Hi guys! Sorry this is a little late, two weeks is better than a few months eh? College is a little crazy right now. Having at least a test and a quiz this next week, I want to at least post before it gets even crazier.
We have our first duel! I tried to cut it down as much as I could be have enough of the important pieces of it.
I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! I only own Christine my OC.
It took at least another half hour or so for the boat to reach the small pier on the side of the island. The crew ran rampant across the deck, setting up the ramp that would set all of the Duelists off, before they called for everyone to exit. We were one of the last groups off the boat but that didn't slow anyone down.
"We're finally here!" Yami said to us, like he needed to announce it.
"Awright!" Jounouchi cheered. "I'm ready for this!"
Unfortunately for Jounouchi, now came the slight cold. "Ahh... Ahh… ACHOO!"
"Bless you." I quickly said, handing him a tissue from my bag.
"Thanks." The blond muttered back.
"I'm sorry, Jounouchi…" Yami apologized. "Because you tried to save my cards, you're…"
"Aww, this?" Jounouchi wiped his nose one last time with the tissue. "It's nothing! What really ticks me off is that jerk who threw your best cards into the ocean!"
As if on cue, I heard the slight cackle of the bug themed Duelist and had to resist the urge to freeze him where he stood. Based on Yami's glare toward the other Duelist, I could only assume that he was thinking the same thing, though with much more blood involved. I elbowed him lightly to wake him up but I could tell that he was still thinking about it.
"All Duelists head towards the castle for an important announcement!" Kemo bellowed over the crowd, scaring a few of the Duelists.
I dreaded all the stairs we had to climb but I kept quiet. Yami must have dreaded this as well, having to climb the stairs and being so close to Pegasus and yet have to climb all the way back down to have to earn the right to come back up.
"It's really a castle!" Anzu said, her eyes wide. "Wow!"
We climbed a few more staircases until we reached the gates of the castle and Kemo' voice appeared again.
"Upon arriving, wait in front of the gates!" Kemo bellowed once more. "We will now explain the rules!"
Near the top of the castle, a door opened and Yami, who stood next to me, flinched lightly and his fists clenched. He was dressed nearly the same as when he dueled Yami, with his crimson suit and his long silver hair covering the eye that was a solid gold.
"Welcome, everyone!" Pegasus greeted with a smile. "Welcome to Duelist Kingdom! Allow me to explain the rules of this very special tournament! The duels will take place with official Duel Monsters cards only, of course! I hope you all brought your most powerful decks! Of course, if you're not completely confident, you are allowed to trade with one another. Each of you should have already received a duel glove and two star chips, correct?"
For emphasis, Pegasus pulled out an example duel glove and a small gold star "At this time, please put the glove on your right hand!" Yami pulled his out from the bag where I was holding onto it and placed the lone star he had into an empty slot. I glanced around and saw that everyone was doing the same. "On the glove you should find 10 crevices where you can place your star chips. Please insert your two star chips into them now. These stars are essentially your life as a Duelist! Whenever you duel in this tournament, you must stake one or more chips on the outcome!"
Our whole group suddenly became deadly serious. With both Yugi and Jounouchi only having one star chip each, they would be prey to all sorts of crazy Duelists. "The first Duelists to win 10 star chips will win the honors of entering the castle! Only they will have a chance at the prize!" Pegasus then seemed to look right at us with an entertaining expression. "The duels will begin in exactly one hour! The time limit for the game is 48 hours! Once the time runs out, those with less than 10 star chips will be eliminated! They will be declared the losers and deported from the island immediately! Now, Duelists! I pray for your success!" With that, he turned his back on the crowd and walked back into the castle. Yami glared at his back but knew it was better not to call him out.
The hour went by extremely slowly. We all stood by the bottom of the stairs, sitting in near silence as we waited for the beginning of the tournament. I took the time glancing at the faces of the Duelists that passed by. They seemed determined to win the glory and money that the tournament would give them; to them, we all probably looked ashen faced and bored with being here. Soon enough, our patience was rewarded when the dueling was allowed to begin. We all began to walk and after what seemed like eternity, I glanced down at Bakura's watch and saw that only two minutes had passed.
