i dont own Yugioh 5ds, etc... Chapter 10: The Fortune Cup Begins
The Kaiba Dome was almost full –the Fortune Cup was a sold-out event. Sonja sat with her newly-found younger brothers halfway up the stadium in the middle on the side of the start line for Turbo Duels.
There was a sudden roar and Red Dragon Archfiend soared into the Arena. It settled on a podium, followed by a white Duel Runner that Sonja recognised immediately –it was Jack.
"New Domino City, what say we kick this Tournament into overdrive?" he shouted, in his trademark position of pointing up at the sky. He was greeted by loud cheers. Sonja was pretty sure that Andy was being the loudest of all –she knew that he idolised her ex-friend.
"Now it's time to meet the lucky Duellists who will face off to get the chance to Duel against the King Jack Atlas! The Fortune-Eight!" the MC shouted while the eight Duellists rose from underground on a trapdoor.
"Now let's hear it for the always-mysterious Shira!" the MC said as the screen fixed on a man completely covered in a black robe. "The great Greiger!" the screen moved on to a tall burly man. "Commander Koda, the Professor, Miss Akiza Izinski," the MC went on, pausing at a young woman with a serious expression. "Sir Randsborg," the picture moved on to a man dressed up in a golden suit of armour that looked like something right out of a medieval movie. "The lovely Luna," the man said as the cameras paused at a girl that Sonja recognised as Leo's twin sister. "And Yusei Fudo!"
The cameras stopped as Sonja froze. Yusei was actually competing? But as she looked closed, she saw a yellow-gold line on one side of his face. It was a Marker, worn by those who were branded as no-goods. Sonja couldn't believe he had actually been caught by Sector Security.
She then noticed that the crowd was muttering venomous words. Slowly a swell of voices began to chant –"Who's the loser?" they repeated it over and over again. Sonja clenched her fists in her lap –she knew the people of the City looked down on those from the Satellite, but this was ridiculous. Robert noticed his sister's eyes were fixed on the Satellite.
"Do you know him?" he asked.
"Yeah," Sonja said. "He was the one who taught me mechanics. Yusei was one of my best friends. I knew he was in the City, but I wasn't expecting him to have a Mark."
"I have to say something," a voice boomed around the stadium, and the crowd immediately quietened down. Sonja saw that the Duellist known as Greiger had grabbed the microphone from the MC and was addressing the crowd.
"My name is Greiger. I know things are different in this City, but where I come from you judge a guy on his spirit. This kid right here may have been branded by our people as a no-good, but when I look at him all I see is a Duellist. And being a Duellist myself, that means I have to respect him until he gives me a reason not to. Because a Duellist doesn't judge another Duellist based on where he comes from, whose family he is or how much money he has. That isn't what really matters."
He turned away while the crowd sat in silence. Then there was clapping from the podium as Rex Goodwin applauded the speech. Soon everyone in the stadium was joining in, although Sonja doubted any of them actually felt any remorse for the jeering they had just done.
"Thank you for those well-chosen and heartfelt words," Goodwin said, getting to his feet. "In our world, social status and personal wealth draw a line between us and our fellow man. But I had a vision of a Duel tournament that would, even for a fleeting while, remove that line, a tournament separate from the competition of life, where the haves and the have-nots could meet on a level playing field and prove themselves to each other and to the world. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Fortune Cup!"
The crowd cheered as the sky lit up with fireworks, signalling the start of the tournament.
"Let's turn to the bracket shuffler and find out who's Duelling who in the first match!" the MC announced. Eight pictures to represent the Duellists flicked on an overhead screen. Yusei's appeared beside the man known as Shira, and Luna was up against Greiger in the very first Duel.
About ten minutes later, the first Duel was set to begin. Sonja got to her feet.
"Where are you going, Sonja?" Andy asked. "The Duel is about to start."
"I'm going back-stage," Sonja said. Her family had brought tickets that permitted any of them to go back-stage at any time over the course of the tournament. And she wanted to see Yusei and get some answers.
She gave Robert some of the money she had been given to buy food with during the day, and told them to buy something if she wasn't back by the end of the Duel.
She slipped to the area under the arena and found the room where the Duellists could watch the other Duels. She was surprised to find it nearly empty. Only Yusei was inside, watching the Duel that was going on overhead.
