Chapter 13 - Disconnected

"And Johann's opponent is…" Hitomi watched as the second bracket spun. "Erica!"

Within one of the restrooms of the Kaiba Dome, Johann let out a sigh. "Yet another child is my opponent." He remembered facing Simone in the First Stage, and another of his opponents whose defeat got him to the Second Stage. He splashed water on his face and looked at his tired reflection in the mirror. "But, a duelist is a duelist, regardless of their age."

Johann recalled his interactions with Tem. "And just because you are a child, does not mean you do not possess skill." He dried his hands on a paper towel before pulling out his deck. "Besides, children are the future." He looked through his cards and pulled out his ace monster; Demise, King of Armageddon. "And I must be the one who shapes the future. Isn't that right, my King?"

The 'kitchen' was really a corner of the apartment and fused with the living room. There was a rather used looking table in the middle of the kitchen, one its legs was kept level by a deck of playing cards, and a trio of mismatched chairs sat around it. The oven had seen better days and one of the stove knobs were missing, replaced by a rather well folded piece of aluminum. The refrigerator hummed sporadically, the radiator coughed regularly enough to set a watch to, and the coffee machine tended to sputter.

Matt Uraki watched the coffee drip into his mug, a mixture of a yawn and a groan of begrudging acceptance of having to go into work on his day off, escaped his mouth. Apparently, something had happened that warranted the news station to call him in to help cover a story, but a certain someone was withholding any more information. Matt rubbed his tired eyes and tried to focus them on the coffee machine.

"Stupid Kirk," Matt grumbled under his breath. "Treating me like his errand boy, and then keeping me in the dark about whatever is going on." He tapped the coffee maker when it spat out hot water, repeating the process until coffee dripped into his cup. "What time is it in Japan?" He turned on the television that hung in the top corner of the living room and went to change the channel. He grumbled again as he kept pressing the buttons but nothing happened. "The batteries died. Great." Matt walked over to the television and turned to knob until the channel broadcasting the tournament came on.

"He isn't dueling right now." Matt commented as the brackets scrolled under the action. "Tem's still in the tournament. Alright! I'll have to look up his highlight reels at some point. They decide matches as the tournament goes on, so I won't know when to tune in and watch his next duel live." There was a bit of static for a moment and the image flickered. "Don't tell me the TV is starting to go, too." Matt made his way to the TV corner, grabbing an old broomstick positioned under it and gave the TV a few gentle nudges. The image flickered once or twice, then settled.

"Paging contestant Johann Faust!" Matt raised his eyebrow at the announcer's words. "It is your turn to duel; please make your way to the dueling stage…"

"Faust?" Matt rubbed his chin. "Like the guy from all those occult books?" He gave a shrug. "Maybe the name is common in Europe." The image on his television doubled as a young girl took the stage. "Not again." Matt huffed, reaching for the broomstick. The image on TV suddenly became grainy and the audio sputtered, causing Matt to pull his hand away. "That's… never happened before."

Matt jumped when he felt his phone violently vibrate in his pocket. He fumbled to get it out of his pocket and unlocked it. "How did I miss seven text messages and four calls?!" Matt dialed his voicemail and quickly skimmed through the texts. "If I'm not there in thirty minutes, I'm fired?!" Matt checked the time on his phone, then looked over at the analogue clock that hung on the kitchen wall. "That was sent twenty minutes ago?! What's going on?"

"Well, our duelist Erica is waiting rather impatiently on the stage." Hitomi referred to Erica's tapping of her foot and apparent annoyed expression. "Her opponent, Johann, has been paged twice to no avail."

"He's chickening out!" Erica shouted for the umpteenth time. "Just give me the win, already!"

"It's only been four minutes." The Emcee clarified. "All duelists have a ten minute grace period before disqualification."

"What's he doing that's taking him so long?" Erica then rudely added. "He's probably just being old somewhere."

"That makes very little sense, young Erica." She jumped at the voice behind her.

"How the heck did no one notice you coming on stage?" Erica pointed at Johann's tired expression.

"That's…" Hitomi looked to the Emcee. "That's actually a really good question. Did you see him?"

"No," The Emcee admitted rather bashfully. "I was holding my head in my hand due to the headache our… excitable contestant gave me."

"Hey!" Erica turned to face the announcer's booth. "Don't make me come over there and really give you a headache, old man!"

"You'd better learn to respect…" The Emcee cleared his throat. "Ladies and gentlemen, let's give contestant Johann a warm welcome to the stage!" The audience applauded as requested, whispering amid themselves.

Johann activated his duel disk with a dull expression on his face. This was swiftly noticed by Erica, who now grinned ear to ear. "You barely made it to the stage on time, grandpa."

