Story info:
This is the sequel to the story Tournament. This chapter will explain the method of the finals, which is completely new and fairly odd. Please review, comment, and tell me what you think so far. Anyway, the main feature with a fairly unexciting title:
Chapter 1:
The Engine Revs
"Where...am I...?" Syrus questioned the darkness. Suddenly, a screen lit up the small room. The room consisted of a sincle chair in front of the screen and a now revealed key board. He stumbled in an attempt to move toward the screen and caught the wall with his hand to prevent falling. His palm was prodded but an outward point of the wall, which he finally realized to be the light switch. He turned it on, and moved for the computer.
As he sat down, he began to analyze the instruments in front of him. Everything seemed to be highly advanced technology. The first comand prompt appeared on the screen, "Remove your dueling deck from the duel disk you are using, and put on the duel disk on this desk." Syrus looked and found the new duel disk to be a bright green color, but aside from that, it was no different than the one he was already wearing.
"For purposes of database entries and to ensure only legitimate players are participating in this tournament, type in your name and the name of your rarest card." Syrus recalled filling out a sheet at the beginning of the tournament, and he suddenly realized what the sign in sheet was used for. This tournament was designed to be airtight, Syrus thought in mild admiration for Kaiba.
After entering his name and "Powerbond" into the database, the identification was successful, and his deck name appeared on the screen along with a picture of him and a ranking according to duelist skill. He sighed at his 2 star(out of five) ranking, but expected it. He almost couldn't believe he made it to the finals. However, he did think with great curiosity what Jaden's rank was.
The screen then stated the rules for the finals, but not the manner of how the finals would be conducted. It said:
1. The loser of a duel will surrender his/her rarest card to the winner.
2. A player is allowed to decline taking a card from his/her oponent.
3. If a player cheats, he/she will be disqualified.
After clicking, "continue" on the screen, the list of the finalist and their deck name and their rank in parentheses. It was as follows:
1. Dolusgenn, Ray -Light in the Darkness (ooooo)
2. Kaiba, Seto -Burst Stream of Destruction(ooooo)
3. ????, Keith-Thieving is Succeeding (ooo)
4. Mutou, Yugi-Games of the Soul(ooooo)
5. Pegasus, Maximillion-Toon Channel(oooo)
6. Princeton, Chazz-Hell Union(ooo)
7. Thompson, Lyndon-The Divine God(o)
8. Truesdale, Syrus-Go Vehicroid!(oo)
9. Truesdale, Zane-Cyber Dark Dragon(oooo)
10. Valentine, Mai-Harpie's Pet(ooo)
11. Wheeler, Joey-Last Gamble(oooo)
12. Yuki, Jaden-Neos Neos(oooo)
Syrus was amazed that his friend had obtained a high ranking, but even more shocked that someone weaker than him made it to the tournament finals. However, he suddenly realized that with 12 people, this tournament design would be anything but normal. The screen finally stated, "If you are ready for the finals and accept all terms, please step through the door. A piece of the wall slid into the ceiling, revealing a long hall with a door at the end.
Syrus went down the hall, noting the cooler temperature of being inside. The hallway was well lit for luminescent lighting, but he gave the credit to the small dimensions of the room. He gripped the handle and opened it.
As he stepped through the doorway, he realized that he was the last to come in. A man with slicked hair and a suit on said, "And now, the last finalist has joined us. Now, I will begin explaining the rules of the tournament finals. First off, I would like everyone to notice the color of your duel disk. Please, assemble with other people of the same color in the designated areas: Green, Yellow, and Red." As he counted off each color, a different color square in the floor lit up the dark room with the respected light color. Syrus made a move for the green as Jaden moved for the Red. Jaden waved obnoxiously to his friend, but too embarrassed, Syrus pretended not to notice.
"These randomly selected teams will be given a team captain with. But, before I announce that, I will explain how the round is to be conducted. The first round of the tournament finals is for four of the competitors to be eliminated. In order to eliminate a duelist, you must defeat him in a duel, but a team leader cannot be selected as an oponent except by a member of his own team. If the team member loses to the captain, he is kicked out of the tournament. If the leader loses, the winner will become captain, and the loser will leave the finals. The team leaders will decide, between themselves, who on their team will face who on another team. The team members, except against the leader, will not be playing each other. Team members cannot duel unless challenged by their team mate. If a the fourth person to lose loses while other duels are going on, then all the other games are void, and the second phase of the finals will begin.
"In order to determine team leaders, it will be a simple matter of rank. For team yellow, the highest ranking member is Seto Kaiba. For team Green, the highest ranking member is Ray Dolusgenn. And for the Red team, the highest ranking member is Yugi Motou.
"The final rules for this round are this. If this clock, set for one hour, hits zero before all the games are finished, all duelist involved in a duel at that time will be disqualified and the captains along with anybody not disqualified will move on to the finals. The clock starts now!"
As the first second counted away, the three team captains went quickly to the center and decided the fate of each player. However, things must have gotten complicated, Syrus thought, because the seconds became minutes, and time moved with great speed in this race against the clock. He looked over to find Jaden talking excitedly with Zane, who was in the Red group also. Syrus looked around finding Joey Wheeler and Chazz Princeton to be the other members of his group. Syrus sighed when Ray came back with news.
"Okay, we decided that Joey will play against Bandit Keith, Syrus versus Lyndon Thompson, and Chazz Princeton against Jaden Yuki."
Chazz smiled as he prepared for, what he hoped to be, a quick end for the Slifer slacker. Syrus remained a moment and asked who Zane was paired off with, and Ray responded, "If I recall, Pegasus." Syrus knew his brother was good, but to face the creator of the game seemed like an unlikely win. Nevertheless, he held faith and confidence in his brother, and from that, he was ready to face a person who was actually below him in skill according to rankings.
Lyndon Thompson seemed kind though a bit mild. He held his arms close to his body, wasting very little movement. Still, despite the somewhat shy manner about him, he seemed sure of himself as he readied his disk for the duel. And then, as would be customary for bouts, he bowed low ly and waited.
Shaken, Syrus took a second for bowing back, just as low. They both stood erect again after meeting each other's courtesy. Lyndon spoke in a voice that was oddly soothing, like one with picky taste, but does not critisize attempt. His voice was velvet, and purely rich in the depth and texture, a rose among flowers. His words were, "I am honored to play you." Syrus echoed these words, mesmerized by the sound. Syrus shook his head to concentrate. He needed to win so that his brother would see him as a true duelist. He would be a valiant fighter and emerge victorious.
The many duelists made declarations from, "Let's duel" to, "Get your game on."
But no matter the battle cry, the meaning was the same. The tournament finals had begun.
Commentary: This chapter is pretty crappy in my opinion. About three pages of writing that, in the end, says nothing important. And the finals' design is pretty interesting though suffering from illogical setup syndrome. It will be fun though, and I really like how it turned out, all things considering. So, please review/comment/critique, and I don't even care if you flame(Unless it is a stupid flame about a problem irrelevant to the story, in which case, I will delete it). Also, look out for fictional cards. A few of my own, yes, but remember that not every card in the anime/manga became real, and the altered card effects exist as originally intended in this world. Till next chapter, which is to be released: 4 January 2007 at 4 in the afternoon New York time.