Brood: I love you all so much for waiting ELEVEN WHOLE DAYS!! I
would personally like to thank Ieyre, Shadow Spirit, Lena, and KaTyA for
reviewing so much! And ALL of you are so nice! *And thanks to Peacenikky
and Yami Hikari and Ieyre for the weaponry.*
Zutsokaki: And thanks goes to Yami Ieyre for the anti- weaponry.....*puts the scissors behind his back*
Brood: Anyway, I MUST inform you all that I will not be putting much emphasis onto the first rounds of the duels. And that is just because........well........think! Two thousand five hundred duelists, and having to cover 25 diamond chips for about 10 or more duelists, plus their cards? Uh, no.
Zutsokaki: Darn excuses to be lazy. Why don't you let me be lazy for you?
Brood: *uses the duct tape on him*
Zutsokaki: *uses the scissors*
Brood: *uses the duct tape on his mouth and his hands*
Zutsokaki: /DAMMIT!/
Brood: *uses the cutsie face she got from Ieyre* Aww.....cm'on.....be nice.....for once...
Zutsokaki: 0.0........................*sighs*
Brood: Yay! Hey, welcome to chapter 7!!! And everyone, please tell your Yu-Gi-Oh! Luvin friends about this story! I would just love the extra reviews! My goal is 100 by the time I hit chapter 11! (And yes, it will take this long! And NO I do not count the outtakes chapter!)
CHAPTER 7
**EGYPT**
Shadi paced around his home one more time. There had to be a good reason for the Ankh's disappearance, but he just couldn't seem to think of one. He left his home and went to the bazarr. There was a television set behind one of the men in the stands, shielded from the hot sun and turmoil of an Egyptian afternoon. Shadi looked at it. It was some kind of coverage on a tournament that had gotten started today.
There was an arieal view of the island, someone reporting from a helecopter. They went over the island and zoomed in on a duel when they found one. They had even gotten a lucky shot of someone winning in a large holo-explosion. Then Shadi heard the reporter say that the tournament was hosted by Pegasus J. Crawford. He stopped and thinked.
/Pegasus is back from his exile, my Ankh has gone missing.....or abandoned me....and now this absolutly massive tournament. What is going one here? It has to be connected in some way......there is a defininte disturbance in the power right now...../
He decided against shopping for the moment and went back to his home. He went down his trapdoor down to the tomb where the Millennium Items had all been kept at one time. His Millennium Scale flickered and flashed beside him on a table.
"Now....what is this.....???" He went over, and not even bothering to take of his sidepack, touched it. He immediatly disappeared in a flash of light.
**BACK ON ISLAND**
Lisa and Rebecca drew their cards and stared at eachother over their hands. Seto flipped a coin and told Lisa to call it in the air. She called tails, and lost. Rebecca grinned.
"Alright. I place this card face down in defence mode!" Rebecca grinned. "And I end my turn....."
Seto looked up at Lisa. "Watch out for the face downs!"
Rebecca glared down at Seto. "If you want to duel so much, why don't you come up here and do it, damn it?"
"Shut up!" It was Lisa. "I lay down the Feral Imp (A/1300 D/1400) in attack mode! And I'll put a card face down right here......and I'll attack your face down card!!!!" The Feral Imp charged the blinking square, revealing a Steel Scorpion, it exploding in many pixels.
"HA! Now your Feral Imp has only three turns to live! When the Steel Scorpion (A/250 D/300) is attacked, the attacking card is destroyed in three turns! Now it's my turn!" Rebecca grinned and drew a card. "I lay the Cannon Soldier in attack mode! I will use it to destroy your Feral Imp!"
"I thought you were going to wait for it to go!"
"So I saved it the trouble of dying slowly....isn't that right Teddy?" She grinned down at her old bear. (Lisa=3900 Rebecca=4000)
"You just watch it now, Rebecca......." Lisa drew a card and grinned. "I lay down the Dragon Zombie (A/1600 D/0) in attack! Then I lay down this Magic card, Violet Crystal! It increases the attack and defence of a zombie creature by 300! So now my Dragon Zombie has 1900 Attack power! And I flip over the magic card I layed down earlier, Sparks! It does 200 points of direct damage to you!"
"Argh! Damn it! Look what she's doing to us, Teddy!" Rebecca cuddled the teddy bear and poked it's nose. (Lisa=3900 Rebecca=3800)
"And I will go ahead and attack your Cannon Soldier, and destroy that, and taking down your life points some more! (Lisa=3900 Rebecca=3300)
"It's time to get nasty........you will go down! I will smash your four leaf clover for good!" Rebecca drew her card.
"I will lay this card face down, then I will place a Witch of the Black Forest(A/1100 D/1200) in defence mode! Then I will....end my turn."
Rebecca ended her turn since she couldn't attack Lisa's creature. Lisa drew her card. She looked at it and her eyes widened. "Kebby....kun?"
Seto looked up at her and nodded.
Anzu looked over her hand. "You can go first, if you want to."
The boy glanced up at her and looked back down at his cards.
"I'll start off with the Bistro Butcher (A/1800 D/1000), in attack mode. I end my turn."
"Anzu........do you think you can beat that?"
"Honda, shush! I'll do this! I play the Spirit of the Harp (A/800 D/2000) in defence mode! Since some of this field is light based, and the Spirit of the Harp is a fairy type, I get a field power bonus of 40%! So now my attack power is 1120! And then I'll lay this card face down. I end my turn."
"Fine." He drew his card. "Since I can't attack your creature, I will just have to lay this card face down as well."
Anzu drew her card. She looked over her hand.
/I'm really glad I talked to Yugi's grandpa before we left.....my hand is alot stronger than it normally would have been. I will have to thank him for these cards..../
There was one card she didn't take out of her deck, and that was the Shining Friendship card. She looked at it, and then at the holo- Bistro Butcher on the field. She decided to hold off playing it.
"I will play the Flower Wolf (A/1800 D/1400) in attack mode, and then I will lay another card face down on the field! I won't attack this turn."
"Of course. Even though I will not attack either, I will still hurt your life points."
Anzu's eyes widened, another light blast issuing from the other field, it shadowing her eyes. Loud cheering ensued again, Anzu looking over.
"Honda, Bakura's won! He's coming down now!"
"Alright! Go Bakura!"
"AHEM! Did we forget about the harm I was about to cause you?"
Anzu directed her attention back to her opponent, realizing out of the corner of her eye that other duelists had come over to watch their duel. She was being watched.....duel her first large duel. She was getting a little frightened.
"I play the Final Flame, doing 600 points of Direct Damage to your life points!" Murmurs came from the crowd below, and Anzu's eyes widened. "And I end my turn."
"Ah......." Her eyes darkened over. /What if I lose in front of all these people?/
"ANZU!! THIS DUEL ISN'T OVER YET! DON'T WORRY ABOUT ONE MAGIC CARD!" She looked down at the yell. It was Yugi. Honda had gone to get the others, and they were now standing close to her side of the station, amid the others who were watching. Anzu smiled down on them and nodded. She drew her card. (Anzu=3400 Guy=4000)
"I play the Mystical Moon! It raises a beast monster's attack and defence points by 300! My Flower Wolf is now strong enough to attack your Butcher! So I will attack, and destroy it!" (Anzu=3400 Guy=3700)
"Alright Anzu!" Her friends cheered her from the sidelines, and a few duelists in the crowds clapped.
"My turn is over."
Her opponent scowled over at her, then drew his card.
"Alright....I suppose all I can do now is play this little Skull Servant (A/300 D/200) in defence mode. And I'll lay this card face down as well." Lisa layed a card down in the magic and trap zone. "And I end my turn."
Rebecca looked over at the Skull Servant, who had crossed his arms in front of his face. "HA! You think you can take cover behind that weak little thing? You really should have put it in attack to save me some time in defeating you!!" She drew her card and grinned.
"Yay! Teddy! Lookie at this!" Rebecca grinned at her card, but held off on playing it. "And I will switch my Witch of the Black Forest to attack mode! Destroy that Skull Servant, Witchy!"
The witch muttered a small spell and then blasted the Skull Servant. It was destroyed.
"I knew you'd fall for it, Rebecca. Me and Kebby-kun both did!"
"What!?"
"The card I layed down on my last turn. It was a trap card."
"Hm...what is it?"
Lisa flipped the card over. "The Crush Card virus."
"NOOO!!" Rebecca fell back and dropped to her knees. "You've ruined my perfect plan! How could you!? Damn it! No!! Teddy, she didn't just do that! Now I can't play monsters with over 1500 attack points!"
Seto grinned and looked up at Rebecca. "Do you concede the match, O-Spoiled-One?"
Rebecca stopped wailing for a second. "NO I DO NOT, DAMN IT!" She stood up again.
She looked over her cards. "Sacrificing won't be a good choice now....it won't do me any good.......take your turn now!"
Lisa drew her card and lay down another monster. "I play the Judge Man (A/2200 D/1500) in attack mode! This must be another one of Kebby-kun's cards! And now I attack your witch!" The witch dissappeared in a large flash of pixelated light.
"NOO!!" (Lisa=3900 Rebecca=2200) "NO! NO! DAMN YOU! I HATE YOU! TEDDY MAKE HER STOP!"
"How does it feel to be on the other side, Rebecca?" Lisa smirked at the other girl. Rebecca wistfully grabbed a card out of her deck, as per the Witch's effect. When she is sent to the graveyard, the owner can take a card with 1500 defence or lower and add it to her hand, and then shuffles her deck.