"It was only four minutes!" The Emcee jumped out of his seat, prompting Hitomi to grab his arm.

"You shouldn't have shown up." Erica gave a mock sigh. "Well, I guess it's time I retired you from this tournament." She activated her duel disk.

"Why am I plagued by impudent little brats?" Johann grumbled darkly.

"Impudent?! I am not an imp!" Erica drew her starting hand. "Just for that, I'm going first!"

"Impatient and confused." Johann sighed.

"That's it, gramps, I'm taking you down! Draw!"

Johann LP: 4000

Erica LP: 4000

Erica looked at her card. "I normal summon Mad Archfiend (1800) and set two cards."

"All that hullabaloo for such a droll first turn." Johann drew a card and looked at it.

From the spectating room in the waiting area, Tem furrowed his brow at the screen. "I guess even a decent guy like Johann can get fed up."

"I will activate the spell card Pre-Preparation of Rites, which allows me to add a Ritual Spell card from my deck to my hand. I can then add a monster whose name is specifically listed on said Ritual Spell card." Two cards ejected from Johann's deck. "So come to me; End of the World and Demise, King of Armageddon!"

"You play a ritual deck?" Erica scoffed. "You really are old."

Johann grimaced at his opponent before continuing his turn. "I'll activate the spell card Night Beam." His spell card fired a ray of light at Erica's left card. She began pressing a button on her duel disk, becoming more upset as nothing happened and her card was destroyed. "Night Beam prevents the targeted card from being activated in response."

"That's not fair!"

"Perhaps if you took your time and studied these things, instead of being a nuisance, you'd be aware of the card effects." Johann shook his finger at her before setting a monster and a card. "I end my-"

"Did you just call me a nuisance?" Erica interrupted him.

"Turn."

"Answer my question!" Erica shouted as she drew her card. When Johann didn't reply, Erica sucked her teeth. "I summon a second Mad Archfiend, and have the first one attack!"

"I'll activate my set card; Magic Cylinder." Johann calmly pressed a button on his duel disk. "Redirecting the attack to you as direct damage."

Erica LP: 4000 - 2200

"You would use an old card…" Erica growled. "Mad Archfiend number two, attack his monster!" Erica's monster lunged forward and attacked the face down hologram; a pink blob appeared and absorbed the attack. "Marshamallon?"

Erica LP: 2200 – 1200

"Why are you running Marshmallon in a ritual deck?"

"For moments just like this." Johann chided.

"Tch. You likely just didn't have any monsters to use for the ritual summon. I end my turn." Johann drew a card. "Just you wait, geezer, on my next turn-"

"I've had enough of that, you runt." Johann's aggressive tone shocked some members of the audience. Even Erica seemed taken aback. "All you have done since my arrival is insult both me and my deck." He glanced at his hand. "I won't give you another turn."

"Oh, am I supposed to be scared?" Erica cackled. "You talk tough but I've got more monsters than you."

"I have more life points. And you clearly don't know the effect of my ritual monster."

"I don't need to know." Erica pointed to her face down card. "I'm prepared for it either way."

"Is that so?" Johann paused for a moment. "You're prepared for your Demise?"

"I ain't afraid of some relic ritual card!"

"I see…" Johann's hand shifted and he selected another card. "I'll tribute my Marshmallon in order to summon Gaap the Divine Soldier."

"This looks like a swift end for Erica, ladies and gentlemen!" The Emcee's voice made Erica look over her shoulder. "Unless her face down card can stop Gaap from attacking, Johann is going to come out of this duel unscathed!"

"Why are you taking his side?!" Erica shook her fist at the Emcee.

"Can your card do anything to my Gaap the Divine Soldier?" Johann questioned.

"Tch…" Erica grit her teeth.

"I thought so. It must be specifically tailored to combat special summoned monsters. Thank you for giving it away. I'll now use the effect of Gaap; it gains three hundred attack until the End Phase for any number of Fiend type monsters I reveal in my hand."

"That's what you meant by Johann's already won the duel!" Hitomi gasped.

"He must really be upset with her to go for overkill!" The Emcee's tone held a bit of pleasure.

"Here; take a look at my hand, child." Johann turned the cards in his hand around.

"He's got three copies of Demise, King of Armageddon in his hand!" Hitomi pointed to the large screen showing a close up of Johann's hand.

"And two copies of End of the World!" The Emcee jumped in. "He could have ritual summoned anytime he wanted to!"

"What's the deal?" Erica watched as Gaap's attack points rose.

Gaap 2200 – 3100

"Did you really think that I would let a brat like you bask in the presence of the almighty King?" Johann's voice carried as passion took over. "There was no need for your demise to be served by his divine hand! Count yourself lucky that this soldier will cut you down mercifully, child!"

