Good Day Readers and welcome to the sequel to The Lost Kingdom! Thanks to all of you for the support and I hope that you all enjoy this latest edition of the Hope sisters. This upload will focus on the Grand Prix/Grand Championship arc whilst next week we'll move onto Dawn of the Duel arc
Obviously I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh only Kylie and Katherine Hope along with the unique cards within their decks and whatever other OCs decide to crop up. Also italics symbolise a mind conversation. I would appreciate any responses that you have, please enjoy
Chapter 3: - Jounouchi VS. Mask the Rock
The first day of the KHI Grand Prix had dawned and everyone was gathered in the main stadium area as fireworks when off in the sky and airplanes drew cloud pictures of the tournament's name in the sky over head since the roof of the Blue-Eyes' dome was pulled back. The competitors were all stood on the Duel Arena except for Yugi who sat in the audience with the others, Jounouchi was attempting to taunt the others, causing Katherine to stamp on his foot as Honda made a fool of himself on the jumbo screen.
"Why am I friends with these idiots?" I whispered. Currently I was stood at the side of the arena as I went through the checklist I carried, thankfully Anzu proceeded to strike Honda across the back of his head to stop his idiocy; seeing everything was completely I reached for the Bluetooth in my ear and contacted Mokuba. "Everything's set Mokuba, let's get this tournament started," I commented.
"Ok Kylie!" Mokuba cheerfully called. After he said that, smoke immediately hissed out from the ground that lay in front of the area where the competitors were standing and lights soon followed it, pointing at the centre of the smokescreen; a podium rose up – mechanical whirring resonated through the air – with Mokuba standing on it as the smoke and light faded away revealing the young boy. "Starting now, hosted by Kaiba Corporation with the support of Industrial Illusions and Hope Industries, the most prestigious Duel Monsters Tournament, the KHI Grand Prix will now begin!" Mokuba announced. The microphone he used easily projected his voice to the very edges of the stadium.
Upon hearing that announcement, the on lookers immediately started to let out roars of cheers as Mokuba explained the rules of the tournament; simply we'd split the contestants into two blocks dubbed A and B, the Duelists would fight their way through the other Duelists in the same block in a bracket style. Eventually a Duelist from A and B Block would face off at the end and the winner would face Yugi, as Mokuba announced this, the jumbo screen shifted to show Yugi in the audience.
"Everyone, please take a look at the screen!" Mokuba called. Everyone turned their attention to the screen and it shifted to show the bracket layout of the tournament with each block indicated. "We're going to announce the players of the tournament's first round! First up is the A Block! The first challenger… Jounouchi Katsuya!" Mokuba announced. Jounouchi was quite pleased at having the first match as he exclaimed this quite loudly. "The second challenger, Mask the Rock!" Mokuba revealed. I looked up at the competitors as Mask stepped out so that Jounouchi could see him properly.
"Hey you jerk. If I win the Duel, I get to take off that mask and reveal your true face!" Jounouchi declared. At those words I felt a sweat drop manifest on my head as I shot a dumbfounded look at the blonde; it should have been really obvious who was underneath the mask seeing as the outfit he wore wasn't exactly a good disguise, it wasn't even average.
"The first match up in B Block will be… Leon Wilson VS. Richard Goat!" Mokuba announced. Once more the two competitors stepped out to face each other, Richard Goat was an actual doctor and still wore his hospital scrubs, mask and latex gloves despite there being no need for the latter two at least. "The pairings for the second matches will be announced once the first match ends!" Mokuba revealed. Cheers came from the crowd as Mokuba turned to look at Yugi. "Yugi, please come up and greet everyone!" Mokuba encouraged.
Immediately after hearing that request, Yugi began to look around with a panicked gaze in his eyes before dipping his head down, I saw Yami's soul appear beside Yugi, perhaps encouraging him on as a startled look appeared on the boy's face. It so rarely happened that Yugi ended up being shy, my sister normally filled that category; the onlookers cheered for Yugi as the others encouraged him up and the boy was backslapped out of his chair by Otogi and stumbled forward slightly as a slight blush appeared on his face.
Yugi raised his head and started waving his hand, but Mokuba demanded for Yugi to go and join him on the podium… which he did, whilst walking like a robot passed every one of the competitors. I let out a small sigh mixed with a laugh as Katherine pressed her fingers against her lips, but I noticed her focusing on Yugi who slowly started to relax his awkward walking and turned to face the crowd before waving at them, seemingly more relaxed thanks to whatever Katherine was doing via the Soul Bond.
