CHAPTER 3: PENDANT'S VOICE
The following day at school, Ken and Stefan were just discussing the tournament on the courtyard before the first bell rang. Then the unexpected appeared. Ivan.
"So, your first duel is tonight, right?" he asked.
"Why would you care?" Ken asked. "You'll probably find a photo op somewhere."
"We might have gotten off on the wrong start," Ivan said.
"Yeah, I guess," Ken said, and they shook hands.
"Good luck on tonight's duel," Ivan said. "In fact..." He reached for his pocket and pulled out a card, giving it to Ken. "Sword of The Deep-Seated. It'll power up any monster's attack and defense by 500 points." And he walked off.
"Umm.thanks," Ken said. He put it away in his backpack.
"So tonight's your big night, huh?" Stefan said.
"My first tournament duel," Ken said proudly.
"You nervous?"
"Why should I be? I'm just dueling for fun."
"Yeah, of course," Stefan said sarcastically. "I'll bet by the time it's your turn to duel, your stomach will be full of butterflies."
Ken didn't take the bet and he was glad. The hours seemed to pass by quickly and he was already up on the arena, shuffling his deck. He was more than nervous. He wondered how Stefan made it past his first duel.
"And on the other side of the field," the announcer said, "one of last year's proud semi-finalists, Jenny Wood!"
A really pretty girl with long, shining brown hair came up to the arena and smiled at Ken. All he could do was smile back. He was so not ready for this duel.
"Rookies go first," the announcer said.
Ken looked at the hand he'd drawn. He had good old Flame Cerebrus (ATK 2100 DEF/1800) in it. And that's the monster he put down. "I summon the Flame Cerebrus!"
Jenny smiled and drew a card and placed it in attack position. It was the Red Eyes Black Dragon (ATK 2400 DEF/2000.) And she put a magic card on top of it. "I summon the Red Eyes Black Dragon and I'll equip it with the Sword of Dark Destruction, raising its attack points to 2800. And I'll attack, destroying your Flame Cerebrus and dropping your Life Points down to 1300!"
"Oooh, Jenny has made a nice dent in Ken's Life Points!" the announcer said.
The Flame Cerebrus was gone. Ken was nervous. He drew the Sword of the Deep- Seated, but he figured he should save it for later. All he had to put down now is a Steel Scorpion in defense mode. "I'll put this card in defense," he said. "Your move."
"Red Eyes Black Dragon, attack!" Jenny said, and the Steel Scorpion was gone. The next few turns consisted of Ken putting down defense monsters, and Jenny annihilating every one of them with her Red Eyes Black Dragon. And then a miracle happened.
Ken drew his strongest monster, the Blue Eyes White Dragon (ATK 3000, DEF 2500). He looked up at Jenny like Kaiba would look at him. He even did Kaiba's tone of voice. "Your Red Eyes Black Dragon.it's good. I believe it's your prized monster, right?"
"Yes, took me a while to get it," Jenny answered.
"Well, it's no match for my next card!" Ken said. "I summon the Blue Eyes White Dragon!" The crowd gasped as the hologram of the Blue Eyes appeared.
"This is amazing!" the announcer said. Ken Richter, our rookie, seems to be the owner of one of the world's four Blue Eyes White Dragons! What a highlight of the evening!" Ken could see Ivan in the audience, and even he was stunned.
"And I'm not finished," Ken said. "I will equip my Blue Eyes White Dragon with the Sword of The Deep-Seated, which will raise his attack points to 3500!" Ken saw Ivan smiling, in the audience. "And now I'll attack, destroying your Red Eyes and bringing your Life Points down to 1200!" Jenny did not expect this to happen. Ken was proud of his move.
GOOD JOB.
Ken flinched. He heard something in his mind. Like a voice. And it sounded really familiar. It was too weird. He figured it might have been loud shout from a fan or something. He had to get on with the duel.
Jenny drew from her hand. Ken knew that having her prized monster be wiped out in the duel so early must have been tough. For the next few turns she kept putting in defense monsters. The audience got bored. Until..