"Whoa." Someone in the audience commented.

"That just happened." Someone else uttered.

"I kinda like this guy!" Someone laughed.

"Gaap, remove this peon from the presence of your King!" Johann pointed at Erica just as the clouds overhead blocked the sun.

"I'll activate Book of Moon and target your Gaap!" Erica pressed a button on her duel disk. "What?! Why is nothing happening?!" She stared up at the giant humanoid monstrosity with claws at the end of its wings as it slowly lurched toward her.

"Gaap's initial effect makes all monsters on the field stand front and center in attack position and prevents any changes of battle position." Johann grinned, the dark circles under his eyes and lights from the hologram of his monster cast a shadow over his face. "None can hide and all shall bear witness to the arrival of the one true king! All but you, Erica."

"It's like a cheesy play! I'm sending this to my friend." An audience member pulled out their cellphone.

Erica stared up at the giant monster as it swung both of its wings down on her Mad Archfiend. She cried out as the pixels exploded and covered her head.

Erica LP: 1200 – 0

"And with a show of overwhelming force and dominance, Johann takes the win!" The Emcee leaped onto the table. "Not a single ritual summon performed, just an old fashioned beat down with a touch of skill!"

"We're seeing a lot of duelists bring their A game today; Vergil with his one turn kill against Sharon, Ares with his amazing comeback against Adam and now Johann absolutely crushing it!" Hitomi leaped into the air. "What will happen next? Stay tuned to find out soon right after a word from our sponsors!"

"I won my duel," Tem huffed as the contestants left the stage. "Why didn't I get a mention?"

"I didn't get one, either." Tem nearly fell out of his chair at the sudden appearance of Jake beside him, sitting reverse in a folding chair. "And I'd like to think that mine went really well." Tem clutched his chest and glared at Jake. "Sup?"

"Sup?" Tem caught his breath. "You keep popping out of nowhere!"

"I've been here for a couple of minutes now, actually." Tem noticed several empty snack wrappers sticking out of Jake's pockets and a few plates with crumbs under his seat.

"Why do you eat so much?" Tem pondered subconsciously.

"I'm a growing boy." Jake grinned at Tem like a child.

"I… didn't mean to ask that out loud." Tem looked beyond the large windows and saw several hundred people in the stands getting out of their seats, conversing with each other, or on their phones. His foot began to tap as he stared between them and the brackets of matches past.

Jake watched this for a moment before speaking up. "You nervous?" Tem glanced over at Jake; he placed his hands on his knee and gave a nervous chuckle. "You've dueled in a big, globally televised tournament, and won. Whether or not you got a special mention, you've still done something over ninety percent of duelists on the planet never did – or will do, for that matter."

Tem's gaze on his knee softened and he looked over to Jake with a smile. "It sounds really cool when you put it that way."

"It's really cool no matter how you put it." Jake went to recline in his chair, wobbling when he forgot that the back of the chair was in front of him. He swiftly grabbed onto the chair to regain his balance and chuckled. "Yup. Cool."

Tem let out a laugh. "Hey Jake," Tem began after a moment.

"What's up?"

"Why aren't you nervous about all these people watching you duel?"

Jake shrugged. "When I duel, I'm typically so engrossed in my plays and my opponent that I don't really have time to think about who could be watching." After a beat, he added. "Besides, I'll be popular after I score a win. So it's a literal win-win."

Tem slowly nodded. "That makes sense. So if I just focus on dueling my best, it'll all work out fine and I'll win."

"That's the spirit." Jake patted Tem on the shoulder as he stood up. "And be sure to make me look good when I eventually beat ya and win this whole thing! Later, kid." Jake walked off with a wave as Tem shot out of his seat, shaking his fist at Jake.

"I'm going to be the one who wins, so make me look good!" Tem became abruptly aware of the many employees and other duelists staring at him for his outburst. He quickly sat back down and tried to hide his embarrassment. "Since the tournament is taking a break, I should call Matt." Tem pulled out his cellphone and dialed the number, only to stop for a second. "Does our cell phone plan cover international calls?" Tem rubbed his temples. "I'd hate to add a huge charge to the phone bill…" Tem went deeper into thought. "But if I win the tournament and the prize money, what's one phone bill?" His expression darkened. "But if I lose…" Tem shook his head.

"I'll just send him an email." Tem opened the app and composed a short message. "Doing well…" he uttered as he typed. "Won my first duel…we're taking a break…root for me." Tem pressed send with a smile on his face. "I think I'm ahead of him in time, so he'll wake up and see that I'm doing well." His cellphone beeped. "Message unable to send?" Tem double checked his phone. "I should be connected to the network here. Maybe too many people are on it?" Tem got out of his seat and walked over to the information desk. "Excuse me."

