Tokyo…
A city at the peak of technology, lights always lit, electricity always flowing through circuits, and the sky scrapers all so tall…it's rather beautiful in a sense if you're into the high and mighty futuristic look.
Me? Well, I'm just amazed by all the tall buildings.
I was born in Domino, all my friends are there, so is my school, and I know almost everything there is about the city of duelists.
I actually hoped one day to leave that city for good to make a name for myself, like my dad did as a duelist. And this could be the perfect time to learn more about this kind of city, it would be cool to see these sites.
…but it would be better if a certain scar face wasn't with me and my best friend…yeesh, its not like I'm going to get into any trouble!
And even if I do, I know I've got Ayame at my side, and together we can take down anyone!
…even if we are facing these couple of cretins…
0-0-0-0-0-0-0
"…Today they come…"
Deep in the bowels of Tokyo, lost in the rare shadows of the large city of lights, a single candle lit up, revealing five different shaped forms kneeling before a large figure. "…our rivals…"
"…grant them all with appropriate greetings you five…"
"Sempai!"
That's when a second spark lit up the room, this time from a fancy cigar that exposed the rugged face that clamped down on the cigar. The mouth that held the cigar curved into a dark smirk, revealing a large row of sharp teeth. "…for the honor of the Kuroi Tsuki Dojo, we will defeat them all…"
"Yes Sempai! For the Honor of the Kuroi Tsuki Dojo!"
A small cloud of smoke lofted out from the sharp mouth, "…then go…and use all of your strength and abilities to win…"
0-0-0-0-0-0-0
Tokyo Battle Royale Arc
0-0-0-0-0-0-0
Draw 10
Rush Recklessly
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
Traveling over the night covered highway, a large silver bus drove on the surprisingly emptied road. Filled with tourists, students and a familiar group of seven, the bus was relatively quiet…
…or would've been had Odoroki taken off the headphones he had covered his ears.
For a few hours since the students and Kenshin had boarded the bus, Odoroki had done nothing but listen to the music while sitting in the empty back…that and watching the students of the dojo.
Sleeping in the overhead luggage carrier was none other than Ashton, the leak still in his mouth as his snores annoyed the tourists underneath. '…how does he even sleep like that? Trees, the top of cupboards, and now luggage carriers? Maybe he was made to sleep in conditions like that… '
With his eyes trailing over, he saw that Sai and Ayame were still talking to each other (once again, thanks to the headphones he didn't know what they were talking about…but he could guess since Sai was pointed at him a few times with her finger). There was always a mystery that Odoroki never got, why women could always talk for hours on end…at least he wasn't a part of the conversation…
…speaking of women, Odoroki had to admit something about Hyatt in the short time he knew him. He was tenacious. Especially when Hyatt was trying to talk with the schoolgirls on the bus, striking poses, performing a rather embarrassing show of affection…
…you name it. And yet, it earned Hyatt the same result each and every time…getting slapped in the face, pushed to the side, and shooed away by the Japanese Schoolgirls…
And in one minute of self-loathing, Hyatt merely got back on his feet and tried a different method of wowing the girls.
That led to the final student…Solo…the man of mystery that had attack Odoroki only a day ago. From his seat, Odoroki was unable to see if the Solo Swordsman duelist was asleep or was in a meditative state, his seat had its back to him, but his white hair was poking over the seat, as were the sleeves of his cloak-used coat.
That got Odoroki into a deep thought process, thinking about if Solo knew who he was?
"I'll admit you did entertain me more than some of the idiots we've got around here," Solo stated changing grips on his katana, getting ready to perform a move that Kenshin once showed Odoroki in the Underworld…
…the Reversal Do…
A move that could break bones, crack armor, or possibly kill someone who wasn't properly prepared for a move as such. "But, this ends now…Ryusei…"
Odoroki's eyes widened greatly.
Before Odoroki had a chance to speak, Solo leapt forward, preparing the attack. Trying his best to move, but his energy was almost gone…somehow that punch did more than what Odoroki thought to believe…
…Odoroki Ryusei…the (coughformercough) Emperor of the Underworld was sorely beaten by this mysterious kendo student in terms of combat. In fact if it wasn't thanks to the now slapped Hyatt, who knows if Odoroki would've been sitting on this bus seat instead of a hospital bed.
Did he know Solo?
No, that didn't make any sense. No matter how far he looked in his memory, Solo's face didn't register with him on any level. It's all in the name…Ryusei…who was Solo? Solo couldn't possibly be his real name…"
"…Mind if I join you, Roki-kun?"
Being snapped out of his thought, Odoroki noticed that Kenshin was now seated next to him, his hands wrapped around a bottle of water that was raised to his lips. Slipping the headphones off his head, Odoroki crossed his arms at the Kendo-Sempai. "Knock yourself out Sempai."
"…so tell me Roki-kun…what do you think of being at the dojo?" Kenshin asked fitting the water bottle into the cup holder in the side of the seat.
"I've been attacked by two of your students," Odoroki answered, leaving out the fact that one of those students was Sai. "I've had my hair messed with, and I've been forced to become basically a babysitter. You tell me how I think about the dojo life."
"Heh heh heh, I guess it can't be helped then," Kenshin chuckled with a smile appearing on his face. "But still, you can't say that you're not glad to stay with us for a long time…"
"…it's been interesting," Odoroki replied crossing his arms, tempted to slide the headphones back over his ears. "I'll say that much."
"Well, I guess it can't be helped," Kenshin sighed reaching into his pocket. "Oh yes…would you mind doing me a favor?"
"That all depends…what's the favor?" Odoroki asked eyeing Kenshin as the kendo duelist pulled a small circular object from his pocket.
Kenshin then held up the very item he pulled from his pocket, showing a small medallion that had a golden border on it…with a small katana etched in it. "I just need you to guard that…You along with everyone else need to guard that while we're in Tokyo."
"Well…what is it exactly?" Odoroki asked eyeing the strange medallion.
Unfortunately, it looked like Kenshin hand snapped Odoroki headphones away from him, and was now listening to the music. "Hmm…so this is what young people listen to today…is this that rap sensation I've been hearing about from Ashton?"
