The sun was hanging lazily in the air over Domino City as the Seto Kaiba's tournament twisted the usually happy go lucky town into a the warzone known as Battle City. Duel Monsters roared or screamed in pain on nearly every street as everyone battled for the top spots for the finals. The danger lurked in the unknown Rare Hunters who hid in alleyways or lured weaker duelists into traps in order to gain the losers weakest card.
Harry Potter sat on the steps of the Domino City Museum and studied the cards he had carefully. After defeating Draco in a duel and gaining the spoiled wizard's deck from the boy's mother and gaining the cards from the floor of the museum just minutes before, he felt the need to restructure and refocus his deck.
He knew that a streamline focused deck on only one attribute had a glaring weakness that he was lucky his classmate hadn't had a chance to use. There were cards in Duel Monsters that could shut down entire species of monsters by just declaring a type. If he stayed on his spellcasters than it was likely someone in the finals would smack him down before he could get to the Pharaoh or the Priest.
He had to admit that if Draco had simply let go of his pride he had powerful monsters and a pretty descent strategy. Harry knew Draco though and the blonde haired yutz couldn't help be boast and show off when the two met. The emerald eyed wizard could feel his eye twitch at the idea that maybe the other boy was trying to show off for him. The thought just made him shudder in fear of Draco one day proclaiming his eternal devotion.
Of course, he could almost roll his eyes at the fact that Draco's deck was mostly dragons, though they would certainly be intriguing to use especially with some of their effects. Combining those with some of his other cards would make for boundless possibilities and he still had more cards to collect. The wizard could almost feel the power of his deck rise as he began to put together new strategies and methods into his cards. His eyes gleamed at the possible lockdown his cards presented.
A huff from beside him though reminded the wizard of the witch who was sitting bored out of her mind on the steps beside him. He had tried to explain what he was doing but the pink haired former auror just seemed to go glassy eyed whenever he tried. She had only come to Domino City to investigate the rumors spread by purebloods about the power of the game for the Order of the Phoenix and only followed him because she was sure it was what Dumbledore would want her to do.
He had to admit the possibility of a Death Eater attack had now increased since he had defeated the son of one Voldemort's inner circle. Though now he had a whole new weapon to his advantage, the gleaming pyramid sitting on his chest and practically pulsing with the magic of the Shadow Games thanks to the sorcerer Anubis.
Three thousand years ago he had tried to defeat the Pharaoh with the power of the Millennium Ring, but that had turned into a disaster for everyone involved. He was wiser now and had learned from the memories of his past life to be wary of freely given power. A lesson he had been forced to relearn within is Soul-room when he had summoned the card given to him by Pegasus and had his mind-scape obliterated by the summoned Wicked God, Dreadroot.
"Are you finally done," Tonks demanded as she eyed the younger wizard pack away his cards. "I thought we were going to go find those locating cards, or whatever they are, that you need to advance in this tournament."
"Yes Tonks, I'm done," Harry said rolling his eyes as he pushed himself to his feet. "I was restrategizing my deck to make sure I have the best of what I can do. The last thing I want is to be defeated before I get my chance at playing Yugi Moto and Seto Kaiba."
"Gee, revenge boner much," the witch asked sarcastically as the two made their way down the steps of the museum. "I understand why the Thief you talked about wants revenge but why do you, Harry Potter, want to seek it out? These people haven't done anything to you personally, Harry."
The wizard sighed and dropped his head allowing his hair to obscure his face. "It's true they haven't done anything to me, but I can still feel the heat of the flames as though I was there. The fear and terror of that moment and the slaughter of people who didn't deserve it just so one man can prove his power and another could keep his throne. It all disgusts me Tonks and I will see to it that some sort of justice is upheld, even if it is just beating them in a tournament."
As the two talked they headed deeper into the city and passed by quite a few participants who had been knocked out of the tournament glaring at the lone duelist walking forward for being allowed to keep going. Turning down one of the streets they were caught by surprise at the sight of a large crowd of seemingly enraged people who were shouting and cursing at a woman standing in the middle of them all.
Harry stopped short at the sight of the girl who couldn't possibly be older than himself standing in the ring of taunters with her head bowed. Her burgundy colored hair was cropped short to her shoulder except for her bangs which dipped all the way to the woman's elbows in length. She wore some sort of metal roller in her hair, just above her eyes that kept most of her long bangs out of her face.
