Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh, or anything that isn't mine. All copyrights go to their respectful owners. This story is for entertainment not profit.
The Tournament Begins
"Dale.." A deep and sinister voice trailed off. "Huh? Who's there?" Dale answered back being startled by the voice. He looked around and saw nothing but darkness and purple mist around him. He cupped his eyes with his right hand to try and get a better view but to no avail, it didn't help at all. "Come closer." The voice replied to his earlier statement. Appearing slowly before him was a yellow brick road. Dale slowly began to make his way down it when he stumbled a bit and saw some crumbs fall below. "I have a gut feeling that's a long way down so I better not fall off." He finished walking down the golden path being careful not to fall off and saw that the other side was just a dead-end. Frustrated he called out, "Now what? This is just a dead end!" "The dead end to your future if you're not careful!" The voice boomed. Dale clenched his fist, "Alright buddy, you better show yourself or be ready to face the fury of my mighty Hieratics." Dale pulled out his left arm which contained his duel disk, but was surprised to see it fade away into nothing the second he laid eyes on it. "What?" He asked mainly to himself. The voice that couldn't be seen laughed. "Hehe, says a lot doesn't it. You can't avoid what destiny has in store for you Dale." "What are you talking about? Who are you?" Dale asked.
Three sets of glowing purple eyes were revealed to Dale before the rest of the creature was then illuminated by an unknown light source. He gasped and recoiled back a bit in shock. "G-Galaxy-Eyes? Is that you?" "I use to be, but that was before I let the darkness consume me. Now I am the Neo Galaxy-Eyes." "Neo Galaxy-Eyes!" Dale shouted.
The bigger version of Galaxy Eyes roared before flying straight at Dale. He closed his eyes for a second and re-opened them to find himself in a different surrounding. He was now floating in a purple bubble with Neo-Galaxy Eyes right next to him. "What's this?" Dale said. Looking down from the bubble he saw a lone figure standing in the middle of what looked like the destroyed remains of Mniscus City. All that was left of the place were a couple buildings but even they were all on fire. The figure laughed quietly to himself, "That was almost too easy. I thought the Dragon Keepers would have put up a better fight. Oh well, I guess they just couldn't handle the darkness." He laughed even harder, "The Shadow Keepers rule." He yelled to the sky.
"Who is this guy? He's seems to be a few cards short of a deck." Dale chuckled at his own joke. "That Dale, is you." Neo Galaxy-Eyes said. "What? That's me?" He asked. The dragon nodded, "Yes, after you gave into the darkness you became a Shadow Keeper and you destroyed Mniscus City and killed the Dragon Keepers." Dale furiously shook his head, "That can't be me. I'm not a Shadow Keeper, and I would never kill my friends or endanger the city that I grew up in." Before Dale could protest further, the bubble around him broke and he fell straight screamed flailing his arms around wildly.
Dale shot up from his bed in a frenzy with a cold sweat rolling down his face. He looked around and saw that he was in his living room. 'I guess that was just a nightmare. Oh man that was awful, is that what's going to happen if we don't beat the Shadow Keepers in the Master Cup?' Dale thought. "Good morning sleepy head." Hilda's voice was heard in the kitchen. Dale turned 180 degrees to see his cousin walk into the living room with a plate full of breakfast for the boy. "Hey Hilda." He replied. "Are you ok Dale? You pasted out on the couch last night and I got really worried." "Yeah I'm fine, I guess I just really needed some sleep." "Your still going to Garrett's this morning aren't you?" "Yeah." He said getting up. "And by the looks of the clock I better get a move on. The tournament starts in 2 hours."
While Dale was riding through the streets of the city, Garrett was still sound asleep in his bed after the exhausting events of the night before. His eyes blinked opened and he reluctantly got out of bed. Garrett did his usual morning routine and walked down to the kitchen to eat some breakfast. "Good morning pap. I'll have my usual, a bowl of cereal and some chocolate milk." Garrett sat down at the table and began to look through his deck making sure there wasn't a single card out of place. "Hey Gar. I was starting to wonder when you were going to wake up this morning." A feminine voice said. Garrett did a spit take from the glass of chocolate milk he was drinking.