A sudden sound cut across the air, disrupting Yugi and causing everyone to look up; the sound turned out to be a Blue-Eyes Jet that stopped over our heads and from within Seto jumped out, a jet pack strapped to his back. He hovered down to the podium as I felt like performing a face palm at the over the top entrance that Seto had just performed, he had certainly neglected to inform me of this! Once Seto landed, he swiftly motioned the microphone from a momentarily shocked Mokuba who quickly passed it over.
"Ladies and Gentlemen! I have just one thing to say. This is neither a celebration, nor a show! It's a survival game with the Duelists betting their pride! You will witness the loud cries of agony from many of the Duelists gathered here now… and the victorious cry of only one from this group! Chosen Duelists! Right now, my Kaiba Land has become a Colosseum! Will you obtain glory or total defeat? In order to survive, you must win! Show me just how determined you all are to survive!" Seto declared. The chant soon changed to the surname of my friendly acquaintance as I allowed a sigh to escape me whilst I massaged my nose.
"That bastard… in the end, he stole the spotlight for himself!" Jounouchi complained. His teeth grinded against each other and huffed a cloud out through his nose; I glanced at Seto who shot me a side long glance as I inclined my head slightly in understanding. Me and Seto had determined that the person responsible for the chaos of yesterday was within Kaiba Land and there was every chance it was one of the Duelists, so I was to keep an eye on the ones who spiked my suspicions.
The competitors left the arena, the four chosen were to head for the attractions where their battle would take place, whilst the others would wait until their match was announced. I looked at the jumbo screen as Jounouchi's match was revealed to be taking place in the Amazon Cruise whilst Leon's match was in the Water Coaster area; I saw Leon approaching the Duel site alongside Richard Goat alongside two women in nurse uniforms.
Soon the image on the screen changed to the Amazon Cruise and I quickly spotted Mask the Rock already there but when the angle panned around, I almost lost my grip on the pen I was holding as my mouth opened slightly. The reason for this was because there was NO ONE across from him, I tried to think of where Jounouchi could possibly be given that his match was going to start soon.
"You want some of this?" Jounouchi's voice came. However, it came from behind me, I twisted around and spotted the blonde standing before our friends with two partially eaten hotdogs in a hand each, I immediately ran over to him along with Mokuba and the others of our little group proceeded to lurch out of their chairs which resulted in us surrounding the blonde who appeared to be startled by our actions.
"J-Jounouchi! Why the hell are you here?!" Mokuba demanded. He looked completely frazzled by the boy languishing in this place and not on his way to the Dueling Area, which could potentially result in him being disqualified without even taking part in the tournament! I restrained the urge to smack him across the back of his head with the clipboard that I was currently death gripping.
"You want to know why? Because I'm starved as hell and I need my strength! No way am I going to fight on an empty stomach!" Jounouchi responded. He seemed quite proud of himself, but Mokuba's expression quickly shifted to one of anger as he loudly bellowed out the word for idiot in Japanese which caused the blonde to flinch back in shock at the unexpected outburst from Mokuba, who was normally well mannered.
"The first game is about to start!" Mokuba revealed. Jounouchi expression when from shocked to horrified as he stared wide eyed at Mokuba. "Listen, if you don't show up at the appointed location within ten minutes, you're disqualified!" Mokuba exclaimed. Jounouchi jerked back, probably overcome with shock at the possibility of what was most likely going to happen now.
"WHAT DID YOU SAY!" Jounouchi exclaimed. He then regained his footing and looked at Mokuba with a weird expression plastered on his face. "We can make it if we leave now," Jounouchi insisted. I chose that moment to hit him with the clipboard, expressing both my annoyance and certainty of his stupidity.
"Don't look down on the Amazon Cruise. It's a jungle and you only have ten minutes!" I exclaimed. Jounouchi jerked backwards and Honda rightfully damned him as being screwed, I allowed a heavy sigh to escape me as I looked down at Mokuba who had a pout stretched across his face, there was only one thing to do now and the boy knew it was well as I did.
"There's no helping it… in that case," Mokuba began to speak. Jounouchi lurched forward and took off running out of the stadium with everyone else quick to chase after him, except for mum and Yumiko who hovered back and watched the group take off before turning to look at me and Mokuba as I allowed a groan to escape from my throat.
"I'll presume that there is a secret route only employees are meant to know," Mum asked. I nodded my head to show that she was spot on the money with her guess. "Given that he was one of the Chosen Duelists and you chose him to participate in this tournament alongside Katherine and Rebecca, he must have some skill… but are you sure he's a good Duelist?" Mum asked. There were times when Jounouchi's stupidity made me question that little fact.
