Duel 26 – Apprehension

TVs everywhere flicker and jump to announce one of hundreds of new products on screen. Except this is no ordinary product! This is… THE. NEW. GAME. CHANGER. Duel Monsters fans everywhere gaze, cow-eyed, as Matthew, clad in a motorcycle, rides out on an abandoned bridge into the sunrise. Everyone hears an omnipresent voice declare, "Hope. Miracles. A new dawn. A new evolution in Duel Monsters like you've never seen before."

A duel disk is strapped to Matthew's arm. – He visibly struggles to concentrate on dueling and the road at the same time. – "I summon my new TUNER monster JUNK SYNCHRON and use his effect to revive QUILTBOLT HEDGEHOG!" An energetic, short, and stumpy mechanic appears, as does a hedgehog with bolts in place of quills. "I have a Level 3 monster, a Level 2 monster, and another Level 3 monster, TUNE WARRIOR. Now, I take my TUNER monster and non-tuners and add their levels to Level 8." Junk Synchron transforms into three green rings, the other monsters pass through them, turning into five stars, and then a flash! The portal is opened!

"SYNCHRO SUMMON STARDUST DRAGON!" Matthew slaps a white colored card, never seen before, on the duel disk. The blinding portal of light disappears and a pale blue and white dragon floats in its place. The dragon screeches for very first time. "Ride with me into the future! STARDUST DRAGON attack!" The dragon launches its cold, windy blast. Booster packs and starter decks galore burst on the screen. The omnipresent voice shouts, "Buy your new cards today for a limited time only! Free packs will be available at the American National Championship this June!"

A future did not shine for JC. He could only see the grey wall in his cell. Without Dupre he had no lawyer to defend himself with and the court case was over fast. The judge and jury hardly bothered to look at the numerous accounts of extortion and violence he and his Dark Duelists committed. They just saw the color of his skin: another thug, another bum to lock away.

He saw his three comrades, Jolene, Yukio, and Maya, testify against him in the jury. Jolene and Yukio almost gleefully detailed to the court his bullying, his hypocrisy, and his greed for power. They would be nowhere where they are today without him! Maya was reluctant, recalcitrant, only stating the facts as dispassionately as she could. Maybe it was because she knew all too well it didn't take much to lock a black person up. She should know. He still hated her. She still betrayed him.

He hated his mother. When dad got locked away she just… wilted. She sat glued in front of the TV for days, her dead eyes gaping at the endless stream of noise. Dad preached on TV of miracle cures from God. He even lied to an old woman dying of cancer. The scam worked but it wasn't long before he was arrested and sent to federal prison. He hated his father. His Dark Duelists existed so that no one would be scammed by religious bullshit again, but now the team was gone.

The guard knocked the door with his nightstick. "You have a visitor."

JC was taken to a small, dim room, recognizing Dupre for his pompous air and pasty skin illuminated by the dull lights in an instant. He leapt for Dupre's throat for an instant but the guards jerked him back, his wrists burning in the handcuffs.

Dupre continued cutting his nails with a small clipper as if nothing happened. He acted like he saw JC for the first time. "Please sit. Can't we talk like civilized people for once?"

JC was forced in the seat by the guards. "You betrayed me and my Dark Duelists." He hissed, the venom dripping in his voice. "You only cared about the profit we could give to Kaibacorp. As soon as we gave you a bad name you dropped us in the sewer. No, we can't talk like civilized people because you are a weasel."

"Speaking of which, tell me, how is your father Tyrone doing in prison. It's funny how an atheist's father was a religious fraud. I doubt any of your 'friends' knew that." Dupre could see the glowering light intensify in JC's eyes. He smirked to himself. JC was a crime waiting to happen. "Enough small talk. I – we, Kaibacorp – am willing to give you one last chance. We'll bail you out of prison and into the Nationals. You'll have access to any cards you want. You don't even have to win the Nationals, just break your former comrades on national television. Then we can make you and Matthew leaders of a new team of Crusaders. How does it sound?"

JC hated Dupre and hated his desperation. If he was stronger, if he was smarter, unlike his mother and father, he wouldn't be making the most humiliating decision of his life, but he had no choice. "I agree to your terms."

"Excellent! You'll be out of your orange jumpsuit in no time. Just don't lose, or your on your own in the street kid. One more thing." He handed JC a thin certificate with a seal on it. JC recognized it as a diploma. "You completed your final exams just before you were arrested. Glad to save another kid from the school to prison pipeline."

JC once more tried to lung at him but was restrained by the guards again. He cursed to himself but dared not say out loud. "Be careful I don't destroy you when it's all over."