Ken drew a Stop Defense, and used it to turn Jenny's current defense monster face-up, revealing it to be the Baby Dragon (ATK 1200 DEF/700.)
"Blue Eyes White Dragon, attack the Baby Dragon!" Ken said. The Baby Dragon was destroyed and Jenny's Life Points dropped to zero. "You lose."
"And the rookie Ken Richter defeats Jenny Woods!" the announcer said. "The fans cheered."
After the duel, Ken sat down next to Stefan and enjoyed the rest of the duels. He was proud he survived the first round. But there was far too much pressure. So much for fun.
The eighth and final duel of the evening included Holly Smith, the girl who dueled Ivan the previous night. She won the duel with Empress Judge, and a few magic cards equipped to her.
As the tournament ended for that night, Ken and Stefan were on their way out when Ken heard it inside his head again. The voice.
GO TO THE BACK OF THE CONVENTION CENTER. COME ALONE.
And Ken was insane. He actual wanted to go. He needed to find out what it was. "Umm.I got to bathroom," Ken said. "I'll be right back."
And he went into the back lot of the building. He saw someone waiting. It was Ivan. But Ivan's eyes were glowing red. "Hello, Ken."
"What's going on? Did you send those voices?" It had to be. Ken figured it out. The voices he heard did sound like Ivan's.
YES. IT WAS ME.
"What's going on? What do you want?" Ken was completely freaked out.
I WANT YOUR PENDANT. Ivan reached for inside his shirt and pulled out a necklace with a golden pendant. I KNOW YOU HAVE ONE.
Now Ken was definitely freaked. He did have a pendant. His mother gave it to him before she passed away. Then, he did the bravest thing he could do in a situation like this. "I can't. My mother gave it to me."
Then Ivan used his actual voice to speak. But it sounded like a cartoon dragon's voice. It could never belong to a human. "Understandable. Then I'll have to win it from you. You see, I can create deals in this realm with duels. If I win, I get what I want. I don't even need the other person's permission to create a deal."
Ken didn't understand. "What kind of deal are you going to make?"
"First I must tell a story. In ancient Egyp. that's where Duel Monster originated from. They were not cards back then, no. Pharaohs used real monsters and had battles. They called them Shadow Games But the magic of the Shadow Games was sealed away. But the Egyptians created a card game to remember the games by. Centuries later, near the end of the magic age, 7 Egyptians locked their souls away into 7 pendants. They knew a location of a place where the Shadow Games could be released. But in order for them to return, the 7 Lost Pendants must all be brought together and one place and activated. I am Makaro, the spirit of one of the Egyptians. Because this Ivan had evil in him, he was able to activate the pendant he wore and release my spirit. And I can take control of him at certain times. But he knows what's happening. And sometimes he use my powers. I am on a quest to release all of us into this realm. But I need your pendant!"
"You.can't.have it," Ken managed to say.
"Wrong," the "spirit" Makaro said. "We will hold a duel. If I win, I get your pendant. "If I lose, my spirit will not bother Ivan for the remainder of the tournament and you keep your pendant. You have no choice. But first.."
The ground, sky and buildings disappeared. The entire area was surrounded by black, with small white and purple stripes. Like some sort of vortex.
"Welcome to the Shadow Realm," Makaro/Ivan said. "This is the dimension where the ancient pharaohs held the Shadow Games. But don't worry, I will bring us back after I win." Then a table with two chairs appeared. Obviously meant for the duel. "Come sit. Shuffle your deck and let's begin."
Ken and Makaro/Ivan sat, shuffled their decks, and the duel began.
* * * In the front lot of the convention center.
Stefan looked around. "Where is he.?"
".supreme dragon."
Stefan turned around and saw the announcer of the tournament talking to a police officer. "We checked the vault where we kept that rare card. Somebody has stolen the card."
"We'll look into the matter," the police officer said. "What the.the building's on fire!" Stefan quickly looked back at the convention center and saw inside the windows that the whole place was on fire.
