Hello all, and welcome to another chapter of Hero's Call!
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Arc 02
Chapter11
Positive Fortune Telling
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Konami sat there, in his living room, surrounded by two other persons. Tasha, and a woman who's Jaden's self-proclaimed sibling. A great deal of silence accompanied them as the brunette stared down at the warm cup of tea in her lap. Eyes half-lid, a frown across her worried expression.
She had actually subtly shivered when the mention of her reason in visiting his residence was brought up, so Konami had suggested that she should take her time. Something was obviously troubling her, something serious. And so she did, until sometime had passed, and her lips departed.
"Okay. I'm ready." She clutched her eyes, trying to maintain her emotions.
They nodded, though it was obvious that Lola had not seen it. "Before you begin however," Konami decisively spoke up, "could you explain to me how you even found out where I live?"
"Oh." her eyes opened up, "Well, it wasn't easy, that's for sure. I had to receive information on what address you were occupying. To do that, I went through a lot of trouble, even with the police. But I finally got into contact with one of your friends. Alexis, I think her name was."
"Alexis, huh?" Konami didn't know whether to be grateful that she helped a worried soul to receive specific help from him, or upset since she gave out his personal details without his consent. Then again, he only had a phone, and she did not have his new cellphone number, since Red Hat lost his phone during an assault from that group before arriving at New Domino. He had her number, along with everyone else's, but their connection had been clouded by the events occurring during his first week in New Domino.
Hikari reminded him when mentioning the blonde Obelisk, yes, but he had inconveniently been overjoyed when seeing his long lost rival. At this point, Konami had finally realized how forgetful he might have been when it came to his old group of friends. Topping it with the fact that Alexis might already be pissed off of his lack of keeping into contact with her and the others, Konami was really low on enthusiasm on getting back up-to-date with the former Duel Academy student.
"Yeah," Lola continued, "she told me you were planning on moving to New Domino. Though, she seemed pretty upset. So when I got here, I had help from Sector Security, I believe they are called, who actually had a problem with you too. Sorry if my explanation was too long to handle."
So his suspicions of Alexis were correct after all. "That's fine," Konami waved her off, "I don't mind, I guess. Just don't give my address out like Halloween candy, okay?"
"Understood." She nodded, smiling politely.
"Now, about your visiting reasons?"
"Oh, yeah..." She trailed off for a bit, "You see, it all started about a month ago. Jaden and I were going to the recent Wonder Tournament he entered. He dueled his way to the finals, like I knew he would. But his last opponent..."
Silence came back into action, and Konami realized that the memory she was currently envisioning might be bringing back negative emotions. She continued either way.
"...His last opponent... was some guy named Vee. I can't really remember what happened during their duel; noone can. But what I do know is that when it got to a certain point in the duel, a flash occurred, and afterward both of them were gone."
'Vee... Sounds an awful lot like Zee...' Red Hat theorized thoughtfully, but had to keep his attention on the matter at hand. "You mean they just vanished?"
"Exactly." She nodded in confirmation.
"Sorry, but I still don't get why you would come to me in particular. I mean, he is my friend, and I wouldn't mind looking for him, but, well, there's obviously people that are more skilled in finding others compared to me. Alexis, for example."
"Well, she promised that she would look up information on this Vee fellow, but other than that, she's mainly busy as a teacher. I tried going to the police to file a missing person report, but they thought I was crazy."
"Even with the sight being witnessed by other perpetrators?"
"That's the thing," Lola shook her head, "They concluded that they do not remember a single person named Jaden or Vee participating in the tournament, and that the winner was Dave, the last person Jaden defeated."
"Wait, what?! They can't remember? Sounds like a Statue of Liberty, Men In Black, Neuralyzer scene."
"I... don't... believe I follow..." She tilted her head.
"Never mind that. So you expect me to find out their unknown whereabouts?"
She nodded once more. "Alexis suggested you because of your experience with these supernatural occurrences."
"Wait, so you spoke to Alexis in helping you, and by doing so, you got recommendations for me? But you said you were looking for me before contacting Rhodes."
"That's true." Konami waited for her to continue, but she was apparently too dense to realize that he was obviously waiting for a proper explanation.