"…I don't have any rap songs," Odoroki muttered under his breath.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0
Hours Later…
As the early sun began to rise over the already lit city of lights, the familiar bus slowly came to a stop in front of a fancy large hotel, known as the Shibuya Tobu Hotel. Slowly the passengers walked off the bus…
"Bwa ha ha ha ha! Tokyo City!" Ashton laughed loudly leaping from the bus, his duffle bag swinging over his shoulders. After his dramatic exit off the bus, almost everyone else from the dueling dojo stepped off of bus tired from the long bus ride.
Ashton, Solo and Kenshin being the only ones that the long night didn't seem to take a toll on, but then again, Ashton was always full of energy while Kenshin and Solo…well, they were just usually solitude people. But, as soon as everyone was off the bus, Kenshin turned towards his six students. "Alright everyone, welcome to Tokyo, and don't forget why we're here…to celebrate the new crop of duelists that joined our dojo…"
"Roki and Ayame, thanks to you two, we are able to stand in this majestic city. Anyway, I have some business to attend to while we're here, so, once we're checked in, you can either stay at the hotel and relax…or spend the day in Tokyo as a group…"
"Either way, we'll be ordering in tonight, so we'll meet up back at the hotel tonight…"
"As long as Ashton doesn't get to choose what we get," Sai sighed loudly as Ashton appeared behind her, the leak poking out of his mouth.
Throwing his arm around Sai's shoulders, Ashton laughed loudly, somehow being able to laugh loudly without dropping the leak in his mouth. "Bwa ha ha ha! Ah come on Little Saika, you know you love it when I get us Chinese or Italian food!"
"…yeah, but not all the time!" Sai snapped sending Ashton falling backwards, the leak flying into the air.
"Hyahooo! This is a big city!" Hyatt shouted spinning around to get a grasp of what the buildings looked like all around him. "Its perfect for a BIG man like myself!"
"Big? But, you're shorter than me," Ayame stated lifting her hand up to her neck to show that Hyatt only reached that high.
Steam erupted off the top of Hyatt's head at being called short, so, waving his arms in the air wildly at Ayame, "Short?! That means you're calling me little! And if you're calling me little, then you're referring to me as a kid! And I grew up a long time ago little missy! And look at me now!" Slamming his hand on his chest a few times, Hyatt's face curved into a large smile. "I'm a lean, mean, fighting/dueling machine!"
"Aw, you're so cute when you act all tough," Ayame giggled rubbing a hand through Hyatt's hair, making the loud firework duelist shiver slightly at the touch of a girl before he froze up completely. "Oh, are you alright?"
Solo simply shook his head… '…idiot…'
Odoroki couldn't help but sweatdrop at the behavior of all the students…and to make matters worse, he was now going to be grouped with all of them. And the medallions that everyone had on their person that had the same design as the one Kenshin gave him didn't help…
'…wait a second…' Odoroki thought taking another look at everyone. They all had the medallions like the one he had tied to his belt.
Solo wrapped his around his right arm, still having the image of the katana over its golden border. Ayame had hers as a clip/ribbon and had it tide where her ponytail met with the rest of her hair.
Then looking to the ground where Hyatt had fainted to, the loudmouthed duelist had his tied over his hand like Solo's…only on the left arm. And as Ashton helped Hyatt to his feet, the band that Ashton usually had his hair pulled out of his face had the medallion tucked into it, having the symbol be shown right in front of his forehead.
Finally, Sai had hers around her neck like a medallion usually was…
…however, this stare didn't go unnoticed, "What the heck are you staring at Scarface?"
"I've never seen a hic in the city before," Odoroki chuckled inciting a blood vessel to appear on the side of Sai's head. "And me without my camera."
"DIE!"
Unknown to the group of dojo duelists, from the top of one of the large buildings, six shadowed figures watched Sai try to smack Odoroki down. Holding up a pair of binoculars, one of the figures chuckled rather loudly as his bright reddish hair billowed slightly in the wind, "Heh…those two are pretty funny…"
That's when the taller, brown haired figure reached for the binoculars, "Quit hogging binoculars, Futaba! I paid for them myself!"
"Get off me, Shii!"
"Yay! Kono's got money on Futaba winning!" the smallest of the group cheered, jumping into the air a few times.
"…" the tallest of the group merely rubbed the back of his black, ruffling his black and oddly purple hair. "…I'll put thirty-two hundred yen on Shii…you can pay me in shinny coins…"
"Humph! Why does Mikasa always bet against Kono!?"
"…no reason," the tallest figure stated.
"Heh, if this is our competition, then I feel sorry for them," The large muscular figure cackled. "We'll crush them under our feet…"
"That's enough you five," The final figure snapped, making all five of the other duelists stand up straight. "Did you forget why we're even here?"
"No, Mio, no!" All five of the other figures shouted at the same time.
"Why are we here then?"
"For the honor of the Kuroi Tsuki Dojo!"
"Excellent," The figure called Mio chuckled plucking the binoculars from Shii and Futaba, after looking into the accessory at the group entering the hotel, Mio tossed the binoculars back to Shii. "And remember, sensei for us to declare our opponents…I'll take the guy with white hair…"
"Aw man," Shii sighed with a shrug of his shoulders. "Then I guess that means he's the strongest…"
"Mio's always had a nose for the strong ones," Futaba chuckled pushing up what appeared to be a pair of glasses before he turned towards Shii. "So brother, which one do you want to face?"
"Heh, I liked the scrawny girl," Shii replied. "She's got fight to her…"
"And I prefer the girl with long black hair," Futaba sighed clapping his hands together with hearts popping on his eyes. "I always do enjoy girls with long hair, and she's got a great body! Now only if she had glasses, then I'd truly be in love!"
"Then…shall we brother?"
"…heh, indeed…"
"Now that tweedle-dee and tweedle-stupid are done," the largest of the group laughed before slamming his fists together. "I'll take the green haired punk…He looks to be a roach under my foot…"
To signify this, the big man slammed his foot into the ground loudly. "…just waiting to be crushed."
"…Blue haired, leak dude," Mikasa yawned loudly as he stretched his arms into the air.
"Aw man! That leaves Kono with that scar guy," the tiny figure huffed with puffed out cheeks. "Why do you guys always leave Kono out!?"
"…You're just slow today," Mikasa replied cracking his neck a few times.
"Meanie Mikasa!"
"Stop you're complaining!" Mio shouted making everyone stumble backwards slightly. "Now…we can't attack all of them at once…so, we need to pace ourselves. Shii! Futaba!"
