Chapter 2: A New Twist
For Bethany, Tara, and Josh, the remaining two weeks flew by. Luckily, they had received the letter in the week before summer break started, meaning they wouldn't have to miss any school.
After saying goodbye to their families, the three boarded a plane that would make a stop at the small Duelists Island that was situated some ways off from any other land.
The flight itself was rather boring, as Bethany and Tara continued to look over there decks and Josh napped behind them.
Finally, they felt the jolt of the plane descending before hearing it's wheels hit the tarmac. Stepping out of the plane, the three looked around the survey the island. At the moment, they appeared to be on a small landing strip close to the waters.
In front of them was a large bus that was already almost filled with other people that Bethany figured were other duelists.
"Attention all duelists," came a voice from one of the speakers on the bus, "will you please board the bus so we can escort you to your accommodations for the tournament.
Tara quickly began to make her way over to the bus, followed by Bethany who quickly caught up to her, while Josh took his time walking over to the bus.
Once they found some available seats and the bus took off, Bethany scanned the bus to see what competition she was up against. Most of the were unfamiliar to her, although her jaw dropped once she saw a few of the faces in the back.
"That's Carl Linston, the top duelist of England, and Tia Xiolong, the top duelist of China. How were they lucky enough to get into this tournament?" asked Bethany, pointing out the two to Tara.
"I'm not sure, but with those two there, I'm sure other duelists of their caliber will be here too. Looks like we'll have to really be at the top of our games if we want to win this time." replied Tara.
Bethany nodded as the bus slowed down to a stop in front of large building. Once Bethany and Tara stepped out of the bus, both of their faces fell as they looked at the building.
By their count, it had to be at least fifty floors tall and fifty meters wide, but what surprised them the most were the duel monsters that were scattered around the building.
The main awning was supported by two Summoned Skulls, with a Hibikime and Sonic Maiden poised in front of the main entrance. The outside walls of the building seemed to be held up by statues of different Duel Monsters.
Once inside the main lobby, the three saw even more Duel Monsters that were scattered against the walls, inside the elevator, and in the stairwell.
Walking up to one of the counters, they were greeted by a woman wearing a blue suit who was furiously typing away at her computer.
"Bethany Orwell, Tara Helmond, and Josh Phillips. The three duelists from the Card Palace in San Diego, California. You all well be staying in rooms 318, 319, and 320," the woman said, handing each of them their own passcard, "inside each of your rooms you'll find a box containing your instructions for the tournament. Please enjoy yourselves for the rest of your stay."
After reaching their rooms, the three said their goodbyes in order to see what each of their rooms looked like.
Upon entering her room, Bethany was astonished at the size of the room. A desk sat against the furthermost wall of the room with a lamp and pad of paper on it. A television sat opposite a king sized bed in the middle of the room. While two doors, one of which led to the closet and the other to the bathroom, stood to Bethany's right.
What caught Bethany's attention at the moment, though, was a large box that was laying in the middle of the bed.
Placing her suitcase in the closet, she walked over to the bed and lifted the top of the box to see what was inside.
Bethany let out a small gasp as she saw the contents, a XE7 Duel Disk, the latest in holographic dueling technology. Pulling the disk out of the box, Bethany placed her arm inside the holder to see how it fit, finding that it fit perfectly.
Suddenly, a knock came from her door. Running over to open it, she saw Tara standing in the doorway, a similar duel disk on her arm.
"Look like you found your disk too" Tara began, making her way inside the room, "can you believe they gave each contestant their own duel disk, normally they just use dueling platforms to save on money."
Nodding her head, Bethany looked into the box once more and found an envelope situated at the bottom of the box.
Pulling it out and opening it up, she pulled out the letter that was inside it and began to read it aloud.
"Ms. Bethany Orwell, congratulations on being one of the duelists chosen to compete in the "Shining Destiny Tournament" help by myself, the President of Industrial Illusions, Anthony Claremont. Just for being in this tournament you've already been awarded the latest in duel disk technology that was also located in this box. Feel free to take this disk with you once you leave the island, but we assure you that the top prize in this tournament is worth much more then all of the duel disks here combined. To find out about the rules of this tournament, please come to the main ballroom on this hotel at exactly 5:30 P.M.
Sincerely, Anthony Claremont."
Looking over at Tara to make sure she heard, she quickly looked at her watch to check the time.
