OPENING CEREMONIES
The Blue Eyes White Jet touched down on the runway. The lights on the tarmac guided him in; night had fallen less than an hour ago. Seto would have been here sooner, were it not for that meeting going longer than anticipated. Mokuba had gone ahead of him, both to secure a deck list for him, and to make sure that the hotel suite he'd booked last week was still available.
Much like with his Duel Monsters deck, Seto would settle for nothing less than absolute perfection.
And part of that perfection was the limousine waiting for him as he climbed off his own private plane.
"Welcome to New York City, Mr. Kaiba," the driver said as Seto stepped onto the pavement. "Pleasant trip?"
"Just give me an update. Is everything ready for me?"
"Yes sir," the driver said as he opened the door. "Your little brother has already prepared everything for your arrival."
Leave it to Mokuba, Seto thought as he climbed into the back of the car.
As the car left the airport, Seto opened the silver briefcase he always carried with him. This briefcase held hundreds upon hundreds of cards; many of them were duplicates of ones he had in his deck or his private display case back home, but some of them were among the rarest cards in the game. Out of all the people in the world, the only ones who had ever seen these cards were him and Maximillian Pegasus. It made sense, considering that Pegasus was the game's creator. Rumor had it that he based the game on ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics he had seen on an archaeological excursion to the area.
How the game came to be didn't matter to Seto Kaiba. All that mattered was that the game existed, and in order to create the holographic technology which brought the monsters on the cards to life, he had to learn every aspect of the game, from the very beginning to the most recent summoning techniques, such as Pendulum and Link Summoning. Link Summoning was the most recent summoning technique introduced to the game, debuting over the summer, and Seto had quickly set to work learning how it worked while also learning the new layout of the duel field, assuming he were going to be playing tabletop.
But these days, who played tabletop anymore? Even casual players of the game owned a duel disk, and some of the old, cumbersome dueling arenas were still in use in places around the world.
The phone rang. Seto closed the briefcase and pressed a button on the phone console, putting it on Speaker. "Kaiba."
"Hey, big bro," Mokuba's voice came through the other end. "Got everything ready for you."
"Good. Any trouble?"
"Not unless you count the hotel receptionist forgetting which suite you'd reserved."
"Idiots," Seto grumbled. "I'll be there soon, Mokuba."
"It's Suite Three on the tenth floor," Mokuba said. "See you when you get here."
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Yugi, Curtis, and Joey had spent the last twenty minutes filling out their deck lists. Curtis had decided to fill his out with pencil, after seeing Joey scratch out several of his card names with that pen he was using. At least with a pencil the mistakes wouldn't be as obvious, and the deck list wouldn't look as sloppy.
"How's it coming, you guys?" Yugi asked. He looked over his deck list; every spot had been filled out, all his cards listed.
"Almost done," Curtis answered. "Just have to fill out my side deck."
"Wish I had some white out; it'd make this thing look a heck of a lot better," Joey mused.
"Well that's your own fault for using a pen," Tristan snarked.
"Bite me, Tristan."
Curtis looked at his deck list, then flipped through his deck, making sure he had marked down every card he had – all sixty cards in his Main Deck, the five cards for his Extra Deck, and his fifteen card Side Deck. Before he began filling out his list, he swapped some cards from his deck for some new cards he picked up earlier in the week – a Trap Card called Dark Mirror Force and three Twin Twisters Spell Cards. Dark Mirror Force was a Mirror Force variant that banished the user's opponent's Defense Position monsters, and Twin Twisters destroyed up to two Spell or Trap Cards on the user's opponent's side of the field at the cost of sending one card from the hand to the Graveyard.
"Alright, I'm all set," Joey announced. "Ready for tomorrow."
"The tournament starts at ten A.M. tomorrow," Yugi said, "so we've got some time if anyone wants to play a quick game. You know, just to make sure we're ready."
"I'm up for it," Curtis said. "Hey Joey, want to duel?"
"You sure about that? Why not duel Yugi? Winner can take me on."
