Chapter 1: Arrival of the forgotten
Nalo Ali'i was a young adult who worked as a maintenance worker for a luau in the mainland, he was always to himself and would rarely go to card shops. Standing at an average of five feet and six inches, he was no one special. In all opinion, he was almost a nobody and he did not mind that. It was his off day so he made he was enjoying his normal day off at a public card shop. With his laid-back nature, he took nothing personally unless it was from someone he himself trusted completely. He had a lean build as well as tanned skin with his black hair swaying to the wind that brushed passed his form.
"Not a bad day to go and duel and probably have some fun," Nalo said to himself wearing his black cargo pants as well as a grey T-shirt over his torso.
He lived only a few blocks away from the card shop so taking a bus was not needed. Living alone had its pros and cons with the card shop being one of the many pros. The shop itself was not too big but it was not small either with at least ten long tables set up for fellow duelists to battle each other and mingle. Nalo had no friends there and it seemed he did not mind.
Once he entered the shop, he could not help but see a large crowd gathered around a single table in which Nalo could not help but blink at the situation before him. As the three lost against him, the dualists around Maximillion Pegasus clapping.
"I have time for one more dual. Anyone want to try and give it a go before I have to leave?" Pegasus asked looking around to see Nalo and grinned. "What about you my boy? Care to take a spin at fate?"
"I don't see why not?" Nalo answered with a shrug causing people to begin to whisper to one another. He was one of the most hated dualists in the store and Pegasus could tell from all the glares that he earned after picking him.
"Now then, what's your name?" Pegasus asked with a gentle smile taking his cards and shuffling them.
"Nalo Ali'i," Nalo answered again as he took out his own deck and sat down before beginning to shuffle his deck.
"Nalo Ali'i? What a strange name? Does it have a hidden meaning?" Pegasus asked intrigued by this boy's strange name as he placed his deck on the table finished shuffling it.
"It does but I would rather not say it here. When you beat me, I can tell you." Nalo replied with a smile of his own.
"When? Don't you mean if?" Pegasus asked bringing his left arm up while placing his chin on top his knuckles chuckling.
"No, when you win. I am not so cocky as to declare myself the winner of the creator of the game." Nalo answered chuckling as well before putting his deck on the table.
"I like your honesty Nalo my boy. I can't wait to hear what your name means." Pegasus said while lifting his head off his knuckle and sitting up straight.
"Since I won many other duals. I'll let you go first Nalo boy." Pegasus said drawing five cards followed by Nalo.
"Mahalo," Nalo replied drawing six cards.
"I activate One day of Peace. We both draw a card and neither of us takes damage until the end of your turn " Nalo explained drawing a card along with Pegasus who nodded.
"I graciously accept," Pegasus said looking at his hand smirking.
"Then I activate Graceful Charity. Draw three then discard two to the grave." Nalo continued drawing three cards than discarding two. "Afterwards I will set three cards and end my turn."
"Finally." Someone complained making some of the dualists laugh.
"Now now everyone. We all have to be patient when playing. Just watch and enjoy okay?" Pegasus said waving then off before drawing a card.
"First off I will activate the spell card toon table of contents to allow me to add one toon card from my deck to my hand," Pegasus explained putting his hand down and picking his deck up and shuffling cards around to find the card he was looking for. It did not take long before he found the card he was looking for.
"I add Toon world to my hand." Pegasus continued before putting toon world with his hand and shuffling his deck before putting it back down.
"Now with the cost of a thousand life points and activate Toon World," Pegasus spoke activating toon world. "And before I end my turn, I summon toon alligator (800/1600)."
"My turn then," Nalo whispered drawing his card and smiling.
"A smile? Seems you drew a good card." Pegasus guessed making Nalo shrug.
"It's not a dead draw that's for sure," Nalo answered as he set a monster card. "I end my turn."
"Very well. I draw." Pegasus spoke drawing a card and chuckling softly before sighing and looking at the field.
"For now, I will summon Toon Masked Sorcerer (900/1400). Just because I am curious, I attack your face down with Toon Alligator." Pegasus pointed out smirking.
With a shrug, Nalo flipped his face down up revealing Des Koala (1100/1800).
"Not only do you take a thousand damage but also effect damage as well. This drops you down to a thousand life points. And with that, I can end this duel." Nalo claimed before slipping one of his face downs revealing the trap card Just Desserts.
Pegasus stared at the end of the duel blinking on what just happened. He had the Millennium eye but he saw it was pointless to use it here. Thus, resulting in his downfall. With a soft laugh, he could not help but clap his hands on his loss as well as how fast he did lose.
"Well played Nalo boy well played indeed," Pegasus spoke standing up and putting his hand out to shake Nalo's.
"Mahalo. It is rare for anyone to say such things like that to me. Usually, they would gather their deck and cards before leaving the table." Nalo responded with a faint smile before standing up and shaking his hand now.
"I must say, you have a powerful deck with you, why have I not seen you in tournaments?" Pegasus asked as his guard collected his cards and packed his deck away.
"I did not want to. Plus, I saw no reason to do such a thing. I'm too laid back. Tournaments are always about getting serious. That's not how I am." Nalo answered as he began to collect his own cards and slip it into his pocket.
"I must ask, how many duels have you been a part of? Pegasus asked with his hands by his sides.
"Hmm counting you, I would say that would make you my two-hundredth...I think. I don't really know, I don't keep count, I just keep playing." Nalo said looking up at the ceiling and scratching his chin.
"Well here is a better question. Have you ever lost before?" Pegasus asked sounding a little more serious now.
"...no " Nalo answered with the same serious tone before sighing and was about to walk away but was stopped as Pegasus moved passed the crowd to stand in front of him holding out what seemed to be a letter.
"What's this?" Nalo asked taking the letter and blinking.
