I woke up the next day with Mai sleeping right next to me. I got changed and got all my stuff together before leaving the room, being sure to stay quiet as not to wake Mai. I went out to the spot where I found Yugi and Joey's decks yesterday and sat down for some breakfast. After finishing, I went over to the railing and looked out towards Duelist Kingdom. It just looked like an old island from where I was, but I knew what would happen there. Sitting back at the table, I guessed that Seto had already set out for his cottage or whatever it was and Mokuba was captured. The fact that I was letting my brother be kidnapped still haunted me a bit. I mean, I knew it had to happen but…I wasn't, if that makes any sense.
"Attention duelists! My hair is really spiky! I mean, um….Attention…duelists….please ignore my last remark. Thank you. And we will be arriving at Duelist Kingdom shortly." Ok…that was weird. And we're already there? I looked around and noticed that the ship was really close to the dock. It wasn't long until I was walking out onto the dock and up to the castle with all the other duelists. I noticed Yugi and his friends were coming over towards me, so I smoothly moved through the crowd and blended in. (Ok, so I hid behind some duelists. Big deal.)
"Hey? Where'd she go?"
"I don't know, Yugi."
"That's just it Teà. Just…who is she?"
"I don't know either, but I just can't get those blue eyes outta my head! They looked just like Kaiba's."
"What I don't get Joey is what she keeps saying."
"What Yug?"
"The truth. Before we got on the boat, she warned my about Weevil. And now she says that she'll meet me again when the Shadow Games are 'truly revealed'."
"Maybe she's just trying to tell you she loves you by acting all mysterious!" Tristan got a large head bump for that one on my behalf. Thank you Teà.
"Shut up Tristan." They then had to stop the conversation because Pegasus came out. Our eyes met contact for a second before he smiled at Yugi and began speaking. I kind-of droned him out by singing songs in my head. When he left, I decided to tail Yugi until the right time, and earn the star chips along the way. So began my little adventure of staying a bit behind the group and hiding whenever I thought they were going to see me.
After a while, it got very boring. I mean, all I was doing was tripping over roots and trying not to be discovered. So I sat down in a small clearing, pulled out a candy bar and some water, and started looking at my deck. It was actually a lot similar to Yugi's with a few things mixed in here and there.
After finishing, I looked around and finally found someone to duel. It was some blonde girl about 13 who was sitting not far from where I had sat down.
"Hey you! Want to duel?" I walked up to her and she smiled.
"Sure! Just follow me!" I followed her, knowing that she was leading me into her territory. But I wasn't confused. I knew my way around.
"Here we are! Number 15!" It was on top of a forest area and a waste area, so insect and dinosaur monsters would have the advantage. I noticed Yugi's gang nearby with Weevil, so I hid behind a tree, took off my coat, put on a baseball hat to pull up my hair, and changed my sunglasses just in case. After stuffing it in my briefcase, I ran back and found that Yugi and the gang were sitting down nearby. The girl and I both stepped onto our platforms and gave our decks a quick shuffle.
"You're on my territory now! And I wager two star chips!" I smiled.
"We'll see who wins, and I also wager two."
"LET'S DUEL!" The life point count appeared, and the duel began.
"I'll go first, seeing as I was the one challenged." The girl picked up a card.
"I place one card face down and play one card face down in defense mode." I looked at my cards. She probably wants to attack, seeing as she put her monster in defense mode. I will attack. But first I'll do a bit of re-arranging. I picked up my card and smiled.
"I summon Stardust Dragon (ATK: 2500 DEF: 2000) in attack mode and use its special ability to take away your face down card." After saying so, my dragon (white with shining blue armor) appeared on the field and wiped out the magic/trap card.
"Sadly after using its ability, my dragon has to say good bye. But since I end my turn, my dragon comes back thanks to its special ability." My dragon reappeared, and the girl picked up her card.
"I skip my turn." I smiled and picked up my card.
"You're going to regret that!
Say hello to my Giant Soldier of Stone (ATK: 1300 DEF: 2000)! In attack mode!" My soldier came out (a large rock soldier with sword in hand) and stood proud and tall.