He sighed. "Why then look for me if you were open to Alexis and the others' help then? How was my name the first person you thought of that might help you during your time of desperation? I mean, it's sounds awfully suspicious. Although, it could just mean you thought of me because of some random chance from Jaden or someone else's mentioning of your brother's friends, but that's too of a low probability that you would track me down of all people immediately after your chance with the authorities were dropped to naught."
"I... urm... well, sorry if I'm being immorally inconvenient with my choice of words but...don't you think you're overthinking it?" Lola inquired, but shook her head afterward, "Sorry, but I just heard so much of you during my reunion with my brother. He was real fond of you, after all."
Konami sighed after looking suspiciously in the eyes of his visitor. "No, I'm sorry. I guess I'm just too skeptical on how things revolves around me. Of course I would help, but right now, I'm kinda in the middle of a tournament, and then some..."
"I understand. I will be patient until time comes to mind." She nodded.
"You are welcome to come with us, if you're out of places to go. Assuming you came here looking for me, you're most likely not renting or owning a residence at the moment."
"That's quite true, unfortunately... Thank you for the offer. I hope I'm not a burden though."
"I wouldn't worry about that too much. You ready?" Red Hat turned to the stoic and timid Tasha, who panicked in response.
"W-Wah!? Ah, oh. Y-Yeah... sure..." She stared away, red with embarrassment.
-5Ds-
As expected, the Fortune Cup's premiere day was jam packed with anxious audience and much more, albeit there were only a handful of duelists that were going to participate. Luckily Konami was part of that handful of participants, which wouldn't be that beneficial if it weren't for the fact that those who are going to duel were considered V.I.P. material, i.e. people who cuts in line without any controversy.
"Well, I guess I'll be seeing you guys in the crowd then." Konami said, the fork for contestants and the audience being met right in front of them.
"If you're able to." Tasha giggled, staring at Konami softly.
"We will be sure to root for you once it is your move to draw." Lola smiled, averting toward the superior line of people paying for tickets. "It's sure a distance though. The line, I mean."
"Yeah, too bad I can't take you guys with me." Konami chuckled, "Well, good luck with the entrance."
Tasha nodded, watching her friend leave them be. She smiled softly, knowing that he'll be the one to reign supreme in the end. Lola noticed this, and interpreted with a smile. "You really like him, huh?"
"Wah-!" The pink haired teen pulled back defensively. "W-What do you mean by that?!"
She giggled. "You know exactly what I mean, Tasha."
"N-N-N-N-No, you've got it all wrong! I was only thinking how awesome it is gonna be when he wins!" She stuttered, waving her arms in front with a blush across her face.
Lola giggled again. "It sounds to me that you have a lot of faith in him, considering that you used the word 'when' instead of 'if'."
"Y-Yeah," Tasha stared back at the direction Konami headed in. A smile crept on her expression. "I sure do."
-5Ds-
The door to a luxurious lobby opened wide, it's objects in question stepped in, one red and one black.
"This is the lobby for the contestants such as yourself. Make sure you're present if still in the tournament so that it would be easier for the guy on the other side to escort you to the arena."
"Cool." Konami smiled, liking the red and vibrant atmosphere. "I'll be sure to not run around like a hooligan then."
"...Right..." The man in black dragged, "...anyway, the line-up will be starting shortly. I'll be at the entrance preparing the arrival of the others if you need me."
"Uh huh." Red Hat nodded, saluting the guard as he slouched down on the wide couch, hearing a satisfying click to the door. "Guess I'm the first one here."
Unfortunately for Konami, he spoke too soon as his vision suddenly failed on him, feeling a pair of hands covering his eyeballs.
He gasped in surprise, but cooled down when he heard a familiar voice trying it's best to sound deep and mysterious.
"GUESS WHO?" It growled deeply, Konami deciding to go with it.
"Hmm, I don't suppose you're the ginger bread man?"
The voice gave an annoying buzz, signaling his wrong answer. "TRY AGAIN."
"Are you male?"
Another buzz. "THAT'S INVALID."
"Female?"
Buzz. "THAT'S INVALID AS WELL."
"Then I suppose you're that person who plays 'Guess Who?' just for the fun of it?"
"Ding ding ding, Correct!" It chirped femininely, hands uncovering his eyes. Konami averted backward, seeing the blonde smirking cutely down upon him. "Bet'cha was not expecting me, huh?"
