C12 – Something Afoot?

"Okay," Hitomi's voice rang out around the stadium. "Our next two contestants have been decided! It's Adam going up against Ares Mercer!" The pictures of the upcoming participants took center screen. Tem looked at the stats as they rolled down under each duelist's portrait.

"Ares…?" Tem stared at the image on screen and read his stats. "Why does that sound slightly familiar?" It was then Tem saw Ares' win loss ratio in the tournament qualifiers. "He's one of the duelists that got three consecutive wins!"

"Indeed." Johann's tone didn't sit well with Tem.

"Uh…" Tem then remembered Johann's record. "Oh! I think I'll just… run to the bathroom, Johann." Tem hardly waited for a nod from Johann before awkwardly scurrying away from the main lobby. He found himself in the waiting area, glancing at the multitude of screens, before an unoccupied terminal caught his eye. Walking to it, he saw there was a list compiled of everyone who had won all three of their duels in a row and the order they were in.

"Duel Robo, Jake Greene, Green," Tem shook his head in confusion for a second. "Sheryl Alison, Ares Mercer, Vergil Renssalaer," He spoke Vergil's name with a hint of distaste. "And finally…me." Tem's mind wandered back to when he was on the gold trolley pulling up to the Kaiba Dome; the errant thought of the order in which people were cleared for the second stage reflecting how strong of a duelist they were resurfaced. Tem shook his head a second time, forcing the thought out.

"I'm one of the seven contestants who cleared the preliminaries without a single loss." Tem reassured himself. "That's proof enough of my…" He stopped, once the screen he was watching began to show the order of the sixteen contestants made it to the preliminaries. "I was the last of seven people to get three straight wins… but what number of sixteen did I make it in?" He recalled that Johann and two other contestants arrived to the Kaiba Dome not too long after him, and as the list of sixteen duelists scrolled down, his name was nowhere the first half. "I was number thirteen!?" Tem shot out of his seat as he yelled almost at the top of his lungs.

Several other contestants and employees snapped their heads to Tem. "You mean to tell me that people lost the tournament faster than I won it?! And some people just clobbered three opponents in next to no time?"

"Tem Uraki!" Tem stopped pulling at his hair and looked at the Kaiba Cooperation employee approaching. "We are in the middle of broadcasting a duel and there are contestants spectating as well. You will stop your outbursts immediately."

Tem looked around, now aware of the fact that almost everyone was staring at him. He could make out Vergil in a corner, smirking at him and mouthing out the word 'childish'. Tem grit his teeth, but the Kaiba Corp employee stepped into his line of vision. "S-sorry." Tem sheepishly picked up the chair and sat back down. "I'll keep it down." Tem continued to scroll through the results of people's win/loss record. "Judging by the time it took for them to clear the first stage, they must have…"

"I'm not dueling here. If you paid any attention, you'd get why that's a dumb idea."

Tem recalled Vergil's words shortly after his first victory. "Vergil must have continued to head to the center of the city while I was still dueling on the outskirts. That was why it took me a so long to find a third opponent, while he was able to secure a spot and even get food…" Tem looked at the clear times of the other contestants. "All of the turbo duelists have close times." He then remembered what city he was in. "A lot of the commercial turbo duel pathways are in the center of the city. Which would explain why Jake cleared it so fast."

Tem clicked on Jake's profile. "Man, he really was only a few minutes shy of beating the Duel Robo. Ah, that wheel icon next to a person's face shows that you're a turbo duelist. So then…" Tem left Jake's profile and kept checking the top eight. "Ares is also a turbo duelist?" Tem looked over at one of the screens showing the live duel. "Whoa, what happened?" Tem rushed over to the screen.

"Ares' deck doesn't seem to be cooperating with him at the moment, as the last monster that was protecting him is destroyed!" Hitomi commentated as Ares hardly flinched as his Red-Eyes Wyvern left the field.

"Now I attack directly with Mad Archfiend!" Adam declared.

Ares LP: 1200

"I end my turn."

"Then it's my move." Ares drew a card. "Hmm… I'll set two cards face down and end my turn."