"Grrrrrr.....YOU WILL PAY!" Rebecca drew her card. "YAY! Teddy, lookie here! Lookie lookie lookie! I play Millennium Shield (A/0 D/3000) in defence mode, and then the Judgement Blaster! The perfect thing for the Judge Man! I discard five cards from my hand, so I can destroy all of the monsters you have out! YAY! Bye bye, crappy monsters!"
Seto frowned at this as Rebecca dropped five cards into the graveyard, and Lisa's Zombie Dragon and the Judge Man were sent to her graveyard.
"Hey! That's not fair!"
"Neither was that Crush Card you played!"
"Well you cheated somehow on our last duel!"
"Did not, damn it!" Rebecca stuck her tongue out at Lisa.
Lisa pulled down on her eyelid and stuck her tounge out also.
"Stupid!"
"Doofus!"
"Dork!"
"SHIT-FOR-BRAINS!"
Seto watched them verbally trade blows. /So....immature....these little girls...../
"ARE YOU TWO GOING TO CONTINUE THIS ALL DAY!!!!!????" Seto yelled up at them, uncrossing his arms.
Lisa jolted and looked down at him. "Oh, sorry Kebby-kun." Rebecca just clutched her teddy bear and murmured.
Seto growled. "Just, continue the match please."
"Alright!" Lisa drew her card. "YES!!!! I play the Skull Knight (A/2650 D/2250) in attack mode!"
"Are you stupid or something? That isn't powerful enough to defeat my Shield!"
"I know that. It just gives me a better chance to do something about it!"
"Yeah right!" Rebecca drew her card. "Ahhhh.....I play the Cannon Soldier (A/1400 D/1300) in defence mode! And I also play the Ring of Magnetism! Now you can only attack my Millennium Shield! So hahahahahaha!"
Seto glared up at Lisa. "Please don't rise to the bait and start bickering again."
Lisa didn't look back, but gulped and drew her card. "HA! This card clenches it for me Rebecca!"
"No it doesn't! No it doesn't!"
"Yes it does! I play the Sword of Dark Destruction! It raises the attack power of a dark monster by 500, and lowers the defensive points by 200! Now my Skull Knight has an attack power of 3150! Attack that Shield, Skull Knight!"
Her Skull Knight rushed forward, destroying the Shield.
"NONONONONO!! DAMN YOU! No....Teddy, how is she winning? We would be winning if that horrible Crush Card wasn't out!" She glanced wistfully at the one card in her hand. "Now that it's my turn...." She drew a card. "Ah hah! I play the Remove Trap card! Now that Crush card is gone!"
Seto and Lisa's eyes widened. Lisa frowned. "You just didn't do that, did you?"
"I did I did I did YAY! Teddy thinks I am the greatest!" She tossed her teddy into the air and caught it, snuggling it. "And now I play my great monster, the Shadow Ghoul! (A/1600 D/1400) Plus, it gains 100 attack points for every card sent to the graveyard on my side! Now it has 2300 attack points! Yay for me! And I play this card face down!"
"It won't do you any good. I can still destroy it." Lisa drew her card. "I lay down this card, and then I attack your Shadow Ghoul!"
"HAHAHAHAHAAA!! I activate my trap card! Mirror Wall!"
Seto gasped lightly. That card blocks attacks and cuts the attack points of a creature in half....
"Yay!"
Lisa stood in light shock. "No way!" Her Skull Knight's attack power dropped down to 1575. "Ahh...darn it!"
"Go me! I love my cards! It's my turn!"
Rebecca drew her card and put it in her hand. "Now, attack, Shadow Ghoul! Go get that Skull Knight!"
"Not so fast, Rebecca! One of the cards I layed down! Castle Walls!" Lisa flipped it over quickly. "It raises the defence power of my attacked card for one turn, making it too strong for you to destroy! And since the Mirror Wall is protecting your creature...."
"Stalling the inevitable, I see? Oh well. It's your turn now."
Lisa looked her hand over, then drew a card. /No good there.....but wait! Right here in my hand!/ "I play this card face down in defence mode! And I attack your Cannon Soldier with my Skull Knight!" The defence mode card was obliterated.
"Big deal! Now my Shadow Ghoul is powered up some more! Hehehe!" She drew her card. "I'll go ahead and attack your face down card! No point in rushing this, you know!" Lisa's face down card got attacked with a swipe from the Ghoul.
"Negate Attack! My other face down card!" Lisa flipped over the card.
"Quit stalling this!"
"But you've also activated my flip affect! This is a Mask of Darkness Card! When it is flipped, I get to take a Trap card back into my hand! And now it's my turn, and I lay down this card! Since I can't attack, I put my Skull Knight in defence mode and end my turn....."
Rebecca looked over at the face down card. /That HAS to be the Crush Card! If I attack that Mask, my Ghoul will be useless, as well as the Mirror Wall that is equipped to it! I can attack her Skull Knight, but that Mask will still be there, and I have already used my Judgement Blaster.....I gotta find some way of getting rid of that card......./ She drew a card.
/No help there...../ "I attack your Skull Knight!"
The Skull Knight was destroyed and it was Lisa's turn.
Amoura and Mokuba walked silently through the forest for awhile, Mokuba looking at her dueling glove. She had won about four more chips already. She had told him she was targeted for being a champion, as many others were. Mokuba had been keeping a sharp eye out for his brother, Amoura being a little zealous about it herself.
"Hey, Amoura, where are we camping for the night?"
"Vhat did you bring?"
Mokuba motioned to the small knapsack he had slung over his shoulder. "I only have an extra set of clothes and some other things."
"Maybe ve should find a campsight soon, zen......ve could find zome vater source and vash out zings zere."
"Alright. That sounds good to me." They continued walking, and soon found a small clearing. Amoura cleared a patch of ground and unrolled her sleeping bag. Mokuba ran off to find some firewood.
She sat down and sighed. It had, in all actuality, been a long time since she had competed, and that French National Competition did hit her hard. It continually worried her if something like that would happen again. She wanted to put off dueling as much as she could, but she had to get the chips and find that damned fortress in time. She looked down at her 10 diamond chips. She had been asked to duel two other times so far.
They had seen Mokuba of course, but they didn't ask about him. That was a good thing, because Amoura didn't want to answer too many questions about him.
She had marked many spots on her ID map, hoping to find some kind of pattern in the placement of the duel stations, or at least make it easier for her to find the big open places on the map that she hadn't seen yet.
The wind rustled her wavy light sea green hair as she pulled the ID out of her khaki shorts pocket. She flipped it on and looked at the map. She then pressed in a few letters and hit enter, marking this new place on the map as "CMPSTE3."
She then checked her map again, and decided to head for the largest area with no markings after about a week of dueling. She figured if she kept this pace up, she'd have the required chips within the week, leaving her free and clear to search for the fortress for a whole week. She liked that course of action alot.
Amoura rummaged around in her bag and grabbed a bag of Ramen noodles. She decided to split it with Mokuba. There was no point in depleting the food supply that quickly. She didn't plan on leaving any time soon.
Mokuba came back with the wood, and she set up a fire. She then lit a match from her pocket she put some water from her canteen into a pot. Then sat back and waited for it to boil. While she waited, she opened up a small pouch from her bag and set it down beside her side bag. Then she watched it for a moment, then sighed and sat back again.
"Ze lazy zing....."
Mokuba looked up and grinned and then looked down at the bag. It remained still.
"It will do it when it wants to, right?"
"Of course." The water started bubbling, so she stirred it and added the noodles. Soon the noodles were done, and Amoura added the flavoring and gave some to Mokuba in a thermos cup lid. They sat there and slurped noodles for awhile, then Mokuba spoke.
"Hey, do you think we'll find Seto soon?"
"I do not 'onestly know, Mokuba. Zis is ze largest island I've zeen in a long time." She looked up doubtfully, slurping a noodle up with her.
Just then, something rustled around closeby. It didn't sound like it was in any tree or bush, but Amoura jumped up and watched that direction.
"Amoura! That sounds like someones messing around in some water!"
"Oui, I zink ve should go and check it out. If it iz zafe, zen ve can move our camp zere. If not, we move farther away."
Mokuba stood up and faced that direction. "Alright! I'll bet it's Seto getting a drink!"
"Zere is about a one in two zousand chance of zat right now, Mokuba, but it is ztill a chance......"
"Awwwwwww....never tell me the odds, Amoura. Come on, let's go."
"No. You ztay 'ere, Mokuba. I don't vant to risk you getting 'urt."
"I think I can handle myself, thank you very much." Mokuba crossed his arms and stared her hard in the eye. It wasn't that hard, she wasn't that much taller, only by about four inches. She was around the same height as Yugi, Mokuba observed.
But Amoura simply stared back at him, then turned her back. "You vill ztay, Mokuba Kaiba."
"But.......c'mon!.....aww...." He plopped down on the ground and slurped his noodles loudly to voice his frustration. Some small part of him hoped it was a pet peeve of hers.
Amoura walked off in the direction of the noise, unsheathing the hunter's knife she had strapped to her leg. She held it by the blade in a position so she could easily flip it around. She disappeared into the bushes.
Mokuba looked in the direction that she went off to and he tipped some more noodles into his mouth. He chewed for a moment, thinking.
