Tournament of Souls

Chapter 1

"The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool." William Shakespeare, As You Like It

Lucien had never expected any of this to happen. First his oldest friend, who had just arrived in town for a visit from her home in Switzerland, disappeared. The police had no idea as to what happened. Lucien had just arrived at the hotel to meet her. When he knocked on the door to the hotel room where she was staying, the noise of some small activity stopped. Then Lucien heard something like an explosion, and a great wind. Then light poured out from under the door as if it had just been turned on.

Then he had realized that something was wrong and managed to open the door, the lock had already been broken. There was no one in the room, and no sign of a struggle; just a wide open window and some torn up Duel Monsters cards. But caught on the window sill, on one of the decorative spears from the grate, was her bracelet. A bracelet that he still wears today, over a year later, hoping one day to be able to find its missing owner.

He toyed with the bracelet; or arm band as it had to be called if undue attention was not to be gathered. Lucien couldn't wait for school to be over. He may have been better at it than most, but that didn't mean he had to enjoy it.

The tests were a natural exception.

All during the school day, Lucien thought about Duel monsters. He thought of strategies and tactics, any way that he might be able to pull ahead of the crowd. School was no difficulty for him and he didn't believe it deserved his attention.

Finally, classes let out and Lucien headed home; to his books, to his food, and above all, to his cards. When he arrived home he started on his new deck. He always made new decks, he just hadn't made on that felt right yet. This time, he was going to use a deck that would force his opponent to deck out.

How can I best make my opponent lose cards from their deck? I can always make them draw, but then they can use those cards. Card Destruction will help, if they have a big hand, they discard it and then draw that many cards. But it would help me get more cards as well. Cyber Jar will get five cards but then they will be able to use them against me. Still, to make them draw what is probably an 8th of their deck is no mean feat. Morphing Jar is a possibility. It will make them draw five cards, though discarding their hand. I also gain five cards so that's a bonus.

He walked in the front door and up the stairs to his room. He dropped all of his stuff; homework would wait, it didn't really need to be done before Sunday night, or Monday morning when you really thought about it.

And Morphing Jar #2 could make them lose high level monsters, spells, and traps if they have enough monsters on the field. Needle Worm will be one of the most consistent cards. That is five cards off their deck that they never get to use! Now I should get some cards to get rid of my opponent's hand. If I am going to make them draw, I should make them discard those cards too. There is a new card that I heard about, Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch. It will send one card from their hand when summoned. Then they will have to pay life points if it is a monster. But those cards won't make a deck… I need some kind of constant thing. Robbin' Zombie and Robbin' Goblin will work! But how am I supposed to deal the damage?

Half an hour later he had finished a good deal of his latest deck. But he didn't own all of the cards this time. So he grabbed all of his extras and his spare cash and went down to the card shop (by bus of course, how else are those too young to drive with no adults waiting around to give them transportation supposed to get around?), both the best place to get the remaining cards, and the location of the local tournaments. There were of course rival stores, some of them had been bigger too, a few still were even after the recent renovation, but Lucien's card shop managed to be the most popular in the city by combination luck and force of will.

When he arrived, he looked around for his friends, but he didn't see any of them. This wasn't hard as he could number them on one hand. There was however a huge crowd in the middle of the room. They might be in there. I would really rather not go into that crowd just to find out though. So first he went up to the cashier. "Mr. Kiwasaki, I'd like to buy some cards."

"Why hello there Lucien, what cards do you want?"

"Well, I thought that I would get Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch and…"

After Lucien finished with the list of cards, Mr. Kiwasaki started looking through binders. And then he looked through more binders. Eventually he found all of the cards that Lucien had requested. "And that total will come to… 57.95"

"What?" exclaimed Lucien.

"Well, I could cut the monarch, and then it would just be 40…"

"Wait, I have a better idea. How about I give you a Byser Shock for Thestalos, and Needle Worm? Then I'll buy the rest for $30."

"That will work too, Lucien" said Mr. Kiwasaki calculatingly "How did you know that I had been looking for Byser Shock?"

"Because the prices of all of your mass removal cards are jacked way up; I figured that you were making a deck with them."

"Right as always, Lucien."

Lucien started to walk away, but noticing that the crowd was still there, he turned back. "What is that crowd here for anyhow?"

"I don't know how they knew, but you will find out momentarily, just take a seat in the back." Mr. Kiwasaki said and then hurried away into a back room leaving the cards Lucien wanted on the counter. Lucien grabbed them and left his money on top of the register. With another look at the crowd he reached over the counter and put the money in the register and at the same time took a discount coupon.

Stuffing it in his pocket, Lucien went to take a seat at one of the tournament tables. Mr. Kiwasaki appeared from another door, right near most of the crowd. He had a microphone and started speaking, "Take a seat, people, just take a seat. Everyone sit down!"