"Nope, not at all." He lied playfully, the two friends laughing before Hikari athletically leaped over the couch's back and plopped onto the seat next to him, arms resting on the red beam's back supporter. "I see you here early, huh? I still can remember back in Duel Academy you had a habit of waking up late."
She laughed. "You act like you were any different, Reddo." She teased. "I was actually too excited for today, so I stayed up all night preparing a deck built to destroy anything in it's path! So I'm pretty tired. But that wasn't enough to stop The Great Hikari from making it early. Ha, ha, hah!" She laughed victoriously, causing Red Hat to sweatdrop. "And also because I didn't know what time it actually starts, but oh well. Anyway, how's your deck coming along? Are ya ready?"
"Well, Tasha and I were pretty strategic with our decks this past week, if I do say so myself. So, yeah, I'm confident I'll go a long way with it."
"You mean that girl who keeps following you around? You sure you only friends? Seems to me you're holding back some juicy info on me, Reddo. And here I thought we were suppose to be close buds." She crossed her arms playfully, pouting with annoyance.
"Tasha's only a friend, Rie. And we are close buds, don't you remember our pact back at Duel Academy? Friends then, friends now..."
"Friends forever." She finished with a roll of her eyes, smiling afterward. Konami rolled his sleeve up, the two of them showing each other identical matched bracelets on their wrists. Hikari smiled warmly. 'He held on to the bracelet I made for him even after all this time, huh? Dummy *giggle*.'
"So stop having RIEdiculous assumptions, okay?." Hikari couldn't help but giggle cutely at that.
"Good one." She high five'd her friend, but then gave him a playful punch. "That's for repeating the same pun since Duel Academy."
"Sorry?" He scratched his head, both of them laughing at his awkwardness.
The door went open, catching the heads and sights of Konami and Hikari, a couple of people entering the room in all sorts of different attire.
"I see we are not the only gentlemen as early as the heroic sunrise after all."
"Yeah, good observation skills there, Sherlock Holmes."
"I hope they have some snacks in this crib. I'm kinda hungry."
"You always hungry, fatty."
"Hey! I'm not fat, I'm big boned."
It was as if they were spawning each participant more frequently than how it was with Konami and Hikari. Red Hat felt Rie softly nudged his rib, turning his head just to see her putting on a pair of dark shades that she snapped opened from out of nowhere.
She stared at one of the guys passing by, nodding rhythmically with her arms crossed. "Wuddup?" Her voice deeper than usual as she showed a piece sign, receiving a strange expression from him before the man scooted over to the furthest sofa from her. Konami started cracking up, along with Hikari.
"Konami." They heard, halting their humorous moment. The brunette glanced to his right, taking in the appearance of a familiar crab-haired teen and an aqua haired kid.
"Yusei, hey! How you've been, man?" He stood up to properly take the guy's hand.
"I'm doing fine. I see you're also competing. That would make things more interesting than it was prior."
"Same here." He smiled.
"Hey, I know you!" The girl next to Yusei pointed accusingly, realization kicking in.
Konami observed her appearance, noting the ample amount of make up on her face. The hair color gave him a familiar ting in his head. It took Konami awhile to realize who he was looking at. But something seemed off of her appearance though.
"Hi! Are you not the girl I met that time in Downtown District?"
"Oh, urm..." She cleared her throat, sounding more high pitched than before. "Y-Yeah, that's me!"
"Something's off though." He placed a finger on his chin, thinking for a while with the girl sweating like on a hot summer day. "Did you get a haircut?"
"A-Ah!" She stepped back with a surprised expression, feeling the moment to be a bit anti-climatic. "O-Oh, yup! That's, like, totally it and, like, not that I'm, like, a boy or anything. That would be so, like, ridiculous. Ah ha hah, ha hah!" She tried giggling high pitched, but it was obviously too over the limit. Yusei couldn't help but sweatdrop.
"O-kay...?"
"Hey, there!" Hikari chimed in, putting a forceful arm around Konami's neck, surprising her friend. "I don't believe we've met. I'm Konami's right hand gal, Hikari Hirako! And you are?" She reached out for a handshake, taking in the still unexpected expressions from the two.
"Oh. I'm Yusei, it's nice to meet you, Hikari." He shook her hand.
"And my name's Luna!" She chirped girly.
"It's nice to meet you all too. I knew Konami here would be making friends here and there, but my Horakhty, Reddo, you sure went all out, huh?"
