dueling arena.
'Any of my decks could defeat you, boy. I want this to be over quickly. Short and sharp! That's how you learn. And believe me, you will learn to respect your betters. Wexley! Hand me my Beatdown deck!'
'At once, sir.' Wexley replied.
He took a step forward, and offered the box to Patrick, unable to take one hand off the box. Patrick took a deck and inserted it into his Duel Disk. Wexley backed away, near the crowd. 'Your turn, boy. Draw your deck!' Patrick spoke.
Max took his deck from his pants pocket and inserted it into his own Duel Disk, which he had strapped to his arm the whole time. Max pressed a button on his Duel Disk, and so did Patrick. The Duel Disks lit up sensing an opponent nearby, and a Life Point counter lit up. Max drew his hand and raised his dueling disk.
"Release holographic emitters!" Patrick said. He raised his disk high, and the voice recognition sensor interfaced with the motion sensor, shooting out two glimmering diodes. They sped almost to the edge of the crowd, and began to glow.
'Activate Shockwave software! Set to Level Eight!' Patrick commanded. The lights on each Duel Disk lit up as the command was absorbed.
There were only eleven levels on the system. Level Eight was designated Tournament Practice. All of a sudden, Max began to worry. 'I bet you, boy, have only ever played Level Four or Five!'
Little did Patrick know: Max and his friends only played on Level Two.
'I will allow you to go first.' Patrick spoke with quiet menace.
'My name is Max. Max Winter.' He responded as he drew his hand.
'I play Neo, the Magic Swordsman!' A human-sized swordsman formed, his image sustained by the holographic emitters. He carried a long, sharp-looking sword, with fist-sized balls of blue light circling it, glowing with magical power. He stared intently in Patrick's direction, and drew his sword. A hovering sign appeared above the monster's head. It said 'Neo the Magic Swordsman. 1700 ATK, 1000 DEF.'
'Your move.' Max said, far more confidently then he felt.
'Why thank you.' Patrick said sarcastically. He drew a card. Even drawing a card somehow looked cooler than normal when Patrick did it, and the crowd went silent in anticipation of Patrick's move.
'I play the Gene-Warped Warwolf!' This creature was two metres tall, towering over the swordsman. It looked like a werewolf, only less hairy. It looked humanoid, but pure hatred was in it's blood red eyes. It growled in anger, and it's hair rose up. It had intricate symbols on it's chest and all four of it's arms. A sign appeared above it: Gene-Warped Warwolf. 2000 ATK, 100 DEF.
'Gene-Warped Warwolf! Destroy Neo the Magic Swordsman!' The wolf leapt forward. Neo took a swing at the Warwolf, but it grabbed Neo's arm, encircled two other arms around him, and lowered it's teeth to the swordsman. The swordsman lit up like a nova, then disappeared. Max's Life Point counter lowered to 3700, and his Shockwave icon lit up.
All of a sudden, Max was hit by an intense force. Against his will, he sunk to one knee, awed by the intensity of this level of Shockwave. He gasped.
'So this is how you react to a mere 300 Life Point loss? This was barely a scratch! So imagine how it will feel when I strike you directly!'
Max was thinking the same thing, as he rose to his feet, already breathing hard, but his eyes were clear. He raised his head.
'Now, I place a card face-down and end my turn.' A Duel Monsters card, oversized, appeared face-down, floating a couple of inches above the floor.
'My move then.' Max said, trying to get his breathing under control. He drew, getting a Black Pendant.
'Excellent!' Max said.
'I play my Man-Eating Treasure Chest!' A large ornate box with glimmering jewels came onto the field. They glowed softly, and then the benign-seeming box revealed fangs and a large, grotesquely purple tongue. It hissed at the Warwolf. The sign revealed it's 1600 ATK and 1200 DEF.
'Now I equip it with my Black Pendant!' Max said.
'This raises it's ATK by 500, to 2100! In addition, once Black Pendant is sent to the graveyard, you lose 500 Life Points!' A huge pendant, with a black pearl, attached itself to the treasure chest.
The sign now proclaimed 'Man-Eating Treasure Chest. 1600+500 (2100) ATK. 1200 DEF.
'Nice move Max!' Chris, Max's other friend, yelled out.
'Keep it up!' Jade shouted.
Max aimed a thumbs-up at the two, then returned attention to the duel. 'Now, I attack with my creature! Man-Eating Treasure Chest! Destroy his Warwolf!'
The chest headed at the Warwolf, mouth outstretched, fangs fully extended and tongue flopping. It was nearly at the Warwolf when Patrick said 'Activate Shadow Spell!'
Patrick's face-down moved up, so that Max could see it. Suddenly, from the edge of the holographic field, nine thick chains wrapped the Man-Eating Treasure Chest. The creature floated back to Max's side of the field and stayed there.
'My move.' Patrick said with a wicked grin.
'Since you still don't have any cards face-down, I think I'm safe. I sacrifice my monster to summon Frostosaurus!'
The Warwolf lit up, and beams of light escaped it. It shone brighter and brighter, and then it was gone, replaced with a giant dinosaur, made of dark blue, ragged ice shards. It had a long neck, and tiny, yellow eyes. It's fangs were razor-sharp icicles, and it stood a meter taller than Max. The sign above it made Max gasp in shock: Frostosaurus. 2600 ATK. 1700 DEF. Max's monster, with Shadow Spell, was only 1400 ATK points strong. This was going to hurt.