After everyone had complied, though a few had sat on tables he continued. "Now you might have heard that today's tournament would be more important than usual. Well it's true. This tournament will decide who goes to the State Championships! Now we have a representative of the board of directors of Industrial Illusions for this region who will speak to you about the new format for the Championships. Please welcome Mr. Dongard!" A man in a black business suit appeared in the doorway. He looked exactly like every other man in a business suit ever to walk the face of the planet.

As soon as he started to speak, everyone realized that he sounded just like most business men too; he spoke in a dreary monotone that would generally make a good lullaby. But at the moment, the duelists that made up his audience were attentive; or at least as close to it as they would get if he didn't start giving out free money; though with this crowd rare cards might do better.

"I bet you are wondering what is so special about this tournament. It is as the owner of this store has told you, the qualifiers for the State Championship. Instead of the results being decided in matches, the winner of the first duel continues to save time. There is something different about the Championship this year, due to the new management. This year, it will be a team event. Each team will be made up of 3 duelists. This tournament will decide on those duelists. The winner of the tournament will be the leader of the team for this region. He/she-"

Mr. Dongard managed to pronounce a slash without actually saying the word 'slash.' Lucien decided he would have to investigate this at a later date. Next thing you knew, people were going to start pronouncing capital letters.

"-will pick out 2 other duelists from the top 10 finalists to be his/her team mates. Now how many duelists are here?"

Mr. Kiwasaki whispered something into his ear. "Ok, we are making the cut off at 256 entrants, so that means we will have 8 rounds. Due to the amount of time that this will take, this qualifier will be spread over 2 days. You are not allowed to change your deck after the first duel, until you have either been eliminated or the tournament is over. Now let the games begin! The match-ups are on the board behind me."

He then proceeded to walk out of the room, leaving Lucien and the others to find who they were matched against. While Lucien worked his way through the crowd to the board, he shuffled the new cards into his deck. As soon as he got to the board, he noticed that his friends, Aliya and Raoul, were also signed up; luckily they were both in different sections than him. If they all stayed in the tournament for long enough, they wouldn't duel until the pre semi-final round at the earliest. But Lucien's first opponent was new to him; someone by the name of Jack Holland. Lucien found his table and waited. He didn't have long to wait. Jack had long blond hair that didn't look like it had been combed for a long time. There were probably more knots in it than in most woven rugs.

Lucien was not impressed. What kind of idiot is this guy? He doesn't even come to the tournament looking half decent. Oh well, I'll just have to eliminate him before he embarrasses himself and others.

Lucien decided that he would have to get things started. "Hello, Jack. I am Lucien."

"Hi."

"We will first shuffle each other's decks, and then we will flip for who goes first. Ok?"

"Uh, yeah sure."

Lucien handed his deck to Jack and took Jack's deck as well. He made sure to shuffle it several different ways to eliminate all chance of cheating. Jack just shuffled the deck slowly, and in all likelihood; ineffectively. I'm just glad that I shuffled before hand. After that Lucien took back his deck.

"Heads or Tails?"

"I'll take heads."

Lucien flipped the coin and it landed on tails.

"I'll go first." His starting hand wasn't too bad either. He smiled as he drew his sixth card.

Jack: 8000

Lucien: 8000

"I set one monster face down. I also set 3 spells or traps. And now I play Card Destruction!" Jack frowned as he discarded his five cards. They both drew fresh cards.

"I think that I'll end my turn there."

Jack drew his card. "I hate to say it, but I don't see what you've accomplished. You are no threat to me. I summon Berserk Gorilla and equip it with Big Bang Shot. I will destroy your monster and do damage to your life points!"

This fool really has no idea what he is doing. I can tell that he has the usual 40 card deck. He has already drawn 11 of these. He has 29 left and counting. "I am afraid that I will have to disagree."

"What could you possibly do to stop me?"

"I activate Gravity Bind."

Jack frowned. "That means my strong monsters can't attack. I can't do anything but set 2 spells or traps and end."

Lucien drew, and was pleased to see one of his rarer cards.

"I flip Needle Worm. You lose the top five cards of your deck." Jack then discarded the top five cards without looking at them. Lucien double checked to see if there was anything of interest and noted that Torrential Tribute and Behemoth King of All Animals were among them.

Now he has 24 cards left. "I now activate my face down Assault on GHQ! I tribute Needle Worm and you lose the top two cards from your deck." Jack discarded them, still oblivious.

22 cards to go. "I now set a monster. I end my turn."

Jack drew and smiled. "I play Heavy Storm! Now that all of your traps are destroyed, I attack!"

"I am afraid not."

