New Destiny, New Challenges. The First Duel of Battle City.
Domino City, Colorado
"Mina Aino and Harmony Shields." a soft, feminine voice said from the other side. "I know you're there, please open the door."
The two girls exchanged a look and Harmony reached for the doorknob, opening the door. On the other side was a woman with long, black hair and tan skin, wearing a long white dress and an ornate headpiece. She smiled in greeting. "Protectors of Earth, I am pleased you have arrived safely." she said.
"Who are you?" Mina asked.
"My name is Ishizu Ishtar." she introduced. "I am here to explain to you your destiny."
"Our destiny?" Harmony repeated.
"Yes." Ishizu replied. "I can offer more information, if you will let me in."
Their jaws snapped shut and Mina opened the door wider and Ishizu stepped inside. The girls led Ishizu into the living room of the small condo.
"So, Miss Ishtar," Harmony began, sitting on the couch opposite Ishizu. "what's this about our destiny?" Mina sat next to her and nodded in agreement.
"Well, for starters, I know that both of you are the Sailor Guardians Earth and Venus." Ishizu began. "That's in part why you both were sent here. A new evil is coming, and your help is needed to combat it."
Mina and Harmony exchanged a glance. "A dueling tournament is being held that will bring this evil out of hiding." Ishizu continued, reaching up to caress the golden necklace she wore. "My Millennium Necklace grants me glimpses of the future, and one such vision showed me you girls aiding the Pharaoh and his friends in combating this evil and making a great difference."
"Dueling." Mina repeated. "As in Duel Monsters?
"Correct." Ishizu confirmed, setting a black tote bag on the small coffee table between them. "In here are the things you'll need for the tournament. I assume you have decks as well?"
"We do." Harmony answered, pulling the bag closer.
Mina pulled out the things inside, which were two boxes labeled 'KaibaCorp Duel Disk'. According to the box description it was designed for the tournament so duelists could duel anywhere in Domino City. "How do you expect us to duel in this tournament when we don't know anybody and no one knows us?" the blonde asked, meeting Ishizu's eyes.
The older woman just smiled and raised her hands to cup the sides of her necklace. The golden object began to glow, illuminating the entire living room. The scouts shielded their eyes from the intense light.
"Be in Domino City Square by 10 am." Ishizu's voice echoed. "Seek out the Rare Hunters, they work for this evil, they will give you the information you need to play your part in saving the world."
In order to find out who the great evil that Ishizu warned them about was, Mina and Harmony decided to enter under the tournament under their old Sailor aliases; Sailor V and Sailor Rose respectively. Mina smoothed out her blue mini skirt and tapped the toe of her blue heel on the floor. She overlooked herself in the mirror, feeling a little sense of dejavu, of her life as Sailor V helping out the police in England before she joined the other scouts in Japan. She placed her red mask over her bright blue eyes and smiled at her reflection.
"Ready V?" Harmony asked. She wore a red crop-top with a matching sailor collar and a light pink bow on the chest, a white skirt with one light green stripe and one dark green stripe along the bottom, white gloves that reached to the elbow with red cuffs, red lace up boots that reached mid calf, and to top off the alias look, a pink mask was over her eyes. Her raven hair was decorated with ice pink barrettes; her Sailor Rose alias.
"Yeah Rose, let's hunt these Rare Hunters." Mina giggled, grabbing her duel disk and deck pouch, which was strapped on a golden belt.
"Wait for us." Astrate called as the two scouts headed to the door.
"You girls can't go out on missions without us." Artemis added. "We are your trusted feline guardians."
The two teens rolled their eyes and chuckled, "Alright, let's go." Sailor V motioned, opening the door, stepping into the cool Colorado air.
Downtown Domino, 9:55 am
The two scouts sat by the fountain, sipping a Caramel Mocha while waiting for the Battle City tournament to start, their felines on their laps.
"So, you wanna tackle these Rare Hunters together or should we split up and cover more ground?" Sailor Rose asked, tapping the toe of her boot on the concrete.
Sailor V took a deep breath and sighed, "I believe splitting up is our best option." she answered. "But, we still have our communicators."
"True." Rose sighed. "So, once we locate a Rare Hunter we'll radio the other one."
"Sounds like a plan." V agreed, taking another sip of her Mocha, skimming the crowd around them. There were duelists of many trades mixed together, in the crowd but not really socializing with one another, her eyes zeroing in on a small group of duelists, who appeared to be somewhat arguing. It was mostly a tall, dark-skinned guy in blue surfer attire arguing with two duelists; one with brown hair in a red stocking cap and one with light blue hair in a bowl cut wearing bug-eyed glasses. The other four in the group just watched, shaking their heads.
One girl was tall with long blonde hair, wearing a purple leather vest over a lilac corset top with a dark leather skirt and matching knee high boots.