"Dawn! What are you doing here?" He asked wiping his mouth his sleeve. She blushed a bit, "Oh yeah, I guess I forgot to tell you." "Tell me what?" Garrett asked utterly confused. "You see I volunteered to be Prof. Charles' assistant." "Oh wow really." "It's true." Prof. Charles said walking into the room. "You see with my old age and you being a Dragon Keeper. I'll be needing some extra help around the lab and house, so Dawn will be staying here for while to help me out with my research." Garrett didn't replied he couldn't say anything. It was like he was paralyzed with a blush evident on his face. She didn't say anything either but instead giggled profoundly probably guessing what was going through Garrett's mind. "Come on Dawn, I have some stuff I want to show you." Prof. Charles said and the two left the room. 'Well that was interesting.' Garrett thought. He was about to return to his breakfast when Dale came in through the door. Garrett sweatdropped, "Great timing Dale." "You can thank me later, but right now we have things to discuss…...Privately." Seeing the serious look on Dale's face Garrett nodded and the two went upstairs.
"So what's so important that we had to come up here to discuss it?" Garrett asked. "I had a nightmare last night." Dale replied. "You might want to see a psychiatrist for that." "I wasn't no ordinary nightmare, I saw the entire city in flames and I was the responsible for it." This alarmed Garrett and he replied, "Now we're getting somewhere, anything else happen?" "I also saw Neo Galaxy-Eyes and he told me that I'm to become a Shadow Keeper and destroy the world." Garrett looked at the floor for awhile deep in thought. "Do you think it means something?" "I was starting to think the same thing myself. If Neo Galaxy-Eyes has something to do with me becoming a Shadow Keeper then I don't think it's a very good idea for me to use it." Dale said. "Don't worry about it Dale, you're not a bad guy I know that." Dale started to smile, "I don't know, ever since I got hit by that blast I haven't been feeling very good." Garrett rolled his eyes and smiled, "You worry me sometimes buddy."
The two best friends both burst out into a fit of laughter. They both settled down before Dale continued the conversation. "Can we not tell the others about this though, I don't want them to think I'm evil or something." Garrett chuckled, "Now that I can help you with. I've got your back don't worry." "Speaking of our friends, is Dawn here? I thought I saw her deck downstairs when I came in." Garrett sighed, "Yeah, about that. She's working for pappy now so she'll be staying here for a couple of days so she can help him with his research." Dale did an anime fall, "You don't know how lucky you are."
Dawn came into the room and Dale sat up off the floor, "There you guys are I've been looking for ya." "Here we are, what's up Cupcake." Garrett said. "Cupcake?" Dale repeated stiffing a laugh, Dawn blushed. "Yeah, I figured since you guys have been calling me Gar. That I would come up with a nickname for you guys also." "Cool what's mine?" Dale asked. "Annoying." Dale sweatdropped, "Why did I not see that coming."
The three friends go back downstairs and take a seat in the living room. "May called, she wants us to meet her at the park for one more duel before the start of the tournament. She's already called Hilda and Colton, there already on their way up." Dawn explained to them. "May! Let's go you guys!" Dale said flying through the kitchen and out the door. Garrett and Dawn sweatdropped. "Let's go before he gets a speeding ticket." Garrett said before turning to Dawn, "You can ride with me on my duel runner to save some time." She nods and they take off after Dale.
Meanwhile at the park Hilda, May, and Colton were in the same area that they picnicked in the night before. In fact, May and Colton were in the middle of a duel. May currently had 1300LPs while Colton had a slight lead with 2800LPs.
"Alright Colton, I hope you're ready because I'm about to inflict some serious damage to your LPs." May shouted drawing a card from her deck.
"Yeah right, with my Gragonith on the field I'll be winning this duel on my next turn." Colton replied.