He panicked. Ken was still in there! Stefan ran toward the back of the building. He knew that the police officer would stop him from going into through the front. But nobody would notice him sneaking toward the back. And besides, the bathrooms were near the back anyway. If Stefan could get to Ken in time, he could warn him that the inside of the-
"Wait!"
Stefan turned and saw a teenage girl that was in the final duel of the evening.
"I'm Holly," she said. "Where are you going, the whole building's on fire."
"My friend Ken is still in there," Stefan said. "I'm not leaving him!" Stefan continued running and as he went around the final corner to the back lot of the building he stopped dead. There was a whole in the air. Like a black vortex. "What the heck is that?"
As Holly arrived she received the same reaction Stefan did. "What is that?!" But there was no time to discuss in because the vortex blew them both in.
* * * Back at the Shadow Realm.
The two duelists had barely drawn their first five cards when the whole background of the Shadow Realm began to fade away.
"No!" Ivan/Makaro said. "Someone is attempting to enter the Shadow Realm! It's causing a rip in the time/space continuum!"
Ken watched as Stefan and the Holly girl who had dueled Ivan appeared. But the Shadow Realm didn't go away. They watched as Ivan stopped panicking and stopped moving. He was completely frozen.
"Okay, somebody please tell me what exactly is going on here," Holly said.
"I wouldn't mind having that question answered as well," Stefan said.
Ken explained everything to them starting with the weird voice he started hearing, and all the way to the story about the 7 Pendants.
Stefan said, "And what's going to happen n-"
Just then, Ken, Stefan, and Holly were scared to death as Ivan let out a terrible scream. "AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"
What happened next was unexplainable. First there was one Ivan, then there were two. It was like Ivan split into two bodies. But they were different. One had the normal appearance of Ivan, the blonde hair and the gothic black clothes. But the other Ivan had silver hair and the eyes were actually red! And the second Ivan was the only one wearing the golden pendant.
The second Ivan let out an evil grin. "How are you guys doing in the Shadow Realm?"
All three of them didn't answer because they all knew the horrible truth. The second Ivan wasn't real at all. The spirit Makaro had split from Ivan's body and created its own. "You're Makaro," Ken said.
"Doesn't take a genius to figure that out," Makaro said.
"What have I done.?" the real Ivan said. "When I first found that pendant, I knew it was bad news. But I used its powers anyway."
"Correct," Makaro said. "And now I possess every single on of those powers. But the reason I did this is because I needed only one. Only one power that I could only use if I had my own body with full control. The power of time. We are here in the Shadow Realm, away from the other plane you four live in. But now, I will forward the time in your plane by thirty years, and I will put myself in the time-forward as well. For, during those forty years, I will embark on a journey and collect all seven pendants and bring back the Shadow Games to earth. The games will still be cards. But I will make it so that real monsters can be summoned from those cards." Makaro lifted his finger and pointed to a random spot in the Shadow Realm and then a white portal appeared. "This will return you to your world, but thirty years ahead of your time." And then Makaro disappeared into thin air.
"I can't believe this," Ivan said, shamefully facing the others. "I never meant for this to happen. I'm so sorry."
"Wait a second," Ken said. "What about my pendant? He hasn't taken it. He can't release the Shadow Games without all seven on them.
"You don't understand," Ivan said. "He already has your pendant. As he transported you to the Shadow Realm, he switched your pendant with a fake one, for fear that he might lose the duel."
"So what now?" Stefan asked. "Should we just on into the portal? Should we just enter a world thirty years ahead of how it's supposed to be?"
"Wait!" Holly said. "I think that this is a crazy idea, but it just might work!"
"What?" all three boys asked.
"Ivan said that from every Duel Monsters card the monster itself can be summoned. So as soon as we return to the earth, every monster in our deck will be able to work like that."
"So what's your point?" Ken asked.
"Watch," Holly said. She pulled out her deck and searched from it until she found a Time Wizard. She walked over towards the portal, holding the Time Wizard, and stuck her hand into it. Then she pulled it out.
"What are you doing?" Stefan asked.
"Okay, let's see," Holly said, raising her hand with the card in the air. "I summon the Time Wizard!" The card in Holly's hand glowed and an actual Time Wizard appeared right in front of her.