"It's 5:24" she said as she placed her deck inside the duel disk's deck holder, "let's get down to this meeting.
The main ballroom itself probably took up half of the area of the first floor. It's primary purpose was to hold lavish parties, at the moment it was filled with chairs that held hundreds of duelists from around the world.
Finding two empty seats next to each other, Tara and Bethany had no clue where Josh had went, after knocking on his hotel room door and getting no answer.
At exactly 5:30, the main lights of the room went out, as two stage lights turned on and focused on the stage in front of everyone.
A few seconds later, a man dressed in a black suit wearing a pair of sunglasses walked out onto the stage and over the microphone.
"Can I have your attention please," the man said, waiting until everyone was silent, "I'd like the congratulate you all making it here to the Shining Destiny Tournament. This will be a tournament like none you've ever seen before, but now it is my honor to introduce you all to the President of Industrial Illusions , Mr. Antony Claremont."
The entire ballroom erupted into applause as Anthony Claremont made his way onto the stage, waving to everyone as he made his way over to the microphone.
"Thank you, thank you all for that wonderful welcome" Claremont said as the applause died down, "I'd like to thank you all for coming to my Duelist Island. As you are all aware, each of you is now in the running to become the winner of the Shining Destiny Tournament, whose top prize will be something that will amaze everyone involved. "
As he made his last remark, another man wearing the same outfit as the first came up onto the stage, this one though was wearing a duel disk and was carrying another in his hands. Taking the disk from the man, Claremont took a moment to place it on his arm before activating it.
"The rules for dueling in this tournament will the same from your normal tournament, with one exception. In this tournament I will be implicating something known as the deck master system."
Claremont waited until the other man activated his disk before pulling out a card from his deck.
"With this system, before every battle you will choose one monster card to act as a deck master. This monster will remain on the field at all times, although they will not occupy a monster space and cannot safeguard your lifepoints."
Taking a moment to look at the card he chose, Claremont placed it into a small slot located on the side of the disk. Suddenly, a while of pink smoke and sparkles surrounded Claremont. When the smoke subsided, the image a small creature blue face and red hair, wearing a purple robe sat on his shoulder.
"For this demonstration I have chosen for my deckmaster to be the Toon Masked Sorcerer (900/1400)."
On the opposite side of the field, the other man placed a card in his slot, but instead of pink smoke, the man became surrounded by a large pillar of ice. A few seconds passed before the pillar of ice shattered, leaving behind the man who was now standing in front of a human-shaped figure that wore a brown suit and white mask with light blue hair.
"And it appears that my bodyguard has chosen Neo Aqua Madoor to be his (1200/3000). Excellent, a fine choice indeed."
Taking a moment, Claremont and his bodyguard drew their opening hands before Claremont drew his sixth.
"Now, in each duel, your deckmasters will each have a special ability that use in the duel. Some will be extremely helpful, while others you will find to be worthless in your deck, but remember that each duel monster has a different ability and you can choose a new deckmaster for each of you duels."
Claremont: 8,000 LP
Bodyguard: 8,000 LP
Looking at his current hand, Claremont gave a look of disapproval to what he saw.
"My my, this hand isn't the best it could be, but thankfully I have my deckmaster to help me out with that."
Turning his head look at his toon, he gave a quick nod before the toon grinned and jumped off of his shoulder and into his deck tray. A few moments later he reappeared, carrying a card that he handed over to Claremont.
"You see, the Toon Masked Sorcerers ability is called 'Comedic Magic', and by giving up 500 of my lifepoints, I can add one magic card with 'Toon' in it's name to my hand."
Claremont: 7,500 LP
Bodyguard: 8,000 LP
"Now I'll play the magic card I just drew, Toon World!"
Placing the card on the tray, a large WIZZZ! could be heard from afar. Suddenly, a large green storybook dropped out of the sky and landed in front of Claremont with a loud SPLAT!
Claremont: 6,500LP
Bodyguard: 8,000LP
"And now that Toon World is in play, I'll special summon two of my monsters. Get ready to meet Toon Red Mermaid and Toon Gemini Elf!"
Placing another two cards on the field, the large book began to spin wildly in mid-air, before stopping and opening its pages, allowing two forms to jump out from it.
The first was a large clam with huge eyes, that once it opened reveled that young mermaid that held a bow and arrow in her hands (1400/1500). The second form was actually two slender females and landed next to the clam and began to giggle to themselves as the looked at their opponent (1900/900).