He sighed, sliding out of her grip and taking his place next to her in a proper form. "Well, sure, I guess. But I'm actually the lucky guy. Meeting Yusei might be coincidental, but I'm really thankful I knew him back then at all." It was true. Despite the modesty that came with Konami's little speech, if it weren't for Yusei, he might not have saved and met up with Tasha and her captors in the first place. Yusei knew what he was referring to, but Hikari had beaten him to the punch.
"There he goes again. Being modest like always." Hikari chuckled, locking Konami's neck with her arm and nudging his head with her fist.
"H-Hey! Let go of me! Uncle, uncle!"
Luna laughed at their shenanigans, even Yusei couldn't help but chuckle softly.
"I think I see a familiar red hat over here." Another voice chirped in, all four halting their actions and turning their attention to two teens approaching them.
"Is that?" Konami got out of Hikari's overbearing grip, smiling at the two boys. "Simon! Terence! Hey there! Surprise to see you two here."
"Really?" Terence shook his head. "I'm a duelist after all. That being said, I'm not really surprised to see you here though. My sister wouldn't stop complaining how you would have kicked my butt if you were actually trying that time."
"She speaks the truth then." Konami teased as he folded his arms.
Terence chuckled. "Challenge accepted then."
"Anywho..." Simon dragged, Konami could practically feel the 'HIs' and 'HELLOs' a mile away being used right now. They had to get acquainted eventually, right? He sighed. It has only been like a month since he came to New Domino, and already, he had met such wonderful people. Not all, but the majority he could really consider friends he could truly trust.
Interrupting his thoughts was an atmosphere that brought a sense of familiarity and an antagonizing tone that went against the room's and what he had felt up until this point. Turning his head, which alerted his friends enough for them to do the same, the group stared at a redhead leaning against the wall on the other side.
Konami frowned.
It was Akiza, in mask mode. Well, it was the only form he had seen her in so, go figure. The room felt it too, the remaining chats coming to a halt as everyone began gazing on her calm and collected form. Red Hat couldn't really tell whether she was aware, indifferent, and/or just napping, due to her unfazed mask, but truthfully, he could feel the unnecessary tension falling onto her shoulders. He did not like it, and yet, he could not really force the others to look away either.
He noticed though an aura around Yusei and Akiza that were similar in shape and size. What it was, he could not fathom, but it was most certainly there. One thing was for certain, it was the same aura he felt when he first met Yusei in the card shop. Konami could tell without a doubt.
"Is that the Black Rose Witch?" Luna asked, losing all manner of pitch, before clearing her throat in regard.
"What's she doing here?"
"Why was she even qualified?"
"I don't like this one bit."
"She should just go to hell."
Konami could practically taste their bitter tones on his tongue, making said tongue curl up in distaste. But before he could even comment, the hyped up voice of the MC was heard from outside.
-5Ds-
"G-Good thing we were lucky enough to get the last remaining front row tickets, huh?" Tasha said through the mumbling noise as she and Lola walked down the stairs and to their seats.
"I agree. Especially since the crowd seems much more than what I had expected it would be." Lola replied, the pair sitting down in two empty seats, but not without Tasha accidentally knocking a cup off so that it sprayed all over on the lap of the person next to her.
"Oh god! I'm so, so sorry! I didn't mean it! I, I-"
"It's fine. No harm done. It's only liquid after all." The blue capped woman smiled with reassurance.
"But it's a beverage and- w-wait a second! It can't be! M-Misty Tredwell!?"
"Shh!" She shushed, but Lola already heard.
"Excuse me? You mean to say you are the famous supermodel of Japan?! But what are you doing in a place like this? And why are you dressed so?" It was true. Misty seemed to have removed her usual beautiful white dress that everyone knew and loved. Her blue cap, gray jacket and blue loose jeans was a result of this unknown change.
Misty sighed in response. "Please, I'll tell you anything during the break point for the tournament. Just, please, do not tell anyone else that I'm Misty Tredwell, okay?"
"Wait, so you're the Misty? The supermodel?" The three heard a voice spoke next to the famous celebrity, Misty growing stiff with fear and regret as she turned around to the source.
It was an aqua haired girl wrapped in her yellow hoody jacket, sitting alongside a green-haired teen who seemed to be also staring back at her, but was more silent than the others. "N-No," the woman denied nervously, "Me? Misty? You must have misheard me back there. I said my name is... urm, Mandy? Yes, Mandy!"