"That's pretty pathetic – huh?!" Adam watched as a hologram of the Red-Eyes Wyvern he had destroyed returned to the field. "What in the?"

"During my end phase, if I didn't perform a normal summon or set this turn and my Wyvern is in the graveyard, I can banish it to special summon a Red-Eyes monster from my graveyard. And I select," The hologram began to change into a large, black metallic dragon. "Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon!"

"But… I worked so hard to get rid of it a few turns ago!"

"Well," Ares grinned. "You have one turn to get rid of it this time. But I'll warn you," he gestured to his facedown cards. "I'm a bit more prepared this time."

"What a bold statement from Ares!" Hitomi cheered.

"Tch… I draw for my turn!" Adam looked at the card he drew, then the cards in his hand. "And I…" He looked as if he wanted to make a move but looked between Ares' grin and the cards set on the field. "I set one card and change my monster to defense mode."

"And Adam is forced to back down in the face of the dragon he worked so hard to take out earlier in the duel!" The MC looked over at Ares. "But the question is; does Ares actually have a plan, or did he just bluff his way to survival?"

"Then it's my turn!" Ares drew a card.

"Coming through!" Tem was suddenly pushed backwards away from the screen by a rather large man in Iniquity Industries uniform. Several more Iniquity Industries agents followed behind him in an almost militaristic fashion. Each agent wore a red shirt under their gray suits and wore stern expressions.

"Red?" Tem looked around at the other Iniquity Industries workers. "That's odd. Everyone else is wearing white." He watched as the red shirt agents, at least ten in number, made a beeline for the main desk. The Kaiba Corp employee looked up, apparently just as surprised as everyone else in the waiting area. Tem watched as the large man spoke to the Kaiba Corp employee for a few moments before they got up and retrieved another Iniquity Industries agent. They spoke with the large man, and then scurried off.

Tem raised an eyebrow. "What was that all about?"

"It's Adam's turn, duel boys and girls, but his situation is looking rather grim against his opponent!" Hitomi announced. Her voice drew Tem's attention back to the screen.

"It seems that Ares' dragon deck is keeping Adam in check!" MC joined in. "Ares may be at a disparity for life points, but his field is absolutely swarming with monsters. Will Adam's pride get him the win this turn, or will his chance for victory be burned away by the dragon's ferocious flames?!"

"What a wordsmith!" Hitomi's eyes shined with admiration as she stared at the MC.

"I set a monster and I end my turn." Adam scowled.

"Then it's time I wrap this up." Ares drew a card and looked at it.

"Oh man," Tem grimaced as he watched the monitor. "They made me miss the best part of the duel!"

"I can't attack with my monsters because of your spell card," Ares began. "So I might as well sacrifice two of them and summon the Red Eyes Black Dragon!" There were a few cheers from the crowd at the mention of the card name.

"He's got a copy of Red Eyes?"

"It looks like one of the legacy copies they released over the years, along with other famous monsters from Battle City and onwards. But those are hard to come by, too."

"Do you think they'll ever print more copies of Blue Eyes with its original artwork?"

"And do what; bury those alongside Seto Kaiba, too?"

"Isn't that just a rumor?"

"Like how he went to space?"

"I activate Inferno Fire Blast!" Ares placed the spell card into his duel disk. "Dealing you twenty four hundred points of direct damage, and winning me the duel!"

"And there we have it folks! Ares cleans up nicely and makes it to the second round! Let's have a round of applause for the duelists." Hitomi declared. The audience cheered as Adam and Ares shook hands. Adam headed back first while Ares basked in the limelight for a few more moments.

"Alright everyone, let's keep this momentum going!" The MC pointed to the largest center screen as the two new names for the next bracket revealed themselves. "It looks like our next contestants are Zack and the not so jolly giant, Green!"

Tem froze as he looked at the screen. He remembered when Sheryl Alison mocked him just after the end of the first stage, and Green of all people decided to stop her. Tem was unsure of why he did it, and even more surprised when Green then congratulated Tem for making it past the first stage. "I wonder where he is, actually." Tem looked around the room for Green, but couldn't find him. "You'd think someone so tall and muscular would be easy to spot…" Tem muttered.