"He is… but he's also a moron at times," I admitted. I held my clipboard out to Mokuba who took it from me and I pulled free a map of the theme park. "Mokuba, get my mum and Yumiko over there! I'll catch up to those idiots and guide them!" I ordered. Without waiting for a response, I took off after the rest of them. "You guys! Wait up! I have a map!" I cried.
Thankfully some of the group did slow down and I caught to them, then Jounouchi and I immediately started yelling directions at them, we had to board a boat in order to reach the area. Upon docking the blonde took off and promptly fell into a pitfall trap since I hadn't been able to warn him in time, as he kept trekking deeper, we crossed a river filled with alligators… or crocodiles, I had trouble telling the two apart and got chased by a boulder – that brought back unpleasant memories – downhill.
Whilst that happened, I called out a direction and Jounouchi went in the complete opposite one that I'd yelled for him to follow resulting in him getting run over by the boulder and Yugi immediately realised it was Solid Vision. I confirmed most of the more dangerous additions were, Jounouchi quickly recovered and we kept going as Solid Vision snakes and bats attacked the blonde when he wandered into the nest and the blonde freaked some more.
I eventually had to drag him away and Jounouchi seemed to be on his last legs as we only had twenty seconds left before the blonde ran out of time, that scrap of knowledge sparked life into him and he swiftly took off to the Duel area. The rest of us were quick to follow him and we discovered Mokuba, alongside my mum and Yumiko stood there already with Mokuba counting down the seconds until Jounouchi ran out of time; Jounouchi arrived in front of Mokuba, wheezing like a dead man with four seconds to spare.
"You satisfied now?!" Jounouchi gasped. However, he soon realised exactly who he was speaking to and with his air regained, the blonde jerked backwards. "Huh? Why are you here before me?" Jounouchi demanded. I walked into open area, with my legs feeling a little like jelly as I leaned against the nearby bricks that made up the Duel stage.
"There's a path set aside just for staff!" Mokuba deadpanned. He threw Jounouchi's arms off of his shoulders as a firm gaze appeared within the boy's eyes. "I was going to guide you there, but you went and left before I could!" Mokuba added on. Jounouchi actually blamed Mokuba for not telling him earlier as I took in deep breaths to refresh my lungs after the unexpected exertion.
"Jounouchi!" A muffled voice called. I looked over at the source of the voice and saw Mask the Rock stood there. "Good job making it here on time! I expect no less from my student!" Mask stated. However, he flinched upon realising what he'd just said and started making panicky motions. "N-No! I-I'm not your mentor or anything!" Mask insisted. I rolled my eyes at the crazy antics.
"I have no idea what you're on about! Let's just get started!" Jounouchi insisted. I shook my head at his stupidity as the others commented that Jounouchi didn't realise who he was talking to despite how obvious it was, the two Duelists stepped onto the topmost plateau of the podium and stared at each other.
"Grandpa," Yugi spoke. It didn't cause even the faintest spark of surprise that Yugi had realised the true identity of Mask the Rock, they were family and Yugi was incredibly observant so it was kind of obvious that he would spot it, mum – not knowing this fact – gained wide eyes as she looked down at the young boy with wide eyes.
"So, you really notice, eh?" Arthur's voice asked. We turned around to see the elderly man climbing up the steps, likely having taken the staff route or a slower route in order to get here since he wasn't out of breath like we were, Yugi seemed surprised that Arthur had already known this fact. "I told him this definitely wouldn't work," Arthur admitted. A small hum caught our attention and we turned to look at the source which happened to be my mum and she was looking at Yugi.
"By 'Grandpa', do you mean Muto Suguroku-san?" Mum asked. Yugi nodded his head to show that this was correct and she let a small 'ah' escape from her lips. "Well then, this should be a most interesting Duel to witness," Mum stated. She turned to look at the two Duelists who had traded Decks and were shuffling the opponent's Deck.
"But why's he wearing that weird disguise? And it's totally obvious!" Honda spoke. Anzu pointed out that our blonde friend hadn't realised the truth, so the disguise might be partially working, but Jounouchi was a little… dense. "And he calls him, his student?" Honda asked. Otogi wondered how Suguroku was going to Duel and admitted to looking forward to witnessing the Duel.
"Yeah… my grandpa's strong," Yugi admitted. Mokuba moved over and proceeded to ask if Suguroku was actually that strong, Honda proceeded to look up at me and asked why I had selected him to participate in the tournament. "I'm curious too Kylie-san, why did you choose Grandpa to participate?" Yugi added on.