"I then use the card Shield and Sword to switch my soldiers attack and defense. Now my soldier! Attack her face down monster!" My soldier, with an attack of 2000, used its sword to hit the face down monster and the girl's life points went down. Miko: 1 Idiotic Girl: 0
"So now I'll place one card face down, and end my turn." The girl started laughing when I finished.
"Thank you! That's just what I wanted you to do! The monster you destroyed was Pinch Hopper (ATK: 1000 DEF: 1200), which gets a point bonus from the forest area! And since its attack and defense switched, my insect had a defense of 1260, meaning that I still have 1260 life points left!"
"And?"
"And I activate Pinch Hopper's special ability, which allows me to summon Gigaplant (ATK: 2400 DEF: 1200) in attack mode!" Her monster (a tree and a venus fly-trap combined) appeared on the field.
"But that's not all! I activate Gigaplant's special ability, which lets me bring out another insect or plant from my deck or the graveyard for each turn! And I think I'll bring back Pinch Hopper in defense mode! Since its coming back after you placed your Shield and Sword card, it won't be affected by it." Her Pinch Hopper came back, and I swear that I saw it laughing at me.
"Now Gigaplant! Take out her dragon!"
"Not so fast! I use my face down card! Go! Mirror Force!"
"NO!" The attack bounced off of Mirror force and hit her monsters, making her life points go down to 0. After gathering our cards, the platforms lowered. I shook the girl's hand and received her two star chips.
"Not bad. You did great."
"You weren't so bad either, shorty. What's your name?"
"Melody. How 'bout you?" Oh, great.
"Um, ah, Ako! Call me Ako."
"Well, it was fun dueling you Ako!" She ran off and stopped once to wave good bye. You two Melody. It was fun. Yugi and the gang ran up to me after she left.
"That was some awesome dueling Ako! My name's Yugi!"
"Huh? Oh thanks Yugi! Truthfully, that was my first time dueling someone other than my brothers."
"Really? You looked like a pro out there!" Joey came up to me…and I think he was trying to flirt.
"And by the way, miss, the name's Jo-"
"Nock it off, will you? My name's Teà! The goof-ball is Joey, and this is Tristan."
"Nice to meet you! Hey, how about we start looking for some more people to duel?" So much for staying hidden. We all started walking, and Yugi and I talked a bit.
"Hey Ako?"
"Ya Yugi?"
"I know this is sudden, but do you want to duel later?"
"As long as it's for fun, sure. I'm still an amateur, and if I'm guessing correctly, you're Yugi Moto."
"Ya! How'd you know?"
"You beat, um, Kaiba recently! Everyone knows who you are!" Yugi started to blush.
"Oh…right…"
"So, why are you here when you just beat one the greatest duelists alive?"
"…"
"Sorry, touchy subject, right?"
"No, it's just that Pegasus stole my grandfather's soul, and in order to get it back, I have to win this tournament."
"Well that makes sense."
"You serious? You're not weirded out or anything?"
"Joey, would you be a good pup and be quiet for a bit."
"Why I! - Oh never mind."
"Thank you. And anyway, I get it. Unlike some people, I believe in the Heart of the Cards and stuff like that. I'm not just some amateur beating people with luck. I'm an amateur that's fighting with my heart. And I'll never forget that.
"…I'm sorry about that. I think I just made one of those weird speeches where really mushy music plays in the background just because the person realized something that's really important or something. Aw man, I'm so stupid. I'm really sorry." Epic fail Miko. Epic fail.
"Hey, do you guys hear that?"
"What is it now, Joey?"
"I think I hear a whole bunch of duels going on!"
"Hey! I hear 'em too! Let's go see what's goin' on!"
"YAH!" Everyone started running towards the sounds.
"HEY! Wait for me!" I ran after them, laughing at how much Seto was going to kill me when he finds out that I've been hanging out with Yugi.
A/N: Yay! My first duel! By the way, if there's anything wrong with the duel, please don't hesitate to tell me. I've never played Duel Monsters before, so I really had to think hard about how to do this duel. Please be picky! And review!
See ya soon!
- Shinju