"Because the last time you and I dueled, I…wasn't exactly myself. But now, you can play the real me."
"You're not going to be using your duel disks in here, are you?" his mother asked, taking her eyes off of the ESPN coverage of the tournament.
"No, Mom," Curtis answered. "Tabletop." He and Joey moved a small stand between the two beds and set up their decks, shuffling and cutting as they prepared for their game. "Who wants to keep score?"
"I guess I will," Stephanie offered. Yugi handed her a notepad and a pencil. "You guys start with 8000 points, right?"
"That's right," Joey answered. "Okay, Curtis, you want to go first?"
"Why not." He picked up five cards from the top of his deck. They were The Six Samurai – Kizan, Shien's Advisor, Kagemusha of the Six Samurai, Shien's Footsoldier, and Scrolls of the Six Samurai. He glanced up at Joey; judging by the grimace on Joey's face, he didn't care for his hand.
"I guess I'll start off by summoning The Six Samurai – Kizan, in Attack Position, and then pass my turn over to you."
Joey picked up another card and winced. "Man, I totally bricked," he grumbled. "But I can at least put these three cards down for later." He set three cards in his Spell and Trap Zone.
"Let me see," Tristan said as he moved over to look at Joey's hand. "Oh! Ow."
"Yeah, I noticed."
Curtis drew a new card, Elder of the Six Samurai. "Wow, no monsters?"
"None that I can summon right now," Joey muttered.
"Ouch. Well, I can do this. I summon Shien's Advisor in Attack Position. When he's Normal Summoned, I can name one monster type, and monsters that fall under that category can't attack. I know you have a Red Eyes Black Dragon, so I'm going to name Dragons."
"But that effect goes away when Shien's Advisor is destroyed, doesn't it?" Stephanie asked.
"Not like that's gonna happen any time soon," Joey replied. "Go ahead, hit me."
"Okay, double direct attack, and Joey is out a grand total of 3000 Life Points," Curtis announced.
"That puts the score at Curtis with 8000 and Joey with 5000," Stephanie said.
"I'm going to go into Main Phase Two now," Curtis said. "By playing this Spell Card, Six Scrolls of the Samurai. This lets me tribute two Six Samurai monsters to Special Summon Great Shogun Shien from my deck." He moved his two monsters to the Graveyard, flipped through his deck, and brought out the proper monster, placing it in the Monster Zone. With the monster out on the field, Curtis shuffled his deck. "Okay, Joey, it's your turn."
Joey drew a new card, and rolled his eyes. "Damn it."
"What's wrong, Joey?" Curtis's mother asked.
Joey showed her his hand. "I can't summon these guys; they're too powerful. My deck hates me right now. Might as well pass my turn, Curt."
The card Curtis drew was The Six Samurai – Kamon. "I'm going to summon Kagemusha of the Six Samurai in Attack Position, and then perform another double direct attack for a total of 2900 Life Points."
Stephanie performed the math. "That brings Joey down to 2100 points."
Joey reached for his deck. "Give me something good, darn it." He drew his card. "That's a little better. I summon Panther Warrior in Attack Position, and then equip him with the Equip Spell Lightning Blade. I still need to summon another monster to use as a tribute so he can attack, but now that he's sitting at 2800 Attack Points, at least your guys won't kill him."
"At least you're finally on the board," Curtis said as he drew a new card – Shien's Smoke Signal. "I play the Spell Card Shien's Smoke Signal to add one Level Three or lower Six Samurai monster from my deck to my hand, and the monster I choose is Legendary Six Samurai – Shinai. I'm going to summon him, and then use him and Kagemusha as materials to Synchro Summon Legendary Six Samurai – Shi En."
"He can do that?" Stephanie asked.
"Kagemusha is a Tuner monster, which is the main material for a Synchro Summon," Yugi explained. "And when you Synchro Summon, the levels of the material monsters have to equal the level of the monster you want to bring out."
"That's all I'm doing, since it would be suicide to attack your Panther Warrior," Curtis said. "Your turn, Joey."
