This chapter was written by 4fireking and Destinystruth. I'm so for the long hiatus of making this chapter but what with working a full time job and making the mistake of writing too many stories there hasn't been a lot of time to get back to this story.
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The boy had a secret he kept from the boy and girl his age: he was a lot older than he appeared to be and he was rich in the real world. Secrets. In the real world this boy was a conceited billionaire.
He didn't know how he ended up where he was, or why he was there, but he wanted to get back home. Right now the two kids were standing by his side asking if he needed anything because they left a bruise on him.
"I'm fine," came his response, before he could even think about it. He turned away from the two kids, his nose in the air. They were beneath him. He needed to find a way out of here, and he'd do it the way he did almost everything. Alone.
" Are you a duelist?" Yuko asked the kid.
" I am. I have my deck in my pocket. Why do you ask?" he asked.
Mindy turned to Total Defense Shogun, confused, "Is it normal for duelists like us to pop up here?"
" It's very rare. There were no other Duelists like you in our village until you two showed up. This is a very unlikely circumstance indeed."
Mindy turned to the strange boy, her eyes narrowing, "How did you get here then?"
" I was working on a project to make Duel Monsters become popular again. I tried making an A.I. to help me make a new game for it but the A.I. turned against me and sent me here."
"Y-you were building an A.I.?" The shock on her face was evident. How could that be possible? The kid wasn't any older than she or Yuko. "But then, you're like me and Yuko! We love Duel Monsters!" She grinned, excited at the prospect of having a new comrade. "If he's a duelist, he can stay with us, can't he?" She looked at their guardian with pleading eyes.
" I don't see why not. But first, Yuko, have a Duel with him. It would be good for judging your skills and courage. Have a nice Duel."
The strange boy huffed, as of such a thing were beneath him. Despite his attitude, he drew his deck from his pocket, his blue eyes full of anticipation. There was a hunger in them that scared Mindy.
"What's with this guy...?" She muttered to herself.
"Go ahead and draw your cards..." the kid smirked. "But I won't be easily beaten."
Yuko drew his five cards from his deck. Since the kid was being tested he went first.
" I summon Blade Knight in Attack Mode (1600/1000)."
The boy tsked, and drew a card, his eyes narrowing, "And here I thought you might put up a good fight. Guess that was too much to hope for..."
Mindy grit her teeth. This guy's arrogance was starting to get to her. Hadn't she just offered to let him come along? What an ungrateful little...
"I'll start by playing my Blizzard Dragon in Attack Mode (1800/1000)." The monster quickly appeared on the field, roaring angrily. "Next, I'll place one card face down. Now, Blizzard Dragon... Attack his Blade Knight!"
His dragon sent a blast at Yuko's monster, smashing it and decreasing his life points to 3800.
"I think that'll do for now," the boy folded his arms and smirked.
"Don't let him get you down Yuko!" Mindy called, ignoring the dirty look she received. "You've got this!"
Yuko nodded his head listening to Mindy's advice. He drew a monster he really needed.
" I summon Mad Dog of Darkness in Attack Mode (1900/1400)."
His monster was a demon dog with red eyes and horns. It was having a roaring match with Blizzard Drafon awaiting Yuko's command.
"Yeah Yuko! Send that dragon packing!" Mindy cheered.
"You've activated my trap," the boy said smoothly. "Ring of Destruction. This card can target any monster, and destroy, and seeing as you only have one..." he pointed at Mad Dog of Darkness, "Your mutt is toast!"
The ring flew over Mad Dog of Darkness, dropping onto it and squeezing it into oblivion. Yuko's life points dropped to 1900, and his dropped to 2100. "The attack points of your monster are then subtracted from both of our life points, but it was well worth the sacrifice! You no longer have any monsters to defend your life points!"
Yuko knew if he only relied on monsters this Duel would be over, but this game had a way of safeguarding a player.
" I set two cards facedown and end my turn."
"This duel is just about over. I'll summon my Lord of D. To the field in attack mode. (1200/1100)," the boy swiftly threw his card down, and his monster appeared. "Now, Blizzard Dragon, attack him directly!"
The dragon controlled freezing breath from its mouth and fired it at Yuko. Yuko activated one of his set cards.