"You're able to summon an actual Time Wizard, but how will that help?" Ken asked.
"Here it goes," Holly said. "Time Wizard, I want you to adjust that portal so that it will transport us to the same destination, but on the date October, 1st, 2002."
"Can he do that?" Ivan asked.
"Let's see," Holly said. The Time Wizard aimed his staff at the portal and shot out a bright blue beam. He then disappeared. "I think he did it."
"Do we go in now?" Ken asked.
"Yes, we do," Ivan said. The four duelists each walked into the white portal.
Immediately Holly, Ivan, Stefan, and Ken appeared right behind the burning convention center. "We're back," Ken said.
"But we've got work to do," Ivan said. "Starting right now, Makaro has begun to collect all seven pendants."
"And we've got to stop him," Holly said.
"But what if he sends us to the Shadow Realm again and messes with time once more?" Ken asked.
"I searched Makaro's memory and knowledge when were one," Ivan said. "Performing an act such as going into the Shadow Realm and doing a thirty- year time-forward with even two pendants will drain a few month's power from them. "They won't work now. And we've got to use this period of time to stop him."
"But where do we start?" Stefan asked.
"There is indeed another person with one of the 7 Pendants here in this city."
Not that many people had left the scene of the fire. When the fire department came, everyone stepped back, but continued watching. When the fire was gone, the announcer told all duelists to gather around.
"We're sorry," the announcer said. "But due to this fire, the Duel Monsters Portland City tournament will be postponed." The crowd sank into depression. "We have all your information, so you will receive a letter in the mail regarding when and where the remainder of the tournament will take place."
"Lets meet here tomorrow at five," Holly said. "And we'll go after Makaro."
"Listen," Ivan said. "Makaro isn't an everyday person. He's not going to be patient. He's probably going after the third pendant right now. And once he gets it, that will be all he'll need to use the power and get the other four pendants with little effort. I say we go get him now! If one pendants destroyed, he won't be able to bring all seven together."
"So where do we find the person with the next pendant?" Ken asked.
"That's not what we're going to be doing," Ivan said. "We're going to go after Makaro himself, and we'll destroy the two pendants that he already has."
"Can we only destroy yours?" Ken asked. "Mine was a gift from my mother."
"Too late," a voice behind them said. They turned around and saw him. Makaro.
"Oh no." Stefan said.
"That's right," Makaro said. He reached down into his shirt and pulled out three pendants."
"I'll get you." Ivan said and ran and dived right toward Makaro. Ivan grabbed Makaro by his shirt and slammed him into the ground.
"What do you think you're doing?!" Makaro yelled.
Through little effort, Ivan managed to get all three of the pendants away from Makaro. "Here," Ivan said, throwing Ken's pendant to him. Then he turned and faced Makaro. "There's a little rule in life I've always hated."
"Hand them back to me!" Makaro yelled.
Ivan aimed his own pendant at Makaro and in a flash of light, Makaro was absorbed into it. Ivan quick ran over to a nearby dumpster and threw both of the pendants in there.
"We should have just destroyed them," Ken said.
"They can't be," Ivan said. "They're enchanted to never break."
"Weird," Stefan said.
"Well, I think we should all head home," Ivan said.
As Ken left he though that was too easy.
* * * Esplin Association Headquarters.
Mr. Esplin slammed his fists onto his desk. "Now they're going to expect me to pay for that damn convention center. And if they don't, they're going to sue me! This bill will probably take a twentieth of my entire company! I'm going to find out who put that place on fire, and when I do I'm going to force them into paying!"
Mr. Esplin looked through his private network and looked through the network tapes of the surveillance cameras. He looked through a few parts of the building and then the tape of the back lot of the convention center. Soon he saw two boys standing there and talking. He recognized one of them, which was Ivan Griffin, the favorite to win the tournament. He watched and watched until he understood what was happening. He then looked at another tape of the front lot in the convention center. The end of the tape showed Ivan throwing two golden pendants into a dumpster. Mr. Esplin smiled. "Interesting."