Joey drew a new card, and grinned. "Finally. I summon Gearfried the Iron Knight in Attack Position, and use him as a tribute so my Panther Warrior can attack your Shi En."
"I activate Shi En's effect," Curtis countered. "If Shi En is going to be attacked, I can change your target to another monster I control. Sorry, Shogun." He moved Great Shogun Shien to the Graveyard as Stephanie performed the math.
"So the score is now Curtis at 7700 to Joey's 2100."
"My turn," Curtis said as he drew a card. "I send Elder of the Six Samurai to the Garveyard to activate the effect of the Twin Twisters Spell Card, to destroy your Lightning Blade and bring your Panther Warrior back down to 2000 Attack Points. Next, I summon The Six Samurai – Kamon, in attack Position. Shi En attacks and destroys your Panther Warrior, and Kamon attacks directly, bringing you down to 0."
"That might not have happened if I hadn't bricked in the first couple of turns," Joey said as they cleaned up their cards.
"It happens to the best of us, Joey," Yugi consoled him.
"As long as it doesn't happen in the tournament, I'm good."
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Seto was at the stadium long before the television crews began to arrive. He had wanted to make sure that he was the first person in the room, if not the whole building, if only for everyone – duelist, spectators, and commentators alike – to know that he was there. He was sure that rumor was going around that he was going to be here, but how many of them believed those rumors? That was the question.
Well, there was no question that he was going to be here. Pegasus had personally invited him himself, if only to help him show off the new Link Summoning technique. He had practiced last night with Mokuba, just to make sure he had the whole thing down pat.
The doors were set to open for spectators at nine A.M., which was fast approaching; it was already 8:30, and as he had expected, crews from ESPN and Fox Sports were already setting up.
"Mr. Seto Kaiba," a reporter from ESPN called to him. "Would it be okay with you if we got a quick interview?"
"As long as it really is quick," Seto answered.
"It'll just take a couple minutes of your time, Mr. Kaiba," the reporter said. "Hey Frank, is that camera set up?"
"Set up and broadcasting to the studio, Jim. Begin when ready."
Jim cleared his throat, then started speaking. "We're here at Madison Square Garden where Maximillian Pegasus's Rose Duelist tournament is set to begin in just over an hour, and the first duelist has already arrived. Mr. Seto Kaiba, what are your thoughts on Mr. Pegasus holding this tournament so close to the holiday season?"
"When it's held is none of my concern," Seto answered. "All that matters is that the duelists who are coming from far and wide bring their A-game, because chances are they'll be facing off against me, and as anyone who has had the misfortune of dueling against me can attest, I do not pull my punches."
"Well, they don't call you the world's greatest duelist for nothing, Mr. Kaiba," Jim said. "Next question, sir: What can you tell us about these rumors that Mr. Pegasus also wishes to demonstrate the new summoning technique that was introduced to the game earlier this summer?"
"Even if he doesn't, I will. I've already rebuilt my deck to include materials to aid in the new Link Summoning, and if he doesn't show it off, I gladly will. Of course, my New Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon and Blue Eyes Chaos Max Dragon will still be the monsters my opponents need to watch out for, though they can rest slightly easier knowing that Link Summoning is the only way to bring out more than one Extra Deck monster."
"Well, that certainly sounds interesting," Jim said. "Thank you for your time, Mr. Kaiba. This may not be as grand as your Battle City, but we sure are looking forward to it. Back to you in the studio."
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It was nearing 9:30 by the time they got to the stadium. As expected, the room was full of both spectators and duelists, and the chatter made it incredibly hard to hear anything. The duelists were directed to sit on the sidelines while everyone else went into the bleachers to watch.
All that was left was to wait, which was fine by Joey; it gave him time to finish that breakfast sandwich from the concession stand.
Half an hour later, two people walked out into the middle of the stadium. Curtis immediately recognized Seto Kaiba – there was no mistaking that tall, confident posture, not to mention that scowl – but the other man, he had never seen before. This man was about as tall as Seto, but dressed in a bright red suit and to contrast Seto's short brown hair, this man had long platinum blonde hair, and had an eyepatch on over his right eye.