"AAHHH!!!!!!!!!" It was Amoura, and she sounded like she was in trouble.
He shot up from his position and ran in the direction Amoura went in.
"I play the Jinzo #7 (A/500 D/400) in attack mode. This card can attack your life points directly. So, I place this card face down on the field and then attack you."
"No you don't!" Anzu flipped over the card that she layed down earlier. "Waboku! That decreases your attack to zero for this turn!" His turn was over, so she drew her card. She glanced at his face down card in the magic and trap zone. "And I attack your Jinzo, destroying it!" She looked down at her friends. She noticed one was missing.
"Hey guys, where's Joey!?"
Mai motioned towards the meadow/forest duel field, where Joey and another duelist were boarding. "He got challenged!" Anzu nodded and turned her head back to the other duel.
"My Jinzo....thanks alot....!" Her opponent frowned and drew his card.
"Anytime."
He looked at his cards. "I can't do anything except lay down this Hunter Spider (A/1600 D/1400) in defence mode. It's your turn."
"Good." She grabbed her card. "I attack your Hunter Spider!"
"No you do not! I flip over this card, Fissure! That destroys your monster with the lowest Attack power! Say goodnight to the Spirit of the Harp! And I also play a Negate Attack card!"
"No! My card! Fine....I play Ray and Temperature (A/1000 D/1000) in defence mode, and it also gets the light field power bonus, raising it's attack and defence power to 1400! My turn's over!"
"THAT'S THE WAY TO DUEL, ANZU! GO GET HIM!" Yugi shouted up encouragingly at her, and then he ran over to yell something for Joey, who had just had a creature destroyed by his opponent. Mai watched him move his way through the spectators and get to Joey, then started to make his way back. Halfway there, he changed his mind and stayed in between the duel stations.
Her opponent drew his card.
"HA! NOW YOU ARE IN FOR IT! I play my great creature, the Roaring Ocean Snake!" (A/2100 D/1800) He slapped a card down on the field, and a great red ocean beast rose from the holodeck. It let out a roar, and then sat in wait.
"You can't attack my Flower Wolf without destroying your creature also! Then where will you be?"
"Who ever said I was going to just sit back and let it float there the whole time? But for now, I will have to end my turn," He glanced at the face down card she had behind the Ray and Temperature, not wanting to risk it. "....but not without placing this card......" He placed a magic/trap card down and ended his turn.
"Alright! My turn!" Anzu drew her card. "I don't need a new monster, since I have my two, but I will play this card face down and attack your Hunter Spider again!" Her opponent smirked.
"I will flip over this lovely trap card I have.......it is the Silent Dark Spirit! It switches the target of your attack! And I switch it to the Roaring Ocean Snake!"
Anzu stared at him in shock. "But your snake will be destroyed!"
"But I will also flip over this trap card! Reinforcements adds 500 attack points to my monster for just this turn! Your Flower Wolf has been destroyed, and you take 400 damage!" (Anzu=3000 Dude=3700)
Bakura looked up at the duelist and sighed. "That was a wonderful play. He lured her into an attack because the Spider was weaker, and then turned it around in his favor." Someone walked up behind Bakura and patted him on the sholder, congragulating him on his great duel. He thanked them, and turned to Mai.
"You are right, Bakura. I'm not sure if Anzu can stand up to that......hey.....how's Joey doing in his duel?"
Bakura motioned at Yugi, and Yugi put up three fingers, then one, then two fists. He had 3100 life points left. But then Yugi put up a thumbs up. so they knew he was doing well.
Anzu watched her creature get destroyed, and then she sighed as he took his turn. He drew a card, then switched his Hunter Spider to attack mode and announced an attack on Anzu's Ray and Temperature.
Her eyes widened. "Not so fast! I had a magic card waiting! It's the Silver Bow and Arrow card! It raises the attack and defence by 300, making it too strong for your Hunter Spider! Now it's destroyed and you take 100 points of damage!" (Anzu=3000 Dude=3600) She mumbled to herself "Now.....what about the other monster....?"
Mai glared up at Anzu. "WHAT ABOUT YOUR FACE DOWN CARD!!!!"
"OH! What is that one? I forgot...." She looked at it and gasped. "And I also flip this over! The Fairy's Gift, which will raise it's attack and defence another 400 points! Now my Ray and Temperature has 2100 attack and defence points!"
"Not a bad play. Now attacking you with my Ocean Snake would be useless."
Honda looked at those cards she played. "Anzu does like that combo."
Bakura nodded. "Yes, it is a useful one also, right Mai?"
"I suppose. But she wouldn't even be playing it if it weren't for me...."
It was Anzu's turn now. She drew her card and looked it over. "Now you're in for it. This card was given to me by a friend of mines grandfather! I play the Dancing Fairies! (A/1700 D/1000) And it gets the field power bonus of 40%!"
Her opponent's eyes widened. "No way!"
"Way. It's attack power is now 2380! And that is strong enough to destroy your Roaring Ocean Snake! So....attack that Snake, Fairies!" Her Fairies started dancing around more, giving off lots of dust. The Snake writhed and wriggled, but it couldn't get free. It then exploded in many small blinking pixels.
"I can't believe you just did that!"
"Well I did, so live with it! And I now en....."
"ANZU!! ARE YOU AN IDIOT!?!?!?!" It was Mai again. Anzu looked down at her, and realized that Mai was waving at her to attack with the Ray and Temperature. Anzu got it. Without a creature to protect him, she was free to attack his life points directly with her other monster.
"Uh! Never mind that! I will attack you directly with my Ray and Temperature!" (Anzu=3000 Dude=1500)
Mai glared at her, and Anzu replied by looking sheepishly down at her. The crowd below them murmured a little, but knew who this duel was going to.
Her opponent drew his card and then played a Red Guard (A/1500 D/1200) in defence mode. He looked at his cards, and then played an Ookazi card on her. Her LP went down by 800, for the direct damage.
He hung his head lightly and ended his turn. Anzu's head lightened with exhiliration and she nearly trembled out her next words after she drew her card.
"Alright! I will attack your Guard with my Ray and Temperature, then finish you off with my Dancing Fairies!!!" (Anzu=2200 Dude=0)
She trembled with excitement and jumped up. "I DID IT! I WON MY FIRST DUEL!!!!" Her opponent's diamond chips were transferred over and she placed them in her glove, watching all six of her chips twinkle in the diminishing light of the day. The duelists below clapped and cheered lightly and she beamed with absolute excitement. The both got down from the station, being congragulated on the duel by the other competitors. She fought her way over to her opponent.
"You fought a great duel! That was great, I thought you had me for awhile!"
"You turned out to be a better challenge than I thought. I need to go and work on my strategies for awhile now. I only have four chips left. I hope to see you again someday. And then, I will defeat you, girl." He stuck out his hand and she took it, shaking it happily.
"You can count on it! Hey, I never got your name! What is it?"
"I am Irin."
"I'm Anzu! I hope we meet again someday!" And with that, he let go of her hand and walked away from the camp zone.
Bakura, Honda, and Mai all ran up to Anzu. "That was great Anzu! You won your first real duel ever!" Honda laughed and patted her shoulder as they led her away from the crowds drifting over to Joey's duel.
"But those rookie mistakes you were about to make could have cost you that duel, Anzu." Mai spoke roughly to her. "I don't think you would have realized that if I didn't help you out there!"
Bakura touched Mai's arm lightly. "Now Mai, you needn't be so harsh on her. She just won her first duel here!"
"Harsh Smarsh! She needs to learn the rules and fast!"
"Hey Mai, leave me alone here!" Anzu looked at her chips and frowned. "I don't need to hear this from you. I will remember these things next time. Now, can we go and watch Joey?"
Mai sighed and started walking towards the duel station where Yugi was waiting for them. Just before they got there though, a large flash of light and the sound of life points draining filled their ears. Then they heard the crowds below yelling and cheering over the outcome of the duel.
"WAHOO! I WON!" It was Joey. They had moved a little too slow to watch him win. "Yes! I get three of your little diamonds! That makes it seven for me now!" He jumped down after thanking this opponent for the duel and getting his chips, and ran over to Yugi and the others.
"Hey Anzu! I heard you just won your duel! That's great! Now you have six chips!" He grinned again and held up his glove. "And I got seven!"
Yugi grinned at both of them. "Hey, all three of you did great on your duels! We were sure surprised when we found out the sounds we heard were coming from this place! But it's a great find anyway! Come on, let's find a camp spot!" Yugi led the way as they went to search for an open plot.
Lisa drew her card and glared at it. "You're no help at all." She then looked at her magic cards and then at the card she just drew. "Wait a sec......oh never mind. I'll just lay this card down....and end my turn." She scowled over at the little American girl, who wasn't even beginning to hide her glee.
"Teddy-chan! I'm gonna win! Win win win win winny winny win win! Yay! I will draw my lovely card! And now I will attack your face down card! Go my lovely Ghoulie!"
Rebecca's ghoul shot out and destroyed the face down card, which was a Kuriboh.
Seto stared up at Lisa. "How dare you keep such a weak monster in your deck! I should rip that thing right now!" He had a special hatred for Kuribohs.
"Kebby-kun! It was in defence mode! It didn't hurt anything...."
He faced away from Lisa and yelled up at her. "Take your turn girl!"
Lisa pouted a little bit, but drew her card while Rebecca looked on, cuddling her teddy bear.
"I place this card face down, and end my turn."
