The Cartographers
A Yu-Gi-Oh fanfic by
Dyne Sonne
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh, any of its characters, etc. etc. etc. The only thing I own is a number of cards I purchased years ago, and a few cards I've purchased recently, as well as all of the OCs I use. I use the 8000LP system of battle, and battle from the first season only. No motorcycles. Enjoy!
"Your move," stated a tall, blonde haired young man, constantly shuffling the cards in his hand. "Better make it a good one. You're down to a quarter of your life points; and when they're all gone, I'll take your rarest card!"
"Takeru, I told you I didn't agree to that," argued a man of similar height, his oddly spiky black hair rustling with a light breeze. He drew a card, and swore under his breath. Great Maju Garzett only helps with a monster on his side of the field – which he had none. Yet. He glanced one more time through the rest of his hand: De-Fusion, Apprentice Magician, and Dark Magician. Nothing too handy; not this turn. He set Apprentice Magician in face down defense mode, then set his De-Fusion. With his opponent's Blue Eyes White Dragon down on the field, and a minor knowledge of Takeru's Light-based deck, Minato knew it was only a matter of time until Takeru summoned his Blue Eyes Ultimate. He only hoped he could find a card that could keep him alive for the time being; in the meantime, Minato ended his turn, glaring across the playing field.
"I want that Magician of Black Chaos!" Takeru shouted, drawing a card. He glared at it, before summoning it to the field in face-up attack mode: a Thunder Nyan Nyan. Not what Minato wanted to see, but better than Polymerization.
"Black Chaos? Oh, Takeru, how behind you are," Minato grinned, waiting for the attack. "I've got rarer cards than that."
"How nice of you to admit that to me. In that case, Thunder Nyan Nyan, attack his face down monster!" Minato winced, watching as the oni lady struck a drum solo, calling down a thunder strike on his defenseless magician. Takeru grinned, as he called out his next attack. "Go, Blue Eyes White Dragon! Destroy his lifepoints!"
Takeru's grin was suddenly vanished as a tiny little form valiantly raised up her staff for protection – which was obviously not enough. Minato watched as his poor Magician of Faith was destroyed.
"I have to thank you for that Card Destruction you sent my way earlier. Combined with my Apprentice Magician's special effect - which allowed me to special summon a level two or lower monster card face down on the field - and Magician of Faith's flip effect activated by your Blue Eyes' attack, I get to take back the one magic card I have in my graveyard."
"I doubt it will do you any good."
"No? Then end your turn – if you dare."
"Since there is little else I can do this turn, fine. I end my turn."
"Wonderful," Minato deadpanned, as he reached for his deck. He drew a card, glancing at it out of the corner of his eye. Wonderful. Emblem of Dragon Destroyer. Too bad even with Buster Blader there was no way to summon him. Whatever, it'll allow a deck reshuffle. "I activate the magic card 'Emblem of Dragon Destroyer', allowing me to retrieve a Buster Blader from my deck."
"Go ahead. I won't allow you to summon it."
"Unimportant. I just want to change my deck around," Minato said, reshuffling his deck. "Then I activate the magic card I drew from my graveyard: Swords of Revealing Light! Finally, I end my turn."
"You delay the inevitable."
"Takeru, I've beaten you six times to your beating me only two. What makes you think now will be any different?"
"Because, Minato, some of us have bigger plans with our duel monsters than just fooling around after school with friends." A short, mildly overweight boy on the sidelines snorted.
"What's wrong with hanging out with friends?" the boy yelled. "What's wrong with spending time at the game shop?"
"Don't you understand, Benny-boy? It's not enough anymore," Takeru stated. "I'm entering the new tournament – and your rare cards will be my entry ticket. You will be the fourth victory I need, and when I show all the rare cards I've won, few will want to face me. It'll be an easy ride to the top," he drew another card, placing it in his hand. "I end my turn."
"What's the deal with this tournament anyways, Takeru?" Minato asked, drawing a card. Pot of Greed. Perfect. "It's not even sponsored by KaibaCorp!"
"Nor by Industrial Illusions!" Ben supplied.
"Who cares who it's supplied by? The reward is simply amazing! A complete map to a hidden location, full of the most powerful cards and decks in the entire world!"
"Now I'm interested," Minato grinned, the thrill of the game finally sparking in him. "And I'll take the win – of both the tournament and this duel – with this card right here! Pot of Greed!" Minato drew two cards, glancing at them. Another Magician of Faith, and the Black Illusion Ritual. "I set a monster in defense position, and end my turn."
"Some victory turn, you fool." Takeru drew another card, and grinned. "One more turn, I'm sure, and you will be facing the fiercest might known to Duel Monsters!"
"Nice to know."
"Your move. Make it count."
"I most certainly will. See, I'll flip Magician of Faith into attack mode, and take my Pot of Greed back from the graveyard. Which I will then activate!" Minato watched the tension form on Takeru's face. Could see him sweat. Well, he'll know he has a reason for it soon, as Minato draws… Mystic Plasma Zone, which Minato activated, and Opticlops, which he then summoned in defense mode. "Your move."
"If you're going to do something, do it fast. This is the last turn your Swords of Revealing Light stays in play, and it won't do you a damn bit of good! Behold!" Takeru shouted, drawing his next card. "Watch as I activate the magic card in my hand, fusing together the Blue Eyes White Dragon I have on the field, as well as the two in my hand, to form the singularly most powerful monster in all of Duel Monsters! The Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon!" Minato could only watch in horror as the dragon before him engorged itself, two heads sprouting from its shoulders. "The time of your loss is nigh!"