The man in the red suit spoke up in a posh, almost British-sounding voice.
"Greetings, duelists and spectators. I am your host Maximillian Pegasus, and welcome to the opening duel of the Rose Duelist tournament! This tournament will determine who will be named the Duelist of the Roses, and just in time for Christmas, too. And to start things off, yours truly will give you a treat by dueling the world champion, Seto Kaiba!"
The room was filled with the sound of cheers and applause as Seto and Pegasus faced each other from opposite ends of the court.
"Always having to make a show, aren't you, you pompous jackass?" Seto jeered as he activated his duel disk.
Pegasus readied his own duel disk. "Well, that's what the good people in the stands came here for, Kaiba-boy. And I shall give you the pleasure of making the first move."
"Suit yourself," Seto said as the two duelists drew five cards. Seto didn't care too much for his hand, since he just had five Spell Cards – Summoner's Art, Twin Twisters, Temple of the Mind's Eye, and two copies of Melody of Awakening Dragon. But then again, two of those cards could come in handy, maybe three of them.
"I'll begin by playing Summoner's Art to add one Level Five or higher monster from my deck to my hand." He played the card in the Spell and Trap Zone before sorting through his deck. "And the monster I choose is Linkslayer."
"Not going for your precious dragon, Kaiba-boy?" Pegasus taunted.
"Give it a minute," Seto said as he shuffled his deck. "Next, I'll play two Melody of Awakening Dragon Spell Cards to add up to four dragons with 3000 or more Attack Points and 2500 or less Defense Points from my deck to my hand at the cost of discarding two cards to the Graveyard, so I'll toss Twin Twisters and Temple of the Mind's Eye. And the dragons I choose are my three Blue Eyes White Dragons and the Blue Eyes Alternative White Dragon." He found the proper cards, shuffled his deck, and moved the two Spell Cards to the Graveyard. "To end my turn, I'll reveal one of my Blue Eyes White Dragons to Special Summon Blue Eyes Alternative White Dragon." The crowd cheered, many gasped, as a large dragon appeared on the field. It was a slightly darker shade of white than the normal Blue Eyes White Dragon, with blue lines and highlights running along its body. The dragon roared at Pegasus, who simply smiled up at it.
"I do believe it's my turn, Kaiba-boy," Pegasus said as he drew a card. "I set one card face down." He placed a card in the Spell and Trap Zone. "Next, I'll summon Dark Rabbit in Attack Mode." He played his monster, and a tall dark rabbit with a goofy expression on his face appeared. The rabbit blew a raspberry at the dragon, which growled in return.
"Why would he summon such a weak monster to go against a dragon that powerful?" Curtis wondered. "It doesn't make sense."
"Not unless Pegasus is baiting him," Yugi guessed. "Maybe that card he played face down was a Trap Card, in which case, Kaiba's gonna wish he hadn't gotten rid of that Twin Twisters."
"It's your move, Kaiba-boy," Pegasus said.
Seto drew a new card, the Trap Card Quaking Mirror Force. "I'll put this one face down," he announced as he set it in the Spell and Trap Zone. "And I'll use my Alternative White Dragon's special effect to destroy your rabbit at the cost of not being able to attack this turn."
Pegasus grinned. "I don't think so, Kaiba-boy," he said as he activated his face down card. "You remember what the Dragon Capture Jar does, right?" The dragon was sucked into the jar that materialized on the field. "It puts all Dragon monsters into Defense Position."
Seto growled. "Fine. It's your move."
Pegasus drew a new card. "I guess I'll go ahead and tribute my Dark Rabbit for the Illusionist Faceless Mage." The rabbit faded away, replaced with a tall, faceless humanoid creature with two puppet heads on its shoulders. "Since your dragon is still technically on your side of the field, and its Defense Points are more than my mage's Attack Points, I still can't attack, so I shall pass the turn on to you."