Rebecca drew her card and showed it to her bear. She seemed to whisper it it, and then, not being able to contain herself, yelled happily. "TEDDY! YOU SAW IT! NOW I WILL PLAY IT! It's my ultra cute and cuddly.....SECOND SHADOW GHOUL!!!"
Both Seto and Lisa looked in in surprise as another Shadow Ghoul appeared beside the first.
"And my lovable creature gets the same power bonus as the first one! Yay! And I also play this card! It's my other Remove Trap, just for that face down card you have right behind your Maskie!"
Lisa's eyes narrowed. "It doesn't affect Magic cards, Rebecca."
"That's your Crush Card Virus, I know it is!"
"It is not Rebecca. So Neah neah neah boo boo!" She pulled on her eyelid again.
"IS SO IS SO IS SO! STOP TRYING TO CHEAT! Teddy make her stop!"
"STOP IT!" Seto snarled up at Lisa and Rebecca again. "Continue this duel now!"
Rebecca stared hard at Seto, then glared back up at Lisa. "It isn't a Trap Card?"
"No it isn't Rebecca. Can I have my turn now?"
"I'm not done with mine. But my Remove Trap is useless now."
/I was SURE that she had the Crush Card down! What if she didn't bring it back, but a different one because I COUNTED on her bringing that one back?/
"Oh well, I attack your little Mask of Darkness with one of my Shadow Ghouls! And now that you are unprotected, I attack you directly with my other! AHAHAHAHA!!!!" (Lisa=1500 Rebecca=2200)
"Uhh..." Lisa faltered, then took her card. "I play the Pot of Greed. It allows me to draw two cards." She took her cards, and then placed one face down in defence mode. She took her other card. Then she stared at it. And stared a little bit more. And just another minute, for good measure. Then she grinned.
"REBECCA! This is the deciding move of the whole game."
"What are you talking about, damn it?"
Seto glanced up at Rebecca and frowned. "Yes....let's see this move...."
"This is the one card that can save me! I play....this magic card, The Devil's Comedian!"
Rebecca frowned as well and clutched Teddy closer. "What does it do?"
Lisa placed the card down, a creature popping up and holding a coin. "It's very simple. A coin is flipped. I call it in the air. If I get it right, your ENTIRE graveyard is removed from the game.....if I am wrong, I have to remove the equivalent of your graveyard from my deck and from the game. It all comes down to this, Rebecca. Once coin toss."
The blonde girl's eyes widened considerably. "You couldn't do that! You'll call it wrong!"
"I'm counting on the Luck of the Irish......." She grinned as the little creature flipped it's coin up into the air. "I CALL........HEADS!!!"
Everyone was on pins and needles as the holo-coin spun around in the air, their eyes following it as it turned around and around.....then, finally, after what seemed like an eternity, started falling to the deck of the station. It landed with a small resounding /PING!/
They all stared down at the coin, their faces furrowed into disbelief....the coin...
"IT'S HEADS!!! YES!!" Lisa jumped up and shouted happily. "Now, your graveyard is completly useless! Say goodbye to your power bonus!"
"Uh....no way...." Rebecca watched in horror as both of her ghouls lost their borrowed power. They were both back down to 1600 points apiece.
"I guess now I should flip my defence card over and attack.....this is the Gravekeeper General (A/1900 D/1200)! And now, I will get rid of one of your Shadow Ghouls!" The Gravekeeper shot out and destroyed the Ghoul, leaving Rebecca momentarily speechless. She soon found her voice, however, and made use of it in interesting ways.
"HOW DARE YOU! YOU LITTLE **@*$#*$ *@*#*@( $576$#&@!* (*$(&$#&#&(*&)(*#&^@!%(&*#(&%@(!!!!" (Lisa=1500 Rebecca=1900)
".........................................." Lisa and Seto could only stare.
Rebecca loudly fumed a bit more, then drew her card. She placed it in defence mode, and then put her Shadow Ghoul, which got a small bonus from the death of the other one, in defence mode also. She ended her turn.
Lisa drew her card, then played it on the field in attack mode. It was a Master Kionshi. (A/1750 D/1000) She then set it on the defence mode face down card. It was a Flying Fish (A/800 D/500), obviously one of her throw away sacrifice creatures. Then Lisa set her General on the other Shadow Ghoul. Rebecca looked as if she was going to throw a fit, but instead, drew her card. She looked at it.
Then she placed the card and her entire hand down, and put her hand over her deck. Her eyes welled up quickly. She practically sniffled out her next sentence.
"You......win........"
Lisa looked at Rebecca, her eyes filled with disbelief. "You give up?"
"DON'T MAKE THIS HARDER, DAMN IT!....Yes....I give up. There is nothing I could do to stop you from taking the last of my life points this next turn. I could have played my normal allowed one summon, but it could have been destroyed by the Kionshi, leaving the rest of my life points open to attack from that damned General of yours. There was nothing else I could do. The attack points of the Gravekeeper General are exactly equal to the last of my life points. So....you win. Anyway, Mister Seto really looks like he wants his coat back. And....I still have some chips left. I have a whole five."
The young Irish girl glanced at Rebecca, putting her hands down lightly. "You really do give in? I never thought that you.....not in a million years....."
"I learned from someone....just awhile ago, that there is more to this game than just winning and being powerful. It's also knowing lots of other things. Like....how to know how to lose....and when to quit....." Rebecca sniffled and a few tears dripped silently onto her hands. She pressed the button on the console, and the box enveloped the diamond chips, and re-emerging on Lisa's side.
"Wow.....I.....Rebecca...." Lisa couldn't think of more to say. She just placed the three small iridescant diamond chips in her glove and got down from the station. She walked over to Rebecca's side. Rebecca threw Seto's coat down to her, and she jumped down as well. Before Rebecca could walk away, Lisa ran up and stuck out her hand.
"Good match Rebecca."
Rebecca looked down at the extended hand and then tentatively shook it. "One more thing. Where is that sister of yours? I beat her pretty badly last time also."
"I don't know. We were separated. That's why I'm with Kebby- kun. Anyway, I'm glad I was able to duel you again. Good luck with the rest of this."
Rebecca grinned. Then she snickered. "Kebby-kun.....heh. Well, goodbye." She walked off into the forest, clutching her Teddy Bear like a lifeline.
Seto walked up behind Lisa. "That was well played Lisa. Especially for a girl your age. Now....." He glared pointedly down at the coat in Lisa's arms.
"Oh! Here you are Kebby-kun!" She handed it back to Seto, grinning. "I really did beat her, didn't I? Does that make me a champion of some sorts?"
"Ahem." He glared down at the deck now. Lisa smirked and handed it to Kaiba. He picked out his few cards and handed the deck back to her. "Come on, let's get moving. We have alot of ground to cover today." Kaiba began to move off, marking the spot on his ID map as he went. Lisa scampered off beside him.
Honda yawned and fell over onto Bakura, who was already asleep. It was late, and they had spent the rest of the day at that camp site, one of them getting challenged at one point or another. Yugi, Joey, and Mai were especially exhausted. Most of the duelists had moved on, but they had been staying because of the constant challenges. For about four hours now, they had been watching, cheering, or playing at duels.
Someone walked up to their campsite and motioned to Yugi. Joey looked at Yugi and shook his head at the challenger, pointing at the slowly nodding teen. He then made a sleeping motion with his hands. The challenger slumped lightly off, then headed for another site. He found a challenger there. They walked off.
Mai then stretched and crawled into her sleeping bag, curling up happily. Anzu did the same, and Joey prodded Yugi, Honda, and Bakura awake, getting them into their bags.
They didn't wake up until late in the morning the next day. They were awakened by the noise of a duel ending. A shrill laugh exploded into the air, and they were jolted out of their peaceful sleep.
"AHAHAHAHAHAAAA!! Now you lose your four chips to Insector Haga, the great Bug Champion!" He continued his laugh as his opponent sadly gave his chips up and slumped away.
Yugi woke up the fastest at hearing that laugh, him shaking everyone else awake, and it took him and Honda to keep Joey from pouncing the small annoying boy. Anzu was all for leaving as quickly as possible. They all packed up swiftly, and left without so much as a word. They really didn't feel like dealing with Haga right now. They just didn't feel like it. They weren't running by any means, they just hated him.
Pegasus sipped his wine lightly as he watched a screen inside of his mansion. His tournament was underway, and he couldn't be more pleased. He took a small bite of his gorgonzola cheese and checked up on some well known champions statistics.
/Ten....nine.....seven......eleven....ten.....ten....eight.....ahhh!! Yugi- boy! You have twelve! Not bad....and your little friend Joey has ten....and Kaiba-boy! You have thirteen! You all are doing very well.....ah....over four hundred duelist disqualified just today.....my, you are all so FIERCE....../
"I think that this is all going very nicely, don't you think, my friend?"
Someone stepped from the shadows in the background. "Of course. It is working like you said so far. But it is only the end of the first day. Do not.....now what is that saying......Do not count your Niwatori's before they hatch...."
"A personal favorite saying of mine. Now do not forget our deal, friend. The terms are clear."
"I will not."
Brood: Dun dun duuuuun! *Plays ominous music*
Zutsokaki: Can I sleep now? It's like twelve thirty at night!
Brood: I HAD TO GET THE CHAPTER UP!!! My reviewers have been waiting for nearly two weeks! It's not fair to them.....but these duels took FOREVER to write!