"Yes, Mio, yes!" The brother figures shouted out in surprise.
"Since you two seem so adamant on facing those two girls," Mio stated with crossed arms. "Then you two will do the honors of being the first two…"
"For the honor of the Kuroi Tsuki Dojo!" Shii and Futaba announced before running off towards the stairs.
As soon as the brothers had disappeared from the roof via the stairs, Mikasa turned towards Mio, "…you sure you wanna trust the match to those two? They may act sweet and innocent…but they don't have a tendency of playing fair…"
"It matters not," Mio replied. "We were told to win against them with all of our abilities…if that includes their know-how on the 'darker' aspects of the game, then so be it…"
"Kono no like Shii-Shii and Futa-Futa," Kono huffed again.
"Whatever…you dorks are on your own," The big man stated punching his fist into his hand with a loud smack before he turned around. "I've got a match to prepare for…later losers…"
"He acts as if he's the best of us…" Mio commented. "…but he knows deep down that he's not worth our time…"
0-0-0-0-0-0-0
Tokyo, one of the biggest and most populated cities in the world, the crowds filling the streets almost to the point of overflow…but if you were among the younger generation, Shibuya was the place to be, as one the twenty-three wards of Tokyo, this area is well known for its popular shopping and entertainment area around Shibuya Station.
An easy place to get lost if you were alone.
That wasn't the case with Sai and Ayame, both who starred at all of the lights and sounds of the street they were standing in. Hearts and sparkles popped up around Ayame's head as she clapped her hands together. "A-Amazing! I can't believe I'm actually standing here, the birth place of fashion!"
"Who cares about the fashion?" Sai sighed looking at the many game centers around them. "I'm more interested in the arcades around here!"
Odoroki couldn't help but sigh loudly, looking at the bags he was currently carrying filled with clothes, souvenirs, and various other things. 'How'd I get stuck watching over this two again?'
Earlier, as soon as Odoroki had gotten settled into his single room (he managed to pay for it himself thanks to some of his funds), Kenshin had arrived to his door, asking for a favor. Hyatt and Ashton were beat from the trip apparently (even though Ashton seemed to have enough energy for ten people and Hyatt…well, that idiot seemed to run on sugar), and Solo was going to accompany Kenshin to his meeting.
But the favor concerned Sai and Ayame, who didn't want to stay in the hotel room while the city outside was bustling. And that led Odoroki to where he was…standing directly in front of the busy street, known by Center Gai.
"Hey! Scarface!"
"Huh?" Odoroki muttered being knocked out of his daydream.
Sai and Ayame were looking at him directly, Sai with her arms at her hips and Ayame with her hands clasped. "Didn't you hear me? We can't decide where we want to go, so we need to you be a tie breaker."
'Great…now I'm stuck between an over violent girl and a love freak,' Odoroki thought rolling his eyes. "Well…what were the options again?"
"Either we go to the arcades," Sai sighed with a slap to her forehead.
"Or we check out the fashion stores!" Ayame announced with more hearts popping around her. "And shop till we drop!"
A large sweatdrop rolled down Odoroki's head, '…efither way I lose…and the guys in the underworld wonder why I stayed single…'
That's when a small growl erupted from Odoroki's stomach, creating a large blush to appear on Odoroki's face. "…I vote for lunch."
"Well…I'm a little hungry myself," Sai admitted looking around. "But…where's a good place to eat?"
"Ooh! How about there?" Ayame announced pointing towards a café that was near by that had cute pink bird on one side of the sign that read 'Duel Card Café', while on the other side had a small red fox on top of the last letter. "That looks like a nice place to eat…with such cute sign, how could it not be good?"
"I don't know, it kinda reminds me of something," Sai stated before Ayame grabbed her by the wrists. "What the?"
"Aw come on, don't be like that Sai!" Ayame giggled pulling Sai towards the café, her heels dragging into the concrete with Odoroki following the two.
"Wait! No!"
Meanwhile, hidden in one of the many alleyways behind the trio…
"Futaba! Are they actually going where I think they're going?" Shii asked only to get many pink hearts popping around his brother. "Ugh!"
"The Duel Card Café! I wonder if Sedia is in there today." Futaba asked to no one in particular before he lifted up his hand and began to count off names, not noticing that Shii was holding a clamped fist. "Ooh! Or maybe Kyoko? I bet Komari's here, she always works so hard…"
"Shii Chopper attack!"
WHAM!
"OW!" Futaba groaned clutching his head with tears streaming from his eyes.
"Shut up man," Shii growled cracking his knuckles rather loudly, making Futaba flinch slightly. "Now then, I'm well aware that we're two of the best customers there…and this makes it so much easier…"
"Oh brother…say it ain't so…" Futaba sniffed realizing what was going to happen next.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0
"Ya know…I knew this seemed familiar," Sai growled with a blood vessel as she took a seat next to Ayame, across from Odoroki. "…this is like the café I was at working at!"
"Sai! P-please keep your voice down," Ayame pleaded raising her hands up.
Odoroki couldn't help but smirk as looked around the café, a smirk appearing on his face knowing this was eating at Sai. In the fancy wooden styled café, most of the customers inside were teenaged guys…with good reason too.
All of the waitresses were dressed up as various duel monsters (with some differences); there was an Injection Fairy Lily dressed girl with long brown hair with glasses serving tea to a few of the customers.
Standing at behind the counter, a smaller girl dressed as the Warrior Lady of the Wasteland was placing some money into the cash register, her rather short black hair covering her eyes.
And heading towards a door that led to the back was girl dressed like a Vampire Lady, and yet had blonde hair tied back into a ponytail. All in all, Kirihito could understand why Sai didn't want to be here…the three were eating at a maiden café! It wouldn't be too hard to see why Sai wouldn't want to be back at a place where she used to work at.
"Ah come on Sai, this place is cute," Ayame stated pointing over to the large stage in the middle of the restaurant. "And besides, they've got entertainment here, and the food must be good!"
"Indeed it is little missy," A rather rough, yet feminine (even if it was scratchy) voice stated making the three duelists turn…and immediately sweatdrop at the sight before them.
Dressed in two of the café's obvious costumes were two young…well, teenaged boys would be a good guess, probably around Sai and Ayame's age. One of the teenagers was dressed in a white dress with a sheep like hat that had covered his rather messy orange hair.
