"All of us are here, then?"
Yuugi glanced-around curiously, before taking a quick look at his Locator Cards. The KaibaCorp stadium was here all right, but there didn't seem to be anyone else around. Just him and his friends.
It only took a week for them to get all of the cards that they needed, a few nights of rest in-between the heavy duels that they had entered, one after the other. The dueling at the docks at sunset, the dueling on the top of the KaibaCorp tower, the dueling in the streets against cheaters and Rare Hunters. Yuugi hadn't entered the tournament for the fun of it in the first place.
Come to think of it, the only duel that he'd really entered for the fun of it in a long time would be the one that he had promised with Jou after all of this was over, but still, he...hoped that he could have real fun with the finals, even if it wasn't the reason he was here.
Sometimes, though, he thought with a little smile, Kaiba's showmanship was really...something else, and that was enough to make him laugh at how he'd hidden everything and kept everything on eleven at all times. That, at least, was going to make things fun, if nothing else.
"It seems that we are." Jou observed with a little shrug, before he smiled. "Well, then! It should be more fun with Malik not around!"
/I don't think so./ Other Yuugi's voice was tense, like he could feel hidden darkness around him—which, upon retrospect, he probably could. /Jou's being a little too hopeful...there's no way this can be all./
"Hey, guys! Look! We're here, too!" Another voice called from the stands. Yuugi looked-up and smiled brightly when he saw Namu up above them, along with Ryou there at his side. Quickly, the boy got to his feet, almost leaping down the stands, drawing a laugh from Yuugi at his excitement while the others followed.
"Namu!" Anzu waved her hand back. "Namu, down here! You made it!"
The blonde boy made it down to them quickly, followed by the albino boy, who was laughing softly. The cloaked man followed them, drawing Jou's eye.
"Do you think that's Malik?" Honda whispered softly, before he could reach them.
"No doubt about it." Jou replied, his eyes narrowed. "That's the man Anzu and I saw before he made Yuugi and I duel."
The two boys made it to the small group's side, followed by the large man, who stood a few feet back, arms folded over his chest. Namu was immediately chattering excitedly with Jou and Yuugi, who was uncharacteristically only listening to half of what the boy was talking-about when his eyes landed on Ryou.
"Ryou." Anzu started, seeming to sense Yuugi's train of thought. "Are you sure that you're alright? It looked pretty bad when Mr. Mutou took you to the hospital."
"Oh, I'm fine." Ryou assured, waving his hand with a smile that almost looked too bright to be real, moving his body back a little bit, as if he was trying to hide his injured arm from Anzu's line of sight. "I promise, no need to worry about me!"
Anzu and Yuugi exchanged a look, clearly not buying it, but the door on the far side of the arena opened, and Seto Kaiba walked inside, followed by Mokuba, and Isono behind them.
"So, the dog made it." Kaiba observed, his voice unamused. "Hmph, I must have not made my restrictions hard-enough. Next time, no crazy cult-freaks allowed, and none of their dogs, either."
"Hey, I got the four locator cards, and I got the Duel Disc, so lay off!" Jou protested, but Kaiba scoffed, his eyes instead landing on Ryou, Malik, and Namu.
"You three weren't registered in my system. How did you get inside?"
"Well, the man handing out the Duel Discs let us in, why don't you ask him?" Namu asked, his voice all false innocence while Malik didn't reply, and Ryou nodded quickly along.
"Yeah! He said that, since we bought it, we had a right to enter!" Ryou added, before he waved his Locator Cards at Kaiba. "See?"
"Hmph..." Kaiba turned to Isono. "Next time, make sure that my protocols are absolutely clear. We can't made headlines with three unknowns. That was why I specifically asked for Duelist Kingdom runner-ups to attend."
"Yes, sir. Sorry, sir." Isono said quickly, typing-away on his phone with one hand, dabbing-away the sweat on his brow with the other.
"Hey, then why didn't you invite me?" Jou demanded. "I was second place in Duelist Kingdom! My Red-Eyes Black Dragon can kick anyone's butt any day!"
"Because I don't like you."
"Why I oughta-!"
"Jou-!" Honda was already grabbing for Jou's arms, trying to hold him back down, when the door opened again, and two more figures entered, drawing the small group's attention away from the impending brawl.
Both were girls—well, one being a young woman, but the other obviously being a teenager, judging by the fact that she was wearing a Domino High uniform. The young woman had her face and hair covered by a cream-colored veil, and she looked as if she could have walked straight out of Ancient Egypt, if not for the modern Duel Disc on her arm.
The girl, on the other hand, had long, white hair that went straight to her hips, her bangs pulled out of her face by a blue clip above her right ear, matching her wide, blue eyes. Her skin was pale-enough to make her albino, like Bakura, contrasting the bright colors of her uniform and the Duel Disc on her arm. While the young woman walked gracefully, intent in every step, the girl was running at top speed, half-stumbling over her steps as she barely made it in time to the small group, her hands resting on her knees while she panted in exhaustion.
"Oh, no, I'm so sorry about this!" She exclaimed. "I overslept, I didn't mean to be so late!" She stood back upright, and then seemed to think better of it, bowing several times to the members of the group around her. "Sorry, everyone! Sorry, sorry!"
"Hmph." Seto Kaiba raised his eyebrows."You're a duelist?" His eyes then turned to the woman standing at the other woman's side. "And you? I didn't think you'd duel."
The young woman shut her eyes, not saying a word, while the albino girl thrust out her Locator Cards to Kaiba. "Yeah, I am! I beat everyone I fought against! I didn't lose once!"
"Oh?" Kaiba raised his eyebrows. "Then why don't I have you in my system?"
"The man who handed-out the Duel Discs said that since I bought one, I deserve to enter."