Seto glared at the card he just drew. Blue Eyes Chaos Max Dragon wasn't going to do him much good while that Dragon Capture Jar was still on the field – and given that it was a Continuous Trap, it was going to remain until he found a way to destroy it; he was starting to regret tossing Twin Twisters in the first turn.
But then again, while visually Blue Eyes Alternative White Dragon was trapped in that jar, it was still technically on his side of the field, just in Defense Position, so he could tribute it for another Level Five or Six monster, and it just so happened that he had a Level Five monster in his hand.
"I tribute my Blue Eyes Alternative White Dragon to summon Linkslayer in Attack Position." A new monster appeared on Seto's side of the field, a strange humanoid creature wearing what looked like yellow armor and surrounded by some sort of electricity. "Now, Linkslayer, attack and destroy Illusionist Faceless Mage." Linkslayer slashed its electric swords, cutting down the mage and dropping Pegasus's Life Points to 7200. "Next, I'll use Linkslayer's special ability to send two cards from my hand to destroy your Dragon Capture Jar." He put two of his three Blue Eyes White Dragon cards in the Graveyard, and the Dragon Capture Jar shattered. "Your turn."
Pegasus picked up a new card. He grinned and chuckled.
That chuckle turned into a laugh.
"I think I know where this is going," Seto grumbled.
"You do, but do our adoring audience?" Pegasus asked. "Friends from all across the globe, get ready to enter a world of pure imagination!"
"Just get on with it, Willy Wonka," Seto snarked.
"I pay 1000 Life Points to activate Toon World!" Pegasus's Life Points dropped to 6200 as a large, cartoonish-looking book appeared on the dueling field.
"Yup, saw this coming," Joey said.
"And now," Pegasus continued, "I can Special Summon a very dear friend. Say hello to the Blue Eyes Toon Dragon."
The monster that appeared looked like a smaller version of the Blue Eyes White Dragon, but much less menacing and imposing. Like the book, it looked like a cartoon brought to life. The dragon chuckled at Seto, before turning its attention to Linkslayer.
"And now, I enter my Battle Phase and attack your Linkslayer," Pegasus announced.
Blue Eyes Toon Dragon prepared to fire a beam of energy from its mouth.
"Not so fast!" Seto yelled. "By declaring an attack, I activate my Trap Card, Quaking Mirror Force! This card forces you to put your monster in the face-down Defense Position, and there it will stay until it's destroyed." The Toon Dragon roared as its body vibrated, like it were in an earthquake, before disappearing, being replaced by a face-down card. "And now, I believe it's my turn." He drew a card, the Spell Card Return of the Dragon Lords. "I'll play the card I just drew, Return of the Dragon Lords. This card lets me Special Summon one Level Seven or Eight Dragon monster in my Graveyard to the field, and I'll bring back my Blue Eyes Alternative White Dragon." The Alternative White Dragon returned to the field; it towered over Linkslayer. "Alternative White Dragon, attack and destroy that face-down card." The Alternative White Dragon launched a stream of energy from its mouth, obliterating the face-down Toon Dragon. "Linkslayer, direct attack!"
Pegasus cried out in pain as Linkslayer's electric blades cut into his body, dropping his Life Points down to 4200.
Pegasus took a moment to catch his breath while also listening to the crowd cheer and applause. He didn't care if he lost; all that mattered was that the people in the stands enjoyed the show. And even if he did care, without his Millennium Eye, he wasn't able to see what Kaiba was holding or know what he was thinking.
"It's my move," he said as he drew a new card. "I'll place one monster in Defense Position and end my turn."
"I'm surprised it's not one of those godforsaken toons," Seto said as he pulled a new card from the top of his deck. "I summon Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands in Attack Position." A monster that looked like it was literally made of hands appeared next to Linkslayer; both monsters were sitting between the Alternative White Dragon's feet. "Next, I'll perform two Special Summons."
"Two?" Pegasus repeated.
"What, he gonna bring out that Ultimate Dragon of his?" Joey asked.
"If I know Kaiba, he's got something else up his sleeve," Yugi answered.