"There won't be a next turn! I activate the effect of Dragon Ravine. Like I did a few turns ago. So I'll discard one card in order to add Dragunity Dux to my hand. Next I summon Dragunity Dux. (4/1500/1000) Now I'll use his special ability to equip Dragunity Phalanx to him from the graveyard. But that activates Phalanx's effect, I can special summon him if he's being used as an equip spell. (2/500/1100) My two monsters now tune together to synchro summon my Dragunity Knight Vajrayana. (6/1900/1200)"
"Pretty impressive, but you still can't match my Gragonith's 3200 atk points." Colton arrogantly said.
Hilda shook her head from the side lines, 'Cookie, that cockiness is going to be your undoing one day.' She turned her attention to the roar of an engine and saw that it was Dale coming towards her. He stopped right next to her and she smiled at him. "Hey Dale." "Hey, what's going on here?" "A duel?" "No, really. I figured that much out myself." She giggled, "Where are Dawn and Garrett?" "They're coming just wait." As soon as he said that Garrett came riding up with Dawn hanging on to his back for dear life. He looked back at her and chuckled, "You can let go now Cupcake were here." She hesitantly let go of him and cautiously got off the speed machine. Dale chuckled as he was incredible amused at this. "So who's winning the match?" Dawn asked walking over to Hilda. "Well right now Colton has a slight lead but I think May's on a roll." She answered. "That doesn't surprise me." Dale said. Garrett rolled his eyes, "Oh please prince charming."
"Now Vajrayana has the same ability as Dux when he's synchro summoned. So I'll equip him with Phalanx then repeating the same process as before I'll summon him back to the field. (2/500/1100) And just like before I'm going to synchro summon again, I tune Vajrayana with Phalanx to synchro summon Scrap Dragon. (8/2800/2200)"
"Again, your monster cannot faze the power of Gragonith." Colton said.
"I'm still not done yet, my dragon has the power to destroy one card on my side of the field in exchange for destroying one on your side of. More specifically your Gragonith." May shouted.
Colton's face immediately paled, "WHATTT!"
"That's right Colton, so by destroying my Dragon Ravine field spell, your left wide open for a direct attack."
"No, t-that's i-impossible." He protested.
"Too little too late, I attack you directly!" She shouted.
"Erg! (Colton 0) Well May it looks like you beat me." Colton said.
"Nice duel May, sweet victory." Dale said, "Dale!" She shouted running over and giving him a hug. "Whoa settle down there, don't break me." Dale replied. She let him go and blushed furiously but Dale didn't notice. "Why were you guys dueling in the first place?" Garrett asked. "Because I needed some extra practice before the tournament began." Colton answered. "Your dueling in the tournament?" Dawn asked. Colton nodded and Hilda sighed, "It's a bit of a sad story actually." She said.
It was the night of the party after everyone had gone home. Colton and Hilda had returned to the shop because Colton accidentally left his wallet there. "Cookie would you hurry up and grab your wallet, it's starting to get cold out here." Hilda complained while rubbing her arms trying to warm herself up. "Umm you might want to come and check this out." He replied from inside. She walked inside and saw that he had a note in his hand. She took the paper and read its contents out loud. "Colton us higher ups at Master's INC have decided that you haven't been making enough money with your shop You have one week to gather your belongings and get out before we take control. You do however have one hope. If you can raise $500,000 by the end of the week, you'll be off the hook. Have a nice night, you better start packing."
Hilda frowned, "Don't worry Cookie, we'll find away outta this mess." "I already have." He replied. Hilda gave him a confused look so he clarified, "The winner of the Master's Cup tournament will be awarded $1,000,000 in cash. So if either one of us wins then we're home free." "Aren't the signups for it over already?" "Nope, they end tonight and there's still one spot left unoccupied." "Then we better get a move on." Colton concurs and they head off on yet another adventure that night.
"So you can see how crucial it is for us to win this thing." Colton said. "You count on us to help out to. If either me or Dale wins this thing, then the prize money will go to saving the shop." Garrett said. "Thanks guys I owe you one." Colton replied. "Ah don't mention it." Dale said.