The other teenager was wearing a black dress with a matching bunny cap over his spiky silver hair. It was obvious to see that he was a guy thanks to the five o'clock shadow on his chin and the black eye patch that covered his right eye.
Thankfully, it was easy to see that the two were wearing other clothing underneath, especially the pants since the dresses only reached about half thigh. The one dressed in white clothing held out a few menus. "W-Welcome to the D-D-Duel C-C-Card C-C-Café…Shii! I can't do this!"
The black dressed young man, Shii, threw his arm around the white dressed teen, a blood vessel appearing on the side of his head. "Listen and listen good Futaba…Unless you had a better plan, this was the best way to get close to them…"
"You know I like skirts…but only on girls! Not me!" Futaba squealed loudly with tears forming at his eyes.
"Shut up! You idiot! They'll discover that we're not really employees here!" Shii snarled, barring a few fang like teeth.
"…anyone else think this is weird?" Odoroki asked with a sweatdrop rolling down the side of his head at the two cross-dressing brothers.
"Big time," Sai stated.
"I dunno, I think its kind of funny," Ayame stated trying to stifle a giggle of hers.
"Funny? No," Odoroki muttered as the two brothers continued argue amongst themselves. "Creepy? Yes."
"Who asked you?!" Shii growled turning around with his hand gripped around the dress before pulling it up into the air. "Forget this stupid plan Futaba!"
Futaba sighed loudly before he too gabbed the dress he had, pulling it into the air at the same time as his brother, "But the dresses were your idea…"
The dresses flew through the air, revealing that the silver haired Shii was wearing a sleeveless dark gray shirt over his thin body, a jacket tied around his waist while his baggy pants were cut off by at the mouth of his armored black boots.
Meanwhile, Futaba's clothes were revealed, showing that he was wearing a baggy white shirt with red trim on it, with a long sleeved shirt underneath. Atop of his orange hair was a small cap that had yellow cat like eyes atop it. His black tight pants were tucked into the brown boots he had.
That's when Odoroki took notice what was around the two weird brothers' necks, a pair of medallions that had a blood red crescent moon over a golden border…just like the medallions that he and the girls had on their persons…the only other thing that the two had on that was similar were a pair of rings on their left pinky fingers (one with a green stone and the other a purple). '…I think Kenshin has a few answers for this…'
"Finally!" Futaba sighed in relief adjusting his hat. "I'm back to a heartthrob of a guy!"
"…And here I thought you were a girl to begin with bro," Shii chuckled placing a hand on his eye patched eye.
"That smarts, Shii!" Futaba moaned with tears from his eyes as he pointed his fingers.
"Why is that weirdoes seem to appear wherever we go?" Sai sighed.
"Who you calling a freak, ya flat chested…" Shii started, and yet he didn't manage to get another word in…Sai's fist had slammed directly into Shii's face, sending him flying over a few seats.
"SHUT UP!" Sai roared, making Futaba place his hands over his mouth.
"B-Brother!" Futaba gasped running to his slightly dazed brother's side.
"Anyone else want to leave now?" Odoroki requested as Sai raised her hand…making both him and Sai look towards Ayame.
"What? We came here to get something to eat," Ayame stated clapping her hands together. "And this is just a really good show…"
"Damn it!" Shii roared getting everyone to look towards the enraged one-eyed teen. "That was a cheap shot!"
"B-B-Brother, calm down," Futaba chuckled turning towards the three waitresses that stood to his side. "If you get us kicked out of here, I'll never forgive you for this! Especially since Sedia, Kyoko and Komari are all here! And they were even nice enough to let us borrow those costumes and even go along with this stupid plan of yours!"
"I didn't hear you coming up with any bright ideas," Shii growled.
That's when a smile appeared on Futaba's face, allowing him to turn towards the three duel monster dressed waitresses, winking at them as they all nodded. "…That's because you never listen…"
Leaving his confused brother behind, Futaba spun on his heel and walked towards Odoroki's table, "First of all, I have to apologize for my brother's actions…we've both been under a lot of stress, but that was no reason to have him insult you miss."
"Hey! Don't apologize for me!" Shii shouted, only to have the Injection Fairy Lily grab his arm and pulled him towards the stage.
"And secondly," Futaba continued, ignoring his brother's complaints as he lifted up a trio of coupons that had the same sign on them as the café. "I and my brother are actually duelists here at this Duelist Maiden Café, sure we're more along the lines as entertainment, but that doesn't mean that we can't have fun."
"And you were wearing the dresses because…" Odoroki trailed off with the sweatdrop growing on the side of his head.
"My brother's idea, I assure you," Futaba chuckled, the blush returning to his face remembering the idea. "Anyway, we usually play music or duel each other for the customers using the random deck system we have here…or we duel customers, but this also applies for the waitresses."
"And you three were lucky!" Futaba waved the coupons in front of his face. "You see, any duelist that challenges us and wins gets these three coupons for a free meal here. Sounds like a cool deal right?"
"Yeah, but what makes you think we're duelists?" Sai stated crossing her arms.
"Well, two things," Futaba stated rubbing his chin in deep thought. "First, this is a duelist maiden café, so that could tip us off that you're duelists here…and two, I can see the deck case at your belt miss."
A small blush crept on Sai's face.
"So, would either of you two care to duel against us?" Futaba suggested fanning the coupons in front of his face.
"Well Scarface," Sai stated as she and Ayame turned towards Odoroki.
"…Well what?" Odoroki questioned rolling his eyes.
"Aren't you going to do the gentleman's thing and take these guys' challenge?" Ayame explained, already clasping her hands together. "Fighting against the odds…beating two evildoers in the quest to please a pair of lovely girls!"
Odoroki slapped his forehead, his hand sliding over his hair allowing the three added strands to bounce back up, "…I would, but, unfortunately, I left my deck of cards at the hotel room."
"What?! Why didn't you grab it?" Sai growled, her eyes narrowing down on the Former Emperor of the Underworld.
"Cause shopping doesn't usually entail dueling," Odoroki replied crossing his arms before he shot a glare at Sai. "You've got your cards…why don't you duel against them…"
"Ooh! I've got my cards too!" Ayame exclaimed reaching into her pocket to pull out (surprise) a pink deck case.
"…Alright fine…but don't expect us to use that coupon to pay for you," Sai huffed standing up with Ayame already looking through her cards, gushing at the sight of them.