"An invitation. I am inviting you to my personal tournament. I promise you it is very rewarding." Pegasus said with a smile before leaving with his guard to his limo that just pulled up to the side of the shop.
"Since I did not win, I cannot ask the meaning of your name. Maybe in the tournament, I will know. I will be keeping a close eye on you know Nalo boy." Pegasus spoke before leaving the store.
"You don't deserve that invitation punk! Hand it over!" One of the bigger dualists demanded walking up to Nalo while others backed off in fear. He stood at a towering six feet ten inches tall.
"Dude, I wouldn't. He may not look it but he is one hell of a fighter." The manager warned making the tall male snort looking at the manager then back to Nalo
"With a deck like yours, it shouldn't even be legal. Why not we duel for it than? Winner gets that invitation. Better yet, since you're so good, why not take on us three? Me and my gang. If you can beat all three of us, I'll back off." He said with a wide grin.
"...very well. All three of you at once. I overstayed my welcome but I don't mind showing you three newcomers why people rarely duel me." Nalo spoke taking his deck out once more with a heavy sigh and aiming it at them.
-three minutes later-
"Alright. Deals a deal. Back off please." Nalo spoke with the field set as is: Each enemy dualist had at least four monsters out on the field with Nalo being the last one to go, even though the rigged the turn base, and was completely destroyed due to three Just Desserts face up on the field.
"What the hell just happened?" The tall dualist asked looking at the field speechless now.
"Simple. You all got burned." Nalo answered for him before picking up his cards and slipping his deck into his pocket to head home and prepare for his trip.
As Nalo got home, he sighed heavily made his way to his kitchen as to start up dinner but came to a full stop as the room around him became pitch black out of the blue. Looking around in confusion, he blinked and slowly gripped his hands into fists while continuing to look about the now black room he was in. The sound of hissing and slithering echoed in the darkroom before a lone figure made itself known in front of him. Nalo looked at the figure and continued to look up at how tall it was.
"Nalo Ali'i, The Forgotten King." The figure spoke with the darkness around the figure began to fade revealing its full body in detail now. Before Nalo stood a long snake easily sixteen yards long with its eyes glowing blood red as well as its scales looking more like stone tiles rather than normal scales.
"Okay I am either dead or I am being possessed. Yeah, that's me." Nalo called out slipping his hands into his pockets.
"You are more laid back than I expected. You show no fear, even though you stand before the Lord of Chaos himself." The snake spoke lowering itself down and stared into Nalo's eyes.
"I have no reason to freak out. It would only make things more difficult to do anything. If you're going to eat me or just flat out kill me, I have nothing on me to prevent it so meh." Nalo answered with a shrug making the snake chuckle and back off while still glaring at him.
"I am Apophis. Egyptian Deity of Chaos and enemy of Ra." Apophis introduced himself while narrowing his eyes at Nalo waiting for him to kneel before him.
"What do you want from me?" Nalo asked still standing before the deity in front of him while slowly turning to leave.
"I have chosen you as my owner, for now until I find someone better. With my power, you can even rule the world." Apophis answered grinning.
"Yeah, polite pass. I have no interest in world domination. I am much too lazy to rule anyone. Not even if it will answer the question on why you are named the forgotten king?" Apophis asked with a smirk.
Nalo came into a full stop before sighing and turning to look at Apophis.
"And you are telling me you know why?" Nalo asked with a raised brow.
"Yes. I have been around for centuries. I have been in wait, waiting and watching, biding my time until it was right to come out of the shadows once more." Apophis answered lowering his head to be at the same level as Nalo again.
"What is it you really want from me?" Nalo asked narrowing his eyes at the being before him growing slightly annoyed.
"I demand your help in many things. Each one harder than the other ones. Right now, Pegasus holds many answers I myself cannot find. You will help me gain them and in turn, I will answer your own questions about your family roots and history." Apophis offered as he narrowed his own eyes.
"You make one hell of a deal Apophis...where do I sign?" Nalo answered with a grin of his own.
"Then we have a deal," Apophis spoke as he slithered back and released a loud hiss shaking the dark room before all the darkness and even Apophis himself were focused into what seemed to be a black rope wristband that had the image of a snack wrapping its entire body around Nalo's wrist and part of his right forearm.
"Things just got...a whole lot interesting," Nalo whispered to himself with a long grin while looking at the kitchen with his right eye glowing blood red with rage before shifting back to normal.
-Next Night-
"When I thought it was going to be somewhat easy going I see all these people," Nalo complained a little as he saw the large group of participants gathering and already beginning to line up.
"Welp. Best not delay the journey." Nalo whispered to himself before making his way to the line and standing in the back. He wore black cargo pants as well as a grey sleeveless shirt finishing off with a pair of slippa's
-Boat-
"So far so good. No trouble or misunderstanding." Nalo said before he heard laughing behind him making him sigh and shake his head and cursing under his breath at the karma.
"Look at what we have here. A little maggot trying to fight an ant on his lonesome." An annoying voice called out followed by another chuckle.
"Nothing weaker than a baby lizard trying to live on its own."
"Weevil Underwood and Rex Raptor. The hell do you two want? Got nothing better to do than bug someone like me. Pun intended for you Weevil." Nalo pointed out making Weevil snicker.
"As if you are a threat to us." Weevil countered with a grin on his face.
"Our match says differently Weevil. Just like everyone else I fought, flawless victory." Nalo reminded Weevil making him take a step back with his hand in front of him.
"That was all luck!" Weevil tried to defend himself before correcting his posture.
"Sure, why not." Nalo agreed with a shrug.
"Such luck will not happen between us again." Weevil claimed with a grin on his face again.
"This time he will have support from fellow friends." A new voice joined in revealing another boy.