The scene shifts to the Master Stadium, the obvious location selected for the tournament to take place at. The stadium looked like a normal stadium, it had bleachers all around it for people to watch the duels. In the center was a huge stage where the duels would take place. Around the stage was a track for the turbo duel portion of the tournament. Dawn and May were in the belchers part waiting for the opening ceremonies to get underway. "Were finally here." May said. "Yup, the fate if the city rests in their hands now." Dawn replied. May sighed, "That worries me greatly." "No need to worry May, they got this." "Hey look, I think it's about to start."
Mr. Masters walked up the stage and grabbed a microphone. "Welcome to the greatest tournament Mniscus City has to offer. Over the years Master's INC has working very hard to insure that our beloved city is the best that it could possibly be." The entire stadium bursts into cheers and applauses. Mr. Maters raised a hand to cease the noise before continuing. "Now then, I think you've been waiting long enough. I officially give the mic over to the tournament MC. I wish all participating duelists a good luck." The MC grabbed the mic from Mr. Masters and proceeded to do his job. "Alright boys and girls, it's the moment we've all been waiting for. The Master Cup is finally here, let me hear your enthusiasm." The crowd once again bursts into applause, "It's time for us to meet the competitors."
A platform rises up in front of the MC revealing all eight of the tournament duelists, among them were Garrett, Dale, Hilda, Colton, a kid with jet black hair wearing blue jeans and a black T-shirt with a yellow vest over it. He was medium height and had little Z's under his eyes. Next to him stood Tyler with a determined look on his face and his arms crossed. The duelists next to Tyler was wearing a mask and a thick cape so nobody could tell who he was. And then Billy of course was on the other end laughing maniacally looking directly at Garrett and Dale. Garrett and Dale both gave weirded out looks before Dale said something. "Man, Billy is such a creep." Garrett sighed, "Tell me about it."
"Now let's have the tournament shuffle board match up the first round duels." The MC stated into the mic.
Garrett vs. Hilda
? vs. Ash
Colton vs. Dale
Billy vs. Tyler
"Oh look, Garrett's dueling in the first duel." May said. "Yup getting an early start towards the finals. That so sounds like him." Dawn added.
Back out on the stage the competitors were looking at the board themselves, "So it looks like you're up in the first round Gar." Dale said. "Yup and against Hilda too." "Be careful out there, she really knows what she's doing." "Yeah, but so do I." Garrett replied. Dale just rolled his eyes at his friend's failed attempt to funny. "Well good luck either way. I'm heading off to the waiting room." Dale said exiting the stage area. The other duelists also exited the stage area all except for the mystery duelist. 'So the tournament is finally beginning huh? Well all I have to say is, good luck Garrett.'
The mystery duelist left the stage area making his way down to the duelist lounge. Inside the lounge, Colton was talking to Dale, "So, Did they really raise the rent on your shop?" Dale started. "Yeah," Colton replied with a sigh. "It was re-possessed and everything…I promised myself I wouldn't cry."
Colton started sniffling and Dale kind of freaked out. "Pull yourself together man." He whisper shouted while checking to make sure nobody was staring at them. "Don't you worry. As soon as we get the prize money we'll build you an even better shop." "But but, all my stocks were invested in that place." "Oui," Dale sighed out. "Well I don't know about you, but I'm going to be watching this one from the stands."
"May I have your undivided attention please!" The MC shouted from center stage. "The two duelists are ready and their decks have been prepared. First we have Mniscus's very own Garrett Hughes up against Hilda White a new comer from the neighboring Escalon City. Let's give them both a warm welcome!" A platform rises up revealing Garrett and Hilda both with determined looks on their faces. "Wow, look at the determination between these two. You can actually see the fire in their eyes. I better get outta the way before I get burned." The MC said before sprinting off the stage so the duel could commence.
"I've been waiting for this day for a long time Garrett." "So have I Hilda." "Well then Garrett, you know how the saying works." He nods, "Let's duel Hilda, I'm coming at ya full speed."
"Alright, Go Garrett!" May cheered. "Good luck Gar." Dawn also cheered. They turned their heads when they heard a soft chuckle behind them. "Dale?" May questioned. "Shouldn't you be like, down in the duelists longue?" Dawn added. Dale put on a mock offended look, "Well then, thanks for the warm welcome." He said taking a seat next to May. She just rolled her eyes and shook her head with a smile on her face, "Just watch the duel."