"Okay." Honda breathed. "Let's check this place out!"
"This island is so peaceful." Bakura took a deep breath. "It hardly seems like the right to play Duel Monsters."
"I can agree with that." I replied.
The place did have a sort of calming attribute to it. I couldn't help but be calmed here but I shook off the feeling. It may have to do with the Millennium Eye.
"Look!" Anzu pointed toward some Duelists who were sitting at the side of the path we were on. "Those people aren't playing either! I guess we're not the only ones who don't know what to do."
I could only agree with her. The rules weren't very specific about how the duels were going to proceed. We walked a few feet further until Jounouchi pointed to a sign.
"Hey, there's a sign over there!"
We all ran over to see it a little more clearly. It was a simple sign, one arrow pointing to the forest, the other to a lake a good distance away. "A forest to the left and a lake to the right."
"Let's go to the forest." Yami finally spoke up. "I saw Weevil go this way."
"Okay then…"
We followed the forest path and we all kept jumping when birds shot out of the trees. As much as the island was tranquil, this forest still creeped me out. Jounouchi apparently agreed with me as he said the word aloud.
"Hey, Yugi!" A shrill voice called out.
Everybody turned and glared at the green haired boy a few feet away. He had his arms crossed with his deck in his right hand. Yami's near glare nearly killed as he stared Weevil down.
"Heh heh..." Yami chuckled. "At least you have the courage to face me!"
Though I highly doubt he is the smartest cookie in the jar, I thought.
"Of course, Yugi!" Weevil gave a strange smile. "I mean, if I beat you first, the rest will be easy! I challenge you to a duel, right here, right now!"
"You asked for it!" Yami barked.
"There's a place to duel right here in the woods." Weevil replied civilly. "This way."
Weevil walked off with us behind and I took the opportunity to somewhat berate Yami on his outburst.
"Yami, you need to chill." I whispered. "Exploding like that is only what Weevil wants."
Yami gave a harsh huff. "You know I'm right."
"Yeah, I hate it when you're right." Yami whispered back.
"Please?" I asked. "Just keep your head on straight for this."
Yami didn't reply for a minute until the clear dueling box came into view.
"I promise."
Both Weevil and Yami entered the box and sat for a moment, simply glaring at each other. I was tempted to simply yell 'Get on with it already!' but I was beaten by Weevil commenting on how Yami was already down to one star chip.
"You do realize that if I take your last star chip, you're out for good, right?" Weevil gave a smile as he pulled out one of his star chips. "I guess I only need to stake one, then…"
"No…" Yami interrupted darkly. "You'll stake both of your star chips."
"What?" Weevil asked, his eyebrow raised.
"I told you-I'm taking you out first, remember? Kill or be Killed."
Yami pulled out his only star chip and set it on the table beside him. "I'll stake one star chip… and my life!"
I immediately face palmed. We were really back at this again?
"Christine?" Anzu asked, pulling everyone's attention to me. "Everything ok?"
"Yeah…" I huffed. "Just slightly disappointed that we're back at this again."
"This?" Bakura asked.
"You know, the whole…" I gave my best impression of Yami. " 'If you win, I'll take my life.' Sigh. I thought we were through with that."
"So, he does this often?" Anzu asked.
"Yeah." I sighed. "Though he normally wins when he does it so I guess that's why he's still doing it."
Everyone seemed concerned for a moment but I guess that they figured that the duel would go our way. We turned back to the duel as more spectators came to watch the first big duel of the Tournament. Please don't let this be the first time you have to follow through with your silly idea.
Both of them began with simple monsters, Weevil with Killer Needle, and Yami with Mammoth Graveyard. Both monsters had the same attack power but somehow the bee was able to defeat the large bone mammoth; though it was only a few seconds until the bee began to decay as well.
"Listen, Weevil!" Yami said, a confident smile on his face. "I figured out that new rule the moment I sat down at this table! It's a shame you're only an insect to me!"