Same height and even more so same colored skin. The only things that were different were that he wore all white clothes like a spoiled rich kid and short blonde hair. His eyes were as blue as a clear blue sky and around his neck was a necklace with an angel feather decorative.
"Who might you be young lad?" Nalo asked with a heavy sigh while slipping his hands into his pockets while still having his backpack slipped over his shoulder.
"I am Axel, son of Arc who is the head manager of Industrial of Illusions." Axel introduced himself proudly while bringing his left hand up to brush his hair back smirking.
"Sooo you're a spoiled rich kid that gets what he wants?" Nalo pointed out making Axel slowly look at him and glare daggers into his eyes as they locked on to one another.
"Not spoiled, just special. Much more than you trash." Axel countered with a grin.
"Whatever you say... ya wee little smock." Nalo countered back with a smirk while Axel blinked at looked at Weevil and Rex to see if they knew what a smock was before finally looking back at Nalo.
"The bloody hells a smock!?" Axel demanded before Nalo laughed and shook his head and walked off with his hands behind his head now satisfied with the confusion he made between the three.
-Following morning-
Nalo and the rest of the participants gathered in front of a castle, Pegasus's base of operations for this tournament before he began his speech. Sadly, Nalo was not really interested in the speech before he slipped on the glove he was given in his right hand as well as inserting his two stars into the wrist part.
"The money is not the prize I seek. What I seek are answers. I paid money to find answers and only found dead ends. Right now, you are the only one who I can trust to give me answers." Nalo thought to himself while pulling the glove down a little more.
"You have one full hour to prepare, both yourselves and your cards. When the skies light up with fireworks, the duels will begin." Pegasus finished explaining before turning and entering the castle once more.
"One hour? I'd say I am all set. Guess all there is to do now would be to wonder." Nalo told himself before walking off with his hands in his pockets.
Nalo and the rest of the participants gathered in front of a castle, Pegasus's base of operations for this tournament before he began his speech. Sadly, Nalo was not really interested in the speech before he slipped on the glove he was given in his right hand as well as inserting his two stars into the wrist part.
"The money is not the prize I seek. What I seek are answers. I paid money to find answers and only found dead ends. Right now, you are the only one who I can trust to give me answers." Nalo thought to himself while pulling the glove down a little more.
"You have one full hour to prepare, both yourselves and your cards. When the skies light up with fireworks, the duels will begin." Pegasus finished explaining before turning and entering the castle once more.
"One hour? I'd say I am all set. Guess all there is to do now would be to wonder." Nalo told himself before walking off with his hands in his pockets.
-Hour later-
Nalo hummed softly as he ended up wandering into what seemed to be a small wasteland. It did not take long before he grew silent as well as coming to a complete stop.
"Alright, I am hoping so much it is not who I think it is," Nalo said out loud before turning around to find Rex walking out of the shadows grinning.
"Guess you never had luck," Rex claimed as if thinking he was the one Nalo was talking about.
"Oh, thank Akua. I thought you were Weevil...or Axel." Nalo said bringing his left hand up and wiping his forehead.
"What? I am the semi-finalist of the previous dual tournament!" Rex shouted clearly annoyed.
"Does it matter? I dual any and all who wish to take that risk. Weevil was one such person and lost. Guess he did not tell you how he lost." Nalo said with a soft sigh before the ground began to shake.
Nalo took a more balanced stance by spreading his legs and stood still while Rex only grinned knowing what was coming. Seconds later, a dual platform.
"All he said was you got extremely lucky and beat him by a hair. So, it should be a breeze to take you down." Rex spoke making his way to the red tower while Nalo sighed and shook his head.
"So, he lied. So much for friends," Nalo spoke making his way to the blue tower.
As the two rose and stared at one another, they set their decks with their life points being displayed by the towers.
"Well since you are friends with Weevil and you ever said it yourself. Beating me should be a breeze. Want to test that by letting me go first?" Nalo questioned making Rex laugh and smirk.
"Sure, I don't see why not? What can you do to be a threat?" Rex taunted while Nalo nodded and Drew five cards plus his sixth for his turn.
"I'll set four cards in my spell and trap card zone and also I set a monster. End." Nalo said with his chilled tone and looked at Rex who looked at the backfield face downs. The hologram system kicked in and produced the cards he had set making him blinks his eyes.
"Four face downs? Like they can protect you? I'm still going to trample you into the ground." Rex claimed as he drew.
"Come at me bruh," Nalo replied spreading his arms outwards making Rex grit his teeth.
"I summon Sabersaurus (1900/500) in attack position!" Rex shouted as his monster was summoned for all to see. "NOW ATTACK HIS FACE DOWN CARD AND DESTROY IT!"
On command, Sabersaurus ran straight towards Nalo's face-down monster and struck causing it to flip face up revealing Des Koala (1100/1800). Nalo's monster was destroyed but the effect kicked in.
"What kind of card is that?" Rex asked confused as his life points dropped.
"You lose four hundred life points per each card in your hand. Bringing you down to only two-thousand life points left." Nalo explained with a sigh.
"No matter, your stupid monster is still destroyed!" Rex countered as Des Koala shattered and was sent to the graveyard. "Next turn, your dino meat. I end."
"Guess we will see," Nalo spoke drawing a card and sighing before shrugging and looking at his field. "I end my turn."
"What? No monsters to save you this time? You asked for it." Rex claimed as if he was going to win.
"Do not underestimate my cards little lizard." Nalo countered looking at Rex with unimpressed eyes.
"Says you! I'm ending you right here and now." Rex spoke drawing his card and grinning.
"I summon Uraby in attack mode. Then activate the spell card Rush Recklessly to increase Sabersaurus (2600/500) attack followed by activating the equipped spell card United We stand on my Uraby (3100/800)." Rex continued to shout before laughing loudly. "It's over! You're done for!"