The second girl was just as tall, although looked younger, with long, brown hair and ice blue eyes, wearing a black leather jacket over a purple top, with washed jeans and knee high boots, an ice pink ribbon tied a portion of her hair into a ponytail and she wore a duel-monster card necklace.
The third girl was a bit shorter than the other two, and had honey colored hair and brown eyes, wearing a white leather jacket over a dark blue crop top, matching leather skirt and black ankle boots; her hair flowing elegantly over her shoulders and a golden feather charm hanging around her neck.
The fourth was a short boy with spiky tri-colored hair, wearing blue pants and matching jacket over a black muscle shirt; he also had a pyramid puzzle on a chain around his neck. As quickly as they seemed to group together, they parted ways, probably looking for some sort of warm up challenge.
"They seem a little ansy." Rose noted.
"Not worth our time." V commented.
The girl with honey colored hair approached them, smiling. "Hello, I don't believe we've met." she greeted, a small hint of a British accent coating her voice. "My name's Katerina, Katerina Pegasus."
V shook her hand. "I'm Venus." the scout introduced.
"Rose." Sailor Rose added, waving.
Katerina smiled. "Well, pleased to meet you. Hope to have a friendly duel." she walked off towards a row of boutiques.
Just as the clock hit 10, everyone looked around waiting for some sort of announcement from Seto Kaiba, the host of the tournament. A broadcaster message from Kaiba's company's blimp. Kaiba listed off the rules, including that the loser of a duel has to give up their rarest card to the winner.
"And only the best of the best will make it to the final rounds, which will be held in a secret location." Kaiba continued, a smirk across his face. "In order to find the final location, you'll need these locater cards." he held up a clear card with a map fragment. "One card isn't enough, you'll need six. Once you win a duel, you'll gain another locater card from your opponent and once you stack all six, you'll have a map of Battle City and the Kaiba Corp. global positioning satellite will transmit the location of the finals to you."
Rose and Venus looked down at their locater cards and met eachother's eyes. Once Kaiba's announcement was over, the tournament officially began.
"Guess it's time to part ways, for now." Rose sighed, standing up and tossing her Mocha into the trash. "I'll call ya when I find a hunter."
"And I'll do the same." Venus agreed, tossing her Mocha as well. "Be careful sis."
"You too." Rose replied, the two girls hugging one another. With a smile and wink, Sailor Rose and Astrate walked into the crowd.
"Well Mina, what now?" Artimes asked, looking up at his companion.
"Now, we find ourselves and Rare Hunter to duel." Venus answered, walking off in the opposite direction her friend did, with Artemis by her heels.
Domino Plaza, 10:15 am
"My hunt for your deck is over." a voice said, and that instantly caught Sailor V's attention. A tall, lanky man with spiked lavender hair wearing a cloak was staring down a teenager with blonde hair in a white and blue t-shirt and jeans.
"Hey, what's going on here?" she asked casually, walking up to them.
"And who might you be?" the lanky Hunter asked.
"Type in Sailor V on that laptop of yours." she told him. "I think there's a card in my deck you'll be interested in."
The Rare Hunter typed on his laptop and his jaw dropped. "Celestial Fairy Queen." he muttered, grinning. "You, my dear, will be my next victim of the hunt."
Sailor V flashed her Duel Disk. "Bring it on Rare Hunter." she challenged. "Taking out freaks like you is exactly why I'm here."
The blonde male grabbed her arm. "Listen miss, this guy is dangerous." he warned, his voiced laced with a Brooklyn accent.
Sailor V glanced in his direction and winked, "Don't you worry, I'll win back the monster he took from you." she promised. "After all, I'm Sailor V, and helping people is my job." her eyes turned to the Rare Hunter. "So, we gonna duel or not?"
"It will be my pleasure, Sailor V." he laughed.
The scout turned to the other duelist, "What's your name?" she asked. "And what card did he take from you?"
"Oh, I'm Joey." he replied, blushing. "Joey Wheeler, runner-up Duelist Kingdom Champion." he grinned. "This creep stole my Red-Eyes Black Dragon."
"Okay Joey." Sailor V repeated, turning her attention to the Rare Hunter opposite her. "The stakes are this: I win, you hand over the Red-Eyes Black Dragon you took from Joey, and if you win, my Celestial Fairy Queen is yours."
"Deal." the Hunter agreed.
"Wait, Sailor V, hold on-" Joey began, but the hunter silenced him.
"If you say one word about how I defeated you, Wheeler, I'll tear your Red-Eyes to shreds." the Hunter threatened. He set his deck in his Duel Disk, still wearing that evil grin.
