Warning: you may see a sentence starting with the word "Warning". If you see it, don't panic and keep on reading.
-Johann's neighborhood-
It was sunset when Johann got back from buying new tires for his bike. He planned on spending the rest of the day straightening his wheels and eating dinner. However, he was forced to change his plans when he heard a scream.
"Help me!" A familiar, squeaky voice cried out.
Johann only knew one person with that voice.
Serenity?
He dropped his bike and ran towards the direction of the voice. He went down several streets until he saw a small warehouse. He caught a glimpse of Serenity being dragged through the door before it closed. Without really thinking, he continued to run, only for a familiar figure to jump in front of him.
"Dox." Johann said.
"No, I am his brother, Para." The man in orange said. "Dox is inside with the girl."
"Why kidnap Serenity?"
"We are using her as bait for Wheeler."
"Nyeh? Did someone say my name?" Joey's voice asked.
He ran and stopped next to Johann.
"We have your sister, Wheeler." Para said. "If you want her back, then you must duel both of us."
"Hey, you're one of them Paradox brothers, and you're not rhyming!"
"I can only rhyme when I am with my brother. Now! Let us duel!"
Joey activated his duel disk. "Alright, I can take you on."
"Joey, we should be calling the cops, not dueling!" Johann said.
"Call the cops? Is that logic I'm hearing? Johann, I don't know where you're from, but on this planet, we solve all our problems by dueling."
"Duel!"
Brooklyn Rage! vs Rhyme
The dark fog had returned, much to Johann's horror and Joey's confusion.
"Another Shadow Game?" Johann asked.
"I don't like the looks of this." Joey muttered.
"Of course." Para said.
Johann pulled out his phone and said, "That's it; I'm calling the cops."
To his confusion, he saw that it was off. He tried to turn it on, but the phone refused to come on. His jaw dropped. Did he run out of battery?
"It is futile," Para went on, "phones do not work in the presence of the shadows."
"And Duel Disks do?" Joey asked.
"Okay, I admit it: they don't work because the plot says so."
Johann shook his head. "Of all the stupid—you know what, while you two are playing, I'll just get Serenity out of here."
"Yeah!" Joey agreed. "I got things covered here!"
Johann ran to the warehouse and slammed the door open.
The inside was packed with boxes, and there was conveniently enough space in the middle for a duel. At the very back, Serenity was struggling against Dox's grip. Johann shouted, "Kick his balls, Serenity!"
Her face lit up with realization and she did just that. Dox let her go and dropped to his knees, his face contorted with pain. She ran past Johann and left the warehouse without a word of thanks. Johann was about to leave as well when dark fog suddenly covered the door.
"You…(oooh) won't get away…that easily." Dox snarled as he very slowly got to his feet. "I won't let you leave until…(ow, son of a bitch) you beat me in a Shadow Game."
I really have no choice this time. God, if you're there, please let me win this one.
Johann activated his Duel Disk and said, "Alright, Para, if you want to duel, then let's duel."
"I am Dox, you idiot! Para is the one who wears orange, I am the one who wears green!"
"Duel!"
Absolute Pwnage vs. Time
"That deck name is silly," Dox mocked, "for it is you and your soul that will get pwned. I will start by placing a monster facedown in defense mode."
"My soul isn't getting pwned if I can help it." Johann said, trying to sound brave. "I summon Baron of the Fiend Sword and attack your monster."
[Baron (1550/800) attacks the monster. The monster is revealed to be Jareth the Goblin King (1200/1700). The song "Magic Dance" plays. Johann loses 150 LP.]
"Really? Really?"
"Yes, really." Dox smirked. "I have this card since he is the ruler of the Labyrinth. And speaking of Labyrinth, I sacrifice Jareth to summon Labyrinth Wall in defense mode."
[Monster is sacrificed and replaced by the Labyrinth (0/3000). The song ends.]
"3000 defense? Are you kidding me?"
"My Labyrinth Wall will protect me while I whittle you down to nothing."
Okay, Johann, how are you going to get rid of this thing?
-Outside the Warehouse-
"Joey!" Serenity cried out when she saw her brother.
"Serenity!" He called back. "You're okay! We'll get out of here just as soon as I cream this guy."
[Joey's Flame Swordsman (1800/1600) destroys Para's Cannon Soldier (1400/1300). Para loses 400 LP, bringing him down to 5600.]
"Hmph." Para scolded at Serenity. "It looks like my brother was unable to restrain you."
"All I had to do was kick him in the balls." Serenity said.
"Whoa whoa whoa," Joey said, "Serenity, you're telling me you kicked one of those guys in the nuts?"
"Yes."
"You can't go around kicking guys in the nuts, but since it's one of those jerks, I'll forgive you."
"Back to the duel!" Para raised his voice. "I can get rid of your monster easily with my Jirai Gumo!"
[Jirai Gumo (2200/100) comes into play.]
"As part of its special effect, I will now flip a coin. If I call it right, it can attack. If I call wrong, I lose half my Life Points."
"You're taking a big risk with that." Joey said.
"But Joey," Serenity spoke up, "you have a bunch of chance cards yourself."
"That's because I know luck's on my side."
"I can afford to chance it," Para said. He pulled a coin out of his pocket. "Now, I call: heads!"
He flipped the coin.
-In the Warehouse-
[Dox has Labyrinth Wall and The Statue of Easter Island (1100/1400) in play. Johann has just summoned Flame Cerberus (2100/1800).]
"I know how to get past your Labyrinth Wall," Johann said, "all I have to do is play this card!"
[Johann plays the magic card Stop Defense. Labyrinth Wall is forced into attack mode.]