"First, I'll use Manju's special ability to search my deck for a Ritual Spell or monster," Seto announced. He searched through his deck. "And the card I choose is the Ritual Spell Chaos Form." He shuffled his deck after finding the right card. "And now, I'll play it."
"You know you need a Ritual monster in your hand and at least one additional monster as a tribute," Pegasus reminded him.
"Don't tell me how my own cards work!" Seto screamed. "I play Chaos Form and use the last Blue Eyes White Dragon in my hand to Ritual Summon the Ritual Monster in my hand, the Blue Eyes Chaos Max Dragon!" Several chains shot up from the floor and twisted around each other. A second later, they shattered, and in their place was a dragon much larger than even the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon. It was so large that its head nearly reached the roof of the stadium, and several people in the stands hand to duck to avoid getting hit by the dragon's enormous wings. Like the Alternative White Dragon, this white dragon was studded with blue highlights, some giving its wings and the back of its head an almost feathered look.
"That's Special Summon number one," Seto said. "Next, I'll demonstrate the new summoning technique that you yourself created this summer."
"You don't mean….You're going to perform a Link Summon?" Pegasus asked.
"What's a Link Summon?" Curtis asked Yugi.
"It's a new summoning technique that was introduced this summer," Yugi explained. "It's really the only way to bring out any monsters from your Extra Deck, since the field was changed up to go along with it. You can only use one Fusion, Synchro, or XYZ monster now, unless you have a Link Monster and it points to a spot where you can use another Extra Deck monster."
"And we're going to see it in action right now?" Joey asked. "Never thought I'd say this about rich boy Kaiba, but I kind of want to see where he's going with this."
"The monster I'm going to Link Summon," Seto announced, "requires three Effect Monsters to use as materials. So I send Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands, Linkslayer, and Blue Eyes Alternative White Dragon to the Graveyard to Link Summon Decode Talker!" The three monsters faded away. In their place was a man in dark armor with a long sword. Both the armor and the sword were brimming with electricity.
"Decode Talker, huh?" Pegasus mused. "The first Link Monster I created."
"And you may know what he does, but not many other people do," Seto said. "He gains 500 Attack Points for each monster he points to, and since he's currently pointing to my Blue Eyes Chaos Max Dragon, that brings him up from 2300 Attack Points to 2800 Attack Points. Also, Link Monsters don't have Defense Points, so he stays in Attack Position. And now that my two Special Summons are done, I'm going to enter the final Battle Phase of this duel."
"He sounds so confident," Curtis said.
"Why shouldn't he? He's got two powerful monsters on his field," Yugi replied. "Blue Eyes Chaos Max Dragon is especially dangerous because it can't be targeted or destroyed by card effects, and if it attacks a monster that's in Defense Position, it does double piercing damage."
"Which I'm sure will leave some scars on Pegasus," Joey figured.
"Blue Eyes Chaos Max Dragon!" Seto yelled. "Attack and destroy Pegasus's face-down monster!" Chaos Max fired a burst of energy from its mouth, destroying Pegasus's face-down monster, the Dark Illusionist. Since it had 1400 Defense Points, and Chaos Max did double piercing damage on defending monsters, Pegasus lost a grand total of 5200, which brought Pegasus's Life Points down to 0. "Well, look at that. I only needed to bring him out. Looks like I Link Summoned Decode Talker for nothing."
"Not exactly, Kaiba-boy," Pegasus said as the monsters faded from the field. "You were at least able to show off Link Summoning." He turned to the audience. "Did you enjoy that?" The audience's response was to applaud and cheer. "Well, there's even more exciting duels to come. The standings have been chosen, and Round One, featuring Curtis Miller facing off against Weevil Underwood, will begin soon."
Curtis immediately felt his stomach tighten into a knot. Him, facing off against Weevil Underwood? He couldn't help but feel nervous; not only was Weevil a former regional champion, but if what Joey told him yesterday was true, then he would have to make sure to keep a close eye on his deck.
He had no idea how that duel was going to turn out. All he could do was follow the Pharaoh's advice and trust in the Heart of the Cards.