Odoroki just shrugged his shoulders and noticed that the waitress dressed as Vampire Lady approached him with a glass of water. While telling the waitress his order, Odoroki placed his right hand to his pocket, feeling the deck case that held his larger than normal deck. He had lied about not carrying his cards, but he had to be sure of something first before he rushed into a duel…at least in Tokyo…
"Step on up ladies!" Futaba laughed before he jumped onto the stage next to his brother Shii, that's when a pair of microphones popped on either side of the brothers, allowing them both to take one in their hands before they pointed towards the two girls that stood across from them on the stage as all the other lights in the café began to dull save for the spotlight over the stage. "Loyal customers of the Duel Card Café! Today we have a special treat in stored for you all! Two lovely lady duelists have accepted our house-special challenge!"
Oddly enough, the customers all cheered loudly, making both girls blush as the Warrior Lady dressed waitress brought up a small black box, with a duel disk popping out from top of it. First the waitress headed to the two brothers, allowing them both to slip on the devices on their left arms. With his duel disk on, Shii walked over to the two girls along with the waitress, however, both Sai and Ayame had a pair of duel disks on their arms, courtesy of Ayame's backpack, "That's right bro! As you all know, anyone who takes on the house duelists and wins, gets three free meal coupons here for this café! But today, we're having an added bonus today…"
Both Ayame and Sai looked at each other for a few seconds as they fitted the duel disks on, but before they could ask, Shii stepped in between both of them. "But that is neither the time nor the place! Let's get the names of our two competitors and where they're from!"
With the microphone held up to Sai, she simply blinked a few times in confusion before she took the device, "W-Well, I'm Miyamoto Saika…B-But I prefer to be called Sai…"
Odoroki didn't think that Sai would be the kind of person to be shy.
Before she could continue, Ayame snapped the microphone from a surprised Sai, "Heya! I'm Maikaru Ayame! Both me and Sai, and our friend over there," Ayame pointed over to Odoroki who just stopped drinking his water to realize there was a spotlight over him. "Roki-kun are all from Domino City, and we're glad to be here today!"
With the opposing teams' introductions done, Shii yanked the microphone from Ayame, and practically leapt back to Futaba's side as the red haired brother raised the microphone to his mouth, "Alright folks! You definitely know us, but our two Domino City guests need our introduction! What do you say Shii?"
"…I say forget it," Shii replied with a blood vessel appearing on the side of his head. "We're not doing that, Futaba!"
"Aw, where's your love of the humor?" Shii asked as the three waitresses and the customers all shouted out (save for Odoroki who returned to his drink when the spotlight on him died down) for them to do whatever it was they usually did. "See everyone else wants us to do it!"
Shii's blood vessel throbbed a few times as he clenched his arms, "…Fiiiiine! But the next time, we're doing the introduction my way!"
"Alright!" Futaba shouted into the air, pumping his arm there as well. "Do you want to lead off?"
"Just get started already!" Shii roared without his microphone, making it easily heard by everyone in the café.
"Yeesh, bite my head off why don't ya…" Futaba chuckled before he tapped his foot onto the button built into the stage, allowing very annoying music to play through the speakers. "To protect the world from devastation!"
Shii now had tears streaming from his one good eye as he slowly lifted the mike, "To unite all peoples within our nation…ugh…"
"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"
"…to extend our reach to the stars above…" Shii muttered into the mike before turning his head to the side, uttering the words, "…please kill me…"
"Futaba!"
"…Shii…"
"Jiro Brothers, duel with all their might!" Futaba announced striking a pose with his free hand pointed towards Sai and Ayame.
"…surrender now…or prepare to fight," Shii moaned with a look that seemed to make him look like he needed soap for his tongue now.
"THAT'S RIGHT!" All three of the waitresses and customers shouted into the air (even Ayame cheered in that last bit).
"…I don't know what's worse," Sai moaned with a slap to her head. "The fact I'm dueling on stage or our opponents seem to be fans of a certain kids show…"
"Aw, I thought it was cute," Ayame replied poking her fingers together.
Placing both of the microphones back into their stands, Shii and Futaba both pulled out a stack of duel monster cards, both of which were shuffled and snapped into their duel disks, activating the devices. That's when Futaba raised his hand into the air, getting everyone's attention, "Now then, with introductions finally over with, we're ready to get on with the match! I'll assume you two know the rules to a tag duel right?"
Sai rubbed the back of her head a few times, "…I've only teamed up with Ashton a few times to take on my dad back home…but we always lost…"
"I kinda leaned the game through tag teaming though," Ayame replied tapping her chin a few times. "But that was a while ago…"
"Oh for the love of…" Shii growled his good eye narrowing. "Listen and listen good! Cause I'm not going to repeat myself! In a tag duel, all players start with the original life point count, that means eight thousand points apiece." (SHLP: 8000)
"That's right brother, although you could've said it nicer to these lovely ladies," Futaba scolded his brother (who just scoffed to the side). "But that can't be helped now. Anyway, in addition to life points, a duelist who loses his or her LP is booted out, but the match will continue with the remaining players." (FLP: 8000)
"Ooh! I know what's next!" Ayame announced waving her hand up. "Team duelists allow each other to use what's on their partner's fields with permission and can defend each other if they have nothing on their field. But there's not talk of strategy and what's in your hand." (ALP: 8000)
'…and the dueling world just gets more confusing,' Sai thought snapping in her deck of cards. (SALP: 8000)
"Correct," Shii admitted with his arms crossed. "Now then, there's just one final thing…no one can attack until everyone has taken their first turn…that means who ever is last will get to attack."
"And as for turn order," Futaba announced, as both Shii and himself drew their opening cards. "How about reverse alphabetical order of names?"
Everyone else just nodded as both Sai and Ayame snapped off their five card hands, all the while Shii pulled his sixth card. "And that means the first turn belongs to me! Draw!"
Either he had a killer poker face or was just like that all the time, Shii merely fitted two cards into his duel disk, making them appear on the stage before him. "Two set cards…and then I summon Dragon Zombie in attack mode!"
The stage seemed to open up, allowing a large purple scaled dragon to crawl onto the field, its skin starting to decay showing the bones and muscle tissue. The dragon roared loudly as its entrance way was sealed up (1600/0). "And that's all I got."
"Ugh, that's nice to look at," Sai stated pulling her next card. "Where'd you get that? The discount bin?"