Weevil glared murderously across the table but Yami didn't seem all that fazed. " 'Why did Pegasus decide to hold his tournament on an island?' I couldn't get the question out of my head... However as soon as I sat down at this duel table and saw a landscape displayed on the screen, I solved that puzzle. The island consists of several microclimates. This 'field screen' shows the landscape surrounding us for 40 meters in each direction. Depending on where the battles take place, the monster cards get a field power source to make them stronger. In this game, it makes a difference where the island you choose to duel!"
It reminded me of when we first began to play Duel Monsters in school. How Jounouchi got so mad at Honda because he played his zombie on the graveyard field and got a power up. "I know why you led me to the forest, Weevil… because it puts you insect cards at an advantage!"
"If my secret's out, then let's fight!" Weevil pointed menacingly at Yami. "I'll turn this forest into your grave!"
The duel continued as Weevil continued to play insect monsters. Yami's newly summoned Feral Imp didn't really stand a chance against the opposing beetle, making his life points drop to 1350, as another new rule was revealed. As the field was mostly forest, it also gave Weevil the advantage on when he could attack.
"No way!" Honda exclaimed. "Yugi's losing to Bug boy!"
"He's not losing, per se…" I huffed.
"Yugi!" Jounouchi cheered. "Don't give up, dude!"
"I'm sure Yugi has some awesome strategy in store!" Bakura expressed hopefully.
As Weevil continued to strengthen his weak insects, Yami continually placed monsters in defense mode. Yami had only a face down card by the end of it as most of his monsters were destroyed. He must have been trying to draw something as he gave a small smile before summoning the Dark Magician and placing it in defense mode.
"Oho…" Weevil gave a laugh. "The Dark Magician…! That's one of your best cards, isn't it? Instead of indiscriminately raining doom on you, like I was planning, I'll destroy that first! Basic Insect Laser Cannon! Attack!"
Yami chuckled and I knew that Weevil was in trouble now. "What's so funny?"
"You said 'attack', right?" Yami taunted. "You can't take it back now!"
"Huh?!"
"Remember that card I played face down?"
Yami flipped it to reveal the trap card, Mirror Force, a seriously overpowered one! "My mirror barrier reflects your attack back in all directions!" The attack from the laser cannon was reflected back toward Weevil and in many different explosions, all of the insects he had summoned were destroyed, reducing his life points to 450. "Heh… You must have won the tournament by dumb luck. Maybe, just maybe…" Yami gave a very confident smile there. "The weakest player on this island is you!"
"Oh, yeah!" Jounouchi cheered. "Now do you get it, bug boy?!"
"You don't even come close to Yugi!" Honda cheered as well.
"To fight a trap card with a trap card!" Bakura complimented. "Yugi's amazing! He went beyond his opponents trap to set up a counter trap!"
"Nice job, Yugi!" Anzu cried.
"Tee hee hee..." Someone laughed. "That was smooth, all right… But Yugi-chan's only taken a small lead."
Yugi-chan…? My fist clenched and I seriously contemplated freezing the person to the tree behind her. I didn't need to turn around as I had recognized the laugh and Jounouchi and Honda called out her name.
"Mai Valentine!"
"A Duel Monster's game can go from victory to defeat in a single turn!" Mai said, probably thinking she was above all of us. "It's too early to get cocky!"
"Like you would know how a true match went." I muttered and apparently she heard me. She gave me a pointed look which I happily returned. "And what's with the whole 'Yugi-chan' thing? Yugi is not a little kid!"
"Listen…" Mai sighed. "Weevil Underwood is the Japanese Champion! He is a master planner with several winning strategies! The real duel is just starting!"
"I gotta agree with Mai, Anzu." Jounouchi suddenly said.
"Yeah, me too." Honda agreed.
"What's with you guys?!" Anzu shrieked.