"Your right. It is over." Nalo spoke yawning loudly with his left hand covering his mouth
"You say that as if you've won!" Rex spoke confused at Nalo's reaction. He should be trembling in fear but instead, he was as relaxed as he first met him.
"I did. I chain activate and flip two of my trap cards. Two Just Desserts." Nalo said as two of his traps flipped dealing two thousand damage and dropping his life points down to zero.
"It seems your dinosaurs...have been burned by the flames of time and destruction," Nalo spoke while collecting his cards as well as Rex.
The two meet by the duel arena with Rex's head lowered.
"How did we not meet one another?" Rex asked handing Nalo one star.
"Because I never went to tournaments. Too much if a hassle." Nalo answered before looking around. "Where's your bug friend anyway?"
"He and Axel stayed behind to talk about something," Rex answered looking over his shoulder.
"Might as well take his Star as well. Mind leading me to your friend?" Nalo asked with a smirk.
At first, Rex was going to flat out refuse but he saw Nalo's right eye flicker blood red before nodding his head slowly.
-Forest-
It did not take long before the two came across a dual taking place. In front of them was Weevil and Axel dealing one another. Weevils life points were already close to zero while Axel did not even lose a single point. On Axel's field were three large white dragons looking down at Weevils open field. No defense what so ever before the three dragons laid waste to Weevil and the rest of his life points.
"AXEL! WHAT THE HELL?!" Rex shouted as Weevil walked over and handed over one of his two stars.
"It's nothing personal, just business. You see, I need to win this tournament to gain my families fortune. If I lose than I have to wait until another grand tournament takes place." Axel explained placing his new star on his wrist.
"Well, then how about this. I'll bet all my stars if you bet all yours? How about it?" Nalo challenged raising his glove up with a smile.
"My deck against your trash deck. You have yourself a deal." Axel said walking back to the tower.
"We will see who has a trash deck you little smock," Nalo whispered to himself entering the open tower.
"So then, I will go first," Axel claimed drawing his hand as well as the sixth before Nalo could say anything as he also drew his five cards.
"Hmm, I did not get such a good hand this time. That's unfortunate." Nalo said to himself while rubbing the back of his head with his free hand.
"Well too bad. Deal with the hand that fate has dealt you." Axel said with a chuckle.
"Smock," Nalo whispered.
"Now, I summon Ehren, Lightsworn Monk (1600/1000) in attack position," Axel shouted with a smile. "And then I shall activate the spell card Charge Of The Light Brigade."
Axel shouted again before milling three cards from the top of his deck. Two of which ended up being special summoned from the grave onto the field.
"Because they were sent from the deck to the grave, they are special summoned on to the field. Wulf, Lightsworn beast (2100/300) and Felis, Lightsworn Archer (1100/2000)." Axel continued to talk while Nalo just sighed.
"So much yelling," Nalo complained while looking on the field.
"I'm not done yet. Now I can search in my deck and bring to my hand one level four or lower Lightsworn monster from my deck to my hand." Axel continued to talk while Nalo was stuck thinking about what he could do.
"I choose Jain, Lightsworn Paladin." Axel finished before chuckling at his hand. "Since I was merciful enough to not go second. I end my turn."
"You can't attack the first turn and you even went first before I can voice my opinion." Nalo countered making Axel chuckle and cross his arms over his chest.
"As if the opinion of a lesser class would tell me otherwise," Axel claimed puffing his chest up with pride.
"...I am usually merciful to my enemies and show good sportsmanship but man have you done it now. Draw." Nalo spoke straightening up his posture and shrugging. "I activate Graceful Charity."
As he drew his three, he could only chuckle softly before putting Des Koala and Aqua Madoor in the grave.
"He tossed Des koala in the grave? I thought that was his ace card?" Rex asked watching the battle take place.
"Now I activate Pot Of Greed so I can draw two more cards," Nalo explained activating pot of greed and drawing two more cards. The sheer sight if the cards he grew made his smile turn into an evil grin.
"What's with that smug grin pled? What can you do to beat me and my angels?" Axel asked with an annoyed look on his face.
"I'm about to but for now...I'll set these four cards face-down as well as activate the spell card Level Limit - Area B and end my turn," Nalo said setting his four face downs as well as his continuous spell and ending his turn. With the spell on the field, all level four and higher monsters were forced to defense position.
"You are but delaying the inevitable. Draw." Axel claimed before drawing his card.
"You speak if you are going to win. Hate to break it to you but you've already lost." Nalo countered chuckling.
"We'll see who's laughing after I take you down! I summon Lyla, Lightsworn Sorcerer and activate her effect to destroy your spell card!" Axel shouted and watched as Nalo's spell was destroyed.
"You picked the wrong card," Nalo whispered before swaying his hands activating his entire backfield. "Not like it mattered."
As the four set cards flipped it revealed three just Desserts and one Ceasefire dealing a whopping eight thousand damage on one turn. Axel stood there dumbfounded at what just happened before his life points dropped to zero.
"How could I-I lose this bad?" Axel questioned out loud as if waiting for an answer.
He was met with silence with Nalo already descending to the ground and walked passed Rex and Weevil who stared at him just as dumbfounded. Nalo waited for Axel to come down with his hands slipped into his pockets. It did not take long before Axel finally came down with his head lowered and his hand holding his three-star chips. Gritting his teeth, he stretched his hand out and gave Nalo his only stars eliminating him from the tournament.
"Next time, before you open your mouth, steady your opponent. The last thing you want to do is underestimate someone who has the possibility of completely destroying you. Got that...boy?" Nalo spoke narrowing his eyes.
The mention of Boy made Axel raise his head as if surprised.
"How do you know my last name?" Axel asked in shock which caused Nalo to widen his eyes and stare at him for a solid three seconds as if trying to fit in what he just heard.
