Saiku's face broke out to a huge grin as he took a look at what he held. It may have not been the card he wanted, but this card was a huge help!
"End your turn so I can finish you!" Coran yelled.
"I will, right after I do this!" Saiku slapped the card onto his Duel Disk. "I activate the spell card Swords of Revealing Lights!" Golden lights in the shape of swords suddenly fell from the sky and surrounded Strong Wind Dragon, pinning it in place. "You probably already know what this card does. For your next three turns, you can't attack! And with that, I end my turn!"
Coran growled as he reached for his card. This was starting to get annoying. He drew his card and snarled. It wasn't anything he could use to destroy that Swords of Revealing Lights, but it was a nice backup plan, just in case this kid managed to get a powerful monster out.
"I set one card and end my turn," Coran said.
Swords' effect time left: 3 turns.
Saiku drew his card, and he let out a gasp. It was the card he need!
"I tribute my two facedown Nimble Momongas to summon every dragon's worst nightmare! I summon Buster Blader (Attack: 2600/Defense: 2300)!" Saiku nearly cheered.
A large man in shining black armor emerged from the holographic dust of the tributes. The sun gleamed off the several spikes and the golden designs on the metallic suit, throwing the rest of his body into shadow. In his hands was a massive sword offset with gold and sapphire, looking absolutely sharp from the spike on the top to the tips of the handle. He lifted up his head, his beady red eyes almost seeming to glow like the emerald in the middle of his forehead as he stared down Strong Wind Dragon. He swung the massive blade a few times before leveling the blade at the dragon's head.
"I activate my trap, Adhesive Trap Hole!" Coran shouted. "This one time only, the monster you summoned has its attack and defense halved!"
"What?!" Saiku yelled as he watched his Buster Blader fall to one knee as his attack lowered (Attack: 1300/Defense: 1150). The knight then slowly got back up to his feet. Saiku shook his head. "Well, Buster Blader gets five-hundred attack points for every Dragon-Type on your side of the field and your graveyard, and since you have three in the graveyard and one on the field, Buster Blader gains two-thousand attack points (1300+2000= 3300)!"
"That's still not enough! And if you think I'm stupid enough to summon another dragon, you're dead wrong!"
Saiku smirked. He had a plan for this, but he would wait it out until Swords of Revealing Light nearly ended. "I end my turn!" Saiku yelled. Coran drew and looked at his card. It wasn't anything he could use.
"I end my turn," Coran said.
Swords' effect time left: 2 turns.
Saiku drew his card. This one was promising.
"I activate the spell Pot of Greed!" He showed his card before slapping it into the Duel Disk. "I can now draw two more cards!" The orange haired duelist pulled out the cards and took a look. Now this would work out just fine! "I summon Magician's Valkyria in attack position (Attack: 1600/Defense: 1800)!"
A young girl rose up in a flash of light. She wore a light blue-green dress that stopped right above her hips. She had matching elbow length gloves and pointy hat. Her brown hair flowed down her back, and her blue eyes stared at Strong Wind, almost confused why she was here. She looked over to her allies, and Breaker shrugged.
All these little motions were missed by the two duelists as they were glaring at each other.
"What's that supposed to do?" Coran nearly laughed. How did one more weak monster help? Saiku grinned as he thrust his hand forward and pointed at Coran.
"Magician's Valkyria is only the first step. Thanks to Pot of Greed, I drew this! Ookazi!" Saiku grinned. Coran covered his eyes as a holographic fireball engulfed his body, shaking his head to clear the spots and pop his ears.
"I swear, I need to take the sound effects out of this thing…" he half-whined. Despite feeling giddy at his impending victory, he couldn't help but take a split second to agree.
Coran: 3200
Saiku: 1500
Saiku grinned as he started to shout out commands. "Now, Buster Blader! Attack his Strong Wind!" The black knight charged at the muscular dragon with heavy steps, sword glinting dangerously.
"Hah! What's your deal, kid? Trying to lose or something?" Coran laughed. "Your little knight is still too weak!"
"Now I activate my facedown Spell Card Rush Recklessly on Buster Blader! Thanks to this, he gets 700 more attack points (3300+700= 4000)!" The second his attack went up, Buster Blader let out a roar, his speed increasing as he was surrounded in a violent, flickering white aura.
"Shit…" Coran muttered as he watched Buster Blader's charge. The knight leapt into the air and swung his oversized sword, slicing the opposing dragon in half and causing it to explode into holographic dust.
Coran: 2800
Saiku: 1500
"Now, Breaker! Direct attack!" The red clad magician dashed forward, his impressive speed catching Coran off guard, quickly unsheathing his sword and slashing Coran. The wannabe-mugger winced as the blade phased through his torso, physiologically reacting with a tingling sensation. Saiku winced as well. "Never get used to it, do ya?"
"Nope," Coran shook his head, scowling at Saiku's expression.