They both looked at me, hoping that I would have understood, and knew they were in trouble. The only reason they weren't frozen to the nearest tree was because there were witnesses around and I wasn't really in the mood to lose my temper right now. I gave a nasty glare before turning back to the duel but I continued to listen in.
"I mean, of course Yugi's gonna win, right?" Jounouchi asked all of us. "But that doesn't mean he can let down his guard!"
That was true… Now that Yami was more confident with the new rules, Weevil wasn't going to make this duel any easier for him.
"Yugi!" Anzu called. "Beat Weevil quickly!"
"Go for it, Yugi!" Jounouchi called as well.
"You can do it." I said much more quietly, not feeling the urge to shout, but still knowing that he would hear me.
"You'll regret this, you big haired freak!" Weevil shrieked. "Now you've really made me mad!"
"Talk is cheap." Yami said smirking. "Take your frustration and send it to me through your cards! And I'll give it back to you!"
Weevil clenched his fists but then smirked. "Your side's looking a little empty, Weevil. Don't you think you should play some monsters?" Quit riling him up, Yami. This duel is only going to get even crazier once Weevil manages to summon his ultimate insect.
Weevil did summon a monster, a caterpillar like monster, in defense mode. Yami didn't attack with any of his stronger monsters but did what was 'smart' and used his monster recovery card to pull them back into his deck and sent little Kuriboh to set off Weevil's trap card. I thought I was insane for a moment as I was sure that I saw the little puffball look over at me and puffed out his imaginary chest. The trap card made Kuriboh explode and lost Yami a good 300 points but he was still in the lead. He played Beaver Warrior and ended his turn but Weevil started laughing suddenly.
"You fool!" Weevil exclaimed. "You've done exactly what I wanted!"
"What?!"
"This is my Trump Card!"
Weevil pulled a card out of his hand, called Cocoon Evolution, and equipped it to his caterpillar. The silk strings wrapped continually around the small monster until it looked exactly like a cocoon from the science textbooks we had at school. Yami had only five turns until the Great Moth appeared and his death was assured. What didn't help was that because of the forest, the cocoon got a 600 point boost to its defense, making it impenetrable to the majority of monsters.
Yami tried to break apart the cocoon with Gaia the Fierce Knight but he only lost a few hundred life points with nothing to show for it.
"Oh no, Yugi!" Anzu called.
"Haven't you defeated that stupid cocoon yet?!" Jounouchi exclaimed.
"It'll be a little more difficult than that." I sighed, regretting the words already.
"Exactly." Mai agreed. "Nobody's beaten the Cocoon of Evolution combo, what can Yugi do to stop it?"
Luckily, Weevil couldn't summon any monsters while the cocoon was on the field so Yami still had a chance to win but I could see he was getting antsy.
"You can't lose, Yugi!" Anzu called again to the box.
"Hang in there!" Honda cried.
"Yugi!" Jounouchi called as he ran up to stand beside me as I was the closest to the box. "We came to this island to win the honors of the Duelist King! You can't lose here!"
Yami turned to his friend, a sort of blank look on his face. Jounouchi elbowed me in the stomach. I turned to glare at him but Jounouchi only gestured in Yami's direction. I rolled my eyes but said the first thing that came to my mind anyway.
"Dumb idea: Let's just burn down the forest!" I gave a peppy smile. "That'll probably work!"
Jounouchi looked at me like I was insane but I ignored him and turned to look at Mai as she began to talk.
"You amateurs talk too much." She sighed. "Once a Duelist sits down for a match, the only person he can believe in is himself! A real Duelist wouldn't even pay attention to you shouting 'Yugi!' 'Yugi!' all the time…"
"No!" Anzu nearly shouted. "He'll listen! Yugi will hear our feelings!"
"Just you wait…" I muttered to myself. "He'll show you…"
I turned back to the duel and my day was made when Yami was giving us all a thumbs-up. He had figured out how to beat it! Though what had triggered it? I thought about the conversation but nothing came to mind.
"Here I come!" Yami placed one of his cards down onto the field. "Curse of Dragon! Combo attack: Flames of Hell!"