"Your last name...is Boy?" Nalo asked while Axel slowly nodded his head.
"Axel Boy. That is the name my father gave me." Axel confirmed before Nalo closed his eyes before leaning his head back and burst out laughing at the name he heard.
"BOY! HAHAHA." Nalo laughed loudly before he caught his breath and panted heavily at how loud he laughed.
"Don't laugh. My father's name is Arc Man! I have to earn my last name and until then this is my last name." Axel shouted trying to defend himself.
"Well, that is a cruel fate. None the less it was fun dealing you all. Especially you...BOY!" Nalo pointed out opening his eyes and staring at Axel who seemed to be about to cry.
"You bully!" Axel shouted with all his might while closing his eyes.
"I will deny I bully people, thankfully I only bully those who think they can bully others. Does it make me right? Nope. Does it feel good to crush those who think themselves better? Oh yeah." Nalo countered before walking away while adding three more stars to his wristband.
After leaving the three to argue about Axel betraying their team, he wandered deeper into the dark forest alone with his hands in his pockets. He did not know what to expect but it was clear that they had to be careful. As powerful as his deck was, it robbed him of the one thing he wished, a tough fight. Almost every duel he had was ended in a mere turn or two depending on his draws.
"Man, I need to find myself a challenge or I might as well just make my way back to the castle," Nalo complained before seeing dualist at a clearing. Seeing this, he could not help but walk over to the dualist and wave his hand.
"Sup man," Nalo called out as to make his presence known. The dualist he called out was sitting near a fire revealing his clothing as well as a small portion of his body. He wore blue jean pants as well as a zipped up sleeveless vest with running shoes. His complex was fair while his hair was silver and spiked downward passed his neck. Both eyes had a teal color that continued to stare into the firepit. From his stance he seemed to be able to stand an easy six feet one inch tall.
"And you are?" He asked not taking his eyes off the fireplace.
"Nalo Ali'i. You?" Nalo asked sitting next to him looking at the fire as well.
"Riku Borris. Why are you here?" Riku asked now looking at Nalo.
"Well, honestly I am here to find answers and possibly find out why my name is named as such. I heard in my family it holds a secret meaning and..." Nalo was cut off with Riku chuckling softly and shaking his head.
"I meant why are you here instead of getting more stars?" Riku asked standing up and dusting himself off. Nalo could not help but look at his wrist seeing he was down to one more star chip.
"Oh right, well I was but I saw that you had a fire and it is rather cold out so yeah. Seemed like a win-win situation sort of." Nalo answered standing up as well while Riku smirked and nodded.
"Well, I need more stars and it seems you have more than enough to spare. I am cooking some fish so why not we dual for a star chip as well as dinner at stake?" Riku asked pulling his deck out and aiming it at Nalo who chuckled and nodded his head.
"Alright, I gotta warn you though. I am undefeated right now." Nalo said walking away as the ground began to shutter and shift with an arena coming out of the ground away from the fireplace.
"I wish I could say the same," Riku said making his way to his station.
As the two shuffled their deck, Nalo could not help but feel a little bad about how he was already down to one-star but pushed it into the back of his mind.
"You first Riku." Nalo called out making Riku nod his head in thanks drawing his six cards.
"I summon Fiendish Rhino Warrior (1400/900) in attack mode and special summon Cir, Malebranche Of The Burning Abyss (1600/1200) and end my turn," Riku spoke with a confident smile.
"Two monsters on your first turn. Not bad." Nalo complimented before drawing his card. "I set two cards down and set one monster facedown before ending my turn."
"I tribute Cir to summon Majesty's Fiend (2400/1000)," Riku said making Nalo blink and look at the fiend monster. "Monster effects cannot be activated."
"... well damn. Never saw that card before." Nalo admitted while scratching the back of his head concerned about loading to someone for a change.
"Of course not. I'm a card tester for Pegasus. Because of him, I was able to both enter tournaments and even keep the cards I test. Sadly, I am only the second strongest card tester." Riku explained with a shrug while laughing softly to himself.
"Second strongest? Now things are getting more entertaining." Nalo said softly to himself while smirking lightly but then remembered what he was out it.
"I attack your face down monster with Majesty's Fiend," Riku commanded as the fiend attacked Nalo's face down destroying it and preventing its effect from activating. "And I attack you directly for fourteen hundred."
"You are the first person to damage me for a long time." Nalo complimented while looking at his life points drop down to twenty-six hundred.
"Thank you. Well, that is all I have for now. I end my turn." Riku said crossing his arms over his chest.
"Alright, my draw," Nalo said drawing his card and smiling.
"I activate the spell card, Level Limit - Area B. Forcing all monsters on the field that are level four and higher to go to defense," Nalo spoke sighing in relief.
"Well played." Riku complimented this time making Nalo chuckle.
"Honestly I just drew that card. Alright, I set one monster and end my turn." Nalo said setting his monster and ending his turn.
"Thankfully I have monsters lower than four," Riku spoke drawing his card and smiling. "Like such. I summon Alich, Malebranche of The Burning Abyss (1200/0). Now I attack your face down with Rhino warrior."
Nalo sighed in relief at putting a monster on the field when he had the chance or else he would have lost. As Rhino warrior attacked the facedown, it revealed Aqua Madoor (1200/2000) causing Riku to take damage and dropping his life points to thirty-four hundred.
"That's one high defense monster. Here I thought you played only effect monsters." Riku said with a chuckle making Nalo tilt his head.
"Oh? You caught my attention now. Seems we have much to talk about after our duel." Nalo said with a chuckle while Riku ended his turn.
"Alright, I'll draw and set one card in my spell/trap zone before summoning Des Koala (1100/1800) in attack mode.
"Why attack mode?" Riku asked confused seeing as not only was its effect useless now but it was weaker than his own weak monster by one hundred.