"I didn't actually. Suguroku-san called me and started begging for me to include him," I admitted. Everyone seemed surprised by this admission as I shrugged my shoulders. "He was the one who taught Yugi to Duel, so I thought he'd be a good challenge," I admitted. It had been a reasonable request and Seto hadn't seen anything against letting Suguroku in once I'd explained the situation to him, in fact he mentioned something about apologising to the old man by inviting him… he also clammed up when I tried to get more information out of him.
"Come to think of it, I've never seen your grandfather Duel before," Anzu admitted. The two Duelists swapped their Deck's back and proceeded to walk so that they were far apart from each other before turning back to face their opponent as Jounouchi called out an insult to the masked man, I wondered how Jounouchi was going to react when he learned the truth, Suguroku brushed off the insult and simply agreed.
Jounouchi – LP: 4000
Mask the Rock – LP: 4000
"I'll go first! It's my turn! Draw!" Jounouchi declared. He pulled the card free from the Deck and looked at it. "I Summon Swordsman of Landstar in Attack Mode!" Jounouchi announced. The child like Monster appeared on the field as Jounouchi reached for more cards in his hand. "Also, I set two cards. Turn end," Jounouchi stated. The cards were placed into the Magic and Trap zone.
Swordsman of Landstar – Attribute: Earth, Type: Warrior, Level: 3, ATK/500, DEF/1200
"My turn! Draw!" Suguroku announced. He pulled a card free and looked at it. "I set two cards on the field," Suguroku stated. The two cards appeared on the field. "I then Summon Wandering Mummy in Attack Mode!" Suguroku declared. He slapped the card onto the card reader and when the Monster was projected, I was relieved that Katherine wasn't present given her great dislike of the undead.
Wandering Mummy – Attribute: Earth, Type: Undead, Level: 4, ATK/1500, DEF/1500
"I end my turn!" Suguroku declared. They were feeling each other out for both of their first turns, but Suguroku knew exactly what kind of Duelist Jounouchi was and I wouldn't put it passed him to have come up with countermeasures for the blonde and his grandson, it would be interesting to see how this was challenge was overcome.
"My turn! Draw!" Jounouchi declared. The card was pulled out and Jounouchi looked at it before raising his eyes. "I Summon Tiny Guardian in Attack Mode!" Jounouchi declared. The new Monster was brought onto the field and I wondered what Jounouchi was going to do since neither either of his Monster was strong enough to clear out Suguroku's Monster.
Tiny Guardian – Attribute: Wind, Type: Warrior, Level: 4, ATK/1400, DEF/1800
"And I attack Wandering Mummy with Swordsman of Landstar!" Jounouchi declared. I raised an eyebrow at that declaration whilst Honda immediately called Jounouchi an idiot for attacking a stronger Monster. "Shut up I know that! I activate the Instant Magic, Angel's Dice! I can multiply my Monster's Attack Points based on the number I roll on the dice!" Jounouchi explained. The little angel and its' blue die were projected onto the field and the die was quickly thrown.
"I read right through that! Reverse card, open! The Permanent Trap, The Legendary Gambler!" Suguroku declared. The card rose up and from it an arm extended and tossed an ordinary die, the two dice clattered across the stones as Angel's Dice landed on a six only to be smacked by the Legendary Gambler's die; Jounouchi demanded an explanation. "This card activates whenever the opponent uses dice. If my roll is higher than my opponents, I cancel out the effect," Suguroku explained. Jounouchi's reaction was a freak out which was appropriate.
The two dice clattered over the stones once more and Angel's Dice rolled over and came to a stop, showing a four; my eyes immediately darted over to the Legendary Gambler's die which spun to a stop on a six. Because of this Angel's Dice was cancelled out, but Jounouchi refused to give up and proceeded to activate Demon's Dice, apparently not realising what Suguroku had called the type of Trap.
Demon's Dice clattered across the stones before Legendary Gambler unleashed its' own die, the two collided in the air before dropping back to the ground. Demon's Dice came out as a five, which got Jounouchi rather excited until the white die proceeded to clatter to a stop… once more landing on a six, cancelling out Demon's Dice.
Since both of Jounouchi's Dice cards had been cancelled out and he had no other cards face down on the field, all Jounouchi could do was watch as his little childish Monster flew over to the bandage wrapped Monster. It was too late for Jounouchi to call off the attack and Wandering Mummy unleashed a punch into Swordsman of Landstar, quickly destroying the childish Monster.