"Congrats on graduating cher." Jolene hugged Maya tentatively, still a little shaken from their duel. "I still have another year to go unlike you and Yukio. I'll be so alone without you guys."

Maya waived her diploma like it was some strange artifact that had some supposedly great importance but was really useless, which it was. Something else was on her mind though, and it kept bugging her over the past few weeks. "Guys, do you ever worry about JC?"

"What about him? He betrayed us and turned our dreams into a corporate shill. I say we keep him locked up in there." Yukio scoffed.

In the past Jolene may have instantly agreed with him but now she just remained silent.

Maya put her hand on her mouth, mulling over what to say next. Finally she said, "He may deserve it but I just don't see him as a villain. Maybe he went about his goals the wrong way but he was right about how bad the dueling world is, and that's why we followed him. As obnoxious as he was I'm not ready just to label him as a jerk. He probably had many demons and didn't know how to deal with them."

Yukio raised an eyebrow. "You have any evidence for this?"

"He sometimes mentions his childhood in his ranting videos, and its never good. I learned that his dad tried being a faith healer and was imprisoned. I think that's the biggest reason he wanted to be a dark duelist. He didn't want to be like his dad and wanted to fight against other dads out there. But don't take my full word on it. I'm not a therapist."

"You sure you're not talking about yourself?" It was almost as if Yukio saw through her.

She shrugged it off. "We need a game plan. A lot of new monsters just came out and they're really expensive. Me and Yukio got accepted to the Nationals and we really need to get our hands on the best sycnchros out there and learn how to use them."

"And how do we get this money?"

"I have an idea."

The team, what was left of it, went all the way out into the Long Island suburbs one Saturday afternoon. The clear June wind swept the grass in a gentle, nostalgic breeze and the radiant sunlight painted the grass golden. Paradise on earth. Cristy opened the door. The team explained their situation and was allowed in. Cristy's father, Officer Mourey, even made a pancake and sausage brunch for them.

"I thought you hated authority." Jolene noted to Maya, seeing her even complimenting Mourey for his wonderful cooking.

Maya's reply was terse. "I respect authorities that deserve respect."

Cristy took out a large box in her room, filled with many of the newly released synchro monsters. "These were just released to the general public. I am willing to lend them to you as long as you pay me back in cash after the nationals."

Yukio nodded. "The prize money is about half a million. We'll be more than able to pay you back."

Maya held some of brand new cards in her hands. "Problem is, the cards are just released. There is no metagame yet to study and counter."

"Well then, I guess you're just going to have do something else than just know what to hate, like what JC would do." Yukio winked at her wryly.

So they got to work, putting in differing synchros and toying with them so their decks could be as fast and powerful as possible. They even spent the night playing Dance Dance Revolution with Cristy. It was a great time while it lasted.

But all good things must come to an end. Maya had father to deal with. While he was still stone cold after his last abuse. He was duller now, vexing her less, and didn't have as much energy. A mixture of guilt and fatigue swam in his haunting blue eyes. He promised Maya again he would never lay a hand on her and would support her college, but she long ago stopped believing him.

In the last morning before the Nationals she put her favorite books and sketchbooks, her hidden cards, and her hidden tournament winnings in a small suitcase. The dice was cast. She couldn't afford to lose. Just before the early taxi came by she wrote a small note.

-
| Going to Chicago for the Nationals. Don't bother looking |

| for me. I won't ever come back. I'll make you proud. |
-

Matthew sat and brooded in his penthouse as he always did. One moment he stared at his collection of paintings, especially the majestic yet somber painting of his grandfather, and at the next moment he stared out at the full moon. Sometimes he glanced down at his acceptance ticket. He won the Nationals last year, and he had a full team to support him. Now he had nothing and everything was on the line. He couldn't lose. He wouldn't dare let low-skill dregs ruin his final year at the Academy.

It is the first day of the Duel Monsters American National Championship! Traditional playing cards flew and twirled in the air on the screen before dancing into circle enclosing the event title in golden burning letters. "Welcome the 2005 National Championship!" Greeted a stalky, well-dressed man with bright orange hair and dazzling blue eyes. "I'm your first esteemed host Maximus from New York!"

"And I am Spartacus your second host right from Chicago!" A slightly larger but just as colorful and well-dressed man with short black, hair greeted in tune. "I'm sure most of you are dying to see the outcome of today's tournament, especially with the brand new release of synchros."

Maximus took the lead once more, "We really have no idea what these new monsters can since they were released so soon. In America at least to my knowledge chaos and monarch decks have dominated the game for the last five or so years but that may all chance."

"Yeah, it's a really volatile time for our duelists right now." Spartacus rejoined. "And I can tell by the look on some of their faces like that of Pallas Athena (AKA Matthew Carter) they really don't like the change."