Coran: 900
Saiku: 1500
"Magician's Valkyria! Finish this duel with a direct attack!" The young magician closed her eyes and began to hum, her entire form glowing with multicolored light. A soft, resonant buzz began to emit form the tip of her staff as it began to shine, the glowing edge aimed at Coran's body. The mugger's eyes squinted at the brightness as it began to coalesce into a bright white ball, sparking with multicolored lights and haloed by a gold aura. With a fierce cry, the light shot out in a small beam and impacted Coran in a flash, effectively reducing his life points to zero.
Coran shook his head as the holograms faded away. The thought that he lost to a kid of all people was rather unsettling…
"I can't believe this… losing to a snot-nosed kid… Whatever, a deal's a deal. Looks like I won't be getting any rare cards today…" He walked over and handed Saiku the Strong Wind Dragon card. "There. My rarest card, as promised. Enjoy it. And by all means, allow this victory to go to your head." The mugger turned and walked off, his hands stuffed in his pockets. Saiku took a quick glance at his card before inserting into his deck and putting the cards away.
He then turned to the old man.
"Are you alright, sir?" he asked politely.
"Don't worry about me, sonny," the old man replied. "I may be old, but I still have some spunk!" He let out a jolly laugh before gaining a serious look and stared into Saiku's eyes, almost like he was searching for something. Before long, it started to make the orange-haired boy very uncomfortable; it was almost like the guy was staring into his soul or something!
"W-Well, I'm glad you're okay, but I should be going." Saiku shook his head slightly and turned to leave.
"Wait!" the old man called out. "I feel like I should reward you for risking your rarest card for me." He held out the box. "Take it, as a gift from me to you."
"No, I can't take that," Saiku said as he shoved it back toward the old man's chest. "It seems important to you."
"Oh, but you're the one who this box is meant for," the old man countered as he shoved it so hard in Saiku's arms that the orange haired duelist stumbled back a few inches.
"Well, okay then… Thanks," Saiku replied as he looked down at the box. "Wait a minute, what do you mean meant for—" He glanced up and realized the old man was gone. "What the—? Where'd he go?" Saiku blinked as he looked around for any sign of the old man, but there wasn't a trace of evidence that he was even there.
Saiku looked back down at the—his—box, thoughts of confusion running through his head. Casting them aside for the moment, he turned and headed for home. His sister would be home in about three hours, so he could look through the box then.
Saiku opened the door of his house and dashed for the stairs. He could hear his mom cooking in the kitchen, so he could have some privacy for an hour or so.
Quickly shutting his door and tossing the box onto the bed, he began to think about this situation. He just dueled some random mugger who had some card he never heard of before, and he was pretty well informed of Duel Monsters cards. Then some old man he never met before in his life gave him a box that was supposedly for him. As Wade would put it, this smelled fishier than a Japanese fish market.
Saiku shook his head. He was overreacting. What was the worst thing it could be?
"It could be a bomb!" Saiku's inner Wade screamed out in his head. Ignoring the voice, he opened up the box and received the shock of his life. Inside the box were six cards, all neatly lined up by each other. Saiku picked up the two cards on the far left.
"Silent Magician and Silent Swordsman?!" he gasped. He though these were one of a kind cards that only Yugi Muto had! After the shock slightly faded, Saiku realized there were some differences between these and Yugi's. Yugi's Silent Magician was called 'Silent Magician Lv. 0,' and was clothed in a red and black robe. The one he was holding was called 'Silent Magician Lv. 4,' and was dressed in a white and blue robe.
The Silent Swordsman was different as well. The card he was holding was 'Silent Swordsman Lv. 3' while Yugi's was 'Lv. 0.' Plus, this monster had green skin, but Yugi's monster had normal colored skin. The orange haired duelist glanced over to the other cards in the box and realized he didn't just get the Silents. He also received their powered-up forms. Silent Magician only had one, which was 'Lv. 8.' It was a drastic change from 'Lv. 4.' The magician was tall and sleek, and her hair was longer than her smaller form's.
Silent Swordsman had two powered-up forms, labeled 'Lv. 5' and 'Lv. 7.' 'Lv. 5' reminded Saiku of a teenager, and he carried a sword that rivaled Buster Blader's in size. 'Lv. 7' was even taller, looking more like an adult. His sword was ridiculously large, making Buster Blader's look like a toothpick. The final card in the box was a Spell Card called 'Level Up!'
Saiku blinked as he looked at his cards. "Did I just basically receive the most powerful magician in Duel Monsters and a spell destroyer in one box?" he wondered to himself. Well, there was only one thing to do now. Dashing over to his closet, he grabbed a book filled with all the cards he owned and began to look over them. "Hmm… The 'Gift of Greed' trap card could help a lot…" He strategized as he flipped through the pages, looking for cards for his revised deck.
His thoughts were so filled with potential combinations that he lost track of the time, and three hours soon flew by.
"Saiku!" his mother called. "Jessica's home!"
Saiku's head snapped toward his clock.
"Oh man… Alright! I'll be down in a few minutes!" Saiku responded as he began to put away his cards. He made sure to insert his new cards into his deck before placing it on his desk. He then quickly ran downstairs. As soon as his feet touched the floor, Saiku was tackled by a pink blur.