"I'll play two cards face-down and that'll complete my turn" Claremont said as two face-down card appeared behind his toons.
Drawing his sixth card, the bodyguard placed took one of his cards and placed it on the tray.
"I'll summon Muka Muka in attack mode!"
In front of the bodyguard appeared a small crab with holes in his shell (600/300). Looking at the toons in front of it, the small crab turned around to look at the bodyguard. After looking at his hand, the crab began to inhale air through the holes in his shell, allowing his body to increase in size. (600/300) - (2100/1800)
"And now my Muka Muka will attack your attack your Toon Elf" the bodyguard said, pointing his finger at the Elves.
Letting out a small grunt, the crab scuttled across the stage as Claremont pressed a button on his disk.
"I hate to spoil your fun, but since I detest the sight of violence I'll play Toon Defense and redirect the attack at my lifepoints."
As the trap card lifted, a card flew out of the card and attached itself to the Toon World book, flinging it in front of the Muke Muka, just as it was about to attack.
Giving the book a confused look, the Muka Muka raised it's claw and brought it down on the storybook before making his way back over to his masters side of the field.
"True, it may have cost me some lifepoints, but my toons are more then worth it" Claremont said as his lifepoint counter clicked down.
Claremont: 4,400 LP
Bodyguard: 8,000 LP
"I'll end my turn with that" the bodyguard said as Claremont drew his next card.
"Well, I think now I'll summon my Toon Cannon Soldier!"
The storybook began to spin again, but this time when it opened up a large boom sounded from inside it's pages a cartoonish looking machine blasted it's way out of the book and next to the Toon Elf (1400/1300).
"And now I'll pay the lifepoints needed to have my two Toons attack you directly!" With a flourish of his hands, his Toon Mermaid and Toon Elf began to giggle.
Drawing her bow back, the Toon Mermaid fired an arrow directly at the Muka Muka, but upon reaching the crab it curved around it, hitting the bodyguard in the chest. At the same time, the Toon Elves had disappeared from the field, only to reappear behind the bodyguard, giving him a well placed kick to the back.
From the audience, Bethany leaned over to Tara, "and he said he was against violence."
"And let's not forget about my Toon Elf's special ability" said Claremont.
Just as the elves were about to grab a card from the bodyguards hand, his Aqua Madoor quickly held his hands out, causing a wall of ice to form in-between the elves and the bodyguard.
"Not this time. My deckmaster's ability is called 'Frozen Assets' and it prevents me from losing any cards from my hand due do any cads effect" the bodyguard said as the Toon Elves flew back over to Claremont's side of the field.
"Oh dear! Whatever shall I do!" Claremont said false astonishment, "I know! I'll use my Toon Cannons special ability and sacrifice my mermaid to take away more of your lifepoints!" Once again, the Toon Mermaid began to giggle as she and her clam began to glow before turning into a ball of light that was quickly absorbed by the Toon Cannon Solider.
Taking a moment to adjust his sights, the Toon Cannon yanked on a cord on his side, causing a cannon ball to fly out of him and hit the bodyguard square on the chest.
As the bodyguard took a moment to compose himself, Claremont waved his hand, signaling the end of his turn.
Claremont: 3,900 LP
Bodyguard: 4,200 LP
Drawing his next card, the bodyguard placed another card on the tray. "I play Graceful Charity!" Suddenly, an angel descended down in front of him as he drew three cards from his deck, but before the angel could take any cards from him, his Aqua Madoor shoot another wall of ice in-between them, causing the angel to fly back up out of sight.
"Then I'll play cost down, and by discarding one card I can summon a high level monster without any cost, like my Enraged Muka Muka."
Placing the card on the tray, another crab appeared in front of the bodyguard, this one however was much larger then the original Muka Muka and seemed to be giving off a faint glow (1200/600). Just like the other one, the Enraged Muka Muka turned around the see the size of the bodyguards hand before sucking in air through the holes in it's shell, growing a sizeable amount while the original Muka Muka took notice of it and began to grow as well (1200/600) - (3200/2600) (2100/1800) - (3000/2700).
"And now my Enraged Muka Muka will attack your Toon Elf!"