The following day at school, Ken and Stefan were just discussing the tournament on the courtyard before the first bell rang. Then the unexpected appeared. Ivan.
"So, your first duel is tonight, right?" he asked.
"Why would you care?" Ken asked. "You'll probably find a photo op somewhere."
"We might have gotten off on the wrong start," Ivan said.
"Yeah, I guess," Ken said, and they shook hands.
"Good luck on tonight's duel," Ivan said. "In fact..." He reached for his pocket and pulled out a card, giving it to Ken. "Sword of The Deep-Seated. It'll power up any monster's attack and defense by 500 points." And he walked off.
"Umm.thanks," Ken said. He put it away in his backpack.
"So tonight's your big night, huh?" Stefan said.
"My first tournament duel," Ken said proudly.
"You nervous?"
"Why should I be? I'm just dueling for fun."
"Yeah, of course," Stefan said sarcastically. "I'll bet by the time it's your turn to duel, your stomach will be full of butterflies."
Ken didn't take the bet and he was glad. The hours seemed to pass by quickly and he was already up on the arena, shuffling his deck. He was more than nervous. He wondered how Stefan made it past his first duel.
"And on the other side of the field," the announcer said, "one of last year's proud semi-finalists, Jenny Wood!"
A really pretty girl with long, shining brown hair came up to the arena and smiled at Ken. All he could do was smile back. He was so not ready for this duel.
"Rookies go first," the announcer said.
Ken looked at the hand he'd drawn. He had good old Flame Cerebrus (ATK 2100 DEF/1800) in it. And that's the monster he put down. "I summon the Flame Cerebrus!"
Jenny smiled and drew a card and placed it in attack position. It was the Red Eyes Black Dragon (ATK 2400 DEF/2000.) And she put a magic card on top of it. "I summon the Red Eyes Black Dragon and I'll equip it with the Sword of Dark Destruction, raising its attack points to 2800. And I'll attack, destroying your Flame Cerebrus and dropping your Life Points down to 1300!"
"Oooh, Jenny has made a nice dent in Ken's Life Points!" the announcer said.
The Flame Cerebrus was gone. Ken was nervous. He drew the Sword of the Deep- Seated, but he figured he should save it for later. All he had to put down now is a Steel Scorpion in defense mode. "I'll put this card in defense," he said. "Your move."
"Red Eyes Black Dragon, attack!" Jenny said, and the Steel Scorpion was gone. The next few turns consisted of Ken putting down defense monsters, and Jenny annihilating every one of them with her Red Eyes Black Dragon. And then a miracle happened.
Ken drew his strongest monster, the Blue Eyes White Dragon (ATK 3000, DEF 2500). He looked up at Jenny like Kaiba would look at him. He even did Kaiba's tone of voice. "Your Red Eyes Black Dragon.it's good. I believe it's your prized monster, right?"
"Yes, took me a while to get it," Jenny answered.
"Well, it's no match for my next card!" Ken said. "I summon the Blue Eyes White Dragon!" The crowd gasped as the hologram of the Blue Eyes appeared.
"This is amazing!" the announcer said. Ken Richter, our rookie, seems to be the owner of one of the world's four Blue Eyes White Dragons! What a highlight of the evening!" Ken could see Ivan in the audience, and even he was stunned.
"And I'm not finished," Ken said. "I will equip my Blue Eyes White Dragon with the Sword of The Deep-Seated, which will raise his attack points to 3500!" Ken saw Ivan smiling, in the audience. "And now I'll attack, destroying your Red Eyes and bringing your Life Points down to 1200!" Jenny did not expect this to happen. Ken was proud of his move.
GOOD JOB.
Ken flinched. He heard something in his mind. Like a voice. And it sounded really familiar. It was too weird. He figured it might have been loud shout from a fan or something. He had to get on with the duel.
Jenny drew from her hand. Ken knew that having her prized monster be wiped out in the duel so early must have been tough. For the next few turns she kept putting in defense monsters. The audience got bored. Until..