"True, but at the same time we can potentially see some fresh new blood in the Duel Monsters scene, which has been lacking for some time now." Spartacus said. "Who knows, maybe we can even have our Yugi completely revamp the game."

Maya and Yukio just unpacked at a hotel. Jolene tagged along with Yukio and shared the room with him. Maya would sleep alone. They went outside and wandered around the Soldier Field Stadium, the arena of the epic battles to come, and talked about what lay ahead. Maya and Yukio promised each other that when they dueled they would have a great duel. No politics. No bullshit. Just a duel between friends.

Maya stayed up in the night. She couldn't fall asleep no matter how hard she tried. She was filled with constant noise, the beating of her nervous heart, and the beating of music. Rattling, discordant sounds, sudden flashes. The Ramses Abu Simbal temple, beckoning her down the long corridor to Duel Monster tablets inside. Writhing black water, chaos before sound, down in the sewers beneath city streets. Her first man when she was only sixteen, groping her breasts with large, sweaty hands, pumping her hard just above a toilet in the high school bathroom.

Maya couldn't take it. She got up and wrote as many notes and words as she could; only seeing as much as the faint dawn allowed. She let the championship anxieties fall away and focused only on the ride, on the fun. It was all just a ride, like her rushes, and fun, like creating the spider web of frames and image for her notes and words. "It's all just a ride." She said to herself, like trying to remind herself. "It's all just a ride. It's all just a ride."

Maya looked at herself in the bathroom mirror the same way she did just before she dueled Matthew. Her hair, even when wet, would still never behave itself. Her red pimples were still a problem. The blond, pale-skinned woman Bakura showed her greeted her once more. Then, Jolene appeared in the mirror, "We're all beautiful in a way. Work with yourself, not against yourself."

She had to paint an image, just on her face. She reached for some makeup Jolene lent her, putting brown foundation to erase the red blemishes and bring out a healthy glow to the skin. To complement her full face she colored her full lips with red lipstick. She was careful not to put gloss. Her swarthy face, broad nose and forehead wouldn't allow it. Piercing narrow brown eyes underscored her forehead and she complimented them with black eye shadow and eyeliner.

As for her hair, she abandoned all attempts to straighten it. She put some conditioner on it, carefully not to ruin her makeup. Her natural curls became thicker and finer, joining together into serpentine locks. As for clothes she donned on a black sleeveless shirt and a denim black skirt, outfitting her hands and feet with black-netted globes and black boots. Finally, she put on a tight black jacket with a red flame on front, and draped the black hood over her head. The propaganda attempt was complete. She looked alright.

She tentatively peeped through the door into Jolene and Yukio's room. "How do I look?"

Jolene rushed in to embrace her. "You look amazing! You look like you just came out of Necropolis club. It's a little heavy but if it suits you go for it."

Yukio just arrived from the bathroom, fully dressed in studded leather pants and spikey black hair, like he just came out of a concert, and shook his head. "All right girlfriend, leave the newly born baby goth alone."

"Look at you, metalhead wannabe!" Jolene retorted. "You look like Sid Vicious' aborted cousin."

"Ha ha, very funny. Let's go." He pinched Jolene in the butt. "Out, out of here."

The atrium of the stadium rang and in a pandemonium of several thousand people, most of them being the audience. The thirty-two duelists however were all too easy to spot by their large duel disks on their arms and their extravagant costumes. It almost looked like a cosplay convention. And as usual, corporate logos, especially of Kaibacorp were everywhere.

A man in a bright red vest shouted in a microphone above the crown. "Alright, everyone listen! I'm the judge. The tournament will be conducted first in a Swiss system. After five rounds the top eight duelists will fight off in an elimination tournament tree until only one duelist is standing." A large screen behind him showed them an expansive board. With a click of a button the judge made the names of all players appear and with another click all thirty-two duelists were instantly paired with each other.

Yukio got a duelist named DarkHighlander07.

And Maya got… DistressedDuelist! JC!

The first two duelists already left for the first round. Maya glanced around the atrium, looking for a familiar face, a familiar body. How did he get out of prison? "Well, this is interesting." Either way, her first match would be a hard one.

"Be careful when you face him." Yukio warned. "We all know what lengths he goes to for his own personal power."

"You don't need to tell me. I know what he could do to me."

"Please Maya. Listen to Yukio." Jolene pleaded. "He betrayed all of us. Don't let him hurt us again."

"I promise I won't."

However, there was not much any of them could do this moment. All they could do was sit and wait with climbing apprehension for the moment when JC appeared and the moment they would face him.