Zutsokaki: ZZZZZZZZZ........
Brood: .........good idea. Now, you all know what to do! R/R because I love you!
Zutsokaki: And thanks goes to Yami Ieyre for the anti- weaponry.....*puts the scissors behind his back*
Brood: Anyway, I MUST inform you all that I will not be putting much emphasis onto the first rounds of the duels. And that is just because........well........think! Two thousand five hundred duelists, and having to cover 25 diamond chips for about 10 or more duelists, plus their cards? Uh, no.
Zutsokaki: Darn excuses to be lazy. Why don't you let me be lazy for you?
Brood: *uses the duct tape on him*
Zutsokaki: *uses the scissors*
Brood: *uses the duct tape on his mouth and his hands*
Zutsokaki: /DAMMIT!/
Brood: *uses the cutsie face she got from Ieyre* Aww.....cm'on.....be nice.....for once...
Zutsokaki: 0.0........................*sighs*
Brood: Yay! Hey, welcome to chapter 7!!! And everyone, please tell your Yu-Gi-Oh! Luvin friends about this story! I would just love the extra reviews! My goal is 100 by the time I hit chapter 11! (And yes, it will take this long! And NO I do not count the outtakes chapter!)
CHAPTER 7
**EGYPT**
Shadi paced around his home one more time. There had to be a good reason for the Ankh's disappearance, but he just couldn't seem to think of one. He left his home and went to the bazarr. There was a television set behind one of the men in the stands, shielded from the hot sun and turmoil of an Egyptian afternoon. Shadi looked at it. It was some kind of coverage on a tournament that had gotten started today.
There was an arieal view of the island, someone reporting from a helecopter. They went over the island and zoomed in on a duel when they found one. They had even gotten a lucky shot of someone winning in a large holo-explosion. Then Shadi heard the reporter say that the tournament was hosted by Pegasus J. Crawford. He stopped and thinked.
/Pegasus is back from his exile, my Ankh has gone missing.....or abandoned me....and now this absolutly massive tournament. What is going one here? It has to be connected in some way......there is a defininte disturbance in the power right now...../
He decided against shopping for the moment and went back to his home. He went down his trapdoor down to the tomb where the Millennium Items had all been kept at one time. His Millennium Scale flickered and flashed beside him on a table.
"Now....what is this.....???" He went over, and not even bothering to take of his sidepack, touched it. He immediatly disappeared in a flash of light.
**BACK ON ISLAND**
Lisa and Rebecca drew their cards and stared at eachother over their hands. Seto flipped a coin and told Lisa to call it in the air. She called tails, and lost. Rebecca grinned.
"Alright. I place this card face down in defence mode!" Rebecca grinned. "And I end my turn....."
Seto looked up at Lisa. "Watch out for the face downs!"
Rebecca glared down at Seto. "If you want to duel so much, why don't you come up here and do it, damn it?"
"Shut up!" It was Lisa. "I lay down the Feral Imp (A/1300 D/1400) in attack mode! And I'll put a card face down right here......and I'll attack your face down card!!!!" The Feral Imp charged the blinking square, revealing a Steel Scorpion, it exploding in many pixels.
"HA! Now your Feral Imp has only three turns to live! When the Steel Scorpion (A/250 D/300) is attacked, the attacking card is destroyed in three turns! Now it's my turn!" Rebecca grinned and drew a card. "I lay the Cannon Soldier in attack mode! I will use it to destroy your Feral Imp!"
"I thought you were going to wait for it to go!"
"So I saved it the trouble of dying slowly....isn't that right Teddy?" She grinned down at her old bear. (Lisa=3900 Rebecca=4000)
"You just watch it now, Rebecca......." Lisa drew a card and grinned. "I lay down the Dragon Zombie (A/1600 D/0) in attack! Then I lay down this Magic card, Violet Crystal! It increases the attack and defence of a zombie creature by 300! So now my Dragon Zombie has 1900 Attack power! And I flip over the magic card I layed down earlier, Sparks! It does 200 points of direct damage to you!"
"Argh! Damn it! Look what she's doing to us, Teddy!" Rebecca cuddled the teddy bear and poked it's nose. (Lisa=3900 Rebecca=3800)
"And I will go ahead and attack your Cannon Soldier, and destroy that, and taking down your life points some more! (Lisa=3900 Rebecca=3300)
"It's time to get nasty........you will go down! I will smash your four leaf clover for good!" Rebecca drew her card.
"I will lay this card face down, then I will place a Witch of the Black Forest(A/1100 D/1200) in defence mode! Then I will....end my turn."
Rebecca ended her turn since she couldn't attack Lisa's creature. Lisa drew her card. She looked at it and her eyes widened. "Kebby....kun?"
Seto looked up at her and nodded.
Anzu looked over her hand. "You can go first, if you want to."
The boy glanced up at her and looked back down at his cards.
"I'll start off with the Bistro Butcher (A/1800 D/1000), in attack mode. I end my turn."
"Anzu........do you think you can beat that?"
"Honda, shush! I'll do this! I play the Spirit of the Harp (A/800 D/2000) in defence mode! Since some of this field is light based, and the Spirit of the Harp is a fairy type, I get a field power bonus of 40%! So now my attack power is 1120! And then I'll lay this card face down. I end my turn."
"Fine." He drew his card. "Since I can't attack your creature, I will just have to lay this card face down as well."
Anzu drew her card. She looked over her hand.
/I'm really glad I talked to Yugi's grandpa before we left.....my hand is alot stronger than it normally would have been. I will have to thank him for these cards..../
There was one card she didn't take out of her deck, and that was the Shining Friendship card. She looked at it, and then at the holo- Bistro Butcher on the field. She decided to hold off playing it.
"I will play the Flower Wolf (A/1800 D/1400) in attack mode, and then I will lay another card face down on the field! I won't attack this turn."
"Of course. Even though I will not attack either, I will still hurt your life points."
Anzu's eyes widened, another light blast issuing from the other field, it shadowing her eyes. Loud cheering ensued again, Anzu looking over.
"Honda, Bakura's won! He's coming down now!"
"Alright! Go Bakura!"
"AHEM! Did we forget about the harm I was about to cause you?"
Anzu directed her attention back to her opponent, realizing out of the corner of her eye that other duelists had come over to watch their duel. She was being watched.....duel her first large duel. She was getting a little frightened.
"I play the Final Flame, doing 600 points of Direct Damage to your life points!" Murmurs came from the crowd below, and Anzu's eyes widened. "And I end my turn."
"Ah......." Her eyes darkened over. /What if I lose in front of all these people?/
"ANZU!! THIS DUEL ISN'T OVER YET! DON'T WORRY ABOUT ONE MAGIC CARD!" She looked down at the yell. It was Yugi. Honda had gone to get the others, and they were now standing close to her side of the station, amid the others who were watching. Anzu smiled down on them and nodded. She drew her card. (Anzu=3400 Guy=4000)
"I play the Mystical Moon! It raises a beast monster's attack and defence points by 300! My Flower Wolf is now strong enough to attack your Butcher! So I will attack, and destroy it!" (Anzu=3400 Guy=3700)
"Alright Anzu!" Her friends cheered her from the sidelines, and a few duelists in the crowds clapped.
"My turn is over."
Her opponent scowled over at her, then drew his card.
"Alright....I suppose all I can do now is play this little Skull Servant (A/300 D/200) in defence mode. And I'll lay this card face down as well." Lisa layed a card down in the magic and trap zone. "And I end my turn."
Rebecca looked over at the Skull Servant, who had crossed his arms in front of his face. "HA! You think you can take cover behind that weak little thing? You really should have put it in attack to save me some time in defeating you!!" She drew her card and grinned.
"Yay! Teddy! Lookie at this!" Rebecca grinned at her card, but held off on playing it. "And I will switch my Witch of the Black Forest to attack mode! Destroy that Skull Servant, Witchy!"
The witch muttered a small spell and then blasted the Skull Servant. It was destroyed.
"I knew you'd fall for it, Rebecca. Me and Kebby-kun both did!"
"What!?"
"The card I layed down on my last turn. It was a trap card."
"Hm...what is it?"
Lisa flipped the card over. "The Crush Card virus."
"NOOO!!" Rebecca fell back and dropped to her knees. "You've ruined my perfect plan! How could you!? Damn it! No!! Teddy, she didn't just do that! Now I can't play monsters with over 1500 attack points!"
Seto grinned and looked up at Rebecca. "Do you concede the match, O-Spoiled-One?"
Rebecca stopped wailing for a second. "NO I DO NOT, DAMN IT!" She stood up again.
She looked over her cards. "Sacrificing won't be a good choice now....it won't do me any good.......take your turn now!"
Lisa drew her card and lay down another monster. "I play the Judge Man (A/2200 D/1500) in attack mode! This must be another one of Kebby-kun's cards! And now I attack your witch!" The witch dissappeared in a large flash of pixelated light.
"NOO!!" (Lisa=3900 Rebecca=2200) "NO! NO! DAMN YOU! I HATE YOU! TEDDY MAKE HER STOP!"
"How does it feel to be on the other side, Rebecca?" Lisa smirked at the other girl. Rebecca wistfully grabbed a card out of her deck, as per the Witch's effect. When she is sent to the graveyard, the owner can take a card with 1500 defence or lower and add it to her hand, and then shuffles her deck.