"Why not? He can't be used for anything else for now." Nalo replied making Riku chuckle and shake his head.
"Could be another monster to take the hit for you in terms of defense." Riku countered making Nalo blink and laugh slightly louder before shrugging.
"Too late. Already took my hand off it. I end my turn. Back to you Riku." Nalo spoke with a smile.
"I'll activate Sekka's light. I get to draw two cards. The backfire of this card is this is the only spell card in my deck. Now for its other effect. I remove it from play to reveal one card in my hand and shuffle it into the deck to draw one more card." Riku explained revealing one monster before shuffling it into his deck and drawing a card.
"Risky card. So, you have three copies of that card I am guessing?" Nalo asked making Riku nod his head.
"Yes, I have two more copies in my deck. To others, a big risk. Thankfully, in this deck, my deck helps with spell and trap card destruction." Riku said with a smile.
"...but your Majesty's Fiend prevents monster activation. Since it doesn't specify...that means all zones. Hand, field, and grave. So... you kind of locked yourself down." Nalo pointed out making Riku chuckle and sigh.
"Yeah, I know. This is how I lost the other game. I got too cocky and challenged him without knowing what deck he had or cards till it was too late." Riku admitted before looking at the field while smiling.
"Well, we can talk it over after this duel," Nalo spoke with a smile with Riku nodding his head in agreement.
"I attack your Koala with Rhino for three hundred damage." Nalo nodded and looked his life points drop a little more down to twenty-three hundred. "I end my turn."
"Alright, I draw and... end my turn," Nalo said with a chuckle.
"Alright. Draw and see what I got." Riku spoke before thinking a little before sighing and looking at Nalo.
"I end my turn," Riku said after he discarded one card from his hand.
"Seems we are both at a standstill," Nalo stated as if he were a cowboy making Riku laugh softly and nod in agreement.
"I can't take out your Aqua and you can't attack with your monsters. It all depends on draws." Riku said while Nalo drew his card and widened his eyes before sighing as if disappointed.
"Seems I'm about to lose," Riku said with a smile.
"Sadly yeah. Your monster stops their effects from activating but it does not stop anything else." Nalo said setting one card down in the spell and trap card zone. "I end."
Once Riku drew his card to signify it was his turn, Nalo flipped all his face down cards revealing a Just Desserts, Ceasefire, and two Secret Blast dealing a total of three thousand eight hundred damage dropping Riku's life points down the zero.
"Good duel," Nalo spoke meeting Riku by the arena with a smile and holding his hand out to shake.
"I am not going to lie. That deck you have, it really is an annoying deck." Riku admitted before shaking his hand.
"You are not the only one that says that. You are one of the few who admitted it to my face though. Others just leave without saying it was a good game. I can't blame them though. It is a very annoying deck." Nalo said causing the two to laugh before Riku handed him his last star which he took.
"No mercy right?" Riku said walking over to the fire and pulling out a box that contained his fish and began to cook it.
"It is a tournament." Nalo reminded Riku before sitting next to him.
"Yeah, I know. I tried. Guess I have a skill for challenging those better than me." Riku said staring at the fish.
"You just need to balance the deck out more is all. Failure is the greatest teacher after all. Harsh and merciless. Either learn from it or repeat it." Nalo lectured with a sigh.
"That's deep man," Riku spoke handing the now cooked fish to Nalo who placed his hand out and opened up his own bag and pulled out a bag of chips as well as a tuna sandwich.
"Expect the unexpected," Nalo said with a smirk before trading food for the cooked fish.
"Uhh, thanks," Riku spoke taking the sandwich as he took a large bite from it.
"So Riku, you said I mainly used effect monsters. Either you've seen me duel before or I dueled you before. Which is it?" Nalo asked taking a bit of the cooked fish.
"I saw you dueling in a card shop. There were few people but I entered the shop to get a few cards and saw you completely destroying dualists one after another and at times multiple opponents at once. From what I saw, you used Des Koala only and then combined with Just Desserts. That was your main combo. I never expected to see you in this tournament." Riku explained with a chuckle before taking another big bite of the sandwich.
"Yeah, things happened and well. Here I am. Funny story really. I fought Pegasus at the card shop and I defeated him without losing a single life point so he invited me. Well, here I am. In my first tournament." Nalo admitted taking another bite of the now half eaten fish.
Riku could not help but cough at the mention of not only this being his first tournament but he also beat Pegasus by himself and without losing a single life point.
"Not only did you beat the creator of Dual monsters but this is also your first tournament! With a deck like yours, why didn't you enter a tournament?" Riku asked looking directly at Nalo now who just shrugged as he finished the fish and put the stick down.
"I just don't feel like getting all worked up for cocky punks. I had my fill with one dual monsters champion called Weevil Underwood." Nalo said with a heavy sigh.
"You beat him too? How?" Riku asked with a chuckle finishing his sandwich as well.
"Just like how I beat Rex Raptor. Let them spam the field with monsters and use Just Desserts. Easy as Pie I would say." Nalo answered making the two laugh.
"So what did you join this tournament for?" Riku asked laying flat on his back looking up at the clear blue sky.
"Answers. I am not here for money or fame. I have little care for such things. I have a decent job that pays somewhat well so I got no problem with that." Nalo answered again while laying back as well while crossing his arms over his chest.
"Answers to what?" Riku asked looking at Nalo again.
"My family name. Ali'i. It has a root to the olden days and I cannot find a link anywhere on why my name was such. Thankfully I found a lead here and Pegasus has it." Nalo admitted closing his eyes and sighing.
"That is really deep man. Well, I hope you get the answers your looking for man." Riku spoke looking back up at the sky before closing his eyes.