"Isono-!"
"What's your name?" Mokuba quickly cut-in, as Isono tugged on the edge of his collar, flashing a quick, grateful smile to Mokuba.
The girl smiled. "My name is Kisara Mizuhino. I'm a year lower than you guys." She stuck out her hand to Kaiba, whose eyebrows raised to his hairline, and silence passed between them for a moment, before Kisara dropped her hand. "Don't talk much, huh?"
"Hmph."
"I guess not."
"Don't worry about him." Jou said, waving his hand. "So, you've heard of me, right? Runner-up at Duelist Kingdom? Should've totally been invited by Seto Kaiba here?"
Kisara squinted thoughtfully, then shook her head. "Sorry, can't say I know you."
"What—?"
"...but I know Yuugi Mutou!" She smiled brightly, pointing at him. "The King of Games!"
Yuugi immediately turned bright red, trying to hide his face while Jou gave a sound of indignation, and the rest of the small group of friends laughed.
"So, is it going to be here, then?" Namu asked, sticking his hands in his pockets. "The arena?"
"No, but the quarter-finals will start in this place." Kaiba's eyes shut as he smirked, before he snapped his fingers, and the stadium lights immediately came-on, making the small group of teens jump, just in time for the door to open one, last time, and a last woman entered.
"Oh? Looks like I made it in time." Mai Kujaku observed with an unimpressed tone as the stadium lights all turned to a blimp—the same blimp that Kaiba had ridden at the very start of Battle City. "Can't say I missed seeing that old thing—or the blimp."
"Hmph." Kaiba folded his arms back over his chest.
"How is she so unimpressed?" Kisara gasped, eyes wide. "We're going to be riding on a blimp! That's so cool!"
"Ehh...you kind of get used to it after being around rich people for so long." Jou replied.
The blimp lowered to the ground as the stadium lights kept focused on it, and the door opened, two more men emerging, each in signature, KaibaCorp white suits, bowing as the CEO turned on his heel, making his way up the steel ramp with Mokuba eagerly following behind.
"For the duration of the quarterfinals, we will be dueling on the deck of this blimp, to show-off KaibaCorp's advanced, holographic technology, even in such high-stress conditions, and to test your thinking at such conditions." Kaiba said. "This blimp comes equipped with ten guest rooms, so you each will have a roommate, along with a medical ward, a dining hall, a common hall, and two offices, and a room for Mokuba and myself. I expect to not see you outside of designated areas for your stay, or you will be disqualified immediately."
"A medical ward?" Jou asked. "Why would you need one of those for a card game tournament?"
"Because we're on a blimp dueling in the open air?" Anzu raised her eyebrows.
"Right..."
"Oh, this sounds so exciting!" Ryou said brightly. "I can't wait to show everyone my Occult Deck!"
"Ryou...are you still sure that you should be dueling?" Yuugi asked tersely, frowning. "Especially up so high..."
"No need to worry about me." Ryou assured again. "I'm just fine."
Yuugi only frowned.
As the duelists made their way up onto the platform, the KaibaCorp employees gave a few last-minute checks, before sealing the blimp. After a few more minutes, the blimp started to lift off into the air, above the stadium, and into the clouds above.
"Isono, send word that the quarterfinals are starting, and begin recording the event." Kaiba said to his right-hand man as he and Mokuba made their way to the common area, the rest of the duelists on their tails.
"Wow, eight finalists, huh?" Mokuba observed. "So that means everyone gets a chance in the quarterfinals."
Kaiba's hand came down affectionately on Mokuba's head. "Correction, two finalists, Mokuba. Mutou and I."
Mokuba laughed. "Correction, one finalist. You, Seto."
"You got it, Mokuba."
"Alright, everyone!" Isono declared, drawing himself up to full height as the rest of the duelists cleared into the room, his tone clearly affected for the broadcast. "Now, the quarterfinal matches will be decided by a lottery, with each match allowed two hours before being declared on the side of the one with the most life points! All of you have been assigned a number, and here are no re-draws!"
"Oh, this is so exciting!" Kisara said brightly, her hands curled close to her chest. "I hope I get someone challenging!"
"Pray you don't get Katsuya." Kaiba replied under his breath. "Better yet, pray neither of us get Katsuya."
"Kaiba, I'm gonna-!"
"Number One, Seto Kaiba, will be matched with Number Seven, Kisara Mizuhino, in the first match!" Isono declared. "Followed by Number Two, Yuugi Mutou, versus Number Four, Ryou Bakura!"
The rest of the lottery came through. Number Three, Mai Kujaku, versus Number Six, Malik Ishtar, then Number Five, Jounouchi, versus Number Eight, Namu Rahim. The winning duelists will then be assigned a number, and one of our finalists will get a chance to duel Isis Ishtar, to see who qualifies for the semi-finals."
It wasn't as if Seto Kaiba was stupid—and Isis only smiled as her identity was revealed, but she still didn't speak.
"Alright." Isono said with a nod. "First, you all will have dinner, and then you will all be allowed an hour to prepare. Then, we will have our first duel!"
"So, looks like Kaiba is going to duel the new girl." Mai observed, before she glanced down at Kisara, who was looking back up at the chart with fiery eyes, and Mai couldn't help but smile, reminded of herself as a young girl.
"Think she stands a chance?" Honda asked, before Mai laughed.
"I think she's going to kick his ass."
A/N:
This is probably just going to be a two-shot, or a three-shot. But I might do the whole Battle City finals and Virtual Arc thing, hence why I juggled the finals matches the way I did.
Just an intro so we get how this shit works. The duel is next chapter.
Any guesses as to what Kisara's deck plays?
Hint: there's no Blue-Eyes, it's a pet peeve of mine when she just randomly gets a Blue-Eyes.