Ken drew a Stop Defense, and used it to turn Jenny's current defense monster face-up, revealing it to be the Baby Dragon (ATK 1200 DEF/700.)
"Blue Eyes White Dragon, attack the Baby Dragon!" Ken said. The Baby Dragon was destroyed and Jenny's Life Points dropped to zero. "You lose."
"And the rookie Ken Richter defeats Jenny Woods!" the announcer said. "The fans cheered."
After the duel, Ken sat down next to Stefan and enjoyed the rest of the duels. He was proud he survived the first round. But there was far too much pressure. So much for fun.
The eighth and final duel of the evening included Holly Smith, the girl who dueled Ivan the previous night. She won the duel with Empress Judge, and a few magic cards equipped to her.
As the tournament ended for that night, Ken and Stefan were on their way out when Ken heard it inside his head again. The voice.
GO TO THE BACK OF THE CONVENTION CENTER. COME ALONE.
And Ken was insane. He actual wanted to go. He needed to find out what it was. "Umm.I got to bathroom," Ken said. "I'll be right back."
And he went into the back lot of the building. He saw someone waiting. It was Ivan. But Ivan's eyes were glowing red. "Hello, Ken."
"What's going on? Did you send those voices?" It had to be. Ken figured it out. The voices he heard did sound like Ivan's.
YES. IT WAS ME.
"What's going on? What do you want?" Ken was completely freaked out.
I WANT YOUR PENDANT. Ivan reached for inside his shirt and pulled out a necklace with a golden pendant. I KNOW YOU HAVE ONE.
Now Ken was definitely freaked. He did have a pendant. His mother gave it to him before she passed away. Then, he did the bravest thing he could do in a situation like this. "I can't. My mother gave it to me."
Then Ivan used his actual voice to speak. But it sounded like a cartoon dragon's voice. It could never belong to a human. "Understandable. Then I'll have to win it from you. You see, I can create deals in this realm with duels. If I win, I get what I want. I don't even need the other person's permission to create a deal."
Ken didn't understand. "What kind of deal are you going to make?"
"First I must tell a story. In ancient Egyp. that's where Duel Monster originated from. They were not cards back then, no. Pharaohs used real monsters and had battles. They called them Shadow Games But the magic of the Shadow Games was sealed away. But the Egyptians created a card game to remember the games by. Centuries later, near the end of the magic age, 7 Egyptians locked their souls away into 7 pendants. They knew a location of a place where the Shadow Games could be released. But in order for them to return, the 7 Lost Pendants must all be brought together and one place and activated. I am Makaro, the spirit of one of the Egyptians. Because this Ivan had evil in him, he was able to activate the pendant he wore and release my spirit. And I can take control of him at certain times. But he knows what's happening. And sometimes he use my powers. I am on a quest to release all of us into this realm. But I need your pendant!"
"You.can't.have it," Ken managed to say.
"Wrong," the "spirit" Makaro said. "We will hold a duel. If I win, I get your pendant. "If I lose, my spirit will not bother Ivan for the remainder of the tournament and you keep your pendant. You have no choice. But first.."
The ground, sky and buildings disappeared. The entire area was surrounded by black, with small white and purple stripes. Like some sort of vortex.
"Welcome to the Shadow Realm," Makaro/Ivan said. "This is the dimension where the ancient pharaohs held the Shadow Games. But don't worry, I will bring us back after I win." Then a table with two chairs appeared. Obviously meant for the duel. "Come sit. Shuffle your deck and let's begin."
Ken and Makaro/Ivan sat, shuffled their decks, and the duel began.
* * * In the front lot of the convention center.
Stefan looked around. "Where is he.?"
".supreme dragon."
Stefan turned around and saw the announcer of the tournament talking to a police officer. "We checked the vault where we kept that rare card. Somebody has stolen the card."
"We'll look into the matter," the police officer said. "What the.the building's on fire!" Stefan quickly looked back at the convention center and saw inside the windows that the whole place was on fire.