"You can have the first move Hilda." Garrett said.
"I should have guessed that you would be courteous for our duel Garrett." Hilda replied drawing the first card. "I activate the spell card Seed of Deception."
"Staring with a spell card I see."
She nods, "This card allows me to special summon one level 4 or lower plant type monster from my hand, so I give you Dark Verger. (2/0/600) But I'm not stopping there, next I sacrifice my Verger to advance summon Rose Tentacles. (6/2200/1200) I'll end my turn with that."
"Wow your deck is really growing outta control." Garrett commented raising a brow.
"Wow, Hilda uses a plant deck." Dawn said. "It doesn't surprise me that she's using a deck that mirrors her career." Dale replied. "Is she a gardener?" May asked. "I think it's technically called a florist." Dale answered. May rolled her eyes and mumbled, "I don't think it technically matters." "Anyways," Dale continued, "She takes different types of flowers and cross breads them to get totally new species." "That's so cool, do you think she can make me a special flower?" Dawn asked. "I wouldn't doubt it, for my last birthday she sent me a bouquet of roses in the shape of the Hieratic Dragon Seal."
"I know your mesmerized by the beauty of my deck, but just remember that my petals are beautiful as my thorns are dangerous." Hilda said.
"I bet they are, which is why I'm countering with Max Warrior in attack mode. (4/1800/800) Next I'll equip him with the Fighting Spirit spell card to boost his strength by 300 for each monster on your side of the field. (2100) Now Warrior attack that Rose Tentacles!"
"I don't think you've done your math right Garrett. My monster is stronger than yours."
"When Max Warrior attacks a monster he gains 400 extra attack points. (2500)"
"Ah! (Hilda 3700)"
"And that will end my turn and activate the other ability of my warrior. If he attacks a monster his stats are all cut in half until my next turn. (2/900/400)" Garrett said.
"Garrett was so easily able to counter her monster." May said. "Well he is one of the best duelists from our school." Dawn said. "Keeping on dueling strong Gar." Dale said. "Yeah!" Dawn and May cheered.
"It's my turn again." Hilda said drawing a card. "Since you've made the mistake of crippling your monster I'll just destroy it, I summon Lord Poison in attack mode. (4/1500/1200)" Hilda said.
"Just remember that the effect of Fighting Spirit now activates granting my monster 300 more points. (1200)" Garrett explained.
"But this time your cant weasel you're way out of its destruction. Attack!"
"Actually I can, by destroying Fighting Spirit my monster gets to stick around for awhile. (Garrett 3700)"
Hilda smiled, "Man, you're not making this easy for me are you? I place one card facedown and end my turn."
"Back to me then. It's been one turn so Max Warrior returns to normal strength. (4/1800/800) Next I'm summoning the tuner monster Turbo Synchron. (1/100/500) And now that I have a tuner monster on the field I can special summon Boost Warrior from my hand in def mode. (1/300/200)
'Here comes a synchro summon.' Hilda thought.
"Next I tune Turbo Synchron with Boost Warrior and Max Warrior to synchro summon Turbo Warrior. (6/2500/1500)"
"I've never seen Garrett play that monster before." Dawn said. "That's because he's using a slightly modified deck from the one he used in the school yard." Dale explained. "That's doesn't make any sense? Why would he change his deck if it was winning?" May asked. "Think about it May. Word around here gets around fast, especially when you're as good as Garrett is." Dale replied. "So your saying that everyone around here already knows what combos Garrett likes to use?" Dawn said. "That's exactly right Dawn. So to avoid being taken advantage of, he changed up a lot of the cards in his deck so nobody knows what to expect from him." Dale said. "Wow that was a really good idea." Dawn said and May nodded.
"So you're the legendary synchron duelist this city has been talking about." Hilda said.
"I wouldn't exactly call myself legendary but yeah, I love my synchron monsters. Now allow me to show you what their capable of, attack Lord Poison Turbo Warrior!"
"Grr! (Hilda 2700) I activate my trap card, Damage Mirror. Now whenever I take battle damage, you'll receive the same amount that I do."