She wore a low-cut red corset with short, light green puffy sleeves and a high collar that revealed cleavage that Harry was certain was meant for a woman a few years older. She also sported a sleeveless magenta trenchcoat that flared behind her which was shorter and pleated in the front. She had a red choker and an emerald crested, golden cross-shaped medallion, as well as a pair of dark, elbow-length gloves with a pair of gold bracelets above them. Her stockings were the same color as her gloves, and connected to her skirt while her red high-heeled pumps made her stand a few inches taller than she naturally was.
"Witch!"
"She's a monster!"
"With powers like that you should have been disqualified!"
The rabble around the woman was practically frothing as the poor girl stood in their midst trying to ignore the hurtful words. The wizard could only wince at each verbal taunt as he reminded of his own home life. The Dursley's had never pulled their punches when it came to their verbal taunts and the green eyed boy was harshly reminded of the dark cramped cupboard he had once been forced to call his bedroom.
There was one word that Harry could not tolerate however, not since his aunt had verbally snapped it out on his eleventh birthday when speaking of his mother. The word though seemed to spark something in the crowd as their voices rang out in a chant that made him clinch his hands into fists as he heard it over and over again.
"She's a freak!"
"FREAK!"
"FREAK!"
"FREAK!"
Harry's hand almost went for his wand in anger before he saw the dark red aura surround the girl. Without saying a word she seemed to release of wave of energy that sent the crowd tumbling ass over head across the pavement and tar. Even Tonks had difficulty keeping her feet planted underneath her as the air slammed into the two magical beings like an ocean wave.
The wizard's crimson coat billowed in the onslaught but he managed to stay standing long enough for the bizarre energy to weaken. As it did he put one foot in front of the other and began to make his way to the girl who was smirking at the chaos the use of her powers had unleashed upon the hapless muggles.
"It feels good I bet," he said as he finally got within speaking distance to the teenage girl. "Using your powers to teach them to fear you. I did the same thing to my relatives after they knew I was learning to control them. It doesn't really help though does it? You push away the monsters but when everyone around you is a monster, you just feel the loneliness that is left behind."
"What would you know about it," the girl hissed as she turned to him and stared at him through narrowed chocolate colored eyes. "All my life these people have turned me away and hurt me. They love it and get off on it just because I'm different! Now I get to enjoy it when they feel the misery that they put on me!"
The raven haired boy shook his head and breathed deeply. This girl was reminding him of the memory of Tom Riddle he had met in his second year thanks to the boy's diary. If someone didn't help her and show her a better way it was possible the girl could possibly turn into a Dark Lady along the same path as the twisted snake who called itself Lord Voldemort.
"Until I was eleven I was forced to call the cupboard under the stairs my bedroom," he admitted and ignored the gasp of shock from the witch behind him. "I cooked my relatives' meals and was forced to eat scraps or bread and water as they tried to squash my powers out of me. The yardwork and housework were my chores and my chores alone after I was old enough to hold a mop or start the lawnmower. I was forced to be my cousin's personal toy, something he could beat on and break for his own amusement all because I was different from them."
"Then you know why they have to be punished! Why people like us can't just stand around and take their abuse when we have the power to end it! I'll show you the real meaning of power," she snapped as she held up her duel disk.
Her disk was much fancier than Harry's own basic type. The deck zone and graveyard were housed in a large pink half-sphere with a purple jewel resting on top. While the duel disk's 'arm' only held three monster zones before the other two slid out of a hidden sleeve. He couldn't see any spell or trap card zones but imagined the device had some way to play them.
"Heard a similar speech once," Harry said as he raised his own duel disk and watched as the two sections combined. "'There is no good and evil. There is only power and those to weak to seek it'. The man who murdered my parents told me that when I first met him. Now, since we're both in this tournament let us make our bets. I have four locator cards."
"Hmph, I have five," the woman said with an air of someone who thought they were better than someone else. "I'll put up the two locator cards you need plus my rarest card for one of yours and your rarest card."