He panicked. Ken was still in there! Stefan ran toward the back of the building. He knew that the police officer would stop him from going into through the front. But nobody would notice him sneaking toward the back. And besides, the bathrooms were near the back anyway. If Stefan could get to Ken in time, he could warn him that the inside of the-
"Wait!"
Stefan turned and saw a teenage girl that was in the final duel of the evening.
"I'm Holly," she said. "Where are you going, the whole building's on fire."
"My friend Ken is still in there," Stefan said. "I'm not leaving him!" Stefan continued running and as he went around the final corner to the back lot of the building he stopped dead. There was a whole in the air. Like a black vortex. "What the heck is that?"
As Holly arrived she received the same reaction Stefan did. "What is that?!" But there was no time to discuss in because the vortex blew them both in.
* * * Back at the Shadow Realm.
The two duelists had barely drawn their first five cards when the whole background of the Shadow Realm began to fade away.
"No!" Ivan/Makaro said. "Someone is attempting to enter the Shadow Realm! It's causing a rip in the time/space continuum!"
Ken watched as Stefan and the Holly girl who had dueled Ivan appeared. But the Shadow Realm didn't go away. They watched as Ivan stopped panicking and stopped moving. He was completely frozen.
"Okay, somebody please tell me what exactly is going on here," Holly said.
"I wouldn't mind having that question answered as well," Stefan said.
Ken explained everything to them starting with the weird voice he started hearing, and all the way to the story about the 7 Pendants.
Stefan said, "And what's going to happen n-"
Just then, Ken, Stefan, and Holly were scared to death as Ivan let out a terrible scream. "AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"
What happened next was unexplainable. First there was one Ivan, then there were two. It was like Ivan split into two bodies. But they were different. One had the normal appearance of Ivan, the blonde hair and the gothic black clothes. But the other Ivan had silver hair and the eyes were actually red! And the second Ivan was the only one wearing the golden pendant.
The second Ivan let out an evil grin. "How are you guys doing in the Shadow Realm?"
All three of them didn't answer because they all knew the horrible truth. The second Ivan wasn't real at all. The spirit Makaro had split from Ivan's body and created its own. "You're Makaro," Ken said.
"Doesn't take a genius to figure that out," Makaro said.
"What have I done.?" the real Ivan said. "When I first found that pendant, I knew it was bad news. But I used its powers anyway."
"Correct," Makaro said. "And now I possess every single on of those powers. But the reason I did this is because I needed only one. Only one power that I could only use if I had my own body with full control. The power of time. We are here in the Shadow Realm, away from the other plane you four live in. But now, I will forward the time in your plane by thirty years, and I will put myself in the time-forward as well. For, during those forty years, I will embark on a journey and collect all seven pendants and bring back the Shadow Games to earth. The games will still be cards. But I will make it so that real monsters can be summoned from those cards." Makaro lifted his finger and pointed to a random spot in the Shadow Realm and then a white portal appeared. "This will return you to your world, but thirty years ahead of your time." And then Makaro disappeared into thin air.
"I can't believe this," Ivan said, shamefully facing the others. "I never meant for this to happen. I'm so sorry."
"Wait a second," Ken said. "What about my pendant? He hasn't taken it. He can't release the Shadow Games without all seven on them.
"You don't understand," Ivan said. "He already has your pendant. As he transported you to the Shadow Realm, he switched your pendant with a fake one, for fear that he might lose the duel."
"So what now?" Stefan asked. "Should we just on into the portal? Should we just enter a world thirty years ahead of how it's supposed to be?"
"Wait!" Holly said. "I think that this is a crazy idea, but it just might work!"
"What?" all three boys asked.
"Ivan said that from every Duel Monsters card the monster itself can be summoned. So as soon as we return to the earth, every monster in our deck will be able to work like that."
"So what's your point?" Ken asked.
"Watch," Holly said. She pulled out her deck and searched from it until she found a Time Wizard. She walked over towards the portal, holding the Time Wizard, and stuck her hand into it. Then she pulled it out.
"What are you doing?" Stefan asked.
"Okay, let's see," Holly said, raising her hand with the card in the air. "I summon the Time Wizard!" The card in Holly's hand glowed and an actual Time Wizard appeared right in front of her.