"Grrrrrr.....YOU WILL PAY!" Rebecca drew her card. "YAY! Teddy, lookie here! Lookie lookie lookie! I play Millennium Shield (A/0 D/3000) in defence mode, and then the Judgement Blaster! The perfect thing for the Judge Man! I discard five cards from my hand, so I can destroy all of the monsters you have out! YAY! Bye bye, crappy monsters!"
Seto frowned at this as Rebecca dropped five cards into the graveyard, and Lisa's Zombie Dragon and the Judge Man were sent to her graveyard.
"Hey! That's not fair!"
"Neither was that Crush Card you played!"
"Well you cheated somehow on our last duel!"
"Did not, damn it!" Rebecca stuck her tongue out at Lisa.
Lisa pulled down on her eyelid and stuck her tounge out also.
"Stupid!"
"Doofus!"
"Dork!"
"SHIT-FOR-BRAINS!"
Seto watched them verbally trade blows. /So....immature....these little girls...../
"ARE YOU TWO GOING TO CONTINUE THIS ALL DAY!!!!!????" Seto yelled up at them, uncrossing his arms.
Lisa jolted and looked down at him. "Oh, sorry Kebby-kun." Rebecca just clutched her teddy bear and murmured.
Seto growled. "Just, continue the match please."
"Alright!" Lisa drew her card. "YES!!!! I play the Skull Knight (A/2650 D/2250) in attack mode!"
"Are you stupid or something? That isn't powerful enough to defeat my Shield!"
"I know that. It just gives me a better chance to do something about it!"
"Yeah right!" Rebecca drew her card. "Ahhhh.....I play the Cannon Soldier (A/1400 D/1300) in defence mode! And I also play the Ring of Magnetism! Now you can only attack my Millennium Shield! So hahahahahaha!"
Seto glared up at Lisa. "Please don't rise to the bait and start bickering again."
Lisa didn't look back, but gulped and drew her card. "HA! This card clenches it for me Rebecca!"
"No it doesn't! No it doesn't!"
"Yes it does! I play the Sword of Dark Destruction! It raises the attack power of a dark monster by 500, and lowers the defensive points by 200! Now my Skull Knight has an attack power of 3150! Attack that Shield, Skull Knight!"
Her Skull Knight rushed forward, destroying the Shield.
"NONONONONO!! DAMN YOU! No....Teddy, how is she winning? We would be winning if that horrible Crush Card wasn't out!" She glanced wistfully at the one card in her hand. "Now that it's my turn...." She drew a card. "Ah hah! I play the Remove Trap card! Now that Crush card is gone!"
Seto and Lisa's eyes widened. Lisa frowned. "You just didn't do that, did you?"
"I did I did I did YAY! Teddy thinks I am the greatest!" She tossed her teddy into the air and caught it, snuggling it. "And now I play my great monster, the Shadow Ghoul! (A/1600 D/1400) Plus, it gains 100 attack points for every card sent to the graveyard on my side! Now it has 2300 attack points! Yay for me! And I play this card face down!"
"It won't do you any good. I can still destroy it." Lisa drew her card. "I lay down this card, and then I attack your Shadow Ghoul!"
"HAHAHAHAHAAA!! I activate my trap card! Mirror Wall!"
Seto gasped lightly. That card blocks attacks and cuts the attack points of a creature in half....
"Yay!"
Lisa stood in light shock. "No way!" Her Skull Knight's attack power dropped down to 1575. "Ahh...darn it!"
"Go me! I love my cards! It's my turn!"
Rebecca drew her card and put it in her hand. "Now, attack, Shadow Ghoul! Go get that Skull Knight!"
"Not so fast, Rebecca! One of the cards I layed down! Castle Walls!" Lisa flipped it over quickly. "It raises the defence power of my attacked card for one turn, making it too strong for you to destroy! And since the Mirror Wall is protecting your creature...."
"Stalling the inevitable, I see? Oh well. It's your turn now."
Lisa looked her hand over, then drew a card. /No good there.....but wait! Right here in my hand!/ "I play this card face down in defence mode! And I attack your Cannon Soldier with my Skull Knight!" The defence mode card was obliterated.
"Big deal! Now my Shadow Ghoul is powered up some more! Hehehe!" She drew her card. "I'll go ahead and attack your face down card! No point in rushing this, you know!" Lisa's face down card got attacked with a swipe from the Ghoul.
"Negate Attack! My other face down card!" Lisa flipped over the card.
"Quit stalling this!"
"But you've also activated my flip affect! This is a Mask of Darkness Card! When it is flipped, I get to take a Trap card back into my hand! And now it's my turn, and I lay down this card! Since I can't attack, I put my Skull Knight in defence mode and end my turn....."
Rebecca looked over at the face down card. /That HAS to be the Crush Card! If I attack that Mask, my Ghoul will be useless, as well as the Mirror Wall that is equipped to it! I can attack her Skull Knight, but that Mask will still be there, and I have already used my Judgement Blaster.....I gotta find some way of getting rid of that card......./ She drew a card.
/No help there...../ "I attack your Skull Knight!"
The Skull Knight was destroyed and it was Lisa's turn.
Amoura and Mokuba walked silently through the forest for awhile, Mokuba looking at her dueling glove. She had won about four more chips already. She had told him she was targeted for being a champion, as many others were. Mokuba had been keeping a sharp eye out for his brother, Amoura being a little zealous about it herself.
"Hey, Amoura, where are we camping for the night?"
"Vhat did you bring?"
Mokuba motioned to the small knapsack he had slung over his shoulder. "I only have an extra set of clothes and some other things."
"Maybe ve should find a campsight soon, zen......ve could find zome vater source and vash out zings zere."
"Alright. That sounds good to me." They continued walking, and soon found a small clearing. Amoura cleared a patch of ground and unrolled her sleeping bag. Mokuba ran off to find some firewood.
She sat down and sighed. It had, in all actuality, been a long time since she had competed, and that French National Competition did hit her hard. It continually worried her if something like that would happen again. She wanted to put off dueling as much as she could, but she had to get the chips and find that damned fortress in time. She looked down at her 10 diamond chips. She had been asked to duel two other times so far.
They had seen Mokuba of course, but they didn't ask about him. That was a good thing, because Amoura didn't want to answer too many questions about him.
She had marked many spots on her ID map, hoping to find some kind of pattern in the placement of the duel stations, or at least make it easier for her to find the big open places on the map that she hadn't seen yet.
The wind rustled her wavy light sea green hair as she pulled the ID out of her khaki shorts pocket. She flipped it on and looked at the map. She then pressed in a few letters and hit enter, marking this new place on the map as "CMPSTE3."
She then checked her map again, and decided to head for the largest area with no markings after about a week of dueling. She figured if she kept this pace up, she'd have the required chips within the week, leaving her free and clear to search for the fortress for a whole week. She liked that course of action alot.
Amoura rummaged around in her bag and grabbed a bag of Ramen noodles. She decided to split it with Mokuba. There was no point in depleting the food supply that quickly. She didn't plan on leaving any time soon.
Mokuba came back with the wood, and she set up a fire. She then lit a match from her pocket she put some water from her canteen into a pot. Then sat back and waited for it to boil. While she waited, she opened up a small pouch from her bag and set it down beside her side bag. Then she watched it for a moment, then sighed and sat back again.
"Ze lazy zing....."
Mokuba looked up and grinned and then looked down at the bag. It remained still.
"It will do it when it wants to, right?"
"Of course." The water started bubbling, so she stirred it and added the noodles. Soon the noodles were done, and Amoura added the flavoring and gave some to Mokuba in a thermos cup lid. They sat there and slurped noodles for awhile, then Mokuba spoke.
"Hey, do you think we'll find Seto soon?"
"I do not 'onestly know, Mokuba. Zis is ze largest island I've zeen in a long time." She looked up doubtfully, slurping a noodle up with her.
Just then, something rustled around closeby. It didn't sound like it was in any tree or bush, but Amoura jumped up and watched that direction.
"Amoura! That sounds like someones messing around in some water!"
"Oui, I zink ve should go and check it out. If it iz zafe, zen ve can move our camp zere. If not, we move farther away."
Mokuba stood up and faced that direction. "Alright! I'll bet it's Seto getting a drink!"
"Zere is about a one in two zousand chance of zat right now, Mokuba, but it is ztill a chance......"
"Awwwwwww....never tell me the odds, Amoura. Come on, let's go."
"No. You ztay 'ere, Mokuba. I don't vant to risk you getting 'urt."
"I think I can handle myself, thank you very much." Mokuba crossed his arms and stared her hard in the eye. It wasn't that hard, she wasn't that much taller, only by about four inches. She was around the same height as Yugi, Mokuba observed.
But Amoura simply stared back at him, then turned her back. "You vill ztay, Mokuba Kaiba."
"But.......c'mon!.....aww...." He plopped down on the ground and slurped his noodles loudly to voice his frustration. Some small part of him hoped it was a pet peeve of hers.
Amoura walked off in the direction of the noise, unsheathing the hunter's knife she had strapped to her leg. She held it by the blade in a position so she could easily flip it around. She disappeared into the bushes.
Mokuba looked in the direction that she went off to and he tipped some more noodles into his mouth. He chewed for a moment, thinking.
"AAHHH!!!!!!!!!" It was Amoura, and she sounded like she was in trouble.
He shot up from his position and ran in the direction Amoura went in.