Yusei turned towards her as she shut the door behind her. At first, he was surprised at the sight of her there, but then he smiled.
"I'm glad you got here alright," Sonja said. "But what happened to you after you Duelled Jack?"
"How did you know that?" Yusei asked. Obviously he was as surprised as Jack had been that she knew about that. Sonja told him about her dream, and how her birthmark had glowed crimson that night. Yusei was surprised, but he let her finish talking.
Then he told her everything –the ending of the Duel, the appearance of the Crimson Dragon, his time in the Facility. Then he told her why he was competing –his friends would have been in serious danger if he hadn't competed.
Sonja put a hand to her mouth –she couldn't believe Yusei's friends –her friends –were in such danger. And there was nothing she could do to help them. Yusei saw the look in her eyes.
"Don't worry; one of my friends here in the City, Blister, has gone over to check up on them. I'm sure to hear from him soon. Now it's your turn, Sonja –how did you get here?"
Sonja told him about winning the Tournament, meeting Andy and Robert, finding out about her family and the reunion.
"I would never have guessed you were from the Tops," Yusei said. "I take it you've seen Leo and Luna before?"
"Yes," Sonja said.
"Leo's actually competing in the tournament for his sister," Yusei said. Sonja glanced at the screen behind her friend. Greiger had a Summon Reactor SK, Trap Reactor Y FI and Spell Reactor RE out on the field. His opponent had a Gadget Hauler on the field. Sonja had seen that combo during the Tag-Duel Tournament, and she knew it was Leo who used monsters that were Morphtronics.
"Do you think he can win?" Sonja asked.
"We'll soon see," Yusei said as Leo took an 800 point hit for playing Factory of 100 Machines, allowing him to remove all his Morphtronic monsters from play, powering his Gadget Hauler all the way up to 2900. Greiger only had 2100 LP remaining –if this worked, Leo could win in this round. He called his attack on Trap Reactor Y FI.
The dust began to clear. Greiger was still standing, all his Life Points safe. He chuckled.
"You may be small, but you have a warrior's spirit," he said. "As a warrior myself, I salute your strength."
"Well, thanks I guess. But how come you're not damaged?" Leo asked, looking scared.
The dust cleared, and the trap Delta Reactor was revealed.
"Uh-oh," Sonja muttered. There were very few things that could stand against the machine that was summoned via that card. Flying Fortress SKY FIRE appeared on the field, 3000 Attack points and all. On screen, Leo was trembling as he looked up at it.
"It looks like Greiger has activated his fateful trump card!" the announcer exclaimed. "This Duel might be over! Could Luna be our first loser?"
Greiger activated its special ability and sent one card to the Graveyard to destroy Gadget Hauler before he attacked directly, depleting Leo's sparse 800 LP.
"It's over!" the MC commented. On screen, Leo dropped to his knees. "Grieger will be advancing to the next round, and Luna will be getting a gift basket!"
"That must suck," Sonja said. "But he almost had it."
Sonja decided to head back to the stands. As they came out of the room, they saw Leo walking with Dexter and Luna. He looked pretty down.
"It's not like everyone saw you lose," Luna said, trying to cheer her brother up. Of course, Dexter didn't help when he quoted just how many people had been in the stadium and watching it on live TV.
"It's not a loss if you learned something," Yusei said as they got closer. "Now you know more than before, right Leo?"
"Yeah, more about losing," Leo said. "I can't wait to use that in my next match."
"Yusei's got a point, Leo," Sonja said. "Sometimes a Duellist learns more from defeat than victory. Everyone loses every now and then."
It was obvious that the three were surprised to see Sonja with Yusei, acting as though she knew him. None of them knew about the two's friendship from back in the Satellite. But before they could ask questions they had to move to the side as one of the Duellists came through.
As she passed, Sonja felt her birthmark arm tingle as though momentarily set on fire. She clutched it briefly and glanced at Yusei. She could tell from the look in his eyes that he had felt it too.
"See you around, Yusei," she said, heading off. "Good luck in your Turbo Duel."
X
"There you are!" Robert said as Sonja slipped into her seat. "The next Duel is about to start."
From the looks of it, they had gotten food during her absence –Andy was happily chomping on a hotdog. And it looked as though they had brought her something, and she accepted the beef burger they had saved for her. To her surprise, it wasn't the junk-thrown-into-the-middle burger she had known in the Satellite –it was high quality, even for an event like this, and it was great.