"Connectivity issues?" The concierge looked super busy on multiple screens and phones.

"So it's not just me?" Tem looked around at the other staff members moving about and a handful of duelists staring at their cell phones and other devices with annoyed expressions.

"We think the system couldn't handle the strain of so many people going online at once when we started the commercial break. We should have things up and running in a while."

"That makes sense…" Tem frowned at his phone. "I'll have to send that email to matt later."

"For now, you're welcome to take a tour of the facility and help yourself to some refreshments. We have the replays of past duels as well if you want to study up on future opponents."

"Thank you…" Tem headed towards the large sliding doors that led to the main stage. A Kaiba Corp employee prevented him from heading outside, but Tem merely wanted to look out of the window at the audience. Most were chatting among themselves as advertisements and highlights from the matches so far played, but he noticed a good number of people complaining about their devices. "Yeesh. I forgot most people are obsessed with their phones." Tem turned around and looked at the lobby decorated with Duel Monsters paraphernalia.

"I guess everyone has their obsessions…"

"You're late, Uraki!" Kirk shouted.

"Systems are down all over the city; you can't expect me to be on time when I don't get messages until twenty minutes later!" Matt yelled back.

"You've got some nerve shouting at me like that!"

"Do you know what I had to do to even get this far outside of the city even this close to the meeting location that you refused to tell me about?"

"That's it, Uraki, you're out!" Kirk shouted again, his hair piece becoming crooked.

"Shut it Kirk." Janelle cut in swiftly as she tucked her phone and lit a cigarette. "Uraki, how's your equipment?"

"It works fine." He spoke to her, but the bitter tone lingered in his voice.

"I thought so. You use older stuff that's not directly connected to the networks nowadays so you're the only one we can get on short notice." She cast a dark glare at Kirk. "He's in."

"What?!" Kirk's face and ears turned red with rage. "This good for nothing-"

"He's good for recording and streaming, which is a lot more than I can say for you right now, bloaty." Kirk was fuming but apparently knew better. He pressed his lips together to contain his words, his cheeks inflating like a puffer fish.

"Get out of here, Kirk. I'll be covering this."

"You what?!" He erupted in a wheezing, echoing, high pitched noise.

"Shut up!" Janelle loomed over Kirk. "Whoever did this might still be nearby. Are you trying to get us killed?"

"Speaking of…" Matt looked up at the smoldering rubble as Janelle aimed her cigarette at Kirk's eye. "What on earth happened here?"

"That's what we're here to find out, Matt." Janelle turned to him with a wink. "You ready to go in head first and with no regard for our personal safety?"

A fond smile formed on Matt's face. "Like old times, huh?"

Janelle nodded. "Kirk. You're our get away if anything goes up in flames." Janelle looked at the rubble behind her. "And I mean that literally."

"What?" Kirk's eyes became bloodshot. "We have interns for that. I'm coming in with you!"

"Too many people going in at once is risky. And we need someone recognizable to cover for us in case someone spots the news van." Janelle put out her cigarette and gestured to Matt.

"Then you stay behind and I'll go in there." He seethed.

Janelle scoffed. "You think you've got what it takes to navigate a crumbling heap of iron? Not after I saw you scarf down those donuts on the ride over." She ignored Kirk's indignant responses and gestures. "Uraki. Start moving."

Matt retrieved his heavy duty camera with a microphone attachment and jogged after Janelle who was already halfway through the smoking entrance. Matt immediately felt his lungs burn from the smoke and his skin become matted with sweat at the heat. "Did we just walk into an explosion?"

"The aftermath." Janelle was seemingly unaffected by the environment. "Can you give me some light?"

Matt turned on the flashlight attachment and the pair could see what remained of an underground parking lot level. Some car parts were strewn apart, others were little more than blackened car frames, and burned asphalt littered the area. "Looks like it wasn't shrapnel based." Janelle ran a finger over some of the residue. "Chemical?"

"It definitely smells chemical." Matt pulled his shirt over his nose. "You might want to filter out the air somehow."

"I smoke three packs a day, Uraki. This is nothing."

"That's… that's not how that works."

"We're here to investigate what happened here, not to argue semantics. Keep up, Uraki."

"Right…" He followed behind Janelle for a moment before quipping. "Only three?"

"I'm cutting back." She gestured for Matt to move up. "What's that?" He clambered over some rubble and shined his light on what looked like a metal rectangle about the size of a large computer tower.

"Judging by its condition and the lack of shine, we might be looking at what caused this explosion."

"Perfect." Janelle used her hands to press the wrinkles out of her outfit. "Start rolling."

END