"It's called strategy!" Shii shouted narrowing his eye at Sai. "Besides a level three beat stick isn't something to laugh at…"
"You're calling him a beat stick?" Sai asked holding up a card in front of her. "I'll show you something that should be called a beat stick! I summon Ice Knight!"
In a large icicle appearing over the field, the blue armored knight landed on the stage, lifting the icy lance onto its shoulder (1300/1200 + 400/0). "And for every aqua-subtype monster on the field, he gains four hundred points of attack! Next, I'll set one card face down…and call it a turn."
"Oh!" Futaba was shocked to reality from waving to the waitresses that were watching the duel. "Sorry, my draw!"
Looking at the cards that he held in his hand, Futaba smiled as he lifted two cards up. "Now then ladies…I'll activate two spell cards, two continuous spell cards! Go Nemesis Virus and Honorable Death!"
Futaba's spell cards appeared in front of him, revealing many humans running away from several bloody zombified people while the other showed the image of a samurai lifting a dagger up over his body, ready to perform seppuku. "Now, since I'm a gentleman, I'll tell ya that my Honorable Death card makes it so whenever a monster is destroyed by a card effect, its considered to be destroyed in battle instead. Of course, this effect costs me one thousand points automatically…but considering what it does, I think it's a fair tradeoff." (FLP: 7000)
"Does that count for our monsters too?" Ayame asked blinking at the cards.
"Actually yes," Futaba replied as he slapped a card onto his duel disk, making the holographic counters buzz up. "But now then, for the end of my turn, I summon The 13th Grave in attack mode!"
The stage opened up once more, this time allowing a large dark boned skeletal warrior to clamber onto the field, a large rusted sword in its bony fingers (1200/900). "And that's it for me."
"Alright draw time!" Ayame announced pulling the next card into her hand.
'…I don't like this…' Sai thought to herself looking at the Nemesis Virus card, Futaba conveniently left out its effect. Then there were Shii's face down cards, and the two monsters they both had were throw away cards.
"Now then, I think I'll summon Hysteric Fairy in attack mode!" Ayame announced before many feathers began to fall from the ceiling, allowing a young angelic secretary to float in front of Ayame. Then, after adjusting her glasses and blue skirt, the angelic secretary began reading her book (1800/500).
That's when Futaba's eyes popped into a pair of hearts as his first heart began to flutter into the air. "Oooh! It's a cute girl! A meganeko to boot!"
A blush crept on the Hysteric Fairy's face as she pushed up her glasses, all the while Ayame giggled as she lifted up another card, "Aw, looks like someone's shy…its cute! But, now then I'll activate Spell Absorption! Now every time a spell's played, I gain five hundred life points!"
"Now then, since your dragon has more attack points, and might have a better shot of getting stronger! So, Hysteric Fairy! Attack with Paper Cut of Doom!"
"…seriously? That's the monster's attack name?" Shii asked before the many of pages flew from the Hysteric Fairy's book, slicing and dicing the undead dragon's body until it roared in pain and shattered. (SHLP: 7800)
"Nah, I just like saying that for its name…" Ayame stated as she noticed something. "Huh? Isn't something different on the field?"
"Oh, I see you noticed my trap card," Shii stated as a trap card that showed many zombies clambering in the streets of a ruined street. Floating around the trap card was a glowing black orb. "Allow me to introduce the Infection…When a level three or lower zombie normal monster is destroyed in battle, this card gains a Viral Counter."
"And what pray tell do these Viral Counters do?" Sai asked as Shii rubbed his nose.
"That my dear…is none of your concern," Shii replied waving his hand over towards his brother. "Rather, you've got bigger problems with my brother's side of the field. Literally…"
Indeed, around the face up Nemesis Virus card was an orb of white light pulsing brightly, and that's when both girls' eyes looked towards The 13th Grave (1200/900 + 100/100), that looked a little bit bigger and more demonic. Futaba giggled slightly as he adjusted his red cap. "Sorry ladies, but indeed my brother is right, you see whenever a level three or lower zombie is destroyed in battle, my Nemesis Virus card gains a Nemesis Counter. And for each counter, all level three or lower zombie monsters gain one hundred attack and defense points."
"Yikes! Thankfully my turn is still on!" Ayame announced fitting another card into her duel disk, making it appear next to the Spell Absorption. "And I'll just be setting this little number, and ending my turn!"
"Then it's my move!" Shii shouted pulling his next card, than spinning the card in his fingers a few times…
…eliciting a weird look from Futaba…
'…What was that about?' Odoroki questioned before getting back to his cup of coffee he ordered.
"What to do, what to do?" Shii mused to himself before he reached for another card in his hand. "Oh! I know, I'll activate my spell card, Graceful Charity!"
"Ooh! That's a spell! Yay!" Ayame cheered as her Spell Absorption glowed brightly. "That means my spell card activates! I gain five hundred life points!" (ALP: 8500)
"You'll need all of those life points!" Bright lights slowly rained down from the sky, falling atop of Shii's deck, allowing the one eyed duelist to pull the top three cards from his deck. "And for the cost, I'll just toss away my Skull Servant and Viral Zombies."
That's when Shii fitted into his duel disk, making it appear on the other side of Infection, however, that's when the other face down card flipped up, revealing a spiritual creature traveling through a tunnel. "Next, I'll activate my trap card, Soul Resurrection! Allowing me to special summon one normal monster in defense mode…Arise Viral Zombies!"
From the trap card emerged a trio of zombified humans, all moaning and groaning as they moved around slowly (0/0 + 100/100). "Heh, what do you think?"
"I think you're cheating!" Sai pointed out, throwing her hand towards the three zombies. "Your trap only allows you to special summon a normal monster from your graveyard, and I can clearly see that is an effect monster…"
"…whose effect entails that while on the field and in the graveyard," Shii growled narrowing his eye at Sai. "I'm well aware of what my card's are capable of, thank you very much."
"Well, Sai has a tendency to jump the gun," Ayame explained rubbing the back of her head with a sheepish smile on her face.
"Ayame!" Sai shouted before turning towards Shii. "Are you done?"
Shii slowly placed his free hand atop of his other hand, hiding them both behind the disk, "I suppose so…your move flat-chest."
"…why…you…little!" Sai snarled as her Ice Knight slowly stepped away from her.