"Have you tried looking behind you?" Tem hadn't noticed the shadow looming over him and spun around at the hoarse voice. Tem looked up at Green, the only thing really visible beyond his upturned collar was his scar and jade eyes that seemed to glow despite the shadow that was created by the tall man.

"M-Mr. Green!" Tem squeaked.

"Why were you looking for me?" His tone was one Tem couldn't read.

"What? Me?" Tem breathed nervously. "Looking for you?"

"I'm the only tall and muscular man here." His eyes shifted to the front desk. "Hm… maybe not anymore." Tem glanced over his shoulder at the large Iniquity Agent who coincidentally looked toward them. Tem looked between the agent and Green, the mental image of a person between two large jungle predators flashed through his mind.

"Oh r-right…" Tem began, almost feeling the intense stare of Green falling upon him. "I never got the chance to thank you." Tem saw Green's brow furrow. "The day we all gathered after the first stage, when Sheryl was bothering me."

"You did thank me," Green cut in. "Though it was rather lackluster."

"I did?"

"Good job making it this far."

"Uh," Tem hadn't expected the praise. "Thank you. You too, mister. I… I guess"

The memory seemed to jump to the forefront of his mind. "Oh, that! That was for congratulating me on making it to the second stage." Tem looked Green in the eyes, and although he felt his heart race a bit, he continued: "Thanks for sticking up for me against Sheryl."

There was a second of silence between them. Tem gulped as the seconds droned on, feeling like hours under his intense stare. There was the distinct sound of a grunt from the massive Irishman before he spoke "I simply couldn't stand her voice." Tem felt a small, impish smile form on his face. "Now, if you'll excuse me. I'm needed on stage."

"Uh… alright." Tem looked down at the floor. "I guess I was wrong." There was a moment where it was absolutely quiet and Green didn't move. Tem looked up at him again, and something about him seemed to have changed in that brief instant.

"I said, I'm needed on stage." Green repeated.

Tem raised an eyebrow, then looked around; he was blocking the only path from where they were to the double doors that led to the stage. "Oh!" Tem quickly moved to the side. No sooner was there room, Green strode by; slow, deliberate, daunting steps that seemed to echo above all other noise. Tem was suddenly struck with a sudden urge to shout "Good luck!" Green stopped for a moment, his steps ceased their echoing. He glanced over his shoulder back at Tem for less than a second, then continued on his way.

"I wouldn't expect the two of you to be friends." Tem nearly shrieked at the sudden voice. He spun around and saw a tanned and tone man with spikey black hair. "I guess you have a thing for guys in green?"

"Huh?" Tem was completely lost. "What are you talking about? Who are you?"

"I'm up next," he walked forward, almost pushing Tem as he made his way to the stage. "I'll see you in the second round of duels!"

Tem stared after him as he went through double doors to the stage. "Oh, that must have been that Zack guy. I wonder what kind of deck he uses…" Tem made his way back to the waiting area and sat in front of the main monitor. He saw a few of the other duelists watching along or looking into the previous duels. "Wait, what kind of deck does Green use?" Tem pondered aloud. The sudden sound of a loud bang made Tem whip his head toward the desk. The large man from earlier had struck the desk and was very obviously frustrated, evident by the people behind the desk quivering before him. One of the Iniquity Industries workers then motioned for the large man and his entourage to follow them deeper into the building, disappearing behind a pair of doors flanked by two very serious looking Kaiba Corp agents.

"What was that all about?" Tem blinked, gazing around at everyone else's confused expressions. He noticed one particular person staring intently at the door the men had gone through, the expression on their face seemed devious. "Isn't that Sheryl?"

"Alright duel boys and girls," Hitomi's voice drew Tem's attention back to the screen. "It's time for our next match up of the first round. We've got the oh-so cold Greene going up against the always so happy Zack!" The audience cheered as the duelists' faces were displayed on screen. "It's not just a battle of cards, but also a battle of demeanors."