Venus took out her deck and smiled. "It's one on one, you against me." she agreed, placing her deck in her Duel Disk. "Time to show off what my deck can really do." Venus held out her disk, "Activating hollow-imagers." She hit the release button and the two devices set up the dueling field. The disk switched on and the two were ready to duel.
"Ladies first." the Hunter offered.
Venus smiled, "Much obliged." she accepted, drawing her hand.
Start of Duel
Sailor V LP: 4000/Rare Hunter (Seeker) LP: 4000
Sailor V drew from her deck and examined her first hand. "To start things off, I'll set these cards facedown." she began, setting two facedowns and smiling as their holograms appeared on the field. "Next, I'll summon 'Beta Lycanthrope' in attack mode!" the beastly hologram of a medium sized werewolf with gold eyes and a white and red mask took the field with a howl. ("Beta Lycanthrope" 1700/1600)
The Rare Hunter, known as Seeker, drew from his deck, "I activate the magic card, 'Graceful Charity'." he said. "Which allows me to draw three cards from my deck, but I have to discard two from my hand." he followed the motions, but didn't seem torn up about the cards he had to discard. "If you only knew what was in my hand, you would forfeit now girly."
Sailor V narrowed her eyes. "Don't let the cute skirt fool you." she shot. "I know much more about this game, and while I don't know what's in your hand, my facedown will reveal any hidden monsters you'll try to hide." the blonde smirked, activating her 'Light of Intervention' trap card.
"That doesn't matter." Seeker rebuked. "I play 'Stone Statue of the Aztecs' in defense mode." the small stone statue took the field. ("Stone Statue of the Aztecs" 300/2000)
Sailor Venus focused, trying to analyze the Rare Hunter's moves and figure him out. She drew and smiled. "According to Battle City rules, I have to sacrifice a weaker monster to summon a stronger one. So, I'll sacrifice my 'Beta Lycanthrope' so I can summon out my might beast 'Berfomet'!" In place of her werewolf, a larger beast took the field. "And since he was successfully summoned, I can summon out my 'Gazelle' as well." ("Berfomet" 1400/1800, "Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts" 1500/1200)
"But, don't think I'm stopping there." the soldier of love continued, revealing her second facedown, the magic card 'Polymerization'. "With the power of this magic, I can fuse my two monsters to form 'Chimera, the Flying Mythical Beast' in attack mode!" With a mighty roar, her fusion monster took the field directly in front of her, and she grinned in excitement. ("Chimera the Flying Mythical Beast" 2100/1800)
"But, according to Battle City rules, my Fusion monster can't attack on the turn it was summoned." Sailor V bit her lip. "So, on my next turn Chimera will crush your stone statue, and then, your life points will be wide open for a direct attack." She selected another card from her hand, "I'll end my turn by placing this facedown."
"Listen V, you have to worry about more than just the cards on his field." Joey told her.
"One more word Wheeler, and you can say goodbye to your Red-Eyes forever." Seeker sneered.
V glanced at Joey and gave him a gentle smile. "It's okay." she assured. "I can handle this freak, don't you worry." the scout gave him a wink, earning a blush from Joey.
Seeker drew yet another 'Graceful Charity' from his deck, which somehow he predicted and that sent off warning signals for Sailor V. He then summoned out another monster in defense mode, 'Gear Golem the Moving Fortress'. ("Gear Golem the Moving Fortress" 800/2200)
The blue eyes of Sailor V never left the Rare Hunter as she drew from her deck. "In order for you to win my Celestial Fairy Queen, you'll have to attack me eventually." she reminded. "All he's been doing is playing defense and drawing cards. What's his gameplan?"
Off to the side, Joey was clenching his fists in frustration "Listen V, I won't let you loose one of your rare cards over some chump you barely know." he said, marching up to stand beside the sailor scout.
"You're no chump." V rebuked, meeting his brown eyes with her blue ones. "Like I said, I entered this tournament specifically to weed out these Rare Hunters." her eyes narrowed towards Seeker. "Think Mina, what strategy involves biding time and drawing cards?" Sailor V closed her eyes to think it over. A minute later, her eyes flew open and she cracked a smile. "I've figured you out!" She exclaimed "Biding time, playing defense, drawing cards. You're planning to summon out 'Exodia, the Forbidden One'!" V pointed an accusing glove-covered finger in Seeker's direction.
From the look of shock on his face, the scout knew she was right. V cracked a smile, a gentle breeze blowing her blonde hair behind her. "Just because I'm cute and blonde, doesn't mean I'm dumb. I know this game and you have a terrible poker face." she chuckled. "Now that I've figured you out, it's only a matter of time before the Red-Eyes you took from Joey is back in his deck, where it rightfully belongs." Sailor V turned her head and winked at said duelist.
"Now, all I have to do is figure out a way to win." she thought. "I have to win, for the safety of the world."
To Be Continued...