The lights dimmed as he finished talking. A platform rose, and the man in the gold medieval armour appeared. Sonja raised a hand to hide her smirk –that outfit reminded her of a Halloween where she and Crow had conspired to dress Jack like that. They had been ten years old at the time -it had been a great laugh.
"Good people of New Domino, ye shall know my blade and my Deck from the attacks ye shall witness!" the man –Gil de Randsborg, if Sonja remembered correctly –proclaimed dramatically.
"While we wait for a Shakespearean scholar to translate all that, let's get ready for his opponent!" the MC went on. "Now entering the arena, with a record of –well, let's hear it for Miss Akiza Izinski!"
His opponent was the woman Sonja had seen in the hall. Suddenly she heard a high-pitched growl coming from somewhere, but she couldn't tell where from. It was weird –she hadn't heard those noises since she had been a young girl.
But it did give her a feeling of foreboding, as though there was something wrong.
She focused her mind back on the Duel just as Randsborg laid a face-down and had a Level 5 Masked Knight on the field. He had already reduced her Life Points to 2600.
Akiza summoned a Wall of Ivy and activated a Spell that allowed her to summon Copy Plant, raising its level to 5.
She released both monsters on the field for a Synchro Summon. As she did so, an intense pain shot through Sonja's arm. She placed a hand over it as it began to glow crimson. It felt like it had that night –when it had first burnt and she had seen that vision.
A red dragon with a black body rose from the ground. Checking the database, Sonja read that it was called the Black Rose Dragon. On the arena, Randsborg was shouting.
"So it's true! Thou be the Black Rose! Stay back!"
"The Black Rose?" Sonja repeated. Robert guessed she hadn't been around long enough to have heard the rumours.
"She's infamous around the Damian area. She's supposed to be able to bring her cards to life," he told her. "The damage is real, and any Spell and Trap Cards work like real ones." Sonja frowned –that sounded really familiar. The Psychic Mania had had that sort of power too –it really hurt if you were hit during a Psychic Duel.
The Duel continued; the Black Rose Dragon disappeared with all the other cards on the field, and the field became surrounded in the Field Spell Black Garden, Akiza turned Randsborg's own monsters against him. But it looked as though Randsborg would win, especially when he cracked her combo and brought her life points down to a sparse 50.
"Looks like she's going to lose," Robert said. "Too bad –I thought she was supposed to be the best around."
"I wouldn't count her out of the running yet," Sonja said. Robert glanced at his sister –did she honestly think the Black Rose could turn this around?
Akiza activated the effect of her Black Garden, destroying it and her three Tokens of Rose that had 800-Attack-Points apiece to return a monster from her Graveyard.
"Now if my maths is correct, and it always is, then Akiza has sacrificed enough attack points to summon Black Rose Dragon!" the MC commented.
"That's not going to cut it," Andy said as the dragon emerged from the glowing purple flames that had engulfed the remains of the field Spell. As the field Spell vanished, Masked Knight Level 7's attack points returned to Randsborg still had a face-down left on his field.
"She's not finished yet," Sonja said.
She was right –Akiza removed her Wall of Ivy from the Graveyard to activate Black Rose Dragon's effect. The Knight's attack points went down to 0.
"Thou cannot do that to me!" Randsborg said, dropping his accent as he began to panic. "It's not fair. I spend all year making this costume for this special tournament. I'm not supposed to lose!"
"Well, too bad," Akiza said, preparing for the final strike. "And the next time you want to play dress-up, you should remember that it's what's on the inside that counts!"
The Duel ended as Randsborg was engulfed in purple flames and fell to the ground. There was a stunned silence, and then the crowd began to boo.
"How did you know she was going to win?" Andy asked as the Black Rose Dragon left the field, signalling the end of the Duel. Sonja wasn't sure how to answer that.
Robert saw that his sister was holding a hand over her left arm. He couldn't be certain, but he thought he saw a tinge of red glowing on her arm before it vanished. Unsure what it was, he decided to forget about it for the moment. He looked over his program.
"I think it's your friend's turn next," he said, deftly changing the subject. "I can't wait to see a Turbo Duel."
Sonja smiled; she was glad her brother wasn't pestering her. She was looking forward to the next Duel as well.