"I play the Jinzo #7 (A/500 D/400) in attack mode. This card can attack your life points directly. So, I place this card face down on the field and then attack you."
"No you don't!" Anzu flipped over the card that she layed down earlier. "Waboku! That decreases your attack to zero for this turn!" His turn was over, so she drew her card. She glanced at his face down card in the magic and trap zone. "And I attack your Jinzo, destroying it!" She looked down at her friends. She noticed one was missing.
"Hey guys, where's Joey!?"
Mai motioned towards the meadow/forest duel field, where Joey and another duelist were boarding. "He got challenged!" Anzu nodded and turned her head back to the other duel.
"My Jinzo....thanks alot....!" Her opponent frowned and drew his card.
"Anytime."
He looked at his cards. "I can't do anything except lay down this Hunter Spider (A/1600 D/1400) in defence mode. It's your turn."
"Good." She grabbed her card. "I attack your Hunter Spider!"
"No you do not! I flip over this card, Fissure! That destroys your monster with the lowest Attack power! Say goodnight to the Spirit of the Harp! And I also play a Negate Attack card!"
"No! My card! Fine....I play Ray and Temperature (A/1000 D/1000) in defence mode, and it also gets the light field power bonus, raising it's attack and defence power to 1400! My turn's over!"
"THAT'S THE WAY TO DUEL, ANZU! GO GET HIM!" Yugi shouted up encouragingly at her, and then he ran over to yell something for Joey, who had just had a creature destroyed by his opponent. Mai watched him move his way through the spectators and get to Joey, then started to make his way back. Halfway there, he changed his mind and stayed in between the duel stations.
Her opponent drew his card.
"HA! NOW YOU ARE IN FOR IT! I play my great creature, the Roaring Ocean Snake!" (A/2100 D/1800) He slapped a card down on the field, and a great red ocean beast rose from the holodeck. It let out a roar, and then sat in wait.
"You can't attack my Flower Wolf without destroying your creature also! Then where will you be?"
"Who ever said I was going to just sit back and let it float there the whole time? But for now, I will have to end my turn," He glanced at the face down card she had behind the Ray and Temperature, not wanting to risk it. "....but not without placing this card......" He placed a magic/trap card down and ended his turn.
"Alright! My turn!" Anzu drew her card. "I don't need a new monster, since I have my two, but I will play this card face down and attack your Hunter Spider again!" Her opponent smirked.
"I will flip over this lovely trap card I have.......it is the Silent Dark Spirit! It switches the target of your attack! And I switch it to the Roaring Ocean Snake!"
Anzu stared at him in shock. "But your snake will be destroyed!"
"But I will also flip over this trap card! Reinforcements adds 500 attack points to my monster for just this turn! Your Flower Wolf has been destroyed, and you take 400 damage!" (Anzu=3000 Dude=3700)
Bakura looked up at the duelist and sighed. "That was a wonderful play. He lured her into an attack because the Spider was weaker, and then turned it around in his favor." Someone walked up behind Bakura and patted him on the sholder, congragulating him on his great duel. He thanked them, and turned to Mai.
"You are right, Bakura. I'm not sure if Anzu can stand up to that......hey.....how's Joey doing in his duel?"
Bakura motioned at Yugi, and Yugi put up three fingers, then one, then two fists. He had 3100 life points left. But then Yugi put up a thumbs up. so they knew he was doing well.
Anzu watched her creature get destroyed, and then she sighed as he took his turn. He drew a card, then switched his Hunter Spider to attack mode and announced an attack on Anzu's Ray and Temperature.
Her eyes widened. "Not so fast! I had a magic card waiting! It's the Silver Bow and Arrow card! It raises the attack and defence by 300, making it too strong for your Hunter Spider! Now it's destroyed and you take 100 points of damage!" (Anzu=3000 Dude=3600) She mumbled to herself "Now.....what about the other monster....?"
Mai glared up at Anzu. "WHAT ABOUT YOUR FACE DOWN CARD!!!!"
"OH! What is that one? I forgot...." She looked at it and gasped. "And I also flip this over! The Fairy's Gift, which will raise it's attack and defence another 400 points! Now my Ray and Temperature has 2100 attack and defence points!"
"Not a bad play. Now attacking you with my Ocean Snake would be useless."
Honda looked at those cards she played. "Anzu does like that combo."
Bakura nodded. "Yes, it is a useful one also, right Mai?"
"I suppose. But she wouldn't even be playing it if it weren't for me...."
It was Anzu's turn now. She drew her card and looked it over. "Now you're in for it. This card was given to me by a friend of mines grandfather! I play the Dancing Fairies! (A/1700 D/1000) And it gets the field power bonus of 40%!"
Her opponent's eyes widened. "No way!"
"Way. It's attack power is now 2380! And that is strong enough to destroy your Roaring Ocean Snake! So....attack that Snake, Fairies!" Her Fairies started dancing around more, giving off lots of dust. The Snake writhed and wriggled, but it couldn't get free. It then exploded in many small blinking pixels.
"I can't believe you just did that!"
"Well I did, so live with it! And I now en....."
"ANZU!! ARE YOU AN IDIOT!?!?!?!" It was Mai again. Anzu looked down at her, and realized that Mai was waving at her to attack with the Ray and Temperature. Anzu got it. Without a creature to protect him, she was free to attack his life points directly with her other monster.
"Uh! Never mind that! I will attack you directly with my Ray and Temperature!" (Anzu=3000 Dude=1500)
Mai glared at her, and Anzu replied by looking sheepishly down at her. The crowd below them murmured a little, but knew who this duel was going to.
Her opponent drew his card and then played a Red Guard (A/1500 D/1200) in defence mode. He looked at his cards, and then played an Ookazi card on her. Her LP went down by 800, for the direct damage.
He hung his head lightly and ended his turn. Anzu's head lightened with exhiliration and she nearly trembled out her next words after she drew her card.
"Alright! I will attack your Guard with my Ray and Temperature, then finish you off with my Dancing Fairies!!!" (Anzu=2200 Dude=0)
She trembled with excitement and jumped up. "I DID IT! I WON MY FIRST DUEL!!!!" Her opponent's diamond chips were transferred over and she placed them in her glove, watching all six of her chips twinkle in the diminishing light of the day. The duelists below clapped and cheered lightly and she beamed with absolute excitement. The both got down from the station, being congragulated on the duel by the other competitors. She fought her way over to her opponent.
"You fought a great duel! That was great, I thought you had me for awhile!"
"You turned out to be a better challenge than I thought. I need to go and work on my strategies for awhile now. I only have four chips left. I hope to see you again someday. And then, I will defeat you, girl." He stuck out his hand and she took it, shaking it happily.
"You can count on it! Hey, I never got your name! What is it?"
"I am Irin."
"I'm Anzu! I hope we meet again someday!" And with that, he let go of her hand and walked away from the camp zone.
Bakura, Honda, and Mai all ran up to Anzu. "That was great Anzu! You won your first real duel ever!" Honda laughed and patted her shoulder as they led her away from the crowds drifting over to Joey's duel.
"But those rookie mistakes you were about to make could have cost you that duel, Anzu." Mai spoke roughly to her. "I don't think you would have realized that if I didn't help you out there!"
Bakura touched Mai's arm lightly. "Now Mai, you needn't be so harsh on her. She just won her first duel here!"
"Harsh Smarsh! She needs to learn the rules and fast!"
"Hey Mai, leave me alone here!" Anzu looked at her chips and frowned. "I don't need to hear this from you. I will remember these things next time. Now, can we go and watch Joey?"
Mai sighed and started walking towards the duel station where Yugi was waiting for them. Just before they got there though, a large flash of light and the sound of life points draining filled their ears. Then they heard the crowds below yelling and cheering over the outcome of the duel.
"WAHOO! I WON!" It was Joey. They had moved a little too slow to watch him win. "Yes! I get three of your little diamonds! That makes it seven for me now!" He jumped down after thanking this opponent for the duel and getting his chips, and ran over to Yugi and the others.
"Hey Anzu! I heard you just won your duel! That's great! Now you have six chips!" He grinned again and held up his glove. "And I got seven!"
Yugi grinned at both of them. "Hey, all three of you did great on your duels! We were sure surprised when we found out the sounds we heard were coming from this place! But it's a great find anyway! Come on, let's find a camp spot!" Yugi led the way as they went to search for an open plot.
Lisa drew her card and glared at it. "You're no help at all." She then looked at her magic cards and then at the card she just drew. "Wait a sec......oh never mind. I'll just lay this card down....and end my turn." She scowled over at the little American girl, who wasn't even beginning to hide her glee.
"Teddy-chan! I'm gonna win! Win win win win winny winny win win! Yay! I will draw my lovely card! And now I will attack your face down card! Go my lovely Ghoulie!"
Rebecca's ghoul shot out and destroyed the face down card, which was a Kuriboh.
Seto stared up at Lisa. "How dare you keep such a weak monster in your deck! I should rip that thing right now!" He had a special hatred for Kuribohs.
"Kebby-kun! It was in defence mode! It didn't hurt anything...."
He faced away from Lisa and yelled up at her. "Take your turn girl!"
Lisa pouted a little bit, but drew her card while Rebecca looked on, cuddling her teddy bear.
"I place this card face down, and end my turn."