"And look at Green; he definitely looks the type who puts the mean in demeanor!" The MC chimed in. "And with his constant assault of Reptile-type monsters, Green truly is one cold-blooded customer."

"Will Zack and his deck be able to come out on top, or will Green sink his fangs into the victory? There's only one way to know for certain, ladies and gentlemen, and that's to stay tuned. Because right now," Hitomi raised her fist into the air, prompting the audience to chant with her:

"It's time to duel!"

Zack LP: 4000 LP
Green LP: 4000 LP

"Why don't I start things off, green guy?" Zack drew a card to start his turn. "I'm going to set two cards in my Spell/Trap zone, and normal summon Rampaging Rhynos (1500) and call it a turn."

Green drew a card then looked over at his opponent's field. "I'll activate the spell card Shed Scales."

"It would seem Green is a card collector!" The MC began, wearing a large grin.

"A card collector?" Hitomi looked at him.

"Shed Scales is a part of a very special booster set that gave generic support to a ton of the less popular monster types of the game, including Reptiles, Sea Serpents and Thunder monsters, that was made in limited quantities about fifteen years ago."

"Wow! So he got his hands on a fifteen year old card to bolster the draw power of his deck? Talk about dedication and perseverance."

"You'd be hard pressed to find any of the cards from that set nowadays. Partially because a lot of them were later on one upped by newer cards, falling into obscurity, and the really powerful cards of that set rarely exchange hands."

"I can discard a Reptile-Type monster from my hand and draw two cards." Green explained as he performed the action, paying little mind to the announcers. "And now, I'll use the spell card Bait Doll; targeting your set card on my left." The card revealed itself to be the trap Widespread Ruin. "Since the activation time for your trap card is incorrect, its effect is negated and your card is destroyed. Now my Bait Doll spell card returns to my deck to be shuffled, and I can properly start my turn."

"Zack doesn't seem too phased at the loss of his trap card." Hitomi commentated.

"I'm going to normal summon Alien Shocktrooper (1900)" Green continued. "And equip it with the spell card Reptile Forceto increase its attack by five hundred points."

Alien Shocktrooper: 1900 – 2400

"Now I'll enter battle, having my Shocktrooper attack your Rhyno."

"I'll activate my set card, Spell Binding Circle. I target your monster to prevent it from attacking!"

"As it's my battle phase, I can activate a quick play spell card from my hand." Green played the card on the field.

Green's LP: 4000 – 3500

"Is that Twister?!" Zack grit his teeth as his now face up card was destroyed. "What kind of luck let you draw into that?"

"It was in my starting hand, actually." Green clarified. "Now, my attack goes through."

Zack's LP: 4000 – 3100

"That will be the end of my turn." Green declared.

"Not a bad turn, Green." Zack drew a card from his deck. "Since there are no cards in this column, I can special summon Red Haired Hasty Horse in attack position (2000), and then I'll activate the spell card Riryoku."

Alien Shocktrooper: 2400 – 1200

Red Haird Hasty Horse: 2000 – 3200

"And now that I've borrowed your monster's attack points, I'll go on ahead and gain the upper Horse, attack his Alien Shocktrooper!"

Green's LP: 3500 – 1500

"I'll finish my turn with a set monster and a set card." Zack smirked as his monster's attack points returned to its original value.

"Since a monster with Reptile Forcewas destroyed by battle, I get to draw one card during the End Phase." Green pulled the top card from his deck and looked at it.

"And as if responding to Green's first turn, Zack fights back with a powerful play of his own!" Hitomi cheered alongside the audience as Green drew for the start of his turn. "How will Green make a comeback?"

"During my Standby Phase, the effect of Syphon Viper activates in my graveyard." A holograph of a viper sprung forth from Green's side of the field and coiled around Zack's monster.

"Syphon Viper?!" Zack mimed as he watched his monster's attack points fall.

"If Syphon Viper is in my graveyard during my standby phase, and was sent there due to a card effect, I can equip it to a monster my opponent controls. That monster has its attack cut in half,"

Red Haired Hasty Hors: 2000 – 1000

"And given to me as Life Points."