'…that's it…if I just keep egging her on, her judgement will eventually get clouded,' Shii thought as his right fingers slowly caressed the green jeweled ring he had on his hand. '…but…just in case…'
"Heh, I don't know what you two are planning," Sai admitted holding up her newly drawn card up. "But, its pretty obvious that you two are up to something with that little combo…but too bad its all over! I activate the spell card, Heavy Storm!"
Sai slid the card into her duel disk…but nothing happened. Sai slid the card into her duel disk once more, and still nothing happened. "What the heck? Why won't my spell card work!?"
"Heh, looks like someone needs to check their equipment," Shii chuckled shrugging his shoulders before he ran his hand through his hair.
A large sweatdrop rolled down the side of Futaba's head at his brother's behavior, '…well, no one can say that my brother doesn't love his ego…and I guess he couldn't help but use it…'
'Damn it!' Sai screamed in her head as she slid the useless spell into her graveyard slot. 'If Hyatt's been messing with my duel disk again, I'm going to kick his ass!'
But still, the Spell Absorption glowed brightly since a spell card was activated, making Ayame look at her duel disk, "Well, my card and duel disk are working…" (ALP: 9000)
"Fine if that's the case, I'll summon Cold Enchanter in attack mode!"
Another icicle erupted over the field, this time forming into an icy skinned woman wearing pure white clothes. And with a chilled kiss blown to the crowd of cheering boys, this icy young gal spun a small staff in her hands with a snowflake on it (1600/1200).
And that's when the Ice Knight grew slightly larger (1700/1200 + 400/0). "And since my Cold Enchanter is an aqua type monster, my Ice Knight grows stronger!"
"Sorry to stop this chilly reunion," Shii announced as his other face down card flipped up, revealing three weird, yellow skinned creatures putting their hands together. "But I have a trap card I need to activate! Go League of the Uniform Nomeclature! Now, I select one face up level two or lower normal monster and special summon all copies of it in my deck…and remember, my monster's effect makes it a normal monster!"
Six more zombies clambered onto the field, all of them moaning and groaning along with the three original (0/0 + 100/100 x2). "Of course, I'll keep them in defense mode."
"You'll need them!" Sai announced lifting her hand up towards Futaba. "But I'm taking down his monster! Ice Knight! Attack!"
"W-Wha…Why are you attacking me?!" Futaba cried out as the Ice Knight leapt into the air, stabbing the ice lance directly into the 13th Grave, freezing it completely over under it shattered into millions of shattered bones. (FLP: 6200)
"Well, there was a choice between no damage and inflicting damage," Sai replied crossing her arms. "And I chose to inflict damage…"
That's when two orbs, one light around the Nemesis Virus and one dark around the Infection, empowering the three Viral Zombies a tad bit more (200/200 x3). "True…but that leaves us to use our Nemesis Virus…"
"…and my Infection trap card!" Shii added throwing his arm to the side as a smirk appeared on his face. '…and soon, the fun will really begin…'
"I don't know why you're smiling," Sai growled snapping her fingers as the Cold Enchanter lifted up that staff she held. "Because I still have another monster! Cold Enchanter! Attack one of those Viral Zombies! They're starting to stink up the place…"
That's when a powerful blue aura erupted from the icy staff, freezing three of the zombies, making them fall apart. But that's when another white orb of light floated around the Nemesis Virus card, but that's when three black orbs floated around the Infection card. The remaining Viral Zombies moaned loudly as they were infected with the Nemesis Virus (300/300 x2). "What the? Why'd your trap card get more counters?"
"Heh, Viral Zombie has the unique ability to place two new Viral Counters on Infection," Shii chuckled with his arms crossed. "So, I've got five Viral Counters on Infection!"
"But anything else you got?"
"You're going to regret that," Sai growled looking down at her hand. "But…that'll have to wait during my next turn…"
"Well, until then," Futaba chuckled holding up his next card looking at it. "I'll keep all of us entertained! Draw my lovelies!"
"I kinda like his style," Ayame giggled, getting a blush to appear on Futaba's face.
"A…A girl called me cute…" Futaba swooned with hearts popping over his head. "I'm so happy! This is the best day of my life!"
"Futaba! Get a hold of yourself!" Shii shouted, slamming his foot into the stage, snapping his brother out of his funk.
"Uh, r-right," Futaba chuckled rubbing the back of his head before he slapped the card onto his duel disk. "I summon Plague Zombie in attack mode!"
That's when something began to dug up from the ground, revealing a larger, more muscular version of the Viral Zombies, and more demented looking (1000/0 + 300/300). This zombie unleashed a loud roar, slamming its bare foot into the ground. "And now, I activate Plague Zombie's effect! If 'Nemesis Virus' is on the field, I can increase his attack points by one thousand points automatically until the end phase…"
A powerful aura erupted from the veins of the Plague Zombie, making it grow in size (1300/300 + 1000/0). "And now…ah, I can't attack pretty girl monsters…"
"Futaba…if you do what I think you're going to do," Shii growled before the Plague Zombie moaned loudly.
"Attack Ice Knight!"
Shii's eye twitched slightly as the Plague Zombie lumbered towards the Ice Knight, slamming its hands into the Ice Knight's armor, making it shatter into a million shards. (SALP: 7800)
"I'll end by placing a card face down on the field," Futaba chuckled as the face down card appeared on the field next to his spell cards. "Your move ladies…"
"Aw, you're sweet," Ayame sighed pulling her next card up, a smile appearing on her face as she held up her next card. "And I'll be summoning my sweet Dancing Fairy 1!"
That's when a small cloud of pink smoke popped onto the field, allowing a small little fairy with long brown fair to fly around Ayame's neck, giggling rather loudly as her blue robes flowed over her body. Her tiny white wings stopped flapping as she landed on Ayame's shoulder (950/350). "Based on the oh, so cute Dancing Fairy card, this is one of my three favorite cards!"
'…and it's a given that the love freak runs a light fairy deck…' Odoroki moaned as he sipped on his second cup of coffee.
"Now then…Hysteric Fairy, do your stuff and attack the Plague Zombie!" Ayame announced as the Hysteric Fairy lifted her book into the air.
"Heh! I activate my trap card!" Futaba announced as his face down card flipped up, revealing many zombies clawing at many people. "Brains…Brains! Now, any battle damage involving our zombies affects you as well!"