"Big brother!" the blur cried out in joy. Saiku looked down at the little girl who was now hugging him tightly. Her big green eyes focused on his blue ones as she waited for a response.
"Hey Jessica," Saiku greeted as he hugged her back. Jessica then pulled away, brushing back her dark brown hair and fixing her bright pink shirt.
"Kids, dinner's ready," Sari said as she walked into the room, giggling at the two of them.
"Yay!" Jessica cried as she leapt up and ran into the kitchen. Saiku chuckled before picking himself up and following his hyper little sister. The two sat at the table and began to eat.
"So, how was your two days at Grandma's?" Sari asked.
"Oh they were fun! We made cookies, and went to the woods and saw some deer! They even had a cute little baby deer!" Jessica gushed. Her eyes practically had twinkles in them.
"I see… You did pay attention in school and did your homework, right?"
"Yep! And I got into a duel at school! It was hard… I almost lost, but then I got a direct attack with Kuriboh and I won!" Jessica explained with a smile. Saiku stopped twirling his spaghetti and stared at Jessica.
"Sorry, I musta turned crazier than Wade for two seconds. I thought you said that you actually won a duel by attacking with Kuriboh." He knew Jessica wasn't one to make up stories, but that sounded just a little too good to be true.
"I did!" the dark-haired girl insisted, crossing her arms with a defiant stare. Saiku resisted the urge to flinch. He knew that look. There was so much conviction in that expression that it just screamed: 'Try and say I'm lying! Go ahead!'
"Okay, then one of three things happened. Either you got EXTREMELY lucky, your opponent SUCKED, or you're just an AMAZING duelist." Jessica's smile went slightly lopsided at that. While she hoped it was the last, the two former could have been true. Luck was all well and good, but what would her friends think if she just got by being lucky or that her victory was assured because her opponent was weak?
"Maybe it's all three," Sari spoke up. "After all, luck is always in the game. That is what your father says, right? And if your opponent 'sucked,' I think that just means you're more amazing than normal."
Saiku crossed his arms with a playful huff, but couldn't ignore his mom's words of wisdom. He had to wonder why she never picked up the game. Of course, considering she was the breadwinner of the family, she probably didn't have the time….
'She'd be a great duelist with that mindset, though,' Saiku thought with a wistful grin. 'Oh crap, food's getting cold!' Saiku quickly dug into his spaghetti, letting all thoughts of cards drift out of his mind to enjoy the simple pleasure in front of him.
Saiku sighed as he sat at the computer and opened up the internet. Hopefully this time his father wrote something. He opened his e-mail account and then started to grin.
"Mom! Jessica! Dad e-mailed us!" he called. The two females rushed over to the computer and gathered around the screen.
"Oh, what did he say? Huh? Huh? Huh?" Jessica bounced up and down as she waited for Saiku to read it. Sari just smiled as she put a hand on Jessica's shoulder to calm her down.
"Dear family," Saiku began. "I have some great news! Not only have I been invited to the World Championship this year, but..." Saiku's voice began to trail off.
"What? What is it?" Sari asked, a bit concerned.
"Limerick has also been invited," Saiku muttered, getting up from his seat. His twin brother was invited to the World Championship?! Just how much better of a duelist was he?! First, their dad took him to Japan to break into the world of dueling, and now this?!
"Brother…?" Jessica looked at him with a worried expression.
"I'm going to bed. Good night," he said as he climbed the stairs.
Inside his room, he began to get ready for bed. At least he could get away from his worries there. When he got to his bed, he noticed something strange.
"Huh?" He stared at the Silent Magician Lv. 4 card on his pillow. "I could swear I put that in my deck." He shook his head as he reached to pick it up. As soon as he grabbed it, a soft voice emanated from somewhere in the room.
"Onii-chan," the voice called out. Saiku's head jerked around as he looked for anyone in the room. Why did he hear someone call out 'big brother' in Japanese? 'Jessica...?' No. It sounded similar to Jessica's voice, but Jessica didn't know Japanese... So who was that? "Must be going nuts from hanging around Wade so much," he muttered, scratching the back of his head as he put the card in his deck. With a huge yawn, he lay in his bed and fell asleep.
On the other side of the world, the creator of Duel Monsters was reading a manga, chuckling as he did so. Soon, though, one of his henchmen burst through the door.
"Pegasus-sama!" he called out, only to receive a sharp glare in return.
"I told you never to interrupt me while I'm reading," Pegasus said coolly.
"S-Sorry, Pegasus-sama," the henchman stuttered, "but you told us to tell you when Takashuki-san reported to us."
"Oh, Yoshi-kun finally found a worthy recipient for the cards, did he?" Pegasus' reply was cheerful.
"Yes sir," the henchman breathed out in a sigh of relief. "He said they were given to a… Saiku Kamezooka."
Pegasus stroked his chin in thought.
"Kamezooka, is it? Sounds vaguely familiar. Well then, let's keep some tabs on this boy and see if Yoshi-kun's choice was a good one."
"Yes, Pegasus-sama." The henchman walked out, leaving Pegasus to lean back in his chair and resume reading.
"Well, Kamezooka-kun," he said to himself, "let's see where fate takes you."