" Response, Negate Attack. This card negates your attack and ends your battle phase."
Yuko expected him to be impressed but all he did was smirk. " Thank you. A weakling like you needs to be crushed by the force of a powerful monster."
"You arrogant little..." Mindy clenched her hand into a fist. "If he was weak, your weak monsters would be able to defeat him. It's because he is a strong duelist that you have to duel better than an amateur. If that's even possible for you!"
The boy's glare froze her on the spot. There was so much intensity behind it... nevertheless, she continued her tirade after shaking it off.
"Take him down Yuko!"
" Hahahaha! Your Dueling culmination is all your girlfriend showing up to help you," he said mocking Yuko.
" Mindy isn't my girlfriend! Whatever." Yuko drew a card from his deck. It was the best monster he could ask for, his ace card. " I activate Ancient Rules. This card allows me to special summon a normal monster level five or higher from my hand. I summon Millennium Shield in Attack Mode (0/3000)."
Mindy was cheering her friends name when he summoned his strong shield with a gold eye on its plate and had gold edges.
" I activate my facedown, Shield and Sword."
The boy looked incredibly frustrated, and rightly so. Mindy smiled, knowing that he was getting what he deserved for toying with Yuko.
"One turn isn't going to be enough for you to wipe out my life points," he growled.
" Your right. Both your monsters have 1000 DEF while you have 2100 life points remaining. I would lose this duel next turn from a thoughtless strategy like that. I did however spell summon Millennium Shield. Meet another monster of mine D. Human (1300/1100)."
Anger flashed through the stranger's eyes, but to Mindy's surprise, he started laughing, "Well done. But before you go finishing the duel off, let me tell you something. If I had played the card I have in my hand, this duel would have been over the first turn... But I wanted to test you and see what you had instead of just crushing you... so your victory will be hollow."
"You jerk! You're just saying that because you're about to lose!" Mindy growled. "Why don't you take the loss gracefully like a true duelist?"
Again, that intense stare. The boy gripped his cards, and lowered his voice, "Let's get one thing clear... I am one of the best duelists out there, and that was something I earned. If I say I could have wiped the floor with this loser, then it's true. There is no honor in lying and cheating your way to the top, so believe me..." he faced his opponent once more. "It's true."
" D. Human will attack your Lord of D and Millennium Shield will attack your Blizzard Dragon."
D. Human attacked charging at Lord of D. It was when he was in close counter with the monster he grew a horn from his palm and jabbed it into the boy's monster. Millennium Shield created a triangle of electric balls before flying towards Blizzard Dragon and ramming the balls into it.
Both monsters were destroyed and the boy's life Points went to zero.
Mindy expected him to make some more sarcastic and snarky remarks, but the boy didn't say a word. Instead, he folded his hand into his deck once more, deactivated his duel disk, and started to walk away.
"Where are you going?" She blurted out.
"Doesn't matter as long as it's away from here," he said simply. "I have work to do. Obviously there are a few bugs I have to work out in my A.I. System. When I finally wake up from this nightmare, I'll start by making sure you two are erased from the program."
Mindy's eye twitched, "You think that we're part of your stupid program?"
He smiled, "What else could it be? There's no such thing as magic."
Yuko put both his monster cards back into his deck. He felt something resonating from Millennium Shield only he ignored that feeling and returned Blade Knight, Mad Dog, and his Spell and Traps back into his Duel disk.
" Yuko I'm sorry," Mindy confided to him. " If I didn't think it would be a good idea to ask him to join we would be further along on our journey and we wouldn't be at risk of being deleted...if we were programs which we are not. My point is, it was my fault this happened."
"Not at all," Total Defense Shogun shook his head. "I am the one who suggested Yuko duel him as a test. Despite the outcome, there's something about him..."
"You're not going to let him join us with an attitude like that, are you?" The horror in Mindy's voice indicated clearly her feelings on the matter.
"We didn't even get his name..." Yuko cut in softly.
"Huh?" Mindy looked after the boy, who had gotten some distance away from them. "Oh yeah..."
She put her hands on her mouth and shouted " Tell us your name!"
He turned around glaring at her with a frown on his face. " My name is Seto Kaiba. Everyone back in Domino City knows my name."