"Nope. She definitely said Misty alright." Another voice chimed, this one as equally as premature as that of the girl next to Ms. Tredwell.
They stared behind them, a row above them sat a sweetly smiling girl of black hair, along with a blue haired teen with her arms crossed and a brow being raised.
"You should really work on your whispering skills, Mandy." The teen mocked.
"Please, I beg all of you to not increase the quantity of diligence around us! I'll explain my situation later if I need to, just, keep my true identity's allurement at the most minimum of levels, okay?"
"Okie dokie!" The girl above cheered, before slapping a palm on her mouth when eyes other than the group's were on her.
"Fine. Whatever. Don't really care anyway." The blunette stared away in indifference.
"Thank you. I appreciate your cooperation." Misty smiled.
"Booster packs! Get your booster packs here!" An annoying voice found their attention as a chubby tanned man walked down the stairs with a carrier of Duel Monster packages around his neck, gazing around for anyone who were interested. His eyes soon fell on Tasha's. "Hello, young lady. May I trouble you for some Typecast Performance booster packs? Good if you're needing to stop your opponent in their tracks. Or how about Burn Bright Red? Excellent if you're more in it to win it right from the very beginning! If none of them suit you, you could always just browse until your eyes meet your prize. And trust me, at the end of the day, you won't be disappointed."
"Urm, no thanks. But, ur, are you not the Card Shop owner down at Downtown District?"
"Actually, as a matter of fact, yes I am." He placed his hands on his hips proudly, "I guess my reputation do exceeds me in more ways than one, no? Name's Rathie. But you probably already knew that, huh?"
"Oh brother." Kami rolled her eyes.
"That aside, haven't I seen you from somewhere before as well?"
"Uh huh." Tasha nodded with a smile, "Konami and I always purchase our booster packs at your s-store. Though, you might not know us all that good, since w-we rarely talked."
"I see." He rubbed his tanned chin thoughtfully. "Konami, huh? I know I heard that name before-"
"That's because she just told you, you imbecile." Kami mumbled with a shake of a head.
"Ladies and Gentlemen!" The loud and proud voice of the MC startled everyone who haven't taken note of his appearance on stage so far, all eyes on him just how he was used to having once he opened events up. "Are you ready for some incredible dueling!?"
The crowd roared in anticipation, ready to have their DP's worth.
"Then let's get this tournament underway! But first, may I present to you, the flaming, the extravagant, the one and only, your king of Turbo Dueling, Jack Atlas!" He dragged the man's name for effect, an engine being heard roaring in response as a white duel runner entered the scene, with the familiar British blonde riding it.
"Woo hoo!"
"Go Jack! Go Jack!"
"Gosh," Lola began, "he must be pretty popular with the crowd, huh?" Unfortunately, noone answered, since noone could hear her through the noise the stadium was performing. It was unreal actually.
"There he is." Konami acknowledged with a sigh, looking through the window to observe the intensity from outside. "They sure enjoy his face in the picture, huh?" He turned his head to Yusei, who he noticed was frowning at the scene. Not in a good way either. It was as if something was troubling him. "Hey," Yusei finally snapped, turning to the teen in red, "You okay?"
"Yeah." He forced a smile, looking back toward the outside. Konami knew something was up, and he knew Yusei knew that Red Hat knew this. That being said, Yusei knew that Konami wanted a truthful answer, but contrary to that, they knew also that a positive lie meant that no words should be needed to know the confirmation. The time was just not nigh for Konami to be told their beef.
Soon after Atlas' tricks and speech, the lobby was called, and out they went, most eyes still stealing glances toward the surprisingly civil Akiza.
"There he is!" Tasha said, overjoyed by Konami's reveal as the group stared at her for her outburst. She slouched down, embarrassed of herself that she was being too loud for comfort. Honestly, if there was a time to make a noise, this would definitely not be it.
"Let us meet the contestants for the Fortune Cup, shall we?" The MC positioned his attention onto Akiza, the masked one. "Introducing first, the powerful and unpredictable Black Rose Witch! After making a name for herself, the Black Rose is finally going to go all official on New Domino's tournament! Will her thorns and tricks be enough to slice her way through? Or will she finally meet her maker?"
If there were a reason for the crowd to be so silent, especially during Tasha's outburst, this would be it.