-Next morning-
By the time Nalo woke up, Riku was gone yet left a note behind that hopefully in the future they would meet again. Sighing, he sat up and stretched his arms over his head before standing up and stretching his legs out. Looking around, he looked at his left arm and saw it pulsing slightly with dark energy before it finally faded.
"It is way too early for this shenanigans," Nalo complained before dusting his rump off and making his way towards the mountain range with his hands in his pockets.
It took a few hours before he reached the mountain range in which he was panting heavily at the sheer fact he hiked from one side to another. Sitting down, he took a bottled water from his bag and gulped it down thanking himself for filling his bottle from a river a few yards away. Looking straight, he saw a young man walking towards him with his hands behind his back. With the sun rising from behind the male, it was hard for Nalo to clearly see him as he had to place his hand over his eyes as to not get blinded by the sun.
"Uhh, hi there. Are you a dualist?" Nalo asked before standing up seeing the two were almost the same height but Nalo was slightly shorter.
He did not answer but simply nodded his head. With the sun, blocked by the other form, Nalo could get a better look at him. The stranger wore normal jean pants, a white t-shirt, and for some reason a black jacket. Even though it was hot, he showed no sign of him sweating. None the less, he had a lean build and even more so fair skin yet black messy hair and hazel colored eyes.
"Alright cool. Uhh, wanna duel?" Nalo asked another question. Again, he said nothing and simply nodded before walking backward with the ground shuttering and an arena rising from between the two.
"Weird. Right, let's get this started." Nalo spoke entering his side along with the stranger on the other side. "So, who wants to go first?"
"You." He finally spoke making Nalo raise a brow and nod his head while shuffling his deck and setting it on the format before drawing six cards.
"Alright, not a bad hand actually," Nalo admitted while planning out his moves. "For now I activate One Day Of Peace. We both draw a card and we both do not damage until your next turn." Nalo explained as he and the other drew a card.
"Thank you." The other spoke while Nalo smiled and nodded his head.
"Alright, I'll set one monster face down and end my turn," Nalo spoke sighing.
The other simply looked at his options before also setting a monster face down and ending his turn.
"I set another monster face down followed two face-down cards in my back row. I'll end my turn after that." Nalo finished setting his cards and ending his turn allowing the other to draw a card.
"I'll set two cards in my back row than activated Mystical space typhoon and target the card on your right." He pointed at making Nalo blink at the card he picked.
"Well damn. I won't activate it. There goes that plan." Nalo spoke sending his Ceasefire to the grave.
"I end." He spoke making Nalo nod and draw.
"I'll set another facedown monster and end my turn," Nalo said feeling that something was up with this dualist. Unlike others, this one seemed more collective and cautious.
"Draw." He spoke drawing a card and set a monster before ending.
"A Standstill? Surprising." Nalo spoke with a nervous chuckle.
"For now." The other spoke smiling.
"True. I sacrifice both your monsters and summon Lava golem (3000/2500) to your side of the field." Nalo explained before tributing both the stranger's monsters to summon his own and his side of the field. "I end my turn."
"Well played." He complimented before drawing his card.
"During your standby phase, you lose a thousand life points," Nalo explained watching as the stranger's life points dropped to three thousand now.
"Hmm, then I must get rid of him. I activate the ritual spell card Chaos Form to Ritual Summon Blue-eyes Chaos MAX Dragon." The stranger spoke with a grin now.
"I don't want to ask but I have too. What's it's effect?" Nalo asked a little shaken.
"This card cannot be targeted or destroyed by your card effects. Also, if this card attacks a defense monster, deal double piercing damage." The other explained making Nalo widen his eyes in sheer shock and causing his heart to pound rapidly.
"...what the hell kind of card is that?!" Nalo shouted with his hands stretched over his head.
"One in the testing stage. So far it proved to be... merciless. I attack for game." He spoke before Nalo gritted his teeth and flipped his trap card gravity bind.
"I chain and activate my trap card Gravity Bind. Level four and higher monsters on the field cannot attack." Nalo spoke making the other nod his head and sigh.
"I guess I'll stop my attack than for now. Main phase two. I activate Galaxy Cyclone and destroy Gravity Bind before ending my turn." He spoke destroying Gravity Bind.
"Well, this duel just got insane," Nalo claimed with an intense glare as he drew a card to nod and look at the other. "I activate Swords of Revealing Light. This will buy me three turns to try and turn the tables." Nalo admitted but still smiling with excitement.
"Or less?" He claimed making Nalo shiver before shaking it off and looking at his field sighing.
"I'd rather take some damage then get wrecked in one hit," Nalo said to himself as he flipped all his facedown monsters to attack mode revealing an Aqua Madoor (1200/2000) and a Marshmallon (300/500).
"Princess Of Tsurugi (900/700) effect. Five hundred damage for each spell and trap on your side of the field." Nalo spoke as the others life points dropped to two thousand now.
"Smart move putting them all into attack." He complimented making Nalo chuckle nervously.
"Yeah, I'm not dumb enough to get one shot. I have enough of that stuff on my video games at home." Nalo replied making the other laugh softly as if he knew the pain. "I end my turn."
He nodded and drew his card before chuckling and activating another Mystical Space Typhoon and destroying the swords of revealing light.
"I guess I attack your Marshmallon (300/500) for three thousand and seven hundred damage. Even though he cannot be destroyed by battle, you still get hit very hard." He pointed out as Nalo's life points dropped to three hundred life points. "I end."
"Come on deck. Help me out like always." Nalo begged his deck before drawing and getting Graceful Charity making Nalo smile and nod his head.
"Here we go. I activate Graceful Charity. Draw three than discarding two." Nalo spoke drawing three and widened his eyes in shock before smirking.
"I think I can pull this off," Nalo told himself before discarding a Des Koala and Spirit Reaper. Afterward, Nalo set three face downs. "End."