Jounouchi – LP: 4000 – LP: 3000
"I have read entirely through you!" Suguroku declared. Jounouchi flinched backwards, but his eyes still blazed with determination and he activate Tiny Guardian's Special Effect in order to force it into Defence Mode, that was necessary to protect his Life Points and he was forced to end his turn, much to his dejection.
"As expected of Jounouchi's mentor," Honda admitted. Anzu added on her own agreement with those words, Suguroku then started his turn and pulled a card from his Deck, Suguroku swiftly activated his other face down known as Absolute Non-Aggression Area, which sealed off Jounouchi's ability to Normal Summon or Special Summon on his next turn so long as Suguroku discarded a card on his turn; thankful for Jounouchi, it wasn't Permanent.
"I'll also activate the Permanent Magic card, Mirage of Nightmare, from my hand!" Suguroku declared. He slipped the card into the Magic and Trap zone, causing it to be projected. "With this card, during the opponent's Standby Phase, I can draw from my Deck until I hold four cards and during my Standby Phase, I have to discard the same number of cards at random," Suguroku explained. I sensed Yami appear as he and Yugi had a conversation about Suguroku's way of Dueling with Yugi suspecting that Suguroku had another plan in place. "I'll set a card and end my turn," Suguroku calmly stated.
"My turn! Draw!" Jounouchi declared. Since it had hit Jounouchi's Standby Phase, Mirage of Nightmare activated and Suguroku drew three cards. "But on your turn, you have to discard the same number of cards in exchange, right?!" Jounouchi declared. He even proceeded to point at his opponent as if to make a point to the poorly masked man.
"No. Reverse card, open! Emergency Provisions! This card lets me send any number of Magic and Trap cards on my field to the Graveyard and recover one thousand Life Points for each card!" Suguroku explained. Jounouchi was shocked by the card's effect and the obvious path that this was going to follow. "And the card I send to the Graveyard is Mirage of Nightmare! Now when it's my turn, I don't have to discard any cards," Suguroku pointed out.
Mask the Rock – LP: 4000 – LP: 5000
"Those are some cheap tricks you keep using! I'll beat the hell out of you for sure now!" Jounouchi vowed. He was losing his cool, which was only going to be worse for Jounouchi than for anything else in the Duel, Suguroku reminded Jounouchi of Absolute Non-Aggression Area still being in effect. "I know that! Turn End!" Jounouchi declared. I allowed a small groan to slip from me as he could have at least tried to do something instead of just ending his turn like that.
"Now then, it's my turn. Draw!" Suguroku announced. He pulled the card free and quickly moved to select a card. "I activate the Field Magic from my hand, Ancient Capital – Ancient City!" Suguroku declared. As a result of the field Magic, a brilliant light began to blossom into our vision and when it faded, a building was standing behind Suguroku, perfectly melding with the platform we stood on.
"Wh-what is that?" Jounouchi questioned. I raised an eyebrow at the sight of the towering city as everyone else also gaped at the sight, Suguroku didn't answer Jounouchi as he simply decided to release Wandering Mummy in order to Advance Summon a Monster known as Ancient Giant in Attack Mode, the massive black rock creature easily towered over our heads.
Ancient Giant – Attribute: Earth, Type: Rock, Level: 5, ATK/2200, DEF/1100
"However, if this card doesn't attack the opponent in a turn, the player controlling this card suffers three hundred points of damage," Suguroku explained. That was one nasty side effect that it had attached to it and I pressed my teeth against my bottom lip in thought. "And also, the Permanent Magic from my hand! Ancient Key, activate!" Suguroku announced. Golden light gathered at the door of the Ancient City and it gathered together to shape an antique key. "Due to this card's effect, I can Special Summon two Stone Giant Tokens in Attack Mode!" Suguroku announced. In response, golden light flood out from the turning key and two stone creatures, much shorter than Ancient Giant, appeared.
Stone Giant Token – Attribute: Earth, Type: Rock, Level: 3, ATK/400, DEF/2200 (X2)
"In the even these Stone Giant Tokens are not used to attack the opponent, the player will receive five hundred points of damage! I use Ancient Giant to attack Tiny Guardian!" Suguroku declared. The massive creature lunged forward and swung its' fist out, shattering Jounouchi's Monster into nothing. "And then I'll use the two Giant Stone tokens to direct attack the player!" Suguroku declared. The creatures charged forward and smashed into Jounouchi, who screamed as the piercing blows struck him.
Jounouchi – LP: 3000 – LP: 2600
Jounouchi – LP: 2600 – LP: 2200
"I set one card face down and end my turn," Suguroku stated. Jounouchi was in a serious pinch, that much was fairly obvious, but I wondered how Jounouchi would react to this.