Chapter Seven:

Strength of Shinta

Shinta: 4000

Akari: 4000

"I'll start!" called Akari. "I summon Feudal Warrior- Sango (1900/1800)!"

A woman of average height with her hair held back in a ponytail appeared, a giant boomerang made of a sort of bone on her back. She also held a sword at her waist. Her eyes were fixed in a glare, and she wore black armour with pink pieces here and there.

"Nice..." said Justin, speaking to Edward. "A Feudal Fairytale Deck..."

"Of course it's nice!" said Akari. "I told you...I'm the strongest duelist on the team!

"And my bond with my sister is unbreakable!"

"Their personalities seem to be the same, as well..." said Edward, quite loudly.

"Shut the hell up!" yelled Akari. "I set a card face-down and end my turn!"

Shinta stared at the top card of his deck. He tried to move his right hand to draw it, but he couldn't.

"Scared?" asked Akari.

"Scared, Shinta Menzuro?" said a voice. It seemed to come from inside of Shinta.

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Shinta was in a white area, no doors or windows. No walls. It was lit with a good amount of light, but there was a figure in front of him...most of the face covered by shadow. The only part of the face he could see was the mouth.

"Hello, Shinta." the person said.

"...who are you?" asked Shinta. "Where am I?"

The person grinned. "Who am I? I guess you could call me...Kenjima. As for where you are...

"You can't see anything in here, can you?"

"I see nothing but white." said Shinta. He looked around. "For miles, it seems."

Kenjima's grin widened. "Heh heh. I see. So you really can't see anything until you're in the true place. Well, Shinta...

"We shall see each other soon. After the tournament is over, or at least your part in it. I wouldn't know- I can't see the future."

"Wait!" exclaimed Shinta. "I know your name, but who are you?"

"...don't be afraid." said the Kenjima vaguely. "Don't be scared..."

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"Don't run away..."

Shinta's eyes snapped open, and he drew the card.

"Alright!" he called out. "I play Monk Training Dummy (0/0) in attack mode!"

A creature made of straw, shaped as Monk Fighter, appeared on the field, making no motions.

"But he won't be here for long!" said Shinta. "I sacrifice him in order to special summon Monk Fighter (1300/1000)!"

The Monk appeared with an essence of strength, flexing his muscles. He grinned, waving his white bowl-cut around.

"Oh...that Monk Fighter..." said Claire. "He summoned it so early..."

"Yeah..." said Amy.

"Alright!" said Shinta. I have to prove myself!

"I sacrifice Monk Fighter!" he exclaimed. "In order to special summon..."

...Master Monk? Thought Amy.

"...Monk Virus Carrier (1500/1200)!" said Shinta.

A sickly-looking version of Monk Fighter appeared, snot dripping from his nose, and his face a horrid pale.

"His face is almost as pale as yours, Edward!" joked Justin, dodging the punch that came from Edward.

"Shut up!" said Edward.

"Eh?" said Akari, as Sango's knees started to weaken (1400/1300). "You mean...that card weakens my monsters?"

"That's right." said Shinta. "And now your monster is weak enough for mine to crush it! Monk Virus Carrier, destroy Sango!"

The monk walked up to the weakened Sango, and slugged her in the face. Before dying, Sango coughed, and looked at Akari. Then she vanished.

Akari: 3900

"Damn..." said Akari. I didn't expect a card with an effect like that.

"I end my turn." said Shinta.

But no defenses... Akari drew a card. "I draw! And then I summon forth Feudal Warrior- Miroku (1700 - 500/1200 - 500)!"

A monk dressed in blue and black robes appeared on the field, holding a golden staff. His black hair was pulled back into a small ponytail, and he had an innocent smirk on his face. Though he immediately fell to his knees and started coughing. But he was able to use the staff as a walking stick, and stand up. Just barely (1200/700).

"You garbage, you've made my monk so weak!" yelled Akari. "I won't forgive you!"

"You shouldn't even bother trying to fight back." said Shinta. "You wouldn't be able to win..."

"Who said it would be in battle that I would fight back?!" Akari's yelling seemed to have no end. "I play the spell card, Wind Tunnel!"

Miroku slowly raised his right hand, and uncovered the palm. He also took the prayer beads off of his wrist. A giant wind appeared, and immediately sucked the Monk Virus Carrier into it.

"Ugh..." said Shinta. "What did you just do?"

"Miroku's Wind Tunnel absorbs all." said Akari simply. Her face-down card had been sucked up as well. "When I play it, and Miroku is on the field, all cards on the field are sucked into the vortex (1700/1200). And now...he'll attack you directly!"

Healing from the virus, Miroku struck at Shinta, who frowned.

Shinta: 2300

"Not bad..." said Claire. Damn it. You can do it, Shinta!

"I end my turn." said Akari. Nothing else I can do for now.

"My turn!" exclaimed Shinta. What do I do?

He looked over his hand. She got me down by almost half of my Life Points! I...if I don't do something, I'm going to lose!

He was panicking, and his hands were shaking. Sweat fell from his face, and he gulped.