"The Black Rose Witch!?"
"Why the hell's she here?"
"Did she hack her way in?"
"This must be a mistake!"
"She's gonna kill us all!"
"Now now, settle down." The MC tried desperately to stop the building rage of the masses. But was failing quite a lot.
"Please, no need to panic." A voice from the above said, revealing itself to be none other than Rex Goodwin himself. He smirked from his stance above them all. "I'm sure the Arcadia Movement had explained to her the morals of the tournament. So if she does not want to be disqualified, she will not go on her usual rampages, am I correct?" He stared back at her, not able to see her stare back at him, if that was the case. Only thing he could see however was her white, dark, cold, protective mask she wore. Goodwin turned back to the MC once the crowd had settled down to a discomfort they could not shake off due to the witch being here.
They could have easily shake it off as a curse she placed on them. That would be so like her. Damn the witch, damn her so hard!
"Okay, well, ahem. Moving on to the next combatant! He is known as the self-proclaimed Knight of the Wind- no pun intended- Gill Randsborg! His steel-hard armor might resemble his fearless and brave heart, but will he make it out of the dungeon alive? We'll just have to wait and see."
Cheers were heard from different directions, and were mainly from the heart-eyed girls dazing at his extraordinary face. Gill smirked arrogantly.
"Next up is literally the wild card amongst them all, Wile Tyle! Some say he's deck had proven to be quite the catch, even much so that it might go toe-to-toe with the King himself. Before then, we are going to have the honor of watching this mysterious and strong duelist in action!"
The raven-haired duelist smirked wide, almost splitting his face in two. The crowd cheered, but most of them were in the lines of gossiping in wonder. Honestly, this was something they never heard of before, so it was really surprising to say the least.
"The fourth star of duelists we have right here is one that might send a chill down your spine. Introducing the duelist Greiger! This colossal of a duelist comes from a broken home, but by dueling with his unbroken skills, this hulk of a guy is hoping to use the prize money for his and his home's financial problems. This might be the big break he's actually searching for! The only question is, will his dueling ability be enough?"
"I assure you it will." He grumbled to himself, the crowd in a mixture of cheers and silence.
Why could there not be normal duelists nowadays?
"Moving on to the following participant, the heating and resilient, Shira! Though he may have been invited by Director Goodwin himself, Shira promised to fill this stadium up with his flaming glory! Let's just hope everything will still be in tact in the end." The MC joked, but the crowd mostly cheered instead of laughed. Finally, someone they could really vote for, especially if he was recommended by their beloved Goodwin.
"Next on the list is someone who had been waiting to shine ever since. I'm talking about the magnificent Simon Urakari! Being a predecessor of the famous Urakari Foundation, he will be aiming for the top just as his family had. Even still, with the amount of talent in our eyesights, will his rich and proudly expected dueling skills reach the untouched flag at the tip of the hill?"
"I doubt it." Kami murmured negatively, looking away indifferently.
"Our lucky number seven duelist is the big and, and I quote, awesome, Adam! Judging by the look on his face, Adam the Awesome appears to be hungry for a challenge. Let's just hope his opponents will make it out alive, especially considering how he's dueling skills might be."
"I'm kinda a hamburger guy, so, not really interested in cannibalism."
"Beside him we have our youngest of the bunch. Luna! Don't be fooled, she might be a duelist of the younger gen, but I assure you, rumors has it that she can even give a person like the colossal Greiger a run for his DP!"
"Yah! Like, woo hoo, and other girly quotes!" She screamed, causing the real Luna to slouch down in embarrassment.
"Why did I agree to this again?"
"On her left is Terence the Terror!"
"Really?" Terence sighed, embarrassed already. "This has to be Daisy's doing."
"As expected, only skilled duelists may enter this extraordinary Fortune Cup. So we can only imagine how high and fasinating his dueling skills might be!"
"That's Teronii-chan for ya!" Daisy giggled cutely.
"Finally coming to the double digits is our tenth duelist, Tyru! This young mystery of a kid has shown during his Entrance Duel that he has the skill, the deck, and the hair for this extravagant tournament!"
Cheers were heard, but was mostly in favor of someone normal for their taste. If Konami knew this, then he would definitely grimace. The society of today...