"You're able to summon an actual Time Wizard, but how will that help?" Ken asked.
"Here it goes," Holly said. "Time Wizard, I want you to adjust that portal so that it will transport us to the same destination, but on the date October, 1st, 2002."
"Can he do that?" Ivan asked.
"Let's see," Holly said. The Time Wizard aimed his staff at the portal and shot out a bright blue beam. He then disappeared. "I think he did it."
"Do we go in now?" Ken asked.
"Yes, we do," Ivan said. The four duelists each walked into the white portal.
Immediately Holly, Ivan, Stefan, and Ken appeared right behind the burning convention center. "We're back," Ken said.
"But we've got work to do," Ivan said. "Starting right now, Makaro has begun to collect all seven pendants."
"And we've got to stop him," Holly said.
"But what if he sends us to the Shadow Realm again and messes with time once more?" Ken asked.
"I searched Makaro's memory and knowledge when were one," Ivan said. "Performing an act such as going into the Shadow Realm and doing a thirty- year time-forward with even two pendants will drain a few month's power from them. "They won't work now. And we've got to use this period of time to stop him."
"But where do we start?" Stefan asked.
"There is indeed another person with one of the 7 Pendants here in this city."
Not that many people had left the scene of the fire. When the fire department came, everyone stepped back, but continued watching. When the fire was gone, the announcer told all duelists to gather around.
"We're sorry," the announcer said. "But due to this fire, the Duel Monsters Portland City tournament will be postponed." The crowd sank into depression. "We have all your information, so you will receive a letter in the mail regarding when and where the remainder of the tournament will take place."
"Lets meet here tomorrow at five," Holly said. "And we'll go after Makaro."
"Listen," Ivan said. "Makaro isn't an everyday person. He's not going to be patient. He's probably going after the third pendant right now. And once he gets it, that will be all he'll need to use the power and get the other four pendants with little effort. I say we go get him now! If one pendants destroyed, he won't be able to bring all seven together."
"So where do we find the person with the next pendant?" Ken asked.
"That's not what we're going to be doing," Ivan said. "We're going to go after Makaro himself, and we'll destroy the two pendants that he already has."
"Can we only destroy yours?" Ken asked. "Mine was a gift from my mother."
"Too late," a voice behind them said. They turned around and saw him. Makaro.
"Oh no." Stefan said.
"That's right," Makaro said. He reached down into his shirt and pulled out three pendants."
"I'll get you." Ivan said and ran and dived right toward Makaro. Ivan grabbed Makaro by his shirt and slammed him into the ground.
"What do you think you're doing?!" Makaro yelled.
Through little effort, Ivan managed to get all three of the pendants away from Makaro. "Here," Ivan said, throwing Ken's pendant to him. Then he turned and faced Makaro. "There's a little rule in life I've always hated."
"Hand them back to me!" Makaro yelled.
Ivan aimed his own pendant at Makaro and in a flash of light, Makaro was absorbed into it. Ivan quick ran over to a nearby dumpster and threw both of the pendants in there.
"We should have just destroyed them," Ken said.
"They can't be," Ivan said. "They're enchanted to never break."
"Weird," Stefan said.
"Well, I think we should all head home," Ivan said.
As Ken left he though that was too easy.
* * * Esplin Association Headquarters.
Mr. Esplin slammed his fists onto his desk. "Now they're going to expect me to pay for that damn convention center. And if they don't, they're going to sue me! This bill will probably take a twentieth of my entire company! I'm going to find out who put that place on fire, and when I do I'm going to force them into paying!"
Mr. Esplin looked through his private network and looked through the network tapes of the surveillance cameras. He looked through a few parts of the building and then the tape of the back lot of the convention center. Soon he saw two boys standing there and talking. He recognized one of them, which was Ivan Griffin, the favorite to win the tournament. He watched and watched until he understood what was happening. He then looked at another tape of the front lot in the convention center. The end of the tape showed Ivan throwing two golden pendants into a dumpster. Mr. Esplin smiled. "Interesting."