Green's LP: 1500 – 2500

"To think that Greene would have set up such a powerful move so early on!" Hitomi marveled.

"There's a reason why he's one of the seven duelists who made it to the Second Stage undefeated, and he's going to show us why!" The MC added on.

"Next, during my main phase, I can Special Summon Summon Viperfrom my Graveyard, since I control no monsters." Green placed the card on his duel disk. "And since another card exists in the same column as your Hasty Horse…"

Zack watched as his monster and the equipped Viper exploded into pixels. "My monster is destroyed."

"So that's why he set his cards so far away from his Hasty Horse…" Hitomi commented.

"Now, I'll tribute my Summon Viper in order to summon Bitelon (2400) and use it to attack your face down monster." Green's monster surged forward, as though swimming through the air, and closed its powerful jaws on the hologram of the card. A monster appeared briefly before exploding into pixels.

Zack's LP: 3100 – 1900

"Grr…" Zack watched his life points fall. "You would have a monster with a piercing effect."

"I'll set a card face down and end my turn." Green declared.

"During the End Phase the effect of my Twin-Headed Behemoth triggers. Since it was destroyed, it comes back with one thousand attack and defense points. And now I can draw for my turn…" Zack took a moment to look over his hand. "I tribute Twin-Headed Behemoth in order to summon Yajiro Invader (2200)."

"What a weird looking monster…" Hitomi commented as she watched its tentacles slither.

"And I'll equip it with Black Pendant, increasing its attack by five hundred points!"

Yajiro Invader: 2200 – 2700

"And now, I'll have it attack your Bitelon!"

"I will use my set card, Magic Cylinder."

"Are you serious?!" Zack yelled as the trap card flipped face up. He watched as his monster was sucked into one cylinder, and fired from the second and struck him.

Zack LP: 1900 – 0

"And there you have it, folks!" Hitomi jumped out of her seat. "With a vicious and calculated combo, Green has won the duel!"

Zack stomped his right foot repeatedly in frustration as Green walked past him to the waiting room. "I was so close!"

Green entered the building and quickly scanned the area. The commotion at the front desk earlier seemed to have died down, but there were a handful of Iniquity Industries employees in red shirts still standing around. He disregarded them and made his way toward the waiting area. As he walked, he noticed Tem staring at the monitor, watching some of the highlights of the duel that had just occurred. Tem felt a shiver down his spine and looked up, just in time to see Green walking past him. "Hey, you won!"

Green simply shrugged, his stride unbroken and his eyes focused ahead of him.

"A-alright…" Tem watched as he vanished through the doors to the waiting area.

"We're moving right along as always, duel boys and girls!" Hitomi's voice came through the main monitor. "So let's see who's dueling next. Let that bracket roulette spin!" Hitomi gestured to the screen as the next two bracket slots began to spin. "And the first name we have up is…" The slot stopped and Hitomi inhaled "Johann Faust!"

Tem's eyes widened. "Alright, Johann!" he looked around. "Johann?"

"And his opponent will be…"

END

Custom Cards Used In This Duel

All Cards Created by Xen Kenshin

Shed Scales: Discard one Reptile-Type monster from your Hand. Draw two cards.

Reptile Force: Equip this card to a face-up Reptile-Type monster that you control. It gains 500 Attack. If the equipped monster is destroyed by battle or card effect; draw one card during the End Phase of this turn.

Syphon Viper: If this card is sent from your Hand to the GY by your own card effect, or from the field to the GY by an opponent's card; during your next Standby Phase, equip this card to a face up monster your opponent controls. That monster has its current attack reduced by half. Then, gain Life Points by that same amount.

Summon Viper: If you control exactly one face-up Reptile Type monster, and there are no monsters except for Reptile-Type monsters in your GY; Special Summon this card from your hand.

If you control no monsters on the field, and there are no monsters in your GY except for Reptile-Type monsters; Special Summon this card from your Graveyard.

You can only Summon 'Summon Viper' once per turn.