Minato swore under his breath. It truly was an impressive sight to behold. He could see the monster's attack points scroll ever steadily higher and higher. 3500. 3800. 4200. 4500. He needed a card. Raigeki; another Apprentice Magician; another Swords of Revealing Light – did he have another one? Something, anything! He could feel his heart sinking into his stomach and it made him a little sick. De-Fusion would not help here. One monster at 4500 was defendable. Three at 3000 were not.
"Isn't it wonderful? I won my third blue eyes off a kid last battle, but this – this beautiful creature – believe it or not, was in one of the very first booster packs I ever bought. And next turn, it will spell your destruction. This is your last turn. Forgive me, friend – I want your cards."
"Takeru, this is crazy! I can't believe you'd pull that monster out in a friendly duel!" Ben yelled.
"Ben, relax. This stopped being a friendly duel the moment we summoned our first monsters. But it will end on friendly terms, regardless of the results. Takeru, you have the advantage, I admit, but I will turn this around; and I will make you tell me what got you in this ridiculous state. And I will do it all with this next card. I don't know what it is. But I've gone through most of the monster cards I have, so, watch as I dominate this round by activating this magic card! I trust in my deck!" Minato drew a card straight from his deck, and placed it face up on the field. An orange and blue swirl resulted. Minato's eyes widened in amazement, while Takeru's narrowed in trepidation.
"You have your fusion monster, I have mine. Behold, as I discard the Dark Magician and Buster Blader to send out my rarest card, the Dark Paladin!" A soldier magician in dark armor with gold trim stepped out of the swirl, holding aloft some odd combination between a sword and a staff. Its measly 2900 attack, however paled against that of the Ultimate Dragon.
"Your paladin is weak!" Takeru yelled, grinning.
"Actually, Takeru – your dragon just isn't as powerful as you think it is. See, here's the thing – Dark Paladin's special ability increases its attack power by 500 points for every dragon-type monster on the field… and in both players' graveyards!"
"But… but that's –"
"10 monsters in total, I believe – increasing Dark Paladin's attack power from 2900, to 7900! Your Ultimate Dragon is mere dust in his eyes! Dark Paladin! Eviscerate his Ultimate Dragon!" All eyes had to be shielded from the bright holographic light searing out from the fusion monster battle as Takeru's lifepoints dropped from 6400 to an even 3000
"No... No! You can't do this to me!"
"I'm sorry, I'm afraid I have to. I activate the quickplay magic card, De-Fusion!" Dark Paladin shifted, and suddenly one monster became two: two monsters that hadn't yet attacked. "Go, Dark Magician! Destroy his Thunder Nyan Nyan!" 3000 lifepoints became 2400. "And now, Buster Blader! End this duel once and for all by attacking his lifepoints directly!" 2400 became zero. Takeru slumped over his console, completely defeated. He had been so close; so, so close. He almost didn't notice Minato walking up, and did not react until he was next to him.
"You win." Takeru glanced up at Minato, still slumped down.
"What was this about, Takeru? You up and challenge me in the middle of school, go off about this tournament, and apparently you've been taking people's rares? That's illegal you know!" Minato's chocolate eyes were filled with concern, but Takeru just gazed calmly back. His green eyes were sad, and he tore his eyes away to disconsolately ruffle through his deck.
"Here," he said, handing a card face down to Minato. "My only original card."
"Original card? Are all of these cards you took from other people?"
"No, you idiot. Remember how a few years ago a bunch of duelists got uppity and demanded Industrial Illusions reprint thousands of cards so they couldn't be exclusive?"
"Such as the Blue Eyes White Dragons Seto Kaiba still uses?"
"Exactly. Well, there were actually two reprints. One had only a few cards of it released to the general public, and in those cards Pegasus added a new game for excitement, but no one discovered it for years."
"A new game?"
"Here, look." Takeru took a small penlight out of his pocket and shined it on the back of the card. Some writing and what could have been part of a mountain appeared.
"What is this?"
"It's part of a map, obviously. A map to the treasure – an entire collection of reprints of every rare card there is – the sheer incredibleness of the entire thing is astounding. You can only see the map under a certain kind of light, but look! Here it is!" Takeru's excitement began to rub off on Minato, who became incredibly energized.
"How did you manage to get a hold of this card?"
"It was in a limited edition booster released at special events by the Cartographers! They're the guys holding this tournament, and in order to enter you need at least one of these marked original cards. I got this one in a pack the same day you got your Chaos Magician, so I assumed your card was another original. That's why I wanted it. They only put it in the rarest of cards."
"Which is why you're dueling people for their rares. Here, let me see your penlight, I'll run it over my deck." Takeru handed Minato the penlight. Just as he was about to flick it on, a loud ringing noise interrupted him.
"We gotta get to class guys!" Ben yelled from the below them.
"We'll continue this after class – Teach will kill us if we're late and Rachel won't be happy either. So don't think this is over, Takeru. If there's a tournament going on, I want a part. Keep your card, it's yours; I'll find my own way in," Minato grinned at him, patting him on the back. "I always do." The two of them took off at a run towards class, chasing after Ben who had left before them. "Oh, and Takeru!" Takeru chanced a glance at him, the two of them racing along.
"What?"
"I won this round, so I get to ask Rachel out."
"You can ask her out if you can beat me there! If I beat you, I'm gonna ask her!"
"You're on!" The two kept running, leaving Ben behind.
"Wait up you guys! I don't like running! Heeeeeey!"
So there's the first chapter. We're introduced to three of the main characters, Minato, the protagonist, Takeru, the rival, and Ben, the friend. We also hear about some other characters. Who is this Rachel? What is going on with the Cartographers and these marked cards? Any questions/concerns? Review and ask! Reviews are always appreciated! Flames are allowed, but please be concise, practical, and explain yourself well. No one likes to read "this sux" whereas a constructive "This part here, where Minato and Takeru are dueling, was not written well and here is why" is a thousand times better. Thanks for reading!