"Huh?"

"Your Heavy Storm destroyed Big Bang Shot. By its effect, Berserk Gorilla is removed from play."

"I swear, next turn you are dead! I end."

Empty threats from someone with 21 cards left and about to be less. Lucien drew. He immediately set a card in his spell and trap zone. He had no immediate use for it, but it could come in handy soon. "I flip Morphing Jar! Now since neither of us has a hand to discard, we both will draw five cards!" Now he only has 16 cards left in his deck.

"I summon Raging Flame Sprite (100/200). I think I'll set a spell or trap face down. I play Double Attack and discard Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch to allow me to attack twice. Now I will use Raging Flame Sprite's ability to attack you directly twice in a row. The first time it does only 100 damage but the second time it does 1100 because my monster gains 1000 attack points whenever it attacks directly. Now my monster has 2100 attack. I play Level Limit Area B and end my turn."

Jack: 6800

Lucien: 8000

"Is that all? I fail to see how you are going to even come close to beating me. I will summon Nimble Momonga, and equip it with Big Bang Shot and Mage Power. Now I set 2 spells or traps. My beast now has 3400 attack, more than enough to wipe your sprite off the field. I attack."

Jack: 6800

Lucien: 6700

Lucien cocked his head to one side. "Now that is a minor setback. I notice that it is the first damage that you have done to me. 1300 damage isn't too bad. Now I will draw."

I just drew Servant of Catabolism. I still have nothing that can beat his Nimble Momonga, but he only 15 cards in his deck. He is running against the clock. "I set a monster and end my turn."

"Hah. You have nothing that can get through my little monster? I will set a monster face down, and have my beast crush your monster!"

"You just attacked my Needle Worm. It has 600 defense so I lose 2800. I still have 3900 left though so excuse me if I fail to be worried. You lose five cards off the top of your deck."

Jack: 7400

Lucien: 3900

"Fine by me. I end my turn now. Just see if you can defeat my beasts!"

Let's see, he only has 9 cards left in his deck. If I can stop his attacks, I will be home free! Now lets see what I draw…Lucien picked up the next card and smiled.

"I play Messenger of Peace! Now you can't attack with your Nimble Momonga! I summon Servant of Catabolism and attack directly with its effect. You lose 700 life points and I chain with my Robbin' Zombie so you lose the top card of your deck. I will end."

Jack: 6100

Lucien: 3900

"I… I can't do anything. Where is my Mystical Space Typhoon!"

"Look in your graveyard." And low and behold, there it was; right where it had been sent by Needle Worm.

"It is my turn. May I take it?"

"Yes." Ok, he only has 8 cards left. One of them will get taken by Robbin' Zombie this turn. He only has 4 turns left. Unless I can shorten that. "I will set the monster that I just drew. Now I attack directly with my Servant of Catabolism. You lose the top card of your deck. I end."

"I play Poison Fangs. If I do any damage with my beasts, it is increased by 500. I set a monster and end."

"I hate to say it but I don't see what good it will do you. I will attack directly with my Servant of Catabolism. Then I will flip my set Morphing Jar #2! You shuffle your monsters into your deck and pick up cards until you can replace them on the field. I do the same." Lucien shuffled his monsters into his deck and the first card he picked up was Magician of Faith. Then he had to discard the Heart of Clear Water that he drew next but his final card was yet another Raging Flame Sprite. He then set both of his cards face down. Jack however did not get off so lightly. His first card was a monster, but his next three were all discarded. Then he got a monster. Then he had to discard the next card. But then he got his final monster, which was also the last card in his deck.

Lucien was grinning ear to ear. Or at least he would have been if he was the type to grin.

"I think that I have won this round. As soon as I end, you are incapable of drawing and I win. End turn."

Jack didn't even bother to say anything. He just cleared away his cards and walked out in a huff. I must say, this deck is working better than I expected. But I never go the chance to play any of the combos. Oh well. Now I must see who I am supposed to duel in the next round. At the board he noticed that Aliya and Raoul were still dueling. His own next opponent was Richard Len. He still had 25 minutes until the next round started so he decided that with nothing better to do he would seek out his friends. But in a crowd this size it was no easy task.

Soon Lucien heard a duelist complaining that a card didn't exist. He quickly went to investigate. The complainer was an unknown duelist. The card in question was of course Raoul's Dark Magic Attack. Ever since Harpies' Feather Duster was banned, no one could believe that there was another card with the same power. A judge was swiftly called over and the dispute and the duel resolved in Raoul's favor.

"Yet another person who doubts the power of your magicians I see."

"Yeah, it happens a lot. I was wondering if you would show up."

"Me? Miss a tournament? You've got to be kidding me!" They both knew that this was a joke as Lucien often didn't have the time or any transportation to get to tournaments and the bus was unreliable.