The large crab began making scuttling over to the elf, and as he raised his claw to attack, Claremont pressed another button on his disk, causing a mirror to appear in front of the crab. The Muka Muka's claw hit the mirror, causing a surge of energy to fly back, hitting both crabs and causing them to shatter.
"Looks like my Mirror Force saved my toons this time, doesn't it?" said Claremont as he smirked over his cards.
"I'll…special summon my deckmaster to the field in defense mode" the bodyguard said as the Neo Aqua Madoor made his way in front of him, crouching down and shielding his body with his arms.
"Ah yes" began Claremont, drawing his next card while looking out at the audience, "at any time to you to during your turn, you may special summon your deckmaster to the field. While it is on the field, it is immune to any magic or trap cards that would destroy it, but if it is destroyed in any other way, you automatically lose the duel, no matter how many lifepoints you still have."
Looking at his hand once more, Claremont gave a small nod. "I think it's time we end this duel, so I'll sacrifice both of my toons to summon my Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon!"
In a flash, both toons on the field were sucked back into the storybook. For a moment, everything was quiet, but suddenly a large flash erupted from the storybook and lightening flew out from it's pages.
As the lightening faded, the toon version of Kaiba's favorite monster flew out of the book, landing in front of Claremont and turning to audience to blow some kisses to everyone (3000/2500).
"You just have to ham it up, don't you" Claremont asked to the as it turned to face him, only to began bawling at the remark.
"Well, it doesn't matter anymore, because now I'll play Rush Recklessly to give my toon the power it needs to defeat your deckmaster!" Claremont declared.
The Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon stopped crying as a surge of energy coursed through it's body, causing his muscles to grow immensely (3000/2500) - (3700/2500).
"Now my precious toon, attack the Neo Aqua Madoor with toon white lightening!"
Opening up it's mouth, the toon began to suck in air until it's stomach was twice the size that it normally was. As sparks began to form around it's mouth, the dragon unleashed a blast of energy from it's mouth that, upon impact, destroyed the Neo Aqua Madoor.
Claremont: 3,900 LP
Bodyguard: Deckmaster Defeated
"And that's game ladies and gentlemen" said Claremont as he and his bodyguard deactivated their disks, "I suggest you try a few different deckmasters to figure out which one complements your deck the best. "
"As for how to win this tournament, at the beginning of this tournament you will be given two data points. At the start of each duel you will risk as many of your data points as you wish with your opponent. If you win the duel you get your opponents data points, lose and you lose yours. If your one of the first twenty to earn ten data point you will be admitted onto the top floor of the Duel Island Hotel, where you will qualify for the finals of this tournament, but if you lose all of your data points at any time, you are out of the tournament and must spend the rest of your time here inside your room."
Bethany looked down at her disk and then around at the crowd, trying to find an easy first win.
"But be warned, duelists," Claremont said, pointing his finger out to the crowd, "your progress will be monitored at all times, and once you have accumulated five data points, a special group of duelists named 'Eliminators' will begin to challenge you. You must accept these duels, and if you win, you win be given both the wagered data points as well as a rare card not seen outside of the tournament, but if you lose you will automatically be eliminated from the tournament."
A few of the duelists straightened their posture at Claremont's last statement. Handling regular duelists would be at least somewhat easy, but trying to win against duelists that were hand-picked by Claremont to win was going to be a whole other task.
"The duels will begin in exactly one hour, I suggest you spent this time making sure your deck is perfect. Until we meet again, I wish you all the best of luck!"
The crowd began to cheer again as Claremont made his way off stage. As everyone began filing out of the ballroom, Bethany and Tara stayed behind to talk.
"So, what should we do now?" asked Bethany.
"Well, since we've already worked on our decks enough, I suggest we wait until the start of the tournament and find some duels." replied Tara.
Bethany nodded her head, "but let's stick together, that way we can at least have someone to be around while we're dueling."
Tara nodded in agreement as they made their way out of the ballroom and waited for the start of the tournament.
Deckmaster Abilities:
Toon Masked Sorcerer: "Comedic Magic"- By sacrificing 500 lifepoints you may move one magic card with "Toon" in it's title from your deck to your hand. Shuffle you deck afterwards.
Neo Aqua Madoor: "Frozen Assets"- Negate any card effects that force you to discard cards from your hand.
In the next chapter: The tournament begins! Bethany's new deck is revealed, but will it be enough to stop a group of Eastern warrior? Find out in "Unseen Foes."