"What's wrong, Shinta?" called Akari. "Scared?"

"Don't be afraid..."

"...no!" responded Shinta. "I'm not afraid! I'm not scared!"

He slammed a spell into his duel disk. "I will win!"

Big brother, I'm going to borrow your strength.

"Monster Reborn!" he yelled. "I revive Monk Fighter, considering I can't revive Monk Virus Carrier!"

The monk appeared on the field, which made Akari frown. And her frown only deepened when she saw another appear next to it.

"My second Monk is normal summoned!" said Shinta.

"So what?" asked Akari. "This is nothing. You have two weak monsters."

Shinta smiled. "Sorry, but I'm going to borrow the strength of one of my brother's favourite cards to use in a duel...actually, two copies of it."

The two monks disappeared, making way for two stronger-looking versions. Their hair had been grown out to their thighs, and they had huge muscles all over their body. They flexed said muscles, and looked straight at Akari.

"Sorry Akari." said Shinta. "But I'm special summoning two copies of Master Monk (1900/1000 x2).

Akari bit her lip. "Those monsters..."

"...can attack twice during each battle phase." finished Shinta. "And now...for attack number one..."

The first Master Monk ran up to and punched Miroku, forcing him to disappear.

Akari: 3700

"No way..." she said. "But he's...he's weaker than Hiroto!"

"Don't underestimate me." said Shinta, as he commanded his second Monk to attack Akari directly. The latter fell to her knees as the Monk seemed to punch her.

Akari: 1800

"I'm not alone." said Shinta. "I have my friends beside me...and...

"My big brother."

Amy rubbed her eyes. She could have sworn she saw Kenshin beside Shinta, putting his hand on his little brother's shoulder.

Just my imagination... she thought. But...such a vivid image.

"Master Monk!" said Shinta. "Finish her off! Attack directly!"

The Monk nodded in return, running up to Shinta's enemy...and striking her down.

"...damn..." said Akari. "Maybe...your bond with your brother is even more unbreakable..."

Akari: 0

"And the winning team is...Team Kenshin!" said Iruka, raising his hand in the air. "You all go on to Round Two!"

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"One hundred and twenty-eight teams have entered..." muttered a voice. "For the Ultimate Dueling Japan tournament. That many teams means that there will be seven rounds...the first four normal rounds. Then the Quarter-Finals as the fifth...the Semi-Finals as the sixth...and the Finals as the seventh round. Wonderful."

The person's face was covered by shadow, although his voice mas that of a man. Another person walked up, this time with the voice of a female.

"Sir." she said. "It's here."

"Ah!" said the man. "Wonderful!"

He smiled as he grasped the item that had been gently placed in front of him. "Excellent work bringing it here, my friends!"

Five more shadows in front of him each bowed, and presented two more shadows coming forth.

"Ah!" exclaimed the original person. "Shift! Flounder!"

The two smiled. They were each more than twenty years older than when they left the Inhuman Lair...

"Gishinki." spoke Shift. "The Mirror is yours. The one I have held onto for twenty years...

"Ever since one I should bear a grudge against died. His Mirror..."

"Yes." said Gishinki. "And for this I thank you. The power of the Mirror will serve us well when the tournament is over...there is a certain duelist whom I fell I must use it on."

He smiled, and looked at the screen of a television in front of him, where Shinta Menzuro was grinning, although a little surprised at his victory. "Congratulations, Team Kenshin...but our team shall have victory in the end.

"Especially my victory against Justin Maker!"

He started laughing, quietly at first. Then, over a span of a few seconds, it turned into a booming laughter for all to hear.

"HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!"

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Next Time:

Victories of Old Friends

Watching from the Waiting Dome, Team Kenshin sees some familiar faces step up to the plate, as well as some new ones. Team Stone Will and Team Blackfire Revival both win their duels, and with the end of the day comes the end of Round One.

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Author's Note: A few things to say here.

1. I know Shinta's duel was short, and I'm sorry. Like before, I had to display strength in a character. But his duels will be getting longer shortly.

2. I loved Monk Virus Carrier.

3. About Gishinki and the Mirror...you'll find out more about them shortly. :)

That's a plotline I have planned out.

4. The origin of the names of the new characters in the Team Duel-Fan chapters.

Iruka- From Naruto. I only really know the name, I barely know anything about the series.

Hiroto Mayas- Hiroto is from the name Hiroto Honda (Yu-Gi-Oh!). Mayas is from the top of my head.

Masami Ganosuke- Masai is from 'Masami Hirota', an alias of a character in Detective Conan (volume 2). Ganosuke is an altered version of Sanosuke (Rurouni Kenshin).

Akari Ganosuke- The name Akari comes from Hikaru no Go. At first I wanted to have her as one of the male characters, and to call her 'Hikaru', but I changed it to 'Akari', and a girl character. I liked the idea better. The 'Ganosuke' has already been explained.

Gishinki- From Inuyasha. How ironic that he was introduced in the same chapter as Akari's Feudal Fairytale Deck.

5. Don't worry people. These duelists may return in the future. Until then...

Please R&R!

-Salazare (another long chapter...)