'Now, I play the Mystical Space Typhoon!' Patrick declared. A whirlpool, with lightning striking at it's centre, appeared on Patrick's side of the field. It spun it's way over to Max's side, and engulfed his monster. Then it faded and dissipated, leaving no Black Pendant on the field. His monster now had a measly 900 ATK.
Patrick's life fell by 500, and he drew a sharp breath using the gaps in his teeth, but betrayed no other sign of having just been struck.
'Frostosaurus! Strike his Man-Eating Treasure Chest, and deal 1700 damage to his Life Points! I hope you can stand after this attack!' Patrick shouted in savage glee.
The monster struck with devastating force, cleaving the chains and monster alike, and blasting Max with a gigantic force. Max screamed. He felt as if the monster had skipped his creature and slammed right into him instead. He fell to his knees, then collapsed entirely, spent. His cards fell around him.
'See?' Patrick said. 'This is what I was talking to you all about. Ruthlessness! Mercilessness! This boy can barely stand up after the beating I've just given him, and if he stands, I'll strike again next turn!'
Max opened his closed eyes, just shy of fading completely. He stopped his ragged breathing, and started breathing evenly, through force of will. He did this for a couple of minutes until it was labored, but even. 'Are you going to get up? By tournament rules, you've been down for four minutes. You have one minute left to get up, and that carries over for the rest of the duel! Mind you, this is a smart move, because it's about to be over anyway.'
Max picked up his hand and rose, fortified by his enforced break. His breathing was regular, but he felt exhausted, as though he had just run a mile. He raised his head, and stared at Patrick. He had never dueled like this before in his life. It was beyond anything he had experienced.
'I think you've suffered enough, so I'll place one card face-down and end my turn.' Patrick declared. His card shimmered into place in front of him.
Max drew his next card, his hand shaking only slightly as he did so. There was nothing in his hand that could handle a 2600 ATK behemoth like Frostosaurus, but he DID just draw a card to prevent reinforcements showing up, so he could save his Life Points. Max drew his shreds of energy together, and confidently spoke.
'I place one card face-down in Defense Mode, and then play a card face-down. I end my turn.' Max said, trying not to let his voice quiver and betray the fact that he didn't have much strength left.
Patrick drew with a flourish. 'I play my Opticlops, in Attack Mode!' he said.
'Activate Trap Hole!' Max replied. 'Finally.' He thought. 'I've done something right in this duel.'
'Reveal Seven Tools of the Bandit' Patrick said, flipping up his own face-down card. 'This cancels out any Trap Card and destroys it, as long as I pay 1000 Life Points.' Shockwave struck, and Patrick cried out. His knees shook slightly but he stayed on his feet.
'Now I may have 2500 Life Points, but you're about to be defeated.' Patrick said so the whole crowd could hear it.
'Your math's a little off Patrick. I'll still have 200 Life Points left after your attack.' Max said, but he knew what the reply would be.
'Since Direct Attacks are far more devastating than regular attacks, and you aren't going to well, I wager you won't be able to get up after this, and since you've only got one minute of your floor time left, this match is over.' Patrick explained for the audience's benefit.
By this time, Opticlops was summoned. He was a cross between a gorilla and a Cyclops, with long simian arms and legs, and a single eye with a large fanged mouth. He had a sharp horn, which glimmered off the shopping centre's lights. He was covered in orange fur, beneath which huge muscles rippled. The sign read 'Opticlops. 1800 ATK. 1700 DEF.
'Frostosaurus! Destroy his face-down card!' Patrick yelled.
Frostosaurus slammed into a force field surrounding the face-down card. The force field rippled. A pretty woman in a flowing yellow robe, with a large harp appeared. She strummed a single note, then shattered into a thousand fragments, which disappeared.
'Opticlops! Your turn!' Patrick shouted. 'Attack him directly!'
Max gasped in fear as the creature rumbled up. It's holographic fist punched him in the face, and then in a single leap, Opticlops leaped back to it's master's side. A second later, Max was slammed with the largest shockwave yet. He opened his mouth, too stunned to scream. He fell to his knees, then pitched forward onto the marble floor, in a dead faint.
One minute later, the holograms disappeared into motes as Max's time expired. 'Well. There's the fruit of honor and friendship.' Patrick said, pointing at Max, collapsed on the ground.
'I'm sure this will be a lesson that nobody, especially Max, will forget for some time. My work here is done. Wexley, pack my deck and Duel Disk. We're leaving.' Patrick added.
Jade rushed over, and knelt beside Max. She turned him over. 'Max?' She lifted his head.
'Speak to me. Max? Are you okay?' Jade said with increasing concern. Then her worry turned to anger.
'You bastard!' Jade yelled at Patrick. 'Just look at him! Don't you have any feelings, you beast!?'
'Apparently not. And that's why I'm a champion, and he never will be.' Patrick replied contemptuously.
'Wexley. Collect my emitters. We've spent enough time here.' Patrick said, then turned his back on Jade and walked toward the exit. Wexley scooped up the emitters, and followed Patrick. They walked down the corridor, turned, and walked out of sight.
END OF CHAPTER
Join me next week as we learn more about Max and his friends, discover Max's fate and learn a terrible truth in Chapter Two!
This is my very first fanfic. Please leave comments on if it was good or bad and what I can do to improve it. Thank you for reading this first chapter, and hopefully you will continue on Max's journey with me. May it be as fun to read as it is to write. A new chapter every week!