Rebecca drew her card and showed it to her bear. She seemed to whisper it it, and then, not being able to contain herself, yelled happily. "TEDDY! YOU SAW IT! NOW I WILL PLAY IT! It's my ultra cute and cuddly.....SECOND SHADOW GHOUL!!!"
Both Seto and Lisa looked in in surprise as another Shadow Ghoul appeared beside the first.
"And my lovable creature gets the same power bonus as the first one! Yay! And I also play this card! It's my other Remove Trap, just for that face down card you have right behind your Maskie!"
Lisa's eyes narrowed. "It doesn't affect Magic cards, Rebecca."
"That's your Crush Card Virus, I know it is!"
"It is not Rebecca. So Neah neah neah boo boo!" She pulled on her eyelid again.
"IS SO IS SO IS SO! STOP TRYING TO CHEAT! Teddy make her stop!"
"STOP IT!" Seto snarled up at Lisa and Rebecca again. "Continue this duel now!"
Rebecca stared hard at Seto, then glared back up at Lisa. "It isn't a Trap Card?"
"No it isn't Rebecca. Can I have my turn now?"
"I'm not done with mine. But my Remove Trap is useless now."
/I was SURE that she had the Crush Card down! What if she didn't bring it back, but a different one because I COUNTED on her bringing that one back?/
"Oh well, I attack your little Mask of Darkness with one of my Shadow Ghouls! And now that you are unprotected, I attack you directly with my other! AHAHAHAHA!!!!" (Lisa=1500 Rebecca=2200)
"Uhh..." Lisa faltered, then took her card. "I play the Pot of Greed. It allows me to draw two cards." She took her cards, and then placed one face down in defence mode. She took her other card. Then she stared at it. And stared a little bit more. And just another minute, for good measure. Then she grinned.
"REBECCA! This is the deciding move of the whole game."
"What are you talking about, damn it?"
Seto glanced up at Rebecca and frowned. "Yes....let's see this move...."
"This is the one card that can save me! I play....this magic card, The Devil's Comedian!"
Rebecca frowned as well and clutched Teddy closer. "What does it do?"
Lisa placed the card down, a creature popping up and holding a coin. "It's very simple. A coin is flipped. I call it in the air. If I get it right, your ENTIRE graveyard is removed from the game.....if I am wrong, I have to remove the equivalent of your graveyard from my deck and from the game. It all comes down to this, Rebecca. Once coin toss."
The blonde girl's eyes widened considerably. "You couldn't do that! You'll call it wrong!"
"I'm counting on the Luck of the Irish......." She grinned as the little creature flipped it's coin up into the air. "I CALL........HEADS!!!"
Everyone was on pins and needles as the holo-coin spun around in the air, their eyes following it as it turned around and around.....then, finally, after what seemed like an eternity, started falling to the deck of the station. It landed with a small resounding /PING!/
They all stared down at the coin, their faces furrowed into disbelief....the coin...
"IT'S HEADS!!! YES!!" Lisa jumped up and shouted happily. "Now, your graveyard is completly useless! Say goodbye to your power bonus!"
"Uh....no way...." Rebecca watched in horror as both of her ghouls lost their borrowed power. They were both back down to 1600 points apiece.
"I guess now I should flip my defence card over and attack.....this is the Gravekeeper General (A/1900 D/1200)! And now, I will get rid of one of your Shadow Ghouls!" The Gravekeeper shot out and destroyed the Ghoul, leaving Rebecca momentarily speechless. She soon found her voice, however, and made use of it in interesting ways.
"HOW DARE YOU! YOU LITTLE **@*$#*$ *@*#*@( $576$#&@!* (*$(&$#&#&(*&)(*#&^@!%(&*#(&%@(!!!!" (Lisa=1500 Rebecca=1900)
".........................................." Lisa and Seto could only stare.
Rebecca loudly fumed a bit more, then drew her card. She placed it in defence mode, and then put her Shadow Ghoul, which got a small bonus from the death of the other one, in defence mode also. She ended her turn.
Lisa drew her card, then played it on the field in attack mode. It was a Master Kionshi. (A/1750 D/1000) She then set it on the defence mode face down card. It was a Flying Fish (A/800 D/500), obviously one of her throw away sacrifice creatures. Then Lisa set her General on the other Shadow Ghoul. Rebecca looked as if she was going to throw a fit, but instead, drew her card. She looked at it.
Then she placed the card and her entire hand down, and put her hand over her deck. Her eyes welled up quickly. She practically sniffled out her next sentence.
"You......win........"
Lisa looked at Rebecca, her eyes filled with disbelief. "You give up?"
"DON'T MAKE THIS HARDER, DAMN IT!....Yes....I give up. There is nothing I could do to stop you from taking the last of my life points this next turn. I could have played my normal allowed one summon, but it could have been destroyed by the Kionshi, leaving the rest of my life points open to attack from that damned General of yours. There was nothing else I could do. The attack points of the Gravekeeper General are exactly equal to the last of my life points. So....you win. Anyway, Mister Seto really looks like he wants his coat back. And....I still have some chips left. I have a whole five."
The young Irish girl glanced at Rebecca, putting her hands down lightly. "You really do give in? I never thought that you.....not in a million years....."
"I learned from someone....just awhile ago, that there is more to this game than just winning and being powerful. It's also knowing lots of other things. Like....how to know how to lose....and when to quit....." Rebecca sniffled and a few tears dripped silently onto her hands. She pressed the button on the console, and the box enveloped the diamond chips, and re-emerging on Lisa's side.
"Wow.....I.....Rebecca...." Lisa couldn't think of more to say. She just placed the three small iridescant diamond chips in her glove and got down from the station. She walked over to Rebecca's side. Rebecca threw Seto's coat down to her, and she jumped down as well. Before Rebecca could walk away, Lisa ran up and stuck out her hand.
"Good match Rebecca."
Rebecca looked down at the extended hand and then tentatively shook it. "One more thing. Where is that sister of yours? I beat her pretty badly last time also."
"I don't know. We were separated. That's why I'm with Kebby- kun. Anyway, I'm glad I was able to duel you again. Good luck with the rest of this."
Rebecca grinned. Then she snickered. "Kebby-kun.....heh. Well, goodbye." She walked off into the forest, clutching her Teddy Bear like a lifeline.
Seto walked up behind Lisa. "That was well played Lisa. Especially for a girl your age. Now....." He glared pointedly down at the coat in Lisa's arms.
"Oh! Here you are Kebby-kun!" She handed it back to Seto, grinning. "I really did beat her, didn't I? Does that make me a champion of some sorts?"
"Ahem." He glared down at the deck now. Lisa smirked and handed it to Kaiba. He picked out his few cards and handed the deck back to her. "Come on, let's get moving. We have alot of ground to cover today." Kaiba began to move off, marking the spot on his ID map as he went. Lisa scampered off beside him.
Honda yawned and fell over onto Bakura, who was already asleep. It was late, and they had spent the rest of the day at that camp site, one of them getting challenged at one point or another. Yugi, Joey, and Mai were especially exhausted. Most of the duelists had moved on, but they had been staying because of the constant challenges. For about four hours now, they had been watching, cheering, or playing at duels.
Someone walked up to their campsite and motioned to Yugi. Joey looked at Yugi and shook his head at the challenger, pointing at the slowly nodding teen. He then made a sleeping motion with his hands. The challenger slumped lightly off, then headed for another site. He found a challenger there. They walked off.
Mai then stretched and crawled into her sleeping bag, curling up happily. Anzu did the same, and Joey prodded Yugi, Honda, and Bakura awake, getting them into their bags.
They didn't wake up until late in the morning the next day. They were awakened by the noise of a duel ending. A shrill laugh exploded into the air, and they were jolted out of their peaceful sleep.
"AHAHAHAHAHAAAA!! Now you lose your four chips to Insector Haga, the great Bug Champion!" He continued his laugh as his opponent sadly gave his chips up and slumped away.
Yugi woke up the fastest at hearing that laugh, him shaking everyone else awake, and it took him and Honda to keep Joey from pouncing the small annoying boy. Anzu was all for leaving as quickly as possible. They all packed up swiftly, and left without so much as a word. They really didn't feel like dealing with Haga right now. They just didn't feel like it. They weren't running by any means, they just hated him.
Pegasus sipped his wine lightly as he watched a screen inside of his mansion. His tournament was underway, and he couldn't be more pleased. He took a small bite of his gorgonzola cheese and checked up on some well known champions statistics.
/Ten....nine.....seven......eleven....ten.....ten....eight.....ahhh!! Yugi- boy! You have twelve! Not bad....and your little friend Joey has ten....and Kaiba-boy! You have thirteen! You all are doing very well.....ah....over four hundred duelist disqualified just today.....my, you are all so FIERCE....../
"I think that this is all going very nicely, don't you think, my friend?"
Someone stepped from the shadows in the background. "Of course. It is working like you said so far. But it is only the end of the first day. Do not.....now what is that saying......Do not count your Niwatori's before they hatch...."
"A personal favorite saying of mine. Now do not forget our deal, friend. The terms are clear."
"I will not."
Brood: Dun dun duuuuun! *Plays ominous music*
Zutsokaki: Can I sleep now? It's like twelve thirty at night!
Brood: I HAD TO GET THE CHAPTER UP!!! My reviewers have been waiting for nearly two weeks! It's not fair to them.....but these duels took FOREVER to write!
Zutsokaki: ZZZZZZZZZ........
Brood: .........good idea. Now, you all know what to do! R/R because I love you!