"Or it would if I didn't have my face down card!" Ayame giggled pushing a button on her duel disk, at the same time, Futaba lowered his head as he crossed his hands, putting pressure on the purple jewel ring he hand on his left hand. "Seven Tools of the Bandit may cost me one thousand points, but to negate your trap, it's more than…"
"Ayame! Your trap isn't working!" Sai shouted as a large dulled look appeared on Ayame's face.
"Wha…?" Ayame questioned before the Hysteric Fairy sent several pages into the Plague Zombie making it moan loudly before it exploded into a large green ooze that slammed at her feet. It seemed that only Shii seemed to notice that another counter appeared on the Infection Trap card (total 6). (FLP: 5700) (ALP: 8500)
Slowly sliding the useless trap into her graveyard slot, Ayame lowered her head. "Aw…this isn't my day…"
"I'm sorry," Futaba admitted rubbing the back his head as three counters appeared on the Nemesis Virus card, increasing the attack of the two remaining Viral Zombies (600/600 x2). "But I've got worse news for you, you see, when destroyed, my Plague Zombie places two Nemesis counters on my Nemesis Virus spell…so, its empowering our zombies even more…"
"Aw don't worry about it," Ayame stated as the Dancing Fairy 1 patted Ayame's cheek in condolence. "And thanks…I end my turn with a set card…"
"Tsk, I was hoping you'd attack my zombies," Shii growled as he drew his next card, making his eye curve sadistically. "Heh…heh, ha ha ha ha!"
"…either he's drawn something really bad," Sai sweatdropped while everyone else in the café (save for Shii). "Or maybe there's something to having an eyepatch…"
"Nah, it's what's on the field you need to worry about!" Shii explained as his Infection trap began to pulse with a dark light. "I activate the effect of Infection! During either mine or my brother's standby phase I can remove any amount of counters from it! And for every two counters removed, I get to special summon a Viral Zombie Token! And I'm removing all six!"
That's when the ground erupted around the remaining two Viral Zombies, unleashing nine more decrypted zombies, all of them moaning loudly in pain with their clothes getting ripped even more with their movements (0/0 + 600/600 x3). "And thanks to my brother's Nemesis Virus, all my zombies gain six hundred points!"
Clicking his duel disk up into the air, Shii popped open the field card zone on his duel disk, "And if you think this is it…oh, you're dead wrong! I activate the field spell card…Doomed City!"
The ground then began to rumble loudly, shifting and changing until the entire café had transformed into a large city like the streets of Tokyo outside, only everything was ruin and a weird purple mist began to loft over the field.
Futaba shivered at just being in such a place, placing his arms over his chest, "Man…I hate it when you play this card…"
"Ew! This place is disgusting!" Ayame squealed loudly trying not to step in a holographic pool of water…of red water…or that's what Ayame kept telling herself.
"Looks like the others don't like it," Sai admitted looking at the other customers who just shook their heads at the sights of what became of their favorite café.
"It doesn't matter!" Shii cackled loudly holding his hands up into the air. "In the realms of this forgotten city, we'll seal the fate of the Ichigeki Hissatu dojo!"
"In the name of the Kuroi Tsuki Dojo!"
Meanwhile, sitting at a holographic wrecked table, Odoroki just sipped his coffee calmly…his eyes watching each and every duelist and their moves.
To be continued…
With the field against them…
Their spells and traps only useless threats…
…can the two Femme Fatales of the Ichigeki Hissatu dojo overcome this plague?
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Card Stats
Honorable Death / Continuous Spell / Effect: Pay 1000 life points. As long as this card is face up on the field, all monsters that are destroyed by card effects, are considered to be destroyed as a result of battle.
Image: a samurai lifting a dagger up over his body, ready to perform seppuku
Viral Zombies / Dark / LV. 2 / ATK: 0 / DEF: 0 / Zombie/Effect: While this card is on the field or in your graveyard, this card is considered a Normal monster. When this card is destroyed as a result of battle while 'Infection' is face up on the field, place two 'Viral Counters' on it.
Description: a trio of zombified humans
Plague Zombie / Dark / LV. 3 / ATK: 1000 / DEF: 0 / Zombie/Effect: While this card is on the field, treat this card as a normal monster. Once per turn, while 'Nemesis Virus' is face up on the field, you may increase this card's attack by 1000 points until the end phase. When this card is destroyed as a result of battle, place two 'Nemesis Counters' on one face up 'Nemesis Virus'.
Description: a larger, more muscular version of the Viral Zombies, and more demented
Nemesis Virus / Continuous Spell / Effect: Each time a level three or lower Zombie monster is destroyed as a result of battle, place one 'Nemesis Counter' on this card. Increase the attack and defense points of all level three or lower Zombie-type monsters by 100 for each 'Nemesis Counter'.
Image: many humans running away from several bloody zombified people
Infection / Continuous Trap / Effect: Each time a Normal Level three or lower Zombie-Type monster is destroyed as a result of battle (This includes tokens), place one 'Viral Counter' on this card (Max 20). During the standby phase, by removing two 'Viral Counters' on this card, you may special summon one 'Viral Zombie Token' (Dark / LV. 2 / ATK: 0 / DEF: 0 / Zombie) to your side of the field.
Image: many zombies clambering in the streets of a ruined street
Brains…Brains! / Continuous Trap / Effect: Any battle damage you receive involving a face up level three or lower zombie type monster is inflicted on your opponent as well.
Image: many zombies clawing at many people
Dancing Fairy 1 / Light / LV. 2 / ATK: 950 / DEF: 350 / Fairy/Effect: ?? ??
Description: A small cute brown haired fairy wearing a lovely sky blue dress.
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Sai: What's wrong with this thing?!
Ayame: Ack!? What is that thing?! Its…its…its…its so gross! Eew!
Odoroki: …
Sai: Damn it! What is with this stuff?!
Shii: Heh! Try as much as you like! You can't defeat the evil that resides in our decks!
Futaba: Don't take this the wrong way ladies…we just have to win…
As the plague continues to spread over the field, can our two heroines kill what has already been pronounced dead once? Or, will they join the residents of the Doomed City?
Find these answers next time in… Draw 11: Premature Burial
Odoroki: …amazing to see how far people are willing to go…
Author's note: Ten brownie points to whoever can guess the references in this chapter…all of them. Not just the obvious ones…Later Dayz!