"Well I'm glad that you could make it." Raoul said as he slapped Lucien on the back. "I take it that you won your first duel?"

"Yeah, by a long shot."

"You won with that old deck? How did you manage it? What did he draw, nothing but equips?"

"I'm not using my old deck. And I'm not telling you what my new deck is. Just wait and see. Have you seen Aliya?"

"Not yet. But I see heard a few curses over that a way. People do that a lot when she gets a good combo for a lot of damage." The pair then walked to the place where Raoul had heard cursing. They had naturally arrived too late to see the end of the duel. They just saw Aliya smiling as she cleared away her cards. Seeing them, she finished putting her cards into her deck box and greeted them.

"Hey Lucien! You finally made it to a tournament! Did you win?"

"Yes, both Raoul and I won. And am I to judge by the outbursts of profanity from your opponent that you won as well?"

"Of course! Did you think that I would lose in the first round?"

"No, of course not." Raoul and Lucien said simultaneously but in entirely different tones of voice. Lucien was apologetic and Raoul was sarcastic.

"So what deck are you using this time Lucien?" asked Aliya.

"I finally decided on making my opponents deck out. Believe me, it works. You can ask the high and mighty duelist that I beat with it." Before Raoul could complain that Lucien would impart his deck to Aliya but not himself, someone else spoke up from near by.

"Well, while the young lovers are chatting, you people are about to miss the next round. You have two minutes." Lucien turned around, angry. People often thought that he and Aliya were or should be more than friends. He didn't recognize his tormentor this time. It was a girl that looked like she had a smirk surgically implanted on her face. Wearing a tank top and the shortest of shorts, she displayed other features that Lucien chose to ignore.

Seeing that Raoul was paying a bit too much attention to those features, Lucien ground his friend's toes into the floor. Raoul, startled, glared at Lucien, but chose to look at passers by instead. But Aliya was backing away ever so slightly, and when Lucien cast a worried glance at her, she whispered a name that explained everything.

"Amy…" This brought Lucien a sudden shock of recognition even though he had never met her before. Amy was the person that had made Aliya's life miserable before she had changed to Lucien's school. First she had pretended to be her friend, and then had told Aliya that she was ugly, and that she was the only person who could stand her. That she would never have any other friends. That she was dumb. Personally Lucien had long thought that the situation was more likely to be the reverse.

Amy spread rumors about her through the school, saying that she was a slut, that she an illegal immigrant from various countries, anything that was cruel and could damage her reputation. And it worked. Lucien was still trying to repair the damage. Remembering all of this, he was tempted to knock her flat then and there. But he controlled himself and rather than committing homicide, merely adapted an extremely cold manner. Colder than usual that is.

"Hello Amy. Though I am sure that I would love to chat," He spat out that last word, "as you noticed, we have two minutes until the next round. If we remain much longer, we may be disqualified." The three friends then started to walk away, Lucien keeping Aliya ahead of him trying to get her away from her nightmares as fast as possible. Amy however came in hot pursuit.

"I really don't see why two handsome guys like you two are hanging around with that slut. I know plenty of girls who would love to be with guys like you." She moved her hips suggestively. Lucien however had been stretched near his limit. He spun around with icy words.

"First of all, Aliya is the one who is not a prostitute. She, unlike some, is a person of honor. Also I would never come within thirty foot pole range of any of the girls that you speak of. Last of all, we are short on time. We aren't going to be disqualified in a minute by not showing up. However you can feel free to do what you please with that young man who has been staring at you for quite a while now."

Lucien then spun away ushering Aliya forward, and dragging Raoul away. He left the "young man" to deal with an Amy that had yet to realize how many times she had been indirectly insulted. It didn't take long however as by the time Lucien had gotten his friends safely to the board with the pairings, a scream of rage was heard quite clearly.

"Now, Aliya, don't let her bother you. If she does, call me or a judge over. Or put Raoul in between you and her and he will stand there drooling (this comment brought a hit over the head from Raoul) and keep her away. You are at table 50. Raoul, you are at table 29. I will be at table 4. See you both later and good luck." He then rushed off to avoid disqualification.

Note: Read, and Review. Make sure to point out any way that it should be changed. Thank you. In case you didn't realize it, the italics are Lucien's thoughts. Or whoever else is currently acting as the main character. Don't worry; I've cleaned up my act since I wrote this chapter- the writing gets better as well as the plot. At least read through say… chapter five. That ought to do the trick. And if you don't like it have the decency to tell me why. According to the stats some hundred people have read this chapter and nothing else without reviewing. Shame. There is something called the anonymous review. You don't need an account to review. Therefore there is no reason for there to be all those unknowns.