"How about this. You win, and I'll give the locator card you need and my rare card. If I win though, I get your two locator cards and you, well, you'll have to become my friend," he said with a grin. "If you ask my other friends I'm certain they can tell you that it feels like they lost a bet somewhere down the line."
"Isn't that the truth," Tonks muttered. In her mind though she was storing away the things Harry had said and had to admit that he probably toned down the truth. She could remember the locks on his bedroom door, the cat flap cut into his door and the bars on his windows. His old clothes had all looked like his cousin's hand-me-downs if their size was anything to go by and despite the lavishness of the Dursleys' middle class home, Harry's bedroom furniture had been a mix of old wood that looked as though it had been dragged out of a garbage heap ten years after getting thrown out.
"It's not like it matters because I won't lose so I'll never be your friend," the burgundy haired girl stated as both of them drew their first hand.
Harry:4000
Aki:4000
Harry blinked as he looked at the life points that appeared beside the two duelists. He had been forced to break the law again and cast a translation charm to allow him to speak and understand the language. The best part of the charm was that once cast it let you understand and speak any language as there was just to many dialects and languages in the world and an all encompassing spell was easier than a trying to find a spell for each and every person that was encountered.
Thanks to the spell he knew that Aki was name that could be translated in one of two ways. The first was for Autumn and looking at how the girl dressed the softer and darker colors of her wardrobe matched the name. The second meaning was Emptiness, a term that seemed to fuel the girl and her apparent hatred for a world that shunned and mocked her for being different.
"Ladies first," Aki said as she drew her sixth card and fanned out the other five in her hand. "I play my field spell card, Black Garden! Then I'll summon my Wall of Ivy in defense!"
Wall of Ivy
Attack:300
Defense:1200
Harry watched as from beneath the duelist's feet an eruption of thorn covered vines sprang into life and seemed to wrap around the street signs, lamps, fire hydrant and cars that littered the roadway on which they were dueling. Black roses began to bloom from the vines that seemed to arch and sway like cobras that were recently startled and looking to strike the one who dared anger them.
"When my Black Garden is on the field, all monsters summoned result in a Rose Token also being summoned on the opponents field. All monsters except those summoned by my garden will have their attack and defense points cut in half," the girl said dramatically. Almost on cue the vines wiggled on the dueling field before what looked like a section of a hedge wall appeared covered in ivy vines.
Of course, then Black Garden's effect kicked in as a rose the size of Harry manifested on his side of the field.
Rose Token
Attack:800
Defense:800
"Oh, I might have forgot to mention that the Rose Tokens cannot attack or be destroyed due to battle," Aki explained triumphantly.
"So, let me get this straight," Harry said as he looked at the monster forcibly summoned on his side of the field. "Everytime you play a monster I get a nifty little flower and vice versa? Ha, one of my friends at school would love you! He's obsessed with plants, even aquatic ones," he said joyfully. "But now its my turn."
Drawing a card he stared at it with a grin as he added it to his hand. "First I'll play one card face down, and then I'll summon my Kaiser Seahorse in attack mode!"
Kaiser Seahorse
Attack:850
Defense:825
The wizard winced at just how much weaker his monster became thanks to the power of Aki's Black Garden. However, there was an advantage as he watched the Rose Token manifest across the field.
"Now, Kaiser Seahorse attack her Rose Token!"
The blue and purple armored monster hefted its spear over his shoulder before he threw it across the field. The spear's golden colored bladed pierced through the rose which wobbled on its stem even as the spear exploded and reappeared in his monster's hand. However, it was like she said, as her rose remained standing tall in the end and weathering his attack.
Harry:4000
Aki:3950
"Now do you see, it is pointless to attack me,"Aki said as she drew her next card. "Soon, I'll have defeated you and go on to the finals! No one will dare mock me ever again after I become the Queen of Games!"
Author's Note: Whew, that was fun. I will say that so long as that Black Garden is on the field this will be a long drag out of a duel, ha ha ha. Soon we'll be able to see some of the changes made to Harry's deck.
When I first saw Aki-Akiza I couldn't help but draw some parallels to a couple of well known wizards. So I thought she'd actually make a perfect character to slip into this story. I know, my Yu-Gi-Oh! time lines are all distorted and Aki isn't around for a LONG time after Yugi's story. I'm perfectly okay with that and decided to bring her in now.