The skeletal dragon came forth and a large inferno was set loose from its mouth. I held back the flinch from seeing the flames. The inferno was in there and I was out here; I was safe and Yami was safe, for the time being.
"I told you it's no good, stupid!" Weevil shouted across the table. "The accursed dragon's attack power is 600 points lower than the cocoon!"
"Who said I was attack the Cocoon of Evolution?" Yami taunted. "You just assumed that! What I actually attacked was… The forest itself!"
I was suddenly pulled into a hug, knocking my concentration out of the duel.
"You're brilliant, Christine!" Jounouchi cheered.
"What did I say?!" I exclaimed, then remembered that I had jokingly said to burn down the forest. "Put me down!"
Once Jounouchi did so, I quickly turned back to the duel. Yami had called an attack on the cocoon and it was moving strangely after the attack. Even though it wasn't the Ultimate Moth, a Great Moth would still prove a challenge.
"Who's laughing now, Yugi?" Weevil asked. "Who's laughing now? Has fear of the Great Moth shriveled your tongue in your throat?!"
"Heh heh..." Yami laughed. "I was picturing in my head how to swat that big mosquito!"
"I'd like to see you try!"
Unfortunately for Yami's monsters, the Great Moth can fly and cannot be hit by their attacks. Though, sadly for Weevil, the Heart of the Cards came through for us and Gaia the Fierce Knight was reborn as Gaia the Dragon Champion but the poison pollen from the Moth's attack caused him to lose attack points. Again the Heart of the Cards saves us. The Magical Mist was able to take care of the poisonous pollen and set the stage for my favorite Duel Monster: Summoned Skull!
"You haven't figured it out yet?" Yami asked when Weevil questioned why he had played a weaker monster against his moth. "Why I used the Magic Mist magic card?"
He got his answer when the Great Moth began to droop down, the water on its wings making it heavy and harder to fly. "That's right. The Magic Mist is the stepping stone for a combo attack with Summoned Skull! Because of the Magic Mist effect, Great Moth becomes more conductive to electricity and the demon's attack power goes up!" Summoned Skull's attack jumped up to 3100 and I cheered as lightning struck the large insect and sent Weevil's life points down to zero.
"Yes!" I cheered again.
"He did it!" Jounouchi cheered along with me. "Yugi won!"
I beamed at my friends until I heard the threatening from inside the box.
"Now get off the island, insect!" Yami yelled. "Or I'll pull off your legs one by one!"
That apparently scared Weevil enough to leave him alone but not me. As soon as the crowd of Duelists had dispersed and Yami had walked out of the box with his two new star chips, I grabbed Yami's ear like a mother would her child. "Ow!" He yelled. "Christine! What are you doing?!"
"No more threatening bodily harm…" I began to list. "No more betting your life…"
"Oh chill, Christine!" Jounouchi said with a smile as he pulled my hand off Yami's ear. "He won the duel, give him some slack!"
"After all that work, I get no congratulations from you?" Yami asked, a slight taunt and tease in his voice.
I was extremely tempted to just brush him off, simply saying 'good job' and walking off, but he would bug me for the rest of the day, maybe even the rest of the tournament, if I did that. With everyone in the group beaming at me, I caved. With a light sigh and a bright blush, I waved them to turn around and wrapped my arms around Yami's chest tightly when I was sure they weren't looking.
"Good job…" I muttered. "I knew you could do it."
Yami chuckled at the words and with his newfound height, rested his chin on my head.
"I'm glad I can reach your expectations."
Though I was happy that he had won the duel, my requests for the spirit still rang true in my mind.
"Though if there is any more betting with your life, we will have words."
"I know."
I pulled away from the hug, jumped up to kiss the spirit's cheek, and allowed everyone to turn back.
"Let's get out of this place, it creeps me out."
"Agreed!" Jounouchi shouted and we began onto the next area.
Hopefully you all liked it! I'll post the next chapter when I get some free time, probably after the tests and quizzes and everything clams down.
See ya'll soon!
RobynHood3