"Ut-oh. (Garrett 2700) Good move Hilda, I place 2 cards facedown and end my turn."
"It's my go now."
"But first I play my trap, Dust Tornado. This card will blow your Damage Mirror right off the field."
"I activate my Lord Poisons effect. By removing my Dark Verger from play I can bring Lord Poison back to the field. (4/1500/1000) Next up I'm summoning my Twilight Rose Knight in attack mode. (3/1000/1000) Now my knight's ability activates and I can summon another plant type monster from my hand that's level 4 or below. So I give you Naturia Guardian. (4/1600/400) Next I tune my level 3 rose knight with my level 4 Lord Poison in order to synchro summon Black Rose Dragon! (7/2400/1800)"
"She has a synchro monster too." Dawn said. "Yup, and her most powerful." Dale added. Back in the waiting room Colton was watching the duel on the TV, 'That's it Hilda. Now finish this duel off.'
"Now I activate the special ability of my dragon. By removing Lord Poison from play, I can drop the attack points of your monster to 0."
"Ut-Oh!" Garrett said.
"Now Black Rose Dragon, attack that Turbo Warrior with Black Burning!"
"I activate my facedown card, Defense Draw. So now I'll take 0 damage from this attack then I'll get to draw one card." Garrett countered.
"Don't forget about my Guardian, it'll be attacking your LPs directly. Attack!"
"Ahh! (Garrett 1100)"
"I end my turn."
"It's my turn!" Garrett called wiping a card from his deck. He looked at the card he drew and smiled, "I send Level Eater from my hand to the graveyard to special summon Quickdraw Synchron from my hand. (5/700/1400) Now by dropping his level by 1 I can bring Level Eater back to the field. (4)(1/600/0) Next up I synchro summon Junk Warrior. (5/2300/1300) Now attack that Naturia Guardian with Scrap Fist!" Garrett said.
"Ahhh! (Hilda 2000)" Hilda screamed flinching one of her eyes closed.
"I end my turn with a card facedown." Garrett said.
"My turn again." Hilda said drawing a card, "I once again use my dragon's special ability, I banish Rose Tentacles to have your monster lose its attack points."
"Grr. (0)" Garrett growled
"I hope your weren't planning on winning Garrett because this duel is over. Go Black Burning!"
"I'm not through yet. I activate the trap card Synchro Deflector! Since your attacking a synchro monster on my side of the field, I can negate your attack and destroy your monster!" Garrett countered.
"Now you see it, now you don't." May said. "Good counter Gar!" Dawn cheered.
"I end my turn with a facedown card." Hilda said.
"It's my draw." Garrett said drawing another card from the top of his deck. 'Perfect, this is just the card I needed to win.'
"But first I activate my facedown card Wicked Rebirth. By paying 800LPs I can bring Black Rose Dragon back to the field. (Hilda 1200)(7/2400/1800)
"I activate the spell card Tuning. This card allows me to add one synchron monster from my deck to my hand as long as I send the top card of deck to the graveyard. Next I summon Nitro Synchron! (2/300/300) Now I tune Nitro Synchron with Junk Warrior to synchro summon Nitro Warrior! (7/2800/1800) Now because I activated a spell card this turn, Nitro goes up by 1000 points for its next attack. (3800)" Garrett explained.
"NO!" Hilda exclaimed.
"Nitro Warrior, slay that dragon with Dynamite Crunch!"
"Ahh! (Hilda 0)" Hilda screamed.
The crowd screamed and applause broke out from all over the stadium for the great duel. "Garrett won." Dawn and May both shouted at the same time. Dale crosses his arms and nods his head at the synchron duelist. From down on the stage Garrett nods back before turning back to Hilda, "You beat me." She said. "Yeah I did, but you fought a great duel Hilda." The two shake hands in the middle before they both exit the stage and head back towards the duelists lounge. "Wow, that was a great duel huh? Hilda's roses put up a great fight but eventually got clipped by Garrett's powerful synchro monsters. The next duel will begin shortly so please stand-by for the next match." The MC said over the microphone.