"...I don't know why but I have a feeling I'm about to lose." He spoke drawing a card before Nalo widened his eyes and swayed his hands.
"I chain your draw with my four face downs," Nalo shouted for once before flipping his back row cards revealing two Just Desserts and tow Secret Blast to deal a total of two thousand and eighteen damage.
"My Akua that was the most intense duel I had in ages!" Nalo claimed as the two descended to the ground and met with one another.
"You are one of the rare few to actually beat me. Good game." He spoke stretching his hand out to shake his own.
"Good Game indeed. I enjoyed it. It has been ages since I could actually duel and even beg my deck to help me." Nalo said panting softly while bringing his hand to shock the stranger's hand.
"Sorry for not introducing myself sooner. I usually don't run into any real dualists. People I fought lately have been...boring. My name is White Blade." He introduced himself causing Nalo to raise a brow but shrug.
"Not the weirdest name I have heard these past days. I mean, there is a contestant that has Boy as his last name?" Nalo admitted laughing before Blade followed suit.
"Are you serious?" Blade asked making Nalo nod his head while wiping away an imaginary tear.
"Yeah man, no lie. His name is Axel Boy." Nalo spoke making Blade laugh more.
"I remember him now. He spoke of himself so high. Just because his father is the head manager to Mister Pegasus' Industry. He thinks he can talk big." Blade claimed before he finally calmed down before handing Nalo three star chips.
"Three? I am fine with one." Nalo spoke looking at the stars than at Blade.
"I was hired to actually take out other dualists. I noticed you needed only three more before you got your ten. All you have to do now is make your way to the castle. Under it should be a pathway you have to take. Once you make it past the area you will be fighting against the paradox brothers." Blade warned Nalo but just chuckled.
"Should I be worried about them?" Nalo asked making Blade blink and laugh loudly before looking at Nalo with a serious look.
"No. They are not even half as good as me." Blade admitted while sighing and walking off.
"Where are you going?" Nalo asked making Blade stop and look over his shoulder smiling.
"Back to my job. There are still dualists around and I still have a part to do." Blade answered before turning and continuing to walk off. "Don't worry. I have a feeling we will run into one another again in the future."
With that, White Blade had left before Nalo sighed and made his way towards the castle to easily find the tunnel leading into the castle and entered it. While he journeyed deeper into the tunnel, he ended up running into a large doorway blocking his path.
"And I am guessing this is where I fight the brothers," Nalo called out causing the two brothers to walk out of the shadows smiling
"If you want to continue to the castle, you will have to beat both of us. Since you are the only one, you will fight us by yourself. If we win, we get all your star chips." The brothers spoke in unison before Nalo shrugged and took his deck out to begin shuffling it.
"Even if you beat us alone somehow, you must pick which door leads to where you need to go because the other leads to an endless maze where you will be trapped forever." The spoke in unison while grinning.
"That's it? A riddle and a dual. Not going to lie, it is a first for me on solving a riddle after a dual but right now we duel and get it out of the way." Nalo spoke taking his deck out and shuffling it as the brothers escorted him to the duel arena.
"Alright...shall we? How about you two go first?" Nalo offered in which the brother looked at one another and smirked before nodding and taking the first turn.
"Even though you are on your own, you will only have two thousand life points," Para spoke with a grin.
"Do you two also have only two thousand life points?" Nalo asked making the brothers nod their head. "Than I am fine with that."
Meanwhile, Nalo drew his five cards and looked it to find that each...were his main trap cards. Three Just Desserts and two Ceasefires.
"This is going to be a short duel," Nalo whispered to himself.
-1 turns later-
"Alright with the duel out of the way which door to pick," Nalo spoke shuffling his deck and slipping it into his pocket sighing.
"H-How did we lose did we lose when he did not even play a monster?" Para asked looking at Dox.
"We had everything set? So how did you beat us even though we changed the field?" Dox asked also looking for an answer.
"How else? Why risk losing life points when I can just burn you all to a cinder. Added, I was either really lucky or you two were just extremely unlucky today against me." Nalo spoke with a sigh while looking at the two doors.
"No matter. Now you have to pick which door leads to the castle, and which one to the endless maze. Choose wisely." Paradox spoke crossing their arms over their chest grinning once more.
"So annoying. Can't a laid back guy just enjoy some normal stuff then shouting." Nalo complained before turning to look at both of the brothers. "So one lies, and one tells the truth. I am sure I can ask a question yes? Since I beat you both alone I believe I can ask two questions. It is...only fair."
"Hmmm, he has a point. That battle was one-sided yet we are the ones who were creamed." Para spoke looking at Dox.
"Fine, two questions and no more," Dox said smirking still.
"Alright, my first question. Do you both fear death?" Nalo asked grinning widely with dark energy flowing out of his entire body as well as causing the lights to begin flickering on and off. Paradox looked around in sheer panic and fear before looking back at Nalo who's right eye was glowing blood red with rage.
"Yes!" Para shouted clearly in sheer fear.
"No!" Dox shouted trying to stay calm but was clearly shivering in fear.
"This is no question but rather a warning. If these doors are rigged...I do not mind staying here forever. In turn, you both will suffer for all eternity with me." Nalo warned narrowing his eyes at them. Now, which is the right door...Para?" Nalo asked walking up to Para and glaring at him. The two locked eyes and Para slowly pointed at Dox's door while Dox stood frozen in fear.
"Mahalo. My advice, don't do stupid things like this anymore. You don't know if you will run into someone like me in the future. You were lucky this time but next time...is a different story. Not everyone has patience." Nalo lectured before entering through the right door that leads to the castle smirking.
/To be continued…
That was rather long but yeah I did cut a good amount of the duels in half and most of the characters were played differently by a bit, especially the Paradox brothers.
Hope you all liked it. Please leave a review.