Unlike before, Lola had finally decided to observe the remaining duelists instead of paying attention to the competitor being currently called out. Her orbs went wide when she saw a specific person. Tasha noticed this in the corner of her eye. "Urm, are you... o-okay, Lola?"
"Our eleventh player for today is a duelist known across the seas, Dave the Dangerous Duelist!"
Konami and Tasha's eyes went wide in suspicion. They gazed at the duelist on screen. His straightened expression showing professionalism, along with his posture. Was this really the same guy who was mentioned to them?
"After winning the highly successful Wonder Cup in Totoru City, he plans to spread his famousity toward more places, New Domino being one of them. But will this tournament be another stepping stone for the young duelist, or will he fall to the ground in failure?"
"So it is him." Konami whispered to himself. "This certainly makes things easier for us so we may get down to whatever happened to Jaden."
"Next is the fearsome Kazura!" This, as well, sent a chill down Konami and Tasha's spine, their gazes spotting the familiar blonde cladded in black. "Though he's reputation on the streets exceeds him to an extend that he is known as the King of the Street, this young man's deck might have the edge he needs to duel through his way to the absolute end of the Fortune Cup!"
"Oh no..." Tasha said softly, "n-n-not him..."
"Hmm?" Lola glanced at her, "Did you say something?"
"Oh, urm, no, it's nothing, really." Tasha smiled a lie, which Lola felt it, but kept her mouth shut.
"Dave seems to be here. We have to get answers from him as soon as possible." Tasha nodded in agreement, even though Lola could not see. The tournament was certainly getting more interesting.
"Let's move on to the last four. Introducing the mystical and unknown Zee! No records were shown on his database, but we can only assume that that makes it more intriguing to be hold!"
"Zee?" Lola said to herself with suspicion. "Sounds awfully similar to that Vee person my brother had taken on. Do they have a connection then?"
"So that's Zee, huh?" Konami crossed his arms mentally, snatching a glance at the person of interest. "I wonder what Divine wants with him..."
"Following up, is the Satellite Star, Yusei Fudo!"
"N-Nani!?"
Yusei could practically hear them from where he stood, albeit there were only murmurs and mumbles from various directions. Even still, the teen did not flinch at all, since it was to be expected.
Konami grumbled. The racism reeked in the Kaiba Dome.
"You should all calm down." Rex Goodwin caught their attention once more. "This tournament is open to all who wants to enter. There are no qualifications other than a minimum amount of dueling level. So do not gossip on the fact that there are people participating who differs from you and I." Again, the crowd calmed down before there could be a riot. "Thank you. You may proceed." He nodded toward the MC, who nodded back.
"Yusei here may have been discriminated for various of reasons, but one thing's for certain is that he's mind is set on one goal, and that is to achieve victory in this here Fortune Cup!"
Claps and mumbles continued to write the crowd's mood, which was not surprising one bit. At this point, they did not even know whether to be excited or not.
"Our third female of the cup is The Great Hikari!"
The blonde next to Yusei couldn't help but smirk. "Well, you're missing the right amount of enthusiasm, but at least you got my name right."
"Hikari here had traveled a long way to compete in the Fortune Cup. With her skills influenced from various of great duelists from across Japan, does she have what it takes to finish each and every one of her opponents?! And last, but certainly not least, the one in red, Konami Yamu!"
Tasha smiled. Finally, he was the center of everyone's attention.
"Konami..." Misty murmured, remembering Red Hat from way back then.
"Oh, now I remember where I heard he's name! He's that guy who always buys my booster packs!" Rathie nodded in acknowledgement, earning a deadpan expression from Tasha.
"You may remember him from the Psy-Fi incident awhile ago, as he and Yusei over here had stopped and rescued the infamous group's captives. Now competing in the long awaited Fortune Cup, will he be the one to pull off the impossible and achieve complete victory!?"
Konami smiled inwardly. "Being introduced never gets old."
"And that's it for the introductions. With double the supposed contestants for this tournament, which one of these sixteen skilled duelists will reach the top and duel Jack Atlas for the crown to become King of New Domino? There's only one way to find out. It's time to duel!"
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End of Chapter
Dang, this chapter almost made me fell asleep... TWICE! I'm not joking. The fact that I was forced to make it sixteen duelists instead of eight just to make it equal in amount made the introduction very, very dull. Well, to me, at least. I apologies for this long butt update. I'll try to update as soon as possible.
Cheers!