"And I'll just destroy it like that."
[Flame Cerberus destroys the wall and deals 2100 damage to Para, bringing his LP to 5900.]
"You destroyed that wall," Dox said, "but I have more! I sacrifice my monster to summon another Labyrinth Wall in defense mode.
[Another one is summoned.]
Well, s***.
-Outside the Warehouse-
Para moved his hand to catch the coin, but he missed and it fell into a drain grate.
Joey smirked at the irony of the situation. "Wow, what an unfortunate event. You don't happen to have another coin on you, do you?"
"No." Para answered, his eyes wide with disbelief. "That was the only coin I had. Do you have a spare coin?"
"Sorry, but I'm out of change." Joey lied.
Serenity said, "I have a—."
"And Serenity doesn't have any change on her either. Why don't we say it's tails and your monster is destroyed?"
"No, how about we say it's heads and my monster destroys yours?"
"Or it could be a tie." Serenity suggested.
Both duelists glared at each other for a full minute, then sighed simultaneously.
"Tie." They both said grudgingly.
-Inside the Warehouse-
[In addition to his Flame Cerberus, which has Sword of Deep Seated (+500 ATK) equipped, Johann has Neo the Magic Swordsman (1700/1000), Whiptail Crow (1650/1600), and one facedown monster. Johann draws a card.]
"Okay!" Johann said when he saw what card he drew. "I'm ending this now. I flip my monster face up."
[Monster is revealed to be Man-Eater Bug (450/600). Its special effect destroys Labyrinth Wall.]
"And now, I play Rush Recklessly on my Cerberus, giving it 700 ATK this turn. Dox, consider yourself pwned!"
[All monsters attack, bringing Dox's LP to 0.]
"This cannot be!" Dox exclaimed.
The fog slowly vanished, revealing the door once more. Before Johann could open it, it suddenly slammed open. Joey, Serenity, and Yami ran into the room, nearly knocking him over.
"Finally!" Joey said. "The door opened!"
Johann looked at the entering party and noticed Yami. He asked, "Yugi, what are you doing here?"
"My Danger Senses were tingling and they brought me here." He explained. He looked at Dox and said, "So you managed to beat him on your own. Good job." The last sentence was said sarcastically.
"We will be back!" Dox proclaimed.
He ran past everyone and left the warehouse. Johann took out his phone and saw that it was working again. He said, "Good, now we can report these guys."
"Johann," Joey said, "I don't think the cops are going to believe you if you told them what happened."
"Why not? Those comatose kids in the hospital are proof enough, and they just kidnapped Serenity."
Yami pinched the bridge of his nose and said, "Oh Ra, are you seriously trying to apply logic here?"
"Why shouldn't I?"
"Johann, listen: you've got to learn to stop questioning logic. We ourselves can't figure things out unless they are spelled out for us. For example: why would the Paradox Brothers kidnap Serenity instead of Mokuba? Unless they monologue their plans to us, we will never know, and we've just come to accept it."
"Hey, guys," a familiar voice spoke up from behind the boxes, "I'm right here. They actually kidnapped me two hours ago, but I don't know what they wanted—."
"Shut up, Mokuba."
-A dream-
Johaaaaaaaaaann.
"You again? What do you want now?"
Your destiny will soon be upon you, but first, more multiple choice questions. What are you most afraid of?
A. Getting old
B. Being different
C. Being indecisive
"More questions? I'm really afraid of dying."
So "getting old".
"No, that's not—!"
What do you want out of life?
A. To see rare sights
B. To broaden my horizons
C. To be strong
"Uh, be strong, I guess. Wait, these questions sound familiar."
Finally, what's most important to you?
A. Being number one
B. Friendship
C. My prize possessions
"Now I remember: you're ripping these questions from Kingdom Hearts!"
Fine, We admit it: We got them from Kingdom Hearts. We like to see you come up with these questions. Now, are you going to answer or not?
"I'm not picking either of these. Love is most important to me."
Either you pick one of these three options or you're not waking up.
"Fine! Being number one!"
Okay, We're done for now. Based on your answers, your path…
-Johann's Room-
Johann woke up to the sound of his doorknob rattling. He watched it wiggle some, then fall still. The door slowly swung open.
"Yes," a familiar voice whispered triumphantly, "now I'm the master of unlocking."
"Mokuba?"
Johann sat up and demanded, "What are you doing in my house?!"
"Oh, you're awake! I'm here to give you some good news. Based on your dueling performance in the past few days, you are now in the Beginner Cup finals."
"So you broke into my house just to tell me that? Why not send an email?"
"Big Bro told me to personally send the news to all the finalists. Anyways, the finals are going to be held today in the Duelist Arena at 2:00. Don't be late!"
As soon as he had appeared, Mokuba left. Johann blinked at what had transpired.
I'm in the finals?! I can't believe this! I gotta organize my deck, eat breakfast, shower…oh…ohhhh…the bike…I forgot to fix the bike.
I posted two chapters in one day, and I probably won't post for another week or more. My consistency falls under the category of this story's logic: what's that?
Also, to be honest, I just threw in another dream questionnaire just cause I wanted to make the dream voice(s) a character.
Para and Dox sat next to each other as they drank their beer.
"So, brother," Para said, "now that our main roles in the story are done, what will we do now?"
"'Now'?" Dox asked. "You mean we're no longer important to the story? Holy cow."
"Yes, holy cow. We were there, and now we are not."
"No more important scenes? Is this all this game has got?"
"Yes. So, what will we do, now that we are out of luck?"
"Keep drinking? Make a cameo on Yu-Gi-Oh! GX? At this point, I don't give a—."
